Merry Christmas!

A song we have enjoyed singing this Christmas season:

It's about the cross

It's about my sin
It's about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again

It's about God's love
Nailed to a tree
It's about every drop of blood that flowed from Him when it should have been me

It's about the stone
That was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday

It's about the cross

More lyrics: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/g/go_fish/#share

Our Groupon Tree

We got a really good deal this year through Groupon for a 'pick your own tree' at a local farm. Mommy and Nathan were excited, Daddy was surprisingly into it as well:) Lydia wanted to be carried around everywhere because she was scared of? Nathan ran the entire time loving all the trees to run around and hide in. We found our tree and got to ride a tractor back to the shed (Lydia's highlight). It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas now:)

Giving Thanks

We traveled to my parents for Thanksgiving and had a great time with family as always. So much to be thankful to our Lord for! Just simple hangout time with the family is so nice. Bottom right corner are the two train lovers of the family watching a train video together probably about 4 times.

Snuggles with Papa, loads of rough and tumble time with Uncle Rob, dance time with the cousins and some Ma & daughter time when the kids were all tucked away.
And I had to include this one:) What a ham! She loved watching her cousin Nico play and tried to mimic him as best she could.

Green Pocketbook

This past week we have been reading The Big Green Pocket Book for preschool which is a book about a girl and her Mom taking the bus to town. The first day reading it Nathan said "I want to ride a bus"... little did he know we already had that planned. Saturday afternoon we grabbed our green pocketbooks and flagged down a bus and thankfully Daddy came with us:) The kids were sooo excited, it was so fun to watch their joy as they were taking it all in. We went to town and window shopped, had dinner at a diner and then headed home. Despite a couple meltdowns (so glad Daddy was with us) we all came away with great memories!

"See Daddy, See"

I am so proud of my little boy, he has for the most part been enjoying preschool. I love to watch him get excited about doing things and I love that everyday Daddy comes home both Lydia and Nathan go running to show Daddy what they did in school.

Leaves

The leaves are almost all off the trees and soon they will be sucked up the truck vac....they will be missed by two little kids. How kind of God to make such enjoyable things for kids each season.

And yes Dad...all three of these rambunctious "kids" will be invading your house in less than a week:)

Our week

This is our "silly" pumpkin

This is our sink hole repair. The sink hole that I discovered by falling in it...I will never forget that experience and am glad it is finally repaired. It was only about five feet deep, they had to dig it out much larger then it actually was. the kids loved seeing the men at work.
Our first time making apple sauce...Yummy! Nathan really enjoyed helping..especially this part. I think he was a little amazed:)

And then I had to post this just because.

Trick

Or Treat

Last Saturday, October 29th, we had an autumn snow storm. Many branches down all around the area because the leaves were still on the trees. We were fortunate and only lost power for about 6 hours that night but some of our friends just today got their electric back. But...the kids loved it, especially Nathan...what could be better than an early winter wonderland. He had a grand time playing in the snow and is excited about the coming winter. Lets hope for Mommy's sake that it waits a little bit longer to show it self again.

One TRACK Mind

This past weekend we went to a model train exhibit and as an added bonus Poppy was able to join us. Trains have been the #1 toy in our household for a while now. Lydia has an exceptional love for Thomas and was soooo excited with all the trains. Nathan also was filled with amazement and wonder...he really wanted to pick the trains up though.
They also had a couple small trains that people could ride, the first looked very similar to Thomas. The excitement was all over their faces:) It was a beautiful day to be riding a train!

Our First Field Trip

We were able to go on our first field trip of the year thanks to a friend at our church who set it all up. A couple families were able to go to a local apple orchard. Nathan did a really good job over all I thought and Lydia was a little bored at times but was a trooper. They picked winter raspberries, red and yellow (I never knew there was such a thing). Nathan was in the lead most of the time popping as many as he could into his mouth:) Lydia enjoyed picking them and then giving them to whomever was around because they were "yucky".

