Carved

Late last night after Clara was tucked in her bed, we took Ruby out to the garage to carve pumpkins. She could not have been less interested. Pretty much Ryan and I carved pumpkins while she ran around the garage "cleaning" the floor with a sponge she found in the car wash bucket... a sponge we will never be able to use on the car again.

I tried to get her to help me get all the seeds out so we could bake them, she simply replied, "no, I don't want to." then ran away.

Maybe next year.

She did, however, very much enjoy the pumpkins once they were lit on the front porch - so that's what I took a picture of.

Rubyisms

My Ruby Girl is a funny one. We went to Hobby Lobby today for some big pine cones, construction paper and googlie eyes (I'm going to attempt to do a CRAFT with my children... more on that later) but when we passed these sparkly winter cardinals on the 60%off shelf I couldn't resist.

Since the purchase was made, Ruby has not stopped holding, playing with and talking about her "very special, very breakable, sparkly card-in-al." (Did you see how I tried to make "cardinal" a blatantly 3-syllable word so you can read it they way Ruby says it?) Anyway, she is in love with this bird. She told me she is going to sleep in his cozy nest tonight.

Here are a few other funny things she's been saying lately:

• "Hey Hun! How was your day?" (when Ryan comes home, she says this to him exactly like I would.)
• "It's pretty good" or "I'm doing pretty good." (this is the answer to 90% of the questions we ask her.)
• "Baby Clara Gurrrrrlllll." (how she refers to her sister)
• "I'm just looking with my eyes." (what she says when I catch her in the bathroom playing with all of my jewelry... which has been spilled out on the floor, spread around and obviously not just "looked at" with her eyes.)
• "Are you scissoring that?" (instead of "cutting")
• "Are you q-tipping you ears?" (instead of cleaning my ears - it makes perfect sense!)

Granger

After the 25 Year Celebration we spent a couple of days in Granger with my family. Uncle Matt and Aunt Linda were there for the fun, and the Fall weather was beautiful!

Clara having fun with Aunt Linda

My Uncle Matt and Aunt Linda are so great. Ruby and Clara think so too. My favorite thing about being with Uncle Matt is how much me makes my dad laugh. I guess that's what brothers are for.

Photo by Mark Beeson

Photo by Mark Beeson

My mom is the champion of making learning fun. She always has games and blocks and all sorts of wonderful and educational things for Ruby to do at her house. Ruby played "memory" for a long time on the floor with my mom.

Me and my Clara Girl

Topping off our short time together, we celebrated the October Birthdays. Happy Birthday to my Mom and to my Sister Angela!!

Giggle Sisters

Sisters are so fun to have. I've got one and she is awesome. Over the last couple of months Ruby and Clara have become more interactive. There's nothing that makes me happier than seeing them start to realize that they love one another. Yesterday was one of those moments:

Surprise 25 Year Celebration at Granger

Photos by Dustin Maust

For months and months my brother, sister and I have known that my parents were going to get the surprise of their lives, (even during our family vaca in the Smoky Mountains) we just had to keep it a secret! The team at Granger threw a huge bash last Thursday night to celebrate that my mom and dad planted Granger Community Church 25 years ago this year. If you weren't there for the celebration, you can catch a glimpse of the shenanigans below.

Here we are - are all the kids and grandkids surprising mom and dad. They let me say a few things, so I started out by saying, "Heeeeeyyyyy Everybody..." which made my brother chuckle (you can see him in the background at 01:01:44. You also can watch Ruby on Aaron's lap as she asks him again and again, "Is mommy going to sing?" ha!


25 Year Celebration from Granger Community Church on Vimeo.

You should have seen the scene at my sister's house when all of us were in town and had to hide out all day Thursday so we wouldn't accidentally run into mom or dad around town and ruin the surprise. I love my siblings. They're the best.

My Dad and Mom were stunned, encouraged and celebrated by thousands on that evening. I'm thankful to have been a small part of the journey over the last 25 years.

