welcome to the thiebauds

a new start.

2011-09-27T00:04:00.001-07:00

what's new? it's been over a year.

the girls are just getting bigger and smarter and more amazing every day. I am constantly challenged and humbled by being their mother. raising girls is hard work. especially when you feel like you are broken and totally not worthy a majority of the time. and they turn around every time and show you how much God knows and loves you. you feel like they are doing the raising. and you hope for an opportunity to return the favour.

catch up...

2010-07-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

well, i finally got my photos from my phone loaded onto the computer!

it's been two weeks since my parents left for bluefields, nicaragua. my dad is coming home very early on monday morning and i am looking forward to spending some time with him before he goes back to work next week. speaking of next week, we are going to be quite busy. mike leaves on sunday, right after church, for a week at centrifuge (our church's summer youth camp.) he won't be back until late on saturday night. so the girls and i will be mike-less for the week.we will be trying to keep to our regular outings like library days, church, and such.

anyway...here are some pictures of the girls and what we've been up to lately...

maple is just getting cuter and cuter every day. she's discovered her feet and loves to play with her hands...and her big sister :)

hannah got stuck behind the driver seat the other day. i felt bad, but it was super funny. she was very patient, as i was in the front seat with maple, who was nursing and mike had just gone in to the grocery store.

mike set up a retractable clothesline for me in the back yard. a few weeks ago, i got to line dry a small load of diapers for the first time :) good thing it was a small load, it just barely fit. we got another one to put up, so i will have lots of space for drying. i just love looking at all of maple's diapers hanging out in the summer sun.

i had a meeting for our preschool co-op the other day and after we ate lunch, the kids ran around and played...inside and out. hannah was all decked out in some princess duds but didn't let that stop her from getting dirty. one of the cutest things i've seen in a while. she even had the little plastic princess shoes on. she was one big sweaty, dirty mess by the time we ready to go home.

lastly, we discovered a few months ago that hannah seems to be allergic to cats. probably one of the happiest days in mike's life ;) she takes great pride in telling everyone that will listen that she is "just like my dad" because they are allergic to the same things and like the same things and don't like the same things. it's pretty adorable.

so that's it for mow. i'll try to get some more pictures up tomorrow night. we've got a big day... two birthday parties, loads of laundry, and some projects around the house to tackle before mike leaves for camp next week. i'm also working on writing out maple's birth story.

for my mom...

2010-07-16T15:53:00.001-07:00

...so my parents are on their way to bluefields, nicaragua. dad will be gone for two weeks and mom will be gone for four. we will be missing them a lot and I know they will be missing the girls so I thought that would be good motivation for me to be posting pictures of and stories about them.
I didn't get any pictures today, but we went over to their house today to go swimming with April an her kids. we enjoyed keeping cool in the pool. the kids had a great time. it was maple's first time to be all the way in. I held her for a while and then put her into the baby floatie for a bit. she really enjoyed it and since it was so hot out she was able to stay in the water longer than normal. it was super cute :)

we are hoping that our house cools off enough to enjoy some time at home before bedtime. it's been pretty hot the past few nights.

well, since I'm writing from my phone I'll be done for now. hopefully some pictures tomorrow.

free wifi...free fellowship

2009-05-22T21:17:00.000-07:00

so, I am hanging out at the entrance at church. I am enjoying some fun times with some fun people...hi merea...hi robin...I am having more fun hanging out so this will be the end of my short post. because I like my friends. hi friends :)

2008-12-04T20:21:00.000-08:00

yikes!
it's been a while. I have been a bit caught up in facebook.
mike and I got new phones. and we can access the internet and a lot of the time, it is easier to check facebook from the phone than get on the computer. and it is easier to type on a real keyboard than the phone keyboard.
I am getting better at typing on the phone keyboard. so I thought I would just bite the bullet and type out a post on the phone.

it's sick week, or two, at the the Thiebaud house. mike and I have been fighting a stomach bug for a while, him more than me. and hannah picked up a rockin' cold earlier this week. since most of my friend's kids have colds also and it is the week before our church's christmas pagent, I have been watching some extra kids over here a few nights this week.

I feel bad for the sick little dudes. but am glad that we can help our friends out a bit and keep some germs out of the nursery...not that that isn't where they all picked the germs up in the first place!

hoping and praying that we all get healthy soon!

...why i love my daughter...

2008-10-25T22:33:00.000-07:00

...mike and i went out to dinner on friday night with some friends. (we usually enjoy friday night as a date night and hannah gets to spend some quality time with her grandma and grandpa - mike's folks.)

so, we picked her up pretty late and were on our way home. i asked her what they did, did she have fun, all of the regular questions... one of which is "were you a good eater? what did you have for dinner?"

she answered me.

"yes, i was a good eater. we had sandwiches for dinner."

"what kind of sandwiches did you have, bud? peanut butter and jelly?"

"nope. regular sandwiches, you know, pig meat and cheese."

i thought mike was going to crash, he was laughing SO hard!

seriously...

i've been...

2008-09-10T22:35:00.000-07:00

...tagged.
never thought that would happen. i feel like i have just barely existed in this "internet world" and actually enjoyed just "lurking" around (not in a creepy way, i just don't feel like i am a very eloquent commenter...so...)
anyway, my friend rachael marshman tagged me to tell six things about myself. six unspectacular quirks. i also need to tag six more bloggers and leave each of them a comment. and from there, the madness should continue...
without any further hesitation...my unspectacular quirks...

