Halloween Party Highlights

Kayla bobbing for the last apple

Victoria and Cherish show off their ferry wings

Allie tries her luck...

... and success!

Rob... as a blonde?

The student ministry staff threw a Halloween party last night for the middle school and high school students at our church. We had some random games, lot's of candy and lot's of fun--bobbing for apples was surely the highlight!

Birthday Fun

We spent the day yesterday celebrating Rob's Birthday and had a lot of fun. We slept in, which is always a bonus, then I made my two favorite people some french toast and eggs for breakfast. We eagerly got ready for our day and then we went out and looked at houses that we can't afford to buy (a favorite pastime of ours) and drempt about having the extra space and then tried to figure out how on earth we could afford a bigger mortgage--and then we came back to reality because I had to be at the church for a meeting. Rob took Leeann out to look at some more houses but ended up doing that solo as she napped in the back seat. They came back to get me after my meeting and then we went to a Birthday party for our friends two-year old daughter Neve. We didn't stay long because we had already arranged for a baby sitter for Leeann so Rob and I could go out to celebrate his Birthday with dinner.

So we dropped Leeann off with a gracious family in our church and we went in search of a place to have dinner in Corvallis. PROBLEM--Birthday dinners don't mix with a Beavers game that just got out! We tried our luck at several different restaurants that were packed so we landed at McGrath's fishhouse where we still encountered a 30-40 minute wait. Dinner was worth it though and the company was fantastic! We ended our evening alone over Starbucks with some more good conversation. I can't believe how much I still enjoy being married to Rob!

We picked up Leeann and went back over to Craig and Mandy's (our friends with the Birthday girl) where we spent the next several hours hanging out and just chatting about life. They are great friends, turning into greater friends everytime we get to hang out with them. It's nice to have great friends... we seem to be making all sorts of them through our small group!

Anyway, that's Rob's Birthday in a nutshell. I have to go and get ready for church now. I enjoyed the 'extra' hour of sleep last night. Maybe I'll actually get to church on time this morning? Just a thought...

Happy Birthday Rob!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. ROB!!!

(Caution, sappy material below)

Today we celebrate the birth of the most wonderful man in the whole world, my husband Rob! On this day in 1975 a little bundle of joy was born. I know I speak for myself and so many others when I say that this world is a better place because of him. Rob is a man who loves God and cares for people unlike any person I've ever been around. The first time I really met him he was preaching at a college group Bible study. I said to myself "I want to marry a man who loves the Lord so much that you can tell when he opens his mouth--just like I can tell with this guy." I knew nothing about him, but that day I knew I wanted to marry someone like him. His love for God was SO obvious! Lucky for me, he wasn't married and although he was quite far out of my league, he took a chance on me anyway. Within a couple of months we were dating. Within a couple of more months we were engaged. And before two more months passed we were married... and life since then has been good! In nearly four years of marriage I've never lost respect for Rob. He's a man of integrity, honesty and love. I've never regreted marrying him for even a single moment! I honestly feel like I'm living in a dream world sometimes. I imagine this is how God intended marriage to be. I know Rob isn't perfect, but I know that he lets God use him and he submits his life to God daily. This makes a not-so-perfect human a quite incredible husband, daddy, pastor and friend! I am thankful for the 30 years that God has given him and used him and I pray that God will allow him many, many more. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROB--I LOVE YOU!!

Pumpkin Carving

Are they supposed to be this gushy?

Um, yummy cupcake!

Mom, look how far I can spit the pumpkin seeds!


Rob, Leeann & I threw a pumpkin carving party for our small group at the church last night. It was a lot of fun! I wish I had more pictures to show, but our camera batteries died after the first two pictures *tear*. (Eroica to the rescue, she sent me the ones you see above!) We had a pumpkin carving contest, a pumpkin seed spitting contest and a ring-the-pumpkin contest (in the dark, with glow sticks!). The men seemed to enjoy the seed spitting contest quite a bit but the kids were definately taken by the glow sticks. I had no idea that those silly little dollar store items could be so much fun for kids! We let Leeann take a whole host of leftover glow sticks to bed with her last night. She played with them for a while and when we went to check on her she was sleeping with a glow-necklace around her neck, some random sticks on her bed and on the floor and probably a half-dozen firmly clenched in her hands. Rob told me that when she woke up this morning the first thing she did was grab her glow-sticks. She seems to love those things!

