Awesome Lightfest!

Well, it's 11:00 p.m. on October 31st and I really should be in bed, but I'm really wired up from the night so I thought I would take this opportunity to write about our awesome night! As some of you know, our church has a huge festival every year on Halloween Night called LightFest. It's a fun, family festival complete with food, live music (this year was the HogWaller Boys), carnival games, 3 bouncy houses, petting zoo, door prizes - and it's all free. We even gave away a car this year as one of the prizes, donated by a local dealership. Our whole goal is to spread the love of Christ on an otherwise dark night. At the end of the night we share the gospel in a very understandable way through drama. We have all really been praying for LightFest, because so many things have been happening to try to keep this festival from happening we knew God was planning to do great things.

At the end of the night, Adam and some other church people did a very powerful drama adapted from a skit they had previously seen. The message was so captivating and so fitting for the audience that was there. I know the Lord planted some seeds through that drama!

We had also all been praying that someone who really needed the car would win it. Well, sure enough at the end of the night the lady who won the car said that her car had just died on Monday and the engine was blown! She was so thankful and recognized that God was in it all! Overall, the whole festival was so wonderful and I just thank the Lord for his hand in it all!

On another note, my kids also had a really good time too. They were dressed really cute, but Caleb did not want to keep his costume on his body! He was half dressed for most of the night! He was a real trooper though, because he had to stay in the stroller the whole night! Those of you who know Caleb, know that he takes off in the opposite direction every time you put him down and I really could not chase him in a crowd of 1,000 people (literally). Jonah had a blast and even got to hang out with his long-lost buddy Macie. He also got to do a short skit with Adam on the stage. Jonah eats it up, just like his daddy!

I was hoping to put a video of the skit on this post, but for some reason it won't download. I'll try again later and see if I can get it to work!

Little Performers

I wanted to share some video of the kids that I think is cute - I hope you share my enthusiasm. The first part of the video is Jonah, supposed to be reciting the memory verse "Be strong and courageous, do not tremble or be afraid. For the Lord Your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9" Adam taught this verse to him with motions one day when Jonah kept saying he was scared to go to the bathroom by himself. He kept wanting us to go with him, so Adam taught him the verse thinking that would help him be brave. Well, he's not totally over his fear, but he's getting there.

When I took this video, he had been reciting all day perfectly, but of course when I get out the camera all of his sense went away. I've included some of the blooper versions just for the fun of it! He does finally somewhat recite it the right way after many tries.

At the end is a video of Caleb playing peekaboo behind a door. I thought this was too precious not to include! Hope you enjoy!

Week in Review

Well, let me catch you up on the last week of our lives! We've had a pretty "regular" week, but there were some fun highlights I thought I'd share!

One highlight of the week was my birthday celebration. We didn't really celebrate my birthday on Wednesday because that is such a busy day for us, so Adam officially made my birthday on Friday! I woke up to a wonderful breakfast made by my husband and the boys. Then I enjoyed a nice, long bubble bath ALONE!! You never appreciate alone time to its fullest until you have little ones around. It was pure heaven just sitting there in the silence! The bad part is I found out later in the day that we weren't supposed to be using the water. There was a warning out on the water for that day and we were supposed to be boiling any water we used! I haven't grown a third arm yet, so hopefully I'm in the clear. Overall, I think it was worth the risk to have a little bit of alone time! (I can hear all the moms quietly agreeing with that statement!) Later that day my friend, Mary took me for a pedicure and we went out to eat together and just had girl time! A much needed break from "mommyhood"! It was a pretty great birthday!

Let me explain some of the pictures posted:

This is Jonah's interpretation of his made up superhero alias "Comet Boy". It was imperative that Comet Boy wear a yellow cape (since everyone knows that's what he wears!?), so I found an old yellow towel that did the trick!

Caleb, my little music guy, walked around the house for about an hour playing this harmonica! He would even do little dances to his music! I'm afraid he gets his dance moves from me, poor guy!

