Logan's First Trip to the Movies

Last night Leyna and Roger & I took Logan to see her first movie at the movie theatre. She was very excited and she couldn't wait to see the big TV we had all promised her. We went to see Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, and it was a very funny movie that all of us enjoyed.

So we get to the parking lot, and of course I'm going to take

a picture of Leyna and Logan, duh! Can't you all see how

happy Logan is?

We got the tickets...

We got the movie...

We got the drinks and the popcorn, and I got my Milk Duds

that I have been getting since I was little.

And we got our seats. It must be nice being so little that

you don't have enough weight to hold the movie seats down by yourself, lol.

And......ACTION!!

Fall Fellowship 2008

Our congregation's annual Fall Fellowship was held Friday night (11-7-08). There were 19 of us in attendance, and even though the number was small we did have a good time with lots of activities and of course as always lots of good food. The night kicked off with a devotional by Randy M. He and the kids discussed anger and the scriptural way to deal with it. There was quite a lot of input from the kids and I think they were pretty interested in the subject as every one of them could probably think of situations they've gotten into because they let their anger get outta control. I imagine all of the adults could remember certain instances that they themselves got into also for the same reason!

Here we have Sandy, Betty, Marian and Bev overseeing things during the devotional, four women none of us want angry with us I'm sure!

Here are some of the older kids having some snacks and goofing

around. Poor McKayla is completely outnumbered!

Michael and Jake are playing charades re-enacting Abraham
getting ready to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice, with Graham and
Logan looking on wondering what in the world they're doing. Oh, yeah, all the kids love the guy (Randy) with the toys.

Jake takes the apple plunge! Now his brother Josh gives 'em apples a whirl!
But, woo hoo, look at which cousin got the apple!

Overall, Michael was the winner at bobbin' for apples

with a time of three seconds.

Going down the hall on the walls are all of our baby pictures

and here everyone is trying to guess who is who.

John, you got a little bit of chocolate right there on the

side of your mouth.

Evan made short work of his chocolate donut and chewed

his way to victory leaving the others in the dust.

Now, that right there, folks, is Collin and that is one BIG mouth!

Graham and Logan try their hand (er, mouth) at the

ole donut on a string game.

Anyone for a game of Bible Book Bingo?!?

The girls getting together for a family photo.

Mom, Me, McKayla and Logan.

WHAT I BELIEVE WITHOUT A DOUBT

This is what I think about at 12:47 AM, and I felt compelled to share what I believe and why. But don't take my word for it, take God's!

I believe in one God- Father, Son and Holy Spirit
(Matthew 3:16-17, John 14:9-10)

I believe God is the creator of all people and of all things
(Genesis 1:1, Acts 17:24-28)

I believe that Jesus Christ is God’s only Son, the Savior of the world, and the Head of the church (John 3:16, Matthew 1:18-21, Colossians 1:13-23)

I believe the Holy Spirit dwells within every Christian
(John 16:5-15, Romans 8:1-14)

I believe the Bible is the inspired word of God and the final authority for all matters of faith (Romans 15:4, Hebrews 4:13, 2 Timothy 3:16)

I believe that every person has worth as a creation of God, but that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23, 1 John 1:7)

I believe that salvation (the forgiveness of sins) is offered to all people and comes only by grace through the blood of Jesus Christ (His death on the cross) and His resurrection from the dead
(Matthew 26:28, Romans 5:8-11, Ephesians 2:8-9, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

I believe the Bible teaches that the pattern to follow to receive Jesus as Savior is to believe in Christ as God’s Son and Savior of the world, to repent of personal sin, to confess Christ as Lord, and to be baptized (immersed) into Christ
(John 20:30-31, Acts 2:38, Romans 10:9, Romans 6:1-7)

I believe that the church is the body and bride of Christ, founded on the day of Pentecost, consisting of all Christians everywhere
(Matthew 16:13-18, Acts 2:14-47)

I believe it is God’s plan for the elders to lead the local church
(Act 20:28, 1 Timothy 3:1-7, 1 Peter 5:1-4)

I believe that death seals the eternal destiny of each person. The saved will inherit eternal life; the unsaved, eternal separation from God
(Romans 8:10-11, Daniel 12:2, John 6:47)

I believe that Jesus will one day return and reign forever as King of Kings and Lord of Lords (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

TRICK OR TREAT, SMELL MY FEET!

A few pictures of our little masqueraders!

I'm sorry, Barry, I couldn't help myself. Logan is waving her magic wand over the McCain/Palin 2008 campaign. And a little fairy dust couldn't hurt either!

Has Batman (Christopher) finally found his Enchanted Princess (Logan)?

Or has the enchanted princess finally found her frog prince (Gavin)?

Two members of the Pittsburgh Steelers came out to spend the evening in Warren. Do I see the NFL in Josh and Jake's futures?
And the ghoul, I mean girl, behind this bleeding skeleton face mask is none other than our very own beautiful McKayla, although you wouldn't know it from this picture.
And we can't possibly forget Winnie the Pooh (Madison)?
Of course all the kids had a great time this year, and as with every year I'm sure all of us adults will once again be "nibbling" on all the goodies in the coming months. And come spring 2009 when I mow the grass for the first time, I will find that earring that went to Logan's costume that was lost in the yard hugging her pappy!

