Beilman Blog

Visa'd

2011-11-08T02:25:00.000-08:00

S.D.G.

Better Late Than...Never

2011-10-09T05:47:00.000-07:00

We're back in Vienna. Back Home.

Reunited with special stuffed animals and long-forgotten toys.

Yep, I'm pregnant.

Surprised.

Exhausted.

Unsatisfied cravings (Nacho Doritos)

Satisfied Cravings (McD's french fries?!)

Nauseous. (or Nosh as my sweet friend Chara says)

Belly is popping.

Maternity clothes & Baby stuff are long gone.

Great English-speaking doctor.

Thankful for unexpected blessings.

More updates to follow.

We'll catch up. Slowly :)

Hunterhaus - Beech Mountain, NC

2011-08-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

Our dear friends and teammates, the Hunters, graciously let us use their family home in Beech Mountain, North Carolina for a vacation. They told us, "it is our favorite place in the world". (These are our teammates in Vienna, so after that statement my expectations were pretty high...) True to their sales-pitch, it was spectacular. The vacation was filled with wonderful memories and highlights. Here are a few...

Relaxing on the hammock with my 3 cuddly boys

Campfires - including s'mores, banana tacos and just the smell of it all

The ropes course nearby at the Rec Center... we particularly were intrigued by the "taco" swing as we called it. I'm not even sure if this is what we were suppose to do, but our kids (mainly Calvin) LOVED it

Hiking on some beautiful trails
some fishing time too

And to add the cherry on top, we were joined by Dan's brother's family and his parents for a few days. It was amazing to see the kids play together and just enjoy sweet, treasured fellowship with our family.

We did a fun hike together and the kids deviated from the path into the creek for a good portion of the hike - it was hilarious to see them explore!

They all had such fun together!

We are SO grateful!

Dear Friends

2011-08-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

During August we took a bit of a marathon travel adventure. Here was the logistics:

Akron, Ohio to Winston-Salem, North Carolina

7 hour trip

Stayed the night with Dan's brother, sister-in-law and family then left the next afternoon to drive through the night to...

...to Lake Wales, Florida

11 hour trip

We stayed with Dan's parents for 4 days and enjoyed Tractor Rides, orange grove picking, mosquito swarms. Unfortunately, we don't have any picture of this. Our camera got lost (or maybe stolen...) on the next stage of our journey

...to Lecanto, Florida

2.5 hours

This is the place we called home for 5 years. Not just the place where our mail went, but the place we love and the community we still feel deeply grafted to. We stayed for a week with our dear friends the De Beers. They have 3 wonderful kiddos of similar ages and it was a treat to do life with them. A testament to their grace and generosity... after a week of us living with them, they asked if we would stay with them the next time we visited as well. Now THAT'S love and grace!

Dan was able to help lead worship at Seven Rivers Presbyterian Church (our previous home church). It was a joy to be able for him to minister after we've felt SO ministered to by them.

While there, we got to see many friends. There was (honestly) not enough time to see everyone we wanted to see. It was a beautiful reminder to me that in the Kingdom we'll have enough time. We felt love poured out on us and our kids. Just overflowing. How blessed we are.

One night our old small group got together for an evening of fellowship. It was wonderful to see all the kids swimming and playing together like no time had passed at all.

After Lecanto, we went back up to

...Winston-Salem, North Carolina

11 hour trip

Now this time we got to spend 4-5 days with Dan's brother and sister-in-law. Dan was able to lead worship at his brother's church, Redeemer Presbyterian. It's so funny because we've come to have some treasured relationships from this church. Do you remember our American friends that lived in Vienna for a semester while we were there? Well, they're from Redeemer. So we got to spend some lovely time with them and a student in their program that we came to adore as well.

The Giles are on the left

These are all our kiddos. You can probably pick out the Beilman's and by default the other three are the Giles' kiddos :)

And this was one of the Wake Forrest Students - Tiffany.
What a treasure to see her!

We also got to have some wonderful cousin/niece/nephew time. We're so blessed to have Wonderful Family! Our kids get along GREAT and it was such a joy to see them play so well together.

William adored playing with "Little Charlotte" (as he calls her)

...Beech Mountain, North Carolina

2.5 hour trip (1 week)

This needs to be it's own post I think. So I'll pick this one up later :) This was VACATION!

To...

...Akron, Ohio

8 hour trip

Ahh - at our temporary Farmhouse home... 3 1/2 weeks later. Home is an illusive word.

Move over Wiggles...

2011-08-07T20:05:00.000-07:00

We have 2 favorite kids CD's now. One is Slugs & Bugs by Andrew Peterson & Randall Goodgame (of which this video comes from). These songs are adored by our kids and we love to pass on that joy.

The other is a recent acquisition, Seeds of Cou rage (Vol 1) by the Seeds. (Thank you Rachel!) Dan will regularly break these out on the guitar and we'll have a living room mash-up. This is a video of the song. We mainly listen to the CD in the car, but there are some more great videos on youtube of some of their other songs.

Happy 7th Birthday Worthy!

2011-08-07T19:54:00.000-07:00

Last week, Worthy turned 7. We happened to be in Citrus County, Florida, so we offered him a Chuck E. Cheese party with a few of his dearly missed friends. It probably wasn't our first choice of how to have a Birthday party, but it worked out GREAT. The boys had a fun time and I didn't have to cook, clean or entertain.

Right before we left - hyped up on games, buzzing noises, pizza, lemonade, cake and ice cream - all the things that I will freely give out as a grandparent.

Cleveland Botanical Garden

2011-08-07T19:31:00.000-07:00

A month back, while we were still in Ohio, we took a quick trip to the Cleveland Botanical Garden on the trusted recommendation from my cousin and his wife. Generally, I'm not too into botanical things. Honestly. However, this was wonderful. Apart from being beautiful, it was super kid-friendly. One of our favorite parts was the Glasshouse filled with butterflies and beautiful flowers. This is William checking out the the telescope.

They also had some neat small animals and bugs. Here the kids are examining some roaches...

(curious minds... I've learned my lesson and did not freak out when I saw them...)

Worthy decided these were his two favorite flowers in the whole place. So we took pictures of these.

A lovely day. Highly recommended to anyone that doesn't enjoy nature.

Evil Eyes

2011-08-07T19:24:00.000-07:00

Calvin doing his Evil Eyes.

I was surprised to get this shot, because he always ends up with a huge smile - he just can't help it.

Thanks Leslie Ring for teaching him :)

Geek-Pride Flag Flier

2011-08-06T10:28:00.000-07:00

I was listening to NPR on Friday about this clip/interview. There are some interviews that just need to be seen. This was one of them. So cool. An Homage to our amazing Creator.

Here's the website for more info:

http://www.sciencefriday.com/videos/watch/10397

Camp Hemlock photo diary

2011-08-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

Worthy and I spent Wednesday through Saturday the week before last at Hemlock Wilderness Brigade Camp. My brother and his son have been able to go every summer for the last 4 years, and I had lamented that I wouldn’t be able to take Worthy when he came of age because we would be in Europe. But seeing as we were unexpectedly in the States, I took Worthy to the camp at which I had spent parts of seven summers growing up, including the entirety of three summers as junior staff. It had been 19 years since I was last there!

And it felt like it. How best to describe our 72 hours there? Through two conversations:

“So how are you liking camp?” I asked another father.

“It’s great. We’re having a lot of fun. It’s also…” he paused to search for the right word.

“Grueling?” I suggested.

“Yes, that’s the word.”

The second conversation is more of a monologue given to us just before meal-time by the one who oversees Father/Son week:

“A lot of dads ask me why we don’t have more free-time. The truth is, you get lots of free-time. From 10pm to 7am every day.”

Worthy did all of the activities with two other boys, one of whom is the son of an old friend of mine from Annapolis, Daniel Buckingham (on left):

And in 72 hours we did riflery, ...

...hiking, ...

... the low ropes course, ...

... crafts, ...

...slingshot, ...

...archery, ...

...lots of pool time, ...

...tomahawk (axe) throwing, ...

...ride in a M35 2 1/2 ton cargo truck:

...and model rocketry.

I did not get pictures of meal-time (with all the same rituals as 20 years ago), nightly campfire (with many of the same songs and skits), flag-raising and flag-lowering ceremonies, and the 100 degree heat on Thursday and the 108 degree heat on Friday. That is not a typo.

The degree to which I was exhausted is the same degree to which I had fun. This will be a memory with my son I will treasure for the rest of my life!

Recent reads

2011-07-28T13:05:00.000-07:00

Here's some recent reads...

The Unlikely Disciple

Kevin Roose

We really enjoyed this book. The humor, insight and outsider point-of-view were very interesting and thought provoking. We spent a good deal of time reading this out loud during car trips and definitely included some out loud laughing.

(Thank you Burge's for the recommendation... and the book!)

Hunger Games Trilogy

Suzanne Collins

So far, this was just read by me. It's in Dan's queue. This was recommended by the Annamae Giles - who's opinion I trust completely in all things Reading Related. It was hard to put down. I read all 3 books in about 1 week. Addictive and fun. Light-weight read. Found myself continually saying "Just one more chapter..."

Currently Reading:

Ender's Shadow

Orson Scott Card

Loving it. Read the Parallel Book first: Ender's Game. Love this story.

Golazo

2011-07-16T17:12:00.001-07:00

1.	golazo
	football/soccer expression referring to an awesomely amazing goal.

Worthy attended Grace Church's (Bath, OH) soccer camp a couple of weeks ago. A few days before it started, my sister-in-law, who coordinates the event, asked if I could be an emergency replacement for an assistant coach for one of the teams. Since I've never coached or played soccer before, the key word is obviously "emergency." However, it gave me a front-row seat to witness Worthy's heroics.

