Pumpkin Patch 2012

Hello friends!  I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season!  I decided to take a little break from a few things and my poor blog was on that list.  I needed some time to just check out of social media for a while.   I am going to try to get caught up from October...we will see how that goes!  I wish I had some life changing news or wonderful insight on life.  But the truth is I am still a trying to stay above the water.  Some days are better than others.  I tend to stay busy in order not to think or feel.  My goal each day is to thank the Lord for the life that I have been given.

So to start the catch up here is a post I started in October and never finished....


One night last week, after dinner, Artie and I decided to take Grayson to the pumpkin patch.   This week/weekend is a little crazy and there would not be any time before Halloween!  So a last minute trip it is.

He was in such a good mood!  I think having a full belly helped plus he gets SUPER silly at night.  Win win.

Waiting on the pumpkin train

Not so sure about the ride....

Oh this IS fun! 

Gray likes to look at animals from afar haha

Now the good stuff! 

 He wanted to sit on all the pumpkins! 

I must sit on that one too Mom

The pumpkin patch had a wooden train play set and Gray was SMITTEN! 

And just to let the tears flow....

October

I seriously love October.  Like a giddy school girl crush on October.  I think it is because it means the beginning of ALL my favorite holidays.  We are hitting holiday central wahoo! It is now ok to put out all the spooky decor I want and eat every pumpkin flavored thing in sight.

I am going to try to get my house decorated for halloween this week.  I started with my wreath on the front door.

I took Grayson outside to look at it and asked him if it was spooky.  He then kept asking me if things were spooky for the rest of the day.  He would hold up a toy "Mama spooky?" haha.  So cute! 

I am going to try to participate in A Grand Life's photo a day on Instagram. 

 Hopefully I can keep up!  I am going to try to post the photo's here once a week.  My name is heathercallen if you would like to follow along. 

Last month I had the honor of taking some friends engagement photos and senior photos.  It amazes me that someone would EVER want me to take their pictures.  They turned out great...thankfully! 

This month our friends are getting married and have asked me to take pictures....I am terrified.  It is a VERY small wedding but still important.  Yikes.   It is at the end of the month so I have plenty of time to study! 

And because I can not leave a post with out a picture of my little guy....

Oh goodness he is adorable.  I think my holiday craziness has rubbed off on him...he insists on carrying this pumpkin around all day.  Oops.  

I hope you have a great week! 

30!

I am finally getting around to blogging this.....

In May I turned 30.  Do you know how weird that is to say?   I still feel like I am 20 and that is all that matters right?  Fortunately for me, I look like I am still 20...so no one is none the wiser ; )


The theme was French country (ish) and I found this cute little bee on Etsy.  It was perfect for the invite!

I thought it looked a little French country and decided to use some french wording on the invitation to tie it all together.  

The phrase "Trente Est Le Nouveau Vingt! "  was born.  

(30 is the new 20)

The invitation-

I wrapped the invite in burlap and lace for a special touch. 

The farm that we use for all of our parties has a wonderful, secluded little area by a creek that is just beautiful.  It is the perfect place to dine under the stars!

I had a specific design in mind and poor Artie had to execute it.  He enlisted the help of Ashley and Alison to help make it everything that I wanted and MORE!  It was seriously the most beautiful party I had ever seen.

 The main table- there were hundreds of mason jars filled with candles! 

If you look in the top left corner you can see the guitar player....he was awesome! 

It was perfect to have him playing while we ate dinner. 

The baby's breath center pieces

The place setting with the menu

 Another view of the table that turned out a little brighter.

The food!  Yummmmmm! Seriously so good!  

Assorted cheeses, rosemary chicken,

 roasted vegetables, salad, tea and 

lemonade! 

I completely forgot to get a picture of the dessert table!  

I LOVE LOVE LOVE pie...more than cake actually.  

There is a little restaurant in our town that makes AMAZING pies and

 Artie bought all of my favorites!  

 This space is somewhat in the middle of the woods.  

Once the sun went down, it was magical!  

There were mason jars filled with candles everywhere...even hanging in the trees! 

Funny story.  You know how I said that the party was in the middle of the woods?  Which means that there are no lights anywhere in sight.  Well we did not think that through very well because we had to clean up at the end.  Luckily we had all the mason jar candles because it was DARK.

It was definitely something I will never forget.  Thank you Artie for putting this together and thinking that I deserve something so beautiful!  The night was truly magical!

My 2nd love...

