A Must Have...

On Halloween night, we had a night of worship at our church called 10:31. In reference to the date and to 1 Corinthians 10:31...get it??? My husband is so creative! Anyway, we had our friends Josh and Tasha Via and their band come up and lead worship. It was a great night! But we got their new cd and it is awesome. They are so very talented. Some of those songs are just amazing! Click here and you can listen to some clips. So need ideas for Christmas gifts or just want to support them...get this cd. It is a must have!

Slapping some tiles...

Only a few of you may get this, but we had a great night last night with some friends in our small group. After a "breakfast" dinner (i know, awesome) with both families, we sent the kids upstairs to play for a while and then eventually to bed. We sat for 3 hours playing Mexican Train dominioes. We played that back in seminary the whole last summer we were there with the Gurneys and Bevers. It was really fun, but I think we only got through 3 rounds. We ended up talking and laughing more than playing. We kept asking, "Whose turn is it?"

On another note...
Favorite quote from Micah today...
We are driving in the car and Caleb was happy, giggling and talking.
Micah says, "Caleb, what's so funny to you?"
It just made me laugh!

What Do We Do Now...

I'm not really one to get into politics because when all is said and done, no matter who you vote for and what you believe, they are all going to fail you at some point. But I find myself reflecting on this past election. First let me just say I am soooo glad it is over. The phone calls were ridiculous! But I fear going into the "Christian" public today because I don't want to hear the somber comments of what do we do now. I'm sorry if I offend you, but our lives do not depend on who is in office. Quite frankly, I couldn't get excited about either choice I had to vote on. I know that all the changes that our new president confidently says he will put into action will have some effect on us as citizens of America. But praise God, that I put my faith in someone and something so much greater. No matter what changes occur, good or bad, I serve a God who is above it all.
I'm afraid much of our country voted for Obama because they wanted anything but Bush. They wanted someone to save them from the awful way of the Republicans! Republican or Democrat or anything else (Green Party, what's that? Poor Nader...when can he take the hint), never ever ever will you make my life just peachy keen. Never will you save me from the fact that there will always be wrong in this world!
My friends (ha! you like that!), thank God for the faith he has so graciously given us to believe in something so much greater! My prayers are the same as before...that God would be soverign over all situations and that He would be gracious enough to carry me through any circumstance. We DON'T need change. My hopes and dreams and faith is placed at the feet of the only one who DOES NOT change! Praise God!

Happy Halloween...

Happy Halloween from Curious George and his little Banana...

Fall Adventures

I've neglected my blog for some time now due to the business of life. But it was calling me back, so let me catch you up on some of our fall adventures. After Florida, Ed went to Ohio for a conference, I went to MD to visit family, the boys went on the Martin man camping trip, we went to Charlottesville (sheltons we missed you there!) to go apple picking, went to children's museum, and had a fall festival at church, just to catch you up on a few. Oh yes, and baby C has cut his first tooth so that made for an interesting, or should I say tough, weekend. Here are some pics:

First Annual Martin Man Camping Trip

Micah hiking up a difficult trail. He walked the whole way. He would not let Ed hold him!
Ed and Micah at the Summit of Hawksbill
Apple Picking at Carter Mountain in Charlottesville
I just had to put this in here. This is at the Children's Museum in Annapolis. What's up with me lately? I don't know. First the squirrel and now this snake. I get the chills just looking at the picture. I held this snake so Micah would pet it. The things you do for kids!
Micah at the Richmond Children's Museum...we went with William and Trey Haun.
Some of our youth at the Fall Festival. Micah loved that inflatable behind them!
Baby C at 5 months

Florida Trip

Our trip to Florida was so fun! We came back exhausted and ready to be back on a schedule. It was like my boys let out a huge sigh of relief. Micah maybe had one nap the whole time and Caleb well didn't sleep at all during the night. Don't you just love that? Well the plane was fun because it was Micah's first time. After the craziness of going through security, Micah found his seat in the terminal and said to Ed, "Daddy, you sit over there. Ah, this plane is so fun!" Ed laughingly told him that this was not the plane. We boarded packed plane and took off. Micah wanted to hold Ed's hand during take off, he was a little scared. We watched Finding Nemo and enjoyed our drinks. The pilot came on and said, "Thank you ladies and gentleman for choosing Air Tran today, ..." Ed said who was that Micah. He said, "God." (Wouldn't that be awesome? I love the mind of a 2 year old.)

Micah on the plane and no that is not the ocean in the window. It is the engine, or whatever that thing is, so micah couldn't see anything out the window.

We arrived in Orlando that afternoon and enjoyed dinner and catching up with the Beelers. Then left for camp the next day. The camp was perfect for a youth retreat. But it was a little rustic for me. There were a lot of big Florida bugs. I think I ended up with about a hundred ant bites on my feet! We had a watchfrog at our door every evening. I had to be careful not to step on him. And Micah even had a visit from a baby lizard in his bed, that yes, I had to catch. If only you could've seen me with two styrofoam cups trying to catch this bad boy without getting too close!

The kids in the dining hall. Elizabeth had a hard weekend of being single moms. With three toddlers, a baby, and her being pregnant, it got challenging.

After the retreat, on Monday, we went to Sea World. That's us walking in the park. We had a lot of fun, it was pretty hot. Micah really loved seeing all the animals. I'm not sure what his favorite was, either the penguins or sharks.

The day we left. Please ignore Elizabeth and I...how cute are the boys! Micah and Charlie had so much fun together. Charlie taught Micah how to sing in a microphone and play the guitar and sing. For those of you who don't know, Charlie is amazingly musically talented. He LOVES David Crowder! He watched a DVD they have of him. Charlie will set up a microphone, grab his guitar and play along with Crowder, mimicing every move he makes. Not only that, but Charlie does the exact strum pattern on the guitar. He also can keep the beat of any song with his hands and knows all the words to so many songs. It amazed us! It is so cool to see the way God has gifted all our kids in different ways already at their age. And it is exciting to me to think about how God may use that giftedness for His name! One of Micah's gifts is his athletic ability. He will be one of those kids who is good at any sport he plays, and I am not really saying that just because he is my son. Some of you have seen him dribble a basketball. I mean, he's two. But already I'm praying that God will use that for His name, not for Micah's name!

Ah Yes, Fall is Here!

The air is crisp, the mums are out, pumpkin spice latte in hand, football in full swing, candy corn in bowl, and house decorated! We are there! My husband would make the case that fall is the best season because of the 5 C's. College football, Colors, Candy Corn, Corduroys, Camping.
I decorated my house this weekend and had so much fun doing it. This is a picture of our family room. We've had our windows open all week. It has provided the best sleeping weather!
I know we all live in different regions of the country and so some are still in summer and some are progressing quickly to winter. But those that get to enjoy a true fall season, isn't it great?

On another note, we are heading to Florida on Thursday to visit with our dear friends, the Beelers. We are very excited to see them and let our little ones play together. Elizabeth will be great with child, I'm sure! (she's due next month) On Friday we are going to their youth retreat because Ed is the speaker. It is so weird to think that the kids will be swimming and water skiing, etc. Not exactly a typical "fall retreat". We are very excited though to see them and catch up. We miss all of our seminary friends very dearly and there are days we wish we were back there together! We are thankful for a time to visit at least one!