Next was the pumpkin patch...They both loved this! They were able to pick their own little pumpkin and every bone in Nathan's body wanted to pick up every other one and see how far he could toss them.
Apple picking was next on the list and then they did a craft and had a snack. I think all the kids had a great time and we were very thankful to participate and thankful that the rain held off.

Preschool

Nathan started preschool mid September this year and he is doing really well. We tried last year but he wasn't ready. This year he has much more focus and more interest and Mommy is doing much better planning and preparing which helps. I realized that having a lesson plan for the week is really helpful, go figure:) We are enjoying the Before Five in a Row curriculum and both Lydia and Nathan are loving all the new books from the library we have been reading. Nathan is doing well, listening to stories attentively, he loves the crafts and is taking more time to complete them, he is doing better with directions and worksheets, he gets less frustrated with puzzles and he is actually trying to stay in the lines when coloring~all of which are huge for him! Lydia loves the stories and the songs we sing and then she gets bored and wants to get down and play...usually with Thomas or Percy because that is her knew love:) She carries them around everywhere:)

My Blue Boat

The Little Rabbit

Fall Family Fun Day

We went to an orchard this past weekend and enjoyed watching the kids run around and play in the hay, etc.. It was a beautiful Fall day and we were grateful to be able to go. These times help Mommy let go of summer and welcome in Fall:)

Yes, that is my little girl playing with tractors and trucks:)

And yes, that is my boy with 2 paint brushes in hand. So efficient:) His pumpkin really did turn out nice though!

The highlight was the barrel ride (choo-cho0 train ride).

Trains And Tractors

This past Friday Grammy and Poppy took Nathan and his cousin to the Day Out With Thomas Day at the Strasburg Railroad. It was a really rainy day but that did not stop two four year old boys from having the time of their lives! I wish I could have been there to see their excitement in person but the pictures do capture some of it:) Thank you Poppy and Grammy for making Thomas come alive and giving these boys a day they will never forget.

And while Nathan was away, I took Lydia to get her hair cut for the first time. She did such a good job being a big girl and really enjoyed riding the "tractor". Her hair had soooo many split ends. Now it is a little shorter but it looks much more healthy and is quite a bit easier to comb through which makes both myself and Lydia much more happy every morning:)

A Day In The Life Of A Toad

This toad has been living under our grill for at least 3 years now, probably longer. This year Nathan found him and Daddy put him in a container and then somehow the container was brought in the house and I think Nathan thought he might be more comfy in our end table drawer...and just maybe he would like to take his skateboard for a ride...hmmm. Then the toad was put back into the container and brought back outside and put back under the grill. See you next year toad:)

Deka Day

Every year Steve's employer Deka rents out Dorney Park for all the employees and their families. This was our first year we went with kids and we were grateful to be able to go and not have to pay for our family...(the prices for amusement parks are ridiculous!) We hung out in Planet Snoopy and the kids had a blast. It was a joy to see their joy:) Steve and I were grateful to be riding the kiddie rides too, I don't know if I can handle the adult rides anymore:)

Probably their favorite ride was the carousel.

Labor Day Rain

It was a warm day with a LOT of rain and we took full advantage of it. Boy did the kids have fun and boy did we get wet! Thank you Lord for warm rainy days:)

Celebrating Lydia

There is much to celebrate in this house in the beginning of September... The first of September is Lydia's Adoption Day, Friday was Lydia's birthday and today, September 4th it has been 2 years since we first met our little girl. Wow! What a blessing and joy she is to our family. She is turning into such a big girl, enjoys playing with her baby's and tea set and kitchen set but also plays with trains and trucks with Nathan and loves to play in the dirt much to Mommy's dismay:) She loves coats and hats and shoes and most often will have a silly band around her wrist. She often will be bringing a book to Mommy or Daddy for us to read to her over and over again. She loves music, loves to sing songs to Jesus and will most likely be dancing as she is singing. We love every moment we have with you Lydia and are so grateful to the Lord that He brought you to us.