Pray for Todd

Please pray for our good friend Todd who is going into the hospital tomorrow to start the process of a bone marrow transplant (in his battle against CLL).  He'll have chemo for the first week and then will receive the transplant on Sept 3.  Todd, his wife Jen, and baby Darby have a long and hard road ahead of them and I know would appreciate your prayers.

You can follow his progress here: http://kritiostodd.wordpress.com/

Settling In, Making Changes, and Pics from the Big Day

Well, we made it home safe and sound.  The traveling-with-three-small-children nearly killed my mom and I (actually, the flying part was fine...but the transfer in Dallas was horrendous) so when the wheels touched down in Sacramento, I looked at my mom and said, "We did it!"  I was referring to not only the flight home, but the entire summer.  We really did it.  We moved our family across the country for two months!  And truly, it was one of the best decisions we've ever made.  Steve loved his internship and got a ton of terrific experience under his belt.  Our time together as a family was a precious gift that we will always look back on with fondness.  And in addition to all of the amazing things we saw and did, I personally was transformed by the time away.  I'm not the same person as I was in June - and that feels really, really good. 

As we've settled into our new routines at home this past week, I've worked hard to implement some changes - things that I learned from being away that I want to do better in my everyday life.  For example, the passage from Just Courage that I posted on a few weeks ago...the one that says that Mother Teresa couldn't imagine going 30 minutes without praying...really stuck with me.  Now that I'm back to work at The GreenHouse, I have a big "2" posted up in front of me at my desk.  It's a reminder of my personal commitment to stop every 2 hours, get up from my desk, and go pray about whatever it is I am working on.  It's not quite "every 30 minutes," but for me, this is a necessary change and a good step in the right direction. 

I'm also trying hard to SLOW DOWN (you know...stop every now-and-then and breathe).  So far, it's working - though feel free to ask me about it in a month or two.  In spite of coming home to some big transitions that were on the horizon for our family, all while Steve was still in DC, I was able to remain relatively calm and steady (ie: not stressed).  Indeed, the time away did me good.

So about those transitions....Just two days after we got home, Jonah had his first day of Kindergarten AND Nicolas and Riley had their first day of preschool.  It was a Big Day of change for us but everyone did just great and somehow I managed to get everyone out the door on time. 

   

Jonah loved kindergarten and was beaming when I picked him up.  We feel such peace in our decision to put him in our neighborhood school and we're so glad he likes it there.   

Nicolas and Riley loved preschool equally as much.  They've been itching to go since they watched Jonah go there for the past few years.  Now it's finally their turn and they feel like such big boys! 

(I tried to take individual pictures of them on our front porch before they left for school, but they insisted that they be together for the picture - a cute twin moment)

All around, it's wonderful to be home.  It really is Home Sweet Home here in Sacramento.  We've loved re-connecting with friends and visiting with neighbors and starting up soccer practices and figuring out new school routines and getting back to work.  Life truly is meant to be lived in community - the good, the bad, the messy, and the painful.  We love our community and we're glad you are a part of it!     

Leaving...

Bags are packed.  House is (almost) clean.  Fake floral arrangements have been put back in their original places - in every room.  Mom is here to help me and the boys fly home this afternoon.  (Steve has to stay until Friday to finish out his internship but Jonah starts kindergarten on Thursday...so sadly, we're leaving Steve behind). 

We'd really appreciate your prayers today for us as we travel.  Anxiety has crept in a little bit yesterday and today so prayers for peace would be much appreciated.

I still want to process/reflect on my visits to the Holocaust Museum, International Justice Mission, and the Sitar Arts Center - all of which were neat learning experiences for me.  So, there will likely be a few more DC posts after our return.

Thanks for keeping us with our adventure to DC.  It's been a wonderful experience for our family!  We hope to see you soon.

"School"

I picked up a few educational materials at the teacher supply store before we left to come out here (some Map of the U.S. placemats, a deck of Presidents flashcards, and a kindergarten Social Studies workbook).  I thought it would be fun to use my extra time with the boys to teach them a few new concepts.     

We started off strong!  The boys got a big kick out of Circle Time with Mommy as the leader and they especially loved the activities at the table where they could color, cut, and glue worksheets about the sites or monuments we had seen that week.   

