Fall Family Carnival FUN!!

The Fall Family Carnival was Friday evening at my church. We had a WONDRFUL time!! My partner and I talked before hand and set a bit of a goal of possibly 20 children, we would be VERY happy with 20 children (and their families). Well...if I can remember everyone, we had 21 children and their families for a total of 46 people. Yippee!! Many of these children and families are not members of our church. They are friends of members, people around town, and kiddos who attended VBS and came back for the party. Here are just a few of the pictures. Enjoy!

Games were enjoyed by all...pumpkin sweep was a fun race!

Bean the Philiestine (Goliath) was fun!...Warren even helped out some of the little guys.

And of course when there are games...there MUST be prizes! (This is one of Andrew's school buddies!)

Here are Bethany and Hope (her buddy) enjoying their whistles.

Gotta have food!!

And Costumes!!! (This is H...one of my cutie childcare kiddos)

This is H (the puppy, another of my childcare kiddos), H (the princess...the first of my childcare kiddos)...and Bethany, the fairy (minus the wings which were knocking things over!!)

Abbie dressed up as Mary for the carnival...but she kept leaving baby Jesus behind :o)

Andrew dressed up as David, but I never got a pic of him, he was too quick for me!!!

Thankful Thursday

THANKFUL THURSDAY!!!! How I've missed you! I just haven't taken the time to post about all my blessings lately, and I have that need. I'm having a very stressful week, so I NEED to take 5 and remember my blessings.

I'm thankful...

1. That my dad continues to recover, slowly, but recover he does. He is now sitting up in a special chair for 2-3 hours at a time, 3 times a day. He spent about an hour outside this past week, and it's the first time he's been outside (except for moving from one hospital to the next) in almost 3 months. His parents also were able to come visit him in the hospital from their nursing home...it was the first time they've seen him in 4 months.
2. That everyone in my home is healthy...no asthma difficulties, no ear infections (at this point!). Andrew has hives or something on his face and is going to the doctor this morning, but I'm not too concerned. Just needs something to get rid of the redness/itchiness. He's acting fine.
3. I'm thankful that our church's Fall Carnival is tomorrow night. Lots of fun for the entire family, games, food...and what gets done for it gets done. It will be fun...and then I can sleep.
4. I'm thankful for Tuesday evening. We spent the evening at the lake. Fishing, grilling out...and just having some fun family time. I LOVE those times. (I know I promised more "daylight" pictures...but I forgot my camera!)
5. I'm so thankful for my friend Jacque. I can tell her all my troubles, get them off my chest, and go on with life...she's such a wonderful friend and I don't know how I would live without her. Thank You, God, for giving me Jacque!!!!
6. I'm thankful for wonderful Christian women bloggers I have gotten to know....funny story...I've been reading Elizabeth and Rebecca's blogs for a while now. I have emailed with them and prayed for them. Well, Rebecca went on a trip this weekend to visit her sister...when I went to her blog to see how her trip went, I recognized Elizabeth's children...they are SISTERS!!!! How small is our world???

I have so much more that I am thankful for...but need to get moving, and get kids to school. Blessings to all of you!

What are we doing???

If you've asked that question, here are the answers!

Our furnace and AC were torn out on Monday, just in time for the coldest night of the year! No heat...but we didn't freeze! It's now Wednesday and they are still working on getting the new one in and hooked up. I can smell some kind of glue coming up from downstairs. The men told me they put out the pilot lite on the water heater so that they don't explode down there...I just hope they all make it out alive! :o) Thankfully it has not been too hot or cold, and we have not needed the AC or heat. Hopefully they will finish today. 95% efficient...those bills should be lower this year! The heater and AC that were in this house have been here since the house was built in 78...29 year old stuff is not very efficient...very high heating and cooling bills even though we keep our temps very warm in the summer and cool in the winter. I can't wait to feel WARM this winter!

I took all three of the kids to the dentist yesterday, me too! The hygienist said that my teeth were the best she'd seen all day, very little deposits! If you knew me as a child, this is a miracle! Every time I went to the dentist I had at least one or two or three cavities. I HATED going to the dentist because of the inevitable fillings that would follow. Bethany and Andrew also had wonderful check-ups...unfortunately Abbigail has her first cavity. Right between two of her back teeth. She will have to have a cap put on the tooth. :o( She's very scared about it...and I can't blame her. Warren has offered to take her so that I can stay home and do the running with all the other kids...but I want to be there to hold her hand. Poor baby. She gets it fixed on Nov 5, so please keep her in your prayers that day.

