Happy Halloween!!!

What a nice day we had. We took the kids Trick or Treating in Uptown this afternoon. It's really nice, they block off main street and all the shops hand out candy. Afterwards we went to Walmart and then we dropped Walter off at youth group. We went to Trick or Treat a few people and then got a call from Walter to meet him at TCBY for yogurt. Only one student showed up so he was taking her out for a yogurt and needed us to meet him. After that we went to the grocery store and then have spent a nice Tuesday evening at home as a family - wow it's been nice.

Ben was "Cowboy Spiderman" and Becca is Dorothy. I made her costume and almost want to have another little girl so someone else can wear this costume. I guess I'll just have to pass it on since having another child is not in our plans.

I've been tagged by Amy

Amy Chose to tag me so here are my answers to the questions asked.

What do you like most about where you live?

I love the views that I have of the area around us. I love that we are just a short distance from lakes, fishing and camping. I love that I can see deer every morning and evening from my back and front yards. I love that it doesn't get too hot. I love that we have seasons. I love that it is a small town and there is always someone we know where ever we are at.

Is there anything strange about where you live?

How about there are two state prisons on the out skirts of town. Our towns population includes those inmates in those prisons.

What's one of your all time favorite music albums and why?

I don't really have a all time favorite music album. If I have to choose it would be any album by Third Day. It always uplifting and since I know most of the songs I love singing along.

Did you have a passion for something as a kid that you still have now? (if not, what is one of your passions now?)

I've always had a passion for reading and for sewing. As a kid I loved cross stitching and now that passion has turned into my sewing maching and quilting and sewing blankets and other things like that.

What do you like most about having a blog?

I love having a place where I can put down my feelings. I really us this as a journal and so it's nice to have a place where I can process things that I'm feeling.

Ok, so now I have to tag someone - how about two people.

Heather and Maggie

Senseless and Tragic

This last week our town lost three teenagers all on the same day. One girl lost her life to a six month battle with leukemia, she was sixteen. The other two deaths were because of a drug overdose, the boys were a sophomore and the other a senior in high school. Because of God allowing us (mainly Walter) to do Jr high ministry at church, we knew the girl and we knew the brother of one of the boys. It hits close to home but maybe, just maybe we made a impact in their lives.

My memory of the young lady, Zara, will be her gentle spirit. She was physically beautiful, but more than anything there was away about her that was gentle and sweet. She first came with us to winter camp. I don't think Ben was a year yet. She asked to hold him and she was so gentle and he enjoyed playing with her. She always had a smile and I remember even then saying that I want to have a daughter who has the kind of character that I saw in Zara.

I don't know the two young men. My heart goes out to their mothers. What a senseless way to loose a child. It makes me want to hug my children all that much closer.

This whole thing has made me rethink our involvement in youth ministry. Maybe, just maybe, we are making a difference in some of these kids lives. It a hard ministry, you never really know if you are making a difference. Are kids there because they want to learn about God or is it because they want to have fun. The balance of doing both is a delicate one. The conclusion I came to is that we need to continue - we have a message that the world needs to hear and God has given Walter the passion and desire to serve. Maybe I need to get out of his way more and let him do that.

The other conclusion I came to is that I will love my own children as long as they are God's gift to me. I will hug them tighter and play with them more, so that if the Lord chooses to take them or me before I'm ready to have that happen, we will have sweet, sweet memories to hold on to.

YES AND NO

Becca isn't a big talker, she grunts, whines, signs if we make her and nods her head to questions. Now if she were our first child we would of course be very worried about her and wonder if there is something wrong because she's not talking. But she's very similar to Ben, except she whines A LOT more.

Today was one of those afternoons when she got up from her nap crabby. She only wanted to sit on her daddy's lap and grunted at Ben or I if we got to close to them. As we are watching a movie on TV there is a commercial with a mom and pre-teen/teenage daughter arguing. I look at Becca and asked "Are you and mommy going to argue like that?" and she nods "yes". We chuckle. I ask her if she's going to argue with her daddy and she nods "no". I know she didn't really know what she was "saying" but knowing that it is close to the truth makes it funny.

