I just wanted to say thanks. We currently work with a very small group - 60 on Sunday morning/40 Sunday night and it can be difficult. Ryan and I have always said that it takes a special person to work with a small group (and we aren't talking about us we are talking about those who are members with us). At larger groups there is more opportunity to get lost in the crowd, more breaks in between teaching, and things like that. There are potential positives and negatives to both small and large groups. But I just wanted to thank those of you who REALLY work with small groups. It is such an encouragement to us the people that we worship with that are really in it with us. There are those who are content to let others work and there are those who feel called to His work themselves. We are thankful for those people at our church that put a lot into teaching. We are thankful for those who you can always count on to help no matter what. We know there are times where the numbers can be discouraging at small groups and we are thankful for those who stay and help to grow a group even when discouraged. You don't know how much it means to the preacher and his family when those kind of people are working alongside of them. So thanks! We need many more like you!

Do you give your kids in picking out their own clothes? Before I had kids I used to see parents out places with kids dressed in the strangest outfits and I was sure they had picked out their own clothes. I decieded right then I would never let my kids out of the house like that. Now Luke is starting to want to pick his clothes (Lily still doesn't really care although occasionally she begs for a dress). Sometimes I give him suitable choices but lots of times he just goes and comes back out with something that he thinks matches. For instance red/maroon sweats, red FC tee, with a red Nike shirt underneath. (That day I told him to change the top or bottom because that was too much red). He is a really big fan of tee shirts over long sleeve shirts. The other day we did a navy tee over a black star wars shirt. I let that go. We weren't going anywhere.

A couple of weeks ago on a Wednesday night I asked Luke to go put on a pair of jeans with his long sleeved tee (he had been wearing sweats all day) to wear to church. He came out instead with a very creative outfit. He had on a gray button up striped shirt and gray dress pants (which actually do go together), khaki socks, black shoes, and his black clip on tie clipped to his tee shirt (since his shirt wasn't buttoned all the way up). We knew he didn't match but he was so excited about it that we let it go. We praised him for wanting to dress so nice to go and worship God. I know there will be battles about clothes in the future - what's appropriate, etc. But for now I want to err on the side of letting him have some independence. I wouldn't let him wear swim trunks to church but you know what I mean. :) Anyways, just got me wondering what funny things your kids want to wear and how much freedom you give them to be themselves. Luke has another funny thing he likes to do with pajamas. He likes to mix and match. But before he does that he'll tie his shirt around his waist and put his pants on his head like some kind of native. Usually he also puts on underwear but not always. :) Then he parades around until we holler at him to put some clothes on. Kids crack me up!

when you are having company over and you realize you didn't get 2 cans of pork n beans you got one can of pork n beans and one can of chili beans? And then you realize you can't run back to the store (besides the fact that you've been to 4 stores already today) because your kiddos are both napping? So you either have to wait for your husband to bring one home or wake the kiddos and take 2 grumpy kids back to the store on a Friday night? Love it! Planning ahead doesn't always work out! :) Also I love that today all the leaves are trying to fall from the trees. The wind has been crazy and by tomorrow most of the trees will be bare. They have been beautiful! I love fall colors! Our street is gorgeous - or was until the crazy wind.

Things are good here. We are done with volleyball! Xmas money is made! Lily's birthday is in 2 weeks. Still no idea what we'll do. She wants a princess party but all her friends are boys so I don't know how to make that one work. :) We'll probably just do boring cake, ice cream and presents. But then that night we are having the teen study at our house. Nice! Ryan said, "I thought there was something that day!" (When he came home and told me what day he volunteered for) Oh well! I've been looking for gift ideas for Lily. She of course doesn't really care. Before I had her to shop for I always thought there were more girl toys than boy toys. Now I don't! There are Barbie dolls or baby dolls and not much in between. I'm not ready for Barbie's and she doesn't play with her dolls that much. So we'll see.

Ryan will be headed to VA in a week for a lectureship there. I'm very excited for him to get to go to that. We'll try hard to survive without him. While he's gone Luke has his first school fieldtrip and I get to go with him to that. Very excited! We had parent teacher conferences for him this week and got a very good report. We knew he was having no trouble with the work but were very pleased to hear how obedient and compliant he is. She only suggested he work on remembering some of the kids names in his class. I think he gets that from Ryan! :) Lily has been working on her colors and has FINALLY learned yellow. For some reason that color was a block for her but she's got in. On to letters and numbers. Well I'm off to wake my kids and take them BACK to the grocery store so I can work on dinner. Happy Halloween everyone! Hopefully it won't be so long before my next update.

This week kicks off my volleyball season and I will be working at least 3 nights a week and all day on Saturdays. That leaves Ryan in charge for dinner those days/nights. Anyone have some good tips of food I can make in advance or easy things he could feed him and the kids for dinner. It would be food for about 1.5 adults since my kids don't each much. Thought I'd pick someone else's brain because I always have trouble making menus even though my list of foods I can make is pretty small. So if you have any ideas I'd love to hear them!

Sometimes my kids make me gasp and not in a good way. Today Lily got a couple of gasps out of Mama with her manners. I guess she is only 2 and these are things she has to be taught - usually as they occur, but its still embarrassing. Today at Walmart I was having Lily walk in by herself (she will be 3 in a few months and the poor girl gets carried or pushed in the cart all the time so I can keep an eye or hand on Luke). She ran up and jumped onto the curb where an older gentleman, WITH A CANE, was walking. They kind of did the little jig where you each fake each other out about which way you are going. Apparently Lily tired of this because I heard her say, "Get out of the way." She didn't say it very ugly or loud but I was horrified. I'm not sure he heard but I did think I heard a little chuckle out of him. I picked her up and told her that was ugly and that the nice thing to say is, "Excuse me." Then I texted her dad, who thought it was hilarious but was glad he wasn't there to witness it.

Next we were in the card aisle and I was blocking the aisle so an older woman politely said, "Excuse me." I hurried to move my cart and apologized. Lily also apologized to which the lady said, "That's okay sweetie." Lily looks at me and says, "What did that lady call me?" That time the person heard for sure because she was laughing. I told her that wasn't nice manners to which she replied (clearly not understanding my point :) ), "But I'm your baby mommy." Ah, kids. Gotta love them!