And we've got an oven! Just in time for some Fall baking, yum yum. I'm going to test out these apple pie bars to take to some friends' new house tomorrow for after dinner. Then, I'll be baking some pumpkin cupcakes for Quinn's birthday. Which is less than a week away, aah!

We were in Sunriver last week with my parents and my sister and her husband. It was a lot of fun, I love that place. Swimming, riding bikes, walking, board games, good food, beautiful weather, what more could anyone want? Quinn went for her first bike ride and seemed to like it, she was singing every time which is usually a good sign. 

Her hair has now reached the point of being in her eyes constantly but I can't bear to give her bangs. So it looks like we are entering the clip phase of life. Her hair is so slippery so it is quite a challenge.

We've been loving this September weather! Each day is so gorgeous. We are trying to squeeze in as many picnics and park visits as we can because I know it will soon be cold.

We love to read. One of Jonathan and my favorite activities is to just read side-by-side. But, alas, reading alludes me these days. Mount Laundry beckons and the Shinobi hair tumbleweeds whisper my name. But I did manage to read two books lately and I thought they were worth reviewing.

I received Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp as a baby shower gift and as Quinn is developing a bit more, um, personality, I thought it might be good to start adding some tools to my parenting toolbox before I find myself in an emergency situation. Since I would read it before bed, I often began to doze off after a couple pages. This made it take a long time to complete the book. But even in my fragmented first read, I could tell that there was gold in there and I really wanted to soak it in. So I read it a second time, with a pen in hand and more energy. This book was so informative! It is so biblical and challenging. My biggest takeaway was this: there are a million books out there that can teach you how to have a well-behaved child if that is your chief goal. You can discover what motivates your child (their idols) and use that as a reward/punishment to get the sort of behavior you want out of them. We are all worshipers of something. But if your main objective as a parent is to point your child toward Christ, then your guidance needs to see through the outside behavior and focus on the heart of your child to show them their sin and need for a Savior. Wow, right? I'd be happy to discuss this book with anyone interested.

The other book I read was The Organic Lawn Care Manual by Paul Tukey. Exciting, I know. I first heard about it from this post a couple years ago and tucked it away in the back of my mind. Large parts of our yard are overrun by dandelions from the time the house spent on the market with no one living in it. My parents are coming up for a big yard work day, so I wanted to educate myself so I could know how best to use our time. I saw that my local library had the book so I checked it out. With a dog and baby, I don't feel great about putting chemicals on our yard. I use this easy weed killer recipe already but it isn't great for grass. This book was very convincing if you are on the fence about a natural lawn. It had a ton of practical advice and troubleshooting tips. Most helpful for me was at the start it asks you a series of questions about your yard, one of which is how you use it. We have a ton of grass and it feels pretty overwhelming. It made me realize that we would like the front to be in good condition because it's a small area and is kind of the "face" of our home. But for the sides and back, my main goal is just that it's soft underfoot and mowable. The back especially is more of a social area and there will be lots of foot traffic. I also learned that our decision to not water it this Summer wasn't a bad idea (phew), moles are actually helpful for keeping bugs in check (we have moles), and if your lawn is at least 5% clover and you mow without a bag that alone is enough nitrogen to fertilize your lawn.

Anyone else read anything good lately?

It's been a wild week. Three friends had babies on Labor Day weekend. Blame it on the full moon or the name of the weekend I guess. 

We are still oven-less two and a half weeks later, but a neighbor let me get some baking done at her house. Fortunately we found out that our home warranty will cover it so our finicky 1960's oven will be replaced with a brand new one! Hooray! 

Jonathan got food poisoning late Tuesday night. Or we thought it was food poisoning until I awoke with the same symptoms late Wednesday night. And my mother-in-law arrived at our house Wednesday afternoon for a visit and was staying overnight. She was a huge help with Quinn on Thursday as I was recovering. Just a nasty 24 hour bug. Unfortunately, since we didn't know it was a virus until after she had arrived, she got sick Friday. And I talked to our Monday night dinner guests and they had it Tuesday night as well! So miserable! Thank God Quinn didn't catch it, she's still getting immunity from me :)

My parents took us to Quinn's first Duck football game at Autzen on Saturday. It took some getting used to, but she ended up liking it. We would dance with her and clap with her and when the crowd cheered, I think she thought it was for her, haha. 

We zipped down to Eugene early Saturday morning and got back Sunday morning in time for church. There was an event between services to inform the body about different ways to get involved starting in the Fall. We hope to start leading a home group in a couple weeks. Then, after church I met with a client for some bookkeeping help. 

I think this week will be a bit more tame. I'm hoping we can soak up the final drops of Summer. It's already getting dark so early! September is such a lovely month in Oregon.

Labor Day. A day to celebrate the fact that in our country there are laws that protect children from being exploited. It's very sobering to learn about many sad situations for children all over the world. Especially now that I'm a mom.

In the Lake Volta region of Ghana, forced labor is the daily reality for kids who have been trafficked into the fishing industry. Great poverty leaves many mothers with a difficult choice: sell their children to someone who can take better care of them or watch them starve to death. Most of the mothers are told their children will be given food, housing, and an education. Instead, the kids are often taken to Lake Volta where they become child slaves and their mothers never see them again.   

Here's some good news: an organization called Mercy Project is working to break the cycles of trafficking around Lake Volta by providing alternate, more efficient, sustainable, fishing methods for villagers – ultimately eliminating the need for child slaves. Because of the work Mercy Project is doing in Ghana, the first group of children will be freed this month from Lake Volta. Mercy project is hoping to spread this great news via bloggers sharing their ten minute documentary.

The video opens with the phrase, "One of the few universal truths is that children should be happy." Everyone knows this. That's what makes a child a child. Laughter, giggles, grins, delight. There are two little boys shown working in a boat, they can't be older than six years old. Their tiny hands are holding onto oars and their eyes are wide with fear. I can just picture children I've nannied or worked with in classrooms that age. But I can't imagine them working 14 hours a day, 7 days a week, doing hard, physical labor, eating one meal a day, and then falling asleep at night on a dirt floor filled with other slave children. But this isn't a sob-story video, it's about the positive changes that are already taking place and that will continue on into the future.

Would you take ten minutes from your day off to watch the video? Would you pray for these children and the adults trying to help them?

As of yesterday I have an eleven-month-old. Yikes! And she's a beauty inside and out. Since yesterday she has developed two new skills. One is using an inflection that sounds like she's asking a question. She makes a little "hmm?" sound, especially when she reaches for things she wants, sees me eating or drinking, or picks up a toy. Her other new skill is drinking out of a cup. She still uses her straw cup, but she keeps wanting to practice on a real cup.

We took her final monthly photo yesterday and added it to the rest of the collection. This was a fun project. I did something similar with my bump progress, so it's only fitting to do the same thing to document Quinn's growth. Some months it was really tough to choose a favorite. I had her lying on a special blanket in each picture, but it looked funny when all joined together. I will still take progress photos of her with her panda and blanket going forward, but not every month. Probably every three months, and probably of her standing while wearing a white shirt and jeans like a big kid, waaaah.

Look how tiny she was!

It's been a fun weekend. We went to the zoo with a friend Friday, got some projects done, watched the Duck game with some friends yesterday, and are visiting a new baby at the hospital and seeing some friends from Hawaii tomorrow. We just feel beyond blessed to get to live such a simple, delightful life. I hope we can raise Quinn to not take it for granted.