Fall Fun

Friday night our friends held a "Fear Not" party (a God-centered alternative to Halloween) and we had a blast! Go to Beth's post to read and see pics (I've smuggled these two over here from her!). My two youngest children were "Florence Nightingale" (shown playing the Widow's Mite game with her new friend) and "Wyatt 'IRK' " (shown below in Armor of God relay)! I'm sure it was a lot of hard work for the Herberts but we not only had a great time but also had a lot of discussion on Saturday about Light versus darkness, how "Mr. Rob" showed them that no amount of darkness was stronger than the light, and we talked about being a light in the world. We hope to be invited back to Beth's party again next year (hint, hint!!) but also hope to have one of our own for several families we would like to invite, both believers and non-believers, praying for it to be an evangelical outreach. (I'm gonna needs lots of help to plan it, Beth!)

My oldest daughter went to a costume party because she had a (rare) night off from work, my second son went with his fiance and her family to another family's for a bonfire and marshmallow roast. What did you do for Friday night's celebrations?

Saturday we laid out the (hopefully final!) layout of the orchard, placing 362 flags in their exact spots for the tree holes. Read about it here if you are interested in the progress of the farm. Russ helped for a while in the afternoon and then we went to a rare evening out at a steak house with him ad Katy. I must say that although that was only my third time ever eating at a LoneStar Steakhouse I have been very impressed with the food and service every time. Matt spent the day Saturday with his best friend (since they were 12!) taking pictures in the NC Mountains while his wife was away for the day.

Sunday we got to visit with Joanna for a while; I'm cooking a pot of "Chicken Stew-pid" for supper; the children went and visited with Gran while I cooked. (Yes, she's home from the hospital and doing well although very weak and will have to daily monitor her fluids to ward off another possible attack and potential congestive heart failure.) We played a game of badminton before Joanna had to go back to school, ending when it was getting pretty hard to see the birdie with the new early sunset time.

Tomorrow is a full day of school (including doing a life-sized outline of each child on which we will label their major organs), taking a tractor radiator to a "specialist" about 25 miles away, dropping off soil samples on the way, and getting back in time for dinner and dance classes. I really do loving being a wife, Mom, farmer and homeschool teacher. I can't imagine what joys I would be missing if it were any other way. It may not sound much to you but then you don't see the smiles, feel the hugs, hear the laughter, smell the earth and trees, that I do. My prayer, though, is that your world would be as wonderful to you!
Happy Fall!