Pumpkin patch

Symeon's school had a pumpkin patch so one day after school we decided to pick out some small pumpkins for the kids to paint.  Another day we returned with Shawn to pick out our larger carving pumpkins and to spend sometime playing on the playground.  All around a fun and beautiful afternoon for pumpkin picking which was good because it took Babes quite awhile to find the "perfect" pumpkin. 

Here they are painting their pumpkins.  Symeon purple and Marin blue.  I love these kids!

 I managed to talk Symeon into a tad bit smaller pumpkin.  

 Babes surveying the pumpkin patch on her quest to find her pumpkin

Shawn carrying the first of many selections as she continues to search for "the" pumpkin. 

 Symeon showing me some of his playground tricks he learned at school.  

 Here are the winners the two most perfect pumpkins with the two cutest kids.  

Halloween fun

We have had fun doing some crafts for Halloween.  Here we are making some pumpkins for our porch that we can use every year.  The kids loved it and they are so cute. 

First you had to tape on a face to a glass jar or bowl

 Then the kids painted the entire outside with orange paint

 We had to do two coats which was 2X the fun for them

 Here they are finished with the addition of one ghost since we had a tall jelly jar we could use.

Here they are on our porch we used battery tea lights that flickered and looked like real lights but with no mess and no worries.  This was such a fun project for them and they turned out so cute for just a few dollars I am sure I will do this for some other holidays, maybe stars at Christmas and paint jars yellow. 

Labor day

 We had a beautiful Labor Day and we ended up with a houseful of friends.  It was delightful!  Our youngest guest was just a few weeks old and here he is with his beautiful Mama.  

 3 cuties and best buddies

It's obvious Babes had a good time and partied hard!

Our budding dj

She loves music and she loves to dance

Catching up and keeping current

I am in the midst of catching up from the summer since we were so busy I didn't post very much yet I do want to remember all the fun we had over those months.  I am also trying to keep current so I will be jumping back forth from the summer to now until I am caught up.  So if we are wearing shorts in the middle of November you will know why although anything is possible where we live.

My first cousin to get married

My cousin Travis got married a couple of weekends ago right before he shipped off to Germany for 2 years with the airforce.  We are all so happy for him and so proud of him.  He married  a delightful and beautiful girl named Kelli.  They had a beautiful wedding that I had the joy of doing a reading for them at the ceremony.  I was honored and awed to see this man getting married because I remember the day he was born and I went to see my Aunt in the hospital and I asked her why she couldn't wait one more day?  Well after having two children myself I know why but you see I was a kid and the next day was my birthday.  Here are a few pictures from that beautiful day.  Much love to Travis and Kelli on the exciting life ahead of them. 

 a beautiful bride and a handsome groom

 my aunt the proud mother of the groom

 my ever fun sister-in-law and brother

 my parents 

Me and my brother, I pray Marin and Symeon are as close as we are when they are adults

Me and my Dad

 Me and my Mama

 The view at the reception

My cousin Jesse the groom's brother and my other aunt

Kids ask some hard questions

Every night when I put Symeon to bed he says he has a question.  I have learned that I need to give him space at this time of day because it is often when I find out if anything is bothering him or what is going on in his mind.  I have learned to treasure these moments with him.  The other night he talked for about an hour straight with questions which I found amazing and so interesting.  He is a very thoughtful and insightful child and his questions never cease to amaze me.  Tonight it started with Mom I just have one question and here is what happened.

Me:  go ahead Symeon what is your question
Symeon:  Why is Halloween on Monday
Me:  because that is when it is on the calendar on October 31st
Symeon:  Okay