I walked in on Jonah creating this Spiderman zipline. He called it something else, but it was at least an hour of focused playtime, so I was excited! Jonah likes to create contraptions out of anything around the house. I can never find the tie to my robe, because it's always attached to one of these contraptions! That's boys for ya! Do you like the toilet paper scattered on the floor behind him? Caleb seems to like to make towers out of all the spare toilet paper, and sometimes I let him, because it keeps him busy!

This is Caleb feeding himself with a spoon for the first time! He is such an independent little man now - he wants to do everything on his own!

He got a little tired of that slow process, so he resorted to THIS!

This is Jonah after he fell asleep tonight! Lately, we go in there at night and seem to find him in a different strange position! Tonight he decided to create a mountain of stuffed animals and sleep on that! I think it's just his last attempt to have control of something that day!

Days of Fun

Jonah flying a kite

Well, we've had an eventful few days. Thank you so much for all the responses on Adam's B-Day. I know that made his day even more special! FYI - For those of you who asked about the shirt in Adam's picture - yes it was a Anti - Saddam Hussein t-shirt. I guess Adam was a true activist in those days!!

Jonah & McGruff @ the Fair

On Friday we had fun going to the Fannin County Fair! Fannin County really knows how to put on a Fair, complete with corn dogs, beauty pageants, contests, and all the fun rides you can think of! We had root beer floats, lots of cheesy and rich foods, spent $2 for a little plastic toy that's worth about 10 cents, and Jonah rode all kinds of fun rides. Caleb and I were more spectators than anything, but he enjoyed just watching everyone! I'm always a little disturbed by the speedy assembly of all those rides, especially the spinning, fast-moving rides, but they're professionals right?! It's just part of the charm of it I guess! Nevertheless, it was a fun time!

We had an interesting event earlier on Friday, starring our little red-head! He fell into the corner of a small table and cut his forehead. It was pretty deep, so we had to go get him glued up! I was expecting a terrible ordeal of stitches and needles, but the doctor just put some special glue on it and it was good to go! Caleb was such a trooper, he never even cried at the doctor's office. If it was me, I think I would still be on the floor crying! It's always amazing to me how quickly kids bounce back from injuries. I don't know if the mom bounces back quite as quickly. As a mom, my mind is flooded with the question of "What am I doing wrong?" When your child gets hurt, you feel such a responsibility, even if there is nothing you could have done. One part of me knows that it's just what happens to kids, and then there's the other "Supermom" part that feels a responsibility to prevent all bad things from happening to my kids. I just finally have to remind myself, that ultimately my kids are in the Lord's hands and all I can do is do the very best I can to love and protect them. I'm also reminded that many times those tough or painful experiences in life, are also the same ones that teach us the best lessons! It's amazing what process you go through, just from a little bump on the head!

Cousins - Myka, Landry, Logan, Jonah, Caleb


On Saturday, we had a very fun and relaxing picnic birthday party! Since Adam and my birthday are a week apart, my sister's family, my parents, and my niece all met us in Plano at a park and we had the best time! We flew a kite, played baseball, chased flying disks, played on the playground, stuffed ourselves with the BEST oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (thanks Michelle!), and just spent some quality time together. My mom also made me an excellent coconut cake to top it all off! It was a great birthday celebration!

Thanks to everyone who reads this blog - it's such a joy to share our lives with you!

Myka stuck in the baby swing! Should we get the jaws of life?

Happy 29th Birthday Adam Earl!

We're so blessed to have a husband and a daddy like you! Thank you for teaching us all how to live passionately and love with our whole heart. You always know how to make us smile! We couldn't ask for a better daddy/husband/friend! We love you!

Happy Fall!

