Trick or Treat!

After the fall festival was over at 6 pm, we came home, Josiah changed costumes :), and then David headed out with the kids to go trick or treating in our neighborhood. They had a great time! And I learned that I could nurse a baby AND hand out candy at the same time! :)

Josiah is Wolverine...hence the "claws" in his pose....

Caleb even had a little pumpkin sleeper that someone had given me....he was CUTE! :)

Look who ELSE came in my house during trick or treating? Totally freaked me out. And it happened TWICE!!! We have lots of little tree frogs around, and alot of them climb all over our door and our porch at night...well, apparently they saw the light inside and came on in when I opened the door to hand out candy! The first time, I stayed calm and trapped him under a cup and ushed him out. The second time, I got my camera, took a picture, and ALMOST called David and told him to come home and deal with it! I held it together and got it out. Gross!

This was my favorite part of Halloween when I was a kid - my sisters and I would all get home and then "sort" all our candy. The boys LOVED it this year and Jacob got to give away all his candy with nuts in it (he hates NUTS of any kind...even in candy). And for the record, I only got 2 Baby Ruths from the candy pile this year...at least it's better than last year when I got NONE! :)

Northside's Fall Festival

Our church hosted a HUGE fall festival this year out on our new property (where we are going to be relocating our church to....more on that later). It was SO much fun! They sent out 12,000 flyers that went out in the newspaper and really worked hard to make this an outreach to our community. It was great! They even gave away 20 cases of paper to the school that was represented the most there - what a GREAT idea! :)

David and the band did several sets of music, and the kids and I enjoyed all the games and inflatables. Have I said recently how much my kids LOVE playing these games? They could do them over and over and over again...all day long! We had a blast! Can't wait until next year!

Daddy had a break between sets, so he got to come see us for a bit.
Working on Jacob's stroke...

Callie playing tic tac toe.

See Callie's necklace? I wore it my senior year in high school when I dressed up as Cinderella for a choir concert!!! She didn't really know what to make of the whole thing initially (on the way there, she asked the boys "are we going to Christmas?" A little confused)...but she REALLY got into it finally!! :)

Jacob and Callie in one of the many inflatables

Josiah LOVES getting his face painted!!!
Gone fishin...
Daddy and the band...and a little girl who wanted to stay RIGHT with her daddy...until the LOUD music started!!!
This is one of our pastors on staff!! Everyone is always teasing him that he looks JUST like Woody, from Toy Story. (He seriously has the hair and everything). So he came dressed up! :)

Granddad Keith

On Friday morning, we got the call that my grandfather (my Mom's dad) passed away. He had been in the hospital for the last two weeks after a fall that he had suffered. Granddad Keith had always been in great health, and was sharp as a tack! We knew that this last hospitalization was really taking it's toll on him. He had broken his arm in the fall and fractured his skull, but also developed pneumonia and the doctors discovered some blood clots in his lungs. He died peacefully with some of his family around him, and after having some wonderful time talking with them.

Granddad Keith was an amazing man of God. He had served in ministry for more than 50 years, and left quite a legacy. He was an amazing musician - wonderful voice and great on the piano. He instilled this love of music in my Mom, who is an incredible pianist, and she passed this love of music along to my sisters and I.

One of my favorite memories of Granddad Keith was his freezer!!! He had a second freezer in the spare room at his house and it was full of ice cream! LITERALLY!! He lived through the Great Depression and through all of the rationing. He said that if he made it through that, he would never go without ice cream again. And so I remember as a child opening his freezer and seeing 10 or 15 half gallons of ice cream in there!! :) What a joyful spirit He was!!

I also remember him getting along so well with David's dad when they met at our wedding. Both men were ministers, and LOVED people. Loving talking with anyone and everyone! Two peas in a pod! I know they are enjoying each other's company up in heaven now! :)

My sisters and I are all flying out to California this week to be with my Mom and be at the funeral on Saturday. Please pray for safe travels for all of us (we are all flying on Weds. and Thurs.). We look forward to celebrating his life and enjoying the memories we will share together as we remember him.

This is a copy of an email that my Mom sent out. I thought she said things very well.

On Friday, in God’s perfect timing, my 84 year old father went peacefully to his heavenly home. I would appreciate your prayers as I travel Wednesday to Long Beach, CA for his memorial service on Saturday. My 4 daughters will join me there.

My dad led a full life with over 50 years in full time ministry, then part time as a Minister of Music and Christian Education. Dad served on the board of Gospel Light Publishing for a time & had the privilege of serving with some wonderful senior pastors, including John MacArthur’s dad, Dr Jack with “Johnnie” serving as dad’s youth pastor. I have so many memories of meeting heroes of our faith in our home or at church.

He never stopped serving and encouraging other pastors, up to 2 weeks ago when he was hospitalized. He read Immanuel’s bulletin every week and prayed for all of you here in ministry.

