Kinsley Konnection

Early Winter

2012-02-06T18:46:00.001-08:00

More Christmas Memories 2011

2012-01-07T09:02:00.000-08:00

Christmas Season Begins

2011-12-19T10:44:00.000-08:00

The Pilgrims

2011-11-18T15:32:00.000-08:00

Decided to forego academics today in favor of dressing as Pilgrims. (And I enjoyed a good laugh at myself)

Into the Woods

2011-11-03T17:47:00.001-07:00

Madisonism of the Month

2011-11-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

"C'mere Avery, drink the poison apple juice."

Bailey Boy

2011-11-01T12:23:00.001-07:00

School with Six

2011-10-27T12:23:00.001-07:00

We had school today with 6 instead of 3. Wow, challenging! We had a good time though. Lily loved playing my assistant teacher, did Madison's math & reading lesson with her. Nattie was my assistant mommy and helped feed Bailey & put him down for a nap. Avery & Kitty didn't fight too much and took good naps. Phew!

More Fall Family

2011-10-27T12:19:00.000-07:00

Treehouse Nature Walk

2011-10-17T17:47:00.001-07:00

A Night Out

2011-10-17T14:14:00.000-07:00

Momma's Boy

2011-10-17T14:13:00.000-07:00

October Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-17T14:12:00.000-07:00

Curls Etc.

2011-10-17T14:09:00.000-07:00

Trains

2011-10-17T14:06:00.001-07:00

September Kids

2011-10-17T14:00:00.000-07:00

I know I have posted pics in a while - mostly b/c the format on here is too time consuming & not user friendly, so been posting mostly on Facebook anymore. Here are a few to catch up though!

Musings in Prayer

2011-10-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

Madison: "Mom, I've been praying about something. I've been praying that God would give us another dollhouse so Avery & I don't have to fight over the one we have."

Me: 'Maybe God wants you to learn to share the one you have.'

Madison: "Nooo!"

June 2011

2011-06-14T11:08:00.001-07:00

Smile!

2011-06-02T18:27:00.000-07:00

Mid-May 2011

2011-05-19T17:44:00.001-07:00

Bailey - 3 Weeks

2011-05-16T15:36:00.000-07:00

Welcoming Bailey!

2011-04-26T11:18:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the world Bailey Thomas Davison Kinsley, born April 19, 2011 at 10:43PM by c-section, weighing in at 11 lb. 5 oz.

So sorry to all those checking for pics & not finding them yet! It's been a challenge with 3 kids, newborn & recovering to get to the computer. :-) Enjoy a few pics of Bailey's first week of life!

Girls at Easter

2011-04-26T11:06:00.001-07:00

Early Spring

2011-04-12T09:47:00.000-07:00

Helping Boppa with firewood. Little girls watching the big girls. Grandma T at 92 with her great granddaughters. Madison drew a picture of Mommy's big belly & a baby inside.

Late March

2011-03-27T13:11:00.001-07:00

Avery Rose

Playing "Get on People" with Daddy

Baby #3 at 38 Weeks

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-18T05:29:00.000-07:00

Avery turns 2!

2011-03-07T17:39:00.001-08:00

My little girls on Avery's 2nd birthday. :-)

Just for fun - had to pull out a picture of Madison in the dress. She was about the same age, little younger - 21 months. Aunt Alyssa made it for Madison for Easter that year. It was fun putting it on Avery!

March 2011

2011-03-07T17:36:00.001-08:00

Madison's favorite game with Daddy - she calls it "Get on People". It's basically just the girls jumping on Daddy like he's a trampoline!

Snow!

2010-12-05T14:17:00.001-08:00

Fall 2010

2010-10-21T08:51:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Patch Fall Fun

2010-10-18T16:52:00.001-07:00

Princesses on Parade

2010-10-07T17:53:00.001-07:00

Little Mommy

2010-10-07T17:51:00.000-07:00

Avery feeding her baby doll, getting ready to be a big sister.

