Harvest Party 2009

All the kiddos plus the two of us who couldn't put our babies down on the floor:)

Jake, Paxton and Micah...

Jake was the only one in costume.

Right after Mick stopped taking the picture Amy got one with all of them smiling and looking!

My two sweeties! Yeah for a picture with both of them.

Amy and Rex and I...Rex was way past ready to go home!

Uncle Mick Mick with Sadie Jane! So cute!

All the girls! Yeah for girls! Love these ladies!

Nasty armpit and Mick...he was the only adult dressed up. He was Larry the Cable Guy. Not a far stretch dear.

Val, the lone adult in a room full of wild indians...see below....

Nice.

Two cutest ladybugs in town!

We hosted our annual Harvest Party for the third year in a row. For those that don't know I don't really like the premise of Halloween, etc. so I call it Harvest to make myself feel better about throwing a party:) I wasn't sure we could pull it off this year with Sadie Jane being so little but we did! I usually don't enjoy parties at my house because I worry about if everyone is having fun, etc. But tonight I didn't really worry and I actually had fun! There were again lots of hands to hold Sadie Jane and Micah actually played well, shared and didn't bite anyone (he hasn't in a long time but you never know). So, I get to visit with friends and talk which was such a treat. It was so rainy that we didn't take the kids trickortreating but they didn't seem to mind or notice. Near the end I let them go out and ring our door bell and trickortreat at our house....nice...I know. Sadie Jane was so good and slept through most of the party and nursed and cried a little but it was fun to be around so many friends. Thanks to those who came and if you didn't and you are in the neighborhood next year stop by!

Who am I? I am really loosing it. But I had fun tonight and Micah never put on his costume, Sadie Jane had on a onesie and no hair accesories and I didn't get any pictures of them in costume. Instead of being upset with myself I am proud. Maybe I will loosen up a little yet. Oh, who am I kidding...I am sure it was just a lapse I'll be back to my nonsense tomorrow:)

Lunchtime Halloween Party!

Dracula. Ahhh!
Trying to be Dracula...

Nana, Pops and all the Grandkids. Either we have to stop having kids or Pops has to get a bigger lap:)

Nice. I know, I know not a good thing to put baggies on their faces...we went over it after the pic.

Sadie Jane with her hairbow...she kept getting mistaken for a boy. Boo hiss.

Nana did not like the bow or the fact that it was upsetting her sweet grandbaby!

Lining up for the pinata. Wendy is brave to have the pinata at all her parties.

All smiles for Bay. So cute cousins. You can tell SJ already looks up to Bay.

So sweet.

The only two pictures of Micah in his pumpkin costume.

Our pea in a pod. This is the only pic of her in costume too.

We partyed it up all day long for Halloween. Micah I think thought it was someone's birthday. We went to Aunt Wendy and Uncle Mick Mick's for a party at their house. It was packed with kiddos but lots of fun. Good food and lots of things for Micah to do and lots of hands to hold Sadie Jane. We headed home from there to clean our house and get ready for our annual Harvest Party. Thanks Wendy and Mickey for a fun afternoon! Great Job!

Fall Party at School

Micah sat and obeyed the whole stinkin' time I was there...whose kid is that?
saying the blessing the way Mrs. Mann does it...

showing me what Mrs. Mann does:)

Getting a picture of 2 year olds not so easy.

Micah wasn't real keen on getting to close for a picture after the kid next to him had just almost puked on him.

So today was Micah's Fall Party at school. I haven't mentioned much about it since my many worrying posts. I went with Micah today to the party and we had a great time and it was so fun to see how he acts in a different surrounding. Unfortunately about 2.5 minutes after we arrived the kid next to Micah puked everywhere. Now, while I feel very sorry for that boy and his momma it totally consumed my thoughts the rest of the party. I worried that somehow he breathed Sadie Jane's way or that Micah was in turn going to get it. It was a year ago that we all got the stomach virus in this house...and you all know how dreaded it can be. So while the party was fun my worrying has just begun and will continue til we are out of the window of opportunity.

Enough of that, my momma says I should think positive and think that we will be fine...but then it would catch me off guard and you all know how I need my expectations to be ready and on target. Anyways, I said enough...

I thought I would let you know that aside from the sicknesses that we are picking up from Micah's class it has been a great thing thus far. Micah loves school and is learning alot. His teacher is a really godly woman and makes it much easier to leave him. He loves her so much and talks about her alot. It is so hard to figure out what goes on at school though because these are the only things that he tells me about school:

~ Mrs. Mann and Hannah were the only people in his class.

~ They had peanuts for snacks (almost every day)...no worries, they never actually have.

~ They go to the playground when it is raining.

~ Someone bit him.

~ Someone pulled his shirt.

~ Mrs. Mann says a better blessing than we do.

Apparently they are teaching kids to lie at the baptist preschools.