It was a long day for me running around getting ready for the party, but it was a super-fun day. Rob and I love our small group. The three years we spent at our church before we joined a small group were good, but the six months since we joined a group have been priceless! We've formed a lot of great friendships and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. If you aren't part of a church, I recommend you find one to become a part of one and if you are part of a church I highly recommend you become part of a small group. It's been a true blessing to us and I'm sure it will be to you too!

The results are in...

I got a call from Leeann's Doctor today saying that all of the lab results were perfectly fine. That's the good news. The bad news is... there's still a problem. He asked us to take all fruit out of her diet for two weeks, he suspects she's having a difficult time processing fructose. In the meantime she's supposed to be on a high fat, low sugar diet. Easier said than done though. He suggested lot's of milk and peanut butter until I told him that peanut butter makes her eczema worse and milk makes her wheezy and seems to be causing her already icky diapers to be REALLY icky. So, when you take milk, peanut butter and fruit out of a two-year old's diet, I'm not sure what to feed her! It'll just take more work on my part to be creative.

The good news is that because she's thriving well she probably just needs a break from whatever is causing the problem--it isn't likely a long term, or severe allergy. So, we wait and see. My little princess needs to go to bed now, so I ought to do my best to get her there...

Tough Day

Today was a tough day for both mommy and Leeann. I simply feel physically exhausted and it's taking a toll on my emotional/mental state as well. I've got a great husband, and some great friends though... it makes it easier to get through tough days.

It didn't help that Leeann spent the afternoon in near hystarics because she got her blood drawn today. We're trying to find the source of a food allergy. My friend Eroica went with me so that she could hold her on her lap (mine has all but disappeared) while she got it done. It seemed like an eternity between when the needle went into her arm and when they pulled it out. I must say, to this point, that's the toughest thing I've ever had to deal with being a mom. I wanted so badly to take the pain away and I know she has no concept of the fact that it will only make it better. There was nothing I could do to comfort her, that was really hard.

I suppose that might be a lesson to me from God. The pain of carrying my baby boy in my tummy is sometimes almost more than I think I can bare. It's for my own good in the long run though--I know it will all be worth it in the end!

Family Picture... ahh, how cute!

Today Rob, Leeann, Baby and I all went to the Pumpkin Patch! It was a great deal of fun just spending time with a few of my favorite people. Leeann seemed to enjoy the dirt more than the people or the pumpkins, but that's beside the point! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves today...

Do you suppose there's a pumpkin in my tummy?

Which is bigger, my tummy or the pumpkin?!?!?

Pumpkin Patch!

Above is Leeann trying to push her friend Kajsa in the wheelbarrow. She and her mommy, Eroica were taking pictures at the pumpkin patch at the same time we were there!

Just Another Day

Rob is officiating a wedding today so things are pretty subdued around here for a Saturday. Leeann is playing with a little girl that we have staying with us for the weekend while her parents (along with many couples from our church) are at a marriage retreat. The girl is almost 5, making these two about the same age apart as Leeann and Baby Buhl will be. It seems like a good age span... and a good number of kids! I always thought I wanted four kids, but two is beginning to sound like the perfect number for our little family.

I'm looking around at all I have to do today... and I don't want to do any of it! I mean really, who needs clean laundry and food and stuff? It's way over-rated :0) I suppose I ought to make good use of my time and get some things done. If anybody out there reads this... I hope you have a wonderful day!

Baby Check Up

We had a baby check up yesterday and everything seems well. He's still sitting breech, so if you could pray with me that he'd just go ahead and flip himself around that would be wonderful! My mid-wife said that his head being where it is is probably contributing to my really bad acid reflux. She put me on new medicine for it which didn't seem to help yesterday. I'm feeling good today though, so we'll see how this works out.

