Harvest Fun

Sunday was our annual Harvest Fun day with the church.  Since we had been at the ER with Noah the night before due to an asthma attack, we missed the traditional trick-or-treating.  Although with as much fun as the kids had on Sunday, I do not think they even realized that they missed anything.

Noah picked this year's theme, which was the Three Billy Goats Gruff.  He was Big Billy Goat Gruff, Jonah was Middle Billy Goat Gruff, and Micah was Little Billy Goat Gruff.  Joe was the troll that lived under the bridge.  I was just the coordinator!  The kids were not into the costumes at all but did at least keep them on long enough to place in the costume contest.

Micah enjoyed his time with Grammy dancing during the cake walk.

He soon decided that cake walking was tough work and needed a break.

Jonah fell in love with the giant shark slide.

He slid over...

 and over...

and over again!

 Noah wasn't quite so brave as to tackle the giant shark slide, but he did let me paint his hair orange.

 I manned the hair painting booth, but my troll kept scaring off potential participants.  I think that instead of a troll he sort of looks like a Santa gone bad.

 It was a full day of sliding, painting, candy gathering, bingo playing, candy apple eating, pumpkin picking harvest fun!  We ended the day with an awesome hayride through the swamp.  I have come to love this time of year.  I love everything from the colors to the smells to the weather to the decorations...and especially the hot apple cider and cocoa.

This is the scarecrow that the boys and I made for art class a couple weeks ago.  I found a cute poem about a scarecrow named Patches whose patches told the salvation story.  The kids memorized the poem, we stuffed a scarecrow, and painted leather patches (man, cross, dove, tree, candle, and heart) to sew on his overalls.  I'm not sure how well you can see the patches but I thought they did a great job.

Now see that person? That was you when sin ruled your heart.

But Jesus died upon the cross to give you a new start.

His Spirit fills your heart with love and joy for all to see.

He gives you faith and helps it grow, strong as the strongest tree.

The light of Jesus shines in you.  Tell everyone you know!

God's given you eternal life because He loves you so!

Harvest Time

Yet another harvest carnival for the kids to enjoy!

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

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.