Our weekend was low key and lovely. We had the windows open and the brisk air coming in and making fall the main theme of our weekend. Rudy's work picnic was at jester Park on Saturday evening and we loved being in the open air and walking down by the water. Vaughn even tried her attempt at skipping rocks. i got half way there and realized i forgot my camera so i dont have pictures of this beautiful outing. sunday again was low key and even a bit boring- cleanign wasnt sufficing so Vaughn and I went to the craft store and picked out stuff to make the wreath for our door(pictured above) when we got home we lit a cinnimon candle and got to work....soon to follow was pumpkin bread and baked apples. YUMO My favorite! I am so in love with this weather!

Vaughn and Rudy were both sick this weekend *Vaughn better by Sunday mornign which is when rudy really started getting it* Vaughn still has a very congested cough but no more fever, rudy's got a head full of snot, but no fever. I think we're in the mend and fingers crossed mommy skipped it this time around.

Happy Fall Y'all

Vaughn had an exceptionally hard day at daycare today. Josie (her sitter) called often to keep me posted but she just cried, sat in the corner by herself reading books and crying or stood in the middle watching everyone play and sucking her thumb. let me tell you that I wanted to bust down the walls of my work and run out and get her. I couldnt get home fast enough. My heart was literally in pieces. its never fun or easy to be at work when she's at the sitter but it is nearly impossible to focus or sit in my seat when I know my sweet baby girl is sad or missing me. Josie said she would stand at the gate and look down the road crying for mommy. Makes me cry just typing this. We will see how she is tomorrow- i may take the day off if she has another difficult day. She may just be getting to that age where she has a hard time leaving us. she loves it at josies, but just not today. She told me tonight about a hundred times while caressing my face " I miss you mommy." she just wanted to snuggle tonight. She's precious. We've been singing "Jesus loves the little children." and we point to my cheeks when we say red, yellow is her hair, black is her baby doll and white is alfie. she loves it. i love that she loves it.

I have been virtual Christmas shopping and hoping to get started in a month or so....cant wait. i love the holidays coming up, Fall- Thanksgiving, halloween, Christmas. Vaughn's birthday- I lvoe them all.


Last night we celebrated my mom and sisters birthday- i miss us all getting together- there are always tons of laughs. The kiddos remind me of myself and my cousins my age. They just have a blast together and it makes me excited to see how the goofy group of 3 grows in the future....such a beautiful group of kids.

Vaughn with "Lito" (rudy's dad) eating melon

Vaughn playing with Lita's perfume

my happy love

Though this is sideways, its a video of my little cheerleader. She gets the biggest kick out of this..and is pretty good if i do say so myself:) Go Hawkeyes? Maybe someday!

Sleepy. Yawn...heavy eyes...stretch...yawn..snuggle up...thats me today in a nutshell. I think the cooler weather, rain and gloomy skies are making me feel lazy! I am getting soo excited for fall. I cant wait to sleep with the windows open, make fall foods, see the gorgeous leaves, sport the sweat pants...Im just too excited. My mom emailed us about Christmas today too, its only 4 months away! crazy! im super excited though. I think V will really be into it this year!

As far as the house hunt, Rudy is talking with the loan guy friday and then may make an offer *hopefully*. Something will work out.

I am tired. I feel like it should be the weekend again. We went to the fair this evening to see "Coolio" What tool bag. It was fun...funny....hillarious actually to see 5,000 people gathered to see a 45 year old famous rapper from the 90's. Made me chuckle. Vaughn was getting down with the rest of the weirdos and they were all loving her moves. She cracks me up. She loved the fair- I loved the people watching (and the food). I think her favorite part was riding the bus back and getting stopped at the train tracks- she thought that was pretty neat.
I, being the horrible mom i am, forgot my camera. I FORGOT MY CAMERA! What?!? I have pictures from this weekend at Rudy's parents but I'm too tired to post them. I'll do that tomorrow night. For now, I'll lay my head down and rest a while. Have a fun week...summer is almost over (do i get a hooray?!?) enjoy it while you can. And then comes the real fun!

We are in the Quad Cities. I cannot sleep. Ever since I have read Katie Davis's blog I feel like my "serving heart" has been dormant for so long. I have not been active in doing things for others just becuase I know its right. I have been so caught up and overwhelmed and entangled in my own life that I forget how lucky I am, how fortunate i am to know and trust the Lord and how desperate others are. While I am not in the place, nor do I feel called to move to Uganda or any other far away country such as Katie was called to do, I have always felt called to help serve others in some way. I feel like I am wasting my days in working in the "corporate world" and making no impact on the peoples lives I spend so much time with each day. time goes by so quickly and i have been thinking lately- what have I done, what am I doing to make any sort of difference at all. who's lives have I enriched, who's spirits have I lifted? No one's today is usally my thought. I hate that. I must learn to block it all out and focus. Focus. Focus.

I worked at the state fair today. What a mess of people. I swear there has to be a dress code to get in....wear the most bizarre, inappropriate, trashy clothes you can find and grow a mullet....or a beard if your a women. seriously. I don't see people dressing like that any other time of year- but fair time- look out! Its fun to people watch though-

We are going up to see Rudy's family tomorrow in the quad cities. I have so much to do that I shouldnt be blogging and i just dont feel like doing any of it. I need to clean the fridge- lame, hate that job....i need to vaccum and mop-but no one will complain while im gone if its not done til sunday...I finished laundry and now need to pack and I am hoping to convince rudy that him doing the dishes would be a very generous and manly thing to do:) Wish me luck. Poor sweet Vaughn is still not in bed. If she gets a bit beyond tired, she's done for and its like she'll never fall asleep. Wild one she is.

