Crump Family Blog

Moving right along

2012-01-28T10:52:00.001-05:00

I met with our contractor and electrician yesterday morning to walk through our electrical plan. There are so many details to a plan. Walking through it helps to work out what looks good on paper, but doesn't work in reality.

I also got an idea of the timeline for our renovation project to be completed. It could be done as early as the end of April and as late as the end of May. Either way, it's earlier than we thought we'd be able to move in. Peyton and I had set our mind on having everything done by mid-summer. So, we're thrilled to possibly move in sooner!

Other things happening with the house...

- Our trim was painted white this week. And the color we've chosen for the main color of our house is Templeton Gray. Colors on a computer can be hokey...but here it is. In "real life" the gray looks bluish, greenish gray.

- Will, our contractor, met with our engineer this week to talk about adding a steel beam to go over the chimney. They came up with an awesome design that will distribute the weight appropriately around the chimney and will still leave the flue open so we can eventually have a working fireplace.

- Our heating and air conditioning unit for the upstairs is being installed. We've also decided to have the ducts for the downstairs replaced (cha-ching!). There was quite a bit of mold and dirt in the downstairs ducts. And with Peyton's allergies (and Ainsley's suspected ones) it'll be good to have a clean ac/heating system.

- The vinyl floor was ripped up from the bathroom and the hardwood is showing. The floor is in awesome condition! Yeah! I'm super excited to sand and stain all of the floors at the end of this project.

- The heart pine flooring we bought a few weeks back ended up not being as much as we thought. We certainly have a novice eye when it comes to eyeing the square footage of flooring. In our defense there were nails in the boards which made it look like much more. Anywho...the square footage ended up being around 400 sqft. instead of 1200 sqft. (I know, big discrepancy) We emailed the kind woman who sold us the flooring and she has offered to mail back to us a portion of what we paid for it. We really appreciate her willingness to offer that to us. We'll be a little short on the amount of flooring to complete the upstairs, but we hope to find the 50 sqft that we need to complete the space.

Next week...

- Heating and air conditioning, electrical and plumbing.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the outside getting finished. To see the colors and roofing on the house will be satisfying.

Week 3

2012-01-21T15:29:00.000-05:00

We met with our contractor, Will, yesterday to talk about the next steps for our little millhouse. The upstairs is framed and is a defined space. It's been exciting for our whole family to see it take shape. Ainsley and Asher are thrilled about their new bedrooms. I think each room has fun things to offer them and will be their unique space.

So, the next steps...
- Currently some vertical beams are supporting a major steel beam that carries some 2nd story weight. This week the beams will come down and we'll see if the chimney (oh, our poor chimney) will be able to hold the weight. If not, we may need to consider completely giving up hope on having a working fireplace in our house and closing off the chimney to allow for more support. We may decide to do this anyway. As pretty as our brick statue is in the middle of our living space, its usability is slight.
- Downstairs walls. We originally thought we'd remove the drywall to expose the beadboard. And, down the road we might do that. But for now we're going to patch the drywall and use it. This is going to make it easier to get insulation in the walls (much desired) and cut out a lot of work for us. Painting the beadboard looked like a beast to tackle. Anyway, some great colors on the wall will be enough to make the space unique and we'll be nice and toasty in the winter with insulated walls.
- The kitchen. Our original idea when we bought the house is to leave the downstairs as is. And then we decided to knock down some walls and change one of the bedrooms into a dining room. Plus, our architect came up with an awesome layout for a new kitchen. However, we've reigned ourselves in and decided to do very little with the kitchen. We'll move our stove from one side of the kitchen window to the other and add a dishwasher. But we won't add anymore cabinets and will keep the sink where it is. Because we have an awesome retro pushbutton stove, I love the idea of leaning toward the freestanding kitchen. And with our new plan for the kitchen we'll definitely have that feel.
- And finally, we'll add our beautiful new to us heart pine floors to the upstairs. We bought the floors last weekend for 50 cents/sqft. with the nails still in them from their last home. And Peyton has been working on getting the nails out this week. He's about 1/3 done having put 2 solid evenings and a Saturday into it.

HVAC and electrical folks will be coming in this week (I think). And some folks will be coming in to take out the linoleum in the bathroom (heart pine floors underneath!) and take out the old tile ceilings. Another exciting week to come! But before that, pictures from this past week.

The view from our dining room into the living room/kitchen.

Our staircase.

The tub. Peyton and I helped the folks from Hillsborough Plumbing carry it from our shed to the 2nd floor bathroom. It's cast iron and HEAVY. We got to know our plumbers quite well over that bonding experience.

The view over our clerestory stairwell. So pretty!

The view from Ainsley's room. A wall of windows. Helps to make the small bedrooms feel bigger.

Peyton's stack of denailed heart pine floors. He's a champ at nail pulling.

Tore the roof off

2012-01-15T13:04:00.000-05:00

This week...
- The new staircase (a temporary version...but in the right location) was built.
- The roof was torn off. How wild it was to see our house that way!
- The 2nd floor subfloor was put in.
- The framing for the upstairs began.

Our house has finally taken its new shape and we love it! It's only been two weeks of construction and so much has happened. And I'm thankful there have been very few surprises as the demolition and framing has begun. The only real disappointment for us thus far has been the fireplaces and chimney being unusable and will be very costly to get them in a working condition. For now we won't have working fireplaces but haven't given up hope that we'll eventually rebuild the chimney and get them in working condition.

So I leave you with pictures from this week:

Demo Week 1 complete

2012-01-08T23:17:00.001-05:00

Here are a few pictures from the 1st week of demolition.

A view from the kitchen into the living room. We're hoping to find out soon how usable our fireplaces will be. We're hoping for vented gas logs. If the chimney isn't usable, we might go for ventless logs.

Looking into the house from the front door. There are temporary supports for the second floor all around right now. We're not planning to put up new walls downstairs...just knocking some down.

Peyton and I spent this morning chipping away at an excessive amount of mortar on the fireplace. Hoping to get it pretty enough to leave it unpainted.

It should be an action packed week if the rain doesn't slow things down.

The writing on the wall.

2012-01-08T11:01:00.001-05:00

This was found written on the wall in a closet after the closet was torn down. Not sure if it was the previous owner or not. Some funny 1999/y2k predictions.

Some serious busting

2012-01-03T20:36:00.001-05:00

Well, the workers started demolition today. I really thought they would start outside, but instead worked inside all day. Now, I drove by the house a few times today and didn't see much action and knew I'd have to stop by tonight to see what they were up to all day. And they were definitely up to something. (sorry for the horrible pictures but they were taken by an iphone in the dark).

The view of the fireplace/chimney from the living room.

The chimney/fireplace from the kitchen.

So, they demolished the wall between the kitchen and living room exposing the chimney and fireplaces. No cleaning of the debris had taken place, so insulation and dust were everywhere. But, we saw that the wood floors go all the way to the chimney (yay, I had feared a great big hole) and that the chimney has a pretty cool shape to it. The bricks seem to be in great shape, but definitely need some cleaning. Yay for demo day 1!

Busting through the wall

2012-01-02T18:23:00.002-05:00

Update: Our contractor just emailed to say demolition starts tomorrow!! Pray for dry weather.

So far there aren't any visible signs that construction has started at our house (beyond the permit sign). However, we know that holes are being dug and concrete is being poured to create footings under the house. Believe me, when the roof comes off I'll post pictures.

Until the exciting stuff begins, though, we are spending these awesome and sunny afternoons working around our "new" house. Peyton has been working to clean up the yard and remove part of the fence in the back to open up the yard a bit. Honestly, his project has taken many hours and lots of effort. And it's looking awesome. He's chopped down many little "junk" trees and removed lots of random objects (string, styrofoam pieces, sheathing) that's really opening up the yard to show lots of potential. My project has been out of curiosity and fun. I have put neither much effort or time into it. But look what I discovered...

It looks like the last heating source the fireplace was used for was a wood stove. Although I think we'll have a wood stove in the kitchen (which is completely bricked in), I think we'll try to bust through and have a fireplace in the living room. We're still debating between wood and gas logs for the fireplace. Peyton would like to use wood and I'd like to use gas...we'll see. Also, you'll notice the beadboard above the fireplace. Our idea is to remove the walls down to the brick of the fireplace and have only the masonry chimney dividing the living room and kitchen. Not knowing what condition the brick is in makes me a bit nervous, but I suppose we can always cover it back up if it's awful. And for the rest of the walls in the living room, we plan to expose the beadboard walls by removing the drywall that is currently covering them. But for the kitchen and the dining room we're going to keep the drywall on and not worry about the beadboard. It will likely be tedious work in the living room and taking the drywall off of one room will be enough for us.

Construction begins!

2011-12-21T14:15:00.001-05:00

We met with our contractor and architect this morning to sign off on the final details of our renovation project. We are super excited!

Permits have been obtained and the work will begin this afternoon. Holes are going to be dug under the house to place supports for the new 2nd floor. It's a small beginning, but it is a start! The roof will be removed the first week of January. So pray for no rain for at least 10 days for the start of the year.

We've had a few snafus to overcome as we've worked toward getting started on the work. A huge one was discovering that no homeowners insurance had been placed on our house. The insurance person in charge of finalizing the insurance had been fired in the midst of working on our policy and it was never completed. So, we've been without homeowners insurance of any sort for the last 3 months. Another issue has been the cost of the project. The final numbers are projected to be higher due to needing the whole house rewired to meet code...an unexpected cost. So we're working with the bank to raise our loan limit.

