Happy Halloween!

From our gold rush days girl and our black cat.

Orphan seminar

(printable credit to www.kreativekraning.com)



I had the most amazing conversation today with a mom at the girls' school...... Eric and I have had such a heart for orphans..... Since we started dating we have been discussing this..... 3 or 4 years ago, things were really re-ignited when Eric was introduced to "invisible children"..... Anyhow I know this isn't news to anyone, as we have talked about it openly, (in this post -click here: as well as many others)blogged about it etc. :) anyhow, we are going to the Kroc center this weekend for a really cool
Event called Orphan Sunday! Such a neat event bringing awareness! I'm sure we will be posting more on this in the days to come. :) and I am certain I will be blogging about my conversation this morning, with that mom. God sure has a way of weaving paths so they cross with the paths of others. God is so much bigger than we know, I'm reminded of this fact daily..... Love how he weaves our lives with the lives of others.

prayers.

We need some prayers for Caelan. the last 3 weeks or so, she's been complaining of leg pain.... all year she's been hurting with leg pain, but this is different. she's in tears.... and she stopped playing soccer weeks ago.... so this isn't the typical pain she's been having, its escalated.... and a lot of pain in the hip.....
as you all know, she had surgery 2 years ago at Shriners Hospital..... we are going to be making her an appointment to see whats going on with the amount of pain she is having and see what they recommend we do...
please, say a prayer for our girl. she's in a lot of pain..... things we have tried to help with it, aren't working.... please pray for healing... wisdom for eric and i.... and pray for her spirits. she's really down about it all... :(

GOAL!

Riley scored her 1st goal! it as the last game of the season.... we talked on the way to the game and i told her, "i bet you score a goal today.... you go out there and score a goal, ok"

she replied, "ok."

and she did just that! her teammate Izzy passed her the ball mid field and and took the ball, and ran with it.... she dribbled that ball, keeping total control.... made it passed 3 of their defenders... it was just her and the other goalie...... and the look of sheer determination was on her face. i ran along the sidelines following her down the field chanting, Go riley, go! you can do it......

(yes, i was "that mom") but i didn't care! i was taking this moment and savoring the sweetness of it.... the extreme excitement of the moment. eric was laughing at me as he cheered her on, byt while standing in the same spot..... (calm and collected).... she kicked the ball hard, it hit the side of the post inside the net, shoots, scored!

it was amazing..... she turned around and made eye contact, and had tears.... she was excited but looked frightened at the same time.... like she woke up from a dream... she was in shock.... i was screaming! so happy! her team huddled and cheered at her, coach ran up and gave her a hi-five.... i ran on to the field. yep, "that mom"..... i gave her a hug and said, "I'm so proud of you! thats so cool." she said, "mom i even made it passed their 3 defenders!" i said, yep, you sure did, you stud soccer girl you...." then a smile. sheer joy...... as she raised her hand when the coach asked if anyone needed a break.... she said, "that was tough scoring that goal, can i come out and rest..."

and she did, but not for long because the coach put her right back in.... she played all season long, HARDLY on the side-lines.... she's one athletic girl. she loved soccer this year! and can't wait for spring soccer... but she has reminded me over and over, mom, 1st snowboarding.

yep. snowboarding will begin soon! and the girl can't wait for it.

field trip!

the first field trip for 5th grade this year~ to the rock ranch! it was the most amazing field trip! we rode the bus out there.... the kids dug and dug and what ever they could fit in a gallon canvas size bag they got to wash up and take home! it was the neatest field trip for these kids! some of the things they dug out were amazing! it was a great example of hands on learning.... they are studying rocks and minerals so it was the perfect field trip for this unit! i loved it too. it is a delight to be able to be a part of things like this..... i am so very very lucky to be a stay-at-home mom in todays world.... its not easy and it takes a huge sacrifice financially for us, but i wouldn't trade it for anything.... i have been able to coach the soccer team. go on field trips. i haven't missed a beat in their life, and i am so fortunate..... i will never take these times for granted and daily i make sure i give thanks in my prayers for days like these... and moments like this.
so very very blessed to have them....

fall...

fall. the colors are the most beautiful colors....

the weather has been amazing, crisp, cool... a perfect fall.

soccer season had us busy! but this last week it ended for the season....

this last week was busy.... we had a slight plumbing leak in caelans bathroom..... getting that all fixed... they installed a tub and didn't tighten things correctly.... but eric is able to fix it.... a little elbow grease, some plumbing supplies and some drywall work and it should be all squared away.... ahhhhh, home ownership :)

other random news, i was driving to the school the other day and spotted someones old truck fitted to look like mater from the Cars movie. so awesome. the girls loved that!

anyhow, all is busy here..... hope your fall season is beautiful and spent making amazing memories. 

