Happy Birthday, Nathaniel!

I promise to post some pictures as soon as we get them downloaded, but today was Nathaniel's 2nd birthday. I can't believe he is already 2 years old. He has grown so much, especially in the last 6 months. If I had to describe Nathaniel in one word it would have to be tender. I've never met a more tender toddler. He's always saying hello to perfect strangers. Hugging Mommy, Daddy, Sissy, Micah, and even Gracen the cat (now if that's not tender I don't know what is). He loves kissing us all (which could develop into bad things in the future if not controlled - I'm only kidding). He is a tenderhearted little boy who loves to color, draw, paint, and play outside. He makes by far the absolute funniest faces I've ever seen a child his age make. We have to catch them on camera someday. My favorite face he makes is when he crosses his eyes. He is hilarious.
Oh, my Nathaniel, my oldest son. You will go far. I can see so much in you already. I'm so proud to be your Dad. I can't wait to do more things with you as you grow like camping, fishing, hiking, and all those fun things that Fathers and sons get to enjoy together. I will always be here for you.
Happy Birthday, Nathaniel! I love you!

Happy 8 Weeks!

Micah is now 8 weeks old. He's growing everyday...I just haven't been able to catch the actual growth spurt on camera. But, here are some great new pictures!

Our Saturday Out of the House

Well, as those of you who have had small children at one time know, it is possible to spend way too much time in the house. Especially for breast-feeding mothers. Ashley hadn't been out of the house in about 5 days or so. Until yesterday. Even though it was rainy, we just had to break free! So, we want to take the time to say we are thankful for these four words, for they are very important for maintaining our sanity...Burger King Indoor Playground.
You would not believe how much of a blessing it was for us to go to lunch at Burger King yesterday. I think you'll see from the pictures that even the BIG kids got in on the fun! Who knew that a fast food resteraunt would turn into a mini vacation/amusement park for PO FOKE like us? I'm glad it was raining...we hadn't eaten out in way too long. We had the playground and lunch for less that 10 dollars. Not too bad for a family our size!

Make you want to tell the manager?

Dr. Frankenputer

Our computer has been down this weekend. Okay, well that is puting it lightly. Our computer has been down and in pieces. It is finally back together now, but I feel like I've spent the whole weekend in Dr. Frankenstein's lab. We needed to replace the AC port (where we plug in the power cord to charge the battery). Of course this piece would be underneath everything and soldered to the motherboard. So, as you can imagine it was not an easy process. I must admit, I was very nervous about the repair job. I was confident I could get it all back together once I took it apart. My fear, however, was that I wasn't sure it would work after I replaced the part. Well, after literally hours of sitting at the desk working on the thing it worked. The only problem was I accidentally pulled off the recepticle for the cooling fan. I pulled on it a little too hard and it came disconnected from the motherboard. So, back to the soldering iron. This repair was a lot more difficult. There were four leads, very small leads I might add, that had to be attached to the motherboard. Each lead was probably about as thin has a piece of paper. They were also very close together. I discovered that they could not be touching in any way. So a few more hours later and I had a working fan. The only problem is, it runs constantly. It is supposed to only run after triggered by a thermostat like sensor. Whatever I did must have bypassed the sensor. I don't believe this will be a big deal except for annoyance. It's a soft noise, but a constant one nonetheless. Well, here are the pictures from my computer dissection....I'm so glad this one was over!

Look at all those screws. I actually was surprised that I never lost a single screw, and didn't have a single one left over when the computer was reassembled.

You can see the new part on the white piece of shipping foam in the picture below. It went on the upper right hand side on the very end...on the bottom! So, that's why the whole motherboard had to come out.

I probably disassembled and reassembled this computer about 8 times (I'm not exagerating) during this project. Needless to say I didn't need the instructions after the third time. I hope I never have to do that again.

Who says men can't multi-task?

Perhaps it is a bit prideful, and for that I apologize. But I do want to speak up for my fellow men-folk who are often told they, well, stink (for lack of a better word) at multi-tasking. Last night, the kids and I decided to give Mommy a little extra rest time when she fell asleep in the afternoon. So...this is what I did...
After Micah ate his supplementary bottle, I put him in his swing where he drifted off to sleep (which is really the whole reason I could do anything). Then I commenced to prepare supper...all at the same time..
I cooked burgers on our electric indoor grill, fried okra, made sweet tea (via simmer on the stove top), chopped up a pear for our fruit, baked a batch of triple-berry muffins, watched the kids, and did two loads of laundry at the same time. Martha Stewart eat your heart out!!!!
All the kids survived, and there was no fire. Well, okay, the tea bag strings got too close to the range at one point (we have a gas range) and they vanished with a flame, but it was controlled rather quickly. Ashley's expression when she was told dinner was on the table and ready was priceless and made it all worth it. She just look at me, her mouth dropped, and she landed a great big kiss on my lips and said, "I love you," in a sweet, newlywed kinda way. I would have traded it for anything in the world. YES, men can multi task when they set their minds to it. And wives, make sure you reward them as mine did, otherwise they may never even attempt it! It's a rare thing that happens only once in a blue moon, but don't let it slip by unnoticed!
I would do it all again if I had to. MEN UNITE!