And I'll leave you with a few pictures of some awesome finds we've purchased for the house: a cast iron tub and 50s push button stove. Awesome!

Final Floor Plan? Let's hope so!

2011-10-25T11:33:00.000-05:00

Alright, folks. I think we've finally worked out all of the kinks with our plan. Now onto the engineering plan and finding out the cost (which might mean we get to do 1/2 of what we've planned...ugh).

Our 1st floor. So, we still don't know where the HVAC chase will go, but it could go near the fireplace, which would leave the downstairs a little less open than we planned. The HVAC subcontractor will be making that decision down the road. And, we've turned the fridge toward the kitchen for my obsessive need for a work triangle.

Asher's room is Bedroom 2. So, his closet has moved from the last plan. Otherwise everything else will stay the same.

Now we hope and pray that we'll be able to stay in budget with all we have to do. What's our budget? I can't remember if I mentioned that...it's $80,000. We're going to work from the top down, making sure to get the 2nd floor as complete as possible and then doing the changes downstairs.

On other Crump news, Asher and Ainsley are giddy about Halloween. Ainsley plans to be a ladybug (I think this makes the 3rd year in her short life she's been a ladybug) and Asher will be the boy version of a witch (whether that's a warlock or a wizard). Fun! Pictures will follow next week.

All is good!

2011-10-19T22:00:00.001-05:00

Our architect emailed today to let us know that everything went well yesterday. Our house is solid and can support a 2nd story being built. So, the next step is to finalize our floor plans and have an engineering plan drawn up so everything can get priced out. (That's lingo I stole from our architect's email...I don't talk like that.)

And, thanks to my sister-in-law, Patrice, for taking some awesome pictures of us at the pumpkin patch this past weekend...

Appliances

2011-10-18T18:32:00.000-05:00

Today our contractor and architect met with an engineer and carpenter to discuss our plans. I'm super excited to learn what was discussed...Can our foundation support a 2nd floor? Will the cost of ripping off the roof and other renovations cost more than the expected $80K? Hopefully we'll find out soon...

In the meantime, I'm on craigslist looking for appliances. This Sunday we bought an awesome cast iron sink with faucet already attached for $50 (no pictures...sorry). I'm still on the search for a fridge, stove, dishwasher, washer/dryer, cabinets/counter and tub. It's awesome the number things you can find on craigslist in great condition for an even better price. For the things we can't find on craigslist, we'll use the Habitat for Humanity Restore in Raleigh and the Reuse Warehouse in Durham. We love reusing other people's throw aways! We're also planning on reusing wood floors for the upstairs...if they're available. Last month we came across some used heart pine floors like ours, but we weren't ready to buy yet. Let's hope we get that lucky again!

Not much more happening with the house right now. Have I told you we expect to start construction by December 1st? Until then we'll be working on getting a better cost list and needed permits. Woohoo!

The Cabinet and the Previous Owner

2011-10-15T17:36:00.000-05:00

Here's a picture of the cabinet we bought yesterday at Grandaddy's...

I'm pretty excited about it being the first piece of furniture for our house. Love it!

Another exciting thing that we discovered today is that the heart pine wood floor that is throughout the downstairs continues in the bathroom. And, for some reason there's subfloor and vinyl on top of it right now. Yay! That's one cost that we can avoid as we renovate.

So, the previous owner of our house. I wish I had a history of all the owners of our house. Perhaps as we live there longer, we'll learn about others who have lived there. But the most recent owner lost the home to foreclosure. And, as we began to ponder purchasing the home, I became curious to learn all I could of the previous owner. The first thing I learned is that the woman who owned the home owned it for 8 years. And she had married and divorced while living there. After finding out her name I learned that she was the owner of a graphic design business located in Hillsborough and that she didn't move too far away. I also learned from the neighbors that after having lived in the home for a while, she became a recluse. She also owned and added items to her home often...perhaps hoarding. From the look of the walls, she liked to put things on the wall...with tape, screws, nails, velcro and pushpins. Lots of pushpins. So many pushpins that the movie, "A Beautiful Mind" comes to mind as we pull pins out of the wall. Some of the things that remained on the wall were coat hooks and fortunes from fortune cookies.

Although I am excited to begin working on the home to make it ours, I am sad that someone who lived in the home longer than we've stayed anywhere lost it. Lost her home, marriage and perhaps her mind. I've certainly prayed for her as I've prayed over this house. I believe I'll continue to pray for her as we prepare the house for us to move in.

We're homeowners!

2011-10-14T21:35:00.000-05:00

It was the easiest and quickest closing we've attended. And this is the 5th one we've attended....hopefully our last. After closing, we stopped by Grandaddy's Antiques in Mebane and bought an awesome G. I. Sellers cabinet to use as an island in our kitchen. I didn't take a picture, but will get one up here soon.

We spent our afternoon at our new house changing the locks and putting new wheels on our cabinet. We'll likely go back tomorrow and get the front yard a little more manageable. There's a TON of junk in the yard. We'll eventually get some help with clearing it out, but not until the construction is done.

Speaking of construction, we got our revised house plans back! Nothing really changed except the upstairs layout.

1st Floor. We eliminated our 2nd closet in the master bedroom...because we're crazy like that.

2nd Floor. Lots of changes. Looks good, yeah!

And then, after spending some time upstairs this afternoon, Peyton went and created this crazy plan. And I love it. Keeping the upstairs roof intact with no dormers. It's simple and wreaks of charm.

Crazy 2nd floor idea

We'll likely drive our architect nuts. But that's ok because he keeps telling us how much fun he's having with this project. So, let's hope he continues to think that way.

So, which plan do you like the best? I'm curious.

The delay

2011-10-13T12:47:00.000-05:00

Our closing was delayed from Tuesday to tomorrow. The appraisal came in a bit late, which is what caused the delay. I'm plum pleased with what the appraisal said, though. So, I forgive it for being late. If all goes well, we shall have keys in hand tomorrow afternoon.

And after a two hour meeting with our architect and contractor, we have a final version of our house plan coming next week. An engineer and framer will be visiting our house next week to see if the plan is possible. Then we begin meeting with subcontractors to determine an exact cost.

We hope to begin construction on December 1st. Pray for good weather, since the plan is to rip the old roof off and start from scratch.

Waiting for Closing

2011-10-05T21:29:00.000-05:00

Our closing happens next week. So it's the quiet before the storm. We've got an initial set of plans done and we'll make an appointment with the structural engineer/framers/subcontractors once we finish with closing. For now, I'm making sure we get all of our ducks in a row so we aren't caught off guard on Tuesday with something that fell through the cracks.

And so that this isn't a pictureless post, here are a few of the kiddos that Peyton took recently...

First Version of the Floor Plans

2011-09-30T12:17:00.000-05:00

This morning we received the first version of our floor plans. Our architect, Ben, did a great job! We'll do some changing to the upstairs by eliminating the hallway/reading nook and laundry room (we'll stack in the bathroom closet) and making the bedrooms bigger. And we'll put a bathtub in either the upstairs or downstairs bathroom. So exciting!

First floor. Existing on the left...the future on the right.

Second floor. Existing on the left...the future on the right.

We close on the 11th...less than 2 weeks! Once we close, a structural engineer and house framer will come in to make sure what we have planned can happen, we'll get plans approved by the town and get started on the renovation! I expect that we'll get started on the actual construction in November.

First Meeting with the Architect

2011-09-26T20:09:00.000-05:00

My head hurts from thinking and visualizing so much with the architect today.

Because we are financing our house with a construction loan, we are having to do things a bit backwards. We received a rough estimate from our contractor prior to having plans drawn up by an architect. I now understand how backwards that process is after having talked with the architect and changing what we want to do with our little mill house. We're trying to stay in the parameters of our estimate while creating a great plan for the upstairs bedrooms and bathroom.

We should have the plans drawn up by the end of the week. I'll share them with you when we get them.

Our Mill House Renovation

2011-09-23T18:40:00.000-05:00

Someone recommended to me that I should document the renovation of our little mill house that we are in the process of buying. It's a great idea! I hope I can keep up the blog for the duration of the project. We'll be closing on the house mid-October and starting renovations soon after. We will move into the house in May 2012.

It's located in the Bellevue Mill Village in the back of the downtown area of Hillsborough, NC. The house was built in 1921 by the owners of the local mill that it sits beside. The plan for the mill right now is to turn it into high-end apartment lofts similar to what Saxapahaw did to their old mill. Adjacent to the mill is Hillsborough BBQ Company and The Depot. And there are plans to open up a brewery and a river walk to downtown close by. We're excited about the walkability of our new house and what will become a thriving area of Hillsborough in the coming years.

Our house is currently 850 square feet with 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom all located on one floor. Our plan is to keep one of the bedrooms downstairs and put two bedrooms and another bathroom upstairs (currently the attic) for a total living space of 1150 square feet. To pretty up the downstairs, we'll expose the beadboard that is behind the drywall, uncover the fireplaces in the kitchen and living room and spruce up the heart of pine wood floors. We'll also need to rearrange the kitchen a bit to make room for a dishwasher and add a set of stairs going to the attic/upstairs.

A friend of ours from The Gathering Church will be our contractor and his son is our architect. Ben, our architect, will meet with us on Monday to begin drawing up the plans for our house. I can't wait to share them with you. For now, here are some pictures of our new place...

