The Castlemans in Mississippi

No "More Ovaltine, Please!"

2009-02-21T22:14:00.010-06:00

Our boys, never lovers of plain white milk, have developed a loooooove for Ovaltine. At our visit to the pediatrician this week I was encouraged to get them off the Ovaltine. I've been thinking about it for a while - the extra sugar we could certainly live without. Anyway, I'm happy to report we're about four days without Ovaltine and doing just fine. Every morning Tate says, "Teen please" but he still is able to live with the plain white milk.

In addition, we were told to get Eben off his sippy cup. Oh how that boy loves his sippy cups! But, once again, he's impressed and surprised me with his ability to LET GO. Oh, also, can't fail to mention that Eben's finally reached roller coaster height - 42 inches!

Catching up: Tyler on a bike!

2009-02-02T22:15:00.002-06:00

Finally we got Tyler on a bike! Thanks Dad-dad and Gamma for an awesome first bike! Tyler hasn't been on a bike at all in about a year. We really felt like it was time for her to get on one without training wheels but she was pretty hesitant at first. But, taking advantage of lots of bike riding space at my parent's house, Scott got her on that bike and now she's good to go. Tyler has a great work ethic - if she has a goal in mind, she will fight to reach it. More pictures and/or video to come!

Catching up: Soccer

2009-01-16T07:53:00.003-06:00

Tyler and Eben played soccer during November and December. For both it soccer was a new sport and it was Eben's first venture into team sports. We really had fun seeing the kids learn new skills. At four years old, Eben's team had more fun falling on the field in mid-stride and Eben could often be seen running alongside another player, from his team or the opposing team, and patting on the back while saying something encouraging. His usual spot was a few strides behind everyone else but after every game he was still under the impression that he had made a goal! His team was red, the "Rock Stars" and he was #4.

With Tyler it was exciting to see her take on a new sport and really stick with the team. She ran hard and at her age it was a lot of running! For her age group they did keep score and had goalies (not for Eben though) and her team won nearly every game! Tyler loved playing goalie and worked hard with a lot of concentration for every minute she was on the field. As usual, she also managed to make lots of friends! Her team changed names mid-season but I think they finished up as the Purple Panthers - she was #12.

Catching up: Thanksgiving

2009-01-16T07:39:00.002-06:00

Over Thanksgiving break, we took a little family trip (see pictures from a children's museum and a historic train depot) and then met up with Nona and Pop-pops for Thanksgiving at Belhaven! Apparently I was pretty busy eating because there aren't any pictures from our yummy meal (thanks, Nona)!

Photo Shoot

2009-01-15T10:41:00.004-06:00

Aunt Lindsay was kind enough to do a super speedy photo shoot of the kids over Christmas. I'm still moving them onto my computer but here are a few ...

Why you shouldn't leave your kids alone with aunts and uncles ...

2009-01-15T10:26:00.003-06:00

Here's a little video I found on my camera - yes, this is Tyler's aunt and her two uncles.

Wii is fun! (and who knew Suzy knew Red Hot Chili Peppers!?!)

2009-01-15T10:14:00.004-06:00

We spent Christmas in Orlando with a house full of Osbornes! Most of our time was filled with playing Wii - Rock Band, Guitar Hero, Olympics and WiiSports. We can't wait to get a Wii! Here are some pics of the kids thinking they are doing Rock Band. And a gem of a video (if lacking in quality) - Suzy who somehow knew all the words to Red Hot Chili Peppers "California"!

Imagination Movers

2009-01-15T09:26:00.007-06:00

If you have preschool aged children and don't know the "Imagination Movers" then you should find out about them. Our kids LOVE them - they have a show on Disney but more than that we like their CDs. They're a kid's band from New Orleans and as a Christmas present to Tyler and Eben we went to see them in concert (in Jacksonville, FL)! It was a really fun afternoon to spend with them - we ate at Sonny's ... then went to the show ... where Eben was so confused about how some of his favorite TV characters "busted out of the TV" ... Oh, and I can't neglect to say they were kind enough to mail us an autographed poster after meeting my mom!! Thanks guys

New Years Resolution

2009-01-15T09:07:00.002-06:00

How's this for a New Year's Resolution: post to your blog more than once a month! Don't leave an "Autumn" wallpaper up through mid-January!

ElfYourself

2008-12-14T09:50:00.001-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

"Pies and Keeny"

2008-11-05T20:44:00.003-06:00

The above title means "Pumpkins and Candy" in the Tate's 2yr old language. We had our fill of Halloween festivities and have tons of candy at the house to prove it!

Our Halloween week kicked off with a visit from Gamma and a trip to the Seward Farm's Corn Maze. We had so much fun at the playground, answering trivia questions to make our way through the corn maze, riding the cow train and taking a hay ride. It is such a cute place! Pictures will follow soon - we had to use a disposable camera because my batteries were out!

Next, it was into lots of Halloween crafts - decorating Halloween t-shirts with Gamma, making pumpkin cookies and finally carving Pumpkins. Tyler carved her own kitty-cat pumpkin, Eben worked with Scott on a "scary" pumpkin and Tate and I stuck stickers on a pumpkin for him (Scott later carved a "T" into his pumpkin. Here are some pics to share:

Of course the week ended in lots of candy gained from trick-or-treating. We went with some new friends to a nearby neighborhood. The kids were thrilled with the hayride they set up in a trailer attached to their truck. We got lots of candy and we're happy to share!

Circus with Nona!

2008-11-05T20:37:00.003-06:00

In mid-October we had a great visit from Nona, Scott's mom, known as Robbie to the rest of the world. She preached for Scott on Sunday morning while he was out of town and then had some down time with the kids for the rest of her quick stay. Definitely the highlight was a trip to the Cole Bros Circus of the Stars. While it was obviously a small-time circus, the kids didn't know any better and it was great for them to be able to sit up front and, for the boys, experience their first circus. They were spoiled greatly by Nona with cotton candy, funnel cakes and super cute face painting.

If Boys Ruled the World ...

2008-10-13T18:09:00.004-06:00

If boys ruled the world, the following three videos explains what the world would be like ... it would include a huge mess, lots of bike riding, laughter, cuteness, a bigger mess, and some singing.

Tyler and I stepped out of the house for a bit on Saturday and here's what happened. Fortunately these boys have a wonderful father who documented it all and made sure it was all taken care of before mom got home!

First Place!

