Boo!

My friend, Jen, just booed me in honor of the season!

Now, this is how the Blogging Boo will work. Go to as many friends as you want and tell them they've been "Boo-ed". Have them link back to your blog to pick up their Halloween Treat (picture) and tell them to "Boo" their friends. Then, put the picture in your side bar so everyone knows that you've already been "Boo-ed" and to send the pic to someone else.
So, are you scared yet!!?? BOO!!
Okay? one more time......

1. Take picture, put on sidebar
2. Tell people they have been booed
3. Link back to who booed you

Okay- Get to BOOING!

Here is a story for those of you not playing the bloggy game...When SweetDoll was born, Granny was here helping. She and SweetBoy went to storytime at the library and they talked about pumpkins. Then when they went to Wal-Mart...wouldn't you know! They had pumpkins for sale and Granny never says no! ;) So we tried our hand at carving a pumpkin. He affectionately became known as "Barney the smooky jack-o-lantern." (SweetBoy didn't quite get the spooky part!) So, 5 years later, here is "Barney the smooky jack-o-lantern 2!" We have some cousins who are pros at carving! Seriously! But this little guy will have to pose as our masterpiece this year! Happy Fall!

Pumpkin time!

This is my favorite pumpkin bread recipe because it is so easy! Amanda, at Baby Bangs, raved about these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies that sound really good. And this recipe was the on the siesta site recently. Enjoy the season!

Pumpkin Bread

3 cups sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. salt
4 eggs
1 cup cooking oil
2/3 cup water
2 cups pumpkin (I use the little can and just add a tidge of applesauce to make the rest of the 2 cups.)

Mix all ingredients well. Place in 2 large loaf pans or 1 bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 30 minutes. (This must be for a bundt pan, because in loaf pans it doesn't seem to take this long--maybe an hour.)

What we have been up to this fall

Well, first of all we have had a birthday girl! Sweet Doll turned 5! Her big gift was a 2-wheeler bike with training wheels, she calls it SeaStar. When I purchased the smallest one, I didn't think there was any way it would be too little. It was! So the next day we had to exchange it. Now we are rockin' and rollin'!

Biking is something we have been doing more lately. I brought my old bike home from my parents' house and had it fixed up. Then our neighbors were getting rid of their toddler bike trailer--perfect for Sweet Tate! We enjoy riding our bikes to go pick up Sweet Boy from school. (Every little bit saving gas helps!)

This fall our community center offered a dance class for Sweet Doll's age and a science class for Sweet Boy's age group. They have had a good time with it. I meant to take a picture of Sweet Boy in action, but I kept forgetting my camera. They did things like Mentos in Diet Coke, microwaving Ivory soap, and concocting corn starch and water--too fun! It all reminded me of my brother!

I went with Sweet Boy's class on a field trip to the pumpkin patch.

And we went camping with Granny and Papa. Since we missed our annual big camping trip this summer, the kids were really looking forward to this weekend trip. It was a nice get away. And have I mentioned the weather has been gorgeous!

Then there is the annual festival at SweetHeart's hometown. Mmm...Mamaw's corn chowder. If I ever get the recipe, I'll have to pass it along! We had fun with the rides and walking around the booths. And of course, seeing family! (Sweet Boy was the photographer here. Sweet Tate is in the back and Sweet Doll is in the front.)

Sweet Sadie

I just realized after looking at Jen's blog that it has been a month since I posted! I've been writing them in my head, they just aren't making it to the computer. And we have been quite busy. I'll fill you in on some of that next time (mostly because I know it might be a while before I post again and I'd rather that stay up than this). For this one I have to share some sadness. I realize this is probably more for me than anyone, but this is where I am right now.

Last week we had to put our Sweet Sadie to sleep. She had been our dog for almost 12 years. SweetHeart said, "You knew this day would come." To which I replied, "Yes, but I had not planned on her being my dog!" When we got her in January 1997, we knew that SweetHeart would be gone a month in the summer for school and I had to stay home for school, Sadie was going to be my guard dog and companion. And she always was. Nobody came near the house that we didn't know about it! Or her arch enemy...the vacuum cleaner! She always wanted to be where I was. Unless she decided I was moving around too much, then she got in her favorite spot, which much to my dismay was my bed--usually under the covers! But when I did land somewhere, she was always there beside me. When the kids came along, if there wasn't room beside me, she patiently waited until they were asleep and then it was her turn! I have teased that I can handle three kids. It's the dog that pushes me over the edge! Because inevitably I would get everyone settled, and Sadie would need to go out or need food or need in. I am realizing now how much she helped. I never had to sweep under the table because she picked up all the crumbs. This week I have seen how messy we really are! One of our favorite stories is when Sweet Boy was about 2, he was eating a snack in the living room and I was in the other room. He called for Sadie two or three times, and I said, "Honey, Sadie is outside." And he said, "Oh. I'm going to need a napkin then, Mom."

So this week has been sad. I vacuumed for the first time in 12 years without attack dog charging in to save us. The garbage truck came without her watchful eye. I haven't opened the gate to her room or the back door to let her out. She isn't there to say bye to as I walk out the door, or greet us when we get home. I dropped food when I was cooking and didn't hear her scamper into the kitchen when I said "Oops." (She was so well trained!) She is not at my feet as I type this, and tears roll down my cheeks. It has been very wierd because I don't know how to feel or react or how others might react. I know it is not like loosing a child and I would never compare it to that. I've been in a family with that happening, so I want to be so careful what I say. But there is a hole in our family. A being I'm not caring for anymore. A level of protection gone. A missing companion. And I didn't expect to be so heartbroken.

