The Great Pumpkin

The pumpkin has been carved.  The first fire in our fireplace has been lit.  It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown has been watched.   And I'm just exploding with happiness that my favorite season is upon us in full force!

Pumpkin carving is not something we do every year.  Usually with the church Harvest Party over Halloween weekend, we're too busy setting and cleaning up to bother with it.  This year, though, we had a whole Friday night open for nothing but some wholesome family fun!

We each took a job.  Ella and Delia emptied the pumpkin of all the ooey-gooeys.  Since we've been reading The Pumpkin Gospel a lot this fall, Ella kept making us smile by referring to the yucky guts as "sin" and expressing gratitude that it was being removed and thrown away.

Dave did most of the carving.  Yes, we did cheat by using one of those paper templates.  I was on pumpkin-seed-baking duty.  We crunched on these salty treats while sipping apple cider by the fire and watching It's the Great Pumpkin.  I think we found a new fall tradition. 

(Half) Marathon Man

As Dave cheerfully trots in from a 6 mile jog this morning, I am prompted to write this blog post bragging about what he plans on accomplishing next weekend.  On Sunday, November 7, Dave will join with a team of about 16 others and run a half marathon for Haiti.  Team Gilmore was assembled by my good friend Dorina and her husband Ericlee to help raise funds for their move to and ministry in Haiti.  Ericlee's grandfather started a grass-roots organization there 63 years ago that has now grown into 2 orphanages, 2 health care clinics, 5 schools and 8 churches.  After the devastation of last year's earthquake and other unmistakable signs in their lives, Dorina and her family felt an unquestionable call to sell their house, quit their jobs and minister full time in Haiti.  Their family also includes daughters Meilani (4 years) and Giada (almost 2 years).  What an amazing step of faith!

Dorina and her family are close to our hearts and we saw them make this decision "for such a time as this" over the course of this year.  Also, Dave has been wanting to make finishing a longer race one of his running goals.  For these reasons, Dave decided to join Team Gilmore to run the 13.1 miles (!) to raise money for the Gilmores and their ministry in Haiti.  He has been diligently training 5 days a week and has seen himself gain so much more endurance and strength!  He's excited to not only run the entirety of this race, but to do it in under 2 hours. 

One goal he has not yet reached is his fundraising goal.  He had a $/mile number in his mind that he knew would motivate him.  With the race a week away, he's still a little over $300 away from that goal.  So many of you have already generously donated a lump sum or a per mile sponsorship and we thank you!! But now you see my other motive for writing this post, to brag about my super husband, of course, but to also ask if you want to give to this valuable cause.  You can check out http://www.christianfriendshipministries.org/ to learn more about what the Gilmores and others are doing in Haiti.  Donations are tax deductible and come with a receipt.  Feel free to contact us in the coming week if you'd be interested in supporting Dave and the work he's been doing in the past few months while supporting the Gilmores in the work God is calling them to in Haiti.

Decade Day

This week is Red Ribbon Week at Ella's school.  To get the kids excited for a week of lessons about saying "NO" to drugs, each day has been designated as a special theme day.  Monday was Heritage Day.  Since everyone that goes to our school pretty much shares the same background, we were laughing about diversity coming from which part of the Netherlands kids would dress up from!  Tuesday was Nerd Day. After we explained to Ella what a nerd was, she said "That sounds kind of mean.  Do I really have to dress up like that?"  Today is Decade Day, as you can see from Ella's Flower Child attire.  Though she lives to dress up, Ella did feel a little self-conscious in this outfit...until she got to the bus stop and saw all her friends completely decked out in their 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's best.  What do you think, Grandpa and Grandma?  Does it take you back? :)

Only in a House with Girls:

-will you have to end a phone conversation because your daughter is distraught that Jasmine's bra is missing.
-are you constantly pulling Perler Beads off the bottoms of your feet.
-will you find one entire closet dedicated to craft supplies. (The sporting goods were moved into storage to make space!)
-are Ariel, Aurora, Rapunzel, Tiana and Belle household names.
-is a toothbrush that is not pink or purple shunned.
-are the train tracks and cars that were bought for "equal exposure" only pulled out when boy buddies come over to play.
-are those same boy buddies attacked with dress-up and forced to play the part of the prince.
-are new songs on the radio instantly liked for no other reason than: "This sounds like a pretty girl voice."
-does a toddler have words like "accessory", "pedicure", "tiara" and "pirouette" in her limited vocabulary.
-do you get a report on what shoes the teacher wore in the "How was school today?" answer.
-would you have to buy the BOY beta fish (because he's fancier) and give him a girl name.
-do you not think twice about your child pretending to be pregnant with a doll stuffed in her dress.
-is the nightly fight over who gets the pink plate/cup/fork.
-do Great Grandma's china teacups not collect dust because they are regularly filled with pink lemonade for tea parties.
-do you collect tights and leggings in bulk because, when given the choice, they will always pick a dress (even on the coldest days).
-can you make your daughter's whole weekend by simply introducing her to a gal named Barbie.

