Pumpkin Patch action

I've been working almost every weekend this month and it has put a serious damper on our family fall activities. Whenever I work a night shift I come home on a Sunday morning, sleep for 4 hours, wake up and wish I was going back to bed asap. This past Sunday was no different. My family had other plans. Mark is the one who actually dragged us to the pumpkin patch and I'm so glad he did.

We went to Stanly Lane Pumpkin Patch in Napa. We didn't get there until 4pm or so and it was perfect. Not very crowded (although it's a challenge to take pictures while the sun is setting).


And here is the part of the family who is awake. Addison slept through most of the excursion. And that other little girl? I took 40 pictures of these guys on the hay bale pyramid and she was in every single one of them. So at this point I feel that she's is just part of the family. I've named her Isabelle.

And here she is....still asleep. Even though I wanted to crawl in there with her... I didn't. Wasn't that nice?

The kids posed on every single tractor and I took about a hundred pictures of them. But lucky you.. I'm only posting one. :)


And then she woke up. Sort of. And we had 30 minutes to run around and do everything all over again. She met the stinky pigs, ran around with her big sis and brother and posed for mom's pictures (again).

As we sat at a picnic table and I listened to my family's chatter. I got a little sentimental and teary (as I am prone to whenever I'm post call... I can't help it. I need serious amounts of sleep these days). I love this little family. I'm grateful that they are on loan to me for however long God wants them here. Any time that we spend together is precious....even if it's for a few hours in a muddy pumpkin patch.

Owen

Since Oct 15th was the National Day of Loss Remembrance I've been thinking more about Owen and all the losses many of my friends have had. I try not to go down the path of "what if". I try to stay on the path of what is in front of me. But every now and then I go back and remember. Like today. I'm remembering Owen.

If you don't know about Owen here is a re-post that I wrote a few years ago on Oct 15, 2008.

While catching up on blogs I realized that today was the National Day of Loss Remembrance. And while I have posted about our situation before (here) I have never blogged specifically about Owen.

We found out at our 20 week ultrasound (Jan 2002) that we were having twin boys and that one of them was not going to go home with us. That was Owen. He had anencephaly, which is a structural defect where the neural tube doesn't close all the way. There are varying degrees of anencephaly (just the skull is missing, or most of the brain). In Owen's case he had no skull, brain or brain stem. We knew he would die shortly after birth, but we just didn't know how long. Owen was my firstborn. When he was born I saw him staring at me, almost as if he could see me. I saw him blink his big eyes once and then he didn't do anything else. I just held onto him as his heartbeat slowly faded away. We snuggled him tightly and said goodbye. We cried and cried and cried. We still cry when we talk about him.

He is a part of our lives and we have always talked quite openly with the kids about him. Two years ago, when Riley was 4, he was mentioning Owen quite a lot. He was crying about him, wishing he was here and it was happening almost nightly. I decided that we would have a little memorial/chat about Owen for Riley to say goodbye to Owen. After all, they had shared a tight space for 33 weeks. I retrieved my "Owen" stuff from the top of my closet. I opened up my special remembrance box that has some of Owen's hair (he had some above his forehead) his handprints and footprints. I shared the story of Owen with Riley and Katie. We talked about Owen being up in heaven. I showed them the blue square urn that held Owen's ashes. The urn has a little bear engraved on it.

Riley asked me if he could hug Owen and proceeded to cuddle the little urn and then said the sweetest things to Owen: "I'm sorry that God didn't make your head right and I'm sorry that you have to be in the closet all the time. Sorry you can't come in the car with us."

We all had a good cry that afternoon. I packed away all my Owen stuff and haven't taken it down since. I wrote down all the things that Riley and Katie did and said about Owen. One day I'm sure they would like to know. Today I remember Owen and wish he was here. But I'm so glad Owen has his perfect Heavenly Father. Today I think about all the women who have lost their sweet babies whether through miscarriage,abortion, birth, SIDs or through some other way. Saying goodbye to any child is the hardest thing a mom can go through.

My favorite Crock-Pot soup- Tortilla Soup

Thanks to Mel at Larson Lingo I'm actually doing a blog post today. Head over there to check out her Crock-tober action.

One of my favorite Crock Pot soups is Tortilla Soup. There are lots of versions of this out there. And I've tried many of them. But I keep going back to this one:

Ingredients:
4 chicken breast halves
1 garlic clove, minced
2 Tbsp butter
2 14.5 oz cans chicken broth
1 14.5 oz cans chopped stewed tomatoes
1 cup salsa
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 Tbsp or more ground cumin
8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese,shredded or cubed
sour cream
tortilla chips

Cook, debone and shred chicken. Add minced garlic to butter in slow cooker. Combine all ingredients except cheese, sour cream and chips.
Cover. Cook on low 8-10 hours. Divide cheese among bowls. Ladle soup over cheese. Sprinkle with chips and top each bowl with some sour cream. Bake lots of corn bread muffins and now you have the best wintery dinner ever.