Front of the house

Front Door

Kitchen

Master Bedroom

Yard

A Visit with Santa

2010-12-22T18:54:00.001-05:00

My co-teacher from the Red Ladybugs class at the Bible Church Preschool invited our family to visit Santa at the church she attends. Becky sent me the webpage and I made an appointment for Ainsley and Asher to have some one-on-one time with the big guy. Let me tell you, it was special. Peyton and I were beaming from the opportunity the kiddos had to meet such a kind and caring man. He knew all about Asher and Ainsley from information I gave prior to our appointment. Santa talked with Ainsley and Asher about their school teachers, Coondog, and last year's presents. I'm so thrilled that Becky thought to invite us. It will definitely be a yearly tradition to visit Santa by appointment.

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T21:15:00.001-05:00

Cutest vampire and cowgirl in Hillsborough.

A kiddos funny

2010-10-19T20:57:00.001-05:00

Tonight Asher and Ainsley had kid's meals from Wendy's for dinner. Their favorite part of a kid's meal is the toy.

Asher immediately opened his toy and exclaimed, "This is my favorite game ever! I love this game! What is it called?" The name of the game is "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader". Asher said, "Aw, I'm not as smart as a 5th grader. I'm going to wait till 4th grade and then play this game."

A bit later Ainsley opened her toy and asked what it was. When I told her she exclaimed, "I AM smarter than a 5th grader." Asher then told her she wasn't as smart and an argument ensued.

Hilarious that their responses differed so much. Love my kiddos!!

House Pictures

2010-06-03T08:01:00.002-05:00

It has taken longer than we would like to get settled in our new house. A huge reason for it taking so long is trying to find room for all of our stuff. Mostly storage stuff...boxes of old papers, pictures and trinkets that we no longer use but didn't want to get rid of. Boxes of stuff that we hadn't looked at in years. Large boxes have turned into shoeboxes and a few trips to the dump later, we're able to fit all of our storage and stuff in our new no attic, no garage, very small closets house. It's been a challenge, but in the best way possible.

And here's some pictures of the backyard, living room and kitchen:

We learned from our next door neighbors that Roy Underhill (PBS's Woodwright's Workshop) built the stone wall in our backyard with a buddy of his while Roy's brother, Charles, owned the house.

Our living room from the front door. The floors of the house are the original pine floors.

Our fireplace. It's not a usable fireplace, but very cool looking. Pictures still need to be hung. Especially over our TV cabinet to the left of the fireplace.

The living room from the kitchen door.

Our eat-in kitchen.

Charlie Sloop the Fifth

2010-05-18T20:30:00.000-05:00

Tonight...

Asher: "Dad, there's a boy in my class named Charlie Sloop. But Sloop isn't his last name, it's his middle name, know why?"

Peyton: "Hm, no, why?"

Asher: "Because he's Charlie Sloop the Fourth. So Sloop is his middle name and Fourth is his last name. But he's about to turn five, so then he'll be Charlie Sloop the Fifth."

Update on Moving

2010-05-04T15:19:00.001-05:00

We're planning to do the big move over to Hillsborough this weekend. Last Sunday we took possession of our rental house and started cleaning it. My suspicion is that the kitchen floor hasn't been mopped in the 5 years that it was previously rented. Agh! Definitely a challenge.

As for our current house, the inspection and appraisal have been completed and agreed upon. Our closing appt. with the lawyer has been set. We seem to be on the home stretch.

Giddy is a great word to describe my mood right now. Plain dizzy with excitement...good and bad. Tons to do, but great changes ahead. I'll have more pictures of our new house soon.

SOLD!

2010-04-10T22:24:00.000-05:00

We signed an offer to purchase this morning! When we first met with our realtor 8 days ago, I told him I wanted our house sold by today. He didn't believe it would happen...but it did. We close on May 21st. I'll begin praying that our house is in perfect condition for the inspector. :)

Here's a picture of our new house...

It's a few blocks from the main street in downtown Hillsborough. The Eno River is just behind our back yard. And Peyton's dream magnolia tree is across the street. Wow!

The BIG move!

2010-04-09T10:01:00.000-05:00

I'm going to try and write this entire post in one sitting, but may be interrupted by my children or a last minute appointment to show our house.

That's right, an appointment to show our house.

Peyton and I have decided to move to a smaller town just outside of Chapel Hill. Hillsborough, NC. We're going to sell our home and rent for an indefinite amount of time.

As I've told people that this is what we're going to do, there is most certainly a lack of understanding to why we would do such a thing. After all, we love our house, neighborhood and town. We really do. And we can afford to live where we are and own a home.

But, for some time now...maybe a year or more, Peyton and I have struggled with how much money and time our house takes.

Although we can afford the monthly payments of our mortgage, we don't like the amount of our family income that goes towards our house. And, although the trees in our yard are beautiful, there are TONS of leaves that take hours of raking to clean each year. Then there's the time it takes me to clean 5 bedrooms and a playroom each week.

So, a few months ago we began a bi-monthly get together with some friends from our church to talk about simplicity, consumerism and God. We are reading lots of Bible scriptures about how to live, view our things and consider others in this world. Peyton and I realized that for us, our house consumed too much of our time and money. So, we've decided to sell this house and rent a smaller home in hopes to simplify our lives. To have more time, more money to do good things (save, give).

We have explored LOTS of options on what to do...with this house and our time. There were thoughts of opening up our house more (to friends, perhaps strangers), renting our home and finding another to rent for while. But in the end, we decided to sell this house that we've loved so much.

There was some apprehension as we began the process of putting our house up for sale. The market is down, the principal balance on our home is still high, the commission we'd have to pay a realtor could wipe out any money we could make from selling.

We put the house up for sale anyway...knowing it's the right thing to do. Our asking price is better than we thought it would be and the response to our house being on the market has been overwhelming. We've had 16 showings of our home since Tuesday morning (when it was put on our local MLS). We have 2 more showings today and it's not even the weekend yet.

The response has given us even more confidence that what we're doing is good and right.

We will be completely debt free...no loans (school, house, car or otherwise) for the first time in our marriage. We'll live in a home that doesn't belong to us...when something breaks we don't have to fix it. And we'll have more time and money to do things that are important to our family.

We're excited. Very excited. But anxious too. So, if you pray, please add us into your conversation with God.

Jonah's EB Auction

2010-02-07T08:40:00.001-05:00

My nephew, Jonah, is turning one at the end of this month. His mama is planning a HUGE blowout party to celebrate his life over the past year. Not only has Jonah survived his first year of life, but his mama and daddy have too. All of them have had moments of being quite overwhelmed this year, but are joyfully looking forward to Jonah's second year of life.

One way Jonah's life is being celebrated is by having an auction to raise funds and awareness for EB (epidermolysis bullosa). So, if you go to to this page: http://jonahsebauction.blogspot.com, you can find out more information about the auction and how to bid for the over 100 donated items and services.

Our artistic child

2009-12-01T14:24:00.001-05:00

Asher has recently discovered that he likes to draw. Particularly, he likes to draw tractors. Peyton helped Asher draw his first one. Ever since, Asher has been adding his own embellishments, which usually consists of various people sitting in the driver's seat. This is the first year Asher has begun drawing anything other than scribbles. So, imagine my surprise when Ainsley drew our family along with the family of some friends while waiting for me to look up some books at the library today. I think she's inherited Peyton's artistic ability. By the way, I wrote the names as she told me who each person is. Cute, right?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

My awesome iPhone

2009-11-28T14:45:00.001-05:00

Yes, I've gone completely Mac now. I'm really digging all the apps for my new phone. I just downloaded this app to write on my blog from my phone. How cool is that? And so this isn't a completely boring blogpost, here's a picture.

This is my brother, Tony and my nephew, Macon. I'll write again soon.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Alaska! (part 2)

2009-07-28T09:21:00.002-05:00

Day 2...Inside Passage

Beautiful scenery from the boat.

Hanging out in one of the boat's lounges. There was a TV on the ceiling.

Day 3...Juneau. We're at the Mendenhall Glacier.

An old friend, Steven, is spending the summer in Juneau. The last time we saw Steven, he was just entering high school. Now he's about to graduate from college.

Alaska! (part 1)

2009-07-28T08:57:00.003-05:00

When Peyton and I were on our honeymoon we decided to take a big vacation every 5 years by ourselves to celebrate our marriage. In June, we celebrated 10 years of marriage. For our big vacation, I finally talked Peyton in to going on a cruise (something I've been trying to talk him into for, oh about 10 years). Friends of ours, we discovered over Christmas, were celebrating 15 years of marriage. So, we all made a plan to do an Alaskan cruise together.

I will admit...Peyton was right. A cruise isn't really our style of vacation. It was fun and seeing so many parts of Alaska, but not with 12,000 other cruisers (4 cruise boats were docked at the same time at every port). Poor little Skagway...a town of 800 being overtaken by cruise folks. Now, I don't think Skagwayans (?) felt sad about all of the tourist money coming to their town, but adding so many people to such a tiny town took away some of the charm, in my opinion. Anyway, on to the pictures...

We got on the boat in Seattle. So that we could enjoy Seattle, we spent a night at the beginning and end of the cruise.

The Moores and us at the base of the Space Needle in Seattle.

Eating breakfast from an amazing Russian bakery with a view of our boat that we would board later in the day.

Leaving Seattle.

On board the boat our first day...look at all of the people!

Asher's Birthday...in June

2009-07-28T08:44:00.004-05:00

I've taken a bit of a blogging break. BUT, finally pictures from Asher's birthday in June...

We went to Saxapahaw after having dinner and cake at our house.

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Asher.

