halloween fun

Today was a fun day.

I took superman shopping with me at Trader Joe's this morning.



He put his strong muscles to work pushing the cart around the store and garnering lots of attention!

Then, superman, daddy & I headed to Hannah's school for the Halloween parade.

little miss Rapunzel!

hanging out at closing circle, Peter sat through the whole thing!

"Hannah, Hannah it's your turn, show us your costume and then return!"

After rest time we picked pumpkins from our own backyard.

 

It was pretty exciting to plant seeds, water them and watch them grow.
And then get to pick them!

Great idea daddy!

 

We also did some harvesting of other produce in our backyard.

some serious bounty for the end of October

carving our pumpkins

 

Mommy was skeptical, but our mini pumpkins made great jack-o-lanterns

 

Time for dinner,
a costume change

and Nemo & a ballerina

are ready for some trick or treating

The only problem - it started raining.

 

But that didn't dissuade us from going out and having some fun knocking on our neighbor's doors!

goodbye

This afternoon my beloved grandfather passed away.



My heart is sad for so many reasons, he will not meet his third great grandchild, I will not hear him laugh or say "Well, that's interesting" anymore, ....

and yet I am grateful that he is no longer in pain, that he met and played with and got to know both Hannah & Peter, that he was here for so much of my life.

It is a funny thing to be anticipating a new baby coming in just over a month while grieving the death of one I've known for 32 years.

 The contrast of life and death is stark and yet so interrelated.

 

I may have more to say later but for now all I can think of is,
goodbye grandpa

i love you so much! 

milk

I left the room for 2 minutes.

Hannah came screaming upstairs to get me.

And this is what I found:


One of those moments as a mom where the urge to laugh and scream are both equally strong.
(I ended up with a horrified laugh and then grabbing my camera for a few pictures.)

Apparently, Peter was thirsty and decided to get a brand new gallon of milk out all by himself and pour a glass.

Half of the gallon ended up on the floor.

Splash!

Cleaning up his mess.

Sporting a milk mustache!

There was no crying over this spilled milk!

wedding fun!

Last night, Matt & I took these little angels to a wedding.

Yes, a wedding.



Don't worry they each got a lollipop and raisins to enjoy as the ceremony proceeded.

And they did great! 

They saved their silliness for the reception,

And our family had a great night out together!

The kids watched the bride and groom have their first dance

and then they got out there

and busted some moves.

The dress up photo booth was hit for us all!

Who knew attending a wedding with a 4 year old and 2 year old could be so much fun?

sick days

So I am sick.

Not just a cold (even though colds are sure uncomfortable) but really, really sick, like with pneumonia.

And at 30 weeks pregnant that's a pretty miserable thing to be.

Add on top of it that my loving hubby is in one of his busiest weeks of work
(welcome week for UCD students), the loving responsibility of caring for Hannah and Peter and it sure sounds like a recipe for disaster around our house doesn't it?

But you know what is surprising?

So many people have pitched in to watch the kids and bring us food so I can rest and Matt can work.

And we're making it.
We're tired, but we're making it.

What could have just been a horrific mess with all of us at each other's throats and my incessant coughing on top of it, has turned out to be a pretty peaceful week of tackling each day as it comes and watching as God provides more friends and family to help.

For example,

(the cousins)

today marks the second day this week that my kids have spent ALL day at their cousin's house.
They love it there!  They are well taken care of.
I'm pretty sure if given the choice they'd rather stay the night there.
They play and play and play and occasionally stop to eat.
And it allowed Matt to take me back to the doctor and interpret all my coughs into words.
 and then he went back to work and I went back to resting in a quiet house.
It was the best I could imagine for the situation we're in.

And that's one other thing I should mention - Matt has seriously stepped up his game and risen to the challenge this week.  He just completed his 33 page paper for his Doctoral program at Fuller, and has been running around to all the welcome events, shuttling kids to and fro, sitting with me at the doctor and speaking for me (every time I talk I launch into another coughing fit),  making sure I have what I need and assuring me that we will get through this and that he loves me so much!

I am so grateful for him!

He takes good care of me.

so do my friends,

and my family,

and my God.

being

Yesterday and today I have taken such joy in putting my kids down for naps.
We read a book together and then I sit on the floor of their darkened room and I sing.
Song after song - camp song, worship song, kid's song, songs that my mom sang to my sister and I.
I sing until Peter's eyes start to close and Hannah finally settles down.
And I find that there is something beautiful about that moment of slowing down and doing nothing else.

At 7 months pregnant, much of life right now is characterized by my own need to slow down.

And you know what?
I don't mind.

I enjoy sitting at the table with the kids gluing random stuff to pieces of paper.


 

I delight in watching Peter's chubby fingers squeeze the glue out of the bottle.

His very serious expression about what he is doing.

Hannah's joy at successfully bending a pipe cleaner.

Watching Peter try on Daddy's shoes

and shuffle all over the house.

Observing them as they ride bikes in circles,

around and around and around again.

And sometimes get a ride.

 

I've been reminded a lot recently that God created us to be.
We are human beings and not human "doings".
Our value comes not from what we accomplish in a day but from the One who made us.

My kids and this growing little one inside me are constantly giving me the opportunity 
to slow down, be and just enjoy it.

Now I'm off to take a nap.