new toy

I am a sucker for a Scholastic Book Order form. I loved looking at them when I was little, loved sending them home as a teacher and now love getting them from Micah's preschool. One of the items I ordered was a Christmas Pattern Block activity book. There are many different pages of winter and Christmas shapes that you can use the blocks to fill out. They even have the 'cheat' sides that show you exactly what blocks to use. The blocks are also magnetic so they store on the magnetic page in the book and can by used on any metal surface.

This morning while the little boys were sleeping and and Bella was at school Micah and I had some fun playing with it. These short times on Wednesday mornings are about the only time I have Micah to myself so I try to take full advantage of it. We did

a couple of the patterns in the book and then had fun making our own pictures.

Per Micah's request, we made...

A Face

A Tree

A Rug

and COLORS

half a year

Connor is six months old today. That is half a year! WOW. My big ol' baby is halfway to toddlerhood. He has done so much new stuff this past month.

* He actually likes to eat his cereal now and will be moving on to veggies and fruit this week.

* He can sit up on his own for short periods of time. We try to practice every day but he's not a big fan. Unless of course he's in the bath because then he can splash like a mad man.

* He still watches absolutely EVERYTHING Micah does and now adds smiling and laughing at him.

* He has already started scooting across the floor. He can also get up on all fours but hasn't started crawling yet. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this new development :)

* Current nicknames: squishy, boogie, connorconnor, connorkins and chubbywubby boy.

wild things

it's friday and i know where the wild things are!

pumpkin patch

We finally made it to the pumpkin patch! This October has been very busy, especially on the weekends, so we hadn't gotten a chance to go to Southern Belle Farm yet. Sunday was the last day they were open so we headed straight there after church. Micah enjoyed it even more than last year, but still wouldn't do all the activities. He REFUSES to do a hayride or the cow train. Zach convinced him to go on the slide but when I asked him if it was fun he said, "No it was not!"

His favorite parts were the corn house, the tractors, riding the bike, feeding the goats, and going through the maze. He was all about the maze because there is a Curious George episode about a corn maze. I will have to post soon about all the things Micah does just because George does them! Connor was a trooper the whole time. He sat patiently in his stroller and stared at the world. He loves being outside so as long as he was out there he was happy. I just wish we would have taken our family picture when we got there because by the end of the afternoon Micah was over smiling at the camera. Oh well we can try again next year :)

happy halloween

From your Toy Story friends

Woody, Prospector, Buzz Lightyear and Jessie

preschool party

OK I'm just going to come out and be totally honest. Micah's preschool party was not fun. I actually felt bad for the kids. The room mother was sick so she was only able to drop off what she had planned and leave, but still. Thankfully we are just dealing with 2 year olds here so I'm pretty sure they didn't notice, but the teacher and crafter in me was CRINGING! Ok enough of my judgmental complaining. Zach and I enjoyed seeing Micah in his class and meeting his friends and I am looking forward to volunteering for the next party.

Micah showing off the back of his Woody costume

Crumpling up paper for his ghost.

Showing off the finished product.

They were supposed to stand back a few feet but Micah kind of cheated!

more boundaries

Tonight was night 3 of our women group's boundaries discussion and while I can HIGHLY recommend this book, I more highly recommend reading it with a group of people you trust and love who will share their issues and call you out on your own. It's sad to me that some Christians might have never experienced what it truly means to confess your sins to one another, to bring your struggles to one another and to have those others love you, support you, listen to you, and in no way judge you. Awww...can't you just feel the refreshment of having a safe place.

So far the greatest lessons learned have been (1) the importance of saying no and meaning no when that is what you need to do. Lots of Christian women, me included, feel the overwhelming urge to always say yes as if even thinking of telling someone no has to be wrong, unchristian like and just plain selfish. Aren't we here to help the world with anything and everything? The answer to that would be (2) we are not supposed to fix everything for everyone. We are responsible for ourselves but only responsible to others. We absolute are called to carry each other's burdens but each of us are also called to carry our own loads. You can't be everything to everyone. That is not our job. It is God's

Hopefully you have read this in the way it was intended and are not thinking that this book is just a way to get out of doing things :) Remember I have only gotten through three chapters so I still have lots to learn!!