Hellleeeww!!!  How has your October been?  Ours was just fab!

Let me see if I can recap it.  Pictures must wait, though.  Chris and I are trying to figure out storage of all of our pictures.  How do yall do it?  Here is what we are thinking…

1. Put most of the pics we have on our computer onto our external hard drive, as well as Picasa online.

2. Then delete them off our our Mac to make room for all the other ones (i have about 600 fun memories on my camera as we speak,  type/read)!

3. Try to keep this up anytime I download pics onto our computer.  I just hate to think all of our pics would be lost.  Our “puter” is gettin’ old (well, it’s 5 years old) and the thought of it crashing has crossed my mind a lot! 

Onto the month of October…
The month started off with our birthday celebrations!  Chris turned 30 and I turned 29!  My b-day was pretty low-key.  My mom was in town and she took me shopping at Anthropologie and then we went to Whole Foods to get my mini- birthday carrot cake – yumm!!!  Chris turned 30, five days after me.  Our sweet friend, Arica kept the kids for us that night.  We went out to a yummy restaurant – The Post and Beam – a farmhouse built in the 1800’s converted into a culinary delight.  Then we got a hotel room for the night.  It was so nice to not be woken up during the night AND to be able to sleep in and have a yummy breakfast (that I didn’t cook or clean up!!)

The next weekend, Chris, Harper, and I flew to Raleigh, NC to see Dave Ramsey LIVE with my mom, Nancy, Will, Johnny, and Meghan!  Mom had gotten us these tickets as early Christmas presents.  If you read my sister’s blog, you know that she and Will are HUGE Dave Ramsey fans!  They have rocked the baby steps’ socks off over the last 3 years.  I honestly would applaud them on the side, but think there would be NO WAY we could do this due to our family’s rapid growth.  I always thought it was a cool concept, but didn’t know how we would do it!  Well, after this awesome day with family, we learned SOOOO much, and have now gotten on the baby steps train!  Which led to the craziness of the next few weeks.  Go HERE to read about the baby steps.

Harper, stayed with Dad & Leslie, Ryan and Reba while we were at the event.  She had a blast playing with them and her cousins, Kyler and Niko!!  Chris and I flew home on Sunday morning, and Harps stayed with mom and Nancy over the next week.  While she was away, I had 4 1/2 days with just the boys.  And since they were still taking 2 naps a day (they just dropped that precious morning nap), I had two, 4 hour periods of hard work getting ready for our garage sale.  When we went to the Dave Ramsey event, we went with a little debt- but it is still debt!   (side note: One couple that was there had paid off a RIDICULOUS amount of money ($600,000)!!Dave’s baby steps work!!)  So, when we got home, we were very motivated  and got a crackin’!  We put stuff on craigslist, and then had a ginormous yard sale last weekend!  And guess what??!?!  Just with that intense ‘gazelle’ (Dave Ramsey peeps will get that term) focus,

WEEEE’RRRRREEEE  DEEEEEEBBBBBTTTTT  FFFFFRRRRREEEEEE!!!! 

Once we actually get the last debt paid (we have the money, just haven’t handed it over yet), I think we are going to call the show!!  Listen in for us!    We are now working on baby step 3…saving to have 3-6 months of expenses saved in the bank to provide for our family should a rough patch of life be thrown at us, we wouldn’t have to go into debt.  I do have to say, it is a balancing act to let this new way of life not become something you worship.  We have to remember that it is God who provides for our every need!  He is the one on the Throne!  We are just trying to be smart with our money, tell it where to go, how it will be spent, so that we honor God with it, and one day Give Give Give

After the yard sale last weekend, we have been in recuperation mode this week. Everyone has had runny noses, feeling yucky, low grade fevers, etc. I even had a complete tear-filled breakdown over the grocery list/budget because I was so tired!  This weekend, we are looking forward to hunkering down, watching movies, having family time, etc. 

Oh, the other BIG news…. all three boys are walking now!!  Maverick was first, followed by Crews about 2 weeks later, then Warner (who once made up his mind caught up to Maverick’s skill level really fast!). Crews is still deciding what mode of transportation he likes best – walking or monkey crawling.  He still does a little of both.  All the boys finally got their 1 year molars in, so life is gooooood! 

Harper is loving her 2-day preschool.  She is learning so much, and dearly loves Miss Judy and Miss Cynthia.  She will ‘pretend’ call them all the time, and ask if they are at the grocery store or at home – lol!   I love seeing her imagination develop as she plays with her babies or ponies.  She is so fun, and tells me daily, ‘Mommy, I love you so much, you are my best fwiend. ‘ Precious girl! 

If you made it this far, thanks for reading!  We are doing great!

Hopefully, pics will come soon