2008-10-11T14:13:00.002-06:00

Dr. Tyler won first place in the chemistry division at the science fair! She came up with the idea to do the popular "Mentos in Diet Coke" experiment except she used several different sodas to determine which gave off the best eruption. Answer: Diet Coke! Here are some pictures of her, the experiment and her blue ribbon!

Smells Fishy!

2008-10-07T07:44:00.003-06:00

Scott had a successful fishing trip with the guys in our small group on Sunday night. As our "hunter/gatherer" he brought home two speckled trout and two big redfish! Here are some shots of him and the boys on Monday morning cleaning them up. Tate was a bit suspect of the cold fish but Eben loved them! Oh, and can't forget to include the fact that Scott also cooked them up for us on Monday night: fried fish for the kids (trout) and blackened redfish with a seafood stuffing for the two of us! Why do I even bother?!

Belhaven, Belhaven

2008-10-06T21:43:00.004-06:00

This past weekend we made a quick trip up to Jackson, MS (home of our alma mater, Belhaven College and also where Scott and I first met, dated, made a home, worked, had Tyler). We drove past the old apartments and met my college roommate and family (hi, Kathleen!) for lunch at Keifer's (mmm!). But, left with an hour or more to kill before the wedding we were there for, we took the kids over to Belhaven and showed them around. It was a gorgeous day and so nice to see a much-improved campus from our days there. Although we graduated some time ago, seeing our kids running through the same spots where we first started our relationship - well, it seemed to me to be a completed circle. Incredibly fulfilling to know this was a place so important in our lives - at first it symbolized the tail end of our childhoods and then our introduction to adulthood - it was the place we learned, grew up, first met, first kissed, the place we came back to after getting engaged. And now, to see our kids sticking their feet in the fountain and walking the same sidewalks was incredibly satisfying!

Belhaven has done well for itself as far as the facilities go - we were incredibly jealous to see what a gorgeous campus it's become and incredibly sad to see "our" swing is now gone and replaced by in-ground fountain.

Belhaven, Belhaven, we shall not wholly part,
This dear green hill shall bind us still to God and thee in heart.

Happy Birthday Tyler!

2008-10-06T21:37:00.004-06:00

As a close to the birthday extravaganza week we welcome Tyler to her eighth year! Happy seventh birthday, Tyler!

I can't believe we have a seven year old, a second grader, a reader, a writer, a beautiful, caring, artistic young girl to call a daughter! As I prayed with Tyler before bed on her birthday I teared up (many of you know this deserves a blog post on it's own!) at the idea of how incredible she is at seven. She is super smart, incredibly caring, patient (especially with her brothers), thoughtful, giving, laid back and easy to accomodate. To be her mom is such a priviledge and this was one of the first times, as a young mom, I felt I could look back at a substantial period of time and feel so proud of who she has become and all she has to look forward to. Tyler tackles Bible memory with a passion, she will go along with anything and is "so bored" with second grade because it's "so easy".

We celebrated at home with presents but the next night we took three of her friends out to a nearby paint-your-own pottery place and then to CiCi's for pizza. It was such fun to see her interact with her friends, to get to know them, etc.

Happy Birthday Boys!

2008-09-27T14:45:00.003-06:00

Scott and Tate celebrate their birthdays today - Scott at 32 and Tate now 2 years old! I retold Tate's birth story to him this morning ... the old "at this time of day we were doing this, etc." Tate was born at 11:35am (incidentally the same time as Tyler) after a pretty quick and easy drug-induced and epidural accompanied labor. He's the only of our children who I thought fit their name from the beginning. He was a little man and Tate seemed perfect.
He was a great birthday gift for Scott who joyfully volunteered to share his birthday. This is also the birthday of Scott's grandfather, Robert Fox (Tate Fox's namesake) who died in 2004 and my grandmother, Dorothy Osborne, who died in 2003. So, all said, it's a pretty special day for our family! I took Scott out last night for a little dinner and arcade game-playing and this morning we started the day with birthday candle cinnamon rolls and Tate's first time to be measured on our growth chart.

Cupcakes

2008-09-24T18:40:00.003-06:00

In leiu of an actual party, Tate brought cupcakes to our playdate today. As you can tell, there was quite a bit of icing!

Can He Fix It? Yes, He Can!

2008-09-24T17:53:00.003-06:00

Here are shots of the five of us at the Bob the Builder show at Lynn Meadows yesterday. The kids got to make their own toolbelts, edible constructions and wooden birdhouses.

Jeh (Yes) and No!

2008-09-23T12:29:00.008-06:00

Yesterday, while Scott and Eben were out playing golf, I had a little conversation with Tate who will turn two this weekend. Here are a couple of our conversations(by the way, we're dog-sitting this week) ...

If you'd like to see the entire conversation (it went 11 minutes so probably only the grandparents are THAT interested!), you can link to them on youtube. See Part I and Part II

Helmets

2008-09-23T11:50:00.006-06:00

To keep from losing any more teeth we upgraded Eben's helmet ... And, of course, Tate had to try it on too ...

Smile!

2008-09-09T19:05:00.003-06:00

Eben did an amazing job with his surgery today. No problems and was really thrilled to be doing the whole thing. He told me he was asleep during it but he still remembered it so I guess the medicine did it's job! I took him before hand and let him pick out some treats which included: jello, Root Beer Float ice cream, superhero popsicles, chicken noodle soup and Mexican soda.

Tonight he'll have his first visit from the tooth fairy who will find a ring box decorated with monster truck stickers and holding three separate pieces that fit together like a puzzle to form a tooth!

Tyler in Nevada

2008-09-08T10:40:00.003-06:00

Tyler hit a big milestone this summer, making her first solo trip with Nona (Scott's mom) to Nevada. They went to visit Scott's grandmother, Bammer, and were really busy doing all sorts of fun things in the process. Here's a slideshow I stole from Nona's blog to show lots of the things they did:
(also note the loss of one of Tyler's front teeth - she has a new smile!)

Monster Truck birthday

2008-09-08T10:39:00.004-06:00

I just realized I never posted pictures from Eben's little birthday party. He had multiple celebrations - one being with Scott's family while they were in town and then another a week after his birthday with some of his friends. Here's pictures of the festivities ...

Busted

2008-09-05T09:50:00.003-06:00

On Wednesday night Eben's front tooth said hello to the sidewalk while riding his bike. As a consequence, he will be saying goodbye to his tooth on Tuesday! For the following pictures on this blog you'll be seeing him missing his left front tooth - it was fractured in three places and will be pulled making a nice, premature spot for his grownup tooth to move down in a couple years. Here's his injured tooth - in a few days I'll post a shot of his new smile!

