A City Life For Me

Yesterday as we were preparing for lunch, Ben looked out the third story window of our temporary housing and shouted, “Oh look!  A bear!”  Nobody immediately paid any attention to him.  We have seen all kinds of wildlife out these windows – deer, turkey, cardinals, blue jays, our resident groundhogs “Dandelion” and “Clover”, squirrels, vultures, and woodpeckers.  Ben has even shouted “Look a bear!” before, just to tease the kids.  So this time, everyone just assumed Daddy was teasing again. But his shouts did not give way to a “just teasing”, instead he insisted, “No – seriously.  There is a bear!  I’m not joking!”  This brought the rest of us rushing to the windows to see a black bear – a real, live bear – lumbering across the field below our house, checking the trash can for food, and disappearing into the woods.  We even hollered at him to get his attention and try to slow him down.  He did turn to look at us.  I took these pi...

Henry in the bath Deer outside our window Twins in a box…I think  I would prefer Liberty’s spot!

    Henry…we were just driving along and he popped up!  I had forgotten to buckle him in! THere’s a lilac bush on the property where we are living.  I love lilacs. Baby shower for my friend Maggy.  These three have been friends since infancy!  Elaine, Adelei, Selah Mother’s Day planter for Ben’s mom. Story time with Grandma & Grampa Fezzie.  Ben talks often of his dad reading aloud to the kids.  This is the first I heard him…and he is an excellent reader! I struggle to keep up with this one these days! Ben & I ate at Grimaldi’s last weekend.  Henry loved the pizza crust!  We are finally getting him to ingest some solid foods!   

A couple of weeks ago, after a meeting in Queens, we stopped in Staten Island and rode the ferry to Manhattan.  It’s good, free, clean entertainment!  The kids loved the boat, and we sailed past the Statue of Liberty at sunset! The first ferry we rode didn’t have the upper deck outside.  That didn’t stop my kiddos from pressing their noses to the glass and staring at Lady Liberty until she was no longer visible! Tulips in the park near Wall Street Kiddos on the ferry.   “Look mom!  The Statue of ME!” Love Elaine’s smile! The view was amazing! Lower Manhattan

The twins turned three at the end of April.  Today I took them outside to snap a few pictures of them.  They had me smiling and cracking up the whole time!  This really is a fun stage {minus the potty training}, but having the twin dynamic inserted into the picture makes it all that much better! Liberty is a master of expression.  I am constantly laughing at her.  She has this curly, reddish hair that bounces a lot the morning after a bath.  She knows how to use it to her advantage, or to add spice to her attitude!  She “wuvs” everything, constrantly exclaiming in a very excited manner, “Oh, yes!  I wuv this one!”  She espcially loves to twirl in her church dress, but she also has a good dose of her mom’s klutziness (you can laugh at the mental picture!).  She is my veggie eater, and loves avocados in particular.  While usually the last one finished with a meal, she eats the best and the biggest variety.  The opposite of Nehem...

I’ve noticed a trend around the blogosphere the last few years on Mother’s Day. Everyone starts posting about why we should “tone down” our Mother’s Day celebration and be uber sensitive to those for whom Mother’s Day is a painful reminder instead of a joyful day. It includes those who may struggle with infertility, who have had a miscarriage, whose own mother has passed away, or those who are still waiting for Mr. Right to come along so they can begin a family. I certainly understand that we should be sensitive of the pain experienced by the ladies in these situations. We are supposed to bear the burdens of others (Gal. 6:2), to comfort the feebleminded (fainting), and to support the weak (1 Thess. 5:14). Ecclesiastes 3:4 reminds us that there is a time to weep, and a time to mourn. Romans 12:15 teaches us to weep with those who weep. However, the pain of some does not negate the rejoicing of others. Both Ecclesiastes and Romans tell us this – continuing the verses mentioned above wit...

After the birthday celebration, Ben’s parents took the big kids home for the weekend and Ben and I had an “alone” weekend with Henry.  It’s been…too long.  We went away for our five year anniversary (3.5 years ago), and we had a week of orientation for the mission board.  We took the opportunity to visit the 9/11 Museum.  I have been wanting to go for a while, and this was our opportunity to go on the cheap!  We arrived at 6 p.m., and the average visit takes two hours.  I could have spent an extra two hours, but the museum needed to close.  I was very impressed with the Museum.  It is VERY well done.  Though I was not personally affected by the tragedy in 2001 as so many of my NYC friends were, I was still touched and affected as an American.  The museum not only had many artifacts and treasures to remember the Twin Towers and the people who were there that day in the tragedy of 9/11, but it did an excellent job remembering the lost li...