Fear not, Earth! Be glad and celebrate! God has done great things. - Joel 2:21

Harvest Fest @ the Homestead Park

Harvest Fest at the Homestead Park! Everything from Hayrides and Pumpkin Painting, to Pioneer Games and Pony rides. Basically, you wish you were there too.

Nothing like a pool full of corn kernels... pretty sure Ruby would have played in there all day.

Ruby encountered a lot of animals including snakes and turtles. She wasn't the least bit afraid or intimidated and said things like, "Oh, he's sniffing you!" to the lady holding the snake.

Next we took a hayride. Ruby held this hay in her hands exactly like this from the time we sat down until the ride was done.

 They hayride ended by the train car, which we had never explored before.

Checking out the rocks under the train

"Hey, there's a bed in here!"

Inside the train car this nice volunteer man was teaching Ruby not to throw stuff at trains. After his talk he asked her if she would like a bag of chips or a zipper pull. Without hesitation she said, "the zipper pull!" 

Here she is with her new zipper pull... and her hilarious shirt I found for $2 at Old Navy.

Rest

A few days ago I was reading my "Jesus Calling" devotional and the words I read have been running through my head and heart for the last week. I figured I should share them with you, because many of you may be just as tired and exhausted and I am.

Jesus Calling - Oct 1.
WORSHIP ME ONLY. I am King of kings and Lord of lords, dwelling in unapproachable Light. I am taking care of you! I am not only committed to caring for you, but I am also absolutely capable of doing so. Rest in Me, My weary one, for this is a form of worship.

That last sentence, "Rest in me, My weary one, for this is a form of worship." has been playing over and over, sinking into the depths of my soul and changing the bad feelings I've been feeling about my own weariness. I love that it's okay to be weary, and I love even more that resting in His caring arms is a way for me to worship Him. I know that I need to rest. But I needed someone to tell me that I can do so without feeling guilty about all that I am not accomplishing while my eyelids are closed.

I love my Jesus Calling devotional. It seems to always apply to what I'm going through. I could not recommend it more, for you, for your friends and family. Christmas is coming and you can buy it at the bookstore at GCC or order it online.

"Come to Me , all you who are weary, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28

A "Solid" Attempt at Solid Foods

Hidden Treasure

It was a beautiful morning for a car wash.

To our surprise, while Ryan and Ruby were washing our cars over the weekend, they discovered a hidden treasure under the front seat of the new (used) mini van we bought a little while ago to cart around our growing family.

Ryan brought the recently discovered treasure into the house and said something along the lines of, "did this fall out of your grocery bags? I didn't think you were a 'Beef and Garlic' type of gal." and set it on the counter.

I couldn't remember ever buying hamburger helper, but know that pregnancy brain is a reasonable explanation, so I figured I must have thrown it in my cart on a whim when I was pregnant with Clara... UNTIL I took a closer look and noticed the expiration date was October 15th, 2004! WHAT?!?

Double WHAT?!?!! Ryan found something in the van that even the Honda Dealer didn't find when they cleaned it up to sell it again!

Triple WHAT?!?!! The van is a 2007 which means that somehow, this boxed meal has existed since more than 3 years before the van was made, and 8 years before it sat on my kitchen counter today. This can mean one of three things:

1. One of the first owners of our van liked to eat expired food.
2. Someone working on the Honda manufacturing line forgot their (expired) boxed lunch inside what would eventually become our van.
3. One of Ryan's buddies (cough...Lukecough) has pranked us with this Beefy meal. 

It's a mystery! What do you think?

Pumpkin Patch

Today was the most perfect Fall day. Shining sun, cool breeze, glorious, crispy, fresh. We decided to check out the pumpkin patch at Jacquemin Farm, just a few miles from our house.

Ruby was fascinated by the gords. She carried this "swan" one around for quite awhile.

I balanced my camera on the top of a pumpkin for that family shot. haha.

Clara's 4-5 Month Video Montage

Want to see how much Clara looks/acts/sounds like her sister did at this age? Watch Ruby's 5 Month Video Montage HERE.