Living in Beatrix Potter's World of Critters

Years ago I bought Beatrix Potter's storytime collection. This 350+ page book is filled with 14 different tales of little critters - Peter Rabbit, Squirrel Nutkin and Tom Kitten, just to name a few. Some of these "short stories" are rather long and wordy, so I haven't really read any to Micah...until this week. Him and I have been engrossed in it, and read each tale in the last few days! I think I was just as fascinated and captivated as he was.

It seems that this week we have not only been reading about little critters, but seeing quite a few of them too! Squirrels are super common in our yard, as are robins and sparrows. I've even spotted a cute little chipmunk or a rabbit. On rare occasions a beautiful blue jay or cardinal has made an appearance as well. However, just this week saw some racoons up in our tree:

In addition to the birds, squirrels and racoons, we've had our own ongoing tale of another little critter in our backyard - a woodchuck that we spotted earlier this spring. He's been burrowing under the backside of our garage and feasting off the acorns, grubs and shrubs in our backyard for months now (and maybe before we even lived here?).

He's cute, but he's also gotta go. So, we borrowed a live animal trap from some friends, and have tried various bait this week, but to no avail...until today! We finally caught him, and Scotty, Micah and I had quite the adventure of transporting and depositing our furry friend the groundhog into a new home (a nature preserve not far from our house).

The Komen Walk!

Micah and I (and baby, 18 weeks in utero), :-) woke up a little earlier than we normally would on a Saturday to participate in the Komen Race for the Cure. We threw on an extra layer of clothing for the walk as it was a slightly windy and chilly morning, and enjoyed our PB&J breakfast sandwiches in the car. Upon arrival, we were nearly swallowed up in a crowd of 5,000+ people. Unfortunately we couldn't locate our team, but that's all right, Micah and I found our own little niche of visiting booths, doing some of the group aerobic warm-up (that was a unique experience to see thousands of people in a mall parking lot doing lunges and squats), :-) and made our own slow-poke pace at the back of the 1 mile "community walk."  Thank you SO much for those of you who sponsored me - you helped me meet and exceeded my goal! Here's a little look at what the morning was like...

An incredible bag-pipe group played "Amazing Grace" and another tune to walk people to the starting line.

What a beautiful display of flowers that lined the stage. Some read "In Memory of," "In Honor of" and "In Celebration of." In addition to flowers, walkers/runners could also pin pink signs on their back with names of women they've known with breast cancer in memory/celebration of. Reading these names and seeing some survivors was joyful (for the "in celebration of") and sobering (for the "in memory of").

Micah and I were super lollygaggers, but that's okay!

Quite a limo!

Quite a Home Depot Mascot!

Quite a cow!

Quite a porta-potty!

Good little tid-bit to know where the donations go:
-A minimum of 25% of the net income from each domestic Affiliate Race supports the Komen for the Cure Award and Research Grant Programs, which fund groundbreaking breast cancer research, meritorious awards and educational and scientific conferences around the world.
-Up to 75% of the net income from each domestic Affiliate Race stays in the local community to fund breast health education and breast cancer screening and treatment projects.

Micah's Garage

We have a table under our window that Micah has dubbed his "garage." The first picture was taken a couple months ago when his toy vehicles were mostly matchbox size or a little bigger. Yet his cars and trucks have started to increase in size and number (as you can see in the second picture). Welcome to boyhood.

Theology of a 3 year old

When I woke up on Saturday morning, Micah was already awake. I found him lying in his bed, and he had been doing some thinkin'. Right away he started talking to me about obedience - obeying mommy and daddy, obeying God, consequences when we don't obey, etc. Later that morning as we were all getting ready for the day, Micah had his thinking cap on again. He struck up another conversation about obedience and how it's good to obey God and mommy and daddy. We've already established with him that Micah's boss is mommy and daddy (and God), but that mommy and daddy have a boss too - God. When any of us don't obey our boss, there are consequences. However, when we're sorry, then we are forgiven. Micah is used to receiving a hug after he apologizes to one of us, and we tell him, "I forgive you." So, as we conversed on that Saturday morning, Scotty told Micah that when we tell God we're sorry, He forgives us too. Then Micah added, "God give us a hug!"

First of all, I thought it was absolutely sweet for him to say that, and then I realized it is his tangible way of understanding what "forgiveness" is. When he comes to us and apologizes, we are there to tell him we forgive him and also give him a hug to show him our love and restore our relationship. Forgiveness is a tough concept for a toddler to understand without some display of what it does. Micah's connecting of the dots was so precious.

I am thankful today that God chose to "hug" me! I pray Micah would continue to grow in understanding of Jesus who came to earth to die for our sins so that we could be forgiven and restored to God. What a loving, sacrificial and caring God we serve!

Pink Ribbon...

A beautiful woman of God from my Bible study who is currently battling breast cancer is heading up a team for the Susan G. Komen Walk for the Cure. I joined the team last night, but due to my preggo state, I'm not running (or even walking) the 5k, but simply doing the 1 mile "community walk."
If you're interested in helping me raise my goal of $100 (only 20 friends giving $5), you can do so here: http://race.komengr.org/site/TR/Race/General?px=1144523&pg=personal&fr_id=1040

Signing up for the walk has reminded me of women I've known who have gone through this battle of breast cancer...

