future

In response to my friend's blogpost: Yesterday Joshua emailed me about an internship in Munster, IN. Mentioned maybe he would apply for it. About 30 min later (or less?) he texted me: “So, have you looked up all the houses for sale in Munster yet?” Well, of course I had. He knows me too well. I am always dreaming and wondering and planning about the next step. I am already planning the decorations of our next apartment, while still putting up pictures here. Joshua is maybe beginning to understand this obsession of mind, but I still think sometimes it drives him crazy. Mostly because someone’s gotta make all the money for the house in Munster and those decorations! I still enjoy the here and now, but I just think it is fun to dream and plan. In the next 10 years I will probably have the most cutest house that we are slowly renovating. There will be kids and I will be chasing them around our big yard with lots of trees and no ticks. I will be a super good graphic designer and be making all sorts of wedding invites and baby announcements (maybe even company logos, ooooo). That is my plan.

Baby C likes Cardinals

Spring keeps pretending it has come, then it snows and the cold keeps us inside. We love the days where we get to walk around the neighborhood. Charles is always very happy outside (equals me being happy, too). The only problem is that when he takes a nap in the stroller or in his carrier, I can't lay down on the sidewalk and join him . . .

Yesterday we went to Indianapolis to take Joshua to a job interview. It was soooooo cold, but Charles and I got all bundled up and braved the downtown. We walked around the pretty statues and old buildings and watched hotel-goers unload their suitcases. 

This is a picture from 1898. There are a few more buildings surrounding the monument now! Did you know  the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument is only 15 feet shorter than the statue of liberty? Charles and I had a great time driving around and around the roundabout circling the monument. Actually, I was frustrated about not finding a free parking spot and he was screaming in the back seat . . .  :)

This is what it looks like now. Poor Joshua got a little lost trying to meet up with us.  I eventually told him, "The flag on the state capitol is blowing towards us, follow it!" Too bad he wasn't riding in a horse and buggy with some blankies on his lap, it would have been a lot warmer. 

The internship is probably not the perfect fit, but we had a grand time checking out the capitol city. Even though we didn't get to go to the zoo (next time). Actually, there are a lot of fun things to do in Indianapolis (50 date ideas for less than $50 in Downtown Indy). We just need to figure out how to help Baby C enjoy the 1.25 hour car ride there!

And here is a movie about cardinals and our bird feeder. It may be a little boring for you to watch, but I was pretty impressed that I could be that close for so long. Aren't they so bright and pretty? I haven't ever taken a picture of the girl birds because they are brown. But I am starting to think they are beautiful, too, in a different way. I like the way their bright beaks are contrasted with their muted brown feathers. You could design a wardrobe off those color inspirations. 

Me and Joshua sharing a sunflower seed:

Dimple Dell Creek

Rock Climbing with the Nelsons

No Crying He Makes

I LOVE CALIFORNIA

No, we did not name our baby after this Charlie

Remember this video?

It still makes us laugh. Joshua recently found this NY Times article about the lads and their viral home video. Maybe our Charliekins will be just as famous someday . . .

But hopefully he will not be such a biter . . .

New Tricks for Daddy to See

While You Were Sleeping

Workin' in the bathroom,

Sleepin' on the floor.

You are waking growing up too fast.

But, could we ask for anything more?!

MWAW!

Planes and Pizza

Over the next few days, we will recount our trip home for the holidays--now that we've a month to reflect about it.

Wow, talk about a horrible family picture.
Our flight was actually quite nice, despite the horror and exhaustion our faces may suggest

At the end of the long day, the Nelsons took us to a family friend's restaurant and Beccah made us some pizza.  It was delicious.

Hope, Sheep and Rocking Chairs

Today Joshua's study buddy (or whatever grad-school, grown-up term they use these days), brought up an interesting point. He was talking about all the plans he has for the future and things he wants to happen: get married, have kids, work for this really cool company. Then he said, Ahh, I plan too much, and paraphrased one of his favorite scriptures, James 4:14--
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a ^avapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. .  . .

Joshua was reminded of Hebrews 11:1--
Now ^afaith is the ^bsubstance of things ^choped for, the ^devidence of things not seen.


Joshua came home and was telling me about the conversation.  I like the mesh of the two scriptures.  Hope and plan and be excited for life.   Have faith, knowing that your life is in God's hands (not your own) and that's okay. It might not turn out at all liked you hoped for.  But it will be a pretty dang good life.  


So, here are some of the things I hope for (not in order of importance at all)

1. A real couch that I can curl up on. From a real store (like RC Willy Outlet)
2. Pet Sheep. Because dog poop smells and goats eat your trees.  Joshua likes the idea of getting something useful (wool) out of them every year when shearing season rolls around.
3. Lots of hugs and smiles from baby Charles and however many siblings come after him
4. A big garden that Joshua can come and get his exercise tilling.  And harvesting enough Yukon gold and red potatoes to last us the whole year.
5. Chickens.  Welcoming our hens back home someday (or at least their honorary descendants).

Family picture from two summers ago. From left: Joshua, Starks, Erica, Norman and Buddy (may he rest in peace)

6. Talking as we sit in our rocking chairs on our porch some evening, reflecting on our many many happy years of life together.

Thank you for sleeping, but I miss you.

We are still figuring out how to help you sleep. Naps, mostly. At bedtime you do fantastic. But howcome you don't want to take naps? Maybe you miss me too much. When you first started going to sleep for the night at 7:30 or 8, then sleeping until midnight or one am, I missed you. Like, I would go in and wake you up to eat when you were probably ok. But I missed you all those hours. I love you sooooo much. I hope you are getting enough sleep, even when we keep you from napping because we like playing with you!

Shagai

We're getting a little bored of playing Monopoly Deal every night. So we've moved on to another timeless standby; the national game of Mongolia. Shagai, in case you didn't already know, refers to a game that is sort of like jacks or marbles, except you play with the astralagus of a sheep's ankle bone. I have no idea what astralagus means, but the links to Wikipedia are there for the curious to take a look.

It was a great enrichment to our marriage to start playing board games before we go to bed each night. It gets us talking and having fun together rather than zoning out in front a TV or laptop screen--though we do have certain TV shows that we enjoy watching and commenting on and discussing endlessly together. We'll blog about those at a later time.

Thanks so much to Erica's mission companion and our dear friend Munkhnaran and her family for generously giving us their substantial shagai collection. It would have taken us a long time and a lot of horhogs to accumulate a collection of our own.

The Snotsucker

Poor little Baby Charles had his very first cold. It was very yucky and he had a lot of congestion. But we are recovering, thanks to saline nose spray and The Snotsucker.

He is a good sport about it all. Still smiles all the time, and gives us those little grateful smirks when we pick him up and he anticipates that we will somehow relieve his suffering (which hopefully we do some of the time). Though the aforementioned nose spray and Snotsucker are not exactly his idea of fun.