Conversations with kids:
(Riley flexing her muscles)
Caelan:
"Oh my gosh, you look like a grown man when you do that!!!! How do you get muscles like that?"
I chime in:
"Lifting weights, exercise, watching what food you eat."
Riley Interupts:
No, uh-uh. All anybody needs to do is come to my school and push the tire swing around for people and play a bunch of tetherball like me"

Fireplace make-over

Brass to black! This weekends project completed!

October 18

Eric turned 34. We celebrated with frozen yogurt, huckleberry! Yum!!!!! We went to church and then tried a new fire brick pizza place! Saturday was soccer all day..... Then Sunday we had Eric's co-worker Tom and his family over for lunch and to visit. It was a great weekend of celebrating Eric. Happy birthday, my love.

Packages.

Eric's parents sent down comforters! As well as a whole box full of stuff! Such an amazing gesture!!! So thankful!

Learning... Growing....

There is something about working together that builds our relationship.... Team work. Being unified. Completing big tasks together.... It's such an amazing feeling..... For weeks Eric and I have contemplated what we would do about 3 dead trees (70 ft tall tamaracks) that sat next to our house, between us and the neighbors..... We've had arborist after arborist out to talk to us about removing these trees.....
Several quotes later..... We decided
To take on the task ourselves..... Not an easy task. Very scary and a lot of work, patience and careful considerations..... We've cut down about 6 trees but these are different than the others.... These are dead, cannot be climbed and topped.... They needed to be fallen between our fence and our house..... About an 8 ft section..... We were given skillful advice on how it needed to be done....
It took about 45 minutes. Sounds like you'd grab and chain saw and go at it....
Nope. Measuring the distance, the angles, notching the tree, first attaching a heavy rope and attaching me to the other end of the rope.... I'd be the one to pull into the direction it needs to fall.... The notching also helps direct...... Then little by little Eric cuts..... The tree begins to give way, and I lean into the rope secured around my waist.... The tree comes
Towards me and I'm advised to jump out of the way..... I do. And then tears fall, like rivers from my eyes! Weeping for relief, the kind of tears you cry in joy, in extreme joy. No it wasn't crossing the finish line to a marathon, no it's not the birth of a child, but it's the overwhelming bond you get with your husband that cannot be put into words.... Accomplishing something huge together.... Taking time to do it the right way. Seeing success in the end..... The feeling is beautiful. Thank you Jesus for relationship building things in life. Things that bring us together. Love him. Love this. Love the newly inherited firewood we now have to keep our family warm this winter. Thank you, Jesus. For one less dead tree we have to worry about.... Only 2 left..... And we won't tackle that today. Not tomorrow.... But maybe soon. Maybe we'll wait. Who knows... But for now rejoicing in this moment. This accomplishment..... The beauty of this experience. Quite blessed.

Projects!

One more task off the list!!!! Painting is all done in the living room! Now all that's left is the ceilings.... So grateful the precious owners left a 5 gallon tub of creamy white paint!!!!!! We were able to to all of our painting with no cost!!!! Now we are out of paint and will need to buy some for the ceilings. They left a separate 1 gallon in addition to the 5 gallon tub, so hopefully that'll get quite a bit of the ceilings done, and we will get another gallon to match it soon. So fortunate for the little things..... Free scrap wood at the neighbors, paint left here.... So far we've spent so little.... Whew! Since buying the house took a chunk and repairing our cars set us back.... But God has provided in so many ways to keep moving forward with projects that have needed done..... Counting all the many ways we feel fortunate....

Fall colors shining through....

Touches of fall.... Crisp cool days,
Stillness on the lake..... Quiet in the air..... Deer all around.....
Birds are gone and took shelter elsewhere.... Its quiet and lovely..... Love these
Times....