Bye Bye Summer!

2008-09-05T09:44:00.004-06:00

Now that school has started, vacations are over and Labor Day has passed, I guess it's time to say goodbye to the summer! I LOVED this summer even though it was so crazy! As a farewell, here are the kids with their final ice cream cones of the summer!

Gustav

2008-09-05T09:01:00.003-06:00

On Labor Day Gustav came to visit! To celebrate our first real hurricane since living here, we boarded up the house and hit the road. We chose Natchez, MS as our destination, visiting friends the Bates who lived here running disaster assistance after Katrina. Turned out we had very little damage here, just some fallen tree limbs and short loss of power. In Natchez we had a great time, ate great food, swam and spent good time with friends. However, it turned out we were without power for half the time we were there! How ironic!

Brothers

2008-09-05T07:40:00.009-06:00

Tate and Eben are slowly beginning to have a relationship not completely based on violence. Occasionally they now play with eachother and get in trouble together. Eben is training up Tate in all things "boy" - making great sound effects, jumping in puddles and riding bikes. It's so great to see them becoming occasional friends instead of purely enemies! Here are lots of pictures and videos of them lately ...

I love the hair in this first picture:

Helping (or hurting) their relationship, Eben finally moved in the "boy" room! When we first moved into the house Tyler wanted him in the room with her and then he became a bit of a nomad and moved during the night between our bed, Tyler's room and a sleeping bag on our floor. He was finally eager to move into the room with Tate and we put him back in a toddler bed. Here are the boys together in the bed after we built it together:

After staying inside while Tropical Storm Faye came through, we were ready to get out and jump some puddles. This was a first for Tate and really, probably the first time in Eben's memory ...

Finally, here's a video (yes, I was driving and filming at the same time) of Eben singing his favorite song "Joshua 1:9" from VBS this past summer. He loves to sing it loud and with motions. Here you can also see Tate joining in and then being abused by his brother - all in good fun!

Second Grade

2008-09-05T07:37:00.002-06:00

In mid-August, Tyler started the second grade. Here's a picture of her that morning - CAN'T believe she's in second grade and about to be seven!

Lubbock

2008-08-11T07:21:00.002-06:00

While Scott attended his annual Coop gathering in Lake Tahoe, I took the kids to Luboock, TX and spent some time with our wonderful friends from seminary, Christina and Ami and their kids. So, three moms, nine kids: insane you may say but it was wonderful! We drove first to Dallas and joined up with Christina and she and I piled all eight of us into her minivan and drove the seemingly 1000-hour trip to Lubbock. Here are a ton of pictures of all of us:

Happy Fourth Birthday Eben!

2008-07-16T14:30:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday America!

2008-07-12T13:50:00.002-06:00

For the fourth, Scott smoked some smokin' ribs and we had two couples over. Then, it was off to the beach for fireworks. Here are a few night time shots...

We love the beach!

2008-07-12T13:16:00.004-06:00

It finally came time for one of my favorite moments of the year ... our family trip to the beach. This year was different because it was mainly just us and my parents (usually it includes my three siblings and two spouses). We stayed at a new place this year called the Wyndham Ocean Walk Resort in Daytona Beach. It's great for kids - they have a playground in one of the pools, a waterslide, lazy river - you hardly even get to the beach! They also offer lots of stuff to do - "Dive In" movies, craft times, ice cream parties, etc - kindof like being on a cruise. Tyler went to the Princess Manicure and Tea Party, made "memory bracelets" with my mom and Scott took the kids to see National Treasure 2 in the pool! It was also a treat because we got to spend some extra time with the two older kids one-on-one and all together. Scott and I drove go-carts with them, took them to putt-putt and to see Wall-E. It was also a joy to see Tate really love the beach and the pool - he continues to dive into everything with great gusto! Eben continued his overall timid nature about everything but finally rode some baby waves on our last day there. Tyler, on the other hand, never braved the waterslide but for the first time was really adventurous with riding waves. And, as usual, we enjoyed some great spoiling by my parents who love us and our kids. They took each of the kids out for breakfast on their own, made frequent trips to the ice cream truck on the beach and celebrated my birthday with me at Bubba Gump shrimp and it was soooo yummy! So, thanks mom and dad - we loved it!! As usual I love pictures of my kids in the sand and got lots of those. But, I didn't really take the camera out until the last day so here are a few:

One day at Art Camp ...

2008-07-12T12:58:00.007-06:00

In June, Tyler went to an art camp called Mud Daubers put on by the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art in Biloxi. The camp ran for five days from 8am-4pm and was packed full of learning about and producing art. Here I've scanned some of her best work although it's not quite like seeing it in person.
Here the students were asked to do their own piece in the style of van Gogh's The Starry Night. This is on a 10x14 canvas so I couldn't fit the whole thing on the scanner (namely, the moon).

Here are two sponge paintings on tissue paper she did when asked to do paint a certain time of day. The first is titled "1:00am" (I think she meant it to be dusk) and the second is "12:00"

Finally, this is a painting done on tile:

VBS

2008-07-12T12:46:00.002-06:00

While we were in FL the kids went to Vacation Bible School at my parent's church UPC in Orlando. They had an awesome time, loved their classes and really got into all the ways to earn points, etc. Eben called it "PBS" and begged to go every day. I was especially impressed with him because it was his first experience with a class away from mom and dad. Tyler amazed me with her ability to dive right into a group of strangers and continue to be funny, creative and sure of herself. Here are some (not great) pictures from the closing ceremonies:

A Decade of Marriage

2008-07-12T12:14:00.007-06:00

For those of you who were at our wedding on June 6 in Ocala, FL it may be hard to believe it was ten years ago - it's hard for us to believe! It some ways it feels like yesterday but I look at all that's happened and I can't believe we've packed it into ten years time. We've lived in six homes in four cities, added a Bachelors degree (me) and a Masters degree (Scott). I've had four jobs and Scott's now spent two years at his first call. Obviously, our crowning achievement has been the three little ones with whom we now share our space. From the beginning I'd hoped we'd have several children at this point in our lives but I couldn't have imagined what they'd do to us - how they'd turn me into a semi-decent housekeeper, make us put food on the table instead of eating out constantly. I knew Scott was an amazing man when I married him and we knew we wanted kids but I hadn't really thought through what kind of dad he'd be. It's been an incredible journey to make with him. I love that we knew eachother at 18 and 19 years old and were wonderful friends and I love that now, 10 years in, we can say the same thing except that now we have so much more binding us together!