I recently chatted with Kris about what different worlds we live in-- me with two daughters and her with two sons.  There are things that are normal and commonplace in each of our homes that the other will simply never experience.  We were laughing so hard, I thought I'd jot down a few favorites for which this is true!

Happy Harvest!

Another favorite sign of the season is our church's annual Harvest Party.  A schedule conflict with the school meant the party was on the calendar a week early this year.  I've written in the past about how much we appreciate this alternative to the traditional Halloween.  It's become something we highly anticipate and this year was no disappointment!  Dave's youth group hosts the Harvest Party and they do such a good job helping the kids play games that win candy, serving a pizza dinner and providing other fun like gourd painting, costume parades, pie-eating contests and sack-races.

Here are some of the Five and Under crowd lining up to show off their fabulous costumes.  We were super excited to use the Shamu costume this year, but still couldn't get a scared Delia into it.  She loved Ella wearing the outfit, though, and treated her like a big stuffed animal all night-- following her around, hugging her and saying, "I love you Shamu!"

Dave was having a creative dry-spell for his costume this year.  His old cap and gown was the best he could do.  What made the outfit was Ella's title for it: "You're The Graduator!"

Above are some shots of the action (including an in-flight Bozo Bucket ball!).  The Harvest Party lets us come home with just the right amount of candy.  Since each piece needs to be earned with a game, the fun comes not just in gobbling it up, but in doing things like tossing balls and rings, fishing and putting for it!  In my opinion, this sure beats trick-or-treating!

Splash and Meow!

We're celebrating Halloween a little early tonight as we head off to the church Harvest Party...

I'll have a full report for you tomorrow.  Ah, who am I kidding?  Probably later tonight! :)

Finally Fall!

Guess what!  Our season changed!  For weeks I've been hearing all the fall reports from friends and family in the Midwest while we still endured 90 degree temps.  Then, one day we're sweating in shorts while we take a walk and the next day we're bundled up in coats and blankets while rain pours down on us at a football game!  Last night we came home from the game and did two things we haven't done in forever: put the heat on in the car and pull the winter jammies out of the tub!  With the same hot weather and blazing sun every single day for the past half a year, this weekend we're totally celebrating overcast skies, rain and a major cool-down!

Field Trip to the Fire Station

Today I got to go along as a parent chaperon on a field trip to the local fire station.  The trip included demonstrations of pole sliding, explanations about what all the gear is and opportunities to practice fire safely and play with the equipment.  I found this as exciting and informative as the kids did!

Ella and Chloe, her best friend from kindergarten.

Taking her turn practicing crawling under "the smoke" and out the door to safety when the smoke detector went off.

Ella testing out a seat in the back of the giant ladder fire truck.

 Getting to try the big hose with Firefighter Jason.

The whole kindergarten class, much more wise about fire safety and the workings of a fire station after today's trip!

Bad Apples?

 Though we've been making an annual fall trip to Apple Hill for 3 years now, this year was unlike any we've experienced before.  Saturday traffic was unbelievable.  The roads winding around the 40 orchards and bakeries were at a standstill for long periods of time as cars just waited to pull into lots.  Then our favorite U-Pick place informed us that a late spring freeze had wiped out most of the area's crop, leaving just a few random farms with any apples even on their trees!  Was making the trip up into the hills even worth it this year?

The answer is "Yes!"  With a little extra effort, we found a new place that let us pick apples.  We skipped the places that were obnoxiously busy and just endured the crowds of those whose apples fares we couldn't live without.  We are the masters of the day trip, nothing can bring us down! :)

No trip to Apple Hill would be complete without a horse ride, and the girls are getting old enough to remember and remind us of this now!  At our usual pony-ride place, we even got the same horses as last time!  Since this made such a huge impression on Delia last fall, we heard about Cosmo, the horse she rode, all year long.  What joy to reunite with him today!

I always love the actual apple picking.  Today we plucked a little over 30 pounds of Fuji, Golden Delicious and Matsu apples off the trees.  We munch away as we're hard at work reaching for those high ones and lugging around those heavy buckets.

Something new this year was finding a farm that offered crafts for kids.  The girls pasted a pine cone with peanut butter and rolled it around in birdseed to make a feeder. 

Our day in Apple Hill concluded with the world's best apple donuts (still warm!) and fresh apple cider.  Some things are just worth waiting in long lines for. 

Though we were quick to say, "Uh-oh" when we first arrived in the traffic-a-plenty/apples-not-so-a-plenty Apple Hill today, the day was by no means a disaster.  One of the best parts of it was a visit we got to make to some good friends whose premature baby has been residing at a nearby NICU for 5 weeks now.  We got to meet sweet little Danielle and take her amazing parents out for dinner.  All in all...a GREAT day.

