october miscellaneous

Bubble bath joy :)

And sweet buddies at Daddy's game...Maggie is so great with the girls

And this crew so cute and big :)

The girls enjoyed a treat day on one of their Thursdays with the Links...

And when Hurricane Matthew kept us home that Friday night from camping, we "camped out" instead at the Brinks for the evening :))

Undefeated again...so so proud of my sweet hubby, the coaching staff and all the players for another great year!  They outscored their opponents 214-18 and just executed so well in every way. Thankful for the opportunity to watch him do what he loves and for the Lord's favor over him, in the wins and the losses :)

Girls and I got a little silly when we went shopping for a few things for Greer's birthday party ;)

And we walked over to the high school game that night after the party finished up...love these cuties so much

Walk with the Spirits!  Such a cool event to learn more about local history as we walk through old cemeteries and hear from prominent local figures of the past...and always an easy and super fun time with our Rucker buds :))

We so fancy :))

And fun :)...not sure the historical society meant for us to be included in the pic with Chris' cool work crew, but look, here we are :))

At Gehrig's football game one day, I just had to document Greer's sweet and quick little crocheting fingers...

And Gehr on the field.  It was a learning year in this league, wearing pads for the first time and being the youngest/smallest by a mile...but he had a great time and has a better idea of what to expect next year too :)

Sweetest little laundry helper you ever did see...

And fun Sprouse carpool one day...love these!

Love

Picking up from the middle school one day, and sweet Annalise...so thankful for how she loves our girls

B's football banquet :)

And the sweetest opportunity came to town called Compassion Experience...allowing us to see what life is like for children sponsored through that organization.  So powerful and memorable for all 5 of us...

They know how to hang at a sporting event :)...cheering Gehr on one Saturday morning

And the best view ever.  We so love our new beautiful coffee table built by our friend, Daniel...perfect for propping, sharing game snacks, coloring, working on homework...gathering :))

New yard help :))

And fun friend time while the brothers play football

Breakfast with Maggie (to support the local high school drama program) and lots of stuffed friends ;)

And this girl...so cute and funny...wanted to dress up as a "wise, old turtle" for Halloween.  Most likely influenced by the obscure character Master Uguay from Kung Fu Panda.  We did the best we could with a little help from Sam's closet and it turned out to be one of my favorites ever...

Then she wore the glasses around non-stop :)

So excited to show Libba her new reading skills...

And a girls walk one beautiful afternoon...

Halloween time...

Olympic swimmer, Wise old turtle, Fantasy football

I never would've dreamed in a million years that Garner would talk to anyone that night...approaching strangers is far from anything she would normally consider.  But the ability to "hide" behind the costume and have buddies with her transformed her and she was full of life and personality all night!

Best buds and the best Napolean Dynamite...staying in character the whole time

Sure do love this silly group!  Thankful for them, their sweet parents and a fun evening together :))

On to November!!

9yo greer

Oh Greer!  She brings such life and happy to our family.  I truly don't know that I've ever met anyone with a more tender heart, a freer spirit or a more genuine smile.  She easily laughs and loves and shows grace...and rarely lets much bother her.  She is fearless and fun and adventurous, artsy and creative in so many ways and outdoorsy and athletic like her brother.

Some of her creativity comes out in her crafting.  She continues to crochet and felt, and has added a little bit of beginner sewing to the mix.  She's recently expressed interest in cross-stitching too :).  She talks less about "Greer-world" then she did a year ago, but I think it still exists...and she loves art and drawing and making her own creations from lego sets.  Her closet shelves that used to have "rooms" set up for her dolls have now been replaced with multiple areas of constructed legos.  She will stay in her closet for hours, playing and making new things with them.

This year, she has transitioned a good bit away from anything girly...and wants to wear athletic clothing at all times.  Although I was the same way as a girl (and still prefer to be comfy most days ;)), we are trying to also teach the importance of looking somewhat presentable at times haha.  She loves sports and can hang pretty well with Gehrig.  She loves to climb and play in our big bradford pear in the backyard and will spend hours reading on a limb whenever she can.  Her other big reading time is at night after we've put them to bed as she still doesn't fall asleep quickly and has a bit of a library set up with all of her favorites in the bunk slats right above her :).

Her favorite books are the "Christian Heroes Then & Now" series. And we love that she loves them. :)  I can't help but feel like they have helped inspire her continued plan to be a missionary when she is grown.  This year, she's tweaked it a little to say that she wants to be "a missionary who writes books and crochets on the weekend."  I can't imagine anything more perfect for her :).  Even close to home, she is so comfortable jumping right into gospel conversation with anyone she meets.  She looks so burdened and concerned to hear that someone doesn't know Jesus or go to church.  How I pray that her heart continues to be so passionate for the Gospel and the lost!  She's added more scripture memory this year as she's aged into the Bible thrills program and I can't wait to watch her recite and declare His truth there.

She also says that she'd like to spend some time in her younger adult years as an Olympic equestrian and is saving her money for horse camp next summer ;).  She LOVES animals and has the perfect new job situation this year, taking care of our neighbor's dog, Georgia...even going over to spend time with her on days that she isn't "working."  She continues to beg for a pet, any pet, but Mama still isn't sure about bringing one on.  In the meantime, she and her buddies (especially Marielle) spend lots of their free time playing with as many stuffed animals as we will let them have :).  

Her closest buddies are Marielle, Madi and Wiley...and we have been so thankful for the opportunity to get to know several other sweet girlfriends in the past few months too.  I'm not sure how she will do with girl drama or the inevitable mean-girl situations as she gets older, but I so pray for her heart in it all.  I hope so much for her that she always has one or two sweet friends in her life that don't get into all of that...and that she doesn't herself either!

She's tall, almost wearing my clothes and shoes already, loves babies and is so so good with littles, has a huge vocabulary from her reading that cracks me up constantly, and can't stand to brush her tangly hair.  Low-maintenance, a great (and super-fast!) eater and still snuggly with her mama and daddy.  Oh, and she loves listening to music, mostly Christian rap from Gehrig's influence :)).  

Our prayers for her at the moment are for a heart for her sister (it is the one hard place she seems to struggle with constantly) and good, hard work in school.  She is doing great in 3rd grade, but we know we're entering harder and harder academics and bigger school loads that will require good focus and diligence.  Her favorite subjects at the moment are reading and history.  And she still needs a quarterly room clean-out to get rid of all the trash that accumulates.  But when it comes to what matters, I'm pretty sure that she has a better handle on it most days than all of the rest of us here combined.  I'm beyond thankful for her influence on my life and can't imagine our lives without her joy.

I so love you, my first Babygirl, and thank God all the time for the gift of being your mom.  Happy happy 9th birthday!  I hope it's your best year yet!!