On this day in 2003, this crazy couple started a new life together!
On this day in 2014, we had some great family time picking strawberries--our annual tradition that resulted in nearly 20 pounds of berries! Whoa! We barely moved down the row and filled two flats. John likened it to picking out a puppy: you really want them all, but eventually have to stop somewhere!
So beautiful and so delicious!
The boys climbed to the top of a hill on the farm. Brennan loved running back down the hill, but Owen attempted rolling down it and typically only succeeded in rolling sideways across the hill. He had fun anyway!
Yesterday wound up being a fun, full, family day. A local fire station recently completed renovations and held an open house for the public. Fire trucks + little boys = good times.
Future fireman?
Scoping out the ambulance (yes, that is a snake tattoo on Owen's arm!)
After our fire house good times, we went to a place we had avoided since having kids: Chuck E. Cheese. We attended a birthday party there, and the boys had a BLAST! They are currently in their room making Chuck E. Cheese out of Legos :) We capped off the day with some dear friends, Sweet Frog, and "The LEGO Movie" at the Byrd Theater. Fun times had by all!
A note to start: this post is primarily for the grandparents. Now that that's out of the way, Brennan had his first school performance last night: "Prime Time Nursery Rhymes". It was a lot of fun to see Brennan (mostly) participating with the singing and motions.
In the videos below, Brennan is on the far right. The song and rhyme they are sharing here is about "Humpty Dumpty".
Owen turned four yesterday! Can't believe how quickly those years have flown by. We are so very grateful for his zest for life, his comfort in his own skin (one recent example: playing air guitar in Walmart while wearing a t-shirt, shorts, bright red fire truck rain boots, and sunglasses--with the tag still on them), his outgoing personality, and his love for singing--provided no one is watching him! He's brought so much joy to our household that we can't imagine life without this little guy. Don't grow up too fast, little man!
The birthday fun was stretched out over a few days. It all started with cupcakes to preschool last Friday. The boy loves "The Lorax" and requested Truffula Tree cupcakes. On Saturday, we got to see "Rio 2" (the first is a favorite in this house, so seeing the sequel was a great treat). Family time on Sunday, including swimming at the YMCA. His actual birthday was spent chaperoning Brennan's class trip to the Richmond Zoo, topped off with his choice of waffles for dinner. Great way to celebrate this boy!
Church in the morning. Family time in the afternoon. Friends coming over for our annual tradition of Easter dinner and game night. Here are a few photos that captured our time thus far today. Happy Easter!
Fun with trees
Daddy and Boy Photo Take 1: Owen is going through a phase where getting his picture taken means making the craziest motions and faces possible (this was after I asked him to stop playing air guitar in the picture!)
Today was Owen's second field trip of the preschool year. This time, we went to Maymont Park. Maymont is definitely one of my most favorite spots in all of Richmond, so it was fun to get to visit there again. The kids all got to feed and pet the farm animals and check out all the other animals there. We actually got to see the black bear up close; he was right near the fence and put on quite the show for us with some sticks! A nice little bonus: all the running and activity this morning should mean a good night's sleep tonight :)
Classic Owen
The darker color is a hawk's wingspan. The lighter color is an eagle's.
Lately, it seems like brotherly squabbles have become the norm. So when I find them playing together, it feels like the entire house can breathe a big sigh. Yesterday, Candyland was the big hit. They played by their own rules and had a blast. Love these times of brotherly love--and will embrace them however few and far between they may seem!
After a wacky winter filled with lots of random snowstorms (for Virginia), we have been eager to take advantage of every warm day that's come upon us. Lately, our outings have been to area parks or playgrounds. Today, we went for a hike out at Pocahontas State Park. Our 2.5 mile trail took us around Beaver Lake and across some fun little streams. A picnic lunch and playground time wrapped up our time there. We all had a blast and are looking forward to another hiking adventure in the near future!
A quick note about this picture: a couple days ago, Brennan came home from school with a mark on his face and said that he wasn't looking where he was going and ran into a pole on the playground. He's been rubbing his face with his sleeve because it bothers him, which has resulted in the large amounts of scabbing present. Please pray for a quick healing for his face and that he would leave it alone as it heals.
Daddy is giving them their very first lesson is how to skip stones
They had more fun simply throwing stones into the water and watching them splash
It's been a rough week so far. Another snow day (bringing our official count to 11 snow days since January), another school delay, boy #1 being sick, and a general feeling of too much togetherness combined with being cooped up in the house culminated in some general ugliness this morning as we attempted to get out the door for school and preschool. Sin compounded upon sin. Noise, chaos, and unkind words swirled, which unleashed my own frustration and yelling to try to tame the morning (note to self: that doesn't work!). Ugh.
