Helpin with the leaves

El loves to help out around here. If I'm mopping the floor, heaven forbid I don't let her help. If Ems is all messy after a meal, big sister El comes to the rescue! And if Daddy has stuff to do outside, El will surely be tagging along in her paint clothes or with a rake in hand. While Em and I were inside cookin din din last night, El and RD did some pickin up in the yard. He got some cute shots of her...thought I would share. Hope everyone has a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

El's preschool program today

What a fun thing...every parent knows they will go to their child's first Halloween parade/program. Today it happened for me. :) I was one of those "proud parents" who think it's so cute when my kid walks out the door in her costume and waves at me, yelling "HI MOMMY!" Oh gosh... :) (But why is it not as cute at home when she yells "mommy, I NEED you!!??" Hmmmmm). Anyways, all the kids in her class were adorable. And El knew every single song when they sang their fall songs about apples, pumpkins, and Jack Frost knocking on the tree...I really WAS a proud mama. Here are a few pics.

This is the "parade." Out one door, into another...hehe.

Hand motions with every song...

The kids took a bow after each song. :)

Recent Happenins

I can't believe I haven't been on this thing in about two weeks. Yikes! Well, maybe it's simply because October is by far my favorite month of the year...I have loved being outside, doin stuff with the girls, bein on the go...and not to mention, we are having the outside of our house painted. That does add an element of "stuff" to do each day. :) (I'll post some pictures once it's all done)....

Here are some of the things we've been up to lately:

• El and I spent an entire afternoon last week making "Spider cupcakes" in honor of our spider-cupcake day LAST year with her most talked about friend CLARA!!
  


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  • Went to a pumpkin carving party at a friend's house last weekend---was a great evening and El's pumpkin turned out pretty great if I don't say so myself.
• Had our play group Halloween/costume party yesterday---at least 15-20 kids all dressed up, eatin cupcakes and dinner (notice the order) and on TOP of each other. El got in an argument with a little boy about who got to play with the dollhouse, EM just ate the whole time. Pretty typical play group I would say! ;)


• I got to be the parent volunteer at El's preschool yesterday as well. Got there at 8:50 AM, left at 11:45 AM, and HOLY COW it's crazy what 18 three year olds can do to ya! And it was organized!! I had an absolute blast being there though. El got to be the line leader and do the weather for the day. She was so excited about that. I got to help kids paint pumpkins, pass out the snack, and of course sweep the floors at the end. I loved every minute of it!


• Our small group went to a friends' apartment complex and went to people's doors offering to take their trash to the dumpster (most dreaded task)...sounds like a good idea, huh? It was! We had several great conversations with people. BUT....we also had the cops called on us! People thought we were scoping out apartments to break into and so they called the Po Po's....made us laugh and makes for a great story
  
• RD ran the "poo man's marathon" with a good buddy...26.2 miles through the city of Toledo. A self-made course. Didn't want to pay the $100 for a race several hours away, so he did one here...starting line?---end of our driveway. :)


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• Had a GREAT visit from Ryan's mom (Mimi) the same weekend as RD's race. We got a babysitter and got to have a night out on the town with just her. It was great. She just received GREAT news Friday...her recent CT scan showed that her tumor (stage 4 lung cancer) has not progressed at all in the past 3 months. The pain she has been experiencing in her rib is due to other medication. So praise the Good Lord for His blessing in this news!
  
  


• 2 1/2 hour doctor visit today---EM's 12 month appt. was today and the wait was HORRIBLE. If anyone ever needs something to do to keep a 3 and 1 year old busy in a doctor's cubicle-size examination room....put the baby in the sink and let her splash around. EL loved turning the water on and off and EM loved getting wet. Might have been against the rules but oh well. EM is gaining weight just like she should and that lil girl took those 4 nasty pokes she had to get, like a champ...
  
  
  

Looking forward to...

• El's Halloween Parade/Fall program at her pre-school tomorrow
• Trick-or-treat on Friday (pictures will be coming!!)
• A date night for RD and I one of these days... :)

My great friend Lindsay

My friend Lindsay told me about this song (look to your right)...it's called Shadowfeet.

Go ahead...listen. Let me know what you think! :)

Our ROSE turns ONE!!

Today was Em's 1st birthday party. Although her actual birthday is October 18th, we celebrated today. And what a BEAUTIFUL day it was. 77 degrees and sunny! :) Great day to bob for apples and stuff our faces with incredibly yummy cake---outside!! The pictures tell the story of the day...it was just great!

Woke up from her nap, came downstairs to a party...QUITE excited!

Of course El wanted to help blow out the candles...and open the presents...and eat Em's cake...

Bobbing for apples wasn't a HUGE success, but the apples

got eaten and the kids got wet! Perfect...

El and Ems wanting to dive in...

The Pumpkin Patch

This past weekend was quite a busy one. UT's homecoming parade AND our family trip to the pumpkin patch AND a homecooked dinner for some company was all in one day. RD and I laughed at how pictures make it seem like things are perfect all the time. Kids are always smiling...no one is ever sick...or tired....or whiney...the parents never argue about who has to deal with what meltdown...the list goes on. :) WHEN (in all reality), our trip to the pumpkin patch was nothing like we had expected. El was on a sugar high from the candy she got at the parade. Plus no nap. Plus it being close to dinner time. So when she didn't get the exact pumpkin she wanted (it was the size of a tea cup) and when cousin Jack briefly "borrowed" her wheel barrow, and when she couldn't see the sow having babies (yes we saw a pig in labor)...she threw a temper tantrum...multiple times.

Oh well----we did get a few good pics and she was ultimately quite happy to have gone. And of course, she got a pumpkin cookie. :) Ems? She was in her own little world. As long as she was walking or banging the tops of pumpkins, she was content.

Em turns ONE in 10 days. Holy moly...what a wonderful year this has been for our family. RD has made Em's "one year video" and it is out of this world. He is so great at that, and puts so much thought and energy into it. Despite the fact that he's working a full time job, scraping/power washing/painting the exterior of our house, attempting to lead our church and our family...he still has been staying up till 1 AM to get this video done. He is the best. So here's a shout out to RD today, that's for sure!

And last but most important thing: please be praying for RD's mom, Linda. Most of our friends know that her cancer has returned (she was cancer free for 9 years) and it is quite aggressive this time. The doctors have diagnosed it as stage 4 lung cancer. Praise the good Lord, after she chose to end the horrible and unhelpful Chemo, she had been symptom-free since the news (early Spring) and got to enjoy her summer! Sadly, however, she has recently been feeling quite bad and is experiencing both rib and back pain. We won't know details until her scan in a few weeks. She is currently in Florida with a friend and we are praying for respite, healing, and truthfully---just God's peace. This is a hard hard time for her and for the family. Thanks for your prayers.

Worshippin

Today was a chilly day. So of course in my opinion it's time to bust out the footed sleepers for the girls. El has a new one (thank you Nana!!) and she was so excited to put that on tonight. The girls got out of the tub and into their PJs. The first thing El said to me was this: "I'm gonna go downstairs and show whoever comes over, my new PJs." I told her no one was coming over tonight but Daddy and me. She looked at me and said, "Isn't someone gonna come over for some worshippin?" RD and I both heard it. 'Bout melted our hearts! She must really love it when we have small group here (or something of the sort) and when she gets to be a part of worship.
That is a sweet thing.

So RD and her sat on the couch and did a little "Worshippin" together. Pretty great...