Leaf Play

Trip to Chicago!

I had the pleasure of getting out of town for a day this weekend! On Sunday morning, I took the train from Michigan City into Chicago (only $6.50!!) and spent the day with my sister, Gretchen, who was in town for a meeting. We had SUCH a blast! Pizza at Giordano's, walking and shopping in one of my favorite cities, sushi for dinner, and then a fun movie! The best part? No little ones to herd around. No one to keep track of, except myself, for a whole 24 hours! It was a great time!


I look a little lost here, but I'm not!


Me and Gretchen at Giordanos! YUMMY PIZZA!


My beautiful sister!


A strange, yet familiar statue. :)



There is a feature/statue/work of art called "The Bean" in Millenium Park. It reflects the entire city! So very cool!


Here we are by the bean!


Gretchen, reflected in the bean. You can also see me taking the photo.

Trick or Treat!

Well, it was cold, but successful! We trick-or-treated our way down Forres Avenue tonight -- the busiest street in town on Halloween! I don't have a lot of photos of the boys because they were ahead of me for most of the evening. Rhy lagged behind, so I did too of course. We had a blast and the kids got quite a haul! Rhy did great until we got to one house where the candy-hander-outer was wearing quite a scary rubber mask. This freaked her out on a level beyond shrieking. She just froze and stared at the guy. After that, she wanted me to carry her to each doorstep!! Poor gal!


My goblins wait on the front porch.


Me and my pretty princess!


Making our way to a neighbors door.


Rhy with her pumpkin pail.


See how far ahead the boys got? They were so excited, they couldn't be bothered with slow toddler sisters. :)


Brothers on the ultimate night-o-candy!


This is super blurry, but shows how pooped Rhy was by the end of the night. She just collapsed in these people's front yard. Too cute!!

Pumpkin Carvings

We carved our pumpkins tonight! The kids were soooo excited! Sometimes I forget how Halloween ranks nearly as high as Christmas for kids. The sheer joy of dressing up and getting a seemingly endless supply of sugary candy is bliss for kids. And then there's the added adventure of going out into the dark night, into a world formerly so familiar and streets normally travelled during daylight walks to the park ... now transformed into something glittering and mysterious -- an entire new world, with hundreds of spooky friends to share it with! I, for one, am seriously looking forward to tomorrow evening! Happy Halloween everyone!


Rhy's pumpkin -- a spooky skeleton face.


Asher's pumpkin, carved by me -- a mummy!


Gabe's pumpkin, carved by Nate ... a spooky pumpkin scarecrow!




Rhy woke up from her nap while the boys were carving and I couldn't help but snap this super cute photo of her all rumpled and sleep-kissed!


Rhy thinks to herself "You want me to do WHAT??" She was NOT happy at the idea of sticking her hand inside a gooey pumpkin.


My cute boys workin' hard on gutting their pumpkins.


Asher must have used the word "GROSS!" about 1,000 times while we were doing this. But he still kept workin' like a champ.


Gabe guts his pumpkin.


Nate scares Asher with the pumpkin guts.


The boys with their lovely pumpkins!

The Great Pumpkin Hunt

Nate has off work this week, so we went pumpkin hunting, despite my nasty cough. We suddenly realized that there are only 2 days till Halloween, and we'd better get crackin'! We struck out at the first place we went, but ended up going to a little place on Cleveland Avenue, right near Gabe's school. They had a train and some fun things for the kids to climb on, and several rows of beautiful pumpkins. We had a blast!


My three kiddos at the pumpkin patch.


Gabe and Rhy ... Rhylah loves her big brothers SO much!


Mr. Cutie.





Asher finds his pumpkin


Rhylah hunts for the perfect pumpkin. It's funny because she was immediately drawn to the pumpkins that were "her" size ... the smaller ones. We might have trouble carving it, but that's what she wanted!




Looking, looking, looking for the perfect orange gourd!




Look at all those perfect pumpkins!


Asher makes his "witch" face while Gabe makes his scary "ghost" face.


Me and Rhy give it a go.


Pretty girl with her pumpkin!

Cookie Monsters

We took the opportunity this weekend to make some sugar cookies, in honor of fall. Grandma Staude recently sent some supplies, so the kids had a blast rolling out the dough, decorating them and of course ... eating them!


Each kid got a ball of dough to work with, and do with, whatever they wanted!


Rhylah presses out her dough!


And then rolls it out!


Little doughy hands are just so sweet!


Asher works on pressing out a leaf-shaped cookie.


Ash lends Rhy a hand.


Gabe puts frosting on a turkey.


All of our lovely, frosted turkey, leaf, and pumpkin cookies!


And of course, eating them is the best part! YUMMY!!

Warrior Women

Just had an interesting discussion at Bible Study this morning and wanted to share, since I found it so empowering.

We're doing a study on the book "Understanding Purpose" by Carolyn James, and for any woman who ever feels trod upon, or weak ... here's an interesting thought that James brings up ...

In Genesis, when God is creating woman, the Hebrew word "Ezer" is used. (pronouced azer with a long A) which the English language has loosely interpreted to mean "helper."

Lest you should feel second-rate, consider this ... the word "Ezer" is used 21 times as a noun in the Old Testament. Twice it is used to describe "WOMAN." But check out the other times it is used...

3 times it is used to describe Nations Israel turned to for military aid. And 16 times it is used to describe God himself, as Israel's help. Ezer is a warrior.

A very powerful little word. James says that everytime the word Ezer is used in the bible, (outside of Genesis) it appears in a military context. A shield. A defense. A powerful weapon.

Interesting to think that God sent "Woman" into the world in this context. To help Adam defend himself against the evil that God knew was lurking in the world? To help Adam defend against his own loneliness, which may have reached epic proportions at this point?

Either way, it makes me feel powerful as a woman, to be called this wonderful, vibrant word. EZER!!