It's never too late...

to carve pumpkins...

Micaiah and his creation...

Joshua holding his creation...

just as happy as he can be!!

It gets a little crazy...

when the boys are cooking in the kitchen...

but the results are amazing...

our cookie dough map of Egypt...

Simple statements...

While we were driving to his speech therapy appointment this afternoon...
listening to a CD of Wes leading worship...Joshua says, "I want God to take me to Daddy."

Now I know that this boy loves his Daddy but what struck me more than anything about this statement was Joshua's view of God and the power He possesses...you see we've been studying His power and miraculous signs from ancient times and as I read these stories I am challenged about my view of God and how it has changed as I experience more of life...man, I wish my view of God was that big!

Sudbrook Halloween Parade...

The Star Wars clan...Micaiah as Anakin Skywalker, Josh as Obi-Wan Kenobi (you should here him say this!), and Eli as Yoda.

Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan and Optimus Prime ready to protect the neighborhood...

Daddy and his boys posing for the judges...

more Halloween fun...

The boys and their friends enjoyed playing in the yard after trick or treating (as others were still trick or treating)...

in fact one little boy asked Wes if he could come back and play after he was finished trick or treating...

The prince and the princesses on the "Queen Mary" sailing away (notice Micaiah changed his costume)...boy he loved playing the hero and saving these princesses (reminds me of Wild at Heart by John Eldridge, God designed him that way).

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Eli was so funny...he took advantage of the kids playing and raided their pumpkins filled with candy. As you know, he loves to walk with things in his hands so he would take some candy, walk around until he found another pumpkin, drop the candy he was holding, get some candy from the "new" pumpkin and continue...I basically just followed him and returned the candy to the pumpkins...

although I must have missed some because Micaiah found candy when we were playing outside today and assured me that it was from HIS pumpkin!

Eli's first and hopefully the last visit...

from the Baltimore County Police.

We were coming in from outside after a playtime that went bad between two brothers and a neighbor. I had sent Micaiah in earlier for a "time out" due to the incident. When Josh, Eli and I came in I started talking to Micaiah about the way he was treating his brother. It went something like this (while Eli's little fingers were playing with the phone)...

"Micaiah, why did Mommy send you inside? Because I was being unkind to Joshua. You must always protect your brother. If you don't then I will have to ask your friends to leave next time."

Then I realized that Eli had been pushing buttons, so I took the phone and turned it off.

A few minutes later the phone rings...Wes answers the phone and then looks at me and says "Did you call 911?"

"Oh, no I bet Eli did."

The lady asks Wes his name and says she will try to intercept the officer sent out but it may be too late. So as we sat down for dinner last night the cruiser showed up and came inside "just to make sure everything was alright!"

Unfortunately, Micaiah panicked and thought that Eli was going to jail. And he wondered how long people are sent to jail. Wes didn't quite hear his concern and responded by saying "it depends on what you did." Don't worry we assured him that it was an accident and that the officer was not here to take Eli but to make sure we were all okay.

So, our topic of conversation over the dinner table last night was all about when we should call 911...

ahh life with boys is definitely an adventure!!!

"...bright and beautiful..."

"Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven't stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you'll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work.

We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul--not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory strength God gives. It is the strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us." Colossians 1:9-12 The Message

It is so interesting that for years I prayed this scripture from the NIV Bible for a friend and recently I came across it again in The Message translation and it spoke to me in a whole new way. I pray for the strength that this scripture describes...not the "grit your teeth" kind but the kind that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy!

picture taken this past weekend on our girls weekend while hiking at Ohiopyle State Park

One of the many reasons...

we love fall are the festivals at the nearby farms. This year it wasn't so much about the pumpkins and the hayride (although we enjoyed them too) but this year we had fun with the incredible corn maze!

We were instructed to do the right side of the maze (1.4 miles rather than 2.1 miles)...our mission...stay on the established maze paths, don't cut through the corn, find checkpoints 7-12 and punch our card at the checkpoints...o.k. boys....GO!

Thank God for Daddy!!!! We would have been so lost without his navigation skills (among other things). Here are the boys punching their cards at the first checkpoint...look at Eli peeking to see what everyone is so excited about.

Josh did "need a rest" after a while...

but the "cheese" grin returned for both boys when we made it to the end!

I couldn't resist adding this "corny" picture of Micaiah!

Caught...

in a tight place.

"Mommy, I really wanted this little rock and stick...now would you please help me get out?"

"No Mommy, I promise...I was not playing in the dirt!"

Quote of the day...

Micaiah comes in from riding his bike outside (if you didn't see the pictures from yesterday...go ahead and take a look) and he says...

"Nonny, tomorrow I'm going to try something that might scare you on my bike."

Well, considering that earlier in the day he asked me to place the jump at the edge of the sidewalk so he could "jump off of the sidewalk"...I can't imagine what he would be referring to!

Random Pictures from the weekend...

fun with Poppy...

smiling Eli...

run Poppy, run!

Fall party...

Wes says..."It just gets higher from here!"

Field Trip Fun...

at First Fruits Farm...a Christian ministry that has over 40 acres dedicated to growing fresh fruits and vegetables to feed the hungry...

our job for the day...place the beans in bags so they could be transported to the shelters...

the kids raced to fill the bags, and then raced to see who could fill the most bags...

our group filled ~93, 45lb. bags with beans and then placed them in the truck to be sent out...

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat....I tell you the truth whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." - Matthew 25:35, 40.

Eli's favorite journey...

Micaiah and Joshua run upstairs screaming "find us Eli"...Eli climbs up the stairs... he crawls down the hallway...

and "peeks" under the bed and screams some jibber jabber as he...

finds Joshua!

It's one of those things that Wes and I realize won't last forever, so we wanted to capture it before it slips away!

Little man...

on the move!

Fun with friends...

at the WVU game.

it was a pretty good game but the real entertainment was behind us...anyone that would wear pants like this has got to be the life of the party!

"Santa" thinks Uncle Josh would look great in a pair of these beautiful golf pants!