Pumpkin Fun!

Yesterday I had some friends over for a Pumpkin Carving Party! We had a great time carving pumpkins and letting the munchkins play some fun Halloween games.  Nathaniel was so excited having his friends over as well.

I love this picture!!  Look at William's face!  And then James with the empty watergun and Nathaniel eating his cupcake! Ha! 

Then this morning Lesh and I met our friends the Caraway's and the Cummings for our annual pumpkin patch pictures.  This is our third year to take these pictures and I'd say more difficult this year considering the kids just wanted to run around!  Ha!  It's a fun tradition and look forward to it every year!We were missing one though who was feeling under the weather.  We missed you Carly!

 Halloween 2009

Halloween 2010

Halloween 2011



Okay so this one is the best so far! Ha!

Asked of God, Heard by God

Lesh and I have been keeping baby #2's name under wraps!  We have decided that we want to share his name now!  Before I do, I wanted to share why we chose his name.  I've shared before in other blog posts about my struggle with food and the addiction I had to it. 

For years growing up I begged God to take away my struggle with food.  I hated myself for overeating and eating when I wasn't hungry and I was so sick of being sick about food.  Then last year a woman named Gari Meachum came to our church.  She is a speaker, writer, and Bible study teacher and she wrote the book Truly Fed.  This book was the beginning of my walking in freedom from food.  The book has such a different perspective of food- the Bible's perspective on food and the relationship we should have with it.  If you have ever struggled with food or know someone who does,  this book is just for you!  I'm so thankful for God bringing Gari into my life and her ministry of helping women walk in freedom from bondage.  Not only has it helped me walk into freedom, but has also ushered my wonderful husband into that same freedom.  After almost 30 years of bondage, I can praise God and thank him for hearing my prayers all these years and leading me into freedom.

 Isaiah 43 18-19 says, "Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past.  Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it?  I will even make a roadway in the wilderness. Rivers in the desert."  I rejoice over the "something new that God is springing forth in our lives.

Many of you are familiar with the story of Hannah in the Bible found in 1Samuel 1, and how she was barren for many years and she prayed and begged God for a child.  He heard her prayers and because she asked of God he blessed her with a child.  I look at this scripture through the eyes of praying/asking of God something for years and longing to have that prayer answered.  Because God has broken my bondage during a time that I have also been pregnant, Lesh and I thought it perfect to name our second son Samuel.  Samuel Brennan Richardson is due to arrive on or before January 17th, 2012.  Lesh and I can not wait to meet this sweet son who will always be a reminder of God ushering us into freedom.  And as a testimony to God, not to brag, I can share with you all that I have only gained 1 lb in my 28 weeks of pregnancy.  That is a miracle from my God who is showing me and helping me learn what it looks like to walk in freedom.

If you have struggled with something that has kept you in bondage for years, please know that you can be absolutely FREE from what that thing is in your life!!

Here is a picture of Samuel from my last ultrasound.  We have asked of God, and have been heard by God.

Randomness

I haven't written in a while!  My mom moved in about a month ago so life has been pretty chaotic around here!  Some pretty Random stuff has been going on, so here a just a few things that have been happening!

Nathaniel is sleeping in a big boy bed!  Since I'm pregnant my back has been starting to hurt and lifting 30 + lbs over a crib rail was getting difficult.  He only fell out of  bed once and he does great now!

I gave Nathaniel some chocolate covered peanuts and 5 minutes later he came to me like this! What a mess!!

Guess what Nathaniel's gonna be for Halloween?  Iron Man! Prototype one from the first movie, the one Robert Downey made in the cave.  He's so excited about it!

A kidnapping!!!  Yup, I was involved in kidnapping Sweet T for her birthday!  A bunch of us gals got together and took Tina to DQ for some of her favorite ice cream cake and then headed back to her place to watch some Rachel Zoe and Project Runway.  She had a great time!

Homecoming in Texas!  This is a tradition that apparently only exists in Texas and Oklahoma.  I love me some crafts, so when my youngest Bro-in-law asked if I could make his mum I jumped at the idea!  Here it is all done!

So lots of different things going on in the midst of my chaos, but it's all been good to help me continue to heal and grieve from the loss of my daddy.  Each day brings a new set of emotions, but I know God's working it out all out for his glory!

I'm Addicted!

So I have to admit that I'm addicted to several TV shows!  How do I know?  Because I hate watching TV in the summer and I just miss my shows!!  These are some of the shows I love!  Oh and last year I cut my shows in half because it was getting redonkulous!!  I'm starting with my summer list!

1.  The Closer-  I'm so sad because there are only 2 episodes left of the series!  Kyra is calling it quits and they are doing a spin off with another character in the show.

2. Rizzoli and Isles-  Love this new show with actresses I was familiar with from other older shows.  Rizzoli was in Law and Order and Isles was in NCIS.

3.  So You Think You Can Dance-  It is so fun to watch these talented dancers do routines that range from Hip Hop to the Fox Trot.

Okay that's it for summer!  In just a few more weeks Some of my faves are starting again.  And don't get on my about how many I watch.  I know I'm not the only one! Ha!  After alll, I need something to watch while I fold laundry and do my house cleaning right?

1. NCIS- mystery, murder, action, and humor

2. The Rachel Zoe Project- I love fashion I just can't afford it or wear most of it, but I love to laugh at this show.  It is pretty Ba-Na-Nas!

