Getting Spoiled by Mr. Dale

This past Tuesday night, Dale Mullikin was in St. Louis for work, so he took us out to supper. We went to Dave & Buster's, which I wasn't familiar with, and it was awesome. The kids are still talking about it! The food was great, and the boys were in heaven because they got to drink rootbeer in bottles AND get dessert. As they were eating these delicious fresh-from-the-oven doughnut holes dipped in raspberry or chocolate sauce (yum!), I overheard Seth say to Gabe, "Gabe, we're living the life." Then to top it off, there was the most massive video arcade room I've ever seen-huge! And Mr. Dale had given the kids swipe cards to play games. If only I had had my camera:( The kids didn't know where to start. For the first five minutes, they just ran around shouting, "Gabe, look at this!" "Seth, come here! This is amazing!" They hadn't even played an actual game yet, but were so excited just to be there. We must have played games for an hour or more and had such a fun time. Seth whispered to me as we were finishing up, "Mom, I'm gonna thank Mr. Dale, like, ten hundred times." Then, as we were driving home, one of the kids would say, "Mr. Dale is probably the nicest guy in the world." To which the other two kids would reply "yeah, he is." They said this at least 6 times on the way home.
And then my favorite comment from Gabe..."Mr. Dale is so nice. He used all his money for us because he knew we didn't have any." By the way, we have never talked about money that way, as in us not having ANY! We have said that we are being extra super careful now with our money since daddy is a student and mommy isn't working yet, but it's funny how kids think about things:)
All this to say, we had a fabulous time. Thank you so much for blessing us, Dale! Oh, and Seth was still talking about Miss Lori's famous angel food cake and wants to come visit her soon:)

Nana and Papa Visit

Nile's parents came to visit last weekend and we went to the zoo. Seth was an all-star this time-no complaining about walking, though he did start asking if it was time for the train ride (b/c he was tired of walking) after we'd only been there maybe 15 minutes. It amazes me how he can run around for literally hours with his friends, playing soccer or Jedi's, without resting for a second and think nothing of it. We had lots of fun while Nana and Papa were here!

Josie's fave-the hippos...they come swim right past
you and she just loves it.


I realized I had no good pics of Jim, so I had to include
this one even though it doesn't show him well. He was
my faithful stroller pusher-didn't realize what a blessing
that was until I didn't have to do it for a day:)

Pretending to be snake charmers?

Daddy and Josie

Gabe in the "jungle"

Josie and Nana

Vacation

The other night, I told the kids that it was time to get ready for bed. Gabe will once in a great while have a consequence for not accepting that news with a joyful heart, but Seth almost never has trouble. This time, for whatever reason, Seth complained a little bit. We got in the bathroom to brush teeth, and I jokingly said to him, "Seth, what's up, buddy? You never complain about this anymore. Where's the new and improved Seth?" He was still a bit grumpy when he looked at me and said, "He's gone. He went on vacation." I laughed so much that he couldn't be grumpy after all. And the new Seth was quickly back:)

I am going to take a blogging vacation for a bit. Do you ever just get sick of yourself? I do. If anything really exciting happens, I'll post (honestly, what are the chances of that?!). I still enjoy reading other people's blogs, though, so no vacations for you all:) Blessings!

Another lost tooth and other random news...

A quick update...I want to report that I am getting involved and making friends:) Every Sunday, we have a community group we meet with and that's been fun. On Monday nights, the first-year wives get together to hang out after our kids are all in bed to connect and pray together. It will be a real blessing as we go through these experiences together, I think. On Thursday nights, a young couple(dating-they are so cute:)) who are friends of ours (I say young because Nile and I are really old compared to some people on campus) come over for dessert and "The Office" hangout night. Our kids love hanging out with them before bed and look forward to it every week. Anyways, slowly but surely I am coming along! I'd still welcome any of you moving to St. Louis, though. Any takers?!

If you enlarge this, you can see the lost tooth with
another already coming in, and there is a tooth already
coming in behind yet another loose tooth on the right side
of his mouth. Strangest thing when that happens...I was
remembering his first lost tooth, when he said, "I just plucked
it right out, mom!" This time he said, "I was sitting here and
it just slipped right out of my mouth."

Seth loves camo! The above pic was a
last second face change (this happens ALL
the time with him-you think you're going to
get a cute shot, and he does this), and the below
pic is somewhat normal:) He wanted to show the
grandparents his camo, so here you go.

One great thing about being here is that Nile comes
home for lunch most days, and the kids enjoy getting
to see him and hang out briefly.

Seth didn't feel well the other night, and I asked

him if he wanted a bowl in case he threw up. He said

yes, so I put it on the end of his bed. When I checked

on the boys a few hours later, I noticed he had fallen

asleep with his arm in the bowl...thankfully, he never

did get sick.