As a super-huge surprise Scott planned a trip for us to Las Vegas to celebrate our anniversary! I knew something was going on but had no idea where we were headed and couldn't have imagined flying across the country with him, staying at The Bellagio and how nice it would be to sit across a quiet table, eating a wonderful meal and enjoying the time together! Here are some pictures of our time together (without the kids there we only took about 10 pictures!)

On our last night, we spotted these two celebrities playing high-stakes Blackjack. It's not a great picture but see if you can identify them ...

It's Ray Romano and Keven James!

One Crazy Week!

2008-05-22T15:19:00.003-06:00

Hard to believe we could do all we've done this last week and still fit in three hours of American Idol but somehow we've managed! (Quick congrats to David Cook - my pick to win!) But onto everything else that's kept us busy this past week ...

Scott took a trip to Chicago to see his brother, Dayton, graduate from School of the Art Institute of Chicago (congrats also to Dayton!). While he was gone I got the surprise pleasure of hosting one of my best friends from college, Jennifer, and her two kids. They were visiting from Minneapolis to work with the Jimmy Carter Work Project building blitz with Habitat for Humanity on the Gulf Coast. Her daughter Noelle and Eben got along great and it was so fun to be with them again.

On our way to pick up Scott in New Orleans, the kids and I made a stop at the Louisiana Children's Museum which was awesome! It was really well done and all three kids loved different parts. Later in the day we picked Scott up and sadly had to head home without stopping for muffelatas or beignets :(

Finally, on Tuesday Tyler's class took a field trip to the New Orleans aquarium and the boys and I went along for that. We took a whirlwind trip through the aquarium, ate lunch at Riverwalk beside the Mississippi River and headed back on the school bus (the bus was as exciting for the boys as the aquarium). Over the next few days we finished off the t-ball season as well as the school year and we're looking forward to a week with absolutely nothing on our plate!

The Kids at Springtime

2008-05-22T15:05:00.001-06:00

First Grade? Check!

2008-05-22T14:40:00.002-06:00

Yesterday we bid farewell to Tyler's year as a first grader! Her school year closed with a short awards ceremony for all the kids. The teacher acknowledges the areas in which the student has excelled and has a few other awards they give out. Tyler did an incredible year this year and we're so proud of her! Here's a short video of her and her teacher as well as a list of the awards and certificates she received.

Pictures from Tball game

2008-05-06T20:59:00.002-06:00

Red Hot!

2008-05-06T20:45:00.004-06:00

Here's a short video of Tyler's at-bat tonight and run to first base. Enjoy!

Creative Writing

2008-05-02T11:15:00.003-06:00

If you didn't already know, you can tell from this blog, I'm not into creative writing. However, our children have been blessed on both sides with literary genes. Scott is a wonderful writer and poet, his mother is a published author, his dad writes, my dad writes, my brother is a creative writing major - so it's all over. Fortunately, although I think Tyler mostly takes after me, it seems she has some interest in writing. Her teacher believes she'll grow up to be an artist or a writer. During this last part of first grade Tyler has had several writing assignments where she's given a subject and asked to write a few sentences on it. For having never done something like this before, I think her writing is really cute and creative! Here are some things she's written lately:

Kites
My kite has a long tail. I will let my string go out far and it will fly high. I will run with my kite. The wind blows it in the air. I can see it in the sky. The breeze might pull it in the trees. The End.
Rabbits
Rabbits are soft, cute and come in many different colors. They like to eat carrots, cabbages and flowers. They love to hop in the garden.
Breakfast
Breakfast is good with pancakes, egg, sausages and grapes. Mmmm good! I love a breakfast like that.
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln lived in Kentucky. He lived in a log cabin. He loved to read the Bible! Abe Lincoln liked school very much. He liked to read all kinds of books. Abe Lincoln was honest and brave! He was the 16th President of the United States! Most people called him honest Abe.
My First Fishing Day
One day me and my Dad went fishing. I caught a couple of the same fish. My Dad helped me. I did pretty good! The fish i caught were very pretty. I went to another part of the pond. Then I caught a large mouth bass! The End.
George Washington
George Washington lived on a farm. He loved God and prayed. He became a brave soldier. He was the first President of the United States. George Washington always said do your best your very best and do it every day. And he loved to read the Bible.

Tate has The Life You've Always Wanted

2008-05-02T10:59:00.003-06:00

I recently caught Tate taking a break and reading the book Scott and I have been going through in our book group. He was also taking some notes!

Blue Crabs

2008-05-02T10:53:00.004-06:00

Eben recently became fascinated with the idea of catching and eating crabs. So, he and Scott went fishing with a friend and caught two crabs at the same time. Eben also caught a croaker which, despite it's size, he was quite proud of! Then, they spent Monday in Back Bay with crab traps and managed to catch five small crabs.

Here's a set of pictures and a video of them enjoying the two crabs they'd caught during the first trip.

T-ball 2008

2008-05-01T13:41:00.003-06:00

T-ball season '08 is in full force! This year Scott is an assistant coach and Tyler is showing improvement in every game. She told me the other night that she doesn't like it when she doesn't "get much action" meaning she likes to play pitcher or one of the bases. Click here to see how much she's grown since last year's season.

This year we're the "Red Hots"! Hopefully I'll remember to bring my camera to a game sometime soon!

:(

2008-04-20T20:12:00.002-06:00

During our time here in Gulfport, I've been able to meet some great girls in the area - other moms with kids the same age as mine. I'm really sad this week because one of those girls (Arianna) left last weekend and I'm preparing to lose another (Sarah) in two weeks time. It's hard to feel constantly in a state of transition - moving or having the people around you move. Eben is sad to lose his friends Julian and Gabe too. As a big send-off we did have everyone over - we've really gotten to all be friends, our husbands, our kids, etc., and had some yummy burgers, some wine and, in the end, some tears! :(

Blog updated!

2008-04-19T14:40:00.002-06:00

Tyler's blog has recently been updated. You can view it here!

Tyler on horseback!

2008-04-18T12:38:00.001-06:00

Eben, a budding photographer

2008-04-18T11:43:00.004-06:00

Eben nabbed the camera today during lunch and took these quick shots, mostly of Tate. Not sure about his talent but he at least knows to get lots of shots!

In other news, Eben is not-so-patiently awaiting his birthday. Every day he asks, "How many more days?". His list of things he wants is ever-growing and ever-changing. His most wanted item is this bike that we look at on-line every day!

