General Halloween 2008 Fun

UPDATED: Please see the bottom of this post if you are not familiar with what Reformation Day is.

There were so many fun, Fall/Halloweeny/Reformation Day activities I thought I would just throw them all into this one post.

Burrito had a Reformation Day party at his school on Halloween Day and the kids were allowed to wear a costume either depicting something from God's Creation or a Bible character. In his class there was a dinosaur, ladybug, elephant, King David, Moses, an angel, the boy who fed 5,000 and Burrito was of course, a frog! Noodle went with me to be my helper at the party and even donned his lion costume for the costume parade! He so wants to be like his big brother!

For the actual Halloween night festivities, we went to our friend AW's house for pizza and trick or treating. Can you believe it took 2 hours for the pizza to come? Are there really that many pizza eaters on Halloween night? Despite the late consumption of dinner, the boys did great and had a lot of fun. John had to teach the 3 boys Halloween etiquette because at the first few houses they just walked right in! They apparently went to the right neighborhood, as they received several large normal-sized candy bars! Yummy! This loot that they acquired should last us until next Halloween!

**October 31 would be better celebrated as Reformation Day, not Halloween. If you are not familiar with Reformation Day it celebrates the day that the Reformation began in Europe with Martin Luther posting his 95 theses on the Wittenburg church door in protest to the selling of indulgences.

Martin Luther as a monk struggled to find peace with God. As a monk he would dedicate himself to fasting, flagellation, long hours in prayer, pilgrimage and constant confession. Even with all of that he still didn’t feel at peace with God. He was ordered to pursue an academic career and in doing so studied Scripture in depth.

It was actually in his tower experience when he rediscovered and believed the Biblical gospel. He described that light broke upon him when reading Romans 1:17.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith,” (ESV).

It is in the Gospel, (Romans 1:16), that righteousness is revealed. Luther had been struggling to be righteous based on his own merit, but he continually failed. It dawned on him that this righteousness God freely gives to those who believe in the Gospel. The sinner is declared righteous by God through faith, not works. It is accomplished by the work of Christ’s death upon the cross, not by our work or us keeping the Law.
The Apostle Paul describes to the Church at Corinth:
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God, (2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV).

The word righteousness once made Luther feel nothing but dread, but after realizing this central truth of Scripture his perspective changed, he said:
“I extolled my sweetest word with a love as great as the hatred with which I had before hated the word ‘righteousness of God.’ Thus that place in Paul was for me truly the gate to paradise.”

We can celebrate on Reformation Day the same truth that Luther rediscovered then: that salvation is by faith alone through grace alone.
Main doctrines that Luther also taught:
1. Sola Fide - “Justification by faith alone”
2. Priesthood of All Believers - we can go directly to God for the forgiveness of sin, (Hebrews 4:16).
3. Sola Scriptura - Scripture alone - (2 Timothy 3:16).
4. He also embraced the doctrine of predestination, though that is more readily identified with John Calvin.

When he was confronted at the Diet of Worms, opened on January 22, 1521, and was challenged to retract his writings, Luther prayed about his response. The following day he replied:
“Since your most serene majesty and your high mightinesses require of me a simple, clear and direct answer, I will give one, and it is this: I can not submit my faith either to the pope or to the council, because it is as clear as noonday that they have fallen into error and even into glaring inconsistency with themselves. If, then, I am not convinced by proof from Holy Scripture, or by cogent reasons, if I am not satisfied by the very text I have cited, and if my judgment is not in this way brought into subjection to God’s word, I neither can nor will retract anything; for it can not be right for a Christian to speak against his country. I stand here and can say no more. God help me. Amen”

Amen indeed!

Burrito's First Field Trip....To the Pumpkin Patch!

Here are some fun pictures documenting Burrito's first field trip ever. His class went to visit a local pumpkin patch last Monday and had a blast. We even had some cooler weather that day so it felt like fall outside. The kids played on a hay maze, went on a hayride to feed cows and donkeys and a goat, and ran around chaotically. I think they had fun. Me....I was worn out!

Can you guess???

Can you guess, according to my 4 yo Burrito, what a firestick is???

Let me give you a hint: it looks like this!

Yes, that's right. A cigarette really should be known by its more common name, a firestick. Both of my boys have seen these laying on the ground and have inquired as to what they are. I don't think I have ever given them a name, and I have certainly not called them a firestick. I've always explained that people put them in their mouths and they are really bad for you and they stink and are disgusting. If I start early, maybe they will never try them, right?

Though the thought has crossed my mind that we will encounter someone smoking one and my boys will exuberantly exclaim, "Eeeww! That's disgusting!" Maybe I should be embarrassed, or maybe not. After all, they are telling the truth.

