fun Oklahoma autumn

On Saturday, we all went down to my parents' house to help out and do some chores for them. My dad had surgery a week before and just needed some help around the house. While helping out my dad, we found a new family fall tradition...picking up pecans (pronounced "puh-cohns", not PEE-CANs!!)!!! I was so excited on Saturday when I realized that the boys were having so much fun doing something that we couldn't do in Maine!! As previously recorded, I have discovered that I miss Maine falls. Now, I am excited to have an Oklahoma thing! And finally, the leaves are changing to reds and oranges!

my dad, who should have been resting, with Ian and Kyle
Mike, Nate, and Caden
Caden...he loved this!
Nate picked up TONS!!
Kyle, showing off his pecans
By this point, Ian was ready to go inside, but he really did have a good time!

I also wanted to put these last two pictures in here of Caden wearing the awesome sweater that my dear friend Holly T. knitted him and gave me shortly after he was born. I was so touched by this gift! I am excited that the weather has finally gotten cool enough for him to be able to wear it!
And, in case your wondering, that little bitty scrape on Caden's forehead happened when he fell at my parents' house. It was practically squirting blood when he fell. I was crying because of all the blood...totally freaked me out. He's all smiles now! (Well, actually right now he is crying because Kyle just woke him up...frustrating!)

finally...

Draw near to God

Today I read 1 Samuel 14. Jonathan and his armor bearer had just took off to possibly fight the Philistines; God gave them favor and they were successful. The Philistines were actually so confused that they began to fight each other. Anyway, verse 36 says, "Then Saul said, 'Let us go down after the Philistines by night and take spoil among them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them.' And they said, 'Do whatever seems good to you.' So the priest said, 'Let us draw near to God here.'" (NASB) The Message says that the troops said "Sounds good to us...let's do it!"

God is challenging me today to DRAW NEAR TO HIM HERE. Just because something sounds goods, doesn't necessarily mean it's God's plan. It may be, but a wise person will seek out God's plan before making a decision in haste! What a wise priest that was who reminded Saul to draw near to God.

Oh Jesus, help me to draw near to You. Let me be right in line with Your will and Your plans.

Happy Birthday Caden!

It's hard to believe that Caden was born one year ago today. Wow! It stirs up all kinds of emotions to think that he is our last "baby". I praise God that He blessed us with Caden! I can't imagine life without our always-smiling Caden! God gave him to us despite some pretty big odds; I just know that God has BIG plans in store for our little Caden!

Here are some pictures from a year ago today! It's funny that he is such a happy, sweet-spirited baby, because when he was born, he did nothing but scream and cry for about an hour!

Meeting our precious baby boy (he was nameless for about 2 days!)

Some sweet daddy-and-son-time

Pastor Mike with Mike and Caden


I'll post some from his little party in the next couple of days!

3 discoveries-part 3

I decided to make this 3 seperate blogs...see prior posts for #2 and #1 discoveries!

#3 I have discovered that I do miss Maine falls. Today, with the homeschool group, we went to a Pumpkin Patch. Since my grandma lives nearby, she met us there! We had a great time, it just didn't seem very fall-like!! The high today was 86 degrees...it was HOT...and no leaves have changed. Because of all the rain, everything is very green, almost spring-like!! It was really fun, though. We went on a hayride (actual hay) to the Pumpkin Patch where we picked 3 pumpkins. Then the kids played on a playground and went through a hay maze. (Just a side note, the lady that drove the tractor for the hayride is Danna White, who received an Extreme Makeover:Home Edition house last year...a sad story...read about it here.)

Here are some pictures from today!

a close-up of my sweet Caden

on the hayride

Ian, in search of the perfect pumpkin!

Nathanael and friend Lauren with their pumpkins

love the kid, LOVE THE HAIR!

Getting some big pushes on the swing by great-grandma !

I wish I had this thing at home! haha

3 of my little pumpkins!

Also, about Maine falls, I miss the apple orchards...first time to not pick apples in 5 years...maybe next year!!

3 discoveries-part 2

second recent discovery:

#2 I have finally discovered the cause of the constant-pee-smell that comes from the boys' bathroom. I have cleaned, bleached, disinfected, and scrubbed the entire toilet and floor numerous times, and the bathroom has always had a lingering scent of pee. It's embarrassing!! Well, thanks to my good friend/neighbor Kristi, I have discovered that the toilet seat simply snaps off!! And underneath where it snaps on, I discovered the nastiest, smelliest, well, I'll just say I found the STINK!!! I quickly fixed the problem with some bleach and the mop (yes, I mopped the top of my toilet...didn't want to get my hand that close) while the toilet seats (I also took off the toilet seat in our bathroom) soaked in a bleach-water bath. I also soaked the mop in the bleach-water bath! Yippee!!! I now know about the whole snap-off-toilet-seat and will now practice preventative methods to keep the bathroom smelling nice!!!! (I hope you are all as excited as I am about this fantastic discovery!)

3 discoveries-part 1

first of 3 recent discoveries:

#1 I think I have finally found some liberation from my constant battle with laundry!!! Yippee!! This is a FANTASTIC discovery, and I must give credit to a mother of six. Charlotta is a part of my homeschool coop. She has 5 sons and 1 daughter. The one daughter, Megan, graduated from OSU last May. She babysat for us the weekend Michael and I went to Oregon. Anyway, I asked her how they did laundry in her house. She told me that Monday and Thursdays are laundry days. Everyone is responsible for getting their own laundry to the laundry room on those 2 days. I decided to give this a try. So, what I did was put a laundry basket in both of the boys' rooms. On Monday and Thursday mornings, I remind the boys of laundry day and Nate and Kyle bring the laundry to me. I start laundry first thing in the morning and do laundry throughout the day, folding it and putting it away as it comes out of the dryer. If there is some that I don't get to (which is usually just a small load of reds or something), I just put it in a laundry basket on top of the washing machine. I don't even think about it or LOOK at it until the next laundry day. I have been doing this for several weeks now and it has been SUPER SUCCESSFUL!! I LOVE IT!! I only think about laundry 2 days a week...oh the freedom...seriously!!

Weary

song going through my head this evening...

O soul are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There's light for a look at the Saviour,
And life more abundant and free.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His Glory and Grace.

I am weary. There is no other way to describe it than weary. I have been thinking about it today and talking to God about it! WEARY!!

Right from Webster's:
wea·ry: exhausted in strength, endurance, vigor, or freshness

Yes, that nails it on the head. WEARY!! I feel exhausted...sorrowed also. Why does this life get so hard? Why is there poor health, MS scares, divorce, deaths of babies, job dissatisfaction? It leaves me weary...it also leaves me clinging, often with tears, to my Jesus for strength...which is a good place to be. I know that my life, as well as the lives of all of those going through these wearisome trials, is in Jesus' hands. Praise Him for His sovereignty...I seriously don't know how I could get through my life without the hope of my Jesus.

Psalm 63:1
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Psalm 119:28
My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word.

Isaiah 40:28-31
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

My hope is JESUS!!! My strength is JESUS!!