But then we got in the car to drop Owen off at preschool, I turned on the radio and "Lord, I Need You" came on the radio. I instantly felt my soul breathe. What true words. In those times of my own frustration with noise, chaos, or unkind words flung by the littles living in our home, what better prayer to lift up than "Lord, I Need You!" In those moments of ugly which can so quickly escalate to more ugly, those are the exact moments when I really need Jesus. May this be my prayer today and every day.
"Lord, I Need You"
Lord, I come, I confess
Bowing here I find my rest
Without You I fall apart
You're the One that guides my heart
Lord, I need You, oh, I need You
Every hour I need You
My one defense, my righteousness
Oh God, how I need You
Where sin runs deep Your grace is more
Where grace is found is where You are
And where You are, Lord, I am free
Holiness is Christ in me
Lord, I need You, oh, I need You
Every hour I need You
My one defense, my righteousness
Oh God, how I need You
Teach my song to rise to You
When temptation comes my way
And when I cannot stand I'll fall on You
Jesus, You're my hope and stay
Lord, I need You, oh, I need You
Every hour I need You
My one defense, my righteousness
Oh God, how I need You
You're my one defense, my righteousness
Oh God, how I need You
My one defense, my righteousness
Oh God, how I need You
After more snow days and delays this week, we breathed a great sigh of thanksgiving to welcome 60 degree temperatures this weekend. Good-bye snow, hello spring! It's been a nice treat to see daffodils and other small flowers start to poke their heads out of the ground.
We took advantage of such a beautiful day (and a seriously soggy backyard) to head to one of our favorite places in Richmond, Maymont Park--along with hundreds of other people who also needed to get out their houses! Lots of running, walking, climbing, exploring. The end goal: run 'em so they sleep well tonight. Mission accomplished.
Proof that I was there too, not just usually the one behind the camera!
After all the cold and snowstorms, Richmond is finally experiencing a taste of spring. The warmer temperatures this week have led to a lot of outdoor fun. Today, one of the outdoor activities was working with Brennan on learning to ride his bike.
Now, Brennan has had a balance bike for a couple of years, but never really showed any inclination to use pedals. When he finally truly outgrew the balance bike, we began to nudge him (a little not so gently) to use a real bike that we had been gifted. He had started to get the hang of things last fall, but then the advent of winter put the kibosh on more bike learning. Today's amazing spring-like weather was the perfect opportunity to start the "year of the bike" for Brennan. We headed down to a nearby church parking lot with a slight downhill slope. After a few false starts, he finally found some motivation and really took off. It was with great excitement that we watched him take off on his bike. He's getting the hang of it, and we are really proud of his tremendous progress.
Owen has now been bequeathed the balance bike and he really enjoyed starting to learn how to manage this wheels upgrade. One small tumble didn't deter him, but it did become something that he talked about a good bit for the rest of the day!
He has a blanket that he has been attached to for a long time. The blanket has now been designated the official cape of Owen. He wears it. A. Lot. Over time, strips of it have been torn off. He loves to wear them around his head and call them a hat. So, yes, in the above photo, he's wearing a strip of blanket tied around his head...
Apologies for what turned out to be a rather lengthy blog break. January was a rough month. I dealt with two separate cold viruses back-to-back, one of which lasted more that two weeks. Six snow days, three late starts to school, and crazy cold weather for here took a toll. As someone who absolutely thrives on routine, I was glad to see January go. But...here I sit, with a winter wonderland outside, on our seventh snow day in just four weeks (with day eight likely to follow tomorrow).
Our earlier snows didn't amount to much and weren't really conducive to playing in for long periods of time. But this snow is nice and heavy. Great snowman (and snowball!) weather. John and the boys headed out this morning to shovel the driveway and clean off the cars before the second round of snow hits. After the work was done, it was time for play. John was the primary architect of the mini-snowman, with a bit of help from Brennan. Owen took advantage of their focused efforts to lob some ice-crusted snow chunks in their direction, in his own version of a snowball fight! Grateful for more "fun" snow this time around!
After a full day off school due to anticipation of snow, we finally received the promised snow yesterday late afternoon and into the evening. It meant another snow day today, but at least there was about an inch of snow for the boys to play in! Brennan was really excited; he had been praying for snow for days. He even mentioned today that he was going to keep praying for it to snow and God would make it snow for him.
