Join Me In Prayer

Please check out the new Blog I have just started. It's the Daniels Family Update, and for those of you who are interested, you can catch up on how things are going with Elizabeth and her family as they walk through their battle with cancer.

Happy Halloween!

Yes, it's a bit early, I know. But last year we started a tradition of doing 2 Halloweens! All of our family lives locally, and everyone wants to see the kids (and for that matter, we like to show them off!) Starting with Ali's first Halloween we have always made the rounds to Aaron's Grandma, then his parents, then my parents. As the kids got older (and there were more of them!) we realized this had to stop. We were spending all evening in the van. So we decided that we would do an early Halloween each year. We dress the kids up and make the rounds the weekend before Halloween and then just spend the 31st trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. It seems to be a really great arrangement . . . the kids get to dress up twice and I get pictures early. They also get to dress up without turtle necks, coats, etc . . . when they go to grandma's house b/c they aren't outside much.

Well, here they are . . .

Yes, Ali was Dorothy this year. She was especially excited to wear short sleeves and socks to Grandma's house . . . on Halloween she'll be wearing tights and a turtleneck . . . she knows it's necessary (she's ALWAYS cold!) but still feels that it isn't really authentic.

Emma was Elizabeth. (Elizabeth is her American Girl doll for those of you that are out of the loop there. Revolutionary war period, daughter of a Loyalist, friend to Felicity) Yes, this is the dress I made her for her birthday . . . so nice to be able to use it for Halloween!

-

Meg was Belle (from Beauty and the Beast - ironically a movie that she has never seen!) This was just an old one from the dress up box, but she thinks it's wonderful b/c she got to be a princess.

And this costume wins the award for being used the most, having been worn by Emma, Meg and Julie. I made this little sheep when Emma was one. Ali was Little Bo Peep and Emma was the sheep. I sold the Bo Peep dress at Once Upon a Child several years ago, figuring I would never be able to use it again. They wouldn't take the sheep b/c it had a tiny hole in it. This year I really mourned the loss of that dress . . . Meg and Julie would have been adorable as a set. None the less, Julie made an sweet little sheep . . . and what's really great is that it's a warm and cozy costume!

=

-

And finally, we have all four girls together! They are quite a bunch!

In the Depths of Despair . . .

Many of you know of my friendship with the Daniels family. Tim was my youth pastor when I was in high school and he and his wife were like second parents to me. So much of what I am today is because of their involvement in my life. They have 4 children, all of whom I babysat. They called me Miss Andrea : ) Elizabeth was the flower girl in our wedding. They moved to Washington state about 6 years ago.

Please excuse my dramatic Anne of Green Gables title . . . my despair is sincere.

We just found out that their daughter, Elizabeth (age 13) has a rare malignant tumor below her eye. It is at either stage B or C (they are still investigating that) and more testing is being done. Because the tumor is so rare, the doctors aren't even sure how to proceed (radiation, surgery, etc . . . )

Please be praying for this dear family. Pray for wisdom and peace for them as they proceed. Also for wisdom for the doctors who will be treating her.

I've been in a sort of stunned silence all afternoon. There are so many different parts of me that want to scream and cry. As a friend I want to hug Tim and Deb and make it all better. The wife in me just wants to cuddle up with my husband and cry. As a mom I feel freaked out - first of all thinking about how their daughter has such a rough road ahead. How are siblings going to deal with the reality of what is happening (and what could happen?) And secondly, I think of my sweet girls . . . I can't even go there. Then the taskmaster in me wants to freak out over details! They live on an island . . . which means the time and expense of ferry rides back and forth, still having to take care of 3 other children (ages 8, 10, and 14) and then the mundane things . . . dinner, laundry, etc . . . That's hard to deal with when everyone is healthy.

So yes, my brain feels overloaded and my emotions feel raw . . . I'm not used to this . . . I'm usually pretty thick skinned and even keeled.

Then come the questions and protests. If only I were two and could throw myself on the floor screaming "it's not fair!" There have been a couple of times today that I've been doing that on the inside. How is it fair that horrible people can live long healthy lives, yet this sweet little girl has to deal with something like this? Yet, I know that my protest is out of line. I know the character of my creator. I rest in the fact that this is all within the realm of His sovereignty. It's no accident . . . many would like to say it is . . . that it would be cruel to think that an all powerful and all knowing God could allow something like this. It may seem that way, but we don't see the big picture . . . He does. He saw the big picture when He sent His Son to be tortured on the cross. Cruel? Heartless? No. Salvation. "For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son, that whoever belives in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Here I find my resting place and choose to be thankful that He sees the big picture.

Another One Bites the Dust

Well, our crazy little tooth puller managed to yank another one out this evening! So sad . . .

Pumpkin Patch

Not much to say about the pumpkin patch . . . fun time, fun pictures.

