Fall 2013 - Esther in Brown and Girls in Christmas

 

 I was trying to get a "school" style picture of Esther - the background wasn't the greatest and she had the hardest time sitting still and smiling all at the same time, but I love her expressions on all of these ones!

 The Bible was to keep her hands occupied -

 Do you like the ponytail ones better or the others?

 Since the girls were sort of dressed alike, I thought I'd take a picture of them together before church, but I gave up after just a few tries because there were people around and that means excitement!

Esther at least understands to look at the camera :)

Fall 2013 - The Hermitage

 We got to go with some of Aaron's family to the Hermitage, (home of Andrew Jackson) which is near Nashville - it was really interesting and we could have spent all day there and still not have learned everything there was to learn!

 It was a very warm day and we spent a bunch of the time outside -

 We went on a wagon tour of some of the grounds - the driver/guide really knew his history!

 Aunt Becky with Esther and Anna looking at the horses - they kept wanting to go back and see them. I guess they are a breed of horse that would have existed back then and were very big!

Aaron in front of the home - we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the house, but I'm fairly certain that the Hermitage scene in the Davy Crockett movie was filmed on location.

 A couple of the "guides". I think that would be such a fun job!

 Waiting for our tour to start -

 Aaron and Anna - we all had headsets and around the grounds were numbers to key in and listen about that particular place.

 Aaron and the girls by a very big tree -

 Me by the back of the house -

 They had an acre flower garden done by a British designer - it was sort of a maze style.

Andrew Jackson's grave -

Fall 2013 - Corn Maze

 I have so many fall pictures, that I'm going to do them in several posts...We were able to go to the farm for the final corn maze weekend :) The girls really didn't care about the corn, but went on several hayrides, like this one -

 Aaron and Anna on the hayride -

 Esther and Sarah -

 Esther loved this little deer at the entrance of the maze -

 Aunty Miriam helped give the girls the tour of the place -

 Their favorite hang-out place was the "ark" with the animals - Here's the bunny rabbit - one of their favorites :)

 Waving at the goats -

 Esther dared to touch the calf -

 Anna thought it was pretty funny that Miriam's finger was being eaten...

 Me and the girls posing with the pumpkins -

 Anna really liked the pretend "horse" -

It was really windy and fairly cold while we were there, so we didn't get to hang out too long, but it was worth the trip :) We think we probably drove farther than anyone else just to come to the maze :) We also were able to visit with our grandparents and other family and friends and enjoyed having Aaron with us the whole time!

July and August

 Hello again! You probably don't remember the 4th of July pictures from my mom's blog by now, so you'll get to enjoy mine :) Anna and Esther had a great time during our 9 days in MN - new people to meet everyday and so much to do and so many fun aunties to spoil them! This is them at Grandpa and Grandma O.'s 4th of July picnic.

 As is this -

 Anna's normally a little shy - but for some reason she just loved this cow costume!

 Aunty Hosanna with the girls at the park.

 Aaron spoke at a 4th of July service while we were there.

 This is the 4th of July picnic at Grandpa and Grandma K.'s house - Aaron, Isaac, Mr. Nance, Amos, and Daniel

 Esther and some of the other cousins are getting ready to collect candy during the parade. Esther didn't care for all the loud noises, but it didn't take her long to get the hang of grabbing candy...Anna hadn't had her nap earlier and ended up sleeping through the whole thing!

 We spent most of Aaron's 34th birthday traveling, but I remembered to take a picture in honor of the special occasion when we got home :)

 It may look like a relaxing day-off activity, but trust me, moving bricks is a lot of work! Aaron's parents were having some work done at the place we're living and in order to lay a new cement patio, all of the old bricks had to go. I even helped out...and like I said, it was hard work.

 Esther and Anna found the construction work to be the best backyard entertainment they'd had in a long time! We were all awakened most mornings for about 2 weeks at like 6 by loud trucks or stomping on the roof :) Thankfully, we sort of knew the people doing the work and they did a great job! Here is the morning they laid the cement.

 As you can see, the Lord blessed us with summer squash. Oh, and I forgot one thing on the list I posted the other day - another thing I did this week with the squash was make "zucchini" bread - a batch of pineapple raisin, and a batch of lemon flavored.

 Me in MN - several pounds ago I might add :) I've recently been pulling out my maternity clothes again...We've had a couple Dr. visits and they've gone well. I felt a little not-wonderful during the first trimester, but am feeling much better now. We're so excited and the girls are too...just so you know, Esther wants us to name the baby "Moses" and wrap it in "swaddling clothes" -

 The girls in some cute matching dresses from Grandma V -

 They've been having a lot of fun playing in this little car thing!

 Anna is still learning new words and making a few short sentences (like "Esther awake" and "Daddy home").

