Thursday, April 4, 2013
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Easter 2013
We had a fun Easter Sunday this year, with good baskets, lots of eggs and candy, and good family time. This was Henry's first Easter experience, and he fit in well with the other two.
The Easter fun has continued past Sunday with fun cookies from Aunt Mary Sue.
We also had a fun hike on a sunny day at Kendall Lake this past weekend. Even though the sun has been out over the past couple of days here, it ain't warm in the least.
Jenn has been logging miles in the National Park lately, and utilizing her Garmin Forerunner 210. This watch is amazing. It links up to a satellite, and then captures every detail of her run that she would ever want to analyze. On her personal Garmin page, it maps out her run, gives her average times and speed... it's crazy. I'm trying to see if there's a way to share those maps on this blog.
I want take a moment and give a shout-out to our friends Josh & Megan who just received travel approval to go bring home their little girl from China! It was an unusual string of events that led us together and then we found out that we had more than one connection... anywhoo, they signed on with CCAI a while back, and they're about to enter a whole new phase of life! Congratulations to Josh & Megan!
In other news, Lincoln is becoming quite the reader. We work with him daily with my old Victory Drill book, and his prompting, and he's really getting it. He'll be reading comfortably by the time Kindergarden starts! And speaking of Kindergarden, Jenn and I evaluated our options and chose Summit Christian School for him. It's a great combination of good programming/curriculum, cost and location/convenience, and it's a solid Christian school. The principal is a client of mine, and she invited us to an open house a while back. We were impressed with meeting the Kindergarden teacher and seeing all of the extra programs that will be available to Lincoln. We also wanted to choose a school that would be very likely to have a group of engaged, caring families associated with his class, and we're convinced that Summit Christian School is going to be a good place for him.
This past week was the big computer upgrade at the clinic. It's quite exciting to get the latesttoys hardware, but it's also a tense time hoping all of the networking goes well, and then getting all of our documents switched over correctly, and this time I had to get all of my social media calendar work and scheduling switched over. But it seems to have gone well, and it has certainly kept the staff entertained, and now we won't have to worry about big upgrades for about the next 7 years.
The clinic has taken more of my mental energy lately as I anticipate having to hire a new veterinarian sometime next year. I've known the time is coming, but it's not as far over the horizon now as it has been in the past. I'm not looking forward to sorting through a stack of resumes, mostly from new grads given the current economic climate for veterinarians. But who knows what will come up in the next year to 18 months?
Jenn's going to take Lincoln to swim lessons today. She hasn't seem him swim in a long while.
Lydia is her usual dramatic, sassy self. The latest addition to the sassiness in our house is Henry. He's figuring out that he can defiantly say, "No!" and attempt to assert himself. While it's frustrating, as he used to be so obedient, it's also a good sign that he's developing well and feeling quite comfortable in his environment.
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Jenn has been logging miles in the National Park lately, and utilizing her Garmin Forerunner 210. This watch is amazing. It links up to a satellite, and then captures every detail of her run that she would ever want to analyze. On her personal Garmin page, it maps out her run, gives her average times and speed... it's crazy. I'm trying to see if there's a way to share those maps on this blog.
I want take a moment and give a shout-out to our friends Josh & Megan who just received travel approval to go bring home their little girl from China! It was an unusual string of events that led us together and then we found out that we had more than one connection... anywhoo, they signed on with CCAI a while back, and they're about to enter a whole new phase of life! Congratulations to Josh & Megan!
In other news, Lincoln is becoming quite the reader. We work with him daily with my old Victory Drill book, and his prompting, and he's really getting it. He'll be reading comfortably by the time Kindergarden starts! And speaking of Kindergarden, Jenn and I evaluated our options and chose Summit Christian School for him. It's a great combination of good programming/curriculum, cost and location/convenience, and it's a solid Christian school. The principal is a client of mine, and she invited us to an open house a while back. We were impressed with meeting the Kindergarden teacher and seeing all of the extra programs that will be available to Lincoln. We also wanted to choose a school that would be very likely to have a group of engaged, caring families associated with his class, and we're convinced that Summit Christian School is going to be a good place for him.
