Our Excellent Week

On Friday night we returned from a kid free, week's vacation in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Matt and I shared a house with our friends, Erin and Eric McAdams and Tom and Laurie O'Connell, and their 3 month old, Elsie. It was so great! Matt and I had never stayed in a rented vacation house like that before, and we definitely recommend it! Each couple had their own bedroom and bathroom, and all the common spaces were huge. We were beach side, and had only one excellent beach day, but we were there to relax, and we accomplished that.
It's funny because when leaving my kids behind I'm initially overcome with "mom guilt," you know, "Why do I think I need a vacation? How can I leave them behind?" And those few moments should never keep someone from taking a much needed break! We need it more often than we think! For a whole week I was able to do only what I wanted to do, go to sleep when I wanted, go out when I wanted, get up when I wanted. And I got up around the regular time each morning, but by the end I was so rested! It has been so great to come home rejuvenated, refreshed, and ready to be a better mom. We need those alone times to keep our lives in the right perspective. It was excellent!

Fall Fun

Making friends is a daunting thing when adulthood strikes. For me it is, anyway. And I think I can say for Matt also, being in his position. That was one thing that I had prayed for as we moved down here to Maryland, and God's faithfulness never ceases! We have many more friends here than we have had ever. :) Well, college is an exception, and we walked out of there with probably the best friends we'll ever have, but we have made connections in our synagogue, as well as with other young people involved in other messianic synagogues in the area.
A couple that we hit it off with very recently are Troy and Jen. They live about 1/2 hr. away, are in leadership with their congregation, and we just love them! They love our kids, and Emma and Siri love them! We have actually spent time with them every weekend for the past few weeks, including this past Monday when we went to a farm open for the fall pumpkin season.
We got to see animals, including brand new piglets; Matt, Troy, and the girls went on a hay ride, where Emma and Siri got to pick their own pumpkins (both of which were green and have been heavily abused since that day); Jen and I tried to make it through the corn maze with our limited time, and had to cut out half way, but Jen got the experience. Then we all jumped on this gigantic "jumping pillow," which feels like a jumbo water bed or a huge bloated stomach. It was so much fun and a great work out!
So, as we are hitting some bumps in the road on this new adventure of ours, in Maryland, we have much to praise God for...REALLY GREAT FRIENDS!

Emma's Drawing

Recently Emma started drawing people. Before this her coloring/drawing evolved from scribbling to lots of circles to lots of lines, and she also recently started writing her name. It's in a 3 year old's way, of course, and its amazing to watch the learning process. When Emma writes her name she usually starts with the "m's" and then writes the "E," with many more than 3 horizontal lines, and her "a" looks like an "h," but she's doing it!
So, Emma was drawing people the other day and I asked her to draw a picture of her family because my mother-in-law, Helene, was telling a friend and I about a class she took a long time ago about childrens drawings and how their representation of family members shows how they feel about their family and their place in the family. I'm not sure if Emma's picture shows anything yet because all the people are the same size and she actually was changing the names of the different people, but its her first family drawing!

Sukkah Building

On Wednesday night we helped to build the congregational sukkah for Son of David (our congregation.) The build went very smooth, and the whole thing was finished, up, and decorated in 2 1/2 hours! The kids and I were there for part of the fun, which involved the ever-distracting sidewalk chalk for much of the time. When it was time to put branches on the top, as is required, Emma and Siri both were dragging them out of the bushes and handing them up to Dad. It was so cute how serious Siri was about helping. Next week we have a sukkah party, so we'll post more pictures then!