Are they cute or what?

Okay, so I figure as a mom, I reserve the right to think that my children are the cutest in the world. I guess that is our job, to make sure our children know their place in the world and to remind them and to us, they are amazing. Nonetheless, this evening we went to the good ole' baptist church down the road throwing a fall festival, fun with candy, costumes, and chili. What more could you want? Benjamin had a ball, and though Samuel had had a whopping 40 minute nap all day, he fared quite well. I figure there was too much to look at to be cranky. Anyway, we had loads of fun, and though I don't have anything insightful to say about the experience, I felt like you all needed to know how cute my kids looked. Isn't that my job?

P.S. If I was as cool as my friends Kayla and Candace I totally would have done a slideshow. My brain seems to be a bit on the down side tonight . . . . Love you ladies!

Has it really been 15 years?

This morning Benjamin and I went to our weekly bible study, BSF. It is this great, nondenominational, international bible study that I have gone to for several years now and cannot seem to get enough of. It has taught me more about studying the bible on my own than any study I have ever done. Enough of the advertisement, but I did see someone there who got me thinking. I grew up in Fayetteville, AR in a fairly large Methodist church. Central UMC is a great place that strives to teach the word of God in a straightforward and honest way, so as to impact the world with the message of Jesus Christ. However, like all human institutions it has it's own set of shortcomings. This morning I ran into a woman who had taught my confirmation class in 6th grade. Her daughter is my age and 15 years ago we were friends. I realized that this woman had taken her time and energy and taught me the word of God at a young age. However, for me it was an age of transition. One of leaving something in order to venture into something else. One of those growing up years. It is also the year that I got baptized. She showed me truth in the word of God that I hold to today in all circumstances. Thank You Mrs. Emilie. I'm glad to know you are living in the KC area and I am ever grateful that you took the time to teach me the heart of God that I may want to pursue it more.

The Happy Harrigan Pumpkins

Well, here we are. The Harrigan's enjoy a good dose of fall fun, and in that spirit we decided that we needed happy pumpkins. We are not all that into the scary side of things, so we don't want spooky pumpkins, but we can all enjoy a smile in the night hours. Ben, Sam, and I went to a pumpkin patch yesterday for play group and happened to come home with a pumpkin for each member of the family (excluding the "extended" family on the property). And after a 90 second jump on the super highway of information, my dear husband came back with several designs for our new and improved family. I cleaned out the insides, Benjamin doodled back and forth between helping and playing, Samuel desperately wanted to play in the inner slimey goop that comes out of the middle, and John did wonders with the knife. Here is what came from it all. Maybe in some totally cheesy way the Lord will show his light through us the same way.

The Family expands. . .

Well, this past weekend we all went to Conway, AR for the wonderful wedding of my brother and now sister-in-law. For weeks we've been talking about the next time we go to Arkansas we are going to Will and Kelly's wedding. For as much as we know about weddings and being married, the best part to my dear three-year old is that after the wedding you get cake. Most major events are defined by whether or not you get cake. So, needless to say, this was an exciting event. I wanted to remember how wonderful my wedding was, but how amazing my marriage has been. I wanted to thank my husband for being so amazing. I wanted to share my joy about the new marriage in our family, and lavish all with prayers and joy. It's such an amazing time to be grateful for what you have and excited about the years to come. As much as I have grown to love my husband more in the last 8 years, I can't wait to see what we will be like in 8 more. Congrats Will and Kelly! Sorry I don't have a picture of the two of them, I was relegated to the women's area so you can see a picture of the three women in the Hightower Family now, myself, Kelly, and Erin. Aren't we a match made in heaven?

Are they really growing this fast?

So here are some developmental milestones. Benjamin fed Samuel dinner for the first time. He has since repeated the action at breakfast today and "helped" with dinner tonight. It's a new fascination and since he is fairly accurate about it, and since it helps me get something else done, I don't mind it so much. Nonetheless, I felt like it was worthy for publication.

By the way, it looks like chocolate pudding they are eating, but rest assured, it's only prunes.

Here, there, and everywhere. . .

Okay, so it's been forever. Since I started this process I was attempting to "blog" on Sunday nights. If you look back over the last posts, it will become evident that plan is not working out for me. So, you get news when you get it. I have all kinds of things I want to talk about, but I think I'll start with the Harrigan Family Commune. As most of you know, there are four young men that live in our basement. Our favorite, Andrew, is in class at the same time as John. However, the new and coming up second in line, is Chad. Chad has class in the mornings and was here this afternoon when it had been raining. You see, we have a large drainage "creek" that runs beside the house. Since we moved in, 2 months ago, Benjamin has been asking to see the waterfall. The first picture is one of the rainy days last month when we (Andrew and Benjamin) hoped there would be a waterfall. Sadly, they were disappointed. The second picture is of this afternoon, when there actually was a large amount of water running down the side of our yard. Benjamin and Chad had a wonderful walk in a downpour. As I watched ever so closely, Chad held on to Benjamin about like I would and when he returned not only had they seen the water but they had seen a glimpse into our heavenly Father. Mothers know this is a daily occurrence, the Lord speaks to us in the most mundane of circumstances. Maybe this is one of those ways he is using me in ministry now.