The Little Girl

2010-09-22T05:18:00.000-07:00

Maine in September

2010-09-14T06:01:00.001-07:00

Nubble Light - York, Maine

Whale watching -

First Day of Preschool

2010-09-08T06:19:00.000-07:00

Today is Madison's first day of preschool. I'm also watching Madison's friend Rowan this schoolyear, so Madison actually has a fellow preschooler in her homeschool class!

Avery the Big Girl

2010-09-08T06:15:00.000-07:00

Had baby Harper over the other day. So weird to see Avery as the big girl.

And all the Whos down in Whoville...

Wow, no words quite describe it...

More Summer

2010-08-10T09:58:00.000-07:00

More July Fun

2010-07-26T13:24:00.000-07:00

To Be A Mommy

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

Madison: "When I grow up, I want to be a mommy."

Me: 'And when you're a mommy, what will you do?'

Madison: "Talk... clean the floor... drink coffee."

I think she's got it about right. ;-)

Taughannock Falls with Friends

2010-07-02T05:28:00.001-07:00

Darien Lake

2010-07-02T05:20:00.001-07:00

The Mayor of Munchkin City ;-)

June Fun

2010-07-02T05:09:00.000-07:00

Some highlights from the month of June.

(*Just a side note* I haven't totally neglected updating the blog; however, every time I've gone to add something lately it doesn't upload correctly. Frustrating!)

Of Trees & Hair

2010-05-11T18:06:00.000-07:00

Couple pics with the girls - and my new haircut. Got 2 1/2 or so inches off, shaped up & highlight. Also a pic of our black walnut tree getting trimmed - and a pile of branches which will no longer drop walnuts into our yard! Woohoo!

Goofy Girls

2010-05-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

Madison likes to get her sister wound up...

Play Time for Daddy

2010-05-06T19:45:00.001-07:00

Then...

Now...

May 2010

2010-05-06T19:39:00.001-07:00

Getting too old-looking

"Mommy, will you take my picture?"

Goofball. What a ham. Check out those pudge thighs. ;-)

Cousins. Favorite friends.

April 2010

2010-05-06T19:36:00.001-07:00

March 2010

2010-05-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

I'm behind but catching up! Here are some recent photos of the girls...

Happy Easter!

2010-04-05T05:42:00.001-07:00

Celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Bug with a Bug

2010-02-24T16:47:00.000-08:00

We've been homebound for the past week - lil' Avery-bug has a bug. She has had a bad cough and congestion. Hoping that tomorrow will prove to finally show some improvement. Madison just started coming down with it today, her nose running like a faucet. Joy oh joy.

In happier news, Avery's started saying 'muhs' and 'buhs'! She kind of has her own garbled way of saying them, but it's a new sound for her all the same.

Big Girl, Big Personality

2010-02-11T11:12:00.000-08:00

Avery - 11 Months

2010-02-11T11:02:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe Avery is almost one year old. She had a couple firsts in the last week or so. She started standing on her own - not holding on to anything - for the first time last weekend. She has also started saying "uh-oh". Still no "muh's" or "buh's" from her yet.

A Republic, If You Can Keep It

2010-01-20T06:43:00.000-08:00

At the close of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 a lady asked Ben Franklin, "What have we got - a republic or a monarchy?" "A republic," Franklin replied, "if you can keep it."

My patriotic spirit is stirred again within me after the events last night. The epic upheaval with the victory of Scott Brown in Massachusetts certainly had something to do with that. But there was something else last night that caught my attention.

Amidst the election commentary there was one individual who was interviewed - I don't even remember his name now - who had once been a high-ranking political figure and who had now written a book. What stood out to me was that he was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. He was a direct descendant of someone (several men, in fact) who fought and died to give us the form of government we today are so quickly squandering. This man saw the high calling and responsibility his forefathers fought for, and he saw himself equally called to protect and preserve the nation they created and sacrificed for. Today the fight is different, but a fight nonetheless.

