365.174: Birthday Party for a Friend!

We had such a fun night tonight! We got to host a birthday party for our little buddy Aaron, who turned three! It was a Nemo party complete with Sloppy Joes, cake, presents, and a pinata.

The sweet Bisson family: Sydney (4), Andrew, Aaron (now 3!), and Susan

Buddies checking out the cake.

Working on holding up three fingers. It can be tough.

Susan and Aaron checking out the Nemo balloon.

Dinner time! Yes, Holden is showing the food in his mouth.

OK, would you believe that my friend Susan made this pinata from scratch?! She's amazing!

I just love the smiles on all four of the boys' huge smiles in this picture!

365.173: 15 Authors

(This was a little note I found on Facebook and really liked it.)

15 Authors
Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen authors who have influenced you and will always stick with you. List the first 15 you can recall in no more than 15 minutes, and they don't have to be listed in order of relevance to you.

1. C.S. Lewis
2. Shane Claiborne
3. John Eldredge
4. Stasi Eldredge
5. Audrey Niffenegger
6. Jimmy Seibert
7. Francine Rivers
8. Bill Bryson
9. Katherine Paterson
10. J.D. Salinger
11. Shaunti Feldman
12. Beth Moore
13. Strunk & White
14. Neil Armstrong
15. Jane Austen
    

365.72: Halloween

Super Mario, Iron Man, a Princess and a lion.

There's nothing better than scouting for candy with your buddy!


Look at this insane line of trick-or-treaters! It went from our front door steps all the way back to the street! We went through over $50 in candy by 8:30--and we were even gone for a while doing our own trick-or-treating!

Handing out candy to neighbors.

At some point, Turner snuck inside to his room and grabbed B. He was so worn out from all the fun!

And then he laid down , stuck B inside his bucket and took a snooze.
So sleepy and so cute!

365.171: College Station Team

Here is our team that went to College Station together! God has worked in some amazing ways--I will post stories soon of individuals who had their lives changed by Jesus this weekend! But I thought you'd like to see 1/3 of my classmates in the meantime. You'll probably have to click on the picture and enlarge it to be able to read the names!

365.170: Pray This Weekend!

So Ryan and I are getting ready this morning to head out to College Station, TX for the weekend on an outreach with Elevate. Antioch has a church plant there, so we will be going to minister to them and also to share some Good News with the people in College Station. If you think of us at any point throughout the weekend (we get home Sunday around 3) would you say a little (or big) prayer for us? Here are some ways you can pray:

• For boldness in sharing the Gospel
• For people to accept Jesus' free gift of salvation and freedom!
• To refresh and build in to the church-planters in College Station
• For Holden and Turner to do well with their sitter. Her name is Alyssa, and she needs you prayers for sure!
• For safety for our team and for our boys at home.
• For Ryan and I to be strengthened in our marriage through getting to share the Gospel and serve together.
• That we would constantly be hearing God's voice directing and leading us to specific places and people.

Thanks for supporting us in this way!

365.169: Preschool Fun

Today Holden went on his very first field trip with his preschool class to a dairy farm! Here's an interview with him about the trip:

Me: Did you have fun at the dairy farm?
H: YES!

Me: Did you remember to say "yes ma'am" to Ethan's mom (Holden's assigned driver)?
H: *gasp* No I didn't. I forgot.

Me: That's ok, you'll remember next time. What was the best part of the dairy farm?
H: I got to feed the baby cows!

Me: What did they eat?
H: Milk out of a bottle. And also we went on a hayride!

Me: Fun! Did the dairy farm smell?
H: Yes.

Me: What did it smell like?
H: Umm, stinky and hay and poop.

Me: Holden, do you think you want to go back to the dairy farm one day?
H: Mm-hmm (he says with fading sleepy eyes).

Did I mention yet that Holden is the star student this week at school? I've been sending in snacks this week that are Holden's favorites. Tomorrow he's bringing in trail mix with pretzels, teddy grahams, raisins, frosted cheerios, and m&m's. We attached fall stickers to each bag for his friends!

365.168: Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Bars

That title seems too long... I might change the name of these to Heavenly Bars.

Or something like that.

I just put these in the oven, so I haven't tasted the finished product, but let me just say that a batter never lies. I know my batters. These are the sweet treats I'm going to bring to Elevate tomorrow night! mmmmm.....



I found the recipe on a site called Cookie Madness. Here it is if you want to try them!

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

6 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (288 grams)
2 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin (240 grams)
1/3 cup water
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (220 grams)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Swirl:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar (48 grams)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 15×10 inch pan with non-stick foil or just spray with cooking spray.

Pumpkin Batter: Mix together the butter and sugar. With a mixing spoon or whisk, beat in eggs, pumpkin, and water until well blended, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and nutmeg together; stir into batter. Spread all but a few tablespoons batter evenly in prepared pan. Reserve the few tablespoons of batter

Swirl: In a second bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add egg and beat just until it’s mixed in. Drop tablespoons of cheese mixture over pumpkin batter, then drag a knife through to make marbles. Drop reserved tablespoons of pumpkin batter over top. The reason for this is, there’s a lot of white batter, so putting a few tablespoons of pumpkin batter on top gives more of a contrast.

Bake on center rack until pumpkin batter springs back when touched, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely in pan, then chill for an hour or more. Cut into 24 bars.