A Beautiful Sunny Sunday Afternoon

We drove to a nice place called the Wagon Wheel Farm this afternoon. They have a pumpkin patch, a corn maze, "corn boxes" - instead of sand boxes, a large tube that we could roll each other in, hay structures to crawl all over and a totally beautiful day to enjoy it. It was great fun for our family!

Posing on the hay bales

Super Jacob

Super Grace

Entrance to the corn maze

The rolling tube

Space Festival and Stuff

Tonight we went to the "Space Festival" at the First Nazarene Church, here in town. It was so much fun!!! They served dinner, had a cake walk, face painting, trunk-or-treating, a magic show and a great message. My kids loved it too! They also had a giant balloon that was battes around the sanctuary while a great band played - super fun. They were able to do a trial run on their halloween costumes. The church did an absolutely fabulous job of putting this on and a lot of people really worked VERY hard to pull this off. Grace even won a cake!

Grant getting ready for the party!

The Cake Walk

Grace and her trophy cake

Some of the games at the trunk-or-treating

Giant beach ball in the sanctuary - it was after this that Jacob said he wanted to go to church there tomorrow


This morning the kids an I were watching a Jack Hannah show on sea turtles. It was neat, as we were able to watch sea turtle lay eggs (one was even 800 pounds!) So tonight, after baths, Jacob came crawling out of my vedroom with a laundry basket on his back and asked me: "How many eggs do you think I will lay?" I was cracking up so much I could not even answer!!! You can't get any better than stuff like this - incidents like these make all the menialness of being a mom so very worth it! I love my kids!!!! And I love my husband for wokring so hard so that I can be home with them!!!! And I love my Lord for making it all possible!!!! Thank you, Lord!

The Self-Absorbed Wife & Mother

Have I told you lately how great my husband is? Better yet, have I told HIM how great he is? The answer to that question is a resounding no. Why? Good question. The answer can be found in the title to this post - I am a self-absorbed person. I have been so consumed with my emotional needs, my need to be coddled, my need to have my ego stroked that I have neglected what I am "called" to be. A loving, supportive, quiet wife and mother. My reward may not be here. Clearly, my husband and kids are certainly one of life's greatest rewards - but that is not what I am talking about. I am called to love and serve because they (and all people) are created in God's image and are worth caring about, not because I want to or don't want to or don't feel I am getting anything out of it. I am to do it because that is what Christ would do. THAT is what I am to aspire to be. The point is, I have a husband who, even though I feel I have to yell at him to get my point through, is more mature than me and shows it by rising above his "feelings" and doing what needs to be done - even if he doesn't "feel" like it. This morning he made me a cup of coffee and delivered it to me saying "a cup of coffee for the world's greatest mommy". Even though we both knew that was not the truth - he knew I needed to hear it. I love him for doing that for me. I need to rise to that level. I need to not be so self-absorbed. I need to care like Christ would. Lord Jesus, please help me - I am not brave enough to do it myself.

I'm A Sexy Lady!

We were playing charades this afternoon and it was my turn to act. The lucky word I drew was "limbo". So I started doing my rendition on limbo - in what I would call less-than-perfect form. Mid-limbo, Jacob yelled out "walking like a sexy lady!" Seriously? Have you seen me limbo?

Dinnertime

We have a common happening at dinner, well, we actually have 2 common happenings. The first is as soon as we sit down and pray, Jadyn has to go to the bathroom. There is not a meal we eat that this does not happen. But this is not why I am writing. The other happening is that Jadyn NEVER wants to eat, much less finish, her dinner, but she ALWAYS wants dessert. So tonight as she was having a fit (mostly because her dad brought brownies to the table before everyone finished eating) I started watching. What I saw was truly amazing. Jadyn would eat with no problem IF Grace would sit next to her and occasionally feed her. And Grace would lovingly encourage Jadyn to "just take one more bite" and "if you finish this, then you can have a brownie". She was like the mom that I should be! Then I asked Jadyn who her favorite person was and smiling, she pointed to her sister. Oh, how I hope that love is still there in 10 years! My kids are reading over my shoulder, very curious about what I am writing. A few of them are happy to hear about themselves. Man, I love these kids!!

Why Do Other People Have Other Gods

I had a very nice talk with Jacob tonight. I was putting him to bed and he asked me why other people have gods other than our God. Although I was not very good at answering the specific question, it did lead to many other questions that I was able to answer - Praise God! Jacob was specifically interested in the Eastern Indian girls in our neighborhood and wanted to know why they didn't believe in the real God (his words). I never wanted to leave the bed - I was so glad to have him talking to me about his relationship with Jesus! What a blessed night! Praise you Lord!

The Bible According to Jadyn

I am laughing hysterically (internally)!!! Grant is sleeping and Jadyn is sitting next to me. I decided to let her stay up for a while, while I was doing some reading for my Bible study. She got her toy computer and sat next to me, but then asked me where her Bible was. We went and found it and then she sat down next to me and started reading her Bible - out loud! "God, Jesus, earth, Bible, God, Son, Jesus, God what is your name? Jesus, God, God" You get the picture. As she was reading I was peeking over my book at her. I noticed her looking at me and then she jumped up, ran into the playroom and quickly came back. What she came back with was a toy credit card. Why, you ask? I was holding a business card in my hand that I used as a bookmark and she wanted to be like Mommy. Oh I love this child!!!! BTW - she is still screaming, I mean reading, the Bible. What a precious moment this is!!! Praise God for children! Oh yeah - she is also sipping coffee. She just paused to take a drink of her coffee (a coffee cup with a corn on the cob in it). Man, I am loving this!!!!! Another sip. "Jesus, said I not did it, Jesus, I'm giving all of them some water, Jesus I'm not been doing that" OK - you get the picture - I am enjoying myself.

