Happy Halloween!

Halloween is here! And the air is crisp and full of excitement! Luke has been on a Halloween high for two days now! Yesterday was his big celebration at school, where he go to wear his costume ALL morning to class and the day prior, we did our family pumpkin carving! I LOVE this time of year! So many fun things!

I have to keep this post short today, as I haven't a lot of time, so I'm just going to fill you in on the last few days with pictures! I will surely have more after tonight and the weekend! We'll be having a little neighborhood get together tonight here at our house, with a yummy group effort dinner of chili, cornbread and all the fixins', and then once all of our bellies are filled, it will be off to Trick or Treat! The men will hang out here, with a warm fire in the fire pit on the driveway to make sure all the other trick or treaters are well taken care of! I am so looking forward to tonight! Luke had a blast trick or treating last year, so I know this year will be even better! Ellie will join us in her Tinker Bell costume via the stroller! Hope I can keep her warm enough..it's supposed to be chilly!!

Ty and I are off this weekend to that wedding in San Diego on Saturday...our first night away from Ellie, and our first night away from our kids in TWO years! We are lucky to have Ty's mom staying with the kids and we will get to leave early tomorrow morning to have some time to relax down there before the wedding! Oh, I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to just a little time away! A much needed break after all the busyness lately!

So....without further ado...here are this weeks pics! Happy Halloween, friends!

It almost looks like he's protecting that pumpkin from harm, doesn't it?! LOL!










All dressed up for school...


His little classmates lined up for dismissal after the parade!


Pretending his new pencil is a magic wand!


Luke and his friend Kendall....the one we were supposed to make carmel apples with the other day, but her little sis got sick! :(


And Luke's other favorite classmate Aiden....I guess the two of them are like the dynamic duo at school! So cute together!

Back to the bean jar...

I'm not sure that I ever posted about our bean jar. Did I? Some time ago, I enlisted this handy little tool that I often used in my classroom to encourage and reward positive behavior. Its simple really....catch the kids (in this case, Luke) doing great things, and as a reward, they get to add a bean (or several, depending on the behavior) to the bean jar. When the jar has been filled, a fun surprise awaits!! I put this to good use several months ago when Luke was having a rough time and having tantrums OFTEN! It worked like a charm for the purpose of alleviating those tantrums and he filled his little jar a couple of times before the need for it kinda just fizzled out.

But recently, we've been having a little problem with WHINING! Lots and LOTS of whining, crying, and even some back talk going on in our house! And mostly over silly, insignificant things! It isn't unheard of for Luke to break into a whiny, mini-fit simply because the dog came over and brushed her wet nose against his elbow when he didn't want her to. Seriously? And then of-course there are those to-many-to-count times when we ask him to put his toys away or get ready for bed, or turn the tv off...or...or...or... well...you get the picture. So...it's back to the bean jar we go!!

I started yesterday, after explaining how he earns beans and what constitutes good behavior and behavior that will be completely ignored (yes....using that tactic too when it comes to the negative behavior) and so far, it is working like a charm again! By the afternoon, the crying and fits had literally been cut in half! And the response to simple requests to pick up toys or turn off the tv??? Met with compliance! Yaaaayyyyy!!! The effect in the household has been pretty evident too, as there is a greater sense of peace, and, I must admit, a lot more patience from me! Its wonderful! And much needed!!!!

And, just in case you were wondering....here is our little bean jar. Its tiny, really. Only holds 50 beans, and when he earns, on average, 10 beans a day, that little surprise is just around the corner! :)

In other news......

