Kitchen Window

Living in town, we don't have any particularly stunning views out of our windows, but I do really like this view out my kitchen window. The branches of this Japanese Maple and cedar tree interweave and are a wonderful complement to each other at all seasons, but especially in the fall. The evening sun shines through these at about the time I'm preparing supper and gives me some natural beauty to enjoy. I'm sure this picture doesn't do justice.

I'm preparing tonight for church in the morning. Our sermon last week was on being filled with the Spirit. Justin talked about the idea of what fills you, controls you. Eph. 5:18 contrasts being filled with the Spirit to being drunk with wine. The Spirit should control us just as wine controls a drunk person. Col. 3:16 is a good parallel to the Ephesians passage and it says that we are to "Let the Word of Christ richly dwell in (us)"...The Word of God dwelling in us is the same as being Spirit-filled. The memorable quote for me was, "It's not how much of the Spirit I have, it's how much the Spirit has of me." This week, I'm afraid it hasn't been much (see below), but I know where to go to get turned around. Let's hope and pray that I have more of the right stuff dwelling richly in me this week.

Trick or Treat

Here's the trick or treat line-up for this year. We have...
a fly, (It was hard to get a good picture of this one!)

an Indian girl, (Thanks, Grandma Barb!)

and a "leedle tiny mousie"!


It was a cold, wet night. Erin made it to a total of six houses before we headed home. Joe and Ellie kept on for about an hour, which was much longer than they've ever gone before. The costumes are the fun part of this day for the kids, while they each have a different take on the candy. Joe came back home, dumped his candy on the floor, and said, "I don't really like any of this stuff." He's a picky eater and it extends to candy, too, which is fine by me. Erin just likes to look at the colorful candy wrappers. After each house, she had to stop and examine her treat closely before we could go on. Ellie likes most of her candy and likes to make it last. Today I found her eating her last "Smartie", one hour after she had started the first piece!

And so we made it through. Today the kids were talking about how they wish it could be trick or treat every night. No, thanks. I'm ready to get onto the next set of holidays. Halloween has taken so much of my time and energy, and I somehow feel some of it could have gone to better endeavors.

Matt's Favorite Night

NOT! Tonight was jack-o-lantern night at our house, and now, thankfully, it's over! Every year I get the pumpkins cleaned out and ready to carve, then leave the honors of carving to Matt. There's something about working with a sharp knife in a room with three kids who are so excited they can't stand still that Matt doesn't like...hmmm. He always does a great job at the carving and this was the best year yet as far as him seeming like he was enjoying himself. This is just one of those things he does that shows how much he really loves his kids. Someday maybe the kids will be carving jack-o-lanterns with our grandchildren and suddenly realize how much it meant that their dad did this every year.

Pumpkin Patch

We took the traditional trip to the pumpkin patch on Saturday. Trick or treat is this Thursday, so we had to get going on that! It was a perfect day for it, and everybody picked their perfect pumpkin!

Erin really wanted a "leedle" one.

Joe wanted a tall one.

Ellie was content with a normal orange one. (That's my Ellie!)

While Erin liked the pumpkins, the big fun for her was poking her fingers in the mud. She does this compulsively whenever she sees dirt, and the pumpkin patch had so many muddy spots that it was almost too much for her!


Joe led everyone in a big cheer when we were done (and when Mommy had finally gotten enough pictures).


Then we headed for home.

Red Wet Rat

We had a nice visit up at Matt's folks on Thursday and Friday. It was memorable in that we didn't forget anything when we left (at least not after we left for the second time). We always forget something. We accidentally left the kids' sleeping bags and all our toiletries at our house, though, so I think the reason we did better is that we forgot everything before we got there. We relaxed and had fun, but I was glad to get back home to my toothbrush on Friday night.

While we were there, the kids watched Lady and the Tramp, which has a "scary" part with a rat in it. After the movie as our kids were playing and acting out the story, we had the hardest time trying to understand what the girls were talking about. We finally realized that they were saying "rat", but it sounded just the like the way they say the words "red" and "wet". So when we got Ellie and Erin to say, "The red, wet rat," it sounded like they were saying the same word three times in a row. It was funny, but maybe you had to be there.

