finally...a house

We are in the process of buying our first house ever. Jon can get to his office by walking through the back yard, never having to cross a street, and the boys can walk the 2 blocks to school. It has a large back yard that feels very private, and the creek is just a short distance through the trees. It is plenty large (4 Br 2 bath), has nice wood floors and a large eat-in kitchen. Then there are touches from when Wendy and Andy lived in it (see bathroom songbook wallpaper), and it has good vibes from when Paul and Laurel and Benji and Sarah lived in it as well. The seller's son rented from Andreas' in Newton, living in Jon's childhood home, and the seller's mom is Theo's adopted Oma in town, so how couldn't it be meant to be?! Not to mention that it has been the ONLY place we've seen that Jon and I have both liked. We'll probably move in at the beginning of May, once Jon finishes his semester. Come visit us!

love at the end of the day

On a day last week when Seth was filled with so much anger that he drew blood on his big brother and left us all tired, he also sat down and spent many hours creating 20-some Valentine cards for his classmates and grandparents. He laid the cards down around him, asking for a photo. I treasure this picture of him surrounded and protected by love, still emanating from him and still flowing towards him.

unabashed brainwashing

before and after

Following the Waldorf tradition, we've waiting until after the second birthday to cut each of our boys' hair. Theo's day was today, since Opa and Oma Wiebe were here (and one of them has been looking forward to this day for a long time). Our baby is growing up.

Embracing the Cold

Last Saturday Wendy took the boys skating on Riley Creek, 3 blocks from our place. It made the Lima News! The next evening, we 5 went out in the dark and skated under the stars. I pulled Theo around and around on a sled until our toes got cold and we walked home clinging to each other's body heat. Isaac and Seth have really gotten the hang of skating.

Jonathan on TV

Fox TV from Lima came to campus today to interview Jonathan about the economic stimulus package. They aired 2 segments, but I messed up with the video camera on the second segment. Can you recognize him in that suit and tie?!

free rice

The kids had fun tonight on freerice.com, where answering multiple choice vocabulary questions earns free rice to be sent to the hungry through United Nations World Food Program. The kids earned 8,000 grains of rice, which we estimated to be about 8 bowls full of rice. And we learned a bit about munificence in the process.