It Takes A Child

I was putting the kids to bed tonight and was hurrying a bit, but not a real lot, and tucked the girls in, said good night and was heading out the door as Jadyn was saying "You dinn't pay Mommy" (translation - you didn't pray Mommy). Of course I went straight back in and prayed with them. The thing is the past couple of nights I have been singing my prayers to them (why you ask? don't know - just did it) and tonight I did not feel like singing (why you ask again? don't know - I really enjoyed it when I did it). Thanks to my precious Jadyn I was reminded that God just wants to hear my voice, whether it is in song or words, He just wants to hear from me.

Grant was entertaining tonight. Jacob was doing somersaults on the family room floor and Grant was watching him intently. Then he tried to do it himself. Let me see if I can fully explain the pose. He bent over so that his head was on the floor and his feet were on the floor - kind of an inverted "v". He did not have his hands on the floor - just his head and his feet. I wished so badly that I could get my camera and get a picture before he stopped, but there was not a chance. Funny though - you needed to be there.

Greg decided that Grant needed to go to bed early because he is sick - not real sick but he has a cold (I hope that is it). I was at the table working on homework with Jacob and the girls were also at the table writing. Greg was calling to Grant, telling him it was bedtime and obviously Grant wanted nothing to do with that. So he crawled under the table and sat at my feet, with his head between my ankles - like a puppy. The funny thing was Greg crouched down and called to him like he was a dog! And like a reluctant puppy he finally came crawling out - so precious!

Lonliness

I am lonely. Not just a little lonely, but a wicked lot of lonely. I just sat at lunch with Greg and he told me that if it made me feel any better he did not have any either. I told him that I was thinking that maybe we are here to have us become better friends - you know the whole best friend thing. Know what he did? Rolled his eyes. Uh-huh. So now he is back to work and I am sitting here feeling sorry for myself. I am in a Bible study, a small group (which I have only attended once), just went to the ladies retreat at church - I mean I should be teeming over with new friends, right? I am extending myself way beyond my natural comfort zone and yet feel as though I am getting nowhere fast. Then I thought give yourself a break - you have only been here 1 month - what can you expect? A friend. Just one. THAT is what I expect. Then I think - OK Lord - am I to really focus on my husband and kids and the reason I have no friends is that they would get in the way of focusing on my family? But then HOW do I exist as a woman (who needs female conversation and relationship) without a friend? OK - really it is not like I don't have any friends - I mean I have a great friend who calls me almost everyday and other friends I still hear from, but I am talking a real in the flesh person - HERE. As I am thinking this over I am thinking this is sort of like God - I mean my friend situation - I can talk to the ones I have but not see them - forget it, never mind. See? Needing a friend again.

Jadyn, Grant & I went for a walk this morning and were talking about the ducks and squirrels, when Jadyn's focus shifted to her constant need to eat. She was telling me she needed a "peanut jelly", which is Jadynese for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Then she went on to ask me what squirrels ate, to which I replied they ate nuts. She asked why don't they eat peanut jelly? I said because no one can make it for them. She came right back with - why don't the squirrel moms make it for them? Ahhh, the mind of a 3 year old. Of course, the momma squirrel with her knife and peanut butter - totally common sight.

Moral Dilema? Nope

So Greg came home one night last week and told me that one of their suppliers shipped them 500 parts, when they only ordered and paid for 6. "Someone" told the person working on it that oh well, it is their fault for not paying attention. Greg overheard this, but did not say anything. When he came home that night he told me about it and I told him that this was stealing - plain and simple - and that he had to do something about it because the day would come when they would need something from this supplier. So he did go in and take care of righting the situation. Guess what happened yesterday? All 500 parts ended up being defective and they had to go back to the supplier. Think about the crow that would have had to be eaten if the truth had not been told from the beginning. Lesson in telling the truth.

Update

Things are good. We started Awana (Wed night church for the kids) last night and are excited about it. We found out about Upwards basketball and cheerleading (which is Christian sports) and although Jacob says he would rather be in Cub Scouts I think we are going to put him in it. I also found out about a Christian Cub Scout pack and am looking into it. When I asked Grace if she wanted to do the cheerleading thing, she told me she just wanted to stay home with me and tell me about her day. How can I deny her that? Went to McDonalds after Bible study today with a bunch of girls and am planning to get together with one of them (she is pregnant due next week - but also has girls both Grace and Jadyn's ages - yippee!!!) Learned we are getting ~$700 back on our moving insurance claim and got a check for $182 return ins premium. Also learned that Krystel may have sold her house free and clear (once all the hoops have been jumped through) and pray that this would happen for us. Tom is coming down this weekend and I am going to the women's retreat at church. Should be a good weekend - looking forward to the cider mill on Sunday!