Sticker Mania!

It is always great to walk in on Anna and Owen when they are quiet and find them being the best of friends. This does not always happen, of course. Often when you walk in on quiet children it is because they are being naughty; but sometimes cuteness prevails.

Today they were putting stickers on each others faces and it was worth capturing. Owen of course was passive in all of this but Anna was the sticker queen placing them on everything. By the end my face was covered as well!

Parkin' It

Today we went to Jaycee Park for lunch after we did about an hour of yard work (we are up to fifteen yard-waste bags and one yard-cart) and cleaned out the cars. It was really a nice park. It is right off of 28th street but it is quite quiet and pleasant.

After lunch, which was very windy, we played on the playgrounds. There is the basic stuff that you see everywhere except there is also this giant sand thing that HAS TO BE a cat litter box for all of Alger Heights. The slides are the basics as well: kiddy slide that is uber-slow, the big twisty one that is super staticky, and the one that is a giant tube.

Anna loved all three of them and wanted to do them a million times. Owen was tossed down the tube one three or four times, which he found to be hilarious, and Lydia went down twice. It was great to watch Lydia go down and the expression on her face was priceless. It was that I hope noone is watching and please do not blog about this look. Fun. I love Spring time, it brings out some great things: yard work, fresh air, Lydia flying down a giant tube. Priceless.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HEIDI!

We love you Aunt Heidi! Have a great birthday! Hopefully soon we will see you. Today Anna said "Happy birthday Heidi, Anna open presents?" Is that not super cute?

Spring Time Walks

A Vacation Would be Nice.

We could use a holiday. Some do not seem to be worth the price despite being fans of the Impressionists.

Now accepting donations for a dream home.

Our dream has been to have a house large enough to have many children, practice hospitality, as well as have a library. We also would like to have what is called an "in-law apartment" which is a one bedroom apartment that is in the home, but separate. This would make it easy for family and friends to stay in our house, as well as ministers, missionaries, students, lecturers, and other "aliens within our gates" to stay with us and have some privacy of their own.

This house is on Union Avenue in Heritage Hill. It was built in 1890 and would be a dream come true to Lydia and me. Check out the donation link for full details concerning the sale of the house. This home is built for Christian hospitality!

More Spring Things

For the record, Mr. P, Anna is also looking forward to Spring Training. She is looking forward to watching her Opa's team, The Cubs this year.

Maybe we should all plan a Chicago day trip to watch the Cubbies? I know Not Liberal will be in, he is as Sport-o as they come. (As opposed to Nerd-o...which is my forte.) Planning committee: get to work!

Spring Fling

Our first act of spring was to trim our front tree. The tree is one of those Japanese Maples that are supposed to be about 5-10 feet tall and nicely shaped like a little umbrella. Ours was taller than the house and was not trimmed by the previous owners. We have trimmed the lower branches but the taller ones were unreachable with my pruning equipment.

I went to Alger Hardware and rented a super-long chainsaw-on-a-stick. It reached the top branches nicely and I am quite sore. I now need someone to remove these huge branches.

Thanks For Coming!

Welcome Back Spring! Oh how we have missed you on Union Avenue!

Read For Life

I would much rather have book-nerd kids than "cool kids". Anna says, "Papa, read Anna and Owen book?"
(The book is The Little Puppy by Judy Dunn. There is also The Little Kitten, The Little Duck and some others. These are really great first books.)

The Stair Master

Owen does not walk yet. He has been pulling himself up and walking with aid for some time, but does not walk on his own. This does not stop him from thinking that he can tackle the stairs with no problem.
Here is Owen as he attempts to make it to the top! We would not have too much of a problem with this other than the fact that he cannot get back down and half-way up he gets so excited that he starts throwing himself around ecstatically.

Life On Union Avenue Pod~Cast?

So we have been thinking that Anna should do a pod~cast for her grandparents. She could talk about all of the really great things that she knows such as her colors and the catechism. Maybe e~Chuckler will fill us in on how these things work.

Last night I recorded a sermon in mp3 that I have to preach next week. Anna is talking to me in it about how she wants the mic. Owen is crying in the background while Lydia attempts to restore order to the home. I do not think that one will go on Sermon Audio!