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

Today is the birthday of one of our top seven favorite nieces, Rachel! She is turning 20, which is, of course, significant, as she’s leaving the teens behind. (You’re just getting old, Rach!) Rachel’s one of those wacky but quiet people. (She’d make a great blogger!) who’s sweet and agreeable and just fun to be around. Her nice disposition might come from having three younger brothers, or maybe she’s nice in spite of that! :) God has truly blessed Rachel with an amazing sense of responsibility and a lot of discernment, making her seem wise beyond her years. Oh, that I only had her wisdom as I was starting my 20’s! Rachel’s family lives back the lane from Matt’s folks and we just started noticing this year that one of Ellie’s first questions when we get to that neck of the woods is if she’s going to get to see Rachel. (I think Ellie’s sort of quiet and wacky, too, so she must be drawn to Rachel.) We don’t see Rachel as much as we used to now that she’s away at college and work so often. We’re actually hoping to bump into her today, as we’re heading up that way and Rachel’s home on fall break. Then we’ll be able to give her a hug to go along with our best birthday wishes!

One-Man Star Wars Trilogy

Doesn't the title of this post just say it all? Last night Matt and I met up with his sister, Carrie, and two of her daughters, Megan and Emily, to go to a very unique performance entitled "One-Man Star Wars Trilogy". This guy came out on stage with no props, no costumes, no scenery, and acted out the entire trilogy (episodes 4, 5,& 6) in about an hour. (I hope picturing this makes you laugh.) He did voices and sounds, sang the music, and was all over the stage...I thought it was hillarious! There were a few Jedi in the audience with their light sabers, and I got a picture of our party with some of them afterwards (much to Emily's dismay!).


I've only gotten into Star Wars over the past few years, and I attribute a lot of it to Carrie's influence. She's the one who loaned me the books...sort of my Star Wars go-to girl. After last night I'm ready to go back and watch all the videos again, but I still don't own a light saber or a functioning R2-D2!

Another funny thing that happened today as I was looking over the program from last nght's show...On the cover the date was given as October 10, 2007. I read it and thought (seriously thought!), "OH! It's 2007?! I've been writing checks wrong! Is it really 2007?!" About 30 seconds later I was straight again, but I'm still laughing at myself that I could've even thought that. I guess my mind was still in a galaxy far, far away!

Art Eyes

Joe brought these glasses home from school the other day. They were his first school art project. His art teacher tells the kids that when they have these on, they can use their "art eyes".

A Thousand Days

We discovered a new park not too far from us and spent some time playing and hiking there yesterday. It was really a beautiful spot and the day was beautiful, too. We ate fresh apples as we walked along paths rimmed with golden leaves, beside a lake which mirrored it all. The kids chased the ducks around the lake, then later played on the swings and slides. Joe even demonstrated his new skill of crossing the monkeybars hand over hand. Before we went home the girls picked some flowers for me, then we put them in their hair. Ellie said that she was "just like a bride except for the dress and veil". (I had to give this description because my camera batteries died after the first couple shots. That was the only thing that went wrong on the trip.) It was a wonderful afternoon, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Days like this always make me think of Psalm 84:10,"Better is a day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere..." Even this perfect day, repeated a thousand times, couldn't compare to one day (or one minute) in the presence of God. What a joy it is to know that, because of Christ, I'll have an eternity of days that are infinitely happier than this one!

Spider Hunt

I thought this was funny...

The other day Joe came to me as I was preparing supper to ask me to come kill a spider for them. As this is not one of my favorite activities, I asked some questions and found out that the spider was not in a location that was truly bothering them. I knew that Matt would be home soon, so I told them to wait until he got there to take care of the problem or take care of it themselves. (Do I sound like a cruel, heartless mother?) I heard Joe praying as he left the kitchen, "God, please help me to be brave enough to kill the spider." A few minutes later all three kids were back in the kitchen, so thrilled with themselves because they had a spider carcass to throw in the trash. Joe had thrown a beanbag at the spider and hit it, but he still didn't know if it was dead, so he sent Erin to pick up the beanbag. When they ascertained that the spider was, indeed, dead, Joe gave Ellie the job of picking it up with a tissue and throwing it in the trash. Joe was so proud of their teamwork! I guess God answered his prayer...or at least He helped someone be brave.