Saxapahaw

2009-05-18T07:41:00.005-05:00

The bubbles are Asher and Ainsley's favorite thing to do

Listening to "No Strings Attached", a bluegrass band

Mother's Day

2009-05-15T08:36:00.006-05:00

For Mother's Day my mom wanted to have Ainsley and Asher at her house. Peyton and I took advantage of the opportunity and headed to Ocracoke Island for the night. Ocracoke is a small island off the coast of NC that is only accessible by ferry (if you didn't know). We decided to leave our car on the mainland and only take our bikes and some backpacks to the island. It was a perfect weekend.

On the ferry. It's a 2.5 hour ride to Ocracoke.

Peyton beat me (a rare occurence) in 2 games of Scrabble.

Enjoying the sunshine.

The Ocracoke Lighthouse

Our short visit to the beach (way too windy).

An awesome sunset.

So bummed this turned out blurry.

On our way home after a 3 hour ferry delay. Such a bummer to have to spend 3 extra hours in Ocracoke.

Shakori Hills

2009-05-15T08:01:00.004-05:00

The weekend of April 16-19 we attended the spring Shakori Hills. Shakori is one of my favorite music festivals. It has to be one of my most favorite things about living in Chapel Hill...less than an hour from the festival grounds.

We had high expectations of camping at the festival this year, set up a camp site, and then drove home every night...either it was too cold or we were too tired. Oh well, there's always the fall Shakori.

Asher wanted to be a super hero. The face painter made him "Lizard Man" because he had a lizard on his shirt.

Teila, Lindsay's daughter. The kiddos wore themselves out.

Ainsley asked to be a "Purple Princess"

Grandma and Hines came to Shakori on Saturday. Ainsley is taking a nap...it felt great in the shade.

Ainsley giving her silly face.

The Faisons joined us on Sunday. The Boulder Acoustic Society in the dance tent was definitely the highlight of the day.

Ainsley's Birthday Party Pictures

2009-04-22T07:40:00.004-05:00

We had Ainsley's 2nd birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. I had never been to the Durham location, but wanted to do something FUN. It was definitely fun...for the children AND adults.

Ainsley eating some birthday pizza.

Asher riding one of the MANY rides.

Ainsley having fun with Aunt Sarah.

Ainsley trying on her new hair bows with Nana.

Asher and his best buddy, Spencer, on a ride.

Ainsley getting some hugs from Aunt Shaina.

Ainsley giving thank you hugs to Grandma and Grandpa for her new bedding.

Ainsley, her best buddy, Anna, and Asher waiting to eat cake.

Peyton and Asher playing a monster truck game.

Ainsley and Aunt Sarah giving the camera a funny face.

My Daily Schedule

2009-04-02T07:36:00.003-05:00

I can't believe how far apart my posts have come lately. I've said in an earlier post that I blame Facebook, which is only partially true recently. Since my nephew, Jonah, was born I've begun "stalking" Patrice's and MckMama's blogs. And, I'm a bit intimidated by their talent in writing. Seriously. Patrice has always had a way with words. She was editor of her high school paper. And, MckMama has great writing and fantastic pictures of her little ones. The reason for me "stalking" their blogs, however, has little to do with their writing skills and much to do with what's happening to their babies. If you haven't read either of the blogs, take a moment (or a few hours, if you read the entire blog) and stop by their little space on the internet.

And now, on to the title of this post...

I have noticed that I keep a pretty regular schedule each day. It's never exactly the same, but my days are eerily similar. To the point where I often find myself bored of our daily activities...so I thought I'd share my schedule with you in hopes that you'll share yours with me. Maybe there's something that you're doing that I want to add into my day. So...

7-8 AM, Wake-up. We don't usually leave the bedroom before 8. If either child enters our bedroom before 7:30, I usually put our bedroom TV on Noggin or Disney and *try* to catch a few more zzz's.

8-9 AM, Wake-up/Breakfast. While the kids eat breakfast, I try to drink as much coffee as I can manage to wake-up. I'm not always successful at getting in a whole cup, but on a good morning I'm able to take down a whole press pot.

9-10 AM, Either we're making our way to our homeschool preschool co-op or getting ready to run errands (grocery, Target, or the mall). I can rarely stand to stay in the house for a whole day. I have to get out.

10-12 (or 1 if we eat lunch out), Around town...again, running errands of one sort or the other or something fun (library, mall playground, or park).

1-3 (or 4 if we get home late from errands) Ainsley takes a nap and Asher plays (play-doh, coloring, mazes, or cars) Occasionally Asher and I will do a puzzle or Candyland, but I really like to take the opportunity to email and such.

3-5 Kiddos play (toyroom or outside in the backyard) while I plan and cook dinner. It usually takes me about 30 minutes to figure out what I'm going to make and an hour to fix it. I realize if I was a planner (I've tried, just not in my nature) this wouldn't take as long.

5-6 DAD COMES HOME! YAY! Peyton is really great at playing with the kiddos when he gets home for me to finish dinner and put it all out for us to eat.

6-7 Down time for Peyton and me. We'll often let the kiddos watch a Noggin show or they occupy themselves in the toyroom.

7-8 Preparing for bedtime (bath, pjs, teeth brushing, etc) and bedtime

8-Midnight Watching shows (usually American Idol, House, Office, Grey's Anatomy), catching up on emails and Facebook, or reading one of the 5 books I have started.

So there's the day. Now it's your turn...

Valentine's Pictures

2009-03-06T14:22:00.003-05:00

A few weeks late, but as Asher would say, "whatever!"...

For Valentine's Matt and Peyton went to a Wake game while Patrice and I hung out with Nelva, Asher and Ainsley. Peyton's mom, Nelva, let the kiddos spend the night at her house so that Patrice, Matt, Peyton and I could go out for a late dinner after the game. It was a fun day all the way around!

Neither picture taken of Peyton and me were great. I'm posting my bad one...because I'm nice.

Ainsley Turns 2...

2009-03-06T13:48:00.006-05:00

This Sunday my baby girl will turn 2. I look at what I just wrote in disbelief...maybe it's her tiny stature or just mommy-eyes, but she doesn't look like she's 2. However, she definitely talks like she's above and beyond her years.

Last week in the car we were driving home after a long day of errands and I started talking about how it would be nap time when we got home. Ainsley gave a big groan and told me, "I'm so angry.". Oh my! As she pouted in my lap earlier this week she exclaimed, "Mama, I cry just like a baby!". Yes, sometimes she does. But, most of the time she's the most loving, snuggly, jumpy, passionate little two year old I've ever laid my eyes on. She's by far my most favorite girl in the whole wide world. And, just yesterday as we snuggled after her afternoon nap she told me, "Mama, you my bestest friend."

Ainsley sings "Jingle Bells" with Asher accompanying

A long day

2009-03-03T23:02:00.002-05:00

This is the first day totally away from the NICU. It has indeed seemed like a long day. I don't think I realized how long until now...the end of the day and realizing I won't see Jonah until Thursday evening. I can't get my mind off of him. I can't stop reading about EB...

Today as Asher, Ainsley and I looked at the new pictures of Jonah with his belly unwrapped, Ainsley got a bit upset and concerned. I started thinking maybe the pictures were too much for them, but she expressed her concern. She said, "Oh no! Jonah's bottom is dirty." Ainsley thought Jonah had a stinky no one had noticed. I told her it was his belly button with "cleaner" around it. She said no and was quite certain his belly button was his bottom and it was dirty. Asher, on the other hand thought it was cool that Jonah had a wire in his belly button that counted his heartbeats.

So, now I need to head to bed or tomorrow will really be a LONG day. Nothing worse than a sleepy mommy with 2 little toddlers.

A quick trip to the NICU

2009-03-02T23:41:00.003-05:00

After Peyton got home from work today, we packed the kiddos in the van and headed to Winston (which is a little over an hour away...not too far to drive) for a short but sweet visit with Jonah. Peyton's mom kindly let Ainsley and Asher hang with her while we were at the hospital.

Oh, the visit was so worth it! Matt took me back to see Jonah sleeping soundly dreaming of milk with his little tongue searching for something to grab on to. Jonah's cheeks had filled out a bit since yesterday afternoon. It seems the IV fluids are really filling him up, which the doctors forewarned about this morning during rounds. Anyway, Patrice and Sarah went in next to give him a bottle and the little guy woke right up. And here's what makes the trip super...I got to go back in to talk with Jonah while he was awake. Precious! You'll have to head over to Patrice's blog to see the whole evening in pictures.

Thanks so much for all your thoughts and prayers for Matt, Patrice and Jonah. They are definitely being felt. Continue to pray...there's a very long road ahead for them.

EB support

2009-03-02T10:04:00.002-05:00

I talked with Connie last night who heads up the NC EB support group. She has a daughter that was born with EB in 1997. What an awesome lady full of helpful care suggestions for Jonah and so willing to help in any way. After talking with her for 5 minutes, I asked if she'd call Patrice to talk with her. Connie called Patrice right away which ultimately ended with Patrice talking with Jonah's doctors about changing the type of gauze being used on Jonah's tender skin and the temperature in his little incubator (which might turn into more of a cooling chamber per Connie's suggestion...). I'm so thankful to have talked with Connie and for her suggestions, for Jonah's doctor's willingness to listen to Patrice and accept Connie's suggestions.

The weather although snowy won't keep us from returning to Winston-Salem this evening. Peyton said that the interstate was quite clear and should be safe for evening travel. Yay!

Back Home

2009-03-01T20:12:00.002-05:00

Peyton and I left Patrice, Matt, and Jonah today. Thankfully, they are surrounded by family and friends, not to mention thousands of prayers. I am in awe of the love between Christians, a common hope and faith in God to do miraculous acts and the ability of technology to convey all of that quickly and efficiently.