1. i am not a morning person. capital n. capital o. capital t. a huge part of me desires so very much to be the early riser who accomplishes much before lunch time arrives but the reality of the situation is that i am not...i know that God can mold me throughout my life to be that person, and don't doubt that that is something planned for the future ashley.
2. even though i have some hideously messed up knees, like since junior high, i love to run...i don't do it very often because it is wicked painful, but there is just something about it that i find so electric. it's like you get to connect and disconnect at the same time. i would love to participate in marathons (any length actually) in the future. it's kindof hard to explain. since i don't get to run, i like to get out and move other ways. i have been riding my bike, with hannah in tow, for a few months now. i average around five to ten miles a day, for most days of the week. we all ride to church together on sundays, which is super fun. hopefully we'll get geared-up for the "winter" down here, so that we can continue our biking throughout the year.
3. i spent a summer living out of a tent/under a porch. it was at a camp in arizona that i worked at for a few years. the summer before, i slept on a porch. the summer after, i did a lot of porch sleeping again. the first week was always a bit creepy, getting used to the sounds and never knowing if you'd wake up to a javelina sniffing aroung your sleeping bag. but it is the best, sleeping outside. once a week, we'd sleep out in the woods with the kids. then i slept right in the dirt. i love to be dirt-dirty. not, you know every day. but, i worked in the camping industry for almost seven years, and camped for fun. i'm down for three weeks with out a shower. smelling like campfire smoke, swimming in a lake. i feel like there will always be something about "civilisation" that i just won't get.
4. i hate wearing shoes. my feet need to be free. i need my feet to be free. i have three pairs of sandals that i wear, two are "everyday" and one is for riding my bike. even then, i can't really stand to have them on. i loved lifeguarding because you don't need shoes to do that. i love southern california weather because in the "winter" i can wear long pants that cover my feet and most people don't even notice that i am not wearing shoes. i fell like my feet are really wimpy since i have worn my sandals regularly, for like, the past big handful of years. i used to be able to walk around in the woods barefoot without a problem.
5. i'd like to start a little business from home. i like to sew and "make stuff." i am not very profit-minded, so i haven't made a whole lot of progress on this front. but someday...
6. i really don't like technology. here i am, telling you that on my blog. but really...there's just something about a notebook and a nice sharp pencil. something about a card catolouge and a book shelf full of encyclopedias. something about stamps and knowing you just have to wait for a reply. something about a tape deck...casettes, vhs...something about a corded phone and having to be intentional about time for conversations. i think it's the part of me that is romantic. i idealise those days before everything was happening at 100 miles an hour.

so, there's a glimpse into my unspectacular, quirky life.

1. debra, my sister.
2. jessie, a central coast friend that i met through my sister
3. hope, high school friend living on the east coast
4. mike, the husband
5. jen, from the seattle years
6. emery, a really honest blogger i learned of through my sister

here is your charge:
-link to the person who tagged you
-mention the rules
-tell six unspectacular quirks of yours
-tag six bloggers
-leave a comment for each

can't wait to learn something new...

...that's the way i roll...

2008-08-16T21:04:00.000-07:00

...slowly, sleepily, and finally back to my own house.

hannah and i were gone on our grand adventure for almost three weeks. (just a few days shy)

we made it back to buffalo from north carolina safe and sound. and a little bit quicker with the help of grammy's new gps. it was quite a trip.

the next day, mike, josh, and my dad arrived around noon. that was last thursday. we left friday morning for pennsylvania. my cousin ali's wedding was great. i did miss the reception, though. i made the executive decision to stay at the hotel with hannah and take some "down time". we'd been going so hard for so many days and she was way past her limits of being able to handle things and function without a regular nap. (although, she was a champ during this whole trip. capital c. h. a. m. p.) the reception would not have been much fun for me or for hannah if we had decided to go. i'm sad i missed it, but it was the right choice to stay back. monday morning, we left pa and headed back to buffalo. we got to visit gettysburg and amish country in between the wedding and heading back. it was a lot of fun.

tuesday, we went to niagara falls and spent most of the day at the park. it was a lot of fun. mike and hannah had never been to see the falls, and i hadn't been there since high school...
God is so amazing. everyone should get to experience seeing the falls in person. they are awesome.

wednesday, we went to the erie county fair. that was also an "all-day-er". hannah got to ride on some of the carnival rides, which was very exciting, for all of us. she's never really been on anything besides a carousel, especially with out a grownup. her most favourite was the giant bouncy, blow-up slide. she could have spent all day on that thing. we saw some so-so "competitive place setting" displays. (that's what my brother decided to call them. they are like table-scapes i guess. it's my mom's favourite part of the fair.) we found the ag building where the maple booths were. (my favourite! i got maple cotton candy and a maple snow cone. i know, overload! but the products were from local, western new york farms...and what sort of local maple sugar farms am i going to run across out here?) saw some historical reinacters...soap makers, wood carvers, broom makers, potters, iron forgers...it was really cool.

thursday morning, the boys left at, like, four in the morning.

friday night, we left to come home. hannah and i "spent the night" at my folks' last night. we didn't get there until three this morning. guess who was awake for the two hour car ride and then decided to stay up for almost an hour and then decided to wake up at seven-thirty this morning...?

i'll get some pictures up this week...

i am so glad to be home.

we have..

2008-08-02T19:21:00.000-07:00

..done a bit of traveling during the past few days.

friday morning, we left buffalo around nine a.m.
we arrived in winchester, virginia around eight-thirty that night. after dinner, we took the kids swimming for about a half an hour and then off to bed.

this morning, we hit the road at about eight-thirty and we rolled in to godwin, north carolina a bit after six.

i drove the whole way. it was a lot of driving. i got to spend all of that time in the car with my sister. it was great, even when the kids were throwing food and toys and fits. i haven't seen her in a long-ish time.

it's been good.

i'll be sad to leave on tuesday.

i love you, debra.

we shuffled off...

2008-07-31T16:40:00.000-07:00

...to buffalo. tonawanda, actually, but it's just outside, so...

we'll be here for two more weeks.

that's a long time without my bike.

and i most likle will not be on the computer again untill i get home.

the wheels keep turning...

2008-07-17T09:08:00.000-07:00

so, sunday and monday were both twelve mile days. tuesday i rode a little over seven. and yesterday, about the same, a bit over seven. today we are going out of town so it will be hard to fit some bike time in. will hopefully make up for it tomorrow.

one month later...