Fast asleep

2008-04-18T11:36:00.003-06:00

Tate is following in Eben's footsteps with his love of trains. Here he is sleeping with one!

Crawfish Festival '08

2008-04-18T11:17:00.001-06:00

Good Form!

2008-04-17T16:42:00.003-06:00

Scott's quite proud of Eben who, in this shot, displays great form! This was taken at the Easter FunFest at my parent's church, University Presbyterian Church, in Orlando, FL. Go to their site to see a pic of my whole family, celebrating the recent installation of my dad as their head pastor!

Scott in the news

2008-04-11T13:40:00.004-06:00

While at the dedication of the new St. Peter's by the Sea ceremony, Scott showed up on the evening news for a few seconds the other night ...

Tate's a-talkin' and Eben's still pickin'

2008-04-03T12:02:00.003-06:00

Here's a video showing of some of Tate's words - or sounds, really! He's daily adding more sounds/words - some of his latest are "bubba" (Eben/brother), "car", "juice" - of course, all said in his own language. In the video I try to get him to showoff some of his words but without much luck. As you can tell, he understands more than he actually says. The best parts come from Eben and whatever he was trying to get out of his nose!

I love Rock n' Roll!

2008-04-03T11:57:00.003-06:00

Lately Eben is really into rock n' roll. In the car he asks for rock songs (has to be a boy singer too) and then wants it turned up "all the way". So, often you'd find us rockin' out to some PearlJam or Nirvana on the way to and from Tyler's school.

Easter

2008-03-31T17:06:00.001-06:00

Tacky Day and Crazy Hair

2008-03-22T21:06:00.004-06:00

During Homecoming Week, Tyler's school had a theme each day. She was sick half the week so she only got to participate in two - Tacky Day and Crazy Hair Day. We were amazed that she didn't win a prize for Tacky Day!

A March day at the beach

2008-03-22T20:57:00.001-06:00

Sorry!

2008-03-13T12:28:00.008-06:00

It's been so long since I've last posted - I know!

In February we took a trip to Florida with the boys so I could meet up with some friends from Princeton.

While we we gone, Scott took Tyler on a date to a sushi place called Jiaat the Beau Rivage. He bought her flowers, did valet parking, ate dinner and had ice cream. It was quite a night for them!

Here are some shots of Tate's first haircuts in February:

Finally, in mid-February I took Eben to the Monster Truck Jam. It was amazing to see the big trucks. (Yes, that's me and him really tiny in front of the truck!) We also loved the dirt bikes.

Oh, and we can't let the season pass without mentioning Mardi Gras. With our trip to Florida we weren't actually here for Mardi Gras week but we made it out to one parade.

MLK Jr. Day Trip to the Zoo

2008-01-22T12:11:00.001-06:00

On MLK Jr. Day we journeyed north to Hattiesburg and checked out the Hattiesburg Zoo. It's really small but good for a young family. Plus, they have a train which is really all Eben really cared about! See pictures of our trip below ...

Zoo Trip

2008-01-22T12:09:00.001-06:00

My friend, "Caterpillar"

2008-01-22T11:49:00.000-06:00

This morning Eben found a caterpillar and named him, appropriately, "Caterpillar" (following his sister in the Castleman tradition of creative naming such as "Dog-Dog", "Giraffe" and "Lamby"). We made a little home for him in a jelly jar. Eben asked me if caterpillars had hearts and then said he was asking because he wondered if the caterpillar loved him. Awww!

Tyler's balancing act

2008-01-22T11:48:00.001-06:00

Tyler started training for her future as a cheerleader. Last night she and Scott performed a new trick ...

Two front teeth

2008-01-17T10:11:00.000-06:00

Yesterday Tyler had her two front bottom teeth pulled by the dentist! Her new permanent tooth had broken through behind her row of teeth without pushing out her baby tooth. To make room for the new tooth to move up, the dentist thought it would be best to pull both front teeth. So, Tyler visited the dentist and within thirty minutes she was leaving a little lighter than before! It was so easy and Tyler wasn't worried about it at all!

Sin Wagon

2008-01-04T15:55:00.000-06:00

Here's a video of Anna, Tyler, Eben and Tate dancing to the Dixie Chicks' "Sin Wagon" - I know, how appropriate that it ends in tears!

Eben had to have "fancy clothes" like the girls so you'll identify him by the pink shirt and tutu!

Christmas Past

2008-01-04T13:36:00.000-06:00

In leiu of a lengthy recitation of all our Christmas happenings, I'll just list some of our favorite moments (in no particular moment) and share a bunch of pictures. (a few from the week preceeding Christmas)

1. our "Advent Tree" that gave us the chance to journey towards Christmas, adding ornaments and part of the story each week.
2. using Tivo (a new gift, also a fave!) to record some fun holiday movies like "Home Alone" and "Frosty" and sharing those with the kids for the first time.
3. opening presents Christmas Eve and then getting some very excited kids to go to sleep!
4. getting Scott a GPS!
5. worshipping with Scott for part of the Christmas Eve service - especially singing beside him
6. being with grandparents and Dayton and Karen again
7. getting to know Cousin Anna (3 yrs old) and watching her and Eben become friends
8. traveling together to Arkansas - well, I enjoyed some of that!
9. making a gingerbread house with Tyler
10. watching Eben and Tyler handle their own candles at the New Year's Eve service

Tyler's Christmas Program

2008-01-04T13:33:00.000-06:00

Here's a short video of Tyler's class in their Christmas program. The kids had memorized Psalm 34:8-19 and so they recited that and sang "Away in the Manger". Unfortunately, Tyler was standing behind a pretty tall girl so you can just see her peeking around from time to time! She looked beautiful and I'm so impressed with the way she memorizes and recites Scripture!

We also tried to get some family pictures since she and the boys had dressed up, here are a couple good ones ....

Advent and our Christmas Tree

2007-12-10T11:52:00.001-06:00

This year we got a Christmas tree!!! It's been several years since we've done one since we are often traveling over Christmas. Plus, last year we were literally moving ON Christmas Day! Another complication has been the fact that we wanted to be sure our tree did have something to do with CHRISTMAS - that it wasn't just a holiday tree. So, what we've decided to do is to decorate our tree gradually through Advent - each week adding ornaments that correlate with that week's theme. The first week was Hope and the Angels, this week is Peace and Mary, then we'll have Joy and Joseph, then Love and Shepherds and then Christ. On some of the ornaments we have to get a little creative: for instance, we have several beaded ornaments that I made in Jr. High and Tyler decided the should go on for "Hope" because they "made her feel hopeful". We also did several globe-shaped ornaments for "Peace on Earth". So far I'm really happy with the way it's working - it's nice to hold on to a Christmas tradition I love - a fresh tree and the lights turned on at night-time but have it have some meaning as we anticipate the celebration of Christ's birth.

