More Fall Fun...and thoughts about love...

 What's made me happy this time of year?

I feel like I am finally growing up...

I mean, I feel I have a handle on what comes my way more than ever.
Will I be saying this until I am 88 (Gramma Mimi?)? 99?

I know.  I just said something that will lead to the rug being ripped out from under me.

But,

I have never understood so well that I am not in control.

The more I try to control, the more unhappy I am.

I love my job, but I invest in my own family.
I realize that just because my kids are not babies anymore, they still "need" me...
more than ever but in very different and marvelous ways.
What a learning curve! 

I know I can't make my kids or my husband be someone different than they are.

I don't have to like everything they do or how they act,

but I'm not perfect either. 

I can't make Owen love his sister, but I can show him what love is and how to love...I hope.

I've been reading stories and comics all my life about kids fighting.

I grew up in a family of four girls...who, yes, did some fighting too.

But I still do not get it:  why do these two fight so often?

About such little, stupid things?????

"She got more raisins than me!"

"No I don't"

"Yes you do"

"nu-uh"

"uh-huh!"

"nu-uh!!!!"

and on and on and on...

When I can get them focused...and give them attention...

They are so sweet and loving and cute and nice and wonderful...

Here is my tribute to parents who have run the "marathon"...and then ran another...

and another...and are still being the best parents they can be...years later.

I think it's part of the curse from the Garden of Eden:

God said we'd suffer childbirth, but it was the rest that really shows His sense of humor.

Because of the fall, we are all born with sin nature.

Why oh why do we burn with desire to have children...

children of this human race?  born with sin nature????

all that selfishness, deceitfulness, greediness, and pride in one little body...

that grows into...

Maybe it's not really a "sense of humor"

as much as it is an amazing plan that He devised.

In order to have complete, satisfying, whole, forgiving, and merciful love...

I need Jesus.

Without Him, my own hardness would not allow me to love my family...

or anyone as I do am able.

 

"Amazing love, how can it be?  That thou my God shouldst die for me?"

So Thankful I am this Thanksgiving season...

Gabby is almost 3!

A Day At The Dam

A present for Gabby so she always knows and remembers the adventures she and her brother go on.

I truly want them to be friends.

It breaks my heart when Owen says, "I don't like Sister!"

I know he just gets frustrated when she is stubbornly refusing to play his game.

She is going to be strong, though!

**Click on the title to see the whole book!
I can't wait to get it in the mail!
To see how I made it, go to
www.getyourstorydown.com

And if you know my website but have not gotten on lately...get to it!
:-)

The Grass Withers, The Flowers Fade...

a different cup gets used every time she needs a drink...

dinner dishes stay on the stove...

there is no "docking station" and mail piles up...

 dinner bowls, spoons, veggie bucket, and crumbs...stay where they're forgotten...

the dishes and laundry are NEVER done!...

newspapers and notebooks and Bibles and books get left where they were abandoned 

(after somebody was in dire need of...something...)

toys used, toys forgotten...toys left in the open but unseen...

so there they stay...

busy minds forget what was the previous minutes infatuation...

so batteries die and buttons get broken...

organized chaos (or a lost cause) make cleaning a task to be done later...someday...

so carpets rarely get vacuumed and floors rarely get scrubbed...

the air gets cool, the leaves fall, a rake can't do the job, and a the job is never done...

paint peels and maintenance-free deck is not really maintenance-free...

(a power-washer may do the job, but we'll have to wait until spring...)

siding puckers, bugs burrow and hide, rodents dig holes, 

dirt accumulates, weeds grow, branches fall, and vines take over...

I wish I could say these things never bother me...

I've realized that the most upset I ever get with my kids

(other than their gross display of selfishness and self-absorption that we all are guilty of...)

is when they interrupt me and what I am trying to do or get done.

How selfish can I be?

I'm trying to change that.

Nothing I am doing is more important than making sure they know I am available and that I care.

If I don't pay attention...they will demand it in other ways.

I have been heard saying that I don't like beginning something that I can't finish.

Some tasks I just don't start knowing this about myself.

Guiding my children will never be "done," for their needs are plenty.

So cleaning will have to wait...

I am made for so much more than a clean house.

"The voice said, "Cry out!" 

And he said, "What shall I cry?"

"All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness 

is like the flower of the field.  

The grass withers, the flower fades, 

Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; 

Surely the people are grass.  

The grass withers, the flower fades, 

But the word of our God stands forever."

Isaiah 40:6-8

Precious... and Precocious?

