Fall Fest

This past week, we attended the Fall Fest at Andy's work for the 3rd year in a row. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?  We're now venturing into our third year back in the US.  We enjoyed a pumpkin patch and a hayride, burgers, apple cider, and even a maze. What fun! 

This picture looks a little different from the one taken our first year back!

Look Closely!

At first glance did you notice that Jack is the one wearing pink boots and that EG has on the cape?  Yep, this afternoon they decided to "switch!"  It was hilarious to watch them plan out the outfits.  They went to great detail to make sure Dad would be fooled.  Jack, who is dressed as grapes has plenty of jewelry and long hair and even lip gloss in his pocket!  And Grapes, dressed as Jack, made sure to pull her hair back so Daddy wouldn't see her long locks and catch on.    I played along and dressed up as Andy and we decided we'd have a switch dinner!

They were so excited about fooling Andy and my FAVORITE moment came when EG wiped Jack's dirty face with a wet rag and told me that he needed to have a clean face because, "I always like to be clean!"  So true. Emma Grace is neat and clean.  And then she carefully instructed Jack not to whine at the dinner table.  (We are in a stage where Jack whines through most of dinner and he often misses dessert because he won't eat what we serve him. Though we have other areas to work on with Grapes, dinner is not one of them...she eats what we serve her without any push back and happily eats her dessert while Jack is being coaxed into his first bite!  We've tried timers and threats of withheld dessert and encouragement with him...nothing seems to work yet) Sharp little Emma Grace knew that if Jack did his normal whining at the table, their little scheme would be discovered! 

What a fun little afternoon adventure! 

Developmental Milestones!

As my kids are getting older, I am really amazed to look back and see how much of their personalities could be seen in their first few months of life.  Grapes was ALERT from birth and she came out looking like a 3 month old. Now we call her our 30 year old trapped in a 5 year old's body.  The girl is just sharp and perceptive.  The alertness we saw in those first few months was a prelude of what was to come.  And it's true to Jackie boy too.  I remember calling him a tender warrior from very early on.  He was stocky and starting RUNNING at 10 months.  Now he's extremely athletic, advanced on the normal physical milestones for a kid his age.  He was so tender, leaning in for kisses regularly.  And we see that tenderness in him now in the way he relates to friends and his sister.  He holds the door for me and tells me I look beautiful on a regular basis.  He's often telling me what a beautiful day it is.  Just like we saw at an early age, he still has a gentle spirit  inside a warrior's body!



Here's a little video of Jack and Grapes reaching a milestone this weekend...RIDING A BIKE WITH NO TRAINING WHEELS!!  True to form, Grapes takes it slow and steady while Jack is zooming all over the place at almost 4!  I really think athletics will play a big part in his story!



And as for our Judah Buda....He's keeping up with his big brother in reaching physical milestones early.  Check out his 2 month old ROLL!!  Oh dear, what am I in for?!  Rolling at 2 months?  At least he's smiley!  For the record...at two months  Judah is very attached to his momma and sleeps happily on me a lot of the time.  He's very smilely and talkative.  And he's strong.  Not sure what this means for him in the future, but I'm thankful I get to be the one to discover this little one's personality!

 Going...

 Going...

 GONE!

Oh each one of these children is wonderfully made! 

Growing up too fast!

"I have a best friend, and he's a boy!"  That's what Emma Grace proclaimed to me one day after school  and it's proving true.  Evan (in the middle here) l o v e s EG ... and the the feeling is mutual.  They make cards and gifts for each other...he always picks her at school to be his partner.  We met up for a play-date with him and a few other classmates recently and as we were leaving Evan gave Emma Grace about 10 hugs and kept saying, "I'm going to miss you so much, Emma Grace."  I'm glad they are calling it best friends, but let me tell you, Andy has his eye on this super sweet, toothless little guy!

As for my Jackie Boy, he's getting taller and taller.  And Like little Evan, Jack is a sweet kid and very loving.   The woman who becomes his forever best friend will be blessed for sure.     Last year his best friends in class were two girls, Elena and Olivia.  This year, he picked our neighbor, Maximo! Holding off on the girl best friends for a while longer is FINE with us! 

Recently, we've been playing this little game where I pretend to scold them for growing up..and I say things like, "STOP IT RIGHT NOW!! NO MORE GROWING UP! Tell that body of yours no more growing, or I'll have to send it to time out."  Then they just laugh and say, MOOOOOOOOM, I have to grow up, God made me to!"  They love this silly game, especially when I open their mouths and start talking directly to their little bodies inside!  The fact is...THEY ARE GROWING UP, and fast!!  They are becoming kids....and they have best friends...and not-so-secret admirers....it's all happening way too fast! 

Some days I look around my house and see A GIANT wreck...I mean, ahem,  I see many evidences that we have little kids- super man capes, and princess crowns, and peanut butter all over the wall under our bar-and I want to enjoy this season for what it is...so busy, very very busy, and hard, the hardest thing I've ever done, but so precious at the same time. 