Scott in print!

2007-11-14T15:43:00.000-06:00

See this writeup in the McComb, MS newspaper on a sermon Scott preached there!

Kidney Stones!

2007-11-11T09:13:00.000-06:00

So, currently I'm home from church with kidney stones! I never expected this and didn't realize how painful such a thing was! I sucessfully dehydrated myself on Friday and late that night started vomiting and then having serious pain in my left side. That went on for a few hours before I decided to go to the ER and Scott loaded the kids in the car at 3:30am and we were off! I was given something right away that took away the pain and nausea and went home after just a few hours. But, I was surprised how much pain I was in all day yesterday and it's still moderate pain today. But, I think I'm on the mend and Scott has successfully balanced carting me to and from the hospital, taking care of three kids, preparing to preach three sermons today and watching FSU lose yesterday. He's quite a man!

Happy Halloween!

2007-11-01T08:56:00.000-06:00

While our Halloween festivities began a week ago, it was with great anticipation that the kids awaited Halloween night. We went trick-or-treating from 6-8 pm in a nearby neighborhood and Tate even got in on the action this year. (We were remembering that last year he was four weeks old and Scott and I traded off wearing him in the sling the whole night!)

The night was a success with lots of candy to prove it!

Here are a bunch of pictures from Halloween night and the week preceeding it ...

Implosion

2007-10-27T15:37:00.000-06:00

For a month or so Eben and I have been watching videos on YouTube of imploding buildings. So, it was a treat when we found out there would be an implosion just down the street from us. This was a Veterans retirement home that was right on the beach and uninhabitable since Katrina. They imploded it and will be rebuilding a new one. We barely made it in time and didn't get quite as close as we would have liked but we were only a block or so from the site.

Here's one someone recorded and put on YouTube:

Tyler: a star!

2007-10-27T15:22:00.001-06:00

Tyler's been on a roll lately. We went to the Bob the Builder show at Lynn Meadows Discovery Center and she was selected to come on stage:

Then, at a Halloween costume contest, Tyler won first place in her age group. She had some stiff competion, the other kids had little acts prepared and we hadn't come ready for that - but she looked so precious as Dorothy!

Mama takes a vacation!

2007-10-27T09:18:00.000-06:00

Last weekend I left all three kids with Scott for the first time and went on a 4-night cruise to Cozumel with my mom and sister. We went on a Carnival ship that ports in Mobile, AL. It was a fun cruise - the ship is Carnival's smallest and oldest ship and although you could definitely tell that was the case, we had great food and lots of relaxing time. We enjoyed a horseback riding excursion in Cozumel and had really yummy mexican food. My thanks goes out to my mom who took us on the cruise as our Christmas gift. It was so fun to spend good time with her and my sister - it was a first for us and something we'd decided we need to do often!

Also my thanks goes out to Nona for coming for a couple days while I was gone to help Scott out since he was balancing all his regular work and three kids! She did a great job of keeping the fed and entertained while also doing all sorts of housework and laundry! It was such a treat to come home to a really clean house!

Finally, Scott ... he singlehandedly broke Tate of his mommy-attachment issues! He did a great job with all the kids but most appreciated was the fact that when I came home Tate had learned how to entertain himself! Daily I've been reminded of what a great dad he is and the fact that having another person around with different ideas and perspectives is really valuable!

Here are some more pics from our cruise and after we got home ...

Cats!

2007-10-27T09:00:00.000-06:00

No, not the Broadway production you're thinking of. However, we've had enough cats around our house lately to put on our own production. Let me preface this by saying, Scott and I are not "cat people". But, in August we had a sweet cat show up who was so skinny we couldn't help but start feeding her. We named her Cleopatra and even though she stayed outdoors she quickly became a "pet" to our kids. She would let Tate carry her around upside down and tried to sneak into the house whenever possible. We ended up loving her so much, we found her a wonderful home ... with my parents in Orlando! She made the trip down with my dad and very quickly adjusted to being a domesticated cat.

Then, about two weeks after she'd left, an identical looking boy cat showed up. I'm convinced he's Cleo's brother. He now comes and goes as he pleases.

Then, the night before I left for my cruise, I found this precious kitten meowing by the fence in our front yard.

We took her to the Humane Society the next day but she was too little to be fixed so they couldn't adopt her out. We took her back and fortunately found a home for her with new long-term volunteers who live at the Village in Houma, LA.

So, for now, no more new cats - but, if you're interested in one, I should have some more before too long!

Good Moyning!

2007-10-13T06:18:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite things about Eben lately is the fact that he says the letter "r" like a "y". So, girls are goys, and my favorite is that when he wakes up and after his nap he says, "Good Moyning!"

Also, for the first time last week Eben started playing with his friends. This is so different from Tyler who just as she was turning two was asking for her friends when they were apart and playing great dramas out with them when they were together. For Eben, he's spent the last year with the same group of boys but never seemed to care if and when he saw them. But the last couple times we've been together, this same group of boys have been chasing and playing together all over the playground. It's so fun to see!

Fall?

2007-10-13T06:13:00.000-06:00

This week we've been tricked into believing it might be Fall. Today the high will be 82 degrees. The "Fall" part is that in the morning it dips below 60 degrees. Living somewhere like this, you forget that in parts of the country it's beginning to snow or at least get cold.

Really though, it's been so lovely this week. Finally we've been able to go outside without being miserable. The kids are playing outside again, we're visiting parks - I love it!

Cakes

2007-10-11T15:38:00.000-06:00

So apparently every fall I will be elbow deep in flour and sprinkles. With all these birthdays lumped together I've been so busy in the kitchen baking and, more time consuming, decorating.

For Scott and Tate's birthdays, Tyler and I picked a Golf cake. I think this was one of the best looking birthday cakes/cupcakes I've ever made but really it was pretty easy. We did it in an afternoon and managed to keep it a secret until Scott saw a picture of it online! Argh!

