The Novaks

The story of a kitchen remodel

2011-11-10T14:37:00.001-08:00

BEFORE

STAGE 1

STAGE 2

AFTER

Home

2011-08-18T20:09:00.000-07:00

Well, since my last post I've probably downloaded over 200 pictures to our computer, so in order to save your time and mine I've whittled it down to just a few to tell the story.

The next three pictures show some of the most significant people from our time in Scotland.

Our dear friends (who happen to be brothers) Willie and Jamie were definite favorites of Caleb and Abby's. Willie so gracious to lend us his home for the entire summer, and we're hugely indebted to him for his hospitality and friendship.

These are "the girls" as we so often called our sweet interns pictured below. I'm grateful to have known each one of them. They are each so uniquely gifted, and we loved spending our summer learning with them.
These two crazy darling girls were our neighbors while in Kyle. They became such good friends to our children, and our time there would not have been the same without them. We love them!
Here we are back at home, representing Scotland as we unpacked a summer full of sweet memories.
A few days after arriving back in San Antonio, we were on the road again: Michael to Atlanta for training and me and the kids to Memphis to see our families.

Here's Caleb teaching Uncle Aaron a thing or two on the guitar. We had such a fun dinner at Aaron's newish home. We missed you, Hannah and Caleb!
We also got to spend a morning with one of my best friends from high school and her adorable three kids. I love how kids bond with each other so quickly! Seen below is the typical Abby pose :)
Then while the kids stayed in Memphis and had a blast with Gram, Aunt Whitney, Pop, Grandmama, Uncle David and Uncle John (see, they were well taken care of), Michael and I jet-setted down to Mexico for a little time away. Here we are settling in for some post dinner martinis in the outdoor lounge. I think Michael dreams about this place every night now.
And please don't be jealous...here was our view for 6 hours out of every day. I still can't believe we went on this trip. I had so much fun just being with my Babe.
Home again now, and the favorite costume (yes, even in the San Antonio heat), is the puppy costume. I love how they get an idea in their heads and run with it. They've each spent a lot of time in this outfit lately.
And to wrap things up, we've been doing a lot of artsy craftsy things to keep us from going crazy in this triple digit weather. Here are C and A doing spaghetti art. Abby only tried to eat some of it.
And there you have it, the last month of our crazy life! Our hearts are full of gratitude and sweet memories. Lord, thank you for being with us this summer.

Update Part 2

2011-07-17T12:54:00.000-07:00

July 7

Enjoying some harmonica music

Boat ride from Elgol to Loch Coruisk to hike with Teen Holiday Club group
Drive home from Elgol

July 8

More nursery fun at first week of Holiday Clubs

Dinner with Robert and Linda Calhoun in Kensaleyre (parents of friends from Redeemer SA!)
July 9

Eileen Donan Castle

Update Part 1

2011-07-16T07:36:00.000-07:00

June 25

Portree

June 27

cliffs near Old Man of Storr
Lealt Gorge

Kilt Rock

Playing bagpipes with sweet new friends in our kitchen at Willie's house
June 30

Lunch in Kyle

Hike out to Castle Moil in Kyleakin

July 6

Playing in the nursery at first week of Holiday Clubs

peace

2011-06-24T02:48:00.000-07:00

The pastoral atmosphere of the area we're staying in is so peaceful on the outside, but we can sense the chaos and the brokenness of people whose hearts need a greater peace.

Over the past few weeks, our interns have been doing a lot of door to door work in some beautiful but broken parts of the area. This has been very difficult for them in a lot of ways because it is so outside all of our comfort zones. Reading through Philippians 2 we've been reminded that God has called us to be lights in a broken and twisted world, and we're encouraged that ultimately Jesus has won the victory. However, walking up to someone's door, not knowing the response you'll get can be daunting. Pray that God will use conversations that the girls have had to advance his kingdom, and pray that they will not become discouraged.

Here are some highlights from the past few weeks:

Caleb crawled into Abby's bed one night when we stayed late at the Matheson's house, and they slept this way for a few hours. I'm so thankful for the peace that God is bringing to their relationship. They're so much closer now than when we arrived.

Here they are playing together at the house. Caleb is giving his impression of playing the bagpipes.
Usually our mornings include a walk into town for groceries. On the way we must always stop to view the construction work on the corner.
This is the view that Caleb is so entranced with in the picture above. Abby's just plain excited as you can tell :)
Here's the scenery as we walk to the co-op.
The play park they love to visit is currently being remodeled, but here's it's location. Beautiful, no?
Our walk through the center of Kyle...
Last weekend we got to join the congregation (mostly kids on this particular day) on an outing to Inverness. The morning was spent at an indoor water park and the afternoon at a bowling alley! Here's a group at the bowling alley. It was a great, laid back day to get to know a lot of the youth in the church.
On the way home we stopped to snap some pictures of Loch Ness. No monster spotted on this trip...maybe next time.
The following Monday was our day off...so we packed it full with a trip to Talisker Distillery, Dunvegan Castle, and the town of Portree. Since kids were not allowed on the distillery tour, Abby, Caleb and I headed down the road to a play park where I got to talk with a sweet local mom for about an hour.

Everywhere we turn there's a beautiful spot to photograph, so here's another stopping point on our way to Dunvegan!

So glad we got to see Dunvegan. So much history in this place, and the gardens were beautiful.

This tree on the right in the picture below is called a Monkey Puzzle tree...it's the most unique tree I've ever seen.

These next few pictures are from the town of Portree. I'm sure we'll visit again. There are several people I want to meet who live in this town. More on that later, hopefully.

One morning the girls were having a meeting with Roddie at the house, so to keep things quiet, I took Caleb and Abby on a walk of the Skye bridge. It's a pretty phenomenal view. The bridge is on the left side of the picture below.
This is one of the views from the bridge.

It's so hard to capture in one blogpost all that has happened over the last few weeks, but I hope you've enjoyed the highlights.