Baby Boot Camp

Well folks, I am here tonight to share the praises and perils of infancy. This weekend, Friday night to be exact, we had such a long and difficult night that John and I decided it was time to institute a little event we affectionately call "Baby Boot Camp." You see, though somewhat important for Benjamin to sleep through the night, it was not as big of a deal for him. We spent two nights when he was four months old, where John got up with him at night. He stuck the paci in, talked to him for a bit and let him learn how to go back to sleep. He cried the first night for 20 minutes, the second for 10, and after that didn't wake up again through the night. How easy! We were suddenly convinced that we were great parents and we had this whole thing worked out. He slept well in his crib and napped for the appropriate time. Samuel however, has been a different being all together. He is thoroughly attached to mama, at mealtime, bathtime, bedtime, and middle of the night time. Because of this he was waking up at all hours of the morning (1am, 3am, 5am) and not going back to sleep. Screaming at me when I put him in his crib, but lying completely awake for over an hour as I was trying to rock him. All that to say, it was time to help him learn how to self-soothe and put himself back to sleep. Back to the boot camp idea. Saturday was the first day we tried to get him to take a nap in the morning without falling asleep in my arms. Uh oh, after going in to see him every 10 minutes, it took him 45 minutes to fall asleep! I was losing my mind, and he slept a whopping 20 minutes! That afternoon, it was worse, though he slept a bit longer. However, last night, John put him down patted his butt and he whined for 5 minutes, but he put himself to sleep. Even better, last night he woke up once, cried for 5 minutes, and went back to sleep! Today his naps were great, though tonight we had a bit of a set-back and he cried 10 minutes before going to sleep. Either way, we are heading in the right direction and mommy is regaining some sanity. I think that we both needed some separation time. It reminds me though, that we are given little eternal souls in our children, the Lord knows who they are, how they function, and what they think. I only hope that we are nurturing ours in His wisdom and ways and not our own. I'll let you know how the end of baby boot camp goes! (two more days)

So, can I do this?

Well, here I sit for a moment after checking my e-mail, hoping that Samuel stays asleep for just a bit longer. I need to be cleaning the kitchen, putting away the mounds of laundry, eating breakfast (huh?) and getting the list ready to go grocery shopping. Nonetheless, I felt like I needed to stop for a moment and re-evaluate my days. Yesterday morning, I went to BSF and was touched by the lineage of Jesus. Yes, those first few verses in the book of Matthew where they tell you about the line of Jesus from Abraham. Well, if you notice there are five women listed, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba (the wife of Uriah), and Mary. I could not remove my eyes from the testimony of the first four. Tamar-a prostitute, gentile, who fought (somewhat dishonestly) to stay in the family of God. Rahab- another prostitute, gentile, who made a declaration of the Lord in heaven based solely on the testimony of his actions. Ruth- the woman who lost her husband of ten years (John and I are getting close to that) and chose to stay with her mother-in-law because she wanted so badly to be in the family of God. Bathsheba- well we all know about her adulteress acts, but she also lost her first child, and birthed Solomon, the king who built the temple of the Lord. I mean, really, it's amazing to me that the Lord has such value for women and mothers in the kingdom of God. I am praying that through every struggle and mishap in my days, I am consistently crying out to the Father. He is made strong in my weakness. At every moment, every day, when I am weak and broken before him, he is using my weakness to sanctify me. To make me more like him. If that's what being a mother and a woman are about, then let me in. I love the ride.

Well, here's to the firsts

This week has been a collection of firsts. I love how my friend Candace looks for something valuable in every day, blogging forces us to sit back and really evaluate what we spend our time doing. Well, today we went to the IHOP community picnic. Once a year, the whole group attempts to get together at a park for lunch, games, and fellowship. It's hard in a place like this where every other activity tends to be focused on a prayer room, where you can't talk. Hmmmm. However, today was fun. John was on his way home from Kentucky where he has been teaching this weekend, and Andrew (from the basement) went with me and the boys to the gathering. It was great fun and Benjamin had his first encounter with a drum circle. We watched for a while, left to play on the playground, but when we came back by he had to stop. When given the chance, he jumped on it and drummed and danced for quite some time. I'm reminded of the heart the Lord has given Benjamin for music and I can't wait to see how that grows in his precious spirit.

Now, Samuel has not had many posts (poor second child) and for that I apologize. Though this may be old news to some of you we have mastered the art of sitting. He loves to be on the floor, preferably close to his brother, with some toys at hand and he will sit and play for quite some time. It's a great stage and he has so much fun being able to see everything. He is still fighting against sleeping, but this too shall pass. He is such a fiery little one, I know it will only be one of many things that he and I will disagree about. Nonetheless, he will speak the heart of God with passion and fire and I can't wait to see that!

Another Sunday. . .

Well, here I sit for a moment while my youngest is happily sleeping (thank the Lord) and my oldest is playing outside with one of the guys that live in out basement. I was thinking today as we all sat around and ate lunch about how much of my life growing up was spent around other college and high school students from church. I have many memories with older people, talking, laughing, playing and learning about the heart of God from them. It's amazing to see that now my own children are in about the same place. Benjamin loves to play downstairs in the basement, so much in fact that I have to restrict his time! "No honey, 7:15 in the morning is too early to go downstairs. They are all still asleep." (As are most 21-25 year old men on a Saturday) Nonetheless, any opportunity he gets he will take it and enjoy it. The Lord uses community, marriage, family, and friends to teach us about himself. I am sure that when he collected the nation of Israel together and then into tribes, it wasn't just for organizational sakes. It was to show them how to love and care for eachother through all things. There is real merit to needing "a village" to raise your kids. I guess we'll just make one for ourselves out here on the acres! By the way, this is a picture of Benjamin and our Canadian friend who loves Jesus in the night hours- Andrew Steinke!