3/25/2009 Emma's House! Heather and I decided to get our kids together, and we had a fun day of play! We also watched Katie's kids during her doctor appointment. She's down to about a week and a half until her due date!!! Heather walked into Emma's room and found the sight in the picture. Emma said, "Close the door, Mommy!" We died laughing!!! Heather reminded me this wouldn't be so funny 15 years down the road! More Photos

3/22/2009 Cade & Cowboy! Josh was in town for a bullriding competition, so he spent the weekend with Darin and Danni. We got to spend some time with him Sunday, after church, and he introduced Cade to his pit bull, Cowboy! More Photos

3/20/2009 Young Group Bible Study Tim and I enjoyed hosting the young adults from our church for their monthly Bible Study. Scott had a nice talk on Colossians, and we enjoyed the fellowship! Not long after snack the kids politely said thank you and goodby . . . and then they headed to another home to enjoy the rest of their Friday night. When the house cleared Tim and I looked at each other and had a depressing revelation: We are old! Our home is no longer considered a cool place to hang out! We have two sleeping kids and usually go to bed by 10:00! We reminisced about our "pre-kid" days in Lafayette when we did so much with the high school and college students. How times have changed in a few short years! Before we headed to bed Tim said, "Maybe some day we'll be cool again!"

3/20/2009 Blood and Band-Aids No . . . we didn't have a serial killer in our home! Cade loves to be my helper, so we have assigned him the recycling bin.  Each day I make a pile of things that need to be recycled, and he carries them, one by one, back to our recycling bin.  We had done this for a few months without incident . . . until today!  Cade came to play in the kitchen, and I noticed blood on his face.  I traced it to his hand, and found a cut on his finger from a metal can he was taking to the recycling bin!  We headed back to the bathroom to get Cade's first band-aid, but first I had to put one on my finger to prove it was OK.  On the way back to the kitchen I noticed blood on the wall and on the dishwasher.  Cade was quite intrigued, and we had fun cleaning it up!  All afternoon he talked about getting to show Daddy his band-aid.  It doesn't take much to entertain Cade! More Photos

3/20/2009 Random Photo Shoot After my last photo shoot diaster, I hadn't attempted to capture a picture of Cade and Tess together. I finally decided to just print Jason a picture of Cade and one of Tess. Today I randomly asked Cade if he wanted to take a picture with Tess. He was very excited, so I thought I'd better seize the opportunity! I quickly grabbed my camera, sat them on the couch, and snapped a few shots. The session lasted no more than a minute or two, and there were no tears! What an improvement!!! More Photos

3/19/2009 Vienna Boys' Choir My parents gave us a wonderful evening! They kept our kids overnight and payed for Tim & I, Jeff & Bethany, and Darin & Danni to eat dinner out and attend the Veinna Boys' Choir performance! One of my favorite parts of the night was watching my brother "get cultured." He ventured out and ordered spinich pasta at dinner, and it was hilarious to watch him as he learned more about this choir he was going to hear! They were boys . . . young boys . . . really young boys . . . who would sing very high . . . and NOT IN ENGLISH! Let's just say that by the end of the evening he was ready to be back in his deer stand! I, on the other hand, loved their pitch perfect singing. I was amazed such beautiful sounds could come out of such small bodies! Each year 100 boys, from around the world, receive a spot in the choir which is then divided into four touring groups of 25 members.  In total, the choirs give around 300 performances a year!  I am completely amazed that such young boys, ages 9 to 14, have the discipline and determination necessary to perfectly learn songs in so many languages!  We could not take pictures during the concert, so instead I've included a video from their website.  Two touring groups joined to make this video, one of them being the choir we saw.  The video gives a great depiction of the young men- extremely disciplined . . . but yet, still boys! If you ever have the chance to listen to them in person, I highly recommend it. Even if this type of music isn't exactly your style, it will be a great cultural experience. You don't believe me? Just as Darin! http://www.wsk.at/jart/prj3/wsk_website/main.jart?rel=en&content-id=1181926278704&reserve-mode=active

3/19/2009 Bible Study Play Group I'm in a Bible Study group with five other ladies (I'll have to do a post on them!) and we meet together every Thursday. Two ladies couldn't make it this week, but we decided to get together anyway and turn it into a play group day. The kids got to have fun playing, and I was able to enjoy some fellowship with my dear sisters! When I went to get Cade from his toy room so we could get changed to go to play group, I died laughing. He was riding his truck, wearing a hat (a Vera Bradley purse someone had given me) and "eating" playdough with his fork! Crazy kid! When I uploaded this picture onto my computer, I noticed Cade's "hat" perfectly complements his pajamas. He has such a great sense of style! More Photos