Julie--------------------------Meg

Emma--------------------------Ali

All four packed into a pumpkin cart

Patton and Alligood kids

L-R: Ali (7), Jonah (7), Emma (6), Karis (5), Megan (3), Aubrey (2), Julie (18 mos)

Family Picture

The Royal Race

Ali and Emma (along with their friends Jonah and Karis) recently developed rather elaborate plans for what they were planning to call "The Royal Race." This would involve all of our family and friends getting together and watching the kids run a race. Other kids would be invited to run also, but only ages 4 and under (note: our children are ages 5-7) How nice of them! (Please note my sarcasm!) When it was suggested that this idea was rather selfish, the response was "don't worry mom, we'll go easy on them!" Sigh . . . They also had a full menu of refreshments imagined up and were just waiting for the stamp of approval from the moms to put a date on the calendar. Oh boy . . .
-
No, the Royal Race did not happen . . . at least not as they imagined it. Amber and I have been wanting to get the kids out to run the mile now that it isn't a hundred degrees outside. We decided to do it this weekend . . . and if they wanted to call it a Royal Race, then by all means . . .
-
When I told Ali about the new game plan, she cried! She has done the mile run many times before and has hated it every time. So, for me to take her beloved Royal Race and convert it into the mile run . . . inexcusable! Emma (having never run the mile before) wasn't quite so bothered.
-
Really, they all did a great job. We had them run 5 laps around a nearby field. We later clocked it with the car and it was only .8 miles, so next time we'll be adding another lap. I was really impressed with their diligence and good attitudes. They finished in the following order:
-

1st: Jonah 7:59--------------2nd: Emma 9:15


3rd: Karis 9:56---------------4th: Ali 10:06


Then, of course, we have Julie, Meg and Aubrey, who started out running and then stopped to pick flowers!
-

And here are our runners at the the of their first Royal Race . . . with many more to come! (Whether they like it or not!)

Finished!

Emma experienced a major milestone yesterday . . . . Finally, she has finished her reading lesson book!! I say finally because she started the book, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (wonderful book, by the way) just after she turned four (She is now 6, you do the math there!) Yes, our little Julie interfered in Emma's reading education (both in-utero and out). But, that is all behind us now and she is officially done.

She read her last lesson to Aaron and we celebrated with a trip to the pumpkin patch (more to come on that).

Here she is putting her last sticker on her Reading Lesson Countdown

-

And here she is proudly displaying her countdown! Way to go Emma!

One Quarter Down

Yes, today was officially the end of our first Home schooling quarter! What a milestone . . . Grades are in, report cards are filled out. Between the two of them they have all A's and one B. Overall, I have to say this has been a great quarter. Of course, now I am completely exhausted and ready for a vacation. Thankfully, next week we are off for fall break. I am looking forward to some lazy mornings and some extra time to clean my house!! Yes, the one complaint that I have is that my house is a mess . . . I am hoping to do a thorough cleaning and then come up with a better maintenance system. I guess we'll se how that goes . . .

To my dear friend, Andrea

No, I'm not talking to myself . . . this one is for you Mrs. Hendrix!

Maybe we need to set Meg and Jack up on a date . . . they can each wear their dorky sandals with socks . . .

Yes, my fashion conscious daughter found an old pair of socks that are too small, even for Julie, and decided to wear them with her brown sandals (which are absolutely adorable without the socks). And of course, the denim capris complete the outfit. No I did not let her leave the house with these on!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Tonight we went to find Meg at dinner time and here is what we found . . .

Bless her heart . . . out like a light. I wanted to do the same thing.

Weather Woes . . .

It should be against the law to have 90 degree weather in October.

There should also be a law against having outdoor weddings in 90 degree weather.

There should also be a law against having family pictures in the park in 90 degree weather.

Sigh . . .

So, yes . . . Aaron's cousin Warren got married yesterday. His mom was really wanting to get some family pictures taken that day, so she hired a photographer and made plans for us to all meet at Laumeier sculpture park at 1:00 - yes, a half and hour past the beginning of nap time and in 90 degree weather. : )
So we scampered around, got dresses on, hair curled, make-up on, etc . . . Thankfully, we put Julie down at 10:30 hoping to get a bit of a nap out of her, and she actually slept. Praise the Lord for that!!! When we arrived at 1:00 we started taking smaller family pictures, saving the big huge picture for 1:50, when the Bride and Groom were supposed to arrive. "Supposed to arrive" is the key phrase there. It was almost 2:30 by the time they got there - I can't imagine why they were late - something about a busy wedding day . . . yeah yeah . . . Really it was no big deal except for the aforementioned 90 degree weather. It was awfully nice of them to take the time out to come . . . and 90 degrees feels a lot worse when you're wearing a tux! Really the kids ran and played, the adults visited (and took pictures) and we managed all of this without even losing a kid in the fountain.