The Littlest Ballerina

Each week when we've left Ellie for her ballet classes, Erin has been heartbroken. Last week she cried to me, "But I love the beautiful balleriner girls!" So today I brought her home, put her in Ellie's dress-up tutu, and let her do her own dancing. We have a video which is like a virtual ballet class with a ballerina teaching the TV audience as if they were in her studio, then directing them as they dance a part in The Nutcracker. It's so cute to watch Erin because she tries so hard to do just what the teacher does, and she's so intent! She also responds verbally to all the teacher's instructions like (our personal favorite), "Make sure your bum is under you." Anyway, these are some of the many pictures I took. They were just too cute to post only one.

A Gem of A Day

As we attempt to teach our children what it means to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength, one of the points we want to drive home to them is the joy of the Lord's Day. We are so blessed to be able to fellowship with other believers, worship the living God, and learn from His word! One of the little practices we've gotten into to enforce the specialness of Sunday to the kids is giving an "under-the-pillow treat" each Sunday morning. It's never anything big, (usually something like a Hershey's Kiss or a couple stickers) but to them it's a little something that makes Sunday stand out as special from all the other days. Today the treats were Ring Pops, which were something new to them and got a big thumbs up. Don't they look like they are about to activate their "Wonder Twin Powers" in this picture?!

Church was a feast. Justin has been preaching out of Ephesians for the past year (He's very thorough!) and for the last two Sundays he's been on 5:17: "So then do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is." HUGE topic, full of mystery! Last week he talked about the moral will of God (what is revealed in scripture) versus the sovereign will of God (a mystery to man). One of the things he preached about today is the importance of scripture in Biblical decision-making. Scripture gives us the moral will of God; (be saved [2 Peter 1:2-4]; be pure [IThess. 4:3]; be thankful [I Thess. 5:18]; be submissive to human institutions [I Peter 2:13], etc.) and if I'm practicing the revealed will of God, then I'm in God's will! If I'm not practicing it, then I need to stop the decision-making process and go back to get right with God's Word. Obviously, within God's revealed will there may be more than one good option for each decision and one of the methods Justin talked about for weighing those options was to list the pros and cons of each, then to go to scripture and give each pro or con a numerical weight based one how it lines up with scripture. (His example was if you were deciding whether or not to move to a new location, having a strong local church to join would get a rating of five, whereas having a beach out your front door would get a zero since our spiritual welfare has nothing to do with beaches.) You can then add the pros of option A to the cons of option B and compare that number to the cons of option A added to the pros of option B to see a Biblical comparison of the two options. (I really wish I had his nifty little chart to show this. Sorry if it's too confusing.) The point that struck me was that the way we are to weigh the pros and cons is based on scripture, not our personal desires. The Bible is so amazing in that it is so complete for all of life!

"...His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence."
2 Peter 2:3

Monkeys

The park down the street from us has three playground areas that have been dubbed by my kids, "The Uphill Park", "The Merry-Go-Round Park", and "The Climbing Park". This week we've been really into the uphill park, where the main attraction is a good old-fashioned jungle gym. We're talking the kind with the bars that are just (gasp!) metal and not even safety-coated with that rubbery stuff. (Can you believe we let our kids play here?) I'm sure this jungle gym has been standing since well before my time, and it's still solid. I love to go with the kids and watch, so I can cheer (again!) each time they make it to the top or bottom. There's also nothing quite like that little adrenalin rush I get each time I watch one of them almost fall. To add to the excitement, this week must have been "Acorn Week" in our part of Ohio. The huge oak trees above the jungle gym were literally raining acorns. How none of us got hit, I chalk up to divine intervention. And speaking of divine, what mom wouldn't love this shot?