Last night we sat in the waiting room as it neared midnight pouring through the many comments left through Patrice and Matt's blog and Facebook prayer group. We laughed and cried and were uplifted. Patrice commented on her blog that she was "high on the Holy Spirit". We truly knew in those moments that all things are possible.

Selfishly, I wish I was still sitting in the waiting room. I'm thankful to have my kiddos in my arms again and look forward to spending the day with a "well rested version" of them tomorrow, but feel so helpless sitting in my living room. I sit stuck on my computer flipping back and forth from Facebook and Patrice and Matt's blog hoping for some sort of new news. Not that sitting in the waiting room gave me any news that's not already on the blog, but being surrounded by everyone and with Patrice and Matt felt somehow useful.

If it doesn't snow tonight or at least if the roads stay clear, we'll be back tomorrow night. Until then I go to bed with Jonah on my heart and mind. What a profound love is developed immediately for such little guy.

An update on Jonah

2009-02-28T08:31:00.002-05:00

Last night Patrice updated her blog after having a conversation with one of the doctor's at the Children's Hospital where Jonah was transported. The doctor will not be certain of the diagnosis until the lab results from a biopsy return on Monday.

Also, a prayer group is being started on Facebook. Jonah needs prayers that if he has EB, that he has a milder case than the doctors suspect. He also needs to steer clear of any type of infection since his little skin is quite damaged and raw right now. There is a fear that a blockage could occur in Jonah's intestines, so please pray that doesn't happen since a blockage would result in surgery. And, finally, for Patrice and Matt. They need strength, hope, peace, wisdom and encouragement as they learn more about Jonah's condition and give control to the doctors and staff at Brenner's Hospital to care for their little baby.

Jonah Alexander enters the world!

2009-02-27T22:50:00.003-05:00

Patrice and Matt, Peyton's sister and brother-in-law, brought Jonah Alexander into the world at 3:50 pm weighing 6lbs and 8ozs. Baby Jonah is suffering from large blisters on his skin and some type of issue with Jonah's intestines. There's testing being done and we'll hopefully find out more in the near future. I know many who read the blog, pray. Please pray for Jonah to stay clear of any infections and that doctors can give a clear and definitive answer to Jonah's health issues.

If you'd like to see some pictures and stay more up to date on what's going on with Jonah, Patrice's friend Lauren is doing a great job on her blog at this address: http://laurenm83.blogspot.com/.

How does your garden grow?

2009-01-08T15:38:00.002-05:00

I'll be starting a garden in our backyard with 2 of my friends this year. Last year we talked about it, but did nothing. So, we're committed to doing it. If there is any advice you can give, please offer it. What I know...

We'll be creating boxes for the garden to lift them off the ground and hopefully give the vegetation a better chance of growing.

We'll have to add some type of fencing around it to keep all the critters out. We have squirrels, chipmunks and deer that frequent our yard. Many on a daily basis, so any advice on keeping them from eating our bounty, let me know!

In hopes of keeping the deer away and using a box that is already built, we'll be putting the garden right next to our back door. The boxes will most likely be 3'x6'.

I've added a link to a seed to seed challenge on my sidebar. Sounds like a neat idea...and since I'm frugal, saving seeds to replant next year works for me!

Freecycle!

2009-01-02T18:37:00.002-05:00

If you don't already freecycle, I think you should. There is *most likely* a group in your area and you may score some great finds like a double jogging stroller, brand new water hose, carseat, or a children's bike in great condition. These are all items we have gotten through our Orange County freecycle group. We've also given away bags and bags of random kids' toys, boxes from our move, and other *junk* that becomes another's treasure. You can find more information about freecycle at freecycle.org.

The Wii Golf Incident

2008-12-30T08:38:00.003-05:00

Christmas Day we drove to my mom's new house in Greenville to have dinner with Mom, Dad, my brother, Tony, his wife, Amy and son, Macon. Macon is 5 months old...adorable!

Mom's new house is great! She closed on the house on Friday and we stayed Thursday night. All of her boxes were gone...she was completely unpacked.

Dad made a fantastic turkey and there were enough sides for an entire army. It was an amazing Christmas dinner!

After dinner Mom got out her Wii. Tony and Dad began playing a game of golf while Ainsley and Asher played with the MANY toys they had just opened. Tony and Dad were having a blast. I don't think Dad had played Wii before and, knowing him, he probably owns one of his own by now. Anyway, in the midst of the game Asher wanted to show his Grandpa his new "Ninja" motorcycle. So, Asher ran across the room right in front of his Uncle Tony taking a golf swing. "Whack!" Tony knocked Asher on the side of the head, Asher flew up and landed on the coffee table. I had been in the kitchen at the time and didn't see the incident, but this is the result (picture taken 2 days post-incident).

Christmas with the Crumps

2008-12-25T10:08:00.004-05:00

Because of a long day visiting with friends and family on Christmas Eve, we were able to get Asher and Ainsley in bed and asleep by 7:30pm. Lovely...Santa was able to make an early delivery allowing Mom and Dad an early bedtime. Amazingly, the kiddos slept in (till around 7:15am) and didn't immediately think about Santa arriving the night before. I actually had to remind them. This will probably be the last year I will have to remind them of Santa's visit.

Our family tradition is to let Asher and Ainsley open gifts from us on Christmas Eve and then get Santa's gifts in the morning. So, here are the pictures of Christmas Eve gift opening and the excitement of what Santa brought them.

Christmas Time Will Soon Be Over...

2008-12-22T09:12:00.002-05:00

We've been busy, busy in the Crump house...

- We had a 4-day Thanksgiving weekend. It started Wednesday night, having dinner with friends and their visiting family and included a trip to Winston-Salem to celebrate Thanksgiving with Peyton's mom and sisters, traveling to Dobson for a meal with Peyton's grandparents and dad, cooking a Thanksgiving meal with Claudia and Mike on Saturday (friends that we met through Potluck in the Park), hanging with the Sperrys on Saturday afternoon and evening, and ending the weekend with my family on Sunday. It was all so much fun...needless to say, we were worn out!

- Preschool has been rolling along. We decided in November to begin meeting 3 days a week (T, W, and Th). We've been flying through the units...colors, shapes, body, food groups, weather, holidays and seasons. Shwew!

- Colds have been keeping everyone down...everyone except me. My amazing immune system (Ha!) has somehow fought off this cold virus. But Peyton, Sarah and the kids have all had a cold that's lingered for a month or so now.

-We visited Santa at our local mall, where Ainsley would have nothing to do with the guy and Asher asked for the big $400, battery-operated Cadillac Escalade as the *only* thing he wants for Christmas. A shock and surprise to Peyton and me. And, yes, we have found him a "big, black truck" for Santa to bring Asher. It's not the $400 Escalade, but the $200 FJ Toyota Cruiser.

- Ainsley is healing from a stomach bug, which reared its ugly head Saturday night in a busy Target aisle (many apologies to the very kind Target workers that had to clean up her mess!) and continued through late in the night. Just last week I commented to Peyton how thankful I was that we hadn't had to deal with vomit from our kids yet. Bummer.

We're looking forward to a fun and busy Christmas holiday...another 4 day weekend that includes spending Tuesday night in Winston-Salem to see Nana's snowman collection (huge! collection that the kids will appreciate) and a Wednesday visit with the Moores, heading to Greenville/Washington on Christmas Day for a night with my family, and hosting Peyton's mom and sisters for the weekend at our house.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Raking leaves

2008-11-24T09:34:00.007-05:00

I love our yard. The trees are awesome in the summer keeping the yard shady so the kiddos can play. In the fall, the leaves turn amazing colors. However this weekend I hated our yard. I know hate is a strong word, but after at least a dozen trips down our driveway to dump a blanket full of leaves at our curb, hatred is what I felt. Sarah captured the day in pictures.

Pattersons visited us!

2008-11-24T09:07:00.008-05:00

Last weekend (which, sitting in church yesterday seemed so long ago) the Pattersons came down to NC. We had such a good time! Many times this week Peyton has commented on how much he misses Chad. I concur (with missing all of you). Having the Pattersons here reminded us of the family we left in NoVA...which means we need a small group retreat. Since the Pierces have actually moved into our last retreat place (I'm jealous) and had a new baby, we should invite ourselves for a visit. Kirsten, I'm kidding! (kind of). Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Asher and Kylie enjoying the swingset.

The girls getting their bellies tickled on the hammock.

Breanna finally coming around to being close to Coondog.

Ainsley getting ready for a walk.

The guys taking the kids on a "hike" to the water tower.

Facebook

2008-11-24T09:05:00.002-05:00

It's my current addiction and the best reason I have for not blogging lately. Apologies! I'm working on breaking my addiction...anyone know a good rehab for Facebook?

An ode to Swedish Fish

2008-10-31T18:58:00.004-05:00

Asher sat down with his guitar after trick or treating tonight and created an "Ode to Swedish Fish".

Fall Shakori Hills 2008

2008-10-27T13:33:00.003-05:00

Two weeks ago Peyton and the kids went to the beach for the weekend and left me at home to go to Shakori Hills festival. Peyton and I had bought 2 weekend tickets, so throughout the weekend, friends went with me to the festival. On Sunday evening, once the the kids got home, Sarah, Ainsley and I went out for the final evening of music to listen to The Duhks and Donna the Buffalo.

