Romans 13

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. 6This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. 7Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Halloween 2008

Caleb decided that he wanted to dress as Super Mario for Halloween this year. He was also adamant that Isaac dress as Luigi and I dress as Princess Peach. Caleb later revoked my title, and gave that honor to Jessie. Yes, I was replaced by the dog! What?!? Instead, he said that he wanted me to be Bowser. Gee thanks, Caleb! Yeah, Bowser was not happening. I have to admit, though, that Jessie did make an adorable Princess.

After searching for a child's Mario costume to no avail, I realized I was going to have to make one. It sounded easy enough... some overalls, a red t-shirt and a red hat. Little did I know that Caleb had become a picky little Mario expert (as if I needed another one of those in my house!). Mario, he informed me, did NOT wear regular overalls or a baseball cap. ::sigh:: Luckily, Isaac had bought me a sewing machine for Mother's Day. I had not had the time to sit down down and figure out how to use it yet, so there was no time like the present! After tons of failed attempts, I figured out how to effectively use my machine and got started making a pair of authentic Mario overalls and an acceptable hat. I also managed to throw together a felt mask and a question block pail. The pail was just a wooden tissue box cover. It worked out great!

This was Caleb's first year trick or treating. We'd done fall festivals and Boo at the Zoo in the past, but had never gone door to door. My friend Wendy lives in a great neighborhood where almost everyone knows one another and participates in passing out candy, so we headed out to Lexington for some fun. Caleb stayed in character ALL night. If anyone mistakingly called him Caleb, he'd say, "Actually, I'm Mario tonight." He even referred to Isaac as Luigi the entire evening. It was SO funny.

The Mask


The Hat


The Overalls


The Question Block Pail


Mario, Princess Peach, and Luigi


Wendy and Brynn (in utero) as a jack-o-lantern


Quintin as Wolverine


Collin as a Storm Trooper (minus his mask)


Jordan as Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty (with a tiara just for fun) and Will as a spider


Vince as Mickey Mouse


Victoria and Will


Mario and Luigi


The trick-or-treaters in action

SC State Fair

We were fortunate to get to attend the Fair 3 times this year: once with my family, once with Isaac's mom, and once just us. I put all of the pictures into one big slide show.

Caleb's Highlights:

Trip #1- Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Jason, Aunt Heather, and Camryn

1-Eating fried mushrooms (He told me and Grandpa on the way home that it was his favorite part)
2-Meeting J.R. Berry from WLTX
3-Watching the silly lemurs at the petting zoo
4-Riding the carousel

Trip #2- Gram Gram
1-Riding his first real fair ride!
2-Watching Daddy win at Whac A Mole 2 times! Yay, Daddy!
3-Riding his first roller coaster (which IS different and a bigger deal than regular rides)
4-Riding Dizzy Dragons 3 times because "it makes me dizzy like my Sit n' Spin!" :)

Trip #3- Mommy, Daddy, and Caleb
1-Riding the Ferris Wheel "Look at all that fair stuff down there."
2-Fun Houses! Caleb absolutely loved these this year and, since it was a pay one price day, he could just go through them over and over again until he wanted to move on to the next one.
3-Riding an elephant with Daddy
4-Watching the sea lion show
5-Eating an elephant ear
6-Running into his friend Hayden and getting to ride a couple of rides with him
7-Riding his first roller coaster without Daddy! (You can't begin to imagine how much of a wreck I was!)
8-First taste of cotton candy
9-Meeting Darci Strickland and Andrea Mock from WLTX and getting to be on Friends at Five! SO cool for him! Check out the video clip!



Caleb on Friends at Five

Day Out With Thomas

I must confess that I've been cheating on my blog with Facebook. Yes, I have joined the world of Facebook; a dark, evil world where you can find anyone and everyone you've ever known and, worse, THEY can find YOU! Seriously, though, it has been pretty remarkable. I've really enjoyed reconnecting with old friends and just keeping in touch better with current ones. But, now that I've caught up with everyone from my past, I can turn my focus back to ye ole' blog!

Two weeks ago, Isaac and I took Caleb to the NC Transportation Museum in Spencer, NC for Day Out With Thomas. We ALL had a lot of fun. Here are some pictures from our awesome day!

Photo Friday

Lately, Caleb has turned into quite the little architect/artist...


One of Caleb's more elaborate creations


The architect posing with his work


Fireplace


Owl


Duck


Godzilla (Don't ask)

Adventures at Edventure

Wow, two posts in two days! Last Friday, our niece Camryn spent the night with us while her mommy recovered from a nasty stomach bug. We all went to Edventure on Saturday and the kids really had a great time. Here are a few pictures from our day:

Fripp Island

OK, so I'm running for slackest blogger of the year. I hope I can count on your vote!

A few weeks ago, we went on a family vacation to Fripp Island with Isaac's extended family (on his dad's side). This was Caleb's first time seeing the ocean, and we were really excited for him. We left on Thursday, after Isaac got home and arrived about 9:00 that night. When we arrived at the house, the moon was shining so brightly that we were able to see the ocean pretty well. Caleb's first reaction to seeing the ocean was, "Wow! That's a lot of water." He then asked if there were whales in "that ocean" and, at one point, remarked that "we could give Jessie a good bath in the ocean." :)

On our first morning, Isaac, Caleb, and I woke up early and had breakfast outside on the deck, overlooking the water. Because we were staying on the south side of the island, we didn't have beach until around 10:45 each day. That meant the water was pretty much right at our deck all morning. It was so relaxing out there! There were a few swallows fluttering about and tons of pelicans flying overhead. We actually got to watch several groups of pelicans change their formations. That was really remarkable. To see how well-orchestrated their movements were was just... well, I can't imagine how anyone could deny the existence of God after watching it. It was just amazing. In addition to the birds, we also saw a small pod of dolphins and even spotted a shark getting some breakfast! Yikes! This was all before 9:00 in the morning! When we finally had beach to walk on, we headed down and stayed for several hours (during which I managed to get a nasty sunburn). Caleb had a blast! Once he got used to the waves, he would run from them as they came in and then chase them back out. It was really great to watch him play so freely.

One of the coolest things about Fripp Island is that there are deer everywhere. Most of these deer are very friendly and will let you feed and even pet them! This was truly one of the biggest highlights for all of us. There was one buck in particular that became quite a fixture at our house. The kids named him Max. He came every morning and evening to eat and, one day, even brought a couple of friends with him. Max became pretty accustomed to being fed anytime he came around, so when he arrived one afternoon while we were all watching a movie, he seemed less than thrilled to be ignored. He peered in at us for about 30 minutes, before giving up and moving on!

Our last morning at Fripp, Isaac and I set our alarms to get up in time to watch the sunrise. Though it was really cloudy, it was still a beautiful scene. Being at the beach was such a great reminder of how big God is and how small we are. Observing the intricacies of the ocean and witnessing the sheer vastness of it all was staggering at times. But, I was also reminded of that verse in Matthew (I believe it's chapter 6, but don't quote me) that talks about observing the birds of the air and the lilies of the field and not worrying about tomorrow. Seeing the attention to detail that God displays in every aspect of nature is such a reassurance of how loved and revered we truly are. I definitely think I get too bogged down by things in my everyday life. It was really nice to get away and truly get to appreciate God's creation in all its splendor and to be reminded of what a beautiful thing it is to just rest in him.