Monday through Thursday we spent working on skills and drills. Friday night was the tournament among the six teams. Worthy has never played in a game, so was new to all of the positions. He liked goalie the best, but required some personal coaching:

This is what I think was his favorite position:

Towards the end of the third and final game, Worthy was placed on offense on the right. He has never really played soccer, so the whole night he pretty much stayed planted right where he was assigned. He would move sometimes to make a mean slide tackle, but offense was fairly confusing to him, and the game just went by him from end to end while he stood there, no matter how much I encouraged him to move.

But then the ball was kicked to him in midfield by the goalie and there was nothing between him and the goal. He got the ball at his feet, dribbled all the way up the field, and slid the ball into the near corner. The assistant coach went nuts :) It ended up being the winning goal in a 4-3 match which clinched 3rd place for the evening.

Obviously he was inspired by Messi:

He glowed for the rest of the night and did not tire of mom and dad telling him all about how he scored his first goal.

Baptism in West Virginia

2011-07-15T13:13:00.001-07:00

A couple of weekends ago, my whole family traveled to be together for my dad's baptism in the Little Kanawha River in his home town of Grantsville, WV. Our whole family was gathered together - a gift in and of itself. My younger brother and his wife came up from Florida and many of my dad's sisters joined us as well.

Our Family

and

Just the Grandboys

This was at a family friend's home right on the river. This house used to belong to my father's family, then he purchased it and completely renovated it. It belongs in Better Homes & Gardens kind of remodeling. Just beautiful. From here, we went down to the River and my dad was baptized.

It was a lovely time - gospel filled and almost ended in a stoning (thanks to all the great rock skipping...)

Great day, great family, great food, great Gospel.

Will's Medical Adventures

2011-07-15T13:07:00.000-07:00

"Dan, I'm taking William to the ER," Jen breathlessly says.

"I'm on my way."

I was 20 minutes away when I hung up the phone, jumped in the car, and started racing from Wadsworth to Akron. I called back, because I had no idea why William would be needing a trip to the hospital. It turned out to be nothing severe; he had fallen on a rock and gashed his knee open. Eight stitches plus two weeks later, Will has this Voldemortian scar on his right knee:

One week after that first phone call, I get another. I'm at Worthy's soccer camp when Jen informs me that Will had pushed a rock waaaaaay up his nose. Fortunately, Dr. Emily, a good friend, agreed that we could bring him over her house. She pried it out, leaving us another souvenir of our summer in the States:

Farmhouse

2011-07-01T09:29:00.000-07:00

We've been in the States a little over one month now. In some ways it seems like we never left and in other ways it seems like we've been gone a long time. The transition back has been virtually seamless. God has gone before us in every step along the way here. He provided a place for us to stay - without us making even one phone call. We're staying in Akron, Ohio - near some of my family which has been a tremendous blessing. Instead of calling our temporary residence "home" we call it the Farmhouse. We're so thankful for this wonderful place. We have an expansive yard and a kitchen 3 times as large as the one in our apartment. (And for the sake of our Vienna Friends, I'll try not to stress our happiness over Air Conditioning...) The house is great and we've quickly turned it into a temporary home. Once again, we're amazed by the generosity of virtual strangers.

Home Sweet (temporary) Home

My last day of school: a photo diary

2011-06-17T15:46:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Dad thought he would take some photos of my last day of school. So, here we go...

...down the hall to the elevator...

...down the elevator...

...through the ground floor hallway...

...out the front door...

...up the hill...

...around the corner and down to the tram stop...

...here comes the "1"!...

...onto the Strassenbahn (I LOVE trains!)...

...underground...

...above ground...

...off the "1"...

...wait for the "6"...

...ride the "6" 2 stops...

...off the "6"...

...walk 4 blocks past the Turkish grocery...

...into the school and up the stairs...

...change into my house shoes...

...and greet Mr. Chris! He's pretty much the coolest person in the world. :)

...say goodbye to daddy...

...and spend most of my free-time with Sandro!

A group hug! My classmates will really miss me, so says Ms. Mary-Anne.

We call the playground "the terrace."

Our lunches are always very healthy. Surprisingly, we did not have soup this day.

I never nap during quiet time.

I've gotten very good at cleaning up.

Time to say goodbye. I would have liked to have said goodbye to Ms. Mary-Anne and Mr. Chris but they're in an important staff meeting.

But having heard that we left, they sprint down the stairs and won't let me leave without saying goodbye :)

New City Wien hymns

2011-06-05T14:46:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the last night New City Wien's band played together; I'll be heading to the States for the summer on Thursday, and Melissa, our clarinetist (bassist, really!) will be returning to California at the end of the month, so I made a ridiculously amateurish recording of the band playing one of our originals, a re-setting of Philipp Nicolai's "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern."

Here's another hymn, "Es ist das Heil uns kommen her" by Paul Speratus. It was Martin Luther's favorite, apparently. We recorded it during the worship service, and, wow, it looks like I'll need to invest in some better monitors because I completely destroyed the tempo at the beginning.

Books, lately

2011-05-28T02:09:00.000-07:00

Both of us had read this before, and is one of our all-time faves. We would place it in the sci-fi/fantasy pantheon of greats that would include Tolkien's magnum opus. Jen read it again in preparation for this year's release of the sequel:

Jen agrees with our friend Glenn Loughridge that Wise Man's Fear is as good if not better than Rothfuss' first book in the series. Both are in my queue, but first I had decided to read:

Do you know anything about what life would have been like around 1800 on a man-made island that served as a Dutch trading post adjacent to Japan that served as the world's only window into that closed, mysterious empire? Haha, nor did I. It's amazing what can be done with such a slender sliver of history; I highly recommend this historical fiction. If you come from a Reformed tradition, as I do, you will have an added degree of attachment to its central character, Jacob de Zoet, the Dutch bookkeeper confined to this island. (I also recommend listening to Fresh Air's interview with the author, David Mitchell.)

I just finished this 30 minutes ago. Wow. Two down, 19 to go, and I already deeply, deeply love the friendship between Lucky Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin which is at the center of the series. (You may remember them from the movie, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.)

Didn't finish it.

2011-04-26T08:54:00.000-07:00

I had been looking forward to taking Worthy camping for the first time, and also dreading it; whenever I've mentioned camping to him, the response was unwaveringly delivered in that post-toddler loud-and-high-pitched whine, "but III doooon't WWAAAANNNNTTT to gooooo caaammmpppiiinngggg!!!" Nevertheless, the day had to come to transition from Beilboyhood to Beilmanhood, and this lengthy Easter break provided the opportunity. Unfotunately, because I was so focused on one particular date (last night), I failed to check the weather forecast until 30 minutes before we were to leave. Rain! All night and the following day. Surely this would be 24 hours of misery!

Worthy enjoyed every minute of it! He never complained; on the contrary, he often remarked how good of a time we were having. And he loved sleeping in a sleeping bag.

We camped at Donaupark Camping Tulln, a short walk from the Danube and a short walk from the Danube, a short train ride away from Vienna.

Easter Markets

2011-04-18T06:48:00.000-07:00

So the Christmas Markets here were pretty cool. I think the Easter ones blow them away. We really enjoyed checking out the Easter eggs on view. These are real eggs, with the yolks blown out and hand painted. They're amazing. I did not have kids with me and think they will not be allowed to go until the age of 16 or so.

Cute kids pics

2011-04-18T06:37:00.000-07:00

Just some recent cute pics of our crazy boys...

This is Worthy's first lost tooth.

He's recently lost his 2nd bottom tooth as well.

Will - love this kid!

Calvin - peeking through the dump truck

Happy baby squeals.

Our First Visitor

2011-04-18T06:03:00.000-07:00

This month, we had our first visitor! It was Miriam Storm, a delightful woman we've known since she was a teenager. We were thrilled to see her. We hit some sites with her - she was ever so patient with our kids (and us!). We've held off on doing much Sight Seeing around here. We figured we'd get visitors occasionally and it might be fun to experience some of those things with them. With Miriam we got to tackle two great ones. The first was Schonbrunn Gardens.

We walked the grounds, got everyone tired and finished it off with some ice cream.

The second place we visited was the Belvedere which has an amazing art collection. (No pictures... sorry)

It also houses the infamous painting by Gustav Klimt "The Kiss". The painting was much grander and beautiful than I anticipated. It definitely wasn't a disappointment like The Mona Lisa... Miriam is getting her Masters in Art History at St. Andrews (in Scotland) - so we had a very insightful "tour guide".

Random-Lite Return

2011-03-24T08:15:00.001-07:00

OK, OK - it's been a long, long time. I'll save all the excuses and just get down to business. Here are some random pictures that I "discovered" as of late. There are many stories, updates that aren't attached to pictures, but I'll save those for later posts (they will come). Pictures help me to not be too verbose and today I'm tired and consequently not feeling so chatty :)

This is William with our downstairs neighbors. And yes... this was a couple months ago - hence the box pile behind them. Said pile is now gone :) Although we have plenty of boxes still not unpacked.

For Christmas I bought Dan tickets to the Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna State Opera) to see La Boheme. It was amazing.

This was during intermission, so it doesn't look packed, but it was sold out - and rightfully so. The opera was in Italian, but the libretto was on a small screen in front of us (everyone could choose their native language) so you could understand what they were singing... for us non-Opera experts.

And lastly, this is just a picture of William after dessert recently.

Ice cream bars - can't go wrong there.