Eventually their enthusiasm wore off.  Their true colors came out and they became little rascals during our "school times"- goofing off, doing all kinds of potty talk, and just generally not-so-interested in my well planned Circle Time.  Can you believe that?!  

All I know is...my boys are a HANDFUL.  And when one gets going down a path of naughtiness, he has no problem taking the other two down with him.  So, we slowly phased out our school lessons.

The boys will, however, each be taking home a booklet of all of the work they did, which will make for a great memento of our trip.  They really did do some terrific work and I am proud of each one of them and all that they've learned this summer!  It's absolutely amazing to me how each one of my kids has such unique strengths.  Through our "school" lessons, each one had an opportunity to shine in one area or another.

Nicolas, for example, has a fantastic visual memory and had no problem looking at the faces of the Presidents on the flashcards and remembering who they were.  We were pretty amazed at this talent of his so we caught it on tape.  I hope you enjoy hearing about James Monroe's "red eye" and Andrew Jackson's other name.  (:  

Rock Creek Nature Center

We visited the Rock Creek Nature Center this week.  It was another find!  It's small - and old - but perfect for little kids (and my fave...free).   They had a large room with a bunch of stuffed animals (meaning, previously alive) such as coyotes, owls, and snakes as well as a few live creatures such as fish, turtles, and bees.  The Center also had a smaller play room with books, puzzles, puppets, and coloring - all centered on nature.  After exploring inside for a few hours we headed outside for a picnic lunch in the beautiful Rock Creek Park - a great ending to a very enjoyable day.    

Beekeeper Riley

Tiki the Turtle

Bones, skins, furs, and fossils

In the playroom...sticking felt leaves on the "tree" (painted mural)

Batman Jonah

Nature Detective Nicolas

National Night Out

Tuesday was National Night Out and I couldn't help but think of the fiesta we could have been having on our street in Sacramento, as a follow-up to the party we threw last year.  Last year, fifty-three of our neighbors gathered in front of our house for a special evening of food, fun, and fellowship.  I would have loved to have continued the tradition again this year - to see how it might have grown and what new friendships might have been formed. 

This year was very different.  We went to the town of Kensington's National Night Out festivities where we didn't know a soul!  It's strange to be completely unknown everywhere we go (though in some ways, it's kind of nice...for a season). 

The festivities were held at the town's fire station.  They had a fire truck which the boys climbed up in (always a crowd pleaser). 

The firefighters demonstrated their Tower Truck to the small crowd.

The tower goes up very, VERY high when fully extended (freaked me out just to look at it)

They also gave away free icees, popcorn and bouncer/slip-n-slide thing that the boys loved.  They ran through the tunnel over and over and over, making it very hard for me to snap a picture! 

We didn't bring swim trunks or towels so they wore their shorts in the water and then drove home in their skivvys (which seems to be happening quite a lot this summer).

All in all, not bad for a night out with the family.  But, certainly doesn't compare to building and deepening relationships with our neighbors.   We're looking forward to getting back to that soon!  

Fun with the Crandells

The last two days we got to spend time with friends from Sacramento!  Rob and Danielle Crandell and their kids Sophia (3) and Matthew (11 mo) have been out on the East Coast this past week visiting Boston, New York, and their last stop...Washington DC.    It was wonderful to see familiar faces and to spend time with people other than ourselves.

Last night we met them, as well as Rob's cousin and her family, for dinner in Dupont Circle.  Afterwards, we made our rounds at the Monuments.  We saw the Vietnam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial (our second time there), Korean War Memorial, and the Roosevelt Memorial.  We stayed out WAY past all of our bed times, but it was worth it!  The clock was ticking for them (they only had two days here) and for us (we leave in 8 days) so we all wanted to squeeze in as much sight-seeing as we could.

Nicolas and Riley both fell in love with Sophia. She is only one month younger than them so they had a blast playing together. It was very interesting to watch them fight over her. ("I want to sit next to Sophia." "No, I want to sit next to Sophia!"). I can see a lot of fighting-over-girls in our future.

Today, we met up with them again for some Smithsonian fun (Air and Space Museum) before they had to drive back to Boston.  We got to see a section of the museum that we hadn't seen before so that worked out nicely.  Plus, we picked up some unique souvenirs from the Museum Store to take home with us. 

We're getting ready to see more of our friends in a week or so...back home!