Movin' on up - or actually down and to the west

We are moving out little family to Chicago! Ryan got a job working for Starbucks in the downtown area. We are very excited and have wanted to move there for a long time! It is our favorite place to be. We have been praying about moving there for a few years. We have alwasy been waiting for God's perfect timing. We have made a few attempts at it, but it never seemed to work out. This time, we got the green light! We are headed down there the day after Christmas to look at apartments (we are leaving Gavin with my parents, so keep me in your prayers. It is so hard for me to leave him, even though I know he is in great hands and wont even think about me!). We will be moving to the northern part of the downtown area. Ryan starts his job on January 21st. It is our goal to be all moved in by the end of the second week in January! We are looking forward to following the Lord's leading as to where we will attend church. There are several churches that we plan to visit during our first few months. We know that the Lord will show us exactly where he wants us to serve. We are very excited and hope that everyone will come and visit us at some point! Please keep us in your prayers these next few weeks as we tie up any loose ends here in Michigan!

Gavin talk

Every night when we put Gavin to bed, I tuck him in really tight and say, "Snug as a bug in a rug"(And of course I have to do the same to pooh bear). So when I don't do it, Gavin says, "Kleese do 'nugget,nugget, bug, rug!" I dont know how he got that from what I was saying, but he loves it!

Sometimes he will go and get a toy and put it behind his back and say to me, "I have prize for you!" and then give me the toy. THen he will take the toy back, of course.

His new thing is terrible fear of the spanking. When we are out in public and he is doing something wrong I will give him, "the look". You moms know what I am talking about. And he will say really loud while covering us bum with his hands, "You not give me spanking, mom?" I am constantly hushing him so that I don't get sent to jail!

Harvest Party

We had our Dobbertin Family Harvest Party this weekend. I have been looking forward to it for months now! Since fall is my fav. season, we went all out for this bash! We had it at Jason and Kate's house - the best location for fall fun! Our activites included : a doughnut eating contest, carving pumpkins, smores, making carmel apples, hot apple cider, pizza (of course, a Dobb. Family staple), a bon fire, the kids in their costumes, party favors, and the most fun of all - a hay ride! We have decided to make this an annual event! Here are some pictures of our night!

Jason and Kate with John Deere boy

Me and Ryan - the winners of the pumpkin carving contest

Jenna, Kate, Jas, Phil, Michelle, Mia - sittin' round the bon fire

Jason and Kate with their discuting vomiting pumpkin!

Me and Kate - acting dumb

Farmer Gav

Yummy!

Almost got it!



Well, blogger is being a big old booger right now, so I can't upload anymore pics. I'll post some more later - hopefully!

Trick or Treat

Well, our Halloween was super fun! We started our day by cutting up our pumkins and scooping out the seeds to roast! Instead of carving our pumpkins this year, we decided to make a pie out of them. Yes, I made a REAL pumpkin pie, from scratch! We cooked the pumpkin and even made our own crust! It took a long time, but it was fun and worth it in the end.
After dinner we headed out for the candy portion of our evening. Gavin loved it and had so much fun getting candy from all the houses. His costume was a hand me down from my sister. I am pretty sure that it is an alligator, but Gavin totally thought it was a dinasour, so we went with that! Halloween in Dearborn is AWESOME! We were pleasantly suprised. Everyone pulled out their firepits and sat in their driveways to pass out candy and hang out with the neighbors. There were only about two houses on each block that did not participate. It was a fun family event. There were kids everywhere! I really could have done without the gaudy and scary lawn decor at some houses, but the rest good. Gavin lasted for about four or five blocks. At every house he would say, "trick or treats" and then "Tank you" and then as we were walking away he would say, "We trick or treats at another house?" He filled up his bucket twice. At the last house we went to as we were walking back down the driveway Gavin said, "no more trick or treats. We go home now." At lease he knows when enough is enough!
So we came home and ate some of the candy and had a peice of our pie. Gavin was on such a sugar high. He ended up not going to bed until 10:00! He was such a crazy boy! Here are some pictures of our day!

Funny Sayings

Gavin is always saying the funniest things, as I am sure all kids do. I love to write down what he says and read it few months later. It is amazing to me how fast I forget things ( although this should come as no suprise to Anne). So, anyway, here are some of the things that he has been saying lately.

On the way home from BSF (which Gavin refers to as Play dough Bible class), he just blurts out, "My Teachers not love me, mamma" and said, "oh Gavin, thats not true! I am sure your teachers love you" and he simply says, "No, they not."

The other day he grabbed a sticky note off of my board that had a phone number and an e mail address on it and he brought it to me holding it up with both hands and said, "I read you story, Mamma." So I said, "Okay, lets here it." He put on a very serious face and looked at the paper as if he were reading it and proceeded to say, "God loves me. God loves us and sent his son." and then he said, "Touch my God story mom, touch it." So I touched it and he said, "Nice God story!" Then he went on to quote some more scripture! It was so cute.

When he does something wrong and we start to talk about it leading up to the spanking Gavin will say, " You not spank me, mamma. You just teasin' me."

As I was typing this he says to me, "You a big girl mamma. I'm getting big too. Am I getting bigger?"

He still can't pronouce quite a few words and I love it. Here are a few of the best ones.

Sandwich is Mondich.

Love is Lub

Video is Bideo

Pooh Bear is Kooh Bear (although he can say other P words)

well, I could go on, but I am sure you are tired of my kid stories.

Gavin's Package

Annie sent Gavin a package in the mail so I video taped us opening it so that she would be able to see it.

