2 little pumpkins

We had two very lonely pumpkins sitting on our front step. Lucky for them, Jack loves traditions and insisted on carving them!

Of course all successful events begin with proper planning, so both boys sat down to choose the pumpkin design they liked.

Since Jack picked a "real design," Jason helped him with his pumpkin. Max and I went for a more freestyle carving!

Neither of them was interested in digging out the guts, but Max was thrilled with taking the top off and on!

Jason didn't let Jack get off as easy as Max, and he made him help clean out the pumpkin. I assure you he did not enjoy sticking his hand inside that pumpkin!

I would claim to have a little artistic ability, but I'm just not really in to pumpkin carving. Here's what Max and I came up with:

Here's a shot of Jason and I working hard. This picture is courtesy of Jack Marlin!

Jason's skills were much more interesting than mine, so everyone crowded around him to see his work in progress!

We had such a good time, and we have two great pumpkins to show for it... okay, one great pumpkin and one mediocre pumpkin! But the boys love them none the less!

Happy Halloween!

five on friday

1. The big news of the week is we possibly sold our house. After our second Open House this weekend, we had two offers. We still have our fingers crossed that all things continue to fall in to place, but it all looks promising!

2. Last night we had our second Girls' Night Out! I've looked through the pictures a million times, and they still make me laugh. I can't say this enough: if you don't have a group of Christian friends that you hang out with on a regular basis, you are missing something GREAT!

3. As we were getting ready for bed last night, Jack brought the Bible to me and wanted to make sure I didn't forget to read it to them. That just makes a mama smile! Speaking of... we recently bought a new Bible titled The Jesus Storybook Bible, after seeing it advertised on another blog. We own A LOT of children's Bible's, but this one is by far the best! If you don't already read the Bible with your kids, I strongly recommend this Bible!

4. The answer to last week's question was "not to run!" I should have run the 5K, but I just couldn't motivate myself. However, I did run last night! I forgot how bad it... in the words of another friend... vacuumed! (I might have said 'sucked' but my mom reads this! Hey mama!)

5. This week we dissected owl pellets at school in celebration of our "Nocturnal Animals" unit. I had an extra one, so I brought it home to Jack. He just may be an archeologist one day. He dug through that pellet like it contained hidden treasures. He did find two skulls which made him very happy! He took them to school to show his class today. I know his teachers will be thrilled that he brought animal remains to school!

wanna play

Let's play "What's wrong with this picture?" again. Here's the picture:

Okay... here's a cheat sheet for those who can't find any problems with this picture.

#1- This child is outside, and his pants are at his ankles.

#2- There is a strange wet spot on the deck.

Last clue- I wasn't out there, so I can't be absolutely sure, but I believe #1 and #2 are very closely related.

BOYS! Do they come this way or do you think we created this madness? I find it alarming that this child approaches the back door immediately after he says, "I need to tee-tee!" Just so you know we have 3 toilets in our house!

what to buy

Jason sent me a text on Friday morning. It read:

Here's an interesting thought on happiness: to increase happiness, it is better to buy experiences than to buy things. Thought you would like this.

I didn't like it. I LOVED it! I didn't always think like that. I'm not sure if it's age, children, or just a combination of things, but my perspective on life is doing a 180. I used to find myself wanting to accumulate things... now I long for more experiences with those that are closest to me!

And last Friday night was no exception! After a long week, nothing makes me smile more than spending time with Jason and the boys. We rented a $1 movie, drug a queen-sized mattress downstairs, and settled down for a family movie night! I had the best seat of all... right in the middle of the sweetest boys in the world. If they kissed me one time during that movie, they kissed me a million!

This picture is living proof that it is better to buy experiences than things!

So what are you buying? Things or experiences?

five on friday

1. After much discussion, we decided to break the "Santa" news to Jack. We've debated it a few years and since Jack asked about it the other day, it opened up the door to discuss it. Here's the funny thing... He doesn't believe us! He's convinced that we don't know what we are talking about and that Santa is in fact a real person! Go figure!

2. I have to admit I've played Angry Birds a few times since my last post. I'm still not addicted, but I might be beginning to understand why people play it. Jason has now downloaded Cut the Rope but I'm not even going to attempt to understand another game until I master Angry Birds.

3. Speaking of games... Let's play one together. It's called, "What's wrong with this picture?"

If you added a fanny pack and a camera to this little guy, he'd make a perfect tourist! When he is older, he can thank his father for dressing him in socks and Crocs! I will not take credit for this fashion failure!

