Show Hope Fellowship Weekend

Last weekend, we went to Nashville for such a fun weekend!!! Every year Show Hope puts on a weekend event for its donors and adoptive families who have received grants. It was so great being together as a family, all with the same mindset. On Friday night, there was a small gathering at the Chapman's barn. Chris, my brother-in-law, spoke and Caleb (Caleb and Will Franklin Chapman's band) played. (They are AWESOME, by the way!) Chris did such an amazing job describing his new role as the Director of Student Initiative... basically his role is to focus on getting young people interested in helping the orphans in this world. Then on Saturday night, we went to the banquet. It was AMAZING!!! It really is hard to put into words all that we were able to see!

Every year they give a Hebrews 11:1 award. This year, it went to the doctor that has headed up the surgeries that have taken place at Maria's Big House of Hope. MBHOH is a hospital in China that the Chapman's built for special needs children who would normally not get any help for their need. This surgeon and her team (all from Pennsylvania) have performed almost 20 lip and cleft palate surgeries. It was so neat to hear all about her experience! Oh, how I would love to visit that hospital some day!!!

The speaker was fabulous, as well. It was Ernie Johnson, who is an NBA announcer... Corby knew who he was, but I didn't! He and his wife adopted 2 kids after having 2 of their own, and at the age of 54, they are adopting 2 more. Their youngest is 18, and now they will have a 9 and 10 year old. Their story was very inspiring! He was also HILARIOUS!!! Overall, the night was simply amazing! Our hearts were stirred (once again) to help the unloved children of this world... so we'll see where that takes us!

My amazing mom and sisters!

I love them all SO much!!!

The boys were taking a picture and Steven jumped in!

This will be Kay's Christmas card, for sure!

Chris, thankfully, captured everyone

trying to get Harper and Eliana to smile

This is what happened when I asked

Leah to take a picture of me and Corby

Then this happened...

And finally the picture I actually wanted

Lindsey and Chris

Leah and Mike

We got to meet Angie Smith...

we are all big fans of her blog!

Harper was quite a hit at both events!!!

Happy Owl-o-ween!!!

I'm sure as Harper sleeps, she will be dreaming about all of the candy she has in her bucket! To say that she has a sweet tooth is an understatement, so this might quickly become her favorite time of the year! Last night we went to our church for Trunk or Treat, and she had a blast! She did really well until she saw Spiderman, and that really upset her! She and I went down the bounce-house slide MANY times... it was a shame I was the only adult under the weight limit! I know Corby would've loved it, and perhaps my knee wouldn't be feeling the way it is today if he could've done it with her! There was a band too, and she loved listening to them! She and Corby also participated in a cupcake walk, and they won!!! It helps when you are the only one participating!

Tonight we did a little bit of trick-or-treating to the neighbors that Harper knows. The sweet little ladies that live on our street have grown to love her, so they were thrilled to see her! She also had a blast at Mare and Reid's house! Not only did she get to see Samson, she got a lot of candy!!! Saylor also came by, so they had a lot of fun playing together! In the end, we had such a fun weekend together as a family! Harper loved wearing her costume, and I might be biased, but I'm pretty sure she's the cutest owl I've ever seen!!!

Photo-op at Trunk or Treat

Winners!!!

She loved her flower balloon from Mr. Jim!

She was thrilled to get a sucker!

And she had to eat it right away!

Listening to the band while eating her hotdog bun...

Yes, only the bun! Such a picky eater!

Just hanging out on the porch

Ugh...she's just so cute!!!

As proud as can be with her bucket!

The most precious Owl in the world!

Harper and Dadda

Heading up to Mare and Reid's!

Saylor the kitty cat

Who needs candy when you can eat chips?!?!

Happy Birthday, Corbs!!!

Today is Corby's birthday, and Harper is especially excited because she saw the cupcakes for his party!!! She called him this morning and her "happy birthday" was the most precious thing in the world!!! He's the most amazing husband and father and deserves to have the best day ever!!! We'll be celebrating by eating some dessert and watching the Rangers...who will hopefully win! Otherwise, the birthday boy might not be too fun to be around!!!



Obviously Corby was in heaven as Harper laid her head on his at the zoo!!!

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Too delicious to keep to myself!

I was making dinner for some friends this week, and I wanted to find a pumpkin cupcake recipe. Oh my word... you need to make these right now! I didn't put heath bar on top because I didn't have any, but I bet it would be tasty! It also says it makes 10, but I filled all 12 cups, and they were very full! The frosting is the best part. Corby doesn't like cream cheese (or so he says), but he does love the maple flavor... so that won him over. He was skeptical at first, so he had to try mine. He quickly grabbed one for himself! I've had to pace myself because I could've eaten them all in one day! And maybe my favorite thing that has been said about them comes from Mare..."I just don't want this to end!"

ENJOY!

