Could Not Ask For More

The last weekend in October was especially sweet for me. On one hand, I felt weird about it being exactly 4 weeks since Ben's stroke, but on the other hand, the Lord blessed us w/ some very sweet, fun, and relaxing moments....and I did remember that it was 14 years ago on October 30th that Ben and I went on our first date.

We started our weekend on Friday when a sweet friend brought us a meal and hung out for a while w/ her kids. Ben took the girls outside to play, while Lisa and I got to chat and only chase down one kid each. It was good to catch up. One of these days, we will get pictures of our two cuties holding hands and giving each other hugs! My last pictures I have of them were a bit rushed. Anywho, Friday was nice and relaxing. Ben had speech therapy and then we went to the library....about 15 minutes before it closed. At least Rachel got two Fancy Nancy books out of the deal though. Then, after the girls were in bed, Ben and I watched 7 Pounds. I think that Will Smith is one of the few actors that could pull that movie off. Not sure what to think about the movie. We didn't hate it, but we didn't love it. So, we made up for all the sadness by watching The Proposal on Saturday night - a lot more laughs to be had.

We had a lot of fun on Saturday. We went to Old Towne on Saturday morning. We made it in time for the weekly farmers market....scored a lot of free samples, a cheap loaf of amazing bread that apparently took Ben back to having bread at his Grandma Hamilton's house, and paid a bit of money for Jonathan apples so we could make applesauce during the girls naps. Then, we went to the dock and fed the birds and the ducks. Rachel really enjoyed that. There were some Hitchcock moments w/ the birds, but other than that, she had fun. She did choose to climb back in the stroller after a while and feed from there. I guess it felt a little safer.

Of course, there was the trick or treating on Saturday night - which was a lot of fun for us. We worked with Rachel all week long on what to say, and we were very happy that our shy girl was able to stand on her own two feet at every door. Naomi came along for the ride in the sling, and we got to meet a lot of our neighbors that we never see outside. It's hard to knock on people's doors, and this gave us a good excuse:-) After we went up and down our street, Rachel then got to learn to share the candy we had purchased. She actually loved doing that.

Sunday and Monday were great too. We were encouraged by God's Word and people on Sunday, and on Monday, we continued to do small things as a family. Grocery shopping is more fun w/ Ben along.....plus, the samples at Harris Teeter are great.

Maybe it was the four day weekend, maybe it's thankfulness we feel for our life as a family, maybe it's all the little things in life that bring you a smile....or maybe it's a combo of all these things that made me feel exceedingly blessed this past weekend.