I had a super productive day today! :) And that always makes me happy! How I love scratching things off that perpetual to-do list! :) Ellie and I were the dynamic duo when it came to running errands this morning! In the span of time that Luke was in preschool, we went to Michael's for some work and crafting necessities (ie bags for packaging my clients' photographs, craft sticks and cellophane bags for the carmel apples we are supposed to make with Luke's classmate Kendall tomorrow, some ribbon for thanksgiving decorating and a few note pads for...you guessed it...more to-do lists! LOL). After Michael's we were off to the christian bookstore for a few cards and a thank you gift for my mentor, of which I did not find anything suitable! Darn! Then we headed out to Macy's to return a dress that I had purchased for the wedding this weekend and find a more suitable one, which I did! Yay! (And all in the span of 25 minutes!!) THEN...we headed back towards school, dropped off an order to a client, hit up another christian bookstore to hopefully find that gift (which I did!!) and with exactly 35 minutes left until dismissal, had time to do the grocery shopping!!!! I pulled into the parking lot at school with an entire 7 minutes left to spare too! Phew! What a morning! But it was wonderful because Ellie was an absolute saint, despite being dragged in and out of her car seat and stroller all morning, with a runny nose to boot! SUCH a good girl!

So....needless to say, I sign off tonight with a much happier and lighter mood than in my previous post. :) Productivity, happy kids, and focusing on the positives does wonders for my soul! :)

Strength will rise...

Turn on your speakers...

So....I awoke this morning, after a fitful and not restful night of sleep, feeling overwhelmed, tired, and emotional. From the moment my feet hit the floor and I walked in the darkness to the bathroom to ready myself for my very early (!!) workout, I felt attacked with all sorts of negative thoughts and emotions. It seemed as though the enemy had a sure fire plan to hit me right where and when he knew I was weak. I am weary today and my threshold is low....mostly from the sheer amount of things that need to be accomplished in my day and as I look ahead to the few weeks ahead of me, I see no real reprieve. Not that things are terrible. They most certainly are not! I know I am blessed beyond measure in so many ways! But today, I am just feeling the effects of my lack of sleep (insomnia is a terrible thing!), the lack of time I have had to be with my family, or tend adequately to my home, and the intense amount of time I have been sitting here at this computer screen for several weeks now. Today is just one of those days.

But back to my drive....in my tired, weary state of mind, I tend to succumb to all those negative, guilt-ridden, self-depreciating kinds of thoughts and it is hard for me to break free from that mindset. As I drove the canyon home from dropping Luke off at school, it was almost as if I could feel the weight of those emotions sitting heavy on my shoulders, and I just kept thinking how desperately I wanted to shake it off and not feel so weary! It was then that the song I have playing first on my playlist today (did you turn on your speakers?) came on the radio. Its by Lincoln Brewster and it bolstered my spirits! And ironically, God waited to have me hear this song until He knew my car (and my mind) was quiet. As always, His timing is perfect! Had it been just 10 minutes prior, the song would have been competing with a inquisitive three-year-old who often throws a zillion questions at me as we drive, and I probably would not have truly been listening! : ) In part of the song it says, " You are the everlasting God. You do not faint, You won't grow weary." Oh how awesome it is this morning to be reminded that God does NOT grow weary...that He is the everlasting God who I can turn to for strength and comfort when I feel weak! "You do not faint, You won't grow weary! You're the defender of the weak, You comfort those in need, You lift us up on wings like eagles." Thank you, Lord! I get choked up even know, as I did in the car, reading those words.

And if that wasn't enough to give me courage and bolster my strength, God went and took it one step further with the very next song that played; to let me know that He is here, and He understands. That I am His and I need not listen to the lies of the enemy telling me I am worthless! Here are the lyrics of that song. I just feel compelled today to share them...

I’ve been hearing voices
Telling me that I could
Never be what I wanna be.
They’re binding me with lies,
Haunting me at night,
And saying there’s nothing to believe.
Somewhere in the quietness,
When I’m overcome with loneliness,
I hear You call my name.
And like a father You are near
And as I listen I can hear You say

You are a child of Mine
Born of My own design
And you bear the heart of life.
No matter where you go,
Oh, you will always know
You have been made free in Christ.
You are a child of Mine

And so I listen as You tell me who I am
And who it is I’m gonna be.
And I hang on every word,
Knowing I have heard
I am Yours and I am free
But when I am alone at night
That is when I hear the lie
You’ll never be enough
And though I’m giving into fear
If I listen I can hear You say

You are a child of Mine
Born of My own design
And you bear the heart of life.
No matter where you go,
Oh, you will always know
You have been made free in Christ.
You are a child of Mine

I just have to praise Him this morning, that it is when I am weak, He is strong! I lean on that strength today!