They really wanted to make a snowman, but alas, it just wasn't the right kind of snow for a snowman. So snow angels sufficed. As did shoveling it all around the yard. Brennan discovered the snow shovel and shoveled off our entire deck. I think I need to harness his enthusiasm for shoveling while he's young!
On a side note, I took advantage of our "waiting for snow" day to bake. I made The Pioneer Woman's Strawberry Oatmeal Bars. Let me just say...yum. Especially warm from the oven. Delicious.
A dear friend called us up a couple days ago with a fun request. She worked for the Richmond Christmas Parade and acted as a liaison for the Harlem Globetrotters. As a result, she was given eight tickets to attend their game here in Richmond this afternoon. Would we like to be part of the group to go? YES! The boys got to experience the fun of the Globetrotters for the very first time, and it was a bit of a walk down memory for John and I. Our little group had a great time and we were very grateful for the gift of the tickets for this fun, somewhat spontaneous outing!
Owen, the sports guy, really enjoyed it. Brennan, NOT the sports guy, got bored and started asking for popcorn halfway through the first period! Getting him a snack perked up his interest a bit more and they both ultimately seemed to really enjoy the entire experience.
We celebrated Brennan today! Can't believe the boy is already six years old! Seriously...the time really does fly. We started off the morning by visiting Jumpology, an indoor trampoline arena, for some serious jumping fun. The afternoon led us to the movie "Frozen" and the day was capped by Brennan's dinner choice of pancakes and bacon, washed down by birthday cake--which he helped make. It was a great way to celebrate this young man!
Owen and I went grocery shopping this morning. He really wanted to wear his blanket as a Superman cape and needed the headband and medal to complete the outfit. As soon as we got the store, he stripped off his jacket to let his costume shine in its full glory. Loved bringing smiles to people's faces today. Love, love, love that he is so comfortable just being himself!
I have been really blessed this fall to be part of Community Bible Study.
We gather every Thursday morning to study the book of Romans. What a
treat to get to really dive deeply into such a foundational book,
wrestle with the teachings, and learn from the others in my small group.
The
children's program has also been fabulous for Owen to participate in.
He enjoys learning the Bible lessons and doing the crafts. The kids time
is divided into six units, with a theme memory verse for every unit.
It's a nice treat to hear his verses when we can convince him to recite
them!
Today, after our large-group lecture time, the
preschool set all came in to perform some songs they had been working
on, as well as reciting their memory verses. It was a lot of fun to get
to see Owen singing along up front, although jiggling his jeans up and
down seemed to hold more appeal for the majority of the time!
We just got back home yesterday after a week in Florida for Thanksgiving with John's family. It was an overall good trip, but there were some pretty bizarre things that happened which made this trip pretty memorable for some odd reasons. It started off with me falling and badly spraining my ankle two days before leaving (it was my driving foot, so John needed to drive the entire way). Over the course of the trip, both of his parents vehicles broke down, their cell phones and Internet went out, their home phone went out, their Direct TV went out, the toilet overflowed and flooded the master bath, and on the very first night there, Brennan and Owen managed to lock themselves in the master bedroom and they needed to punch a hole in the door with a crowbar to open it. Add in massive traffic issues on the way back, and you get the picture of why this was a memorable trip!
Thankfully, we had plenty of good memories as well. We took some time to go to a power plant near Tampa where manatees gather thanks to the warm water. We saw a number of manatees and some pretty large tarpon fish as well. Pretty neat!
One of the dozen or so manatees hanging out
We also got to experience Legoland Florida. This was easily the highlight of the trip. Owen was a little young for it still (at least to enjoy the rides), but Brennan was the perfect age for it. We also learned that Brennan is a total roller coaster junkie! Never, ever saw that one coming! He would get off one and immediately want to go again. They even earned a "driver's license" at the Ford Jr. Driving School. This will be a definite repeat trip when we next make it down south again.
The miniature Lego Cities made it feel a little like being back home and taking a day trip up to D.C. :)
The boys also got some great hang-out time with their cousins and checked out the beach. We are definitely grateful for the time we got to spend there!
Brennan and Owen "relaxing" with Uncle Dave and their three Florida cousins
My mom came out last Thursday to spend a few days with us. What a treat to have Grandma Prechel around! The boys loved having Grandma on their turf and showing her the fun things in their world. We took some time on Saturday to head to the National Zoo and enjoy some of the beautiful fall weather before it turned colder. She flew back home to Minnesota this morning (back to below freezing temps!) and Owen has already expressed a couple times that he misses Grandma. Already looking forward to future visits!
Bathroom humor is all the rage between our boys. Owen was THRILLED to get to hold actual (sterilized and coated) elephant dung!