[These pictures were taken by their teachers-EG on her field trip to the Library and McD's for ice cream and Jack playing in class and on the playground.  His teachers snap pictures and send to me regularly.  Fun to see them in action.]

Fence Party

 

We hosted our fence painting party and had friends from church, Andy's work, and some neighbors all come out to help. We blasted the tunes and painted til it started to rain.  After the rain stopped and it dried a bit, we painted for a few more hours.  We're officially 1/4 of the way done!!! It was really fun but we're thinking of renting a sprayer for the rest!  So thankful for the friends who helped us! 

Friday Night Fun

God has been so good to give us a WONDERFUL church.  I really really love it. Jared and Jillian are in our small group and we love them and our kids love them (and the baked goods Jillian brings each week!)  Last week we had dinner together and Jillian taught the kiddos how to decorate cupcakes.  This girl has some serious baking skills and we are blessed to enjoy the fruit of her labor each week! 

They are newlyweds and handled the chaos of three kids in their small apartment well!  T

 Jack iced his cupcake, ate just the icing, then proceeded to re-ice it. Awesome.  And it was already past his bedtime. 

 The difference between us and them is that they can afford to eat all those baked goods...they are running their second marathon in January.  (while all of Jillian's baked goods are nicely situated on our waists!) 

 My Grapey girl has NO IDEA how blessed she is to have so many people love her.  Jillian is so kind to her and is a clear reminder to me of how much God loves Grapes. 

Fancy Nancy visits the Dentist

EG and I both had cavities filled this week.  NO FUN.  The dentist told me that Emma Grace laid back in the chair, pulled down her humongo shades and wore them the whole time she got her cavity filled. That girl's got style! 

Oh Yeah, I remember you

Andy and I had our first date since Judah was born.  Judah was a nice third wheel and slept most of the date.  We planned to try out a  new hot pot restaurant but our J man was pretty fussy while we were driving and so we knew one of us would have to hold him...we didn't see eating veggies out of pot of boiling water while holding him as being the best parenting choice...so we opted for a walk in a groovy little town near us and pizza. It was nice to get out and actually talk to Andy.  Things are CRAZY with three-it's pretty non stop these days, so I'm glad for a moment to remember I'm married!   

Lessons from this Season

My dear friend  Marianne and I were chatting on the phone a couple weeks ago.   Our conversations usually start out chatty and ridiculously fun as talk about trivial things in our life...and then we almost always move on deep and real issues of the heart-she's a soul friend and the connection God has given us reaches into some of the deepest places of my being.  I love her and the way God has used her in my life.  He continues to do so even though we haven't seen each other face to face since our feet were both on Chinese soil.

Anyway, our friendship, which is upheld by years of history together and is currently nourished by random phone calls is as strong as ever...and we were talking the other day and she mentioned something she'd read in a book.  I can't remember exactly, but the the gist of it was that we live most in touch with reality when we are living in gratitude and in complete dependence on God.  That really struck her and I've been mulling that over for the past couple weeks.   When we live with hearts full of gratefulness it's because we see clearly the reality  that everything we have is a gift from God, a gift we don't deserve. And that even the hard things in our lives are meant for our ultimate good.  And when we are seeing this reality for what it is, our response is gratefulness.

And like, newborns, we are utterly dependent on God for everything.  Everything.  What can a newborn do for itself?  My little Judah is completely, in every way, dependent on me and on my good will, to meet his needs-both physically and emotionally.  And whether we know it or not, this is our state with God.  We are completely unable to do anything to take care of ourselves.  When we live like little children, who look to their parents for everything, we are most in touch with reality.

God is teaching me to live this way.  Like the Israelites looking to God for their manna each day, he's teaching me to look to him more and more and to realize that my need for him is greater than their need for food.. With three little ones, I am really flying by the seat of my pants.  There's not enough of me to meet every one's needs nor time to think about how to meet my own needs.  But God is thinking about it...and I am watching him provide the manna I need at each and every bend of the road.  Just the other day I was feeling anxious and down.  And a friend called with just the words I needed to hear.  I was reminded that God knew what I needed and he provided.  And then later I needed a sitter for Jack (which I should have arranged in advance but didn't cause that's how things are these days) And my friend just "happened" to have a free hour of time at the same time as my appointment while she waited for her kids at co-op. And their co-op met just a couple miles from the place I needed to go. Yep. just thanked the Lord for working that out for me.   These two things are among the many reminders I have been given lately that I am really dependent on the Lord for all my needs and that he knows perfectly how to meet them.

I love the verse that says (my paraphrase here) His delight is in those who put their hope in his steadfast love. He loves it when we are staking our all on his steadfast love for us.  Lord, help me to look to you to provide for every need and help me to live in dependence on you today.