2008-07-13T21:31:00.000-07:00

gee, i wish it was something exciting, but it's really just another month.

i have been on my bike a lot lately. since i started riding instead of driving most places, i have clocked almost eighty miles. yeah. eight - zero.

we cut our car gas bill by more than half of what we had been spending on average. that was super exciting. the tough rides are getting easier. the only thing that sucks is my pants are not getting any smaller yet...we'll see...

we have also been swimming a lot more recently. our complex has a pool and we (which would be hannah and i) try to go out a few times a week. i am really sad that i have missed out on getting hannah into swimming lessons this summer. (i may have a last minute chance, but am not holding my breath.) she's doing great in the water, not swimming on her own, but feeling safe and getting more comfortable.

today, we rode 12 miles...5 total to church and home this morning and 7 total to some friends' house for a fellowship dinner this afternoon/evening. hannah fell asleep in the trailer on the way home tonight. she was so exausted! we had a really good time with some new friends and some friends we don't get to spend a whole lot of time with.

here's the girl...practising one of her new skills, winking. this photo's from a few weeks ago, she's gotten quite proficient at it since then. although, it's still really funny

we went camping up in idllwild a few weeks ago with lots of families from our church. here are a few shots...nothing too grizzled, but for the kid's first trip, not too bad.

walking with dad

stopping for a shade break and posing with the friends.

our last morning. she actually cried after i woke her up and told her we were going home that day...that's my girl...

"operation grow tomatoes so hannah will like to eat them" has been deemed a huge success. maybe it should only be a partial success, since i haven't tried to get her to eat any tomatoes besides the ones from our plant. but she inhales the ones we've grown like i just sat her down with a bag of sugar and turned my back on her. it's really cute.

so, maybe our month has been pretty exciting. i just don't notice it while it's happening.

oh, my aching bones...

2008-06-13T10:35:00.000-07:00

...well, muscles really.

yesterday, i biked almost 8 miles with hannah in tow. it was a great ride.

we rode up to the house of some friends for our first summer playgroup. there were pools to play in things, to climb on, lots of friends, and some shade. the kids had a picnic lunch, well, we all did... and played some more.. then they did a quick-popsicle-stick-picture-frame-craft for father's day.

the trip up was a little grueling. it took me about 40 minutes. it was uphill. the whole way. by the time we reached the last street, i was seriously contemplating getting off and walking. but i pushed through, literally, and we made it there. my bike was in some little gears and i was spinning my way up the last hill. but i felt great. when i was done!

here's a picture of hannah from january...it's my new wallpaper...

nutella is sooooo tasty!!

here's a shot of our grape tomatoes. our first batch, harvest? there are probably abround forty or fifty green ones still on the vines and three or four bunches of flowers.

here's a close-up or the tomatoes that hannah picked from our plant. she ate them like candy.

operation: "grow our own tomatoes so hannah will eat them" is a success, so far...

this one's a bit harder to see, it's the first flowers on one of our bell pepper plants. there are three... i wish there were a LOT more because we go through bell peppers like nobody's business. they make for some good snacking.

this plant is supposed to produce purple peppers. i am a bit excited to see them all grown up and ready to be eaten by me.

the new pad...

2008-06-11T21:03:00.000-07:00

well, they are not super great, and won't give you the best idea of the amount of space, but here are some photos of the townhouse...

the place where i do laundry, it's inside. did i mention it's inside?

the two sinks where we brush our teeth. there are two of them, and we can actually use them at the same time. there's space...

the kitchen, where i cook. and just look at the counters, because there is more than one. oh, and the pantry, where i don't have to use half of my cupbaord space for food storage...

our front door. the big window actually looks into the garage. (that's mike's favourite spot, the garage.)

so, incase you didn't know our previous residence was just under 650 square feet. the new place is just over double that. it's has been quite an adjustment for me, the space. it's great. but there is so much more to do now.

we have been so very blessed by our Lord to be where we are now. i am really looking forward to seeing how He helps me to use this blessing to bless others...

mike did take a video of a walkthrough he did before we moved into the new place. if you enjoy listening to him talk, you should check it out. (it's like five minutes long!) i'll find out where you can view it and post a link.

oh, yeah, don't worry. it's not the year 2212 yet. our camera date was just off.

crazy mustaches...

2008-06-11T20:49:00.000-07:00

today, we biked a bit over 7 1/2 miles (round trip) to take dinner to some friends who just had a baby girl. it was a great ride. i "made" a salad for them, since they had been eating out a lot in the past week. i was able to fit all of the parts into hannah's trailer.

i really need to get a lock so that i can ride to some more places...i am really enjoying this.

oh, and here's some pictures of the kid...

crazy face at the san diego zoo...

pizza crust mustache...

bikes and birthdays...

2008-06-08T22:35:00.000-07:00

well, we've been in our new place for just over a month. i still do not have pictures to show because i have not yet found my camera-computer cord.

we are getting fairly settled and i am fighting more and more each day the thoughts of how much stuff i "need" to fill this empty space. it helps a lot that there is not a lot of disposible income to be devoted to those "needs".

hannah is three now. she's growing every day and really misses her cousin...even though she won't talk to him for the video camera.

one of my favourite things about our new location is that we are just a few miles from the things we do most often...mike's work, our church, a huge majority of our friends...so i have been trying to ride my bike more and drive less. so far, i've only made trips to church and friends houses. i don't yet have a lock for the bike and trailer, so public places are off limits still.

yesterday i biked over (with hannah in tow) to meet up with some friends and watch the cherry festival parade. it was a lot of fun and a really nice, easy ride.

this morning, we all biked to church together. (it was nice to ride all together.) then we biked to the house of some friends and had lunch. then back home. later this evening, we biked a few miles to mike's folks' place for an early father's day dinner. our route home was disrupted by a stopped train, so we ended up riding a few more miles out of the way to get home. it was way longer than i was planning, so i am pretty wiped out tonight. all totalled up, today i biked just over 14 1/2 miles...not bad.

and i am saving on gas. well, not really saving, prices are going up, up, up...but streching out our tank.

feels good.

oh, yeah...i turned 30 a week ago.

hannah is lame...