Ainsley and Sarah

Ainsley smiling

Listening to The Duhks as the sun sets

Waiting for Donna the Buffalo

Preschool Field Trip

2008-10-27T13:26:00.002-05:00

We took a field trip with our preschool a few weeks back to the NC Botanical Gardens.

Examining a bug

Stopping for a snack

Multitasking

Checking out the lily pads

Donald Miller and the 95/10 Initiative

2008-10-06T14:44:00.006-05:00

Yesterday I had the amazing opportunity to listen to Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz, speak on the UNC campus. His purpose for speaking was to discuss faith and politics. He made some fantastic points concerning this election, Christian loyalties to a party and gave some information on an initiative called 95/10.

Donald made a great point about how Christians would really do best in an election to fall into the "swing vote" category. His point is that a party isn't going to work very hard for a vote that is already in their pocket. And, for a while now the Christian vote has been just that for the Republican party.

The Democratic party over recent years has noticed this and tried to figure out how to change the Christian vote to more of a swing vote, if not a Democratic vote (which I'm sure is their real goal). One of the bills that has been initiated by Democrats in Congress and is supported by Barack Obama is the 95/10 initiative. The bill aims to decrease the number of abortions in the Us by 95% in 10 years. I urge you to read more about it.

You can read more about Donald Miller and what he's currently up to here. If you haven't read Blue Like Jazz, I highly recommend it.

Sunday in Carrboro

2008-10-02T15:38:00.004-05:00

This past Sunday the town of Carrboro held it's annual Carrboro Music Festival. There were 24 stages with music playing from 1 pm until midnight. We went out and listened from about 3 pm until 8 pm. Here are some pictures from the day...

My nephew

2008-10-02T15:24:00.007-05:00

Henry Macon Adams

He's almost 3 months old. A few weeks back, we got the opportunity to head to Greenville/Washington and spend the day with him and my brother, Tony and his wife, Amy (yes, it's funny that my brother's wife has my maiden name...Amy Adams). It was a great weekend! I LOVED holding Macon and watching Ainsley and Asher interact with him.

Thad Cockrell

2008-10-02T15:05:00.003-05:00

Thad is a musician who played some songs this past Sunday at the Chapel Hill Bible Church. He's wonderful...

Not many Christian themed songs reach out to me. That's a weird statement since I have been a Christian my entire adult life. But pop music and gospel isn't my thing, which is the main genre of music with a Christian theme. The reason I like Thad Cockrell is that he describes his music as country/folk, which is right up my alley. We bought a CD after the worship service and I haven't stopped listening to it. Take a listen, I think you'll like him.

Dancing and Singing

2008-09-16T14:10:00.004-05:00

It's been a little slow in the Crump household. There's been A LOT of rain and the summer outdoor music is coming to an end. Peyton's done an outstanding job organizing our garage, Asher and Ainsley have begun homeschool preschool that some friends and I organized and I've really enjoyed some back-to-back Jodi Picoult novels. Like I said, we've been lying low. But for your viewing pleasure, here's some video of the kids singing "Row, Row, Row your Boat" and dancing to some music at the local mall.

Last two weekends

2008-08-26T08:40:00.003-05:00

Peyton pulled his camera out of the closet for vacation last month and has started using it more. 2 weeks ago Asher and Peyton went to a tractor pull, as I mentioned in my previous post. This last weekend Peyton and the kids went out to the lake where I row. While I rowed, they rented a boat and did a little rowing of their own.

Post Vacation

2008-08-22T07:26:00.003-05:00

So quickly the relaxation of vacation leaves...

The weekend after we returned from Canada, my mom asked if she could keep the kids for the weekend. Of course! It was lovely for Peyton and I to follow-up our trip with a weekend of quiet. We watched a movie and ate out for breakfast. A very lovely weekend!

Since then we have been rolling along finishing our summer. There's been a potluck, some outdoor music and a tractor pull. I'll try to get some pictures up of the tractor pull soon.

Some friends and I are working on organizing some preschool curriculum for our little ones. I have Asher on a waiting list for a preschool, but until he gets in, we'll get together with friends twice a week for 3 hours in the morning to do crafts and talk about numbers, letters and colors. It's a neat idea that my friends and I are trying to keep simple but worthy of the time. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Bow River

2008-08-05T10:20:00.002-05:00

The Bow River runs through Canmore. It was an easy walk from our house. Peyton took the kids to the river a few mornings during the week so I could sleep in. I should define sleeping in as sleeping until 7:30 am. Because Canmore is 2 hours behind East Coast time, the kiddos woke up most mornings by 5:30.

Hiking in Canada

2008-08-05T10:09:00.003-05:00

While in the Rockies, the kids and I did 2 hikes. Peyton did an additional hike with Stuart, Trey and Christy on Thursday while Stacie and I stayed with the kids. Here are some pictures from a hike we did on Wednesday. It was off the Highwood Pass, which is the highest paved road in the Canadian Rockies. We were able to get to a very high altitude (it snowed during the hike) while only walking 2 1/2 miles.

It's cold!

Uphill, but almost there.

Wow!

Do you see us?

A snow patch at the top of the trail.

Oh, Canada!

2008-08-04T18:44:00.005-05:00

We've just been to Canada for the last week. We spent the week with the Sperrys and the Blazers exploring the Canadian Rockies. We touched down in Calgary after 9 hours of traveling and flying wondering where the mountains were only to find them after a 45 minute drive into Canmore. I've never been to a more naturally beautiful place. The mountains pop up quickly with no foothills and are tremendous!

The kiddos traveled great to and from Canada and the vacation was fantastic! I will post quite a few pictures as Peyton gets them online. Here's a few...

The kids on the plane...very excited!

Skipping rocks on the Bow River. We walked from our house.

Canmore. It sits in the valley of some HUGE mountains.

On our way to Rawson Lake. A 4.8 mile hike.

Totally worth the hike, Lake Rawson.

Kids enjoying PB&J for lunch at the lake.

The Sperrys at Lake Rawson.

The boys "fishing" with their walking sticks.

What's going on?

2008-07-15T07:37:00.003-05:00

I'm in a blogging slump lately. I love when others update their blogs finding out what's going on, but haven't found much to talk about on our blog. I'm sure there are stories I could tell, but somehow feel the funniness wouldn't convey over the internet. So, here are some pictures, mostly of Ainsley from the past few weeks.

Ainsley with her hair in pigtails.

Ainsley demonstrating her fake smile.

The kids and me at the new Kidzu Museum exhibit that opened last week.

Ainsley showing me where her eye is while she tries on goggles at Kidzu.

Going private...maybe, not yet

2008-07-07T08:32:00.003-05:00

It seems there's a growing trend of inappropriate, anonymous comments appearing on public blogs. It hasn't happened on our blog yet, but I'm going to be proactive. I'm going to begin moderating my comments. So, when you make a comment, it will not appear until I view it and approve. Thanks to Jonathan Moore for suggesting it. I use a feed to read my blogs and making a blog private makes it difficult to keep up-to-date on new posts. So, hopefully I can keep out inappropriate comments and still let friends keep us in their feed.

I'm 33

2008-07-03T07:10:00.005-05:00

Today I turn 33. Ainsley and Peyton went out to the coffeeshop this morning and brought back my favorite muffin and coffee. They woke Asher when they got back and sang me happy birthday in bed. A wonderful way to start the day!

Below is a picture of Peyton and me hiking in May 2004. Four years and 2 kids later, here I am.

Traveling, we have gone!

2008-06-27T11:19:00.004-05:00

Over the past two weeks, the family has been to Washington, NC for my sister-in-law's baby shower, listened to the rockin' 728b at the Spazzorium Galleria (I couldn't even make up a name like that) in Greenville, NC, and visited friends while Peyton worked in NoVA.

Peyton and Asher hanging out in the hotel...

Ainsley and me at the DC Mall...

At the beginning of this week, Peyton and I flew (w/o the kiddos thanks to Nana, Aunt Shaina and Aunt Sarah) to Boston, MA for the An Event Apart conference. I didn't attend the conference, of course. I enjoyed 3 full days of strolling around the neighborhoods of Copley Square and Newbury Street, while Peyton learned about web stuff (he could give you a better description of the conference than that).

The beautiful and quiet courtyard at Boston Public Library...

We're back now and the summer heat is intense. The air is so thick, while I was rowing Wednesday night, I felt I could hardly get a breath. It could have been the 2500 meters we had just rowed, but even sitting still the air was uncomfortable to breath. Nevertheless, the kids and I enjoyed a dinner on the lawn of Weaver St. Market listening to the Thursday night entertainment. A really great band w/ horns in addition to the band instrument norms.

This is the best pic I could get of the kids together...

Asher took this picture of me. He's getting pretty good at pointing and shooting...

Asher turns 3

2008-06-10T11:56:00.004-05:00

Our little guy is getting big! Not only has he turned three, but he has fully embraced wearing underwear full time. I talked it up for a month now that 3 year olds don't wear diapers and that he would need to wear underwear when his birthday came around. A week before the "big day" he started asking to wear underwear. It's been an easy process so far.

He had a birthday party with his playgroup buddies and their families last week at the local Chick-fil-a...

Grandma came for a visit...

And Peyton's family came for dinner on Sunday...

This upcoming weekend the spoiling and gift-giving will continue as we head to Greenville/Washington for a visit with my brother and parents.

Our Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-27T08:09:00.004-05:00

Long weekends are awesome! So much happened this weekend and I actually took pictures at some of the things we did.

On Saturday evening, we attended the memorial service for Barbara, the homeless person who died the previous week. It was very nice. I learned what a kind heart Barbara had toward so many people. Also, that so many homeless struggle with addiction and kicking the addiction usually means finding a home and job. It's crazy the control an addiction can have on so many important parts of a person's life.

