Jumpin' Pumpkins

One day they will be as good at coordinated jumping as their Papa and Uncle John.  :)

Pumpkin Patch Pictures

Every year around this time (for the past 3 years) we head to the "Pumpkin Patch" at my Grandparents' church.  The girls really enjoy running through the pumpkins, laughing and playing the whole time.  This year Timmy enjoyed playing with a little pumpkin and watching his sisters play.  When it's time to leave, the girls always get to pick out a little pumpkin to take home.  This year they paid for the pumpkins and then counted the change they received back from the sales lady.  Every day is a fun learning experience!

Precious Little Man

Tim reads about Nathan Hale to our girls

 Recently I bought a set of 20 American hero biographies for young readers.

They are for K-3rd grade age. Tim has started reading these books to the 

girls a few times a week, and they love them!

 Now, if you've ever heard Tim tell a Bible story... you know how into it and dramatic he can get.  

He captures the girls' attention for up to 30 minutes at a time - even Lauren.  

He doesn't sugarcoat or gloss over the hard parts.

 Now, knowing how he tells Bible stories, maybe you can imagine how he 

reads these American history hero biographies... not overly dramatic... 

but he definitely captures the girls' attention and imagination.

 Last night they were reading a book about Nathan Hale.

I was in the other room reading, but I could see them from where I was 

sitting.  As they finished the book, I saw that Lauren had her head buried in 

her hands, and Hannah was laying on Tim's lap looking down and sad.

Tim looked at me and mouthed, "She (Hannah) is crying."

I came in the office... where they were sitting on the couch... and knelt down

in front of Hannah.  She was starting to cry, and Tim assured her it was fine 

to cry. I asked her what happened.  She was able to get out the words, 

"Nathan Hale." Then, I asked, "Did you read about Nathan Hale?"  

She nodded, "Yes."  Next, with overwhelming emotion she said, 

"He died trying to save AMERICA!!"....and she burst out into tears for the next couple of minutes.

 Tim and I looked at each other and smiled... both thinking, "How precious."

My eyes filled with tears as I saw how sad my little girl was over a man who 

had lost his life to help her have freedom in our country... and she understood that.

 After a couple minutes of allowing her to cry, Tim made the comparison

of what Nathan Hale did for our country to what Jesus did on the cross... 

except Jesus' sacrifice was so much bigger b/c it was for the sin of the whole world.

 Then, Hannah wanted to share with me what had happened at the end of 

the story, so Tim went back and read the last few pages.

The book said how Nathan, shortly before he was hung, had asked for a 

Bible to read, but had been denied.

Then, it went on to say that as he awaited his death, "He could only think 

about his country, his family, and his God."

 We do not know for sure, of course, that Nathan Hale was a believer in the 

Lord Jesus Christ, but the book seems to indicate that he was devoted to 

His God. So, Tim told Hannah that we might see Nathan Hale in heaven 

one day. He said, "Maybe Grandpa Jim can introduce us to Nathan Hale."

That brought a humongous smile to her face!!!!!  :)  So precious!!

We often talk about people they want to meet in heaven.  Among their 

favorites are Abel and Stephen.  

And Hannah was happy to add Nathan Hale to that list.

 Tim suggested to the girls that today during school time that we start making

a list of the people they would like to meet in heaven since it's something we

talk about every now and then.  In fact, Lauren often says, "I can't wait to go 

to heaven."  :) They were excited about making this list this morning.

 We concluded that time together by praising the Lord for what Nathan Hale

had done so that we could live in America.

We all started chanting and clapping, "Na-than... Na-than.... Na-than......"

 Precious times with our girls!