Death

I told the kids that they needed to pray for their friend Lenah. Lenah is Harper's friend in Sunday School and I said that she will probably will be sad because she won't get to see her Grandma anymore. I decided I would touch on the death subject here with 2 five year olds and a 3 year old. I told them that Lenah's grandma died. Chloe says, "On the cross?" "Aw, no. Only Jesus died on the cross." Attention was lost and I dropped the subject. The next morning we talked about it again. I told them that Ms. Lynn was burried and her heart goes to be with Jesus. Little wheels were turning now. "Burried like when we got burried in the corn at the cow train?" "Kind of, but they dig a hole and put you in a box and then put dirt over you." I said. "I want to get burried," says Chloe. "I know," says Carly, "That He was burried, that He was raised on the 3rd day, according to the scriptures - 1 Corinthians 15:4." Wow! Great job Carly connecting your Bible verses! I then explained that it was talking about Jesus dying on the cross and people get burried differently. Woah - what a tough thing to tell them about! That is about all I said, but I just wanted to touch on the subject since they do hear about Jesus' death all the time and how little Lenah's heart may be sad.

Never Guaranteed Tomorrow

This week I have been reminded twice how you are never guaranteed tomorrow. A very sweet and loving lady, Lynn, died from our church on Monday. It was a very unexpected death - she was very healthy and had bad complications from a surgery. She was a wonderful lady! She kept the 1 years olds in the nursery, so she had watched all of our babies for a year. Every Sunday they would come home with lipstick on their cheeks. It was so comforting to know how much your children were loved on while she had them. She also was the goldfish lady. She ALWAYS had a bag of goldfish with her. She would give Harper the bag each week and he would walk out of that room, lipstick on his cheeks, a smile on his face and ready to share his treat with the girls. That is why my kids call goldfish "Lynn crackers." She was such a great lady to talk to and she always made me smile. And then today, I guy that went to High School with me, him and his wife were in a car accident that left them both injured and she was pregnant with her first child - due the same time as me. She lost her baby. These are just such strong reminders that life is short and can be ended at any time. Are you ready for that? As sad as the thought of leaving my family is, I know that I will be with the Lord and that my husband will be too when our time comes. That is a comforting feeling! It will be so hard to loose someone when you have no clue of their salvation. Don't take for granted each day you are given! Hug those you love and let them know it!

Halloween

In my pesimistic attitude toward Halloween, I usually dread this holiday. I can't stand seeing witches, skeletons, kids with axes on their heads, and children dressed up as mean/ugly people. My kids also don't eat candy, so this can get tricky. Well, this year we are going to our fall festival at church as usual, but I wanted to explain to the kids what Halloween is about. With the help of my wonderful husband, I found out some very interesting things about Halloween, that make it not so bad. Did you know the Protestant Reformation began on October 31, 1517 when Dr. Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses on the door of the Slosskirche (castle church) in Whittenberg, Germany? Hmmm... I didn't know that! So, now I am excited about what my children are going to be for Halloween - GERMANS!! My Mom and Grandma brought the girls back these dirndls from a trip several years back. The hat was given to Connor from that trip as well (so we borrowed it) and Mom had these Lederhosen from when she lived in Germany. I didn't have anything authentic for Finley. So I was trying to think of something German that she could wear. I came across a gnome outfit. Researching begins again. When you first look up the word, you find it means short, ugly man who guards burried treasure. But I looked up garden gnome and they first came to Germany in the 19th century and were beneficial for garden growth. What a perfect little symbol for our family - growth ;) So I feel her outfit fits and she doesn't look at all like a short, ugly man!!! She is our little growth statue! So now I have a reasoning behind their outfits, and then I told them the pumpkin gospel. This simply compares a pumpkin to being saved by Jesus. You are picked from the world, washed all the dirt away, cut open and cleaned out, you are given eyes, nose, mouth, and put a light in to show the world God's love. (This is definitely the shortend version of the gospel). So I told them that during Halloween we are to share God's word with those who don't know Him. I am going to print the pumpkin gospel out for our trick or treaters that come to our house to go along with their treats. That way the kids can see how important it is to share God's word.

