Oh the places we'll go: January 2013

Saturday, January 26, 2013

One more thing...

After I read my big January post to Rowan and Katie (my unofficial blog critics) Rowan insisted that I take a special picture for him so we could add this little bit to our "January Happenings".

Without further ado, here's Rowan's addition.

Rowan is really into the Bakugan's secret things! :)

We weren't much for revelry this December 31st. Most of the day consisted of flying back east so the evening, though late by east coast clocks, was an early one for us and we were abed by 9pm west coast time. We did hear fireworks but by that time the kids were asleep and we were headed that way as well. I'm not too sad but next year I'd like to get the kids some horns and confetti (I'm "stealing" your awesome idea Cherise!)

No resolutions here either (I know, we're boring). We have however been able to get out and about a few times this month which wasn't specifically intentional but I do feel good about!

Cool kids

Our first outing of the year was to the school playground down the road.

Rowan can't ride or push his bike well enough yet so he got "sister duty"

I love playing at school playgrounds, they have fun playthings and space to run and ride!

Of course, there's the barkdust... a favorite of Evie's.

One of the more exciting things underway this month is the purchase of a house. We are still in the process of sorting out finances so nothing is set in stone yet. Hence the small "preview" shot of the house. We're quite excited as things look to be going well. More to come on
this one next month!

Outgrowing and hand-me-downs...

After our first outing of the year we decided Rowan's trouble on his bike was due to it being much too small for him. We remedied this with the purchase of a sweet new red bike!

Katie was quite pleased with the new purchase as she got Rowan's old bike! It's a bit smaller than her current bike and a better fit for her little legs and with a few special additions it is a perfect fit for her girlish sensibilities as well!

A perfect "little sister" bike

An awesome pose for an awesome new bike!

As we suspected a properly sized bike (with all important hand brake) has done wonders for his form and confidence.

Of course we can't just ride at the playground. Not when there are slide to slide and games to play!

Big brother is a good spinner!

The local scene

Before we moved to Virginia we decided that if we ever moved to the east coast we would try to get out and experience the local history that we don't have out west. Our favorite spot these days is the Battlefield National Park about 30 min west of us in Manassas. It's pretty big but you can easily enjoy it bit by bit. Last Sunday we wandered the stone bridge that spans Bull Run.

"Oh man!"

(Rowan's response to the news of the bridge's destruction in 1862)

We stopped at this sign before getting to the bridge. Logan read it to Rowan who was pretty disappointed to hear that the confederate forces had blown up the bridge (thinking that we had missed our chance to walk across it)

Luckily for him it wasn't a permanent thing . . .

The view to the north

Past the bridge the have a cool raised walkway leading to more battle sites.

Katie was a bit too cold to smile big

We didn't venture too far that day, it was pretty chilly and we'd forgotten gloves. So back to the bridge we went.

The bit of walking warmed Katie Kates up enough to pose for a picture . . . I think she was a super hero.

Wednesday Rowan went on his very first school fieldtrip. He and his preschool classmates got to see behind the scenes at Cici's Pizza and even got to make their very own pizza!

First snowfall

We didn't see much snow last year. This year, though colder, hasn't been very white either. Until recently. It's all but melted now but for one day we had a bit of "real winter".

Luckily our winter clothes weren't packed away too deep and we pulled them out for some chilly fun!

"I'll catch you Evie!"

"I caught her!"

Goofy little miss

Evie is finally getting the hang of cheesing for the camera! (Now if I could just get all three to smile cheesy smiles at once I'd have an even cuter picture!)

Daredevil Kates

Another silly superhero (I think she's flying)

Now I know where Evie gets it!

I am so pleased with our little bowling set! I got it on an off season clearance back when Rowan was about Evie's age. It's held up pretty well aside from needing some fresh paint.

Katie's wasn't quite grasping the "aiming" part of the game so after a couple bowls she helped the pins down a bit closer.

Evie's gloves were AWOL that day so she was stuck with oversized cotton stretch gloves that I kept replacing as they got cold and wet. It's a good thing we have a few! Unfortunately for her they didn't help her bowling skills. She did get the pins down eventually, I think the last couple might have been kicked down but you do what you have to do when you're number three!

Later on, after we'd come in and warmed up I heard a strange noise coming from the basement. I found Evie holding a toy tiger and after some initial confusion I realized what she was saying. Delighted I found the camera and recorded it because... well, how could you not want to save this to watch again later?

Monday, January 14, 2013

Banner year

According to Longman's Dictionary of Contemporary English a banner year is
"a year which is good because something is successful"

For me 2012 was a hard year emotionally, a big move, a busy year, a hot and humid new home, so so far from my comfortably wet, cool, grey northwest coast in just about every way imaginable. Not even a Fred Meyer for hundreds of miles....... you see my struggle. (tongue in cheek on that last one folks. Though I still long for my dear Freddie's from time to time...)

However, all things considered, I think this was a banner year for our little family. I would go so far as to say this was a multiple banner year! If there is such a phrase... because multiple things(people) succeeded. Logan was successful, he finished his course with high marks and good reports. Rowan successfully started preschool and loves it (he also recently lost his first two baby teeth! hooray milestones), Katie successfully bypassed the age of 2 verbally, she has fooled people all year long into thinking she's older just by speaking (for the record this was not because of anything we've done... she just likes to talk), and little miss Evelyn has successfully navigated her first year and is now fast approaching "big-kid-hood" as she races to follow her siblings in their antics, hilarity, and sweet explorations of their world. I managed not to die, despite all my moanings about the weather and the crushing mass of humanity here on the east coast. We enjoyed travels south, north, and (my favorite) west, made friends and found a wonderful church home here.

The Lord is good! He brought us through one of our roughest years not just by the skin of our teeth but with banners! Though I'm not sure how long we'll be here or what sorts of things we've been called here to do I do know that we are blessed and that there are good times ahead. I am homesick and looking forward to someday being much closer to the NW but I am optimistic for the future and hopeful. It's a good start to another multiple banner year!

My first project of 2013 is a small wall calendar. I wanted to have a little scrapbook of memories to remind myself every month of how far we've come in this for-now journey. Here are 12 photos that made it onto the calendar. There are so many more, in fact I think I'll have to get a large book to fill with our 2012 pictures!

Anyway here's a very brief jaunt through our first year "back east".

January