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Wednesday, January 31, 2007

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
Psalm 91

k.a.w.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Playtime returns!

N and I had the most wonderful afternoon together. This was a much needed change from the previous 2 days. I was just about ready to start the job search. I needed a job. Any job. Just get me out of this house! N was completely horrible to be home with the past couple of day, and something had to change. After 2 days of continual fussing, crying, screaming, and a generally unpleasable attitude, the sun came shining through the clouds! He was himself again. Well, almost. He was himself plus a new tooth. Now it all makes sense! He should have just told me, and I would have been a lot more understanding and patient. When's he going to learn he can just tell me what's wrong and it makes thing a lot easier? After his nap this afternoon, he woke up in the sunniest mood. I decided to get down on the floor (with camera in hand) and play with him for as long as he'd play. I'd missed my smiley guy way too much! I guess I got a little camera happy, and ended up with about 40 pictures in the 2 hour play session. It was wonderful! (I couldn't get a good picture of the new tooth since it is just now breaking through the gums. I'll post one as soon as it gets through more.)

N loves to play with his activity table. I took the legs off it for now so that he can reach it a little easier. I'm sure I'll be putting them back on soon as he learns to pull up on things.
N's LeapFrog piano is one of his favorite toys. He likes to press the same button over and over. It makes it sound like a cd that keeps skipping.
The good old classic stacking rings! He loves them! (thanks Brian, Jen, and Isaac) In this picture (I wish it was a video) he is actually attempting to put the red ring back on the stack. I was unbelievably shocked when he was successful! I didn't think he would have that kind of coordination at 9 months!
Bang, bang, bang! Everytime N hits the top of his alligator it makes the cutest noises. This is one of his favorites, because he loves to open the lid, take the blocks out, and then put them back in. He's cleaning up his own messes!!! Yay!What boy's toy collection would be complete without a train? Nate has his, and he loves to make it sing. The monkey that hangs on the last car is his favorite!These are just a couple of adorable close up I had to share. He wasn't nearly this cute the past couple of days. Glad things are back to normal!You'd think that all this toy chaos might get Maggie a bit more riled up. Nope. She couldn't care less. After being up crying all last night, I'm not surprised she's tired. I sure am! This is N attempting to crawl over my back. (I couldn't see where I was aiming while taking this picture since I was lying on my stomach.) He's tried to crawl over B and I before, but he's always needed help to get all the way over. Not today! He did it with a very determined spirit. He then practiced more later so he won't forget.
That's all for now. It was just such a good afternoon. I couldn't help but share it with everyone. Hope you enjoyed the pictures as much we enjoyed the playtime!

Saturday, January 27, 2007

clips


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the first video is of remedy drive. i'm not really familiar with their music and couldn't tell you what song it is. the other two are of casting pearls. the first is of the song they have on the radio and the second is agnus dei. (they also did footloose, but i didn't get it on video) if someone wanted to surprise us with a nice digital video camera, i promise the picture and sound quality would be much better on all of these! :)

Another good event

Last night was the big deal that everyone has been waiting for. The Haven hosted a concert featuring Casting Pearls and Remedy Drive. Both are originally out of Lincoln, NE. Casting Pearls is played on national christian radio stations. With a capacity limit of 606, we ended up with over 550 people turning out for the concert. We were thrilled with the turn out, glad to not have to turn anyone away, and excited to be host to another concert in the coming months.
Remedy Drive

Brad and Kathy doing give-aways between bands.
Casting Pearls

www.castingpearls.com

I have some video that I will try to put up later today.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

The Big Reveal


B and Kathy checking to see if all the youth waiting in the hallway really want to come in and see the new place for the first time.















Entrace way to the Haven (sr. high) and the Well (jr. high).



Office (behind the wall) and reception desk.







The Haven's game area (2 pool tables, air hockey, and ping pong). I think they need a pinball machine!












The Haven's snack bar area.














A couple of different seating areas in the Haven.