Luke-ism

Has it seriously been an entire week since I posted last?! Sheesh! I'm sorry! I have just been spending so many hours glued to this computer screen, trying (and succeeding, I might add! Yay for me!) to keep up on my photo shoots that there has been very little time for anything else online! I'm sorry though, to be a blog-slacker!

I am going to keep this super short tonight, as I'm wiped out. Just wanted to share a little thing that Luke said this weekend, so that I don't forget! :) We were driving home from church on Sunday, when, as we were stopped at a stop light, a teenage boy sporting a mohawk crossed the street in front of us. As Luke watch him pass us by, he yelled out, " Hey, Mom..Dad!!! That guy looks just like a dinosaur!!!!" I guess the spikey hair reminded him of one of these...

Ty and I got a good laugh out of that one! Kids say the cutest things sometimes! :)

Cider Doughnuts, Scouting & Good Reports...

Our morning was spent scouting out the lighting for a photo shoot I have this weekend. We were out the door rather early, on on our way to Oak Glen before the sun crested the hills. I just love, love, LOVE Oak Glen this time of the year. The air was crisp, the leaves are just beginning to turn just the slightest shade of yellow and best of all, there were NO crowds! :) I have been to Oak Glen every weekend now for several weeks (seems to be the place for photographs this year!) and the crowds have been unbelievable! I don't recall seeing quite that many people up there in recent years. Its been nuts! Anyway...I digress.

This morning. Ellie turns fourteen months tomorrow (can you believe it?!), so my little scouting trip pretty much morphed into her photo shoot. :) You know me...can't resist an excuse to photograph my kiddos! ;) Luke was happy to romp through the apple orchard with us, playing pirates and sword fighting imaginary foes while I photographed my Belle. And of-course, who could visit the Cider Mill without partaking in their 'world famous' cider doughnuts! Yum!!

Wanna see some pics???? Sarah, I had to take the first one in honor of you guys!









Then it was time for some sibling shots...


This is their "Don't mess with us, or else" look! LOL!


And this one just cracked me up! Ellie had been sitting on the box and when Luke came over to join her, she was NOT in the mood to share! Check out her little face! In the sequence of pictures after this one, I caught her raising her hand to swat at him! Stinker! :)








We had fun!

And as for the good report...as I was picking up Luke yesterday from school, his teacher stopped me and made the nicest comment. First off, let me just say that while his teacher is wonderful, she isn't always the chattiest person with us grown ups! :) But yesterday, she pulled me aside to tell me that Luke has been so well behaved and considerate in class. "He's always such a considerate and kind student....and polite too!" I think I was beaming more than Luke was when I heard that! What an awesome thing to hear about your kid! :) Makes me happy to know that he is doing such a good job! I was immensely proud of him and told him so probably a thousand times on the way home! He was cute and responded in this proud affirmation "Yeah, Mom. I listen to Mrs. McCann and do criss-cross-applesauce when she's reading the story. But so-and-so (I'm purposely omitting his name) :) doesn't listen and talks while the teacher is reading." Teehehee. I guess this little guy is having a hard time in class. I've heard ALL about him lately! So of-course we then had to talk about being an 'example' to this little one and how Luke could help him best by following the rules and doing the right thing. :) Teachable moments, right?

Anyhow....that's it for today, I think. We are heading back to the Pumpkin Patch in the morning for Luke's first school field trip! :) Should be fun! How could a bunch of preschoolers in a huge pumpkin patch being anything less?! :) LOL! Just kidding....I'm actually REALLY looking forward to it! And I know Luke can't wait! More to come......

Boy time.....

