finding some good in it :o)

When Seth was a toddler, we found ourselves wondering what we, as a family, should make of Halloween. ;o)

On one hand, Steve and I both had lots of fun celebrating Halloween when we were young.

... On the other hand, we aren't the hugest fans of some of the aspects of this holiday (especially when it involves our impressionable and easily frightened youngsters!).

Recently I read about one mom's point of view concerning Halloween. I think it summed our feelings about our kiddos and this issue pretty well. She talked about how, whether you celebrate Halloween or not, your children are going to be exposed to it. (Well, unless you never let them out of the house!) So, she said, why not be the ones who give them their first impressions about the holiday? Maybe create some wholesome traditions they can look forward to and enjoy doing as a family each year when the time for Halloween roles around.

So, we thought we'd share a few pictures of some of our "Halloween" traditions we've enjoyed doing with Seth and Haddie each year. :o)

We have fun traveling to the local pumpkin patch.

This year the pumpkin crop wasn't stellar, so we just chose our pumpkins from a couple trailers piled with orange goodies (instead of wandering around a huge field or yard full of them).
It was a chilly day, but we had fun.

Haddie took her job seriously, and carefully checked out many a pumpkin.

Seth was "king of the pumpkin pile".

Haddie lost a shoe (it was retrieved).

Hooray, they found the perfect ones!

(And then we picked one big one to carve.)

They looked forward to this part for weeks!

After successfully cleaning out and carving the pumpkin, next on their list is always toasting the pumpkin seeds.

This year we made one batch of "salties" and one batch of honey/cinnamon seeds. Yum!

They wanted to try out their snack right after bath time tonight.

(They are dressed a little goofy here - wearing huge matching t-shirts they received one afternoon playing at the gym with their cousins. That was Seth's choice of pajamas for the night, so, naturally, Haddie followed suit.)

Haddie and the finished jack-o-lantern designed by our boy. It has "Batman eyes", he says. ;o)

They were delighted by how our pumpkin face looked when we put the candle in and turned out the lights!

Well, there you have it for now. We hope all of you have a lovely day tomorrow whether you are hard core trick-or-treaters, you choose to stay home with the lights off and the shades pulled, or you fall somewhere in between like us. ;o)

Thanks for stopping by!

my hands

These words ring true in my soul...

I have held many things in my hands,

and have lost them all;

but whatever I have placed in God's hands,

that I still posess.

~Martin Luther

A Taste of the Season

Try this one out! We think you'll love it!

SPICED PUMPKIN BREAD

*3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

*3 cups sugar

*2 teaspoons baking soda

*2 teaspoons salt

*2 teaspoons ground allspice

*1 teaspoon baking powder

*1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

*1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

*1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

*4 eggs

*1 can (15 oz.) solid-pack pumpkin

*3/4 cup vegetable oil

*2/3 cup water

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In another bowl, combine the eggs, pumpkin, oil, and water, mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Pour into three greased 8 in. x 4 in. x 2 in. loaf pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before transferring from pans to wire racks to cool completely before slicing. (Makes 3 loaves.)

Have fun eating!! :o)

He's a keeper ;o)

Sunday night we arrived home from visiting The Farm. It had been a sad afternoon for me. We had decided that unless he showed some sudden and dramatic improvement, my sweet old gelding needed to be put to sleep some time this week. He has just been suffering too much with severe leg pain. So, we had made the trip down to see him so I could spend some time with him and say good-bye. (The sadness of putting down my horse cannot be compared with the tragedy of human suffering of course. Still, I felt weary and the lump in my throat lingered as we came home. It was a hard thing to say good-bye to my boy.)

As I was putting away our jackets, I heard the tub running. I was surprised that Steve would have decided to give the kids a bath, as they were very sleepy and ready for bed. I walked toward the bathroom and was met by Steve, who, much to my delight, said that he would put both kids to bed while I took a hot bath. Oh, what a perfect gift on such a night.

Then, yesterday, I had the pleasure of spending the day visiting with two dear friends I don't get to see very often. My handsome hubby stayed home with our kiddos so I could be out of the house for a while and enjoy some adult conversation. While visiting with Heather, I received a curious phone call from Steve, asking me to "not come home until about six that evening". A very unusual request, but I was happy to take a little extra time shopping by myself before heading home.

Once home, after parking the little Saturn, I walked through our gate to see this...


My thoughtful guy had brought Seth and Haddie down to his folks, bought groceries for supper, cleaned the house, dressed up, and was grilling (not burgers, but orange glazed salmon on cedar planks! Yum, it was so delicious!!)

Later that night, I asked why all the fuss. Steve replied that things have been so busy lately and we hadn't been able to spend a whole lot of time together, just enjoying each other's company without working on church things or whatever. "I just don't want you to feel like you are only getting my leftovers," he said. Aawwww. :o)

I'm so thankful for this man!

I'd say he's a keeper! ;o)

a thought for the day

"If you act like you've only got fifteen minutes, it'll take all day. Act like you've got all day and it'll take fifteen minutes."


~Monty Roberts





I read this quote today and immediately thought about my typical Sunday mornings. Steve often leaves the house before the rest of us are up, in order to get to church early, set out his music, pray, get prepared for the service etc. This is all understandable and necessary. However, it leaves me to get the kids and myself prepared for church all on my own. Again, this is just the way it is, and that's ok. Many, many moms do this every day. ..... It's just that I don't always do it, um.... gracefully. ;o)




I'm getting so much better at stocking my purse, writing out the offering check, and setting out our clothes the night before. We even are getting pretty good at being home on Saturday evenings with plenty of time to bathe the kids so I don't have to do it Sunday mornings (that one took a lot of effort for us, as we so easily succumb to the "go go go" mentality, and we are often not home 'til late on the weekends!)....



Alas, when the sky is still dark and I faintly feel Steve slip out of bed on Sunday mornings, my typical response is to roll on to my stomach and flatten my face against the mattress, intent on capturing twenty more delicious minutes of sleep before I hit the day running.
(Um, yeah... I think it would serve me well to drag my sleepy body out of bed simultaneously with Steve... I'm pretty sure it would help me avoid even needing to write this post in the first place... I'll be working on that one!!)



...Anyway, now that you've got the background to my simple story, here's the point I was getting at....



...It rarely fails that I find myself sitting on the living room floor on those mornings, trying to wrangle a squirmy, sleepy kid (yes, they can be both of those things at once, can't they?!) with peanut butter on their face, wash cloth in one of my hands, toothbrush in the other. Much whining and pleading take place. And the kids do the same. Haha. ;o)


"Please hurry!" I often exclaim, "We are going to be late," as I forcibly struggle to tidy up Seth and Haddie against their wills. Maybe it's some law of physics (or at least of parenting) that the more I try to hurry us, and the more intensely I communicate how the minutes until we need to be seated in church are dwindling, the more the kids balk at getting ready....


Hmmmm... what was that one again?....



"If you act like you've only got fifteen minutes, it'll take all day. Act like you've got all day and it'll take fifteen minutes."

Yep. I see the truth in that one and I believe I'll be trying to put it into practice at our place!

(I found it a bit humorous that I found this quote in my mom's horse club newsletter! :o) I guess some truths are universal, whether they be regarding interactions between humans and horses or parents and children!!)