If You Like to Talk to Tomatoes...{Veggie Tales}

 Last Friday my MIL treated us to the Live Veggie Tales show. Chad and I had a fun little date night with Lo, while MW had a fun date night at home with Grandma Rachel.

The night started off at Leighton's favorite restaurant, {and maybe ours too} Chick-fil-A. She loves the nuggets, but really it's the play place she loves best!

Ready for the show!

 I love capturing her face  when she sees her "friend" live and in living color.  It was a great show about Larry losing his silly songs...or did he?!

 Had to capture Mr. Lunt as a pirate for my Izzy wana-be. :) And doing the Burger Bell song! My roomie in college and I use to sing this song all the time. It was my first Veggie Tale song I learned. HA! And I still love it to this day. :)

After the show we got the privilege to take pics with Bob and Larry! She loved it and we had a blast! Thank you Grandma Rachel for sending us!!!

Jesus and Candy

If you are hoping I have some deep theological connection between the two, then you are looking in the wrong place. I just wanted a clever title and pretty sure I failed to deliver on that one too!

Over the last 2 weeks my church has been hosting a Judgment House, walk through drama tour. They have been doing it for about 12 years now. Every year has a different story, but the result, goal, end game, is always the same to bring people to Jesus, closer to Jesus and be a witness in our community and surrounding areas. We try to convey as best as we humanly can what hell may be like if you choose not to accept Jesus and what Heaven could be like if you do. Obviously, we can not even fathom either place OR do it justice, but we do try and it is still pretty powerful in my humble opinion.

I have been a singing angel in Heaven, for all but two days of the 7 day run time. Watching people enter Heaven right after witnessing Hell and then being received by Jesus is mind blowing. You will watch these "tough" guys just melt when Jesus hugs them, you will see people of all ages and walks of life just break down crying. It is hard to maintain composure up there most nights.

Last night was the last night. We went until 1145p. We had over 1000 walk-ins, with over 500 people accepting Jesus that night! And with over 2100 people accepting Jesus over the entire run. {That we know about. Who knows how many accepted after they left or the seed that was planted is being nurtured and grown!}

To be an angel in Heaven was such an honor and blessing really. It really made me stop and think about Heaven and what it will be like someday and how AWESOME it will be. I remember the first time I ever went to a JH 4 years ago. I was cool the whole time until I hit Heaven. There I saw these sweet little angel baby faces greeting me and I broke down. A friend from HS had just lost her 11m baby daughter to cancer just a few months prior. I couldn't help but picture her sweet face up there sitting on Jesus' lap! And now to be apart of it, well it is humbling.

Last night was long. Very long. Most of us angels sang for 8 hours straight with little break. Our backs hurt, our hips (ok that is just me!) hurt, and our voices growing weary {Praise Jesus for strawberry flavored cough drops. ;)}, and while I can't say that I didn't utter a complaint or two or seven, I can say I was touched. I loved seeing the Holy Spirit sustain us. He {God} kept us all from complete exhaustion and kept the smile on our faces and the aches at bay during every "show" we did. I was amazed at how not tired I was by 1130p! And if you know me, you know my bedtime is promptly at 9p! HA! {not kidding.} I was amazed that for once my voice and others stayed strong after 8 long singing hours. I was amazed at the amount of pain I could tolerate in my hip and back. There were moments I was remembering the extreme back labor I experienced with Lo. I was amazed at how every time one of us we say "get behind me Satan" he had to! And it was worth it. It is worth it to minister in such a meaningful way to those who need Jesus. We didn't know who they were, but we could feel God move.

As far as I have heard, having that many walk-ins in one night was unheard of! There was standing room only in the gym. These people had to wait 2.5-3 hours just to begin the 45min tour! And they all, for the most part, stayed! I am just sayin' I wouldn't wait 45 minutes for my favorite restaurant, especially if I had kids with me, but these people did! To me that is a total God thing.

The prayer now is that those who accepted get plugged in somewhere and continue to grow in their new faith!

Now you are probably wondering where the "candy" part fits in. It doesn't. In order to help with JH I ended up missing my kids going to Trunk or Treat at their Grandma's church. I hated missing MW's first real halloween {well I still have Wed}, and all the fun. But it was a sacrifice I am glad to have made.

I told Chad to take lots and lots of pics, if you know him that is like preachin' to the choir. 245 photos later, I think we are covered. HA! So I will post a few and do a better post on Halloween later. But to me they both were just precious!!

Um, so I was cleaning out MW's messy messy MESSY closet and found this shirt he wore last year! Yeah, it still fits and he looks adorbs! I had to cut the onesie snaps off b/c he is potty trained, but I couldn't believe we got another wear out of it. PS my mom made it for him.

  Can we pause for a moment and ask ourselves where on earth is Lo and who is this pre-teen?! Sheesh! She looks WAY too grown up in this picture.

Leighton dressed up like Izzy from none other than Jake and the Never Land Pirates and MW was a giraffe Grandma Rachel got him on clearance last year!
And in pic #3 the pre-teen attitude face. Can't wait for that to become a regular addition around here. ;)

 Apparently, they made these cute spider cupcakes with Grandma Rachel! They are super cute and looks like they had fun!