This past week was the big computer upgrade at the clinic. It's quite exciting to get the latest
The clinic has taken more of my mental energy lately as I anticipate having to hire a new veterinarian sometime next year. I've known the time is coming, but it's not as far over the horizon now as it has been in the past. I'm not looking forward to sorting through a stack of resumes, mostly from new grads given the current economic climate for veterinarians. But who knows what will come up in the next year to 18 months?
Jenn's going to take Lincoln to swim lessons today. She hasn't seem him swim in a long while.
Lydia is her usual dramatic, sassy self. The latest addition to the sassiness in our house is Henry. He's figuring out that he can defiantly say, "No!" and attempt to assert himself. While it's frustrating, as he used to be so obedient, it's also a good sign that he's developing well and feeling quite comfortable in his environment.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Movie Night... & Underpants!!!
A while back I took the boys to Movie Night at church where they were showing a Veggie Tales movie, The League of Incredible Vegetables. Lydia stayed home because she hadn't napped that day and she was in desparate need of an early bedtime.
The boys did great, enjoying the fun that was set up for all of the kids, and most importantly the popcorn!
And then, for a little fun, the diaper-wearing kids got a break and tried out some underpants for a few minutes.
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And then, for a little fun, the diaper-wearing kids got a break and tried out some underpants for a few minutes.
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Thursday, March 21, 2013
Great Wolf Lodge
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"What's the big bucket?" you ask. It's a 700 gallon shower that dumps down about every 7 to 10 minutes. Just prior, a bell rings to signal it's coming, and all day long Lincoln stopped what he was doing as soon as he heard the bell. At the end of our day, we stood beneath it...
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Friday, March 15, 2013
Henry Gets Ready For A Change
I've been meaning to get some video of Henry talking for a while now. This is what I took yesterday. It makes it a bit tougher to understand him with his fingers in his mouth, but when he's got his dog, he's sucking his fingers. Oh, well. He also sort of played along with me as I prompted him to do some of the things he likes to do and say and have close at hand during diaper changes. Anyway, this is a good look into his verbal development, which has exploded since late January.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Freezing Morning at the Beaver Pond
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Sunday, March 10, 2013
Photo Catch-Up
Two posts within a week! What is this, 2012?!!!
I had a bunch of photos stuck on my camera that couldn't go to Picasa because Google decided to do some crazy stuff with merging Picasa & Google+... it's a fiasco, if you ask me. So I found a convenient place to store photos for the time being, and here's to catching up.
One other thing I forgot to mention: Jenn has been on a fitness and running craze. She's been racking up a bunch of miles per week, and her goal is to run in the Towpath 1/2 Marathon this coming October 13. It's darn impressive to hear her pounding the treadmill in the basement for nearly an hour at a fast pace for her short runs. Right now she's on the Towpath doing her long run for the week, something like 7 or 9 miles... holy cow! The other day, Jenn went running on the Towpath when it was snowing, and we agreed that, as we recalled watching runners in the Clintonville snow and looking at them like they were crazy and "running for fun," Jenn is one of those crazy people that runs for fun.
I had a bunch of photos stuck on my camera that couldn't go to Picasa because Google decided to do some crazy stuff with merging Picasa & Google+... it's a fiasco, if you ask me. So I found a convenient place to store photos for the time being, and here's to catching up.
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Friday, March 8, 2013
Early March
We are now eagerly anticipating our trip to the Outer Banks with Auntie Em & Uncle Jeremy and crew along with Grandma Paulette and Grandpa Doug. Jenn's been looking for swimsuits and SPF shirts for the kids, and I've been telling Lincoln about climbing up the Currituck Lighthouse and other fun beach stories.
Henry is starting to put sentences together, and watching his mind work is really, really neat. While he still does a fair bit of crying and some screaming for Jenn during the day, he is much more responsive to her telling him why, for instance, he needs his hands wiped after lunch. Just last night Jenn and I were talking about how his receptive language picked up very quickly last summer, but while he may have heard the words and known a bit what we were talking about, it's clear that he's know understanding concepts much better and emotionally responding better in many situations.
He continues to be a champ at Sunday School, and when Jenn takes the kids out. This past Wednesday she took the kids to the Stow Library for story time and to meet with a new friend from church. This new friend said, "Whenever I see Henry he's always happy!" And he usually is. She also said, after they'd been there about 30 minutes, "Is there something up with his hand?" Henry just does life.
