My, how the months WHIP by.....

Well, it is November. I don't know what happened to October, luckily, I have pictures.

Grandma and Grandpa Shaw came to visit us, Jacob turned eight, Allen went to Austin for a week, my friend Chandra got married and an amazing and heroic friend from church babysat ALL my kids for fifteen, that's 15, hours so I could go. Jessica, you are an angel and a seriously underpaid one, at that.

Here is the month in pictures.

Jacob and his friend James in the press box at PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. We did a tour early in October it was SUPER fun.

Hey, they don't call it a pumpkin FESTIVAL for nothing. Jake and Julie at Triple B Farms. We went with Grandma and Grandpa Shaw and Jacob had his first ever experience in a Spook Alley. It was hilarious. It was an extremely mild spook alley, geared for smaller kids but Jacob shakily told us that was the SCARIEST thing he had ever done in his ENTIRE life. It was rather funny that Jacob went in right behind Allen and Julia and as I was walking through the door he was coming straight back out. I told him to hold my hand and it would be fun. (except when I got disoriented and kept trying to walk through a wall and Jacob finally had to pull me in the right direction) At least Jacob wasn't crying like the two boys that came out right before us!! Julia may never allow Allen to tell her when to look at something again as long as he lives. Otherwise we are unscathed.

Julia is SURE this is the one.

JoraJo and the pygmy goats.
Jake and Grandma Shaw on Jakes Birthday.

Does God answer prayers with the Jehovah Witnesses?

So, today I answered the door without looking out my window first and guess who was there?!?
Bob and Beverly, my friendly neighborhood Jehovah Witnesses.
I happen to really like Bob and Beverly. However, I am not always in the mood to talk religion with them. In fact they have never scored an invitation into the house. (Something the Mormom missionaries would find absolutely demoralizing) Today, they read a scripture from John and left me a couple of magazines. I actually admitted to them that my faith was in a valley. You know, hills, valleys, normal life and faith. Bob proceeded to tell me a story about the Israelites and Syrians. The Israelites were about to be invaded (story of their life) AGAIN, this time by the Syrians. So, instead of praying to God to strengthen them and give them victory, they decided on a little independence. They scooted over to Egypt and asked the Egyptians to bring their formidable army and camp 'round Jerusalem. In the end, Syrians wiped the floor with them and the Israelites are, most likely, captives AGAIN. God tells them that because they didn't ask and trust Him, they are back to square one.
So, am I, like those unbelievably dense Israelites, running to Egypt and missing the whole point?
Could I be losing because I can never hold out long enough to see the victory?
Egyptians or Insanity, the question of the day.

Crazy days......

Well, the craziness that attends the last quarter of every year is in full swing at our home!

This year it started with back to homeschool and has or will include four holidays, three birthdays, the annual SVP conference, a baptism, visits from both Grandparents, the Gala reopening of the dinosaur exhibit, visits with the cousins and that's just what happens here!

Here are some photos of our latest trip to Aunt Gay's home. Sarah and the kids were there and Jake and Julie had a blast with the cousins they had never met before. It was kids galore. Of course, all the craziness was caused by my kids and no, I don't want to go into it!

Baby Sith Power

Like Jora is going to be left out of the Star Wars Craze in our house. She personally prefers the red light saber wielded by only the greatest Sith warriors. I told her she must wait until she is at least one year old to tattoo her face.

Allen is pretty sure he can come out unscathed against all three of them.

Jacob and Julia Jedi

Here is Xiphactinus and Clidastes. This is what goes on at our house after hours. Luckily, we all still have our limbs intact. Wait until you see Jora wielding a lightsaber.

Dino bits

Finally-The Corythosaurus pelvis that I have been working on for 4 months is now complete and recently sent to New Jersey where it will be remounted. A lot of things are going on at the museum these days. I was asked to do a little repair work to our almost complete juvenile Camarasaurus and to consult on the remounting of Stegosaurus. It is still amazing to me how much a good bath and a dynamic pose can change the once plodding and dreary Stegosaurus into Super Stegosaurus. In other parts of the exhibit the Cretaceous Seaway is being finished with a couple of marine vertebrates being cleaned and mounted. Xiphactinus is the 10 foot fish on the bottom and on the top is the large marine reptile Clidastes. Stay tuned to see the finished mount of Stegosaurus and more of the Cretaceous Seaway.

I like to move it, move it!

Jora is a walker. She took her first steps during the beginnings of August and by the time her 8 month birthday plus one week rolled around she was stringing together 4-6 steps. She is, as of today, choosing to walk instead of crawl in most instances. It is crazy how early it is for one of our Shaw babies. Jacob walked at 11 months, Julia walked at 10 months and here is baby Jojo walking at 8 months. It really doesn't matter to me in the convenience arena because I believe that once they crawl - it's all over with, they might as well walk and keep their hands clean!



In other news, Jacob received his trophy for winning the Greenfield Little League Baseball Tournament. The team trophy, which is literally taller than Julia, will hold a place of honor in our home for one month in the coming year. I'm sure on our month there will be much picture taking and posting so keep watching! We have geared back into serious homeschool once again and are tackling some serious Math an Language Arts this year. We think he is doing great with reading and will continue our reading program but with less of the Nazi approach

Julia is staying the course with this whole 2 year old 10 year plan. People have told me that it only FEELS like 10 years, it doesn't actually LAST 10 years. She is deep into "I CAN DO IT MYSELF" territory and has the JACOB IS LOOKING AT ME COME STOP IT BEFORE I SCREAM THE HOUSE DOWN howl down to this eardrum shattering, glass splintering and dog torturing pitch. Above you see the reactions we get when we ask her to do anything not on her immediate do for myself list. I wish we could catch on film her unguarded self. It is beautiful and hilarious. She has an unbelievably infectious laugh and believes with her whole heart that anything Jake is doing she must also do with more exuberance and flair. She loves to dance and always invites jacob to join her. "Jake, come dance with me!" We have all cut the rug with Julia at one time or another to her favorite dance hits of the WIGGLES! Even JoJo has been seen standing by Julia in front of the TV shaking her baby groove thing with Wags the Dog. (When we replace our Digital Camera I will endeavor to capture the moment for future boyfriend bargaining.)

Oh yeah, How do you like my new Tat?