Sunday Mornings

Our church is family integrated. Simply put, this means our children attend all services with us. A great ideal, but sometimes not so great in reality. Don't get me wrong- I'm committed to the idea and see great benefit from it, both for the parents and the children. However, the thought occurred to me last Sunday morning, that most people have no idea what it is like to sit through a 1 1/2 hour church service with a 8 month old baby and a rambunctious 3 year old boy, while keeping an eye on the 9 and 12 year old in the pew with you. It goes something like this: (keep in mind that because Paul is the pastor, he does not sit with us -duh- and therefore, does not help with the little ones)

(singing) On a hill, far away, stood....
(whispers to Samuel)- "Stand up"
(singing) an old rugged.....
(pat and rock baby, who is tired and cranky)
(singing) cross, the emblem of....
(whispers to Samuel) - "No Sam, stand up. It's not time to sit yet"
(singing) suffering...
(pat baby harder so he'll settle down and quiet down)
(whispers to Samuel)- "Do not take your shoes off" -note to self: next time Sam needs Sunday shoes, buy shoes that tie. Velcro makes such a LOUD noise in a quiet church!
(singing) and shame; and I love that old...
(whispers to Sam)- "put that offering envelope back in the holder"
(singing) cross, where the dearest and best, for a...
(keep patting and rocking baby, praying he fall asleep)
(whispers to Sam)- "no, it's not time for lunch yet."
(singing) world of lost....
(increase intensity of rocking and patting as baby is getting more and more upset)
(whispers to Sam) "you have to what? We JUST went to the bathroom!"
(whispers to Anna) "can you take Sam to the bathroom?
(singing) sinners was slain.

And that is just one verse of one song. I'm tired just recounting that- and that is about how it is the whole service. On "easy" Sundays, Benjamin falls asleep for the preaching and I'm able to listen, providing Samuel is having a good Sunday. Last Sunday, we brought 2 neighbor girls with us, so I had to pay extra attention to the far end of the pew where my girls and the new girls sat, to make sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to. Some days I leave church exhausted!

But somehow, most Sundays I am able to get the gist of the message. Some Sundays, I miss the entire service. But Samuel is able to sit pretty quiet through a Sunday morning worship service, and while he doesn't yet understand most of what he is hearing, he is learning how important worship is, and that God deserves our best behavior.

Found on my Camera...

Pumpkin Seeds

Silly Boy!

He's standing up on everything!

Cute

No idea!

Again, no idea??

We had two of Sam's little friends over this morning, and Anna made popcorn. They were fascinated!

Popsicles are Better when Shared

Random Images

Fall festival at a local church

Admiring all her "loot!"

The mighty hunters- yes, even Sam. Check out Paul's blog (boundariesandbridges.blogspot.com) to see the results of this hunt.

Smiley, winking Benjamin

Saturday

I can't believe it's the end of another week already. They sure do fly by. As Ellie reminded me today, it's exactly two months until Christmas. It will be here and gone before we know it.

Paul, Paul and Zack have been gone since Thursday morning. They went hunting up in the mountains on a bear and deer hunt. This is the third year they have gone on this hunt and it is a favorite for them. They go with good friends of ours and enjoy the primitive camping (no thank you :) as much as the hunting. Paul shot a good sized doe this morning, so that made the hunt extra sweet. He just shot another doe last Saturday and Zack shot one a few weeks ago, so that makes three already for this season. Last season they didn't get any, so they are happy!

We've had two days of cold, rainy, windy weather which pretty much put a damper on doing anything outside. We did get to Chuck E Cheese yesterday morning. Sam has been asking to go for quite some time- he really had no idea what it was and he, of course, loved it. I don't mind it if we get there early enough, before all the school groups and preschools. There were only a few other people there, so it was nice. We went to the Pumpkin patch today, which was an absolutely beautiful day. My camera died after only a few minutes, but I did get a few pictures which are in the post after this one.

I baked Paula Deen's apple cake for our fellowship meal at church tomorrow. If you like apple cake, search for her recipe online- it is the best apple cake you will ever have. I love it, but it is so not a diet food!

The Pumpkin Patch

Look What I Saw

in Benjamin's crib when I went to get him up yesterday morning:

The first time he stood up all by himself! Now he's in the stage where he can get up, but can't get down. So we spend the first few minutes of naptime and bedtime going into his room and laying him down. Problem is, when he sees us, he thinks we're coming in to get him up and he is mighty unhappy when he realizes that is not why we're there!

Benjamin at 8 months

I can't believe my little baby is now 8 months old. How did he get so big already? He now weighs 20 pounds and is a great eater. You'll notice that he has no shoes on in these pictures because he has no shoes that fit him. His feet are so much bigger than Sam's were at this age that none of Samuel's shoes that he wore as a baby will fit Ben! He is generally a happy baby, always ready with a smile for anyone who looks at him. He does love his siblings, and still enjoys Samuel, always ready with a laugh and a kiss.

If you look close, you can almost see his new teeth in this picture.

Here is his "wink"!
And his happy face!
And his big brother who is looking awfully big these days!