Carving Jack

Eli has loved the whole pumpkin thing this year. He has talked about the "punkin" patch quite often after we went with my family a few weeks ago. We placed his pumpkin right inside the door to our apartment and he has greeted every day when he comes home from school. I just knew he would love to give his pumpkin a face so we pulled out our pumpkin carving kit on Saturday and got to work.

I put the apron that held all the tools on Eli and he thought that was so cool.

Time to get dirty. :)

Hailey enjoyed her Halloween cookie...

...so much that we had to lose the shirt.

Our pumpkin was really "clean" this year and didn't have many seeds at all. I took what little bit we had and roasted them up. Marc LOVES these things. The recipes calls for 2 cups of pumpkin seeds (don't wash them just clean them off with a paper towel), 1 1/2 Tbs. of oil, and 1 1/2 tsp. of salt. Mix them up and then cook them at 250 degrees for 45-60 minutes periodically stirring them. I think Marc likes these so much because they are quite salty. :)

Our finished pumpkin!

I bought our pumpkin carving kit the first Halloween after we were married, and it has been SO fun bringing it out year after year. I think it has traveled to three cities with us so far and next year we will be in Memphis now that Marc has signed a contract with Christ Community Health Services. I think family traditions are great because you can usually take them with you wherever you go. :) We are going trick or treating tomorrow night with our ladybug and Thomas the Train. Eli is going to have a blast and I can't wait!

LIfe in Hillsboro

Marc got a call in the middle of last week from the group that he does his contracting through because they were trying to fill a weekend shift in Hillsboro, Kansas. It is only 45 minutes from Wichita and close to the area we were needing to be at on Saturday for a birthday party so Marc took the job. These weekend shifts are always unpredictable, but the kids and I decided to tag along for a few days and hope for some free time with Marc. Marc ended up only seeing one patient all weekend. It couldn't have worked out any better. :)

We stayed in a two bedroom apartment for the weekend that was next to the hospital. It was very dated and musty smelling, but wouldn't you know Eli has asked us all day if we could go back to the "new" house! I have no idea what was so appealing to him but he LOVED it. Marc pointed out to me that Eli's adaptability and eagerness to experience new things are such wonderful traits for an oldest child to have because he will set the mood for how his younger siblings perceive things (I made that plural there because we hope to have more kids at some point). I think he mostly enjoyed sharing a room again with Hailey (and getting to sleep on the big blow-up mattress by himself!). They shared a room together for part of the summer and then we split them back up when we got back to Wichita. They are on almost identical schedules with naps and sleeping at night so I am hoping it will work out well for us in Africa when they will be sharing a room again.

Hillsboro was a really nice little town. I liked it better than some of the other small towns we have visited over the past few years. There was a Subway, Wendy's, Pizza Hut, and Sonic which was very helpful. Some of these towns have only one fast food chain (or none at all!). On Saturday morning we went to a fundraiser breakfast for the senior citizen center. We had some delicious pancakes and then went back to the hospital to let the kids play in the kids' area for a bit.

On our way out of the hospital we saw a HUGE spider. This was the biggest spider I have ever seen to date that was not in captivity. It was Marc's idea to use Eli's shoe as a reference for the size of this thing. Eli didn't seem to mind! Eli wears a size 9 in toddler shoes and the spider was easily half the length of his shoe. Marc had to keep telling Eli not to step on it while I was taking this picture. Ha!

Shortly before lunch we headed to the park right across the street from the hospital. There was a little kids play area and then a big kids play area. Eli of course wanted to do the big kids stuff so Marc and I traded off tagging along with him. :)

Then, after naps we head to Tyler's birthday party. It was a beautiful day for a party! There was yummy food and cake and lots of kids for Eli and Hailey to play with. These were some of our friends from residency who are now working in a town just a little outside of Wichita. Annie and I were both pregnant at the same time. Hard to believe that was a year ago!

Little Miss Hailey walking all over the place.

