New Camera and Watson Pics and a Video

Prolegomena (it means 'first words'):

We finally have a new camera (finally is too strong. Our other one broke less than 2 weeks ago).

It is an amazing story really. We were blessed with a good price from God's gracious hand. The short story is that the one I wanted was at Costco. I looked on-line and could not find an uber-bargain. Walmart had the same one for $100 MORE!

I got it at Costco and they only had the display model. So... we played bargain boy. I won. They gave me 20% off and extended the warranty for another year. Blogging shall continue.

For those in Corry: Please tell others who want to view LOUA (like Stephanie and Josh, etc) that they should send me an email and I will add them: nleshelman@gmail.com

Today's blog:

Here is a short video of Watson crawling. He is getting super cute and now has 4 teeth. There is no talking yet, but he is beginning to pull himself up onto things. That is fun to watch. Pull up... tumble.

Red eye reduction off. Oops.
The hat is from Scarlet Stitch. It is actually one that was made for Paige's baby, but he is not here yet, so Watty can wear it.
Mama and Watson downtown. We went to walk downtown, but the wind was so rough that we left after 5 minutes. We did get a good cup of coffee from Beaners though. I had a cappuccino and Lydia had a mocha latte.
This hat is Owen's. It is also from Scarlet Stitch. You really need to buy something from them, they are great!

I think that he looks a lot like Anna. Anyone else?

What Thirty is Like

Well, I am now 30 years old. What is different? Well, not much.

I had a nice birthday. I got some cards in the mail and a Lowes gift card from my parents... I am sure that Lydia suggested it. She has been asking for me to repaint the bedroom for a number of months. Now it will get done. Heidi got me some coffee and a new Starbucks cup. I love it. Irma and Lawrence sent some cash. That is always appreciated.

Bill and Paige Kamp (who are expecting in May) volunteered to watch our 3 little ones on Tuesday so that we could go out for a birthday dinner. We took them up on the offer and went out to Olives in East's Gas Light Village. It was a great time. We had Martinis and Mushroom Crostini as an appetizer. For dinner I had Tenderloin Napoleon and Lydia had Garlic-herb marinated steak. It was wonderful! The conversation was adult and the company was splendid! It was a good way to bring in my third decade.

From there we walked to Starbucks for some hot chocolate. We talked some more and really did not want the evening to end. Of course, with small children you cannot be away for long! We picked up the kids and headed home.

On my proper birthday (Wednesday) we did not really do anything. I had class in the AM and prepared for Bible study that I was teaching in the evening. We took a short break for a Mangiamo pizza for dinner, and then it was time for me to go to Bible study. Lydia made a delicious blueberry cake and a chocolate cake to send with me.

At Bible study Ray and Linda sang happy birthday in Dutch and Ray and James sang it in German. We also sang the 30th Psalm in commemoration of my birthday. It was a good night there.

Today (Thursday) was class and writing as usual. I got the mail at 5:20 and to my surprise there was a package addressed to Lydia. I opened it and found a splendid birthday gift! She got me a book that I have been looking for for about a year. I have NOT been able to locate a copy and was hoping to not have to pay $100 for it! She got it for me! The book is Sketches of the Covenanter Ministers, 1888-1930 by Owen F. Thompson. She found a minister in Kansas (Rev. Ken McFarland) that had two copies and was willing to sell one to her.

This is the follow up book to Glasgow's History of the Reformed Presbyterian Church that Ray and I wrote the introduction for upon its reprinting. What a great gift! It takes a very special wife to search long and hard for a bibliophile's gift. What I could not do in one year, she did in one quiet month of searching and emailing. It is good to start my 30th year of life with a woman who knows and loves me so much. She loves books and fine food too, of course.

