A perfect Fall day

Took these pictures two weekends ago but only have a chance to post them now because I've been swamped in every way that I can be.

With December only days away now and Christmas shopping officially kicked off last evening for us, we're longing for the days when it was just warm enough outside to just knock around.  We've got the heat on in the house now and we've already used the fireplace on a number of evenings.  Long gone are those days of Fall that once were when it wasn't too cold to stand out and throw the frisbee to the dog...

Or push Miss A in her beloved swing...

Or rake up big piles of leaves for jumping in...

Or convince the neighbor's lawn guy to let you have all of her leaves from her yard for our mulch pile...

Or jump in an even bigger pile of leaves...

Or just plain stand around in the sunshine looking cute.

Long gone are those warm Fall days.  But certainly they're far from forgotten.  Until next year, Fall.  We'll be thinking warm thoughts of you!

Meeting our new neighbor

It's been a year a half since we were apartment dwellers.  And now that we're home owners, it's hard to believe that we were even stuffed into the little apartment where we lived in the first place!  But all the while when we lived in our little apartment, we dreamed about what it would be like to have our own "suburban paradise."  And despite the fact that this our second Thanksgiving of being saddled with a mortgage, we can't help but see beyond the obligations of that and instead be incredibly grateful for having a place to call home.

One of the great perks about our neighborhood is we've been surrounded by some really nice people and, just today, I was surprised when D came rushing into the house anxious to introduce me to a new friend who recently moved in...

D was out doing yard work and he discovered this little guy just hanging out in the yard!  And what a sweet guy he was.


Miss A was supposed to be taking  nap but was (instead) wailing away in her room so we went and got her up so she could meet our new friend as well...

She was very hesitant to make friends with him or even shake his hand despite D's best efforts to show her that he was a very cool guy!

She kept called it a "spider-bug" (her name for spiders) and had no issue with telling us "NO" every time we asked her if she wanted to touch it.

In time she warmed up to him and it was really fun watching her curious nature take flight as she discovered how cool nature really was. (We're such teachers the way we're always trying to make things learning experiences.)

"Miss A and the praying mantis"

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She wanted to touch the praying mantis SO BADLY but could not get over her reluctance enough to do so. She was very brave though and ended up doing but only with D (literally) holding her hand...

I'm betting that she's conquered enough fears today that the next time we introduce her to something like this, she will ask us if she can keep it and take it with her when it's time for bed.

Matthew 19:14

Matthew 19:14 NIV 

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

These days in the Ellwood house, we live in "prayer mode."  We are devout followers of Christ and His teachings and we work diligently to walk closer to Him and know what He wants us to do with our live and we work very hard to raise Miss A to do the same thing.

We've done bedtime and meal time prayers for as long as I can remember (with Miss A) but recently I've employed prayer time at other times during the day as well.  We've prayed in the car, we've stopping and prayed in the middle of playing, and once we even paused for a minute during bath time!  Perhaps it seems like we've taken prayer to the extremes and we're using it as if there are no bounds with it?  Well... that's kind of the point.

Prayer is the only way I know to actively and directly seek Christ for direction, forgiveness, hope, love, mercy, and grace.  It's the one thing that we the people have been given to use as a tool to speak directly to the Lord.  And so, we pray so much so that Miss A will seek Christ whenever she needs to - even if that means she has to interrupt her own plans to do so.  Because it's not our plans that we need to be carrying out but rather His.

It's a beautiful thing when I come home after a long day of pursuing the Lord through the work that I'm doing (that's come from tremendous prayer but more on this later) to a home and a family that actively serves, worships, and praises the Lord.  Because as for me and my house?  Well... we WILL serve the Lord.  (Joshua 24:15)

Some things never get old

Some of my fondest memories of my childhood are of bedtime when my mother would read to me. There were the ol' favorites that most every child remembers but then there were also the longer books without pictures that I remember fondly: The Little House on the Prairie series, Charlotte's Web, Alice and Wonderland, and an anthology of short stories about dolls. And the memories of hours of bedtime stories aren't mine alone! My two older brothers have also recounted the similar happy memories of their childhood as well! And because I can be such a traditionalist sometimes, I'm doing my best to make story time an absolute staple of bedtime for Miss A as well.

Miss CAN. NOT. go to bed without the same two stories every night. One is a book that my mom got for her from a yard sale or thrift store called "When Mama Comes Home Tonight" and the other one is "Hop on Pop" by Dr. Seuss. I can't recall when we read these books to Miss A for the first time but they are her absolute favorites and she even insists on reading them before her naps as well. Talk about a creature of habit!

As it turns out, we've read both of these stories SO MANY TIMES, Miss A has actually memorized them! Tonight I took some video of her chiming in on different parts of "Hop on Pop." I think it's just about the cutest thing because she has a hard time saying "Hop on Pop" and it always comes out as "Hop on Hop." *sigh* I will ALWAYS remember these times with her. ALWAYS.

P.S. In case you were counting, this is our 200th post so far on the blog!! Pretty nifty, eh? Thanks for keeping up with us. We've still got plenty more adventures to share just yet.