Eli loved the Hillbilly golf set. He was quite dangerous whipping around those golf balls on a string. I find myself saying at least once a day..."He is ALL boy." :)

It was a great weekend indeed. :)

Moments

It isn't always the big things in life that really get you. Over the past few weeks there have been some really sweet little things that I decided to jot down. And here are some random pictures over the past few weeks as well.

Best Moments of the Week

1. Watching Eli whine like a baby because Hailey wouldn't quit touching him on our walk. It went something like this. Hailey would casually reach over in the double stroller and touch Eli's arm. Eli would say, "No, no Haywee. Don't touch me," while placing her hand back on her side. Then two seconds later she would start it all over again. I eventually intervened for Eli's sake but not before I got a few laughs in.

2. Getting done with all my patients and charts by 4:45 and realizing I would get home to see my family 15 minutes earlier than normal.

3. When deciding between buying a small or large bag of dry pinto beans at the grocery store a man standing next to me in the aisle said, "Those are going to give you lots of gas." Ha! Gotta love it when a complete stranger comments on your bowel functions.

4. Enjoying a date night with Marc that included Mexican food and some great conversation over hot chocolate afterwards. I am continually amazed at the level of compassion Marc has for people who are suffering. He can often be moved to tears when telling me some of his stories from the hospital which inspires me to love people the way he does.

5. Hearing Eli say "oopsie daisies" in conversation for the first time when he dropped something. He is such a cutie. :)

We spent the weekend in "small town" Kansas so I will post some pictures tomorrow. I hope you had some great moments in your days last week! :)

Hailey's Birthday Weekend

Our baby girl celebrated her first birthday this weekend! It seems like she has grown up so much over these past few weeks now that she is walking. We had so much fun watching her take it all in this weekend. Thanks to all our family and friends that helped us celebrate!

On Saturday for lunch we grabbed some Subway and then headed with my family to our favorite park by our house. :) Our kids love playing at parks and being around all the other kids. We got an email from one of the missionary wives in Niger this past week and she mentioned a playground in her email. I'm sure it won't be quite as fancy as this one, but our kids will love having a place to play outside while we are in Africa.

(Sorry Stacey, but this was the only pic I had from lunch!)

 Hailey LOVES her swinging time.

After lunch we came back to put the kids down for a nap, and I finished getting our food ready for the party. I made a Santa Fe turkey chili and Minestrone soup which seemed perfect for a Fall birthday party. I had fun decorating our house as well. I LOVE craft projects and enjoyed making Hailey birthday banner and the tissue pom poms. Hailey may have not noticed those things much on her actual birthday, but I think she will when she looks back over her pictures in a few years. (I painted the canvases above Eli's bed, and he asked me about them a few weeks ago when I was getting him dressed on his changing table. I told him that I painted them for him when he was still inside my tummy because I love him very much and because he is very special. Now when I change his pull-up he points to them and says, "Mommy, you did those for me because I'm special." Melts. My. Heart.) Here are some pictures from Miss Hailey's party! We love you Hailey!

Monthly pictures are great! We did these for Eli as well. It is so fun to look at them all together and see how much she has grown over the past year.

Mama Ree Ree and Papa made it to the party!

Time for presents!

Eli had to try out all of Hailey's presents including her new PINK jacket. :)

Gracie opening up her party favor bag.

We have the best moms ever.

Cake time.

My mom brought this cute cake all the way from Rick's Bakery in Arkansas. There was a little shifting in the car but it still looked precious and tasted even better.

Family picture time (thanks Dianna!)

Umm... where's Eli???

 Ahh, there he is. Doesn't he look happy his daddy took his balloon away?

After my family left to go back home we took Marc's parents downstairs to show them the kids' classrooms (remember we live in the same building as the daycare!) and couldn't help getting a quick pic of Hailey, Eli, and Gracie hanging out on the toddler couch.

Then we headed back outside to finish off a great day with some more fun on the playground. Hailey is really good at getting up the steps on playground equipment. I follow behind her but she does not like any help. :)

Thanks everyone for coming to celebrate Hailey's first birthday! We had a great time and hope you did too!!!