It's roughly time for another post, so I will give an overview of our weekend. It began Friday morning with a lovely doctor appointment. Everything is going well and baby is growing right where he should be. (Just a side note, we automatically call our babies "he." This does not indicate actual gender as we will not be finding out until we lay eyes on this baby.) Jon's parents had arrived here by the time I got home. They were joyfully ready to take care of the boys while Jon and I drove off Friday afternoon into the wild white yonder to a pastor's retreat.

We had a great time just spending a night away and getting to know our fellow pastors in the area. We had a wonderful speaker who was very engaging and the time just flew by. We were finished by noon on Saturday.

When we got home, Jon's brother and family were here playing. We enjoyed an afternoon together and a great supper at the Pizza Ranch.

So that was our exciting weekend. Jon's parents left Sunday after church and we all got a bit of a nap. As much as we loved being away, we still didn't sleep wonderfully in a different bed. It's just a fact of life, right?

A Mitten Is Found

The day we loaded our stuff into a trailer in October, Ben was out in the shed with us and insisted on having his mittens on, though he really didn't need them. He eventually took them off and laid them down. I noticed where they were, and the next thing I knew they were gone. We looked all over and couldn't find them. I was a bit upset because they were nice warm mittens, they matched his coat, etc. When we arrived in Austinville, the guys had found one of the mittens on the truck, but we had no idea where the other was. So we bought Ben another pair, but believe it or not I could find very little for him at that point, so they were thin knit mittens that were not warm enough for playing outside. We finally found another decent pair for him and I was happy.

On Saturday morning I decided to take the boys for a walk to the post office. Instead of taking the double stroller, I decided I'd put Finn in the single and let Ben walk. So I got out the stroller, which I hadn't touched since we moved (and still had a brochure from Shedd Aquarium from our Chicago visit in June), and we were on our way. When we got back home, I took the stroller back to the garage, and lo and behold, there was our long lost mitten! It was just laying where the stroller had been. I'm quite surprised it hadn't fallen out of the stroller while being moved on and off the truck and while I rearranged it in the garage, because I didn't actually open the stroller until I got it out of the garage. Needless to say, I was very happy, because it still bugged me once in a while when I caught sight of this poor single mitten. I just couldn't throw it away, though, thinking that some day its mate would come home. (Yes, that's the kind of person I am. Some things just bug me like that.)

So that's my little story, and it never hurts to have an extra pair of mittens laying around.

Finn's First Word

Bye!

Yes, that was it. He was talking on his little toy phone, and after a bit of babbling, it clearly came out yesterday, and a few more times as the day went on. He's very close to saying dada and mama, but as we've learned with Ben, we'll hear that enough times in the next year:) Finn does lots of babbling, so I'm sure he won't lack for words when he learns enough of them.

In other news, I finally got this kitchen together that the boys got for Christmas. I've been feeling quite well, and the boys have been longing to open the box of food that they also got for Christmas, so I decided it was time. Over a couple afternoons of the boys napping at the same time, I got it all put together.

My next projects are to rearrange the third floor so we can put guests up there and find new curtains for the bedrooms. So wish me well, cause we all know these things take longer than they should.

Thomas Book Review

I meant this summer to do a short book review of Sacred Marriage and Sacred Parenting, both books by Gary L. Thomas that I read this summer. I don't have a lengthy review for them. I just want to say that they were both very good reads, whether you're married or thinking about it, no matter which stage of parenting you're in or thinking about it. Thomas makes you look at your marriage/parenting from a bit different aspect and shows these relationships (as spouse or parent) as a reflection of our relationships with God. I would highly recommend these books. One point that really stayed with me is that just as we do not want our children to fail or get hurt, and we pick them up and comfort them when they do, so God does the same with us. Do we turn our backs on our children when they make a mistake? No! Neither does God. This is why he keeps giving us chances: We are his children and he loves us dearly, more than we could ever love our own children or spouse. That is so hard to imagine. A point to ponder.

More Christmas

Okay, once again I'm behind on my blogging. Let's start back to Friday last week. Jon's parents and brother Caleb came down and spent the afternoon at our house. Finn got his birthday present-a wooden rocking horse. He enjoyed it while Ben took a nap. The boys were excited to see everyone. That night we met Jon's brother Nathaniel, Sarah, and their baby Ella at Famous Dave's. Excellent food, as always. I was feeling very good and I ate more than I should have, as always. I highly recommend it if you've never been to one. And if you don't like meat, you're really missing out. I prefer the brisket, if anyone is wondering.

Saturday we headed to Nathaniel's to celebrate our Christmas. The boys got a bunch of new toys and books. We all got very nice gifts. We had a good dinner of prime rib and other things, but mainly prime rib. It was good to see everyone again. The boys had a great time with Ella, who is 4 months younger than Finn. Ella and Finn spent a lot of time chasing each other in circles. We now have a big kitchen for the boys that we need to work up the courage to put together. Ben is itching to open the box of food that came with it.

