dancing walking

Ted & Sophie make a guest appearance on JB's newest Dance Walking Video. JB said to send in videos. So we made a little video a couple weeks ago on a family walk. Hence the dance walking.

i think i'll stay here

Last week it occurred to me that, for the first time in a very long time, we are not in a season of major anticipation, change, adjustment or life change. It's definitely been since I got pregnant with Sophie (going on 6 years), but could possibly go back as far as before I got pregnant with Ted. No major changes like new jobs, moving, leaving jobs, being pregnant, having a baby, health issues, finding preschools, buying or selling a house. No adjusting to any one of those things and the many, many months that sometimes takes. No anticipation of what might be or is coming next. This, my friends, is a season of stability. Oh, we're still raising $12,000 to pay for the bus to camp and some scholarships. And we still need to raise about $30,000 to finish up this year's Young Life budget in the black. But that's the norm. That's ok.

I'm good with this season of life. Really good. And I think I'll sit here and soak it up for now because I know it won't be this way forever. So I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

 

Some new pics:

Sophie is going to be a flower girl in June for Ben's cousin Shae. We went to New Martinsville for the weekend to do my sister-in-law Heather's baby shower and Shae's bridal shower. Sophie attended both with the "big girls" and modeled her flower girl dress.

This is so old! Ted's been doing little fix it jobs around the house with the tool box. This was him replacing the license plates on our new van.

To pooped to party. This is obviously old because Ben still has his massive beard.
So glad that thing is gone.

Sophie before soccer practice talking to the ants she found on the sidewalk.

Enjoying the nice weather. Love this girl so much!

The "beautiful flowers" Sophie picked for me and the picture she took of them.

This was before school about 2 weeks ago. Shorts, skirt, no coats. YAHOO!

Sophie is a girly girl - dresses, jewelry, lip gloss and nail polish. I love it! But I also love that she's not the least bit afraid to get dirty. The girl knows how to dig some dirt in the backyard. 

Lastly, two quick funny things:

1) Sophie to me the other day: "Mom, I'm very good at painting other people's nails. I would paint yours if you asked me." She fed that line to my mom and she fell for it, hook, line and sinker.

2) Ted and I were having a little chat the other night about not talking all the time, especially when we're trying to get out of the house. Sometimes we need to get our shoes on, get our stuff together and get out of the house without so much talking and stalling. We can talk in the van when we're all settled. He said, "But Mom, I love to talk. I'm so good at it. It's one of my talents." Of course it is, Ted.

2013 new leader placement

Last Friday was New Leader Placement Night for Mountaineer Area Young Life. 25 leaders were placed - the biggest in Mountaineer Area history. I would say a lot of it is due to Young Life College. Cameron and Sarah have been so faithful to figuring out what Young Life College looks like and the vision for West Virginia University. Years 1 & 2 were nebulous and figuring things out. This year, we have really seen the fruit of the ministry. It is truly invaluable.

 The Area History

Fall 2012 WyldLife - Fairmont was inadvertently left off the list.

* = new leader placed on the team

 East Fairmont & Fairmont Senior High Schools

Jasmine*, Brittany, Andrew*, Blake*, Ryan*, Morgan*, Hillarie

Jacob, Nixon & Jon

Nixon is graduating and going on to the audiology program at WVU.

Ryan is also going to do WyldLife.

Grafton High School

Alex, Emmet, Ashley*, Sarah, Jimmy & Jesse*

Alex is graduating and going on YL Staff. Jimmy & Sarah are moving back to Morgantown for Jimmy to go to Law School.

Morgantown High School

David, Ashley*, Kayla, Daniel, Tommy*, Joe

Greg*

Ashley & Greg will double as WyldLife leaders.

University High School

Paul, Jordan*, Kelly, Kaitlyn* & Kaitlyn*

Devin* & John

John will be graduating this year and moving to Cincinnati.

Young Life College

Tyler, Rusty, Ron, Ben, Caleb, Baby Eliza, Cameron, Josh, Allison, Zach, Mark

Sarah, Laura, Meggie, Caity , Emmaline, Abbey 

Clay-Battelle High School

Andrew*, Hannah* & Ben

CB started this semester and these are the first ever leaders placed there! Very exciting.