Praise God for the beauty of His creation, the perseverance of His church, and the peace that He gives.

so beautiful it hurts a little

2011-06-10T14:06:00.000-07:00

The problem when I wait so long to update is that I don't know where to start so I just keep putting it off! Not a good cycle. As a side note, my eyes got tired reading all of this as I was proofreading, so I decided to add some bold type to keep things interesting. That's what's up with the random bold words.

Well, since we arrived in Kyle last week we've been happily busy. The two pastors who we are working with here have spent a lot of their precious time introducing us to the area and to their parishioners. We are so grateful to them and their families for making us feel so welcome and at home. Roddie Rankin is the pastor ministering in Kyle and Plockton, and Gordon Matheson is the pastor ministering in Strath and Sleat. There is a helpful map in the top left corner of this website...we're staying in Kyle of Lochalsh.

So, on to some highlights from the week:

On Wednesday and Thursday we went door to door in several of the small towns inviting people to an event this coming Friday night. I'm super excited about the event. An apologist named John Blanchard is coming to discuss Christianity and answer questions from the audience. We hope to have a lot of people from the community show up, especially perhaps those who don't believe in Jesus yet.

Michael and the girls also had the chance to go into a couple of the primary schools with Roddie and Dave (who works with the youth) to watch/give presentations during assemblies.

Once a week each of the churches puts on a type of soup kitchen for folks in the community to gather and eat a meal together, so we attended both of these lunches and had a chance to visit and help serve and clean up. Seeing the hospitality of those in the church towards those both in the church and those not in the church was so encouraging.

On Thursday evening, the primary school here in Kyle had a 50th birthday celebration for the building that they're in, so we went along and heard some real live Highland bagpipers and fiddlers. Caleb LOVED it and has been giving his reenactment of the bagpipers all week. I'll have to catch it on video soon because it's the cutest thing. I met another young mom named Lyndsey there who invited me to a playgroup on Friday mornings down the street from the house where we're staying. It was a great spot to meet other moms in the community, so the kids and I plan to go back every week Lord willing. Please pray that God opens up doors for conversations and friendships there.

More from this week included dinner with the Mathesons and the youth from their church, a seal expedition (where we did in fact see seals!), a video shoot for the upcoming holiday club, prayer meetings, communion service, and lunch at the Rankins' after church.

The pictures below are from a hike along the coast that we took with Roddie in Drumbuie, a quiet little village where highland cattle and sheep roam the one track road that winds along the hillside.

Prayer for a friend

2011-06-09T13:51:00.000-07:00

My dear friend Carrie's cousin, Emmett Stallings, went to be with the Lord this morning after battling esophageal cancer for a year and a half. Please pray for Emmett's family and friends. His wife's words of grief are so heartbreaking and yet still point to Jesus. You can read them on the blog that they started together to record his battle: www.teamemmett.com

Psalm 23:4

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

Pictures!

2011-06-07T15:26:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our time in Edinburgh and the drive to Skye.

Finally Abby is well, so we're seeing more of these sweet smiles! I think she was very excited about lunch here:

This was our lunch spot. Super delicious and fun retro atmosphere with a Scottish twist. We tried the sausages and mash...I think I'm a bigger fan of Scottish mash(ed potatoes) than the American version. The ones I ordered were stuffed full of leeks and bacon.
When we first arrived in Edinburgh we traveled the Royal Mile which should be named Tourist Row instead. There were plenty of these bagpipers, street performers, human "statues," and tartan shops. It was fascinating, but it left me wanting to find a spot off the beaten path.
Beautiful statues and monuments like this one were all over the city and added such a level of historical interest.
The "old town" was very medieval and through the "closes" (or alleyways) you could see down into other parts of the city. Through this particular close you could see the Scott Monument which was built to honor Sir Walter Scott.
Caleb slept right through Edinburgh Castle, but here he is snuggled up in the stroller with Michael.

This picture below was from one of my two favorite spots in Edinburgh: Princess Gardens. From Princess Gardens you can look up and see the castle and the old town, then you can look behind you and see the new town with it's Georgian architecture and high style shopping area. This particular picture is looking up.

This picture was from my other favorite spot: Dean Village. It was a hidden gem in the corner of the city. I would definitely want to spend a lot of time here if we have the chance to ever go back to Edinburgh. Michael and Caleb are looking at the view that you'll see in the next picture. The village was so picturesque with it's winding cobblestone passageways, the lush green riverbank, and the castles towering above.

Here's an attempt at a family picture. I didn't realize that Abby was so hidden though...she's on my back sleeping in the baby carrier.
In Princess Garden again...
St. Giles Cathedral was our meeting spot with the girls and a great end to our day in Edinburgh.
I didn't start taking pictures until more than halfway through our drive to Skye, so you'll miss the most beautiful part. You can google Loch Lomond to get a taste though.

This picture is heading into Glen Coe, the pictures below were taken at a pull off right in the middle of Glen Coe. It was stunning.

We experienced this a few times on our way into Skye: waiting for accident clean-up. The roads were super narrow, winding, and beautiful...not a good combination apparently.
These last few pictures are from Plockton. I can't wait to get more pictures and possibly some artwork from this area. It is unbelievably beautiful and right down the road from where we're staying.

Stay tuned for more later!

2011-06-06T14:50:00.000-07:00

Whew, what a week!

After last Tuesday, Michael and I realized we were probably stretching the kids a little too thin, so the kids and I spent much more time at home the second half of the week. Going from 7 am to 9 or 10 pm without more than a quick nap on the run may be ok for a 20 something, but not so much for a 1 and 3 year old. In some ways it was a difficult transition for me because I love to be involved in everything that's going on, but I feel God working on my heart, and I'm praying that this summer I will find joy in learning to serve Him in the way that He wants me to.

Instead of a day by day account this time (since it's all starting to run together for me), I'll offer some highlights from last week.

The girls spent some time cleaning the beautiful old church that Glasgow City Free Church meets in. This was a great tangible way to love the church, and I think they enjoyed serving the congregation in this way. Abby and Caleb both tried to help vacuum...that didn't last long.

The girls also went out into another part of the city to pass out flyers for a church plant that GCFC is starting in the area.

