Yet another great weekend!

On Friday I asked the kids if they wanted to go the HUB. As Rebekah is the only one speaking in English, she got to choose. Of course, yes! So, I smelled little man and quickly determined he needed a nappy (aka diaper) change. As I changed him on his changing table, he was rubbing his eyes and trying to dive for his bed. It was 9am. Bless his heart. So, I put him down and he promptly went to sleep. Not wanting to disappoint my daughter, I told her we would have our own fun at home! She chose to snuggle up under a blanket, watch Annie, drink a wee bit of Coke Zero, and eat chocolate chips. That's my girl. :) She had a blast!! As a result of an earlier than usual nap, we were even able to attend our church's play group!

Later on, we walked on campus and saw this lovely butterfly.

The babies hung out together on the side. (Rebekah has really been into "her girls," "her children," and "her babies." They have specific needs at specific times that you simply can't ignore, thus necessitating bringing them everywhere we go.)

As you can see, we ran into some "mean gorillas" on our walk.

Fortunately, this part of campus housed the "friendly gorillas", whom we asked home for tea in our tent. I'm not kidding. Her imagination is wildly wonderful in every way!

That night, Josh had a hankering for apple crumble, and as he is one to experiment in the kitchen, he took it upon himself to make it. Rachel gave me her apple corer/peeler and we were mesmerized with the whole process.

Josh insisted I be the one in the pics since people often comment how I'm never in any pictures. Here you go!

Later that same night, Josh headed out to go...curling! A Scottish sport, curling is kind of like ice bowling. Josh is helping start a young adults ministry at our church and this was an excellent way to get a taste of the culture, as well as get to know some young adults. Evidently, Aberdeen makes really good curling stones b/c we are the Granite City, you know.

Josh curling...

On Saturday, the McGarry's (Duncan's parents) asked us to go to the International Fair with them. I carried Luke on my back, thinking it would better not to try to push a stroller thru the crowds. The 30-minute walk was tiring, but we made it and Rebekah walked the whole way w/o incident.

The men (Luke spies R's snack and is reaching for it)

The ladies

The paella- for those of you who don't know me, I studied briefly in Spain and fell in love with paella. The big bowl of yumminess brought back a ton of memories!

If you're wondering why Josh is grinning, just look at the "Meats of the World" sign behind him. He chose boar. He liked it.

Rebekah quickly spotted this candy kiosk and we got her a bag. I let her choose what kinds, and at one point, she looked in the bag and said, 'That's plenty, Mama." Love that girl- so content.

The boys again- I love my boys.

Our family.

I just liked how every shot of Luke shows him reaching for snacks.

Rebekah trying Josh's hot dog.

I had promised Rebekah a girls' date for her not sucking her thumb (even w/o the "yucky thumby stuff".) We were already downtown for the fair, so Josh walked Luke home with our friends, and R and I set off for McD's! We had a ball and even did some girly shopping. Of course, we rode the bus back.

Funny moment: Rebekah looked at me and said, "Mama, I like you better than Daddy....do you like me better than Luke?"

Sadly, the worst/strongest wind I have ever seen built up and Luke sobbed the whole way home. Josh said people were staring. :( Poor kid HATES wind and he was up high in a backpack during the worst wind ever! So, Josh pulled him down and tried to cover his head, but Luke was too far gone. The MINUTE Josh put him in his crib, he threw his hands over his head and closed his eyes. We didn't hear form him for 2 1/2 hours (he had taken an am nap, too, from which I awakened him) and he was a much happier baby. Interestingly he still went to bed at 7pm and got up at 8am. Such a sleeper! As for Rebekah, since she never naps anymore, I decided we could do her date during nap time. Josh put her down last night b/c Kate and I went to go see Melissa's new baby girl, Calista. Josh said he put her in bed for her reading time. He went back up 8 minutes later to read to her and pray with her, and she had gotten under the covers and was fast asleep. Definitely a first!! She slept til 8am, so I guess she needed the rest!

This morning, I started to make French Toast. I heard the kids chirping, so I left josh to finish it. He came upstairs and started asking me about what I had put in it- I guess I grabbed cumin instead of cinnamon! Fortunately, no one had eaten it. :0

The kids like jelly on their toast...and faces! I skipped baths last night anyway, so i didn't mind since bath time was next on the agenda.

Rebekah was thrilled I dried her hair with my special dryer and hair stuff. :)

"Is this a nice smile, Mama?" Um, no.

We pretty much lived at church today, except for mid-afternoon nap time. Of course, we went to church this am, I volunteered at creche (3rd time in 6 weeks!!- not sure why they ask me since I pretty much deal with Luke and he's totally FINE if I'm not there!), and we stayed for a church lunch. It was delicious! They have the best soups and bread here! Plus, we had chocolate cake and apple pie/ice cream!! We brought the kids home, put them down, and rested for a bit. Josh headed back up to church with a friend, and I brought the kids up after they got up (not nearly enough sleep- R hardly ever naps anymore (side effect of not sucking her thumb) and Luke only did 1 1/2 hrs and was still fairly cranky). The first Sunday of every month, the young adults meet at 4:30, eat "tea" at 5:45, and attend evening worship at 6:30. Josh did the talk this month and he will next month, too. He is also preaching, I think, the end of October. I will unashamedly say how proud I am of him getting involved and serving in our church, rather than hiding behind PhD work. He is so good at balancing academics and ministry- thank you, Lord, for giving me such a good, godly man!