Here are some random life photos and then a video! I wasn't sure how long it would take, so I just started the upload then went to bed. :) That way it didn't matter if it took forever on dial up. If I get positive feedback on the video, then I'll try to do more of them in the future.

Here is Trinity on the swingset. I finally got the side yard fenced in so I moved the swingset up where it will be in the shade for playing in the summer. Also I can now look out my kitchen window while at the sink and see both the trampoline and the swingset - perfect!
Here are the kids playing on the trampoline with daddy the other day. I caught Trinity in mid bounce!

Yesterday I broke out all the winter stuff to have it by the back door for bundling up the kiddos. Trinity enjoyed putting on the hat and mittens that Grandma Mary knitted for her.

Here is Angelina Trampolina having a good time. :)

And here's the video. Just a little bit of trampoline play. I hope you enjoy it. :)

Grace and peace be with you!

Posted in: on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at at 9:53 PM 0 comments    

I can't get enough of this little angel's smile! (and for those who are wondering, no, David is not going gray - he was just home from work and hadn't showered off the paint yet!)
Grace and peace be with you!

Posted in: on Monday, October 8, 2007 at at 9:23 PM 0 comments    

Just a quick note. I was out working on the yard this morning while the girls were playing. Trinity called to me, "Look, Mom, we're in the car together!" Of course I had to get a picture. :)

Grace and peace be with you!

Posted in: on Saturday, October 6, 2007 at at 10:07 PM 0 comments    

Time for another update. Last week I took Angelina in to see our new family doctor. Her official stats for her one year check up are 20 pounds 9 ounces and 31 inches tall. The doctor said that puts her in the 90th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight. To compare, Trinity was 19 pounds at 28 1/2 inches tall. We keep telling Trinity she needs to be nice to Angelina because she's growing bigger all the time!

I also found out that they have a shot clinic the last Wednesday of the month for Warren county, so the girls are all caught up on their vaccinations. We were a little behind so poor Angelina had to get 4 shots - yikes! But after vaccines, and doctors visits, and a 30k mile check up on the minivan, we were off to Chicago for the weekend. Actually, just outside of Chicago in Naperville. We visited one of my girlfriends, Chris, from the singles group at Calvary who has also gotten married and moved away from Phoenix. It was so good to see an old friend again and we had a really nice time visiting with her and her husband Kyle. Trinity still talks about the cat Lucy and wants to go back and visit the cat house. (her words!)

Saturday, David and I took the kids into Chicago and visited the Navy Pier. We rode the carousel and visited the Chicago Children's museum. Wow - was that a great children's museum - made me want to be a kid again! On our way out of town we happened upon a pizza place (imagine that!) and had some of the famous Chicago stuffed pizza for dinner from Giardano's. Sunday we went to church with Chris and Kyle. Before the service, one of the church staff came up to us while we were waiting and introduced himself and talked with us a little. I remember thinking, hey, he has the same name as that famous Christian guy. Turns out, he was that famous Christian guy - Josh McDowell - who was the guest speaker that day. What a great weekend to be there. He gave a fantastic talk. Very eye opening and I would think, almost burdensome to men. He was talking about how all the studies are showing how critical the father is in his children's life.

Anyway, we saw in the Sunday paper that the Cubs are in the playoffs, thus the title for this post. A good weekend for everybody. :) Sunday afternoon we walked along the river walk into Naperville and to a park to let the kids play. Trinity of course met and pet every dog that was walking the other way.

Back home on Monday, I received the reward every mom loves to receive from her child. We were playing on the trampoline when Trinity spontaneously gave me a hug and said, "I love you mom. You're my best friend."
It's all worth it right there folks. :)

In other news, I pick up my training materials tomorrow for my new job - school bus driver.
The opening is for a 1/2 hour route. So I will work from 7:15 - 8:15 in the morning and 2:00 - 3:00 in the afternoon. I can take the girls with me on the bus and Trinity is already excited about getting to ride a real school bus. For my 2 hours a day I'll get paid $616 a month. (it may be a little less since I didn't start at the beginning of the school year) It's a set amount that you can get prorated out over 12 months if you want, so you always have the income coming in. That means that I will get paid even when there are holidays. There is also the opportunity to volunteer for field trips and eventually a longer route if I was interested. I'm thinking that's a nice little supplemental income for a couple hours a day when school is in session. Step one is to get my class B, CDL license. I pick up the study book for that tomorrow.

