It's Pumpkin Time!

Yesterday afternoon we went on our annual family shopping trip to get our little pumpkin family! We went to the Eastside Market, which has the BEST pumpkins, and the BEST fresh fruits and veggies! We had lots of fun, and it's so much fun to see Hayden get excited about it ... the first year he was just 2 months old, so didn't really know what was going on, and last year he wasn't too interested. This year, though, he was all about finding the "perfect" pumpkin!


I told him to SMILE - this is his photo-op face; he only does it when we are taking pictures and ask him to smile - priceless! He's so sweet ... and was definitely happy because after searching through many, many pumpkins, he'd found the one he wanted!


He'd also found a squash that he thought he needed, so daddy helped him carry his pumpkin!


Hayden and mommy went in to the store to get some fresh fruits and veggies!

Millions of Peaches ...

Okay ... not a million ... but for some reason that song keeps ringing in my ears when I see this picture!

This evening we went to the Eastside Market here in Manhattan to shop for our "pumpkin family," a tradition of ours! This is the third year, and we were so excited!

I'm having trouble loading the pictures of the pumpkin shopping, but did manage to get this one to upload. After we picked out our pumpkins we went inside to shop for some fresh fruits and veggies - this place has the BEST! We got some peaches, and Hayden, being the picture ham he's been lately, decided to do an impression of "Cookie Monster" while eating his peachie after-dinner snack ...

BFF!

Our little guy is all boy ... eats mud, would live outside if we'd let him ... loves to wrestle and play with cars, and always annihilates any bug that he sees. The other night, however, we caught him chatting with a little cricket!

We watched in amazement as he "spared" this fortunate little creature the doom of his size 7 shoe, and instead talked and talked and talked, then wanted to put his new best friend forever outside. Crazy! Hayden is so sweet, and never ceases to amaze us with his curiosity!

Papa's Visit!

A few Sunday's ago Hayden and I ventured "back home" to Cummings, Kansas where I co-hosted a bridal shower. We had a bad tire (always happens!) and so Pete was nice enough to loan his big sister his car until they could get it fixed ... Papa came down on Thursday to deliver our car with its newest and very expensive addition - a new tire!

We had a great evening with Papa Kerby and Hayden was not happy to see his papa, or his newest addition to his favorite car, or "beep beep" list leave!

I Am A Yard Sale Queen!

As many of you know, I have never had the pleasure of perusing through a big garage sale ... it's not that I've never wanted to, but for some reason the opportunity has never come up. That all changed this weekend! David, Hayden, Chasity (a friend from David's work), and I went to Ft. Riley for the Post-Wide Yard Sales ... it was almost life changing, I've got to tell you!

We were ooohing and aaahing at all of the amazing things, but usually disappointed when we realized that it was either too big to fit into the car (should've brought Chasity's Explorer!) or someone had already bought it!

We managed to get away without too much monetary damage - we found a little desk for Hayden that we got at about 1/4 the price and after working to cram it into the trunk and a little clean up job, it's like it has always been here! :) David is probably already regretting his introducing me to this new and wonderful world of shopping!

Hayden got right to work at his little desk ... coloring, painting, just hanging out! He'll probably set up a little laptop and phone, get a secretary to have the whole "office" feel ... nevermind!


This is one of his many works of art! Crayola has this "Color Wonder" line that only paints/colors on certain paper ... color wonder is WONDERFUL! Notice the lines made from his Matchbox car tires! So creative!

Big Boy Bed

Yes, our baby boy is now a big boy! Friday marked the transition to his new bed ... we (actually, just me) were so nervous about whether or not he'd be up and about all night, but he has been sleeping through the night like always without any hiccups! What a blessing! The fun part is that he comes in to wake us up now ... Saturday morning he came in at 7 o'clock, his on-the-dot wake up time with his little tub of cars, wanting to play! He's ssssssssssssoooooooooooooooo precious and our perfect little guy!

Notice from the picture that he was so excited about the bed that he didn't even give me time to put the sheet on!

(Belated) Birthday Party!

Last weekend we had a familygathering to celebrate Hayden's 2nd Birthday! Where is the most favorite for the Kerby's and Kinnan's get together? A KU game, of course! We met in the middle between Manhattan and Kansas City for an evening picnic and football game in Lawrence! We had Hayden's favorite foods ( including birthday cupcakes), but he was definitely too busy watching football to spend much time eating!



Hayden has so much fun with all of his grandparents, but lately, it's been the "Papa's" that he has really been wanting to cling to - maybe because they'll wrestle and talk sports with him ... maybe because they don't cringe in pain when he wants to box ... who knows ... we're just enjoying him, and thankful for these bonds that are being built!

Hayden and Grandpa Kerby


Hayden and Grandpa Kinnan

Family Night

This evening we had an early FAMILY NIGHT (they're usually on Friday's) because we're planning on being in KC/Lawrence this weekend. We went to Old Chicago's, which is a new pizza place that just graced Manhattan with its presence. Since it's so new and is therefore so popular (I have a feeling it will ALWAYS be popular, though), there was a wait-time, so we spent some time walking through the mall, and playing in the fountain just outside of the restaraunt.



Hayden chose his usual chicken strips and fries, but decided that mommy's was more what his tummy was wanting ... linguine! Food and fun all on the same plate ... could he ask for anything more? Hayden has such a remarkable way of making everything fun! We're enjoying each and every moment with our little guy, and are just in awe of how perfectly God designs us ... Hayden is such a special blessing and our precious little guy!

