Game On

This is fun.

Secret Keeper Girl

 So thankful to spend this time with Vanessa and to do it before she outgrows it. She is a masterpiece . . . as is each and every one of us. . . . I just hope and pray she always knows it.
~ Ephesians 2:10

Cub Scouts, Fall Craziness

Zane got to go to his Cub Scouts' lock in this year. We didn't spend the entire night though. It was a wild and crazy evening but lots of fun. They played games, sewed pieces of a sensory quilt, decorated cookies and made crafts. We ate popcorn and watched Incredibles 2 before heading home to bed.

A Few of Our Favorite Things

At dinner the other night, Vanessa prompted discussion by asking us to name 5 of our favorite things. I liked her prompting so much that I thought it would be neat to note our responses here.

My reply

1. chocolate

2. sleeping

3. filet mignon

4. cozy bed

5. comfy clothes

Vanessa's reply

1. chocolate

2. sleeping

3. school

4. Starbucks

5. video games

Zane's reply

1. sleeping

2. family vacations (especially in NC, WV, TN, FL...)

3. chocolate

4. Wendy’s and Tim Hortons

5. Bob Evans

Dad's reply

1. sleeping

2. fishing

3. music

4. quiet

5. steak

We’ll give Hendrix a few years to really think about it. Everything we named that we are pretty sure are favorites of his, he said "Umm...no."

Finding Identity

Dad knows the kids look forward to jumping in the leaves. The kids even instigated some of their own piles last week. But while Dad used his day off to blow the leaves, he was sure to create and leave one huge pile for when Vanessa and Zane got home from school, before taking it the rest of the way to the curb so Hilliard could come and suck them all up.

Guess how many kids are buried here. . . . 

All three kids are under the leaves here, even Hendrix likes to be buried, which for a toddler shows just how much he trusts his family. This gets me to thinking about acceptance and building trust and how these things in your core family is so very important to avoid damage to self image. When disciplined, the kids typically endure a lecture on trust and how we lose and build trust from others. And beyond that, I also have very intentional discussions with V and Z about the kinds of things that can define us,  the things we shouldn't let define us, and why the world feels the need to define things based on a worldly agenda, which sometimes leaves us feeling misunderstood or mischaracterized.

It's confusing because we work so hard to develop integrity and trust when aspects of the world destroy the value of trust and integrity. But we rest in our conversations on how really the only acceptance that is ultimately important is from God and doing what is right in His eyes. We can for sure always trust Him. This all relates to seeking approval from people and things that will inevitably fail us. But God is consistent and constant which encourages me to try my best and will hopefully always encourage my children to do their best too.

It is tempting to allow others to control our direction, hold us back or prevent us from doing what we feel God is leading us to do. Maybe it's a stretch, but I love that Vanessa and Zane didn't allow Dad's schedule to prevent them from seizing the moment last week. They didn't wait on someone else to pave the way, but they took initiative to seek and pursue their own joy and owning it. The consequence was joy.

Superfluous

Unintentionally, the fireplace became a very fun backdrop for pictures. Too bad I haven't taken the time to take those pictures! Ha! But I have some of these from in passing . . .

Hendrix has enjoyed arranging and moving our little pumpkins. The pumpkins were intended for painting but. . . . :-) Even so, he finds a way to make them purposeful. He is learning a lot about capacity, translations, size, weight, texture, color . . . all unplanned and because the materials were there . . .

This is one of those times that superfluous things are paying off big time. The return is invaluable.

"Spoooooky"

Hendrix was eating an apple and brought it to me and said "Look, Mom, Hendrix bite apple. Spoooooky...." 

This is perfect. We didn't have a chance to carve or paint our pumpkins this year. Carving an apple counts, I believe.

Grandpa and Grandma hosted the grandkids for pumpkin carving at their house. I never got a good photo of the results as I hoped but I was impressed by their work. Vanessa's was a rino and Zane's was Frankenstein.

I don't need audio for the pictures Grandma shared cause I can hear the reactions and commentary in my head. :-)

 Zane begged to buy a Howling Horror costume for this year. Easy enough! He even scored a black turtleneck to wear underneath. :-)

We had hand-me-down overalls and Vanessa's hand-me-down scarlet and grey turtle neck, so Hendrix went as Buckeye Chucky. Still too cute and not scary at all.

Vanessa begged to go as Harley Quinn. We improvised with what we had and with small purchases that she could reuse and rewear. And I had certain requirements for reasonable modesty while exploring a darker side and riskier look. I didn't want to write "Rotten" on her cheek but she insisted I had to so the costume would be complete. She did her make-up otherwise and even drew and colored her shirt with "Daddy's Lil Monster" using carbon paper from her great grandfather's stash.

 We continued our treasured tradition with the Slivka Family, missing Daniel while he tended some sporting things.

 Hendrix was quick to rediscover Trick or Treating and really enjoyed making friends along the way. I feel mixed emotions when other adults tell Hendrix that his parents must be really really awesome to dress him as Pennywise and Chucky. :-/ I hope that does not define our parenting but I certainly like to be fun and practical with materials we already possess. Great conversations to be had later with Hendrix about why costumes should not define us and how the costumes reflect the darker things we are curious about. Cause hey, you're tricking yourself if you think there will never be dark things in this world we have to face. Let's balance it by looking for the light in everything and how to not fall into the tempting darker things.

Hendrix has been practicing Crossing Guard and is very cautious when cars are moving. Here he's putting up his hand to be sure the cars are stopped and not moving while he crosses the street with his daddy.

Similitude

Maybe a little too blurry and I'm sure I could recreate a pic with Zane in his Wolf uniform, but I have these two photos next to each other on the fridge...and I stop to stare at them often.  What strikes me the most is how their expressions are exact here. Although I think Zane's eyes are a tad different than Adam's, he looks so very much like him. 

I think there is a new attitude that emerges at around 8. I wonder if it's a similarity in developing personalities.

I think it was when Vanessa was about 8 that I noticed her striking resemblance to her dad too . . . and although Hendrix has the Mollohan nose, he's in a state of looking more like Adam right now.

I love to see the blending of Adam and me in our children.