4. Tomorrow is the big race that I mentioned a few weeks ago. I have to come clean and say that I haven't moved faster than a walk since the last race three weeks ago. The cause is great, and the weather isn't bad either. To run or not to run? That is the question!

5. I saw this the other day and I loved it... "Dull women have immaculate homes!" If this is true, I never have to worry about being dull! In fact, you'd probably consider me the life of the party! :)

beauty is within

A few weeks ago I mentioned reading the book Crazy Love. As I read it, the words struck such a cord in my heart and demanded that I reexamine my life. I knew there were MANY areas where I needed to either delete things or put more in to them. One of those areas was my girls' small group that I started last year!

After much prompting from Jason, I gathered a few girls from church last year and began meeting two times a month. The initial goal was to enjoy each other's company and gain some biblical insight during our meetings. Unfortunately, all we got was a good meal and some gossip! That wasn't exactly the goal!

So when we started back this year, I knew we had to do something different. I was going to have to put more in this if it was actually going to be a time of spiritual growth. I finally settled on a new plan and we had our first meeting last Thursday night. It went something like this:

GIRLS' NIGHT OUT #1

I didn't want to spoil anything, so I sent each girl a text that read:

Here's what you need to know~
Be at my house at 6:00. Things shouldn't last more than an hour unless you all get out of control! Please do not eat... supper will be provided! You can wear whatever is comfortable, but you might want to examine yourself from the neck up before coming! Thursday night is all about YOU!

With the exception of one, all the girls showed up, and the fun began. We opened with a game that another friend told me about. Each girl was given ten clothes pins. Anytime someone used the word "I", another person could take a clothespin from them. The one who had the most at the end, was the winner. This seemed like an easy game, but yours truly was the first one out! I cracked under the pressure. Those who know me well know that it killed me. I'm a horrible loser! Who won? Andrea was the winner. I think she only won, because she remained very quiet. She spoke only to take someone else's clothes pin. I'll have to remember that tactic if I ever play again!

After dinner, I lead a small devotion that centered around the 1 Samuel 16:7... "The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." We live in such a shallow world.... where beauty is only skin deep and people will go to all extremes to get it. Fewer and fewer women die with the natural body that was given to them, but rely on Botox, plastic surgery, and many other less invasive tactics to create what they call "beauty." Somewhere along the way, we have forgotten that TRUE beauty is found in the heart. Most of us (me included) spend more time worrying about the outside, when the Lord is focused on only one thing... the HEART!

I challenged each lady to focus more on the heart... and I gave them a reminder to keep in their bathrooms- the place where most of us begin our day!

We also spent some time talking about the things we were currently doing to change the beauty of our hearts. And then we did something just for fun! I paired each girl up and we set out to celebrate the outside that we all work so hard to perfect each day. We painted portraits of each other. Every day I ask kindergarteners to do things that are way out of their league, and they do them as though they are second nature. But adults crack me up! They freeze when you take them even the slightest bit out of their comfort zones. After an initial shock, these girls got busy and created some "beautiful" paintings... and I do use the word "beautiful" lightly!

Tina and Andrea were paired together (sisters) and below is the look Andrea gave when she saw the beginning stages of Tina's portrait!

Her reaction made us all laugh... Tina laughed to the point of tears.

At the other end, Amy, Susan, and I worked together, and it's clear we have no future in art... but we sure did have fun!

Of course I couldn't let anyone leave with out taking pictures of them with their new pictures!

I'll go ahead and get my embarrassment out of the way by showing you my painting. I painted a picture of Susan. I know... her neck is insanely skinny and long. This painting thing is harder than it looks.

Susan painted Amy. Here's Amy holding her picture.

And Amy painted me. This made me laugh... a lot!

On the other end, Tina painted a picture of her younger sister Andrea. She worked so hard on this. I thought she'd never finish.

And Andrea painted a picture of Tina... this one made me laugh harder than any other! Tina looks part-bear in this painting, and that nose makes me chuckle EVERY time!

We had such a good time. It's nice to take a breather every now and then.... and let girls just be girls. For an hour, we weren't wives or mothers or teachers or anything else.... we were just five girls enjoying life and having fun.

We celebrated who we are on the inside... and in the end, that's ALL that matters!

I'm so grateful that God has placed these women in my life, and I look forward to many more nights together! Thanks to you all for coming and for being such good sports! I love you all!

five on friday

1. My girls from church met at my house last night for a Girls' Night Out! It was too much fun. More to come on this event, but if you really want to know what your friends think of you, ask them to paint a picture of you! I'm so kidding, Amy! My portrait was fabulous, and I can't wait until we get together again.

