Better Days

Once again we had a great fall weekend. Belle had her first sleepover at a friend's house. She did ask to come home, but stayed and had a great time! It's nice to watch Belle growing and coming into her own. While Belle was out, we had some great time alone with Ashton. We took him out for pizza. He chose the place - Little Caesars. He got to sing loud in the car without anyone infringing on his spotlight and drank his "spicy" (his word for soft drinks, which came from Belle calling carbonated punch "spicy punch") with his pizza, always a special treat. We always tell him that it's
Pepsi, Coke, Sprite or whatever it may be, but that doesn't seem to phase him. He just wants his "spicy".
Saturday night, we picked up Uncle Kevin from work, and he spent the evening with us. We watched a whole lot of Scooby, Scooby Doo, and ate more PIZZA. Sunday morning was filled with early church and lunch with Grandma and Papa. And, Sunday afternoon was the best nap I've had in ages (ok, so it was one of the only naps I've had in ages, but it was great!).

So, basically it was a somewhat ordinary weekend in our lives. I hesitate to tell the next part for fear that we will be chastised again for missing Sunday evening church, but here it goes. After Sunday naps, we went outside and made an even bigger leaf pile than last week. It was so tall that Aston couldn't even stick his head out of it. The kids played on the swing set while Brian and I raked up the leaves. We raked up half the yard. (Also, I must admit that Brian did most of the "raking". He was out blowing the leaves while we were finishing our naps). Brian would blow the leaves on Ashton, and he would laugh and laugh and laugh. We threw the kids in the pile, and they would push us in. We ended our evening of fun with homemade chicken noodle soup (made by Chef de Brian)and grilled cheese made on hamburger buns (I forgot we had no bread.).

These are the moments...not to sound cliche, but these are the types of moments that we all want to hang on to and remember. They don't cost anything but time and lots of love (ok, and a little bit of extra energy too).
Last year at Christmas, I got Brian an iPod. I only downloaded one song "Better Days" by the Goo Goo Dolls. Every family and marriage goes through its ups and downs. Last Christmas all I wished for us were better days. In many ways (especially times like those above) I have gotten what I asked for and more. I still tear up every time I hear this song. Faith, hope, love, forgiveness and the chance to begin again. Haven't we all wished for that at some point?
Below is the video and song on YouTube. I think this will be my only Christmas wish again, not just for me, but for you as well. May we all find better days...

Fall is for Friends

Each month at school Belle is given the opportunity to purchase books from Scholastic. Last month they had an array of Thanksgiving books. We decided on a couple, one of which was titled "Fall is for Friends". Tonight we created our very own version of the book with our friends, the McMullins (Mike, Angeline and Sam).
We went out to my parents home, raked up some leaves for the kids to jump in and made a big bonfire. The wood was really wet from the rain the past couple of days. At first, we didn't think our fire would ever start, but PaPa had a can of magic (you and I would call it kerosene). After the second dose of magic, we all thought we would leave with sunburns on our faces. At the least the fire actually worked! The kids thought it was amazing the way the flame suddenly burst into the sky. It was a hoot.
We roasted marshmallows and succeeded in devouring the whole bag. Remember by this time there are 8 of us cooking away. Angeline and I were trying to take pictures and video.


So, we got the shaft on our share of the marshmallows. Finally, we got to the hot dogs. It was getting dark by this time and the fire was SOOOO hot! Angeline and I ended up roasting them all by ourselves, but at least it gave Grandma a chance to actually take our picture.
We took our roasted hot dogs up to the house where Grandma had made spinach dip and brownies. We heated up some homemade chili and dug in (all while taking in our evening dose of Sunday football). It was a lot of fun. I don't remember the last time I roasted marshallows and hot dogs over an open flame.
Anyway, fall is for friends. Take some time to enjoy some fall fun with your friends too.

Chalk Monsters

Here are some pictures of our fun with sidewalk chalk. This was back in September just after school started. As you can see, Ashton enjoyed coloring himself more than the driveway. I love my kids. I love my family. There is so much to be thankful for.
There are more fun posts to come!

So Much to Say, So Little Time

Ok, so, well...there are quite a few things that I need/want to blog about, but I just haven't gotten around to doing it. This will be a random thoughts blog covering an array of items.

First, I'm glad I voted today. I waited until election day to vote because of my quandry over the candidates. I did not feel that either of the candidates were an adequate representation of any kind of change. I also was sick of all the political insanity that Christians were circulating. Kelvin Page at Westmore gave a great sermon on Sunday about Christians response after the election and the issue of authority. For some reason, this message inspired me and actually gave me a peace about voting. I have no expectations for how this election will wind up. Either way, I'm excited about the process and the way it has people dialoguing about our country and about the problems within the church. Isn't it funny how these two things keep coming up in conjunction with one another? I think it will be fun to watch it all play out, and I will be watching intently all night long.

Second, I have really been working on my thesis and my Apocalypse paper, as well as thinking about all the things we have talked about in Wholistic Mission. It is all rolling around in my head. I'm beginning to make some concrete formulations, which I hope to write about soon. I'm contemplating what the ENTIRE Bible has to say about the fatherless, orphan, widow, the poor and the immigrant. I'm also looking at what Revelation has to say about systems (economic, political, social constructs), and all of this in light of what the church is doing or hasn't done. I will throw you a bone though, I have said that Wesley had a system of radical discipleship, a call to social justice and life as an accountable and growing community. If we can't get following Wesley right, it might be a little much to think we can actually follow the mandates of Christ.

Third, I'm very excited to have been able to spend more time with my friend Angeline (and Mike too) at various points. I am thankful for their friendship and loving support during this time of transition in our lives. I would also like to say a big thank you to Emily Stone. Her efforts to include Belle and Ashton in activities have really helped my children to transition well.

Fourth, we have been enjoying various fall events. We painted pumpkins, we did pumpkin arts and crafts and enjoyed the night of tricks and treats. I will have pictures coming soon. We also have 2 pumpkins to carve, but considering that thanksgiving is upon us, we may just try to make a true from scratch pumpkin pie. Belle keeps asking to make one and the dried pumpkin seeds would make a great snack!

While this is not the exact maze, we also visited the corn maize in Anderson with Nana and Papi. As usual, it was a fun visit.

We have also been playing with chalk of late. I have some great photos of the kids that I hope to get up on the blog soon.

We have done so much work at my parent's new place. The transition has been amazing. I am so thankful that they are here.

Finally, I am really enjoying my internship. I'm actually starting to get attached to the people there. They have been extremely kind and gracious to me. I love the conversations we share and feeling like we are actually making a difference in the world. I could tell you stories of how things each one of them has said has impacted my life. Each of them have tremendous stories of God's grace and faithfulness in their life. I look forward to continuing to get to know them.

I guess that is all for now. I feel better that I've at written something here, even if it isn't as polished and perfected as I would like. I suppose blogging has now become important to me, and I don't want it to be as sporadic as in the past. I will do my best to get pictures up soon.

I look forward to the dialogue that future posts may bring. By the way, does anyone else feel hopeful about tonight's outcome no matter what it is? I just can't help thinking that no matter what happens, we are still His children, He still loves us and wants to see us all redeemed. Will the outcome of this election really change that? I think not. Que sera, sera.