The Deacon's Pew

When Joe was in high school or college, he and his dad found this beautiful old deacon's pew - painted sky blue. They stripped and stained it, and we've had it in our living room for the last 9 1/2 years - I love it. Well, Joshua is our first child to actually like to climb on furniture and then take flying leaps and tumbles off of it, so we've had to rethink our furniture arrangement - especially since he IS #4, so I can't have my eyes on him 24/7. So now, this beautiful pew spends most of it's time on it's back - but the kids have found good use for it!

The Journal

Joey does a journal entry each week as part of his school curriculum. This is the journal "idea" and then what Joey wrote.

Fall w/ the Hulls (III)

Fall w/ the Hulls (II)

Their daughter, Krista, is very good with the kids - they love Miss Krista!

Fall w/ the Hulls

Back at the beginning of November, our family friends, Mike and Babs Hull, invited the kids over to jump in the leaves. They have a huge back yard and are very good about inviting us over for these kinds of things - like sledding. And, as you can see, the kids love being there.

Pumpkin Patch

One of our family traditions that we started when Joey was about 1 1/2 yrs. old is going to a pumpkin patch every year to get pumpkins. We let the kids each pick out a pumpkin, they design the face, mommy draws the face on the pumpkin, and daddy does most of the actual carving. For the last three years we have gone to Waterman's Farm and have really enjoyed it - here are our pictures from the day.

Indiana Boys

Our visit with Jordans

The next weekend, my brother Tim, his wife Dana, and their son Ryan came for a visit. So fun to see so much family in one week! We had a great time but wished they didn't have to leave so soon. Ryan is just 2 months older than Joshua, so I look forward to them being able to "grow" and play together whenever we can.

Our visit with Marinellis

Joe's sister and her family were here from New Hampshire for a visit last week. We enjoyed getting to spend some time with our family and the kids really enjoyed seeing their cousins, Gioia and Audrey.

Family Portraits

We got our family portrait taken last week and JCPenney. It was also Joshua's birthday, so we had his 1 year picture taken too. For those of you family and friends who we normally send pictures to, we will be getting the prints next week, so hopefully we'll get some out to you soon after that.

Look Who's One!

Balloons!!

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Cake!!

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Balloons AND Cake!!

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PROOF!

So, for any of you who may have thought I was exaggerating when I told you that Gracie likes her baseball cap so much that she wears it to bed, here is my evidence! Unless I tell her not to, or she loses it momentarily, she ALWAYS wears her beloved hat - yes, even to sleep in!

Joshua's first "steps"

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Okay, so I know these aren't technically his first steps since he had some assistance, but this was the first time he showed any interest in walking. Usually if you try to stand him up or "walk" him holding his hands, he just pulls his legs up b/c he wants to crawl. But, as you can see, he was pretty thrilled with it all! This is a late post - it was a couple of weeks ago.

Remembering

9-11-2001
Today, for the first time, I had the opportunity to explain to Joey what happened on this day 6 years ago. He was only 18 months old and I was pregnant with Gracie when it happened. As I'm sure is the case for every American, I can remember vividly the events of that day as if it were yesterday. I explained to him about the bad people called terrorists, their warped view of who God is, and the many people who died that day. We talked about the children who never knew their fathers because they died that day. We talked about the many firefighters and rescue workers who gave their lives for others that day. I know he doesn't fully grasp the events of that day, and as we watched the memorial service at ground zero and listened to name after name being read I'm sure he couldn't understand why his mom was crying. But on this day, I wanted to stop and remember, and to share the significance of it all with my son, and to talk about our great God who is in complete control of all.

O-R-E-O . . .

Okay, so this may seem like a stupid thing to post, but to my parents and siblings, a baby's first Oreo is a pretty significant milestone - not quite as big as the first step or the first word, but still, noteworthy! So yesterday Joshua had his first Oreo (orange creme center for Halloween). He's already proven he has a sweet tooth with his "chocolate dance" and the little laugh he gives after daddy gives him a bite of a Hershey bar, and this was no different - big grins, his little laugh and, of course, his "chocolate dance"!

The question . . . answered!