2008-05-07T15:55:00.000-07:00

sorry debra, i can not get her to talk to nehemiah on the video. she wants to watch him over and over but will not make him a message. i think i need to get her used to being taped, i dont do it nearly as much as you do. anyway, i am working on it. and i will try to get some pictures up next week. keep bugging me.

one month later...

2008-05-07T15:43:00.001-07:00

i have been thinking i needed to post for a while now, and every time i remember it's really not convenient or i feel like i need to post some pictures and i don't have any new ones loaded to the computer yet...

so, tomorrow will be one week since we moved in. it's so nice to be done with the moving part. the settling in part is a whole different journey. especially since i didn't do any of the packing. finding things is quite a busy job. but i am really making it out to be more difficult than it is. most everything is actually put away, although not in it's permanent spot. our bedrooms and the kitchen are fairly situated, as are the kitchen and living room. there are still things to go through in the garage...we have a garage! which we park our car in, something i have NEVER had in my almost thirty years (the being able to park in part, not the actual garage itself...anyway)

it's really nice. i feel like i am living in a hotel. it's so much bigger and newer than our old place. it will take me a while to detach myself from barbour street. it was where we became a family (hannah's first, and only so far, residence) and where all of her "firsts" happened. a nice little space, for all of the complaining. but there are so many new things to come here on allegheny avenue. God has truly blessed us witht this new season and we look forward to what he has in store for us.

what adventures will unfold for us here?....

we eagerly await them.

...pictures to come.

well...

2008-04-06T20:54:00.001-07:00

it looks like we'll be moving.

we've had a good run here, in our little abode (less than 700 square feet. it's really, for real, little.) mike and i (first trimester pregnant) moved in in the fall of 2004. we welcomed hannah into this home a few months later in the spring of 2005. it is now the spring of 2008.

where has the time gone? i am not quite sure, but it has definitly gone. and i feel like it has been spent very well. we have made some amazing new friends, learned some amazing new things, and look forward to this new chapter.

this new chapter will be taking place, Lord willing, in beaumont, about six miles closer to everything we do than where we are now.

things have been really great out here, but some things have come up and we feel like God is opening a door for us to move forward (or at least, westward!)

so, please pray for us.

that our relationship with our landlords with remain stable and friendly and that throughout this exchange, we will be upright and worthy witnesses of Christ's love

that we will be listening to and following God's leading in the season.

that we will have the strength, the energy, the motivation, and the patience to tackle this adventure over the next three weeks.

that will will retain our sanity and health over the next three weeks.

that God will give us some good rest when this has been accomplished!

thank you, friends who read this. i look forward to updating you all when i can.

a day to remember...

2008-03-23T20:58:00.000-07:00

i suppose, out of any day, i feel like easter is the day that i most like to remember.
to remember what Christ did. on the cross. and in the tomb.
most especially what he did in the tomb...when he defeated death and rose up from his burial place.
if he had not risen from death, his crucifiction would have been in vain. another man, put to death for HIS sins.
with his ressurection, what he went through covered ALL of us.
it's something i am most grateful for, thankful for, humbled by.

i would not be who i am today, had he not done what he did.

thank you, Lord.

what i woke up to this morning...

2008-03-17T10:05:00.000-07:00

ususally, mike puts a baby gate up in our hallway when he leaves for work in the morning. it's purpose is to confine hannah to our bedrooms and keep her from discovering things unsupervised in the mornings. (i am not an early riser, and she usally wakes me...)

so, this morning, mike didn't put the gate up. and i didn't think it would matter because i had talked to hannah before bedtime about coming to see me as soon as she woke up so she could go potty.

i woke to the cute sounds of hannah playing by herself in her room. clanking of the kitchen toys, talking to herself (or whoever she talks to when she's alone...) and the music coming from her radio.

and then i heard something that sounded like the television. it must be something on the radio, i thought. then i heard a commercial for USA. there is no way that would play on AIR1...now i hear "monk".

so i hop out of bed to discover the television is on. and there is a packet of crackers open next to the laptop. by the scissors i left out. it is hacked open.

the crackers, not the laptop.

i call for hannah to come out to the living room. what were you doing?, i ask. oh, i was watching mr. monk and eating, she answers nonchalantly. just checking, i add, thanks.

i later discover that she also ate two little boxes of rasins and sat in my favourite chair with her ridiculously over-soaked diaper, which of course leaked through her super-wicking fleece jammies and made itself at home in the cushions.

which have been heavily febreezed and are outside, relaxing in the morning sun.

i suppose it's a good thing. i do need to vacuum today. i just wasn't planning on it. thanks, kiddo. you really know how to motivate.

i thought i had a choice, i hope i still do...

2008-03-12T17:05:00.000-07:00

so, i heard the other day something on the radio about homeschooling and california. it didn't sound positive. as someone who is seriously contemplating being a homeschooler, i thought i needed to look into this a bit more.
today i heard on the radio that there wasn't going to be an immediate negative action taken. but there is the possibility...
i still am planning on doing some more research and talking to some of the homeschoolers i know about how this is affecting them, or could affect them...and me in the future.

check out this post on www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog.htm called "california call-to-action" for a bunch more info. i'm new to linking, so i typed the address out also.