The Prize Box

Ella's teacher manages her classroom with a lot of positive motivation.  Each student has an envelope of smiley faces on their table.  When students act inappropriately, a smiley face is taken from their envelope.  Each day that a student keeps all their smiley faces, they get a smiley stamp and when they get 5 smiley stamps they get to visit the very exciting Prize Box.

You will not be surprised to hear that Ella has never lost a single smiley and has serious plans to keep them all, all year long.  But, you may be surprised to hear that in all her trips to the Prize Box, she has bypassed girlie things like bracelets and nail polishes and has always gone for one of these goofy disguises!  She's come home with fang teeth, crazy whistling lips, and some of the things you see pictured here.  I love picking her up on Prize Box days because she bounces out her classroom, proudly displaying her newest reward and thinking she's pretty funny!

Family Fun

Nope, we haven't disappeared.  With Dave having back-to-back whole weekend commitments and us operating on a schedule that is timed to the minute at times and leaves room for nothing that isn't school, down time, eating, bathing and sleeping, I just haven't had much that's blog-worthy to share.  For these reasons, we were all SO excited for the day of family fun we had planned for today!  Dave started the morning at Ella's school, eating a special breakfast, attending a special chapel and taking special tours of the classrooms for Pastor Appreciation Day.  Ella was so proud to show off her daddy.  After school, we met up for a pizza lunch and began round two of Pastor Appreciation Day at Funworks!  (Aren't we spoiled by all this appreciation?)  The owner opens his place up once a year to all the area pastors for unlimited fun for absolutely no charge. 

Last year we had that crazy rain and had to play inside (which was still fun), but this year it was over 90 degrees.  With the weather cooperating and the girls finally meeting the height requirement, we got to ride the go-karts!  Dave and I took a turn with each girl and they loved it.  Ella kept trying to high-five me while I whipped around the turns, Delia spent the ride laughing and throwing her hands in the air. 

It was the first time we actually felt like doing the bumper boats too.  Though we had a deal to not soak each other, Delia just couldn't resist our boat's water cannon.

 Delia has always been terrified of the big colorful play structure, but this year she was finally brave enough to give it a try-- on her own terms.  We knew she'd love climbing and flying down the fast slides, indeed, she said this was her favorite part of the day.

In the petting zoo we found some very aggressive goats and the fattest pot belly pig I've ever seen. 

The Word of the Day came in the corn maze when we hiked for almost 3 miles to find all six stations: Persevere!  We persevered though heat, bugs, scratchy, low-hanging corn, allergies being activated, totally tired kiddos and even getting a little turned-around at times.  Our reward for finding all six signposts?  Four rounds of free mini-golf.  Since Dave is given a card for unlimited mini-golf all year long, this was a pointless prize.  Good thing the prize was in the satisfaction of completing the maze, right?  The whole day was the prize actually-- a whole bunch of much needed family fun.  Anyone want some mini-golf passes? :)

So I Don't Forget...

I'll record 2 of my favorite long-standing Delia-isms here on the blog:

1.  The way she gets the numbers mixed up and always calls her forehead her "two-head."

2.  How I've learned to ask "Where?" when she tells me she has a tummy ache because Delia's tummy aches can refer to any ache or pain anywhere in her body. For example, "I have a tummy ache in my finger."

Brought to You by the Letter P

We easily survived another long weekend without Dave.  Tonight he returns from a 4 day youth worker convention in San Diego.  I answered the phone Friday night to the Newsboys singing us (and thousands of others in San Diego) "Something Beautiful" live.  They were just one of the big name Christian artists Dave had leading him in worship this weekend.

Instead of escaping or finding big distraction without Dave, though, we just took it easy at home this weekend and put things like "sleep in" and "clean the house" on the to-do list.  We still had some fun, though, and looking back with Ella we found a fun theme: the letter P!

On Friday night our big treat was making PUPPY chow together and watching a movie.  On Saturday we went to a PANCAKE breakfast at church and then walked to the PARK with some friends.   You read about the PUMPKIN PATCH.  The weekend's highlight was a birthday PARTY for Helia.  With just the members of their family and grandparents, Phill and Jetta already had a party-sized crowd and were kind enough to include us.  We stayed for 5 hours enjoying their POOL and a PINATA!

So, there's the recap of our weekend.  The girls and I got a kick out of the way everything we intentionally did to make it special unintentionally started with the letter P!

Hello, October!

 As is usually the case, our calendar says it's fall, but our weather does not.  So, we sweat it out in shorts at the pumpkin farm today, then chugged cold water and blasted the A/C on the way home.  Our favorite fall farm just opened yesterday and we had the place to ourselves (guess no one else felt like picking pumpkins in the 90 degree heat!).  Farmer John even let us wander around his pumpkin patch, which was something new to see this year.  Here are the annual pictures of the girls posing in the pumpkins and jumping on the hay trampoline:

We'll have to head back when it actually feels like fall.  I think you just need to be wearing a sweatshirt when you take a hay ride!