New Blog!

After a few days of intense learning accompanied with a few frustrating moments....my heart has been captured by WordPress! We felt that it was high time we started a newer, updated "family blog". So, without further ado, I invite you to One Glance At A Time...Please bookmark us if you'd like to follow our upcoming adventures and lives.

Adorable Little Valentine

Love these pictures! They remind me of Valentine's Day, even though they were taken in January.






Ready for some more adorableness? I can't believe I forgot to post things when I took them in January.

Decompressing...

I am practically knee deep in information. And you know what? I LOVE IT! I am an information junkie. No doubt about it. I love to learn new things. But most of all, I have to PROCESS new things with people. So, take my passionate personality and too much information on my mind and this is what you get! ;) I know of several of you that still read my blog, so I thought I'd share with you what I'm learning lately.

Most of you who read our blog know we are contemplating a major move to China this summer for a minimum of 2 years. Here are a few things I'm learning as it relates to our China process.

*skype. holy moly, what a cool thing.
*what a third culture kid is and how to relate to them, raise k well, provide support, etc.
*the history of china-from late 1800's-2005. Fascinating.
*food industry in china
*wild side of china--wilderness, animals, jungles, tibet, etc.
*the culture. people.

Okay. Item number 2 that I'm learning lots about. Marriage. Woah.

*egalitarianism vs. complementarian-ism (spelling?) This is huge for Tim and I right now. I won't get into the nitty gritty here, but feel free to ask me in real life if you're interested! (btw, we're egalitarian) :)
*Differentiation. This is a really good thing folks! Check out chapter 2 of Passionate Marriage by Snarch (I think that's his name...) if you're curious about what this actually looks like.
*Gender roles. Yuck. I hate even typing that phrase out.
*Mutual Submission. Another really awesome thing.
*Attachment principles in marriage. Sounds interesting, huh? It is! I am learning that similar attachment ideas that are important between children and parents are important between man and woman in marriage. Imagine that?! ;) We are currently listening to "Hold Me Tight" by Dr. Johnson, Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love.

Whew. That was hearty! Now onto the "parenting stuff".

*Grace Based Discipline. Another totally rad concept that I learned about when Kairis was first born. Praise the Lord for Dr. Sears, Jeff VanVonderen, and all those other stellar authors that "get this" and write about it so well. We are in the "terrific twos" with Kairis now, and are loving it! I could go into great detail, but I'll spare you.

Misc. stuff I'm learning about:

*Photography! Lani has graciously given me her old Canon Rebel DSLR for a sweet price. It comes with free photography lessons and other rad stuff. I am really excited about learning more about this.

*Fish tanks. We were gifted (thanks again, Lani!) a 35 gallon fresh water fish tank last summer and are continuing to enjoy learning about this new "world". Kairis especially loves our fish! :)

*Exercising, eating well, living naturally, etc. This is huge. I ran my first half marathon last spring and have since then tried to develop a habit of exercising. I am also co-leading a weight loss/management/healthy choice Bible study group with a few friends weekly. It's been a blessing to lead and learn.

*Blogging. Okay, so I'm trying to stay on top of maintaining this blog and K's private blog more regularly. :) I do have a strong desire to blog more often and actually discuss parenting/marriage/misc. topics here. I don't have the time to devote to this yet.

*Adoption/Foster Care stuff. This is kinda on the back-burner too, for now. We are hoping to do an International adoption if we move to China....we'll see how this goes. We are also excited to work in orphanages in China and learn more about the foster care system over there.

*Leading with Tim a married's "support group" that facilitates mentorship between couples, and social gatherings.
*Continuing to seek healing and restoration spiritually. I am really strengthening my faith and dependence on the Lord lately and learning how to "wait" and "trust". Those are two huge areas in which I am being challenged.

Whew. This about covers it. If you made it this far, you either really care about me, or you are just very curious. Or both.

The End.

The Zoo, China and the 4th Grade.

We went to the zoo with our friends today. Kairis and I love going on fun adventures together, and today was no exception. It was crisp and cool out--with a bright shining sun. It couldn't have been better. We even got to see the Red Apes and the Lions this morning--two animals that aren't usually well seen.

No news about China yet. Tim and I are digesting large amounts of information about China from a variety of non-fiction books, memoirs, etc. along with enjoying lots of BBC and Discovery documentaries on China. We are growing more and more fond of this mysterious country....though, I must admit, some new things we've learned recently about the country are less than cool. Human manure for one. I'll just leave it at that.

Tim is enjoying student teaching in the 4th grade. I think I've cried on average 3x a week hearing some of the stories he's sharing about his students, experiences and their families. He's teaching at a Title 1 school, which basically means the school receives more govt. grants and funding due to the impoverished community in which this school serves. Folks, it's a tough world out there. My growing admiration and appreciation toward public school teachers is larger than I'd have expected it to ever be and Tim's only been teaching for about a month.

I'd leave you with lovely pictures if I could....but my iphone is STILL syncing...soo...next time, and sooner than later too.

What Is It About Two?

The age of 2 is magical to me. It never used to be, until Kairis came along. I love watching how much she is learning, and being able to participate in the excitement over the simplest of things. Smashing bananas in milk with cheerios for breakfast makes her giggle and squeal in delight. Hearing her gasp with glee in the backseat as a mail truck drives past us, or looking outside the window one early morning as the fog settles in, and exclaiming "snow!!" It's all just so precious to me. My heart melts when she takes her little sticky hands and places them on my cheeks, stares me in the eyes and says "love you mama", "miss you mama" and then gives me a tight hug around the neck. I love hearing her holler when daddy comes home from work and listen to her try and tell him about her day while talking to him on the phone.

My heart is so full of love for this little girl. She's truly a joy to Tim and I, and we thank God every day for giving her to us for this time.

Kairis and her haircut...

Kairis got a cute new do a few weeks ago! It was time for a trim, and with naturally curly, thick hair, I knew my limits and decided that $14 was well worth the money for something I could potentially screw up. :)

She sat on my lap, enjoyed a sucker and even held still long enough for "Angel" (haircutter's name) to braid her hair and apply glitter. Lots of glitter.

Our Home at Christmas Time

Our little peanut wearing her favorite "meow" jammies.

This Christmas season in our new home has been a joy. The day after we arrived home from Kansas, we decided to don on our rainboots, mittens and warm coats and walk out to our backyard to cut down our very own Christmas Tree, a beautiful Norman Noble. Remember, we moved to a Christmas Tree Farm this past summer? Our excursion didn't last that long, as it was cold and we had a cranky girl on our hands that was still adjusting from the time change and all...but, all in all, it was enjoyable. Here's our cozy country home decked out for Christmas.




The first ornament Kairis hung--a classic handmade (by me when I was little) candy cane.



Like I mentioned...Kairis was a little grouchy on our tree hunt...but cute, none-the-less! ;)