Pumpkin Ranch

This past weekend, Heather and I headed to the Pumpkin Ranch in Winterset to get some pumpkins. We met my family there and had a blast. Dave and Jen have done an awesome job with the Pumpkin Ranch, so much to do and a ton of fun for the kiddos!
Morgan was a little nervous at first, but she loved the zip line!
There was also a trampoline, surrounded by hay, to jump on! Heather, baby and Morgan all loved it!

...fun for everyone!

Christa, Rhonda, Morgan and Keri on the hay rack ride out to the pumpkin patch!

Tom and Piper looking for the perfect pumpkin.

Heather and I enjoying the ride.

We got out to the pumpkin patch and the search began...Heather found it, our pumpkin!

My dad and I with our pumpkins.

Welcome to fall!

We had a great time hanging out at the Pumpkin Ranch, there was a ton to do...and we didn't even have try the corn maze! It was a lot of fun to watch Morgan explore and find pumpkins!

Chair Recovery

We got this chair from Heather's folks with the plan to reupholster it. I have never reupholstered anything before, so this was new territory for us.

After lots of research online, a few youTube video's, I was ready to jump in.

My basic strategy was to undo the chair and make a pattern from the existing fabric and reapply the new fabric onto the chair! After pulling more staples than I could count, I was able to make a pattern with the new fabric. I also cut out a piece of wood to straighten out the back of the chair.

After several more staples...the chair was reupholstered!
We are still planning on painting the legs black, but for now, we have a chair!

Book Review: With by Skye Jethani

I just finished reading With by Skye Jethani and I thought it was excellent! Subtitled "Re-imagining the Way You Relate to God" Jethani unpacks 4 common ways of relating to God and how those fall short and then devotes the last 4 chapters to look at how we can live a life with God.
He starts out his book with looking at common ways we all relate to God. We live life under God, life over God, life from God and life for God. With each of these styles of relating Jethani unpacks the good stuff we get but also how each of these falls short. Life Under God essentially means that if I do all the "right" things and follow all of Gods rules, he will bless me. On the surface this looks great but dig deeper and there is no relationship with God. The prophet Isaiah sums it up well (Isaiah 29:13) "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules that have been taught."
Next he tackles life over God, he mentions atheism but more so he looks at Christians whose understanding of faith leaves little room or need for God. This way of relating to God reduces faith to principles, divine laws and applicable instructions. Basically a way to exert more control into our lives. This exchanges a relationship with God for applicable principles.
Life from God, this posture looks at God to supply whatever we want or need. We become the consumer, putting ourselves in the center of our universe and God is around to help us be the best we can be.
Life for God, this posture looks at how we can live our lives to accomplish his mission however we may define it. On the surface this looks great too, and it would be great to have more Christians doing Gods work, but a life spent for God is not what God desires. God's mission shouldn't define our lives, God himself should. Jethani looks closely at the life of Paul in this chapter and in Paul's life we see that he understood that his calling was not the same as his treasure. The problem comes when we find our significance and worth in serving or obedience instead of in God.
The last 4 chapters Jethani unpacks what life with God looks like. He starts with looking at the Good News of the Gospel and reminds us what Christ did for us all on the cross. He looks at a life with God, life with faith, life with hope and life with love.
He ends the book with an appendix that gives some good practices; praying with the scriptures, praying with the Church, praying with the Holy Spirit. For small groups, he also includes discussion questions!
All in all, I really enjoyed this book, Jethani does a great job of unpacking how we can live a life with God. I would recommend this book!

Crafts and more!

So we have been busy crafting and got a ton made. We made a bunch of these fabric wrapped words. We wrapped "home", "fall", "boo" with fall colors and "hope", "home" and "fa la la" with Christmas colors.
We also made these slatted signs with both Christmas themes and home themes.

We also wrapped a bunch of galvanized buckets with fabric. We sealed them so they can go outside or be kept inside. Great for gifts, planting plants in or for storage!

We also launched a new website for our crafts, check us out at Rooted.

Also, if you want to check out our crafts in person, they will be at the Pumpkin Ranch in Winterset!

Adventureland

It's a yearly tradition with Heather's family to go to Adventureland, this summer was crazy for everyone, so we ended up heading to Adventureland on the last day of the season. It turned out to be a great day!
Grandma Doreen, Nathan, Chad and Aaron headed to the Galleon first...Aaron wasn't too sure about the flying ship.
...but Nathan loved it!

Next Papa Brent and Nathan got swung around in the "de Flinger"! Despite his frown in this picture, Brent was actually smiling and laughing most of the time!

Then for a ride in a hot air balloon.

Aaron got up his courage to fly an airplane.

...but had a little trouble getting it off the ground.

Before the day was over, we all took a ride in the Giant Skywheel.

Heather couldn't ride the rides because she is pregnant, I couldn't ride the rides because I just had surgery 2 days before...but we both could ride the train!

All aboard!

The whole crew!

Big thanks to Grandma Great for the tickets, the tradition continues!

Happy Birthday Doreen

I am a little late in posting this, but for Doreen's birthday this year, we met up with the Pella VL's for diner at Red Rosa followed by some bowling! The pizza was excellent, as always.
We got to the bowling alley just in time for laser bowling, black lights and everything!
Nathan showing his little brother how to bowl...

Brent steps up to the lane and knocks the pins down.

Nathan and I discussed the best way to throw a bowling ball.

Heather and baby showed us how it's done...yes, that is a baby not a bowling ball

Aaron sends his ball down the lane with a little help from the ramp.

Nathan and his green ball

...and a victory dance!

Nathan shows Heather how to properly dance in the bowling alley!

Happy Birthday Doreen, we had a great time celebrating!

Book Review: Secure Daughters Confident Sons

I just finished reading Secure Daughters Confident Sons by Glenn T. Stanton and I thought the book was fantastic. In this book, Stanton address the issue of gender differences and how those shape us, our kids, and our families. Everyone is different, but when you boil it down, you are either a boy or a girl.He then jumps into the topics of what makes a good man and woman. Granted the list is not all inclusive, but he hits on major issues.
For me, as I am preparing to become a father, the section on what makes a good man was very good. Stanton reminds us that good men seldom develop naturally, we must intentionally teach boys to become good men. One way we can do this, as father's, is to invite our boys into manhood. Stanton explains that for boys, mom should be the "corrector," the one who says, "No, boys don't act like that." Dad should be the "inviter," the one who says, "Hey, buddy, when I was a boy, I loved to dress up like a safari hunter," and then lead him in that direction. Let the boy have the opportunity to be welcomed and invited into his father's world of manhood by his father.
Stanton then goes into the topic of what boys need most followed with what girls need most. He talks about the journey to manhood and how parents must recognize the journey and encourage our boys through the various stages, struggles and successes. Similarly, parents need to be aware of the metamorphosis to womanhood.
In part two of the book, he turns from what the kids need and look at the differences in parents. Stanton looks at the difference between mom and dad and how those differences influence development in children.
All in all, this was a great book, I ended up taking 9 pages of notes while reading this book, too much to fit into a book review! I would highly recommend it to parents with kids at any age. Stanton covers a lot of material spanning childhood development into adulthood.