Carving

The carving and finished product! But I guess we we did all of this too early... b/c of the warm weather, they are almost completely rotted already. OH well, it's the memory that counts :) 

Pumpkin Hunting

 Every January, Jonathan and I sit down and review the previous year. We review each child (what kids are struggling with, what they are improving on, etc.), we review our marriage, and we review the family as a whole. We have a leather bound journal that is our family journal. Throughout the year, we jot things down in it, but we also use it to write our plans/goals down for the upcoming year. It has been rich, so far, to look back at our hopes for each year and see where we have implemented, readjusted, changed, or simply 'let go' of our some of our plans. We have also seen places where we've not done so well and so we are able to talk through why. We then plan for the new year. For example, two years ago, Jonathan had a goal of making muffins every Sunday morning for breakfast. It has been so delightful to see that play out. Such a small thing, but it has really become something central for our family. The boys LOVE Sunday mornings b/c they know Daddy is making muffins. As the boys have gotten older, we have also starting doing 'family nights.' This past year, we decided to make more efforts with seasonal traditions. Jonathan and I both have vibrant childhood memories that surrounded holidays... 'religious' or 'non-religious.' What I've come to realize as we get older is that seasons or holidays feel special and exciting to us as kids b/c of the work our parents put into making them special... not so much b/c they feel special in and of themselves. We know what Christmas is and what it symbolizes, but our kids won't know or be excited for the right reasons unless we plan and think through what we are trying to communicate to them. So... with all that said, we have been asking ourselves what types of traditions we'd like to start. And not so much just for the tradition, but more for the quality time we can spend together as a family.... which is so important to us. Because if we have quality time together and a good quantity of time together, there are more opportunities for conversations to arise. And when conversations arise, there are always ways to point them to Jesus. For example, when we are carving pumpkins and then we light them on the inside, we can use this great visual and illustration to talk about how Jesus' light can shine through us. (Ephesians!) And when He lights up our heart inside, it will naturally glow on the outside. Then we always have that as a visual in their head that we can come back to. A memory we've created together...

A long version to say that it has really worked well for our family to plan together. We love spontaneity too, but a lot of times the reality is, we have to plan ahead to see things happen... which takes work!

Wow, a long explanation to say, we went to hunt for pumpkins last wknd. We chose the coldest, rainiest day in October which actually worked out well b/c NO ONE else was getting pumpkins at Windmill Farms. I bet today it is packed there b/c it's so beautiful out. We then headed home for lentil soup in the crock pot with homemade bread. Then, we set our minds to carving. The boys loved it! They are at such a great age right now. We spent about 2 hours doing this and by then it was dark. We lit them up... Beautiful! (pics to follow later)

Btw, I want you all to know, our kids will never win the best dressed award! :) We sent Henry up to get dressed on pumpkin day, and I'll admit, I gave him no instruction. So when he came down, I didn't feel that I could really complain about what he chose. But we were both cracking up at his arrangement!

What have you been doing with your free time?

I think I have at least $100 wrapped up in bins for clothing. I have to admit that one of my least favorite 'mom' jobs is doing the great clothing swap each season. For many reasons... it takes a lot of time. I end up doing a ton of laundry b/c I don't want the clothes to have the 'bin' smell. I have to go through all - now 3! - sets of drawers in order to figure out what fits, what doesn't, what is too summery, what is winterish, what should be thrown out, passed on, passed down, or just put in the trash. And did I mention it takes a lot of time?

However, I am reminded of how much we have been given. Henry has about 60 t-shirts and it's not b/c we're t-shirt junkies! It's b/c people have extended so much generosity toward us. I seldom have to buy much for the boys. I just have to fill in the gaps. I am also reminded of how fast they are growing. You don't see it happening and then one day you put on that long sleeve shirt they wore last spring... and 5 months later the sleeves are too short, it's become a belly shirt... and you think to yourself, wow, he has really grown! I am thankful for this.

I am not finished yet. I've been so backed up doing 'bin' laundry that my everyday laundry is now backed up. Shoot. I need a catch-up day. And I've got bins everywhere. Oh well... no one knows but me... and you :)

Pre-K

Henry started Pre-K at the beginning of September. We finally decided last winter that we were going to send him to preschool for 3 days a week. He goes M/W/F afternoons. He loves it! It is so fun to see him excited about it. It is hard to believe he is already going to be 5 in November. Time is flying. Days seem long sometimes, but months fly by. It is hard to describe. Their little angel faces are looking so grown up... Wyatt seems like a big boy more and more and Myles is already through the first 3 months.

Dear Henry - for the record, you started pre-K. Here are some tidbits that you've shared with us thus far. You are already excited about kindergarten. Your favorite part of each day of pre-K is the 10-minutes you get to spend on the playset. Your teacher teaches you nothing when you are on your learning rug, you can't remember any other kids names (except that Cameron kid), and you use the bathroom by yourself. Ms. Allison is nice to you. You don't actually talk to her, but she smiles at you a lot. You obey all the time, not like that other kid named Cameron who kicks the kitchen the whole time Ms. Allison is talking. You set an example to the other kids by always obeying (so you say). You do remember one more girl's name... Josie. She is your 'girl' and you play together outside. You love getting dropped off at the flagpole. You wish you could take me, Wyatt, and Myles to school with you because you like us and you think we'd like your class. You don't like it when we come to pick you up and Wyatt stands at your classroom door calling your name. Today you told him to stop saying your name... you can see when we are there :) We love you!!!!

Don't Ask, Don't Tell - Volume 12

Henry has informed us this is his 'office'... the downstairs bathroom. The other day he had his backpack in there with a file folder. I guess he forgot his writing utensils when he 'went home' after work. A true male... don't all bathrooms become the men's 'office'???

