Pumpkin Party

Here's the Arnold family's first carving tradition.
We ended the day with no tantrums or stitches.
I know there's more photos of one little boy
Than anyone besides a grandmother enjoys...
But for those faithful lurkers who watch to the end,
I promise you good news you can share with a friend.

Happy Halloween!

Sushi, Scooters, and Strawberries

Near the bottom, you'll find a montage of our latest and greatest adventures.

1st: Owen received a scooter (for the fall and as a reward for something...for those without children, I will spare you the details). We ordered it online because he wanted a Batman scooter to match our neighbor Andrew's. Already keeping up with the neighbors, huh? So, they've been scootering around the block together, Owen scoots from the parking lot to our church service (for you RVC folks, you know that walk can be killer with a grumpy toddler), and we are finally stroller-free on our neighborhood walks! YEAH!


2nd: Grandma Suzie "Sushi" came to town. Owen was so excited to see her at the airport. He's usually not that affectionate or cuddly, but he spent the first day stuck to her like glue. They stayed home together while I was at work on Friday, playing Play-doh, reading books, scootering, and, of course, shopping! Owen was Sushi's good luck charm, for the bargain hunter found many a deal for her fall wardrobe here in Fresno. We also took our first trip to Old Town Clovis to do a little antique shopping too. We were all sad to see her go on Monday morning, but we were thankful for each minute she was here!

3rd: Soon after moving to Fresno, the Rose family got us connected with T&D Willey Farms in Madera and their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Tom and Denesse own and operate an organic farm about 30 minutes away, supplying grocers around the country. They also supply families with weekly boxes of produce. You've seen my neice's Flat Stanley in one of these boxes before:

Yes, Owen's first taste of radish. It's super-fresh (usually picked the day before) and Denesse does a great job of supplying recipes to go with the less common items. For example, this week, our box contained the following:

• 5 Red potatoes
• 2 White Onions
• 1 head of Romaine Lettuce
• 1 bunch of Swiss Chard
• 3 Roma Tomatoes
• 1 bunch of Baby Dill
• 1 pound of green snap beans
• 1 bunch of collard greens
• 1 bag of Seedless grapes

AND THAT'S THE SMALL BOX!!

Between Dream Dinners and the CSA, I haven't been to the grocery store for anything beyond milk and bread lately. If you live in Fresno, ask me about it. It's all organic and WAY cheaper than the grocery store.

Anyhoo, back to the story, we went on their seasonal farm tour this Saturday. A worker, oddly dressed like Che Guevara(sorry, I forgot to take pictures of the actual driver...but he seriously looked just like him, beret AND camo), drove a tractor with 4 or 5 flatbed trailers behind it (3 families per trailer). Tom narrated along the way, telling all of us CSA members about how the food gets from soil to table. I couldn't believe Owen stayed attentive and did not jump off the trailer for an hour (except to walk the rows with the group), but the strawberries were pretty powerful motivators. We also got to see how they wash and package everything, so it was like our own episode of either "Dirty Jobs" or "How Its Made". If only our driver looked like Mike Rowe.


They grow such a variety of produce there, and they rotate the acreage to grow crops year round. It was cool to hear about the veggies that are coming this winter (artichokes...my favorite) and spring. For you Dwight Schrute fans, Mr. Willey farms beets too.

We never know what's going to be in our box, so it's like a culinary surprise every week. Michael has tried more veggies in the past few months than in the past 30 years, and Owen...well, you know he'll eat anything.

Pardon all of the Flat Stanley photos; as you'll remember, we're compiling photos of Fresno's finest for her school project. If anyone is going to Yosemite or King's Canyon soon and you want to take Stanley along for the ride, let me know. He's a good traveler.



Before our Texas friends wonder if we've gone TOO granola, do know that we ended the morning with a lunch at Wienerschnitzel.

DELICIOUSLY SINFUL!

1st Women's Retreat

The Bass Pines Resort on Bass Pines Lake, California

Well, I'm officially an adult in that I attended my first women's retreat this weekend. I have been home less than 5 minutes, and I felt the need to sit down to type...an apology...or is it an apologetic? I don't know, but here it goes:

To the mom who said "I just stay home" when I asked if she worked outside the home: I value your career as much as I hope you value mine, so may I write this as a way to honor the gifts I saw in you and so many other River Valley women?

This weekend, I met so many women. I met another teacher, a musician, a preacher, a counselor, a philosopher, a gardener, a comedienne, an administrator, a partner, a servant, a cheerleader, a lawyer, a caretaker, a hospice worker, a decorator, and a student.

You see, although I don't actually know how these women spend their 8 to 5 business day, I know that this weekend I saw them teaching, praising, preaching, counseling, pondering, pruning, joking, managing, working together, supporting each other, serving others, encouraging others, defending our faith, tending to sisters, holding hands as people let their old selves die, brightening our space, and sitting at another's feet.

Seeing these ladies use their gifts was so honoring to God. The children of God have such a diversity of gifts--that in and of itself is amazing--moreover, though, how amazing is it that our God is so multi-dimensional? Seeing 1 woman manifest 1 gift so well is amazing, seeing many women manifesting multiple gifts is even better, but experiencing the God who embodies all of these gifts? Well, that is why an eternity in His presence will still never be enough.