On Thursday night we were invited to dinner at Finley and Kristen's house. This dear couple runs the international student ministry that is connected to the church. Finley, an ordained minister, is the associate pastor at GCFC. The Lord has definitely given this couple the gift of hospitality, and we so enjoyed our evening with them hearing what God is doing in the lives of international students in Glasgow. It is a very exciting work that is happening.

Saturday was our "off day," so our whole group headed to Edinburgh for the day. What a beautiful city. I can't wait to share our pictures with you, but they're not uploaded yet so that will be for another day.

Yesterday was our last day in Glasgow, and we spent the morning worshiping with GCFC and the afternoon eating and having great conversation with Ross, Fiona and their kids (a family from GCFC). In the evening, Michael had the opportunity to preach in the service and then share a bit about RUF at an after church fellowship. This was a sweet time with a group of people that have become very dear to us over the past couple weeks.

Leaving Glasgow this morning was very bittersweet for me. I must say that I will not miss taking public transportation. It was a good experience for us, but it definitely made me thankful to have a car :) We also look forward to our work in Skye.

However, it was so hard to leave. All around the people in Glasgow were pleasant, friendly and helpful, but in particular, we were so blessed by the congregation at GCFC. Every bit of time that we spent with them, we felt such a warmth of community and care...truly they exude the love of Jesus. All of us felt like we learned so much from their hospitality, their genuineness, their joyful self-sacrifice. Thank you, Lord, for the body of Christ.

In our Bible study last week, we read the first part of Philippians and talked about how the Gospel is our common bond and the glory of God is our common goal. As I look back on the time we spent in Glasgow, I rejoice the see how God worked out those verses both among our group and also between our group and the church in Glasgow.

Tomorrow will be our first day getting oriented to the community here in Skye, and I hope to be updating more regularly since we'll have internet access at the house. Thank you for all your love and prayers. I love reading your comments and feeling connected to y'all back home!

2011-06-01T05:44:00.000-07:00

Warning…this is LONG. It’s mostly a basic rundown of what happened here over the past week. I hope to sit down again soon and give more thoughts and reflection. We hope you’re all doing well back home. Thank you for your prayers and love!

Monday, May 23

Our super trooper kids waited (mostly) patiently in the Newark airport to find out how we would get to Scotland.

Tuesday, May 24

My excitement about being in Paddington station was slightly embarrassing, but I’m so happy that we had the chance to have a glimpse at London.

Kathmar picked us up around 8pm from the train station, and I tried to get in the driver’s side of the car. Welcome to Europe J She took us to their home for lasagna and a warm bed.

Wednesday, May 25

A quiet day at the Dow’s house gave us a chance to overcome jet lag by sleeping the morning away and drinking tea all afternoon.

Thursday, May 26

Michael traveled to Edinburgh by train with Colin to attend the Free Church of Scotland’s General Assembly. Kathmar took me and the kids to the grocery store where Caleb introduced us as the loud Americans by throwing the biggest tantrum of his life.

Arriving at the cold missionary house in Paisley (an hour’s bus ride from the church in Glasgow’s city centre) was a little daunting after having 2 wonderful days in the Dow’ welcoming home, but once the radiators kicked in and the pot of tea was brewed, we began to feel more comfortable in our temporary home.

Friday, May 27

Colin picked Michael up around 9 to retrieve 3 of the girls from the airport (Jennie, Kaylan and Rachel). After a bowl of cereal and a shower, the girls were ready to go, so we packed into the Dow’s cars and headed to a park. The kids were ecstatic to be outside after several days indoors, so they ran around and enjoyed the playground despite the steady Scottish rain. Soon though, the adults had had enough, so we escaped to the café inside the garden center and enjoyed hot chocolate, coffee and tea.

Determined not to be held back by the weather, our family and the girls decided to head into downtown Glasgow to find a dinner spot. We were rewarded with a cozy Scottish meal in a basement restaurant that served fish and chips, haggis, and such.

After a 3 hour adventure that involved more bus stops than we can remember, a lot of rain, and finally a taxi, we made it home and crashed.

Saturday, May 28

Michael and the girls headed in to the church early to attend a Youth Fellowship Conference, and the kids and I took our time and walked into the town of Paisley to find the grocery store and a map.

The pictures below are of the town of Paisley:

We all met up at the church around lunch, and I had a chance to hear what the girls had been doing all day at the conference. The word “youth” meant something different than I’d expected. Instead of Jr High and High school age kids, the Youth Fellowship was for college age students from all over the city. They came to the church to hear a speaker, discuss how their faith was worked out in living, and sing psalms and other praise songs. We were all encouraged by their love for God’s word and the way they encouraged each other to live as Christians in their daily lives.

After the afternoon session, our group went to explore the city a bit and get coffee with a friend named Fiona with whom we would have the opportunity to spend a lot of time over the next week.

The pictures below are of downtown Glasgow:

This is the City Free Church of Glasgow where Colin Dow is pastor and where we spend the majority of our time:

Our coffee break (Kaylan, Jennie, Rachel):
(Michael-youth student from church, Fiona-spent much of her weekend and week with us)

Then we joined up with the students who were at the conference plus some others for a barbeque at the home of a family from the church. At the barbeque we all had a chance to talk with students and watch a futbol game with them on the telly.

Sunday, May 29

The generous nature of the Scots shone through for the millionth time on Sunday morning as we were all preparing to catch the bus into town for church, and Colin, the pastor of the church who would be preaching in the service, called to say he was on his way to pick us up for church.

At church the girls were able to help the Sunday school (crèche) teachers give the lesson and create collages for a craft.

After the service, we enjoyed tea and cookies (biscuits) with the members of the church before heading to the Dow’s home for a delicious lunch of curry, bread pudding, and more. Before we knew it, it was 4 o’clock and we were completely stuffed.

Michael and the girls left for the evening service with Colin and some others who had ended up at the Dow’s house throughout the afternoon, and Kathmar graciously took me and the kids back home even though her oldest child was coming down with a stomach virus.