On Monday night we had our first experience at the Spec'n Dicken German pancake supper. They have bacon and/or sausage in them. They were very good, and I am never one to pass up pancakes. It is a fundraiser for the Christian grade school here, Timothy Christian. Ben also loves pancakes and ate 1 of these plate-size cakes by himself.

Tomorrow I will have my second doctor appointment. Things seem to be going well so far, and we continue to pray for a healthy baby.

I am off to rest while the boys are both sleeping.

The Week In Review

We had a very nice past week. Our good friend Kris graced us with her presence on Wednesday. We didn't do a whole lot. She came along to get groceries, we did some cooking, played some cards, watched some TV, played with the boys, talked a lot. Just a nice time to do nothing together. She came to church with us Friday morning and headed home as we were getting ready to head to my family for a quick get-together.

We drove up Friday and encountered a car problem; namely, the car didn't want to stop. Thankfully this didn't happen until the last hour of our trip. So with some sitting and waiting and car restarting, we made it safely to my parents. The return trip on Saturday was quite nerve wracking. Thankfully the boys slept the first 3 hours out of the 4-hour trip, and we only stopped once. The car is currently in the shop. We're afraid we may be car shopping in the near future.

It was also very cold in Minnesota this weekend. We hit 30 below zero. Thank God for furnaces and blankets so we can sleep comfortably.

We had a good time overall and received some very nice gifts. I think my favorite was a set of books Ben got, 1 each with letters, numbers, and shapes. Each item is given in English, French, Spanish, German, and Italian. So Ben may be able to count to 10 in five languages before too long. I guess I'm easily impressed.

We've had a nice quiet couple of days now. I'm trying to work up the ambition to take the Christmas tree down. I also need to put some old toys away since the boys have plenty of new stuff to keep their attention.

Jon and I celebrated our 7th anniversary yesterday. We headed out without the boys to do some mattress shopping. We were successful and should be enjoying our new bed in 7-14 business days. We also went to eat at Carlos O'Kelly's, a Mexican restaurant. We had never been there before and were right next door. It was very good and I would highly recommend it. Refried beans are my new favorite thing right now. We were only gone about 4 hours, but we are thankful for the time away and for such willing babysitters we have in church.

Our Christmas

This evening we celebrated Christmas. We've always traveled to our parents for Christmas, so this is the first time we have ever done it at our own house, and it was quite nice. We had a wonderful supper with a good steak, corn, salad, potatoes.

So after supper we sat down to open presents. We've had a gate around the Christmas tree because the boys would like nothing better than to tear it down and pull all the ornaments off, which would probably result in Finn trying to eat hooks. So Jon pulled the gate away and we pulled out the boys' presents. Ben began by tearing the name tags off (good thing there weren't more people involved in this celebration). Finn went right to the tree, which is his Everest. So while we got Ben to begin ripping paper and proceed to properly open his presents as a 2-year-old should, Finn spent the time playing commando in the tree. Jon captured him once to try and open a present, but it held no interest. He was so excited to touch the tree freely. I think he would have stayed in the corner behind the tree all night if he could have. When the gate finally went back up, he became interested in whatever Ben was playing with. We got the boys 2 potato heads with 5 "outfits," and they sat nicely playing with them for a long time. So the toys weren't all bad after all.

Jon bestowed upon me a beautiful cross necklace with diamonds at the tips and in the center.

We then had a bit of egg nog, which the boys couldn't get enough of, and some cherry pie that at least tasted decent. It was overall a very nice evening.

And Baby Makes Three

I think I've got all my Christmas letters either out or ready to go. It seems to take a lot to get everybody's address, order pictures, print letters, and print labels. Microsoft Office's mail merge is one of the best things in life. No more writing out addresses for bulk mailings (not that we do bulk mailings regularly). It's a lovely thing.

However, I have had little to no ambition lately to do much of anything else after chasing boys all day. We are having a baby on or about July 28 next year!!!!, and I am in the feeling yucky/tired stage. I remember when I was pregnant with Ben and would come home from work and sleep, and Jon would make his own supper. Those were the days!

Due to the snow and the lack of a winterized stroller, I pulled the boys to the post office today on the sled. I think they enjoyed it, though Finn couldn't hold himself up from the forward momentum and basically laid on Ben's lap all the way there. They were pretty cute all bundled up in snowpants and barely able to move. Maybe another day I'll get a picture.

I am currently attempting to potty train Ben. He is a willing learner, so we're making slow progress. I had planned on starting anyway, but my goal now is to get him trained before this baby comes. Hopefully it doesn't take that long, but one never knows.

Ben is also really into colors. He loves naming the color of everything. Between that and naming everything on the page, books take a lot longer to get through. (This is good because it occupies him on the potty.)

