Trick or Treat?
We're at my parents house to celebrate Halloween. I have lots of Halloween, let-kids-be-kids type thoughts rolling around in my head, but none of them are well-formed enough to display in public. Generally I err on the side of fun and grace. I know a number of conservative friends who do not celebrate Halloween, and I do think it's insensitive of the world to make overly terrifying advertisements and exterior decorations. Moreso for the small children than for any other reason. Coco doesn't seem to mind the scary things yet. When we can't avoid them we try to play them off as ugly, funny, or strange rather than frightening. And we don't linger because those aren't images I want her to study. There is one fun house in my parent's community, though. They always decorate big for holidays, and their house is covered with spiders. Giant spiders the size of Smart cars and lesser spiders the size of stuffed garbage bags. When Coco first saw the spiders she said she needed a giant broom to sweep them away and made sweeping motions with her arms. We all giggled and now she adores the spiders, waving to them as we pass. I don't think she'd like to be outside with those spiders at night, though.
Speaking of fun and crossing the line, Joe and I saw Jackass 3D last night. I usually detest that type of humor, but for some reason Jackass appeals to me. Possibly because they are so ridiculous or because they don't have any plot aspirations. Joe and I did discuss the morality of some of their pieces like the ones where they do rude things to innocents. But the bits where they do stupid stunts or rude things to each other make me laugh out loud. Joe said I had the loudest laugh in the theater. And I gagged twice. Doesn't great art evoke strong reactions?
Dinner and a movie last night was our second date since Art was born. He woke up during the last twenty minutes of the movie, but we were blissfully unaware with no cell phone reception. (We'll be sure to watch all our movies in that theater - haha.) We've been struggling in our marriage the last few months - more before our St. Augustine vacation than after. So part of our plan to stay better connected is to do more dates, at least one a month. We may even hire an outside babysitter at some point, which would be a first for us. We usually rely on my parents or our close friends, but I know a few college students I would trust. We're also committed to cuddling on the couch during Survivor, and we have a rule that we can each only go out one weeknight a week. It's odd to have rules since we've always been loosey goosey, but being a family of four is so much different than being a family of three or a couple. We need safeguards in place to make sure we're investing more in our marriage currency than we're spending.
Joe took my dad to the Florida/Georgia game today as an early Christmas gift. It's too cute how much they both enjoyed the day and each other. I got to spend the day with my mom and my children. We went to a fall festival at a big church with tons of bouncy houses, a horse ride, a small train ride and easy games with candy prizes for small children. Coco was beside herself. Then we came home and Grandma spend nearly an hour chasing Coco around the house pretending to be Captain Hook. Art was chasing as fast as he could crawl, play screaming when Coco screamed, and giggling when she laughed. We adore each other. I'm blessed.
And we get to go to our old church tomorrow. The only things we were sad to leave behind when we moved to Gainesville were the church and our family. We have a church home in Gainesville that loves and challenges us, but the church here in Jacksonville fits us better. I love the pastor, his preaching, the order of worship, the hymns, the people, the humble building and so much more about our old church. If only I could tow it to Gainesville or something. Ah well, bloom where you're planted and all that.
...saying, "Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever Amen." (Revelation 7:12)
Speaking of fun and crossing the line, Joe and I saw Jackass 3D last night. I usually detest that type of humor, but for some reason Jackass appeals to me. Possibly because they are so ridiculous or because they don't have any plot aspirations. Joe and I did discuss the morality of some of their pieces like the ones where they do rude things to innocents. But the bits where they do stupid stunts or rude things to each other make me laugh out loud. Joe said I had the loudest laugh in the theater. And I gagged twice. Doesn't great art evoke strong reactions?
Dinner and a movie last night was our second date since Art was born. He woke up during the last twenty minutes of the movie, but we were blissfully unaware with no cell phone reception. (We'll be sure to watch all our movies in that theater - haha.) We've been struggling in our marriage the last few months - more before our St. Augustine vacation than after. So part of our plan to stay better connected is to do more dates, at least one a month. We may even hire an outside babysitter at some point, which would be a first for us. We usually rely on my parents or our close friends, but I know a few college students I would trust. We're also committed to cuddling on the couch during Survivor, and we have a rule that we can each only go out one weeknight a week. It's odd to have rules since we've always been loosey goosey, but being a family of four is so much different than being a family of three or a couple. We need safeguards in place to make sure we're investing more in our marriage currency than we're spending.
Joe took my dad to the Florida/Georgia game today as an early Christmas gift. It's too cute how much they both enjoyed the day and each other. I got to spend the day with my mom and my children. We went to a fall festival at a big church with tons of bouncy houses, a horse ride, a small train ride and easy games with candy prizes for small children. Coco was beside herself. Then we came home and Grandma spend nearly an hour chasing Coco around the house pretending to be Captain Hook. Art was chasing as fast as he could crawl, play screaming when Coco screamed, and giggling when she laughed. We adore each other. I'm blessed.
And we get to go to our old church tomorrow. The only things we were sad to leave behind when we moved to Gainesville were the church and our family. We have a church home in Gainesville that loves and challenges us, but the church here in Jacksonville fits us better. I love the pastor, his preaching, the order of worship, the hymns, the people, the humble building and so much more about our old church. If only I could tow it to Gainesville or something. Ah well, bloom where you're planted and all that.
...saying, "Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever Amen." (Revelation 7:12)