I shall miss our talks about church news in California and here. I shall miss my first piano teacher, my dad.

But I’m also so very thankful he is breathing celestial air with no pain. No more choir rehearsals, only awesome concerts of praise! Thank you for your prayers and support

Cast your ballots!

Okay, everyone. I need your help! I have to choose 4 pictures to use for Caleb's dedication coming up in November. I'm having a hard time narrowing it down, but here are my finalists for now. Cast your ballot on your 4 favorites! :) (David, you REALLY have to vote!)

#1 - Coming home from the hospital
#2 - a sleepy boy

#3 - a new perspective

#4 - the first smile

#5 - riding in the bag!

#6 - the birth announcement photo

#7 - the golfer

#8 - the fam (we are supposed to include 1 family picture...)

#9 - i love polka dots!

50% off EVERYTHING at Payless!

I just found this on a blog today and thought I'd pass it on. I guess I'll be shoe shopping in the morning!! :)

Oprah is doing a show today with guest, Christian Siriano! They will be discussing the various projects he is doing, with one being his line of shoes for Payless stores! ...AND to motivate viewers to head on over to Payless, they are offering 50% off EVERYTHING in the store! Yes, you heard me right--50% off! Yay! Just go here to access and print your coupon. The 50% off coupon is valid through tomorrow, October 30th ONLY!As you know, Payless is already on the inexpensive side, so this coupon should really make for some bargain buys!

Swimming Heads!

Okay, the title of that doesn't sound right. What I mean is that David & I have SO much stuff swimming around in our heads right now, they're about to pop! It's just such a busy time of year. Lots of exciting things happening at church, but that makes for a VERY full schedule. Just trying to stay on top of everything. But we're happy, healthy (a HUGE praise!!!), and so we're just going to keep plugging along, one thing at a time. I just put the kids down for naps and am going to try to get a few things taken care of while I have the opportunity. And maybe make a list or two! :)

Pumpkin #2 - the GIRLS' pumpkin!

This one was more tedious. And probably David wasn't too thrilled about having to do a GIRLS pumpkin, but I was insistent! :) I got the boys in bed and David moved his workstation to the couch.

It's CINDERELLA - my favorite! I love it- and Callie REALLY loves it!! She was SO excited when she saw it this morning. Seriously so excited! I love it! :)

Pumpkin #1

David finally gave up his "only the REAL carving for me....with a big kitchen knife....no sissy carving kits" philosphy. We bought a "sissy carving kit" this year because the boys wanted the FANCY designs! :) It was $1....I guess that's okay....

So here's pumpkin #1...

He's working on the GIRLS pumpkin now...while I'm watching Dancing with the Stars! :) What a good man!

GAME-time pictures

A friend from church took these pictures last week at the boys' games. She has a REAL camera, so she got some good ones! Plus, I don't know how I'll ever get any pictures during the games...it's too crazy on the sidelines! :)

Coach Daddy going over plays with Jacob's team...or doing his best to explain plays to 4 and 5 year olds! :)
Jacob is #5...

Most of the kids were completely enamored with their mouthguards for most of the game!

Listening intently...

Josiah is #10

Josiah's standing right in front of David...

Josiah as quarterback! He's got the 3 step drop back down pat! :)

a new game!

Mom got Jacob Monopoly Jr. for his birthday and it is SO fun! We all are loving it - I love that my kids are getting old enough to play REAL games! :) You all know how much I LOVE games!

Just another Monday...

This is how these two were sitting watching Curious George before naptime today...seriously. I didn't pose them or anything. They are my cuddly ones!
Caleb was sitting in the kitchen while I was making dinner. He must have been hungry because I kept looking over and he was trying to EAT his Bumbo chair! :)

We ended up having our neighbors over for dinner. They are a sweet family that lives down the court from us, and we were glad to have them over to eat with us! Two of the kids couldn't come (one was sick, one was at a football game), and the dad was off a motorcycle trip, so it was just Sue and 3 of the kids. Here are Jacob, Callie, and Abby enjoying their ice cream cones for dessert!

Josiah and Luke

Sue and Samuel - she said it was his first cone!!! :) He just turned two, and he and Callie have a lot of fun together!

My 2 Favorite Superheroes!

On Sunday afternoon, our neighborhood had a little harvest party down at the clubhouse. The boys enjoyed the opportunity to dress up, play some games, and get some candy. I enjoyed the time with just my two big boys! (David stayed home with the napping Callie and Caleb).

The did a little parade around the neighborhood...

... and played a few games about a hundred times! My kids LOVE these simple little games! They don't EVER tire of them. This was pumpkin bowling (I couldn't believe the pumpkins never busted!)

And then I came home and tried to take a picture of Caleb in this adorable onesie we were given before he outgrows it. I put him on the floor and this is what he did - kept arching his back like he was trying to roll over! What in the world!

Can you see how hard he's trying? hilarious.