Ina Garten's Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Frosting

Makes 10 cupcakes

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature (I just used large)

1 cup canned pumpkin purée (8 ounces), not pie filling

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Maple Frosting (recipe follows)

1/2 cup coarsely chopped Heath bars, for serving (2 1.4-ounce bars)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush or spray the top of 10 muffin tins with vegetable oil and line them with 10 paper liners.

2. Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. In a larger bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin purée, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vegetable oil. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined.

3. Divide the batter among the prepared tins (I use a level 2 1/4-inch ice cream scoop) and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely.

4. Spread the cupcakes with the Maple Frosting and sprinkle with the chopped toffee bits.

Maple Frosting

6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon Boyajian Natural Maple Flavor

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese and butter on low speed until smooth. Stir in the maple flavoring and vanilla extract. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.

Here's the link where you can find the recipe... http://www.housebeautiful.com/kitchens/recipes/ina-garten-pumpkin-cupcakes-1010

Harper's School Picture

Harper had her school pictures a few weeks ago, and aside from the horrible backdrop, the picture turned out really cute! If I had known the background was going to be this lovely fall scene...her outfit would've been less "loud". I simply made a fool of myself, and that precious smile was the result! We had an Open House at the school last night, and Harper loved getting to show Dadda around. He was fascinated with how giddy she was just being in the building. It really is so wonderful how much she loves that place!

I wish I had a video camera on her all day long to capture all of the songs she sings. She knows the tune to so many songs and the words to a few as well. The songs she mainly sings are the alphabet song, twinkle twinkle, London Bridge, Bye bye (from swim class), Jesus Loves the little children (which she just calls "white"... obviously not the point of the song, so we'll be working on that!), Jesus Loves me, itsy bitsy spider, and I'm sure I'm missing some too! She has also been putting more words together.... like, "dadda work", "eye hurts". Today she said, "no more whining"... if only she listened to her own words! And every time she is saying bye to someone or something, she will add the name of that person or thing to the end.... "bye bye Rose" (our sweet neighbor who loves her dearly!). She cracks me up every single day with the new things she is saying! I am loving this stage!!!

It's a shame you can't see the fake brick stand

with fall leaves and an apple on it...

And I had to add this...

I found this shirt for $3 at the Gap.

Look closely, and you'll see that the cat is wearing pink glasses too!

Harper is in LOVE with this shirt!!!

Better late than never...

I think we had these pictures taken in August... and I have just forgotten to post them! A friend from church is trying to get her photography business going, so she asked if she could take our pictures! Other than the fact that the humidity RUINED my hair, I loved a few that she got of Harper!

Playing Peek-a-boo

One of the many faces of Harper

This was her first time in a wagon,

and now she is obsessed with them!

I really don't think she could be any cuter!

Ugh...the hair is awful,

but this was the only good close-up of the 3 of us!

We should obviously be at school today, but Harper threw up in the night... so we're home for the day! It's kind of nice to be at home and not feel like I have a million things to get done!

19 months...

Since I didn't do an 18-month update... we'll just do it today, on her 19 month birthday! I have had a really hard time getting my schedule down now that I'm working. Therefore, it has been hard finding time to blog. But since this is in lieu of a scrapbook, I have to stay on top of what's going on with Harper! Here are some things Harper is doing now:

-She tells me the moment she has pooped... and she wants the diaper changed immediately!

-She says so many words: momma, dadda, apple, baba (banana), water, milk, chicken, cheese, gapes (grapes), ice cream, cupcake, cookie (she loves sweets!), cracker, goldfish, book, pumpkin, acorn, church, baby, all the names of our family members and close friends, dog, kitty cat, duck, bird, goat, piggy, home, breakfast, lunch, hungry, thank you, bless you... and I'm sure there are more!

-Every morning this is the conversation we have we have when I go to get her... every morning!

Harper: "morning"

Me: "Good morning Harper!"

Harper: "Dadda?"

Me: "Dadda's at work"

Harper: "Oh"

-She will point to our clothes when I'm folding them and let me know whose is what... "Harpers" "Mommas" "Daddas"

-She LOVES school! She has such a great time playing with her friends, and she naps better there than she does at home!

-She sleeps from around 8:15pm- 7:45am, and takes 1 nap that is usually 30 minutes

-Size 18-24 month clothes, size 5 shoe, and size 4 diaper

-As far as discipline, we do time out with her, and it is currently very effective.

-Her 18 month stats:

Weight: 24 lb 11 oz (65th percentile)

Height: 32 3/4 in (85th percentile)

Head: 45 3/4 cm (35th percentile)

These pictures from some that I've taken over the last month

She loved brushing the goat at the Arboretum

I couldn't get her to look at me... so this was the best we could get!

She looks so innocent...

too bad she started eating dirt right after this was taken!

She loved the "bumpy" pumpkins...

She yelled "bumpy" every time she saw one

She had a blast at Stella's birthday party in Fayetteville!

Harper and Cilla loved the bounce house!

Enjoying another pumpkin patch

This picture is incomplete...

We missed you, Lindsey!

I love my sweet girl!