Philippians 2:14

We've been giving Isaac short verses to memorize and started a new one tonight before bedtime--Philippians 2:14 "Do everything without grumbling or questioning." I wish I had a memory like a three year old! You tell the boy once and he's got it! So we told him the verse and he starts to repeat it while shaking his hands in the air. We said it again and he again shook his hands in the air while he said it. We listened a little closer as he said again, "Flippy hands 2:14..." it was too cute :o)

It's Snowing!!!

I could hardly believe it when I looked out my kitchen window this morning and saw snow falling! I yelled with giddy excitement to the kids, "It's snowing!" Isaac came running to the back door and moved the curtains to see--"It's snowing!" he yelled with much the same enthusiasm as I did :o) Samy wasn't so sure what was going on but joined in looking out the window. It wasn't but seconds before the inevitable was asked, "Can we go outside and play in it?" How could I resist :o)

I keep hearing we're in for a hard winter and to already see snow (and highs only in the 40s) in November, I can believe it. So how is this now thin-blooded Florida girl adjusting to this very different climate? Well, as Siobhan (a now New York resident) advised me--you've got to make friends with it. So, yesterday I bundled the kids and myself up and headed out to play. It really isn't so bad as long as the wind doesn't blow and you're wearing the right clothes. I guess I can see how people live in this weather :o) You'd think I've never lived in a cold climate before I am so pathetically cold! It didn't take long to get used to 60 degree winters so hopefully it won't take long to adjust to the 20 degree ones :o)

Here's a couple pictures of the kids enjoying the snow.

What a morning

Friday began with a bang here at the Welton house.

While I did a quick check of email Friday morning, Samy climbed in my lap then grabbed for the placemat that was under the computer and my coffee...and as you've probably guessed, my coffee tipped perfectly onto the keyboard of the laptop :o) Thank the Lord I was using a mug with a lid on it so I only lost "a", "q" and Caps Lock. "Q" and caps lock aren't such hard things to live without, but when your name is Amanda, "a" is kind of necessary :o) This must be why Keith and I have held onto the keyboard from our old desk top computer all these years!

We headed upstairs so the kids could get dressed. I always send Isaac to go potty before he puts his clothes on and he loves to use our bathroom. He seemed to be taking longer than normal so I went to check on him, only to find him poised in front of the trashcan right next to the toilet. You can guess what he was doing :o) oh, the joy of boys!

Most of all, thanks for...

Before we eat dinner, Keith always asks Isaac, "Who's going to pray?" Last night the answer was, "Me!" Keith has to kind of help him along, but he's starting to pray by himself more. Last night it went something like this:
"God, thank you for this food. Thanks for mommy cooking. Thanks for daddy's job. Thanks for Samy. Thanks for everything you do for us. But most of all thanks for Jesus...and candy!"

It was hilarious!! You gotta love children's prayers!

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

Friday was a beautiful day! I really wanted to go to the zoo but didn't think I could find anyone else to go on such short notice. Long story short, there were three other ladies already going and I was able to join them--God is too kind!!
We joined the Slacks, Shiels and Hansens for a wonderful day in God's glorious creation enjoying His many different creatures!

The National Zoo is SOOO pretty! Not as big as I had expected, but is so pleasant to walk around in. Lots of open spaces and huge trees.
Isaac asked all day to see the elephants and giraffes. Unfortunately there are no giraffes and when we arrived at the elephants it was closed. But after going to see the giant pandas, on our way back to the car, I swung by the elephant house and we got to see the elephant and hippo. Isaac was thrilled :o)

You know you're in a small town when...

Starbucks closes at 8 pm!!!

Melissa and I went out for coffee last Sunday night and arrived at Starbucks only to find it closed. We couldn't believe it :o) So we had to go to Safeway and get our Starbucks there and then go sit at the PC (though we were going there anyway to decorate Keith's office for his birthday).
I'm still baffled at not being in the "big city" anymore :o)

A princess and McQueen

Covenant Life had a Harvest Party on Friday night, so we dressed up (well, Keith couldn't find a good costume) and headed over. I was thankful to find a little pink dress for Samy for $5 at TJ Maxx, making her costume a cinch, but Isaac was tough. He was a pirate last year and a baseball player the year before (both so easy to put together) and I was out of ideas based on what we had around the house. To make a long story short, I finally decided on Lightning McQueen from Cars--Isaac is always running around making the music from the movie and saying he's Lightning McQueen (I wish I could put a recording of how he says it!). So I spent all day Friday making Lightning McQueen out of a cardboard box. Amazingly I had everything on hand to finish the costume, right down to red ribbon to hold it on him. The engineer in me really came out as I tried to figure out how to do this, and I had so much fun! It's a good thing too because Isaac wore it for less than 5 minutes :o) But I do think he'll play in it around the house.
I dressed up in Meghann's 70s dress (on loan from when we did our skit for my parents' 60th birthdays), but no pictures of me because I had the camera. Gary Ricucci said he was having flashbacks to Woodstock :o)

We had such a great time and the kids enjoyed the candy!