Another game area. This one is for xbox 360s and playstation 3s.













Counter top and stools for wireless internet use. (It amazing that most teen seem to have their own laptop!)















The Haven's worship center and sound booth.












B during service last night.














The Temple. This is the prayer room which is off the back corner of the Haven.



















The Well's snack bar, tables, pool table, air hockey, and game system areas.

The stage area in the Well.







As you can see we are very blessed and very thankful. The youth seemed to love it! Service went really well last night and we had a good size crowd show up. Sorry for the pictures being so dark. The lights were dimmed for atmosphere which made the picture not as great. If you want to see something better, you can click a picture and it will open up to be bigger. Capacity on the sr. high side is 600 and 400 on the jr. high side, which gives you a picture of the size of the place. Maybe I'll have some more pictures to share after the concert on Friday night. Come visit us; it's even more impressive in person.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

mmm, broccoli

Motivation is lacking for me right now, and therefore, it is the perfect time to blog. There are plenty of those little things to get done around the house, but I just am not interested in them right now. I figured that I could kill some time by blogging instead of working.

We took some video of N last night as he tried broccoli for the first time. It was funny how his reaction to it changed as soon as the video wasn't rolling. He puts on a good show for the camera.


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Tonight is now going to be the grand opening of the new teen center. Weather shouldn't be a factor this time around. I'll post picture either late tonight or tomorrow. I'm excited to share it with everyone!


Also, N had a playdate yesterday with one of his friends. He almost slept through the entire thing but decided to wake up eventually. Before we know it we'll be chasing them around the house trying to keep them out of everything!

Monday, January 22, 2007

I'll stick to my inside toys, thanks

N got to have his first playing in the snow experience yesterday. I don't think that I can truthfully say that he is a lover of snow yet. He smiles a lot when he looks at it through the window (just like his momma), but being in it is a completely different experience.

B's parents had gotten N a blow up sled for Christmas. (The mental picture of N being pulled around on the sled is adorable. The mental picture.)They, along with B, were very excited for him to be able to actually get out in the snow and give it a shot. I was a bit leary of the idea since he's still a baby. I could see that B wasn't going to give up on the idea. Neither N's nor the sled's strength is in the area of stability. In no time at all N was face first in several inches of snow even though we were walking slowly and carefully. You can see from the first picture that B thought this was hilarious. Not exactly what I was thinking though. I wanted to take him back in right then, but I didn't win. B then proceeded to run while pulling the sled. The second time he fell off and began crying hysterically (as B continued to laugh hysterically), I put my foot down. That was enough. No more. N and I went in so I could comfort and warm him. B is already geared up and ready for the next time. It could be next year if I have anything to say about it!




















Do these look like happy faces to you?

Sunday, January 21, 2007

5, 4, 3, 2, . . . abort, abort

Student Edge Teen Center Grand Opening . . . cancelled. Snow. Lots of snow. (Not tons though.) Brad got a call at about 5:25 this morning from Pastor Mark saying that church was off. It was going to take the snow plows all day to clear the parking lots and you have to go up a decent hill to get to the lots in the first place. Oh well. Guess we didn't need to be up there working our tails off until 10 pm Friday night and 8 pm last night. (And several other nights prior to those.) Actually, I'm glad we were there and got things done. This will give a little bit of extra time to do some of the finishing touches that weren't going to get done. And now we finally have a family day. We have nothing to do all day except spend time together as a family. With as busy as things have been getting ready for the grand opening, we really need a day like this. N even stayed in his crib until 8:45! How nice of him to recognize our day to sleep in.

So, instead of picture of the unbelievable new teen center . . . you get . . . you guessed it - picture of snow.

Maybe with all this snow a bird, just one would make me happy, will finally find out bird feeder that has been up for months.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Starring N


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I took a couple new videos of N yesterday. He was having a great time playing and wasn't to interested in putting on a show for the camera. I did manage to get a wave, a clap, and a little something else out of him. Sorry they're so shakey. I kept having to move back during the second video because he kept crawling towards me. Enjoy.