The Chapbook Cafe Beginning the Chilly Months

Winter is coming and that means hours of lounging in book stores sipping lattes. It also means reading magazines for free and parousing children's books that we will not purchase at the bookstore, but order off of ebay. So is the ways of a free economy. Owen enjoyed a mocha-steamer, also known as hot chocolate.
Anna also enjoyed some hot chocolate, she only drank about half of hers though. She is a tiny thing and is not able to drink 12 ounces of yummy delicious hot chocolate. (Owen, of course, was able to drink all of his!)
Here Owen is reading Parson Avery's tales of Thomas on the Island of Sodor. At one time, Rev. Avery wrote the Thomas stories as a way to promote Christian virtues.
Anna and Owen also played at the Thomas Table. It is the first time that we have been to Schuler in a couple of months. The Thomas display had 3 8x11 signs warning of all the recalls because of lead based paint. I thought that they should stop doing recalls and just set up the Thomas section under the headings of 'regular' and 'leaded'.
We enjoyed a good cookie with our drinks as well. Chapbook has GREAT chocolate chip cookies, but the cakes are never too great. The atmosphere is very nice there though- big pained windows, stone fireplace, chess players, good art on the walls. It is one of our favorite hybrid bookstores/cafe's in town (not that there are too many to choose from!)
Lydia always looks through a pile of books. She usually leaves with a list of ISBNs that she will look on Amazon and Ebay for over the next couple of days. A week from now we will begin receiving packages from the letter carrier. The residual effects of a nice mocha have lasting implications!
In the winter I get a double mocha. In the summer I usually get a mocha smoothie. Today was the usual. It was quite tasty and gives enough energy to write into the night!
Watson was quite the darling. He slept the whole time. I am sure that if he was awake, he would have been offered a mocha too!
In time son, in time.

These Are the Moments

Nathan: Venti mocha with peppermint (a winter treat).
Lydia: Grande white chocolate mocha half-caff with reduced fat milk.
Anna: New Horizons' organic chocolate milk
Owen: Sips from each.

We enjoy coffee time as a family. Going out for a cup is at least a bi-weekly event. Many great thoughts have been probed over a fresh cup of coffee.

Would you like another cup of gut-rot?

While in Corry we were accused (not always verbally, but ya' know I'm right) of being coffee snobs. I choose to neither deny nor affirm this charge, although we do enjoy a good cup of Starbucks Sienna Organic whole-bean roast.

It seems that the good people at Folgers are also coffee snobs. They too now realize that their product is less than satisfying to the palate and/or stomach. They have just released Simply Smooth which is designed to not leave that upset stomach feeling that their coffee leaves. In layman's terms- this coffee does not give gut-rot.

I may just try it- or I may stick to the Starbucks beans that are hand picked from the Pacific Isle of Sumatra.

Cafe Verona

Our favorite decaffeinated coffee is Starbucks Verona decaf. It is bold and does not have an odd "I am decaf" taste.

Yesterday we had our new friend James over for Sunday dinner. He kindly brought along a pound of Verona and placed it on the dining room table. We had a nice conversation about theology and the Church.

Around 9pm Lydia decided to brew some coffee and consumed about 3 cups. Always a great way to close the day- cafe Verona.
About 1:30 am Lydia is tossing to and fro and comments that she feels like she was over-caffeinated. I asked her what she brewed and she told me that she had made the Verona that James brought.

I preceded to tell her that James brought regular Cafe Verona and not decaf. She did not believe me (even though I was correct). I rolled over and fell right to sleep...I am sure that she took awhile.

A coffee invitation

Lydia would like to have a farm so that we can have bronze pigs and cows like Fred Meijer has. The Michigan Farmhouse is a very nice Victorian house and barn. If you have not seen it yet, (it has only been there for a bit over a year) it is well worth the visit to the Gardens. It was very muddy there because they are putting in some new animal sculptures and the grounds were torn up some. It was nice though.

Here is Anna and my mother walking the paths at the Gardens. One nice thing about the winter is that you can see the nice homes that sit on the marsh at the Garden's edge.
When Lydia was little she had a perfectly groomed Magnolia on her lawn. Her father was known for being the best trimmer of Magnolias in the area! As a result of this tree, there are many pictures of Lydia as a little girl sniffing that tree. We thought that we would continue a nice tradition.
As well as pass it on to another generation of Malysa girls.
Here are the weekend drink orders if anyone is interested:

They are all worth trying and very delicious.

