Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere

We have had a fun-filled few days here at the Casa de Donaldson! Saturday, we went to Mainstay Farms for a Fall at the Farm Adventure (see below). Yesterday after church and a nap we carved three pumpkins. This is really the first year that the kids have gotten in there and "helped" with the carving. Grandma came over to snap tons of pictures and the kids had an awesome time pulling out pumpkin "guts". Ethan and Elijah even ate some guts just to see what they tasted like. (Eewww!) I can't imagine who put the idea of eating the guts into their impressionable little minds. ;)

This morning, we went to a Pumpkin party at the Peyton's. Cass was at school, so it was just the boys and I. We had a great time. The boys got to play outside (in the cold) with lots of their friends from church. The searched for pumpkins, bowled with pumpkins, played Pumpkin Basketball, and created a pumpkin craft. They also decorated pumpkin cookies that they then devoured! It was a really fun morning and was so sweet to watch all of the kids play. I still say that Wendy is one of the coolest moms out there!

Mainstay Farm

We went to Mainstay Farm today for some Fall fun with our Life Group class. We had a lot of fun chasing the kids around to all of the different activities. They had a long hay ride, a 3 story tree house, a wooden maze, and lots of other fun stuff. The kids had a blast and were totally worn out by the time we got home.

On the hay ride, the farmer told us about naming the farm Mainstay. He and his wife purchased the farmland almost 20 years ago and weren't sure what to do with it. They decided to farm Christmas Trees and went to a Christmas Tree farming conference. There they learned that the piece of wood that you tie the seedling to is called a mainstay. The mainstay marks the baby tree so that you can find it when the grass gets high, offers support so that the tree will grow straight, and it protects the seedling when storms come. He compared the mainstay for the trees to Christ as our Mainstay. From the moment that we accept Him, He marks us as His own. He disciplines and guides us with His Spirit and He protects our hearts when we face the storms of life.

Love and Logic

We had another MOPS meeting this morning and it was great. I really recommend that any of you moms out there with kids younger than grade school age find a group near you. Anyhow, our speaker this morning presented on "Love and Logic". It's a parenting movement spearheaded by Jim Fay and it is pretty cool. Trey has read up on it and really likes the ideas. It is all about maintaining your sanity while raising your kids to be responsible, productive, caring members of society. Some of the ideas are using one liners like "That's sad." and "I know" as responses when your kids complain. Another is to put off punishment until you've calmed down by telling your child, "We are going to discuss this, but not right now. We'll talk later. Try not to worry.". Generally it's about using as few words as possible, since lectures and yelling seem to be ineffective anyway. Check it out at www.loveandlogic.com.

My MIL is Awesome

I helped my mother-in-law set up for an art show this morning. She specializes in fused glass, paintings, and glass jewelry. We set up a few tables of her work at a show with other glass artists and she sold over $400 worth of her art! I am so excited for her! She is really quite talented and takes great joy in creating her pieces. If you're interested, check her out at www.aslowfuse.com.

A Trip To Great Wolf Lodge

Top: Ethan, Sam, Elijah, Stew, Cass; Top Middle: Ethan; Bottom Middle: Cassandra; Bottom: Elijah

We took the kids up to Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, TX yesterday. Trey's sister was in town and got tickets for everyone. The kids had a great time playing with Aunt Toni, Dave, and their cousins, Stewart and Sam. They really loved the wave pool and kiddie play area. Elijah wasn't so fond of the Lazy River, but Mommy made him go around it about 3 times. We all had a blast and after 3 hours of frolicking the kids were hungry and totally worn out. We all slept like rocks last night. Thanks, Aunt Toni, for a fun-filled day!

STUCK!!!

STUCK!! Sometimes one word says it all. This picture is worth a thousand words though. Poor Elijah. Being the bad parents that we are, we left him there while we searched for and found the camera and then took the picture.

The Park

Trey and I took the kids to the park this morning. They fed the ducks, geese, and one brave squirrel, played on the playground, and walked the trail with us. It was a great time (until we told them it was time to go home, of course). I loved watching them inch closer and closer to the geese, only to back quickly away when one honked out a warning. The weather was divine and Elijah kept looking up and saying "Tree!". We don't have many real trees down here in TX, so walking through the "woods" at the park was like taking a stroll through a forest for the kids. They had fun and it was a pleasure to watch them run and play. We are so blessed. (BTW- the boys have been napping for over 2 hours now, so park time is tops in Mommy's book for that reason, too.)