My precious, beautiful, sweet baby girl...

She wakes me up but gives me hugs.

She makes a mess but will clean up a spill.

She bugs her brother but will say, "Sorry."

She lets me dress her, but she'd rather be naked.

"Naked Baby!" as she likes to dance around singing.

She loves her daddy but plays hard to get.

She may play shy, but yells, "Hi!" to the check-out lady at Target 

and says, "Good-bye, Friends!" when we leave daycare.

She holds me tight when I leave her with Carrie,

but she tells me to go away when I come to pick her up.

 

So what is her unique niche?

Lately it's her "signature."

I know when Gabby has been in a room because of her "signature."

Can you tell what it is?

A little loop-d-loop...sometimes with more than one loop.

Yes, on walls, on tables, on couches, 

on Owen's drawings (oh, this makes him mad!).

Does Momma get mad?

Yes.

Can Momma get too mad?

Nope.

What's more important?

As my mother often said when we were growing up:

I just can't have nice things.

That's ok.

I'll have nice things someday...maybe.

Maybe by the time I can have nice things, I won't want nice things anymore.

For now...I two of the most valuable, wonderful, beautiful...very nice things:

Owen and Gabby.

Pumpkin days! etc...

I never really paid a lot of attention to Halloween...except for when I was younger.
I loved creating my own costumes.
Now it's really easy to just go buy one...
:-)

Perhaps it is because Owen is in school, but the kids really got into Halloween this year.

I was cutting out bats and ghosts and hanging them from our ceiling.

I drew many pumpkins and cut them out to tape to the window as well.

I didn't know I was such a good artist.  I realized my drawing was too good when Owen spazzed because his picture didn't look like mine.  Dang, I got to tone it down a bit!  :-)

Regardless, there were highlights:
We went to a parade...

 all dressed up...

 posing...

 posing again...

trick or treating...

 they got so excited at each of the 6 houses we visited,
you'd think they'd never had candy...
or so much!
Guess they forgot last year...
and the 4 parades we've been to in the last year!

 Great Gramma Gerry was happy to see us...
and give us a handful of candy!

 Owen didn't want to wear his mask because they knew who he was anyway.
The reasoning of a 5-year old...

Maybe Owen was into it because of stories and drawing at school...

another Owen Masterpiece!

And...

pumpkin carving!

The favorite part was the lighting of the candles.

They loved the glowing faces.

I don't know how these drawings fit into this post, but I had to share...

I guess this one above is Owen catching a butterfly...or trying to.

 

Then this one is us having dinner.

He was sure to tell me that we all have straight hair.

I love the detail...

But what I don't get is how he practiced his name...

and then got carried away practicing his numbers.

And then what came after 16?

I don't know if I will ever know.

Our Little Trip

It was Two weeks ago already!

Blessings come in the form of so many things.

In this case, parents/grandparents and siblings.

We flew out Thursday and came back Sunday, but it was an amazing trip.

When we were planning out trip, Lori asked what we wanted to do.

I said, "relax, sit by the pool, go shopping, go out to eat, and maybe a movie...all the things we don't make time for at home."

Of course, Lori went above and beyond to make our "relaxing" vacation a good one.

We chilled and hung out the first night.  So nice...

Then we were treated to a steak dinner at Burn's.

The food was exquisite, the wine amazing,and the company delightful!

We got a tour of the largest private wine cellar in the nation...or was it the world?

I don't know if we got it clear enough for me to relay it correctly...

The part we saw was only 10% of the whole collection.

We were also treated to a hockey game!

So, I will confess I have not been a hockey fan because I could not follow the puck.

But this time?  I got it!

I love soccer...so how could I not love hockey?

In addition, it moves quicker than soccer!  :-)

Everything about the presentation was really neat...

For the national anthem, the flag was passed around the stadium.

And, the goalie from the U.S. 1980 Olympic team was greeted, given a jersey, 

and was there to introduce the anthem.

It was our last night there and I really enjoyed it...but we were so tired.

Isn't it amazing how tired you can get while on vacation??  :-)

Lori and Matt are fantastic hosts!

We did miss our kids...

but were thankful they had loving grandparents to smother, care, hug, and kiss them while we were gone.

Thanks Lori for having us!

Thanks Gramma and Grampa for coming up and staying in our house...even when we were not here.

Thanks Granny Nanny and Poppa Steve for being the "bun" of our weekend!

(The first and last "shift")

:-)

Thank you Roger for loving me...and my family...