Party #1:

We went to a Halloween Party tonight. Halle went as Belle and Luke as a candy corn. Luke ask for candy corn at least 5x a day. I finally threw it out so he would stop asking but now he just ask to see the dish it was in. "Canny corn, see it." Halle has wanted to be Belle since her birthday when she received her dress. Tomorrow we are going to a birthday party in the morning....Peter Pan's long awaited party. Halle has said she is going as Tinker all week but before bed she said she is not dressing up. She has been grumpy all day. She also said she didn't want to go to the party tonight but quickly changed her mind. On the way home tonight Luke lay his head on his seat and said, "Mommy, sleepy." Precious. Today I asked her to do something and she said, "Mom, I cant because I have so much to do." She was walking around. Sarah watched the kids Monday for a bit. She has solar lights in her front yard. When they were heading to the car to come meet me they both picked up solar lights, held them in the air, and started singing This Little Light Of Mine. Luke called for David this week as David was heading out the door for work and said, "Hey Daddy, love you." I showed him how to make a steeple with with his hands after he asked to "hold" the steeple at BSF. He now can spot a steeple from a mile away and points out the steeple every week when we pull into the parking lot at Blacksburg Baptist(where we go for BSF). He can make a steeple with his pointers fingers but has a hard time weaving his fingers together to make "the people". He ran right in at BSF this week and never looked back at me.

Pumpkin Patch

We took a tractor ride($8 tractor ride) out the pumpkin patch to hand pick our pumpkin. Family photo is compliments of G. Ervi!! Such a great shot! The kids jumped, literally, off the tractor and sprinted for the perfect pumpkin. I wish I would have taken a picture of the little pumpkin Halle picked.....it was the size of a grape and never had a chance! It was so tiny and she loved it. Unfortunately, it did not make it home. Luke was somewhat enthralled with all the rotting pumpkins....weird little boy. We also did the corn maze, pony ride, face painting, and petting zoo. We met the Ervis' there so it was fun for the kids to have their buds with them! David finished the day with a golf game! He was thrilled to be back on the golf course.

Back to School, Back to School.....

Halle sporting her Vol's gear doing a little school!! Yea for Halle. She has already asked to start today. Such a blessing. I am doing My Father's World curriculum that a friend is also doing. We start by doing "Creation" for the 1st 10 days and then we will begin our 1st lesson which will be on Sun and the letter S. We will study S and Sun for a week.

Last Week For Us

Where to start!?!? Luke's party was amazing! I know, how could a birthday party for a 2 year old be amazing when there are kids EVERYWHERE, cake on my newly mopped floor and 30 people crammed into our townhouse. David and I had a blast!! Stephen, Kath, Savannah & Caroline came down, Leslie and Drew came up and were so kind to bring David's precious 81 year old G'ma.....Jude. We were really hoping Jude would stay a few days with us but she is recovering from a broken collar bone and wanted to wait until she felt better to stay for an extended period of time. We had so much fun with Leslie and Drew being here and were sooo thrilled they decided to come up!! Drew was super uncle and he's not even uncle! He cleans the kitchen after a meal, takes the trash out, and gets the kids ready for bed or to go out..........all without being asked. He is a keeper. For those of you who know what it is like when Kath and I get together....poor Drew has offically been initiated into the family for surviving hours of torture. Halle received a book from David's grandparents, Papa & Mama T, at Luke's party. She asked me again last night why she got a present for Luke's Birthday. She was so precious when she opened it with beaming eyes and said, "Wow, who got me a present? That was so kind!" Halle is into Green Eggs & Ham, therefore she often blurts out "Sam let me be!" or "I will eat them with a goat. I will eat them on a boat." So, the other night at the dinner table she tried something new and I said, "Will you eat them in a box?" LUKE quickly responded, "with a fox?" David and I were so amazed and could not believe he said that!! He is so precious and although his energy often makes me want to pull my hair out and go Absolute(JK), I can not get enough of him and every inch of his precious little body. David recently discovered white tail deer in a field near our house. This week at dusk we have been going deer watching. Last night we saw at least 12 and few were bucks. We also hear the evening train, dogs, airplanes, trucks and see the sunset all while sitting on a hill overlooking a field of deer......a little boy's dream. Halle stayed with Shannon on Monday while I took Luke to his 2 year check-up. Shannon included Halle in on Grace and Emma's school. At first Halle said, "I don't want to do school at Grace and Emma's kitchen table." But she quickly realized school was a better option over the doctor's office. She came home saying she was ready to start school and very eager to learn. She has now asked me everyday to start. She came home knowing the letter Z and recognizing letters I had no idea she knew. So today we started school!! YEA!! It went 100x better than I ever could have expected. We only did about 15-20 minutes of activity and she did amazing! I want to copy a few more sheets and then she will start some hands activites like cutting and coloring. I am so thankful the Lord gave her an eager heart to learn because that was one of my greatest fears and one of the reasons I have stalled!

