Sunday

Our sweet Aunt Othalyne passed away this week. Although we are so sad to see her leave this world, we are rejoicing in knowing that she has found peace and everlasting life with Jesus.

"And the effect of righteousness will be peace,
    and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever."
~Isaiah 32:17

A Little Expansion

Sophia: "Dey a baby in your tummy?"
Me: "Yep."
Sophia: "You ate baby?"
Me: "No, love. Baby isn't in the food part of my tummy. God made a special place just for baby."
Sophia "Dey a baby in my tummy?"
Me (trying not to laugh): "No, love."

That's right, folks! Baby #4 is headed our way.
Due June 5th-ish....give or take a couple of weeks.
We are all super excited and so grateful to God for this blessing. The kids keep arguing over what God wants this baby to be...a girl or a boy. They generally come to the conclusion that it's one of each. Ha! They have no idea what they are asking for! Oh, and, yes, that is my already popping out belly underneath Sophia's arms. Apparently 4th babies like to make themselves visible really early.

"For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;
    at the works of your hands I sing for joy."
~Psalm 92:4

Sunday

"Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,

to dwell in your courts!

We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,

the holiness of your temple!

By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,

O God of our salvation"

Psalm 65 4-5

Punkin' Pickin' II

This weekend the kids and I went with Nanno and Mimi to our usual pumpkin patch. It never fails that I pick an intensely sunny day for this. The hayride is always sooooo hot, but the kids love it.

Because who wouldn't love getting to see exotic animals?

The hayride weaves through pastures where the animals are kept pausing at each one, and then it stops at the pumpkin patch and playground. The kiddos ran straight out to pick their pumpkins.

And, then they played.

Sophia was a little upset when she couldn't play in the corn box (Thank you, allergies), but she recovered quickly and had a blast climbing and swinging and running through the maze.

We loaded back onto the wagon with our pumpkins and headed to the main building where there were much needed refreshments and more animals.

And, photo ops...of course. Not that my kids ever pose for those.

Maybe I should've brought  candy. Do you think that would convince them to all smile at once?

The animals were the clear winners here. The kids were enamored.

We all had loads of fun, but I'm still brainstorming ways to do this at home. Okay, so the camel and tortoise are out, but we've got the space and the hay bales and the tractor and trailer. We could even make it totally allergy friendly for Sophia. Not having to say, "Sorry. Your allergic." would be so nice. And, we wouldn't have to drive or stand in line! Can you tell I'm a homebody?

Sunday

"In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, 
O Lord, make me dwell in safety." 
~Psalm 4:8

Out Of The Mouths Of Babes

Sunday's Tall Tale:

Paraphrase of the lady leading children's church (at the front of the church): "We should never make fun of other people for what they're wearing. Everyone likes to wear different things and that's okay. I like to wear these fun animal prints. And it looks like Jenny there likes to take her shoes off. But, some people might wear different clothes because that's just what they have. They may not have enough money to buy the latest fashions." 

Levi, in the loudest voice possible with a giant grin plastered across his face: "When we don't have any money, we go hunting!!"

I guess we wear the deer skins? Sigh. Funniest part is that no one in our immediate family hunts. I think he's getting very into the Little House books we've been reading. When I told my mother about it, Levi proudly exclaimed, "I made the whole church laugh, Nanno!"

Wednesday"s Light bulb Moment:

Levi: Does everyone have a mama?

Me: Yep.

Levi: But, Aunt Annie doesn't.

Me: Yes, she does. That's her mama. (pointing to Nanno)

Levi: No. It's not.

Me: Yes. She's my mama and Aunt Annie's mama.

Levi: So, THAT'S why she comes to visit me!...to see her mama and her sister.

Later Wednesday evening:

Levi: "When I grow up I'm going to tell stories of when I was a little boy....just a poor little boy. I grew up poor. I'm gonna show 'em my baby books, so that they can know how people lived. I lived way different from most people. I grew up poor and did different things and had a problem with a raccoon." 

Bwahahahah! I nearly spit out my tea. Seriously. I think someone is taking the Little House books WAY too seriously.

