Favorite Foto Friday (#7)

Ok, this pic keeps coming up blurry. Anyway, this is a carnival outside a hotel I was staying at in Spain. I had to take a picture because it was the weirdest thing!!! There was a HUGE American flag hanging on some sort of construction vehicle nearby and then there were typical carnvial games. This one is small children shooting rifles at miniature shot bottles full of alcohol!!! It was so surreal.

I suppose it is also a reminder of how secure other countries are. This sort of game would raise all sorts of issues in the states and children who had problems later in life would blame games such as this. I wonder what the difference is? Maybe it's that 3 hour siesta in Spain. Maybe I should adopt that practice.....

The Elephant in the Room

Haa. I would like to just name this Noah is Cute. Because he is. I read in a parenting magazine to buy some small toys before going on a long trip. You are supposed to wrap them up and hide them in your bag so that when a crisis is near a new and fun thing is waiting. I did just this, getting some small puzzles and coloring books, a baby doll and a bottle and other random things. I bought this elephant against my better judgment, mostly because Noah is obsessed with elephants. Well, it broke when I opened the package and so it never made it to Iceland. Noah saw it one day and just fell in love with it. Here is the interaction with the one ear-ed elephant in the room. And the mean mommy in the background!!!

Knoebel's

Last Saturday my family held a picnic at Knoebel's Grove in Elysburg, PA. It was a lovely (hot, muggy) day in the middle of nowhere. We left the house at 9 and arrived at 1:30pm! Now, mind you, we picked up my brother and stopped for the potty tons of times. We rode about 10 rides and headed out around 5 only to return home at 9 PM.

If you are closer than we are, we highly recommend this place! It is CHEAP!!! and the rides are fun. Noah loved his adventures with mommy and daddy.


But what Knoebel's really marks is the end of the summer. We had such a fantastic summer. We did everything!!

Several trips to the Phila Zoo
The Beach
International Travel
Water Parks
Sesame Place
Hiking
Pool Parties
Tons of Barbeques
Fireworks
Great nights on the swingset and in the sandbox
Swimming at MomMom's and PopPop's
Tons of Playgrounds
Longwood Gardens
Knoebel's
The Fair
The local Dairy Farm

I don't even have a clue what my favorite thing was. We did SOOO much!! It was all wonderful and it is so great that Noah is at an age to have fun doing these things! He loves every new thing so much and never wants it to end. Now on to fall activities!!! Pumpkins and Cider here we come!!!!

As close as brothers

Today we took Noah and Asher (and baby Sullivan) to the Natural History Museum in Delaware. It was such a kid friendly place and they had a blast. They ran in circles around the dinosaur skeletons and puckered their lips for fishy poses over and over again. Noah roared at the stuffed lions and "whoooo-ed" at the owls.


It was pouring out and so when we got back we put the boys down at Erin's house for naps, but Noah wasn't having it. I didn't want to venture out in the storm but it just wouldn't stop. So, we were all together from about 9am to 5:30 pm.. what a marathon day.

Noah and Asher are such good buddies and they sometimes feel like they are brothers and not just friends. I wonder if they will grow up together or if something will come along to change one of their paths. Only God knows but for now it's really fun to watch.

Favorite Foto Friday (#6)

Ok, so this isn't my photo. I know.

But, it has a great story.

A few weeks back, I was preaching on Isaiah and the lion and the lamb.... wondering if they could ever lie down together. I showed the children this painting called The Peaceable Kingdom and asked them what looked odd to them. They quickly pointed out that babies were hanging out with lions and no one looked scared. Then I had them tell me what their perfect world would look like and we drew a picture with all sorts of great things. Later in the worship service during prayer requests, someone pointed out that a rainbow had formed over the two pictures by light streaming through the stained glass at that exact moment. How amazing is that? God spoke to us that morning saying that what God has said is indeed possible. Better than any photo I could ever take.

Making Cookies

Noah continues to be totally enamored by all animals. His day always includes imitating several of his favorite animals -- always elephants, usually tigers and bears. We spend our mornings looking for bunnies in the yard and our afternoons spotting lady bugs in the garden.

The other day I dropped Noah off at daycare and he found a dinosaur puppet and put it on his hand and yelled ROOOOOAAAARRRRR at the top of his lungs. The other two year olds ran to the other side of the room pretending to hide from the big dinosaur. He continued to do this every time one of them dared to move. I stared in awe at the power he had over them!!! It was all in good fun but he did a great dinosaur impression!

Nana recently bought him Dino pajamas and then I saw a dino cookie cutter. Noah and I made our first cookies together. He kept saying, "Mommy hold handle" when I would stop stirring. It was very cute. We let him pour sprinkles on them which meant that we went through a bottle in two shakes.

The finished product was awesome.

Arden's Celebration

On this rainy Saturday morning hundreds and hundreds of people gathered to tell the story of a brave little girl who went to play in a new kingdom, one where she didn't have to have any more medicines and doctors and needles.  Princess Arden was remembered as a valiant and intelligent child who mesmerized all of her family and friends.  Neuroblastoma was her demon, a stomach cancer, and in 10 short months, the demon took over and took control.  Today we praised Christ for her incredible life and for God's great love and joy for each one of his creations.  Today Arden dances and sings and plays again.  

Hug your loved ones, tight.