The Last Few Days in Pictures

Below are some random pictures of the last few days and some explanations of them. ENJOY!

Eli absolutely loves this machine. It is the village of Ney's leaf machine. I'm sure there is a technical name for it, but it's basically a huge vacuum that sucks up all the leaves that the boys and Daddy have piled out by the street (and everyone else too). Eli got to go out on the porch the other day and watch the guys "take" our leaves. He loved it!

You may remember that this week on Wednesday the boys had a field trip and Ronnie decided he didn't want to go. Well I had the boys clothes all picked out for a cold day on the farm. Below Ronnie is still in his long johns with his cowboys clothes. Gotta love pretend play!

Once a month Ron has to travel south to Van Wert for some UM meetings. On the way to these meetings he drops the kids (Eli and Maddie) and I off at my Grandparents. We enjoy these days of Eli entertaining. Most Thursday's my dad goes to my Grandparents to visit too. So this past Thursday it was Granny, Gramps, Eli, Maddie, Mom, Dad and I. We had a good time. Below is Gramps and Eli playing Granny's piano. They both had fun!

Thursday evening was Parent/Teacher Conferences at the boys school, so we asked my mom to come home with us and keep the boys while we attended the meetings. She enjoyed her time with Maddie too!

This week was also Ronnie's very first book report. Now remember this is the same boys who doesn't like change. Refuses to go anywhere new without a parent, but he did a great job. He got a 100%. His book was "The Penguin Who Hated the Cold". Great Job Ronnie!

Eli loves when Grandma Neff comes because he can always get her to read to him. He loves to read!

On Friday morning, since Mom was here and the boys were off school (PT Conf), we decided to pack up and go visit Grandma and Grandpa Hornish. You may remember them from previous posts, but they have been Grandparents to me since I was little. They are probably the most Godly people I know and I just love to visit. them. They are in a nursing care home. Grandpa celebrated his 90th Birthday this past September and a few weeks later was in the hospital with pneumonia. Since that time he is back, but they are requiring him to be in a more monitored section of the home, so he cannot be with Grandma. They are not liking the arrangements at all, but who would. They have been married for 75+ years and they don't want to be separated now.

So anyway, we visited them and Grandpa is doing so much better than he was even before his birthday. He is so talkative. The boys got rides in his wheelchair from Grandma Neff, while Maddie and I talked with him.

He was so glad that we came to visit. I am just thankful that my kids can have time to get to know them. They are truly Amazing people!

As I mentioned, they are in separate parts of the nursing home, but Grandma goes and visits him 2 times a day. She is tired from all the visiting, and is hoping he can come back to her soon. She too was glad to see us. I just love them both so much!

The boys did really good. They had a couple of moments, but I was a little nervous taking 4 kids to visit a 90 and 87 year old. They did good!

Maddie is now officially 6 months old. She is getting so big. She is jabbering quite a bit now. She sits unassisted pretty regularly. She still doesn't like to be on her belly -so crawling might be a little bit down the road. We just love our little girl!

So there you have it. We have had a busy few days!

Praisin' the Lord

It has only been a couple of days since I posted, but I have tons of things to say. The most important will be tonight and I'll try to catch up on all the others when I'm not so tired.

Today my mom went with me and all 4 kids (the boys were off school for Parent/Teacher Conf) to see my Grandpa and Grandma Hornish. I just love them! Anyway, after that we took my mom home and by the time we got to her house at 2:30 I was tired and the kids were getting on what little nerves I had left. Mom handed me 2 Psalty tapes.

Have you heard of them. Psalty the Singing Songbook is great. When we were little we would listen to Psalty on long car rides. He is a Songbook who teaches Kids about Jesus and how Jesus loves them and wants them to Praise Him. You should really check it out.

So anyway, mom handed them to me and we got back in the car for a 1.5 hour trip home. (Keep in mind it was 4pm and the kids had already napped and were in no mood to sit any longer.)

