Photo Shoot

We had a family photo shoot with my friend Jenny and I'm so thrilled with the pictures.

We headed back on our trails for some of the pictures. It was a VERY brisk, cold day to not have jackets on. The kids did really well though.

When did he get so big?

Smiling despite the cold. What a trooper.

What blue eyes you have.

This is the same picture but with a different effect. I love them both.

Hannah did get cold and so I headed back to get her a hat

I can't remember the last time we had a professional picture of just the two of us.

Thank You Jenny for such beautiful memories.

Fast Forward Overview

Time is flying by so fast and I have not been doing good keeping up with blogging so here is a quick overview up to Thanksgiving.

We found out Hannah was not gaining weight and actually had lost some so we started supplementing with formula and she is back to her happy, cheery self. No one is too happy when they are hungry all the time. She never was really fussy but had become VERY attached to me. She had an abdominal x-ray as well but everything came back normal so now we wait to see how much she has gained by the end of December. She is definitely feeling heavier but I think she will just always be on the petite side.

Josh went to San Francisco for a week and Hannah thought she would make a great stow away.

As soon as there was enough snow on the ground the kids were out sledding on our hill.

That hill doesn't seem so big until you try to walk up it with all your snow gear on.

Hannah isn't at all impressed by the snow and the cold. She's ready to move to Florida. I'm right there with her!

Can a democrat have a nice dog?

So I realized that we have definitely raised little republicans when this happened. As Blake rode his bike around the neighborhood he loved reading the political signs and he would also compare Obama to McCain. Well across the street there was an Obama sign which didn't surprise me. At this house lives a big dog named Boris that Blake loves. When Blake saw the Obama sign he was beside himself. Later that day this is what came out of his mouth. "It's so sad, I always thought Boris was such a nice dog." Because obviously a democrat couldn't possibly have a nice dog.

This Little Thing Called Faith

"Mom, How do we know that we aren't bad?" This was the question posed by Blake that started an ongoing conversation. It took me about 20 minutes to understand exactly what he was asking and to be honest I still don't think I completely understand where he was going with this question. We had just finished reading our Psalm for the day and getting ready to do the Revelation study when this surfaced. It was the moment when Blake first questioned what Mommy and Daddy believe and how do we know that we have the Way and others don't. Now Blake was so cute in reiterating that he knows God is who He says He is and that the Bible is Gods word but he just wanted to know how we can be sure. It's one of those questions that seems so easy and so hard to answer all at the same time. The answer is one little word with such a big meaning-Faith.

Faith is such a big word to understand because it is so simple. Faith is believing in what you can not see but I think it goes so much deeper. One area in my life where this little faith word comes up a lot is healing. How does some one's faith and healing go together? I've been taught many different views on this and to be honest don't think I'll ever comprehend it or have ever heard a balanced view on it. You have those who pray "If it's Gods will be healed." and then you have those that say, "Jesus already obtained your healing on the cross and you just have to have Faith and ask." Do I think God wishes for His children to be healed spiritually,physically, and mentally? Yes. Do I think that if someone doesn't see healing in the way they thought it would happen or if something bad happens it's due to their lack of faith? No.

So I cling to the fact that God's plan is always perfect even though we might never be able to comprehend it. I recently heard a teaching that said Faith is Shalom or peace. No matter what happens in this World I know that God will always provide my family with what we need. That is my peace and I pray that it will be the Faith of my children.

We Finally Found it!!!

So every year we go back and forth on what to do for Halloween. This year we decided to go to a farm where they had all kinds of things to do. The great thing was that in the Farm corn maze they were giving candy at each of the checkpoints. The kids got a little bit of candy and we had a great time searching for it. We let the kids pick out a hat to wear but we didn't do costumes. Liah really wanted to wear her fairy wings as well.

After we were done finding all the candy we tried one of the harder mazes. It was a Trivia maze and we did Bible trivia. It was a lot of fun but the kids got tired and a tad frustrated in the middle so we never went through all the checkpoints. Josh found our way out.

Another dead end.

"Daddy please get us out of here."

Everyone enjoyed the hay ride around the farm and through the corn.

We got to see many animals in the barn.

