My Ebenezer

This is the phrase that's been singing itself through my head today: "The vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives." Name that song. :) I love how the Lord ministers the truth to my heart through song. Can you tell what I've been needing today? I'm praising the Lord that He pardons me, the vile offender, the moment I ask! Amen.

One of Noah's favorite activities these days is for me to write out words and let him sound them out. He gets so excited when he gets them right! Yesterday I decided to start writing a full sentence to see if he could get a whole idea. Now, these sentences are not complex by any means: Six words at most, and usually the words are 3 letters or less. Today I made sure to get a video of Noah practicing his skills on a sentence he'd never had before, "The cat is on a hill."

Over our vacation, I delved into the world of reading chapter books with Noah. The decision was as simple as not having enough room in our backpack for more than a few diversions. So, rather than pack 10 or so very large and heavy picture books, I grabbed just 2 very small paperback books: Runaway Ralph, and Charlotte's Web. Problem solved. Only I wasn't sure if it would actually work: if Noah would sit and listen to a story with no pictures to look at. I had the opportunity to try it on the car trip to Pennsylvania, and thankfully Noah adapted with no problems! He sat and listened to me read 4 chapters straight through. In the days following our trip, we have read the remaining chapters one at a time before naptime. Today we finished Runaway Ralph, and Noah is already asking when we can begin Charlotte's Web! This is so exciting to me, as I have dreamed of the day when I can read my all-time favorite children's book aloud to Noah, "The Trumpet of the Swan.

We returned Wednesday from a week-long trip up to Connecticut and Pennsylvania to visit family and give Noah a chance to experience Autumn firsthand. He's only ever read about changing leaves in books! Here's a little of what we did last week (including several rousing games of Monopoly Deal as shown in the photo above): Lots of dirt bike riding with Grampy. Lots of traveling by air and by car. (In case you're wondering how I snapped this photo while driving, don't worry. I was stuck in a traffic jam. Which brings me to my next item..) Lots of traffic. This was on the way to Pennsylvania. It rained. The. Whole. Way. The sluggish traffic gave me multiple opportunities to take photos of the foliage from inside the car. So what if the window was streaked with rain? Noah and Josh got to explore Penn's Cave near where my mom lives in PA. If you've never been in a cave, this is pretty much what it looks like: Hee hee! Seriously, though, when you could actual

We have been away on a leaf peeping/family visiting trip up north for the past week. Lord-willing we head home tomorrow. Someday I hope to post some of the pictures I took while we were gone. For now I thought you could enjoy this view from the top of Talcott Mountain in Connecticut.

Courtesy of the rain, Mommy & Noah time was brought to you today by Play-doh, some cookie cutters, and by Mommy's inner ballerina. Sometimes I just can't help myself. :)

Don't we all need to work on being "quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger?"

Seeing as I haven't been blogging very faithfully despite my new found time each morning (ahem!), I figured it was time for a news report of sorts. This is a picture of Noah and his soccer team. It is really the only recent picture I have of him. I need to get better about taking pictures. What else is new? If you can't find Noah, he's the one with the drink in his hands, and the shin guards peeping out of his socks. I love four-year-olds. :) Noah's team has lost 2 out of 3 games they've played, but don't tell Noah. He just has fun playing! Here's what else has been going on: I had 3 teeth removed last Wednesday. "Removed" sounds so delicate in comparison to what it was. In my opinion, people should not be awake while things are being extracted from their bodies. Just saying. They gave me Laughing Gas which really, contrary to its lighthearted name, is anything but. At one point they overdosed me and I found myself feeling so completely