Pumpkin Patch

My hairdresser, Debbie, has recently been going to the church that we used to live by when we lived in our townhome. We have been going to this Pumpkin Patch every year since Justin's first Halloween. Debbie was working the Patch last Sunday afternoon, so after very long naps for my fellas, we went to pick out our yearly pumpkins.

Debbie, Justin, & I had fun with our faces poking through.


It was nice to have Debbie there to be our photographer. Yes, I could have cropped this photo before I posted it, but that would mean a delay of about 2 weeks before this post came up. And we can't have that now that I am all caught up now, can we?


We got some good smiles and some silly smiles of my sweet boy.


He really wanted to take a picture, so he did this one of Debbie and me all on his own.


Another photo of my threesome.


All that Justin really wanted to do was run back and forth and hit Tweety Bird, who he has no idea who it really is. He just thought it was fun. Such a little boy.



Once we picked a tall thin pumpkin, a short round one, a small round pumpkin and a teeny tiny pumpkin to represent all 3 of us and Roxy, Justin headed to the car with our purchase. Now which pumpkin is supposed to be me? Ah, I can't worry about that one!


Let's hope these pumpkins last until our neighborhood Pumpkin Carving Event next weekend.

Dewberry Farms

The last time we ventured over to Dewberry Farms was back in 2007 - the temperature was 92 degrees in October, it was a Sunday at 12 noon, which was code for right in the middle of naptime, we were with a group of 25 parents and kids, we waited in line for an hour for tickets, and we really didn't enjoy ourselves that much (due to all the above mentioned). This is what Justin looked like last go-round (Chance is on the left):


This time we went with 4 other families, the weather was about 58 when we arrived, we had printed off tickets that we had bought on the internet (a must - we were 2nd in line and walked right in when it opened), and we were nowhere near naptime. It was such a gorgeous day to be outside last weekend! At first all the little J wanted to do was swing. Then he progressed to the sandbox.

Then we put some food on a pulley and dumped in into an eating container. The goat then had to walk the draw bridge to get its food.



He wanted to do ti over and over, but we told him we had only brought one quarter.


Then Justin wanted to watch the puppet show with chickens singing a song. So far, we had thought that everything he wanted to do was quite random. But hey, we were here to have fun.


The Maryes from Sunday School were there to watch the show with us: Audra, Tatum, Dave, & Griffin.


Then we went down the roll slide. Luke Pine went down solo, as did Justin until the last turn when he rode in his father's lap.


Then we got on the hayride, where we went to a real pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin. Though we did not bring home a pumpkin, we had a fun time discerning which pumpkins were Cinderellas, etc. We learned how much sugar you have to add if you are making a homemade pumpkin pie according to what kind of pumpkin you got.


We usually go to the pumpkin patch every year with Hannah, so this year we just did Dewberry instead.


Some individual shots of the two.


Luke & Justin were rearranging pumpkins while Ainsley just enjoyed sitting in the dirt.


Justin kept trying ton pick up the pumpkins to put them in a straight line. He would then occasionally drop one - though you can't tell, the pumpkin on the right photo actually has 5 more inches until it touches the ground.


Then we went and rode the corn popper train.


I had so much dirt on me that the grit in my teeth didn't go away for hours. But hey, we had fun.


Then we ended up at the jumping pillow. This we could have stayed on for hours on end. Luke and Hannah were all smiles...


...as was Justin.


This is only open on weekend in October and November. The weather is supposed to be pleasant again this weekend, so go take your family for a visit!

Justin's New Room

My sister-in-law, Kaki, is great with redoing furniture. Back in August she did a post about Justin's room - there are before and after shots of some of the Roundtop furniture that she gave a face lift to. I knew that I would quickly follow on her heels with a post of my own. As we can all see, that was not the case. But since this is the final post I have to do before being completely up-to-date, I feel so happy just to get it done. Back in the middle of August, I had a 30th birthday weekend to attend out-of-town and Derek had a wedding for an old Rice basketball buddy in New Jersey. So my parents got Justin a few days early and I completely cleaned out his old nursery, as well as the guest bedroom. We made a few switches with furniture, and I put away burp cloths, receiving blankets, and other various things that really shouldn't be in a room with a 3 year old, don't you think? When you have the space, you sometimes zone out on what you are actually storing there.

I had asked Derek before I had even thought about what to do for a big boy room, and he said he wanted a subtle sports theme. I was surprised - I would have thought that my humble, athletic husband would want anything but. So I was in search for a subtle theme. With the help of Kaki's creative hand, as well as family and friends with little touches, we finally finished the switch. It was very refreshing to change over casually and in a laid back fashion. Another reason why I am thankful for God's timing!

First up, a piece from my aunt Joannie that used to hang in my cousin Grant's room. It was a brown piece of wood that got transformed into the navy and orange theme I had going on. Justin's walls were already blue, so we didn't have to do a paint job. Horray! The bat is one of the bats that Derek used in the minors. Don't worry - we know not to play with it in the house. And Justin's Rice and Baylor hats both hang proudly off the hooks. Pottery Barn Kids has a similar piece, so I was pumped to get a freebie!


This end table was another cheapy find from Roundtop. The bottom drawer was a little short, so we just took it out completely. Kaki had to do all sorts of things to the top, that can read about on her post. The bottom drawer now holds the prayer bucket, aka the William and Sonoma cookie cutter container from Kaki. Hey, it was sports' themed, and it fit perfectly. The lamp stand was a "trophy" from Target - shaped like a trophy. And the lamp shade I stumbled upon at PBK outlet. And no room is complete without a trusty noisemaker....


