Happy Halloween

Three blind mice.

See how they run.
They all ran after the farmer's wife.
She cut off their tails with a carving knife.

Have you ever seen such a sight in your life?

Three blind mice!

Harvest Time

Yet another harvest carnival for the kids to enjoy!

Micah with one of the children's favorite sitters, Miss Amanda.

Child Locks...Part Two

Once again I have been defeated by those stupid child locks. Don't get me wrong, I think that child locks are a wonderful invention. They keep my children safe in the car until I open the door and can safely get them out. However, there are times when I wish they had never been invented. This morning was one of those times.
Today is my work outside the home day. After getting all the children buckled in with all of their various paraphernalia, (book bag and lunch for Noah, diaper bags for Jonah and Micah, and all the toys they could not live without for one day) I remembered that I had not grabbed my cell phone. I told the kids to sit tight and ran back inside. I grabbed my phone and came back to the car to a sight that made me want to just go crawl back in bed and start the whole day over. Noah has had a bit of a cold and accompanying cough. As I have mentioned before, Noah has a horrible gag reflex. He obviously started coughing as soon as I left the car and proceeded to throw up everywhere INSIDE MY CAR!!!
Noah sits in the middle, so he had tried to climb over Jonah to get out, but because of the child locks he could not get out the door. So there was puke all over the backseat and all over Jonah. Poor Jonah was just sitting there saying, "It ucky, it ucky, it ucky!"
As if that wasn't bad enough, Noah then must have realized that he could still get out of the front door of the car because he had climbed over the seats into the front seat spewing his lovely breakfast of grits and eggs all over the front of the car as well.
Joe and I have decided that we will be going back to a one vehicle household soon so we have been making our lists of what each of us wants included in the new vehicle (since we will be sharing it). His list so far is pretty extensive. My previous list was pretty simple; a bench seat in the front and four full doors. However, it has now been revised to add absolutely no child locks!

Here Comes Trouble!

Noah crawled around nine months. Jonah crawled at ten months. Our little overachiever Micah started crawling yesterday on his eight month birthday. These are the sounds coming from our house this morning:

No, you can't have that.
How did you get over there?
No, Jonah! You can't ride on the baby!

Oh what fun we are going to have now! Although I am excited for this milestone (Hopefully his new found independence will give me a bit of relief from having him attached to my hip 24 hours a day), I still can't help but feel as if I am losing a little more of my baby every day. They just seem to grow up much too quickly.

New Arrivals

Yes, it is true. Four months after Micah got his first two teeth, his top two teeth have officially broken through. Notice the passy in his hand. He does not suck on it but instead uses it as a teether. He has learned to grind his teeth and is driving me crazy with them. That has to be the most grating sound on the planet.
He is still just as bright and bubbly as ever. He loves his Mommy and loves to cuddle. He is trying to crawl, but hasn't gotten the hang of it quite yet.
His gums are a little swollen on the bottom which makes me think that more bottom teeth may be arriving soon as well. He really does not complain of them at all and so far has had an easy time of cutting his teeth. Knock on wood!

Busy Birthday Harvest Sunday

We ended Jonah's birthday party by getting ready for the annual Church Harvest Fun Day. This included face paint and costumes. Linda was in charge of face paining and Granny Faye was her first client...

Makayla got her face painted like a snow tiger.

After Linda was done, I painted Granny's hair green.

She added Aunt Rita's black hat.

And here you have the finished look...1st place in the adult category!

(We still aren't sure what she actually was)

Noah, Jonah, and Micah were the three blind mice. Joe was the farmer and I was the farmer's wife. Too bad the contest was in the middle of Jonah's nap time. We did however win first place in the group costume contest.

One sleepy blind mouse.

Linda did a great job on Noah's face.