But we popped in the tapes and we Praised Jesus all the way home. It was so cool. The boys didn't know all the songs, but it was clear by their faces they were into it. Then when Nathaniel raised his hand and just started swaying to the music, it was so neat. It was like Jesus was right there with us! Eli copied him, and the two of them just praised Jesus from the back of our van. Praise the Lord. I love to see my babies Praise Him. Thanks Mom for reminding me how great Psalty is!

Missing out on the Farm

I think I have mentioned before that I don't really like change. Well this morning was a great opportunity to see that character trait in Ronnie. The boys have been talking about their field trip to the Farm for weeks now. We thought they were very excited. Ron went on the last field trip with the boys, but he is preaching a Revival this week and needed to prepare. I couldn't go, because of needing to feed Maddie, but the boys were still excited to go (or so we thought).

So this morning I helped them get warm clothes picked out and told them to hurry and get dressed and ready before the bus came. Nathaniel came down a little bit later dressed and ready and said Ronnie was crying and didn't want to go to school today. After checking on him, we discovered that he was not wanting to go on the field trip and would prefer to stay home than go today, unless we would go too. I explained that we couldn't go, so he choose to stay home.

Ron and I talked about it and decided we wouldn't make him, since it was a field trip. So Nathaniel boarded the bus alone and was off for a fun Farm Adventure. I called Ronnie's teacher and explained and Praise the Lord she was very understanding. I am so thankful the boys have Christian teachers! What a blessing.

So, Ronnie is home today. He has mentioned Nathaniel a couple of times, or said "Nathaniel would be at recess or lunch right now". I have just reminded him that Nathaniel is at the Farm and he says, "oh yeah".

Ronnie got my "hate change" gene. There are some things that we wish we didn't pass on to our children. Life is full of changes, that I know will challenge and stretch our little man, but for now he can stay home from the Farm. Praise the Lord he likes school.

The fall version

A few months back I posted our Hillbilly. We got so many laughs out of those pictures I thought I should show you our Fall Version of the Hillbilly.

Fall Fest

We don't do the costume thing or trick or treating. It is just not a big deal at our house. Neither Ron or I did it as kid, so we just haven't done it with boys either. But we had a Fall Fest at our Farmer Church and the kids were suppose to come in their costumes. I didn't even mention it to the boys because on Saturday mornings when Ronnie wakes up, he picks out clothes for himself and his brothers. They have to wear Buckeye clothes on Saturdays. We can't even get most of the games this year (we don't get ESPN), but they still wear the Buckeye stuff every Saturday.

So, that was their costumes (I guess) for the Fall Party at church. They had a great time, making magnets, eating, watching the clown and getting balloon animals. They had hoped for a hayride, but it was way to cold and wet for that.

Oh and Eli wanted is picture taken, again!

COUNTING DOWN

I am officially counting down, and there are 77 days until I get to hug my sis! Some of you reading this may think I'm crazy, but it has been way to long since I hugged her. See, my sister, her husband and 2 adorable nieces live in Arua, Uganda, East Africa. They were home a couple of years ago when my oldest niece, Elsie was born (that's not why they were home, but she was born in KY). But she will be 2 years old in 2 weeks and I haven't seen her even crawling, let along walking and talking. Then my littlest niece, Lucy is 3 weeks younger than Maddie and we can't wait to get our fingers on her.

You can go here to read their blog and see what they are up too. Jesus is using them in Africa, but I am anxious to see them here too.

So, the countdown has begun. 77 days! I can't wait!

Sittin' Pretty

Maddie has a new talent. She can sit up unassisted. She is still figuring it all out, but Saturday was her first attempt and she is doing a great job. She still doesn't like it when you leave the room, but she's learning new things all the time.

Fall Fun

Don't you just love fall?

You can't really tell from the picture, but I think even Maddie enjoyed watching from the window!

