Living in the Moment

It comes so naturally to children...

...and it's something I am learning from them.

In moments like these, I tend to live behind the camera...in the after-moment.

But these kids aren't smiling at the camera...

...they're smiling at me.

They can't be bothered with lighting, poses, or composition.

They don't feel they must rely on photographs to remember the fun they're having.

They just live in the moment....and that's where I want to live too!

Please Pray for Little Olive

I have some missionary friends who are living in the rural areas of northern Thailand. Their daughter was born prematurely and is fighting for life as their parents are seeking the best care they can get for her amidst many obstacles.

You can read up on their situation at their blog site: http://www.rustylynette.blogspot.com/

They have some specific questions and needs that maybe someone who reads this might be able to answer. Otherwise they can use as many prayers as they can get! Thank you!!

Good Morning!

What a lovely, frosty beginning to this wonderful day of rest. See the ducks? You probrably have to click on the picture and enlarge it to see them. Someone needs to tell them they're going the wrong way!

I hope that whichever way you're going, you have a great day today!

Fall Cleanup

We're having a nice sunny Saturday out here in WA state. Every year Kaylee likes to help me rake up the leaves. Traditionally, we get a wind storm the night after so the next day we can pretend all that hard work never happened! Our neighbors have come to use us as a weather indicator.

Kaylee's strategy is to scatter all the leaves I painstakingly gathered into piles.
I wondered if Hudson would help out. He usually likes helping me, but today he was too busy to even stop for a picture. This is typical Hudson when he gets outdoors. He's just go, go, go!
Thanks for getting that one leaf!

Cute, huh?

Then we decided to plant some bulbs for next spring. Every year I plan to do it. This was the first time I actually did (Yeah, for me!) Notice Kaylee has a new leaf in her hair!

Lets hope they grow well. I just LOVE hyacinths!

We also planted tulips, daffodils and crocuses... crocai??

And here's a treat... my little man stopped for just moment to wish you all a happy fall! (sorry, I just feel like rhyming today)

His collars go up on their own. He's just that cool!

My Little Stinker

He's sweet and charming, and so disarming.
But a twinkle in his eye gives truth to the lie,
Then he's off doing something alarming!

I just came up with that. Oh Hudson - I just love, love, love this little man. I'm so thankful to God for him. I love that he likes to help put things away. He especially likes to put the spoons from the dishwasher into the drawer. I love that he sometimes sits on my lap and lets me snuggle him for MINUTES at a time. Oh yes, that is good for my blood pressure!

But he's also a little rascal. Yesterday I scolded him when he decided to walk into the street. Not two minutes later he stood at the edge, looked me straight in the eye - as I sternly said "NO!" - and then with that outlawish grin went ahead full speed back into the street! That earned him another pat on the behind and no more being outside!

(Yes, Mom, I can see you smiling. She's laughing as she reads this because she remembers me sticking my toe over the line of the street and looking at her defiantly. Yes, it's pay back time!)

Hudson is starting his terrible two's a little early (he's only 14 months). Lately when he gets upset, he plops right down where he's at and throws himself to the floor, crying like there's no tomorrow. He wants to be held but he wants to be free. It's a tough time for the poor little guy.

Thankfully I know of a few things that can make him go from crying to perfectly content if not down right giddy. Give the boy some food, stick him in the tub, or take off his diaper and watch him streak off faster than the speed of light!

Yep, I sure do love that little stinker!

The Village House

Everytime we go to one of our timeshares, Kaylee gives it a name. This past weekend we went to Whistler Village and stayed in... the Village House (aka Cascade Lodge).

Kaylee is a trooper when it comes to travel. She LOVES to go new places and stay in different "houses". I hope Hudson turns out to have an adventurous spirit as well. I can imagine taking the kids on trips during those times when Jeff has to work tons of hours and isn't around anyway. If Hudson is anything like Kaylee - easy sneezy!

Our timeshares in Canada have a 4 person limit. The one we stayed in this weekend has only one bedroom with a hide-a-bed in the main room. It's snug and cozy. You don't really mind the small space until it's the middle of the night and you have one kid up and crying and you're just praying the other doesn't wake up as well.

Hudson had the best spot of all of us. His bed was situated in a bay window of sorts with a smackering of fall colored trees just outside.
Kaylee was so excited about a bed hidden inside the couch, she wanted to skip reading books and go right to bed. Of course, she was way too excited to sleep!
Here are some pictures we took around the village during our stay:

Oh, the gorgeous fall colors!