">click here for post

storybook birthday

2007-10-26T11:20:00.000-07:00

saturday was hannah's best friend's birthday party. she turnd two this past week. she loves to read and her mom is crazy creative. right now, mckenna's favorite book is go dog go. so, the kids decorated apple box "cars" to have some races in the yard with. all of the kids came dressed up as their favorite storybook character...hannah was olivia. my mom helped me make the dress, well, ok, she did almost all of the work, but i did do a little of the sewing. i made the ears. she loved it! and now...some pictures...

or maybe not. sad. blogger is experiencing some difficulties and i don't have the patience to try again and again. another day. sorry...

for my sister #2

2007-10-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

so i was going through some old posts and came across the one where i talked about eating better and all that comes with that. i said that i would be keeping track of my progress here and i never had a follow up.
so here it is:
i have been walking with a friend of mine every monday, wednesday, and friday mornings. so, along with actually going to bed earlier and waking up earlier (and doing those things every day) i am spending a LOT more time being physically active. i have been trying to incorporate tuesday and thursday as walking days as well, but am not having much luck. i actually feel really good about my three-day-a-week schedule. tuesday morning, we go to church for my women's bible study and thursday morning we go to church for our pre school playgroup. so, every morning of the "week", we have something to get us up and out of the house...and away from the television. which is point two. we have been watching almost NO television. mike and i like to watch heros on monday nights. and that's about it. some evenings, which means maybe twice a week, we watch hannah montana and zack and cody on disney. don't ask. it's better content than most everything else on then. otherwise, we eat dinner a lot earlier, at a decent time, and enjoy our evenings as a family, just playing blocks or reading or coloring or whatever..it's been so nice. i feel like i am eating ...well, better. not like a health nut, but i rarely every drive-thru anymore and am trying to actually eat breakfast in the mornings. doing fruits (which was never a problem) and more veggies for snacking. and less snacking. i was just telling mike the other day that, while i'm not sure that i am actually losing weight yet, i am actually feeling a lot better. i think regulating (for the most part) my sleeping/waking, getting more physical activity in as daily as i can, watching less tv, and being more creative have combined to make a "me on the way to better me".

it's kinda nice.

for my sister...

2007-10-16T19:31:00.000-07:00

here it is. not so exciting. i have been sewing a lot lately, making tote bags for our church's craft fair next month and some costumes...one for hannah and one for a friend, matyce. saturday is mckenna's birthday party...storybook dress-up...come as your favourite storybook character. hannah is going to be olivia. i am making a costume for matyce, too. it's really just a fleece shirt and hat. he's going as dikkie dik, a dutch character. dikkie dik is an orange cat, who has a little hand puppet that looks exactly like him. he's pretty cute. i can't read dutch to save my life, but the book is really cute and kat says it's one of his favourites. so, yeah, that is my post i guess. i suppose the point was to put up some pictures, but i haven't loaded any new ones from the camera lately. i will definitly post some of the kids in their costumes at the party. most likely on monday...can you wait that long?

...goofing around...

2007-09-20T19:45:00.000-07:00

i suppose it's pretty self explanitory...

...paint, paint, and some more...

2007-09-20T19:18:00.000-07:00

we have a playgroup on thursday mornings at church. the moms take turns planning crafts and bringing snacks...a few weeks ago, we had a "it's so hot, let's paint and make a mess and then play in the water day". it's a winner. here are a few pictures of hannah:

and here are a few of her friends:

...our little musician...

2007-09-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

my mom brought this little xylephone (sp?) home from nicaragua earlier this year. it's one of hannah's favourite things to play with. oh yeah, she's a bit of a ham.

...calafia state beach...

2007-09-20T18:50:00.000-07:00

a few weeks ago, we went down to san clemente. it was hannah's first "real" time at the beach. (we've been before, but she was too small to enjoy the trip...and too small for me to enjoy the trip...)
she had such a blast. playing in the waves, playing in the sand, running around.

...new camera...

2007-09-09T19:32:00.000-07:00

all i can say is.....YAHOO!!!

i'd show you a picture, but i'm not sure how i'd do it...
it's totally been fun to be able to take pictures of EVERYTHING!! it makes me me sad that i missed out on the kazillion picture taking opportunities that have come and gone. but, boy oh boy, i am so making up for lost time. it's a bit disgusting.

so, i'll be posting some pictures of our latest adventures. coming up...

...here we go...

2007-09-05T20:31:00.000-07:00

so, i have been encouaged by emery (of emery's blog) and a few other sources to be a better eater. ... check out emery's post titled "a better way".
i think keeping track of my/our progress here will help keep me more accountable. the plan is: more fresh fruit, veggies, and water. no (or seriously cutting back on) high fructose corn syrup and no pop (which is a "duh!" since it's made of high fructose corn syrup.)
also, implementing more physical activity and i am adding "less tv time" to the list.

so today i feel i did pretty good at the grocery store. and tonight we went for a bike ride, 3 miles. i have a friend who i will be walking with tomorrow morning and hopefully we'll be able to make it a regular event.

i want this "better" me for many reasons. i want to just plain feel better. i want to have healthier habits to model for hannah. i want to be able to be the best vessel for God's glory that i can be and i feel like a healthier me will be able to do that.

so, thanks emery, for the motivation! i am really looking forward to this adventure.

catching up...

2007-08-26T23:30:00.000-07:00

gosh. it's been a while since april. time flies...lots of excuses come to mind, but basically i just haven't made the effort to post anything. not that anyone reads this.
life is just busy. all the time, it seems.
we've had quite a crazy strech since we returned to banning from our cross-country adventure.
hannah turned two. yikes! we traded in the saturn for a subaru. (check that off my"life list"!) (i know...DORK) we have enjoyed an exciting summer...mike's folks moved back into town, allowing for more "grandparent time", not that we were lacking, it's been a zillion degrees almost every day, yuck...i am so very much not a fan of the heat...hannah and mommy got to fly to buffalo, ny to visit with relatives on mommy's side of the family, so much fun...we hit the zoo, minor leauge baseball, pennsylvania - nana's old house, house washing, sprinklers, wading pools, parks, ted's hot dogs!, and lots of time with grammy!
i'll try to get some pictures up sooner rather than later. we just got a laptop and are in the process of transferring our life from the desktop.

something of note: lately, i have been enjoying more and more reading emery's blog (http://www.emeryjo.blogspot.com/) she has been posting installments of "the chris and emery story." it's the story of their relationship, it's very real and very touching and very personal.
thank you emery, for putting that part of you out there.

part two of "of note": i feel like i am really coming to terms with who i am as a sinner, fallen, not worthy. with who i am because of what Christ did for me as a sinner, by dying as a sacrifice, clean, blameless, to take the penalty of sin in my place. i am so thankful for what He has done for me. for what He has done for every sinner. i am so excited about knowing more about who God has planned for me to be in Him. i pray for Him to be glorified in my life.

a few more...