What a wonderful Sabbath of worshiping with God’s people from across the ocean. The Scottish people have beautiful singing voices, and our group was blessed hearing the psalms that they sang in church accapella.

Monday, May 30

To start off the week, Michael and Kaylan took the bus to the airport and picked up Morgan, the final member of our group. We were so happy that she safely joined us! We joined Fiona at the church to receive instructions on passing out flyers to international students for a weekly Bible study. Because Monday was a bank holiday for Scotland, school was not in session and we didn’t get to talk to many students. We were encouraged remembering that God was still at work, and we enjoyed hearing from Fiona about the ministry to the international students and the way God brought new people to the group year after year.

After a relaxed lunch at the church, we headed out to the campus on the west end of the city to hand out more flyers. The girls couldn’t get over how much the campus reminded them of Hogwarts, and I think a few of them even considered transferring. Since the Kelvingrove museum was right next to campus, we had the chance to walk through before heading back downtown to join Fiona’s husband Roddie for dinner.

These are more pictures of downtown Glasgow:

The Necropolis in the distance:
The Cathedral:

Tired babes:
I love the juxstaposition of the modern with the ancient:
A live statue in St. George's Square:
On the subway:

The Kelvingrove Museum:
West End University of Glasgow:

Tuesday, May 31

The ladies at Glasgow City Free Church were having a pillowcase dress making day to make dresses to send to Africa, so the girls spent the day working on this project with them. I think they really enjoyed doing something with their hands that they knew was directly going to help someone.

Tuesday night we all cooked dinner together and sat down to study God’s word, pray together and remind each other of our purpose in being here. It was a needed time of reflection and fellowship.

I hope to post pictures of the dresses that were made on Tuesday.

We're here!

2011-05-25T06:46:00.000-07:00

After a wild adventure getting here, we arrived in Glasgow last night around 8 pm Glasgow time. The kids did so well on the trip, and even Abby who has a cold and is running a fever stayed content on all the flights. Praise the Lord!
When we arrived in Newark on Monday evening we discovered that due to a volcanic eruption in Iceland, our flight from Newark to Glasgow had been canceled. After waiting in several lines for several hours we re booked our flight with British Airways, and flew into London on Tuesday. In London we made it through customs...barely! The woman seemed very sceptical at first, and I almost thought she wasn't going to let us in the country! After taking the Express to Paddington Station, we rode the Underground to Euston Station to catch a train to Glasgow. I especially was so excited to have this unplanned detour through London. The Paddington Bear books were some of my favorites as a child, and I felt giddy like a child walking through the station where the Brown family found a bear from Darkest Peru and fed him tea and marmalade :) Although the children didn't realize how special it was that we were able to see more of Great Britain than we expected, they hung on and Caleb especially enjoyed riding all the trains. He even named a few of them: Thomas and Percy. Even Michael was remarkable "go with the flow" for his personality that doesn't usually enjoy detours from the plan. God definitely gave him extra measures of patience and we really enjoyed the whole experience as a family.
I can already see how the Lord is using this journey to grow us in Him and to bond us together as a family. I am so grateful for that.
Please pray for us that we will have physical stamina during our time here in Glasgow especially. We want to serve the church here well, and we pray that God directs us clearly in how to do that. Our interns arrive on Friday, and we want to encourage them to roll up their sleeves right away and jump in.
We've been so grateful to the pastor's family here in Glasgow for the way they've taken care of us since we're arrived. They're wonderful! They've definitely served us in many ways already, and we hope to do the same for them and not become a burden while we're here!
Praise the Lord for his protection and beautiful sovereignty in bringing us here. We feel so incredible blessed to witness how He is working in the city of Glasgow and we are amazed that He has chosen to let us be a part of it for this short time.
We'll hopefully post pictures soon, but we're so happy to be able to keep you up to speed on our journey here.
If you think of it, you can also pray that our bags will be found and brought to Glasgow soon!

Goodnight Moon

2011-04-05T18:29:00.000-07:00

Pennylegions' Visit

2011-04-02T20:10:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, our dear friends the Pennylegions visited from Saint Louis. It was so good to spend time with them! We exhausted ourselves and had a wild fun time. In fact we had such a great time that this is the only picture we remembered to take the whole week! It was one of our quieter moments :)

We took them to walk and picnic on the Riverwalk, played at Sea World, ate lots of good tex-mex, and rounded out the week sitting by the baby pool in the back yard. Kat actually got more pictures and they're posted here on her blog.

I was reminded while they were here of how sweet real lasting friendships between families are. We are so thankful for y'all, Pennylegions!

everything's better together

2011-03-30T20:18:00.000-07:00

Caleb is now growing attached to his baby sister.

I'm feeling encouraged :)

Lately, when Abby leaves the room or goes down for a nap, Caleb will ask for her.

Here are some sweet pictures of play time together:

Ok, well this one was right after she realized Mommy wasn't sharing the camera with her, but the rest are pretty sweet.

Birthdays x 2

2011-03-27T18:32:00.001-07:00

On March 12, Abby turned one! And the next day, Caleb turned three! We had an exciting weekend of celebrating, but not too many pictures to show for it.

Here are Caleb and Abby in their new tent on Abby's birthday morning. She's also holding her new sippy cup from Caleb...I think this was actually her favorite present:)

We kept the tent up for a couple weeks, and they spent hours playing in there.

So much fun!

Abby was a big fan of her strawberry birthday cake. I laugh to myself because Caleb's first birthday cake was a sugar-free carrot cake. Oh, how things change :)

On Caleb's birthday we had a joint birthday party for Caleb, Abby and our little friend Magdalena who turned three on March 12th. It was a sweet birthday party, but I wonder how much the birthday kids realized it was their birthday party. Oh well, it's probably better in some ways. Sadly we didn't get any pictures of them blowing out candles or any special pictures of Caleb on his birthday, but I think he definitely felt loved and celebrated.

Here are the three birthday kids. At least they're all looking the direction of the camera!

Happy birthday, sweet children!

Abby

2011-03-26T19:30:00.000-07:00

hello? is anyone there?

