A Day With Friends

Yesterday, I went out to lunch with some girlfriends from high school. Six of us from Petra's youth group were almost inseparable those days: Jess & Jen (twins who I went to high school with at Conestoga Valley) and Cheryl, Kris and Michelle, who all graduated from LMH.

Since Kris & her husband Brian are currently serving in Eagles' Wings Ministries in New York and she was home for a few weeks, she invited us all out to lunch. I was thrilled to see everyone together again! Unfortunately, Jess couldn't make it since she just had her fourth baby and didn't have a sitter. I felt very blessed that Aunt Missy watched both boys so I could go enjoy my time out with friends. I started out early and picked up Jen since she isn't able to drive since her seizures started. Then we met at Squire Side for lunch. We talked about children, ministry, churches (we all attend somewhere different now), husbands and life in general. It was great to catch up! Cheryl is currently pregnant with her fourth child and Michelle had her third since I last saw her!Soon it was time to go since Aunt Missy had to work and Cheryl needed to relieve her babysitter. I invited all the gals back to our house for dessert since I had some leftovers. :) Michelle picked up her kiddos and came back, and meanwhile Kris & Jen rode with me home. Joshua enjoyed playing with Michelle's kiddos outside. It was 81 degrees!

Around 4 pm, Brian arrived for Kris and took Jen home since they were heading that way. Michelle also bid farewell. Hopefully we can all catch up again sometime soon!

Way Down Yonder in the Punkin Patch

This weekend flew by, literally. On Thursday evening, Nonie watched the boys while I went to class. Then Grandma & Grandpa Ginder were here to visit Shawn & the boys while I was at class. Knowing how much Joshua likes pumpkins, they brought two with them - one Joshua's size and one Caleb's size. I hear he had fun moving them back and forth all night long. On Friday afternoon, they took Joshua for some time out, and we all had dinner together Friday night in Manheim.
Saturday morning, we took Joshua & Caleb to Oregon Dairy to the Kidz Pumpkin Pickin' with a gal from our small group and her two daughters. We also ran into Jen, Mike, Grace, Faith, Emma and Daniel. They had face painting, kids tattoos, food sampling, pumpkin decorating, barrel rides, pumpkin finding and tractor rides. Joshua also got to play in the playground there. We had a nice time.

A tractor took us to the pumpkin patch! Joshua loved the tractor ride this time!

I wore Caleb like a necklace - he did well until it was time to eat!

Joshua loves playing at the corn table - always a big hit!

While he may look like he wants to go through the hay tunnel, he doesn't like confined spaces. His little friend went through, though!

That afternoon, we went to Austin's 2nd birthday party. Joshua had fun playing outside with Austin's trucks and toys and slide, and we watched as Austin opened his gifts, some of which the Bean already has. Austin was cute and kept saying that it was Joshua's birthday since he had just been at the Bean's party. Caleb enjoyed time home with Daddy while we were there.

Joshua & Grace enjoyed looking for pumpkins together!

Sliding at the playground!

Sunday Daddy went to church to run the A/V equipment and then that evening we had Grandma & Grandpa Ginder, Aunt Missy & Uncle Kevin and Uncle Brian & Aunt Gayle and Grant & Jenavieve over to our house to celebrate Grandpa & Uncle Brian's birthdays. We had a nice time. Grandpa & Grandma had bought Joshua a new book called "the Pumpkin Gospel" that glows in the dark, and now he keeps bringing us his book asking us to make his "pun-kin book on - light DARK!" He LOVES it! I love fall and I'm so glad he's enjoying pun-kins (one of my absolute favorite things that he says now!).

Joshua likes to ride with Daddy!

A FUN FALL WEEKEND!

This Little Light of Mine

A Baby!

Happy 3-month birthday, Caleb!

Caleb is such a sweet little baby. He loves to sleep (most times) and cuddle, and he loves to swing and play in his bouncy seat. He grins at Joshua all the time, which I think is so cute.
I'm going to weigh Caleb tonight before his bath and see what the scale says, but I know for sure he's well over 13 pounds. And he's growing by the minute! He's about done with 3-6 month clothing already!
In this picture, he's drooling to save his life. No tooth yet, though!
I love Caleb's fuzzy little head, big blue eyes and beaming smile. That smile has made my day more than once over the last three months.
When I was taking pictures, Joshua said 'More pictures of Josh!' and kept saying 'cheese' so I got a couple of him, too. Last night he told Daddy to put the baby down and hold him. We giggled. We love the personality shining through!
Enjoy the rest of the pictures of our little C-LOVE!