Pajama Time

One of my favorite parts of being an at-home Mom is our morning time. I love it that, on most mornings, my kids can have lots of time to hang out in their pajamas. We rock and snuggle, read books, pet the dog, and, of course, play. What precious years these are when they don't have to rush into their days filled with responsibilities. As we've already seen with Joe, this pajama time will all too soon become a luxury rather than just a part of the daily routine. Something interesting that I've observed is that the kids seem to get along better during this morning play time. It reminds me of one of those quotes in Life's Little Instruction Book...I've learned that...everyone gets along better when they're wearing their pajamas!

The Official Birthday Photo

Just had to post this picture of our birthday celebration. The hat is a tradition we started a couple years ago. My kids love it and won't let any birthday person get cheated out of his or her chance to wear it. They were completely puzzled as to why Baboo wouldn't wear the hat out to the restaurant.

You may also notice that the candles are stuck in a pie. Much to my kids' dismay, Baboo doesn't like cake, so for her birthday we always have apple pie. This year I made the pie, which is a story in and of itself. I'm just not a person who's ever been into eating pie, and, therefore, have never been into making pies. (Fortunately for him, Matt isn't really into pies either. We're more the Break'n Bake cookie type.) Well, I recently had this Betty-Crockerish inspiration and decided that it was time to learn to make pies. I've now made four, and they've tasted fine, but I really struggle with the aesthetics. I am in awe of people who make pies that look like the pictures in the cookbook with the perfectly crimped edges. My crusts compared to those are like comparing Monet's Waterlilies to Erin's most recent Crayola creation. But just as I love Erin's art, my mom didn't seem to mind her patched together pie. She actually went out of her way to say how great it was which, I know, was just her way of being nice because she knew I was sort of sensitive about it. So very Mom-ish.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is the BIG 6-0 for M-O-M! Happy Birthday to one of the most generous people I know! My mom is the type that when I ask her for help or a favor, her usual response is, "You should've asked sooner!", so glad is she to give of herself. This generosity extends to her whole life, especially in her job as a middle school guidance counselor. At an age when most are just putting in the time until they get out, Mom is always thinking of new ways to pour herself into the lives of her students. I know that when she retires they're going to have to get about five people to replace her!

Of course, to three of the people in our house, Mom is known as Baboo (a name Joe gave her when he was one year old). To these three, time with Baboo is a precious and wonderful thing. One of the highlights of Joe's week is when he gets to sit next to Baboo during church. Our kids also find her VERY silly (even when she's trying not to be). Their new name for her is "Silly Old Don't-Step-On-The-Box". She once had to tell Ellie not to step on a puzzle box and something about the way Mom told Ellie, "Don't step on the box," was hillarious to them. So they get a lot of laughs from her.

Actually, though, we all do. For some reason she's always saying things that people end up turning into the latest family joke. One example is her recent comment on my sister's blog where she mistook an elephant for a hyena. Our family can have years of fun with that one! My favorite, though, is the time when she was helping me get back home after having my wisdom teeth removed. On the way up some steps, I started to faint but, fortunately, Mom was there. On my way down she spoke her famous words of encouragement, "Don't you dare faint!" Where would I be today without that?!

What a blessing and a joy it is to have a Mom like her! May her next decade be glorious in His grace!

Some Catching Up

So, the problem with starting to think like a blogger is that I get all these things that I want to write about and then when I skip a few days, I have all these stories backed up in my mind. Here are some of the headlines of the past week...hard to believe I'd have so many things to write about. I guess it's been a big week for us.

Littlefin, III

The fish that looks like it's inspecting Joe's ear in this picture is our latest Littlefin. He's the third and we're hoping he'll be "the charm". Joe picked him out last Thursday and chose him based on how "active" he was. I've gotten used to the bright red color, although I really prefer blue. So far, he's proven himself a voracious eater! This is a big contrast to our last two, so maybe we've got a keeper this time. I guess Joe knows how to pick 'em. Let's hope that trait continues on into the dating years.

Spectacular!


