I do's, birthday fun, and new ventures......

How 's your summer been going so far? I just love sleeping in just a little bit later and going on family walks at 8:00 at night! As usual, we've had no problem keeping ourselves busy. Here's what we've been up to....

At the end of June we flew to Dallas, TX for Adam's brother's wedding. There are 6 boys in his family. Four are now married - only two to go! 

The wedding was at a venue called the Cotton Mill and it was just absolutely stunning!! All of the kiddos were in the wedding and the boys just loved wearing their brand new cowboy boots for the day! 

Isn't this door amazing? 

The bride and groom! 

It's hard to believe but our little Miss Sunshine turned 1 this weekend! We had some of our friends over for a fun summer party!

She kept squealing in excitement at her gifts and adored the attention from her friends!  Her cake was no match for her either!

One of our biggest prayers as parents is for guidance with our children's education. The last two years, our oldest has really enjoyed going to our local public school. He's made several friends and has developed a love for reading. When Adam started his new position at church though we started to find more and more conflicts with the school calendar and his wacky ministry schedule. We were enjoying our family day off while he was in school and as soon as he would get home, Adam would head off to his evening meetings.
We're hoping that a more flexible schedule will be one of the benefits of our decision to begin homeschooling this Fall! Yikes! It makes me nervous to type that!
I am super excited to have the opportunity to spend time discipling the kids on a daily basis using God’s story of redemption as the basis for our academic learning and to allow flexibility in our schedule to expand their horizons with music, outreach, travel, etc....
I'm praying this new venture will point my eyes to Christ and drive me even more to His Word!

What about you? How's your summer going? I'd love to hear from you in the comments!

Field Trip Fun......

Just like everyone else, our life is pretty busy most weeks. One of the blessings I often take for granted, though, is the fact that our schedule is pretty flexible. That made it possible for Adam and I both to go on our big guys 1st field trip ever! 

We went to a local farm/camp and had a great time! They had tons lined up for the kids to do throughout the day. They barely had time to play on the playground before we headed back to the school! 

 We got to hear a presentation about bees and beekeeping. It was really pretty interesting! I even learned some things I never knew before!

We took two wagon rides. The first, which was pulled by a tractor, was out to a pumpkin patch for the kids to pick a little one to take home.

The day couldn't have been more beautiful! 

The second ride was with two brother horses pulling a creaky wooden wagon. Super fun! 

We came home super tired from 8 hours with 5 & 6 year olds, but it was a good tired!! I'm so thankful for the chance to spend the day with these kiddos and their teachers. 

How about you? Have you gone on any field trips with your kids this fall? I'd love to hear about it! 

Fall Photo Overload!

This could possibly be the record for the most pictures included in any post here at A Steady Rain! I knew I needed to document the last couple months or I'd never get around to it! Here it goes.....

My big boy started Kindergarten this year and he is loving it! He says his teacher looks like Mary Jane from Spiderman and it's so fun to hear him talk about the new friends he's making.

 I was brave. I only cried on the first day AFTER leaving the school building!! 

With school comes lots of new germs. We didn't make it out of the first week before he was hit with a nasty bug. After a missed day of school and lots of time on the couch, he was back to his energy-filled self! 

I just love this sign we made at MOPS. Have I mentioned how awesome our crafts coordinator is?? 

My good friend Krista and I were able to go to Women of Faith in Rochester, NY. This was my second time going and her first. This time we took a chartered bus and it made the trip so much more fun. 

We even got chocolate covered strawberries to enjoy on the trip. Yum! 

 The event itself was amazing. The speakers (especially Angie Smith, Sheila Walsh, and Max Lucado) shared truth in a loving and direct way. It was such a great time of refreshment. 

My little guy hasn't been bored with his brother at school! He's so excited to have his own Spiderman suit to wear! 

 He's had his share of the germs too! 

Who can complain about having the B&N train table all to yourself??!! 

I was also able to go to a live simulcast of the Revive '13 - Women Helping Women Conference hosted by True Woman at a local church. It was great to glean more wisdom from two of my favorite speakers, Elyse Fitzpatrick and Paul Tripp. 

We were excited to hold a child dedication Sunday during one of our services at the end of September. Six families prayed for wisdom and guidance as we raise our little ones to love Him. 

Kindergarten also brings a little reading and writing homework. We had to get a picture of his 1st homework assignment ever! 

There was no school on Columbus Day weekend, so we drove the couple hours to the Lancaster/Hershey area for a family getaway. It was raining the whole time we were there, so we were super thankful for a warm, dry and CHOCOLATEY place to visit! 

I just love this tree in our front yard. In person, the leaves almost look fluorescent! 

Buddies! 

Some friends invited us over to help make and can applesauce. It was really fun, but was quite the big job! This box was only one of several. We ended up canning 108 quarts total! 

The next highlight of our fall was our little guy's 2nd birthday! He asked for a cookie instead of a traditional birthday cake. 

 He was SO excited! 

Me and my wiggly little guy! 

We had fun enjoying some beautiful fall days at our local playground! 

Last, but not least, was the walk/run fundraiser at school Each grade walked (or ran) around the bus loop for an hour and parents were welcome to come along. 

It was SO cold! 

 Even our little guy got in on the action! 

Whew!! I think I'm caught up now! How has your fall been so far?? I'd love for you to share in the comments or join the conversation at our A Steady Rain Facebook page!