Pumpkin Patch

In My Heart

Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished. - 1 Chronicles 28:20

So you are also complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every rule and authority. - Colossians 2:10

It's no mistake that these two verses appeared one after another in my Bible study this week. The first verse spoke to me about "doing the work" - something I'm embarrassed to admit that I've never noticed in this verse I've heard so many times. It's important to be strong and have courage, but this morning I was pointed to doing the work that has been laid before me. Sometimes those things require courage like putting our house on the market, but other times it's putting down what I'm doing when Tink asks me to read with her, keeping my house in order, or (a big one for me) holding my tongue when something comes to mind that I know isn't encouraging. I know that God lays before me big tasks, but they sometimes seem unimportant according to the world's standards. I loved this reminder about doing the work, because sometimes, it's about doing the things I know I'm supposed do.

Appropriately, the second verse was a reminder that I can never be "complete" on my own. I often have unrealistic expectations of myself, and am easily discouraged when things don't go as planned and the laundry piles up, the house is a wreck, or my kids are "angels" in the grocery store. I was encouraged by the instruction to "do the work", but needed to be reined in a little bit with the reminder that I'm not on my own here. Only through Christ can I be complete - lacking in nothing. God's view of perfection isn't the same as mine (thank goodness!) This explains it better than I ever could:
"Our efforts to model the Proverbs 31 woman should be focused on the love that was behind her actions, not the actions themselves. This woman is simply one whose outward actions were a result of a heart being transformed into Christ-likeness. She was exemplary because God's intervention had influenced her life, not because her human efforts were perfect." (Tracie Miles)

Praying that my actions are a reflection of the work that Christ is doing in my heart . . .

Happy Birthday!

Monster Triathlon

About three months ago, R came home and announced that he was going to train for a triathlon - I wasn't really sure where it came from, but was excited for him to work toward a goal. Fast forward to Saturday, and we were all up EARLY for the Monster Triathlon in our hometown. People travel quite a long distance to enter triathlons, so we're really lucky to have several so close to home! None of us were sure what to expect, but it was a great day! We got to watch him swim, leave and return on his bike, and run across the finish line! R was a little nervous about completing all three events, but he finished ten minutes earlier than his goal - I was so excited and proud for him! We had a lot of fun cheering and people watching, and look forward to the next event in March :)


waiting to swim

indoor swim (he's second to the top)

headed from the swim to bike

coming in from the bike

waiting at the finish line

an official triathlete

Ryan's friend, Andy, who got him interested in training

proud daughter

all the fun he could handle

Sewing Part 2 - for the boys :)

My second round of projects were "boy" themed - the first was stressful because I didn't have a pattern and it took me a few tries to get it right. The second two were new to me, but they turned out really well and I'm really proud of them! I'm already starting to look around for Thanksgiving and Christmas ideas :) I linked to the tutorials that I used in case you want to try one of them yourself.

Tag Football (I was scared to sew the threads, so my Dad helped me out) :)

Frankenstein shirt - I didn't like any of the "boy" Halloween shirts I saw in stores, so I decided to make my own! I cut and ironed on the fabric and appliqued with my sweing machine. Of course, Bug's favorite thing is chewing on the buttons.

I made these for Ryan's triathlon (he wore a spiderman jersey). I used a bleach pen to make the web and a freezer paper stencil for the spider and words. I was pleasantly surprised with the way they turned out and plan to use both of these techniques again!

Tea Party

Tink was invited to her very first tea party today! The girls got to play dress up, have a mini "makeover", take lots of pictures, and, of course, eat cookies and drink tea! It was such a fun playdate and I have a feeling the first of many more tea parties to come :)

The clothes


The makeover

Admiring her new look

Having a spot of tea

Seven & Eight

Maybe I should blame my lack of blogging on Bug's new ability to "explore" :) He's a champion roller, and is currently perfecting the army crawl. He also finally figured out how to lay down from a sitting position by himself, which is a lot harder than it seems, and was really making him mad! We're having fun watch this guy make his way to the things that interest him. Right now, those include little bits that the vaccum doesn't pick up (I know, gross), Tink's books and toys, and anything else besides the toys I scatter around for him to play with :) His first two teeth are in and constantly chomping on something, but so far, no others are in sight. When he does play with toys, he seems to prefer balls and things with wheels (such a boy). He's also started to pay attention to Blues Clues as Tink watches (do all second children watch television a LOT earlier than their older siblings?) No doctor's appointments this time, but I stood on the scale with him a few weeks ago and it said 18.5. He's grown out of his 3-6 month clothes, so he's definitely growing! He's constantly making noise, usually grunting, which gets both of us some funny looks when we're out. He's eating two meals a day in addition to nursing (which I'm very proud of b/c I didn't make it this long with Tink). His menu now includes Puffs (an instant favorite), applesauce, pears, peaches, peas, and green beans. His PaPa tried to feed him barbeque and corn on the cob last weekend, but I rescued him just in time! We spent lots of time with family the last few months, and he loved every minute. Bug got to meet some of his cousins at a family reunion and attended his first garage sale! He also spent his first night away from us (with Grandma and PaPa while we slept just a few miles away). I wasn't quite expecting it, which might have been the best approach because I didn't have time to worry. He's a great traveler, and is happy for friends and family members to hold him (unless it's nap or meal time). This boy steals my heart every day!

making an escape

discovering his toes

future guitar hero


Seven months

sitting champ

a family tradition - the taggie blanket!

eight months

Oh, how times flies . . .

in the fall! I can't believe it's been an entire month since my last post and I'm TWO months behind on Bug's updates. I have a long list of wonderful excuses that I will spare you, but here are some of the things we've been up to:

We spent a weekend with my family attending a reunion - it was great to see everyone and R enjoyed an afternoon of college football with my Dad :)

Lots of cousin fun! The girls are loving TotSchool, playing outside, and keeping me on my toes! The boys are both really laid back (SUCH a blessing), but are starting to be active - I can't wait for them to play together!

Tink and Bug are learning to play together. The sound of their giggles is priceless!

We've been enjoying the fall weather and spending lots of time at the park! R is training for a triathalon, so we play while he runs or bikes, and then have a picnic!

We spent several weekends helping R's family prepare for a sale at his Grandma's house. Tink got to spend the day at her new apartment during the sale, and they had quite the time! We also brought home a few treasures that she was happy to put to good use!

We're spending the weekend as a family and lots of fun pictures are to come - here's a teaser: it involves pumpkins and corn dogs :)