Yesterday was quite a day, getting pumpkins ready for the contest, and then going to the open house last night at Westminster Village, a local retirement community where my grandmother lives.

Would you like to see some photos? I put them in my gallery, so check them out! Just click on the photo of the glowing pumpkin.

A few days ago Laura and Nathan went to a costume party put on by Nathan’s church. Laura dressed up as a Jedi Princess, so you can see her in the first few photos. The rest of the album shows our day yesterday.

Yesterday the weather was mild and beautiful. Today it is very crisp and cold. Yesterday my sister sewed cloaks for Laura and Isaac using polar fleece, so those kids should be toasty warm. Joyce was so generous with her time and I still can’t believe that she was able to sew so much. She first made a cloak for Nathan to wear to the party at their church, and then she offered to make some for Laura & Isaac. I’ll have to take photos tonight and add them to my gallery.

We didn’t ever do much for Halloween when I was growing up, so I feel like I’m revisiting my childhood and getting a chance to do all the things I used to wish we could do.

Happy Halloween!

P.S. Here are a few photos from yesterday. I will get the rest up on the gallery later, but for now this will have to do. Michael has made his computer “off limits” today, and that’s the one I use to post things to the gallery. Apparently even computer geeks aren’t immune to computer troubles, and Michael is working hard to get his computer to respond properly. That means that common folk like his family aren’t allowed anywhere near the poor Mac while it’s infirmed.

Last night we had a great time trick-or-treating out at my sister’s neighborhood. When we got home, I handed each of the children a quart-size storage bag and told them that anything that didn’t fit in the bag would be donated to the church candy stash. They worked hard packing their little bags, and in the end we have five FULL candy bags and one nicely-full box of candy to donate. Another Halloween bites the dust! And the best part about it all? We have some great costumes that will be enjoyed from now until next Halloween.

This is our second year to enter the pumpkin contest at Westminster Village here in Bloomington.  Last year I took a photo of the kids on this bench, so this year I decided to do that again.  The bench isn’t big enough for everyone!  We’ll have to be more creative with the posing next year. 

Now that Laura has had her birthday, the ages of the children are 11, 9, 7, 5, 3, and 1.  Starting next March, we’ll begin switching to even numbers.

Some of my favorite photos are ones where I have the kids lined up like this.  I wonder what sort of caption we could put over Judah’s head as he stares at the line of siblings…..

For quite a while we’ve wished for a second vehicle, but we haven’t felt we should spend the money on it. Someday we want to buy a Jeep, another motorcycle is most definitely in our future, a pick-up truck would be nice, and even a minivan would be put to good use. But the bottom line is that we need to pay off our debts before we will feel the freedom to purchase another vehicle.

This last week brought about several interesting events. First, we were able to make the last payment on our big ol’ fifteen-passenger van. What a thrill to hold the title and show it to the children, telling them that the one who holds the title owns the vehicle. We have been making double payments on the van, working hard to pay it off, and finally our goal has been reached.

Today another intriguing thing happened. We were given a car. It’s not a fancy car. It’s a 1989 Buick LeSabre that has been a faithful car for quite a few people. But the folks who had it were ready to pass it along to someone else who could use it. So now Michael has a car that can take him back and forth to work, and we have a vehicle that we can use when only part of our family needs to go somewhere.

The Buick isn’t exactly a Jeep or a pickup truck, but it IS God’s gift to us, and we gratefully accept it. We are still getting used to the idea of having a car… Michael’s car. I’ll post a photo soon.

Love,

Christie

P.S. Here’s the photo I promised! Today (Tuesday) Michael came home over lunch and got the car registered with the DMV. Then he put the plates on it, put air in the tires, and went back to work. What a strange feeling to have a car!

We are really enjoying all the little facets of our new kitchen. One popular place is the island. We’ve used it for meals, for play-doh, for painting projects, and for piling clutter. I made cinnamon rolls there one day, marvelling in all the work space I had! But the most interesting use so far has been watching the kids play with the plastic tiles that have never had a good place to be arranged. Isaac has particularly been challenged to make a checker board, a triple-layer chess board, and other fun designs. Laura figured out that adding play-doh to the tiles makes them into building blocks, and she and Isaac made a fun fort for his army guys.

But as you might imagine, all is not as we always hope it would be in our little world. Many times Judah will push a chair over to the island and try to join in the fun. He has his best success when everyone has abandoned the kitchen and he can work uninterrupted. You can see here how much he LOVES playing with the tiles!!!

This past weekend Michael made more little improvements in the kitchen. Now I finally have the “all clear” to start moving all of my kitchen stuff in from the boxes in storage. I can’t wait to open boxes and discover treasures I’ve forgotten.

Have a great Monday!

Shopping with three little kids is always an adventure!

Last Saturday was a busy day for a busy little boy. Judah, who is almost 19 months old, got to see and do lots of interesting things.

First thing in the morning he was abandoned by his mother and older brother who ran off to see the Farmer’s Market and to get a huge cinnamon roll at Kelly’s. When they came back (after visiting a flea market and a garage sale on the way home!) he was so relieved and delighted to see them. His mother came inside carrying an antique high chair, so he got to try it out right away. It fits his little self quite perfectly, and he sat in it quite happily. Read the rest of this entry »

Today was a full day! I can’t quite remember exactly what all we did this morning, but by noon I was gearing up to run errands and trying to remember Laura’s piano lesson. Today was her second piano lesson. How exciting! Oh, I remember now! Part of our morning was spent making sure those of us who play stringed instruments got our practice time in. I told Laura, Luke and Amelia that if they practice every day I will give them a little pack of gum by their next lesson on Monday. So the motivation to practice early in the day is incredible! Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday Michael came home from work with many other things on his list to do besides kitchen work. He was still exhausted from a very short night’s sleep, and he had some computer work needing his attention. But I encouraged him to just do a little on the sink so that we could at least have running water in the sink. He agreed, and he jumped into the project with vigor.

Unfortunately there was one roadblock after another. Read the rest of this entry »

Tonight my sister, Joyce, came over and she helped Michael think through the placement of the lower cabinets. While I took three kids to viola lessons, Michael and Joyce worked hard. When I got home, I jumped into the project and helped in any little way I could. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday it was time to take Judah to get his curls tamed. The curls had gone from being beautiful to just being frizzy and in the way. I asked Laura to be my photographer, and Isaac asked if he could take a camera and take photos too. We were quite the sight in the salon, with two kids snapping away, a baby crying, a hairdresser working quickly and a mother bossing everyone. Read the rest of this entry »