Another tradition we have is to go visit the Winter Lights at Great Seneca. This is a light show that you drive through. Since you are going so slowly we allow the kids to come up front and sit on our laps and eat cookies and drink hot chocolate. They both loved the lights show and wanted to go through again. 
November 15th was an exciting day here at our home. Our oldest, sweet Karis, turned 4 years old. It is amazing to us that 4 years have passed so quickly. Four years of watching her turn from a baby into a little girl. Four years of parenting and learning to depend on the Lord more deeply. I cannot even begin to imagine what the next 4 will be like, starting school & growing independence. I am sure that it will all continue to test me in area of trusting the Lord and not myself.
There is an orchard near our house that was selling 22 lbs of apples for $8.00. What a bargin! Heather inspired me to make applesauce and after canning several quarts, dehydrating apples, and making fruit leather I went back for a second 22 lbs and made more applesauce, dehydrated more apples and fruit leather. I should say all this would not have been accomplished with my now most favorite kitchen tool- the pampered chef apple corer, peeler, slicer- it does all three in one step- it is a coolest gadget ever AND I got it for a steal $10.
This picture was taken this past Monday when we went to the cafe at the local airport. It was a beautiful day and it was fun watching the planes take off and land. We were also able to get a more recent photo of all 3 together (one where Cia isn't being attacked by Jotham's love).
Last week we went to Rock Hill Orchard with the Castro Family to pick some pumpkins (thanks Jonalee for the recommendation- they have really unique looking pumpkins). It is always such fun to be with the Castros. Karis & Mckenna are the same age and in the same class at church. Since they are both the oldest children in our respective families our outings with them always consist of their younger siblings crying about something. This outing was no exception. Jotham & Selah Grace were not exactly excited about walking through a vine covered field, but praise the Lord there were apple trees near by and they both love apples. I simply love being with Heather, she is such a wonderful godly woman whose walk with the Lord and humilty are such an encouragement to me.
Thanks so much for your prayers for Mercia. We are so grateful for your care for us through your emails, calls, & especially your prayers. Mercia did great getting her tubes. We arrived at the hospital this morning around 6 am and she was put under anesthesia at 7:40(this was a bit sad for Mommy) and I think the doctor was done the procedure by 8 am. All I can say is I couldn’t be more impressed with Dr. Casler. If you have any ENT needs we would highly recommend him! You know you have a wonderful doctor when you go back to recovery and he is the one holding your daughter on his lap comforting her- God was very kind to provide him. She was pretty cranky for a bit after but a bottle helped (she drank 12 oz. - double her normal) and so did being able to get down and crawl around when we got home.
Our little man has the privilege of being born on his grandfather, PPaw's birthday. When he was born one of the first things I noticed about him was his hands, and I said to Erik, "He has your Dad's hands." Now he has inherited his bed. When PPaw was a little boy he had bunk beds that he shared with his big brother. When Erik was growing up he slept in the same bunk beds. Now our little Jotham gets to use them. 3 Generations of Sheffer men in the same beds- what a fun tradition.
Well our girlie girl is 9 months old (this past Tuesday). We took her for her check up and here are the stats. She's a lightweight at 17lbs. 11 oz (25%). A little tall at 28 inches (50-75%) and nothing exciting with a peanut size 44 cm head (25-50%). She is crawling really well and enjoys being able to get into things and over to people who are around her. 
Dear Little Mercia has just started some finger foods. I went to the store to get some Biter Biscuits for her and discovered that most of these types of food have milk in them. I did find some Apple Wagon Wheels, which she is enjoying in this picture. I like the details of how hard her hands are working to hold onto and eat this little treat- it was hard for her. So hard that she wasn't even able to finish it, it got too small and slippery and she couldn't hold onto it. But someday she'll be able to pick it up with two fingers and stick the whole thing her mouth, chew it, swallow and move on.
Even though Karis won't be starting school for another two years I've started doing some little preschool activities with her. Things like activity books and letters of the week. Last week we learned about the letter A. Our first field trip was to go apple picking with our friends the Castros. I didn't really get any good shots of the kids because I was too busy trying to pick apples and keep my stroller from rolling into an apple tree (which it only did one time).
Mercia- She is doing well. The allergist is hopeful she'll grow out of her milk allergy- whew! The other day she rolled into some yogurt that Karis spilled on the carpet (don't ask how that happened) and she starting getting hives. Her favorite thing these days is to get up on all fours and rock back and forth. She still can't move, but we're not complaining. 
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Thank you for those of you who have prayed for Cia over the past few months. A few weeks ago we took her to the doctor again and he recommended that we take her to an ENT for tubes. We asked him about taking her to an allergist because I had read a study that linked ear infections to allergies. He said it was worth pursuing. We are so grateful we did. About 3 weeks ago we took her to a wonderful allergist (thanks Jenni for the recommendation) who was able to determine that she has a "life-threatening" allergy to milk (she got hives from the prick test). Anyway, that day we switched her from nursing to soy formula and it has made a huge difference. Her skin went from sandpaper to silk. And she has been ear infection free for 3 weeks now (this is the longest she has gone since March). We are so thankful to God for healing her and making us aware of the allergy in the way he did.I recently read The Shaping of a Christian Family by Elisabeth Elliot. In a chapter on Work & Play I appreciated this quote:
"Ordinary work, which is what most of us do most of the time, is ordained by God every bit as much as is the extraordinary. All work done for God is spiritual work and therefore not merely a duty but a holy privilege."
Highlight 2: Sleeping the same bed with Karis. Karis, Mercia & I shared a bedroom and Karis and I shared the same bed. I would tug Cia into bed and then about 1 hour later Karis would go to bed. She did a great job not waking her sister up. Mercia on the other hand did not return the favor. She woke us both us 2 nights in a row and was eventually banished in the middle of night to sleep in the bathroom (I packed up her pack n play and carried her downstairs at 4 am). But really Karis was so sweet through it all, very patient and loving toward her sister (unlike her Mommy). I loved holding hands with her as we slept and feeling her hand on my face checking to make sure I was still there. 
Highlight 3: Time with Jotham. My boy does not like having his picture taken. After taking a few shots of him one day on the beach as he was playing with a car I could tell he was sort of lonely for a friend (all the other kids were ocean bound). So I said, "Do you want Mommy to put the camera away?" He said, "Yes, Mommy." When I did, he said, "Thank you Mommy, play cars with me?" And we had a nice time playing cars in the sand. It is sweet to just spend time with him.
Highlight 4: Mercia's time with Grandma Susan. Girlie had some rough nights sleeping but her days were filled with lots of time with Grandma Susan. She was content as long as my Mom was hanging out with her. She even rolled over a few time for her.
It has been awhile since I recorded any data on our little wee one. So I have some evidence to give her when she is 20 and tells me I didn't do anything to preserve her childhood here goes-
June 20th marked the beginning of blueberry picking around these parts. I really wanted to go picking and since we leave Friday for vacation I figured I had to go without Erik. So I emailed a couple of friends and blueberry picking we went! Here are a few pictures. To get to the blueberries you have to take a tractor ride, Jotham was very excited about this UNTIL we actually tried to get on the tractor- when he said, "No, thank you, I don't like it." It is nice that he was polite. I had to pick him up and carry him on crying. You can see in the picture Karis & Jotham were a little nervous.
