Even Superman wears glasses

So why not Spiderman? Well, the short story is that we casually took the boys to get their eyes examined only to find that Spiderman seriously needed glasses! Looking back now I can see the little clues he left that there might be a problem but I guess I rationalized them away. Now it's a whole new world for this handsome guy. He might as well be a celebrity at our house as the other kids are fawning all over them. I'm sure he is just thrilled to be able to see something!



We just finished up another family visit as Grandpa M & Great Aunt Liz came out for a week. Grandpa was busy working to get things ready at the farm for next month's hunting trip while Liz got to meet Spiderman and get reacquainted with the kids. The kids love having all the company and are now looking forward to Nov. when Grandpa comes back to hunt and brings Grandma along for spoiling the kids.

Oh, another note about Spiderman is that his new glasses resulted in him scoring 3 goals at his last soccer game. When you consider that they are the first goals he's made all season, you realize the glasses made a huge difference. He loved all the praise and attention. It's even more impressive when you realize that last year he wasn't even willing to practice with his team, much less play soccer because he just felt too "shy" (his words for it).

The Murphy boys playing offense. Goose prefers defense so she can sing songs to herself while waiting for the ball to come her way. :)

like a kid again

Our second round of family visits just ended this week. My parents only get to come out once a year so we relish getting to connect with them in person. The kids had fun showing off their new skills and playing games with Grandma. Spiderman even helped Grandpa remodel the hen house (guy stuff you know).


We usually have our visit at Thanksgiving but this year we decided to get together in Oct. to avoid the weather issues for travel and it worked great! Aunt Susie made it a Halloween theme one night and the kids had so much fun making the meal, decorating and eating this "dirt dessert". She is always full of fun projects to do with the kids

Get a load of these fun socks. One thing aunts have over moms is they can spoil kids and get away with it. :) Every day something new and exciting to do or make. Bring it on Aunt Susie, as long as I don't have to compete.

There was plenty of quiet and quality time too while everyone was here. I especially enjoyed feeling like a kid again. Having Mom & Dad here, watching The Brady Bunch with my big sis and singing silly songs from our childhood - yep, I'm pretty sentimental. It was sad to say goodbye and yet, we're still planning for a family reunion back out West next summer, Lord willing!

The chicken saga continues....

We have had quite a few weeks with our"pets" this month. I know it is silly for us to devote so much time and emotion into something that we eat all the time BUT these silly birds have brought so much joy for my kids this summer. So about 10 days ago we came home from a short parade here in town to find that a neighbor's dogs had come over, broke into the chicken coop and slaughtered our chickens. The girls were screaming and sobbing while we cleaned up the mess and we praised God that evening when one hen appeared out of nowhere at bedtime. Apparently she had escaped and hid out for the entire day. It was a small consolation but that one survivor gave the kids a ray of hope (and kept me from throwing in the towel on this whole thing). As Goose was unwilling to let "Grandma Cluck" move in with a friend's chickens, we set about to locate a companion for her. God provided us a rooster through a kind home schooling family and the kids spirits started to rebound again.

Here is Goose with "Lester". Whether it is because he is still young or because the previous family handled him alot, he is very tame and the kids love to hold and pet him. (Our old hens never let us touch them). God didn't stop the blessings there though. This family located a lady willing to sell us six laying hens, for a good price, and only 3 days after the massacre we now had 8 chickens. Here are four of them (though I think they all look the same so I just have to call them "the ladies" even though the kids have names for them).

We had some interesting talks during this time as we prayed about one chicken that was suffering, thanked God for the chance to have the chickens in the first place, and discussed the hard facts of life (chickens are food, they don't live forever, etc.). We also thought about Job who lost everything he had in one day and still praised God. Now, I realize that our chicken loss doesn't truly compare with that but for kids with big hearts, they did feel that way. Just as God replenished Job, we too received more than was taken from us. The kids are enjoying the new flock and we are reminded that nothing in life is guaranteed. We have to enjoy our blessings while we have them. I have no doubt that this won't be the last lesson we learn from these silly birds.

Grandma time

Well I'm obviously behind in writing but I hope to post a few things this week to get caught up. :) Fall is a pretty busy time around here as it seems our house is full of out of town family. We enjoyed having Grandma M here for Spiderman's birthday party and filled our week with lots of fun. As is usually the case, it was an emotional goodbye at the train station when we dropped her off. I thought this photo captured the emotion well. It helped cheer everyone up to realize that she would be coming back in just a few weeks.



I can't leave out that Jaybird joined the ranks of the proud hunters this month. Following in his little sister's footsteps, he bagged his first squirrel and is proud to show it off here. Way to go boy!