I Like my Men Clean Shaven :-)

Daddy's Little Helper

Chris likes to take work and turn it into a game. It's remarkably smart because #1: It makes the work fun and #2: It's a great way to recruit people to share in the labor. Here's his new recruit for yard work...

Have I mentioned lately how much I love the boys in my life??

"You are the Light of the World..."

Our sweet little boy is repeating new words every day so we decided it was time to get some Bible verses on CD playing through our house. Yeah for Steve Green's "Hide 'em in Your Heart" CD's!! The song for Matthew 5:14 & 16 has been the prayer of my heart for Mark (and our family). Mark, this is why Momma and Daddy want you to share and to be kind....

"You are the light of the world. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

I couldn't decide which picture was sweeter of our little light :-)

Family Fun Fest at Patterson's Fruit Farm

If you live in the Northeast Ohio area and have kids, you MUST visit Patterson's Fruit Farm for their Family Fun Fest. It is a child's wonderland of fall activities: hay bales, mazes, tree forts, crazy long slides, pony rides, pumpkin painting, pick your own apples, riding tractors, etc. etc. We had an amazing Saturday morning!!

a tractor ride takes you back to all the activities

Mark in the tee pee

one of the several tree forts

one of the many crazy-long slides

For $2, we shared an apple fritter as a family---it seriously was bigger than our heads!! And it was delicious.....mm mmm good!!!

Who's that in the pumpkin??

horse drawn carriage ride

Dad and Mark go to get their second round of fresh apples

We let Mark pick out his own pumpkin to bring home. We quickly had to let him know that it was NOT a basketball and should NOT be thrown.

one very worn out little boy

Fun at the Park

The weather has been gorgeous this pre-fall season and we have been fortunate enough to have had the time to take advantage of it. Here is a documentation of our fun.

Idlewood Park

Stow Park: (...Voted by our family as our new favorite park.)

He is doing the zipline by himself!! hanging on by himself!! I was freaking out.

This was the sweetest moment... A group of middle school boys came to play basketball. Mark stopped what he was doing and watched them longingly until they were done.

Sunnylake Park

Family Picture: Mark- 17 1/2 months, baby H2- 27 weeks

On the way home Mark discovered his nose...more specifically, picking his nose. He would stick his finger as far up his nose as he could then break into hysterical laughter. We regrettably encouraged his shenanigans with our own laughter.

He also learned the more useful skill of saying "cheese" for the camera. We'll settle for one good habit learned in exchange for one bad.

Elite Keeper League Draft

Once a year Chris's friends from college get together to daft for their Elite Keeper league. This year we had the pleasure of hosting the draft. The crew is rapidly expanding-- 2 new members of the league were voted in for this year: Jason Spanogle and Dave Crosby... AND... two babies are on the way (The Pearce's little one and our little one!). It is such a delight to have everyone together and to catch up on laughter. I may joke that these boys take this league WAY too seriously (a binder of official rules?!?); however, I'm glad they do because it ensure that we will have these special weekends filled with memories.

1st Beaters...Yum!!

In our home we love fall. The cool weather, apple picking, pumpkin carving, hay rides, the vibrant colors...and (perhaps our favorite)--- PUMPKIN COOKIES!! We made our 1st batch tonight and Mark was lucky enough to be awake to take part in his 1st beater experience.

The 1st Lick...

Shear delight...

"I think I could go for more of this..."

Such fun!! You bring us so much joy, Mark!!

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made...

We have not yet had a post celebrating the life of our new little one who is due December 12th. This is certainly inexcusable... (although I will try and make the excuse of life being crazy this summer!) As with Mark, throughout this pregnancy I have been drawn back to Psalm 139. It makes me smile to think about how much care and thought God is putting into forming this little one. Please pray with us for the health of this baby and also that he or she will love the Lord their God and Maker with all their heart, soul, and mind.

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baby feet
"How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" Rom 10:15
baby's arm and hand

In this pic, the baby is looking right at us and it looks like he or she is giving us the "ok" sign. When we go in for this ultrasound, I get nervous because this is when they test for signs of health problems. When we saw this picture, Chris insisted that the baby was saying... "I'm Ok Mama... Relax!"

About 26 weeks down...14 left to go!! We can't wait to meet this new little one!!

Praise the Lord!

Chris and I have been doing the "read the Bible in 90 days" challenge this summer. It has been an amazing experience to say the least--- especially doing it together. We were amazed by the commitment of Chris's younger siblings (Molly, Ben, and Ross) and their youth group who are all doing it and are currently in the New Testament.... (Way to Go!!) Chris and I are in Psalms and I can't think of a better place to be right now. First of all having just read through the history of the children of Israel and the many trials and victories in the life of David, the Psalms have a greater richness this time around. Secondly, reading a large selection of them in a day makes me want to mimic their writers and shout for joy, praise the Lord, and sing praises to our Maker :-) Finally, on the more personal side--- August has been a month of many trials (actually... I should say frustrations). No, we haven't had any loss of life, hospital stays, or job tragedies. It's just been material mishaps with our home or cars that come one right after the other and my silly daily stomach pain... but they've been threatening our daily joy and praise to the Lord. That said, I want use this post to praise the Lord. God good--- all the time!

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!" -Ps 107:1

"I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, In the assembly of the upright and in the congregation. The works of the Lord are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them. His work is honorable and glorious, and His righteousness endures forever." Ps. 111:1-3

"Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to its going down the Lord's name is to be praised. " Ps 113:2-4

"I will love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer: My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised!" -Ps 18:1-3

"In Your presence is fullness of joy... As for me, I will see your face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied when I awake with Your likeness." Ps 16:11 & 17:15

"Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints!" Ps. 31:23