Thursday Thought

I bet Mattie and Bella worried once I had "human" babies, their days of being pampered and spoiled would be over. Well, the photos below prove they have certainly not been forgotten!!

This, however, is probably NOT the kind of pampering and attention they had in mind or would have preferred.

But don't my lil' witch and lil' pumpkin look so cute???

While perusing the Halloween isles at Target today not only did I score the cute doggy costumes above but I also discovered dog trick-or-treat goodies. I am not even kidding - bags of little boxed dog treats to pass out to all those pets who go trick-or-treating are available at your local retailer!! Seriously??? Do people take their pets trick-or-treating? Have Mattie and Bella been deprived all these years?

And honestly, will any of you be prepared if a dog or cat or some other pet comes knocking on your door the 31st? Truly something to think about.

"Let the little children come to me..."

Today was a special day for our church. It was Children's Sabbath where the entire service, except for the actual sermon, was led by children of all ages in our church - from the youngest being 3 years old to the oldest being 5th graders. The children, with a little guidance from a few parents, served in the roles of greeters, ushers, Lay Readers (scripture), the choir, leading in prayer, and even giving testimony of "Moments of Gratitude". The service was filled with moments that brought a big smile to my face - a smile of pride and happiness that we belong to this church. And of course there were moments, especially in the sermon, that brought tears to my eyes - tears of joy and awe and love and appreciation.

The scriptures for today's service were 2 Timothy 3:14-17, Matthew 18:2-5 and Mark 10:13-16. I strongly encourage you to read them. I know I personally can use the reminder to live my life with child-like faith!

On a children-related note, last night we got to experience a little of what it would be like with four daughters. Last month a friend and I decided to try out a kid swap where once every month or so we would take turns keeping each other's children overnight. We both wanted more regular "date nights" with our husbands but neither of us had a regular babysitter (nor did we want to shell out the extra money on a regular basis for one). Last night was our turn to keep their children - two girls, ages 7 and 2. Gabrielle absolutely adores their 7 year old and loved having a "big sister" for the night. Samantha and their 2 year old enjoyed having someone their own size and age to play with I think. All the girls behaved and got a long beautifully and the entire evening went smoothly especially considering it was the girls' first time staying with us. I definitely have a greater appreciation of parents with 3 or more children though!! (After seeing what it would be like to potty train 2-year-old twins I have to thank the good Lord above for blessing us with only one child at a time!!)

The Little Children and Jesus

¹³ People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶ And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them. ~ Mark 10:13-16 (NIV)

Fall Flavors & Family Fun

October is here. The leaves are just starting to change from green to vibrant shades of red, orange, yellow. Pumpkins and mums adorn front porches. The air feels cool and crisp in the early mornings.

Fall is here and I L-O-V-E this time of year!

With fall comes my cravings for comfort food. Tonight for dinner we had baked potato soup - loaded with cheddar cheese and bacon (and as I think about it I bet some chopped green onion and a dollop of sour cream would have been D-lish too).

As we ate our dinner one of my favorite fall foods was baking in the oven - pumpkin bread! The house was filled with the aroma of cinnamon and nutmeg. Unfortunately it is better to wait until the next day to slice into this yumminess. We all had to be content with just a taste from the crunchy top I cut off in order to level the bundt for plating. But it will make for a very tasty breakfast tomorrow!

I have a love for Starbucks and their seasonal specials. Maybe my fave of all seasonal flavors would be the Pumpkin Spice Latte. But let's face it - a daily, or even weekly, trip to Starbucks is not exactly budget-friendly. I decided I must search online to find a good substitute for my Starbucks fix. I found this website, Deliciously Organic, and their recipes for homemade flavored coffee creamers. The recipes are simple enough and require a few basic staples plus a special ingredient here and there like specific flavored extracts. The first one I had to try of course would be the Pumpkin Spice creamer. I had a cup of coffee earlier (yes, I had a large cup of regular coffee at 8:00 pm) with some of the homemade creamer and I am very happy with the results. It is not quite as sweet as say the flavored store bought creamer but I'm willing to bet it is probably a little healthier since there are no preservatives or artificial flavors, etc. I can't wait to try the Peppermint Mocha in December!

With fall also comes a more regular routine for our family. School has started as well as all of our fall activities. This year Gabrielle is in school five mornings a week and Samantha is going to our church's Parents Morning Out one day a week. Both girls are taking dance and Gabrielle is in our church's children's choir again this year. Not only are the girls busy but my Bible Study has resumed as well as a busier work schedule for myself and Ed. We are all certainly staying busy and it seems we are always on the go. But with a busier schedule and routine I am happy to say we have started back our Family Friday nights - a night set aside to do something fun as a family.

Tonight we started with a good old fashion game of "Go Fish!" Gabrielle received a set of Disney Princess playing cards for her birthday. With the girls being young we play on teams of two so each child has an adult to help out a little. I am surprised though how little help they need, even Samantha picked up on the game rather well. After playing cards we surprised the girls with "The Lion King" DVD that was just re-released this week. By then it was just past 8:00, Samantha was exhausted and went straight to bed. We allowed Gabrielle to stay up and watch the entire movie even though she had seen it before. I'm hoping since she was up until almost 10:00 she will sleep in a little tomorrow but my guess is both little ones will be bright eyed and bushy tailed by 7:00 am despite the later bedtime.

I have been giving a lot of thought to my blog this week and I think I have come up with a few ideas to freshen things up a bit. Hopefully this is the first of many more regular posts in the future. Even after the late night cup of Joe my eyelids are starting to feel heavy so until the next time - good night and happy fall!!

Apologies...

I suppose you could say I have been on a blogging hiatus - albeit an unintentional one. I do enjoy blogging and documenting our life and hope to get back to it soon. I'm simply trying to figure out a way to post more regularly without the feeling I'm neglecting some other area of my life and with more purpose and reason - more intentional I suppose. ;)

Hopefully I'll be back soon...thanks for sticking around and not giving up on me or this blog!