The Lord is Good to Me....

and so I thank the Lord......

We made some yummy Johnny Appleseed milkshakes this morning.  I used apple cider, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon.  Very tasty.    

I have been in a serious funk lately.  My job.  Oh my job.....let's just say it's not my happy place.  Sadly, I have a very difficult time separating my stress and misery that comes from work with the rest of my life.  Today, after spending a good part of the day moping around involuntarily (aka, the pits of despair), I was asked to go on a treasure hunt with my daughter.  She told me that once she threw a rock into the woods the magic would begin.  We went on a search for crystals, discovered a secret land that appeared out of thin air, found a HUGE mushroom.  We marveled at the fall leaves floating on the stream running under the Stone Arch Bridge.  We ran down the lane giggling.  "Mommy, hold my hand".  It was just what I needed. 

 

Oh my goodness, how blessed I am.  The Lord has indeed been good to me and so I thank the Lord!       

 

Evangeline joined the Daisy Troop.  Her first meeting was about the cutest thing ever.  At the end of the meeting, they finished with a happiness circle, I think that's what the leader called it.  They all thought of a happy thought in their heads.  When they received a squeeze from their neighbor,  they squeezed the person's hand next to them until the squeezes made it all the way around the circle.  

Upon returning from my lunch break one day last week, I received a message that Evangeline was in the nurses offices with a suspected broken leg.  She had tripped on a tree root at recess and told the nurse she couldn't walk.  We had to take the afternoon off to get X-rays.  Of course nothing was at all wrong and she was right back at soccer the next day like nothing happened.  She's a stinker, that one. 



Suddenly It's Fall

It was a stunningly beautiful weekend for the Marshall Autumn Festival.  We spent almost every bit of it outdoors.  One of the highlights of the weekend is always the big (and I mean big) parade.  Evangeline has learned a few things about parades through the years......

 

1.  It's important to wear all the right accessories.....

 

2.  Find a prime spot to hunker down with the cousins.  Have the parents set up the chairs at least an hour early to ensure a good location.

 

3.  Learn how to hold your candy bag and plug your ears at the same time in case a fire truck goes by. 

 

4.  The fire dog really isn't scary after all......

 

.......neither are the clowns.

 

5.  It is always important to look so cute at a parade that it's the people in the parade that want to take your picture.  

 

One of the neatest things they had going on downtown this weekend was tours of the Archer House.  The whole place was opened for exploring on Saturday.  There was not one place off limits.  Even the basement was part of the tour.  It was really very cool.  I've only been inside 2 other times.  One of those times was when Kyle and I stayed there on our wedding night.  The building has been closed up for years.  It needs so much repair, but I'm thrilled to learn that the new owners are working to restore it back to as much of it's original state as they can.  

 

The picture below was the room Kyle and I stayed in the night we got married.  Sadly, it's suffered a lot of water damage.  I feel like we were so fortunate to get to stay there that night.  We really lucked into it too.  It was pretty much due to me being completely unaware.  I called the Archer House to see if we could stay there not knowing that it had been closed for years.  It just so happened that the owner's niece and nephew were the ones to get my message.  I happen to know them pretty well as they went to our church.  They called me back and said that the owner didn't take guests any more, but they would love it let us stay there that night, no charge.  They even fixed it all up for us with flowers and champagne.  It was a precious gift and memory.  I believe we were the last two to stay there as guests of the Archer House.  Hopefully they will have it up and running again sometime in the future.  It's a pretty cool part of Marshall's history. 

 

Zachary, Candice, Cale, Mom and Dad came to visit.  I got some baby snuggles and Zachary got to feel all medieval with a turkey leg.  

Sunday was a fun family filled day too.  We celebrated Peggy, Roy, Granny and Lily's birthday with a cookout in the afternoon.  It's such a special time of year, fall.  I'm feeling motivated.  

Recap

I totally forgot to mention that I visited Carbondale on a whirlwind....a complete whirlwind.  I was in the car driving to and fro longer than I was actually there, but I just had to go.  Marti was visiting from California and who knows when I'll get the chance to see her again.  We spent a few hours catching up at one of the wineries on the Shawnee trail.  Oh my goodness, it was so good to see these girls, see that old town of ours.  I was so happy I decided to go down.  I will never again have a group of friends like these Carbondale friends.   

