I should so not be doing this right now. I want to though, so I am.

There are a million things that need to get done before heading out of town. Laundry, pack, pay bills, pack everything I forgot the first time, vaccum, pick up clutter, run to Wal-mart, pray for no sleet or freezing rain that they are predicting, pack everything I forgot the second time, clean up the car: all things on the to do list along with the rest that I'm forgetting.

My mom always had this thing about cleaning the house right before going out of town. That way, you came home to a clean house. Sounds wonderful, but how'd she ever get it done along with everything else that happens before leaving? She must have some super powers or something. That's the only way to explain it.

Speaking of super powers. Dad is running 26.2 miles this Sunday in the Little Rock Marathon!!!! I love that man! Along with him, B is running the half marathon (13.1 miles) and Mom and Ginny (my big sis) are walking the half marathon. Notice who's name isn't there! Tori (little sis), of course! Okay, my name isn't there either. I get excited when the treadmill at the gym says I went over 2 miles at the end of a workout. I'm almost at the point of needed to make the transition from running to walking though and that should help my distance.

Alright, before I ramble on for to much longer I'm going to quit. Have a great afternoon!

Play Ball!

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Where did the week go? I realized this morning that I hadn't blogged since Monday! Sorry! I took a couple of video clips this week. One is of N playing ball with his Grandma Kn. They were having a great time. Go figure that he lost interest as soon as I started to film it. (They'd been playing for 10 minutes or so before I pulled out the camera.) The other one is of N figuring out his Christmas present from Uncle Matt and Aunt Lindsay. He has loved playing with the hoop and balls independently of each other, but now he knows how to use them together. Enjoy your weekend!

opinionated little stinker!

Okay, I have to share these four pictures. I still laugh as I think back to this happening. They were taken on Valentine's Day as I was trying to get the perfect shot of N to post that day. These 4 were taken within seconds of each other, in this order. We often wonder what is going on a baby's mind. Here's what I think:



What in the world is Mom thinking putting a teddy bear in the picture with me?












I'm no softy. What is she thinking? Get this dumb bear outta here!










Bye bye Mr. Bear! This is my photo shoot! (He actually pushed the teddy bear off the chair!)

Alright Mom, back to picture taking. Cheese!

B, N, and I seemed to have a really good weekend. Here are a few of the highlights:

• B ran 10 miles Friday in preparation for running the half marathon (13ish miles) in LR in a few weeks! Run! Forest! Run!
• N is starting to pull himself up on anything he finds somewhat stationary. (He's learning that the dog isn't so stationary the hard way.) He gets up on his knees, but he still has to figure out how to get all the way to his feet. This started Friday night, but is a continual thing now. While talking to my mom this evening, she says she'll teach him how to get up to his feet in a couple weeks. (She was the one to teach him how to get out of a sitting position.)
• Saturday B and I spent the entire day in pj's and reading! (We did throw on some normal clothes for a few minutes so we wouldn't have to shovel snow in pj's at 2pm.) What a needed day of relaxing!
• The snow has started to melt! I've been looking out the window every 10 minutes or so, to see how much more of it is gone! We actually hit above freezing temps! Today it was in the mid to upper 40s! We even got to go on a walk outside as a fam! Awww, how cute!
• N also decided to reveal his is able to crawl on all 4. He just happens to prefer the army crawling. I've only seem him expose his new talent once before church this morning. Hopefully, I can get some video of all his new moves.

Happy day off to all you who get to enjoy tomorrow at home! Thank the presidents! Sorry to those of you who don't! Blame the presidents!

hugs

kisses

and

valentine wishes

love,

n

Happy Val's Day!

Enjoy watching Superman deal with endless love struggles. (We saw this at the National Youth Workers Conference when Jars of Clay came to perform. We thought it was amusing.)

Our baby is 10 months old today! It's impossible to think we are 2 months away from celebrating his first birthday. It makes me sad to think how fast time has gone by with him. I should be excited to plan his first birthday party, but I find myself dreading it. (I know it'll be fun though, just a bit bittersweet.) Both of these pictures capture exactly who our N-N is. Hopefully you've enjoyed spending the past ten months watching him grow and change!

N just discovered the trash can and the dog's water bowl as I tried to eat lunch.
Help!
Someone come baby proof my house!
Please!

my sunshine on a cloudy day

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I took this video of N this morning. The tie-dye shirt was made for him by my small group girls. They each had one on last night at the super bowl party. (They also made one for me.) N has been so talkative lately. His most common sounds/words are: mamamamama, dadadadada, guh (usually directly at Maggie but not always), nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh (a bit too close to no for my liking but seems to be his favorite the past few days), dat, dit, and buh-buh-buh (sometimes paired with waving bye-bye). He also has figured out how to go from being on his belly to sitting up. He's trying big-people food all the time now. In fact, I had to put him in his crib a lunch because he assumed he was getting some of my lunch. He starts to click his tongue every time he sees me eating to let me know he wants some. Cute, until he doesn't get anything and the screaming starts. He's learning things so fast! I'm constantly amazed. And his other front tooth is coming in! My baby's growing up! (too fast)

Sunny with a high of 75

It seems as if the topic weather is coming up quite frequently in conversations I've had with several people lately. What's the weather like there? Have you gotten any snow? Is it cold? Are you enjoying the weather? Let's just sum up winter in Nebraska in two words: this sucks! (sorry Mom, there was no other word that worked) The snow from a couple off weeks ago still has not melted! I find myself getting excited if the temperature is a two-digit number. I don't think the wind chill has been a two-digit number in weeks. Seriously, weeks! I had to laugh when looking at the forcast for LR today. KARK said it was going to be a very cold day today. A high of only 38. How tragically cold! I feel so bad for them. Wait! This is miserable! I hate it. Not Nebraska as a whole, but definitely hate the winter weather. I'm trying think positive with the passing of January. I try to tell myself that I am one month closer to spring. Can you picture it? Green grass, fresh green leaving coming out on the trees, gardens filling with flowers. Then someone has to remind me that winter here lasts much longer than what I like to think of winter as lasting (gotta love that AR winter). I have no choice but to put up with it, but I'm allowed to complain a little. Right???

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

k.a.w.

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!

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

www.remedydrive.com

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.

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.

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!

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?

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.

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.

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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.