I forgot a couple things I wanted to add to the entry above.  One interesting thing we did with our friends in St. Louis was take a personality test.  We were talking one night about which of the personality types we were (melancholy, sanguine, phlegmatic or choleric).  They wanted us to take the test, so one evening we did.  I'd taken one a long time ago, and thought I remembered that I was melancholy-choleric, and of course I assumed that Matt was primarily sanguine.  We took the test together out loud....a rather vulnerable experience. 

In the end, sure enough....I was solidly melancholy (22 pts) and my secondary was choleric (9 pts).  Paul said it was funny....every time I was deliberating btw. two answers, it was always btw. melancholy and choleric.  I also had a very few phlegmatic traits (must be from you, Mom).  It must be a decently accurate test since this is the result I remember getting way back when.  I guess I haven't changed much. 

Matt was predictably sanguine (25 pts) with a secondary of choleric as well, and a little melancholy.  It was funny b/c Paul and he were the same two personalities, but just switched.  Paul was mostly choleric, secondly sanguine.  Matt is mostly sanguine, secondly choleric.  Anyway...this was all fun!

This was a funny conversation with the girls last night that I'm just including b/c I will forget it otherwise:

We had just gotten the girls out of the bath, and I had Leah all wrapped up in her hooded towel, with only her face showing.

Anna:  Leah looks like a baby saliva.

Mom:  A saliva?  Do you mean a larva?  (we've been studying insects)

Anna:  Oh yeah....a larva.

[a few minutes later, Anna is in her room snuggling Leah, still wrapped in the towel]

Anna:  I love you, Leah.  You're my cute, little saliva. 

 

Well, our trip went as smoothly as it could have!  We did get a very late start after board retreat.  We didn't pull out until 11pm on Sat night.  That put us in at the halfway point around 4am, where we were crashing at a friend's house.  However, the kids slept the entire way....and Matt and I enjoyed talking over the events of the weekend.  I think we talked more than we had in a month, and without interruption!!  We headed out Sunday morning to St. Louis, arriving around 3:30pm.  We listened to the audio book "Charlie and the chocolate factory" for most of that drive....it was fun for all.  Matt had a concert that evening for a youth group there.  It went well. 

We stayed with some friends who have 3 little boys.  It was a very easy place to stay.  Plenty of room, a nice backyard for the kids to play, and since we all have young kids....everyone was on the same page!  We had fun hanging out with our friends too. 

On Monday, we went to the St. Louis zoo.  It was an absolutely beautiful day....sunny and 60s.  We walked all around the zoo (which was free) and it was so fun to watch the kids.  The animals were pretty active, and even Leah could pick them out and comment!  It was really, really fun.  I love watching the kids reactions to some of the weirder specimens (and there are a lot).  I'm always SO impressed with the Lord's creativity after visiting the zoo!  I think the penguin exhibit was the favorite, along with the primates.  And I personally liked the giraffes best. 

On Tuesday, we went downtown to the St. Louis arch.  That was very interesting.  I never realized it was steel plated.  I always thought it was white, like the Washington monument....it's a shiny metallic arch.  We went into the museum and watched a documentary on how they built it.  Very fascinating and we all shuddered for those crazy men who worked way up there hanging on the back of it!!  Noone was killed during the building of it, which took about 3 years.  (finished in '65)  Then Matt took the kids up, while I moseyed through the Lewis and Clark museum.  The kids were fascinated with the strange, egg-shaped tram which takes you up to the top.  I enjoyed retracing L/C journey across the country and imagining how breathtakingly beautiful it all must have been on first sight.  When the kids came down, I took them in to see some of the animatronic people they had.  We got some old fashioned candy from the General Store and headed back out to walk along the mississippi back to our car.

That was all of our sightseeing.  It was nice!  The kids are a good age right now to do stuff like that with.  They get SO excited about everything, and are interested in all the details of everything.  It's always very fun to go on educational excursions with them.  Leah is still a little young, but is getting to a point where she can enjoy being along for the ride, and can even miss her nap occasionally.

Wednesday evening, we were to participate in a big AWANA fall festival....carnival games, candy, chaos.  Matt was closing the event with a program.  The kids had a grand time, although we ended up with WAY too much candy.  Matt's program went well, and afterwards I got the kids in their pajamas with teeth brushed while he tore down the equipment.  We were going to try and drive again into the wee hours since it worked so well on the way down.  The kids crashed quickly, exhausted from an evening of games and sugar!  The bad thing was that we found ourselves extremely tired too.  It was a bit more grueling than the trip down, but we did make it to the 'crash house' around 4am.  We slept and headed home.  We listened to about half of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  Matt had a rehearsal that evening, so we had to get home ASAP.  (another reason why we drove half at night)

The next 3 weeks are totally insane.  I don't know how we will survive them.  Matt is crazy with dinner theater planning....all kinds of snafu's have occurred, and it's all been way more stressful than he'd planned.  He has pastor's retreat, couples retreat and a trip south for a mens conference coming up as well. We have AWANA, Bible study, children's dental appointments and an appointment for David with a GI doctor to follow up on some chronic abdominal pain he's been suffering with for over a month.   My best friend here is moving at the end of the month.  I'm trying to find time with her.  We are going to Chicago for Thanksgiving.  Matt's brother is coming to Madison right before, so we're heading south early to spend a couple days with him.  I'll be driving the kids down myself b/c Matt will be on his way up from the men's conference....we'll meet in Madison.  Crazy times!  Oh, and then we have school to do.  I'm looking forward to December.  Can you imagine?  The Christmas season actually looks SLOW to me compared to our November.

I've been reading some very interesting food books that I haven't found time to review yet.  I read "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver and most recently "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld.  I am planning to post some of the very interesting things relative to food and diet that I've been pondering.  But not in this entry. 

[Note: I added a couple things in another entry below.  I'm not sure why it posted below and not above.]