Then, Tyler asked to do a "girl cupcake" and a "boy cupcake" for her class party. So, we did butterflies for the girls and turtles for the boys. Both were fun but neither turned out exactly as I was picturing in my head. Regardless, the kids thought they were great and ate all the little decorations more than the actual cupcake.

Somehow I've gotten myself into making these elaborate (for me, anyway) cakes for everyone's birthdays. I really do enjoy doing it - it's a labor of love for me. Anyway, I don't think I ever put Eben's cake on here that we did for his party back in July. I thought this one was really cute.

Birthdays!

2007-10-11T14:55:00.000-06:00

Within five days of eachother, Scott turned 31, Tate turned 1 and Tyler turned 6. Scott and I celebrated his b-day with a date at Trapani's Eatery in Bay St. Louis where we had incredible steaks. Then, with my brother and sister-in-law visiting, we had cake in honor of Scott and Tate's birthdays. Tyler turned six a couple days later and we were happy to have my dad in town to help celebrate. We had gifts and dinner out but Tyler was sick so her school party had to wait until later in the week. Then, at school, we did cupcakes and favor bags for all her classmates. So, now we have about nine months until the next birthday. Whew!

Go Saints!

2007-09-25T20:20:00.001-06:00

So, Scott got tickets to go to Monday Night Football yesterday to see the Saints get killed by the Tennessee Titans. Although stuck at home, Tyler and Eben wanted to support the Saints too and did so by donning temporary tattoos.

Ready for the Races!

2007-09-25T13:23:00.000-06:00

Here's a quick video to show how fast Tate has gotten on his feet.

Oh, and check out his curls too!

What happened to September?

2007-09-22T20:06:00.001-06:00

So, I'm noticing my last post was on Sept 1st and here we are, heading into the last week of the month! I don't really know what's been happening to keep me so busy but apparently I have been. So, here's what up with us ...

I'm primarily keeping busy trying to keep up with Tate. This boy is all over the place! I'm really mourning the loss of my baby! He really thinks he's much older and should be able to do everything the big kids do. He's walking everywhere now, climbing on everything (up tree trunks, slides, couches, chairs), he stands up in the shopping cart even when I've buckled him in - he really is a crazy man. He's saying a couple words - dada, Tyler and banana. We're anticipating his first birthday next week!

Eben has still been riding his bike all the time. He stays busy with our moms and tots playgroup too. We recently took a trip to the fire station and weekly have playdates in homes, playground visits and attend Bear Cub Club every week. For the first time we're starting to see him look forward to seeing friends and play well with them.

Tyler is loving her teacher and loving first grade. She's doing girl scouts and this weekend we have our first day at camp to learn a lot of girl scout skills. She loves the Food Network and still likes to cook although she hasn't been as adventursome lately. She really shows what a beautiful person she is - she loves to take care of Tate, she picked out something for Eben from the prize box at school after a week of good behavior ... it's a real pleasure to watch her grow. She'll be six in a week and a half!

Scott has had meeting after meeting for the last month and has stayed so busy trying to manage all his usual duties and these extra things. He has been enjoying getting back into golf though and is looking forward to seats at an upcoming Saints game! I'm keeping busy running this house and am really enjoying friends here. I feel like it's taken a year to settle in but it's starting to feel more like home! I'm really looking forward to family and friends that will be visiting over the next couple weeks!

So, that's where we are! Hopefully soon I'll get some pictures and video on here. I need to show everyone our adopted/wild kitten and how much Tate's walking has progressed.

James Blunt on Sesame Street

2007-09-01T08:52:00.000-06:00

After our morning trip to the park, we've made a habit of coming home and watching Sesame Street.

For a long time I've always stopped whatever I was doing to watch REM's performance on Sesame Street - "Shiny, Happy Monsters Laughing". They aired it a couple days ago and I liked seeing it again. But yesterday I came into the living room hearing one of my favorite singers of the day, James Blunt on Sesame Street. You'll only think this is funny if you know his song, "Beautiful". I think it's hilarious but that's me!

Tate's amazing feats!

2007-09-01T08:49:00.000-06:00

Tate has begun walking! Here's a clip of some of his first steps and other amazing acts. Last night he traveled across two or three feet on a couple of occasions. By next week, he'll be running! Oh my!

Katrina + 2

2007-08-29T20:42:00.000-06:00

Although we weren't here for Katrina, it has greatly affected our lives - in a way she brought us here. Our lives and ministry often revolve around the post-Katrina Gulf Coast either in disaster assistance or just hearing the stories of our friends who were here two years ago.

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has put together great video highlighting the work they are doing on the Gulf Coast. It's nice to be reminded of all that IS being done and who is getting it done (church volunteer groups) when you hear so much in the media of what hasn't been done.

Oh yeah, and my handsome and brilliant husband is featured in it! Go Scott!

Tyler is a Brownie!

2007-08-27T11:12:00.001-06:00

Tyler just signed up to be a Brownie (Girl Scout) and we had our first activity at Lowe's to build an herb planter. Here she is with her friend Grace.

I'm pretty excited to have something going on for the two of us to do. With her in school now I'm getting a lot of boy time but not nearly as much time with her. We have a camp day, a day at Stennis Space Center, a tour of the fire station, and lots more to look forward to this year! Oh, yeah, and cookies!!

Tate getting around

2007-08-27T11:08:00.000-06:00

Still not walking but Tate is awfully fast at getting around. We recently watched him climb up the ladder to the top level of our playground - exciting but not all at once! Here's a clip of him getting around on the cement - when the ground is rough on his knees he resorts to hands and feet. Soon we should be showing some clips of a walking Tate - he's starting to take some experimental steps.

Eben on his bike

2007-08-27T11:03:00.000-06:00

Not a lot of time to post but I at least wanted to put out this video of Eben on his bike. He's had it for one month now and is so confident on it (as you can tell). We've started going out in the mornings to a park and he makes four laps on the track with me.

Eben's bike is called a foot, run or balance bike. His is from Kinderbike. It is a regular kid's bike without the pedals. So they use their feet to move and to balance. It makes for an easy transition to a big bike without the training wheels. The idea is pretty popular in Europe and we were turned on to it by some of our European friends in Princeton.

First Grade!