 

I have a real love/hate relationship with Carbondale, but I think I'm finally turning a corner.  On my way back out of town I drove past our old house.  The only light on was in Evangeline's old bedroom.  I got swept up in a sea of emotion when I slowed to reflect on my time there.  I pictured me and a baby E.B. spread out on our blanket in the side yard eating pumpernickel and reading books.  I drove around the block and envisioned all the walks I'd made with Che and Lucca, and even more walks with a baby carrier, a stroller and then a toddling toddler.  I stared also at the Abbott's house across the street.  It was the first time I had seen it since they had moved.  It was so bizarre.  I felt alone.  It made me want to go home to Evangeline and Kyle.  It felt weird being at the house without them.   

Back in Marshall.....

I hate to sound like I wished a week of my life away or that I'm ungrateful for last week, because I know my life is pretty darn great and I am thankful for each day I get here in this life, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't relieved last week is over with.  I had my first semester evaluation, which is a whole week process.  It was just one heck of a stressful week.  I didn't sleep well, relax well, eat well, etc.  Ahhh, but now it's over and I'm back to good.

 

We got to visit the cherub again before they left the hospital and Evangeline finally mustered up the courage to hold him.  She loved it.  After she ate her dinner she pointed to Cale and whispered to me that she wanted to hold "that" again.  She just gazed down lovingly at him and patted his head, smitten like all the rest of us.  

 

Wow, that little girl of mine has sure come out of her shell in the soccer department.  We have had two more games in the past week and I just cannot believe how aggressive and outgoing she is!  She gets in the mass of kids and makes a real honest effort at kicking the ball.  She even does it sometimes.  Last week she dribbled it a good ways down the field.  She even blocked a few goals when she got to be the goalie!  I'm so proud of her.  She did not get all of these skills from me, that's for sure.  She's always pretty pooped out at the end of the day.

 

I absolutely adore having my lil' peanut at school with me.  She's doing so great too.  She made it to the "beehive" last week, which means she's ready to start the reading program.  It's exciting.

Here are a few of her recent quotes:

 

Evangeline:  "You know what?  That guy that sits next to me in Mrs. Reynold's does not like purple.  I was like, shocked."

One night I was ordering a pizza and asked Evangeline what kind she wanted.  She said to me, "Mommy, this is really big-girly...I'm going to choose the 'begitable' one."

Here's a little song she was singing the other day as she was bumpying.  She always makes up songs and I just happened to be sitting next to a pencil and paper when she came up with this one.
"God loves us and we love him.
He knows when we're bad.
He loves us no matter what.
He knows what we do.
He can see us through.
He loves us.
He dies on the cross for our sins.
He loves us so."

And here is a poem she wrote at the Lincoln Log Cabins when we were listening to Kyle play the guitar a few weeks ago.  It's about Abraham Lincoln.  She wrote the poem as I recorded it in her notepad.
"They were great presidents
and their mother was a great milk churner.
Abe Lincoln was great at reading books. 
He was a great president.
He kept notes in his hat for good luck.
He lives in a great house.
He worked very hard.
He and Mary Todd got married in ______. "

She told me that I needed to look up the year that the Lincolns were married to fill in the blank.  I just looked it up and it was in 1842.



Bend it Like Hutson

The little girl started soccer.  What a hoot!  She's loving it. She doesn't yet fully comprehend what it is she's supposed to be doing.  But, boy is she great about trotting...eh...dancing around with the rest of the kids, back and forth where ever the ball goes.  Aggression isn't really her forte. 

 

Kyle has sure enjoyed this new sporting venture.  He took her out one day last weekend and got her shin guards, socks, a soccer ball, new shoes and a soccer game for the Wii.  They have also been out to practice a few times together.  If it has to do with sports, Kyle is all over it. 

Our team, Lynx, had their first game last week and they got it handed to them.  We did manage to score a few points.  The points were scored in our own goal, but still, it was pretty exciting....The team we played were clearly more experienced.  Our team just kind of stood around looking bewildered and adorable.... But me and my very non-competitive attitude says, "Who cares, they had a great time."

 

Evangeline got to be goalie for a little bit.  She stood around and shivered, but when the ball finally came her way she really did do a great job trying to block it.  Not bad for the first time being thrown into this position. 

 

And this part was like watching the coaches try to herd cats.....

Fresh From God...

A precious little soul entered this world on Sunday, September 7th.  My nephew, Cale Ryan Walters was born.   It's so hard to believe that my baby brother is now a father, but at the same time it isn't....This baby is going to have amazing parents. 

 

Of course we were all very excited to meet the little fella at the hospital. 



The two big girls are excited to have a new cousin.  Evangeline keeps telling us that she's going to teach him how to walk.  We all agreed that he looks a lot like E.B. when she was born.

First smooches from Evangeline....

Grumpy baby face...

Oh, thank you God for this healthy child you have blessed us with.