3. Project Runway-  More fashion in design!

4. Chuck- for the inner nerd in me

5. Bones- doctor/cop show

6. The Office- just plain ole funny!  Although, I'm a little aprehensive about it since we lost a main character last season!

7. The Biggest Loser- very inspirational to see people transform their lives from the inside out!


 What shows are you addicted too and looking forward to watching again?

We are back!

Lesh and I just got back from our romantic getaway to the Texas hill country!  We had the best time ever!  It was so relaxing and we enjoyed each other being away from real life stress.  Lesh researched places to stay in the Hill country and found Hillside Cabin.  It truly is a quiet cabin in the middle of nowhere.  That is where we both needed to be!  The last couple of months have been difficult with the loss of my dad in June.  For me its been emotionally taxing and for Lesh it's been hard because he is the one who is handling all my dad's affairs.

On Sunday we dropped both Checkers and Nathaniel off with their grandma's and headed on our way out of town.  About an hour into our drive the "battery not charging" light came on.  We both were like, "Oh no!"  We just kept seeing the battery voltage keep going down and praise the Lord Bastrop was our oasis!  WE had just enough juice to pull into the Auto Zone.  Since it was a Sunday no mechanic shops are open so Lesh figured he could replace the alternator himself.  We get to the counter and Lesh explains our issue and they say, "We can recommend a mobile mechanic!" We were like, "Hallelujah!"  So a mechanic shows up and 3 hours and $400 later, our car is fixed! We did get to ride in a 1965 van that was 2 movies!  Machete, and Friday Night Lights!  It was loud, old and stinky!  Ha!

We enjoyed the rest of our drive through the beautiful hill country and we finally pull into the entry way to our cabin.  It was a mile drive from the main entry.  We drove past the owners home that was AMAZING!!  It looked like a picture of a home in Southern Living Magazine!  and then passed a few curves to our cabin.  We both were in awe!  It was perfect!  We got out and it smelled so good!  It smelled like Cedar and relaxation!

After we unpacked we did a litle exploring and then drove out to Wimberly for dinner at a great restaurant called Marco's.  Yummy!  We took a walk at a park after dinner and took in all the beautiful landscape the hill country has to offer.   We decided to go see a movie at an outdoor theatre they have and we saw Cowboys vs. Aliens.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.   The place was cheap, but of course the quality wasn't the best, but we still enjoyed watching a movie under the stars something we hadn't done before!  Then we headed back to our cabin to relax.

On Monday morning Lesh went running early and I slept in a little.  The owner had made us blueberry muffins that were quite delicious!  Then we both decided we would read.  I headed outside to the hammock on the hillside with a beautiful view and read for 3 hours!  I started and finished "Heaven is for Real."  I prettty much wept through the whole book since my dad's passing is so recent.  I just kept thinking of my aunts vision of my dad in heaven.  It was good to release that grief.  Lesh napped too while I finished my book.  Then I made Lesh's favorite meal for him- Flautas and Mexican rice.  After lunch we headed back out to Wimberly to do some shopping and then we went swimming at the Blue Hole!  It is a beautiful park with bald cypress trees and it was very refreshing.  Then we headed back to our cabin to shower and change for dinner.  We drove to Driftwood which was only 20 minutes away and had dinner at the Salt Lick.  Wowsers was it yummy.  It's good ole Texas BBQ!  If you are ever in the hill country you have got to go here!

Tuesday we repeated the relaxing and I laid in the hammock for 3 more hours reading 90 Minutes in Heaven.  Didn't finish it but almost.  We cleaned up our cabin and got our things packed and sighed because we didn't want to leave.  We headed home and stopped in San Marcos to shop the outlets a bit.  No car troubles were had on our trip home, thank you Lord!  We picked up our sweet boy we missed terribly and Checkers too. It is nice to be home and so thankful we had the opportunity to get away. 

Dinner at Marco's Italian 

The Corral Theatre- watched a movie under the stars

This is where I laid for 6 hours over the course of the weekend!

My view from my hammock

Sampson is the guard dog, but he was too sweet and very big!

This is Cash and Buck, they were our vacation dogs.  The spent the morning with me while I laid in the hammack and read.  They kept bringing us their ball to throw.  They belong to the owner and are the welcoming committee!

The owner had llamas, goats and we even ran across some wild turkeys and deer too!

The most peaceful and relaxing time!  We would love to go back in the winter and make use of the fire place and hot tub!



Romantic Getaway!!!

Lesh and I leave tomorrow without our sweet boy and head out for a romantic getaway!!  It is so much needed for the both of us.  After my dad died in June it's been quite crazy with ups and downs emotionally and physically.  Lesh has had lots of stress put on him too with all the paperwork he has willingly taken on.  So we both need to get away desperately!

We will be staying here!

There are deer and llamas and a creek.  Also a beautiful porch swing and peace and quiet!!  We can not wait to leave tomorrow morning!!  Did I also mention there is a hot tub!! Woohoo!

E.T. and Laundry

Of course Checkers has to lay on all the clean clothes I had yet to fold right?  It reminds me of the scene in E.T. when he was hiding in the closet amongst all the stuffed toys.  This is only a small portion of the pic.  My whole couch was filled with clothing.  I finally folded it today! HA!