Carving the Pumpkin 2009

Fall Festival 2009

Today, we went to the Fall Festival at our church. Princess dressed up as Cinderella, and Speed Racer dressed up as Batman. We had a great time. The kids played games, won candy, bounced in the bouncy house, rode on a hay ride (Princess and me), ate hot dogs, hamburgers, and popcorn, and slid down the giant bouncy slide. It was quite a fun time.

Princess saw her friend, CE, and helped cheer her for a little while. Elijah ran around with his friend, JP. Of course, Princess and Speed Racer had to dance to the folk music before we left, and I enjoyed some cotton candy.

We had a great turnout - there was a lot of people, and each year it is more organized and better than the year before. So exciting!

Things to Remember

Being a Mom is Hard. These are a few of things I hope I can remember when I get to be an older mom or a grandmother:

1. Potty training is extremely difficult - just when you thought it was over, someone has an accident or a potty problem. It takes a whole lot of time and patience. It may be extremely easy for some, but not for this momma. I hope I can remember something about how to help Princess train her kids when she is a mom.

2. Your kids are not young forever. I am only assuming that at some point they learn to obey and actually want to obey when they are asked. I need to cherish our time together despite how difficult it can sometimes be. It is important to remember humor in your day or despair may occur.

3. Despite the absolute joy of spoiling the grandkids, I want to remember how much extra work it was for me when they were spoiled, so that I aid not hinder my children when they are parents. I am sure I will forget this one as all grandparents seem to do, but with any hope I will not. I do not believe this is some rite of passage for both parties as seem think we all deserve this "punishment." And whatever rules mom and dad instate, I hope to abide by.

4. Parenting never ends despite what one would like to believe, even when you grow up and the relationship changes. I hope I will be there for young moms to mentor them and teach them from things and experiences I've learned as a mom as in Titus 2. I hope to always listen and be there for them, no matter how old or what kind of problems they have. I hope that at that point in time, I actually have some wisdom to offer.

5. I also hope to be like my granny and instill a genuine love of Christ in my grandkids. I will sing "Jesus Loves Me" all my days, and I hope they will see me serving others and passionately living for Christ. I will take them to church with me and support them at their church (hopefully).

The Prayer of a Child

For no particular reason, we don't do rote prayers very often at our house.

But the kids have plenty of opportunities to pray. We ask them if they would like to say the blessing. Tonight Speed Racer wanted to do the honors. This is what he said:

Dee-ah God,
Tank you for food. Tank you for dis (as he points to his hominy and cannot remember the word for it), dis is good. Tank you also for the gween beans (which are really peas) and my chicken too. Amen.

So simple yet so perfect.

Snuggling Up

"I so love you, brother"

Princess said to Speed Racer as they watched morning cartoons together.


P. S. This is my 300th post!! Yay me!
I am thinking of giving something away in honor of this. Stay tuned.

Halloween at the Zoo

We had thought we might go to the pumpkin patch today, but we decided to go cheaper this year and go to the zoo since we have a membership there, and the kids had already gotten 2 little pumpkins from the school trip to the pumpkin patch. We will just buy a pumpkin from the grocery store this year. Since it has been raining almost everyday for the past two months, we decided to get out even though it was the coldest day of the season so far because it was dry, and we were all tired of being cooped up in the house. The kids just enjoyed running around in the cold and looking at all of the Halloween decorations. They had an Auburn - Alabama gameday picture area, so of course, Daniel and I posed with our perspective team mascot.

Caramel Chocolate Apples

Today we made caramel chocolate apples. We made the caramel from scratch, and it was quite tasty. Even though it is an extra effort to make it from scratch, I think I will do it again because it was so flavorful. I am not a candy connoisseur, but the recipe I followed made it very easy to make the caramel. However, I did not quite get the chocolate right. You can see in one of the photos that it is starting to slide off of the apples. I'm not sure why. I saved them by putting them in the refrigerator to set. Of course, I will try it again, but I think it is because I got the chocolate hotter than recommended and there was not enough fat in the chocolate. I tried to temper it with no success. Whatever the case, I still think they look appetizing, and they are definitely quite yummy as well! According to Daniel, they cut nicely, and all of the caramel and chocolate stayed on instead of falling off.

The kids LOVED them! And even though it was a time consuming process that was not the kid friendliest, they loved loved loved eating the caramel as I dipped the apples.

Princess is very excited because she is sending one to her teacher, Ms. Melanie, tomorrow.

You can find the recipe I used here. For tips on tempering chocolate, you can visit here.

Birthday Parties

Princess got to go to two birthday parties this week. One last Sunday, and one today. The pics above are from last Sunday's party. It was at iJump, and I was sick at home on the couch by myself. Speed Racer went to mom's, and Daniel took Princess to the party. She had a great time and was so excited about all the fun she had and especially about her goodie bag. She was beside herself with glee.

Today, we went to a cheerleading birthday party, but I left my camera at home. We did not have a cheer outfit, but she had tons of fun anyhow. She got herself some cool Cinderella pom-poms and learned some cheers. I am so proud of her. I love that she tries to jump and flip and everything else the other kids are doing even though she's never done ballet or gymnastics and even though she is reserved and is the last one to try it. I love the confidence she has even though she's reserved at first. I am so glad we are in a new phase and things are going so much smoother with her - even if it is something that passes - Thank You Lord for this precious time!

Field Trip

Today, Princess had a field trip with school. We went to the pumpkin patch at a local church. I am sure someone got a relatively good picture of Princess's class, but this was the best I could do with Speed Racer keeping me running too. All the kids got tattoos, stickers, suckers, a pumpkin, and they got to listen to 3 or 4 pumpkin stories. It was so sweet - they were so attentive and still for the stories. It was fun to see her class interacting with one another since I don't see it regularly.

Speed Racer got to go and enjoy all of the treats too. He cannot wait to go to school.

An Instrument

"In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver,
but also of wood and clay;
some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble.
If a man cleanses himself from the latter,
he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy,
useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work."
2 Timothy 2:20-21

Sometimes, bad things happen. Things that are out of our control. Things that do not make sense to us. These are the types of things that sometimes cause people to turn away from God, and they are also they types of things that bring us closer to God. Recently, some bad things have happened, not coincidentally. And I don't really want to share the details here out of respect for those struggling with these things. I have always wanted to be used by God in the utmost way - to be His instrument. I have however blogged here about how I wanted to be something golden in the tabernacle, not a wooden spoon.

Mostly in this time of motherhood, I feel disposable because it is hard for me to see how what I do day to day affects the kingdom of God. So I really just want to be used in any way even if very small and minute. At this moment I would gladly be the wooden spoon. It has never occurred to me however, that I could be that instrument of pain that God sometimes uses in others lives, until recently when I've been struggling with just life things. Use me, Lord, but not as an instrument of pain. I know that I hurt people and because I am human I will continue to do so, but I genuinely do not want to hurt anyone. I hate doing it when called to out of love, and I don't want to be an instrument of pain for anyone else. That hurts my heart. With that said, however, I suppose I must be willing to be anything for my Lord, even if it brings pain to someone else. It is true that each man has a choice to struggle or to submit, and if given that each one submits, perhaps I would not be a chosen instrument of pain, except I am also in pain, so Thy Will Be Done, O Lord. I submit to your plan. Use me as You see best.