Boy Oh Boy

2011-02-05T22:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was beautiful! We joined our teammates at the playground near our apartments for some Fun in the Sun... yes, the Sun was out! Everyone enjoyed themselves tremendously. Stacey took these pics of the kids. She's amazing!

This is Calvin in his Stroller Cocoon which we all covet. It is so warm and cuddly and puts the Snuggi to shame.

Ice Skating lessons

2011-02-02T13:13:00.000-08:00

So all those years of watching Figure Skating have finally come in handy. I became Worthy's ice skating teacher. We headed down to the Rathaus where they've set up an amazing Ice Skating rink. Just Worthy & Mamma - together for a little adventure.

Adjacent to this, there is a smaller rink set up where kids can learn to skate. It's a rink made of plexiglass (I think) which allows the kids to skate and the adults (in your shoes instead of skates) to assist them as they learn. They also had these great little plastic penguins that the kids could hang onto for stabilizing as they learn.

Worthy was SO brave and did a fantastic job! He took a few tough spills, but stuck it out. He was determined to get it. Midway through, we took a much-needed Kinderpunch break (Gluwein for me...).

By the end of our time he was skating around the rink (without holding onto the walls) and by the end of the day it was me who fell down and couldn't get up again.

Worn out

2011-02-02T13:04:00.000-08:00

William has recently entered the phase where he is in between needing and not needing a nap. So it makes for some sleeping on-the-go.

Here's Will asleep with his treasured Coot (short for Blan-ket)

This was after a day of being at IKEA. He fell asleep in the car and we carried him up to the apartment in his car seat - asleep the whole time.

Our Talented Teammate

2011-01-21T22:33:00.000-08:00

Our teammate Stacey is SO talented at taking pictures. Isn't that a useful talent?! We're SO grateful for her art - how she always captures moments on her camera and that we sometimes are even her subjects :). Just wanted to share a recent post she did with some awesome pics of William.

Thanks Stacey!!!

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

2011-01-21T22:20:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday was BEAUTIFUL! It was amazing weather. For one day, it felt like Spring had arrived. Don't get me wrong - we don't mind the winter or the cold (too much). But that one day of reprieve was delightful. We walked to a park in our neighborhood and took full advantage of the gorgeous weather.

We call this the Bed Swing.

The seat on this slide was slick and William kept slipping off. I, happily, helped him.

And you see that... No hats:)

Home Sweet (Unsettled) Home

2011-01-21T21:33:00.000-08:00

Ah - we're home. Very unsettled, but it feel like home. It's a disaster zone here, but our disaster zone. Toys are all over the place, but they're our toys that we're stepping on. There is something so comforting about the familiar. For the last two months, we've been living in the unfamiliar. Not being able to understand signs, cooking instructions, Worthy's school work, riding trams (instead of driving), listening to voicemail messages in Deutsch, washing our clothes with instructions I don't understand, adapting to different customs of not wearing shoes inside, having a phobia of floors, and being "corrected" (in German) by not-so-well meaning old ladies on what to do with children.

In the midst of this transition, being home seems familiar and normal (notice the Hot Wheels cars in the corner...)

Some of the reasons we're SO thankful for our new apartment:

The windows - we get tons of sunlight (when there is sunlight to be gotten...)
Our first floor neighbor is a grocery store! Yes, we live above a grocery store! This is a HUGE deal because we generally go to the store every other day. Last night, fifteen minutes before dinner, I realized I had forgotten to get salad. I was able to quickly zip down and pick up some lettuce.
Quiet (kind of). Our apartment building use to be an old factory building before they converted it into apartments. We have these super high ceilings and really think walls and floors. So we don't hear our neighbors - above, below or beside us. We can't hear the cars or sirens. The only thing we hear (when everyone is sleeping) is peace & quiet. It feels very un-city like. It's very much an oasis.
Location, location, location! We're just around the corner from our teammates. We're most grateful for this. Our lives have been interwoven with theirs and I can't imagine being any further away than we are now. We're also very close to our church too!
The elevator - it's large enough to get our stroller onto and the boys are always eager to "Press K" (Keller - our exit floor... cellar in English).
Easy Access - We live just around the corner from our S-bahn (Tram) stop. This gives us quick access to anywhere in the city and equally makes our home easily accessible for others to visit.

We're so grateful & thankful to be home.

Our Apartment Update

2011-01-07T18:37:00.000-08:00

Within a couple days of arriving here we found a wonderful apartment. It was not one we had planned on looking at. Initially, we thought that we would need to have a terrace or balcony to smooth the transition to City Life living. Upon looking at some apartments with Said Balcony/Terrace, we quickly realized that our wish turned into more of a nightmare. We were both filled with anxiety over the safety of the kids - and Dan and I (generally) aren't big worriers. Our friend, Brad, had set up an appointment for us to look at another apartment that (honestly) I wasn't too wild about before this Balcony Realization because it was missing Said Feature. Needless to say, we instantly fell in love. First off, it's just around the corner from our friends and teammates and just a couple tram stops away from our church. We're also thrilled to be living above Hofer (the European Aldi).

It's on the ground floor and we're a couple stories up on the second floor. We also love the ceilings. It's an old factory building, so it has these wonderfully tall ceilings.

And we're SO grateful for the space! The living room & dining room areas are larger than we expected to find and we're excited about that. We've already found that we have people over often - which makes us all the more pleased that we'll be able to continue hosting friends.

When we left the US, we shipped some of our stuff over here. It was originally suppose to arrive on December 24th.

As of today, we still haven't received it. We've been given a tentative date of arrival as Tuesday, January 11th. Either way, we'll be out of the our friend's apartment on Friday, January 15th, because they'll be returning from Florida!

We're thrilled with the new place and look forward to making it home.

Woots of 2010

2011-01-02T23:05:00.000-08:00

This list may expand if we think of things forgotten, but if they're forgotten maybe they shouldn't make the list in the first place...

Favorite Books:
To Change the World by James Davison Hunter

This is Dan's favorite non-fiction book of the decade... seriously.
Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

...with reservations, but the epic-ness of it pushed it over

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff

In the middle of now, but really interesting. Not your Elizabeth Taylor version.

Favorite Podcasts:

In our Time with Melvyn Bragg

BBC History Magazine

Favorite Movies (DVD):

28 Days Later
Sunshine
Both of these are Sci-Fi and both star Cillian Murphy.

Favorite Movie (Theater):
Inception - Dan
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Eins - Jen

I don't think we got to see a movie together in the theater this past year...

Dan's Favorite Shows (Live):
English Premier League Soccer

Favorite Show (DVD):
Mad Men
The Choir

Favorite Restaurants:
Rudy's (Vienna)

Schnitzel perfection and a block away from our apartment. If you visit, this is where we'll take you.
Crave (Akron)

Our anniversary dinner place. A real treat.
Ms. Julie's Kitchen (Vegan, Akron)

A block from my parents house. I like meat and didn't miss it at all.
Jalapenos (Annapolis)

We went here for a date night when we were recently in Annapolis. It was a first time visit for us and a bit daring. We have MANY favorite restaurants in Annapolis, so trying out a new place instead of a relying on a known entity was a bit risky. We're SO glad we took the risk. It was amazing and made me (finally) a fan of creme brulee.

Calvin's 1! The World Parties!

2010-12-31T23:44:00.000-08:00

So much to celebrate in one little day!

Today our sweet baby turned One! This year has flown by. It's hard to believe Calvin's only been in our family for one year - it seems like he's always been a part of us. I love seeing his personality develop. Already, I enjoy his easy going personality, his love for the outdoors, his quickness to laugh, his adorable cleft chin, his love for his brothers and his love of all things bread and those big blue eyes!

We celebrated with some chocolate cake.

which was a big hit!

Earlier in the evening, we went downtown to check out all the other people celebrating Calvin's birthday on New Year's Eve. The lights and live music were amazing.

Bundled up, enjoying the night.

Since we've been here, people have been telling us that New Year's Eve would be CRAZY. We kept hearing there would be lots of fireworks all over the city. Honestly, I thought this was a bit exaggerated. I was SO wrong. We began hearing fireworks around 7pm and then they continued mostly non-stop until about 1:30am. We're temporarily staying in our teammates apartment, while they're in Florida. They live on the top floor and have access to the rooftop. Their neighbors below us invited us to welcome in the New Year with them. So, they joined us on the top of the building with a bottle of champagne. Here is a shot of the panoramic view, about 15 minutes after the New Year.

FYI - private fireworks are illegal here.

Hilarious.

Afterwards, we enjoyed some homemade Gluehwein, homemade Austrian cake and great conversation with our new friends downstairs.

Happy New Year and Happy Birthday Calvin!

IKEA Creativity

2010-12-30T12:07:00.000-08:00

We've spent a lot of time at IKEA over the last week. The first time we went, we didn't realize that William could go into the kid's play room. Ever the creative kid, he came up with ways to entertain himself. This was in the Rug Section.

Technical Museum in Vienna

2010-12-30T07:31:00.001-08:00

This past week we needed to get out of the apartment and have some fun together - as a family. It's been quite cold this week, so thankfully there was an indoor option. On the recommendation from a friend, we checked out The Technical Museum in Vienna. We were surprised to hear that they had a great children's exploration and play area.

You could build the top portion of this house with foam bricks. Of course, it didn't stay built for long.

They also had a large fire truck with (quiet) siren & lights.

Of course, William was enthralled.

Something for everyone...

Then there was this super cool impression wall. This is Worthy leaning into the wall. Reminds me of Han Solo frozen being carbon froze.