2011-03-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

Rodeo!

2011-03-22T19:22:00.000-07:00

Caleb and I got to go to the San Antonio Rodeo a few weeks ago with our friends Halli and Hap and Lizette and Dusty. Let me tell you, everyone should experience a rodeo. It was a crazy good time. Caleb loved watching the bucking broncos from the audience, but the next day when Michael and I took Abby and Caleb to the stock show he did not want any animal to come within 20 feet of him. Abby on the other hand wanted to climb on top of all of them!

How cute are these little cowboys?!

snow day in Texas

2011-03-20T19:18:00.000-07:00

These pictures were from a couple months ago, but I knew we must document this once in a life time experience. Snow in San Antonio! FYI, this caused a "snow day" for schools here.

Photography by Caleb

2011-03-18T19:17:00.000-07:00

2011-03-15T19:33:00.000-07:00

Yummy Lemons

2011-03-15T19:15:00.000-07:00

a post christmas gingerbread house

2011-02-13T19:24:00.000-08:00

So, it might sound silly, but we discovered that the BEST time to build a gingerbread house is after christmas. I think this one was marked down 90%, and Caleb didn't care that it was January:) His favorite part was definitely sneaking as much candy as possible before putting it on the house.

Please notice the special placement of the gingerbread man.

Our Little Musician

2011-02-06T20:34:00.000-08:00

Holy, Holy, Holy

"Mommy's Special Song"

RUF Christmas Party 2010

2011-01-24T18:20:00.000-08:00

Abby's Walking!

2011-01-24T12:34:00.000-08:00

so happy

2011-01-22T18:16:00.000-08:00

A Good Compromise

2011-01-20T18:02:00.000-08:00

setting up for christmas

2011-01-13T06:51:00.000-08:00

Well, I'll be playing catch up for a while it looks like. Here are a couple pictures of our morning setting up the Christmas tree. We had to take a break here to go buy more lights. Apparently we've always had very small trees until this year! As always, Caleb LOVED the Christmas tree and all the decorating.

just being

2011-01-09T18:57:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of us just being...that's what I tell Michael we do all day:)

new friends

2011-01-07T18:46:00.000-08:00

We've been so blessed by the community of our new church here in San Antonio. On this particular afternoon we went to hang out with some dear new friends who live downtown. Their daughter is one day older than Caleb, and they seem to really enjoy playing together. We swapped babies on our walk so the friends could sit together. I think even the younger two enjoyed their ride together. So cute, no?

Visitors and Ordination

2011-01-05T18:28:00.000-08:00

Wow...I'm pretty behind. These past couple months have been such a fun whirlwind of family visits both here and back in Memphis. Here are some pictures documenting our families' trips to San Antonio back at the beginning of November. We had such a blast showing everyone our new town.

Caleb asked Aunt Hannah to "put all my bibs on"

Visit to the zoo was enjoyed by all...

Abby wanted to jump in the river and tackle some ducks. Good thing Aunt Hannah was hanging on tight.

Some true San Antonio tex-mex at Mi Tierra. Love the decor?

Sweet storytime in our pajamas.

Michael's ordination was a very significant moment in his life and the life of our family. We're so grateful that our families and our friend, Penny, were able to be there with us.

Nothing sweeter...

Fun musical instruments from Gram!

Visiting New Braunfels with Gram, Mamaw, Grandad and Aunt Judy

I love this one...

Enjoying an ice cream at the old fashioned parlor counter.

Here we are on a riverboat tour (round 2 of the week for us). I really do think I could do this once a month and not get tired of it. So beautiful!

We had such a wonderful week hanging out with y'all!! Thank you for making the trip and being cozy in our little house with us! We love y'all and missed the ones who couldn't be here.

RUF Halloween Party, FINALLY!

2010-11-23T18:54:00.001-08:00

Halloween 2010

2010-11-05T12:39:00.000-07:00

I love the progression of these pictures. Can you tell that Michael is tickling Caleb to get a smile out of him? Caleb has been asking to put his fireman suit on and get more candy all week. I think he gets the idea :) More pictures to come soon of the RUF Halloween party.

silly babies

2010-11-01T19:35:00.000-07:00

Isn't he such a handsome boy? I just adore him.
Poor Abby had a diaper rash, so I let her crawl around in the buff for a while this particular morning. She and Caleb found a fun hide out between her crib and the wall.
Then she saw that mommy had a yummy camera that she wanted to chew on.
And Caleb thought he'd join her.
Don't you love this face she's making at him? I wonder what she was thinking about.

train and zoo

2010-10-30T19:18:00.000-07:00

These words represent two of Caleb's favorite things ever, and he got to experience both of them in one day! He may look like he's not having fun in the train pictures, but he's actually just overwhelmed with all the "fun-ness" of it all. The monkey picture below comes with a funny story. We were standing at this window watching the monkey's swing around for a few minutes, then Caleb turned around to talk to me. In the few seconds that he turned away, this monkey that you see in the picture came right up to the window as you see him. When Caleb turned back around he was face to face with a silly monkey. Of course this scared the pants off of him, and he screamed at the top of his lungs. However, when he saw how hard I was laughing at he scenario, he started laughing too and couldn't stop! We talked about that one for days :)

We love the San Antonio zoo and hope to spend a lot of time there now that is "cooling down"...as in, not over 100 degrees.

Double seater

2010-10-29T19:13:00.000-07:00

Caleb loves rocking in Abby's car seat and asked to have Abby sit in his lap one day. She actually enjoyed rocking with him. He's training her to be quite the adventurous little girl.

Rainy Day

2010-10-27T19:05:00.000-07:00

Caleb and I took a walk the other day after a big rainstorm, and he had the best time in the puddles with his newly fitting rain boots. It was so fun to live vicariously through his screaming and splashing...ok, I admit I did a bit of splashing around myself. I love the dirty hands picture...that part of him takes after his daddy, I think. What a fun day with a fun boy!

Partners in crime

2010-10-25T18:53:00.000-07:00

I love this picture. Caleb was trying to show Abby a picture of her as a newborn. Precious.