Out & About

On Sunday night, we went to our first "small" group meeting. It was six couples, along with our children. The house was perfect for kids...very child-proofed and LOTS of toys. Joshua started playing immediately and did okay for the most part (although he was high enough to reach their counters in the kitchen and helped himself to a piece of bread at dinner as I was getting his meal ready...ugh!!!). Unfortunately, Caleb is completely in tune with his momma. If I'm uptight or nervous, he immediately senses it and gets worked up himself. He cried most of the night, and the more he fussed, the more uptight I became. In talking to the one gal this morning who is my MOPS discussion leader, she said she didn't even think about it and was more worried about her own child. I could tell she wasn't just saying that, either. I think we all worry more about our own kids than others, unless the others are really out of line.This gal Becca also said she and her husband are excited at the group - everyone seems super friendly and like we could all be friends quickly. I've liked her from the moment we met at Bible study (which she stopped going to because of the childcare situation), and I'm glad we joined her small group unknowingly.Today we went to MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and I had a great time. However, in rushing to get there, Caleb would not eat from his tense momma. I should have gotten up earlier but both kids were up over night, so I chose to sleep in a little and regretted it later. In the end, it didn't matter. I was one of the first gals from our group that showed up - after all, we all have kids and off days!!! I LOVE our group for that, too. We ate together, talked, did a brain teaser and laughed. Both Caleb & Joshua did really well in their classes, too. There were four older women in Caleb's room, and he was the first baby there. They were all over him, and he loved the attention and could have cared less that he didn't eat. Afterward, I felt refreshed to come home and try to be a better mom than I had been in my rushing state. We all had a pretty good day overall. Becca emailed the group about setting up a play date with our kids, and I'm trying to think of places that a larger group of women & children could go. If you think of anything, please let me know!

Pictures...

The ones we got...

And the ones we did NOT...

An Activity-Filled Weekend

Friday night was spent at the mall with Grandma Good & our photos (thanks again!). Saturday morning, mom called and asked if I would like to join her shopping. Sure! She bought me a new shirt while we were out, and I wore it that afternoon to the Smoketown Picnic. As Postmaster, she's invited every year, and since Joshua likes airplanes so much, she invited us to come along with her as her "date/family" after asking the airport owner if he would mind. We arrived there at 5 pm, ate dinner together with Grandma & Faith (who's turn it was to spend the night at Grandma's house), and then it was time for the candy drop. An airplane took one pass near us, dropping candy for children ages 6 and up to collect. Shortly thereafter, the plane took another pass and dumped a lot more, and children under 6 went and collected. Shawn explained to Joshua that you're to pick up things and put them in the baggy provided. The Bean immediately grasped the concept, picking up a nearby dirty tissue and placing it in his bag. Grrrooossss!!! Daddy took it and disposed of it. Joshua did get a few pieces of candy, though. Good job!

Next, we watched as a man jumped out of an airplane that was so high, it barely looked like a dot in the sky. Thankfully his parachute opened, and he had a smoke thing attached to his leg that he made designs with in the air. When he landed right in front of us, I was sincerely impressed by the age of this man and his willingness to sky dive!!! Faith thought it was especially exciting. Grandma signed the two of them up for a free airplane ride and asked if we would like to go. Shawn & I agreed that maybe next year...we were afraid the Bean would start to scream up there. While it would have just been us & the pilot, we weren't sure that was still a good idea. We met the airport owner, who was impressed with how much Joshua likes airplanes. Joshua would grin and cheer, "airplane" every time one came in or landed and requested "more airplanes, please" when none were there to take off or land. Soon, though, the boys got chilly, and we decided to leave to head to LCBC for church.
This time it was Joshua who did really well in his class and Caleb cried. This was the first time I've ever been paged out of church. It was time to eat! Only, Caleb must have had a belly ache because he didn't want to eat. Eventually after we got home, he calmed down and ate. He wasn't screaming or anything, he just wasn't his typical happy self. The sermon last night was called "the year I got everything I wanted" and was taken from Ezekial when Solomon noted that everything we do under the sun is meaningless. They showed a short video of a baby turning into a young boy, turning into a teenager, turning into a college graduate, turning into a husband, turning into a father, turning into a grandfather, turning into a widower, and then a memorial sign. I literally bawled. How quickly it truly does fly! The whole point of the sermon was that we're all going to die. Nothing we do will change that fact, and truthfully even this king said that basically his wealth will be for nothing when he dies and returns to the earth. The ONLY thing that matters in this life is God, who will take us to the next. I was almost glad I was paged out because I was missing my kids at that point.
This morning we got up in time to go to LHOP for church. The sermon this morning was on being a friend and not expecting anything in return. They made the point that Jesus has chosen to be a friend to us that sticks closer than a brother...with his disciples on the night of the last supper, even though he had told them that they would betray him and scatter like sheep with no shepherd, he still chose to wash their feet. He was a friend that was a friend no matter how the other people acted. We are to show Jesus to others by being a friend without expectation of what comes in return and allow Jesus to fill that void in our lives. It was fairly interesting, too.
I just finished icing cupcakes that we are taking to small group tonight, and I was working on a writing job this afternoon. It has been a busy weekend! I'm hoping tonight goes well, too. Well, I must run and finish getting ready!