Christmas, Christmas Time is Here

2010-12-26T10:49:00.000-08:00

Our first Christmas in Vienna was relaxing & worshipful. We woke up (unfortunately a bit earlier than hoped for...) and made some French toast. After gobbling that up, the kiddos were ready to begin present opening. They each opened up a few gifts and thankfully, proceeded to be entertained for the next hour or two.

Soon after, we had a new friend, Julie, from our church and her American friend, Christian, who lives in Graz, Austria come over and spend the day with us. It was such a tremendous blessing to have them here. Not only because they're both delightful people, but also because Julie volunteered to cook dinner. The hostess in me was mortified to accept her gracious offer, but the frazzled mother in me was so appreciative and thrilled - the latter side won out. It was so freeing to be able to set my pride aside, which doesn't come easy to me, and be a gracious receiver.

We all finished opening presents, had a lovely meal overflowing with wonderful conversation. And to cap off the evening, we sang Christmas carols together. Julie & Christian are both professionally-trained musicians on violin and viola respectively.

(I had a baby on my lap during filming...sorry...)

And we got another wear out of Worthy's "My First Christmas" jumper.

This was the first year in awhile that I wasn't pregnant or had a newborn during Christmas. I didn't have the easiest pregnancies and my memories are still rather fresh. There's something about pregnancy that really drives home the Incarnation to me. Dwelling on the reality of God being made Flesh completely blows my mind. Thank you Emmanuel, "God with Us".

Hoping your Christmas and holiday was filled with the reality that God (is) with Us.

Worthy's Weihnachten Program

2010-12-24T07:15:00.000-08:00

This past week, Worthy had his Christmas Program at his new school. I was a bit wary of him starting school prior to the Christmas program and feeling left-out because of the rehearsal they would have already done. Well, no fear, they hadn't started any rehearsal until 2 days before the program. It was a fun night and I was thrilled to see him feeling comfortable enough to be a bit of a ham.

It was also neat to see him recite a verse.

I was also able to meet some of his new friends and classmates. He seems to be fitting in well, despite his lack of Deutsch. His teacher told me that all the kids want to sit with him - they like to speak English with him. And he seems to be enjoying school. I keep saying "seems" because he doesn't talk a ton about school. He's never been very excited about recounting the events of his day - either here or in Florida. However, we're all really excited about the Christmas break ahead. It's been a busy adjustment and we all need a bit of time to relax and have fun together.

Christmas Eve-scursion

2010-12-24T05:09:00.000-08:00

Today has actually been just the first day we've had to slightly relax and take in some sights. So I took the oldest two boys out to ride some trains (Will and Worthy's favorite activity) and see some things I've wanted to see.

I went to look at the Looshaus (built 1911) which I had read about in Paul Hofmann's The Viennese. I remember reading how scandalous it was; per his belief that architecture should be devoid of most/all ornamentation, he designed this building to be built directly across from the imperial Hofburg palace, which, as you can imagine, has quite a few "ornaments."

The Looshaus

The Hofburg

We took the tram across town to see the Hundertwasserhaus. As quirky as it is, it seemed to me to fit the urban fabric better than Loos' monolith.

We continued on the "1" to the Prater, a huge park that was once the Habsburgs' private Imperial hunting grounds. (There is a giant Ferris Wheel in the Prater on which was filmed a scene from Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise.)

Nicknames of Vienna's Most Beloved Musicians of All-Time

2010-12-22T13:03:00.000-08:00

"Wolfy"

"Wiggy"

"Jo-Jo"

"Junior"

"The Hoff" *

*photo taken just outside our apartment building

Happy 3rd Birthday William!

2010-12-21T12:41:00.000-08:00

Today William turned 3! On one hand, it's hard to imagine he's only been in our lives for 3 years - it seems like he's always been part of our family. And on the other hand, it's inconceivable to me that he is already 3 years old.

We spent a wonderful day together - doing all the things that William enjoys most. First that meant, going outside. He's a Florida-boy by birth, but he's adapted quickly to this record-breaking winter in Vienna. Secondly, it involved riding a tram - which he also loves!

This morning we headed to the Schönbrunn Christkindlmarkt.

There we basically did some window shopping and enjoyed some warm beverages. William really loved the Kinderpunsch.

After that he got to take a ride on the Polar Express Kiddie Train.

Sidenote... this is Calvin all dressed up for a morning on the town...

In the evening, we celebrated with some cake. Lindsay (our teammate & friend) introduced us to these crazy candles. They were a huge hit!

And of course - the presents. He loved his Big Truck!

Cookie Helpers

2010-12-21T12:24:00.000-08:00

This week we did some Christmas cookie baking. I'm not quite sure WHY, because we're inundated with cookies and sweets as it is. For some reason, at some point in time, this seemed like a good idea. And we honestly had a fun time. The boys loved doing the cookie cutters and the sprinkles.

They worked together really well - taking turns with the sprinkles and the cookie cutters. It was nice to hear them team-up. But of course the best part, was enjoying the fruits of our labor.

And the worst part... cleaning up :)

Kinder Hospital Visit

2010-12-18T12:21:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, a group of us from church, went to a nearby children's hospital to sing Christmas carols and bring some presents to the kids. Throughout the day, I was debating on whether or not to go and bring the kids or if this should be an event that Dan should solo. It had been snowing most of the day and I wasn't excited about trudging through the snow with the stroller - getting on and off trams (some with steps...) As the departure time neared, everyone seemed in a rather decent mood, so I decided to go along and bring the Boy Crew. I'm so glad we all went!

We went to a smaller hospital in the area - one that's usually overlooked during the holiday season. We sang some Christmas carols (with some lovely violin & guitar accompaniment).

And incidentally, they love American Christmas carols here. It's what you hear when you're in stores, etc. Funny, eh? We also did a wonderful story reading time (our friend that read it was so good, I was entranced, even though I didn't understand the words) and passed out some presents.

And of course, we had some dancing. Well I should say, William did some dancing. And in typical William fashion, he had the kids, parents & nurses grinning from ear to ear.

(Pictures taken by Daniel K.)... I had forgotten my camera as we walked out the door.

New Bookmarks

2010-12-15T08:40:00.000-08:00

Dan has the camera now, so I can't upload any pictures. So, I thought I'd do a quick post about our new Bookmarked Websites. (If you open these up in Google Chrome or Microsoft Explorer, they automatically translate it from Deutsch to English...)

Google Translate - I basically use this all the time. To translate paperwork or to interpret a note from Worthy's teacher. I type in the message and it spits out the English.
WienerLinien - This is the site for the public transportation in the city. It's been tremendously helpful. We just type in our destination address and it lets us know which U-bahn (metro) and S-bahn (tram) lines to take. A true lifesaver.
SCS - Shopping Centre Sud. Enough said... Tis the Season, eh? :)
Weather.com - Ok, so this isn't a new bookmark, but we've changed the location and we actually check it since the forecast is no longer "82F and sunny with a 20% chance of rain". For us there has been a difference between manageable cold and don't-go-out cold.
New City Wien - This is our church's website address. And we've actually had a busy week with church events, etc. (hoping to blog more about that shortly).
IKEA - A great place for Apartment furniture!
Freecycle - Believe it or not, there is actually a Freecycle for Vienna! As I type, Dan is out picking up a FREE lamp, clock radio and mixer. Tomorrow we've arranged to get a wardrobe and some more lamps! Yeah!

Vinter Vonderland

2010-12-04T13:11:00.000-08:00

We had another great day today. We're still in process of acclimating to the time difference. I had to actually wake everyone up at 9am today - unprecedented before this trip - with the hopes that they'd get to bed at a decent hour. It's 10pm here now, so the "plan" seems to be working... we'll see how the night goes.

We're beginning to feel comfortable with navigating around the city and using public transportation. Yesterday I escaped from the apartment (and the kids) on an adventure to find a European cord attachment for my computer. I was going nuts without my calendar. I was able to figure out how to take the tram to the U-Bahn (Vienna's subway system) and go to Saturn (sort of a Best Buy/Buy More kind of store). One of the things I was worried about was exiting off the U-bahn and going in the wrong direction of the store. But as the train pulled to a stop, I saw a big advertising sign with an arrow and the store name. It's little things like this that remind me that God hears and answers those silent prayers that I often throw up haphazardly. It's great to remember that He's in the details of my life. And this morning Dan got to go out running around the city. Maybe he'll blog about that later.

Later this afternoon, we took the kids out to the Rathaus Christkindlmarkt. It was a madhouse - jam packed with peeps.

The kids took a pony ride and Dan took them on a kiddie train ride. Btw, Worthy has his hat in his hand... he just took it off for the picture.

After that we went to a gathering with some new friends. And afterwards, we went into downtown to see some of our new friends doing Christmas Carols.

It was right near St. Stephen's Cathedral. The lights around the Square were gorgeous and made me ready to go out and get a tree. We had a great time enjoying some holiday singing and hot chocolate. And William especially loved it. After all, he is our "Party in a Box". Seriously, he was dancing most of the time we were there, with occasional breaks for cocoa or water - gotta refuel. He even had a sweet Asian woman take his photo :)

Kiddie Fun

2010-12-03T12:15:00.000-08:00

Worthy is generally a Florida-boy. He's acclimated to the heat there. So we were a bit unsure of how he would respond to the snow, cold and slush that we've come to. He's done great - as have William & Calvin too. Our goal for the first couple weeks, apart from adjusting to the time difference and finding a place to live was to help the boys fall in love with their new home. Here are some things we've done the last few days.

On Monday evening, we went over to a Christmas Market at Karlsplatz. There are Christkindlmarkts all over the city. They all vary a little bit in terms of what the sell or offer. The one we went to had many fun activities aimed at kids.

