Church Retreat

This weekend was church retreat. I love church retreat. The church goes out to Camp Mennoscah. We camp, we play, we worship. It's great. So on Saturday we packed up the car and the kids and drove out to camp (about an hour and 1/2 drive). Ian got to help Mark set up our tent. Yes we camped in a tent. I know we're crazy but hey it was fun! Mark made sure to bring Ian's toy hammer so he could help hammer in the stakes. :) Cai seems to love looking at leaves. Every time I laid him down on a blanket under the trees he would just stare up and coo. So adorable. Food at retreat is always wonderful. Homemade pizza on Sat; amazing coffee cake, along with breads and cheese for breakfast on Sun; and Chili for lunch. YUM!!!! Desserts were cookies, brownies and popcorn balls. It is so fun to eat, talk and enjoy everyone in such an informal setting.

I think I have two most favorite events of the weekend (Although I thoroughly enjoyed it all). First: Contra dancing. It is so fun to contra dance. I'd never done it before. But the best part was Ian. I couldn't dance very well with him in the big circle. A couple other moms and their sons (who are around Ian's age) and I all formed our own circle and danced. We tried to follow the instructions only keeping with our boys rather than changing partners. The kids were so cute and we all had a great time. Second: Camp Fire at our tent area. Several of the parents, of school aged kids and younger, got together and talked around the fire. It was wonderful to laugh and talk with everyone. Especially since I felt like some of those around the fire I haven't had a good opportunity to really get to know. The sky was so beautiful, the fire warm and the laughter merry. I could not have asked for a more perfect night.

In the worship service on Sunday, we all were led in a guided meditation where we were to picture an image from the weekend that reminded us of God's presence. At first my mind went straight to the night sky. The stars were so vivid and bright. But as I continued to picture the image it flipped to show our fire circle from above. We were asked to draw this image to the best of our ability. While the drawing is not the best. I wanted to share mine, because the image is still strong in my mind. Retreat could not have come at a better time. Despite being exhausted from the weekend, I feel somehow refreshed and renewed.

You can check out our pictures of the weekend at
http://picasaweb.google.com/marksaner/08octchurchretreat#
or click on the title of this post

My crazy life

So I feel like it's been forever since I've gotten to sit down and write something. While part of life are calming down, others are not. For instance, while Cai is not screaming as much, he seems to be fussy during Ian's nap time. Meaning I get very little down during what use to be my break. The other factor in that is Ian is not always sleeping at naptime. I've gotten him conditioned to stay in his room. I'm so grateful for this small step. But when he doesn't sleep it means I only get a hour of rest/ me time. And when Cai is fussy during that hour I get no time to do anything. ARGGGG!! Today was pretty good though. I actually got thank yous written for all the wonderful gifts Cai was given at birth and all Ian's birthday gifts. I did most of them though email. I found a great program that allowed me to create ecards for free. It was fun to create them. Plus it save paper thus helping both our budget and the environment by not creating more paper waste. :)

So other than not getting me time. Life has been ok. Cai is smiling and cooing more and more. It makes my day when he coos at me for several minutes. Ian is talking more and more. Mark was just noticing the other day how Ian can put 6 to 7 words in a sentence now. It's so cute when he is trying to form a sentence. He will start to say something. Then stop. Look up in the air and them month what it is he want to say until he feels he gets the right words. So much going on in the brain of his.

Well it's getting late. I need a shower and then some sleep. Hopefully it won't be so long before I sit down and write more. I need the release. But time is so hard to find.

The Joys of Grandmothers

So for the most part it has been a pretty good week. My mother-in-law has been here since Wed. It has been great to have her here. I'm amazed at how much I was able to accomplish with her around. Wed, the first morning she was here, she and Ian played in the backyard for at least two hours. The great part, despite the fact the Cai was fussy, I got the diapers washed, at least another load washed and dishes done. Having the extra help has been a blessing. Not to mention that Ian is just soaking up the extra attention. He really loves having Grandma around. What I'm also very thankful for it the fact that he warmed up to her so quickly. Being that she lives states away we don't see her as often as my husband would like. So I was afraid Ian might play shy at first. But no, he has wanted nothing more than to play with Grandma. It's so cute at night when I'm putting him to bed and he say "play Grandma more." I have to reassure him that she will be here tomorrow to play with. Of course I'm not for sure what will happen when we have to take her to the airport on Monday morning. I'm going to hate to have to explain that she has to go home. Sure we'll see her and my father-in-law at Christmas. But not only is that two months away, two months is a long time for a two year old.

Cai too has done fairly well with being handed off to Grandma at times. Tonight my husband and I got to go on a date without kids! First time I've left Cai with someone other than his dad. We went to go see the movie "Burn After Reading" in theaters. It was entertaining. Not what I expected. In fact I walked away feeling like the whole movie was pretty pointless and didn't go ANYWHERE. But like I sad entertaining. So if you like dark comedy, don't mind blood (not excessive blood but blood) and are okay with pointlessness than you will probably enjoy it. Or maybe not, but I'll recommend it just the same. :) Anyway, it was nice to go out. And the boys were great while we were gone. Cai slept and Ian played. All and all a good day to end a good week. Too bad my extra help leaves in one more day. :(

Fall Fest football

This last weekend was Fall Fest at Bethel College. I love Fall Fest. Especially now that I don't have to work the booths. I get to go, see old friends and enjoy. It was a beautiful day for it too. So Saturday night we went to the football game against Bethany. We got there right before half. Mark had told Ian when we got there he could play football, but he forgot the football. I was really worried we would have a tantrum. I didn't think the game would actually hold Ian's interest. I was so wrong. Ian loved watching the game. He would get so excited about a play. When a play was over he would energetically shout, "Football again!" Mark would explain the plays and while I'm sure he didn't understand all of it, he seemed to understand some. Right before a play as the teams were setting up, Ian looked at me and pointing towards Bethel's goal said "football that way." It was very cute to watch him get so excited. In all honesty, I think Ian watched more of the game than I did. Though I'll admit I was there more for hanging out with friends than watching the game. I'm so glad he enjoyed the game. It even makes me what to go to another home game just so he can enjoy it. :) Oh, for those who care. Bethel won, although I can't remember the score now.