So here is the God-thing of it all. Friday morning before the decision that it would happen that day was made--before I even knew I needed it, a friend called and asked my two little ones to come and play. So they were gone and taken care of. That was such a blessing of friendship and provision that God took care of so I could be there and so I could loose it. You know you just can't cry and loose it with little ones around. It's a God-thing that I know He cares about me and understands my heartache more than anyone and I am safe with Him. And this may be a little bit of a stretch, spiritually speaking, because I know dogs don't really have a will. They don't have a choice to do God's plan for them or not. They are just dogs. But Sadie glorified God because she did what she was made to do. I want to bring glory to my Heavenly Father because I did what He made me to do.

Here are some pictures (big surprise!). Last year on Mother's Day the kids and I posed for a picture and Sadie came a posed too! It was so funny! We teased that she was the fur-child. And we have teasingly said that we made all our parenting mistakes on her! Ha! I wish that were true!

Did I mention she liked to nap with anyone anywhere? Here she and the kids are cuddled up in the tent--all asleep!

This is the last picture I took with her in it. She was just always in the background...and we miss her. Sweet Doll said, "Sadie was such a good dog." And she was. Thank You, God, for blessing us through Sweet Sadie.

Early Text Messages

I must preface this with this fact...I am so not techno savvy. I have no idea how to send a text message! But here is the story. I was watching SweetTate play with a calculator the other day and remembered the day when we would try to write words with the numbers. Do you remember doing that? Then when I started working, I got a pager as part of the deal. It was nice. SweetHeart could page me when he had a minute, and if I was free, I could return his call. Sometimes he would just put in "777." That was just a "Hi, love you" message.

So one weekend, Mom and Dad were coming into town. I told her she could page me with "303" because you know, sideways that spells mom. When they arrived, Mom didn't remember the exact numbers I had said so she used the letters on the phone to spell mom. Well the page I received read "666". My first thought was Boy, I must have really ticked SweetHeart off this morning! But I was expecting Mom's page and soon figured it out. Now it would have come through clearly, but back in the day it was a good laugh! Happy texting!

Aaaah! Routine!

I am one of those people who really needs a little structure but can't stand to be tied to it. But there is just nothing like the lazy days of summer to make you appreciate the routine that school brings! We have a 2nd grader now! SweetBoy just stepped back into school and never missed a beat. I am amazed at how the world opens up as they begin to read efficiently.

I can't believe this is SweetDolls last year at home before school starts! It is really hitting me this week how big she is getting. This week we will go back to storytime at the library, and she is starting a dance class offered through our community center. And let me tell you, she is so excited!

SweetTate is potty training--not my favorite phase of childhood, but we are surviving. And we had the end of an era at the Sweet house this week...for some reason, SweetBoy decided it was time for SweetTate to get a big boy bed and take the crib/converted toddler bed out of their room. That meant fruit-basket-turn over with furniture over the weekend. I wasn't particularly ready for the switch. I hadn't purchased coordinating bedding or pshyched myself up for my baby to make that next step or to move the crib out. For the past 8 years we have had the baby bed up with a child in it or anticipating one to be on the horizon. I am satisfied with our family of five; it is just feels odd.

So here we are with the familiarity of school, storytime, football games, and the change of growing children. It feels good for a time, but you can bet that by next May we will be ready to bust out of the routine!

Speaking of May, here is a funny story I'll try to relate in print, but I'm sure it will loose something--just use your imaginations. SweetDoll's birthday is coming up, so she will often ask how long until her birthday. Well, SweetTate has to do everything Sister does, so he asks in that cute toddler-speak, "When my birday is?" I tell him the date of his birthday to which he replies with a big smiling, "Oh!" "What do you know about birthdays," I ask. And he says loudly with big hands (I wonder where he gets that), "COOL!" Already he has figured out that birthdays are cool!

Olympic dreams

Ok. I know the olympics are old news, but I had this post in my head I just didn't get it down until now. Do you know how that goes? I love watching the olympics from opening ceremonies to closing. I like the pagentry of the home country culture (and wasn't it spectacular!), the bio-stories of the athletes, the close races (men's swimming relay!), the realized dreams (Nastia and Shawn--women's gymnastics), the surprise medal finish (men's gymnastics)... I don't like to see it, but it is part of the games--the disappointment of unrealized dreams so close. When I was younger, I wished that I could do something like that. Now that I'm older and wiser, I know there is no way I'll ever reach olympic gold. And I'm fine with that as I watch my kids practice sprints up and down the hall, timing themselves as they train for thier olympics! We'll see!

I may not reach a gold medal, but I do have dreams. I have three precious children that it is my job to train and prepare for life. After the Israelites left Egypt, wondered in the dessert, finally entered the Promised Land, and defeated their enemies, it was time to inhabit their Promised Land. Joshua sent them out with this charge:

But be careful to obey all the commands and the instructions that Moses gave to
you. Love the Lord your God, walk in all His ways, obey His commands, hold
firmly to Him and serve Him with all your heart and all your soul.

Joshua 22:5

When I send my kids out on their own, they need to know these things. Am I living the example? Am I intentionally teaching them God's Word? These are my training days that I need to put in the work no matter who is watching. And one day, they will be mature adults who love God, walk in His ways, obey Him, hold on to Him and serve Him. That will be my realized dream moment.

Moms have a hard job and much of it goes unnoticed and unappriciated. If I can encourage you, my fellow moms, along the way, I would say keep doing what you are doing--God sees! I had seen this story in an email before, but Nicole Johnson brings it to life so well.