We all enjoyed some nice warm drinks

There was a cute train ride that both Worthy & William got to enjoy

They also got to take pony rides around the square.

Before William went to bed that night he said, "I rode a pony". It was wonderful to hear!

Another highlight: Cheerios. Go figure. Some things are unpredictable.

Dan & Brad took Worthy & William sled riding today. There is a small hill right around the corner in a nearby park. They had a great time.

Trip to Vienna

2010-12-02T20:44:00.000-08:00

Our trip to Vienna turned out to be more eventful than we had planned. It was an exhausting trip, filled with missed & delayed flights, lost baggage, a few tantrums, record snowfalls and not much sleep, but all this was buffered by God-given grace & patience in the midst of some un-fun moments.

Our flight left from Orlando on Sunday at 5pm... or so we thought. I had checked the departure times a few days prior and in my mind it was suppose to be 5pm. It wasn't until our drive there (in Inverness) that we triple-checked and realized the flight left at 8:40pm. This was not the end of the world. We thought this would give us ample opportunity to arrive early, grab some dinner and relax and let the kids run around and burn some energy prior to takeoff. Dan's parents drove us to the airport (they drove both of their cars up to take us!). As we arrived and began to unload our bags we realized that our stroller tire was flat (not just a patchable hole, but the tube needed replacing). This was a devastating blow. All our plans rested on this stroller. It was our only way of navigating all our dependents and carry-ons (including a car seat & a guitar) through our layover at Frankfurt Airport. Thankfully we had arrived early! After much searching, Dan & his dad found a spare tube for our stroller tire, inflated it and got the stroller working - woohoo!! We still had a bit of time, so Dan's parents got permission to come to the gate with us. They were a tremendous help with the carry-on luggage & boys.

Our flight took off a little late, but nothing too disconcerting. An hour into the flight, we had some dinner and finally they turned off the lights. Our kids are usually asleep by 8:00pm, but they did a great job hanging in there. They got to enjoy some shows. William was very happy to watch Toy Story 3.

Generally the flight was pretty good. Worthy was amazing and slept most of the time. William had a couple meltdown episodes. Calvin slept pretty well too. Neither Dan or I got much sleep. Maybe an hour or so.

We arrived in Frankfurt a little late, but not too bad. It was neat to land and see all the snow on the ground. However, when we landed, the plane didn't taxi up to the terminal, but parked on the tarmac - which we didn't realize until we exited the plane doors. We didn't have any of our winter gear on. It was conveniently packed in an easily accessible carry-on... which is not so convenient when we were at the top of the STAIRS to head to the tram to take us to the terminal. At this moment, I'm carrying Calvin, a diaper bag, a CARS (the movie) backpack and a rolling carry-on bag. I'm also assisting William and overseeing Worthy who himself is carrying a bag. Dan is loaded up with the car seat, guitar, and (2) laptop carrying cases. At the door of the plane, looking down these icy, slick, metal stairs, I decide to drop my carry-on & Worthy's and grab William's hand to assist him down the stairs. I'm not quite sure HOW Dan managed to grab the 2 additional bags I left up there, but he eventually showed up on the tram. However, the stroller was nowhere to be found. We were suppose to pick it up in Frankfurt at the "gate" so we could use it during our quick layover.

After our 20 minute tram ride from the plane to another terminal, we need to transport our kids and all our bags (sans stroller) through passport control, security and to our next flight (which was a TREK!). This was arduous. Seriously. My arm was aching from carrying Calvin, who isn't a large 11 month old. After our 25 minute haul through the airport, we finally arrive at our gate and have missed our flight. Augh! Thankfully the man behind the desk speaks excellent English and was exceptionally nice as well. He booked us on a flight leaving for Vienna in a couple of hours AND secured (2) strollers from the airport for us to use. We made our way over to our new gate, found a cart on the way to load our stuff upon and kindly was helped by another airport worker to bypass the area where they block carts from entering into the gate waiting area.

Our flight ended up being grossly delayed, but thankfully not cancelled, like many other flights were. We found an out-of-the-way spot on the floor to crash and wait the rest of our 4 hours. The boys did great! Calvin slept some, Will & Worthy played with Transformers & colored and eventually we got the DVD player out and Alvin & the Chipmunks worked their magic.

William & I were able to get a much needed nap as well.

Finally we lined up to board the plane. We had many kind people offer to help us with our bags and one nice lady even gave the kids a candy bar while we waited. This time on our tram ride to the airplane (waiting on the tarmac) we had on our winter coats. As we got seated and adjusted the pilot announced that they would start serving meals because we were going to have an hour and a half wait before we could get de-iced and take off. Augh! Oh, and the bathrooms weren't working, so if they couldn't get those fixed while we wait then we'd have to disembark and find another plane. Double Augh! Thankfully, they got it fixed and off we headed to Vienna. This leg we flew on Austrian Airlines. The flight attendants were wonderful. They brought the kids toys during our long wait and really went overboard to accomodate us. Before we reached cruising height the kids and I were all sleep.

Shortly, we landed in Vienna and were welcomed at the gate by Brad & Herbert who came and helped us with our bags & kids. At baggage claim we met up with sweet Lindsay. They had all spent the day at the airport following our delays.

Our first pictures in Vienna - waiting for luggage (and a bit overtired)

Our last hiccup was losing a stroller seat. We filed a claim at the airport and it has since been returned to us. All in all it was an exhausting trip, but filled with kindness and helpfulness from strangers. Throughout our 28 hour trip, God gave patience and perseverance to each of us. We were both SO impressed and amazed at Worthy's helpfulness, patience and kindness. He was exceedingly helpful and we couldn't have pulled it off without him. Thank you God for a SAFE arrival and seeing your kindness to us in the midst of some crazy circumstances.

Thanksgiving, A to Z

2010-11-26T21:47:00.000-08:00

We are grateful that three days before moving to Vienna we were able to share Thanksgiving with the Beilmans in Lake Wales.

One of our Thanksgiving traditions is going through the alphabet in order and telling each other what we're thankful for that begins with each letter. We take turns, so usually each person gets 5 or 6 things to share. Jen and I forgot to do it this year until our ride home from my parents' house in Lake Wales, so it was just the two of us alternating letters. This year, we are thankful for

America

the Bond Jen feels with the boys

Chris and Char

our Dads

Earth

Fox Soccer Channel

the Gospel

Mrs. Huey

Ice Cream

John Worthy

King Jesus

Love

our Moms

our faithful Nissan Sentra

Dr. Old

Pizza nights

moments of Quiet

Rest

our Siblings

Timing

Vienna

World Cup 2010

Xrays that showed Jen’s broken toe wouldn’t need surgery

You

uninterrupted Zzzzz’s

ALVIN!!!!!!!!

2010-11-01T17:33:00.001-07:00

On Halloween we went to our church, Seven Rivers, and participated in Trunk or Treat. The boys dressed up as The Chipmunk's: Alvin, Simon & Theodore. This was Worthy's wonderful idea... although he arrived at it only after I scrapped Anakin Skywalker & Darth Vader.

The costumes were super easy to assemble. From Goodwill I was able to pick up a (ladies) red turtleneck and a red hat. Big Lots - Simon's classes. Walmart - yellow felt for the "A". Lastly, I had trouble finding a blue turtleneck that would be long enough for Worthy. I happened to run into Bealle's Outlet on a quick recommendation from my parents. I came across a Men's 5XL. It was perfect! I had to do a lot of hemming, etc., but was thrilled (just check out the neck on him...).

Notice William's face. I drew one whisker on him and that was all he wanted.

Truck or Treat was awesome! There were tons of kids and great trunks. This was our favorite. Can you guess the theme??

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

The kiddos got some sweet loot. We loved hearing William say "Twick or Tweet".

And afterwards, we even capped off the night with doing a little bit of door-to-door in our own neighborhood. Just a wonderful night!

Pumpkin Carving

2010-10-27T18:39:00.001-07:00

I love pumpkin carving. This year Worthy was eager to make a jack o'lantern. He did not want a cute pumpkin, but more of a scary one. He designed the pumpkin and Daniel executed the drawing.

Dan goofing around with the Pumpkin Guts

William doing some investigative work

Calvin & I kicking back... notice Calvin's "smile"

Our 2 superheroes getting impatient

(Thanks Sweet Mandy for the capes - they play with them all the time!!)

Nice job Dad!

Terrible Twos

2010-10-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

Despite these pictures, William is our most compassionate, tender-hearted kid. He has a very gentle soul. I also like to call him our "Party in a Box". Everything is fun & silly with him. The other day he came out with his boots on and became frustrated about something or another (I forget what...). He started throwing a tantrum and the camera was handy, so instead of disciplining him, I documented the moment. All was resolved quickly.

To finish on a sweeter note... we absolutely love Sweet William. He's so quick to resolve issues and get on with having fun and enjoying life.

Biscuit Fun

2010-10-27T18:23:00.001-07:00

Calvin has just begun to snack on Biter Biscuits.

And he really likes them.

America's Next Top Model?

2010-10-27T18:14:00.000-07:00

These pics just cracked me up. Before school one morning, it was a bit chillier than normal, so Worthy wore his coat. He also had his new watch on. I asked to take a picture of him. He was very cooperative, particularly because he was eager to show off his watch. Here are some on his creative poses showing off his Hot Wheels Timepiece.