Our Sunday Service

Today was not a typical Sunday. Nathaniel was up in the night puking and Ronnie had run a temperature yesterday, so we made the decision to stay home today and let Daddy go alone. The boys were disappointed, but they decided we would have our own "church service".

As I got beds made and Maddie and I dressed, the boys prepared. We waited until daddy left for Ney before the congregation was called together. I'll share with you a little of how it went.

Ronnie was the Pastor, and began by calling up the song leader, Nathaniel, to lead us in our Opening Hymn, "My Faith Looks up to Thee".

After the Hymn, Ronnie gave a brief explanation as to what his sermon would be about today. As near as I can remember it went like this, "Today we will talk about Noah and Jonah. One Sinned right away and one didn't. We're gonna find out which one did not listen right away". (wow, all that from a 6 year old!)

Next the kids were called up for the Children's Sermon. Eli and Maddie sat up front while Nathaniel and Ronnie tagged teamed the lesson. (I wish I had gotten a picture, it was so cute, and so neat seeing our oldest 2 teach the younger 2 lessons from the Bible). As Maddie and Eli were getting situated up front, Nathaniel was humming Jesus Loves Me. (This is funny because our pianist, Ms. Peg, at Farmer, plays this as the children leave for Jr. Church).

I wish I had recorded the lesson, but again it went something like this. Ronnie showed a box of blocks and said, "see how one side is neat and one is messy? This is like Noah, the neat side and the messy side is like Jonah".

Then he proceeded to do the same with 2 balls (one nice and one beat up), 2 hats (one fit, one didn't), 2 books (one played music, one didn't), 2 cars (one ran nicely, one didn't). Wow, all that and only in the time it took to make my bed and dress Maddie.

After a couple more songs, it was prayer time. Pastor Ronnie asked if there were any joys.

Let me share with you the joys and concerns:

Joys

Nathaniel - got to see Grandma Neff yesterday
Eli - I have lots of toys
Ronnie - I ate chicken nuggets yesterday
N - ate cookies yesterday
Maddie - Lots of grins
Eli - Mr. Josh and Mr. Bill did our windows (2 guys who have been at our house replacing our upstairs windows this week)

Concerns
N- people at Ney and Farmer who are sick (maybe that means them?)
R- Uncle Ryan
N- Uncle Billy's daddy (a prayer request from a couple of years ago that they boys often remember during our prayer times)
N- Grandpa Hornish
E - Ms. Aural (our neighbor lady who had fallen a few weeks ago)

Ronnie asked if I would pray because his list was long and he couldn't remember all of them. (By that time I had a notebook and was trying to take notes to remember this service).

After the prayer we had our offering. This was funny too, because they had all 3 filled their pockets with some change that was on their dresser upstairs. So everyone but me put some in. Ronnie of course pointed that out and told the boys to bring the offering plates back to me. OK, I scrounged around and found some. (there are probably some pastors out there that wouldn't mind Ronnie taking their offering!)

Then when they had collected it, we all sang the Doxology and then Ronnie lifted his hands up (like he's seen daddy do)

After the Offering, Ronnie began his sermon. It was a 2 part sermon. The first was on Noah and lasted a good 3 minutes as Ronnie told the story of Noah and the Ark. Then he called Nathaniel up and we sang, Holy, Holy, Holy. Then the second part was about Jonah and was about 5 minutes where he told the story of Jonah.

I think it would have ended with a song, but Maddie was ready for her nap and was tired of this church stuff. So our service kind of just ended.

I was impressed though. Ronnie and Nathaniel have been having their own church service since Pastor Steve was their Pastor, but it often amazes me how much they pick up.

The Lord has Blessed me with some Great Boys! I hope to have many more Church Services with them.

Camels and Needles

Something my Pastor said a few weeks ago has been on my mind lately. I thought maybe I would fill you in and get your thoughts.

He preached from the passage in Mark 10:17-27 about the "Rich Young Man". Many times this passage is taken to mean that "rich" people cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but is that how it should be interpreted.

