Baptized

Last Sunday, the day before Halloween, Abby and Haley got baptized.  It was such a special day and we were all so excited about it.  They had been asking to be baptized for a few months.  The weekend before, they had a little baptism lesson with the children's director of our church, and on the day before, we went to the church building for a little run through.  Rob, our pastor, had given us the questions that he was going to ask to us, as their parents, to the girls, and to the congregation, so we were able to talk about those through the week.

The morning of the baptism they were so excited and Carey and I were pretty emotional about it.  Seth cried a little because he wasn't getting baptized, and Abby offered to baptize him in our kiddie pool after the worship gathering!  She said she would remember everything Rob said and she would say those things to Seth.  Adorable.

The baptism service was so special.  Carey and I promised that we would raise them in the way of the Lord.  The girls promised to turn away from Satan and the ways of this world and to love and trust and follow Jesus.  The church promised to support them and pray for them in their spiritual growth.  Then they were baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  It was so special.  I definitely got teary eyed!  After their baptism they got to go and change into new, white outfits and then got to be the first ones to have communion. 

Oh, and the next day was Abby's share day at school, and I totally forgot to remind her in the morning so that she could bring something to share.  That afternoon her teacher told me that Abby told the kids all about getting baptized and having communion.  How sweet is that?

Haley and her friend, Lyric (who also got baptized), comparing swim suits before the service

cake for the girlies to enjoy after the service:)

Abby, Haley and Lyric in their cute white outfits, enjoying some cake:)

Happy Halloween!

This Halloween was our most fun one yet, with Snow White, a pirate, and "Ariel getting married".  It started with a Halloween party the day before "real Halloween" (as my kids would say) that was so much fun.  On "real Halloween" the kids all dressed up for the parade at school (of course Seth had to dress up since his sissies were)!  We normally walk to school on Mondays, because there is a "walking school bus" that day, but we just couldn't quite get it together to leave early enough to make it.  We caught up to them, though, and we pulled over to park and walk the rest of the way with them.  Abby hopped right out and ran over to join them, and Haley basically froze with anxiety.  She's been SUPER self-conscious with her peers and being in her costume just freaked her out.  So, Abby walked the rest of the way with the walking school bus and Haley and Seth and I parked at school.  I really didn't think Haley was going to go to school, she was just so, so worried about what people would think of her costume.  She did it, though, leaving the awesome veil (I had made for her) in the car.

Seth and I ended up staying at school for most of the morning, watching the parade and then helping with the party and some crafts in Abby's class.

That afternoon we were supposed to go to the Halloween party/potluck at Carey's work, but it was just going to be too much.  Instead we were mellow at home (yes, that means we watched a movie) for the afternoon. 

After dinner some of our neighbor friends came over to trick or treat with us and we all headed out for some candy!  We ran into a couple other families from the neighborhood, both of which have kindergarteners at the same school Haley and Abby are at, so we turned into quite a big pack.  After about 20 minutes Seth declared that his bag was full (it wasn't) and he was ready to go home.  He and I came home and he downed about 4 Pixie Stix!  We hadn't been home very long before Uncle Nate and Abby came back.  She had gotten too scared with all the decorations and was ready to come home.  I don't actually even know how far Haley and daddy went, but she has noticeably more candy than her brother and sister!

ready for the Halloween party

Haley in the Halloween parade at school

Abby in the Halloween parade

All ready to trick or treat!

Feather Children

Left to right: Uncle Nate, Poppa Phil, Grammie Lori, Uncle Noah, Aunt Kellie, and Auntie Melissa

My brother, Noah, got married last weekend and Haley and Abby were feather girls and Seth was a feather boy!  The ceremony had a 20's theme, and my mom sewed the kiddos the most darling outfits.  The morning of the wedding, Abby was so anxious.  She was crying saying "what if I ruin the wedding?  What if people clap for me?  What if I get mad at Haley or Seth and I have a fit in front of everyone?"  Once we were at the ceremony, they were all excited and did an awesome job!  I just can't get over how adorable they were. 

After the ceremony, some of the highlights were:

• playing in the bounce house with mommy, Auntie Laura, and Uncle Nate
• Haley becoming buddies with my cousin's daughter, Molly (also 5 years old)
• drumming on the drums around the fire
• rearranging pillows in the "castle" (which was actually a hookah lounge!)
• Abby being infatuated with "the bride", aka Aunt Kellie ("I hugged the bride" "Can I go see the bride?" "I want to sit by the bride")
• Seth freaking out that we had to leave before the "dance party" (they didn't even start the dancing until at least after 9:00, 'cause that's when we left).  He told me he was gonna do his "fast moves" and he gave me a little sample.  Boy did the people at the wedding miss out on a good little dancer!

Abby getting her hair curled

Haley got to use Auntie Laura's hot curlers!  I've never seen someone look so cute in hot curlers.

Haley and Grammie Lori getting ready for the ceremony

How cute are they?  As a bride would you even want "feather children" this cute?

