Happy Father's Day, June 15th, 2014

Continuing in the tradition of last year, we visited a museum about cars for Father's Day.  Last year the Frist Center was exhibiting Art Deco cars - perfect timing for Father's Day.  This year we drove an hour to the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, KY.  One of the more interesting times to do so, since the sink hole sucked in several cars a couple months ago.  They managed to retrieve all the cars out of the gaping hole in the floor, and put them on display.  One was actually drivable when it came out, but the worst one looked like this:

Fresh fruit for thought

Someone said to me over the winter, "Aren't we lucky to be able to give our kids fresh fruit?"  So many people in this world do not have access to fresh foods in such abundance, and with such choices that we do.  In the middle of winter, I can give my kids fresh berries from lands far, far away from me.  It is a privilege, yes, but also a responsibility.  While I am grateful for choices all year long, I ponder whether I choose the right things to eat.  If I go with the seasons, I eat what I was designed to eat: a variety.  When I choose what I want, I box myself in to a small selection of what I pass by in the produce aisle at the grocery store.  I am grateful for the ability at present to afford whole and nutritious foods for my children.  At the same time I am sad for those in our country living in food deserts, where the only food close-by is a gas station mini-mart, and sad for those around the world in war-torn areas with little or no food, or where hunger is the norm.  I don't have answers to my thoughts, but K_ and I will be volunteering at a breakfast this Sunday serving homeless individuals in downtown Nashville.  Perhaps just a drop in the bucket, but something positive none-the-less.

A day with Dad!

Baby J and I enjoyed a relaxing morning with Dad, and a lunch trip to Sitar for delicious Indian food.  Dad and Baby J hung out together while Mom went out for a massage appointment!!  Bonus points!

All I can say is thank you, thank you!!







And happy fourth month birthday, Baby J!

June Already?

 I can't believe it is already June!  Time is flying by very quickly...


Baby J just had his 4 month checkup and weighs in at 15lbs 10oz.  Of course, he wasn't thrilled with the shots. He loves to be held in the sitting position now and is always laughing and smiling.  Strangers just love coming up to him and talking to him, and he is not shy about giving them a great big smile or laugh!  He brightens their days!

K__ is super excited for her little Bro to start eating solids.  We will start soon, as he is becoming interested in what we are eating.  His hand unexpectedly ended up in Mom's plate of rice at one point, and he has tried drinking water out of a glass (of course he ended up a bit wet...)!

K__ had a relaxing week last week with not much to do.  She is participating in band camp this week and next, and is thrilled that her best friend is there, too.  We are planning a bunch of sleep-overs to go with it!

Baby J will be coming with me to teach flute lessons this week again, so I hope that the crankiness from the shots will not interfere.

In our spare time, we have been spending some time at the pool, but Jake is not entirely cool with getting in cold water.  I think he wishes it would be like his baths, where he is more than happy to kick and splash around.

We went strawberry-picking last weekend... barely.  The berries were pretty well picked out.  One of the ladies at the farm was more than willing to hold a baby while we picked, and he sat on her lap and laughed and laughed.  You wouldn't know it by the look on his face in this picture, though!  That's one to make Dad proud!

Wow, so many great things can happen in such a short time!  For K__  a kids triathlon, visitors for the weekend, band concert at school, and every week, Baby J grows and changes and learns new things.

Let's begin with the events of the weekend:

Kids Triathlon

K___  did her kids triathlon on Sunday!  She completed a 200 yard swim, 6- mile bike ride, and a mile run.  She did a great job, finishing in about 50 minutes.  She had a great time with her Dad, who surprised her by coming down from Connecticut for the weekend, and with her Grammy (traveled from Pennsylvania to see her) and with her friends, of course.  There were close to 750 participants from age 6-15, so it's a pretty big event!

I think the best part is the free chocolate milk and ice cream and watermelon at the end!  We went out with our friends for lunch to Jason's Deli (more ice cream for dessert), and K___ relaxed that afternoon by playing Minecraft with a friend, swimming at the hotel with Dad and Grammy, and having more ice cream for dessert that night!  What a day!

Baby J hung out in his stroller, eating, looking around, listening to the noise and sleeping...

                                     

He does a great job hanging out wherever he is.  Only, he decidedly does NOT like band concerts.  It must be the loud noise.  He tolerates hearing it through the walls while I teach flute lessons during band class, and he tolerates a flute or clarinet playing right beside him.  But apparently the whole band on stage is too much.

Band Concert

K___'s band concert went well (last Wednesday evening and Friday morning).  Her class of 5th graders played first, showing off three pieces of sheet music they learned this year.  Pretty amazing that one teacher can teach all 70+ students ALL of their instruments without the help of any private teachers at the school.  Crazy system.  Of course, they could be a lot better if they each received some private instruction, but that's the way it goes there.  

With a good friend who also plays clarinet

Check the web album for May (link below) and you will find videos of the concert pieces they played!

Baby J

April 29, 2013

Baby J is learning so much lately!  At 3 and a half months, he is beginning to discover toys - the ones he can get his hands around and get to his mouth are his favorite.  He started by grabbing his blankets and soft toys, and grabbing hair when Mom or Sister are holding him.  He has some rattles that he loves to shake-shake!  Towards the end of April, he learned to bat at his toys when suspended to the sides of his body and over his belly.  Suddenly, just in the past week, he can grab a toy with both hands, and reaches not just out to the side, but in front of him to get his toys.  He rolls from his tummy to his back, and if there is something hung to his side, he will roll from his back to his side to play with both hands.  His legs kick all around, especially if there is something around him to kick and make noise, and his monkey toes are working on grabbing things, too!

Talking, talking!  "Ooh, ahh, oom, maaa, moo, graaaa" are strung in big long sentences!  He has huge smiles for anyone who will come close and say, "hi."  Huge smiles, and laughs when he is tickled or when Mom, Dad or Sister play silly games with him.

He likes to suck on his fingers and hands all the time... once he has fallen asleep sucking his thumb.  He is still a great sleeper.  Takes good naps, and sleeps overnight generally from around 9pm to 6:30am.  I feel very lucky!

That's all I have time for now, but check the web albums for more photos and videos!

May 2013

   Click picture for Picasa album.

Mother's Day

A day for everyone to honor their mothers, and for mothers to treasure the wonderful reasons why being a mom is great.

What made my day wonderful?  Beautiful weather, eating out at a Mexican restaurant (gluten free options!), which means I did not have to think about making meals or cleaning up from them at home (yay!), taking Baby to the pool for the first time (his thoughts..."eh"), swimming laps for some great exercise and stress relief (with Daughter, who is training for the triathlon next weekend - very proud!), weighing myself and it appears I have lost a little more of the baby weight (even a tiny bit is better than nothing!), getting some very cool homemade gifts from Daughter (a colorful felted M and some nicely made origami artwork), talking to my sister (always good to hear from her!) and having some help with getting the cloth diapers finished through the laundry and put away (thank you, J)!  The simple things in life are sometimes the very best!

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog!

Because we live so far away from all of our close relatives, I wanted to find a way to keep everyone updated with our lives.  I hope to post interesting things that come up in our lives so you can catch up with us easily, and so I can have somewhat of a journal of the positive experiences we have from day to day or week to week.  I am completely new to blogging, so please excuse the sloppiness at first!

Introducing the "fry"...

                

                     One medium fry                                                        One small fry