playset

Here are a couple of the reasons why I'm thankful that we decided to put up a playset in our backyard.

1. We finally met some neighbor kids!!!
It gave me GREAT joy to see the boys having so much fun with the neighbor kids!  I had asked Dorian if his feet were cold, and when he told me that they weren't I left him alone because I was afraid that if he came inside, the neighbor kids would go home.  But when he did come in hours later he said, "My feet were so freezing cold but I didn't want to come inside and miss the fun."  Dorian never likes to miss out on the fun.  I don't think that he gets that from a stranger.  :)

2. Dorian was very proud of himself that he learned how to pump.  He had to show daddy before he left for work the next morning.  :)

Pumpkins

I love these boys when they are serious and when they are silly!!!  :)

Yeah!  Time to carve pumpkins and roast the seeds. :)

Paper Airplanes and Photographs

On Dorian's actual birthday, Nathan was out of town for a conference so my mom came in the afternoon and we all made paper airplanes together.  Then we ate out at the Pizza Ranch for supper.

The day after his birthday, Dorian and I went to Children's Park so I could take some 5 year pictures of him.  Levi was at Heidi's house, so we really enjoyed playing together and he was very cooperative about taking pictures for me.  :) 

I had to write down a couple of the things that Dorian said over the last month. 

1. We had decided to pick up Happy Meals from Culvers one sunny day and as we were waiting in the drive thru Dorian just randomly says, "God made us a beautiful day."  It was a beautiful day!  My heart smiled.  We have had really great weather since we've moved here.  I love all of the sunshine!!!

2. One afternoon when we had nothing going on, I took the boys for a drive and turned in by Sandy Hallow.  Dorian says, "Whoa...I think this is a rain forest!  Are we in a new state?"  I felt bad because the boys were both still confused about exactly where we lived.  But it was funny because we live in Iowa...it was basically just a pond with a wooded area around it, surrounded by open fields.  :)  I'm thankful that there is something so close to our house that they were so enthused about.  :)

Marbleworks

The one thing that Dorian really wanted for his 5th birthday was a marble game so we were super excited to see him open it up!  And his reaction was what we expected...true excitement!

Dorian's birthday bash

October 8:  The day of Dorian's 5th birthday party!  We were so excited to have our first birthday party at our own home with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents!  The beauty of living near family. 
The kids had fun decorating party hats. 

Bowling!

Bean bag toss!

Guessing game.

And finally, a Toy Story pinata!!!

It was a hit.  :)

And Dorian made quite a haul.

Dorian opened many wonderful and thoughtful gifts.  Daddy is helping him assemble his new airplane.

And of course, birthday cake and candles! 

It brings us great joy to see him having so much fun and it's hard to believe that he is already 5 years old!

had to share...

I read this story from an email that I received from MOPS and I just couldn't bring myself to delete it until I shared it.  It's a funny story and I think the message is so important!


Septic Moments

By Carla Foote

On a recent family vacation, we eagerly looked forward to hosting an open house with old friends. But shortly before our friends started arriving for our party, we discovered that the septic tank was literally spilling over onto the path around the house with every flush and every ounce of water down the drain. In the midst of calling septic tank specialists to come pump out the septic tank, we greeted our guests with a friendly hello and an invitation to drive to the park at the end of the lake if they needed to use the bathroom. Not the best way to start a party, but the other option was to send everyone home.

"While I did experience
some flashes of anger,
I decided to flex with the situation"

So many parts of life include dealing with unplanned challenges. We can choose whether we get angry, let it ruin our day or flex with the situation. While I did experience some flashes of anger, I decided to flex with the situation, make jokes about the septic party and concentrate on relationships with friends, some of whom we hadn’t seen for many years.

The septic issue went from bad to worse, as the pumper truck arrived about the same time we put the food out for the buffet dinner. Not only were our bathrooms unavailable all afternoon, we enjoyed our dinner with the sound and smell of pumping.

I certainly would have preferred a different set of memories with my friends, but the relationships were definitely more important than the ambiance of the party. I’m glad I didn’t let the consequences ruin my attitude or the chance for meaningful connection.

Dear God, help me to focus on what really matters, and not let unexpected circumstances ruin my attitude.

before and after

The unexpected part of our home purchase was the large garden/Chinese rock garden that was unearthed once the snow melted in the Spring.  Large meaning 38 feet by about 15 feet!  And by the time that we moved in late July, the weeds were nearly 6 feet tall.  It was not pretty!  We've spent a lot of time on that piece of land.

Ryan was very gracious and helped chop down weeds and haul them away to the dump for us.

 Nathan turned over the soil in the garden area.

 After much debate, we decided to buy a used play set which dad helped us pick up using a rented flatbed trailer. 

 Dad and Nathan spent one whole Saturday morning clearing out the white rock and bringing that away.

 Ryan, Dad and Nathan spent another couple of hours putting the play set back together in our yard.  And we just hired some guys to put sod down around it.  We did leave a rectangular garden area.  (We're looking forward to having a garden next summer. :)

 We still need to put a canopy on the play set and put sand in the sandbox, but it looks 100 times better already!  And today Aniah and Eden were at our house for the afternoon and the kids played in the backyard for a long time.  I love having a play set!!!  And I'm so thankful that we aren't going to be known as "the house with the white rock in the backyard" anymore.

THANK YOU to all the guys who helped with this project!!!  I think our neighbors are appreciative as well.  :)