A DAY AT THE PUMPKIN PATCH

On Wednesday (10-22-08) I got to spend a couple hours with Logan at Port Farms outside of Waterford. Her pre-school class took a field trip there, and I volunteered to be a chaperone, and even though it was a little chilly, okay, in my opinion in October it was downright cold, it warmed up a little by the afternoon and all the kids had a great time. They got to pet some goats, see a movie about bees, got to see how grain moves along on a farm, they slid down some pretty big slides, played in a hay bale maze, went on a hay ride to the pumpkin patch to pick out their own pumpkin, and even got to play in the corn kernel type sand box, which really was a neat idea. So for only $2 per person, it was a nice way to spend an autumn afternoon with the kids. They even had an inside area where we could sit and eat our lunch.

Logan and her two ghoulie friends!
While enjoying some popcorn, the kids seemed genuinely interested in learning what the buzz was about bees. Here Logan is once again with her friend Victoria at the grain bin, who you may remember was her partner in crime while at Idlewild Park this summer.
Logan just loves to slide!
This was a cool little underground slide that all the kids really liked.
Logan and one of her classmates on the hay bale maze.
Logie finds her perfect pumpkin and is holding on!

What was really cute was on the ride back to the preschool on the bus (which was only about 20 minutes long) about three-quarters of the kids fell asleep. Of course Logan DID NOT, but she did fall asleep on the drive home from preschool (which is about a 45 minute drive) in her own comfy carseat. It was a good day for Logie and her Nanny.

ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WERE TWO

On October 16th, 1963, two people got married, my mom and dad, and 45 years later there's now 18 of us.

I found a card that said everything about our family, and about my mom and dad.

"The story of our family is made up of many things---from silly jokes to good-nite kisses, from nicknames to summer vacations, from hard good-byes to the most joyous homecomings. The story of our family is made up of love and time and memory...all the things that really matter. And at the heart of our story will always be the two of you."

We all got together for dinner and to celebrate. My brother Shawn and daughter Leyna are missing, they had to work. Below is the "posed" picture.

And this is the truer to life picture, lol
Leyna not pictured is the oldest grandchild at 24, and Lyndsey is next at 15, and her brother Shane is 13.
Next is McKayla who is 10, Josh who is also 10, Jake who is 8, Christopher who is 5, and then the first great grandchild is Logan who is 3
In this day and age when over 50 percent of the population chooses to not stay married just because, I am more grateful the older I get that my parents "stuck" together. Thanks for the example, Mom and Dad. I love you!

NEXT GENERATION COWPOKES

This is how Christopher and Logan spent their afternoon on Columbus Day, 10-13. They spent at least an hour riding around their Pappap and Granny's pasture with a little help from Jessie. Jessie and her mother Laura have become new friends of my mom and dad's over the summer. Jessie likes to come up and help my dad with the horses and the three of them go riding together, but her mom runs a daycare so she's really good with kids and it showed Tuesday as she was "horsing" around with Logan and Christopher. She also let them ride with her for a little more fast paced action. Christopher liked it, but Logan just kept yelling "WooHoo" the whole time, lol.

AUTUMN FUN IN OUR BACKYARD

Today Logan woke up at 6:30 AM and stayed up. Normal for some you might say, but not me. If any of you know me at all, mornings are the absolute worst part of my day, lol. The only morning person in the family is Roger. Leyna had to get up early to go to school, so that doesn't count. It was just me and Logan, and when I went to bed last night at 1:30 AM, I made the assumption that Logan would sleep in until her usual 8:30 to 9 AM. Didn't happen, but I carried on, lol, and after a quick trip to Warren around 9:30 (which by the way usually doesn't happen with me on a day off from work until around 2 or 3 PM, lol), Logan and I arrived home to find her mommy home from school raking a huge pile of leaves just SCREAMING to be jumped in. SO WE DID!! It has been a gorgeous fall this year, the weather has been fantastic, the colors are at their peak right now, and everybody knows how beautiful Warren County is this time of year. While the two early risers are upstairs at this very moment "napping" from their grueling leafy adventures, I thought I'd post a few pictures of the three of us becoming one with the leaves, lol.

Put On Those Tappin' Shoes

Last week Leyna and I took Logan to the DeMarco Sisters dance studio for an orientation for tap dancing lessons. We were kinda surprised because to say the least, it did not go very well. We were led to believe, or perhaps we just assumed, that it wouldn't be a real lesson, just a get-together for the kids to meet each other and their dance instructor. We were wrong, and of course Logan had not got her "outfit" or tap shoes yet and she was less than thrilled to be the ONLY one without a costume, lol. She wouldn't participate, barely went into the dance studio, and if the instructor hadn't left the door to the room open, she wouldn't even have seen what was going on. When we left that night, Logan threw what could only be called a trantrum in front of the rest of the parents, because she was so disappointed she did not get to dance and did not have an outfit like everyone else. Leyna and I felt like absolute garbage, and we really didn't know if she was going to want to go back, but.........Tonight was Logan's first tap dancing lesson, and she was just beaming from ear to ear. She had her "outfit," she had her tap shoes and she had a blast. She walked right into the studio, she did everything as she was told (very well I might add), there were no tears, and she had a great time just dancing. As I was watching TV tonight I leaned over and noticed several scuff marks on my brand new hardwood floors that could only have come from those blasted tap shoes, but it's all good 'cause I know one little girl who is upstairs right now blissfully sleeping and dancing in her dreams.