On Sunday afternoons, we have a ritual of going to the Weaver Street Market and picnic on the lawn while listening to the band at "Sunday Brunch". So much fun! Lindsay and Teila stopped by while on their way back to Boone and went with us to Weaver Street this week. We also met up with the Faisons.

Yesterday Peyton and I started working on the kitchen cabinets in the morning determined to finish them and we did! That was a project that took us a LONG time to finish...glad it's done.

We had some friends over for a cookout last night. It was yummy and enjoyable! I made peanut butter pie for dessert (a new recipe for me) that was super easy and delicious. Here's the recipe:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup milk
1 (16 ounce) package frozen whipped topping, thawed
2 (9 inch) prepared chocolate cracker crusts

Beat together cream cheese and confectioners' sugar. Mix in peanut butter and milk. Beat until smooth. Fold in whipped topping.
Spoon into two 9 inch graham cracker pie shells; cover, and freeze until firm.

New Design

2008-05-23T07:41:00.006-05:00

On Tuesday evening I got back from my weekly outing with some friends and Peyton said his "creative juices" were flowing. He flowed them straight into the family blog. Doesn't it look great? I love it!

Pictures and another potluck

2008-05-19T08:07:00.012-05:00

The 3rd Potluck in the Park happened yesterday. Although it rained (more like a storm) again yesterday, people came. Sadly, we found out by the 1st people to arrive at the potluck that a homeless friend, Babs, had died the night before while trying to cross a street with her husband, Taz. Taz is physically ok, but in the hospital being watched for his emotional well-being. Babs and Taz were married, not always homeless, and had children. Babs was a kind person who I looked forward to getting to know better.

The pictures below are from last weekend. Asher's playgroup buddy, Ben, turned 3 and had a party at a local park.

Mother's Day

2008-05-12T06:59:00.002-05:00

I hope all the mamas out there had a great day. I know I did...

On Saturday afternoon I was given my Mother's Day gift: a night and morning off. Peyton (man of the year in my book) reserved a hotel room with a jacuzzi tub for me to stay Saturday night. He rented some DVDs for me to watch and sent me on my way instructing to meet back up with the family for lunch on Sunday.

The evening was wonderful. I stayed up until almost midnight watching the DVDs and a Top Chef mini-marathon on Bravo and then slept until almost 8:30! I ate my breakfast and drank my coffee while it was still warm while I watched CBS Sunday morning uninterrupted. I even did some Barnes and Noble book reading while waiting for lunchtime. I regained some much needed sanity.

Some cute pictures

2008-05-09T21:05:00.002-05:00

Now that Aunt Sarah is in the house, we have some pretty adorable pictures of our kids being taken. Here are a few from last week...

For Grandma and Nana

2008-05-09T13:37:00.003-05:00

Music and Motion

2008-05-05T09:49:00.004-05:00

Warm weather, outdoor music is here! Around town there is outdoor (usually bluegrass) music Thursday through Sunday. This weekend we hit 3 of the 4 outdoor music locales. So much fun!

On Friday night, we headed out to the Carolina Inn with Peyton's youngest sister, Shaina, to listen to the Cadillac Stepbacks. Asher really wanted to get out and dance, but when I got out there with him, he just wanted to run around me in a circle. He also seemed a little embarrassed by me dancing. What a difference a year makes. I guess as he approaches 3, he will become more aware of the people around him and what they may think.

On Saturday night, we went to Saxapahaw (about 15 miles west of Chapel Hill) to listen to music and visit the Farmer's Market. Some friends who also have kids went with us, so it was nice to watch them run around together. Saxapahaw has a perfect location for music. There's a grassy hill right in front of a small stage. We realized this past trip that we're actually sitting in someone's backyard. Nice of them to share the space. There are also tons of kid activities including a zip line with a kayak attached and a slip-n-slide.

Yesterday the Weaver Street Market in Carrboro had live music on their lawn. It was jazz and r & b. Admittedly not my favorite genres, but good for what it was. We've really enjoyed getting some bean and cheese soft tacos from the Armadillo Grill across the street and having a picnic while listening to the music. It has and will remain a Sunday afternoon routine (and treat).

On another note, Ainsley is walking. YAY! Yesterday she did a bunch of walking and a little crawling. Today she's trekking wobbly around the house on her own two feet. So, I no longer have a baby...only 2 toddlers. I'll admit to being a little sad about it, but also VERY excited too. I've already been talking with Peyton about all the fun things next summer could bring...camping trips, theme parks, etc. We'll see.

A few pictures

2008-04-29T21:22:00.005-05:00

Some random photos from the past few weeks...
Asher enjoying some homemade blueberry jam (from the farmer's market, not me)

Asher strumming on his guitar. It's a daily occurrence...he's quite the rockstar these days. I'll post some video soon of him dancing and strumming.

Ainsley giving me the "whassup" nod.

Gabe

2008-04-26T21:44:00.002-05:00

There are some things that happen in this world that are so painful that no sense can be made from them. One of those things happened this week to Peyton's sister and brother-in-law, Patrice and Matt. On Monday, Patrice's baby stopped moving in her belly and she delivered him around 3am on Tuesday morning. This past Friday they buried Gabriel Matthew Williams. Please pray for peace and healing for Patrice and Matt. They have a strong love and faith in God and continue to praise him even as they mourn and miss their son.

A live-in babysitter

2008-04-21T12:50:00.002-05:00

Peyton and I haven't realized (to the fullest extent) that we have a live-in babysitter. The last few weeks Sarah has had to remind us that we can go out and she'll watch the kids. On Friday night, Peyton and I had dessert and conversation at a local market, while Sarah gave the kids their baths and put them to bed (how lovely!). Here are some pictures of her evening...
Playing train before Peyton and I left

Potluck in the Park

2008-04-21T12:42:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was the 2nd Potluck in the Park. Severe thunderstorms were in the weather forecast, but after spending the afternoon cooking, that wasn't going to stop the festivities. It poured rain for the 1st hour, but then dried up and turned sunny. Still, there were 30-40 people that enjoyed and participated in the meal (I plan to keep an official count next month), including a journalist for the Daily Tarheel who was assigned to cover the event. We didn't take any pictures, but here are some more from last month...

My lunch

2008-04-21T12:26:00.002-05:00

Ever have meals like this:

~A bag of jalapeno potato chips that Asher opened while we waited in line at the bagel shop (I don't like jalapeno and didn't plan on buying any chips with our bagel).
~Part of a bagel with cream cheese that I split with Ainsley and Asher (most of which already had the cream cheese licked off by the kids...YUM!)
~A few left over bites of a cereal bar left on Ainsley's booster tray.
~A handful of the "low-fat" cheese puffs I just purchased from Trader Joe's.

I remember hearing a celebrity mom say that she lost her baby weight by eating after her kids...part of a sandwich here, some fruit there, etc. I'm still holding my weight. Maybe my kids don't eat as much healthy food as the celebrity mom's kids do.

These boots weren't made for walkin'

2008-04-08T15:25:00.003-05:00

Ainsley is still not walking. I'm confident she is completely capable of doing it, but (like her brother) she's content with crawling. As the warm weather nears and we spend more time outside, I hope she'll decide to get up and walk.

Pictures from Potluck in the Park

2008-04-03T12:55:00.004-05:00

As I said a few posts ago...someone had a camera at the potluck. Here are some pictures:
Babs and Ainsley...

Enjoying the grub...

Letting the food digest...

Sarah in the house!

2008-04-02T08:28:00.002-05:00

Sarah, Peyton's middle sister, has come to live with us! She's in transition from living and working in Nashville, TN to going to school at NC State University in the fall. We're thrilled to have her for as long as we can keep her. Our kids LOVE her (almost as much as we do) and she plays a mean hand of Nertz (my favorite card game). Below is a picture I pulled from her Facebook page. She went on a mission trip (for the 3rd time) to Cozumel just last month.

Babysitting swap

2008-03-23T19:21:00.002-05:00

On Friday night we kept Anna and Spencer, children of Emily and John, while the 'rents went out on a date. We've made a deal for babysitting swaps every other weekend.

It was a nice evening, so the kids played outside on our newly put together playset.

Easter

2008-03-23T19:19:00.003-05:00

Yesterday there was an annual Easter egg hunt at the Horace Williams House in Chapel Hill. Mom and I took Asher and Ainsley, but Ainsley fell asleep (and stayed asleep) in the car with Grandma while Asher and I enjoyed the festivities. The weather was VERY nice, so Peyton was at home working in the yard.

Since Grandma was in town, the kids got double (maybe even triple!) the presents for Easter and Peyton and I got to go out on a date. We ate a delicious meal at the local vegetarian restaurant (really!) and watched a great movie, "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day".

Asher and Ainsley seem to have enjoyed their weekend of Easter. Asher is thrilled that the Easter Bunny left him some airplanes and play-doh and Ainsley seems to dig Asher's airplanes (which Asher has kindly been sharing) more than the interactive purse she got from the Easter Bunny. Oh well! The ADORABLE Easter outfits the kids are wearing were courtesy of Grandpa. Thanks, Grandpa!

Razorbacks

2008-03-23T15:44:00.004-05:00

Some students from the University of Arkansas chose to spend their spring break in this premier vacation spot, Chapel Hill. The reason for their visit was to help with some of the many tasks we and three other families have undertaken to plant a new kind of church community in town. The students were amazing in their willingness to accomplish what might have seemed the most mundane (but necessary) tasks. We enjoyed having 3 of the students stay at our house: Nellie, Laura, and Hannah. We already miss having them here!