I got a flu shot. Shots in general aren't fun, but it really didn't hurt too bad...

We have approximately 7.5 weeks left. He's due Decemeber 14th. I honestly just can't wait! I'm so excited. I'm even listening to Christmas music right now trying to get into the mood of the season. Although Leeann was born in July we got her just before Thanksgiving last year. I think I'll always connect the joy of the Christmas season to my kids.

On one last random note I enjoyed lunch with Rob and Leeann at the Olive Garden yesterday. That was a special treat for me... that just might be my all-time favorite place to eat. We also went to look for a digital camera. We are looking for something inexpensive, yet very baby-friendly. Ours takes too long to recover from one picture to the next, making it difficult to get good pictures with kids. Any recommendations?

I'll leave you with some words from a CD I'm listening to that may ring especially true this year. (Depending on when baby decides to come)... "I'll be home for Christmas--if only in my dreams."

My Flower Girl

My flower girl KayLee turns 12 tomorrow... *sigh*. Why must the ones we love grow up so fast? She's turned into quite the stunning young gal, full of talent! We don't get to get up to the Kent area where she lives nearly often enough, but when we do we love to see all of our wonderful neices and nephews. They truly bring a great deal of joy to our lives! And, I must say they, KayLee included are some of the sweetest, most polite and well-behaved kids I've ever met. I hope when my sweet little Leeann turns 12 that she's as much of a joy as miss KayLee. By that time KayLee will probably be married with kids... *sigh again*.

I LOVE YOU MISS KAYLEE AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

KayLee is the one at the top. As sad as this sounds the most recent picture I can find of her on my digital camera is of a year and a half ago! Uh, time to take some more pictures?!?!?

Lot's of Kids...

Since I've recently posted snippits about the rest of my family, let me introduce you to my 3 part time additional family members. Their names are Tony, Byron and Krista. Tony is 12, Byron is 11 & Krista is 9. I've been watching them since February of this year. They come over to my house at 4:15 in the morning (which was a time that I didn't know existed until I started this job!) and they usually stay until about 4:30 or 5:00 in the afternoon. It's not so bad because it's only Monday, Wednesday and Friday and I get to send them all off to school. So, I still get a few hours with just me and Leeann in the late morning/early afternoon.

It's been a true blessing to have these kids as a part of my life. They're teaching me a lot about kids in general, they're teaching me patience and really, they're teaching me how to love better. They can be a little rough around the edges (as can any kids that age) but they are really honestly quite helpful and sweet. They love my daughter to pieces and she loves them back! She's so excited to get up in the morning on the days she knows they are here. One of her favorite parts of the day is getting to wake them up and help them roll up their sleeping bags.

An additional blessing is that I can work from home doing something I love. I get to be a stay-at-home mom AND love on other kids AND even bring home a little bling in the process. All in all, I wouldn't trade my job for anything in the world. Adding Baby #2 may complicate things a little, I'll keep you updated on how that goes. Suddenly, I'll have 5 kids 3 days a week. That's a lot for one little gal to handle, but I'll do my best! Kids are a blessing from God, even if they belong to other people.

Rob's Blog

Click on the heading "Rob's Blog" to find a link to my husband's blog, check it out and find out more about him and his ministry!

Or check out North Albany Community Church on the web at www.northalbany.org.

Announcement

Announcing the Adoption of

Leeann Kyndall

Born July 22nd, 2003

Into the Family of Rob & Robyn Buhl

October 4th, 2005

Baby Buhl

Baby Buhl appears to be a boy and he seems to be quite healthy and active inside my tummy. Being pregnant is truly one of the strangest sensations in the whole world! At times I love it, but I'll be honest--most of the time I'd like my body back!

Like right now. I'm up far later than I ought to be because I have been having a lot of acid reflux issues. It's quite difficult to sleep when I'm so uncomfortable. We have less than 8 weeks to go though. Rob keeps reminding me that this is what I prayed so long for... and so I attempt to patiently wait, I know the greatest reward awaits me on the other end!