book suggestions

Going back to the classics....

What are some of your favorite classic books??  I am not the best at finishing books that I start or it takes me a really long time or I try to get into too many at once...I like all kinds of books.

Give me some suggestions.  I'm going to start a bucket list of books I want to read ;)

Ready. GO!

Happy Thursday!  Enjoy this gorgeous, fall weather!

More pumpkin patch...

Picture overload ahead but it was so hard to condense them down to just a few.  Here are my favs :)  Huge thanks to my sweet friend, Melanie for taking pictures!!

Obviously, Alyssah had her moments with the camera.  Of course most of them were when I wanted a picture...oh the joys of having a dramatic girl ;)

Happy Fall! :)  I'm loving it!!

Painting pumpkins!

The kids painted their pumpkins from the pumpkin patch earlier this week.  I'm so glad they love doing crafts with me :)

 

Of course Alyssah chose pink for her pumpkin and, Mark chose blue.

They wanted their names on them.  I gave Alyssah some assistance.  She really likes me to write out her name when she colors.  She's trying to be like her big brother a lot these days!

Happy Fall, Yall!  More fall fun-ness to come!  Hope you all have a great week :)

Freedom

Freedom 21 has been chosen as the charity of the month at BK's.  Visit here to learn about these precious girls making a difference in the world $1 at a time and consider helping out their cause.

$1 from each hair tie is donated, and $2 from each headband sold is donated to the charity of the month.

Also- if you are in the Auburn area, Freedom 21 is hosting their annual 5K on Saturday at 8:00.  Come out and join the fun, get sprayed with color, and run for freedom!

Register now at colormefree21.com for $45 until the day of the race.  Day of race the price is $50.

Hope to see you there :)  Have a wonderful Wednesday!

 

Fall fun!

This weekend really started to feel like Fall here at the Adams'.  Friday night the kids and I had our regular movie night and made a banner to decorate with.  Alyssah is really into coloring right now, and Mark loves to do crafts.

Saturday we made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.  We went to a different patch this year, and I loved it.  It was authentic and the kids had a blast just being outside in the dirt!  We went with some of our sweet friends from our small group too so it was just the perfect afternoon!

my loves!

Before we left for the patch to get more pumpkins! ha :)  We decorated these on Friday night during our craft time too.

Mark and his buddy, Cameron.  His Mommy got some really good pictures so I'll post more later!

playing in the corn and feeding the chickens

I am obsessed with these gorgeous sunflowers!

Hope you are enjoying Fall and all the festivities that go along with this amazing time of year.  Thankful for my family and friends to share it with :)  God is so good!  Have a blessed week!

ReCreate 2013

I cannot even begin to describe or explain my weekend.  I knew it would be amazing, but it exceeded my expectations tremendously!  I will never miss another year of the powerful women's conference, ReCreate.  ReCreate is held at our Grant's Mill campus of Church of the Highlands each year.  There are challenging speakers (woah), and we are just loved on for being daughters of our King.  It was a great time to be refreshed with worship and fellowship with some of the amazing women in my life.  It was extra fun for me because I brought 3 of my sweet friends from Columbus with me.  I got to spend some quality time with them and my Auburn ladies :)  I got the best of both worlds in one weekend...lucky me ;)

I will be chewing on the messages for weeks to come I think, but boy it was inspiring and motivating hearing from the women of God that were there.  I'm sure I'll be sharing as the Lord continues to reveal Himself through what we heard.

You can already register for next year's conference at Recreatewomen.com and at a discounted rate for a limited time!  You don't want to miss it!!

Growing...

As I blogged about before, we are doing a small group about parenting this semester.  I started reading a book before we started our small group that is different from the book for the small group curriculum.  It's about parenting as well, but not along with the "Growing Kids God's Way" curriculum.  God was working on my heart about this before I even realized it.  I am pretty much obsessed with it!  If you are a parent, or plan to be soon you MUST read "Raising Unselfish Children in a Self-absorbed World" by Jill Rigby.  She has another book I want to read as well.  You can check her website out here.
I have always wanted to be a good Mom, not just good but great.  Great in the sense that my kids love me, want to hang out with me, they are happy, find their purpose on earth, and ultimately they grow to love Jesus and know Him intimately.  That is my definition of being a good Mom, I'm sure there are other things to add but that pretty much sums it up for me. :)
Throughout reading this book (I'm about halfway through), I have realized things about myself as well.  It's been just as beneficial for me as a Mom of 2 and a follower of Jesus.  I started reading this for my kids, and of course God has used it to speak to me as well so that I can speak Him to Mark and Alyssah.  He has a way of doing that ;)  He is SO awesome!
This is a quote from the chapter I am currently reading.  It just reminds me over and over that as parents, we have to be so intentional with our children.  If we don't someone or something else will grab their attention from the One we desire them to be close to.  Of course, we remember to rely on the Holy Spirit to guide us and God's sovereignty over every situation and moment they are not with us.  I have to remind myself to give my kids to Him daily because as much as I want to, I can't control everything!

["The voices of the world only get stronger as our children grow older, pulling them into pursuits that feed their self-centeredness, telling them 'it's all about you'."  The greatest protection we can give them is the ability to hear God's voice and desire to obey Him, which begins as soon as they're old enough to say, 'God'."]
-Jill Rigby


I'll leave you with this.  Also taken from the book...

Life is not what the world says, but what God says.
It's not about self-discovery, but God-discovery.
It's not finding the answers,
but knowing the One who has the answers.
It's not making ourselves important,
but making God important.
It's not how good we are, but how good God is.
It's not feeling good about ourselves,
but knowing God feels good about us.
It's not about self-fulfillment, but self-denial.
It's not having self-esteem, but Christ-esteem.
It's not loving ourselves, but loving God.
It's not loving ourselves, but loving others.
It's not receiving awards on earth, but rewards in heaven.
Wise Old Wilbur

I believe this is something we could all benefit from daily!  Hope you all enjoy the rest of your week!  I'm super pumped for Highlands women's conference this weekend.  Ready for a girly weekend with my favorite women and some Jesus time!  Can't wait!