Lydia is staying in her crib during the night and after naps. It helps that I give her an almond as her "special treat" as a reward. She's so darn cute about it, too. And her cuteness is saving her lately because she simply doesn't listen or obey. Lincoln and Henry are a lot alike in that they're obedient and responsive. Lydia is just different, and she's going to try our patience as we go along.
Just the other evening, in the midst of a crying fit, she ran to her playhouse and sat inside. I crawled in after her and sat beside her, not saying anything. Mid-cry, she belted out, "I want some money!" Yeah. That's my daughter.
On another occasion, she was crying very dramatically in the middle of the night, and when Jenn asked what she wanted, she said, as the sobs continued to flow, "Where's my....... where's my....... where's my crown?" Well, isn't that the truth?! Jenn thought.
Lincoln is tearing it up in preschool. One of their worksheets dealt with money and he had to write how many cents were represented by various combinations of coins. He got them all correct, and when he told Jenn about it, he said, "Lots of the kids had to try a couple of times, but I just got it right the first time." Similarly, they had a very simple graphing exercise, and he worked out the graph correctly the first time. He then described to me how he did it, in a very matter-of-fact way, as though he'd been doing those exercises for some time now. Preschool has been a very good thing.
He started up his swimming lessons again this Wednesday. No crying this time, even after being away from the routine for a while, and I'm sure we can chalk his comfort and confidence up to preschool and general maturing. It remains to be seen how good of a swimmer he'll be by the time we're at the pool on vacation, but he'll be comfortable playing with us, at least.
Lincoln went to Leesville Lake again last Wednesday, and Grandpa had pirate ships for him to paint, pancakes for him to mix and eat, and a sundae for him to cover with chocolate syrup. It was a good day!
Henry is starting to put sentences together, and watching his mind work is really, really neat. While he still does a fair bit of crying and some screaming for Jenn during the day, he is much more responsive to her telling him why, for instance, he needs his hands wiped after lunch. Just last night Jenn and I were talking about how his receptive language picked up very quickly last summer, but while he may have heard the words and known a bit what we were talking about, it's clear that he's know understanding concepts much better and emotionally responding better in many situations.
He continues to be a champ at Sunday School, and when Jenn takes the kids out. This past Wednesday she took the kids to the Stow Library for story time and to meet with a new friend from church. This new friend said, "Whenever I see Henry he's always happy!" And he usually is. She also said, after they'd been there about 30 minutes, "Is there something up with his hand?" Henry just does life.
Lydia is staying in her crib during the night and after naps. It helps that I give her an almond as her "special treat" as a reward. She's so darn cute about it, too. And her cuteness is saving her lately because she simply doesn't listen or obey. Lincoln and Henry are a lot alike in that they're obedient and responsive. Lydia is just different, and she's going to try our patience as we go along.
Just the other evening, in the midst of a crying fit, she ran to her playhouse and sat inside. I crawled in after her and sat beside her, not saying anything. Mid-cry, she belted out, "I want some money!" Yeah. That's my daughter.
On another occasion, she was crying very dramatically in the middle of the night, and when Jenn asked what she wanted, she said, as the sobs continued to flow, "Where's my....... where's my....... where's my crown?" Well, isn't that the truth?! Jenn thought.
Lincoln is tearing it up in preschool. One of their worksheets dealt with money and he had to write how many cents were represented by various combinations of coins. He got them all correct, and when he told Jenn about it, he said, "Lots of the kids had to try a couple of times, but I just got it right the first time." Similarly, they had a very simple graphing exercise, and he worked out the graph correctly the first time. He then described to me how he did it, in a very matter-of-fact way, as though he'd been doing those exercises for some time now. Preschool has been a very good thing.
He started up his swimming lessons again this Wednesday. No crying this time, even after being away from the routine for a while, and I'm sure we can chalk his comfort and confidence up to preschool and general maturing. It remains to be seen how good of a swimmer he'll be by the time we're at the pool on vacation, but he'll be comfortable playing with us, at least.
Lincoln went to Leesville Lake again last Wednesday, and Grandpa had pirate ships for him to paint, pancakes for him to mix and eat, and a sundae for him to cover with chocolate syrup. It was a good day!
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