Her name....

Ellie Grace Carver


I had typed out a huge explanation as to why, but then blogger decided to have an error and eras it all. Nice.

Three Bags Full

Socktoberfest--Mystery Sock

Through The Loops -- Host Blog with directions

My sister Mandy started me on this after she found it on Ravelry. Every Thursday the host is going to add another set of directions so that you don't know exactly what you are knitting until the next set of directions. Thought it might be fun and motivational to keep me on track!
www.aknittersjourney.blogspot.com

What I've been up to...

Meeting Plumb at the Mops Convention. Kate, Plumb, Me, Rebecca.

A sweater I am making for baby girl. This is just around the collar and then you knit the rest in one piece. I'm hoping it will be tiny enough for her to wear right away.

Forgot to turn the orange lights on. Still waiting for Michaels to finish framing my wedding photo to put above the piano! Urgh.

Pumpkins from Leaping Waters farm. And the little pumpkins are from Mimi's house. This is just the top of my fridge. Just a glimpse at some of the fall decorations finally going up around the house. Can't wait to finish the front porch.

Fall is here...

Even though I didn't feel good the other day (just a cold, no more nausea, whoohoo!), I couldn't resist hauling out the autumn decorations. Thankfully Mom downsized her collection so that we girls could have some things. I loved pulling it out this year. Now that the walls are painted and furniture is finally set in place, playing around with all the knick-knacks (Shane is anti-knickknack by the way) was way more fun. The kiddos put their pumpkin Jack out on the front porch, THANKS MIMI!, and I got out my carrot cake yankee candle. It smells like fall and it is so fun to pull it out from the cabinet again. It makes me want to make Leslie's carrot cake recipe, which is seriously the best. I didn't like carrot cake before that cake. YUM! Is it from Southern Living Les? I have yet to take pictures of any of this, but hopefully this coke I am drinking will give me a little more energy. I slept Reece's ENTIRE nap yesterday, that's three hours for those of you that don't know! I didn't get anything accomplished. But Mom always said rest is the best medicine. She also always took us shopping when we stayed home sick from school. I think she should come down here right now and take me to TJ MAXX! ha ha ha!

A sweet sweet surprise...

Baby Carver #3 is a GIRL! I'm still in a little bit of a shock, but excited too. We thought for sure it was a boy. Now we have to start a whole other list of baby names since we've only been looking at boy names. All her organs are working and she is measuring just fine. We are so thankful that so far she is healthy and already keeping us on our toes.

The Castle

Catching Up

What the kitchen looks like after a bake off.

This Italian Zuchinni was actually the smaller of the two!

Zuchinni bread, apple crisp, apple pie

Baked apples. A little too much cinnamon.

THe apple corer was way fun and the kids loved it.




Avery trying to copy all the letters and numbers. She sat and did this by herself!

Pictures of the paint and new floors. FInally got all of the baseboards in, just need painted.

A dining room. Made with things from around the house.

Moved the office down here so we can turn the nook in our room into a mini-nursery.

Being Real

This is my entry for our women's retreat booklet. I am no Beth Moore! But I just wanted to be real.


Psalm 23:2 (NIV)
"He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters."

This summer the Lord MADE me LIE down. I am an on the go, social, keep busy kind of person and laying around on the couch for almost three months isn't on my top ten thousand things to do. Finding out I was pregnant with our third baby was a shock and a blessing at the same time. I was so excited for about 4 days and then the nausea began. After two weeks of barely functioning and fighting with insurance to get Zophran, I was at least able to hold down food. But for the entire summer my days consisted of the bare minimum. My children were fed and clothed, but not played with. My house was picked up, but not clean. My summer was dark. The four walls of the house seemed like a prison and I didn't even have the energy to feel sorry for myself. I did have enough to complain though!

Now that I am out of the "depths of despair" I can look back and see that God clearly had a hand in each and every moment of my REST. It forced me to not over do things and to really concentrate on keeping the pregnancy. Avery and Reece suddenly started playing together. This was truly a gift. They spent the summer inside, but their new found relationship opened whole new doors of excitement for them. This is one reason I survived the summer. Shane began doing all the cooking and cleaning and all things deemed smelly or gross that would send me into a dry heaving spell. (Was that too much information?) A side of him I had never seen before. I fell in love with him in a whole new way. In sickness and in health came true. And thankfully he honored those vows and loved me through this! I pray the Lord blesses him greatly for this.

I wasn't spending my summer pouring over and studying the bible. I didn't go to any bible studies or read any theology books. My source of comfort and only daily contact with God was a bible verse plaque on my windowsill that said, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phillipines 4:13

I think God took me to this point this summer to show me just how simple the message was. He made me lie down. Rest was the only option. A bible verse that I had heard a million times suddenly was broken down to the rawest and simplest meaning. I only had God.

1. Is there an area of your life that you are not allowing God to be your strength? What would it take to let it go?

2. In Psalm 23:2, lying down in green pastures is specific. It's a kind of rest that is secure and safe because of trusting in the Shepherd. Has there been a time that you have totally rested in God? How did that experience change you?

3. Rewrite Psalm 23:2 using your own name and your own experiences.
Example: Lord, make me, Megan, lie down on my couch and rest for my baby, I trust you to lead me through this safely, securely, and contentedly.

Day One..AnimalKingdom

Avery and Reece loved all the rides. Even the bus that took us around everywhere was exciting. They thought they were too cool standing up on it and holding the rails.

Shane happened to see Rafiki as we were leaving the park and the kids walked right up to him and got to meet him. We had just come out of the Lion King show so they were pretty excited.

Meeting Mickey was definitely a highlight. Reece now loves Mickey! And Avery had a lot of fun getting autographs in her book.

She wore the sunglasses the whole day!




FIrst shot of the day and not so pretty!

Reece and I on the boat ride from the hotel to Downtown Disney.

Had to keep an eye on this boy. He wanted to lean way over to see everything.

Even Shane had fun on this ride. He was in charge of keeping them in the boat!

The Royal Table...

Her Dreams Came True...