• Janice attended the church I went to in high school. Her children and I got to know each other through the youth and then college group. Though I don't know the details of her journey, she battled breast cancer. I can remember her sweet, sincere smile that she wore on her face and blessed others with until Jesus chose to take her home to Heaven to be with Him.
• Cheryl is my spunky, active neighbor whom I've gotten to know over the past year of living here. She has spent her life teaching and serving God around the globe. She has SO many stories and pictures of the full life God has given her to live. She too battled breast cancer, and is a survivor. God still has work for her here on earth.
• Lynda is one of those "second moms" whom I have known since a Wednesday night Bible club I went to in grade school. She has spent her life pouring out genuine care and love on so many people. She is an amazing woman who truly loves God. She was diagnosed with breast cancer several years ago, and after the battle has since become a survivor. God is keeping her here on earth to keep loving on grandchildren now (almost 6)!
• Melissa is my husband's cousin whom I have yet to meet. She recently fought breast cancer, but has since been re-diagnosed. She is fighting hard against this disease. Prayers go up to our great God on her behalf as she receives treatment in a different State then where her precious family lives.
• Ellen fought breast cancer in 2008. I met her in 2009 when we attended the same Bible study. Before I knew her story, when I saw her I was simply intimidated by her confidence. As the year progressed, I learned about her story, and would be drawn closer to the Lord in praise as she shared about His work in her life. In May of this year, she was diagnosed again with breast cancer, and she is back in treatment, battling hard, hard, hard. There is no doubt that our God is still at work, and know that He is caring for Ellen and her family during this difficulty journey.

My sister Rachel discovered a lump over a year ago. We didn't know for months whether or not it was cancerous. She didn't have the financial ability to get treatment, but knew she had to do something. She connected with the Susan G. Komen Foundation, who helps women and their families in time of struggle and need. My sister Rachel was able to get treatment and a lump removed for little to no cost. We are praising God for the lump being benign, and for the financial provision through the Komen Foundation.

I am comforted to know that God is real and cares for us. He knows life is hard, but He provides peace and salvation through His Son Jesus. I love these words of Jesus, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

If you know of someone who has battled breast cancer and is a survivor, current fighter, or one who has been taken home to the Lord, please feel free to share about her so we may celebrate with, pray for, or honor the memory of these women.

Birthday Photos (and beyond)!

Micah is very excited about his new age. Just ask him his name, age, or birthday and his reply to all three inquiries will likely be, "I'm free" [translation = three]. It was so nice to have his birthday fall over Labor Day weekend - daddy had an extra day off, and the whole weekend was filled with birthday fun!

Daddy took us out to breakfast one morning, and Micah got a gigantic Mickey Mouse pancake (though he nearly choked on it - still praising God for that recovery!)

Took a family walk later that day and spotted some deer.

The next two days we got to see the whole Ruth fam (and Brad).

We ate some goodies (Papa specifically got this for Micah). :-)

Some of us played catch outside.

Nearly all of us tried our hand at fishin' for a bit.

The next day we re-convened at Papa and Mama's again, Micah opened some gifts.

Micah really enjoyed blowing out the candles and we all ate a little sugar-free banana cake (though the frosting was all powdered sugar...)

We enjoyed the great outdoors again and played some Ladder Ball:

The birthday fun continued into the week, as Micah received this birthday card from great g'pa and g'ma Ruth (he ripped open the envelope, got excited about the "Cars" characters, handed me the check, and reached for his blue marker to color away...)

He's been enjoying his "monster trucks" from g'pa and g'ma Ruth all week. He's found a good purpose for his new Tonka - collecting acorns. Don't worry, squirrels, we've got PLENTY more where that came from, no need to fret over this small amount in a kid's toy truck. :-)

Smorgasbord of pics and tales

I wasn't as camera happy this week, and the week also flew by without me getting so much as 1 new post up - sorry grandmas! :-) I shuffled through my few photos of the week and thought I'd make a smorgasbord kinda post...

The other morning, I was finishing getting ready for the day while Micah played in his room. I could hear him singing one of the hymns from BSF last year, "Holy, Holy, Holy." I thought it was so sweet, and it just blessed my heart. I'm sure God enjoyed being sung to by a precious child. I pictured Micah sitting in his room playing amiably. However, I walked in to find him taking stuffing out of the back of his stuffed elephant!! I did a quick re-stuff and stitch shortly thereafter...

I've just been thrilled with the summer of fresh fruit we've had - strawberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, peaches, cherries, etc (much grown right here and bought at u-pick places, local farmer's markets and orchards). One of my favorite places (esp. for apples in the fall) is Moelker's Orchard. I picked up a peck of peaches last week and made and canned some sugar-free peach preserves on Saturday. (Also pictured are sugar-free strawberry preserves I made and canned earlier this summer).

Micah and I both got haircuts this week. I tried to get a picture of both of us, but this is the best I could do...he refused to look at the camera and say, "cheese."

Micah and I were walking in the Honda dealership service dept. today, and had to wear safety glasses. There Micah is sporting some goggles and munching on the dealership's complimentary popcorn. I think he'd fit right in at Papa Sovilla's machine shop.

There's my sweetie, hard at work after hours, in addition to his full-time job at MinistrySync. He's been faithful in the evenings and on the weekends to work on learning the languages for iPhone App Development and Programming. He's an inspiration to me - I'd be in tears by now and let someone else learn the coding and language...check out his blog if you're interested in reading about his journey!