A Fun Fall Weekend

These photo posts are mostly for the benefit of grandparents and far-off friends.

Enjoy!

FRIDAY:

The Circus!

I'll call this one 'Mom and Child with Snot & Cotton Candy Face' - a masterpiece!

SATURDAY:

Last (very chilly) day of soccer!

Brian spent quite a bit of time watching from this position.  He said it was cozy.

Saturday afternoon fun playing in leaves my dad spent all day raking and then eating hot dogs roasted over the open fire.  Yum!

Cousins smiling

Cousins "sleeping"

Cousins yawning

And cousins exploring!

SUNDAY:
A stroll in the woods - someone had built a really cool lean-to.

Sunday dinner - we're working on making the Sabbath day extra special around here.
Why have china if you never use it, right?!

I hope you had a good weekend, too!

Day 1: The Topic for October

Today, maybe even as you read this, I'm speaking at a women's retreat in DC.  The fact that I'm there is testimony to God doing more than we ask or imagine - and to the fact that I have some super cool friends and family who encourage and enable me to pursue my dreams.

God is good.  We get nowhere alone.  He guides & carries and gives us others to walk with us, encourage us, & share in the journey with us.

Okay, it's October first and I posted yesterday about the possibility of writing daily for the month, joining up with others connected to Emily's blog over at Chatting at the Sky.

Am I in?

Yes, I am!

Drumroll please as I reveal the topic.

Are you drumming?

Yes?

Okay, here it is:

31 Days of "Becoming More Yourself Than Ever"

At one point in C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters, the mentor demon says to his mentee:

When [God] talks of [Christians] losing theirselves, He only means abandoning the clamour of self-will; once they have done that, He really gives them back their personality and boasts (I'm afraid, sincerely) that when they are wholly His, they will be more themselves than ever.

For the next 30 days, I'll be exploring (and invite you to join me!) the idea that as we die to ourselves, we come more alive, and how God effects that change in us as we walk with Him through the joys & sorrows, ups & downs, and the in-betweens of life.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins and by nature objects of wrath ... But, because of His great love for us, GOD, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions.  

Paul, Ephesians 2

Let's come alive together this October!

Old Friends and a Retreat

Tomorrow morning, Elizabeth and I are heading to DC for the weekend.  We're both eagerly looking forward to our reunion with our girlfriends!

Last 4th of July, when they were *only* 6!

Saturday, Carol and I will be off to the retreat to spend the day with a group of ladies, to study the Word, eat together, chat together, and be encouraged.  If you missed it in an earlier post, I have the joy of presenting the talks from the retreat in the spring again at this gathering.  Please pray that God would meet each of us where we are as we consider Jesus, the Servant master, and how we are called to serve Him and our neighbor.

Wherever you will be, I wish you a lovely weekend!

A Family Birthday Trio

One week every September, our family has the privilege of celebrating three special people.  I call them mom, Michelle (sister), and Michelle (sister-in-law).  Now that we are settled into our own place in Pittsburgh, I had the joyous honor of hosting their party so none of them were left with a messy home at the end of the celebration.  It was a wonderful time.  The jury is still out on whether it's the seven kids under seven OR the lively, opinionated, adult political conversations that are louder when we gather together!  (We may need to get an outside opinion.)

 For Michelle SIL, it was #30.  Oh no, it's on the internet; razz her if you know her!

Getting the kids settled with their mac 'n cheese before we enjoyed our meal,
in the room next door.  :)

The "cake" - my first pumpkin roll.
And a pie made by Marie Calendar.

The cousins enjoyed A LOT of playing together.

The ladies all opened their gifts.

My dad is a clown and "mistakenly" got my mom an 85 card for her 58th.

Isn't he funny?

The littlest ones kept us talking about how cute they are!

My dad - the silly one that I mentioned above - also brought a small cake and three different colors of candles, one for each of the birthday girls.  This cake had 117 candles on it.  It ended up being much less dangerous than expected, but Colin had the fire extinguisher out just in case.  The kids loved licking the icing off the bottoms of all of those candles!

Happy birthdays you special women.  Thank you for the ways you have and do make my life better and funner.  I hope this is the beginning of many parties just for you three in our home!

One New Niece + One Holiday Weekend = Photos, but No Time to Post

My first ever niece was born on Friday!

(I do have a sweet crew of nephews, but it is fun for E to have another girl in the cousin posse.)

Introducing: Iris Corine

The kids got their passports.  Colin joked that if ours don't arrive, we'll still be sending the kids to Northern Ireland in July with their grandparents.  I'm sure we'd find some way to use those two weeks alone!

Sunday afternoon we picnicked with Colin's folks and friends.

The adults enjoyed food and being sedentary in the heat while the kids tore it up on the slip 'n slide!

  Monday morning E and I ran in a 5K in my hometown that my brother had invited us to run with him and his son, Wyatt.  So fun!  This was a first for Elizabeth and she clocked 37:24.  It was beastly hot, even at 8:30am, but we all survived and my parents treated us to a wonderful brunch at their house afterward.

The crew of little runners in their award t-shirts!

Cousins clearing a large branch from my parent's yard.

Iris with her eyes open!

My dad took us for ice cream (right before dinner, yeah!)  It was hot in the place and things melted fast.  Brian has yet to learn the art of neat ice cream eating. 

 As for the other two, they did fine, though we have other things to work on.  E and Wyatt were the two that placed first in the race for the boys and girls 11 and under, and as they got into the backseat of the van to go home from ice-creaming, Elizabeth said, "This is where the champions sit."

Humble pie, anyone?

I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

We're kinda melting here in Pittsburgh....