Visiting and Indoor Camping

Mimi is up for a visit, and the kids are so excited. She's been living in Brazil for the past year, but we're glad she's back stateside for awhile. I wish my camera phone wasn't broken. (Sob.) I've missed some cute photo ops of her and the kiddos. Monday she spent the day with us, and that evening we had a cookout with my parents. I lugged the 'real' camera out and at least got a few cute ones.

The kids found a fallen branch. First it was Fall, and Levi started plucking leaves off of it while Sophia danced under it. Then it was Christmas with presents (balls) under the "tree". Next it morphed into spring with daffodils and green leaves. So often these days the kids wander just out of earshot while they are playing. I don't always get to hear what their sweet imaginations are churning up. It's always fun to get a little peak in.

After dinner Mimi headed back to her mom's house, and Stephan and I took the kids home for Indoor Camping Night. Oh. My. Stars. It was such fun. Stephan set the beach tent up in our living room. He had plenty of help. On Sophia's face you can spy the chocolatey remains of the grilled 'banana boats' that we had for dessert.

Once we got the tent up and the blankets spread out, we made our campfire.

And, out came the shadow puppets for a little bedtime fun. I got the house and animal templates from here. For the girl and boy I just googled silhouette girl/boy images for inspiration.

Stephan told a story with them, and then the kids had a ball becoming shadow puppeteers.

After a little reading by "campfire" light (a flashlight stuck under the fake fire), the big kids sacked out on the living room floor. The very best part? They slept ALL night long. Usually at least one of them comes crawling into our bed in the wee hours of the night. The sleep was glorious. This will definitely be done again!

If you're interested, I'm pinning Indoor Camping ideas here.

Punkin' Pickin' I

Saturday, I thought it would be really awesome for us to go to a pumpkin patch. The kids and I already had plans to go to another pumpkin patch with my mom later, but this was one of the few days that Stephan would be able to go. So...we went. Can we say "over-packed schedule"? We were two very tired parents by the end of it. It wasn't a total loss, and we did actually enjoy our day for the most part. However, it was overkill. Totally and completely. Of course, I decided that we neeeeeded to check out a new to us pumpkin patch. It was only way over an hour away (problem #1). Then to top it off, unbeknownst to us, they were having a festival over the weekend (problem #2). We drove up to cars as far as the eye could see. Stephan's first words upon arrival, "We are never coming here again."
The kids did have a blast, though, and once the two grownups came to terms with being in such a crowded place, we were able to enjoy things a lot more. And, hey, a few closely cropped photos make it very nearly look like we had the place to ourselves! Oh. my. how deceiving looks can be.

Levi and Sophia were so excited to find another wooden cow to milk. Actually when we walked up and Sophia saw all the vendors and play equipment, she gasped and said, "We're at the fair!" I'm pretty sure the wooden cow sealed the deal and convinced her that she was right.

If you're ever trying to get my kids to smile, saying "smile" is not the way to do it. That just elicits this response...

After lots of playing and train rides and milling about we headed for the line to get on the wagon tour. To their credit Mitchell Farms has things neatly organized and laid out so that despite the crowds there really weren't any super lengthy waits.

Unfortunately, this is where the photos end. About halfway through the wagon tour the bottom fell out (of the sky). When the tour was over and it was time to pick out our pumpkins the rain had lightened up a bit. We grabbed our pumpkins and ran to the van....wet and tired. Poor Levi. We warned the kids that they would have to carry their own pumpkins, so they should choose wisely and pick something they could carry. Levi insisted on the largest pumpkin he could find. He carried that pumpkin all the way to the car. There were tears involved. There were even moments when I wanted to rescue him (not that I had enough hands to do that), but after a few meltdowns along the way he persevered and made it to the car with his giant pumpkin. Oh the lessons of childhood! They are hard on both kiddo and parent sometimes.

Because of Stephan's work schedule it's almost always difficult to plan pumpkin patch trips so that he can come with us, so every year I say the solution is that we're going to plant our own pumpkins. Somehow that never happens. So Stephan came up with a new plan for next year. We're going to buy a bunch of pumpkins, stick them out in our own pasture, hook up the trailer and tractor, and go to our own personal "pumpkin farm". Or maybe next year will be the year that I finally get my act together and plant pumpkins.