This author's story stirred me because, while I have never pulled all the required documentation together (and it does require a LOT of paperwork to join), I too am descended from the American Revolution. I could join the Daughters of the American Revolution or the Daughters of the Union Veterans of the Civil War. I had ancestors that fought in both. I too see the fight going on to preserve our nation today and, in some ways, I think it's more challenging today. Black and white aren't as clear cut as what they used to be, we live with a lot of gray tones. During the American Revolution it was easy to figure out -- just shoot the guy in the red coat! Today the battle grounds and the enemy look so different, look friendly even, perhaps even desirable. Yet the result would be loss of liberty just the same. The patriots that founded this country chose liberty over safety & security. Am I up to the responsibility that was left to me by my forefathers to continue the fight?

It's so easy to lose our way in just a generation or two. It's easy to look at what our parents and grandparents did to sacrifice for us -- they're here, they're tangible. What actor upon winning their first Oscar or Olympic athlete doesn't thank their parents for everything they did to bring them to that point? Yet only a few generations removed are people we never knew, yet people that gave everything -- their lives, their fortunes & their sacred honor -- so that we could live with the blessed freedoms we know as America. I suppose that's what frustrates me so much about people who aren't politically involved in this country. I'm not saying everyone has to be politically active marching at rallies and such, but everyone should at least be politically awake, their political barometers should be working to know when a hurricane & destruction is coming. The freedom of those who choose to do nothing has been built upon the backs of those who sacrificed and gave everything in order to have that liberty.

I have to say, I'm now convinced that the feral cats in our new neighborhood are truly demon-possessed, pulling my time and energy away from causes that really matter! But I'm back once again with a vengeance, my attentions re-directed, ready to once again champion the cause of liberty - for myself, my children and the generations that come after me.

The question is - Will you join me?

Madison's Snowy Fun

2010-01-17T13:43:00.001-08:00

Avery at Play

2010-01-13T19:02:00.001-08:00

Happy at the Holidays

2010-01-12T11:01:00.001-08:00

Avery Rosie at 10 Months

2010-01-11T10:55:00.000-08:00

I haven't been very good with updates on Avery - the life of a 2nd child I guess, poor thing. I had been thinking she's behind where Madison was at this age, but when I look it up, she ends up being ahead of Madison in many areas!

FOOD: Madison started solid foods at 4 1/2 months. Avery was barely interested in solids at 6 months. However, Avery has gone more quickly to all table foods than Madison did. If we're eating steak & potatoes, Avery wants steak & potatoes and will complain until she gets them! Never mind she only has 2 teeth... Avery is a much better chewer than Madison was though. She is careful to put only a little in her mouth at a time & chew it well. Madison was more apt to shove all the contents of her plate into her mouth at once.

TEETH: So far, Avery has her 2 bottom front teeth. Madison didn't have her first tooth until after she turned 1 year.

TALK: Avery isn't talking yet, not in words or syllables. She doesn't have a lot to say but when she does, it's loud. 'AAAAAaaaAAAAhhhHHHH!' That's her most common repeated phrase that she responds to Madison's conversations with her. No 'Buhs' or 'Muhs' or 'Dadas' yet. Madison didn't start talking until around 10 months though & once she did, she never stopped!

WALK: Avery is ahead & behind Madison in the crawling/walking dept. Madison was slower to start crawling & pulling herself up, but then Madison was standing by 10 months & walking by 11. At 10 months, Avery shows little interest in walking. However, at her 6 month dr. visit when they asked "Is she sitting up yet?", I replied, "Um, she's crawling." So in that area, she's way ahead. She's also been pulling herself up to standing for almost as long as she's been crawling.

HAIR: It's funny to look at pictures of Madison at this age. Avery has WAY more hair than Madison did.

Those are all the fun facts I can come up with right now!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-04T10:59:00.000-08:00

A few memories from Christmas and New Year's 2009 -- Wow did I do a lousy job picture taking this year! Didn't get very many -- I guess I was too busy juggling kids & having a good time!

A Little White Stuff

2009-12-09T17:32:00.000-08:00

Got our first snowfall of the season today. This is Madison's 3rd winter, but at this age, it's always a new experience for her!

Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

2009-12-08T10:28:00.000-08:00

Enjoying decorating for Christmas in our new house, including 2 trees and little festive Martha Stewart touches everywhere. Fun stuff!

First Ponytail-sprout

2009-11-30T17:42:00.000-08:00

Well it's not the most attractive hairdo but here's proof she has the hair to do it! ;-)

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-27T07:31:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T08:50:00.001-08:00

I'm thankful for...

Little Laughter

2009-11-16T19:14:00.001-08:00

I so rarely hear Avery laugh (though she smiles a lot), so I was glad to capture a few seconds of her laughter on video. You wouldn't think she'd be laughing with Madison tormenting her so, but Avery seemed to find it amusing.

Early November Pics

2009-11-16T19:05:00.000-08:00

I'm overdue to post some current pictures......

Few from Lily & Katrina's birthday party... I need to photoshop myself into this pic and we'd have 4 generations. ;-)

Lily was 6 --

Kitty was 1 -- Seriously, can you get eyes any bigger than that??

Peekaboo, Bugaboo!

Madison playing with Daddy's hat & arranging the pinecone 'food' around the table --

Madison's outfit for church on Sunday - 'Tis the season!

I love this - I told Madison, "Go stand next to Avery"

Is this what we really look like?

2009-11-14T16:56:00.000-08:00

Make your Stick Figure Family at FreeFlashToys.com

The House Tour: Part 4

2009-11-05T18:54:00.000-08:00

At the top of the stairs there is a pretty wide open hallway. Directly ahead is Madison's room. Straight ahead and to the left is our bedroom. Directly to the left is the bathroom.

Pardon the boxes -- the upstairs is still a work in progress!

Looking into Madison's room. She's still in a crib for now but we have a twin bed ready for her on the front porch just waiting for some 'extra time' to get it set up.

The view looking back out of Madison's room (and a sleepy Madison who refused to get out of the picture ;-)

A shot of our bedroom. Don't you just *love* the wallpaper??? ;-) Another thing on the 'gotta go' list.

Unfortunately we don't have a lot of closet space. You can see the one closet we do have in the bedroom there on the right. Our plan is to knock out that wall since the closet extends all the way back to the wall, but it's impossible to get to the back of it. One of our not-right-away-but-hopefully-soon projects.

Walking back into the hallway... We have a nice landing area straight ahead. The boxes will go, and I plan to put a couple good-sized bookshelves there.

The 2nd door to the right is Avery's room. The 1st door directly on the right...

...is the bathroom.

We painted the bathroom. And the color is slate gray, not black. ;-) We'll have white accents and silver fixtures - and hopefully white chair rail/Wayne's coating (sp?) around the bottom half of the walls.

The bathroom is the one room of the house with the biggest plans for renovation. The tub/shower is good but everything else needs to be done. Floor (who puts a carpet in a bathroom?!), double sink, lighting, vanity, etc. But as big a project as I expected it to be, it's snowballing into about 5 times bigger than my original project estimation, soooo...

Finally, we have Avery's room, another one we painted. Avery's room will be storage/nursery for some time to come. When baby #3 comes along (waaay down the road ;-), Avery will move into Madison's room.

The other side of Avery's room.

That's all folks! Thanks for joining me on this photo tour! I hope it satisfied those of you who have been eagerly waiting to see pictures for months now. We hope you will be able to stop by and see it for yourself someday soon! ~

The House Tour: Part 3

2009-11-05T18:37:00.000-08:00

The back door looks out to the garage... The garage is considered 1 1/2 car -- not exactly sure why. The door is a one-car door but the garage is deep enough to park both our vehicles. The other side is seperated by a wall & used to be a workshop of sorts.

Our house used to be owned by the 'cat lady' who fed all the stray cats in town. She used to leave the garage door open for the cats to live inside -- there's still straw all in the back area of the garage which needs to be cleaned out. The whole thing needs to be disinfected. It's a fantastic space with a lot of potential but will take some time, money & work to get it up to 'useable' status. Well - useable for anything other than parking our cars inside.