Finally a Keeper :)

Moving Sale

2010-10-07T18:11:00.000-07:00

So, we had our Moving Sale. We had SO much stuff that we sold. We woke up at 5am on Saturday to get things set up outside. We advertised on Craiglist and put up signs. We were a bit apprehensive as to whether or not all of this work was going to pay off. At 7am, the people began to swoop in. I had wonderful intentions of taking some pictures of the whole thing set up, but it was so hopping that I never had a minute to grab the camera. It was a madhouse, not unlike this. It was a smashing success. We sold items that we never dreamed anyone would ever want. Among some of the things to go: dining room table, countless baby clothes, infant car seat & stroller, American flag, old computer monitors, etc. Here's a picture (before setup) of some of the things piled up in a room. It's taken me weeks (maybe even months) of organizing, sorting & cleaning. In addition to this we had our garage nearly full of stuff we put out too.

We feel much, much lighter.

Teammate Adventure

2010-10-02T17:42:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, we spent the weekend with our teammates, The Hunters. They're currently in Florida on Home Ministry Assignment. We met at the Cocoa Beach for the weekend with our families. We were thrilled to see them and have a chance for Worthy to have some bonding time with their kids.

Disclaimer: One of the things I LOVE is that Stacey is a wonderful photographer. I took few pics that weekend, relying on her skills. These are all her pics.

This is Dan & I with Brad & Stacey. Notice Brad's big guns in this pic... cough, cough :)

William loves the ocean.

Abby is WONDERFUL with babies and I couldn't have been happier to hand Calvin off for a bit.

Levi introduced Worthy to boogie boarding.

I love this picture of Dan & Will

One of the other fun events was "playing" shuffleboard. Our kids were just thrilled to push the puck around indiscriminately.

All-in-all, a wonderful trip with wonderful friends.

Love this Baby

2010-09-29T17:21:00.000-07:00

First off, I'm trying to catch up. It's been a busy month. Preparing for our move to Vienna and raising 3 kiddos has been a bit crazy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. So, here's a glimpse of our life over the last month... yes, it really has been a whole month since my last post. (Blogger guilt has set in.)

I must say, we really, really just love this little guy. Honestly, I don't think an easier, more laid back baby ever existed. I can say this joyfully (not pridefully) because as a mother of 2 older boys, I realize there is nothing I did to earn this Easy Guy. It's just who he is.

Thankfully, he's not crawling yet. He does an Army Crawl periodically, but he has to be really motivated. One of the things that he will crawl to is cords. He's enamored with cords - go figure.

And I love this picture because I actually caught a cute smile, as opposed to his silly posing smiles.

Cleaning House

2010-09-26T04:19:00.000-07:00

We've had some great success with Ebay & Craig's List lately. We've sold quite a few things as we begin paring down our possessions to head to Vienna. Here are a some of the items we've

unloaded:

A bedroom set consisting of a bed, nightstand, dresser, mirror and armoire

A train table

A stroller accessory for an infant car seat

A casserole dish

We'll be doing a BIG moving sale next weekend. Hoping that it will be a HUGE success!

Rubber Ducky

2010-09-26T04:14:00.001-07:00

Calvin LOVES taking baths. Sadly enough, he doesn't get them nearly enough (or as long) as he would like. The other night was spent a good, long while in the tub.

And I must say, I'm not sure who enjoyed it more.

School Open House

2010-09-26T03:59:00.001-07:00

We went to Worthy's Open House at school and were reminded (yet again) with how pleased we are that he is at his school. He adores his teacher, likes his friends and really seems to be well adapted to his kindergarten class. He took us on a tour of his classroom and I think he really liked being the expert.

Last week, his job was Weather Helper. He's decided that is his favorite job... watch out Al Roker :)

Worthy's Foray into Photography

2010-09-13T11:59:00.000-07:00

Worthy has begun to take interest in our camera. In the past, other than seeing the view screen, he hasn't been too keen on cameras. That all seemed to change a couple weeks ago. He's been very excited to line up his toys and take pictures of them. Here is some of his finest work :)

Go-Go's on display

These are his Battleforce 5 guys.

He began by taking picture of them grouped, then he proceeded to line each guy up next to the car (those didn't turn out so well...)

Not the greatest picture, but "E" for Effort :)

Messy Messy Males

2010-09-06T09:40:00.000-07:00

I'm perpetually cleaning up messes. Always. It seems. A spilled cup of milk, toys off the floor, diapers, toys, leftover sandwich crumbs and more toys. We've had a couple of days filled with messes that I decided to catch on camera.

Earlier in the afternoon, I was making some homemade bread. Hence the flour cannister on the counter. It was rising and I kept the cannister out because I'd have to knead it again. (You already see where this is going...). Well William got up on the bar, found a handy plastic spoon and began to play in the flour cannister. The mess doesn't show up too well because of the color of our countertop. I should have gotten a picture of our wooden floors.

The next day, I made some French toast (which was real yummy, btw). I put powdered sugar on William's. This was the aftermath of licking the plate.

Calvin eating prunes. This mess would eventually lead to another mess.

The other day, I saw that William had some pen marks on his face. No big deal. Then a while later I went to change his diaper and this is what I discovered. Yep - pen all over his tummy. He looked down, giggled and said "Mess".

Ode to Uncle Chris

2010-09-06T09:20:00.000-07:00

Calvin has begun to "smile" for the camera when we take pictures. I'm not sure if this is even possible at his age. He ends up doing this goofy face instead of a real smile - which kind of ends up being funnier. I'm not sure if we say "smile" or if it's the Red Eye light on the camera - who knows... but here's evidence of his goofy (and loveable) "ode-to-Uncle-Chris" smiles:

Lastly, this is why it's an Ode to my dear brother...

I love him, but sometimes he flashes these totally goofy smiles :)

Hand-Me-Downs

2010-09-06T08:55:00.000-07:00

I love having Calvin in the hand-me-downs from his older brothers. Each outfit I dress him in carries memories of his brothers. There are even some that are stained which I remember wrestling with strain removers, etc. only to lose miserably. At the time, I use to be annoyed, but even those stains have sweet memories now. They grow up so, so fast that it's nice to have recurring reminders that once my older two were really this little.

Calvin (above) and Worthy (below)

Scalloping

2010-09-03T15:58:00.000-07:00

Worthy and I finally got around to enjoying a favorite pastime of Citrus County residents: scalloping. Jeremy and Heather Johnson and their three kids took Worthy and I out into the Gulf. We donned snorkeling gear and caught enough scallops to enjoy a really good scallop pasta the next night. Worthy transformed from only wanting to fish and being nervous about being on a boat to putting on all the gear and enjoying a jump-off-the-side-of-the-boat competition with the three Johnson kid. Dad was content to swim around, picking up scallops (and the occasional starfish) off the gulf floor.

I found this video footage of scalloping. It looks exactly like what I experienced.

First Day of Kindergarten

2010-08-25T08:26:00.001-07:00

I'm guessing that everyone's first day of school is rather eventful. Ours was a bit more memorable than we would have liked. For Worthy, school started on August 9th. We were in Ohio on August 4th, when I called his school to inquire about enrolling him. I was assuming we still had another week or two before school started. As I said, we were in Ohio and still needed to head down to North Carolina for a couple of days. We weren't planning to be back in Florida until August 11th. Well those plans quickly changed. We continued our agenda and headed to NC, but cut it a little shorter than intended. We drove (meaning Dan) through the night and morning of August 9th. We arrived home at 6am and Worthy began Kindergarten at 8:30am. Thankfully Worthy had gotten some decent sleep in the car. So, we don't have an official first day of school photo, but luckily one of Worthy's buddies is in the same class and his mom came prepared - Thanks Angel!

So here's Worthy's first day of Kindergarten with his friend Brett.

Worthy was excited to start school. And he was even more excited to have a lot of familiar faces in his class. And we hadn't had time to get uniforms, so he wore a non-uniform shirt and navy blue shorts - and fit in perfectly. (You can see me in the background filling in all the paperwork that I missed from Kindergarten Orientation.)

And here are the unofficial pictures from Day #2.
Ready for school - uniform, backpack & all :)

"Once More With Feeling"

2010-08-24T17:25:00.002-07:00

Most evening when I cook dinner, I like to plug in my iPod and listen to some Podcasts or Books on CD from the library. Some of my favorite Podcasts are In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg and NPR: Fresh Air. I generally don't listen to music - a bit of a surprise. I think I just love having a semblance of my brain being exercised with these programs. However, the other day I (FINALLY) added a long-time favorite CD. Don't laugh. Wait for it. Here it comes.

It's the soundtrack from Buffy The Vampire Slayer episode "Once More With Feeling".

I never saw the show while it ran. I only saw it in syndication, but have since come to adore the creative work of the creator Joss Whedon. In the 6th season of the series, they did a musical episode. And yes, this is now what I cannot stop listening to on my iPod. Just love it. It's amazing what you can get off Amazon.

"

2010-08-24T17:25:00.001-07:00

North Carolina Cousin Time

2010-08-10T18:29:00.000-07:00

We spent some much coveted time in North Carolina with Dan's brother's family. It was a fantastic time with them all. While we were there Peter & Bunny hosted a dinner for us with a handful of couples from their church that have connections to Vienna. We had a lovely evening of meeting others with a common passion for this city.

During our visit in NC, the kids enjoyed just playing together.

Calvin, Jack, William, Emily, Worthy & Charlotte

They all got along splendidly. Worthy was delighted to even get in some Wii time with Uncle Peter!

Calvin was always up for some Baby Time.

Calvin with Emily and Jack

We also went to go hiking at nearby Pilot Mountain. I was really impressed with all the kids - especially Charlotte. She's so adventurous and totally hung with the big kids!

William hiked most of the way, but really enjoyed the time he spent backpacking.