Today we had fun painting pumpkins and decorating for fall! I love fall decorations, it's my favorite season. I love the fall clothes too, because they cover up most of my pale white skin which is in my best interest! It's just a lovely time of year.
Jonah and I spent all of Caleb's morning nap time decorating our pumpkins. We had a good time, although I would not say it was a relaxing activity. Trying to keep a three year old from painting your whole kitchen table along with the pumpkin is almost impossible. Jonah just kept saying, "It's fun to get messy Mom". I guess I forget that sometimes. Probably because I'm constantly cleaning up "messy" all over my house about 16 hours a day and that is definitely not fun! I'm not bitter though, can you tell? Sometimes the whole cycle of it all kinda gets to you and you just think there's gotta be a better way than this. I guess it's just part of the whole motherhood thing, just some days it's a little easier to accept that role than others. I am trying to teach Jonah to do his part too, but there's just only so much a 3 year old can do. I think Caleb contributes as much to the mess as Jonah now, maybe more!
Speaking of the little one - Saturday night we were telling stories before bed. We all gather on Jonah's bed and I read a book, and Daddy tells an elaborate story. I've tried stories when Daddy wasn't there, but they just didn't seem to have the same flair. Jonah has even told me very sweetly, "You can just read the book, Mom". (A child's honesty is always humbling!) Well, while Daddy was telling his story, Caleb was trying to touch this nightlight that he knows is a "No touch". After several times of "No" and spatting his hand, I finally felt like my point was getting across! I was feeling confident in my parenting skills, when I looked over and with a sly little grin, looking me straight in the eye- Caleb lifted up his foot to touch the nightlight! ... so innocent, yet so rebellious all in one - go figure?!

Insight to Think About

Today we went to the Bonham Homecoming Pep Rally. On our way home Jonah decides to throw a fit when he didn't get his way about something! After stopping the car and getting in trouble, Adam asked him if he was ready to have a good attitude and stop being ugly. Jonah replied, "I still have a little bit of ugly left in me!" Don't we all Jonah, don't we all!

Gymnastics Class

Today Jonah went to his second gymnastics class. He has so much fun releasing some of his pent up energy! They jump on trampolines, crawl through tunnels, hang on bars and rings, jump into pits of foam, balance on the beam, do flips, and so much more. Jonah calls it "Spider Man Training Center", because he thinks he's learning to be like Spider Man. It was Adam's invention to get him pumped up about going and it stuck. Caleb was not very happy about not getting to go out there with Jonah, so that was a fun time! Always a lesson to learn for everyone!

Afterward Adam met us at Cracker Barrel and we had a great dinner. Well, mine was not so great - FYI I would not recommend the Apple Cheddar chicken at Cracker Barrel. It was the seasonal special right now, and it sounded so fun. It takes a lot for me not to like something, but it was not even edible in my opinion. Sorry Cracker Barrel - but I hope that doesn't ever make the regular menu!

Family Days

We've had a great couple of days! Tootsie (Adam's mom) came on Monday for a short visit. The boys had so much fun playing Chutes & Ladders, getting ice cream right before lunchtime, playing outside, buying a b-day present for mommy and daddy, and just spending quality time with Tootsie. Caleb even said "Tootie" for the first time. I think it melted Tootsie's heart for sure! We had so much fun with you Tootsie!

We also had G.G. and Grackle (Adam's grandparents) come for a quick visit on Tuesday. Grackle is the name Jonah gave to Adam's grandfather, because he taught him about birds one day and it just stuck with him! The boys had fun riding leg horsies, dressing up in hats, reading books, and so much more! Thanks for a great visit G.G. and Grackle - we always treasure time with you!

The boys are always learning something new each day. Yesterday, while at the restaurant with G.G. and Grackle Caleb learned how to gag himself with his hand! I'm sure this is a skill that will be very useful in life, although I haven't seen this on the Pediatricians checklist. Now I'm trying to teach him to unlearn that one. Jonah also learned an important lesson yesterday. Tootsie was talking to him about the day he was born, and telling him all the people that were there that day. Later that day, while in deep thought on the potty he called me in there and said "Mom, were you there when I was born?". I replied, "I think I made it that day!" Oh the simple lessons in life!