Halloween Pics

I doubt there is anyone out there who has yet to hear my good news (given that I have done all but fly a plane with a banner over Gville) but just in case.........I PASSED MY QUALIFYING EXAMS!!! I still am in a state of denial that it is all behind me and I may be suffering from a minor case of PTSD (post traumatic stress syndrome) b/c I still stop myself and think I need to be studying. I am now officially ABD (all but dissertation) and have the signatures on my form saying I am an official doctoral candidate and cleared to graduate upon my dissertation defense. So basically this means I just need to write it up and turn it in. Easier said than done BUT I have almost all of my data collected so I am anticipating defending in the summer!!! I am not officially allowed to graduate until a year has passed between my quals and dissertation defense but my committee agreed that I can move and start a job if I find one and just come back to Gville to defend/walk for graduation. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!! We all know it is ONLY by the grace of God that I have made it this far. =) That two hour defense was just about as stressful as the written exams. They drilled me and I actually had sweat under my arm pits but was relieved to hear that I "wowed" them and they said I passed with flying colors and really knew my stuff. Funny b/c I still don't feel in anyway like an expert which is somewhat unsettling.

I have really been enjoying some down time amidst caring for our yet again sick boy and have been rather "unconnected" from the internet which has been great. I started to miss my blog though, so had to pop on and get all caught up in pics. So much has happened in the last few weeks!

Here are the rest of our Halloween pics, oh and Sammy is having a ROUGH time dealing with the closing of the pumpkin patch. He asks about it almost every day and sometimes his little lip quivers when I tell him it is closed up until next year. Today we drove by construction and they had that plastic orange makeshift fence stuff up and he literally screamed and about jumped out of his carseat yelling "pumpkin patch mommy! Acqa !!!" (there in espanol) b/c it was the same they had at our little patch. Poor baby. I seriously am considering starting up our own pumpkin patch in our little yard for him. ha ha. =(

HF n TD= Sisters 4-eva (as Hannah writes on EVERYTHING) - she is growing up WAY too fast
Hannah has taught Sammy how to strike a pose

We each picked out a pumpkin and had fun carving

Sammy loved the giant stem
Obviously this was Sammy's idea to hug our pumpkins. I love that little guy! He's too much
Ready to draw a face on Sam's giant one
We read his "happy pumpkin" book to relate the pumpkin to God's light shining in us, not sure how much it sank in but was fun anyway
He wouldn't keep his head out of there! Kept saying "Hi-yo (hello) Punkin! "
Silly boy in his favorite place on earth ~ this is excluding the grandparents' & Gloria's house of course

Posing like Hannah Banana
Spent the day with Jane!
I loved their "classic" costumes, such a fun day!
He was holding her hand, awww!
Then went in for a kiss and was REJECTED!
Halloween day! Hannah was Cinderella, isn't she beautiful!
Boo at the Zoo with Erin & Amberly and Molly & Jane
Molly and Janey!
Checking out the black swan
Our fall festival plans fell through (b/c I had the wrong day...oops) and so we ended up trick or treating in Kim's new neighborhood and had a blast!

Sammy got LOTS of candy b/c he had no shame and asked each person for "mo candy peas?" with his little sad eyes and not one single person turned that little rascal down!!
We surprised Kim and Chris!!! Look who was wearing her wedding gown?? ha ha!!! It had only been 3 weeks since the wedding and she was itching to put it back on. You gotta love her!
The newly weds, too cute!!!
Hannah just had to try on Kim's veil...
which meant Sammy had to have a go at it too
This was clearly Hannah's idea but Sam really took it and ran with it huh?? That's my hubby!!!

Our little Pumpkin

Wow have I missed the blog world! I finally have some time to catch up and post up some pics, we've been very busy!

We spent the weekend before Halloween up in Orange Park so that I could relax after my written exams. It was so great to be able to hang with my mom again we had so much fun! We went that night to a fall festival at Richard's church and then to the Carnival at the Catholic church on Kingsley (the same carnival Sam and I went to growing up). Sammy just brought us pure joy! He was SO MUCH fun to watch. He caught on to the getting candy thing pretty quickly and was pretty amazed that he just had to hold out his little pumpkin and people would drop candy right in. He had fun playing the games and he really enjoyed his real hot dog!! He kept saying "hot dog yummy!!" which made me feel somewhat guilty that we don't give him those. Oh well.