The yard extends to the neighbors' fences and down to the back end of the garage. There is a giant black walnut tree in the back yard which, this fall has been a curse, but I can't help but think in the spring & summer (when it's not dropping its horrible messy walnuts all over our yard) it will be a blessing with potential itself. (Forts? Swings?)

Going back into the house...

...and through the kitchen to the side porch. This will be a great room in the warmer months.

The weather was still mild when we first moved in, and this was the play room where we confined the kids as we worked on the house - they loved it. Eventually (we might not wait for our ship to come in for this one ;-) we would like to winterize this to use year round.

Here's a view from outside looking at the side porch.

The tour continues upstairs...

The House Tour: Part 2

2009-11-05T18:10:00.001-08:00

Here we are in the dining room.

One of the big upgrades we plan to do is replace all the windows early this spring with new vinyls. The large window behind the computer I have special plans for. Right now is one of the old kind that fan/crank out to open. I'd like to put in a nice bay window and possibly a window seat.

The view from the living/dining room doorway toward the kitchen doorway...

Because the kitchen was roomy enough to hold our table & chairs, we decided to use the dining room as an additional living space -- holding our computer, hutch, toybox, kids' bookshelf, etc.

Looking into the kitchen from the dining/kitchen doorway...

We have lots of cabinet space which is fabulous. On the left side is the sink, and there are 3 cabinet sections underneath. We plan to take out one of those sections (the farthest to the left that you can see) and put in a dishwasher (which we have - just haven't had time to put it in).

See the square to the right of the window? Let's just call that a giant paint chip -- one of the colors we were considering for the kitchen. It looked a lot different/brighter in a friend's house that used that color! It's darker than what we're going to want, but red/cranberry is the color we're planning on. It will end up being an accent color as the cabinets and ivory wall tiles cover much of the wall space.

To the left of the window is a doorway...

...a view from that doorway back into the other side of the kitchen. Yes, our dryer is in the kitchen. Might change someday but for now it's not in the way. The door on the right side goes out to the side porch.

The doorway from the kitchen leading to the back entry. It's nice to have a 'mud room' space!
Through the door and on your left...

...is a half bath/laundry room/pantry. Having two bathrooms is the gift that keeps on giving, lemme tell ya. Aren't the pantry shelves great? Eventually (when our ship comes in...) we'd love to get a stackable washer/dryer which would allow the space to put a sink in here & make it a full bathroom. But if we never get to do that, it won't be the end of the world. Still toying with ideas for color in this room. I have a few ideas but none I've discussed with Matt yet so I'm not going to publish them just yet!

The House Tour: Part 1

2009-11-05T17:51:00.000-08:00

The Official House Tour

Hi! Welcome to our new home!! It's hard to believe after all the trauma I can finally call it our house. I feel like I finally have the freedom to be excited and happy about it! It's been so long living here, not in 'fear' of the seller, but just with the sober knowledge that 'it's not ours yet'. So we didn't totally have the freedom to do what we wanted. But after finally closing last week, it's ours! This is definitely the biggest thing I've ever purchased -- both in physical size & cost! But I like it -- for all the work & expense, it's a fun adventure to journey through (the homeownership part - not the homebuying part).

I'll do this tour in several parts. Let's start in the front...

The front porch door is new - one of the first things we did after moving in. The old porch door was terrible and the handle pinched your hand when you closed the door -- not good with having little kids (not good for me either!).

So once you come inside the porch...

...entry door into the living room. Like the "putting green carpet", as Matt says? That's on our "it's gotta go" list. But it's a good-sized porch. We're using it for some storage right now -- a few boxes that aren't unpacked yet and some misc. things since we don't have an attic (& the garage isn't storage-ready yet).

The view from the entry door looking into the living room & through the next doorway into the dining room...

...then the view from the dining room doorway looking back into the living room toward the entry. The living room and dining rooms are 2 of the 4 rooms we painted prior to moving in. (Many more to go!)

