Discovering New Ways

Just wanted to let you know that we are trying out a new blogging site.  If you would like to check out some of our new posts there, please visit us: valireflections.blogspot.com

Hope you enjoy some of the clips we have uploaded there.

Family Portraits

We just had the opportunity to get some family portraits done, and wanted to share some of the pictures with you.

We got some really great pictures of the family and of Micah and Kiersten.  Hope you enjoy!

The Family

Micah and Kiki

Having Fun

Sweet girl in her Easter dress

What a cute smile

Here I come

Handsome boy

Look at me

Excited about something

The Big Thing

Today, the big thing with Micah is Uncle Michael.  He has asked to see his picture several times today…the one with Michael driving the jeep (with a pickup truck and tractor in the background).  We’ve talked about Uncle Michael alot today.  Even Grandmom Muth has been the topic.  He has said “Grandmom Muff is coming tonight!”  I can’t wait…but I think it may be some other night…maybe we’ll go see Grandmom Muth.

Kiersten is growing up, too.  She has been practicing standing up on her own and crawling really fast.  She is having too much fun, it is hard to settle down to nap!

Spring feels like it is coming quickly.  I can’t wait…Tim can’t wait…we’ve been planning for a garden and other fine plants around our place.  I look forward to getting outside more with the kids and playing in the dirt a bit once the weather warms up.  Want to join us, Grandmom Muth?

Happy Birthday, Micah!

Our little boy has turned 2 today, although if you were to ask him how old he is, you would have varying responses ranging from 2 to 7.  Today he has been saying he is 3.

It has been a very memorable birthday for Mommy and Daddy, whether Micah remembers it years from now or not (most likely not).  He was sick on Friday when we celebrated his birthday with Grandmom and Pop Pop and Uncle John and Aunt Ruthie.  He did okay and could eat cupcakes and ice cream very well!  Saturday we thought maybe the sickness had passed with only an early episode…but tonight at church proved to be a different story.  After exploding in the church auditorium, Mommy and the kids headed home in a flash.  Safe at home Micah had a few more episodes and then ate cheez-its and headed to bed.

Despite the sickness, it was a sweet time for Mommy and Micah.  We sat on the couch reading What is God Like? by Beverly Lewis.  I was amazed that we read the whole thing and he wanted to read it again.  It was exciting to talk about God with my little two year old and sing “Jesus Loves Me” several times at his request.  What a little boy!  I love him dearly and I pray that God continues to increase my love for him and for my Tim and my little Kiersten Joy.

Thank you, LORD, for my family!

Micah with his Lightning McQueen Birthday cake made by Grandmom.

Birthday present that Micah enjoys driving to church and work in.

Enjoying birthday cake

What a cutie.

Waiting for the flash.

What a Day!

Today began for me 22 hours ago.  It has been a very long time since I have stayed up all night.  This is probably the first time in my married life I will be up for a whole day.  The occasion you ask… Carpet is coming today.

Last month Sarah and I decided to use Christmas gifts to purchase carpet for our downstairs.  That was the easy part.  After the purchase I have spent weeks trying to get our walls (which were a mess) in order.  I laid tile for our newly installed wood stove (it is the same woodstove we brought over from our old house).

Today’s activites, which began many hours ago, included priming the walls, painting the ceiling, painting the walls, painting the stairway and painting the steps (I am presently waiting for the paint on the steps to dry).  I have been so thankful for Sarah’s help.  She primed and painted the walls.  And in a 28 by 23 foot room, that is a lot of painting.  She has an artistic touch that amazes me in almost everything she does.  I slop paint on the wall.  Sarah actually paints it on the wall.

Once we finish this project, we will have completed three projects in our new home.  We fixed up Kiersten’s room shortly after we purchased the house.  We installed a fan and tile in the second bathroom (which is waiting to be painted).  And now we are on the verge of completing the downstairs.

This project is definitely the largest in scale as of yet.  The future renovations (Lord willing) of the kitchen and Master Bathroom are probably going to be just as involved, but those projects are going to have to wait for a little while.

We look forward to Micah and Kiersten scurrying around on the new carpet tomorrow afternoon.  We wanted to get this project done so that during the winter we can save money by using our woodstove, and so that during the summer we can relax in a place that is usually 10-15 degrees cooler than the upstairs.

Once we get a chance to relax, we will try to post some pictures everything.  I am off this week so hopefully the relaxation will be coming soon.

Mommy’s Little Update

Micah makes me laugh with his little phrases he has been learning and his boisterous singing. He just learned a phrase this afternoon after a dramatic incident in the bathroom: “Never put balls in the toilet!” There were four balls that made it in this time (with one soft one that had been there before). After some reprimanding I asked to see if he understood, “Do we throw balls in the toilet?” He answered very affirmatively, “No!” Good boy.

What about Kiki? She woke up happy today…a first in a very long time. Hooray! We’re still working on lengthening nap times to longer than one hour. Mommy is also trying to learn how to get things out of her mouth once they have made their entrance…those two bottom teeth are sharp!

Missions Trip Video

Some have asked us how this past summer’s Missions Trip to Puerto Rico went.  Here is the video we have on our church website for you to see in your free time.  Hope you enjoy it.  I love the practical joke in the middle that the girls played on our guy.

Imagination

A cup of coffee out of a socket wrench.  Cocoa Cools from a baby food jar.  A green alligator saying hello to Micah.  These have all been part of our little boys imagination over the past few days.  It seems that the past couple of days Micah’s imagination has really taken off.  He offered me coffee out of a socket wrench which I must say was the best I had ever tasted.  He pretended to feed me Cocoa Cools (a generic brand of Cocoa Puffs) from an empty baby food jar.  Today he held a green alligator hand puppet toward himself and said, “Hi Micah.”  What a joy!

Favorite Pictures

We wanted to show you some of our favorite pictures of Micah and Kiersten.  Here they are:

Micah in the Leaves

Micah feeding the goats who live at the end of our street.

Micah and Kiersten on the rocking horse.

Our best Christmas Tree ever!

Micah enjoying a Boston cream doughnut

Jesus Loves Me, This I Know!

We hope you enjoy this little video as much as we did in hearing Micah sing “Jesus Loves Me, This I Know.”  He also loves to help us start his “goodnight” song “God Be with You ‘Till We Meet Again”.  He is building quite a repertoire of songs.