Photo op with the groom, Uncle Noah

Abby and Uncle Nate watching the ceremony

I love this picture of Haley with Grammie Lori and Poppa Phil

My dad, Poppa Phil, and my mom, Grammie Lori

 

Best Night Ever

Last Thursday night was one of the best nights that we have had as a family.  It was FULL of simple, simple pleasures and we completely enjoyed them.  It was a super warm night and I made bbq'd pizzas (with that yummy dough from Trader Joes).  Oh, and one of the pizzas I made with leftover brie, sauteed onions, grilled chicken, and some balsamic fig sauce that Haley and Auntie Laura had made earlier in the week.  It was SO delicious, if I do say so myself.  

Anyway, we enjoyed the pizzas in the backyard, and all ended up sitting on the lawn instead of at the patio table.  The lawn felt really cool, which was so nice on the hot, hot day!  We just enjoyed sitting and eating together (somewhat rare to have a lovely, calm dinner in our home).  Seth asked us "What's the best part of your day?" and we all said that it was right then, having dinner together in the backyard!

As it was about 6:00 and still super beautiful and warm, we decided to go down to the beach really quickly.  The kids ran around and found treasures, and, it didn't take too long for all three of them to end up in the water (fully clothed).  It started with Abby, on her hands and knees, crawling in the ocean!  Then we all ran and jumped over the waves for a while.  So fun.  It was an evening of pure joy, and I'm putting it on the blog because I don't want to forget it!

Seth's 3rd Birthday

Seth turned 3 years old on October 6th and he was super into his birthday this year!  For his birthday present we gave him a drum set and it was a big hit!  When we said it was time to sing happy birthday and have cake, he didn't want to walk away from the drums.  We convinced him to come and blow out the candles, and then he ran straight back to the drums...without eating any cake!

How much do you love Seth's camera smile?!

A few days later, we had a "rock star" birthday party for him.  He really wanted a stage, so we figured out a way to make one.  He had so much fun having all his friends over and playing music.  The morning of the party Seth told us he was having a parade at his party.  He really loved leading the parade with his guitar!

Setting up the stage!

Auntie Laura and I made him his drum cake!

The birthday boy trying to knock down the guitar pinata!

Star-Struck

Okay, this post is not even a little bit about the kids, I just needed to process last night a little!  Last night I had front row tickets to see Keith Urban, who happens to be my celebrity crush.  We didn't know we had front row tickets until we got there, because our tickets were at will call.  We walked in to find that we had the seats closest to the front of the stadium, and that there was a little platform stage about 8 feet away from our seats.  I was super excited, but not at all prepared for my reaction.  As soon as Keith came out, and I could see him so clearly without looking at that big screen, I freaked out.  There is no other way to describe it.  I just kept screaming "oh my gosh" (which, as I told the story to my kids, they pointed out should have been 'oh my goodness') with everything that I had in me.  I was purposefully telling myself (in my mind) that I needed to breath, in and out, in and out!  I suddenly understood those crazy girls who fainted over the Beatles.  I didn't faint, but I could easily have cried.  I forced myself not to.  That's crazy, right?  It was like I couldn't control it.  I knew that I love Keith, but goodness, gracious...I never would have imagined myself to do what I did.  Seriously, my stomach muscles are sore today because I screamed so intensely!  Then, suddenly, Keith was off the stage and walking towards where we were sitting.  And...I touched his shoulder.  Then I was shakey and I told Carey that my hand really did feel different.  Crazy, right?  Once again, I had to really focus on my breathing.  And, even as I was one of the crazies, it did occur to me what a strange thing it is, to have this person that everyone is just reaching out and touching...just to touch him.  Jesus is one thing, but Keith?  Why on earth, and yet, I'm still so excited about it.  I've said it about 1,000 times today; "I touched Keith Urban".

I keep thinking about what a crazy intense reaction I had, and how much I surprised myself.  And I think, it's a good thing that there is no pain or death in heaven because, if that's how I reacted to just be close to and touch Keith Urban, I feel like to meet Jesus I would just instantly explode.  I assume I won't but now I'm so curious to see how I will react to meeting Him face to face.  At least I won't lose my voice and have sore stomach muscles!

No zoom, guys.  He was just right there!

County Fair Fun

This year we weren't sure we would be able to squeeze in a trip to the county fair, but we managed to make it there on Sunday afternoon.  We normally go on opening night, which tends to be pretty mellow.  Let me tell you, Sunday afternoon was a whole different experience.  We had fun, though.  I think the best part was that Seth was super into the animals, as opposed to last year when I had to put him in the Ergo so he could bury himself into my chest to avoid even seeing the animals!

It was Seth's first time being brave enough to ride a horse!

All three of them just love the animals:)

I think they could have stayed looking at the baby pigs for a good hour or so!

They sat and watched the model trains for quite a while.  Abby dropped her flip flop over the little wall, but thankfully we saw our super tall friend, Jason, right about then, and he was able to reach it!

We had to practically tear them away from the chickens!

The fair experience ended with an Icee (we split a large one into all of their sippies)!

We had to park so far away that there was a little tractor cart that pulled us to and from our car!