Holy cow, I can't believe 6 months have passed! Okay, I'll get over it and just write something about my life right now.
Callan is laying on the couch, sick with strep for the second time in a month. We're both home from our church's Vacation Bible School program, which I've worked hard to help put together. I feel bad missing it for two nights so far, but I know they can survive without me. Callan feels worse missing out on all the fun, but we hope he'll be up to it tomorrow evening with 3 doses of antibiotics under his belt.
This spring has been incredibly busy, planning VBS, working on starting a community garden in my neighborhood, being involved with Callan's school, and just being a wife/mom/neighbor/friend. It's a full plate I have, but I think I'm learning that God never dishes out more than I can take. And he seems to impose mandatory breaks on me and my family (like strep throat) that he knows I need and I don't. Praise him for his grace and favor...
Here are some pictures of the last few months, in no particular order or relevance.
My children love to dress up, and they even got their friend K.J. into the act (even though he's clearly a little tall for some of their clothes!).
My garden is doing well. This is an early shot, our first radishes. Thatcher has really taken to our gardening tasks. He loves to hunt for squash bugs and squash bug eggs, pull carrots and beets (but, really, who doesn't love that?), and help me weed and water.
This spring we took a camping trip we took with our friends and neighbors, the Kennedys. The weather was perfect, the kids had a great time, and we all slept reasonably well. I highly recommend traveling with another family with similar-age kids: twice the adults, automatic playmates for the kids, and a new dynamic added to your own family (instead of just dragging all your family issues to a new and unfamiliar locale!).
Love those outfits!
Callan ran his first mile road race in April and grinned ear-to-ear the entire time. He seems to be cut out for running which I think is a good fit for his personality type. It won't be long till we're doing family 10Ks!
My boys love their wheels--bikes and scooters have been the vehicles of choice, and Callan has just this month learned to ride a bike without training wheels. This next pic is him on Thatcher's bike which we first took the pedals off to make it a push bike and then put the pedals on once he learned to balance. Now he's transitioned to his big bike and loves the speed and confidence he has. We are really proud of him because we know how it's a special challenge for him to master new physical skills (he's a bit risk-averse, like his mama who didn't ride her bike w/o trainers until age 8).
Can you believe these handsome fellows? Callan loves his tie and Thatcher loves to copy Callan.
This picture is our "new" piano given to us by our church. It had been sitting in a storage room and I inquired about it and we were told that if we moved it, it would be ours! Callan and I are taking lessons together (Suzuki method, if you're familiar with that) and loving it. He has blossomed musically in a way that is inspiring, and Thatcher is even learning vicariously. Matt has also picked up some of his buried piano training again. But don't be too impressed--mostly you'll just hear variations of Twinkle, Twinkle rather than Tchaikovsky in our house!
This is Callan's beloved kindergarten teacher, Mr. LaPradd on the day of kindergarten graduation. We have had a great year at Patrick Henry Charter School, the first year at the first elementary charter school in Virginia. Not without it's dramas, disorganization and controversies, of course--but Callan had a great year and learned a lot, and I guess that's what matters.
And most recently, we had a great visit with our dear friends the Kangs from NYC, soon to be from Chicago. Jan's a longtime friend from Wheaton and Ezer will be taking a professorship there next month, so they'll be moving with their two sweet girls. Our boys loved playing with Simone and Noemi and we hope we can see them in Illinois when we visit Matt's family once a year. Ezer and I have already planned my first marathon to be Chicago 2012!
