Rain Rain Go Away!!!

Soccer!

Rain, rain go away! We are just three weeks away from the end of the soccer season and have only played one soccer game so far! I have almost forgotten that we signed Scott up to play.

The game was hilarious...just packs of kids running up and down the field. They only play three at a time and the rules are very loose. The out of bounds seemed to move based on the coaches desire to have a corner kick or goal kick.

Here is the team: Sophia, Tyler, Carter, Coach Chris, Carley, Cooper, Scott




And, of course, the patient siblings. Amanda playing with her favorite "toy"...Mommy's purse.
Andrew can't wait to play on a team some day soon.

The difference a year makes

Do you remember this picture taken in September 2008 at my Dad's birthday party? It was taken of the six grandchildren when Amanda was one day old and the others were 6 mo, 2 1/2, 3 1/2, and 4 1/2.



Here they were a year later at Dad's 2009 birthday party. We actually got them to sit still for the short amount of time that it took for the camera shutter to open and close. (Click on the picture to make it bigger on your screen.)



Most of the pictures I took looked more like this one. Notice Reese exiting the car.

Fall Break

When you haven't blogged for a month and are overwhelmed at all of the stories waiting in your camera, isn't it just wonderful when someone else does some of the work for you! I took the pictures this weekend, but Sara beat me in posting them. Since she posted all of the pictures I would have posted, I invite you to check out this page for the stories of our wonderful Fall Break trip to NC.

We had a great time reconnecting with our old friends and meeting one new little guy. I promise, Sam did not cry once while we were there. Of course, who would cry with so many arms eager to hold him? My favorite moment of the weekend was seeing Hannah cruising back to the dock in the kayak with her foot dangling in the water. I still don't know how Brent managed to keep her in the boat while on the water.

Thank you, friends, for such a wonderful trip.

Three Year Old Theology

Our conversation on the way home from bible study today:

Me: Andrew, how was Bible Study today? What did you learn?

A: We learned...when you fall down and get hurt you sometimes cry.

Me: Then what happens?

A: You get a baby.

Me: What was the baby's name.

A: Hannah

(The story was about how Hannah cried to God for a baby. The aim was to teach the children that God hears our prayers. You fill in the rest?)

and it rained, and rained, and rained

Will it ever stop raining? That was my thought yesterday afternoon. Just before Scott was due home, the sun barely peeped through and I decided to take everyone on a walk. This was the result:



Yep, it poured on us about a half mile from home. We had a good time racing through the rain and Andrew "cut" the raindrops with his sword to keep from getting too wet. Good thing he had his sword with him!

And it rained, and rained, and rained...

About 7:00 I looked out the window and our trickling creek had turned into a roaring river. The waters rose and crept closer and closer to the house. At one point, we thought our pirate ship may truly become a ship!




While the waters rose, our Christmas decorations and basement bedroom mattresses came upstairs. Did I mention that Monday is laundry day and there were 7 loads of clean, folded laundry on the couch ready to be put away before bedtime? That just added to the chaos.




Scott was worried and we told him God would take care of us and protect us. We prayed for the rain to stop. And soon after we prayed, the water began to recede. We were thankful for that and also for the witness of God's great provision for our children to see.

This morning when Andrew awoke, his first comment was "The waters went back to where they belong!" His voice was full of wonderment and awe at this seemingly magical happening. Now I only wish that the basement belongings would also "magically" go back to where they belong. Maybe I'll just go ahead and decorate for Christmas!

Bed Head?

To the untrained eye (including everyone who saw him at church), it may appear that Andrew had a severe case of bed head on Sunday morning. What kind of parent lets her child attend church with unbrushed hair!

I'll have you know that I watched Andrew carefully style each hair on Sunday. He also selected his clothes with the same attention to detail and precision. Somehow, it makes sense to a three year old that a VBS shirt constitutes "church clothes." I may ask for him to wear a collar, but he thinks that a shirt given to him at church is suitable attire to wear there. And I have no idea where he got the idea that the plaid shorts are church shorts, but he has worn them every Sunday for the past few weeks and won't wear them mid-week because they are his "church shorts."

*sigh*

It's a good thing that God looks at the heart and not at the outward appearance. Thank goodness for grace!