As many of you know, I coach a high school majorette line in our area and LOVE every minute of it.  Last year, my friend and fellow coach, Ashley and I joined forces to open a baton twirling studio.

Baton twirling is my 2nd love behind my boys of course! I have been twirling/dancing for 27 years and am so thrilled to be teaching others my passion.  We just finished registration and have MORE than doubled our students from last year.  It is so exciting to see other little girls love this sport as much as I have.

Here is Ashley, Alison and I at our registration this year.

Our first event for this year is Mini Majorette Day.  Our studio was invited by the high school to perform with the band during pre game at homecoming.  We could not be more excited!!  Here are the little girls last year. 

Friday is the big performance wahoo!! I am sure the girls will do fabulously! This week will be filled with sparkles, hair bows and sweet girls anxiously awaiting their performance.

Wish us luck! 

Cute boy

I think I need a light hearted post to follow the last one I wrote.

Can I just tell you how cute my baby is?  He really is THE MOST adorable child.   These are all pictures from my phone but I love them none the less.  

Right before nap, I rock Gray in his room and he gets SO giggly! 

Probably not the best thing to do before nap but I love those sweet belly laughs! 

Grayson loves ALL things pirates these day! 

He goes around saying "Yo Ho Ho"

I try to take a picture every time we leave the house-

this helps me have daily pictures of him.

PLUS! If the unimaginable were to happen and Gray would go missing-

I would have a current photo and know what he was wearing.  

 Oh sweet face.  Never leave me! 

Cooking dinner with Mom...I have no idea where he learned to lick the beaters? ;) 

Oh just goodness!  

He put those sunglasses on and his hands on his hips. 

Uh Oh!  His face here makes me so sad! 

The people next door are doing some construction and

 there are BIG TRUCKS every where.  It is a toddler's dream! 

Grayson "mowin" (as he says)

Have a great week!   

Contentment

(this post is about to get real...and is super long- FAIR WARNING)

So a few month ago I eluded that something had shaken me to my core....this is the story. 

 In June we found out that my husband's best friend and his girlfriend were (still are) pregnant.  To say I was shocked would be an understatement.  The shock wore off (quickly) and the deep deep sadness set it.  In my head and my heart I was having a pity party.  Here is a couple that I love, celebrating one of the happiest moments of their life and I am nothing but bitter.  I had just turned 30 and the fact that we have been trying for 4 and 1/2 years made me so jealous.  

Once I thought I had a handle on my sadness, a new friend would announce a pregnancy.  Poor Artie would walk into the kitchen and know exactly why I was crying.  Every. Single. Time.  This summer has been one of the hardest emotionally for me.  

We were on vacation in August and I was just waking up for the day.  I woke up with the words "It is well within my soul" in my head.  I rolled my eyes because, well I don't really know.  It was like I WANTED to be unhappy. We got back from the beach and I was launched into crazy Heather mode. Busy from sun up to sun down.  I really didn't have time to assess how I felt.  Ever heard the adage "Old habits die hard"?  One day I was looking at facebook and saw someone with a negative/complaint pregnancy update.  All of the emotions surfaced and I was right back into pity party mode.  

Every new baby or pregnancy announcement had me reeling.  I was spiraling out of control with my emotions...so much that I spoke to Artie about maybe getting help. 

I was standing at the kitchen sink, washing dishes when I heard the words "spoiled brat".   I knew that it was God telling me that I was acting like a child.  

Seriously.  I needed a wake up call.  

At that moment I said out loud " I CAN NOT DO THIS ANYMORE!" I needed to release that sadness/jealousy/anger and give it God.  I needed something bigger than me to handle it.  Later that day the word contentment started popping up in my head.  Then I remembered a verse in Hebrews

Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,"  Hebrews 13:5  

Whoa.  Be content with what you have. 

Is that hard?  Yes.  Is my pain in vain?  No.  I simply look at the tiny hand prints on ALL the windows or the mound of toys in my living room and remember that there is a reason.  There is purpose in my pain.  

Repeat those words.  There is purpose in my pain. 

Do I need to prepare that Grayson might be our only child?  Yes.  Does that stink? Absolutely! God said he would never forsake you..not grant your every wish. Just because I want something doesn't mean that it is in God's plan for my life. The way Grayson came to us was not in my plan but look at how wonderful that turned out.  

So maybe God's plan is cooler than mine?  

The only thing I can leave you with is that I am a work in progress.  I am still going to have sad days and I am still going to want more children. I fully believe God gave me that desire for a reason.  But! Grayson is one cool kid and if he is it then-we hit the JACKPOT!