My dad: Tall Caramel macchiato.

Anna: New Horizon Organic chocolate milk.

Me: short cappuccino

My mother: house blend, black.
Owen: you know.

Lydia: Grande white chocolate mocha, half-caffe, 2% milk.

Anyone up for some Starbucks? Bring it over and we can chat.

Cafenomics 101

Coffee is meant to be served in small amounts. Example: 6 ounces for Coffee and 4 ounces for Espresso.
To serve 20 ounce Cappuccino is something that the Italians would show to be another American supersized adventure!

Starbucks will serve you the short Cappuccino...but they do not tell you that they do. Although, officially, I drink Latte which is a completely different story, this is worth reading for an Economics 101 lesson:
Coffee Economics

Coffee Snobs?

Lydia and I are known to be coffee snobs. We love to buy fine beans which are roasted under specific instruction. We then grind the coffee ourselves and we percolate the beans as the preferred method of brewing. This is not to be pretentious mind you, but because we enjoy a fine cup of this ancient treat.

We have also been known to pay a bit more than others will for the beans that we use. We use Starbucks a lot of the times but are willing to try other things as well. Often I will attempt to find a new bean variety that would be for special occasions.

Despite the price of tag of $175 per pound, we would not buy this coffee.

Coffee, Coffee, Coffee *said in fat-crazy-lady voice

Anna is like her father in many ways. She enjoys freshly ground Starbucks coffee that is percolated at a high temperature to assure the best use of the bean.

She enjoys helping to grind the coffee as well as watching the water tap the glass top of the percolator. (I loved that at my grandma's when I was little.)

She also enjoys drinking her coffee out of Fiestaware. (For those of you who do not know, Fiestaware is the classic vintage American choice of dinnerware.) Her grandparents got her the "My First Fiesta" tea set for her first birthday, and she is now beginning to use it.

Tea parties are fun...Coffee parties are better!

Works of necessity and works of mercy

It has been noted on this blog, as well as on my Theological blog, PRESBYTERIAN THOUGHTS, that Lydia is a hard-working woman. Lydia works from home part-time, she maintains a clean environment, she washes cloth diapers numerous times a week, and she cares for (and nurses) two lovely children, as well as feeds and loves a chubby perfectionistic, idealistic, and sometimes egotistic husband.

What do I do, the raging feminist will ask? What is my contribution to Life on Union Avenue?

Truthfully, not much around the house.
I work forty hours a week, I go to school full-time, I take care of the "man" chores around the house.
Not much.
Lydia is definitely the Queen of Union Avenue...and her subjects are too small to aid in its dominion.

Besides, grinding beans and percolating coffee daily, there is one thing that I like to do that could be deemed helpful to my loving wife. I get the kids ready for church on Sunday morning.
This gives Lydia some extra minutes of sleep as well as the opportunity to do her hair and other fru-fru things that ladies do in powder rooms.

I love to dress the children, and when the mini Presbyterians do not have the morning grumpies, I take pictures of them.....not one picture.....dozens of pictures. (This morning over fifty!) Previously they have been posted as "Sunday morning fun." Here are some from this morning that I found to be interesting, entertaining, and maybe even cute.

Anna always kisses Owen. I have posted numerous pics of this. This is not a rare scene. The norm here is hugs and kisses.
Here Anna is giving a sisterly grin to Owen while he is looking at me with wonderment.
Here Owen maintains the same face while Anna looks with a funny smirk.
Big smile on Anna...tiredness remains on Owen's face.
Here they were both laughing. Well, Owen was cooing and Anna was laughing.
Kiss.
Pose.
Grin.
And a kiss. There sure is a lot of love to give out. Notice that Anna has her arm around him. After about five minutes she said, "O O ouch" (in reference to him being on her arm).

What a great life. I love my family.