There was lots to do at the Harvest Fun Day. Everyone enjoyed face painting, bingo, two jumping castles, basketball, frying pan toss, baseball games, balloon darts, fishing with Jesus, apple bobbing, hair painting, coins in the hay, costume contests, cake walks, pumpkin carving, hot dogs, tricycle races, trunk-or-treating, and even a hay ride. It was a little chilly, so I stayed with Micah and Jonah while Joe went with Noah on the hay ride. In Noah's words...that was the bestest time EVER!

This is Mr. Jim Brown, Pa, and "Uncle" Jerry.

(They aren't wearing costumes)

Mr. Jim Brown, (in the picture above) is our new pastor. I say new not because he just filled the position, but because after many months of prayer and discussion, Joe and I have moved our membership to Rice Patch Christian Church. We have been attending and serving there for years, but finally made it official on Sunday. This is a decision that we both felt was needed and it was a blessing for us to see both sets of my parents take the time to join our congregation to watch us take that step.

Birthday Party

We held Jonah's second birthday party this weekend. The cake was really good. Thanks Linda! Too bad we didn't take the picture until after we cut it, because it was really pretty as well.

Joe helped Jonah eat his cake.

Jonah did a much better job of getting it in his mouth this year.

Jonah Mommy opened the Birthday Presents.

Aunt Dea came and spoiled Micah some more.

The kids got plenty to eat.

Noah enjoyed playing with "the cousins".

And obviously someone showed me how to work a digital camera.

Thanks Mom!! Expect many more pictures in the future,

.....if I can remember to take them!

Jonah's Year In Pictures

Jonah Ozious Givens

I can hardly believe that you are two years old today. You did so much during your first year of life and continued to have new experiences your second year as well.
You started walking, got your first haircut, enjoyed your first taste of strawberries, and learned to put yourself to sleep in your big boy bed. Your biggest change this year was going from being the baby to being a big brother, and what a great big brother you are!

I am struggling to write this, because to be honest...you are my challenge. Your allergies, skin issues, and even your middle child personality quirks keep me on my toes constantly. Sometimes I feel like I am failing you because I can't "fix" you or even understand how to help you. I wish that I could snap my fingers and have you never hurt again, to have your skin stop peeling off, and eat a normal meal without a reaction.

Then again, I love you for your challenges. Because of you I know that ranch dressing contains eggs, I know that it is possible to puke out more than went in, and I know that some kids really do poop six times every day. You have made me stretch far out of my comfort zone. You have taught me to trust my gut. You have given me the strength to stand up to a doctor who wants to dismiss your symptoms. You have taught me exactly how long I can go without sleep and how strong my back muscles truly are.

Your spirit of determination shines through in everything that you do. I pray that you keep that as you go through life. I have never seen you "give up" when something was too hard and you remind me every day to just keep trying.

I have learned that your smile melts my heart and your laughter makes my day. I love you more than you will ever know. Happy Birthday!!!

Picture Post

Taking pictures is not my thing. Yesterday I could not even get the camera to turn on. Luckily my Mom is great with the camera and sent me pictures to share with you of our Saturday morning. Joe and I bundled the kids up against the cold weather (anything under seventy degrees) and headed out to the antique truck and tractor festival a few towns away. I hope you enjoy "seeing" our Saturday, but don't get too used to it...I still can't turn on that stinking camera!

Noah was excited to get the day started.

Micah's hat was a big hit, but Jonah kept calling him a puppy.

Jonah was amazed at the horse walking by.

The boys looked at old cars.

I looked at old men looking at old cars.

We found a cute kid sized car.

The family favorite. We all have a thing for orange.

Obviously, it was also the favorite of some of the old men.

There was a guy giving selling rides on a home made train.

Of course, the older boys just had to have a ride.

I should have known Jonah wasn't too sure about his decision.

Sure enough, Jonah changed his mind and only Noah finished the ride!

We rounded out the day with a bit of jumping castle fun.

Jonah liked having the castle just to Noah and himself.

All in all it was a fun family morning....The End!