Homecoming Fun

There were so many fun things going on before the game! Inflatables, face painting and even an exotic animal petting zoo. To top it all off, our cousins from Saint Francis came all the way here for the game!!
The game was a great one. The Warriors won! 42-14!!




Jacob got to watch the last quarter down on the side lines with the "serious football fans," his Grandpa Dennis and Uncle Tim!! He stood for the most of the quarter paying attention. His favorite thing to yell is "GO D!!!" (Even when the offense is in!) Do you notice our beautiful new track and field??
THANKS Grandma Nita and Papa for the great Eternity Focus T-shirts!!












All of the Lambert Cousins (so far)!!

Warrior Pride!

Pickin' Pumpkins

Before last week's football game we were able to go to a pumpkin patch. Aly really liked all the different types of pumpkins. Jake loved the covered wagon ride. Anna liked throwing the little pumpkin "balls" out of the wagon. A fun time was had by all. thanks, Kristen Schenk for organizing the trip and Jodi for the great pictures!!

Gibberish???

Our poor Jacob has not been able to communicate clearly from the beginning. He will be three in November and still doesn't really speak English. I think he's a really bright little guy - he understands everything we say to him, he just can't get us to understand the words he says to us! I also am confident that he will get it...eventually. He just usually has his own way of doing things. He has pretty much invented his own language with a lot of sounds, sound effects and movements. It's pretty cute how he has learned to communicate in his own way. I feel bad for him though because it has to be frustrating to know what you want to say and the rest of us (most times) have NO idea what he is telling us. One of my favorite verses that applies to his situation is Psalm 8:2a "From the lips of infants and children You have ordained praise..." It is such a comfort to know even though most often our little Jake goes throughout his days not being understood, there is One who hears him and COMPLETELY understands him! When that little boy prays, he can have confidence that the creator of heaven and earth knows every word that he speaks. He can praise God in his gibberish!! (We don't usually encourage that kind of thing without an interpreter!!!) J/K! His prayers touch my heart because he may not know the greatness of our God, but he (in his own language) can still praise Him and is beginning to know that there is a God. A God who loves him, cares for him and knit him together exactly the way he is for His purpose!! Our God sees us each and loves us and wants to hear us cry out to Him! No matter how misunderstood we may feel, we have a maker who understands us completely. "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!" ~ Psalm 8:9

Cultivating Spirituality in Our Childrens Lives

I stumbled across this article called "Ways to Cultivate Spirituality in a Child" and have been thinking a lot about it today. I have been brain storming lately of ways to help our children move from head knowledge to heart change. I don't know much about this author or her blog, but this particular article has been an inspiration to me. I hope to implement parts of her ideas into our routine.

All Aboard!!

WHEW! We made it! I decided it was time to go "home" to Illinois for a few days. Jake and Anna and I packed up and we headed to Wyanet on the Amtrak! It is a pretty good way to travel, especially now with the prices of gas. The main downfall, though is that it takes off and arrives in Hutchinson in the middle of the night. We had to pack up all the kiddos and get to the train station by 2:20 AM. Only the report I received was that the train was running late, and from our past experiences with the train, we know that it usually continues to lose time. So we took our time and got to the train station a bit before the time they told us it would be there, and the train was already there! The railroad barricades were down and sure enough the train was about to depart! I hopped out of the van and ran around the barricades, around the train and sprinted (in my flip flops and pajama pants) up to the conductor. He had just finished loading everyone and had pulled up the step ladder and was closing the door. I came barreling up to him and with all the breath I could muster, said "I'm (gasp) coming! Can (gasp) you wait (gasp) just a second??" To which he very gruffly replied, "A second is ALL you have!!" I whirled around to where Chuck had just illegally crossed the RR tracks and began to unload our two sleepy and surprised babies! We grabbed all we could and Chuck shoved us on the train, said a very quick farewell and we were on our way. Even though we had a rough (and I'm sure to anyone who happened to catch a glimpse that morning at 2:40, humorous) beginning to our trip, the rest went really well. The kids did a pretty good job on the train and there were no major hold-ups. It was so good to be with my family! I hadn't been "home" since the beginning of June, so it was great to be there. We got to spend a lot of time with My brother and his family. Cade and Jake are getting to be good friends! They had so much fun playing together. They both really enjoy digging on Grandma Bev and Pop's hill with the 'diggers.' We also had some time to visit with Grandma. She hasn't been feeling well at all, so I feel blessed to be able to share some of her precious time. She even ventured out with us one day to a local apple orchard. She enjoyed getting out and looking at the pretty mums and sampling some of the apple treats! It was a beautiful day. The time always flies by too quickly, but the time we had was great! The way home on the train went really well. THANKS for all of your prayers! When we got on the train, we sat in an observation car with big picture windows. Jake was so excited to be on a train! There were some aspiring musicians from Spain and Russia who were glad to serenade us. That really helped the time go by quickly. Jake made a friend named Vera on the train and they both played and sang and drummed right along with the musicians. I was thankful for something to keep us busy. I tried to get a video that captured the atmosphere aboard the train, but this was the best I could do. Enjoy.

Football!!

Football season is well underway with all the ups and downs that go with it. It is so much fun to have a game to look forward to each Saturday. I am sad to say I haven't even snapped one picture of a game. I was so thankful when I saw Jodi's blog. She has taken some beautiful pictures. I'm going to have to link to her great post since my season (of life and football) is a bit different than hers right now. I haven't been able to even think about taking pictures because I'm usually in survival mode at football games, and if I'm lucky I might be able to watch a whole play. :) So.... THANKS Jodi for such a perfect portrayal (in both picture and words) of how the season is going so far.