Thankful Thursdays Top Ten [#9]

Charles and I have been tossing around the idea of going to Chicago for weeks. It's only a 5 hour drive from where we are staying. With our trip being half over and it growing colder we knew we needed to go sooner than later.

Tonight on the couch we decided...lets go...TOMORROW! He's going to use his paid time off he has been holding onto. It's set. We booked a hotel for three nights. I might not blog much because I'll be busy for four days getting on and off the double decker bus.

I'm excited and terrified. It was 11pm when we decided so here I sit at 1:23 am with wet hair, no clean diapers, clothes in piles, dishes in sink, washer running and a growing list of things to do.

What better way to add to the stress?...blog

To keep things short and easy today's Thankful's were inspired from my last 10 iPhone photos.

Thankful This Week For:

1-I'm always thankful when I'm pregnant, and if I am, I'd still be,
but I'd also appreciate a few more months to loose more baby weight.
I didn't run this week, that may not have helped.

2-I bought [and carried] a purse in who knows how long. It's exciting. Although I do miss carrying all my contents out to my car in my hands and loosing things in the stores.

3-A Moses Sandwich. It's low in calories, but high in laughter.

4-the iPhone's ability to snap inconspicuous photos of hilarious people
 who wear fancy sweat suits that match their twin boy and girls'.
[I will need to crop this photo later so you can see more clearly.]

5-McCann's Irish Oatmeal. It's great for milk supply, healthy, real, and my whole family eats it
[with sugar of course].

6-A much needed manicure. I decided to go a shade of Fall and veer from my normal boring clear. Nevermind that my nail tech told me my fingers were puffy from having kids or that I was pale. 

7-Ohio sunsets. They are gorgeous day after day.
I think it's the lack of pollution compared to Atlanta? I don't know. I will miss them.

8-Being able to find things in my purse, that I now carry, yay! Can anyone guess what that purple thing is? Clearly I drink lots of bottled water and steal corn from the corn maze.

9-Boys that do fight, but have moments like this where it's shear love [wanting to sit together on the same row]!

10-My ever adorable 6 month old who is as active as ever...crawling, pulling up and standing for long periods of time.
I wonder when he'll get those two teeth in he is working so hard at.

In conclusion...I can't wait to make my camera wish it was never born this weekend and spend lots of memorable time with my little family.

[and I hope I run into Oprah]

Corn Mazes are for Scarecrows, Not Toddlers

After Saturday mornings festivities, Saturday night we went to Adventures Acres, which just so happens to be down the road from us. They have the states' largest corn maze. Sounds fun right? I'll tell of that in a minute.

At the conclusion of our evening as the sun was setting, we loaded Solomon in the Ergo on Charles' back and Moses on my back in the Boba and Nation followed behind with glow stick necklace and flashlight in hand. Off we go to the dark corn fields of Ohio...Charles, myself, the kids, my brothers and my mom.

[All I could think of was the corn fields in Signs]

It didn't take long before we complained our way out of the 9 mile tour and opted for the "kiddie" 2 mile version [estimated at 1-3 hours]. We'd taken two steps into the maze and gotten lost already. We wondered around laughing, nearly crying, and growing tired of the exercise. I think Nation said it best when he asked...

"Why are we walking around not doing anything?"

45 minutes later...I cried out to Jesus...and then quickly found our way back.

Attempt a corn maze. Check.

Attempt again in this life time. Negative.

Lifecycle of a Sonflower

To grow well Sunflowers need full sun.

Their direction of growth is determined by
the direction of their light source.

The leaves and flower heads of young sunflowers follow the sun and their orientation therefore changes from East to West during the day.

The movements become a daily cycle and even when plants are rotated 180 degrees, the old response pattern is still followed for a few days, with leaf orientation changing from West to East instead.

The leaf and flower bud follow the light source [Sun] while the leaf petioles and stems are still actively growing and once mature the movements stop.

The movement occurs as the petioles bend or twist during the day and at night they unbend or untwist.

The moment we stepped out of the car at the Pumpkin Patch this weekend and I saw the sunflowers [which started dying last week] I immediately identified with them. 

Sometimes they are beautiful & full of petals and sometimes they are withering & dried up. Sometimes they stretch up high following the light and other times they are bent over waiting for another day.

They follow the Sun and I follow the Son, but when we lose our way, we can only follow our pattern a couple of days.

We both feel the twisting and bending of the nights [of our soul].

But joy cometh in the morning. They & I will rise again from the East to the West as we follow our source of light growing from young to mature.

In the end, we bear seeds. Seeds, that even after the sightliness is gone, bring nourishment to all who hunger. 

There are days of sights & there are days of seeds. 

Enjoy your season. 

Enjoy the Son.

I'm That Soccer Mom with the Starbucks & DSLR

My mom & brothers drove up from GA last night. Having 5 males in this apartment is...

...smelly

...rowdy

...loud

...busy

...silly

...wonderful

This is how boys greet each other

After they arrived we went to The Greene for music, dinner, shopping & ice cream. Beautiful sky was a bonus.

I woke up to this.

First soccer game of the season...how Nation puts on shin guards

Nathan [14 year old bro] & Solomon

Baby brother Noah [9 years old]

Nation played great & scored a goal

You know they've worked hard when their cheeks are red

Squeezing his face off

Random. Water. I liked.

Nathan & Moses in the Boba carrier

Noah in the stick fort

Random. Curly branches. I liked.

Solomon & Grandma at Sugarcreek park

This was the first half of their visit. The second part of the day we went to a Pumpkin Patch/Corn Maze. Will post tomorrow.