A follow up video

2010-10-23T18:48:00.000-07:00

I took this video of Abby the same day as those pictures from a couple days ago. This was in the middle of her "lala" phase. She said "lala" all day for about a week. Now she's into "dada" which must be fun for Michael to hear even though I don't know if she understands that it applies to him yet:)

More Abby...

2010-10-21T18:21:00.000-07:00

Who can resist this sweet face?

enjoying the finished product!

2010-10-20T20:07:00.000-07:00

overseeing construction is hard work

2010-10-20T19:51:00.000-07:00

This weekend Michael put together (aka built with his own two hands) the playground for Caleb and Abby that Gram "sent us in the mail." Caleb and I did a little oversight of the project. As you can tell, it was hard work. Thank you so much for the awesome swing set Gram! And thank you Babe for all the long hours and blisters that you put into it!

Looking at these pictures I'm wondering if we should have kept the boxes too. He was having such a great time with them while he was waiting for his slide and swing.

one happy smoothie drinkin' boy

2010-10-19T18:16:00.000-07:00

who knew laundry could be so fun?

2010-10-14T19:44:00.000-07:00

the little climber

2010-10-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

sometimes it's the happiest way

2010-10-10T19:37:00.000-07:00

...and almost the only way to get anything done! This little girl has developed quite a "need" to be held all the time. Although it can get exhausting, I'm enjoying this stage so much. She is truly a sweet and happy (as long as she's close to her mama) baby.

sweet potatoes

2010-10-08T19:34:00.000-07:00

I think she's wearing more than she ate, but she definitely enjoyed herself!

purple tutus and butterflies

2010-10-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

Abby and I thought we'd try out a few of her girly accessories that Grandmama got her before she was born. I think she liked the tutu, but more for chewing on than wearing:)

progress...

2010-10-04T18:56:00.000-07:00

The house is slowly but surely feeling like home, so I thought I'd post a few pictures to show friends who've been asking for them!

It's funny the things I notice in pictures that I don't notice in day to day life...it's pretty helpful, actually!

Living room from a couple angles...this layout doesn't necessarily make the most sense symmetrically, but it feels so much more open and inviting to me. Plus the tv's a little more out of sight this way.

The desk that I gave a facelift with a few coats of antique white and some spray painted knobs. Isn't the chair so fun? Thank you, Dawn, for the desk and the chair!

Kristen, here's a picture of the chairs with the wall color finally! The color is fun because it seems to change throughout the day (a greyish greenish blue, it's Benjamin Moore's Wedgewood Grey)

My most exciting goodwill find in a while...this awesome tray!

The true to life shot...at least the dishes are clean, right?

The mantel in the living room...seeing the picture, I think the "plant" needs a little help. Aaron, I know you would strongly disapprove of my faux greenery, but I can't seem to keep the real ones alive!

The dining table, which held 12 last night!! I love finally having a great big table!

The inconspicuous black hole also known as the tv, a sat on pumpkin, and a sweet little baby hiding in the bottom left corner:)

last angle of the living room...

This one doesn't have as much to do with our house as it does the sweet little boy sitting in the middle of our bed. He's discovered it's a comfy place to bring all his little people toys. He's really into loading all his "guys" into the plane or ark and taking them "over to the island." Don't you love little imaginations at work?

things to remember...

2010-09-29T21:13:00.001-07:00

Caleb, after being told that screaming is using an "outside voice," has been asking to go outside and scream. I let him stand outside the kitchen door and scream for a minute, then he knocks at the door and politely asks to come back in.

Caleb and I were calling Abby our "sweet potato" this afternoon as we fed her sweet potatoes, so Caleb asked for a name too. He's our sour pickle.

Caleb is obsessed with playgrounds again and has newly discovered courage for the "big slide."

Abby loves to snuggle up against me and suck her thumb and twirl her hand in my hair...I've hardly experienced anything sweeter.

a fat lip

2010-09-27T17:10:00.000-07:00

Poor Caleb bit the dust this morning on our front porch. There were lots of blood and tears involved, but thankfully all it took was a popsicle to remedy the situation!

Our sweetest boy

2010-09-22T21:10:00.000-07:00

What a face!

2010-09-20T21:01:00.000-07:00

I cannot look at this picture without laughing out loud! Abby's personality has definitely been coming out a lot over the past couple weeks, and she's developed this terrible hilarious facial expression. I told her that nobody else could make a face like this and actually look cute. She "talks" all the time and is obsessed with her tongue. She's always sticking it out and saying "lalala" or "blah blah blah." I think she's going to have a little fire in her personality. She's a super happy baby but gets very upset if something gets taken away or her needs are not attended to in a timely fashion. Enjoy the picture...you're probably going to want to make it your wallpaper for a good laugh throughout the day.

Reading

2010-08-31T20:37:00.000-07:00

I hope these two will spend many happy hours doing this throughout their whole childhood.

On the move

2010-08-29T20:31:00.000-07:00

Abby is officially no longer safe to leave on the bed to play. We learned this the hard way a couple weeks ago. She's not crawling yet, but she rolls and scoots like crazy now. She's even getting up on her hands and knees, or more accurately hands and feet. It's so exciting to see her learn new things. I thought the newness and excitement wouldn't be the same for me the second time around, but it totally is. And seriously, I cannot get over these beautiful blue eyes!

Holy Spirit flames

2010-08-27T20:25:00.000-07:00

Caleb was given these "Holy Spirit flames" during a children's lesson at church in St. Louis, and he still loves to put the headband on and wear it around the house all the time. I'm not sure he's totally grasped the meaning yet, but hopefully that will come. We couldn't resist the opportunity get get some photos with this sweet, "Holy Spirit" clad little boy.

So much love

2010-08-25T20:15:00.000-07:00

Caleb tries not to lose any opportunities to love on his Abby sister. I think he was lying flat on top of her in this picture, but she was loving it! I'm always amazed at her ability to put up with his tough love...although she was not very happy when he tried to feed her soap this afternoon.

I mean, could she be any sweeter?

