Wednesday, June 29, 2011

A book that might be of interest to some of you

So John and I--the planning dorks that we are--have already discussed educating our children. I don't think it's that unreasonable that we've thought about it since I'm a school teacher and once we move after residency, young John will start kindergarten. (And that folks, will be here before you know it!)

Because I'm a teacher by trade, we've talked about my homeschooling our children. I was opposed to the idea since I have a vision of what homeschooling families look like--picture moms with long braided hair, large denim jumpers with decorative buttons and big pockets, kids with their pants pulled up really high and unable to carry on a conversation about anything other than those "horrible public school children"--and I wasn't going to join them. I've since had my eyes opened to the real world of homeschooling by some great friends who home school and we consider it a great option for our family. (I emphasize our since every family is different.) As my Aunt Lila says, "I'll never go hungry since I eat a steady diet of my own words."

I'm excited about the release of this book, since I recently read a book by Sally Clarkson and thought it was great. I'm looking to get a copy, but I'll wait until young John is preschool age...maybe!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

What's up with William

William has been so busy lately. As I type, he's on the floor having crawled to his brother's step stool and is trying to move it. He's a determined little guy and to think that he's doing all this and more at seven months is too much for me! He likes to be close by. He works hard to crawl to the kitchen or one of the back bedrooms and often cries if we walk away before he can catch up. The last few nights he's had trouble sleeping and seems very happy to spend some extra time with me and John. There are times of the day when he really likes to be held, so I bought one of these and we use it everyday. Young John can ride in it too. William enjoys being on my back and this is quite a comfy carrier. It's fun to have him close and still have my hands free.

This picture was taken over a week ago and now he's very skilled at pulling up anywhere.

Here he is, climbing the stair to the landing. He'd been up there before when a toy peaked his interest. This time, he's just doing it because he can!

The pediatrician says it's fine to wait to feed him solid foods, but I decided we should try rice cereal yesterday. Here he is all bibbed up and all smiles.

You can see a little of his bottom teeth poking through.

Poor thing. This stuff looks awful.

First Bite
The smiles vanish, gagging ensues, and this is just before he lost it all. He has quite a gag reflex!

This afternoon, he got up shortly after going down for an afternoon nap. I thought something might be wrong and came into his room and found this. See that yellow thing on the right? That's his diaper. Not surprising that he couldn't sleep with wet clothes. I guess he crawled out of it before he fell asleep. Oops!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Camping

Back in May, we took our first family camping trip. We'd been preparing for quite some time--we purchased a large tent and sleeping bags for young John and me, John found a camp stove on eBay, we borrowed John's parents' Thermarests from their camping trips from days gone by, we bought some camp chairs at Husband's favorite retailer Sportsmans' Warehouse, researched our site, made a meal plan, and since the weather had been nothing but cold and rainy in Lexington, a weather plan.

We went to our first Derby Party as Kentuckians and headed out the next day after church. The trip up was a little long and at one point I may have said that I wanted to go home (a whining toddler who wasn't napping and a packing fail on my part motivated the statement) but we arrived just before dark and John got us settled.

We spent the following three days lounging at our camp site, letting young John go here and there and William enjoyed sitting in his Bumbo and being outside. John and John went on walks for most of the day, we made meals on the camp stove and John baked a mean potato in the fire one night. We enjoyed s'mores and avoided most bug bites, John and John took a dip in the cold creek while William and I watched from the bank, I washed my hair in a big sink each day, and we all enjoyed the simplicity of camp. John picked a great camp ground. It was in the middle of nowhere outside of Gatlinburg, so quiet and well-maintained. We're planning our next trip, hopefully for a weekend in early fall. With two curious boys, this will turn into a regular thing for us!

Here are some pictures--enjoy!










Wednesday, June 15, 2011

More Pressing Matters

I was going to update the blog with pictures from our recent vacations and pictures of our new little house, but something more important has come up. One of the first people I met when we moved to Lexington was Raegan. She was a part of a small group I was invited to attend over the summer. She found out this week that their eighteen-month-old son Theo has leukemia. We are heartbroken for them as they begin aggressive treatment and a six-month stay in the hospital.

Please join us in praying for their family--Raegan, Mike, Theo, and their other two children Mallaney and Max. Pray that God would heal Theo, that He would comfort them as they learn more about Theo's condition and treatment needs, endurance for the stay in the hospital and as they juggle work and three small children, and practical provision for babysitters and meals. The circumstances appear crushing, but we serve a God who is stronger than any disease, even death. We know Theo is in his hands.
Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and save. Isaiah 46:3-4