PS This recipe comes from the Fix-it and Forget-it Cookbook: Feasting with your Slow Cooker (page 48). It's my Crock Pot Bible.

Eighteen.

Last month was our 18th wedding anniversary.
Eighteen.
18.
Wow.
It's gone by so very fast. I'm grateful to God for those 18 years. I don't know how long Mark is on loan to me from Him but I'm thankful for each and every day that we have together.
This weekend we had a belated anniversary celebration. And I have to say that after 18 years of marriage we just had another "first". He planned a lovely 12 hour mini weekend getaway surprise. It included a visit to our old pastor that we knew when we got engaged. Then we headed to V. Sattui (one of our old dating hangouts)for some wine tasting and a picnic.


Next stop was a couples mud bath treatment here in Calistoga. Yes. A mud bath. And it really was as disgusting as I thought it would be but at the same time very relaxing. It was like being suspended in jello. Or cement. Or...well, mud. We had clay facials and a body wrap. It was all quite relaxing. I'm still shocked that he planned this for me and did it WITH me. My husband is not into spa anything and still he took the mud plunge with me. We ended our evening with a lovely dinner at SolBar in Calistoga.


Needless to say I'm a happy girl today. It wouldn't have mattered if we had hot dogs in the park. Just the fact that he planned the weekend made the whole experience wonderful.
I have to tell you that I just love this guy. He's a keeper.

Grief and Grace

I have a dear, dear friend that I first met about six years ago. Our oldest boys were in preschool together. Our girls became BFFs. And then they moved away to be closer to her husband's job. Shortly after their move her husband received a devastating diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma. After a 2 1/2 year battle with the cancer, her husband went home to be with the Lord just five months ago.

My friend is such an encouragement to me. She recently started a blog in order to share some of her journal entries. I thought you might like to read them too.

Aside from being the cutest, most fashionable mom (to four beautiful children) she is the most authentic, transparent Christian that I have ever met and she really shares what's going on in her heart. Prepare to be encouraged (and shed a few tears).

Her blog is called Living in His Sustaining Grace. I've linked you to her first entry. Because sometimes you just need to start at the beginning.

Time to retreat

While we were in Maine Mark and I got to hide from our children for just a day. It doesn't sound like a long time but it was so lovely and peaceful. My mom arranged for a night away at her friend's home nearby. She must have known how much we needed it. We are NEVER without all three of our children. It was so great to just have lots of uninterrupted conversations with my guy. I like him. I like him a lot. And it was a great reminder of how important my marriage is to me. Marrying Mark was one of the best blessings that God has given to me in my lifetime. I know Mark's on loan to me from God. And I'm so grateful for every day He has given us together on this earth.

The home we stayed in was lovely and overlooked a foggy bay. We spent a lazy morning drinking our favorite hot beverages and tried not to spend all of our time talking about the kids. And that's not easy to do. Sometimes it feels like it's ALL about the kids. But it shouldn't be. This marriage started with us. And sometimes you just need to check out and focus on the "us" part.

Our retreat was peaceful and relaxing.
When there is beauty all around...that's pretty easy to achieve.

What to do in Maine

Pack a picnic and head out on Route 1. Eventually you will arrive in Searsport. You'll want to go check out all the cute little antique shops but instead go here:




It's fun and (ssshhhh!!!) educational. But don't tell these guys:



They had a great "hands on" children's area where they "catch" a fish, identify it, measure it and learn what the fish would actually weigh in real life. Kids could learn all about lobstering, create art work, make bookmarks and play games.






In another building there was a "hands on" re-created ship galley where they could cook and pretend to be at the helm. And for the record it was totally acceptable for pirates to wear pink nailpolish.





In another area you could learn the difference between ships and more than you ever wanted to know about nautical flags.


We toured a sea captain's home and made clothes pin dolls.This was their sitting room where they would greet guests. I'm thinking that they didn't want their guests to stay too long....that furniture looks uncomfortable!



Head outside and learn how to raise the sails, or lower the jib (or just stand there having no clue about how to sail and just get your picture taken).


And when you are all done at the museum, head north on Route 1 past Bucksport and you will drive by a beautiful, old GIANT barn called (guess what) Big Chicken Barn. They have over 150,000 books and antiques. But don't take no for an answer when you BEG your husband to stop there. You'll regret it. In his defense we did have all three kids with us and they would have hated going there. But I'm still thinking about that place.

Next time I'm in Maine I'm going to go there FIRST!

All by myself.