Introducing Bob the Fish!

The Arboretum..and (ahem) Poop.....

This morning we set out for the Dallas Arboretum with some friends. The day was absolutely beautiful. My son, however, made this outing one of the most stressful events ever. Is my son the only 2 year old in the world that won't stay with me and will literally run the opposite direction when I call for him to come here?

On another note, I have to admit something. I'm bad. I've resorted to bribery. I told Benjamin a few days ago if he started using the potty I would get him a pet fish. He loved that idea and even named the fish already - Bob. Well, today after the Arboretum guess who used the potty for the first time ever? As he was sitting on the potty and just finished, he said "now we go to store and get Bob the fish!" I said that's right and if you do it again we'll get you another fish. He was really excited about that and he already named his second fish - Junior. I guess at some point I can't reward him with a fish every time but right now it works. Anyway, the potty incident totally made up for the stressful morning. I'm looking forward to him waking up from his nap now so we can go get Bob the fish!

On our way out the door...a kiss for Savannah!
















Benjamin and Natalie












Benjamin and Luke












Want a pumpkin Mom?














Just one of the several tantrums he threw while
we were on our way out. Whew.












Savannah had a good time. Never heard a peep out of her! :)

Faith

There are times when I question my faith. I do, at times, question God's goodness, and I do, at times, wonder if faith in God is all hogwash and it's all something that's made up. It terrifies me that I have occasional doubt. Then, I pray. I be quiet. I listen. And God answers. I tend to play things around in my head over and over. I talk about things and try to figure things out on my own when I should be turning it over to God. Sure enough, when I do turn it over to Him and just listen, he answers me in that time of stillness. How do I know it's Him? Because honestly I'm not smart enough to come up with the kind of answers he gives me. So how do I know, even in times of doubt, that I really do have faith? Because I choose to live every day, form every thought, articulate every word in a way that pleases Him. Of course, I fail every day in my actions, thoughts, and speech because I'm a sinner but I wake up each day and try again. If I didn't have faith, why would I spend so much time trying to please Him? That's the answer I needed, proof that I do have faith.

Dress Up

Benjamin was sick most of last week with a low grade fever and a cough. So we were cooped up in the house all week. On Thursday morning he wanted to put his Halloween costume on. He also insisted that Savannah put on her pumpkin princess costume and I put on my ladybug costume. I thought I would get away with just putting her Halloween bow on her head and he made it very clear that the bow wasn't enough. He wanted the whole outfit! So we spent about an hour dressed up in our costumes. I got some good pictures out of it....and no, there's no pictures of me....thank goodness!

Savannah with just the bow. Right before he insisted she put the whole outfit on.












Love this outfit! Too bad the tutu is really uncomfortable. It'll just be used for pictures sake. I actually made the tutu and the onesie. Couldn't find anything like I wanted in the stores so I broke down and did it myself. Trust me, I'm not crafty. I'm shocked that the stuff hasn't fallen apart yet.

















He doesn't like putting the head of the dinosaur over his head, but really likes the rest of the costume. Oh well, at least he'll wear it, right?

















Watching a little TV together.

Intruder in the House.....

Thursday as I was in the playroom with the kids playing I heard the chime on our home alarm go off like someone just opened a door or window. Since it was shortly after 5:30pm I assumed it was David coming home early. We have one of the alarm pads in the playroom so I looked up to see what zone set the chime off. It was zone 4 which are windows on the complete opposite side of the house - meaning, it wasn't David. I panicked. I grabbed Savannah and rushed to the next room to get the cordless phone. As I was grabbing the phone I yelled "HELLO!!!" as loud as I could so at least the intruder would know that someone was home and maybe that would scare him away. I immediately turned around, told Benjamin to quickly follow me and we slipped out through the garage and we took refuge in the driveway at the back of the house. I called David and told him what happened. I was terrified. So terrified my voice was breaking, I was stuttering and my whole body was trembling. He left the office right then (thank goodness his office is only about 5 minutes from the house). Well, once he got home we realized what happened. A sensor had fallen off one of the windows in the guest bathroom. The reason it fell off is because that bathroom is being remodeled and the sensor is taped to the window until we get a new window. The humidity from yesterday made the tape useless! All I have to say is "WHEW!" I've always wondered how I would react in a situation like that. So what's the moral of the story? Don't use tape to temporarily fix an alarm sensor.....

On a happier note, my mom brought by a cupcake hat she knitted for Savannah on Friday afternoon. I have to show it off! Love the cherry on top. Savannah and I went shopping for winter clothes for Benjamin on Saturday morning and the hat got lots of compliments. Thanks Mom!

Sleeping on the Floor

Last night when I was doing my nightly routine of checking on my sleeping kids, this is what I found in Benjamin's room. Sweet little guy. He climbed out of his crib and was sound asleep on his bedroom floor. He knows how to get out of the crib but can't get back in by himself. I'm guessing he was too afraid to come ask us to help him get back in once he got out for fear of being in trouble. It just melted my heart seeing him like this. We picked him up and put him back in the crib and he went right back to sleep.

Pumpkin Patch 2009

We visited a pumpkin patch that's near our home Saturday morning. It's become a tradition and Benjamin loves it! Each year it gets better and better for him because he's getting old enough now that he can really appreciate all the fun stuff to do. He really enjoyed feeding the goats...well, he didn't feed them because he was scared of them but he did have a great time watching Daddy do it!

Benjamin's thinking "yeah, um, I'll just watch you dadda"!












Benjamin and Daddy.












Benjamin and me (in a dress) on the tractor ride...oh the things we do for our kids.












He looks real happy about this doesn't he?












This made him happier!

Sunday School Picnic

We had a great time last night at a picnic with our Sunday school group. I couldn't believe how cold it got outside that evening! Benjamin was running around in shorts and a t-shirt and it didn't bother him one bit. It's definitely starting to feel like Fall and I L-O-V-E it!

Benjamin and one of his favorite buddies, Seth.












Our future football players!












So serious.

Savannah Banana

We started trying different foods with Savannah a couple of weeks ago. She's been eating rice cereal for a couple of months now and loves it. Her first real food (not including the rice cereal) was bananas. She's not a fan. Too bad. The word goes so well with her name. She loves sweet potatoes though - so did Benjamin. As for the bottle, we're still working on it. We've actually stopped trying to give her a bottle and have been giving her sippie cups instead. She wants nothing to do with the bottle but will display an interest with the sippie cups. Hopefully it won't be much longer and she'll figure it out! Pretty please Savannah?