He cracked us up at the carnival. He rode on a little train ride and he and the girl in front of him screamed almost the whole ride! You would have thought they were going at a super sonic speed but the ride was so slow, almost inching along which made it all the more hillarious. The Nemo ride was by far his favorite. It was REALLY fast (I was a little nervous about this one) and from the moment it started he just giggled and laughed with glee the ENTIRE ride. All the parents watching/waiting were laughing at him, you couldn't help to, it was such a contagious laugh. It was weird b/c I have NEVER heard him laugh like that before?? It was a very fun night !!! Thanks Mom & Richard!!!

Pixie had a costume that matched Sammy perfectly!
Sammy loved that they were twins

So big!
Silly little pumpkin

A spidey was on his finger!!!
Wuv you AddyAddy
I had to take a pic of Marc by the condiment table, too funny
Yummy!!! He even sang the "hot dog" song!

Hold on everyone!



Woa!!!

He gave me a high five every time they passed by us =)
Surfin USA

Summer fun

I am so enjoying these few days of "regular" work and a normal length to do list! I have really tried to take it easier than usual this week during my "break" from quals studying. Written exams were rough, extremely difficult and draining, but I think they went well and next week I begin reviewing my answers and studying for my oral exam on Thurs. It is 2 hours with my committee and they will drill me then I find out RIGHT after if I passed. If I pass I am in the clear and can officially get my PhD once I turn in my dissertation, whoop whoop!

Anyway, I was organizing pics and found the ones from our fun beach trip with Hannah Banana! Had to post them, it was such a fun day. My cousin Debbie & her husband and kids were at our old condo in St. Augustine for the week. It was so sureal to take Hannah & Sammy there and have them make the same kind of memories I made with my cousins and Leslie & Laurie. I got all teary eyed when they sat at MY old table and had spaghetti like we always did after long day on the beach. They even ate ice cream out of the cool fancy glasses like we used to. Sammy finished his before Debbie was done serving it and I put a pic of him in the slideshow of him looking up at her with big giant eyes saying "Mo peease" =)

Lastly, there are funny pics of the men folk. They did the dishes but didn't realize they put liquid dish soap in the dishwasher so.. yea. It was funny to say the least. Bubbles everywhere! We laughed so hard!

Such a fun day!!!!!!!! Thanks for the memories Debbie! Also thanks for watching Sammy so Hannah and I could play in the waves, that was one of my fav parts of all. I felt like a giant kid out there squealing and giggling with her and the two of us STILL talk about how much fun we had in the ocean pretending we were mermaids on an adventure together!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Wuv You Pumpkin!

First of all.... Does anyone know if Julie had the baby??? I am on pins and needles over here!!!!

To say that Sammy has been obsessed with pumpkins in an understatement.... he has pumpkins on the brain at all times. He asks every day to go to the "punkin putch peese mommy" (pumpkin patch please) as soon as we pick him up. He even said "bye, wuv you pumpkin!" to my mom when they hung up the phone one night. Needless to say we have been to the pumpkin patch several times!!

I love the first one b/c he always hugs and kisses the really big pumpkins and says "wuv you happy punkin" ~ que liendo!

Visit with Hannah and her oldest sister Krista:

kissing the scarecrows

loves the bounce house!!

I still don't get the pumpkin on the head thing but they were all about it so I got into it too!

Fall Festival at Pumpkin Patch:

Waiting for the helicopter to land, Sammy was saying "go aqui" (go here) while he waved to it in the sky


I think he was being a pumpkin here, he said "mammy punkin" (Mammy is how he says Sammy)
First ever cotton candy, he was a big fan =) Loved the snowcone too but cotton candy was his fav

Pumpkin Patch with Playgroup:

Yes, that is his fav blue tonka truck he is clutching, it goes EVERYWHERE with us and we had a disaster on our hands when he began asking/crying for it and it left at Papi & Mimi's house. Not a fun few days

This is one of Sammy's best buddies Nicolae, we've been back a few times since this and EVERY time Sammy says, "Oh no, whrs Nica??" then he yells "Nica!!!" all over the place b/c I guess he remembers they played there together
There were I think 8 or 9 kids total but this was the best group pic we could get...it is so much harder with everyone being so mobile now!! =)
He LOVED the tractor!
Katie and Lukester on the hayride with us, Luke was adorable, he giggled almost the whole time as it bounced us around~ such a cutie pie!
Amy and her boys having "fun", ok really it is Amy and one of her boys having fun and one not so much. She was determined to have a good time and I loved it! =)
Bounce house with the Borges, Sammy loves David, he is a year older so he is super cool in Sammy's eyes
All 3 bouncing together
Sweet little Daniel one of Sammy's other best buddies (they are a month apart!), Sammy always gets right in Daniel's face to tell him things and Daniel is so great about it (thankfully!) I always think of that cute pic I have from when Sammy was two weeks old and Daniel was almost 2 months old and they are all leaned on top of each other on our couch. So cute that they love to play now!
I told Sammy he was in a Borge sandwich but I think I confused him..... Oh well, I thought it was funny!