Can Heaven Wait??

So, I was expecting some big WOW when I compared pictures(below) and I didn't get it(the WOW moment). I personally can tell how much she has grown because I watched her step on her Belle dress and pull at her Jasmine sleeves....which she no longer does. Anyways.............Luke's party is this weekend and Halle says it is also her babies birthday. We bought her(baby) a cake and we were going to have her a party but she can't decide when it is. Oh well. She did ask David today if he missed his Daddy a whole very much. Then she said, "Daddy, will you wait to me and Lukey grow up before you go to heaven and see your Daddy?" Uhhh, tear jerker!! She has been counting to 5 in Spanish!! Tratando de hacer tío Danny orgullosos!! She is so excited aunt Katie is coming to visit in December!! She can not wait to show her how she can swing all by herself. Although, I am not sure our Floridian Katie will be venturing to the park in December (unless she is wearing a snowsuit)! Luke, Halle and I have been singing Amazing Grace before bed when I rock them. It is so precious!! I remember when Halle carried her 1st tune!! When Halle was 23 months I remember being at Russ's and listening to Leslie sing on tape when she was 2 or 2 1/2 and thinking I can never imagine Halle singing by 2. Sure enough she busted out some lyrics right around 2!! Luke spends more time on spirals and push-ups than he does his singing these days! Halle has really surprised me this week with letter recognition and letter writing on her doodle. She has remembered several letters I have mentioned to her only once or twice. I am pretty much ready to start school with her but keep putting if off. I am not sure if I am scared or lazy or patient..........and we all know how patient I am or NOT;) I am really nervous about how Halle is going to respond. I am also afraid I will not remain consistent and I do NOT like giving up on something I have started. I have been taking Jazzercise now for 3 years and still go faithfully. I am still volunteering at the PRC and have been for 3 years as well. I consider myself a consistent person who does not give up easily so I am blaming my procrastination on fear. I also feel the enemy is trying to convince me I am not cut out for home schooling but I have totally been convicted otherwise. Pray for me:) We are soooo excited about all of our family coming into town for Luke's party and so sad for everyone who can not make it. Happy Birthday Luke!! Lets just all say a prayer our washing machine gets fixed on Friday! Yes, it is broken yet once again. I guess I need to put socks and other small articles in a bag. Nice.

Trying Belle Instead....

Ok, so I will try Belle.

And Now

And this is now! You can see her hair is longer but you would have to know how often she pulled the straps up to really see how much she has grown!

This Was Then....

These picture hardly do her any justice. This is from last year when she got her Jasmine costume.

Shoes In The House....

I am getting my voice back! I almost sound normal. I can not believe I lost my voice for 8 days. David is now feeling a little under the weather. If he gets sick that would mean four weeks for our four members! Lovely. It could be a lllooonnngggg winter if "croup" has set the stage for us. I am really annoyed because we do so much to keep ourselves well and we still seem ill way to often. Maybe I should just stop caring and wear my shoes in the house and eat off the floor and not Clorox so much. Ya'll know better:) I am to anal to go and do crazy stuff like that!! Haha. I have realized lately the Lord has really been trying to teach me something through our seasons of illness. Actually, several things. First, I am not in control and there are A LOT of things in life that I can not control...including sickness. Confession: I live in fear of illness. More suffering than illness. I have to let it go. Not so much the common cold or the flu but greater things, things that would dramatically alter our lives. My head and my heart do not meet on this matter. The Lord has really convicted me about my heart and my head not meeting. I know something in my head but my heart does not trust. Jesus is large enough to sustain me!! P.S. I know I ain't no good at grammer;)

Tea & Bubble Gum

Katie has an interview tomorrow for an art teacher position. Please say a prayer for her if you read this before 12:30 on Friday!! Today Halle and Luke were BFF. Halle has been playing house a lot lately. I am not sure how cooperative Luke is but if he is not screaming then I do not care. Halle calls him Daddy from time to time...I guess she is playing the daughter!! They have been "cooking" in their kitchen too. Today Halle brought me tea up to my bed while I was resting/reading. She apoligizes for not having a purple cup and tells me blue and pink are all she and Luke have. Today she told me what she brought, purple sparkles and something else, and then told me those were my choices. Halle's socks were to small today so she said she is saving them for her sister. Actually, everything she wears she says she is saving for her sister. WARNING! I am NOT pregnant. IF and when we have a another child she will be so sad if she does not get her sister. Luke learned to chew gum today. He was so cute chomping on his gum! I started Bible Study Fellowship several weeks ago in Blacksburg. I am loving it and really enjoy getting deep into our study of John. We are studying John for an entire semester! I have already learned soo much! It is truely amazing how much we can learn and grow from simply studying Jesus and who he is. I am so excited for what I am going to learn. The closer we get, the bigger He is!! I have been encouraging David to start an early morning Bible study with his guy friends but he really hasnt acted on it. I really feel he needs something like that with other men. Please pray for him.