playing catch-up.

Admittedly, I have updated my Facebook status far more frequently than I have kept up the family blog. Perhaps it's a sign of the times. But this blog has taken the place of scrapbooking in my life, so I should not neglect it entirely or risk losing precious moments in our family's history. It just so happens that today I am in Brooklyn, NY, quietly sitting in Matthew and Kerry's apartment with very little on my to-do list - a rare moment, indeed! What better time to reflect about the goings-on of our family in the last two months (and maybe our summer too)? What better time to be reminded of all of God's blessings and mercies to our family?

Tulip Poplar trunk, at least as old as Monticello found at Kemper park.

Celebrating the 4th with friends at the Merricks' - what an awesome view of the fireworks!

Family hike to Blue Hole! Michael was brave enough to use the rope swing for a good cold dunking.

Big perk of the summer for Noah - he was tall enough to do the floating bridge at our pool!

Had a sweet visit with Matthew and Kerry. There's Uncle Matthew getting some more practice with kiddos - they are expecting their first in March!!! We are so excited to have a new cousin!

A visit to NC to see Baba and Papa and the nearly-finished boat.
It was placed back in the water in August and safely survived hurricane Irene.

Baba and I took the boys to Atlantic beach for one day of our visit and also saw the Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores there.

A JMU visit before the students returned.

Brothers.

Nothing like summertime juice pops on the porch!

There's our kindergartener on his first day of school!!
It was so much fun to have Grandma here with us, too.

Noah began kindergarten at Venable Elementary, where Michael teaches, and is LOVING it! He loves his teachers, and comes home telling me of all the things he's learning - reading, writing, math, poems, songs (from his music teacher!), and his new friends there. He's sure to tell me when one of his friends acts out during class....he doesn't always tell me when it's him doing the acting out. But from what I hear, that's pretty rare, and he just truly enjoys learning! When he comes home, I find that he needs some time to himself to unwind from the day. His favorite activities are either playing with Legos, coloring, or making-up songs on the piano (to which he also adds lyrics, and sets-up a scene in his mind of where this song will be in the musical he is directing!). Noah's most recent interest is Karate. He will be starting his first month of classes soon and he seems to be really motivated by it!

With Noah in school all day, Ethan and I have kept ourselves quite busy. He accompanies me to work at times and really enjoys our mornings at Southwood - a mostly-Latino neighborhood, where we get to participate in a playgroup for moms and kids, and build friendships with them. The hospital has asked me to identify ways in which we can come alongside and assist these families in the areas of healthcare and health promotion. It is a joy for me to do this! I love seeing Ethan play with new friends and hear Spanish too. Ethan also really enjoys his mornings at Mainly Music - a musical outreach of our church to families with little ones.

Ethan sure enjoys his quiet playtime at home, especially in big brother's room. His favorite things to play with are his fire trucks and his Little People farm with "Pa-pa" as the little farmer. I often hear him singing to himself (Twinkle, Twinkle or Old McDonald), and making up stories with his "guys." Ethan usually loves to help me with whatever I'm doing and reminds me when it's time to "sweep-up" the floor or clean-up his toys before nap-time. He has also begun to find his defiant streak and has needed some time-outs to help remind him about who the authorities are in his life.

Michael is very busy with teaching his classes at school, directing the children's choir at church, and for now, the adult choir at church too. These are all things that he loves to do and is very gifted in (while he'd never say so himself). He enjoys applying what he has learned from his graduate studies to his classroom and has truly found his niche as an elementary school music teacher.

It has now been a full year since I began teaching Childbirth Ed through our community Hospital (Martha Jefferson) and I am loving it! They have also trained me to teach the Baby Basics and Sibling classes and lead the expectant parent hospital tours. The schedule is great. The people I work with are fantastic. It's a wonderful place to work. This week I have been in New Jersey getting my certification as a Labor Doula! What a great way to work with families. I'm looking forward to seeing how this skill can be used to help individual mommies in labor. While I was here for the certification, I got to stay with dear friends from college, Matt and Emily D'Antuono and their precious family! Their two oldest kids are adopted and the little guys are being fostered by them. What a picture of grace they are. Those kiddos made me feel right at home as I got to help put them to bed and read stories to them.