She was humble...because He is not too proud to be with me.
She was spontaneous...because He surprises me daily.
She was focused...because He never lost sight of me.
She was nurturing...because He comforts me.
She was encouraging...because He inspires me.
She was a teacher...because He is Wisdom.
She was musical...because He sings over me.
She was a listener...because He values our voice.
She was serious...because He means business.
She was passionate...because He is still in love with me.
She was faithful...because He has never abandoned me.
She was searching...because He found me.

So thank you, ladies, for sharing your true selves and letting me glimpse God through your reflections. You are more than any label you or others put on yourself because of the label God has put on you: "Created In My Image".

What Animals do Police Shoot?

Owen's top 2 comments from the week:

#1 "Mooooom, I have a plan!" said like a whiny teenager when Owen was caught climbing the kitchen counters on a recon. mission for some fruit snacks. I'm sure you do, son. I'm sure you do.

#2 "Mom, why do policemens have guns? What animals do they shoot?" Can you tell I've been watching too much of The Colbert Report when my answer was "Bears"? But I'm glad he didn't put together what other options there are for real guns. And yes, he says policemens.


Top of slide at fair...pretty precarious for a grown lady to try to sit on a burlap sack at the top of a metal hill with a 40 lb. kid on your lap.


Needless to say, our friend Rob and my extra weight put us ahead of little Katie in the race.


And here's the view that had Michael giggling 5 minutes later. Click the photo to zoom in.


Thanks Rob for emailing your pictures; your camera really captured the moment! So fun!

Last Weekend in September...3 months in Fresno?!

First of all, thank you to those who keep sending me emails, posting on my Facebook wall, texting me messages, blogging comments, and leaving voice mails about my absence from the blog world. In the future, I respond to messages sent via the US postal service. When you'll pay more than $0.40 to get me to open up my laptop, I know you care.

Still, thanks to your encouragement, here are some photos of the family. Click to watch; scroll to read more about what we've been up to. PS: I would like to direct your attention to my profile on the left...note the phrases "infrequent poster" and "during the school year". Quarter grades are due in a week and a half, so my next appearance may be in October....

(Google Readers may have to click on the post itself because the photos didn't show up unless you were on the blog itself)


The photos are a combination of several things. Our niece Keely sent us a Flat Stanley project. Stanley (and thus Keely's class) will be learning more about Fresno through the travels and travails of a Fresno 3 year old. Stanley arrived the same day we picked up our weekly produce from T & D Willey Farms, so he got to experience the freshness of our local produce. Yummy. Grammie Glynda, did you know Michael eats zucchini? Oh, and Owen too.

Next stop, Stanley joined our family and the Roses to the Caruthers Fair. Let's face it, after the Texas State Fair, why try to compete? The Big Fresno Fair comes next weekend, but with 4 children (5 and under) and one pregnant lady (not me), our two families decided that a small-town fair might be the perfect size for our kiddos. And it was!

Now we're back at the house, gearing up for a couple of big weeks ahead. The River Valley Church women's retreat is next weekend, Sushi (Owen's grandma) is coming to town after that (sure, you could sing it to the tune of "Santa's Comin' to Town...Owen is), and Owen's class has a trip planned to the pumpkin patch. We have a lot coming up.

As for Michael, work is going well. He continues to see therapy clients of all kinds during the day and soon will take over the facilitation of a marital therapy group 2 nights a week. All his classes at Fuller are done; please pray for him to successfully defend his dissertation this semester.

For the NatRat, please continue to pray for strength and wisdom...managing our household and growing relationships in our community is no small thing for any of us, but as our family continues to live and serve in Fresno, please pray that we will choose our commitments wisely.

Love y'all! Until the next weekend I have a moment to breathe (and blog)...

Wordle

Here's the Wordle of my blog. It's a fun site that takes texts and makes the size of the words proportional to their frequency. (wordle.net)

Poor Michael.

Need a closer view?

Take A Breath

Why would I "tsk-tsk" a 3 year old making cupcakes? Why would I get grumpy at a mess? That's my issue; lucky for me, Owen helped keep me in check. Here's us processing it all over chocolate.




Can you tell we've been working with Owen on calming himself down? He tends to get stressed out about really little things (yes, I know where he gets that from), but today, he turned the tables on me.

The neighbors he's referring to are the kiddos next door (for whom we were making the cupcakes). We've met a lot of our neighbors, and I'm thankful that we're making relationships with several of them. Michael and I have lived in intentional or in like-minded communities for so long (Harding married housing: 1 year, Fuller seminary housing: 5 years and with my folks: 6 months) that sometimes we wonder if we will ever not share a wall with someone. :) Even Owen realizes this because when he bumps his bedroom wall, he shouts, "Sorry Eleanor!"

Here in Fresno, we've found such joy in serving our neighbors and such blessing in the encouragement they in turn provide to us that I continue to praise God for our new place. Concerns on our minds and hearts: a neighbor recently diagnosed with diabetes and her fiance dumping her because "that's not what he signed up for", a neighbor returning to work on Monday after being ill for over a month, a neighbor losing his business, an elderly neighbor missing her children, and several fathers who are doing their best to have relationships with their elementary aged children despite seeing them only on the weekends.

And as for our neighbors, they share space with us: a mom who is exhausted and lonely, a dad adapting to a new job and fighting his insecurities therein, and a boy who is learning about life and love amidst it all.

And all any of us can do is "take a breath".