"Falling" for Jesus

Like everyone else, we had such a busy weekend last weekend but it was full of fun too!! We started by going to the Pumpkin Patch with Jack's preschool class. His class was supposed to wear green shirts and I, of course, waited until the last minute to get a green t-shirt. I went ALL OVER THIS TOWN looking for a green t-shirt. I had enlisted all my family to help me find one. I had a sweet and very talented friend (who you can visit at Just Breathe) that had agreed to applique it for me if I could find one but I just couldn't... there wasn't one to be had. Carrie finally called and said, "I can't believe that every kid in Jack's class has a green Fall or Halloween t-shirt." I then let her know that the school rule was just a green t-shirt - it was MY rule that it had to be a fall or Halloween t-shirt. She kind of stopped helping at that point - I had led her to believe that Jack would be the only one without one up until then:) Anyway, I finally went to a new children's boutique here in town and they made me one overnight - crisis averted:)

Jack insisted that he ride the big, big bus so Ben and I took him to school and put him on the big, big bus without us. We were going to follow them, but I hadn't had my latte yet so we had to go get that (or my attitude could have gotten us kicked out of the preschool field trip:) and of course, we got a little turned around (meaning lost). My mother was appalled by this, but I think I can find some mothers out there who agree that getting the latte is equally important to following the school bus that's carrying your three year old, right?? We finally got there about 30 minutes after the bus. I found Jack and said, "What do you want to do now?" The answer was, "I just wanna go to Jack's house." Yep! That's about how these things go. He actually did end up having fun at the Pumpkin Patch and here are some pictures to prove it!

On the hayride....

Trying to find just the right pumpkin...

Forget picking it up - I'll just use it as a chair so mom can get a good picture of the infamous GREEN FALL t-shirt:)

With cousin Azland sporting that great Foreman hair!! A brush wouldn't have killed either of them, but they were having fun.

I know... I know... the kid's precious loving on me like this!!

We were so proud of Jack b/c he climbed up the slide and went down ALL BY HIMSELF the first time (and with his motor issues this was a HUGE deal). Unfortunately, he did a sommersault about halfway down and Daddy had to go the rest of the time b/c "I will fall and break my crown." (He takes the name Jack very seriously and tends to indentify with all the famous nursery rhyme Jacks - which is honestly beyond adorable:)

Riding the cows with friend Channing:

We're still not the best "jumper" but we're trying and we're learning!! It's improvement and Mom is PROUD!

Pretending to eat the corn after I told him to STOP eathing the corn. Let me tell you, you just haven't seen fun til you put a child with sensory integration disorder in a big sandbox full of corn kernels!! HE LOVED IT - and that's an understatement:)

So, you can see we had a blast at the pumpkin patch!! A successful first field trip. The rest of the weekend was devoted to getting ready for our "Fall for Jesus Festival" at church. Since I chair the children's committee in our church, this is a big event at the Foreman house. I was so, so excited that Jack actually enjoyed it this year!! He's never been much for crowded games and activities so he's never liked it before. But this year was different - maybe it's his age, maybe it's that his interests have changed, or maybe, just maybe we are on the right path with his therapy - but he really enjoyed himself this year. He didn't get scared by the costumes (there was an adult clown that was a little peculiar to him, but I got him to go talk to him and we worked through it - YAY! YAY! YAY!!) and he didn't get upset by the other kids being around. It was a really fun time. My knight wouldn't leave all of his costume on b/c "it itches my head" but other than that - a HUGE success. We had 1000 kids there (felt like it anyway:) and everyone had a great time. I hate I didn't get a lot of pictures of the games and decorations everyone worked so hard on but I was exhausted and it just wasn't in me to be photographer, but I did get some shots of some of our favorite friends - not all of them, but some of them...

Other than the big slide, "Go Fish" was definately Jack's favorite game!!

Shonna (who also planned the event) and Caroline - who makes orange and blue beautiful even to the Foreman family:) She was the cutest Auburn cheerleader we've ever seen! This picture was taken towards the end of the night and Caroline made the face that the rest of us felt like making:) She had been there all day too and we were seriously exhausted!

Piper the pig - another child who had been at the church (like Caroline) all afternoon with her parents helping to get ready for the festival. So, so adorable!! I loved this outfit!

And our sweetest and most precious little lamb - Ella (whose mom was another event planner:). How precious is this??? !!!

Here's Ben and Jack with his brother, Dusty and his family. We were so glad they were able to come to the festival too!!

We had so much fun and were thrilled to be able to do things that were glorifying to the Lord as well as fun for all the kids!!

And my Thankful - Fourth is: I'm thankful for my friends!! Sweet friends who listen and are always around. Especially Shonna, Tara, and Carrie (whose children are pictured above - the Auburn cheerleader, pig, and lamb) - this is my core group of best friends. We get to spend lots of time together, lean on each other, depend on each other, and just love on each other all the time. I feel so blessed that God has led me to these special women and that I get to know them and grow with them and love them back!

I'm especially thankful for healing and answered prayer in Shonna's family this week. We were all calling out to the Great Physician and I'm so thankful for his faithfulness to His children!