Luke got to have some special time with his buddy, Hudson yesterday at the Pumpkin Patch! :) It was kind of a last minute thing, but we were so glad to be able to visit with him for a spell! Hudson came to spend a couple of nights with his Oma (Sarah's mom) and Carol and I were able to arrange to meet at the pumpkin patch for a few hours! It was so, so, SO wonderful to see how delighted both boys were to be together! They ran and played and worked together to figure out a 'plan' as to which rides they wanted to go on. It was super cute! At one point, Luke turned to me and said "Okay, Mom. We have a plan. First we are gonna go on the twacktors, den we're gonna go pet the animals." It was really the first time I had seen them cognitively able to formulate a plan and work together like that! Our boys are growing up! Sarah and I were just remarking about how hard it is to believe that this was them just under 4 short years ago...Hudson was 12 weeks (I think) and Luke was 8 weeks! Crazy!



Here are just a few pictures from our morning yesterday....

Togetherness

(((sigh)))

It is so good to just be together! We really have enjoyed spending some time together today and yesterday!!

We had our family pictures taken yesterday afternoon! :) And let me just tell you that I think I like being behind the camera much more than being in front of it! :) LOL! Despite my best efforts to just let our time with Kevin happen as it would, I ended up being in my head for a good part of the shoot. :( Meaning that I just kept thinking the way a photographer does...envisioning how we must look from the other side of the lens. Its tough to stay completely relaxed that way. And Ellie...***sigh*** My sweet, silly girl! She is always the child to stare point blank into my camera, smiling wide and posing just right for me. I have been so blessed by her in this way. But yesterday, for whatever reason...(mostly because it was the 'witching hour' as I like to call it...the hours around dinner time) she was so uncooperative! Go figure! She fussed andcried and squirmed, and would NOT look at the camera to save her life! SO not my kid!!! And Luke, who is typically the one to be more on the uncooperative side, was an angel! He hammed it up for Kevin on several occasions and was easily coerced to laugh or smile! I was so pleased! Such is life when you are photographing young ones! You just never know what you're gonna get! :) Kevin was a trooper though...with patience of steal! He assured me he got lots of great shots! And I'm sure he did, but boy....Ellie gave us all a run for our money (literally!) yesterday! :) Knowing that I was tad frustrated and a little unsure that we got anything worthwhile, Kevin was sweet enough to send us a little teaser image tonight. I thought it would be fun to share it with you guys! But you'll have to wait to see the rest until our Christmas card makes its way into your mailbox! :) I wouldn't want to spoil the fun, ya know!

Thanks for checking in! Hope you all are enjoying your loved ones this weekend too! Many blessings to each of you....

Friday

It's Friday! Oh how I look forward to saying that, simply because it denotes a few days of family togetherness with Ty home! It has been a couple of long, busy weeks for us, with Ty and I often times running in opposite directions and meeting in passing. I just miss my husband today (!!) and am looking forward to 'reconnecting' soon!

Today is our family picture day! :) The first 'formal' family session since Ellie was born! I am beyond excited...not only as I anticipate a beautiful portrait, but also because I am not the one having to do the work! LOL! I am SO looking forward to someone else's vision, ideas, and style! Ty's cycling friend, Kevin, will be our photographer today! It will be great!

Thanks to all of you who included Angel and his family in your prayers this week! Angel came through surgery well, although while in there, they discovered an intussesception (a telescoping of sorts of the bowel, where one section folds over another causing LOTS of pain and problems) so they decided to remove that portion of bowel. They took down his ileostomy and we again, are all hopeful that things will be progressing UPWARDS from here! However, Sarah posted soon after I stopped in the other night to correct what she had said earlier about Angel's rejection. Apparently, the IS some rejection occurring in Angel's bowel, although at this time, it is not immensely significant. But rejection is rejection, so it must be watched very closely. The surgeons are taking a 'wait and see' approach with it to see if/how it progresses. Please pray that it remains insignificant as you continue to lift Angel up in his healing!

I will close down my post this morning with my sweet Luke. Yesterday he said something that just warmed me down to the core and I have to write it down so I do not forget it. We were sitting out on the patio playing in the afternoon when he turned to me out of the blue and said, "Mom...I love you SOOOOO much! You are the best mom EVA!!! (he still has a hard time with those final R's, so they come out sounding a little like a 'w'). Can I keep you foreva and eva?" He walked over to me then and threw his arms around my neck and squeezed tightly! Awwww.....just the little boost I needed in my day! Oh how I love him!!!!!!

