Celebrating the Harvest

Instead of celebrating Halloween, we have chosen to teach Judah about celebrating God's provision by recognizing and celebrating the Harvest. So on Halloween night, we threw a Harvest Party at Mom and Dad's house for Judah and his cousins. Dad shared a teaching from the Bible on how the Israelites came together for various festivals to praise God for His provision and how, in the New Testament, Jesus talked about the role that we, as Believers, have in the Harvest. The kids all sat very quietly and attentively for the teaching, which is amazing considering that the oldest is 6! After the lesson, we decorated pumpkins and had some pumpkin muffins with cream cheese frosting, carmel apples and hot apple cider. I think a fun time was had by all, including the adults.

PHOTOS: Here are the kids decorating their pumpkins, Judah getting creative with a pom-pom and showing off his masterpiece, Uncle Matt and Will getting creative with pipecleaners, the kids proudly displaying their decorated pumpkins and Steve apprently paying homage to Burning Man??? (Reno, NV may have Burning Man but Rock Island, IL has Pipecleaner Man!)

Playing Catch-up

Hello everyone! Sorry for the lack of new stuff on the blog lately. Where do I begin? Life has been busy but pretty low-key if that makes sense. Steve has been volunteering at our new church helping them get their Children's Ministry check-in "HUB" up and running. He's also lifeguarding at a local fitness center. We are still waiting to see what God has in store for us for full-time work for Steve. He is faithful and we know He will continue to provide. My Mom and Dad have and continue to be very gracious and generous hosts to us as we wait on God's plan to unfold. Thanks a million, Mom & Dad! Judah and I are doing well too. We go to the fitness center four days a week so mommy can workout and Judah plays with other kids in their childcare center. He loves going to the gym and always asks if we're going to the gym anytime we leave the house. Mommy loves getting to workout without having to feel rushed and guilty too. :) It's good for the body and soul! We also go to a women's Bible study once a week at church and Judah enjoys playing with the other kids there too. Well, I will try to give you some highlights of our last month via photos, videos and commentary...


GENERAL STUFF












Here are a couple pictures of Judah. One is with his cousin Will on a playground slide. The other is Judah driving a "fengine" at the local Family Museum. Thirdly, you'll get a chuckle out of the video of Steve pulling Judah around my parents' back yard in a little wagon. That's Cassidy's cable/leash that he has around his waist pulling the wagon.

PLAYING "DONALDS"
One of the things Judah and his cousins like to play is McDonald's drive-through. It can be played just about anywhere but the place it works best is out on the deck. The kids ride the bigwheels around the patio swing and stop on one side to place their order then drive around to the other side to pick up their order. This video shows Judah and his twin cousins Will and Maddie playing "Donalds" (as Judah calls it).

DISHING THE DIRT WITH GRAMMY
Judah loves helping his Grammy and Grandad with projects around the house and outside. If there's dirt involved, he's even more excited about helping! Here he's dishing the dirt with Grammy in her flower garden.

Sure, I'd Love To

One of Judah's latest things is to say, "I don't have to" when I ask him to do something. They DO grow out of these phases don't they?! The other day, I asked him to do something and he said, "No, I don't have to" to me. I told him that it wasn't nice for him to say that and what I'd really love to hear him say instead was, "Sure, I'd love to." Of course I was half joking when I said that to him but, deep down, every mom wants to hear that kind of cooperative response from their child. So, on Sunday we were walking across the parking lot to church and I was fumbling with my Bible and trying to put something away in my purse while holding Judah's hand. When we got to the sidewalk, I asked Judah if he could please hold my Bible for me so I could zip my purse. He responded with a very sincere, "Sure, I'd love to." He has said it several times since then and it warms my heart every time. Not bad for a 2-year old little guy!

Baking "Kookies" With Grammy

Judah and Grammy baked some Halloween "kookies" (as Judah says) the other day to take to my parents' next door neighbors. He always wants to help his daddy cook breakfast so we may have a budding chef on our hands. :)

The Pumpkin Farm

Last Saturday Steve, Judah and I headed out to a farm/pumpkin patch about 20 minutes from my parents' house. It's located in Alpha, IL which is where my mom's parents used to live. I have some wonderful memories from my early childhood there. Anyway, we went out to search for some pumpkins to decorate and to let Judah experience some things from the farm. It was a beautiful crisp fall day and we all had a blast. We fed some animals in the petting zoo, found our way into and out of a corn maze, jumped in a bounce house, picked out some pumpkins and other "fall" things including some apple cider and pumpkin butter--YUM! We also rode on the Cow Train, which is this crazy contraption that looks like 10 cows all linked together and pulled by a Gator that is then driven through the pumpkin patch and woods by some lunatic with a crazy yellow wig. What a bumpy and fun trip that was! Judah wasn't really sure what to think of it at first but Mommy and Daddy were having so much fun that he eventually started to like it too. We rounded out the fun day with a stop at a local winery for some lunch. I love Fall in the midwest!

Biopsy Update on our Furry Girl

Praise the Lord, the biopsy on Cassidy's tumor was...not cancerous. She is recovering well but has been sportin' the cone once again due to some scratching. It's been quite sad (albeit humorous) watching her scrape her cone on the walls, catch it on everything, get stuck in small spaces, etc. but it will help her heal faster so it's for the best. We figure she MUST be feeling better because she's starting to "counter surf" again looking for food. Ahhhh, labs, they live and die by their stomachs! Gotta love 'em! :) Thanks for your prayers and concern.

Update on Cassidy

Well Cassidy is home and recovering nicely from her "tumor" removal surgery. We won't have the biopsy results for several more days to know whether it is malignant or not but she is feeling much better. She really hasn't been bothering with her sutures so we're not making her wear her elizabethan collar but we did put it on her for a few hours after she got home to be sure she wouldn't tear the stitches out. She cried and whined so much that we took it off and have just kept an eye on her. Steve did manage to snap a couple of pictures of her though...for the ol' scrapbook. :)