I had seen this vintage chicken magnet tray in Roundtop but decided to pass. As I was finishing Justin's room, I wanted a magnet board. I pulled out my card from Roundtop and contacted the dealer, who said she only had 4 of these trays left. One week later and I had my custom-colored tray ready for his room. I have since changed this out to hold artwork from last year that tie in with the current season, thus being Halloween and pumpkins right now. These were just the photos I had lying around awaiting the big photo album task that awaited me.

The tray came with pegs to hang things with as well as vintage milk bottle labels as magnets.


The bed has been around since January, and Justin has been sleeping in it since April. I took the JTM letters from his nursery, painted the JT navy, and reused these puppies once again. Still trying to pull the JT into the repertoire - he is destined for those initials. And the basketball pillow I found at PBK on sale - it matched the room and was a sports ball. Do you like those bed rails - don't fall out, little man! They make me laugh but we leave them up nonetheless.


I kept this saying up from his nursery. If someone had not tried to be so fancy with the photography then you might be able to read it. It's from Pinocchio, and a purchase from Roundtop a few years ago: "To become a real boy you must prove yourself brave, truthful, and unselfish". Truth be told, you need Jesus Christ, but don't worry, I'm on it!


PBK put this chair slip cover on sale and I was all over it. It took the place of the glider, and we snuggle on this to read books before naptime and bedtime.


Shannon Brown found these puppies for me at Target after we had looked around at these cute yet pricey other options. Cannot tell you how many Targets I went to to complete the set.


This dresser got a redo from Kaki after bargaining with this little old woman at Roundtop. I kept some of the airplane theme that Justin had in his nursery. Fitting since his grandfather was in the Airforce for 20 years. I actually didn't take that photo - I bought it at his school auction back in February and he is obsessed with that photo. Maybe because he looks like a cool dude.


And I absolutely love this bookcase, that actually has wheels on it (easy to move!) and was in a classroom at some point. The back f it is bead board and the baskets remind me of a locker feel. Of course, the books are put together in certain feel or category by yours truly, but Justin keeps up with the organization just like his momma. Notice the digital clock - we taught him how to tell time with this (in a sense). He knows when it is 6:30 am (six and three as he calls it) so he can come out of his room to "wake up" for the day. This early bird is awake at 5:30 a lot of times, but he plays quickly in his room until the designated time. For all you complaining about waking up before 7am every now and then...well...count your blessings...


Right above his door is a cross that had the colors and the ball theme. And notice what is right under it - yes, the spanking spoon. No better irony than a cross and a spanking spoon just inches from it. As I tell Justin, "I love you too much, just like Jesus loved us so much, to allow you to disobey me".


Here's the best I could do from standing in the middle of the room to get as wide of an angle photo with my lens.


At least I have another project finished. Now on to trying to sleep in until after 7am....

If you want a new game to play...

...then try out Justin's latest obsession. We play this several times a day. Justin has memorized the saying under each Bible character, and he has tried to (notice the word "tried") to be successful at winning every time. He wants to play this when he wakes up in the morning, after lunch, before and after nap, right before bedtime. And the one strange thing - there is no Noah! Yes, there is Silas, Paul's friend, but no Noah. But I think Justin loves it because the playing cards are huge. I always know right away if he put the pairs, which are stored together, right next to each other. He starts choosing all cards next to each other to make matches. I immediately tell him that that is a form of cheating, so we start over. I am too competitive for that! He always says, "No side-by-side-bys, Mommy." That's right, buddy. He starts to pout if I have too many matches, but also doesn't want any help. I have finally found my match in Memory. He is just like me, big winner, slightly sore loser, very competitive. Game on!




Aunt Elise & Uncle Aaron gave him this game for his birthday. Go get the Candle Memory Game for Toddlers for Christmas!

9 wonderful years

9 years of blessings

9 years of memories

9 years of forgiveness

9 years of growth

9 years of joy

9 years of living life to the fullest

9 years of marriage to my man

To the one I love more and more each day:
Happy Anniversary, Derek

"I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine" Song of Solomon 6:3

Hovsepian Going Away Party

The first neighbor I ever met was Denise. She made me feel right at home , and I soon came to realize that she was like the room mom for our street. Krikor, just retired from his job, so now they are trekking it back to where Denise is from, Fresno, California. You could always find them in their garage sitting at their patio furniture with a drink waiting for you at 4pm in the afternoon. The refused to take no for an answer as they would bring homemade Armenian hummus with carrots, pistachios, and almonds for snack. Denise would call me when I was out-of-town to tell me my sprinkler had been running for an hour and a half. Or my phone would ring at 9:45pm to make sure I knew my garage was open, which I did not. Those kind of neighbors that just take care of you. They leave this weekend, and I will be very saddened by their absence. Six other families got together to throw them a going away party.


What I love about all my immediate neighbors is the diversity. I have learned so much about the different backgrounds, countries, and belief systems of these people that I have grown to call family. We all look out for each other. Dawn, Susannah, Naseem, Denise, Virginia, Chandrika, and someone who crossed her legs in the other photos but looks like she is about ready to bolt in this one.


The fellas look awkward touching arms on the couch, don't they? Greg, Gary, Mike, Krikor, my beloved, & Jin.


We had decided to give them photos of each family. So the week before I would walk in front of each person's house and take their family photo in front of their home. I then put them all in a frame or them to remember us by. We were their family away from home while in Texas.

Here was our quick family photo when I realized last minute that I had everyone's photo but mine. Justin wasn't in the best of moods, so we just went with what he had on and said cheese for 2 photos. He is wearing his Lightning "MaTween" shoes.


After stuffing ourselves with Lupe Tortilla fajitas, the only proper farewell for anyone leaving Texas, we gave our toasts to the best neighbors ever. Denise & Krikor will be greatly missed!