Hanging Out With Weston

Our dear friends from church, Sam and Paula, are in the hospital having their 2nd baby, Levi David. He is coming 6 weeks early and is in the NICU right now so please pray for his health and quick progress so that he can come home with them soon. In the meantime, Weston has been hanging out at our house and we've really been enjoying him. Here's a picture of what our minivan looks like now.

We went to Chick fil a for dinner last night and it was kids' night with face painting. Sky got flowers on her face, Brad got a spider in a web on his arm and Weston watched it all but didn't want any paint on himself.

We enjoyed yummy food and good company.

Bill Engvall Show

On Saturday night Ken and I got out on a date. We got Indian food that was so amazingly delicious and then we went to see comedian Bill Engvall at the Cerritos Performing Arts Center. I had won free tickets through a MOMS Club event. Bill Engvall is part of the Blue Collar Comedy tour and he is really funny. Below is a clip of him doing some of his stand up stuff. We had a super fun night.

Bill Engvall - Dork Fish

Candyland

On Halloween night we went to BIOLA's Candyland. We have done this every year since moving to California. A dorm decorates each floor (there are 6 total) on a specific theme of the board game Candyland. Each dorm room hands out candy so the kids get a lot of candy in a really short amount of time.

Here are Sky and Brad with some of the awesome Candyland decorations.

They also show the movie Candyland outside and provide popcorn and snacks.

Sky with one of the college students who was dressed similarly.

Sky with Princess Lolly.

We caught up with our friends Robby (Optimus Prime) and David (a ninja) in the game section.

This game was hilarious. There was a chocolate doughnut tied to a string and the kids had to try to eat it without using their hands. Brad had some trouble doing this (notice that the doughnut is swinging behind his head). But Sky was pretty good at this (not much can come between Sky and a chocolate doughnut).

Church Fall Festival

Our pets: two cats and a dog.

On Saturday our church had a big fall festival with an awesome bounce house. We usually attend this event every year and the kids always look forward to it.

It was great to see the kids enjoy the bounce house. They used to be scared of going in but not any more.

Lila really enjoyed riding in the cozy coupes. There was also some delicious snacks and some fun crafts.

An aerial shot of the awesome bounce house:

The kids sang some songs and heard a nice story about thankfulness.

Lila enjoyed the show. Her costume was a Disney costume from Aristocats.

My Sweet Boy

Brad can be difficult at times but he really is such a sweet, generous kid with a really big heart. Today he brought a pumpkin to preschool to decorate it there. When I picked him up, I saw that he had painted his pumpkin hot pink and put glitter all over it. When I asked him why he chose to decorate it like that, he said that he knew Sky would like it and he wanted to surprise her with it. When she came home, he gave it to her and she was thrilled.
He also had made a rubber glove filled with popcorn and candy corn at preschool and he enthusiastically shared it with a group of kids at the park today. He's growing up and I love who he is and who he is becoming.

Pumpkin Carving

The Pumpkin Patch Parable is such a wonderful story for kids. In it, a farmer grows his pumpkins, caring for them each and every day. Then he picks them when they are ready, carves them (removing all the junk inside), puts a smile on their faces, and places a light inside for all to see. It represents to kids the symbolism of what God does when He forgives our sins and changes our lives. I love to share the story with the kids each year as we carve our pumpkin.

The crabby, teething toddler even gets in on the action. She and Brad weren't too keen on getting messy but Sky dove right in.

The kids especially liked when the candle was put in the pumpkin and lit. We got both of these pumpkins for free from a local realtor who delivers free pumpkins to our neighborhood each year.