Pumpkin Carving

I asked Peter to draw us an inspiration picture of what he'd like the pumpkin to look like.

This is what he came up with... he wanted it "scary".

 Then we got to cleaning it out.  I scraped it with the spoon and they cleared it.  Peter doesn't like the pulp (he kept asking 'what's that stuff called?!').  So I finally got him the tongs.  Lily separated out the seeds to roast.  That pumpkin was perfectly "clean" when they called me over to carve.  

 I think it turned out cute, even if I do say so myself!  

Evenings and Mornings

As I typed that title, it reminded me that maybe there is a book with the same title but opposite, Mornings and Evenings.  So I googled it, and this is what I found.  It seems perfect to add, as I feel it reflects the season we've been in lately... thankfulness and joy.  That's not to say we're not exhausted most evenings but the overwhelming sense is that we're in a sweet spot, on lots of levels.  The kids aren't so little anymore but they aren't too big yet either.

But there is the annual sadness that daylight is creeping away.  

"I will praise Thee, O Lord."—Psalm 9:1.

PRAISE should always follow answered prayer; as the mist of earth's gratitude rises when the sun of heaven's love warms the ground. Hath the Lord been gracious to thee, and inclined His ear to the voice of thy supplication? Then praise Him as long as thou livest. Let the ripe fruit drop upon the fertile soil from which it drew its life. Deny not a song to Him who hath answered thy prayer and given thee the desire of thy heart. To be silent over God's mercies is to incur the guilt of ingratitude; it is to act as basely as the nine lepers, who after they had been cured of their leprosy, returned not to give thanks unto the healing Lord. To forget to praise God is to refuse to benefit ourselves; for praise, like prayer, is one great means of promoting the growth of the spiritual life. It helps to remove our burdens, to excite our hope, to increase our faith. It is a healthful and invigorating exercise which quickens the pulse of the believer, and nerves him for fresh enterprises in his Master's service.

{crab walking}

There is an extra sense of thankfulness as we get to see and experience (I think?) a little of the benefits of working hard for Peter for the years before school (and continue to).   I think (and hope & pray!) he is doing mostly well in school!  He is a hard worker, which may have not been the case if he'd been able to glide through.  And God created his personality to enjoy the extra "work" and do it with cheerfulness, mostly. 

{learning good sportsmanship??}

Thankfulness that Mike is so on board and so 'all in' in working for and with Peter.  

These pics are of the evening exercises they did for a while.

{bear walking}

We've been studying Exodus in Wellspring.  This verse is perfect.

10 But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” 11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” 

{playing freeze tag}

Our evenings since these pics have gotten a little more crazy.  We've filled our schedule and have an activity most every night of the week.  Peter is doing tae kwon do, which he LOVES, and we try to do it 3 nights a week (!!!) at their recommendation.  Add that to speech and OT, and it keeps us moving!

{more biking practice} 

   

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Mike and Lily have a few special mornings a week.  I head out to walk with Blair after Peter is on the bus and these two have a little 'date' at home.  They both love it.  Clearly.  What's not to love?

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And two randoms:

There was a "walk to school" day early in Oct.  We aren't in the neighborhood surrounding our school so I thought we should drive over, and then walk.  But no.  No compromising.  Mike insisted they walk all the way from home.  They did it and it went well!

 This little girl is learning to function without brother here for part of the day.  She flitters about and is just the joy that she's always been.  She hums and sings as she plays and pretends (or picks berries).  Her little voice and presence fills our house with joy and smiles. 

Go Hokies!

Mike scored some free VT football tickets from work.  So since Mommy was gonna be away with some girlfriends for the weekend, he decided to take the kids to the game!  Pretty brave, huh?!  He pulled it off without a hitch.  I'm pretty sure I would have slowed them down.  ;)

He made it a day trip and even arrived in time to stop at the bookstore for a shirt for Lily!    Lily's favorite part was that they got to eat a lot of fruit snacks (Mommy doesn't really allow many of those).  But I also found a bag of celery and apples when I unpacked them. :)

Happy Friday!

To the bus stop... 

....and back home.

Quote

Lily is so entertaining.  She loves to sing songs and make up the words as she goes.  She talks a lot.  She loves pretending, playing school, coloring.  This morning, while she was coloring, she said to me in the kitchen, very matter of factly:

"You know what God doesn't like?  Sin.  So you shouldn't like sin.  

You know what else God doesn't like?  For lions to swallow you.  That is sin for lions."

Field Trip

With a day off school, we had to get out of town.  

So we took a field trip to the vet's office.

We learned a little about dog anatomy (and good hygiene).

