Catch Up

Pastor T and Tim doing push-ups somewhere in China.

Mommy and Damaris riding the Thomas Train.

Two girls who love to sleep were up before 5 to catch the train.

Jason (L) and Ezekiel (R) waiting for the next event at Day Out with Thomas.

Ezekiel LOVES his cousin Jason, as we all do. They are complete opposites but they have a lot of fun together. They were so cute riding the Thomas Train and meeting Sir Topham Hatt.

Damaris modeling her new dress daddy brought her back from China.

The Birthday Boy Dietrich!

There are too many things to try to even catch up from the last post. Here are some things we've been doing lately.

Tim went to China for a couple weeks during September. He got to meet some new friends and catch up with some Chinese friends he taught here in the States. To say we missed him while he was gone would be an understatement. The kids did great while he was gone but we were SOOOO ready to have him home. I'm so thankful to God for the advancement of technology which enabled us to talk to him on the phone almost daily and to Skype with him several times.

Ezekiel started all-day preschool last month. It's been a lot different for him and for us. We miss having him around most of the day and he is beat everyday I pick him up. He plays hard and naps little to none so that makes for a tired four year old everyday. He is so much fun and is a joy to spend time with. He always wants to have his turn praying when we pray at meals or bedtime or before school.

Damaris is two and a half now. She is not in school this year, thankfully, but I do see some sort of preschool for her in not so distant future. Damaris is a lot of fun to have at home. She is always wanting to "help you momma." She says that with the most southern drawl. She really is a good little helper. She talks a lot and sings a lot at home but is very shy around strangers, unlike her big brother. She also wants to take care of "Didi," her little brother and hold him.

Dietrich turned turned the big 1 last month. I felt like it was such a huge milestone for him. He has grown so much in the past year and is such a funny little fellow. He looks just like Tim's baby pictures, minus several pounds. He weighed almost 20 pounds at his one year check-up and I'm sure there was no place to plot Tim's weight on the graph when he was one. I think he is going to be a lot like his daddy, which makes me really happy. He is such a ham and really knows how to make you laugh. He gets in to a lot more stuff than Ezekiel and Damaris did so he keeps me running.

Me- not much to update other than I am loving being at home with my family and we are all still loving our church here (tccraleigh.org).

Dietrich

Dietrich with Papa Howard

What a silly little grin. Dietrich was definitely enjoying his ride in Damaris' baby doll stroller.

I don't think anything could have made Damaris more happy than to have "Didi" or "Buddy," as she likes to call him, in her stroller.

First trip to the beach. Catching some rays, but not for long. The wind was brutal that day so we tried to keep little man shaded in the stroller as much as possible.

Dietrich is now 8 months old! Some times it seems like time has flown and other days it seems like time has been creeping. Little man is doing well sleeping, eating, and sitting up, but I think we're still a long way from crawling. He can move backwards a little but not much, just enough to get himself under the couch. I think his favorite person in the world is Ezekiel right now. He lights up and gets so excited when Ezekiel walks in the room and no one can make him laugh like Ezekiel does. I'm glad they seem to love each other so much b/c they're probably going to be sharing a room very soon. Damaris loves to help take care of "buddy." She wants to feed him everything and kiss him and play with him. She is such a little mama.

Stay Tuned

Stay tuned...hopefully there will be a post about Dietrich later this week.

One More

One more picture of Damaris. This is another outfit that I wore when I was younger. Damaris calls it the frog dress b/c it has a little frog on the front it.

Damaris

Damaris in the bonnet and jacket my sister and I wore when we were little.

The Birthday Girl! Damaris turned 2 last month. Here she is on her new tricycle and sporting her cute "2" shirt that her Aunt Emmy made her. I think she had a lot of fun celebrating her birthday but she was tired after opening the first present .

Hmmm. Wonder what she's thinking? She probably said something like "No don't take my picture" after I snapped this shot. Damaris is such as cutie and has so much personality. She can answer almost any question you ask her in a complete sentence and definitely makes her wants and needs known. The dress she's wearing here is another one of Aunt Emmy's fashions. It's a Clemson dress. I just love those big purple bows.

Damaris is growing a lot lately and is repeating EVERYTHING her big brother says. She loves to read books and draw and is not much of a TV watcher. Her favorite books are Goldie Locks Has Chicken Pox, Time for Tom, and The Going to Bed Book.

Ezekiel

Ezekiel pretending to be a pirate. That's pretty much what he's up to nowadays. He loves pretending to be everything and wants us to pretend with him.

Canoeing with Haley, Jason, and Daddy. We had our niece and three nephews with us over spring break and had a lot of fun with them. They are such great kids and our kids love playing with them. Ezekiel and Jason had their own oar here in the canoe but I don't think they were very helpful with paddling.

Me and my boy. I could just eat him up. Ezekiel is really growing up a lot and is learning so much. He's really watching out for Damaris a lot and trying to protect her. We're talking a lot about loving God, which is the greatest commandment and the second greatest commandment to love your neighbor. Ezekiel seems to be understanding what it means to love your neighbor and not love your neighbor and is able to communicate that well. We pray these simple truths of God will take deep ro0t in his heart and will bear much fruit one day.

Swing Set Pics

Inside the tower. Opposite are two windows. To the left is what Ezekiel calls

the pirate (rope) ladder.

Under the slide is the half picnic table.

Rock Wall/Ladder

View of tower from the back.

The whole shebang, minus the baby swing we haven't put up yet.

Snow

Damaris playing on the new swing set in the snow.

The glider is her favorite.

I put Ezekiel and Damaris in this little pool that has a hole in it and doesn't hold water anymore. It made a great sled. Ezekiel loved sliding around the yard in it. Damaris wasn't that crazy about it. I like this picture b/c Ezekiel's got a handful of snow he's trying to eat.

I got my Harley jacket and my Hello Kitty boots on. I'm ready for the snow.

So thankful for Carhart clothing.