One Thing - 9/30/13

Little girl is finally standing on her own for a few seconds at a time

And, thinking she is pretty cool as she tries to climb up the slide!

One Thing - 9/29/13

Today was a good day...until about 20 minutes before bedtime when it literally turned into a "crappy" day. :( As I was bathing a baby and was then greeted by another messy child, I had to send Mike one of those texts that I have rarely sent basically saying, "I need you here as soon as it is possible for you to be here." Honestly, he walked into the house and upstairs to where we were and I didn't even know what to say. So, I laughed and said, "welcome home!" 

Thankfully, we now have 3 clean children asleep in their beds and a washing machine doing its work to clean yucky clothes. 

And, it is days like today when I am so immensely thankful that I can say,

"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

One Thing - 9/28/13

Two handsome, freshly bathed boys in new matching monster jammies

One Thing - 9/27/13

I wasn't able to post anything yesterday because Mike and I spent most of the day driving to Minneapolis to see Shane & Shane in concert. We dropped the kids off in Mountain Lake to stay with Grandma and Grandpa. Less than 24 hours later, we were back to pick the kids up again and head back to Nebraska. I think this picture shows that they had a good time with Grandma and Grandpa...Lydia was asleep within a minute or two after we left and slept close to 3 hours, Silas fell asleep about 10 minutes into our trip and slept about 2 1/2 hours, and Jonah fell asleep about 20 minutes into our drive and slept just over 2 hours. It's always nice to get away for day, but I miss these little ones so much. Life is sweeter when we are all together!

One Thing - 9/25/13

This guy fits into our family well. He has been sitting outside for the past hour reading his Awana Cubbies book. Wish I was out there with him reading a book!

One Thing - 9/23/13

Today was a full day - work, then grocery shopping, then making a big batch of laundry detergent (it should last 6+ months), then making supper, then cleaning the house a bit and getting ready for tomorrow (which is another full day). But, at the end of the day, in the few minutes we had to hang out as a family in the basement, I was incredibly blessed by the love of these 3 kids...lots of hugs and cuddles. And, the questions just kept coming from Silas - "I like you, Mommy." I like you, too. "I love you, Mommy." I love you, too. "Why do you like me?" Because you are my little boy. "Why do you love me?" Because you are mine. "When did you get me?" July 3, 2010. "How did you get me?" God gave you to me. "Why did God give me to you?" Because He is kind. "Why is he kind?" Because that is who He is. "I like you, Mommy." 

One Thing - 9/22/13

Found this picture on my ipod. I didn't realize that while we were busy capturing pictures of Lydia Jonah was taking a picture of us! :)

One Thing - 9/21/13

A Conversation Tonight:

J (in a high-pitched voice): SUSIE! SUSIE!

S: I'm not Susie. I'm Silas.

J: I'm not calling you. I'm trying to get the pigs out of our garage.

Me: It's not Susie. It's suey.

J: Oh. SUEY! SUEY!

Vala's Pumpkin Patch 2013

We had gorgeous weather for our annual trip to Vala's on their opening day!

Last year, this little girl was only 5 days old on our trip to Vala's. 

She was able to enjoy it much more this year!

Sy spent a lot of time looking at his map and deciding where to go next.

Lydia enjoyed petting the goats

Jonah cheered on his pig in pig races

After lunch, we watched a flying stunt dog show.

At the end the boys got to take their turn at throwing a frisbee to the dog

Grandpa, Daddy and the boys rode the family carts

And spent time jumping on the giant pumpkin pillows

We enjoyed a train ride. The boys picked the caboose for us to ride in.

Jonah and Silas rode trikes on the trike track for close to 45 minutes while 

I visited with a friend I ran into. 

Then, we went back to the goats to feed them.

And, we went on a barnyard adventure ride in little trailers pulled by a tractor

Everyone loved the Big Slide Ride

At the end of the day, we finally took a hayrack ride out to the 

pumpkin patch to pick our pumpkins.

Grandma went on a search for the perfect pumpkin

One Thing - 9/20/13

We spent our day with Grandma and Grandpa at one of the boys' favorite places - Vala's Pumpkin Patch. We are WIPED OUT. We arrived shortly after 9am and left just before 6pm, and we still had one boy who was disappointed that he missed a few attractions. But, it was a beautiful day filled with fun! More pictures to come!

One Thing - 9/19/13

Daddy got a banjo

One Thing - 9/18/13

It is a joy to watch this guy love his family. He is the best little brother to Jonah and the best big brother to Lydia. Even Gloria gets to experience his love...most of the time. 

One Thing - 9/17/13

Another picture from our photo shoot

Facebook friends, you have already seen this. Non-facebook users, enjoy! -

A few weeks ago, Jonah came down the stairs very early in the morning. I was eating breakfast in the dark, and Mike was getting ready for the day. Jonah has a huge grin on his face and says, "Mommy, do you want to hear a joke?" I told him yes and this is what I heard: "Why did the cow go to Caribou? To get a decaf." I LOVE this kid's creativity and am excited to see how God will use it for His glory!

One Thing - 9/16/13

One year ago...

Today...

For a few more pictures of Lydia's birthday celebration visit:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100607585206810.1073741830.63911808&type=1&l=3e430dc332

One Thing - 9/15/13

Our sweet girl turns 1 tomorrow. I can't believe it! One year ago right now, I was getting our family of 4 ready to go to an anniversary party for a couple at our church not even imagining that my water would break just minutes after we got there. As I held Lydia this morning, I realized that there are probably very few times remaining for me to hold and rock this sleeping baby. 

I will take every moment I can get.

One Thing - 9/14/13

Our One Thing from today is a big thing! We spent a few hours this morning at Martin's Hillside Orchard. We have picked strawberries there every year since we have lived in Nebraska but had not gone during apple season until now.

Riding out to the Apples

We picked Honeycrisp, Gala, and Jonathan apples

After we were done picking, we spent awhile playing on all of the fun activities at the orchard.

Lydia couldn't take her eyes off the hay ride tractor.

"We're at the top of the world!"

Beautiful apple trees and corn fields!

Lydia LOVED the corn box! I couldn't get her to look up here either. 

She could have sat in this box all day. 

The boys looked forward to our hay ride all morning...and it didn't disappoint!

Lydia stood like this the whole ride

After our hay ride, we ate a picnic lunch. Then, we walked through a short corn maze before heading home. It was a beautiful morning spent with our family! 

Oh, and we came home with 25 lbs of apples! I already made an apple crisp for our church picnic tomorrow and one for us at home. YUM!