We went to the Marching Band Spectactular (Why does that name make me laugh?) here in town last weekend. The main draw for me was that "my" Dancin' Band from Falconland was going to be performing. It was difficult to get a good picture. In this one they're doing some of their signature dance moves, but there's just no way to photograph the sound. When I was in high school we were all called "Band Rats" which, obviousy, was meant as an insult. Our director, however, turned it into a compliment by telling us, "Hey, that's OK. It's good to be animalistic about your marching! Be a rat!!" It's funny because now I see it as such a line but, at the time, we all bought it. Kids started to get T-shirts that said, "Band Rats Rock", and the insult lost its power. They really are a fun band to watch perform, and I'm proud to be an alum. Once a band rat, always a band rat!

Ellie's Big Day

For about a year now Ellie has been wanting to take ballet classes, and after much counting down, the big day of her first class finally arrived on Monday. She had an absolutely wonderful time. (I was so relieved she wasn't disappointed after having it all built up in her mind.) It sounds like her teacher, who's been doing this for quite awhile, really knows how to talk to kids and get them to enjoy the discipline of ballet. I hope that her talent is greater than her mother's, but even if it's not, I think she's having more fun than I ever had. (And she didn't even have to change into her leotard while riding in the car, Mom!)



Something With Erin

I guess Erin's the kid without any big headlines this week, so I'll just add this cute picture I got of her blowing bubbles. Or should I say, spitting through the bubble wand? She's still working on this skill. Isn't it amazing how many things we've had to learn that we've forgotten had to be learned?

Luke's Blog Debut

We met up with my younger brother, Luke, and his wife, Niki, for pizza tonight when we were down in their neck of the woods. I told him I wanted a picture for the blog, and he said he was excited to be making his "blog debut". Here we are at the C&J Pizza Shed, after am hour or so of attempting adult conversation while trying to make sure the kids were behaving like humans, rather than monkeys.

The reason we were out is that we needed to pick up our van from a transmission specialist who had been doing some very expensive tinkering on it over the past few days. The van actually broke down two weeks ago today, and it was a beautiful break-down, as those things go. We were bringing the van home from our regular mechanic, so we already had the extra car there and weren't stranded. Plus, Matt managed to get the van to coast safely into our church's parking lot where it sat over the long Labor Day weekend. Over the past two weeks we've been down to just our Corolla station wagon, which looks like this with two booster seats and a baby seat in the back of it. Needless to say, we've kept our driving short and to the point. (Our kids don't do well being crammed in like this.) The van's running great now and we're appreciating it like we never have before.

Happy Birthday, Aunt Beth!

Today is a very special day for a very special lady, my Aunt Beth (also known as AB, to those of you who read the comments on this blog). She is my mom's older sister and, as she chose to never had kids of her own, has been a closer-than-average aunt to all of us. She and my Uncle Del currently reside in Minnesota (in one of the coolest houses I've ever seen). Aunt Beth became a scientist by profession back when women didn't really do that sort of thing, and she continues to be a scientist by nature - constantly experimenting and learning. I often think that having her in the family is like having our own personal reference librarian. She is a great "go-to girl" for any information. By being such a constant learner she's always trying new things, which is great for ol' stuck-in-a-rut me. Many of my best recipes are ones she got me to go out on a limb and try. And what's more, she still sends random care packages that show up in our mailbox for no reason other than, "Got a great deal on these pajamas. Enjoy!" And what else says pampering like a new pair of pj's?! May she enjoy some pampering of her own today. Our best wishes, Aunt Beth!

Eating His Words

Yesterday at school Matt noticed that someone had drawn a long, squiggly line on the wall of his classroom. He asked his students who did it and got no response. His comment to them was that that was something his two-year-old would have done (and she has!). He said, "Even my six-year-old would know better than to do that!" (Yep, he shoulda' never said that!) To my recollection Joe has never written on places where he shouldn't (is that weird?), but after school when Matt asked him about the marks, he confessed. He said that he had just sharpened his pencil and he wanted to test it. I guess the wall seemed the logical place... Joe cleaned the wall today, and Matt came clean with his students. They got a kick out of it.