2010-08-23T20:11:00.000-07:00

oh dear...

2010-08-09T18:52:00.000-07:00

We're not there yet, but this is where we're headed!

Yes, we bought the big boy underwear, and he is SO ready to start potty training. I, however, am not so ready. I think we'll probably start next week when the kids and I get back from my cousin's wedding in Florida.

I know it will be very worth it, but I know that the process will probably be more work than diapers. I also just can't believe my baby is growing up so fast!!

the pouty face

2010-08-07T18:50:00.001-07:00

Abby Girl

2010-08-02T21:08:00.000-07:00

playmates

2010-08-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

This is becoming a more familiar scene around here. I hope they'll always be good friends.

P.S. Caleb DOES smile all the time, he just gets very solemn for pictures!!

my sweetest little helper

2010-07-31T20:56:00.000-07:00

Caleb set the table for us the other day. See the three bowls and three spoons? He did it all on his own initiative, and he did such a great job!

the Greats

2010-07-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

Caleb and Abby are so lucky to have great grandparents who are involved in their lives. Here are some pictures of them from our last visits with them. I can't wait for my Grandad (Mom's dad) to meet Abby!

little Aunt Hannah

2010-07-29T20:23:00.000-07:00

Usually Abby sucks her thumb, but occasionally she gets confused and other fingers end up in her mouth instead. Here she is in an Aunt Hannah pose. My sister used to suck her two fingers like this when she was little, and I love that Abby does it sometimes too! So cute!

Dear Katie and Jeff, this is for you:

2010-07-24T20:36:00.000-07:00

Can you read Abby's shirt? It says "Canada", in honor of our dear friends, the Kerrs. We think of y'all every time she wears it:) Miss you guys so much!!

creativity

2010-07-19T18:10:00.000-07:00

Don't you love this boy's imagination? I'm not so sure I love him playing with the bathroom cleaning glove, but it looks super cute.

We're finally experiencing some success with the big boy bed! 3 bed/nap times with no getting up!

Graduation

2010-07-06T22:02:00.000-07:00

Wow, I'm WAY behind in updating things!

In the past 4 months we've had a baby, accepted a job, graduated from seminary, moved across the country, bought our first home, started ministry at Trinity's RUF, traveled to Memphis, and about a million other things!! We're so thankful for how the Lord has graciously provided for us and taken care of us during this whirlwind. It's been wonderful to see the body of Christ in action as we've adjusted to our new home in San Antonio.

I haven't uploaded our latest pictures of the house and our trip to Memphis, but here are a few from Michael's graduation that I've been meaning to put up.

Daisy

2010-06-19T19:43:00.001-07:00

For those of you who know my love for Daisy sour cream, this is a good story. Tonight we were eating tacos for dinner, and Caleb asked for some Daisy. Not sour cream, Daisy. That's my boy.

Big boy bed

2010-05-20T22:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight we have no babies sleeping in cribs...

Caleb has graduated to a big boy bed! (And Abby's still in the bassinet.) The first night he got up after about 10 seconds and walked out into the hall. After several rounds of putting him back in his big boy bed, we decided to put him back in the crib for the night and try again the next night. The next few nights we only gave him one chance to stay in his big boy bed before we put him in the crib. I was starting to wonder how this was ever going to work, but on the fourth night, he stayed in bed and didn't get out at all until morning!!

I'm excited for him, but it's also a little bit sad for me. No more baby Caleb bouncing in his crib. Actually now I want to cry. They grow up too fast!! And he's only 2...

Abby's growing up!

2010-05-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

Abby will be 10 weeks tomorrow which is so weird to me because a. it seems like she's been around forever and b. it seems like she was just born. She is SO much fun lately...talking a lot in goo's and doo's. This morning Caleb and I were sitting on the floor in front of her little bouncy seat; I was blowing raspberries on Caleb's neck, and every time I did it Abby would get a huge silly grin on her face. I really feel like she knows what's going on.

On Tuesday at her 2 month check up she rolled over, which was exciting. She hasn't done so since though....probably because I haven't given her a chance! Poor girl is usually being held or sitting in her bouncy seat so she doesn't get run over by her brother. I'm sure once we get settled in SA, she'll have more chances to do it again and again. Here are a few semi-recent pictures of our girl. Isn't she precious?

Music to a mommy's ears

2010-05-16T19:46:00.000-07:00

Sleeping Beauty

2010-05-15T08:53:00.000-07:00

Bath time for babies

2010-05-07T19:48:00.000-07:00

My sweet babies can take baths together now! Abby withstands Caleb's splashing and dumping water on her pretty well...actually it looks like she enjoys it most of the time! Caleb has always enjoyed his bath, but now it's about a million times more fun than it was before. He LOVES his baby sister, and she's becoming more aware of him and what he's up to. Today Abby started cooing a lot, and she's officially smiling at us all the time now. I forgot how much fun this stage is! What a sweet girl!! I love getting to know her better every day.

Our "See You Later" Party

2010-05-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night, our friends in the lower "U" threw all four of us graduating couples a "see you later" party. They intentionally did not call it a going away party because all of us are so sad to be leaving our Gulf drive family. Even though Michael and I are so excited to get to San Antonio and start working with RUF, I've definitely already cried a lot of tears thinking about leaving St. Louis. These neighbors have become so much more than neighbors to us, and we love them all so much. We have such sweet memories sharing meals, sitting on each others porches, having play dates. All of us started out here with no kids and every family will be leaving with at least one. Caleb definitely thinks he has a whole neighborhood of family...he'll pretty much walk into anyone's house, invited or not:)

Here are all the couples who were able to make it to the party.

Can you feel the love?

My dear friend Autumn...I've blogged about her art before (http://www.etsy.com/shop/AutumnArt)

Kara and her husband Ben overlap with every aspect of our lives here in St. Louis...neighborhood, church, community group, school, Bible study. We will miss you so much, Sinnard family!!

The girls

My two neighbors on either side, Carrie and Katie...I CANNOT imagine living here without them. They are the best neighbors anyone could ask for.

