Pumpkin Carving and Trick-or-Treating!

Since Halloween isn't celebrated at all overseas (instead, they talk about and have the spirit-world as a part of their everyday lives)- we got excited about carving a pumpkin this year and about buying Isaac a costume. (Isaiah has a onesie that says "I love my Mummy"...glows in the dark!)

I think I'm determined to soak in all the American-ness before going back overseas sometime next year. America has so many fun cultural things that I never appreciated before I lived away from it all. We're not into Halloween and all the scary stuff... our beliefs about the spirit world come from the bible, not Hollywood movies about ghosts... but c'mon folks... the costumes for kids are just waaaay too cute these days. And we're good with our kids having fun and dressing in funny costumes and getting candy. No mention of ghosts, goblins, vampires, etc.!!!

So...here's way too many pictures of some of our fun.

We carved a pumpkin... Anthony did the goo and I did the carving...Isaac helped with all:)Hard to believe the baby in the picture below is only 7 weeks old! So chunky and so expressive!
Click on the picture below... check out the bottom lip on baby Zay! That child gets me everytime with that lip! Whatever you want kid! :)
Checkin' out my pumpkin carving skills. Definitely some brain wrinkles being added!
Kisses for brother (x 1,000 per day)The next day we went to the library (spooky huh?) to go trick-or-treating with cousins Kate and Lizzie (aka- Little Bo Peep and her Lost Sheep). If we go out on Halloween I think I may write "Fender" on the head of Isaac's costume. He's the cutest Stratocaster ever! Fun!
Napping on the way... (I love the Florida-scene out the window. Home!)
The Durrance girls being adorable as usual! I asked Kate (3 yrs) if she could tell me the Little Bo Peep rhyme... and she did! Perfectly!
Isaac and Lizzie are only a few weeks apart. She talks well, but Isaac has her on size. I love that both my boys have cousins a month older than each of them (Lizzie and Isaac, Emmett and Isaiah)
The smile on Isaac is just TOO fun! Love it! And don't you just want to squeeze little Miss Elizabeth Claire?!?!
This picture of Isaac sums up most of my days! What a fun little boy!

Adoption Picnic

Our adoption agency, Bethany Christian Services, had their 3rd Annual Adoptive Family Picnic for families who have adopted or who are waiting to adopt. We had a great time meeting other families and hearing each incredible story of how sons and daughters came to be a part of their forever families from all over the world.

We met at a park near the adoption agency and the kids played and drew on pumpkins and the adults ate and chatted...mostly about how God brought our little ones home. Isaac had a blast playing in the PERFECT weather and Isaiah slept pretty well the whole time. Isaac stopped for a split second to take a picture with his baby brother. One quick hug was all he gave and then it was off again!

"Come and knock on our door..."

So since being back in the US, I've really enjoyed watching HGTV. Simply the fact that my parents have something other than broadcast television in their house is a miracle (they refused to get cable or satellite as we were growing up) and watching decorating shows has been great.

So when my mom said, "I've been wanting to re-do the doors." I got all excited and dove right in. They went from a dull stained brown to a nice appealing red. Here, in before-and-after picture form are the front and back doors of our house. We started it around the end of August but I'm claiming a newborn-pass for it taking so long. My mom took a day off of work this past week too to finish the back door. And here they are...

The Front door...before...
...while being stripped....
We took the hardware off to spray paint it. We wanted to save money and not have to drill new holes. So the existing hardware got cleaned up and re-done.
I like this next picture...I felt very HGTV-ish. We poked the screws through cardboard to spray them black so they'd match everything else.:)
The newly painted hardware...
And...the Front door after! So inviting! I can't wait to hang a Christmas wreath on it or something :)

And now the back door. It faces west and in the afternoon the bottom half gets pretty worn on. Both of these doors have been there for 25 years! Definitely time for some maintenance!
My parents painting the frame.
The primer (front door had all this too)...
Plus a couple coats of paint. (This was the only incident with Isaac in the whole process! Amazing!).
And the backdoor AFTER! Nice and welcoming!
I also did a little retroactive nesting and sewed some ribbon on a few burp-cloths for Isaiah. I went for gender-neutral colors for any subsequent siblings, and minus one fight I had with the sewing machine, they turned out pretty well!Yay for doing it yourself and saving money!