The kids had fun on the Cow Train. I was thinking that Blake might think this was boring but once they started going over the hills he was loving it.

The boys enjoyed racing on the pedal cars.

Blake flew up the hay stack.

Liah took a little longer.

There were also pony rides.

Hannah wasn't sure what to think of the pony. While this did cost a little money it was the best alternative we have ever found. I completely forgot it was even Halloween! It was such a fun time with the kids and Josh's word to describe it was "wholesome". Hopefully the weather will be just as nice next year and we can bring some friends.

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins

Our last Family Night was pumpkin night.

Hannah was fascinated by the pumpkin stems.

"What is this thing for?"

Liah digging in for the seeds.

Pumpkin Goop!!!!

"Don't touch me with those slimy hands!!!"

Daddy did most of the work.

Hannah's heart shaped pumpkin top.

"Oooooh that looks like sweet potatoes. Let me taste and see."

Josh's best pumpkin creation. This is much better than a sign.

The final product. Blake loves his Batman pumpkin.

Pumpkin Patch

It was a little chilly but we had a great time at Mathys farm to pick out pumpkins. The kids love trying to find the perfect pumpkin and finding one according to their size. Liah found a cute little baby pumpkin for Hannah.

I'll take those two perfect, smiling pumpkins.

Posing with the cart full of five perfect pumpkins.

Chicken Pox and a trip to the Dentist

So we think that Blake and Liah had a minor case of the Chicken Pox. It wasn't bad and they each had only about half a dozen spots. They DID have one vaccine. Hannah seems to have avoided it. She has NOT had the vaccine. Go figure!

All three kids had a trip to the dentist and all had good reports. Blake had no cavities and also had a pan x-ray and we found out he has all of his adult teeth. WOO HOO!! Because of everything I've gone through with my mouth this was a huge weight lifted off concerning Blake. We pray that we will eventually get the same report with all our kids.

Liah had no cavities and had the resin replaced on the tooth that she broke about a year ago while in the bathtub. I was told there were a few tears. Now I know nothing was hurting since the nerve was removed on that tooth but I think it was just anxiety about the first time.

Hannah also had a checkup and her little slivers of enamel in her gums are still there but she should be losing them soon. Just in time for real teething to begin!

Competitive Spirit and Kicking Off Tabernacles

To kick off celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles we decided to go have Family Night outdoors. It was so nice outside and we knew that it could be the last few nice days. We went to play Putt-Putt golf.


Josh and I have always been very competitive so naturally mini golf is no different. I feel as though I should have been given a handicap since I could barely see over Hannah's head. Hannah did enjoy watching the ball roll down the green.


This hardly looks like a fair game to me.:)

This is the perfected one hand drag made famous by Liah.

Josh did win. I did beat Blake but not by much. He did get a hole in one which he was very excited about. After the game we went back home and had a special meal to celebrate Tabernacles.

6 Things about Me at 6 Months

1. Started Solids-rice cereal, bananas, and sweet potatoes- I love them all!!!
2. I don't like being on my tummy and roll over as soon as mommy lays me down.
3. I only want my mommy to hold me.
4. I still need 2 1/2 naps. Mommy really wants me to lose that 1/2.
5. Brother and Sister can always make me smile.
6. Everything goes straight into my mouth, still no teeth though.

Ostrom Women are Relentless

All the Ostrom girls had a great time at the Joyce Meyer Women's Conference. Hannah did great as long as we were standing up so I had a great workout holding her through the 4 sessions. Did I mention that each session was at least 3 hours long. Not only did we get to hear messages from Creflo Dollar, Lisa Bevere, and of course Joyce we also got to worship with Hillsong which was even more amazing than I thought it would be. We are already registered for next years conference. I can't wait and it will be nice to not be trucking a baby around with me. Next year it will be Melodie trucking a baby around. The Lord showed me many things during this conference and I'm excited to have some new perspective on what Josh and I are being called to do at this moment.

Happy Rosh Hashanah

It seemed as though I was just preparing the Passover meal and now in a blink I'm preparing our meal for Rosh Hashanah. Time is going by so fast. We had a great evening of celebration and teaching about the second coming.