Seriously, it has been a blessing to have a little bit of time to spend with Sadie Jane and to have Micah do something other than watch tv while I nurse her. I also can make it to the store much easier with one child. Micah hasn't picked up anything noticably worldly or changed his attitude for the worse, my main concerns. And all that time I thought I would be able to devote to homeschooling etc, just isn't there right now...prayerfully it will be in the future. But for now and this season, school has been a blessing for us and obviously a way for Micah to learn more about Jesus which is most important to me. (Not that we aren't at home, but the reinforcement doesn't hurt a bit.) So to most of you thanks for the push to let him go...unless we get the stomach virus...then the thankfulness will be hard to see through vomit.

MMC Party!

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Party! Just thought this was so cute. The only time Micahbird sits still is when the Mouse is on! He also loved the treat of eating in front of the tv, something we don't let him do usually:)

oh dear, Jesus...

Micah had such a good day yesterday and today. He is starting to adjust I think and needing to show out less and less for more attention. We'll see if it lasts for the long haul. After much talk with other momma's I think Sadie Jane has reflux. She hasn't been herself since the night before we went to Columbus. Lots of spitting up and crying...like she's in pain. So the only appt I could get today is at 230. Micah's nap time is 2 or 230...and we are all going to the doctor solo. Holy moly...please help us Jesus. I hate that Micah has been so good and I am now setting him up for a good spankin' because I know the combo of doctor office and napneeding is too much for anyone to handle. So if you read this soon...pray hard. Also pray we figure out what is wrong with SJ and that we don't pick up the swine flu in the process!

Momma's

So these are two random pictures...but they are part of our screen saver slide show and since we have the computer in the living room right now, Micah watches it like a movie. Whenever these pictures come up he always points out that Jenny and Nana are in these pictures even though you can't see their faces...he knows that it is them. Or at least I think that is each of them and he says so and who would argue with him about that! I say that because they have been in the background of all things Harper lately and they deserve a little credit for their selflessness.

I have a point to all of this randomness and it is to say thank you to my mom and Mick's mom for their own labor of love during my labor of birthing and raising my kiddos. They have been so good to me these first few weeks of Sadie Jane's life and I am so thankful. I mentioned previously my difficulty in asking for help...but I have had to have it this go round. I have at times had to ask both of them to help me and that is a very humbling experience. I hope to teach my two that my goal is to be Jesus to them as their Momma--and Nana and Jenny have done just that for me, Mick, Micah and Sadie Jane.

Jenny has been my nanny on Tuesday's carting Micah here and there and Nana so graciously traveled with me once we got to Columbus. They've cooked and cleaned and done more than I could ask and probably more than they should. So thanks for teaching me more about Jesus through your actions and I hope and pray I can do the same things for Sadie Jane and my daughter in law in the future. I love you both much!

control

One of my many struggles as a Christian is relinquishing control to the Lord in all areas of my life. I like to pray and lean on Jesus in good times and bad but somewhere in my sinful heart I still feel the need to be in control and to have some say in things...I always realize in the end that the best thing to do is to turn it all to Him but often it takes the yuck/hard stuff to bring me there. This whole Momma thing is one big refinement process and the whole second child thing is really bringing some truth home. I love the verse Jeremiah 29:11 and I actually just used it to encourage some teenagers and as I think of it now I see that I need to speak that truth to myself more than anyone else. In the first week of having Sadie Jane I had some really ugly thoughts...most of which I wont be uttering outloud. During those moments I literally had to rebuke Satan in the name of Jesus and Praise the Lord it worked. But one of the thoughts that haunted me was regret...and then of course guilt for the regret. But I kept thinking why oh why did I go and change something I ALMOST had under control?? I sort of had the whole parenting thing down at least to the point that I could have some ...you guessed it...CONTROL. It is now that I see God blessed me with this precious little girl not just to entrust her to me for teaching her about Him but also to bring me to a place of reminding me that He is control. And that isn't a bad thing...I know in church we learn it isn't but in my head sometimes I convince myself it is good to have some control. Oh but it is not. The one area I have learned alot about control is asking for help. It is so hard for me to admit I might not can do something on my own and I especially want to do what God has called me to as a Momma, but I am learning that it is sin that makes me feel like I must do it alone and pride that wants to be in control of everything. All of this said I just wanted to put it in writing knowing that God will continue to remind me of this truth again and again through my precious children but also in so many other ways...maybe I can be reminded here instead of being knocked on my booty when I can't hack it in my own eyes. Either way I am thankful that God loves me enough not to leave me the way that I am, but that He patiently teaches me more of who He is and who I am not.

Punkin Patch

Last year we made a day of the whole pumpkin patch experience...this year, not so much. We went to a local church sale and just got the pictures we wanted and Micah never knew the difference. Maybe next year we'll head back for a hayride and all the hype:) We still had fun though and I think we actually took our first family picture of the four of us. Yippee! Micah has been a challenge today which is frustrating because I really wanted us to have a good day. Tonight we are having pizza and watching the Premiere of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Movie at 7. For those that have a toddler that loves this you would be excited too. Micah has yet to sit still for a whole "movie" so we'll see if Mickey the Mouse can work the magic. Happy Harvest to all of you and the inordinate pictures are mainly for Jenny...also Sadie Jane was asleep and not looking her best in her gender neutral outfit. I just can't handle her without some pink or purple:)