Flyin' Solo

This is the first week I have been at home with the children by myself. It was not nearly as crazy as I had anticipated, but I am very relieved that it's Friday and Jonathan can be home the next few days! It helped tremendously that I have had such great help over the past few weeks. Micah is six weeks old now and changing a little every day. Things would be so different if it weren't for all the help we've received during the past month. We owe our MOMs a HUGE thanks for sacrificing their time to spend weeks with us here helping out with the kids and the daily grind. It was also great to have my wonderful hubby around while he took two weeks off from work. Even though we were all sharing a sinus infection during that time, we were also able to share some precious family time together. We haven't spent that much time together as a family in a very long time.

I've been trying to remember that although there are moments of absolute chaos, I will greatly miss this stage of our lives when it's gone. I'm not quite sure what I'll do when the kids are grown and independent. Well, that's not entirely true...I do know a few things I will do! I will sleep until I wake up on my own, shower until my hot water runs out, eat what I want without worrying about giving anyone else gas, rejoice over not having to buy boxes of diapers at WalMart, go on dates with my true love, and play tennis if I can still remember how! But then again, the house will be too quiet, too clean, and too empty. I praise God for the moments of mayhem to have all the great moments we share. For now, I will try to hold on to my husband's hand in one hand and my sanity in the other.

Tonight as I was tucking little Nathaniel under his Pooh Bear blanket I forgot all the difficult moments of the week when he looked up at me with with his big blue eyes and said, "Wuv you, Mommy!"

~Ashley

Clothing Project

While I was at Seminary, we were able to take advantage of the Seminary "Sharing Shop." This was an old seminary married student home that was converted into a second-hand, thrift shop. Every last thing was free. They had clothes, toys, children's items, books, movies, furniture...you name it! After we graduated we really missed the Sharing Shop. We looked forward to our trips there.
Well, we were going to have to purchase some clothes for the kids soon, so Ashley had the idea of contacting the lady in charge of the Sharing Shop and proposed an idea. The Sharing Shop doesn't store any surplus. Because they get so much, they simply take all their surplus to Goodwill. Ashley asked her if we could take their surplus and sift through it for things we could use, and then take it to Goodwill for them. Everyone thought it was a great idea.
Ashley went by there this past Saturday and came home with the van absolutely loaded with bags of clothes. Our task was simple, yet somewhat demanding...open every bag, pull out what we could use, bag up the rest, and repack the van to ship to Goodwill. Here are the pics...

Ashley's pile was the keep pile. These we later sorted according to gender and size.

And...well, here's the rest. You see who had the bigger pile right?

Just when you think you are not sure how in the world you're going to make it, the Lord just kinda smiles and gives you a big blessing. Of course, sometimes you have to work for it, but I think in this case we didn't mind. It was kind of fun.

Technical Difficulties

Well, my computer is experienceing some major technical difficulties with its main power connection hardware. We are currently attempting to remedy the problem. Until it is fixed we will keep you all informed of our whereabouts as best we can. We have some great pictures of a major blessing we received this weekend with some clothes. Hopefully we can post that today. Keep checking in!

She's all growed up!

Well, Abigail has officially mastered the swing. Our neighbors, the Amerson's (home to Courtland, Mindy, and THE DUDE!) graciously allow us to use their swing and slide play set. Abigail surprised me. She wanted on one of the big swings (which she has always been a bit terrified of in the past). I put her on, not moving more than a few inches away from her to catch her if she lost control. Then to my utter amazement, she wanted a push! And before I knew she was telling me "Higher, Daddy! Higher!" I must confess, I was actually scared. But, never once did I deprive her of the opportunity to grow a little by going as high as she liked on the swing. We went to the park today where they have one of those really big swirly slides. She went right up and right down.
The inevitable is happening...my little Abigail is growing up.

Crazy Days

This week has been absolutely crazy. Even the weather has contributed its share of mayhem. It was snowing at the beginning of the week, and now it is warm enough for shorts and tshirts. I have usually been so faithful to write a new entry this week, but I have fallen behind. So much has happened. I'll have to give you the reader's digest versions. But I apologize for the lapse in time. I'll do better.

I Respect Tony Dungy

Just finished reading Tony Dungy's Quiet Strength. What I loved the most about the book was its simplicity. It serves as a memoir of Dungy's life and football career. His message is simple and very clear from the beginning - what matters most in life is one's relationship with God. Football is not his life, it is (well, was) his job.
Dungy has recently announced his retirement. I have a pretty good feeling after reading this book that he will still be quite active in many ministries, and in some ways with football.
I heard a piece of Dungy's story from his pastor who spoke at a conference I attended back in 2007. I was very impressed from the start. For that reason I was glad when the Colts won Superbowl XLI. While I personally do not have a favorite NFL team I have a greater respect for the Colts after reading this book. Without a doubt I will have a favorite team when Ben starts playing in the NFL. Whatever team he is on, that will be my team.
I recommend this book for anyone. I think men who read it will glean great principles of leadership and the importance of having a family-first philosophy. His style of leadership was absolutely impressive. His reserved composure and calm demeaner are a couple of aspects I can certainly adapt myself.
This is a must read for any coach or athlete. But it's a great read for just about anyone.