Prayers Please

Stacia is teething, but has been doing well. She woke up from her nap screaming and hasn't stopped. Of course, the clinic is closed. She doesn't have a fever...but I'm wondering about ears. I've put drops in her ears, and gel on her gums. She's in the sling and screaming in my ear....prayers for sanity.....

Being a Christian is like being a Pumpkin

Those of you who have ever journeyed through a book of the Bible with me, will find it easy to imagine how excited I got about this. It wont' surprise you to know, either, that I did a considerable amount of improvising as we went along and I got excited about the topic. LOL

I reminded the kids of when we went to the pumpkin patch (such as it was) and picked out our pumpkin.

God goes into the patch and CHOOSES us!!! He lovingly seperates us from the world (vine) and cleans the dirt off of us.

Then Cy cut the top while we talked about how God cleans us up inside and outside....Our children had never seen the inside of a pumpkin and were quite surprised at what they found. This naturally led us to talk about how we are full of sin before we know Jesus. He cleans and scoops and scrapes the gunk out of our lives. We talked about what the scraping may feel like and how some of the gunk was HARD to get loose. Some mentioned that it STUNK and we talked about how sin can cause our lives to stink! OR we can give off the fragrance of our Savior. I was so glad that the older three boys were around to help us with this. Josiah got called in early to work, but he told them that he was busy this morning and couldn't come.



We carved the name of Jesus on our pumpkin...just as Jesus puts HIS NAME on our hearts....and put the light inside. Jesus puts His light deep inside of us and it grows and becomes brighter until others can see His light through His name/impression in our lives.

We lit them inside so the kids could see - and they were impressed.

The object lesson isn't done - imagine how much brighter it will be tonight....and we'll discuss how the light of Jesus will shine brightest in darkness....and how our "differences" become more apparent the brighter His light shines in our lives. God desires for us to be LIGHT to our world...and a peculiar priesthood.

BTW, given my history with knives I know there was a bit of concern...all fingers are in tact.

This pumpkin was a joint project

Arielle chose to carve a cross

Nolan and Zander with the pumpkin Nolan carved...Zander gave up after about the 3rd near miss with his finger....He got tired of my screeching. {G}

We even did a bit of phonics with the letters! {G}

Stacia insisted on participating. She DOES wear clothes...but not when food is around!!! We were NOT surprised that she insisted on eating the pumpkin...though the diaper this afternoon was a bit of a surprise. ::snort:: Now how do I put this lid back on??

We did it!!!!

I did not grow up in the typical "fall season" type areas....and so really don't remember doing many of the harvest/fall type activities that many of you grew up with.

I was determined that we would carve a pumpkin and bob for apples this year. We bobbed for apples last spring. The pumpkin thing was daunting. I didn't even know HOW to carve a pumpkin....

Then there's the whole Halloween thing. We've chosen not to do Halloween as a family. We've never gone trick or treating, we don't dress up etc.....but we wanted to carve a pumpkin.

Over the years I've gotten the "Being a Christian is like a pumpkin" thing on the internet several times. This year Emily mentioned how she and her family have a tradition of carving the pumpkin as an object lesson. My mind began to spin.

My sister in law sent a little decorated card with the poem on it....and I knew we would do it...but never seemed to find the time.

Mike told me yesterday to "just carve the pumpkin".

We did...photos to follow.

Warning!!! I'm melancholy....

I'm lonely today. I'm not sure why, but I am. I've had a busy day, but nothing has seemed quite right. I suppose one has to expect to have days like this when your sweetheart and babies are far away.....choose joy...young woman...ok...older type woman...choose joy. ::snort::


Mondays should be skipped. I may look into this further. Josiah had to work today. He's working 36 hours this week. He did run to the library this a.m. We got some school done....all I'd planned, actually.


I made some banana muffins. I got a kick out of the fact that Adrienne had the same muffins cooling in her kitchen when I went over there this afternoon.


Stacia went down for an early nap. I took advantage to load up the next 3 and head for Sam's (milk), cute girly kids boutique (Robeez shoes for Stacia) and a kitchen store. We surprised Jamin with this:

It's a pizza paddle..though I was sorely tempted to tease the little ones about other purposes it could serve.... We're both hoping this will avert any further burned knuckles....550* ovens with bricks you know....