David is still enjoying his job. There is the potential that the guy running the painting operations may be leaving and David might have the opportunity to take over. We are waiting and praying to see if that is what God has for David or if he should seek a job with the John Deere plant.

We had a date night at home the other night. We put the kids in bed then sat in the back yard out by burn barrel. David got a nice fire going and we roasted marshmallows and star gazed together. We have a beautiful view of the milky way at our house. We could hear cows mooing from a pasture somewhere over the hill behind the fields. I told David, "Gee, I was wrong. Here I've been telling everyone how quiet it is out here!" Yes, that was rife with sarcasm. Then I called out, "Hey, neighbors, can you turn down your cows? We've got kids trying to sleep over here!" ha-ha! We do not for one second regret moving here. We always feel so good coming home. As much fun as it is to visit places, when we cross back into Iowa, we're happy.

And now for the pictures:
Here I am on the carousel with the girls. You can hardly see Trinity because some lady got in the way- oh, wait - that lady is me! (ha) Anyway, all three of us were waving to daddy as we went by. Angelina has just started doing the wave. (and I call it that b/c it's that royalty wave as though her throngs of admirers were out there amongst the peasants)

The Chicago Children's Museum had a special Curious George exhibit - much to the delight of Trinity. She just loves watching Curious George. Here is Angelina playing doorman at Curious George's apartment building while Trinity checks out the mail boxes.

Girl meets monkey. BFF.

Angelina the firefighter. We almost had her trusted dog Trinity, but alas, getting two kids in place at the same time was not to be that day!

Here Trinity was being a cross between a bee and a butterfly. Made me think of a couple I know - Madam Jeanette Butterfly and Mr. Mark Bee :) She even had purple wings! (and you would have to be a part of my family to understand that, so if you don't get it, it's not b/c you are missing something!)

Big George came out to greet the kidlings in the afternoon, and after initially crying when seeing him and refusing to go near, Trinity not only got a handshake and a hug, but wanted to go back for more. :)

Here's mommy showing Trinity how to use the tools of the trade to uncover dinosaur bones at an archaeological dig.

Trinity and Angelina fishing.

Trinity still fishing. I didn't think we were going to get her out of that place. The only way I could get her to stop fishing with the nets was to show her the fishing with the poles. She wasn't interested in anything else in that exhibit and she worked determinedly at catching fish. Mind boggling. Maybe she will enjoy the real thing just as much - if so, she will make her daddy very happy!

That's all folks!

Grace and peace be with you!

Posted in: on Tuesday, October 2, 2007 at at 10:17 PM 0 comments    

I am finally braving the dial up to put some pictures online again. :p
Angelina turned one year old yesterday. She is really cruising around now. We went out to dinner and then took the girls to the mall to ride on the carousel and play in the kid soft play area. This is Angelina playing in the backyard on her birthday.

Here is Angelina opening her birthday present from Grandma Mary. (with a little help from Dad and Trinity!)
What fun! A fruit and vegetable basket with its own knife for cutting them up. We have to keep reminding Trinity that the toy is actually Angelina's! She just loves cutting up all the food. :)

The aftermath...

The weekend before we went to the Renaissance Festival. Trinity had her first pony ride.

We continue to be amazed at the abundance of wildlife we encounter all the time. I tend to take the backroads/dirt roads whenever possible so we sometimes feel like the stars of Wild America or something. Just down the road from us is a marshland preserve. When we drive through that area we often see cranes. The other day there was a huge flock of birds. They were on the telephone lines, in the fields and even on the road. When we drove through, we were surrounded by birds flying up and all around us - really cool.

Trinity seems to be in love with all God's creatures - frogs, snakes, and insects included. Everything she comes in contact with she wants to pet it. In cleaning our boxes out of the garage, I came across a nest of baby mice. (still young enough that their eyes weren't open yet) Trinity asked her usual request - "I want to hold it." So I let her have one to carry around. The others we left under the big tree in the side yard so "mommy mouse can come get her babies." (i.e. the cats next door will discover an appetizer to go with their meal) The whole day Trinity took that mouse with her everywhere she went. Unfortunately, she lost the mouse at one point. We searched frantically because I just knew if we didn't find it, Angelina most certainly would and it would go straight into her mouth! We couldn't find the mouse, but Angelina did turn up with it - she had stepped on it and squished it between her toes first. Ewwww! Trinity of course wanted a replacement mouse, but wouldn't you know, mommy mouse had come and taken away all the other mice during the day. ;) Hope that doesn't bother anybody, but that is life in the country. Mice are food for cats, snakes or hawks out here. I certainly don't want them moving in with my family!