We went to the lake last night to enjoy a beautiful evening. By the time we finished with the dentist and had supper, we only had about 1 1/2 hours to enjoy, but enjoy we did!

Abbie got a nibble and almost got the fish in, but it got off the hook, she was disappointed. For some reason, that girl has all the luck when it comes to fishing! She and her brother had the exact same bait on their hooks, everything was the same, but she always gets the nibbles and catches, he has only caught one or two. It was fun to spend some time with no TV, computer, or other distractions. Just fun with the family. Bethany throws out her "fish" and reels it in so excitedly..."I caught a fish! I caught a fish!" We're trying to teach them all that a secret to fishing is to whisper only...no talking loudly...so her whisper "I CAUGHT A FISH!" is so adorable! She's just a card.
The lake we go to is surrounded by these beautiful cliffs and hills...in WESTERN KANSAS! No, it's not ALL flat! We love just watching the sun set, counting the rabbits, looking for an owl in his hole, and enjoying our time together. We finally gave up and came home when we could no longer see the bobbers floating out there.

I'll try to remember to take pictures next time before it gets this dark!! :-)

Daddy of all Doughnuts!!

Every once in a while Bethany and I go on a doughnut date after we take the other kids to school. One morning, our local doughnut shop had these HUGE doughnuts! I just HAD to get one for Warren! I came home and told him I only got him ONE doughnut, and that was all. He looked at me sort of confused, because like chips...who can eat JUST ONE??? Well, he opened the box and just laughed so hard! This is definitely a fork and knife doughnut! Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture, so I had to go back a few days later and get another one...oh shucks! This doughnut just cracks me up! :-) So, do you think you could finish it?? Abbie only got one bite, then it was all Warren's...ok, he shared!

Yes, I am alive...not sure if I'm kicking or not! :-)

I can't believe it's been over a week since I've posted. I even missed Thankful Thursday yesterday! All day I kept thinking about it, but never got it done. I did sit down during nap time to get my post put together, but our Internet was down, so I worked on the children's Christmas program instead.

So...what have I been doing since I haven't been blogging? Here's what we've been up to....

Last Sunday we left right after church and headed to Topeka for the yearly church workers conference (I mentioned it last week in my TT post). It was good to get away for a few days and see old friends. I even drove to Lawrence (about 30 miles from Topeka) to visit my aunt and see her beautiful new home! It was a good time, but a LONG drive for two short days. It is about 6-7 hours each way. We decided to leave a bit early on Tuesday to avoid getting the kids home at 11:00. Well, about an hour into our trip our cell phones (yes...PHONES) started ringing. A woman in our congregation had been hit by a truck and killed. Every few minutes for the next hour either Warren or my phone would ring with someone else calling to tell us...we're thankful that people wanted to make sure we knew. That made the next 6 hours stressful as we tried to drive fast, but not too fast. Traveling with three little ones is never quick...we had to stop for potty breaks about once an hour!!! We finally made it home around 8:00, and Warren headed over to the family's farm to offer his support and begin planning the funeral.

Wednesday I had no extra children, but I was TIRED! I did laundry, but that is about it for my accomplishments of the day. Thursday I had extra kiddos, and worked on the Christmas program...I'm excited about it this year! I ended up looking through all the files of "old" programs to find one because I didn't care for any of the new ones I found this year. I found one that I think will be fun. Along with the usual Christmas songs and recitations by the kids, this program involves slides (ok, it's an OLD program, I'm going to make power point slides!) to illustrate the point. We are going to get together prior to the program and record the kids dressed as the different parts (shepherds, wise men, etc) saying their parts, and also photograph them in different poses (bowing to the manger, around a Christmas tree, etc). Then, the night of the program we will show these parts and the kids will say their different parts. It's different, but sounds like fun to me! Also, the kids can wear their "Christmas outfits" for the program, which I think is always a lot of fun. The name of this program is "Who Will This Baby Be?" and it's all about what Jesus will be/is. He is a shepherd, teacher, God Himself, One of Us...etc.