2007-08-22T13:42:00.001-06:00

Tyler is in the middle of her first week of first grade. She's loving her teacher and some of the new freedoms she's allowed as a first grader - choosing her own seat, trading food at lunch, microwaving her own food, etc. We're pretty excited about her teacher who is very friendly. So, here's the bigggest difference: last year at this time, we were having tearful goodbyes where I would hug and kiss Tyler five times as I dropped her off and she would look at me with eyes full of tears as I drove away doubting our decision to start kindergarten early. Now, even from the first day, she hops out, often without a hug and kiss and is off. We really miss her at home (especially Eben) but it's also been nice to have some time alone with Eben while Tate naps and more moments of quiet in the house. My favorite part is how excited Eben and Tyler are to see eachother after a day apart. The give big hugs and play so much better together now that they aren't with eachother all day. And so, another year begins!

Lightning Strikes

2007-08-07T20:11:00.001-06:00

This afternoon we had a major storm and apparently lightning struck our house or, at least, near it. Our AC (my favorite of all utilities) shorted out, our computer's ethernet fried, our TV is done for and our new washing machine is at least partially fried.

I always figured the idea that lightning could fry your TV was part myth - it's not!

What would you do?

2007-08-07T20:08:00.001-06:00

My wonderful daughter very lovingly made lunch for me today! She's really into cooking right now - she loves Food Network and likes to experiment with ingredients, etc. Sounds great but today it didn't go so well! She spent about 10 minutes making a sandwich for me and before taking a bite I asked her what she'd put in it. Her ingredients included: ham, bbq sauce, honey and gorgonzola cheese. Because she'd worked so hard to surprise me I was determined at least to try it. I took a bite and COULD NOT swallow it. It was just too much. So I chickened out and spit it out and tried to praise her for a good try!

White Tiger

2007-08-04T19:43:00.000-06:00

Wanted to share this fun video of the white tiger at the Dallas Zoo. It was a really fun zoo with lots of neat "windows" into the animals' areas. We got really close to a family of chimps and this white tiger.

Everything's big in Texas!

2007-08-04T19:37:00.000-06:00

We just got back from a great trip to Dallas, TX to meet up with our seminary friends. We had 18 people in the Walkers' 3-bedroom house - people sleeping everywhere, tons of food consumed, assembly line-type baths for the kids, late nights of Cranium and so many laughs! It was so great to see the big kids pick up right where they left off - Tyler, Michaela and Lorelei playing "beauty parlor" together, staying up late at night, wearing matching outfits - and the younger ones starting new memories and making new friends - Eben delighted in Arden!

Christina is four weeks away from her due date but opened her house to all of us. We had meals together again and when all of us adults sat down at the table together I started to cry (Literally! Yes, me!) It was just surreal that it had actually happened - we'd all ended up in the same place, sitting down together again! We celebrated Brandy's birthday, went swimming, the guys played golf (Scott retaining the "green jacket"), the girls went to dinner and out shopping, we made a big family trip to the zoo and a couple trips to the park. All said and done, it hurt to say goodbye again but I was so glad we were already talking about what to do next year!

Mmm Mmmm!

2007-07-19T07:05:00.000-06:00

Just have to post this picture - I can't resist!

Eben turns three!

2007-07-16T09:01:00.001-06:00

Today is Eben's birthday. He's three years old. When he came in bed with Scott and I this morning we told him about the day (night, really) that he was born and tried in 3-year-old terms to explain a little of what was so special about his birth. So often I think of him as still very baby-like (so different from Tyler who I considered to be so mature at 3 years old!). This morning I was looking at him and realizing how big he's getting. Physically he's growing (2 1/2 inches in the last six months!) but he's also matured so much this year. He's recently moved back into his toddler bed and manages to stay there all night. He's learning to express himself rather than fall to pieces at every bump in the road. Yesterday he even took his juice in a cup other than the one he'd requested (quite a feat!). Life continues to be an up-and-down, emotion-filled experience with him but the passion, persistence and joy I see in him are traits he shares with his daddy and will make him into a wonderful man.

Fast Asleep

2007-07-06T19:30:00.000-06:00

After a long hard day at the beach Eben had a hard time staying awake at dinner. Originally this video lasted 16 minutes and I was able to cut it down to three just to give you an idea of what we watched that night. It was great entertainment!

June

2007-07-05T20:31:00.000-06:00

Cool Slideshows!

Our summer has been going by so quickly! With having three kids around the house and lots of outdoor activities, I'm finding it hard to post as often. Here's what we've been up to:

>Tyler and Eben spent a week with Scott's parents in NW Arkansas. They went to a state park in Missouri to fish and swim. They traveled on an old train (Eben's big day!) and spent time at the local aquatic center. The kids had a great week and it was really nice for Scott and I to spend some good time together and with Tate. We played with him in the bed in the mornings, took him out to eat and I did a lot of house cleaning and organizing.

>A friend from Minnesota, Sheryl, came and worked with Scott to get some big projects done for both churches. She also spent time with our family, having dinner with us and babysitting the kids a couple times so Scott and I could go out. She also did an awesome thing for me: my freezer was stocked full of homemade meatballs, spaghetti sauce, cookie dough and more. We're still enjoying all the treats she left behind for us!

>Tate has really been moving. In fact, I'm beginning to think he may the most curious and adventursome of all three. He's a really fast crawler, pulls up to standing easily and just started cruising around the coffee table. He loves to "dance" (bouncing up and down on his bottom) and eats a ton!

>I've been hosting a lot of activities with my mom's group lately. I had a book-themed Mom's Night Out, a playdate and a Fourth of July BBQ. This group has been such a blessing for me as a stay-at-home mom!

We're looking forward to a calmer July. However, between Eben's 3rd bday party and VBS later in the month, I have a feeling we'll stay quite busy!

A Whole Lot of Green!

2007-07-05T20:24:00.000-06:00

All spring and summer we've been working on our backyard. We went from crazy overgrowth to a cleared yard with new topsoil. We started with little seedlings which have grown into some beautiful plants. This has been the first experiment with any landscaping and we've been really proud of how things are turning out. We're also learning this is a never ending process! We have our great playground with think mulch, an as yet unused plot full of weeds, tree stumps and roots (we're tackling that plot next year!) and a beautiful strip with palm trees, hibiscus, tropicannas more. Here's a look at our backyard from the start until now.

Cool Slideshows!

Too much beach to be writing ....

2007-06-15T05:41:00.000-06:00

We're settling back in at home after being in FL for two weeks. We had a great time at Amelia Island (north Florida, Atlantic side) with my entire family and then the kids and I spent a week in Orlando. While there we also got a chance to see Princeton friends which was great. I'm stilling playing catchup on everything since being away but wanted to at least post some family pics. We managed to get a few pictures in right before a rainstorm on our last day. So, here are the pictures - more details later.