Picture People

Grandma bought these outfits for the boys at The Children's Place. Aren't they adorable? Last night we went with Grandma Good to get pictures taken of our whole family. They turned out awesome! I can't wait to get the pictures emailed so I can upload them. When we got home, I decided to take a couple of my own shots of the boys in their little outfits.
All the sudden, I realized how much they are both growing. Three days ago, I said to Shawn, "when did Caleb start to get the pudgy baby look?" Seeing him everyday, I don't realize that he's gaining weight until I give him a bath and see those little adorable chubby legs. Joshua looks older to me, too. He definitely got taller in the past couple months. His clothing is fitting better and better.
Last night Joshua kept giving Grandma Good hugs, holding her hand as we walked, and wanting her to hold him. She was THRILLED! She kicked her feet out in the mall with him, saying that as a Great Grandma, you're entitled to be silly with the kids. She also seemed amused by his dancing in the mall at the music that came from the little ad boxes. He was super sweet, and I'm glad he loves Grandma Good. She is soooo sweet - we are so blessed to have her in our lives. My grandparents all passed away when I was little, and I'm happy that Shawn still has grandparents that we enjoy!

Caleb Luke! Caleb Luke!

Every day I think Caleb looks more and more like my sister Becky when she was a baby. She had big blue eyes, light fluffy hair and big round cheeks. (Of course, I never knew her at that age because I came along when she was five, but I've seen pictures!) Caleb is such a sweet little baby. He's so pleasant and so rarely cries.
Caleb is definitely laughing these days. When Aunt Missy was here on Thursday, he was cracking up at her, laughing with a big belly laugh and then sucking in air afterward. It made me laugh out loud. He also loves to talk and coo, which is so sweet to listen to. On Wednesday night, he didn't sleep a wink. I was sooo tired and starting to get frustrated. Then last night, he slept through until 7 am when I finally woke him because I was worried about him not eating. Grandma said the boy just can't win! Poor little one! I can feel the swollen gums where a tooth is trying to push through...I think it should make its appearance any day now!
Caleb & Joshua smile at each other all the time. They will have so much fun together as Caleb gets older and can play! Joshua tried to hand Caleb a rattle the other day and didn't understand why Caleb didn't want his toy. :) They are both so sweet.

God's Grace

Psalm 19:14 "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer."
As I left our house today, I looked at how beautiful Joshua's mum is turning out this year. It hasn't looked this good since we brought it home from the hospital, which was before we brought home our little Bean. And, I remembered foolishly crying when Shawn cut it down this summer accidentally as he prepared to paint the fence. I had cut it back in the spring already, and I thought that it wouldn't come back this year...boy was I wrong! But, God knew. There I was mourning something that would turn out more beautiful than I expected. How often do we do that? How often does God have something even better in store for us, but we wallow in the moment, stuck in our own knowledge and not trusting in His goodness? For me, I know that's more often than I'd like to admit. God lovingly reminded me of His unfailing grace today. Even though I fall short often, He loves me even more than I love my own children (which is hard for me to even fathom!).

In the Bible study I'm going to right now, the discussion was on having "praying lives." We read Nehemiah 1, and verse 4 spoke to me in particular. Nehemiah wept and mourned, fasted and prayed, and then with reverence and a pure heart, he made his request of God, reminding Him of His promises from long ago. Beth Moore said that in our prayer time, we should be meditating on God's word and praying it back to Him...it's like a real conversation with God as He speaks to us and we reflect on it back to Him. While it made sense and I've probably heard it a thousand times, it really hit a core with me yesterday. Am I reflecting and meditating on God's word enough? Or am I rushing through it as one more task to complete in my all-too-busy day? Last week, one of our homework assignments discussed legalism vs. a passionate relationship...that also spoke volumes to me. God is so good! All the time!

I'm thankful that He continually speaks to me; that His word is truth yesterday, today and forevermore; and I'm grateful to my sister and Aunt Missy for watching the Bean and allowing me to feel the freedom to go and learn more about our Heavenly Father. May He be honored in my life!