However, the highlight was not the beautiful overlook or summer in full bloom. It was the Freestyle Dancing. Peter & Dan were at work Beatboxing and the kids showed off their skills.

And of course, a trip to Winston-Salem would not be complete without HOT Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts.

Toy Story 4

2010-08-10T18:01:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Worthy. His Grampy took him out and bought him Woody. This made the little boy very, very happy. However, Worthy came home and his little brother, William, was filled with a jealous rage to have Woody too. This created quite the predicament and unharmonious atmosphere (translation: much screaming and fighting).

This caused G & Grampy to have great sympathy. They took the boys out and got them a Buzz & Jessie. And instead of just fighting over Woody, then they got to fight over Buzz as well. The mayhem has died down and they've actually shared the toys pretty well now.

I'm proud to say, the story ended happily ever after... except that anytime I see any of these toys NOT being played with, I feel terribly guilty because of how well done the movie is. They really do seem real.

Calvin - Eating

2010-08-04T14:42:00.001-07:00

Today Calvin had his first experience with food. He didn't eat very much, but he did eat some. I think his next experience will probably be rice cereal mixed with a veggie. He seemed to like it.

And so it begins - cleaning up after one more boy at meal time :)

Unexpected Blessings

2010-08-04T14:03:00.000-07:00

One of the great delights of coming back to Akron is the chance to see my dear, dear friend Mandy. We have been close friends since childhood when she use to live across the ditch from me. She now has 2 adorable boys a little older than ours. We got together a couple weeks ago and she had gathered the clothes for us that her boys had outgrown. It was so thoughtful and generous of her. One of the "small things" that I've fretted about is the transition from a warm climate like Florida to a cooler one like Vienna. Our wardrobes basically consist of short and t-shirts with a splattering of pants and some long sleeve shirts. This gift was so unexpected.

All these bins are full of clothes that the kids will be able to wear this winter - pants, sweaters and COATS! Another friend of hers even passed along some additional winter gear as well - coats, mittens, hats. We're so overwhelmed by the generosity of friends and the provision of God - especially in these small ways. This was an issue that I had some anxiety over, but really hadn't prayed about.

I find myself amazed at how God is supplying all of our needs before we even express them. Thank you to God and my sweet Mandy!

Cousin Couch Pics

2010-08-04T10:07:00.001-07:00

Over the years, we've started taking pictures of our nephews and our kids on my brothers couch. It's become kind of a fun tradition to see the changes of the boys over the last few year.

November 2007

November 2008

August 2009

July 2010

A Day at the Farm

2010-08-04T09:16:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went to visit some friends, Donna & Terry. We've known them for years. Dan actually played matchmaker in their relationship. Hence his 100% success rate :)

They own a farm that they use for ministry purposes called Morning Star Farm Ministries. We enjoyed a peaceful picnic dinner.

The boys enjoyed seeing the baby chickens.

And we enjoyed great company, peace & quiet.

except for a couple of incidents...

Thank you God for beautiful summer Sabbath rests!

Worthy is 6

2010-08-01T19:41:00.001-07:00

Worthy turned 6!

It's hard to believe he's so old. We celebrated with some presents & cake.

I love this picture of William looking on...

A Battle Force 5 toy from G & Grampy

Another funny moment brought to you by William

Worthy and my brother, Chris, share the same birthday, so it was great to celebrate together the birth of two of my favorite people in the world. We went over to their house, had a delicious dinner, followed by cake & pie.

We also did a lot of playing outside.

A wonderful, wonderful day!

Calvin - the baby

2010-08-01T19:34:00.001-07:00

We really love Calvin. He's still in that fun blob-ish stage. He doesn't do too much, except rolling around, giggling, eating & sleeping. He's got the be the world's easiest baby. He's not too interested in sitting by himself yet - which is fine because I still love to hold him. We haven't started him on food yet, but that will be starting here pretty soon.

The boys still adore him.

And so do his Crazy Cousins :)

Jumpy House with Suds

2010-08-01T19:24:00.000-07:00

Let me just say - I love my older brother. He is just crazy - in a great way. There is always some kind of bizarro thing that he concocts that turns out to be amazing fun. This day was no exception. He had the Jumpy House blown up in the backyard. The kids got out the hose & dishsoap and had a blast - and best of all - no one got hurt!

Just an afternoon of slippery fun!

Akron Fun

2010-08-01T18:45:00.000-07:00

We're back in Akron. We've had a whirlwind trip over the past 2-3 weeks.

We've been able to spend some great quality time with family & friends while we raise the remainder of our support for Vienna.

Here are some things we've enjoyed while in Ohio...

Dan's taken the boys "hiking". Surprisingly, there are a ton of great parks in Akron. This time they went to Firestone Metro Parks, just a couple minutes from my parents house.

One of our favorite places to visit is Pav's Creamery. This is the ice cream place I grew up going to. They have the best soft-serve ice cream around. Every week they have a special flavor. My favorite is Coconut, but unfortunately it wasn't featured during our trip. I had to settle for Pistachio - which was not really settling at all.

Will seemed quite satisfied with the vanilla.

Worthy opted for Superman - of course...

During our visit, Worthy and Grampy have really enjoyed visiting the toy store. He's accumulated a steady stream of toys, mostly Hot Wheels Battle Force 5 stuff.

He's spent countless hours with these little guys. I love seeing his imagination at work.

JenMoVal Weekend

2010-07-21T05:18:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I got to spend a delightful weekend with two of my favorite people on the planet - Monica & Valerie. Monica & I have been friends since kindergarten. (That's Worthy's age now!!! - crazy. ) And Valerie and I were once bitter junior high enemies and evolved into treasured friends. The three of us have been tightly knit since then. In high school, we won the "Best Friends" award and we've only grown closer since then. As they live in Nashville & Columbus, it's difficult for all 3 of us to get together. So as our departure for Vienna approaches, we thought this would be a great time to "make it work". We all met in Columbus and had a wonderful weekend together.

Valerie (with her 2 kids), Me (and just Calvin) and Monica (with her 3 daughters)

We had the unique experience to all get married the same year and this past year we all had babies within 2 months of each other...
Charlotte, Calvin & Isabella
And I just loved this one with Cal eating his toes...

With all 6 kids (our oldest 2 stayed in Akron with Dan), we even got out for an excursion, otherwise known as an outing for the older kids to burn off some energy.

And this was just a fun picture of Calvin

There is no blog long enough to capture and explain how dear they are to me. They know me and my history. We can say one word and we all conjure up the same memories. I'm so thankful that God gave me these two women. (And I'm also thankful to Valerie - these are her pictures...)

LeBye

2010-07-11T18:15:00.001-07:00

We've been home in Akron, Ohio during the LeBron James free agency announcement. It's been a huge buzz around town and quite exciting to see all the press Akron has been getting. I join the throngs of other Ohioans that were saddened to hear his decision to head to Miami. However, I must say I've been embarrassed and a bit ashamed of other Ohioans that have burned jerseys and have trash-talked him. I'm so grateful for what he's done for this city. I wish him no ill-will and on the contrary am thrilled we had him as long as we did. I hope he continues to thrive vocationally in Miami and call Akron "home".

These are billboards you see around town.

Cedar Point

2010-07-11T16:56:00.001-07:00

We're currently up in Ohio doing Support Raising for Vienna. This visit has allowed us the opportunity to spend some quality time with friends and family. This past weekend we spent the day with my family at Cedar Point. This has become a Woofter Family tradition that usually happens around the 4th of July Weekend.

We joined my parents and brother and his family for an action-packed day of Thrill Rides. Actually, with three young kids the most thrilling ride we rode was Woodstock Express.
Will was rather intimidated by the rides. But all it took was one ride on the carousel to change his mind.
and eventually he progressed to Dodgems...
Worthy really enjoyed himself. He was 46", so just 2 inches short to do some of the minor coasters, but that didn't stand in his way of having a blast.
He & I did this crazy balloon ride in Snoopy-Land. I got total Nosh - which does not happen easily.
Dan & Worthy on Junior Gemini

More fun times

Will & Calvin did GREAT. I wasn't sure how well they'd sleep on the go - or if they would at all. Fortunately, they both got solid naps, which enabled us to stay till 9pm!
What a wonderful day!

More MTI photos

2010-07-03T08:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pics from MTI. Worthy still talks about his friends there and the fun things he did. I'm so glad he had such a wonderful time.

the awesome playground...

They took some field trips too...

They also ate a meal as if they were in another culture...

and did some dressing up as well...

Daytona Beach

2010-07-03T08:25:00.001-07:00

This past week we took a long overdue trip to visit my grandma, GG, in Daytona Beach for a couple days. We got to enjoy two of God's great gifts - the Beach and GG. The boys enjoyed playing in the sand, getting sand on our blanket, getting sand in their eyes, getting sand in their mouths and getting sand in the van. I was quickly reminded of how much I dislike the combination of sand and sunscreen. Other than that, we had a really wonderful time. Dan & I were both able to do some peaceful reading. Actually, it wasn't so peaceful - we're committing a Cardinal Sin in marriage - reading the same book at the same time. Well at least no one got sunburned :)

We're super-fortunate that my aunt & uncle live next door to my grandma, so we got to see Bo & Greg quite a bit too. Bo loves to give the kiddo's cotton candy and they loved eating it!
The boys and their Great-Grandma

Swim Lessons

2010-07-03T08:10:00.000-07:00

This past week Worthy finished his swim lessons. Mainly, he worked on floating/swimming on his back and using his "big arms" instead of doggy paddling. He worked on diving as well. However, his favorite thing was to run and jump off the diving board.