Lovin' Cousins

2009-10-30T08:17:00.001-07:00

Stay Tuned

2009-10-29T18:21:00.001-07:00

Coming soon... the official house tour...

Pumpkin Patch Trip

2009-10-21T19:08:00.000-07:00

Another fun Fall outing today! Our annual visit to the Pumpkin Patch. The kids had so much fun. (I'm getting quite a backlog of photos to post! Stay tuned -- I'll probably just do a big dump into Picasa)

She was on the go all morning - lots of action shots -

What a gorgeous bunch...

And why are these 2 mothers smiling, you ask? Because last year when we did the pumpkin patch visit we were both pregnant -- and this year we're not! Woohoo!

Nature Walk

2009-10-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

My sister planned a Fall nature walk/scavenger hunt today. We had another beautiful day to be outside. Been spending so much time doing fun things though that I've still not had time for posting pictures of it all! Here are a couple of today's adventure --

Fall Family Fun Day

2009-10-17T17:59:00.000-07:00

Had a family fun day today -- hiked up to Taughannock Falls then played on the play ground. Beautiful fall day. I'll post some more pics soon -- too tired tonight!

Fall Chores

2009-10-14T07:10:00.001-07:00

From counting bags in this picture, it looks like this is about 2/3 of our total collection.

The little bugaboo -

Our First Week

2009-10-03T09:49:00.000-07:00

We've been in the house for a week now. Still lots to do! Here are a few pics of the girls...

A neighbor brought us the last roses of summer the day we moved in --

Paint Party

2009-10-01T19:16:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pics to wet your whistle -- from last week's painting pre-move.

The enclosed side porch acted as our kids playroom as the other rooms were being painted & cleaned.

Dad painting the dining room --

The gold half of the painted living room. (The other half is painted in a color called "Potter's Rock" -- brown? red? you decide when you see pics...)

Upstairs bathroom being painted a slate gray. This was the last room of the night and was being done after everyone had been painting (& breathing fumes) alllll day. They were getting loopy and painting graffiti on the walls before painting 'for real'.

We're Home!

2009-09-29T11:25:00.000-07:00

We're in the new house! I feel so tired and overwelmed and like I should be spending these quiet moments while the girls are sleeping doing more unpacking or organizing - but I need a break. I'd really like to just take the day off & pretend there's nothing left to do... but then I trip over a box and my sore toe reminds me that it would be better to get settled in as soon as possible.

Our 'closing date' came last Thursday with the seller's attorney still promising our attorney would have the paperwork necessary -- and to date, our attorney STILL does not have the necessary paperwork. Thank the Lord the pre-possession paperwork went through so we're not homeless. We were able to get into the house last Thursday and get to work. Our big move was on Saturday. We had over a dozen people, a moving truck, several cars, a pickup truck, and a couple vans pulling trailers -- and thankfully that was enough to haul everything in one trip. The loading took just over 2 hours and the unloading took just over 2 hours. It felt longer ;-) but I was pleasantly surprised it didn't take longer and super blessed by our friends, family and church that came out to help.

Saturday night was our first night staying in the house. We've gotten a good amount of unpacking done in the past couple days but of course, there is still plenty to do. The hard thing is trying to figure out what to do next. Some boxes I want to unpack but then realize that I should set up a bookshelf first to have a place to unpack the items in the box... but then I think I should first clean the floor or put down a rug so the floor is clean before the bookshelf goes down -- stuff like that. I find myself often either standing in a room just thinking and doing nothing -- or I go to do something in the kitchen like make a sandwich and I've walked around the room 3 full times before I collect all the items needed b/c either I can't find them or I'm not used to the flow of the kitchen yet. So I find myself wasting time either way -- by doing nothing or by doing more than necessary. But I know this too shall pass. It's only been a few days!

This morning I went to our church's ladies Bible study which is now just a 4 minute drive from our house. I went there after dropping off Madison at my brother's house (which is just 1 minute past the location of the Bible study) to play with her cousin's. Avery went with me and did well most of the time -- she got pretty tired & fussy toward the end. It was good to be out and part of a group activity though.