2007-04-04T18:26:00.000-07:00

so, i just absolutely love this one. we had just stopped at a target in little rock, arkansas for some leg streching and were playing a bit bit before we buckled up and got going. i love these two people more than words can express... two tired travelers. we were just outside louisville, kentucky and it was about one o'clock in the morning...
can't get enough of these two...and they can't get enough of each other...

PICTURES!!

2007-04-04T17:22:00.000-07:00

well, i've got a few to share:

as you can tell, hannah is very excited to be spending so much time in the car. we'd been on the road for about nine hours here... in louisville, kentucky, we visited with our friends the marshmans. hannah and georgia had a blast playing at chick-fil-a after dinner one night. we were so glad to spend time with jeff, rachel, and georgia...
hannah got to visit with her cousin elliot for a while in nashville, tenessee. elliot just turned one and we haven't seen him since last summer. she is trying to give him a kiss here...
the peanut gallery! grandma and grandpa crocker and hannah. we have been having such a great time visiting with them in austin. they just adore hannah and are so glad that we could be here for a while with them. (we feel the same way about them)...
hannah and aunt jill at red lobster, hamming it up...
that's our trip in a nutshell so far. i don't want to spend too much time on-line. i'll post a few more tomorrow. we are having such a good time. God has kept us healthy and safe, which we are very thankful for. we are looking forward to making our way back to california and our friends and family. just a few more days!!

an update...

2007-04-03T12:59:00.000-07:00

we made it safely to austin, texas on sunday evening. we are enjoying our time with mike's grandparents and aunt. hopefully i'll be able to get some pictures up before we leave town on friday. if not, i'll do it when we get home next week.

on the road...

2007-03-30T21:11:00.000-07:00

well, tomorrow will be one week that we have been away from home. we've been to eight states and have a few more to go...some are doubles that we've already been through...
we visisted with our friends, the marshmans, in louisville, kentucky for a few days. jeff is a student at southern baptist theological seminary. kentucky was beautiful! right now we are in nashville, tenessee visiting justin, mike's brother. he's been here almost a year and we have been missing him heaps. hannah has had so much fun with uncle justin...and he's had just as much fun with her! it's been a great visit and we can't wait to see him again. tomorrow we leave for texas to visist with mike's grandparents and aunt. we always love to spend time with them, and they love to spend time with hannah (and us!) then we'll be on our way back to california, with our last stop in albequerque, new mexico for mike to meet up with some friends who are on the radio...he's really looking forward to that...

i'll post pictures when we get back home. i can't wait. i've got some good ones.

we are so blessed to have this time. God has been so good to us and we are very thankful. (this has been such a great time for our family...it will be nice to look back on when mike jumps back into work.)

i've given in...

2007-02-24T10:12:00.000-08:00

i've been holding out. who wants another screen name, another password, another form to fill out... i haven't posted lately because i really didn't want to sign up for google. not the end of the world, but a fair bit of annoying...anyway, i did and here i am.
the days are dwindling, her second birthday is drawing near. i can't believe that she's almost two! i thought that she had changed so much from birth to one, but TWO!, holy cow she is this whole new person who continues to unfold before me every-stinkin'-day.
i am so impressed at who God has designed her to be. i am amazed at how she is developing into that person. i am completely blown away at my role as God's helper in this project. i am so thankful for the blessing that she is, that He has given me. i thought going to school, work, and paying bills on time was a big responsibility...man, i had no idea what real responsibility was...raising a child, being an example, modeling Christ for her. it's so amazing to be a part of this. i look forward to each new day.

how big girls nap...

2007-02-08T16:22:00.000-08:00

this is how big girls take a nap. in their big girl toddler beds without guard rails.

it only took her about three and a half weeks to decide, all on her own, that she wanted to sleep there. that was last monday night. i barely slept at all, so blown away by her very big decision and waiting for her to fall out of bed and need me. i finally fell asleep and she did not "fall" out of bed, it was more of a wiggle. daddy found her on the floor at the end of the bean bag, so he gently picked her up and put her back in her bed without waking her up. i found her in the same spot on the floor when i got up a few hours later. we had an adventure at home depot and found the perfect piece of wood to make a guard rail. for under five dollars. (we also looked at succulents and books on how to grow grass.)

...the little girl is almost gone. some day she will decide that she wants to go to the bathroom on the toilet and tie her own shoes. then she will be gone. and i will continue to stare at her when she's not paying attention, amazed at who she is becoming and dreading the day when she catches me and says...all "teenage" and annoyed..."what?! stop looking at me! you're creeping me out!" (sorry mom. i get it now.)

catching up...

2007-02-08T16:07:00.000-08:00

so, it's been a few months since christmas, and since we are all still alive, i thought i'd update our blog. lots of things have happened. here are a few of them. more to come... the daddy got some new glasses. it's about time! his old glasses he'd had since he was fifteen. yes. you read that right. fifteen. next order of business - new contacts.

also, our friend georgia (and her parents) moved across the country to kentucky. we miss them very much, but they are doing well, surviving in the snow and cold of the east coast. we are hoping to visit them some time this year, georgia told hannah there are some really cool parks in her town.

merry christmas.

2006-12-25T22:45:00.000-08:00

well, december 25th has come and gone once again. i hope that everyone had a wonderful day, enjoying time with family and friends and remembering why we are celebrating in the first place.
we had a great time today...our own special christmas morning, just the three of us. a video phone call to mike's family in austin, which totally made their day! and a really nice time with my family, including scrabble and virtually allergy free (a big victory! yay for claritin!)

we had so much fun that we didn't take ANY pictures. seriously. ANY. how retarded! my mom has some and i will try to post them when i can. meanwhile, we are still working on our family picture for our christmas, i mean new year cards..and hopefully i'll be able to get that up soon.

so, once again, merry christmas everyone. enjoy your loved ones, where ever they are, and rememeber jesus, who left perfection to come to earth to die for our sins so we could be with him in perfection. talk about the best christmas gift EVER.

adventures with uncle josh.