Symeon: Mom
Me: Yes Symeon
Symeon:  What if you and Daddy die and Babes and I don't?
Me: (in my mind what in the world) Honey if Daddy and I die you and Babes will still have each other and you guys would be together.
Symeon:  Okay but if you die how would we go shopping we don't know how to go shopping without you? 
Me:  (at this point I want to cry but I hold it together)  Oh Symeon guy if we die you and Babes will go together to live with someone else in our family you guys would not be alone and they would shop for you. 
Symeon:  But we still won't know how to shop without you.
Me: The people who love you who you will be living with will teach you and Babes how to shop when you are old enough to shop on your own. 
Symeon: Okay Mom but it will be sad if you and  Daddy die (crying)
Me:  Yes honey it will be sad for all of us but you don't have to worry Daddy and Mommy are here right now and we are going to take care of you.
Symeon:  Can we live with Miss Tep? (our neighbor)
Me: No honey Miss Tep is to old to take care of you and Babes
Symeon:  What if you and Daddy go away overnight without me and Babes?
Me:  Well then someone will come and take care of you we won't leave you alone and we will always come back for you.  We love you so much!
Symeon:  Mom what is God's phone number?
Me:  (in my mind okay we have switched topics good)  well honey God doesn't have a phone number
Symeon:  Why?  Then how does he hear me when I am talking to him?
Me:  (in my mind Seminary answer or 3 year old answer they are about the same so here goes)  Well honey God is everywhere and he can hear you even you if you say things in your mind or heart.  God doesn't hear the same way we do.  He is omnipresent, he is everywhere all the time.
Symeon:  How does he do that Mom be omeprezent?
Me:  I don't know Symeon part of believing in God is understanding that we don't know everything about him yet we still believe and that is faith.  Something we just have to take on faith.    
Symeon:  Without a phone how do I hear God?  I don't hear him Mom.   
Me:  Well God doesn't talk like I talk he talks in our hearts he whispers in our hearts and it takes practice to hear God.  Everyone hears him different and part of loving God is figuring our how you hear God. 
Symeon:  Okay but I haven't heard him yet.
Me:  Okay but he has heard you and we will just keep listening for him, God always comes. 
Symeon:  Mom why is Halloween on Monday?
Me: (we came full circle so I knew he was done)  Because it is on the calendar honey and goodnight I love you!
Symeon:  Okay goodnight Mom I love you too!
Me:  (in  the hall in my head wow that was wild and difficult God I hope I answered him well.  I hope I pointed him back to you. I hope I relieved some of his fears.  I feel so inadequate help me to walk with him in this life not with all the answers but with a listening and loving ear that always has time for him to ask.  God can  you hear me?  How do you hear me without a phone number?) 

I relish these times with him and I pray that he is always able to ask me hard questions.  I love his tender heart and I love to know that he is thinking about God. 

The air mattress what fun

Every once in awhile the kids (especially Symeon) convince me to blow up the air mattress for some fun.  I have to admit the creativity that flows when we blow it up is amazing.  They make forts, it becomes a boat, an island, a bounce house you name it they have thought of it.  Well on this particular day I found Symeon pushing one of our tall kitchen bar stools toward the living room and I asked what he was doing.  Well he proceeded to tell me he needed the stool to get on the top of the air mattress so he could jump off of it.  As you can imagine I was a bit confused since the mattress in about 2 feet tall he could easily climb up on it so I went to check it out and this is what I found.  You see he and Babes propped it up on its side against the couch and he needed the stool to climb to the top near the ceiling so he could jump off from up there.  Well I nixed that idea and we deflated the air mattress later that day sometimes a break from something fun is a good idea.  This was several weeks ago and the other day he asked me to blow it up in his room so he could jump off his bed and dresser onto it so I am thinking we might need a longer break from the air mattress than I thought.   

Fun in our neighborhood

The main street through our neighborhood was closed for a bike festival.  The city closed off about 40 blocks so people could walk, run, ride bikes and hang out in the community.  The point is to promote a healthy lifestyle and encourage people to find alternative modes of transportation rather than driving.  We loved it!

Enjoying some sidewalk chalk and hanging out in front of our favorite local bakery.  

23rd ave closed down and bikes galore were riding all along the route

A few lawn mower races for the kids.  I hope they love pushing a mower this much when they are old enough to mow our lawn. 

2 things they love

Lil Kickers  uniforms and their stuffed animals they sleep with every night. 

Fun at the zoo

The zoo which is about 8 blocks from our house had a special event over the summer so we decided to attend.  We had so  much fun with the kids. 

Here are Symeon and Marin meeting their favorite princesses.

We all love the carousel and ride every time we go to the zoo.  

They had crafts set up all over the zoo the favorite by far was the frog it was pretty neat and they played with them for days until spit wore out the blower.  

Me and my girl on the train ride. 

Outdoor Movie

We went to an outdoor movie with the kids in the next community over and it was such fun.  We hope to do this more often next summer.  We loved it. 

 Me and my little man.  If you look close you can see a large red welt on his neck where a bee stung him about 10 seconds after we arrived and were setting up the chairs.  It was his first sting and right in the neck he took it like a champ and after a few minutes with ice and cuddling he told me he was fine.  

 Babes and her Daddy

The big screen

Hanging out with friends

 Symeon does not love having his picture taken these days so this is the best I could get with the dessert he made.  

 We were suppose to bring to dessert to our friends house so we brought dirt pudding and made it look like a potted plant with fresh flowers in the middle and of course what is dirt without worms.  The kids loved it and Symeon did most of it on his own.  He loves to cook and bake I hope I can foster that love in him for life.  

Marin and her buddy Sophia hanging out