Poor Matt has come down with a cold on top of allergy overload from moving/dust/cleaning this past weekend. So here in his first week to commute to work, he is feeling horribly crappy. We're praying he'll get better & it won't drag on forever.

Speaking of dragging on forever, while we are very very thankful we are in the house we continue to be very frustrated with the seller's attorney who are dragging their feet and NOT doing what they say when it comes to our closing. It's nice to be in the house but it still makes me a little uneasy, taking residence in a house we don't own. I want to tie up the loose ends and make it official, but it's out of our hands. So we wait.

I know you're all anxious for pictures -- I'm anxious to give a photo tour! But there is still so much to do and I want to actually have presentable pics to show! So be patient -- hopefully by this weekend I can get a few pics up.

Buried Alive

2009-09-21T12:35:00.000-07:00

The box piles keep growing. Madison's bedroom is about 1/2 full of box stacks and the piles have expanded into other parts of our apt too. Lord willing, only a few more days to live like this.

Monkey Business

2009-09-18T13:52:00.000-07:00

My girl is happy as a clam with her new car --

This was Madison before even eating breakfast this morning -- "Bye Momma, I'm going to the store! Where are my keys?"

Politics in the Blood

2009-09-18T13:49:00.000-07:00

My dad is running for public office!

Moving Targets

2009-09-18T13:45:00.000-07:00

Attempting to take a picture with moving targets...

Niagara Falls

2009-09-11T11:40:00.000-07:00

I haven't had time to sit down and get Niagara Falls pictures posted from last weekend. What a picture perfect postcard day we had! The air was comfortable, the sun was warm. For being a holiday, the crowds were surprisingly small. Our $10 double stroller came in real handy. We enjoyed walking around looking at the falls then going on Maid of the Mist. The girls were very good -- exceptionally good considering they did not nap ALL day until after 4 PM. We had a couple helpers with us -- Anneke & Judah -- and I don't know what we would have done without their 2 extra sets of hands! Here are a 'few' pictures (hey, 20 is a 'few' considering I had over 120 to start with!) from the girls' first of many visits to Niagara Falls --

Moving Prep = Wealth Realized

2009-09-11T06:50:00.000-07:00

I've been in this place before -- piles of boxes, bare walls, a kitchen utensil I know I have but must've already gotten packed away. This is life for the next few weeks! As we prepare to move this time around, I'm struck once again by the realization of how wealthy we are. Oh we complain about what we don't have. We complain about Matt having to work 2 jobs to make ends meet. But when 80+% of what we own is packed up in boxes and we're managing to get by just fine without all the 'stuff', I realize 1) wow, we do have a lot of 'stuff'. And not necessarily just stuff cluttering up our home, but handy, helpful, fun stuff. Stuff that God has blessed us with, stuff that makes our lives a little easier or more enjoyable. And then 2) I realize that there are people in this world that don't have what we do, people that truly are poor. I remember the day we moved out of our Nebraska apt. I remember looking around at the bare walls, the rooms without furniture, our packed bags in the corner, no place to lay my baby but the floor when it was time for her nap since the crib was already packed. It was sobering to think of people with nothing more than 4 walls around them... and yet to acknowledge that we can be content in any situation, in plenty or in want. What if I did only have the 4 walls around me? Our family is together, we're healthy, we've never been without food or clothing, and we have the security of knowing that whatever happens in this life, Jesus has paid my admission ticket to be with Him forever in the next. Do we need any more than that? And yet our heavenly Father loves to give good gifts to His children. It's a good reminder, even if I do hate the moving process.

Madison's room -- 3 1/2 of the 4 walls look like this & the stacks keep growing higher. I'm thankful Matt is able to get so many empty paper boxes from work. They're free and they're uniform size which makes life a lot easier.

