Pumpkin Carving Party!!

The challenge...
the helpers...

The process:

Getting ready to pick our home grown pumpkin!!!

It's still attached to the vine, so Kate did not get too far!

Cutting into the pumpkin and scooping out the insides and the end results:

What I Want

Today has been a hard day for my sweet Hannah. There are many possible reasons why (tired, bored, hungry), but the core of the issue is that she does not want to obey. This afternoon I asked her to put a cap on the marker and she walked away from me. I reminder her to "listen and obey" to which she turned to me with a scowl on her face, said, "Humph" then slowly walked over and put the cap next to the marker. Yup, another challenge. My heart sank. I was tired, she was tired, and I knew this would not go well. She ended up being sent to bed for rest time early where she spent the first few minutes yelling from the bed, "I want to listen and obey. I want to! Let me listen and obey, I really want to!"

I was frustrated by Hannah's plea to try again. I so eagerly wanted her to know that I know she will not always obey, and in spite of that I will always love her. She did not have to "try again" to win my approval. She needed to see that she was wrong, apologize and then we could move on.

How familiar is that? Paul says in Romans 7:15-18 "For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out."

But there is hope in Romans 7:24-8:1 he continues to say, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

Now, instead of being frustrated by my daughter's plea to try again, I am humbled. I am in the same sinful state she is, with God trying to remind me that He will always love me, and that He is just waiting for me to turn back towards Him.

Praise God for working through my girls to teach me about His love and forgiveness. I am in no way a perfect mom, wife, sister (in-law), daughter (in-law), friend, neighbor, or so on, but there is no condemnation through Christ Jesus and that is an amazing gift!

Play Day

After almost a week of rainy days, the sun began to shine yesterday. We headed to a park to get some warm outdoor play time, and Hannah actually wore herself out running around that she took a nap, a very rare thing these days (sadly for her pregnant mama).

Slowing Down

My last post was about going to the Pumpkin Patch with the girls. We had a blast, but later that day I started having contractions, and had about 3-4 an hour for a few hours. Although I called the doctor they did not seem worried, and told me to call back if I had 5-7 contractions in an hour, and also recommended that I slow down. I want a full term baby, and so I am slowing down.

My mom has been a great help. She came Monday and just left yesterday. She helped with the girls, meals preparation, cleaning, and laundry and made sure that every day I got a nap. What an amazing Mom I have!! And how generous my Dad is to share her with me and the girls for a few days!! She brought with her a small pumpkin that we cooked, mashed and then used to make pumpkin pie and pumpkin pancakes. Such tasty treats on some wet days - YUM!

Pumpkin Time!!

(WARNING: I took 90 pics today at the pumpkin patch, so there are a lot of pics on this post. It was just too hard to pick!)

Today Hannah Kate and I headed to the pumpkin patch with our Mothers of Preschoolers group. The tour included a hay ride, a corn maze, a pumpkin and going home with a water and a coloring book. It was a warm day today getting up to about 85, so although it didn't feel like fall it was really fun to do something fallish.

Ready to go to the pumpkin patch!

Hannah's bag for her pumpkin...the girl comes prepared!

The beginning of our adventure was climbing over huge pumpkins...


...to the hay ride...
...then through the corn maze...

...to get to the pumpkin patch!
We made it!!
Kate was hot, and went for the first pumpkin she saw.
But then she changed her mind and picked a different one instead.
Hannah searched far and wide to find the perfect pumpkin.
She was not about to settle for any pumpkin, even though her sister was hitting meltdown...
Then when she found it, she called it her "special pumpkin"
and carried it around the rest of the time.
What a special day I had with my two monkeys. Can't wait for pumpkin carving!

My Little Writer

The perk of Hannah no longer napping in the afternoon is that she and I get some one-on-one time together. We usually play a little and work a little on letters or numbers. Today she learned letter R, completing her entire first and last name.

She's brillant, people. Simply brillant!

Park Time with Friends

This is Hannah's new friend, Tabby.

This is Kate's new friend, Charolette.

The only thing that can make park time more fun is playing with friends!!

Celebrating My Super Husband

Raven Hill Apple Orchard

Today is Jeff's birthday, and to celebrate this last Saturday we took a short 1 hour drive to go apple picking in Julian, a place where Jeff's family used to vacation often when he was growing up. It was a fun day, and a beautiful day despite the weather forecast predicting 30% chance of THUNDERSHOWRERS! We picked apples...

ate apples...



...and had a great time being a family.

Happy 32nd birthday, Jeff! I can't wait to celebrate with you next year as a family of five!!!