2 more days!!!!!!!! Please pray for me!

Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing


EEEKS! So this is really going to happen, there really is going to be life after quals! I am such a mixture of excitement and nervousness right now! My Sams just left for a trip to visit Sam's parents so I can have some peace and quiet and really focus on my last 2 days of studying. Sammy could not have been more excited. He talked about Papi and Mimi his entire breakfast and when he was giving me my big bear hug before he got in the car I said, "now I forgot, who are you going to see again?" and he looked at me and yelled "EENKY & ROCKY!!!!", ha ha. Tinky and Roxy are their dog and cat, so I guess Sammy has been missing them too. =)

Just wanted to ask everyone to pray for me as I zero in on these last few days. I have 5 hours of written exams on Thurs and 5 hours on Friday. I then get a two week break to study more and have my oral defense on Nov 5th. These exams are to prove that I "qualify" as a doctorate candidate and I can't get my PhD without passing them so it is just a bit stressful. =) Keith, the professor I work under/my advisor/mentor, etc, gave me some great advice. He is presenting at a conference in Germany so had to leave for the week and thankfully gave me some tips before he left. The best advice was from him and my friend Jacqueline who said to think of this more of a right of passage thing rather than pass/fail thing. They said my committee members know it is way too much information for one person to remember and basically I just need to show I am an expert in my field and that I know my stuff. If I leave something out of my written answers or get something wrong, I can clarify it in my orals. Easier said than done but I take comfort in knowing that they aren't expecting perfection. =)

Apart from massive studying I am trying to stay focused on what really matters, God. Thanks to Leslie I have been listening to the song "can't give up now" by Mary Mary (thanks again!) and just spending time in prayer asking for him to give me peace about it so that I won't be a big ball of nerves and asking Him to bring to mind all that I have studied as I write. The verse at the top of this post has brought me a lot of comfort and encouragement. So, wanted to post it in case anyone else out there is going through a trial or something is weighing on you. How great to be reminded that we are not alone. I will not be alone on Thurs and Friday in that scary room, I don't have to answer those difficult questions alone. I have HIS power and strength to draw from. My sweet Jesus will quiet me and calm me down with his love. He will speak peace over me and that I am sure of b/c he has done it many a times before. More importantly he will sing over me and rejoice over me (silly but the song More by Mathew West comes to mind). I don't have to be perfect to please Him, I just have to be me and do the best I can do. He will be proud of me regardless. I don't think he has brought me this far just to fail though. It has really been an upward battle (stress, Gram died, Dad died, had a baby, more stress...its been rough) and I feel I have had to fight my way through every step of this PhD process but I know this is His plan for me and my life and it is only through Him that I have gotten this far and I think it will be only through Him that I get through Thurs & Friday, so please pray with me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you!!! Also, sorry to all my friends who have been calling and think I am MIA. I am alive, just locked in our office room studying all day and night. =( I will re enter the world on Saturday and have my phone back on then. Oh Saturday.....what a glorious day that will be!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Words to "More" by Mathew West Song and link, I just love this one!!!

Ok so video is a touch cheesy but didn't have time to look for link without video

Lyrics:

Take a look at the mountains Stretching a mile high Take a look at the ocean Far as your eye can see And think of Me Take a look at the desert Do you feel like a grain of sand? I am with you wherever Where you go is where I am And I'm always thinking of you Take a look around you I'm spelling it out one by one (Chorus) I love you more than the sun And the stars that I taught how to shine You are mine, and you shine for me too I love you yesterday and today And tomorrow, I'll say it again and again I love you more Just a face in the city Just a tear on a crowded street But you are one in a million And you belong to Me And I want you to know That I'm not letting go Even when you come undone (Chorus) I love you more than the sun And the stars that I taught how to shine You are mine, and you shine for me too I love you yesterday and today And tomorrow, I'll say it again and again I love you more I love you more Shine for Me Shine for Me Shine on, shine on Shine for Me (Chorus) I love you more than the sun And the stars that I taught how to shine You are mine, and you shine for me too I love you yesterday and today And tomorrow, I'll say it again and again I love you more (Chorus) Than the sun and the stars that I taught how to shine You are mine, and you shine for me too I love you, yesterday and today Through the joy and the pain I'll say it again and again I love you more I love you more And I see you And I made you And I love you more than you can imagine More than you can fathom I love you more than the sun And you shine for me