Bridgeport High School

Looch, Gina, Gabe*, Zane, Zac, Justin*

This was a really, really fun evening. We invited all the leaders parents and packed out the church we used at around 200 people! Ben, Cameron and the team leaders announced the new leaders' placements like the NFL draft. Such a blessing and joy to be part of!

mid-april

- SPRING HAS SPRUNG and I feel like a new person. After what seemed like a very long winter with few peeks of spring, it came with amazingness this week. Winter started with a snow day before Halloween (and a blizzard from a Hurricane in many areas of WV) and lasted until the first week of April. Last week, I sat absolutely frozen at Sophie's soccer practice. This week, I felt like I should be going to the pool after work. I think the best thing is knowing that winter is truly behind us. I love this weather for several reasons:

1) We are outside all evening. Ted immediately goes for the basketball hoop and Sophie for her bike. We are going for walks, bike rides, and playing at the park.
2) Grill Season! Grilling is so much easier. So much less cleanup. We eat outside and I LOVE it! I may or may not be considering a paper plate summer.
3) No coats, gloves, hats. Walk out the door. Mornings are so much better.
4) Flip flops! Tuesday morning I proclaimed that it was a crime to wear sandals without painting your toe nails. Ted asked if I would get arrested. I guess I should choose my words more wisely.

- Ted is playing baseball. Sophie is playing soccer. Sophie has one speed in soccer - slow. But she loves it and gets herself completely ready each practice. I'm very, very thankful for the socks that have the little shin guard inserts. Ted is really liking baseball and we are on Wyatt's team again!

- I really, really want to paint my kitchen and my dining room. I just can't seem to get up the gumption.

- I love our house. My dad has been doing home repairs, and I've been doing some outdoor upkeep. It's actually fun to be a homeowner to this house. We can do lots of things that make a big difference that aren't huge remodel projects. My Dad is awesome for all the time he's been putting in. The man has a vision, that's for sure. I might even plant some flowers!

- In February both of our cars died. I knew back in the fall that we would most likely need to replace both of them come spring. It was quite a source of anxiety for me. A very generous friend gave us a newer than our old Honda Accord. Which allowed us to buy a new van. We bought my dream car - a Honda Odyssey. It's a very basic 2010 - no bells or whistles. I love it. I debated whether or not to get another van, but we use it so much as a passenger vehicle that I decided it was totally worth it. Every time I get in either of the vehicles, I am so very, very thankful. No illuminated lights on the dashboard is a beautiful thing.

- Today I spilled unset jello all over the kitchen floor. That stuff is incredibly sticky. I was mopping away when Sophie came in a said, "Oh Mom. I would have licked that up for you!"

- I miss nap time in my day. A lot. Especially in the spring when I could be sitting on the back deck in the sun.

- I'm currently figuring out childcare for the summer. That's all I'll say about that.

- We had parent teacher conference just before Spring Break. I know that parent/teacher conference may not always be such a blessing, so I'll be thankful for these. Not necessarily in an academic way, although they are both doing great. But more in making good choices and being a good friend. Ted has been super helpful with 2 new students in the class that each have their own hardships. Sophie has been been a good friend to some of the harder to get along with "citizens" in her class. I'm proud of them both.

- Ted is a reading fool! Those months of learning to read are so, so painful. We've crossed that hump and listening to him read is like music to my ears.

- Our days are full. Very, very full.

family photos

These are some pictures from the wedding we went to in Charleston a couple weeks ago. Greg Isaacs took some pictures. The one of Sophie is my all time favorite. Thanks, Greg! Family pictures at the beach, beach, beach.

 

#sb2k13

So it was Spring Break last week. And everyone on Twitter had something fun to say about somewhere with nicer weather or at least skiing if the weather was cold. I saw all kinds of stuff with some sort of SB2k13 hashtag.

Us? We hung out in the tropical city of Morgantown where the weather was (and still is) no where near what you would consider spring break-ish. We did have an excellent week as a family though. We didn't need to travel anywhere to spend some much needed time together. 

Some highlights of our week included (with no pictures):

- Sophie playing soccer

- cleaning out the basement (not fun but makes me feel a lot better)

- lots of basketball watching

- family date night to see "The Croods" and dinner at Chili's (giftcards!)

- 2 days with their favorite babysitter

- 1 day playing with friends

- lots of time in pj's (Ted comes home and puts on his pj's no matter what time of day it is and no matter the fact he might be leaving again in 30 minutes)

- Monopoly (Ben loves Monopoly and has passed that love on to Ted. I hate it. But we've played several time late into the night.)

- catching up on missed episodes of Duck Dynasty. (That show makes me laugh HARD!)

- not having to pack lunches in the morning

- Grandma and Gary Pap came over for a day (Gary Pap is starting some house projects)

- a girl's night out for me

- Ben being home every evening

- Easter dinner with 11 leaders (I cooked my first bad ham. I usually accidentally make such a good one. I'm going to say it was a bad ham to start with and leave it at that.)

- And our trip to Pittsburgh of which I do have pictures. We hit the museum, rode the incline, swung by Ikea and had dinner at Steak 'N Shake.

Then there was the painting of eggs:

And that's all the fun we could handle for Spring Break 2013.