Labor Day Fun!

We went to a barbeque this afternoon at the Butcher's house ... it was a "toddler party" with all of the other families with toddlers from church there! Can you imagine a backyard full of two and three year olds!? It was a blast!


They had an inflatable castle that Hayden loved! He jumped and jumped and jumped some more! He toned it down a bit though, so the girls (like Josie) wouldn't get scared - or trampled!


The water slide was definitely the major attraction ... it took Hayden awhile to decide whether or not he'd want to join in on the slippery fun.


He eventually led a cautious foot forward ... and played on it for the rest of the evening! We had to pull him away from it so we could go home!

We hope you had a great day! Sorry for the short post ... we're exhausted!

Football Frenzy!

School has started and fall is coming quickly, which means that leaves will be falling, the weather will soon become crisp, and Saturday's will bring about echos of school fight songs and screaming fans ... yes, ladies and gentlemen, college football is back!

Today we went to the Washburn Ichabods game against the Western Washington Vikings. Yes, we live in Manhattan, and yes, K-State had their home opener, but we could not resist an afternoon with family ... especially "Papa" and "Grandma!"


It's actually a funny coincidence, but David and I both attended the Bob Chipman summer basketball camps at Washburn when we were younger ... probably not in the same years, but still a fun coincidence!


The stands were pretty crowded and the 95 degree heat was taking its toll, so Papa and Hayden went to the knoll off to the side to enjoy the air minus the cramped bleachers.


Hayden is our little water boy, and when he wasn't telling Grandma about his new "beep beep" that he got for his birthday, he was drinking good old H2O.


And still drinking ... we must have made five or six trips to the water fountain to refill the water bottle ... but he didn't drink it all ... he shared some of his water with the grass. Our little gardener!

Washburn won the game 31 to 21, but we didn't stay for the victory. We headed out during half-time. Did some shopping at the school supplies store (for me) and then said our goodbyes.


When we got home from the game, we had a surprise waiting for us! Uncle Pete! He is visiting over the holiday weekend and we couldn't be happier! Hayden had one request (requirement) for Uncle Pete ... the usual ... reading his favorite books, ALL of them! This one is a new favorite, with all of Hayden's most treasured characters: a vehicle of some kind, some animals, cool sound effects (depending on who is reading) and lots of words that he knows!

Timeout!

IGNITE
Although Hayden has heard the world "timeout" rather frequently, I'm actually speaking of a "timeout" from work. August was perhaps the most fulfilling month of my life while also being one of the most emotionally exhausting times in the recent years.

I completed a 4-week message series entitled "IGNITE". I stole the "concept" from Ed Young after comming across some time different titles a message series of his...the concept intrigued me. I have no clue what his series was about, but his titles were great. SO...for four weeks I disected four different Bible stories found in the Old Testament. Each story exposed different life principles that, when applied, would generate authentic faith development...basically...strenthening our faith roots. The title "Ignite" comes from the fact that each of the four stories had something to do w/ fire: Elijah on Mt. Carmel...Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego & the Fiery Furnace...Lot, Abraham & Sodom and Gomorrah...and Moses & the Burning Bush. (If any of you can teach/tell me how to post the messages, I'd be happy to do so.)

You know...one of the greatest fears I've had when staring the "Lead Pastor" future step has been a fear of preaching every week. I enjoy speaking, however the week-after-week thing intimidated me. After this series, that fear has vanished. I am impassioned more than ever to communicate. I sensed a great response from our wonderful people...it was so fulfilling to teach foundational Bible stories.

BIRTHDAY BOY
Our wonderful, perfect little boy turned the adventurous age of 2 on Friday, August 26th. We spent the entire morning together at my office as Hayden explored every possible corner of the building. At noon, it was time for lunch so I knew exactly where to go: Burger King to grab some chicken fries! Hayden loves chicken tenders, so I thought this new idea from BK might be fun...Hayden proved me right...he ate'em all up (they look like fried worms).

Here are some pics of Hayden receiving his gift from Mommy and Daddy. I could hardly get the thing put together before he hopped on. "Beep Beep" is the official name of this pimp-mobile. With the price of gas, I'm sure this'll be his college transportation.




SCHOOL
Katy received the official "Kinnan Kick-Butt" Award for her teaching abilities. Two of her students have already been suspended indefinitely and one thought it was funny to act as though he was shooting Mrs. Kinnan with a pretend M-16 (I'm not smiling right now).

Just the other day, she made 6 different trips to the counselor's office because of "student issues" ... mostly middle school girls picking on each other. She seems to be one of the teachers that the students really seem to want to go to for help with their problems. One of the administrators even noted after one of the "meetings" that she should think about school counseling, because she did such a great job!

Teaching is my wife's passion...disciplining is not. However, because of her great skill in leading a classroom, the students are grasping the concept of who is BOSS and who is not.

CLASSIC
Why would you ever peddle when you can hire a peddler? That's MY boy!


LIFE
Recently, I've been thinking of how incredible life actually is for our family. I am not going to bed this evening wondering where our meals will come from in the morning. I am not worried about our home floating away or storms destroying all that we own. The burden of anger or bitterness does not keep me from loving myself or other people. I can call my parents...my parents-in-law...anyone in my family and receive love unconditionally. God has blessed me and my family. I pray that He does the same for you and yours.

Believing our world can be changed by your faith in God,
DK