"When the moon is in the seventh house

And Jupiter aligns with Mars..."

I've heard that song twice in the past few days.  I don't know what the seventh house is and I surely don't go along with all that astrology stuff.  But I was smiling when I woke up in the middle of the night with this beautiful bright almost full moon shining in on me through the window.  All I could think (after that song played a bit in my head) was "Come on little baby, come."  My mom, my mother-in-law, and my favorite OB nurse all put at least some stock in full moons and babies being born.  The full moon this month is Wednesday.  We'll see...

What I know for sure is this:

"My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them."  Psalm 139:15.16

The God who made and controls the moon and Jupiter and Mars has made this little baby girl and He himself has determined when she will be born and the number of her days.  Glory to God.

Friday morning we saw our first snow of the season.  Flurries...just flurries...but snow nonetheless. How else would one dress on such an occasion?

Thanksgiving Evening

Our good friends the Vaughans stayed home this year too.  They graciously invited us to enjoy Thanksgiving with them so we headed to their home after the Turkey Bowl.  We really had a wonderful dinner and evening with them. 

 

 

The kids table

The kids all made gingerbread houses after dinner.  So much yummy candy...How much made it into their mouths verses onto their houses?

Here, it's dessert time.  These two can be a challenge to get pictures of, seeing as they both like to be silly for photos.

 

 

Thanksgiving Morning

Thanksgiving was a little different for us this year as we stayed home instead of traveling.  First time.  It began with the churchwide Turkey Bowl- a game of touch football.  Brian and Jack headed over early.  Kayla helped Samuel get ready, notice a hood but no coat...

She really is the mommy type.  Most of the time, he loves it.

She loves to help him.

This is the only picture of the football game I got but everyone seemed to have a great time.  Some kids played.  Jack had a great run-so close to a touchdown!

We've had some great weather lately!  Maybe not all the rain (although we have to be thankful for that, too), but all the warm days in mid-November.  Last year, Jack's last soccer game landed on a windy, cloudy, frigid day.  This year, beautifully warm and pleasant.

A Sweet Moment

As I was typing that last post, I could hear Kayla sweetly reading to Samuel.  (I ran in and snapped the picture).  He just couldn't seem to get to sleep this afternoon so I gave him some books to look at.  At some point I guess Kayla ended up in there with him.  I can tell when she is reading words she knows- she slows down a bit and is more deliberate.  She speeds up when she's ad-libbing.

This quiet afternoon has been a blessing after a somewhat wild morning.  It's raining and windy out- perfect day for some hot coffee for me and rest time for everyone else.  I wondered what would happen with Sammy not falling asleep but he has pulled off his own "quiet time" pretty well, a great gift to me.

Samuel's New Bed

Part of getting things ready for baby girl is getting her big brother out of the crib and into a big boy bed.  Bittersweet for me.  It has been a lot of fun putting Kayla's old crib set on the crib and getting things rearranged in the "girls" room.  Kayla has really enjoyed it.  For now her baby dolls have taken up residence in the crib.  And Samuel has done pretty well transitioning into his bed.  I have to say I shed a few tears, though.  I guess it feels like somewhat of an end to his babyhood, even if he is 2 1/2.  At first he wasn't too sure about this move- he was perfectly content in his crib.  But we let him choose his comforter and it didn't take long for him to warm up to Woody and Buzz and his new bed.  I guess he's just growing up!  Imagine that!

His last night in the crib.  He always snuggled up as close to the edge as he could get.

Exploring the new bed.

Yes!  Asleep in his new bed for the first time!