They had a great time based on the pics and stories Lo has told me this morning. I didn't really get to talk to Chad yet about it since I got home at 12a last night and was still asleep when he left. Jesus blessed me with some extra sleep this AM. As a SAHM you don't get sick days or call in late days. I was just sure the kids would both be up at 6/630a today. Which technically they were. Lo came barelling into our room at 615a with some flashy, light up puppy blaring in my face. Awesome. Thank you Grandma Rachel for that neat toy. ;) j/k. But she snuggled up next to me until I got up at 815a, because MW was starting to stir again. He never cried, just played in his crib for who knows how long. What a great boy! Lo didn't get up until 9a! People this IS a miracle right there. Just sayin' thank you Jesus!

Well, I hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween. And if you made it to the end then you must be my friend. But I just had to get my thoughts out about JH. It just means so much to me!!

Fallin' for You!

We have the best neighbors. The down side, if they are out, it is hard for me to escape to my errands, because Leighton and Micah's quick hello, quickly turns into stay and play. I guess in the grand scheme of things going to the post can wait, but jumping in the leaves and makin' memories can't!

First up a vacant bird's nest. Personally, I was grossed out by them all touching it, but they seemed to think it was 'so cool."

How to make the most out of your leaf jump fun.
Step 1-Trick the kids into raking the leaves in the name of fun. {aka leaf jump}.

Step 2--Jump.

Step 3--Tackle your friend.

Step 4--Throw leaves back all over the yard.

Step 5--Have a mini impromptu photo shoot.

MW refused to sit in the leaves. He INSISTED on bringing out the lawn chair. HA!

I love how MW is old enough this year to play and participate in all the neighborhood fun. It sure beats carrying him around while chasing Lo and trying to get a good picture.

Pumpkin Patch 2012

We finally made it to the pumpkin patch! We love this patch as it is free for 90% of all activities and the things that do cost are beyond reasonable. It is really great for little kids. My kids pretty much only love the slide anyway. :)

As we were getting ready to do the slide a little boy behind us, who by the way was maybe 5/6, was nervous and needed his mommy to go down with him. I tried to encourage him and say what a brave boy he was! His mom replied, he is, but he is just a little timid. I said have you seen my kids? The know no caution as they both dove head long down the slide! OY! I said count your blessings.

Below is MW running up the big hill to get to the slide all.by.himself!

I was probably more "scared" of the slide then they were! HA! I rode down once with MW and then he was on his own, see the middle pic of him going backwards, on his tummy! Monkey see monkey do! He did spin out on his last turn and whacked his face. :( But I count it a success if he only hurts himself one time per place we visit. HA!

They have a little barrel train. Grammy rode with MW! They had a blast.
MW really loves to pull wagons, so my dad "helped" him feel big and strong!
In the other pics they are shooting sling shot pumpkins. Meg, she likes the challenge Lo presents. HA!

And who doesn't love a good corn tub! Especially one mommy does NOT have to clean up after!

This sums up my son. Always climbing.

Pumpkin Patch and some of my favorite pics of the day.

Love.

Love.

Love.

And love.

This is my favorite time of year, and these are my favorite memories to make with my kids!

My 29y12m Birthday Festivites.

So I had a birthday.
And we celebrated.
Here are the memories. Sorry I am too lazy for collages today. Although, after I did this I found picmonkey again, and wow, easy peasy lemon squeezy doesn't convey how easy it is to use, not to mention free. So there you go.
Now onto the memories from my 29y12m birthday. :)

First stop QT. Whenever, my kids see a QT they start saying how "thirsty" they are. They love those slushies. They fight over them. So I keep a spare cup so we can split the ultra sugar beverage between them. O Happy Day.

Then when we got to my parents they surprised me with a trip to Brookville Hotel for lunch. It is a fried chicken, homestyle cooking place. It is yummy and something fun and different to do.

We were suppose to go to the pumpkin patch after lunch, but it rained until it poured all day. Have I mentioned we have been in a drought for o, I don't know a year, but on my birthday it decides to rain. Awesome. So we painted pumpkins, in our undies, we got from Dillons instead. Lo glitterized hers! It really is beautiful!

Here is what I think of turning 30.

But I do love me some mint chocolate chip brownies.

And apparently so does MW!

For my birthday, ok not really, but it brought me HUGE joy, I got new countertops. Woot woot! Good bye ugly green countertops, hello lovely neutral countertops! I still have painting and decorating to fix, but it is a start!

However, I saw this shirt on pinterest the other day and showed Chad, so I got one. I love it! I really hate t-shirts, but this one I like! I love that Keep Calm stuff. It says {Keep Calm and Wabash On}--it's a KState thing. ;)

I also celebrated my birthday with a birthday dinner with my MIL, but neglected to bring my camera. It was an uber long weekend spent singing 4 services at church, followed by Judgement House rehearsal and then my party. I was beat, so I would have looked terrible in the pics anyway. :)

And that is how I spent my 29y12m birthday!
The end

MW 21 Months {Watch Me Grow}

So basically I had to look at the calendar and be reminded that you are another month older and then count up the months to remember how old you are. Ah the plight of the second born. With Leighton I knew down the minute how old she was for the first two years. {Maybe a tad exaggerated, but none the less this sort of faux pas would have never occurred to me}.