Spicer Orchards

I spent a few days out at my mom and dad's house to help watch my two nephews, Jonas and Mason. My sister in law suprised my brother and took him on a suprise anniversary trip to their honeymoom spot - Main. So, we got to spend some time with their boys! I was so thankful for the time with them. I was able to get to know their baby, Mason a little better. He is such a sweet boy and we got a lot of bonding time. Jonas and Gavin had lots of fun handing out together. They are the becoming best buddies. On Friday morning my mom and I decided to take the boys to Spicer Orchards. It was a chore with all three boys but definately worth it! They loved it! Here are some pictures from our weekend!

Our latest battle

Apparently it is impossible for a two (practically three) year old to sit still. I have about 15 pictures in this same spot and this is the best one. Pathetic, I know. But thats a boy for you! (thanks to J and K for creating a perfect photo op in front of their CUTE house)

Being an only child must be rough. Gavin has resorted to Elmo and Pooh Bear as constant companions. Actually, the Elmo stuffed animals are new to the sceene, but Pooh has been going everywhere with us and Gavin has been treating him like a human being. We set him a place at breakfast, we wipe his nose when it is runny. Gavin attempts to change his diaper ( even though we have no diapers in the house . . . maybe I should have Gavin potty train pooh so he knows what it is like!!) , he gets buckled into the car when we go places(poor pooh has to sit in the car a lot, I refuse to let Gavin take him inside). Pooh even gets covered up at night and gets his back rubbed by Gavin. When we ask Gavin why he loves pooh so much he simply says, "We are buddies!" So there you have it, the desperate measures my son takes to have a playmate - I guess it isn't always that much fun to play with your mom! I know this pooh story is dragging on forever, but I just have to add this one last bit. The other day Gavin wanted me to play trains with him, but I couldn't so I said to have pooh play with him and Gavin says, "But he doesn't have any hands!" Okay, enough with the pooh stories . . .

Gavin got to take a bubble bath today. I think its his first ever. He liked it. It was a must after our morning craft . . . (see picture below)

This is our craft today. It is supossed to look like a tree with fall leaves. Does it? He sure had fun getting paint all over his hands and arms. We made about six of them. Suprisingly, this was the best one. We like to make them for everyone in the family! Gavin even picks which one goes to whom (is it who or whom?).

Anyway, thats what we've been up to . . .

Horrible Blogger

I am terrible at keeping up with this thing lately. My entire family went to the Great Wolfe Lodge a few weeks ago and I am just now blogging about it! We had tons of fun. We did the lodge on Friday and Sat. morning and then did Cedar Point on Saturday afternoon and evening. We had so much fun. Gavin had a blast with his cousin Jonas. They were little buddies and were copying off of each other the whole weekend! Here are some pics of our trip!

Chicago

This past weekend we went to Chicago to see some friends. We had a great time! We didn't get to stay very long and we enjoyed ourselves so much we are headed back this weekend! I wasn't able to take many pictures, but this is my favorite one from the trip. It was taken while we were at the Lincoln Park zoo!

Gavin

Gavin has been so much fun lately. He has started so many new activies this September. He is now a Cubbie in Awana and he loves it. I was a little nervous that he wouldn't be able to learn the verses b/c he is a little young still. But, since Ryan and I are the awana commanders and there is no nursery during Awana, I had no other choice. It took us all week, and I do mean ALL week to learn our first verse - God loved us and sent His Son. But, he learned it. I about cried when he first said it. I was so proud! The picture is a little blurry. He would not sit still and it was taken with my phone.




He has also started attending BSF with me in the 2 and 3 year old class. If you don't know about Bible Study Fellowship, you really need to check it out. It is an interdenominational, International Bible Study. This year we are doing a study on the book of Matthew. Anyway, I was sitting down at the kitchen table this morning reading my Bible and answering my BSF questions and Gavin was outside playing on the porch. He kept on saying to me "what are you doing, mom?" and I would reply, " I am reading my Bible. " Well, finally after he had asked me a few times, he said to me, "I read my Bible too, Mamma!" So he asked me to put a chair out on the porch for him and I gave him his Bible and he really sat there and looked through it for quite awhile. Of course, I had a take a picture! It was so cute!

New House?

Ryan painted the house, with the help of his brother Jason, over the Labor Day weekend. It turned out so good! I love it. It looks like new siding was put up! I love my house, it is so cute! Here are the before and after pictures.

It's Potty Time

Well, this post goes out to Alicia who is in the midst of potty training as well! Gavin and I have been working hard at it for a few weeks now. He is doing really really well with only a few set backs. He still does not tell me when he has to go, but he holds it in until I take him. He definately has control over it, but I have to take the inititive or he'll have an accident. If I forget to take him, he tells me as it is happening! There have been quite a few yucky times over the last few weeks, but we have not had one overnight or naptime accident! Yeah for Gavin! I am so excited to be in this phase of life. I know it means my boy is growing up, but I am so ready for that. It is hard work and I am sweating most of the day. I feel like I can't leave the room or else he will go. I have been running around like mad trying to keep up with my chores while still keeping an eye on him. Yesterday we had a really good day. I knew he had to poop so I took his underwear off and started to tell him if he had to go to just sit on the potty and do it. A few min. later he ran to his potty, threw up the lip and did his deed all by himself. He was so excited. He kept on saying, "get my prize now!" It was so cute. I got a great deal on some wooded Thomas Tracks off of Craigs List and have been rewarding him with them. He LOVES them and they are just what he needs to motivate him. Anyway, this potty training stuff is hard work but I can see dollar signs in my head as I think of all the money I am saving on diapers. I wont EVER have to buy them for Gavin again! THAT is MY motivation!