Finn has a bad cold and is just a miserable little boy. He is still working hard to keep up with Ben and people have commented how active he is for his age. He's still getting into everything and we love watching him run away when he knows he's in trouble.

So that's what we've been up to. Merry Christmas to all!

It's A Little Windy

We're currently in a blizzard watch until midnight tonight. It's been rather windy and we have some very high drifts on our yard. What a great excuse to stay in and do nothing! And for the first time in 2-1/2 years, I am cold. Let me tell you, I'm not really enjoying this new sensation. I've been wearing sweatshirts and putting blankets on.

Since I didn't get this posted before, we celebrated Finn's first birthday. He shares a birthday with my mom, and we were able to celebrate with my parents Thanksgiving weekend. I did a fish cake (with a lot of help from my mom) since Finn's favorite thing is his fishy.

Greetings From Iowa!

A couple of weeks have passed since my last post, and we are now officially citizens of Iowa. We moved down on Oct. 26 and have been quite busy. I rarely get online as we do not have internet in the house.

We had lots of people help us move in and begin sorting things to various rooms. Our congregation has been so wonderful to us. We are getting to know the people and the area a bit.

Jon passed his classical examination and was ordained on Nov. 8. He is now Rev. Spronk, which is somewhat odd sounding. Jon has been working on organizing his office and writing sermons this week. I have been trying to organize the house. The boys are having a great time and I could probably blog every day about them.

We put Ben in a big bed Monday night and he loves it. He had no problems with the change. The boys are sharing a room now, which doesn't always work out well, but hopefully their naps will sync soon. Their room is as big as ours, so they have plenty of room to play while I'm sorting through things. I have been working on painting some furniture and have finally finished the chest of drawers. It took a while since I did it after the boys went to bed. I did take advantage of the beautiful weather and did some painting in the garage last week. I can't believe how nice it's been! We had a beautiful 70-degree day for ordination, and we were thankful that some of our family could be here.

So that's us in a nutshell.

Just a note to Kris since I finally read your blog-your hives would not have lasted so long had you sat and watched U2 videos. Remember that if it happens again.

Fall Is Here!

Starvin' Marvin

So this morning I'm cleaning in the living room, and I come into the kitchen to find Ben sitting on a stool eating Goldfish out of the box. Okay, no biggie. He has a few and I put them away. Pretty soon I come out of the laundry room to find him standing behind a chair (I almost didn't see him), and he stops chewing when he sees me. He's eating big marshmallows and probably has 2 in his mouth. So I put them on a higher shelf. A bit later I was in the bathroom cleaning, and here he comes with a box of graham crackers. Is he just starving, or is he eating because he can?

Okay, so I realize it's been a while, but honestly, I haven't had much to say. The days are getting cold and have been rainy, so we're kinda stuck inside. The boys seem to be rather crabby, and I think the weather could be a factor. Yesterday we woke up to frost; however, it turned out to be a beautiful day overall. I spent the afternoon and evening sanding some bed frames we bought at an auction, and the boys were able to be outside with me. I'm actually very excited about the furniture. We hope to start Ben in a regular bed after we move. We also got a chest of drawers that I have to work on today. Jon's mom will be helping me with this as it will require some stripping. I'm thankful to have the help (and the tools) here. Hopefully we'll get to painting this afternoon. Since we can't really restain it, we got a dark brown paint that I think will look very nice.

Tomorrow (Friday) will be my last official day of work, though technically the work never ends with kids. I am very excited for this. I will miss my job, because I do really enjoy it, but it's time for me to focus on the boys. We're moving in a little over 2 weeks! So I think organizing the house and taking care of the boys will be its own full-time job.

Finn is full out walking and just loves it. He loves to carry things around and just pace around the house. He does this most often while eating an apple slice. The boys have also been enjoying the Twins games. They each have a hat and love to wear them. Finn has not been one for hats, but he loves having that on. And they both look so cute! I promise, I'll get pictures on soon.

Ben is beginning to quote books at random times. He loves to read books and always says "The end" when it's done. He's actually doing well with numbers. He knows where 5 comes, but 9 seems to be his favorite right now.

Please pray for us as we make final arrangements for moving and prepare for our new home.

Timeout

We've started giving Ben short timeouts because he has a problem pushing, kicking, or hitting Finn and/or wrestling him to the ground to keep Finn away from "Ben's toys." This morning he did it, so I went over to him to get Finn away from him and to talk to him about pushing.

As soon as I knelt down by him, Ben: "Timeout?"

Me: "Do you want a timeout?"

Ben: "No. Don't push baby."

That's All, Folks

Last night as we finished supper, Jon read a passage from the Bible. When he finished, he closed the book and set it down. Ben looked at him and said very matter of factly, "The end, Daddy."