3/18/2009 No Work . . . All Play Day!!! I work at the pharmacy on Tuesday evenings, so when I woke up Wednesday morning I was ready for some play time with the kids! When I work I don't get home until about 9:30, so Tim puts the kids to bed. When I walked into Cade's room Wednesday morning I started laughing. He looked hilarious with his collared shirt sticking out from his pajamas! Tim must have decided to leave on Cade's "day shirt" instead of changing him into a pair of thin p.j.'s. Cade looked pretty preppy for 8 a.m.! More Photos

3/16/2009 A Beautiful Evening for the Park! We had a fun evening at the park with Jason & Nat! The kids were VERY excited to be outside! More Photos

3/16/2009 Playdate at Katie's Neither Katie R. or I had a pressing Monday agenda, so we decided to get together for a playdate. Cade, Jacob and Nimeon had fun playing with toys, and it gave Katie and I a chance to catch up. Her baby is due in a few weeks, so I was reliving my pregnancy with Tess! I must say, I'm glad I'm on this side of the sleepless nights! Tess has been sleeping from ~8:30 to 7! Jacob did a great job "babysitting" Tess. He kept bringing her toys from his room, and he even let her hold his blankie! I think he'll be a great help when Katie's baby arrives. More Photos

3/15/2009 Mark & Ashley's Wedding I'm still working on the pictures from their wedding, so I'll let you know when I've added a "More Photos" page! More Photos

3/14/2009 - 3/15/2009 A Visit from Darren & Sue When I was in college at the University of Illinois, I spent a lot of time in Darren and Sue P.'s home! I grew to love their family, and I always enjoy the opportunity to reconnect. They were invited to help with Mark and Ashley's wedding, so they stayed at my parents' cabin. Darin, Danni, Tim and I had fun babysitting their five kids while they went to the rehersal dinner! More Photos

3/9/2009 Cade's Concoctions! Thankfully, Cade is an awesome eater, and there aren't too many foods he doesn't like. However, sometimes he gets a little too creative with mixing his food! Often the sight of his concoction makes our stomach turn, but Cade doesn't seem to realize he shouldn't like the combo. Tonight's special: Yogurt with Mixed Veggies! Yummmm!

3/9/2009 Trip to the Pet Store I don't often use the point-and-shoot camera I keep in my diaper bag, so it was fun to find these photos when I recently went to use it! These are a few shots taken on a random trip to the pet store right before Christmas. I had a new baby at home and was looking for an outing . . . any outing! For those of you who know Tim and I well, you know we DO NOT like pets!!! Our poor kids will probably be totally deprived! More Photos

3/8/2009 How to Wear a Hat! Whenever Cade tries to put his hat it seems to go on backwards or sideways! It cracks me up, so most of the time I just leave it alone and get a smile whenever I look at him! More Photos

3/8/2009 Entertainment from a Helicopter! My brother-in-law, Jay, recently purchased a remote control helicopter off the internet, so he brought it along this weekend. Cade was supposed to enjoy it, but instead he was really scared of the flying, bug-like object! More Photos

3/7/2009 Potluck at Quinton & Heather's We had a great evening of laughter with our potluck group! Supper conversation was hilarious, as usual, and we had a great time playing the new and improved version of Pictionary! Kenton and Heidi S. are moving to town next week and will be joining our group. We are very excited to have another couple! When Tim and I moved here 2 and 1/2 years ago, there was only one other couple our age at church. We really missed our Lafayette friend group and prayed God would provide some additional couples our age. How He has provided!!! Kenton and Heidi will be the 10th couple in our potluck group! More Photos

3/6/2009 - 3/7/2009 Fun Weekend at the Farm!!! At the last minute Jay and Jackie decided to come down for the weekend, and we ended up having a great time with my family! Sometimes spur-of-the-moment activities work out the best! More Photos

3/4/2009 A Taste of Sugar! Someone decided Tess needed to try her first cookie!!! I'll let you decide who was guilty! More Photos

3/2/2009 Bubble Beard Once or twice a week we all pile in our whirlpool, and it makes for a pretty fun evening! I get the warmth of a bath and some snuggle time with Tess, while Cade and Tim have fun developing new water games. Cade loves giving us all bubble beards, and he laughs histerically when he sees himself in the mirror. Fun memories! More Photos

3/1/2009 Josh & Colby's Wedding Tim's first cousin, Josh, married my second cousin, Colby, so we had a lot of family in town for the weekend. Neil and Leann hosted Tim's family Saturday evening, so we had a great time catching up with his parents and sisters! Myreon and Lori spent the night at our house, and we had some great conversation after we put the kids to bed. We are excited to have another young couple in Taylor, and we look forward to spending more time with Josh and Colby! More Photos

