guero's

last sunday we got the awesome opportunity to get out and see some live music - in the self-proclaimed live music capital of texas, our own home city! and we took the kids!

one of eric's riding buddies plays base guitar as well as drums and piano and also sings. one sunday a month, he plays base for a guy named trent something-or-other, and this month we had time to go see him. it was such fun! here he is with the green spotlight on him:

the weather was PERFECT and about 70 degrees. our jackets could stay in the car. the kids took a bit to warm up to the setting - not cold, just shy - but then you couldn't keep them from dancing. we had a picnic table at the back of the area, and there was some good open space just next to us. 

ellie used one of the picnic benches for a balance beam and would do her routine from one end to the other and then dismount in a different way each time. kaleb watched with fascination, never was allowed to try, but did kind of roll around on the ground in break-dancing fashion once or twice :)

alan, eric's friend, brought his dog. well, his fiancee mo actually kept up with sweet hudson. kaleb was very thankful hudson was there!

we had such a fun time listening to the tunes and snacking on some chips and salsa - we'll definitely return! 

halloween and other things

i've been home today with kaleb, and what a sweet time for me, but what an awful time for him - he's battling croup, a horrible cold, and all that led to pink eye. his eye looks awful!

but he's been a great helper this afternoon in the craft room. we've hung a shelf (one that i swore i'd never hang again after it was in ellie's room in the fbg house...it took forever to hang and left massive holes. i think it went better this time around) and a curtain rod, and wrapped our first christmas present. kaleb's favorite part was getting out all the tools to hang the shelf and rod with. 

and then i got ready to get the pictures from my camera to the computer and realized i hadn't transferred the halloween pics over yet - which means they haven't been shared! it's been a crazy couple of weeks...

the kids got to dress up for school on halloween, but took a spare outfit to change into after the costume parade. i went to work a bit late to make sure there were no wardrobe malfunctions...especially since kaleb's pants were homemade. i've never before made a pair of pants and i had that feeling that they were going to rip down the seam to moment he stepped into them. that happened later in the day.

ellie and the la-loopsy that inspired her costume standing with ellie's pumpkin.

argh matey! kaleb and his pumpkin. never could get one of him looking at the camera with a good expression on his face...

and one of him just getting started trick-or-treating. he used his sack to collect the acorns along our front walk before putting candy in there from the other houses. my friend, katie, and her family walked over from the next street over, and we trick-or-treated with them.

about 2/3 of the way down the block, we saw lights and a little commotion, and thought, "ooh, cool...the people in the cul-de-sack must have a halloween block party." and about 2 houses later, we realized that that was no block party but rather a city of austin sanitation truck trying to fix a sewer problem...it was shooey!

when walking up to the last house, ellie caught her toe on the driveway and took a hard fall forward, catching herself on her elbow and knees. she screamed (wailing for the entire street to hear) uncontrollably. we dusted her off, katie offered their stroller for ellie to sit in, but the sweet tooth she has wouldn't let her stop...through the sobs she got out she wanted to go up to the last house. so we did. with many tears. and were rewarded with not one but two handfuls of candy. just what she needed :)

we made it home to find she had a pretty good strawberry and knot on her elbow, and despite first impressions of a possible break, it is healing just fine without any treatment beyond bandaids. lots and lots of bandaids. for 10 days after the event.

pretty fun night out, actually. and i think ellie just as much enjoyed passing out our treats to the kids who stopped by as she did collecting treats of her own. she'd answer the door and put some in each kids' bag while i held the bucket. she is so sweet!

Reflection

 I sat in a budget meeting today at work for Capital requests for the next year. The OR management gets together and throws all wish list items together for someone higher up in the organization to deem worthy or unworthy of funds. And if unworthy, you're just left with what you already have. We are asking for everything from a couple of wheelchairs in OPS to new retractor sets for the robot. And as the session continued for a bit longer than 20 minutes, discussion escalated from a conservative nature of what we really might need to what we would absolutely love to have..."if we never ask they can never tell us yes." They could still tell us no, but the unasked question will always be a no.

And then tonight in small group, we discussed our memory verse for the past week.

Ephesians 3.20-21

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all we could ask or think according to the power at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Jesus Christ for all generations forever and ever. Amen."

 We talked about the limitations we place upon God by not being creative enough and by not giving enough credit to Him to do all He is capable of and wanting to do. We continued on to discuss other things from the passage of Ephesians 3.14-21.

Then in sharing prayer requests, I asked for Gods provision of a new job for me to continue to provide for my family as needed but to allow me to work less and have a bit more freedom and flexibility to serve my husband and kids as well as minister to those around me. I discussed my need also for some contentment for the moment, resting in knowing that God has called me to this, and that He has purposes greater than I can see or understand.

And as I was just in the shower, where I do some of my best thinking, I was struck with the realization that I so quickly after reciting the memory verse limited God to one way out. I asked for peace to be granted in the moment, but ultimately for me to find a new job. I revoke that and ask for what I truly want...

I want to feel effectively used by God to be a mother and wife and neighbor and friend and employee/coworker/boss, all for His glory and His Name to be made known. I want to trust Him with the power He has (really, is there any other kind?) to creatively grant my request as He sees fit and to provide understanding for me through this process.

I can ask all sorts of things of a group of men/women who control a limited amount of money and power within an organization, yet when it comes to the Creator and Maker of all things, I get specific and controlling of what I think I want. May I be bold in my faith to stretch things, knowing that if I, "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, all these things will be added to you." (Matt. 6.33)

And I know it's been awhile since I posted any pictures, so I promise some kid pics to come soon...they're pretty stinkin' cute, so stay tuned!