Labor Day Fun

We sure had a busy, but very fun, holiday weekend visiting my best friend and her family in Streetsboro, Ohio. We love hanging out with the VanderHeide family. Drew is both a big brother and a little brother when we are with them, and he has a blast.

We left Friday night and arrived to their house a bit after midnight. On Saturday, with the goal of doing something fun that could excite adults and kids alike, we decided to go to a local county fair. Wow! Did that bring me back to my 4-H days! We walked around animal barns and the kids had the opportunity to see horses, llamas, alpacas, sheep, goats, cows, pigs, poultry and rabbits. They even had the opportunity to pet a few ... Drew reached right out to the bunny, but passed on the duck. :) We walked around the midway area checking out the games, rides and food options. The older kids were able to partake in some fair fun by each choosing a ride. Wendy and I were more interested in contemplating the safety of each potential ride, but even we were excited when the kids had fun on -- and safely completed -- each ride. It is funny how a simple ride can brighten a kids day. To complete the day, we went to the demolition derby -- a first for both Drew and me! When it first began, Drew just stared with his mouth slightly open like occasionally saying,"Wow!" and "Boom!". As the rounds went on, and got longer, he was less interested in watching and more interested in sleeping (it was going on 9:30 p.m.). So, that is what my sweet little boy did ... he curled up in my lap and fell asleep ... during a demolition derby! Unbelievable!! Those events are so loud and he just slept through it!

One of the main reasons we decided to go to the fair was because of the derby. However, when we got there, I heard someone say at the entrance gate that the derby tickets were sold out. I told Tim and Wendy this and we decided to beat feet over to the ticket booth to find out if we could still buy tickets. On the way, Ben, Wendy's oldest, was pretty bummed that we might not be able to go. I said to Ben that instead of being bummed, we should pray and ask God to provide a way for us to go to the derby -- and we did. As we are walking up to the booth, you can see a pink sign that reads "Demolition Tickets are Sold Out". Ugh! That's a bummer! Wendy and I walk up to the booth to see what the situation is. As we are standing there, hearing the booth workers tell the people in front of us that the tickets are gone and looking at each other with a look that reads, 'well, what are we going to do now', a guy walks into the back of the booth and tells the workers that they are bringing in additional seating and that they now have tickets available. We immediately bought the tickets we would need and headed on our way to the animal barns (since it was a few hours before the derby). As we walked away, I though about just how very good God is. It was timed perfectly for us to get the tickets. It wasn't a huge thing ... and in the scheme of life it would not of killed us if we would not have been able to go. However, as parents, it was something that we cared about because we wanted our kids to have a fun time. And this is how it is with God. As our Daddy, or Abba, he cared about us getting tickets because He wanted His kids to have fun time. We did. Thanks, God!

Another reason to praise: my Aunt heard the news today that her lymph nodes are clear and cancer-free. That is awesome! She is healing well from her surgery, and will be getting her radiation schedule soon. I am very thankful that God is protecting and healing her.

Drew is being so funny (as usual) these days. He is constantly making Tim and me laugh with the funny things he says. The other day, out of the blue, he called Tim a goof, "Daddy a goof." He keeps referring to himself as big ... "Drew are you a sweet boy?" "No, I big." Stuff like that. It is too cute. The other day, after he saw me kill a spider in the kitchen with a shoe, he went after another one later on that day, laughing and saying, "pi-der! pi-der!" as he randomly swung my shoe towards the floor. Of course I praised him for being my hero even though the pi-der was just a crumb! When we were in Ohio, Wendy was playing a sing-song-tickle game with Drew and her daughter (Katie Joy, 18 months) that you twirl your pointer finger around in a circle as you sing a bumble-bee song and then end it by tickling the kid. She was tickling Drew and then Katie and Katie and then Drew. They were giggling and laughing -- it was so funny. After a few rounds, Drew looks at her, sticks his little finger out, twirls his hand in a circle and sings to Wendy, "bumble-bee, bumble-bee ..." -- he was totally going to try to get her back. It was so funny and cute!! We both started to bust out laughing. Man, I love that boy!