I took the first picture, and Aaron took the second one another day, then Esther got the idea that when she played with the car, she needed a picture taken:)

Reading List

You all know the saying that you will be the same a year from now as you are now except for the people you meet and the books you read....whether that's true or not we won't discuss here, but I decided this spring to raid Aaron's library for some good books to read that will hopefully help me grow over this next year. Or however long it takes to finish the list - in fact, I don't promise to actually read them all, but at least it's a start :)

COMPLETED

Radical by David Platt
Follow Me by David Platt - I didn't care for the way the first half of this book was written, although understand the point he was trying to make. Both books were challenging and I really liked how he gave you practical steps to put into practice what you'd just read.
Me, Obey Him? by Elizabeth Rice Hanford - very basic, short and very Biblical.
I Am a Church Member by Thom Rainer - also short and basic, and being a pastor's wife, I would recommend it to everyone :)
The Resolution for Women by Priscilla Shirir - Even though this wasn't written the way I would do it, I was happily surprised at how good it was. Trust me, she covers enough ground to convict every lady somewhere!
At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon - this wasn't on my original list, but a church member borrowed it to me and as it's been a while since I read any modern fiction, I thoroughly enjoyed it :)
A Chosen Love
A Daughter's Love
A Brother's Love all by Carolyn Ann Aish - as the Frencolian Choronicles were some of my favorite books ever growing up, I borrowed the prequels from Priscilla - and I hope Mrs. Aish comes out with the sequels soon!

TO READ

Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss - also borrowed from Priscilla
Streams of Civilization II from Christian Liberty Press - since it's been 10 years since 10th grade, I thought a refresher couldn't hurt.
50 People Every Christian Should Know by Warren Wiersbe
The Power of Motherhood by Nancy Campbell - I've read this before, but it's encouraging enough to read again.
Survive! by Terry Ahern
Desiring God by John Piper
Why I Believe by D. James Kennedy - I've never read a lot of apologetics, so this should be good for me.
Everyone Communicates, Few Connect by John Maxwell
Basic Theology by Charles Ryrie
Mercy Streets by Taylor Fields
Sacred Marriage
Portable Seminary - The good thing about Aaron being a pastor is his line of work is actually interesting :)
I haven't put the Bible on this list because I don't plan to quit that once I've finished.
There are a couple devotional books I enjoy sometimes -
Daily Strength for Daily Needs compiled by Mary Tilleston
Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon 
I also plan to brush up in any pregnancy and childbirth books I happen to get my hands on...Since I haven't posted it on the blog, you may not know that we're expecting again :) - December 30 is the due date and coming quickly!
Then I have a few more books in the mail I have to read for school...

So now you know what I have planned for free minutes here and there - sometimes I go a couple weeks without picking up a book and sometimes I read every day, but the idea is to stretch my mind (and soul) a little bit this year!

Lists

For those of you that know my liking for lists - well, it hasn't changed :) In fact, they've been elevated to the status of survival! - to-do lists and menu lists and shopping lists...I have some pictures that I plan to post soon, but I thought as I have a chance, I'll share a few of my favorite lists with you all.

Our gardening this year was pretty minimum, but some of the things we did get were a bunch of summer squash and enough tomatoes to do a lot of fresh eating, although not a ton of canning. So while they were just getting started, I made a list of all the things I like to do or wanted to try with the afore said produce (it's scary how many of my lists revolve around food...) so I didn't forget something - after all, boughten tomatoes are not the same!

SUMMER SQUASH
(Our zucchini didn't survive, so I substituted summer squash for zucchini in recipes)

Summer Squash Casserole (a favorite of Aaron's family)
stir fry
scrambled eggs
Zucchini bars with cinnamon frosting
Zucchini boats
Summer Squash Patties (new recipe - smells like fair food)
pasta salad
vegetable soup
Texas Two-step Corn
Pasta with Summer squash and Lemon Cream Sauce (new - probably a once-a-year recipe)
zucchini pancakes
dill pickles (haven't tasted them yet)
Savory Stuffed Zucchini (from Mom's family cookbook)

TOMATOES

Savory Stuffed Zucchini (also calls for tomatoes)
Fresh Tomato and Spinach Pasta
fresh salsa
hamburgers
Tomato sandwiches (I like mine with butter and salt and pepper, Aaron eats his with mayo and Cajun seasoning or Tabasco - both on toast, of course!)
Bruschetta
Hot Brown Sandwiches (both this and the bruschetta were new tomato-type sandwich things I tried, ok, but took some time)
Mexican food
lettuce salads
Best of Show Tomato Quiche (new - pretty good, but I think I'll try it w/out the crust)
Southwestern Tomato Soup (still haven't gotten to this one yet)
Tomato Dip for Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Roasted Veggie Pizza (with pesto, only I'm still not sure if the herb I used to make it was really basil - but whatever it was it didn't kill us!)
tabbouleh (after complaining about this food my whole life, now I make it...)

If you have any other great ideas, let me know :)