So that you don't think I've completely skipped fall and gone strait to winter...we're also planning a Fall Carnival for the children of our church/community. We're going to have a lot of games and prizes. I need to get my order into Oriental Tr*ding Co. TODAY! Gotta get those little prizes! We also ordered a bunch of stuff from Old Lutheran.com...fun stuff like "Lutheran Chick" and "Luther Rocks" temporary tattoos. One disappointing thing though is that there is a farmer that grows a TON of pumpkins and then just lets people come in and pick as many as they want for FREE...I was going to go get a bunch for the carnival so kids could stick foam pieces on them and use markers to decorate...well the farmer had some sort of virus attack his pumpkin vines, and has ZERO pumpkins. :-( So now I'm not sure where I can get a bunch of pumpkins cheap. Still looking into options.

Dad continues to improve. They have had him standing on the tilt board, and this week they added something new. Some sort of chair that goes from a flat bed-type surface into a chair that he can sit up in for meals and such. He's spending more and more time in there each day, so that means he is getting stronger and tolerating the sitting more. Both good things. Mom sounds like she's doing alright, tired...but what do you expect?

The heating/ac guys came yesterday and installed a bunch of new vents and air returns to get ready for our new ac/heater coming in the next week or so. We're putting most of the money Warren will earn the next year for the vacancy work into this. This should help a lot with our energy bills, and add value to our home. Plus...we won't get used to the extra income...because it is temporary and would be very bad to get used to having "extra" and then have it gone! :-) The rest is going into savings...for future stuff...

Other than that I haven't been up to much, just trying to keep up!

So...what have YOU been up to?? :o)

Thankful Thursday

I haven't posted much...ok, at all this week. No reason...just haven't. We've had a good week...I'll post an update later. Now, it's time to start counting those blessings!

1. My Father's health continues to improve. They are still watching the infection in his spine, and he is again receiving the high powered antibiotics. His movement continues to improve and he does new things daily. This week they have started him on a "tilt-board" so his legs can feel what weight being put on them feels like again. Apparently he got up to a 50 degree angle today for about 20 minutes. This is going to be a very long road to recovery...continued prayers are appreciated. This will be a long road, but he has already come so far! A month ago he couldn't even wiggle his toes, praise God for what he can do now!!!
2. My husband. He is such a wonderful provider, takes such good care of our family and home. I love him so much!!
3. My children...each one is special and unique. I love each of them! The girls started/are starting dance this week...such fun! Andrew had an eye doctor appt. yesterday. He's been blinking his eyes really weird and I just wanted to check it out. The eye doctor said he sees fine, he thinks the problem is that Andrew has such beautiful, long eyelashes that they touch in the corners and make his eyes blink from reflex...nothing to worry about, he will grow out of it...boy would I love those eyelashes!!!
4. Friends...some friends who used to live here in town visited this weekend and we were able to eat lunch with them Sunday afternoon. Such wonderful friends (even though they are old enough to be our parents...surrogate grandparents for our kiddos). We miss them dearly and it was good to spend some time with them. Another friend had a death in her family this week, and has been gone to be with her family. I have missed her so much!
5. Conferences! Hubby has a church worker's conference this weekend...and the kiddos and I get to tag along. A change of scenery, a stay in a hotel (no cleaning or cooking!!!!) I went to these conferences back before our kids were born when I served as a teacher, so a lot of my old teaching buddies are there...I get to see them and feel a bit more "brainy" than "just a mom"....ok, that doesn't sound the best, but you know what I mean! :o) Being a mom is the hardest and most wonderful job I have ever had, but sometimes my brain feels like it's beginning to turn to mush, so it's good to see old friends who knew me before my brain mushed, and remember that I have many talents and abilities!
6. God. I'm so thankful that God forgives me each and every time I mess up. He gives me the free gift of forgiveness, there is nothing I could ever do to deserve all He has given me. Thank You, God!!!
7. I'm thankful for blogging buddies. I first started reading adoption blogs, and have branched into blogs on many topics. One blog that I really enjoy, and have become friends with is adopting a baby from China! Terri has had a very bad couple of weeks, and has so much to do to get ready for her trip towards the end of this month. I'm excited for her!

What are you thankful for this week? Go on over to Iris' to join in the fun, or check out what other's are thankful for!