2006-12-25T22:37:00.000-08:00

last week, we got to spend the day hanging out with uncle josh (my brother). we had lunch with nana at her classroom (it was her last day of school before christmas break) and then went for a looooooonng walk. we did some shopping and stopped off at the coolest park we have ever been to. it had a mini playground, just hannah's size! she had so much fun, climbing the stairs herself and tackling the ladder with only the tiniest bit of help from uncle josh. it was so hard to drag her away, i wish this park was within walking distance of our house, instead of nana's...but it just makes visiting there so much more fun...

toys and fire trucks.

2006-12-14T22:49:00.000-08:00

so, this afternoon we were on our way to mike's optomitrist and noticed the ksgn tent.

"let's stop by after you look at your lenses and see if we can get some stickers or something."

"ok."

so we get there and it turns out that they are having a toy drive for the firefighters "spark of love" (i think that's what it was called...). we just happened to have some toys that we had purchased for christmas presents in the car and were excited at the chance to share. the radio-station-woman took some photos of us and we got to give our toys. (we also got some stickers! and hannah got a water bottle.) anyway, the firefighters were coming in their truck to pick up the toys. so, we decided to come back so that hannah could see the truck. she loved it. she got to sit in the cab and run around it and play on the back. it was really cute...but when is something she does not?...

...it got me thinking. how thankful i am for what God has done and is doing in my life. (i tend to get rather introspective this time of year, as opposed to the thanksgiving season...) we are not wealthy by financial standards, we are not successful by society's standards and yet, i feel like we have far exceeded any movie star, politician, professional athlete. God has brought together two best friends to become one. He gave them a part of themselves and Him to take care of. He prepared both of our hearts with the same desires for caring for our family. He provided a job that allows mike to provide financially for us so that i can stay with hannah full-time. He brought us to a church that has welcomed us and shared with us and taught us and blessed us and allowed us to be a part of blessing others. we live in a country where we can go to that church without fear of emprisonment or death. He has blessed us with family that loves Him as passionately as we do, who will help to pass that love on to our daughter. we have a house to live in, a car to drive, a washer and dryer to do our own laundry, money to buy food and pay our bills...it seems like the list goes on and on, but everything really just continues to point not to what we have done but what God has done. i tend to ponder during this time of year, when we are remembering Christ's arrival on earth, not only the fact that He humbled Himself to become man, but what He did as that man. that He left perfection to be yelled at and called names, to be tempted and tired, to be thought of as a lunatic and liar, to heal, to be a teacher, to bring forgiveness, to suffer, to be a savior, to be my savior. not just a baby, but so much more. i am so thankful. i pray that i can continue to look to Him as my anchor, my foundation, my guide. that i will remember that His grace is sufficent for me. for everything.

2006-12-12T15:39:00.000-08:00

it rained on saturday night, which made some snow in the nearby mountains, which made the daddy a little bit excited...

see, he loves...loves...LOVES...to go sledding. we took hannah last year and had so much fun, we couldn't wait for the next sledding season...

so, since it is getting a bit colder down here and that means nearby snow, i started looking for some winter duds for the boog. i found these snow bibs at the osh kosh outlet store today. for nine dollars. did i mention they were NINE dollars!! they're navy blue, so they can be passed on to whoever the next sibling might be, not that any sibling is coming any time soon...but anyway...

we are now on the look out for a good snow coat and some boots for stomping around in. can't wait!!!

fun at home depot.

2006-12-12T15:33:00.000-08:00

so, these are from a few weeks ago (which is a lot better than i have been doing!). we went to home depot to look for some wood and stuff. hannah went nuts! all of the little things, hanging on hooks right at eye level, just asking to be plucked off the shelf and ran away with! it was so much fun. she looked at christmas decorations with daddy and scoped out the lamp selection.

making dinner.

2006-12-11T23:27:00.000-08:00

so, she's helped make smoothies and waffels (she's a pro witht the toaster!), but tonight was her first "real"cooking experience...if you can call microwaving macaroni "real"cooking. but anyway, we had so much fun. she loved stirring the noodles and adding the milk, butter, and cheese. mostly, i think her favorite part was eating it.

i can't believe how much she's grown. the baby is gone. and the little girl is constantly evolving before me. as she gave me a hug tonight before bedtime, i stole a few extra moments of snuggling. with my eyes closed, holding my gigantic, wonderful monster, i remembered those moments from oh-so-long ago when i was so exausted from holding the skinny little baby that she was all day long. but the moment i sat down to rock her to sleep, my strength was renewed and i could have held her all night long...or at least until i fell asleep...but it was amazing. and it is one of those moments i really do miss now that my little booger isn't really all that little anymore. i wouldn't go back. i soo look forward to each new day with her...today she recognised herself in a picture and said "hannah" instead of "baby" like she usually does. instead of just saying "juice" when refering to her cup, she said "hannah juice". i am having a really hard time keeping up. it's awesome.

2006-10-07T20:37:00.000-07:00

well. we've been back from texas for a while now. things have been a whirlwind since we got home. mike has been working, like, a zillion hours a week. (it's sooo good that we got to take a vacation when we did...) hannah's been keeping me running on top speed. and i have been getting sucked into the world of myspace. (it's driving me crazy.)
the other day i was on the phone with mike and heard a giggle from behind me...never a good sign...and i turned around to find hannah, buried beneath the puffs plus lotion mountain. giggling away.
i had to stop and laugh. it was so funny. she cracks me up all day long.

VACATION!!!!

2006-09-07T18:46:00.000-07:00

well, it took us a little more than a year, but we were finally able to make it out to austin. hannah had a fantastic time on the airplane. she didn't have any problems with her ears at all, which i was worried about because i have problems with mine. she loved looking out of the window and was even able to take a little nap.
grandma and grandpa crocker and auntie jill are having a blast with hannah. she's cracking them up constantly. and she is totally loving the extra amounts of attention. it's just so very nice to be able to visit with them. we had been missing them a lot.
i don't think i'll have any pictures until we get home, but i'll try.

i just couldn't help this one...