Such sweet girls...they all happened to be wearing green polka-dot outfits. We all must think on the same wavelength after living here so long. Maren was wearing green with polka-dots too, but she was already in bed.

Babies in the parking lot eating their dinner

More babies and their mommas

A regular occurrence: parents intercepting baby kisses. All the sweet "big" kids love to kiss on the babies, but the babies aren't always as excited.

Caleb LOVES Beth and Barrett's cat and follows him everywhere that he can.

An action shot of our picnic setup

Daddy and his girl

Holding Hands

2010-04-30T20:14:00.000-07:00

Caleb and his friend Caroline LOVE holding hands and walking around our "U" together. They are super cute! I love seeing how they are becoming such little people.

Abby Sister

2010-04-29T20:09:00.000-07:00

Caleb and I have somehow started calling Abby, "Abby Sister"...poor thing, hopefully the nickname will wear off before she goes to school:)

Caleb's Friends

2010-04-20T19:36:00.000-07:00

We've made such dear friends living at Gulf Drive, and it's been so fun to see friendships develop among our children too as they grow up together.

Easter fun

2010-04-19T19:32:00.000-07:00

Easter was Abby's first trip to church. It was such a joyful day celebrating Christ's resurrection and the new life we have in him!

This was Caleb's first year to experience Easter candy, and I'm afraid there's no going back! This boy is a chocolate addict already.

Here are the Easter egg dying festivities...lots of mess+lots of friends=lots of chaos and lots of fun:)

The Big Brother

2010-04-18T19:54:00.000-07:00

No words can express how much I love this boy...

Abby: fresh from the hospital

2010-04-17T20:00:00.000-07:00

Abby: in the hospital

2010-04-16T19:41:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Paige, for taking all these pictures! We would be pictureless without you!

More Abby!

2010-04-15T20:04:00.000-07:00

These pictures are a couple weeks old now, but I promise to take more tomorrow!! Life just gets away from me before I remember to take pictures! She was just looking like she wanted to smile today, so hopefully we'll get some smiley pictures soon:)

Pool Party!

2010-04-15T15:07:00.000-07:00

Carrie looks sad about the party, but she's not...I just surprised her with my camera:)

Caleb is a little sad about the party...he busted his knees on the sidewalk.
Poor Caroline's lips are blue...it was a little chilly this afternoon, and all the babies got a little cold at our pool party.
Katie with her hands full!!
Sweet girls...Caleb loves his Ruby and his Lucy friends!!
Here are my attempts to get all the kids to look at the camera...unsuccessful!

Sweet Siblings

2010-04-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

Caleb LOVES his baby Abby. When Abby and I go in to wake him up from his nap, he gets so excited to see her and even more excited if I let her hang out in the crib with him for a while. She doesn't respond much yet to him, but I know she will soon. I can't wait to see them play together and become best friends!

Abigail Grace

2010-03-26T19:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Abby that Michael uploaded from his phone...we'll try to post more soon!

The New Family Picture

2010-03-19T18:41:00.000-07:00

Such cuteness...

2010-02-15T19:10:00.000-08:00

Right now it's a little after 9 pm (about 2 hours since Caleb went to bed) and I'm sitting in the basement listening to him have a conversation with himself up in his room. So cute! I can't tell if he's sleep talking or just woke up happy and ready to talk...hopefully he'll go back to sleep soon!

Also, another word for the day: "it's lucky" means "it's yucky" in Caleb language.

I hope you all had a very happy Valentine's day yesterday. Caleb and Michael made me breakfast in bed which was very special, and then we had a huge delicious dinner with friends last night...pictures of that to come.

Baby Shower

2010-02-09T07:29:00.000-08:00

Several of my dear neighbor friends threw us a surprise baby shower for "baby sister" last week.

It was such a special time...I'm so thankful for the friends we've made here. Thank you, girls!!

ABC's

2010-02-07T13:25:00.000-08:00

Here's a silly version of Caleb's ABC's. Enjoy:)

Some Christmas Pictures

2010-01-26T19:00:00.000-08:00

The boys on Christmas

Caleb and MaMa

Caleb with my cousins (Laura, Jack and Amanda)

John, Hannah and Aaron

Nathan, Whitney and me

Gram, Caleb and Kit the cat

Very excited about his new blocks:)

Bunny Paci Bunny

2010-01-24T19:30:00.000-08:00

"Bunny paci bunny" is what Caleb says about 50 million times a day when he wants his bunny and paci. He LOVES his bunny and paci and sneaks them out of his crib as often as he can. Usually he stands or sits in the hall until we notice him and make him put them back in his bed. Sometimes he's just too cute though!

Winking

2010-01-19T11:46:00.000-08:00

Caleb's been practicing his winking lately. I think he's getting pretty good. What do you think?

A Special Christmas Picture

2010-01-01T16:23:00.001-08:00

This is a picture of Caleb, his Daddy, his Gram (grandmother), Mamaw (great-grandmother), and Mamaw Taylor (great-great-grandmother). What an wonderful legacy!

word of the day #2

2009-12-15T06:36:00.001-08:00

zugick=music

word of the day

2009-12-14T16:46:00.000-08:00

fegegi=spaghetti

Ben, Kara, Maren...YAY!

2009-12-11T20:06:00.000-08:00

At the top of Caleb's friend list are Ben, Kara and Maren...in fact, he really does give a cheer after he says all their names. He loves the whole family, but he REALLY loves baby Maren. Last week, we got to keep baby Maren at our house for a couple days while Kara was at work, and it was definitely the highlight of Caleb's week. Here's a picture of the two of them right after Caleb's nap. We love you, Maren!

Shirley Temple

2009-12-09T19:54:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure when we started singing "Animal Crackers in My Soup" around our house, but last week I had the brilliant idea to show Caleb a video of Shirley Temple singing it on youtube. I knew he'd probably like it, but I had no idea that he would wake up asking to watch it and beg to see it over and over all day!! I think we officially have a Shirley Temple fan over here:)

More tooth brushing

2009-12-07T19:48:00.000-08:00

Like that crazy hair?