Halloween Fun

The last few days have been full of Halloween fun around here. We've had a party with some friends, went trick-or-treating at Cale's office, attended a fall festival at a local church and carved pumpkins before hitting the streets for more candy tonight. Enjoy some pictures (like there haven't been enough this week!) of our fun!

Yummy treats!

Painted pumpkins

Marisa modelling our "monster mouths"!

Pumpkin carving

Our Steelers cheerleader and our jack-o-lanterns
She's a cutie!

Our Ethiopian distance runner- ready for some candy!

What are you doing to me?

Happy Halloween!

Family Pictures: Round 4

And now our sweet little boy...

oh his little curls...

this face kills me every time!

Family Pictures: Round 3

And now Haven's turn...there are so many good ones of our beauty, this is just the tip of the iceberg!

this so captures my girl- i just love this one!

Family Pictures: Round 2

Cale and the kids...

Family Pictures: Round 1

A few weeks ago, Amber took some family photos for us. You already saw one of my favorites, but there are so many more I want to share! She did an amazing job and I feel like she just captured us as a family so well. Because there are so many excellent shots, I'm going to put up a few at a time in groupings. Today we have me with my kids....

this is one of my favorite pictures- EVER!

and oh, this face...this boy! i can't take it!

Rainy day

It's rainy and overcast today. The leaves are slowly falling out my living room window. We've been sick all week and have done nothing but lay around the house. Today I'm feeling better and am loving a dreary, overcast day to be at home and not sick. My second load of laundry is in process and I'm putting flannel sheets on all our beds. Haven and I are going to cuddle up on the couch and watch a movie this afternoon with a big bowl of popcorn. Tonight there is soup on the menu and if I'm feeling crazy I might even make some fresh bread to go with it. I'm 99.9% sure our evening agenda includes a game or two with Haven and ending up on the couch with my man and a movie.

Sounds like a perfect way to spend a rainy day.

Seven

seven years of married bliss.

happy day, my love!

*photo by amber wing*

For today

Driving over the streets of the city where we first met today. Our conversation isn't all that different then it was in those days. If you close your eyes and pretend there aren't two car seats, with two small children in the back, you might think nothing has changed. And in some ways it hasn't. But in the most important ways it has. There are marriages and children, scars and disappointments, joys and new experiences that mark both our lives. We never were carefree single girls in our early twenties. There's always been a bit more to us then that, and thus the deep friendship that began many summers ago.


Flashes of scenes and situations we found ourselves in. Jokes that only we think are funny. Road trips that never lacked for excitement. Cruising through bookstores looking for cheap reads to add to our shelves. The nights spent laughing and praying and trying to figure it all out.


But now the miles separate and daily emails keep us involved in the details. We can go months without actually talking on the phone, but I know her better then just about anybody. Sometimes it's only a few lines sent out about how there's no time to email that day. Other days it's novel length tomes that are cathartic for both the reader and writer. No matter, it's always connection. It's always -I'm thinking of you today and I just need you to know that.-


Almost everything in our lives has changed since we first befriended one another. But thankfully, all those changes have made us appreciate each other more. We've grown up together in many ways and I have a feeling there's more of that to come.


But today I'm thankful that the miles don't separate. I'm happy to be sitting next to her. To see her laugh and love on my children. To just sit and be together, remebering our younger selves with a smile. To speak of the mundane and the deep across the table.


I'm thankful to just be.

thirteen years later...

i still miss him.

the longing for his presence in my life is still fierce. the sharpness of it takes me by surprise at times.

my life, our life, is just so good...i want to share it with him. i want him to be here, to be part of what started with him in the first place. i want him to see the fruit that has been born out of the seeds he sowed deeply.

but he's not. he's not here.

so i'll just keep missing him. and thanking God that he was mine to call dad.

easier said then done.

especially today, thirteen years later.

The Pumpkin Patch Express

Saturday morning we headed south to Lebanon to go on the Pumpkin Patch Express. We had a great time with Traci, Matt and Isaac riding the train and visiting the farm.

Our little family enjoying the ride.

Oh this boy... I can't even stand the cuteness!

Just enjoying the ride.

Haven and the pumpkins; she loved the farm!
Throwing our kids around in bales of hay just to get a cute picture!

Enjoying our bounty from the farm- a carmel apple!

Haven and Isaac had a great time!

Crazy week

Thursday already? Where has this week gone? It's been one of those weeks that has felt like it was so long, but went by fast. Anybody know what I mean? It's just been packed full. Family pictures, school, minor surgery for Mati, several errands, visiting a new home group at our new church, and preparing for our first post-placement visit from our social worker. Unfortunately we waited til the last minute for much of this so last night was just a bit stressful. But now, the house is clean, the report is done and we're just waiting for the social worker's arrival. We also have a very busy weekend ahead of us filled with entertaining friends, a trip on the Pumpkin Patch Express on Saturday, football to watch and a date night. So for now, I'm going to just sit back and enjoy a few moments with nothing pressing to do, no noses to wipe (because we're all healthy for the moment!) and catch up on some reading.

Hope your week has been calmer then ours!

October

Oh, October...how I love you! I'm so happy that it's finally October, although September went by in a flash didn't it? I don't know if it is these wonderful fall days or the fact that I finally feel like I'm living my life again rather then having it happen around me, finds me optimistic and hopeful and just enjoying my life. We're happy it's October and hoping to make the most of it.

We started off with a bang today by visiting a local park that has a working 1880's farm with friends. The kids loved it and we all thoroughly enjoyed being outside and experiencing something new.

Checking out the cows in their pasture

Trying her hand at the plows

Mati just did a lot of hanging out in the stroller, but he sure looked cute doing it!

A fresh haircut for me and dinner cooking away in the crock-pot have made it an all around lovely day. We finished off this most wonderful first day of October with some pumpkin cookies! They were a hit all around...as you can tell!