When Jonathan is in charge of snacks...

...Pirate peanut butter rides on apple boats with strawberry sails. And the boys are thrilled!

Smiles with Myles - Volume 4

I took Myles to the eye doctor for his first visit last week. We were there for 2.5 hours, but only spent about 18 minutes with a human. I'm told this guy is AMAZING... so I'm willing to stick out the wait. But I was seriously questioning myself as the minutes were ticking away. So thankful that Mom Cooper came to watch the boys. I had not planned for it to be a morning affair, but maybe in her wisdom she saw that it would be! Good appt though... in those 18 minutes, they checked him over, and for now, he checks out perfect! Of course, eyes change as we all know. We're pretty confident all of our boys will be wearing glasses by time they're 6! Our track record isn't that great... so at least Myles won't feel left out if he has eye problems. Jonathan wore glasses by 1st grade (but mom says he should have had them sooner), and I had a really groovy pair by time I was in 3rd grade. They were white and I always had a sticker on them. Anybody remember those?? Anyways, we were very thankful that for now, he is looking good. We go back in 1 year. Btw, I'm changing the label to the posts about Myles. Just added an 's' in front of the 'm.' I thought it was more accurate. Btw, he is 3 months and at13.5lbs. Not bad!!

Meet the Tomato Horn Worm

Every year I put in a small garden. A few tomato plants, peppers, green beans, maybe some lettuce, and this year some squash since Devon and Beth had extra plants. I usually plant it and forget about it for awhile. I would not call myself a green thumb by any stretch but it is always fun to get in vegetables, and now that the boys are getting older, they love to watch everything grow and help pick the produce. I sent out Henry to pick some green peppers the other day and he came back in telling me "I HAD to come out and see something."

It was a Tomato Horn Worm. When I was growing up, we had a HUGE garden. And I'm not joking... in my little 5-yr old mind, it was the size of about half a football field (or maybe a third!... correct me if I'm wrong Mom!). We had tons of every type of vegetable. And all of us had responsibility in the garden. That worked out well since there was always 6-8 kids available! One year, I distinctly remember Devon had to build the mounds for the melons, put the seeds in, and then Meg and I had to come behind him and cover the seeds with dirt and water. I also remember picking green beans FOREVER and then getting to watch Star Search on Saturday night with Ed McMahon while breaking off the ends on all the beans we had collected. Our thumbs would get so sore.
Ok... I'm digressing. That was just a short memory lane walk for my own record-keeping :) All of this to say, I clearly remember these worms on our tomato plants. They can destroy your plants if you don't take care of them. Hen found this on our green pepper plant and it had white little eggs all over it. So I told him to call my mom to find out what it was. Of course, she knew and, Mom, you were right. It is the parasitc wasp that lays its eggs on this worm. If you are interested in more, check out this.

Easy dinner

We took the boys to Young's Dairy Farm on Saturday (more pics later... they are all on J's iPhone right now). When we ret'd home, we had an easy dinner since we ate so much "junk" while we were there. Aunt Beth will appreciate this - we had popcorn and pb/apples for dinner. We chased that with some apple cider! :) The boys loved it and I loved it b/c I had no mess to clean up. Oh, and I have given the task to Wyatt to show Myles books. He actually does a pretty good job at it.

A job well done

When it comes to home projects, my dad is the man for the job. Really... he can do anything. I find it stunning and quite amazing - but he acts like it's just an ordinary thing. There is really nothing that he can't eventually figure out - and when he does the job, he does it perfectly. We have employed him in his retirement a few times now for projects in our house and we have never been disappointed. This past week, he came to our house for 4 days to put up new base moulding after we had the new flooring put in. Long story short... we had to buy all new hardwood trim for our kitchen, entry way, and office, sand it, stain it, and polyurethane it. THEN we could actually cut and put in. It's is a lot of detailed work... measuring angles, matching up multiple pieces flawlessly, and then measuring again and again. I had a great week visiting with him. Not only did I get to work along side him, Henry did too, and I also got to ask him lots of questions that I've never asked before so I was able to get to see a piece of him that I had not seen before. It was a wonderful time (for me... he might say something different since he did most of the work!!). Thanks DAD! As always, a job well done and we so appreciated it.

Sunday Morning Breakfast

Jonathan makes breakfast every Sunday morning. We LOVE it!

Miles with Myles - Volume 3

Myles had a cardio appt and a 2-month checkup recently. His heart is looking really good. His blood vessel has closed, but he still has a small hole that has gotten smaller, but not completely closed yet. The doctor said we'd wait another year before we checked it, and if at that point it is not closed, they will have to do surgery. But he seemed to be fairly confident that it would close on its own. So, we'll just cross that bridge when we get there. His 2-month checkup was great great too! At this point, he still has lower muscle tone, but he is actually on target mile-marker wise of where he should be with his age. So that was really wonderful to hear! He is smiling and wiggling all around now. Like we've been saying, he is SUCH A DOLL!!! He is so cuddly, smiley, and pleasant. And he sleeps 9 hours a night!! He has graced this house and the boys continue to adore him. Wyatt continues to put everything on top of him that he can possibly find. (See last pic.) I'm still slightly convinced he thinks Myles is a babydoll :)

10 days

We spent 10 days and 10 nights at the Berry's while they were putting our floors in (after the kitchen damage). I know, a long time, huh? That's how we felt... There are way too many details that I won't bore you with. We are back home now and still waiting to get some finishing details done. But, all in all, we had a great time at the Berry's. One of the highlights was this nice picture we made to welcome Devon and Beth home (they were actually on vacation while we were staying at their house). There's an interesting backstory... the main details involves a school on fire, a principal, students on a bus, and big rain clouds sent by God. (I just drew what Henry told me to...)