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me, shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." John 8:12

God is light and in Him is no darkness. 1 John 1:5

The Wedding

On October 16th, Rachel and Paul got married on Crest Mountain in Asheville, NC. It was a beautiful day and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. The trees were gorgeous and the wedding was a lot of fun. We really enjoyed our time with family on our weekend getaway. On Friday, we got there around 11 and ate lunch. We got to see Aunt Peggy and Uncle David which was terrific. Grandpa and Aunt Peggy and Uncle David took the girls to the pool, Matt stayed in the room with Harper and Finley so they could nap, and I went off with the ladies to the bridal luncheon at the Fig. It was very yummy. When we got done, we unloaded our stuff in our room and got ready for the rehearsal. That didn't take too long (it was really cold and windy this day) and then we went to 12 Bones for the rehearsal dinner. Again, we got to spend some wonderful time with everyone including Pastor Kenn and Kim. The next day, we had breakfast, the big kids went to the pool with Matt, and Finley and I got lunch for them. Then Matt took the kids to the room for rest time and I went and got my hair done with Mom and Rachel. After that, it was a mad dash to get the girls and myself all ready. I did it in about 20 to 30 minutes!! We got to the wedding in time, but late - hey it was the bride's fault!! And now here are the pictures of how the evening unfolded!
Right before leaving the hotel. I am with my 1st, 2nd and 4th daughters :)

Rachel looked stunning!! Her dress was so easy to choose. As soon as she tried it on last year, we all knew that was the one. I think she only tried on 6 dresses total!

The oldest nieces and nephews. I love this picture because Oma is in the mirror looking at her granddaughter and great grandchildren!

Harper and Finley joined the party after nap time! Good old Daddy was on patrol of the little 2!

Best Buds!

The feather girls and the ring bearers! Carly and Chloe with Conner and Caleb.

I was a bridesmaid

The feather girls hard at work (don't mind this man's bald head :)

Here comes the bride!! She walked out to the song "Over the Rainbow"

I do!

2 Proud Sisters The ladies - there were 6 bridesmaids total

The guys - one of them got stung on the forhead during the ceremony. When we walked to the back his forhead had a nice wealt!! Poor guy!

Our Growing Family

Kris and Gina's family

Nichole and her girls

(These pictures are a little out of order) Dancing time! All the kids loved dancing. Carly and Chloe especially liked to twirl!

Finley made her rounds visiting. She really liked Uncle David!!

Of course she had to spend time with her Uncle Kris!

And Aunt Gina!

The Cake! It was yummy! The Hummel on top is my Mom's and it looked so cute on top.

The tables

The Goonies

Sometimes a lady just needs to kick off her shoes and dance a while!

The kids were dancing the entire evening! They loved having the freedom to wiggle!

Now this boy had some moves up his sleeves!! Harper came up with all sorts of crazy moves. And notice the WHITE socks. Even with repeated directions to the shoe box where the socks were located, Matt still couldn't find his black ones (and that night I picked them up right off the floor)! Oh well, he did pretty good getting 2 ready.

Here is another one of is awesome moves! I think he has his Daddy's skills - poor kid.

The next day, we had breakfast with Rachel and Paul and everyone else who was around. We then proceeded to pack our room and then went to Aunt Peggy and Uncle David's motor home - or as the kids said "house on wheels." We visited there for awhile and then we all went to an Apple farm. (Camera batteries died at the wedding so no pics for this) It was fun, but there weren't any apples :( We got a couple large grape sized apples from the trees and a couple on the ground, but it was kind of a bust. So we got some apples, some cider to go, and a frozen apple slushie and said our goodbyes to Aunt Peggy and Uncle David. We then came home and were quite tired out from the eventful weekend. We really had a terrific time and wish Rachel and Paul the best of luck.

Bru Bru

Little Miss Finley has decided she has a new best friend. Brutus was given to Harper after his accident last year by my Mom and it was funny that his name on the tag was Brutus (a name my Mom has always called my Dad). Well, Finley has fallen in love with Bru Bru. She carries/drags him everywhere she goes. So Harper has lost his dog. He goes in phases with his dogs: blue dog, Brutus, JoJo, and Frankie. Luckily Brutus was not hot at the moment, Frankie is, so her swiping his dog isn't so bad. But I have a feeling she will never let this dog go!

Little Teachers

Finley wanted to help with some cards the big kids and I were signing, so Carly and Chloe decided that they would keep her busy doing pat pats. They sat their student down in a chair and helped her place her stickers on the paper. She loves stickers and the 3 big kids loved helping (well Harper just sat on his car watching). Finley has alot of little teachers :)

Rachel's Shower

Rachel's wedding is fast approaching and we got to celebrate with a wedding shower last weekend. Rachel is very "natural" so decorating was fun. My vision was birds. She likes this kind of stuff, so I enlisted Nichole, Mom, Dad, and Oma in cutting out lots of birds! I made these mobiles that hung from fishing line from the ceiling. They looked so cute!! I absolutely loved the final product. And the little nests as center pieces were great. Rachel got a lot of great stuff for her and Paul and their new life and I wish them the best of luck.

A finished table
I love this picture! My 3 girls, with my Mom's 3 girls, with my Grandma!