We like throwing rocks at water!

As you may have heard, Whistler is hosting the winter Olympics this year. There has been a lot of construction going on. The roads are pretty well done - and may I say - they are very well done! But in the village there are still many areas under construction. I was very disappointed when we came to the ONE playground in the village only to find it had been plowed over to make some kind of plaza... as if they don't have enough of those. Hopefully they'll put a bigger and better playground in there before it's all done, but I imagine it'll turn out to be something specifically for the Olympics. So below is a picture of a detour we had to take around what is no longer a playground. grrrrrrrr....

This cracked me up:

This little guy creeped me out:

We arrived at the Village house on Sunday afternoon and spent that evening walking around the village. On Monday we went to the Medow Park Sports Centre, which is 3 km north of our condo. They have wonderful swimming pools there as well as an indoor skating rink and "gym" facilities. The kids pool is enormous and goes from 0 to about 3.5 feet deep. When they have all the gizmos going, there is a "river", a whirlpool, and some sprinklers, but we've never been there when they had them all on. There is also a kid friendly hot tub that cascades warm water down into the main part of the pool. So Monday we spent most of the day there. That afternoon we returned to our condo, tried to get the kids to nap, then went for another walk around the village and found some water to throw rocks at. We got back to the condo in time for Jeff to heroically make dinner and a big pot of tea for me just before the power went out. Kuddos to my kiddos who didn't let the lack of light scare them. We tied a flashlight to the chandalier and had a very dimly lit meal together. Soon power was back on and things continued on as usual.

Whatever we did up there, Kaylee was always anxious to get back to the village house. Over and over she'd say "I love this house!" I think it's great how much she loves new places. She'd be in total bliss if she could sleep in a different bed every night!

I really enjoyed having a lot of time together as a family. I LOVED being unplugged from the TV and other distractions so we could simply be together. It was so relaxing - even though we are now very sleep deprived!

On the way home we stopped at Brandywine Falls. It's a short and very lovely walk!

We tried to set the camera to take a family photo. Our first attempt was priceless:

Kaylee looked after George. You gotta love those rubber boots! Not the best choice for hiking, as she soon discovered.

After this little hike we had a picnic lunch in the car then hit the road. It wasn't long before the kiddos were fast asleep.

And now... that's just what I need to be doing. Good night!!

Stoney Ridge Farm

Fall is my very, very favorite time of year. I love that we have a yearly tradition of visiting this farm for pumpkins, apples, animals and... donuts! Yes, this farm has donuts! I think I could get used to farm life, especially if it's a donut farm!

Waiting for the tractor... Last year Kaylee was too scared to go near the tractor. This year, she couldn't wait! Hudson is just drawn to anything that's loud, so he was no problem!

It didn't take long for Kaylee to find her special pumpkin.

Hudson can't wait to get down.

Typical... Kaylee likes the cute little ones. Hudson heads off full speed across the way to where all the big pumpkins are!

Our first ever corn maze:

It was all I ever dreamed of, and more...

Again, it's impossible to get a decent picture of Hudson. He's too busy to be bothered. He doesn't seem to care about anything but just going wherever he's going. Occasionally he'll stop, but only when there's some good dirt and rocks to be found.

Time to get mom & dad's pumpkins.

Here's our pumpkin family:

Then we got some apples.

Then it's back to the farm to see some animals.

Hmm....

Grandma K, this one's for you:

They had goats, pigs, chickens, rabbits, ponies, horses, cows, ducks, and peacocks.

This is why I don't usually let Jeff use the camera. Apparantly, this is more interesting to him:

Well, at least one of us thinks he's funny!

Last year a freak downpour forced us into this little bit of heaven. That's when I discovered the cider donuts.

Yummmmmm!!!

The last stop was the playground. I love letting the kids have fun outdoors getting as dirty as they please, then scrubbing them clean in the bath tub at the end of the day. There's just something so satisfying about that!

Kaylee climbed her first tree:

Then back to the car for lunch on the drive home. Hudson passed out about halfway and didn't even stir when I put him down to bed. When the kids wake up we'll have a pumpkin-washing party outside!

***Scratch that... Three hours later and those kids are still sleeping! I guess I'd better go wake them, as much as I'm enjoying this long reprieve. I just went outside and noticed we got a nice chill breeze coming out of the northeast. I think we'll leave the pumpkins as they are and put the kids in a nice warm bath instead!!***