Party, Party, Party

The month of December is a very busy one for us. Not only do we have Christmas and all that goes with it, we get to celebrate 7 birthdays plus 2 from November. That is a lot of partying!! I made a slide show for all the pictures - we have had a great time so far this month!

4

Saturday Josiah turned 4. I am so blessed to have this little boy, he had a rough start and even broke his collar bone the day of his birth, but he is one tenacious little man! He has a super strong will and knows what he wants and when he wants it. I pray the Lord will give me lots of wisdom with this one!






Happy Birthday, Josiah! I love you so much!

Problem solved

A few months ago my washing machine rusted so badly that it actually broke. My problem-fixing husband decided that it could absolutely still be used and he could easily fix it.

You can see in this close up the bungee cord fix - very Mcgyver of him! Every gals dream ; ) Kind of reminds me of this previous post!


Anyway, thanks to Joe and Cindy and a really fantastic Black Friday sale, I now get to use this:

Isn't it beautiful?! The dryer is just as nice! Who ever thought a washer and dryer could make a person so happy?

ONE

Last Wednesday my baby turned a year old. I can't believe how fast this past year went or how much he has changed our lives. What a sweet surprise and precious gift!



He cried when we sang to him and wasn't so sure about eating his cake.

But who can resist turning a bowel into a hat?(not sure how much he actually ate!)

After a much needed bath, it was on to gifts with 3x the help!

I think he likes it!
We are so blessed to have Judah in our family and he is a perfect fit.

Sweet Dreams

Another I ♥ Faces challenge. This week is Sweet Dreams which reminded me of this picture from our trip to Pawley's Island. Judah was so tired from all the sun, sand and fun he fell asleep in the midst of it all. Poor baby! I love how his toes are sticking out from the towels... such a sweet moment.



check out the hundreds of other entries over at the website.

Autumn Beauty

This week the theme at I ♥ Faces is Autumn Beauty. Here is my version done boy style ; )
This is Judah Michael enjoying the fresh air and fallen leaves of October. He loved it when the wind would blow and make the leaves dance around him!

You can find other Autumn Beauty pictures over at the I ♥ Faces site.

It's Time

Once again it is time to start checking out Gotta Deal for all the leaked Black Friday ads! I get so excited this time of year! This is one of my favorite days of the year and I think we have it down to a science now. Anyway, head over and get your Christmas list started... I already have! But 2 weeks from now - be sure to stay outta my way ; )

One Little Indian

OABA

This past weekend we all went to Columbus for the OABA Apaca Fest. For any non-alpaca peeps this is just a big alpaca show in Columbus. We went to promote Openherd. This was a great weekend for us and we got to spend quality family time just enjoying each other! We stayed at the Drury Inn in a two room suit and the boys loved it. It was so neat and exciting to them! We took them to the show with us and we all wore our Openherd shirts. I let them all take pictures of any alpacas they wanted and they also got to climb and play on the John Deere tractors and gators that were on display.

This was Elijah and Isaiah's favorite alpaca. The one with the white neck and darker body.

This little guy took a big interest in Josiah and JoJo told us that he made a new alpaca friend. The black ones are his very favorite color and he wants one of his own!


After the show we went to Red Lobster for dinner a favorite of the boys. They love crab legs and shrimp pasta and they love when we let them get dessert!Judah enjoyed it too!

On our way out we realized Adam locked the keys in the van! After searching the diaper bag and a bit of panicking on my part Josiah became the hero of the night!

Once he got into the van he was so excited about the whole thing that he was dancing around and laughing so hard he fell over! I thought for sure that now we had a real problem on our hands but he got up and did, indeed, get the doors unlocked for us! The whole thing was just so funny!

Once we got back to the hotel we took the boys swimming at the pool and then let them stay up until midnight. It was such a nice weekend and a much needed dose of family fun!

Ahland

I have been so busy I forgot to tell you about our business name change. For obvious reasons we had to change the name 3 Knights Alpacas. We had the hardest time thinking of something because we wanted it to be meaningful. After throwing out a number of options and having a few others already in use we have decided on Ahland Alpacas. The ah of course represents all 4 of our boys and there is room for growth - just in case we would need it - not that we will! Anyway we are up and running and you can visit our web site if you want. Also, we now have 3 girls being bred and will be looking forward to 3 new cria next fall!
Ahland Alpacas

School Pictures

I continually find it hard to believe that Elijah is in 3rd grade already. Jeesh!! He is, though and I have the picture to prove it!



Isaiah got very embarrassed and had a hard time keeping his head up. His teacher wasn't sure if they even got a picture of his face. Well, they did and here is Isaiah's 1st grade school picture.

Parade

Friday the boys got to dress up at school and have a party; they were so excited! What they didn't know was that they also got to have a little costume parade outside for all the parents and relatives before the party. We didn't spend much time on costumes this year due to H1N1 - it really wiped us out for a couple weeks. Josiah was excited to get to go and see his big brothers and all the other kids that he had to dress up too!

First up was Isaiah dressed as Wind Waker Link from the video game.

Then Elijah was an old man. His friend told me Elijah looked just like his grandpa!

Judah was very excited about all the kids in costume!

Here is my Super Hero, Josiah very ready for action!

Design

Ever wonder what your design style is? Now you can find out by taking this quiz. The picture above is supposed to reflect my style; not sure it suits me so well. I don't think I will ever own any furniture in a white or cream color! I had fun answering the questions, though!

What's Up?

So it's been a couple weeks since my last post. We have been doing nothing. Literately, nothing. The boys and I caught the piggy flu and we have been sick since the 15th. Let me tell you, it just plain sucks. The regular flu is bad, but this really is worse and it lingers. We are still battling it. Sinus problems and coughs still persist and my Isaiah got pneumonia from it. UGH! He is fine and the Doctor caught it very early, praise God. I can not wait until we are finally done with all of this. Adam never got it so he was able to step in and be a huge help. Such a good daddy and husband!

On a side note the Doc. said anyone with flu like symptoms right now, more than likely, has H1N1 because seasonal flu has not yet hit. Wash those hands, people!

Upcycled Glass

Friends of mine are finishing their basement and putting in a bar. A couple weeks ago we got to talking about some neat things they could put in it - as soon as it gets finished, that is! All of the things I found are considered 'upcycled' glass - I guess that makes it cooler than plain old recycled.

First up is some bar ware. Upcycled glasses for the kiddos...
and for the grown ups.
Both from Yava Glass where you can find a ton of other options.

More glasses from Nick Paul
.

bodhicitta also upcycles glass bottles into bar ware.

They have planters too.

Big Sky gives us something to hold chips, pretzels or cheese and crackers.





Votives from R3 by K2.



I even found a clock at Orcutt Glass.

My favorite upcycled idea came from Bar Lite

You can use your own bottles or pay extra shipping and have them sent to you. They make different styles and lamps too.

Now if I can just get P & C to get the basement done... ; )