Avery at 6 months, preparing to move from Fairport to Waterloo --

A blast from the past -- Madison at 6 months preparing to move from NE to NY -

An unrelated photo -- The girls are starting to play so well together (when Madison doesn't come charging in like a bull in a china shop and knock Avery over in the process of showing her affection). It's so funny to see Avery sitting up all the time -- makes it look like two 'kids' playing... Where'd the baby go?!

Wedding Bells Again

2009-09-11T06:41:00.000-07:00

Congrats also to Matt's cousin Shannon who recently got engaged & just set the date for Sept 3 2010!!

Wedding Bells

2009-09-08T06:38:00.000-07:00

Congrats to my cousin Jenny who just got engaged yesterday!! Hooray!

Who Needs A Laser Pointer?

2009-09-03T14:02:00.001-07:00

Seriously, this rivals a cat and a laser pointer for entertainment --

Weebles Wobble

2009-09-02T19:11:00.000-07:00

Avery is to the point now where she can sit up without using her hands to prop or steady herself. But she's still a little wobbly when she leans too far and tends to fall over. While she is able to sit by herself, I still haven't seen her doing it often. She usually lays on the floor and scootches around or whatever. This afternoon I walked into the room to see her just sitting there, upright and totally on her own, smiling away at me. I grabbed the camera and (with Madison 'helping' - I should say "Madison-zilla") here's what we got...

Play Times

2009-09-02T15:18:00.000-07:00

Our sweet, silly little girls --

What's the best thing to do to get wound up right before bed? Wrestle with Dad!

Mm, snack time!

Looking older, almost 6 months --

Too sweet!

Gettin' Around

2009-08-28T15:05:00.000-07:00

Avery really gets around. She's crawling -- sort of. And she's sitting up unassisted -- sort of. Her sitting up is still a variation of the tripod -- she sits up but still requires the use of one of her hands on the ground to give herself support. And crawling -- well she does a little bit of everything -- inchworm, army crawl, up on her tiptoes, 'real' crawling though not very far when she does. She seems to enjoy being on the floor with freedom to go where she wants and explore all of her toys on her own.

Moving News

2009-08-24T11:53:00.000-07:00

AHHH!! Just found out we have someone to sublease our apartment!! That's GREAT news but means things are about to get crazier -- closing date and moving date will be moved up to late September. Keep us in your prayers as we wrap loose ends!

Avery in August

2009-08-24T11:26:00.000-07:00

Somewhere around 5 1/2 months...

Lil' Artist

2009-08-15T12:10:00.000-07:00

Madison's first paintings - using TaDoodles.

Sweet in Seersucker

2009-08-10T08:06:00.000-07:00

This picture would've turned out a whole lot better if it hadn't blurred... and if Madison wasn't giving me the 'loser' sign. LOL!

Tim Hawkins

2009-08-09T16:17:00.001-07:00

We are one happy couple right now -- Got to see Tim Hawkins on Saturday night and it was so incredibly funny. Now our life is complete. :-D

Our pic blurred, I know. BOOHOO! Gonna see how much we can fix it up.

Below are a couple video clips from the evening. In the first, he's doing a new song -- a mock on the song 'The Candayman', his version telling how the government taxes us & redistributes wealth. We called it 'Tim Hawkins: The Musical' because he had goofy little dances & hand motions. It was great. The second video he's talking about experiences flying & in airports.

Little Miss Muffet

2009-08-07T13:52:00.000-07:00

...sat on her tuffet...

This was Aunt Alyssa's handmade birthday gift to Madison --

Family Beach Time

2009-08-04T18:15:00.000-07:00

Summer finally arrived - it's been so wet this year. Here's one of the beautiful days we finally had --

2nd Birthday Memories

2009-08-04T18:04:00.000-07:00

From the big party --

The cow cake -

The companion cake -

The favors - lil' beach pails, sunglasses & beach balls, along with the lil' coloring-project sippy cups behind them -

The beachfront -

The sidelines -

Enoch - 'Any babes on the beach?'

Madison -

Birthday girl enjoying cake & ice cream -

Finding a good seat to watch the opening of gifts -