2. I have a new desire. I'm taking my family camping... like "real camping!" I don't exactly know when, but it's definitely in the works! They may love me or hate, but they're going to do it at least once!

3. My sweet little Jack cleaned up his mouth this week! But tonight I was reminded of one of my favorite things that he says! He has pretty good manners, but for some reason, he always tells Jason "yes m'am!" No matter how many times we tell him it's "yes sir," he still reverts back to "yes m'am!" Tonight when we once again corrected him, he pointedly said, "I really just like saying 'yes m'am'!" Looks like Jason better get used to it.

4. We are currently accepting ANY donations that you might want to send our way! The "gall bladder bills" are beginning to arrive, and I'm starting to wonder why Jason couldn't just tough it out and keep that thing inside his body! It couldn't have hurt half as bad as the bills that we are going to have to pay!

5. My boys (Jason and Jack) are obsessed with this app "Angry Birds." Does anyone else share this obsession? I finally conceded and downloaded it on my iPhone, but I'm just not feeling it! I found "Words with Friends" to be much more educational and challenging. It's definitely appropriate for a 7-year-old, but I'm struggling to figure out why Jason is so addicted!

This is how they can be found most afternoons..... and evenings..... okay, and sometimes mornings. Is there therapy for this?

rock on

This kid has the coolest daddy!

Why you might ask? Well, besides the obvious reasons, he is super lucky. It's too bad we don't gamble, or we'd be living pretty high! He's a frequent winner at drawings/contests, such as the guitar he won last year at a conference. This year he came home with a brand-new iPod Shuffle. And this kid's daddy gave it to him.

And let me tell you who else is cool... this kid. He can rock the tunes on this iPod. Keep in mind, he only sings every 10th word, but when he gets a word, he really belts it out! In fact, he sings so loud that we're beginning to rethink giving him this thing.

Just kidding... ROCK ON, MY CHILD! ROCK ON!

five on friday

1. Jason sent me a text yesterday that said, "Got you some swag." He enjoys using words that I don't know. I had to have the origin of the word and the definition before I was clear on exactly what it was we were talking about.

swag (swæɡ)
— n
1.	slang property obtained by theft or other illicit means
2.	slang goods; valuables
3.	an ornamental festoon of fruit, flowers, or drapery or a representation of this
4.	a swaying movement; lurch
5.	dialect ( Midland English ) a depression filled with water,resulting from mining subsidence
6.	informal ( Austral ), ( NZ ) (formerly) a swagman's pack containing personal belongings
7.	informal ( Austral ), ( NZ ) go on the swag to become a tramp
8.	informal ( Austral ), ( NZ ) swags of lots of

After looking through the list of possible definitions and praying that #1 and #7 weren't correct, I decided he must have gotten me some goods and valuables. He's been at a conference this week, and I'm looking forward to seeing the prizes he brings home!

2. Speaking of new words, Jack blessed us this week with his first curse word! I know every parent dreads this moment, and I've always wondered when it would happen. He was playing his DS, closed it, and said, "What in the h***?" Since Jason was out of town, I called him to tell him the news. I love his response: Well, did you tell him we don't say that? That sort of question really calls for a smart comment. No, Jason. I sat him down and told him a few other four-letter words and we practiced saying those, too! OF COURSE, I TOLD HIM WE DON'T SAY THAT! I admit that Jason's vocabulary can be a little over my head sometimes, but I am not completely ignorant! :) Of course, in Jack's defense, the term "hell" is used in this house in Biblical terms since his daddy is a preacher! I'm hoping that's the only word he has in his arsenal!

3. I'm having a yard sale on Saturday! Why do I always underestimate the effort that is required in putting on a yard sale? And why do I wait until the night before to drag things out and price them? I guess because I wait until the night before to do EVERYTHING in my life! Bad habits are hard to break!

4. I just realized today that Monday is a holiday and there is no school. I sort of did a small dance in celebration! Please don't tell my fellow Baptist church members that I "danced." I apologize. I've just been in great need of a holiday!

5. Jason went to Catalyst this week. This year they did a live streaming of Francis Chan's session. If you are not familiar with him, he wrote a fabulous book called Crazy Love. I read that book a little over a year ago, and it absolutely changed the way I think about Christianity and our role here on earth. If you haven't read it, you should check it out. Be prepared to have your toe's stepped on and be prepared to reevaluate your current way of life. It's definitely worth reading! It caused our family to make some big changes!