Halloween 2013

Another of Evelyn's first has been checked off.  This was her first Halloween!  She got to spend the morning hanging out with daddy and Jason.  Max was at school and Ryan had a Halloween party for joy school.  In the evening, she went trick or treating with her brothers.

 Jason kept blinking because of the flash so I'm glad I have better pics from the other night.

 These boys got a bagful of candy really fast so they wanted to come home and pass out candy so other people could have candy.  This was especially nice because I had to feed Evelyn and get both babies ready for bed.  So here are the boys hanging out in the office playing Star Wars Angry Birds while they waited for trick or treaters.  Then we watched, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.  They especially love the Snoopy as the Red Baron.  I wonder why?

Getting Ready for Halloween

We've had a lot of fun carving pumpkins and dressing up.  

We missed Max's school Harvest festival because I was sick and I was on the fence anyway about taking 4 littles there all by myself.  Saturday night was our church party and Tony could go.  We had a lot of fun as a family.

I was a dragon tamer with my two little dragons.

 I guess I tamed this one pretty well.  She's asleep.

 Tony dressed up as Darth Maul to go along with the boys who wanted to be Jedi Knights.

 Jason loves cuddles.

Ryan had a Halloween carnival at his preschool today but our water heater cracked and Tony had to work on replacing it instead of watching Evelyn so I could take Jase and Ryan.  Ryan still went but no pictures. 

The Best of Friends

The occasional love tap right on her face and once he stuck his finger in her mouth...but really, he is enamored with her. 

Be Still, My Soul

Max really wanted to invite a friend to the church Halloween party tonight.  I haven't talked to his mom a lot this year, I've been a little out of the loop since I haven't been at the school very much yet this year.  Maybe as Evelyn gets a little older.  When I contacted this friend, I found out that her husband has Acute Myeloid Leukemia.  Heartbreaking.  He's fighting it but their lives are turned around as they establish a new normal while he's in treatment.  I was reading through journal she posts through the hospital website to keep family and friends updated.  There can be times when faith is tested, but it was so nice to see how she shared scripture and her feelings about God and how she felt His love through this process. 

Some of her thoughts were so similar if not the same as ones I had when Tony was in the hospital in 2008.  It's hard to hear about a friend's hardships, but it's also inspiring to read of their faith.  One of my favorite hymns comes to mind.  It was the hymn that went through my mind repeatedly in 2008.

1. . Be still, my soul: The Lord is on thy side;
2. With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.
3. Leave to thy God to order and provide;
4. In ev'ry change he faithful will remain.
5. Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav'nly Friend
6. Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
7. 2. Be still, my soul: Thy God doth undertake
   To guide the future as he has the past.
   Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
   All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
   Be still, my soul: The waves and winds still know
   His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.
8. 3. Be still, my soul: The hour is hast'ning on
   When we shall be forever with the Lord,
   When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
   Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
   Be still, my soul: When change and tears are past,
   All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

Monday Night

The past two Monday nights have been really hard on Evelyn.  She has been so gassy and her little body gets so tight and frustrated.  I give her drops to help and burp her so much.  I hold her this certain way that we were taught by a nurse that's supposed to help their tummies.  She was swaddled, not swaddled, rocked, bounced, patted, etc.  None of this did the trick...well...at least not for hours.  This poor baby was so uncomfortable and it was hard.  It was bedtime and I had to give Jason some love too.  Here is Max helping with Evelyn so I could cuddle with Jason for a few.  He was so sweet and patted her tummy.  It actually helped a bit.

Here's me and Jase.  I don't usually worry about Jason even though he's so young, he isn't usually missing out on attention.  He gets a lot of love.  He had Grandma and dad when Evelyn was so new and I feel like we cuddle him and give him lots of one and one.  Tonight, however, my heart was kind of breaking.  He was fine, playing, but I wanted to give him mom cuddles before he went to bed, so I let Max help Evelyn and I cuddled with my Jase. 

Sometimes when I'm pushing the stroller with two babies and my two older boys are next to me people comment, "You sure have your hands full".  :)  Well, yes, but night time is usually the time that it can feel hard.  If Evelyn is gassy, my hands do feel full.  Luckily Max and Ryan are super helpers.  They played and played but when I asked them for help, they did it.  Max even volunteered to clean the play room without being asked.  I was so grateful for that.  Ryan helped by getting diapers when I needed them and filling up the diaper basket.  I feel like one blessed mom.

 

This night felt like it would never end, but she did feel better, the play room did get cleaned up, we still had scripture time, the boys did get to bed.  I did get to sleep.  And I actually had some free time to write about it.  ; )  I'm grateful for my helping boys.

