Bizi Farms

Ella's "fall apart moment"
Ridin' out to the Pumpkin Patch

Annabelle is pretty confident with her pumpkin choice

Ella's favorite part...the animals

So I found Bizi Farms/pumpkin patch here in Vancouver last year, and me and the girls went this year with my mom's group from my church. They do special group tours in the morning time. So we gathered up 15 toddlers and we got to have each area of the farm to ourselves as we rotated through it all. There is a Hay Maze for the kiddos, a petting zoo, a hay bale climbing tower, tractors to climb and play on, and a great pumpkin patch. They also have chickens roaming the farm, and some of the kids even witnessed a chicken laying an egg on the hay bale climbing tower.....no shy chickens at this farm!

The Theological Understanding of a 5 Year Old

I (Chris) actually decided I needed to share this one myself.

I was putting Annabelle to bed last night and was singing the first verse of Amazing Grace. After I finished she asked what it meant that, "I once was lost but now am found, blind but now I see." So I explained to her grace and how it is God loving us even though we do bad things, and the propitiatory elements of his sacrifice for us, and how God changes us through a process called santification. (OK maybe not all of that is true but it was theology for a 5 year old) So she says to me, "I love Jesus, he's like a big daddy." I chuckled and thought, "wow I must be a great Christian parent my nearly 5 year old daughter understands Abba, that God is her daddy that he loves her so much and does anything for her, even disciplines her when needed." As I thought this I told her that Jesus loves her too, even more than her daddy does and I love her as much as anything in the world. She then says, "I like Disneyland too, I think Ariel is the best." OK, so I am actually a horrible Christian parent because for some reason there is a connection in her mind between Jesus and Disney (this must be what the southern Baptists feared would happen). But we finished up thanking God for our favorite things because all good things come from him and for my sanity's sake I am going to assume that she just has an attention of a child and that Jesus is really her big daddy.

All kinds of pumpkins

The kiddos designed and carved pumpkins this evening...with carving help from mom and dad. Ella's pumpkin is studious with glasses, while Annabelle's pumpkin is sporting a scary look. We have another trip to the pumpkin patch coming up on Wednesday, so I am sure there will be more carving to come!

Color!

Before
After

We finally painted a couple walls in our kitchen after two years of undecidedness/laziness. Once I picked the color (Chocolate Brown) I wanted, I'd been itching to get it done...so Friday afternoon, I decided to paint. I went, bought the paint and painted the kitchen walls all in one evening....with Chris' help of course. And I love the warmth and color in the room I spend most my time in!

For the Runners

Since so many of you gals are runners, I thought I would share something I found on itunes with you. You may already know about this, but if not....there are free podcast downloads for your ipod of upbeat, energetic "house" music. If you are interested, check the music out soon, because they may not exist anymore as of November, as they are losing their sponsorship. Just go to itunes.com and search for "podrunner". Happy running...whatever you listen to!

Grooming

Both our girls have really got a thing for brushing our hair right now....well, in Ella's case it's more of a slamming the brush bristles into your head and yanking....in any case, as you can see, even Chris' goatee gets a regular brushing (probably because there's not much on top to brush). :-)

Celebrating the birth of Christopher Randall Curry!

Yes, Saturday, October 11th, my beloved turned 34! He had a day full of naps, time with his family, football, and his favorite food. Chris picked Barbequed Tri-Tip, Twice Baked Potatoes, a green salad and some homemade french bread for dinner. We all felt as stuffed as you do after a Thanksgiving meal....and then we ate cake and ice cream!

Sugar and Spice....

....and everything nice, that's what little girls are made of! So I have learned that to be not so true, but I love my girls, however they are....sweet or sour. In any case, I came across this book the other day, that I know I have probably shared with some of you over the last few years, but since so many of my friends have little girls, I thought it would be blog-worthy to share this book with you. I found it after hearing the author (Robin Jones Gunn) speak at a Winter Youth Retreat. The book is called "Gentle Passages", a small book comprised of ways the author herself and other mom's of girls have ushered their daughters into womanhood intentionally with God's love and grace. It's a tear jerker....at least it is for me....but has some great ideas to get you thinking of how you will raise your little girl to be holy and righteous in a world that prey's on girls and women.