Think about it this way. The scriptures say, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God". So why would Jesus say it like that, especially if he didn't mean that rich people couldn't go into heaven?

Perhaps Jesus is talking about anyone who has their loyalties somewhere. Matthew 6:24 says, "No man can serve two masters". What if it is similar to this. I mean what if we have our hands grasping things around us and still say we are serving God. We cannot have anything at all come between us and our Master.

As a mom I have often struggled with this. My kids are young. For the past 6 years there have been few months where there was not a baby who needed pretty constant attention in this house. When our children are young, they need us. I need to be there for them at every moment, especially while they are young. So how do I keep Jesus first and still take care of their every need?

I have heard some say that in this season of life the Lord understands that we have trouble doing devotions on a regular basis. Okay, so maybe He understands that we have a lot going on, but how do we interpret the fact that our grasping onto our babies is keeping us from our Heavenly Father?

Birthday Picture

I don't like to post pictures of myself, but with this little gal by my side, 31 looks really young!!

31 Years

There was a time when I thought 31 was old. Not Today! But seriously, my boys think that turning 31 is ancient. Ronnie's words last night were,"Mom, you're and old lady". I think he may have had some prompting from his dad (I'll take care of that in a couple of week - 38 is much older than 31!)

As I look at it today, 31 is not old. Last year was rough, but today, well it is just another day. Nothing big.

S0, I'll embrace yet another year with a Wonderful Husband, 3 "wild" boys and my baby girl. God has blessed me time and time again over the past 31 years and I look forward to many more Blessings. God is good, even in my "old age".

Sunday Dresses

If you've read much of this blog, you know I love being a mommy and am so excited to have a little girl now too. Well, one of the many things I love about my little girl is Sunday Dresses. In our house, after church on Sunday, there is a race. The boys (all 4 of them) race to see who can get changed the fastest. They compete every single Sunday to see who will win. But not Maddie. She wore this adorable little dress all day and didn't complain at all (at least not about the dress). I'm sure there will come a day when she doesn't like dresses or would rather race the boys to get changed, but I just love that right now she is happy and content to be in her Sunday best all day long.

Fridays

Before you think I've completely lost my mind, I know today is NOT Friday! But I wanted to tell you one great reason I love Fridays.

Nathaniel is home from school on Fridays!

I didn't realize, until the boys went to school, how much they helped with Eli. He is like any 2 year old, in need of Continuous Supervision! Don't get me wrong, he's a great kid, but there are days when all I do is follow him to keep an eye on him.

So this past Friday, Nathaniel and Eli helped to entertain Maddie. And silly me, instead of doing something productive, I took pictures!

Pumpkin Prayer

Last week a lady in our church did our Children's Sermon and shared this pumpkin and the following prayer. Maybe your family could carve a Special Pumpkin this year.

Open my mind....

Know that the Lord...is God. (Psalm 100:3)

Take all my sin...

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us. (1John 1:9)

Open my eyes...

Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law. (Psalm 119:18)

I'm sorry...

Create in me a clean heart, O God. (Psalm 51:10)

Open my ears...

Incline your ear, and come to Me. (Isaiah 55:3)

Open my mouth to tell others...

I shall...declare the works of the Lord. (Psalm 118:17)

Let Your Light shine...

{Jesus said,} "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:16)

Ask God to fill you up so He can shine brightly through you. Share your faith with your friends and neighbors as you tell them about your special pumpkin.

Another Visit

Today we again met my mom and this time visited with her mom, Grandma Donna, and her friend, Chuck. Eli likes Chuck. So we had a good time visiting with them. They couldn't get over how much Maddie has grown.

Eli loves getting his picture taken (in case you couldn't figure that out), so we got pictures from our visit.

Grandma kept saying how big Eli looks and acts. He is a big boy, especially for 2. There are not a lot of 2 year olds that could handle 2 days of visiting Grandparents in a row. I'm so glad I have a good 2 year old. I need to remind myself of the last 2 days the next time Eli gets a little "wild".