2006-07-25T19:45:00.000-07:00

so, this is one of my most favourite pictures of the boog.

it is in very close competition with this one:

thanks.

2006-07-18T16:55:00.000-07:00

so, it's been a while since my last post. i am doing pretty well. i am not so very good at taking my medicine every day, but i am working much harder to make a concious effort to enjoy every minute of my day. hannah makes that pretty dang easy. although, she contributes heaps to the "making it pretty dang hard" catagory. i digress, she's amazing. not to mention my husband, who regularly works him self to the point of exaustion (big project at work these past few weeks) and then comes home and plays with the booger and helps me clean up the house. man. he is seriously the most amazing guy ever.
so, i was just wanting to say, "thanks, God. my life is truly, truly blessed. and i am totally sorry for being such a poop head."

oh, and here are some pics from a few months ago...the very first birthday and my rad husband.

adventures with hannah

2006-06-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

ok, some newer pictures of the boog. but still quite a few months old...i'll get the hang of this one of these days.
first mohawk.
being restrained in the front yard (and looking extremely cute!)
being terribly naughty (and terribly funny)in the guest bathroom at "aunt sarah's" house.

words...

2006-06-09T23:59:00.000-07:00

well, i haven't exactly written much here, except for blurbs about the photos i have posted. i am stepping out on a pretty big limb here (although it feels like it's pretty small and fragile), i am not a big fan of writing. it makes my head hurt. and most of the time, i don't feel much better when i'm done. a few days later maybe, but not when i finish.
i have been starting to follow some other "mom blogs" lately and have been really inspired. we'll see how far this burst of inspiration actually takes me...
it's 12:01 am, i should be sleeping. really. my husband is sleeping, my daughter is sleeping (huge smile!) and i am sitting here in front of the screen that makes my head hurt something fierce. i should be sleeping because the kid runs me ragged, like a manaic, who thinks this is the only moment she'll get to run around and get into everything she can possibly wrap her fantastic little mind around. don't get me wrong, she is the most amazing person, in line with my husband and my mother, but this child, this person, came out of me!! that puts her in a whole new category.
i don't want to make this very long...keep it short, don't burn yourself out, ash. i just thought i'd get the ball rolling.
(me giving ball a rather apprehensive push)
i have depression. is that how you say it? it's really the only way that it feels right to say it, for me.it's something that has been a part of me for quite a long time, like late elementary school. it reared it's ugly, and i mean ugly, head a little over 4 years ago. wow. what a roller coaster, but with no coasting, at all. it got a really scary hold on me and took me for a very steep, very dark ride. with the support of my parents (and lots of, "here are your socks, put them on. here are your shoes, put them on.) the direction of my life was able to move on a steady upward plane. over the course of the next three and a half years i have been all ove that ride. up, up, down, up, down, down, down, up, down, up, down...it's a little hard to keep track of now. i just hope for the normal days. i have been unmedicated (not very successful), medicated (much better results), in therapy (semi-productive...), not in therapy (semi-productive...), and just generally frustrated. it is so hard, so hard, to explain to people what is going on with me, the daily struggle. now matter how close i am to them, no matter how much i know they care about me and want to help me. if you haven't lived in this fantastic world, there's nothing to liken it to. nothing that i have run across, anyway.
sleep is approaching, i am waving my arms at it to get it to head in my direction. it seems to be responding to my efforts.
coming soon:
more words, 1st birthday and camping trip photos, and some random photos as well, because dang it, she is the cutest little maniac ever!

we miss jessie!

2006-04-24T22:16:00.000-07:00

and josiah, too! we were supposed to go with debra and nehemiah to visit some friends in atascadero, but it was going to be too long of a trip. we had so much fun last time. josiah was a fantastic host. he showed hannah all around his room and shared his toys with her.
we can't wait to see you guys again!

this is my kid!!

2006-04-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

she is such a nut. i love her so much, even though sometimes i feel like i am pulling out all of my hair. she really is fantastic.

first trip to the snow!

2006-04-03T15:27:00.000-07:00

sorry if this too small to see well. this is hannah and daddy sledding in angelus oaks. (sp?) the little pink spot in the middle is hannah's beanie (on her head.)

we went with hannah's friend mckenna and her parents (our friends), rick and sabina. the babies had a great time in the snow, as did we. we are very much looking forward to next year's sledding season...

hannah's best buddy: nehemiah

2006-04-03T15:21:00.000-07:00

this was taken just before we took aunt debra and cousin nehemiah to the airport to go and visit his daddy in north carolina. uncle casey is going to afghanistan for 12 months. we will miss him heaps, but are very proud of him. thanks casey, for sharing your wife and son with us while you are gone.

what a handful!!

2006-04-03T14:53:00.000-07:00

aunt debra holding the babies,

hannah and nehemiah,

who are very good buddies. they were both having quite a giggle here.

skinny baby!

2006-03-28T14:27:00.000-08:00

hannah with "mr.bunny," her best friend.

...her poor little legs never did quite fill in her onesie :)

first night at home

2006-03-28T13:58:00.000-08:00

mom trying to make her feel better. staying warm with dad.

welcome, buddy!

2006-03-28T13:51:00.000-08:00

these are some of the earliest pictures of hannah. she was born on may 6th, 2005.
just a few hours old, already the biggest baby in the nursery...she was 8 lbs. 1 oz. and 20 1/2 inches long.
as you can tell, we liked her right away.

hannah's first big trip out

2006-03-23T21:12:00.000-08:00

one of our first family photos, at uncle josh's graduation from biola university, may 2005. hannah is 3 weeks old.

merry christmas, friends!

2006-03-23T21:10:00.000-08:00

our most recent family photo, christmas 2005. hannah is 7 months old