Come Home, Daddy!!

So, I was flying solo this past week.  Blair was up in Virginia meeting with people about financially supporting our ministry.  Half of me dreaded him leaving and half of me saw it as a challenge (which is really not like me at all!)  I usually choose the easy and comfortable life, to a fault!  To sum the week up in a couple of words: up and down.  Here are a few moments that stood out . . .

My sweet friend, Christy,  graced me with her presence (because I'm a big chicken when it comes to staying by myself) for 2 nights since she was in town.  Well, her birthday is at the end of the month, so Little Guy helped me decorate a cake that we made for her.  He was so proud, but it looks like a cross between an advertisement for Universal's Halloween Horror Nights and Betty Crocker run amuck.  See for yourself.



I felt very blessed to be living in community here.  We don't have family close by, but we have wonderful friends that feel like family.  Several friends watched the kids for me so I could do a few things or invited us over for dinner so I wouldn't have to cook.  So, Day 4 Dana invited us over for dinner.  Her husband had a class that night, so it worked out well.  Well, by Day 4, the kids were tired, missing their Daddy, and who knows what else.  As we were leaving, Little Guy decided he would show his friend how fast he could run (boys will be boys) and he fell and skinned his knee.  I kid you not -- people were coming out of their houses because he was screaming so loud.  He cried all the way home until he went to bed.  You are probably thinking "poor thing" which I can totally understand, but I have to confess my sympathy was pretty low.

I came home and did some thinking.  I don't usually think of myself as a controlling person, but the control monster came out in me this week!  I was trying to control the kids' behavior, how they interacted with each other, and the kicker was . . . my level of comfort.  I realized I wanted them to be obedient little robots who acted perfectly and let me have rest.  I'm sure no one else has ever felt that way!  But, I did.  The next day my goal was to loosen up on them a little bit and take all that effort to control and try to turn it into enjoyment of my kids.  The next few days were . . . well, I won't say easy, but definitely better!

I kept them busy over the weekend!  On Friday, we treated ourselves to pretzels at the mall.  Here's a video we made for Daddy while we were there.  Little Guy just could not get over the penny he found.  It's the little things in life for kids . . . 

We did a Fall Festival that night.  Let me tell you keeping up with kids by myself amidst hundreds of other people at an event like that is not a pleasure I'm likely to soon repeat!  The kids had fun though.  With the chaos, I only got 1 picture.  Oh, and you can tell I'm a big fan of this bow!

Thankfully, Sweet Girl saved up her double ear infections and hand, foot, and mouth disease until Daddy came home this week.  Trust me those 2 things (understandably so) does not a happy girl make!

Prayer Update: Following God's Call

The only appropriate response to the indescribable love and forgiveness that Jesus gives is a life of gratitude expressed through obedience and worship.  This month, take a moment to read about a Cru grad who has obediently followed God's call in his life.  We'll also give you a little more of an update on our life as parents and Sarah's ministry with women at church.  You can read our prayer update here.  Thank you so much for your prayers that make our ministry possible!

Tom the Turtle

 

Have I mentioned how much I like Little Guy's teacher?  One of our biggest concerns about sending Little Guy to school is of course I want him to learn his ABCs and how to read and all that good stuff, BUT we also want him to still get to be a kid.  When the school year started, I wrote a letter (which they let parents do) describing Little Guy and asked that they'd put him with a teacher that would be a good fit for him.  I really think they took it into consideration!  One of the fun things the class gets to do is take turns taking care of this turtle named Tom.  He's stuffed, but Little Guy thinks he's real.  He's talked about it ever since the little reptile started going home with different kids.  Well, this weekend was Little Guy's turn.  He was ecstatic!  So, we had to come up with a fun filled weekend so we could take pictures and record our adventures so Little Guy would have some great stuff to share with his class on Monday.  I wanted to share them with you all too . . .

First, Tom joined us on our Friday night tradition of dinner and a movie.  He ate grilled cheese sandwiches and watched Up with us.

 

Friday night Tom slept with Little Guy.  This is a testimony to how excited he was, because Little Guy has a bear that he NEVER and I mean NEVER sleeps without!

On Saturday we took Tom to Conway Days which is a local Fall Festival with arts and crafts booths and fun activities for kids.  Here he is sampling some delicious cookies made by a neighbor of ours who had a booth there.

Next Little Guy and Sweet Girl took Tom on a bounce house ride.  After getting slung around, it made me glad that we got Tom on the front end of the year.  Who knows what heights and depths Tom will climb to after being handled by 18 Kindergarteners!

It was not always easy, but he did a pretty good job of sharing Tom with his little sister.

The biggest surprise bonus was a petting zoo.  Tom got to meet one of his own ...

The Boy Scouts helped the kids make ice cream.  Tom was very helpful too.

Last but not least Tom got to cheer on the Hokies with us tonight.  Sadly he was not a good luck charm.

All in all we had fun with Tom, and I think he had fun with us!