As for the pod~cast, can you help us out e~Chuckler?

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.

Butter Bye

The Butterflies are in bloom at Frederik Meijer Gardens. A great deal of them have hatched and are there for the viewing.
We went with Brian, Mr.&Mrs.P, and the children (George came along for the ride as well).

Brian stood in amazement of the number of other things that he could be doing, Owen just hung out.
Owen did think that the butterflies were quite amazing.
Anna watched from a distance, not too sure why people pay money to watch these bugs, yet others are smashed and flushed. She did say "pretty" a few times.

Mr. P was able to see all the ones that we could not see. I guess that being 78 inches tall comes in handy sometimes.

Mrs. P, or "Ms. Moes" as Anna calls her, got to tell Anna some of the great and less know butterfly facts.

This giant creature followed us and Anna was quite scared. Brian sprayed it with Deet.

Now this was fun!

They have a huge Arch that you can build. Some guy was telling me that I was doing it wrong. Nope. In all due respect sir, you do not know what you are talking about. I can arch-build with the best of Scotland!

Brian and Mr. P can destroy them quite well. Justin escaped before the camera got the shot. He kindly said, "you have a blog and you know how to use it!"

Anna's Blog II

For those photographers that frequent Union Avenue you can learn about angles from my little Anna. (Maggie, eChuckler, and Manda listen up!) Anna has decided to show us some of her work as well as the commentary which she dictated to me as I transcribed the material: Enjoy! Notice how in image 1 the artist is just below the subjects. This adds an effect of elevation on the part of the subjects. This can be used to show height, either physical or emotional.
This close shot into the subjects hand and chest give a sense of centrality and balance. Notice the use of light in balancing out the piece. Even though the subject is placed right-center, the use of darkness on the left and the lower-right aide in the balance.
This is a candid shot, but taken from a distance looking up. This can give the feeling of the subjects being out of reach and takes the equilibrium out of the piece. These are fun as well as perplexing for the viewers.
This still-life gives the effect of being grounded. There is a real sense of safety in this image due to the amount of floor space that is present. Notice the secondary-subject to the right. The use of the linear repeated in the ground cover as well as the secondary-subject draws your attention to the primary-subject which is the chair in the upper-center. But with careful consideration it is brought to the trained eyes attention that the subject matter is not really the chair-primary, nor the table-secondary, but the comfort of simplicity that is central.

Thank you for allowing me the space on the blog Papa. I hope your friends have learned something.

~Anna Grace

An Accidental Hair Cut For Anna

Q: Why is Anna hiding her face?
A: If you have nothing nice to say then say nothing at all.

Who doesn't love auntie Paige

What little girl wouldn't love an auntie Paige? Paige plays with her, snuggles with her, watches movies with her, goes on walks with her, takes her to the mall, buys her clothes and books, and gives her lots of kisses and love. To a little girl, it is great to have an older girl-friend to share all of your 2-and-a-half-year-old secrets. Anna loves Paige.

Maggie's Cool New Video Game

Here is a game by our own Maggie Porter. Tell her what you think in the comments section:
Maggie's Game

Nomi

We have a new member to the family. We have decided that it is time for Anna to learn to care for a pet. Meet Nomi. The name is taken from the film Finding Nomi. (I am sure that none of you have seen it). Nomi is Japanese Koi. What does that mean? Basically a koi is a goldfish that cost $6.00 instead of $0.14. Koi are those giant goldfish that you see in ponds and they come to the top and gulp down bits of bread and cheeseburgers.

Nomi is loved by Anna very much already. She walks into the kitchen and yells, "Hi Nomi!" She also has to make sure that we know that he is swimming and that he is orange. Today she asked Lydia where Nomi was and Lyd told her that he was gone. Anna proceeded to cry about the loss and Lydia quickly turned it into a game of peek-a-boo, fish style.

An interesting thing about Nomi is that on his food container it says that if it under 39 degrees we should not feed him. Hmm. Guess Nomi does not have to eat while he lives in our home.

Little Boy Blue

Little Boy Blue in his little knit sweater from his "Tante" Gisela in Augsburg, Germany.