 Later we headed out for a bike ride.  Maw and Paw's dog, Wally, came with us with us in the van to get to the trail.  You know I'm not a dog person so that made it extra special.  ;)  It was the kids' highlight of the day.  They couldn't stop talking about it.  It did give me a good laugh to say yes and thrill them.  And Wally is a pretty nice dog, especially b/c he doesn't have to come home with me.

 They made an old railroad track into a trail.  

 Peter is almost big enough that I can wear his clothes when I am cold.

 Maw had some slime and some heroes.  Wrapping the bad guys or heroes in slime entertained Peter for an hour or more.  Lily made me and Maw bracelets out of the slime.

Favorite Things

I think I've mentioned that I do a sewing class at our church.  The class is the brain child of a lady who wanted to find a way to reach out to the immigrant ladies living in the neighborhoods around our church.  I feel so blessed that I get to be a part of it.  I've said many times that it is a dream come true for me.  It combines some of my most favorite things.... 

crafting and international ladies and Bible study.

This summer Lily and I were talking a little about children who don't have mommies and daddies.  And things we could do to love them.  We had the idea together to make them "taggie lovies" b/c Lily loves hers so much.  Then, just a week or so later, Mary, the lady who leads sewing, told me that she had the idea to make baby blankets for a missionary doctor from our church who works in Kenya.  So excited.  Lily and I bought our material and got to sewing (after much procrastination).  We only managed to make 2 lovies (before presenting them to the doctor this morning).  But we may sew more??

 Here is one of our finished products (oops, forgot to rotate pic).

Here are all of the blankets from the ladies at sewing class.  :)

 Sewing Friends... 

 Left center below is the OB-GYN in Kenya.  It was so encouraging to have her join us, to hear about her work, and to look together at how Jesus loves women so personally.  Her testimony of her calling tied in so perfectly with what we've been looking at in our Bible study lessons.

It is such a joy to be involved in this class.  

Its a highlight of my week and "fills my tank" to be with these ladies.

Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.  1 Thess 2:8

Pumpkin Patch

We headed on our 4th annual preschool field trip to the pumpkin patch.  I don't find this patch to be quaint at all, as I think it should be. Hmm... could be those big power lines going through it?  But, being my one and only year with Lily, we were excited.  I do not like going on theses trips alone, without other kids or moms... I feel like it steals some of the fun and benefits of going.  So at the last minute, we grabbed our friend, M and her daughter and Lily's classmate, G, out of the carpool line to ride with us.

 

M is a fun lady!  I loved hanging out with her and getting to hear more of her story.

It was rainy and cold so we made bonnets out of a shopping bag and a plastic bag ;)

 Bringing her pumpkin up the hill... 

 Queens of the hay stack!

SMOs & SPIOs

 We have new gear.

So this is the third year that we have gotten SMOs (supra malleolar orthosis) for Peter.  Its a custom made shoe insert to provide extra support for his feet.  When they were first recommended, it overwhelmed me.  I've come to love them and see that they do help him.

 It was sorta sweet to go in for our third time around.  It allowed me to see how far we've come.  The first year the kids were bouncing off the walls and this year, they just played with the toys and obeyed when it was time to go back.  Progress each year.

They sat calmly in the chairs and looked at the designs.  Peter gets excited for the print he'll get on them each year... this year its Batman.  Lily also enjoyed flipping through the samples telling me which design she'd like when she got jumpers.  They do have good girl designs!  ;)

 The same orthotist has molded Peter's feet each year.  He is just a kind man and calls Peter "friend" when he speaks to him.  Its always sorta fun to see him.

A few weeks later, after they came in, we went out for new sneakers.  I had to cave and buy some for Lily too.  The girl needs to get a treat too!  :)

The other new thing for Peter is that at the recommendation of his physical and occupational therapist, we ordered him SPIOs (stabilizing pressure input orthosis).  Its a set of tight fitting spandex garments that he wears under his clothes.  We call it his "hero suit".  He thinks that's great and so willingly wears them.  The purpose of them is to provide extra sensory input to allow him to feel and work his body better.  The brochure mentions improvements in posture and attention, both of which sounded great to us.  He's been wearing them for 4 weeks.  Its hard to say how much its helped because I mostly have him wear them at school and then allow him to take them off at home.  But he tells me that they feel "good, like a hug". 
At Mike's leading, three years ago, we shifted our mentality to assume we'd fully use our health benefits, instead of trying to avoid or minimally use them, which is my normal approach.  We plan & budget to meet our deductible each year.  Peter recently met his individual deductible and the benefit comes the second half of the year when everything is fully covered.... like both of these new items for him, plus his remaining therapy sessions.  Thankful for His provision in this way.  

Pumpkin Pie

The kids had a date night this weekend with Goo. 

They made pumpkin pie!  

How fun is that?!