More Leaf Fun!

Leaf Pile!

Leaf fight! 

 Rhett found a slug on the grass.  These boys decided to pet it and give it a grass hat and grass clothes.  Gross!

Ryan the Decorator

On Sunday night, Tony got down the bin of Halloween costumes and fall decorations.  I don't put a ton up for Halloween, but as I pulled them out I gave Ryan the task of finding a spot to put a few things.  And then of course, I promptly forgot about it so I got to have a good laugh the next day when I found this.

 

Then I asked him where the scarecrow was.  Oh, of course, in the corner hidden.  Why didn't I think of that?

I love my Ryan.

Starting a Daybook

A lot of thoughts trickle through this brain of mine.  Some I will always keep private, but some, I would love my children to see someday.  Since this blog is a family history of sorts, I would like to capture some of the day to day moments.  I was wondering how to do this when I remembered my darling friend Sarah's blog.  She does daybook entries, just short snippets into what she's thinking now.  I'm going to take some of her ideas, thank you Sarah, but my daybook will probably evolve. 

Outside My Window...
Right now it is dark outside.  Night time seems to be the only time if there is any time, I have to sit down at the computer.  Thumb typing on my phone is not so fun.  I just stepped outside to breathe in the cool Autumn air. 

I am Thankful...
For my quiet, safe neighborhood. 

I am Thinking About...
How to be a better parent to Ryan.  He got sent to bed early again tonight.  It seems like he still needs a nap to get him through a long day.  I've got to help him get the rest he needs and be patient when he does not get it.

Notes About School...
I'm proud of my boys.  Max reads above grade level.  Ryan is becoming quite the alphabet writer.

From the Kitchen...
Freezer meals are my best friend these days.  My mother-in-law gave me this recipe:
Honey Glazed Chicken

(really easy to do freezer meal)
16 pieces of chicken thighs
1 1/2 cup honey
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup mustard
1 TBSP curry powder
2 tsp salt

In med sauce pan, mix everything except chicken & cook until dissolved. Stick as many pieces of chicken as you want for a meal and part of the sauce into Ziploc freezer bags. Or put into a casserole dish & bake 350 for 40 minutes.
 
I am Creating...
Our family's budget system.  Ours has been good but I've tweaked it and the way it's recorded.  I'm actually quite proud of it.  I love being careful with money because I think that's going to benefit my children.  My parents were great examples of living within their means even though they had the means to be careless if they had chosen.

I am Working On...
House hunting.  It's quite the process.

I am Reading...
House Hunting for Dummies (really) and Heaven is Here by Stephanie Nielson.  She was in a plane crash that burned her to the point of being unrecognizable.  I CANNOT imagine the pain of having a child not want to look at you.  I appreciate her strength and also her honesty about the difficult times.

I am Praying...
For the primary children that I help teach.

I am Struggling...
With getting everything done.  The end of the week always gives me a huge breath of relief.

I am Hearing...
"What Does the Fox Say?"  I avoided it until now but Tony discovered it on Youtube and now it's stuck in my head.  Thank you, Tony.

Around the House...
The kids are sleeping peacefully, the dishwasher is running, everything is picked up--just how I like to end my day.

One of my Favorite Things...
Evelyn's smile, okay, I can't pick just one.  I also am in love with how Jason's giggles and signs for "more" tickles.

A Few Plans for the Next Week...
I want to find a teacher appreciation gift for the primary teachers at church, and finalize Halloween costumes for the kids, amongst other things.

After School!

We've had such nice, Autumn weather that we've been stopping by the sport court everyday after we pick Max up at the bus stop.  Max is becoming quite the tree climber.  These pics are from a few different days.

 Max is up in the tree.  Can you see him?

Ryan wants to climb too.

 

8 Weeks!

And she smiles!  Her smile is so hard to capture on camera but it's beautiful!

 

 

Pumpkins Everywhere!

Life has been busy.  I feel like I say that a lot, but it's true.  We've taken on a new project recently so we've gotten busier and there's always school, work, playdates, dates, girl's nights, guy's nights, etc.

Ryan's joy school group went to the pumpkin patch on Thursday.  We enjoyed the nice weather and picking a pumpkin.  Then the kids painted their pumpkins.

 

On Saturday, we went to the same pumpkin patch as a family.  The wee babes were a bit tired from our busy day and so they weren't enjoying the pumpkin patch as much.  In fact, we kind of cut it short to get them home. 

 

The furrowed brow shows that Evelyn didn't look so peaceful for long and I think I'm lucky that I got a smile out of Jase. ; )

These boys were happy though!