You know you're a blogger if.....

Okay, finish this sentence....You know you're a blogger if......

You know you're a blogger if....you take note of funny things that happen throughout the day and exclaim to your spouse, "This is blogworthy!"

Yes, this happened to us tonight. We were shopping at our local WalMart, the only WalMart that I can tolerate on earth. There's just something about this one....it's never very busy, it's relatively clean, and it just feels a little nicer than other WalMarts. Our previous local WalMart is beyond description. I hated that place and I don't hate very many places. It was the dirtiest, nastiest, rudest, country-bumpkin-est place I hope to ever frequent and I am quite frankly glad we moved and no longer need to visit there. I've been back and it has not changed. No offense to those who would label themselves as country-bumpkins....I don't think you would want to associate with this WalMart either! But I digress.....

So we were picking up a few things at the WalMart and a WalMart employee comes on over the loudspeaker and announces something. I didn't even hear what they said, as I am quite accustomed to blocking out most extraneous noises. I am sure no other moms out there can relate, huh? But my always observant burrito notices, and looking at me wide-eyed says, "Mom, what was that? Was that God talking?"

I kid you not.

John and I about fell over right there on the coffee aisle.

So I explain to burrito that no, that voice was not the voice of God, but rather a WalMart employee. Still not convinced, he says, "But I can't see them, just like I can't see God."

I am not sure how our Lord feels about being compared to a WalMart employee.

Or maybe I do.

More Halloween Pictures

More pictures of the boys from The Picture People, our traditional halloween splurge.

Costumes

I think I've said it before....I LOVE fall! I love the cooler weather (not cold weather, I DO NOT like being cold!), the leaves changing colors, football games, pumpkin muffins, and all of the other things I associate with fall.

One tradition we started by accident is taking the boys' picture in their halloween costumes. So deciding on what each one will be is a bigger deal, only because I am paying money to have their pictures made. Here's one of the many great pictures we had professionally made (you'll have to ignore the watermark they put on there).

Well, now that the boys are older, they like to exert their will more and more as to what clothes they will wear, costumes included. So while we don't have a theme going on, I would say I have the most handsome frog and lion out there! Here's my picture....What do you think?

This past Saturday our little town had a halloween festival down the street at our favorite park. It was super crowded but I think the boys enjoyed it.

Happy 3rd Birthday Noodle!

I simply cannot believe, will not believe, refuse to believe that my youngest is now 3!

October 23 2005, 3 years ago, little noodle popped out in a record 4 hours. That's right, 4 hours from the time my water broke at home while watching the Cowboys play that Sunday afternoon, to noodle being born in the hospital. So quickly that I really missed most of the benefits of that glorious epidural. You popped out sunny side up at 9:24 pm. Your dad and I could not believe how much you looked like your older brother. We were a little horrified how the doctor held you up by your head to show you to us (a little too rough for this mama!). You were so sweet and we were so glad that you came at a time in the evening where we could still get a full night's rest! :)

Ever since the day you were born, you have amazed us with your ever-evolving spirit. You were an early walker and an early talker. You always wanted to keep up with burrito. How life was so crazy those first few months of having an 18 month old and a newborn. You had reflux and an allergy to milk. Life was crazy but oh so fun!

Life now is a little less crazy and still lots of fun. You love your brother and the two of you are a force to be reckoned with! You surprise us with how quickly you learn letters and how to write them. You are mostly laid back and in your own little world but when you make your mind up about something, there's no changing it. We love your need for physical affection, your love for books and your appetite for waffles! You don't like getting dirty and refuse to finger paint. You love to memorize Scripture and cannot go to bed until we recite the fruits of the Spirit. You love Jesus and I love that about you.

We celebrated your birthday over 3 days, which I guess goes along with your age, but after 3 days, I think we were all tired of partying!

On Thursday, your actual birthday, we made pumpkin and birthday cake-shaped pancakes for breakfast. We went to McDonald's for a birthday lunch, we went to the bounce houses at the pumpkin patch and then out to dinner at Gloria's for a birthday dinner. We celebrated at home with a cupcake and opened presents from Nena, Pappaw and Nonna.




On Friday, we hosted our mom's group playdate and had our friends over for a fun time to play and eat cupcakes and "mummy dogs." Then that afternoon we went to the pep rally at school and then to the football game that night.


On Saturday, we met the family for a birthday lunch. When we asked you where you wanted to eat, you matter-of-factly responded, "Chili's!" Then they came back over to our house for spider birthday cake and more presents!




We had a great time celebrating your birthday and thanking God for giving you to us as our son.