Grace and peace be with you!

Posted in: on Friday, September 21, 2007 at at 9:10 PM 1 comments    

I finally figured out which program was running the popup blocker on my computer and can upload photos. Here goes......(for more info see previous post)

Dad and Trinity heading to the balloons.

Me and Angelina at the landing site.

Did I forget to mention that Angelina has been walking for about 3 weeks now? This was in her "look at me, I can stand up and sit down by myself" phase. Just after we got home from NC she took her first step. This past week she has moved into full time walking and no more crawling. We expect she will be chasing Trinity in no time!

Trinity and Jiah taking in a flick.

My favorite picture of the summer - Uncle Larry and Angelina looking so happy to have met!

Dad and his girls.

Angelina swinging at the castle playground in Asheville, NC

Trinity swinging at the castle playground

Jiah's birthday celebration.

Trinity wishing she could have more cake.

cutie pie!

Angelina playing.

Angelina trying to get the baseball to come out of the movie and play with her. Trinity went through a phase of watching nothing but the movie "Everyone's Hero" which she called the baseball movie.

That's all folks!

Grace and peace be with you!

Posted in: on Monday, September 3, 2007 at at 9:12 PM 2 comments    

Hi everyone. Sorry it has taken me so long to get online and put some news on here. Life has been busy and hectic lately. So much has happened I'm not sure where to begin. I guess I will post pictures and give news as I go.



Well, scratch that. For some reason I am unable to post pictures. I will post another time if I can figure out why my computer is blocking that command.



We have been very busy. David ended up getting a painting job and I left my job at Deery Brothers to return to full time parenting. Between my leaving my job and David starting his job, we took a road trip to North Carolina to visit his brother. David's parents were visiting at the time so we got to see them as well. Trinity really enjoyed meeting and playing with her 6 year old cousin, Jiah. (hope I got that spelling right!)



After a brief stint back home, the kids and I took off for Maryland where we visited my mom. For those of you that I have not kept updated, my mother was diagnosed with cancer this summer - it's in her breast and thyroid. She just started chemo last week so she's got some hard months ahead of her. So please be praying for healing and energy for her.



David flew out and helped me drive home last weekend. Then this past weekend it was back in the van for yet another trip. This time to Illinois for the wedding of my cousin Hiedi. I am really glad we made it, but we were so exhausted as Trinity decided to be in rare form for the wedding. David missed the whole thing while watching the kids in the nursery at the church - bummer! He had done the bride's and the maid of honor's hair for them and they looked great. :)



So we are looking forward to some time at home now. We picked up a nice swingset at a yard sale for $10 and splurged on a trampoline set at the end of season sale at Walmart. We are enjoying being able to play with the kids in our own backyard. We also just bought a bigger mower to help make the yard work less onerous. I found a gym that is close to home, has a great kids club and pool aerobics four mornings a week, so I will be back to my regular workout routine this week - I am excited!



We also just visited a new church that we are really excited about. It's called Christian Life Assembly (http://www.lifenow.org/) and we both really felt the presence of the Holy Spirit during the service. We enjoyed the pastor and his teaching and had the experience of "man, that service was EXACTLY what we needed to hear!" While Trinity has been upset all summer about being left in the nursery, she went straight in to this one with out so much as a glance back and her first words when being picked up were, "I had fun!" We were happy to see she had a bible story coloring sheet with a bible story and verse on it. The church in Norwalk, while we like a lot of things about it, until Trinity is out of diapers, she won't be in a class where she is taught about the bible.



This reminds me of one of those cute kid moments we had recently. Trinity loves to sing and has been learning Jesus Loves Me. One morning she was walking around the house singing over and over, "the bible tells me no." :)

I missed the Iowa State Fair while in Maryland, but the Renaissance Festival started this weekend. We are planning on going next weekend. It has been a long time since I enjoyed the merriment and revelry of a good Ren Fest, so I am looking forward to its arrival. Hopefully I can figure out how to get pictures to post and will have them on here shortly. Until then, that's all the news I can remember (!) for now.

Grace and peace be with you.

Posted in: on Tuesday, August 28, 2007 at at 6:15 AM 0 comments