Well Used Toy

2010-06-27T11:08:00.001-07:00

We were VERY fortunate to get some wonderful baby gifts over the years. There are many outfits that Worthy was given that I still remember who bought them for him or who gave us certain books and toys. Unfortunately, I can't remember who bought us this exer-saucer, but it has been well loved over the years!
Worthy at 6 months (5 1/2 years ago)

William at 6 months (2 years ago)

Calvin at 6 months (almost)... yesterday

Kazakhstan Chocolate

2010-06-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

This past week Dan had a week-long class at Reformed Theological Seminary. One evening Worthy was asking him about his class and classmates. Dan remarked that one of the students was from Kazakhstan. Worthy is very interested in other countries and was curious to know what the capital of Kazakhstan was. Dan passed on the question to his classmate and the next day his classmate brought a Kazakhstan chocolate bar to give to Worthy.

I still don't know what the capital of Kazakhstan is,
but I now know that they have AMAZING chocolate!

FYI - the capital of Kazakhstan is Astana .

My Little Baby

2010-06-27T10:40:00.000-07:00

My sweet, sweet Calvin is getting SO big.

I love how he smiles up at me. He gets so excited when we sees Dan or the boys. He's babbling and cooing and making all those wonderful baby noises. I love how he cracks up. He has an easy laugh about him. I adore his bald hair and wish it would stay that way a long time. He's rolling around quite a bit now and just the other day rolled into our TV stand. He's teething like crazy and loves to eat his hands. I'm so crazy about this Little Man.
That's my baby!

Will's Love Affair with Heart to Heart

2010-06-27T10:36:00.000-07:00

While we were at MTI, William fell in love with Kashi's Heart to Heart cereal. He wanted it morning, noon and night for his meal. At MTI, I would get his dinner for him and, inevitably, as soon as I set it before him, he'd say "chu-chu"....which means Cheerios (it also means trains and tissue as well...). Since we've come home, his love has not diminished in the least.

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of it and think it looks disturbingly similar to cat food.
He doesn't seem to mind

Passport Pics

2010-06-21T11:48:00.001-07:00

This week we took the passport photos for the kids. William already had his from when we visited 2 years ago. There's a great website that helps you to format home digital photos for the correct dimensions for your passport. We saved a good $16 in the process.

Family Play time in Colorado

2010-06-20T13:40:00.000-07:00

One weekend we went to Focus on the Family's visitor center. It was a fun, free afternoon. It was wonderful to have fun and watch the kiddos run around.

Hide & Seek

We also went to a Colorado Springs Sky Sox game. The kids loved the snacks and screaming..., um, I mean cheering for the players.
Did I mention that William liked the snacks?!

Frisco, Colorado

2010-06-20T13:12:00.000-07:00

One weekend while we were in Colorado, we drove up to Frisco and spent the weekend at a friend's parents condo. It was SO relaxing and fun. A great way to see the mountains. We ended up going on a hike with the boys. I was a bit unsure how Worthy and William would fare, but they had a great time! Calvin slept most of our hike :)

We were rewarded with a beautiful view...

MTI

2010-06-20T12:23:00.000-07:00

We just got home from spending three weeks in Colorado. We were there to do training before we head over to Vienna in September. We did this training at Mission Training International.

I was a bit apprehensive about what this training would involve or what our days would look like while we were there. We had an AMAZING time. We learned a tremendous amount and consequently feel more equipped and (simultaneously) more unprepared than ever.

There were about 30 people. Missionaries & Church Planters going to (to name a few): Uganda, Honduras, Middle East, London, Spain and Cambodia. We had classes during the day that helped to prepare us for working with teammates, handling stress & conflict, and raising families in cross-cultural settings. The programs were tremendously insightful. The kiddos ended up learning similar things in an age-appropriate way.

One of the lessons focused on the transition from our home country to our host country. We did an exercise (with the older kids) to help illustrate the transition and the need for strong community in the midst of that. You can see Worthy crossing the "bridge of chairs" here.
The kids each had there own classes too.

Worthy really enjoyed his class. They went on 3 different field trips during our stay there.
William only had one other child in his class, but I think he thrived on the attention. He adored his teacher and we even heard a noticeable jump in his vocabulary.
And lastly, Calvin had a delightful time in the nursery with his "teacher".
Another staple of our day was the Playground. They had a fantastic playground that the kids loved playing on. And of course, all the other kiddos playing there added to the enjoyment!
with a beautiful view...

Last Day of School

2010-06-20T11:54:00.001-07:00

Ahhh... it's been a busy, busy couple of months - which is a bit annoying, because (generally) we're not uber-busy people. Things have finally slowed down to a normal pace and everyone is healthy and home, so I thought I'd get around to cataloging some recent pics of our life.

Worthy finished his last day of preschool back in mid-May. He had a WONDERFUL teacher this year, Mrs. Jann. We were so grateful for her love for the kids and all the encouragement she gave Worthy. He also enjoyed his classmates - mostly girls. And this year Worthy perfected the art of every day being "fine". Needless to say, he usually is not too chatty about his daily activities - such a boy already.
The last week of his time in school, we celebrated his summer birthday with his friends. He wanted a chocolate-chocolate cake and I was happy to comply.
We're so thankful for another WONDERFUL year of preschool.

Cuddle Bums

2010-05-04T08:38:00.000-07:00

Our kiddos love cuddling - and we're thrilled about it~

One Ends and a new One Begins

2010-05-04T08:23:00.000-07:00

We had a lot to celebrate this month! Worthy stopped sucking his thumb! With a little help from a product called STOP. Our habitual thumb sucker quit and hasn't regressed. I was dreading this intervention, but it went really smooth. And after 3 weeks, we decided to celebrate at Chuck E. Cheese.

Side note - every parent has this where their toddler gets stuck in the climbing playground. Dan had to go retrieve William. Totally cracked me up.
And they actually had decent pizza

And as we rejoiced that Worthy quit sucking his thumb, we also rejoiced that Calvin picked up the habit which has enabled him to start sleeping through the night! A great 11 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Crazy Boys

2010-05-04T08:02:00.001-07:00

At the beginning of the month, we spent a WONDERFUL couple of days in Orlando with my brother, sister-in-law and their 3 boys.

We all shared a 3 bedroom condo,

visited Lego land

and went to Aquatica (a great water park affiliated with Sea World).
We really enjoyed spending some fun time with our Crazy nephews and were thrilled that our boys can proudly bear the name of Crazy Boys as well.
William didn't feel like complying...

Holden & Worthy had a great time talking Legos and hanging out together!

Crazy Week(s)

2010-05-04T06:58:00.000-07:00

Long, long overdue post(s). The last 2-3 weeks have been a whirlwind of craziness. Good craziness, but hurriedly paced. Dan officially stepped down from his position at Seven Rivers last week. Among many ramifications, one is our health insurance was going to switch. So during the course of the 1 week we had:
3 Pediatric doctor appointments
4 Shots
2 Primary Card doctor visits
3 Dental appointments
1 Colonoscopy

Finally, we're catching our breath.

See What A Morning

2010-04-04T13:25:00.000-07:00

We had a GREAT Easter day! It started off with our traditional Easter Treasure Hunt. The kids get treasure clues and follow the clues to locate their basket. Will was "suppose" to be able to open the eggs (that the clues were in) and then Worthy would read them.

There was a little drama, but it all ended well.

After a wonderful morning at church we came home and had a great Easter dinner. For a number of years I've been wanting to make lamb for Easter, but in the past morning sickness & early pregnancy exhaustion deflated my ambition. So this year, I finally tackled making a leg of lamb - and we were thrilled with the results. It will definitely become an Easter tradition! Here was our Easter Menu.

Leg of Lamb
Scalloped Potatoes
Steamed Asparagus
Cafe Salad - Spring Greens with pears, candied pecans and gorgonzola cheese
Rolls
Lemon Curd Trifle

Dan's parents joined us and helped to make a great holiday even more wonderful. More importantly, worshiping on Sunday morning was really amazing. We had attended a very powerful Maundy Thursday service and there was a tangible anticipation of Sunday morning celebration. He is Risen Indeed!

Faces of Calvin

2010-04-03T11:57:00.001-07:00

Calvin is officially 3 months old now and he's starting to show some personality.

He enjoys "playing" on his mat. Unfortunately, he doesn't get to do this as much as he would probably like. We've had more than one incident of big brothers forgetting he was there. And all that playing can make a little baby SO tired...

Ahh, that's more like it :)

And just to show you that it's not smiles & giggles all the time....

NC Cousins

2010-04-03T11:52:00.001-07:00

This past week our North Carolina cousins came to visit. It was so wonderful to spend time with them. We adore them! They’re wonderful kids.

It’s such a nice change to have girls with flowered dresses around (even if they are riding four wheelers!)

The weather even allowed us to head down to Fort Island Beach here in Citrus County. I had never been there! When we first moved here, I received an erroneous report that is was gravelly. Seemed very sandy to me - especially since I need to vacuum it all out of my car today.

Spring Fun - Finally!

2010-04-03T11:33:00.000-07:00

It's been a cold winter here in Florida. Okay, okay - so it hasn't been Northeastern, Ohio cold, but it's been relatively cold. So, we've finally gotten to be able to enjoy the pool - somewhat. It's ice cold, but the boys don't seem to mind too much.

Will continues to love the water!

I finally got a video of him saying his favorite tag line: "Oh Man".

One of William's favorite past times (to my great annoyance) is throwing things in the pool. Most often those things are Worthy's Hot Wheels cars. Notice the car in his hand...
and now all the cars in the pool...