2/26/2009 Hilton Head Day 6 Well . . . we did it! We made it into a private plantation!!! It took us our whole vacation to finally do it! We planned to eat lunch at a golf course inside a wealthy plantation, but we were disapointed to find the golf course clubhouse outside the entrance. BUMMER! So, we turned around and called for reservations at a different golf course at another plantation. We made it through that guard shack, but after finding out where we were heading she gave us a card to place in our windshield. It stated that we could only go to the golf course and would be criminally punished if we ventured off that path. In lay terms . . . if you go in search of the beautiful homes you've heard of . . . we'll fine you! Well, in the adventurous spirit of my mom we decided to do some exploring after lunch. While on the island we saw a road that crossed over to a smaller island. We drove across, went through the open gates at the entrance to the subdivision (we were becoming quite daring!), and found some gorgeous homes!!! I took a few pictures, but we couldn't really loiter as our Kia looked a little out of place!!!!! Prior to our trip I wasn't too familiar with luxury vehicles. By our final day . . . I could name almost every symbol on a high end car. When driving on the island you were more likely to see a Lexus, Mercedes, BMW, Cadillac, or Lincoln than a "normal car"! In my entire life I have never been in the center of so much wealth! As we drove into our small town that night it was such a relief to be HOME in middle America! Not a luxury car in sight! More Photos

2/25/2009 Hilton Head Day 5 We enjoyed another relaxing morning at our condo and then I continued my relaxation at a local spa! I invited Tim, but he said he would rather continue his exploration of the island! Later that afternoon (with my glasses on) we continued our atempts to experience Hilton Head. After being there for a few days we figured out . . . Hilton Head is a very CLOSED island!!! The island is divided up into "plantations", most of which are private and can only be entered after passing a guard shack. I was pretty excited to see the beautiful homes on the island, but after being turned away by multiple guards we were a little less eager to explore. One plantation allows you to enter after paying a $5 fee, so we decided it was worth the money. We had a great time driving around and finished our evening with a wonderful dinner at sunset! More Photos

2/24/2009 Hilton Head Day 4 We spent the majority of this day on a personal, walking tour of Savannah. The historic district is filled with beautiful homes and a quaint "square" every few blocks. We had a very knowledgeable tour guide and thoroughly enjoyed our day! More Photos

2/23/2009 Hilton Head Day 3 After sleeping in we decided to drive around and explore the island. After about an hour I was getting pretty sick from not being able to see clearly, so we decided to browse at an outlet mall while I regained my equilibrium! We had a nice lunch, found a few good deals, and were able to do a little more exploring. More Photos

2/22/2009 Hilton Head Day 2 After our Sunday service we decided to check out an event, Cooks and Books, we found on H.H.'s Chamber of Commerce. After paying an entry fee we were able to sample food from about 15 different restaurants and talk to local authors (We didn't do the latter! We were there for the food!). After talking to the locals, we learned that these were restaurants where a couple would generally spend $100-150 for a meal. WOW! That made our $20 a person entry fee totally worth the cost. When I go to a restaurnt it's pretty hard for me to branch out, so this was a very stretching experience! I ate a lot of things I would never have ordered off a menu!!! With Hilton Head being located right in the middle of the ocean there was a lot of local seafood items, but my favorite was an Italian pasta (imagine that!). No . . . I admit . . . I genuinely enjoyed each dish I tried! They also had a competition between 10 local chefs that resembled the TV show, The Iron Chef. In total we spent over 4 hours at the event and had a fantastic time! More Photos

2/21/2009 Hilton Head Day 1 Our flight left at 6:00 A.M., so we took an early taxi ride to the airport. When we walked into the airport, I immediately realized I had left my glasses in our room! I can see fine up close, and we had driven to the airport in darkness, so I didn't miss them until I tried to look down the airport terminal. We called the hotel and they couldn't bring them over, but they agreed to mail them to Hilton Head! What a way to start the vacation! We arrived in Savannah to beautiful weather with a slight breeze and a temperature right around 70!  We grabbed lunch, took a nap in our car, and then headed to our first adventure . . . a cooking class!  It was the top-rated Trip Advisor activity for Savannah, so I thought I couldn't go wrong!  Tim enjoys helping me in the kitchen, so I was pretty sure I'd picked an activity we would both enjoy. More Photos

2/20/2009 And We're Off! About a month ago Tim and I sat down to plan our next vacation.  As an international tax accountant he has busy seasons throughout the year, so I asked him which month would be ideal for a vacation.  "Actually," he said, "the end of February would work best."  I was so excited, and we had fun looking for a vacation spot and getting things planned.  Thankfully, we had Marriott rewards points and Delta air miles so our condo and airline cost was covered!!!  Tim and I would both be classified as over-savers versus over-spenders, so this worked out perfectly.  And yes . . . we did have a few people remind us to look at a vacation as an investment in our marriage and not as a frivolous expense!  Our ideal vacation includes warm weather (notice I didn't say hot!), exploring (finding out the ins and outs of a town), relaxing, a few days of sleeping in, quality conversation, and some laughter.  Neither of us had explored Hilton Head or Savannah, and they were supposed to have weather in the 60s, so it sounded like an ideal fit!  Darin and Danni agreed to watch the kids through the weekend, and my mom and dad planned to watch them the rest of the week.  It was a little hard leaving Tess for the first extended time, but we were excited to get away and give our marriage the refreshing boost it needed!

