Sunday School

This is the entirety of the take-home message Caden had from a recent Sunday School lesson.

"You get closer, closer, closer, closer, closer, closer, closer, closer, closer...and then you kill him!"

I think this was from somewhere in Judges...

Realization

On Saturday, I was shopping with the kids. We saw all kinds of cute Halloween costumes. Caden was really hankering after one dinasaur costume. I told him we weren't going to buy it. He sighed sadly, and said, "I'm really still just a little kid."

(He went on to explain that he wished he could be big like Daddy and buy whatever he wanted.)

This Bumblebee and Cow are last year's costumes! :)

little boy thoughts

"Daddy, why am I not the fastest in the whole wide world?"

Shann explained that he'll get faster when he grows up, and that some men train and practice to be extra fast.

"Well, I'm faster than Alyssa."

Like Honey

Jesus, Jesus, Holy and Annointed One, Jesus.

Your Name is like honey on my lips.
Your Spirit like water to my soul.
Your Word is a lamp unto my feet.
Jesus I love you, I love you.

Jesus, Jesus Holy and Annointed One, Jesus.

This is the song I sing to Alyssa each night when I'm putting her to bed. She knows the routine, and lays her head on my shoulder while I sing.
Not long ago, I lost my voice, and singing was rather painful. So I tried to just hum it. She lifted her head off my shoulder and said, "Mommy, Je!" She wasn't satisfied without the words.

September 17th

On Monday, we were in the car, driving to the YMCA. We were singing, 'He's got the whole world in his hands'. Caden was asking about how big God is, and where He is, as he frequently does. I told him that God is omnipresent, meaning that he is in different places at once, and can be everywhere he wants to be. I told him that Jesus wants to live in his heart, and if he asks him to come in, he will. He decided he wanted to do that. So he repeated a prayer after me, asking Jesus to live in his heart. After we did that, he yelled, "HI GOD!".
I told him that the angels were dancing - not sure he knew what to make of that! :)

A New One

On Friday, Caden was having a tough time falling asleep for his nap. He came out of his room at one point to look down through the railing. I told him he needed to get back in bed. He started crying, "I just want to stay little!" It took me a minute to process, and then remembered that we tell him frequently that he needs to sleep so his body can grow!

I'm pretty sure that he does not want to stay little, but was just using this as an excuse to stay awake. But I thought it was a good angle. Makes me think he just lays up there thinking of new reasons he shouldn't have to nap!

This picture is from July - I think he looks very Shannly!

Jesus?

This afternoon, Caden asked Alyssa if she has Jesus in her heart. She said no. Obviously, she does not understand the question or conceive of this concept in the least. Then he insisted. "Alyssa, yes, you have Jesus in your heart!". From her, "no!"
Shouting now, "Alyssa, you do have Jesus in your heart!" From her, "NO!"
"Mom, Alyssa, is saying she doesn't have Jesus in her heart! "

We have never 'prayed the prayer' with Caden, or talked about how you must trust in Jesus in order to spend eternity with him. I talk about God, and Jesus a lot, and heaven, etc. But I haven't done the 'you must do A to get B'. I guess I didn't want to scare him if he wasn't ready to understand. But perhaps its time.

Today

...the horrible very bad no good day. Or however that goes. In our house today, there was a great deal of whining, quarelling, pushing, crying, blaming, yelling, and gritting of teeth. The last one was mostly me.

One high point was, as we were leaving Walmart, Alyssa was crying about wanting to get in the airplane ride. The greeter lady said to her, "aww, what did she do to you?" Yeah, that really lifted my spirits. But Caden stood up for me. He said "nothing!"

Shortly afterwards, in the car, Caden took up the relay, and was whining about something. I told him to stop several times. Then I finally yelled "I've had it! No more whining or crying!Thats enough!" I don't usually get to this decibel. I think I must've broken through somewhere, because, for a couple blessed moments, it was silent.

I know, I know, these years go quickly. But I think God was thinking when he decided that years should go quickly. As much as I love them, I really wouldn't want to be stuck with them at this age for a long time. As a lot of you well know...its intense.

trust

Yesterday, I told Caden to clean up his room. He was not of a mind to do this. He sobbed, "you make me do things I don't want to do!" I thought to myself, 'then I'm succeding in some small way as your mom!'
I helped him get started and then went downstairs to continue making dinner. A couple minutes later, he came to the landing, eyes shining. "Mom, come see how clean my room is!" I ran up, and indeed, he had done a great job. I told him what a fabulous job he had done, and how neat it looked. He was round-eyed with pleasure at my compliments.

It seems like we say to Caden so frequently, ''We have your best interests in mind, you must listen right away!" This is so often our point of view with God - we have no idea what the plan is, or what he is trying to teach us, so we resist, and cry, "you make me do things I don't want to do!" But He tells us He plans for a future and a hope! Why do we always forget this?

My sweetie girl

Today I ordered 123 pictures from Snapfish to begin Alyssa's baby album. Yes, I'm a bit behind. They're all from the hospital, and the first days at home. Seems like a lot for a short time period, but its very hard for me to get rid of any! I'm sure later I won't be wishing I hadn't put so many pictures in the album. :) Anyway, I think this one is so sweet. Note that my eyes look a bit red - could it be lack of sleep?

Daddy's jobs

Last night in the car, Shann said to the kids, that it is our job to teach them to make good choices. Caden said, "Daddy, isn't your job to go to work and earn money?" Shann said, "Well, I have lots of jobs..." Of course, Caden wanted to know what these are.
Shann listed taking care of our cars.
"What else?"
Mowing the lawn.
"What else?"
Teaching you guys how to love Jesus.
"What else?"
Protecting and taking care of Mommy, and Caden, and Alyssa.
"What else?"
Running dry at this point, Shann mentions cleaning the fish tank, taking out the garbage, and emptying the dehumidifier. Caden delightedly keeps up the "What else?"
I mumble "telling mommy how beautiful she is and how much you love her" (He is very good at this).
Caden says "mommy, you're beautiful. What else?"
Being your buddy.
"What else?"
Being mommy's best friend in the whole wide world.

I don't actually remember how this ended, but Caden was quite impressed with all of the jobs that Daddy has. Its a big list, really, and there were many things Daddy does that we didn't think of last night. Thanks for everything that you do, Daddy.

Q & A with Caden

The other night, Caden and I read through a story that he brought home from Sunday school. At the end, it had a few questions:

Ques 1: Who takes care of you? Ans: "mom and dad."
Ques 2: Who cooks food for you? Ans: "mom and dad." ?! Dad, eh?
Ques 3: Who gives you new clothes? Ans: "yard sales." Ha!

Labor Day Disc Golf Pictures

A lesson
Shann teeing off.
Waiting for another group to play through! Our group was a bit slow!

Kids are losing interest! We played 3 or 4 holes with kids in tow, then the ladies went to the playground while the guys finished.

Labor Day Picnic

This was our picnic on Monday with Amy & Jay and Jesse & Andrea. We went to Tinicum Park and grilled and then played Disc Golf! Fun!
We forgot a spatula, so the guys fashioned one out of a stick and tin foil!

Another one

Mom, does God live on our roof?

Injury Prone Girl

Ok, this isn't a beautiful picture of our girl, but I just have to comment about her penchant for getting injured. She really isn't all that nimble yet, so she falls...a lot.

This particular bruise on her forehead is from a lawn chair falling over (on cement) while she was on it. Poor girlie. Let it be said that this picture was taken the next day, and she wasn't in pain anymore. This cry is about something else entirely. That was for all of you thinking that I'm capitalizing on her pain for a blog. :)