A good Visit!

Yesterday we went to visit my Grandparents. The last time we visited was for Grandpa's 90th Birthday. A couple of weeks ago, Grandpa was in the hospital with pneumonia. He was not looking real good at his birthday, but yesterday, WOW! He looked good, he was talking (which I guess he hasn't done in quite a while). He wanted Cracker Jacks. He said that he wanted someone to go and get it for him and when he found out Eli didn't know what it was, Grandpa was quick to volunteer to introduce him to his first Cracker Jacks! Too bad Grandpa's diet didn't allow for it!

We had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa. She is looking tired, but she has been doing her best to keep up with visiting Grandpa. After all these years of being together, they are struggling with being apart for nearly 3 weeks while he is in therapy.

Eli and Grandpa

Grandma and Eli

We met my mom in Ft Wayne and she rode with us!

It was so cute watching Eli "help" Grandma walk down the hallway.

Eli enjoyed the trip to Wendy's afterwards too. He realized he likes French Fries dipped in his frosty!

"Real" Firefighters - not the dress up kind

On Tuesday's we go to Story Time at the Library. Last week Ms. Vickie had told us that the theme for this week was going to be Firefighters and there would even be a guest. Eli remembered. He took his fireman hat and was so excited to see a "Real" Firefighter (not just a dress up, pretend one).

He sat and listened as the "Real" firefighter read 3 stories and then told the kids what to do in a fire. Eli really wanted to get close, but as he said, "nobody else went up front". So he stayed back and just watched. He held his hat in his hands and waited patiently. As soon as the stories were over and the kids were leaving Eli wanted to sit with the fireman and get his picture taken.

We had a fun time at Story Time today!

A 5 Month Old and A Sensitive 5 Year Old

Today we took Maddie for her 4 month check-up. She just turned 5 months this week (I'm not sure why our clinic is behind schedule, but they claim that's just how they do it). It's hard to believe our little girl is already 5 months. She is growing so fast and changing so much.

She is now eating cereal, as well as beginning fruits and veggies. She hasn't found anything she really doesn't like. Although I will not be giving her prunes again anytime soon (that's another story).

She can almost sit up on her own and she has been grabbing things for a few weeks. She is loosing her hair just like her big brothers did. She would still rather not be on her belly, but she loves to be held up and put weight on her feet. The doctor said today that she will probably be an early walker. The boys all were, so I guess I knew it was coming. I'm just hoping for no sooner than Nathaniel was at 9 months! She has also been teething so she drools constantly! She also loves to laugh at us and coo.

So today at her check-up she was 16 lbs 15 oz. and 26 inches long. She had to get some immunizations today and so the doctor finished up his exam and then said he would go get the nurse. Nathaniel asked, as soon as he left, "will she have to get shots". I said, "yes". And he immediately covered his ears. I got his attention and asked what he was doing. He said, with the most sympathetic eyes, "I don't want her to cry." Well I don't want her to hurt either, but I explained that he had gotten them at her age and he was okay. He was not content with that explanation and decided he would wait in the hallway while she was given the shots. He didn't want to watch them hurt his sissy! He's so sensitive and was so worried with how Maddie was doing. She cried very briefly and then he was able to get her to grin at him. I'm pretty sure I even saw a tear in his eye. What a great big brother, he loves his sister so much.

Fall is in the Air

My favorite season is fall. I really don't like to be hot and my thinking is you can always put more clothes on, you can only take so many off! So fall has arrived, this morning was our first frost in Northwest Ohio. The boys put on their big carhartt coats from Pap and headed to the bus.

I talked to my sister, who lives in Uganda, and told her how cold it was today. She can't remember the last time she felt the temperature that cold. She is in for a huge shock come January when they are in the States for a few months.

I love the changing leaves, the pumpkins and fall decorations. As I mentioned, I love the cool weather and just love FALL!