Admiring their beutiful eyes the other day....

Another round....

Just stopping in tonight before I head off to get some work done, to ask you to lift Angel up in your prayers tonight. He will be undergoing another surgery tomorrow morning to take down his ileostomy (the opening the surgeons created from his intestines to the outside of his body as a bypass while the new intestines heal). In essence, if I understand this correctly, the surgeons will be reconnecting the parts of intestines that they bypassed back when the his transplant took place. As of tonight, Sarah reported that the scopes and tests that were done today continue to show no signs of rejection or infection (PRAISE GOD!) and it is everyone's hope that this surgery will be the last. It has been a very long and very difficult road thus far for them (I cannot even fathom!!!) and they are prayerfully hoping that tomorrow is, in Sarah's words "...the LAST thing. That this is the bottom step on the way UP to a new life and a new Angel."

Please also include Sarah and Nick in those prayers...for strength, peace and stamina, as well as for Baby Haven to learn to bottle feed! They are having difficulty with THAT was well! :(

We are praying fervently for you Angel! You (and your mommy and daddy!) are superheros in every sense of the word!

Thanks for praying along with us, friends! :)

A time to learn.....

I have been involved in a new, women's bible study in recent weeks and have been learning SO much from it! It is a mentoring program where the 'older' women in our church take the younger ones under their wings for 9 weeks to teach them much about being a godly wife and mother. The program is called Apples of Gold, and I have been so incredibly blessed by it! Wonderful...wonderful!

Each week we have a new topic to study, and it was during our topic on 'Loving your Children' that I was inspired to begin teaching Luke to memorize simple bible verses. Bible verse memorization was something we did so much of when I taught 5th grade...my students had a new verse each week and it was always incredible to hear them recite God's word! It was such a valuable tool in their lives to have the Word tucked away in their minds and hearts to be used when a trial or circumstance presented itself. But truly and honestly, I really had never given it much thought when it came to Luke. I guess maybe I just figured he was too young, or maybe I just wasn't sure how to go about it. But through my study several weeks ago, I realized it really wasn't hard at all. Luke IS almost 4, after all. And he has an incredible memory! Truly. He can recall the most minute details of things even MONTHS after they happen! Why wouldn't he be able to memorize a few simple verses????

So I got to work. We decided on a few short verses to begin with and Luke and I dove headfirst into his Bible one day, talking all about what exactly the Bible is, Who wrote it, why it is important, etc. (We've done all this before, but repetition is the key, right?!) And I'll tell you, I was SHOCKED to see how quickly Luke began to memorize his very first verse. It was a matter of hours! We would go over it a couple of times, then come back to it through out the day, whenever it would come to mind and by mid-day, he pretty much had it down! Amazing! Oh how I underestimated him! He LOVES it too! His face lights up in delight when he tells me his verse and I, of-course, clap and jump up and down and go crazy for him too! It's a blast! We end up laughing a lot! :) (FYI...Make sure you pause the music from my playlist on the left sidebar before you play the video!)



After he had tucked away his first verse and was able to recite it to me without ANY prompting, I printed up a special sign with the verse on it for his room, and we moved on to the next. We've now been working on his second one for three or four days now. And this morning, as I sat here at the computer checking my mail, he came in and we began chatting about nothing in particular. Then I asked him, "Hey...do you remember what your verse for this week is?" And he responded verbatim... "Hmmm....(tapping his cheek) Lets think about this....Yeah! 'Be kind one to ano-ter...Ephesians fowa-thirty-two." Seriously...I had NO expectation that he could completely recite the WHOLE thing without any prompting, but he did! There's that good memory again! On to verse three we move!! And just for fun, I think it will be a little longer this week! I haven't picked one out yet... does anyone want to share a few simpler ones that come to mind? Would love to hear your ideas! I can write them down and keep them to use in subsequent weeks.

More to come...busy days around here. But send me your verse ideas if you have any! :)