Potluck in the Park

2008-03-17T08:36:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, I helped organize the 1st Potluck in the Park for Chapel Hill. The idea is to get people of all kinds together for a meal. Yesterday we had about 40 people join us to eat. Many were homeless and some were not. It was a great evening of eating food, throwing a football, tossing a frisbee and strumming a guitar. I got to know so many new people that I look forward to running into around town.

I got the idea after reading an article in the magazine, Relevant, about a group in Orlando doing the same thing. Their name is Home Sweet Homeless. The potlucks started out as a way to reach out to the homeless in town, but turned into a meal for the entire community to get together and get to know each other.

I didn't take any pictures, but someone had a camera. I'll find out who and get some pictures to post soon!

Lovely!

2008-03-14T13:38:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we went to the library. I wanted to pick up a book, "The way we eat: why our food choices matter" recommended by a mama blogger I enjoy reading, pay for a book Ainsley ripped up and return some very overdue books. While there, Asher picked out "Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs". He LOVES handing the books to the librarian. Once checked out, I handed him his book, he looked at it and said, "This book is just lovely, mom". As we walked out, someone who had overheard Asher said, "Have a LOVELY day!".

Ainsley's Birthday Celebration

2008-03-12T14:18:00.004-05:00

Peyton's mom, Patrice, Matt and Shaina came to help celebrate Ainsley's birthday. Shaina's birthday is March 6th, so we did a little celebrating for her 13th birthday too!

Ainsley Turns 1

2008-03-12T13:51:00.002-05:00

Ainsley turned 1 this past Saturday. What a quick year! Here are some Ainsley facts:

*At Monday's one year check up she weighed 18 lbs. 9 oz. and was 28 3/4 inches tall. At birth Ainsley weighed 8 lbs. 3 oz. and was 21 inches tall.

*She has beautiful hazel eyes. I thought for a while they would turn brown, but the center has stayed green with a brown ring around it.

* When Ainsley smiles, she has a dimple on her left cheek. It's very cute and will (undoubtedly) break many hearts in years to come.

*Ainsley is NOT a morning person. When she wakes up, she does not want to do anything but eat. If we try to lay her in bed with us while we try to get a few more zzz's, she throws a fit...pulling the covers off of us, flinging herself backwards and kicking her feet. She will only calm down once she's in her booster and has Cheerios in front of her. I hope she never becomes a coffee drinker as an adult!

*She LOVES trucks, cars, and tractors. I assume this is because Asher loves them. But she can zoom around all day with a car in her hand going "Brrmm".

*She also LOVES animals, she calls them all "Cookah". I assume she's trying to say Coondog since he's an animal and that's what we call him.

*Ainsley is already starting her vocabulary. She says mom, dad (with a very long "a" sound), ball, cookah, bye-bye, uh-oh and no-no. She also likes to mimic sounds. I really thought the other night as we were saying "Bye, see you later" to friends she said the same thing. I tried to get her to repeat it, but she wouldn't.

*She likes to sing (in chorus with Asher), dance and clap (to anything with a beat). And, she has shown a liking to bluegrass music (so proud, I am!).

NoVA Pictures

2008-03-04T14:14:00.003-05:00

I'm horrible about taking pictures. It just doesn't occur to me, so the only pictures I have were taken when Jennie brought her camera out (which reminded me to pull mine out too!).

The kiddos traveled great both ways on our trip. We turned Ainsley around since she turns one this week. Both, she and Asher, watched videos the entire trip. It's nice to discover they can travel well.

While in NoVA we finalized plans with the Sperrys to go to the Canadian Rockies this summer. Super excited about the trip! We also got to meet Anderson, who is so precious. Jennie was kind enough to give up "holding duty" while I was around, so I got lots of cuddle time with him. We also finally got to see the Grahams. They've been out of town the last 2 visits, so we had not seen Kristen or Kate (who is growing like a weed!) since we moved.

On Sunday, we went to Fairfax Church of Christ and caught up with lots of friends. Asher, Kennedy and Kylie played "Ring Around the Rosy" in the hallway.

Back from NoVA

2008-03-02T20:25:00.002-05:00

We got back about an hour ago. I'm exhausted and would already be asleep, except Asher is still awake and talking in his bedroom. (Erin, I just heard him say, "I like Kennedy.") It was a great long weekend. We've now lived in Chapel Hill for 8 1/2 months, but it really felt like we never left NoVA as we drove around town and talked with friends. Peyton and I attribute this to the fact that we've been able to visit 3 times since we've moved and that so many of my NoVA friends keep a blog.

I'll post some pictures and say more tomorrow. Asher's quiet...maybe he's gone to sleep...dreaming of Kennedy?

Pictures from the last month

2008-02-26T10:31:00.002-05:00

Here are some pictures from mid-January to mid-February...

Asher got his face painted at the Chick-Fil-A Kid's Night.

Hanging out at the Botanical Gardens with Lindsay and Teila. Teila and Asher get along better than any 2 toddlers. Seriously. They spent a TON of time together and only got in one squabble after not having an afternoon nap. It only makes sense since Lindsay and I get along so well!

Asher and Ainsley playing with tractors and cars and making a mess. Peyton got a little artsy on a few of the pictures.

At the Celebrity Dairy Goat Farm with Emily, John, Spencer and Anna. What a blessing it's been to get to know John and Emily! They have kids the same age as ours and like to do many of the same things we like doing. (It was not a good picture day for me!)

Getting back on track

2008-02-13T18:56:00.002-05:00

Ok, I don't have any pictures to post (I'm on Peyton's computer, not mine), but I'll let you know what we've been up to the past few weeks.

The last few weeks the weather has been BEAUTIFUL in NC. We have spent a lot of time outside...Botanical Gardens, a few parks, Celebrity Dairy (a goat farm), and hanging out in the yard.

The Botanical Gardens are amazing! So many have told me how great the gardens and trails are, but I had no idea how awesome the place really was. I'm anxious to see the gardens in the springtime as everything blooms. There's a great place for kids to dig and play, along with a little house to play in with crafts ready to do.

This past weekend we went to Celebrity Dairy, which is a goat farm and B & B about 30 minutes outside of Chapel Hill. This weekend was predicted to be the BIG birthing weekend for kids. Although we didn't see any actually being born (which I think would have been totally cool), we did see some very miserable mamas with the kids still kicking around in their belly and MANY adorable kids that had been born in previous days. Ainsley and Asher were not very scared of the goats. Especially the kids. Both petted them and Asher tried to put some food in his hand to feed one.

Inside the house, we've been busy gating off every set of stairs. We have a sunken living room off of the kitchen that looks like a mini jail. Ainsley is moving and grooving...loves climbing and is VERY close to walking. She keeps one hand on the wall right now while getting around. I'm just waiting for her to let go and take off.

We had a Super Bowl party a few weeks back that led to a change in the arrangement of the living room furniture. I really dig the new layout, but Peyton is still deciding what he thinks. But, what about that game? I do not get excited about any type of sporting event...even the Super Bowl, but I was in awe of the last quarter...NICE! Sorry Patriot fans!

Coming up in our life? We'll be heading up to NoVA in a few weeks. I really look forward to meeting Anderson (a new addition to the Gulick family) and seeing our small group! Also, Ainsley turns 1 next month. Wowsers!

Keep praying for Emory

2008-02-02T21:33:00.000-05:00

I just got back from the hospital to see Emory. He's such a precious little boy! It's been almost a month since he was born. As of right now the doctors do not know what to do to heal him, but are searching nationwide for a solution to his problem.

The biggest problem is how underdeveloped his ribs are. After doing a scan last weekend, the doctors report that his ribs do not extend from his spine more than a few inches. There's cartilage, but no bone. This means that the heart and lungs, among other organs are not anchored and move around as Emory is moved. Only 44 previous cases have been reported world-wide similar to Emory's.

Please pray for Emory's ribs to ossify, which means the cartilage will become bone. Pray that the doctors will be able to help Emory. Pray for Lindsay and Tommy's strength as they spend time with their son day in and out. And, please go to his caringbridge site: www.caringbridge.com/visit/emoryeddins and leave a message in the guestbook to let his family know you are praying for them.

Brrrm...

2008-01-31T08:49:00.000-05:00

Asher has been fascinated with trucks and tractors since before his 1st birthday. He goes all around the house everyday with a vehicle in his hands going "brrrm..." Now, my sweet little girl, the one that got a baby doll for Christmas, is fascinated with trucks and tractors too. She follows right along with Asher going "brrrm...".

Snow, food poisoning and MLK holiday

2008-01-22T09:12:00.000-05:00

I wrote this post last week on 1/22 and never posted it...

The title says it all.

Peyton was in NoVA last week until Friday. Saturday morning he woke up very sick and remained sick through the holiday. He finally visited the doctor yesterday who confirmed it was food poisoning and gave Peyton some medicine. Peyton's feeling better today, but is reluctant to eat too much.

On Saturday it snowed a bit. There was a prediction for more than we got, but enough for Asher and I to build a small (very small) snowman. Asher, being the boy he is, just wanted to throw snowballs the entire time we were outside.

Prior to Peyton's poisoning, we had planned to visit Duke University to watch a performance by the African Children's Choir to celebrate the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. Unfortunately Peyton wasn't able to make it and I was unwilling to take the kiddos on my own.

Here's some pics of the kids...Ainsley just being cute, Asher enjoying the snow.