2/14/2009 Full Valentine's Day This year Valentine's Day was a great mix of learning and fun (I guess the learning was fun too!). Tim and I completed the mentor training program our church has to offer, and I took away so many great thoughts. I used to view mentoring as a very formal, weekly meeting between two people. I came to learn that "mentoring" is very broad, and most of us spend time informally mentoring someone on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. It was awesome to go around the room and hear the various ways people had been mentored or had mentored others.  Our friends, Rick and Komari A., stayed with us over the weekend so they could complete the training, and we had a few wonderful days of conversation and laughter.  They have two young children, a neat heart for the Lord, unusual jobs, interesting backgrounds, and a great sense of humor . . . so it was fun to swap stories! That evening we met up with a group of friends (Rick & Komari, Darin & Danni, Neil & Leann, Jeff & Bethany) for dinner and had a nice evening complete with great food and, once again, great conversation!  Darin & Danni hit a deer on the way to supper, but thankfully, for the rest of us, the evening was not so dramatic!

2/13/2009 So Long, Mohawk! Tess' hair has been growing in some places and refusing to grow in others, so Tim and I finally took the plunge and brought out the razor!!! We decided to shave off her hair and let it all grow in at the same time. When I picked her up from her first nap after the haircut, she looked like a cancer patient. Now I am really used to the look . . . and I love it! Don't worry. We don't plan to keep this look forever!!! More Photos

2/12/2009 A Taste of What's to Come Shannon and Susan dropped their kids off so they could enjoy an early Valentine's dinner, and we had a fun evening together! It's pretty nice that they can go to the bathroom by themselves, eat by themselves, paint by themselves, play by themselves, etc! They are pretty self-sufficient. I'm still really focused on not wishing the early days with my kids away, but it was fun to see what a little more independence looks like! More Photos

2/8/2009 Fun with a Ball & a Fan!! This post is dedicated to Darin P. from Champaign, IL! A few years back Darin, a high school physics teacher, and his family were at my parents house.  As we were sitting around the living room, somehow we decided to throw balls up into a moving fan.  We wanted to see if they would make it back down before being flung through the room.  I know!  Too much free time!!!  Anyway, it was pretty amazing to see that most balls made the up and down trip without being redirected by the fan.  Darin has since used this example in his physics class, although I'm not for sure which concept he's teaching! So this past Sunday night we decided to retry the experiment.  We had a lot of balls getting "redirected", but Cade thought it was hilarious!  Darin got him close to the fan so he could try himself.  Lets just say there was a lot of laughter in the livingroom!  I guess this is what happens when you don't have a TV.  You  learn to make your own fun! More Photos

2/6/2009 - 2/7/2009 Free at Last! This past weekend we had a break from the cold, winter temperatures!  It creeped up into the 70's, and Cade was SO EXCITED to play outside!!!  We met Tim at the park for a lunch date on Friday and then met my dad at a different park on Saturday.  It was so nice for Cade to be able to enjoy the outdoors!  Dad and Mom had just returned from a Florida trip where the weather barely made it into the 60's, so he was also glad for the warmth. More Photos

2/6/2009 Things are being CAUGHT! I'm amazed how much Cade picks up without me specifically sitting down to teach him a concept! Today he found my headcovering and later walked up to me with his doll and said, "Dolly. Veil." I followed him to the kitchen where he was putting her in the stroller. "What are you doing," I asked. "Dolly. Church." What a reminder of my awesome responsibility as a mother. He is WATCHING my actions and LISTENING to my words!

2/5/2009 Daddy + Cade + Magnets + Free Time = ??? Earings! More Photos

2/4/2009 Slowing Down I am so thankful God has slowed me down and is helping me learn to better enjoy my days with the kids! My task list hasn't gotten much attention, but amazingly my heart has been more peaceful. Supper prep was always a pretty stressful time of the day, so the last few days I've picked a time during one of Tess' naps . . . and Cade and I have cooked together! It has been messier and taken a lot longer than usual, but it has been a lot of fun. Today we made meatloaf and Cade had a blast squishing all of the ingredients together! In my downtime I've been reading a book by Donna Otto called Finding Your Purpose as a Mom, and it has been wonderful to get a fresh perspective on motherhood. Note on the picture: While reading Cade's construction tool book today we pulled out the real things and got a head start on his construction career. I thought Grandpa H. would be excited his grandson knows the difference between a screw and a nail! More Photos