*******************************

In other news, I've went back to work. I'm working for a local CPA firm here in town doing bookkeeping. I love it because of the flexible hours. The kids are going to daycare and Ben's learning so much from Deb's new preschool program. Becca's learning that the world doesn't revolve around her and that not everyone gives into her when she whines. It's nice knowing that my kids are together and that I pick them up after lunch and bring them home and have them take a nap at home.

The best part of me working again is that I again have an outlet. Instead of watching the latest on Fox news or getting into people's business that I have no business getting into. My depression has improved. You know the saying "A happy momma makes a happy family" and that definitely where we are at right now.

13 months - Becca

This last month you have officially started the "toddler" stage of life. You no longer crawl anywhere but walk or run everywhere. You still aren't talking much but you have picked up the signs "more" and "please". The sign for "milk" is still your sign for "give me". If the signs don't get you what you want you happily use your voice or shall we say screams. Ben is still your favorite person and you follow him wherever he goes. I think your favorite place to terrorize him is while he's taking a bath. You can make it from the living room, up the two steps, across the dining room and down the hall before I can get up off the floor. You proceed to go into the bathroom and scream and your brother "URRGGHHHHH!!!!" only said in a girly high pitched voice is what your daddy and I hear, followed by a "mom, dad, Becca's bothering me". I can't wait to see what your brother and your relationship will be like when you are 14 and he is 17 and you are both in high school together. Will you still be yelling at him?

You are still our little garbage disposal, you eat anything we put in front of you, except white food. The other night we gave you a bit of baked potato and cauliflower. You wouldn't eat either. I hope you don't become as picky as your brother is.

My Becca Grace,
You are getting to be so fun, I can't believe that a year ago I would hold you and cuddle you. Now a days it is a rare event if you let us cuddle you. Yesterday you woke up early from your nap, all you wanted to do was cuddle. Moments like these I am learning to treasure because before I know it we won't have them.

Love, Momma

Her name is Becky and other cute things

*When we named Rebecca we wanted her known as Rebecca or Becca. Ben lately has taken to calling her Becky. It's cute to here him say it. I don't know if he calls her this because we call have called him Benny for so long or exactly why. Up until this time she's been known as Baby Becca or just Becca.

*Another cute thing Ben's started doing is praying for our meal. His prayers always start the same "Bless this food to our bodies and our bodies to Your service" It's the part after that where we learn exactly what he's thinking. Sometimes he will pray that we all will go to Walmart after dinner so he can get a notebook or sometimes it's praying for ice cream after his bath. He also will thank the Lord for things that stand out to him. Today he thanked God for a good nap. It's wonderful to see that it just isn't words that he's repeating but he's also bringing wants and desires and a thankful heart to his God.

*Since Walter and I fell in love (6 years ago this month) he has told me 3 reasons why he loves me every night before we go to sleep. It is something that we do to our kids. The other night Ben and I were having a 'pajama party' (watching a movie while daddy was at the church working Friday night). After the movie was over I turned out the lights and he wanted to cuddle. I started telling him reasons why I loved him and he started telling me reasons why he loved me. "Because you are the best cuddler" "Because you are my best buddy" "Because you love me" Does parenting get better than this? I don't know how it could.

Summer is almost over

And where did the time go? In just 4 short weeks we will be back to our regularly scheduled program. Ben will be going to Debbie's and doing preschool there in the morning and Becca and I will be dividing our time between the gym, MOPS and I'm sure plenty of other things.

It's actually been a great summer. We haven't done anything "big", heck we haven't even gone to the lake once! Ben's done Bible Camp and VBS that were each a week long. We celebrated birthdays and went to the fair, enjoyed days at the park and for the last week and a half we've enjoyed going and meeting Walter for lunch each day. He's had a class at the county ed office and since we never get to see him during work hours at the prison it's made for a nice diversion.

The last few weeks have been busy with MOPS stuff. We finally had our first meetings last week and I'm really excited about the women that I'm working with and the vision that the Lord has given each one of us. Just a few more weeks of planning and then the school year kicks of and we are on to new things.