Friday, January 19, 2007


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Hope you enjoy a little live N. It's from a few months ago, but he's still cute to watch.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Update from earlier post



N just wanted to say thanks to both Aunt Tori and Aunt Ginny in helping him feel all better (or at least on his way to all better). He is now sporting two way cool Curious George bandaids slathered up with neosporin. (And he's actually not seemed to notice them yet.) If only he would figure out how to crawl on all fours and this was no longer an issue.

Ouch!

N has been very busy lately making big messes (thankfully toy messes, not other kinds of messes) for me to clean up. Saturday night he mananged to get his hands on every toy and book in the living room. He was perfecting the art of army crawling and getting quite fast at it. After it all, he was worn out. He actually scooted off my lap and onto B's legs to cuddle with him.

There is a problem with all of this army crawling though. His wrists are bright red with carpet burn. I'm not quite sure what to do about it. Yesterday it must have been bothering him because he pretty much refused to army crawl. He would just lie on the floor crying and fussing instead of moving to what he wanted. I would really appreciate any suggestions you might have to help me alleviate the pain for him. I don't know if there's any type of ointment I could put on his wrists that would be safe for a baby, and I have no clue if he would leave bandaids on them. I just feel awful that it hurts him so much. Thanks for any suggestions you might have.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

22 lbs. 2 oz.

It's been another busy and fast week. B and I are both very excited as we get closer and closer to the new teen center having it's grand opening. I've been up a couple of days this week helping get it furnished. I've been dying to take pictures to post, but it'll be much more impressive if I wait until everything is in place. As I told Erica (a friend from Jr. High / H.S. / college), it makes the youth house we were so excited about look like a cardboard box.

N shocked us in many ways this week. He's already surpassed the 9 month mark! It's hard to figure out how 9 months have gone so quickly. His next doctor visit will be his one-year!!! Yikes! He's still just army crawling (using his arm to pull his body around), but shows more and more signs of getting closer to crawling on all four everyday. He has also begun to hold his own bottle. This might not sound like a huge deal, but it is when it's you that has to stop everything to hold it for him. Unfortunately this didn't happen without some very frustrated tears and screams. He's a pro now though. And just today, we discovered another tooth coming in. Of your top four, front teeth, it's the one on the far right. I knew the extra drool, runny nose, and icky (more-so than normal) diapers weren't without reason.

He's been way to photogenic lately to not share some pictures taken over the last few days.

Oh yeah, we got a dusting of snow this morning. It's just barely begun to snow again. They're saying 2-3 inches tomorrow and "moderate accumulations" (whatever that is suppose to mean) tomorrow night.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Dessert anyone?????

I just have to say that this shirt makes me laugh every time I look at it. (As does his facial expression; not sure quite what he was thinking.)

Monday, January 08, 2007

Collect this and other valuable life lessons from TLC

Lesson 1: Don't get N this excited about getting his picture taken and then expect him to happily lie down and take a nap (even if he was rubbing his eyes and yawning moments before). He will proceed to scream until you finally let him get up and play for a while longer.
Lesson 2: It's never too early to teach kids to clean up their own dishes. You can't really tell from the picture, but his pants and the counter were drenched in water after this.
It was a good weekend for all of us. We did some shopping and I got 2 new pairs of pants and a shirt (Banana Republic is having a great sale!). N is mastering the connection between words and actions. He claps when you say "yea" and is figuring out to open and close his hand when he hears "bye-bye". He also had us thinking he might start crawling Saturday night. He was up on his hands and knees a ton! We're keeping our eyes open and on him so we don't miss it. We finally had our youth small groups over again. It had been several weeks, and we missed them. We had 5 girls and 7 guys which was an all time high (we were only missing three girls). It's so fun to think back on what being a teenager was like. Oh the drama!!!!
HaPpY MoNdAy!

Friday, January 05, 2007


Happy 1 month birthday Will!

Tuesday, January 02, 2007