From the time the Bride and Groom arrived pictures took about 10 minutes and we raced off to unload our children. We sat at my parents' house for about 15 minutes (during which time we nearly fell asleep) and then off to the wedding. By this time I'm feeling like I haven't slept in days.

The wedding was gorgeous. It was in the Bride's parents' back yard and it looked like a picture out of a magazine. I would love to have a yard like that! (Sadly, I took no pictures of the wedding - I know, 100 pictures in one weekend and not a single one of the wedding! Go figure.)The reception was also right in a field adjacent to their yard. Dinner was yummy and it was nice to be able to visit with family. By 7:00 the mosquitoes were out in full force (a problem that wouldn't typically be an issue for an October wedding) and we were exhausted. We went out with Aaron's older brother and his wife for a bit and then headed home. An early end to a long day.

Field Trip!

On the way home from Lydia's house Thursday night we decided that we needed to make some changes in our Friday plans. Ordinarily we would leave the house at 9:00 to go to Bible Study and then to soccer, getting home at about 2:00. Then our sitters would show up at 6:30 for us to go to a parenting class that we're a part of on Friday nights. Time for a change of plans . . .
space
Realizing that the kids would be with a sitter Friday night and then be at my parents house overnight on Saturday - we thought it would be nice to actually see them some this weekend! (Novel concept, I know!) Aaron decided to take a vacation day so we could just chill out in the morning and spend some time together.
Space
During our leisurely time at home I picked up our Missouri Conservationist Magazine that we had just gotten in the mail and read an article about Powder Valley (a local conservation center). It seemed like a fun (and free) morning out, so we decided to make an impromptu "field trip." We really had a good time (and of course, took many pictures!)
Stopping to take pictures on our hike
space
space
space
space
space
space
space
space
Meg found this frog puppet that she really took a liking to - here she is peaking through a little window in the kids interactive center.


Now we see all 4 heads!

I love taking close-up shots of my kids outdoors - sometimes I'm even lucky enough to get a framer!

Unfortunately, Julie was completely unwilling to cooperate with the camera. Let's see, could that have anything to do with the fact that she was up until 10:00 the night before? Nahhh . . .

Meeting the Great-Grandparents

I have been married to Aaron Patton for 8 1/2 years now, and up until this weekend I had only met his paternal grandparents once. They live in Arizona and don't travel much. The first time I met them, Emma was 1 and Ali was 2 (you can imagine how vividly they remember that). So, we were all excited to see them this weekend.

On Thursday night we all (meaning my family and Aaron's parents) went over to his sister's house for dinner. It was nice b/c the kids could scamper off and play together, just leaving Julie and Bailey to enjoy plenty of grand-parental (is that a word?) attention. Bailey is still just a teeny little peanut and enjoyed her time snuggling in Great-grandma's arms while Julie jumped around like the little kangaroo that she is and enjoyed making everyone laugh (and putting everyone's shoes on the stairs!)

We were able to get some pictures of Great Grandma and Grandpa with all of the Great Grandkids! It could be years before we get another opportunity, so we took plenty!

-

Ali and Emma circled like vultures to get their hands on that baby! Actually, I should give them more credit . . . they were very respectful of Great-Grandma's rare opportunity to snuggle a little one, but they were itchin' to get their hands on little Bailey . . . and honestly, who can blame them?

-

UNFORTUNATELY, the kids were all up until 10:00 that night! Not a good way to start a weekend like this! The good news is that they all did a good job and they all had a blast!

A Picture-ful Weekend!

So, I officially took over 100 pictures this weekend! Crazy!

We (obviously) had a lot going on this weekend. It was one of those weekends with lots of fun things going on . . . but having to cram them all into just a few days and adding in a bit of sleep depravation made it feel almost unbearable! We had Great-grandparents in town, a wedding, a "field trip" . . . several posts to come, and no, I won't be posting all 100 pictures!

Toothless Wonder

Ali officially lost her first top tooth last night. I'm feeling sadness mingled with a sense of "it's about time!" Her tooth has been loose for a while now, and the new tooth was causing the baby tooth to stick out at a wierd angle . . . my adorable little girl had this ridiculous bubba tooth! : ) So yes, I'm glad it's gone, but now we enter to "big tooth stage." I need to get some pictures taken before she has this big crooked tooth (yes, it's coming in crooked) right in the middle of her smile. Her other top tooth is also loose, so we could very possibly have a toothless Christmas!

.

I must mention that Ali was a champ with this one. Yesterday she basically decided that she wanted her tooth out sooner rather than later and went to town wiggling it. It went from fairly loose to gone in just a few short hours - and she was the one who pulled it out!