I am exhausted today...my mind is running a million miles a minute and i just need ten minute of peace. I cant think about any one thing for more than a few minutes before my mind is off to the next thing....its funny, none of the stuff I think about is anything that needs to be done now...its ideas for a "what if" in home daycare, its making a list of birthday gifts ideas for Vaughn and my other family members, its pre holiday shopping in my head, its homework and paperwork that need to get done in the next few weeks, its house things, its calendar planning upcoming weekends, its budgeting, its everything but what needs to be on my mind in that very moment. i wish i was one of those people that took each day at a time but my mind just doesn't work that way. I am such a planner that I am always living two months in advance. I hate that, i love it at times but mostly I hate it. I wish I could just live today- not think about next month at all. Its exhausting. Rudy emailed me the other day asking what plans we had for the upcoming weekends. My response was a page long calendar of every weekend from now until the new year. His replied simply "you're crazy." That's how i feel sometimes when i really think about my spinning mind. Crazy.

I think I am in love...

With a house that is. I found one today, actually two that would be perfect- one....I am trully madley deeply in love with. Beautiful. Only downer, a little more than we wanted to spend (by a few thousand) and only 2 bedroom....but other than that its 100% what i want. hmmm....

On another note. I have been feeling VERY lame lately about my blog. Its so mundane and always the same crap. Ill try to liven it up some....my cousin (ironically also meghan kinney ....now married and meghan matt) has a blog and I read hers daily- so inspirational. She is adopting two african babies and writes of their adoption journeys and they are doing some amazing fundraising through shirts, bags, etc on her website. www.chrisandmeghan.com

Meghan posted a link to a girls (Katie Davis) blog who moved to Uganda when she was 18 and started working in an orphan and is now do amazing work for the Lord and has not only adopted 13 of her own chidlren, she also takes in sick kids in Uganda and looks after them and supplies them medicine, food and love while they recover- many she has held while they die, she feeds over 300 kids daily and teaches them school which most of them have never heard of...she is only 20 years old! what an inspiration. Ive been following her blog and I just sit and cry everynight becuase she is so amazing, her stories touch your soul, make it hard to sleep at night, make you smile and be filled with joy and make me feel like i am doing nothing productive! I am attaching a link and will also try to post a thing you can click on to the side....watch for that. I think its important to read things that inspire you, make you laugh, make you cry...not just my boring life that i write the same thing over and over...so ill try to start mixing it up and spicing it up some.

click here to read the most inspirational blog ever. Katie Davis is her name. you will NOT regret looking into this blog. Makes me want to change my life.

On a different note, I am ITCHING to get creative....I need to paint, create, scrapbook, something! I have so many ideas that could be small buisnesses floating in my head and I feel like thats what i am supposed to do. Not insurance, not a crappy nine to five, but a life that I BUILD, that I produce, make, sell, create, do something that I can be proud of...I am just anxious to start doing something, bringin in some extra green, enjoy, relax....ahh doesnt it sound perfect...now to come up with the "plan" and procede. I have several ideas that I could sell. There is an awesome website called www.etsy.com that is amazing and is all homemade things to sell...its huge...like ebay huge and you can sell anything and everything as long as its homemade. Check it out- there is everything from clothes, excessories, journals, bath and beauty products, art....everything. pretty awesome!

I hope you all check out the awesome sites Ive added here today. You'll love them.

list of my life:

Things I've been doing:
House hunting with Rudy- fun, exhuasting, sometimes creepy and exciting

Taking care of an annoying dog who threw up all over my house the other night.

Keeping up with a sassy vaughn, trying to chase her down because she refuses to stay with me in public and falling down hills becuase I am running after her. Loving her new sassy line when she is mad that she's going to "take my sunshine away!" Too cute that that is the worst thing she can think of at this time.

Working and wishing I could afford to stay at home with my girl

Going crazy wanting to decorate something- a new house perhaps?

The chiropractor- he's eating up all my time and Im not sure he's even doing a bit of good.

Thinking about all the things coming up that we have going on...every weekend its something...

Wanting to clear out the clutter that my living room has accumulated and no where to put it. I HATE CLUTTER.

Wishing I had more time to play with Vaughn.
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Things I am excited about:
Finally deciding on a house soon hopefully.
Birthdays
Black Friday shopping (so im thiinking a little ahead)
Fall
color Drive
Being done with summer classes

s.a.t.u.r.d.a.y.....hooray

Its saturday. Hip Hip Hooray. We are doing alot of hanigng out, picking up, and playing today. We got up late today (amen) at like 6:45 and let me tell you i never in all my life thought I would say 6:45 is late. Wow. I have been really feeling bad for V lately becuase she's so bored with all the toys she has. She loves to do art projects and thats great, but as far as toys, she just goes from toy to toy and seems disinterested. So, we are taking a bunch to the consingment store today and hit a few garage sales this morning. She got an awesome leap frog grocery shopping cart with plastic groceries and a built in hand held scanner and when you scan the groceries it tells you how many and what it is and then does a fun song. Its super cute and she loves it. She also got a felt story book of cinderella with the felt characters. She's been content all morning playing with those two things....that and looking at the pictures in my medical dictionary. weird. maybe we have a doctor on our hands.

There is really not much going on....Tomorrow my sister and i are taking the kids down to see my grandparents. We are cooking them dinner and will hang out....should be nice. we dont see them often enough.

Oh!!! and Vaughn-elise went poop in the BIG GIRL POTTY TODAY!!!! She was so proud, so was I....whoop whoop. what a celebration we had. She just hugged and hugged me she was so excited. Sweet. She's growing up :(