When we stopped at home to leave milk, we discovered Stacia was awake. I loaded her and the next 3 back into the van and we headed to the produce department at HEB. I had called Adrienne earlier to see if she was going to be home. I took the left over blondies from the pot luck to her...just enough for a taste for them. They WERE healthy. They were good too. {bg} I followed Lisa's suggestion to add an egg. When I called she wondered about getting some produce. I'm still swimming in veggies. We agreed to get some fruit. She called the order in and I was to pick it up. This worked out great as I planned to go over to her house to deliver the blondies anyway. Heather ordered some things with us this time. All went well at the store and sorting....it took me just over an hour to go pick the stuff up, pay for it, and sort it.

We spent about an hour visiting with Adrienne and family. The kids hadn't seen each other much in the last few weeks and were happy to be together. Zander has been having melt downs all day...not sure why. I really watched him at the potluck so I don't think it is food related. Maybe the time change...seems he did this in the spring too and Jodi warned me that this sometimes happens with Trevor. I wish I'd remembered THAT earlier today. :::knocking head on wall:::

Last week we'd been studying the family way, "we forgive one another covering an offense with love". This has been a good topic to consider. Forgiveness can be so tough to walk out. Today when it was time to leave Ja'nae, Zander did not do well. About a mile from their home he said, "Mom, I forgive you". ::snort:: I guess it was good he forgave even though I was quite sure *I* wasn't the one who needed forgiving.

Stir fry for dinner. Yumm and quick and easy too since I had veggies pre-cut from last week. OH - the lettuce lasted a solid week...no longer. All the other veggies were fine except the grated carrots. It has been a real time saver to have them ready to go, but I'll be sure to do only one pre-made gal of salad this week.

Heather and children stopped over to pick up some produce....

We read three more chapters in Pichnocchio.

Stacia pooped in the tub tonight...I thought that was incredibly GROSS and should be shared. She finally fell asleep....I think I'll go to bed too.

But Abby Does.....

Arielle explained to Stacia that Abby wears hair things ALL the time. Abby is two days older than Stacia but has ADORABLE brown hair and lots and lots of CURLS!!!! Stacia finally has enough to grab with a clip...barely.


Stacia graced us with a look of disdain said "Do I LOOK like Alfalfa?" and progressed quickly to this. I think this is a sister moment....

PTL - My Dad is no longer a druggie!

::snort:: For the first time seven months dad spent a day where he was NOT taking the max of pain killers. The pain level with this 3rd surgery seems to be much more manageable than the others. Dad is now back at the rehab house - out of the hospital. He's sure to be bored - Dad has always been very active. Pray for him to find meaningful ways to fill his days while he recuperates...and any other way the Lord leads you. Provision and workman's comp mess is still a good thing to pray for as well. LOL

BIG FAMILY MYTH 1 AND 2

# 1 - "Your washing machine never stops running." This is not a myth. I used to have a cute, color coded schedule. It worked well when I had 4 children under 8 (the first time). However, as the family grew, and their clothes got bigger (which makes more loads), and Mike entered the military (duty, off duty, and work out clothes every day), and there were more towels (work out towels, bath towels, beach towels) and sheets to wash....it became impossible to do the laundry in one day. I moved to TWO days. That worked for a bit of time. Currently (9 of us at home; baby in cloth nappies) I do 3 - 5 loads of laundry 6 days a week. The laundry load is decreasing (2 girls left home) and is sure to ease up even more as the boys leave home.....I guess the machine does stop running in the hours from say 2 a.m. - 5:30 a.m. ::snort:: I almost bought the fancy new washer/dryer set when we moved here. Sears, however, thwarted my plans. They put their biggest model of "normal machines" on sale...and it was cheaper to buy the set than just the washer of the other set....so I still have the old fashioned top-loading washer; but they work like a dream. {What I need is a new freezer - the $75 one I purchased when we got here is not living up to expecations.}

#2 - "There is always someone who needs a bath." This is also not a myth.

Preparing for a trip years ago I had everyone fed, clothes washed and packed, everyone bathed and I commented, "There, if no one will eat, wear clothes or make a mess for the next 8 hours we can get out of here on schedule". So there you have it - my children will tell you that I sometimes advocate that they be starved and constipated while running around clean and naked.

I need a good picture for this category....Jared is saying "ah, no, no...." The above picture is us over 2 years ago at Hatcher's Pass, AK. I'm using photos Bre had on her computer until I can access my photos on the crashed computer. They're all still there - or so I'm told.