Week 41, My Punkin' Heads

This week went much more smoothly than the previous couple of weeks.  I hope this means a return to normalcy--well, as normal as you can expect with a 3 year old and 2 year old boy!  I started the week off by tackling the always challenging, always terror-inducing...haircuts!  As per usual, Ethan sat fairly still, and Tommy hated the entire thing....but, in the end, after a couple of bribes, the mop was gone!  In fact, it might be a little "too gone" up at the front!  So, as you can see below, the boys had a lot of fun collecting on their bribes!

Ethan is obsessed with pumpkins!

See, I told you!!

The boys running out to the big pumpkins!

Ethan thinks he's Cinderella riding on the pumpkin carriage :)

Tommy obviously had to follow E's lead--haha, I love both of their facial expressions here <3

Ethan couldn't get enough--had to go right into the small patch!

WOAH!! Those little guys are slippery :)

 

My big man riding his big tractor!

Tommy cheesing it up through the steering wheel!

Tommy and Ethan riding together <3

Ethan's had enough :)

I love seeing that big smile on his face!

There's one more pumpkin head to add to the patch!

Ethan grabbing one tiny pumpkin at a time, and then trying to carry them one by one to the big pumpkins!

Ethan's right at home in this sea of pumpkins :)

Tommy seemed right at home handling that stick shift!

Ethan going to check out what big bro is up to!

The hay "maze" quickly became the hay "jump over the walls so that it isn't a maze"

My perfect pumpkin picked out a perfect little pumpkin <3

 After the pumpkin patch, we headed over for Bribe #2 :)  This is one you won't see very often--haircuts, doctor's appointments, and photo shoots only!!

The boys were busy scarfing down their burgers and fries.

As you can see, Tommy is quite happy to be at McDonald's :)

 The next night, I was supposed to go to bootcamp.  Now, let me just tell you, I was not in the mood to go at all. And, you may recall from previous blogs that in between bootcamp sessions, I have been doing the "Couch to 5K" program.  Well, over the previous 2 weeks, I had only gotten in 1 session with everything going on.  It was the jog for 10 minutes, walk for 3, jog for 10 minutes routine.  That said, it had been 13 days earlier when I ran it.  That night, there were only 3 of us at bootcamp besides our trainer, Ellery.  We decided that we were just going to try to jog for 30 straight minutes, just to see if we could do it--no matter what the pace was--anything but walking.  Our one friend has really bad knee problems, so she cheered us along as she walked, but she agreed to let us try--thanks Sabrina!  Well, once Brittney and I got going, we decided together that we wanted to try to just go ahead and knock out the entire 5K.  I won't lie, I was basically thinking this, "If I can actually run this thing, I can be done with that program!!".  Running that much had been getting a little hard on my knees, and I was ready to knock at least one thing off of my "to-do" list!  I have to say, I am so proud of us because WE DID IT!!  I ran a 5K in 36 minutes and 59 seconds--right at a 12 minute mile pace, which I am totally fine with!!

On Wednesday, Tommy went to OT and had another good session with Mrs. Emily before we headed out to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods for the THOUSANDTH time--I swear I should be a share holder by now!  Poor Davey though, I've been spending our date nights cooking lately--I feel like I never leave the kitchen, but it's nice to get things done without the boys hanging on me!  They had a great time at Grandma's house as usual, but I tell you they are going to be so sad when Nolan and Laura move out and into their new place in November!

Thursday and Friday were kind of a blur, as we all kind of felt like we were coming down with a little something.  Saturday brought another thrilling victory for the Wolfpack, and my boy T.Y. McGill was even named ACC Defensive Lineman of the week!  We ended the week with another great message at Crosspointe, some wonderful news from friends, and a family trip to the park!

Tommy is all about riding on stuff lately--he stayed on this thing almost the whole time!

That crazy Ethan kept trying to steal the other kids' toys--Daddy to the rescue!

My handsome guy <3

And, there's another one!

 

Mommy and Daddy both had to ride the frog--thank God I was the one with the camera!

 

My Ethy-bear coming down the slide :)

I can't believe this picture worked!  I stuck the camera in a little hole in the tunnel and snapped it!

Ethan riding the froggy!

Ethan pointing and yelling out "PLAY" and "IT" from the sign--proud Mommy :)

The boys getting a little exercise on the "football field"--really a soccer field :)

My little guy holding my favorite sports ball!

Life Lesson:  Using Your Strengths

God has given us all a different set of skills, talents, and strengths.  As I've mentioned before, you should do your best in everything that you do.  Having said that, I think we should try to be wise and choose to do things that God has gifted us to do.  When you work within your strengths, you are not only much more productive, but you're much happier too because you're doing something you're good at and enjoy doing!  Along those same lines, try your best not to get caught up doing things that are not your strengths.  Sometimes it is necessary and unavoidable, but I believe it is a misconception that you should actively work on your weaknesses in an effort to turn them into strengths.  That can be very frustrating and ultimately unfruitful.  Instead, I urge you to focus your efforts on those things that God Himself designed you to do. Instead of a never-ending journey to become a "jack of all trades", become a master of one (or a few!).  Everyone was created differently, and one person's skill sets are not better or more important than someone else's--they are just different.  The world, however, will most definitely value some people's skills over others, but God does not and neither should you.  We are all unique and serve a specific role in His plan.  Never look down on someone because their strengths are not your own, and certainly don't ever get down on yourself or think that you don't have anything to offer!  You are valuable--especially when you use your strengths to fulfill God's purposes in your life and the lives of those around you.