Cayla's Birthday Party!

Seth, Josie and I drove back to Iowa last weekend (wow...nothing like driving in the POURING rain with two kids for 4 hours) and had a great time. I brought along our portable DVD player, thinking I would let them watch one movie and hopefully they would read or play the rest of the time. They watched for 25 minutes, and said, "We don't really feel like watching anything, mom." So, they sat for the next 3 1/2 hours. Josie didn't sleep for one minute, either. They were so good, though, so I guess it all worked out. Fortunately, our trip coincided with my niece, Cayla's, birthday party (she turned one), so we were able to go. What fun! These are some pics from that day.
I would like to go on record saying that she is the SWEETEST baby ever! Not so much of a baby anymore, I suppose:) I've told Jerod and Leah before that she has the sweetest countenance of any baby I've met-truly, to be around her is to fall in love with her. I know I'm the biased aunt, but really! Josie loved her...every time I lost Josie in the midst of the party, I found her next to Cayla, patting her or caressing her hair. My kids adore her. We love you so much, Cayla Joy! You are treasured beyond compare.

Cayla leaned in to Josie for this one!


Leah's sister made her this adorable headband.

Jerod, Leah and Cayla

Aunt Leah had a fun game for all the
kids to play...Josie is having fun finding
all the hidden pictures.

Uncle Jerod Visits

My brother came to visit us at the end of September, and the kids had such a fun time with him. When Jerod first told us he was coming, I wrote it on the calendar. A few days later, I noticed that Seth had decorated that calendar date with balloons and squiggly confetti things-he asked me every morning how many days were left until Jer came to visit. And Jerod so graciously accepted Seth's offer to be the ticket manager/security guard during their band concert...what a good uncle. He did end up with an electric guitar cameo appearance during the concert, though. The "band" actually used David Crowder's songs from a concert of his on DVD, which is why the kids are staring blankly ahead (at the TV) in many of the pics.Thanks for visiting us, Jer! We love you.

Wanted to show her "I'm a Rock Star" shirt. Seth

didn't want her in the band unless she had "cool
clothes", so he was as excited as she was when I found

this inexpensive shirt.

Look at that hot keyboard player!

He cracks me up-not sure what look he is going for.

Bad pic, but wanted to show J plugging her ears.

Daddy loves the music, however. We were chanting,
"Blackout!", because Seth named their band the
Blackout Singers. He even made a CD (out of paper)

to sell after their concert. And he made programs that

told about their band. He thinks of everything-I think
Gabe just goes along with it to be nice to Seth.

I'm sure all our neighbors hated us after the

half-hour of music, but we did try to do it at a

time when kids wouldn't be napping.:)

God is Faithful, Whatever the Answer...

Last night I was working on some homework I need to finish for a teacher recertification class I took over the summer. The class was on Asperger's Syndrome/High-Functioning Autism, and couldn't have come at a better time, because Seth was really struggling with our move/change, etc. I have the last part of the class this Thursday in Cedar Rapids, so Seth, Josie and I are driving back to Iowa for it. Anyway, as I have mentioned in previous posts, Seth is doing AMAZINGLY well so far. There are times I have been brought to tears praising God for the work He has done and is doing in Seth-in some ways he is a completely different kid than he has been the past few years. He will always be the child that brings me to my knees most often, don't get me wrong, but what a change I can see! In the past, I have been too consumed with knowing all the answers...does he have Asperger's, what is the right way to handle every situation (as if I would ever be able to figure that out!), what about his future, and on and on...I feel like God has really been moving me toward not focusing so much on all that "stuff" and instead choosing to focus on Him, trusting that He will be right with me as we navigate through whatever is ahead. I don't need all the answers, I just need to trust that the Lord has Seth in His hands.
So, last night I was looking through all my info and doing my assignments for this class, and all these old anxious feelings started creeping in again...does he, doesn't he, does it really even matter?!! I have a folder of stuff just from this class, and right in the middle of one of the packets on Aspergers, there was a lone sheet of paper that must have come from a sunday school class or maybe Seth's preschool last year...it said, "Jesus Can Do Anything." I flipped it over and it said, "Isn't it exciting that Jesus can do anything! Isn't he amazing? He can heal people. Remember that Jesus can do anything!" Now, I am not saying that Seth had Asperger's and I think he is now cured-we were never 100 percent certain, though things were definitely looking that way. And many of his deficits are not much of an issue anymore-there are times I really do think God has changed what we thought Seth's diagnosis was. But, whatever may or may not be, it did speak to me and reminded me that God CAN do anything and He is bigger than my anxieties and fears regarding Seth. And you have to admit, the placement of that lone sheet of paper is pretty cool. Only information on Asperger's Syndrome and that one sheet of paper. And just like that, I was back to resting and finding peace in God's faithfulness to me, whatever the answer.