Then there is the whole are you a baby or big boy dilemma I am facing. I still see you as my little baby bear--even though you are almost 2!, but then I remember that when Lo was your age I was attempting to put her in a toddler bed! EEK! You are NOT ready for that right?! NO! You aren't. The only reason I tried it with her was because you were coming and I needed the crib back. You can just go ahead and make yourself nice and cozy in there until you are 3 or start climbing out, which in my case will probably be next month! Oy! The climbing.

What do you mean you don't think I am a BIG boy?! Look at me!

Did I see Leighton as "older" because I had nothing to compare her too? And do you seem like a baby because she is doing more than you?! I don't know, but I think the verdict is in and you are most definitely a big boy now. Good bye baby days. {Why am I sad about that? I swear I can NOT have baby fever again. Glad there is no way I can change my mind. HA! Honestly, toddlers/big kids are my favorite ages, way easier to cope with especially on full night's sleep!}

Must be that darn paci that throws me off. HA!

So big boy here a few things you are up to this month that keeps this momma on her toes and exhausted by bedtime!

Anecdotes/Quirky things you do: {In no particular order}
You think it is funny to have not one but TWO pacis in your mouth. If ever there was a child more addicted to pacis...I have decided when you turn two and all your incisor/canine teeth are in I will take the paci away again, but it is the only thing that brings you true comfort and joy during all this teething, allergies/colds business.

You do have a favorite pac--the "puppy" paci. You just walk around when you lose it yelling "puppy, puppy!"

You call animals by the sound they make. {ie a duck is really a "quacky"}

You love to "ive"=drive my car. Your sissy use to  still does too!

 

You have really bad bed head now, first real hair cut here we come!

I know I say this every.single.time. but I am truly blown away by it--your speech is incredible, incredible! Leighton had maybe 10-20 words by the age of two in her vocab, you, you have what feels like 1000s! You talk in complete sentences, almost everyone can understand you. Mind blowing. Some of my new favorites you have picked up on:
*"Mommies"=edemames
*"Hap birdeh"=happy birthday (just in time for my birthday. :) )
*"Not edy"=not ready (likes to use this one when I ask him if he needs to go potty)
*"Mama" he use to call me "mimi" but now I am mama! I sort of miss the "mimi."
*"nuggle"=snuggle, you love to snuggle me and rock or watch your shows. LOVE!!!

*And probably the funniest (to me) thing you say is when I say "The first time I say it---" you respond "o-BE it" The catch phrase I got from the Dugger family in 19 and Counting. I love it and my kids know it. Of course he hasn't quite figured out the "obey it" part yet...HA!

You like to play "ide" and seek, even if you "ide" in the same spot every time.

Then there is the whole climbing thing. I love you, but wow, you are exhausting. It doesn't help that your sister likes to play the "one up it" game. If I tell her NOT to jump off the sofa, she finds something higher, and more dangerous to sprout wings from! So then of course you just HAVE to try it too! I won't even be surprised if we have another broken bone within the year.

Today at the park I turned my back for 2 seconds and you were half way up this ladder thing. Talk about my heart stopping. You did really well, but could you wait for some assistance?! Such a daredevil.

an example of the dangerous ladder thing he was climbing.

Eating:
You are a terrible eater now. All you want is bread, crackers, "paycakes"=pancakes, and milk. Seldom do you ever eat anything I make for dinner. Its a wonder you are still alive since I don't really cater to that eating style.

Of course if it is Chick-Fil-A you are all in. :)

You do love oatmeal and toast for breakfast

Oh, now I remember how you eat...you just help yourself. This is a very common scene to walk in on. Chair dragged clear from kitchen table all the way over to the counter, where he then helps himself to the snack bowl.

Favorites:
You love "Dake" {and the Never Land Pirates} and Sid the Science Kid shows.

You love to sing along with Jake and at the end they say "and me" which you repeat over and over loudly!
Sid and Mickey books
Elmo and Cookie stuff animals
Blocks

Bedtime stories with daddy!

Potty training wise, you are doing really great. You pretty much are 98% potty learned/trained at home with me. However, you won't poop in the potty, so I will gladly take ideas there and we still struggle with the nursery/daycare settings. They are trying with you now, but I don't know, either you won't do it for them, or they ask you at all the wrong times?! You did have a regression a few weeks ago which was a tad frustrating, but I think your cold/allergies and all the meds you were on sort of didn't help...at least that is the excuse I am using. ;)

Stats:
Ht: 32in
Wt: 23# {mommy guesstimate}
Clothes: 18m
Diaper at night: 3 Swaddlers/4 Target brand (which I hate those!)

Um, so this turned out longer than I expected. But I think you are just so darn funny and cute. 3 more months and then party time! :)

Love you love bear!