Home again, home again

Happy New Year everyone!

We were so blessed to wrap up 2009 with a trip home to Fargo for the holidays! And to add a little icing to the cake, we extended our visit even farther west to Bismarck for New Years weekend. We are so thankful have spent so much time visiting family and friends over winter break, and I am so impressed with how well the boys handled all the bouncing around. It wasn't until the last 60 miles from Fort Wayne, Caleb sighed from the back seat of the car and said, “I’m ready to be home.” Amen Caleb, Amen!

Following the climax of the holidays, it took a solid week to find our routine again. Kevin started classes and has already been assisting Pastor Jim Elsner with the service at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Stroh, Indiana. Unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity to observe Kevin in his new role, because I've been sitting with our very shy 4-year old through Sunday School. But according to Kevin it's going well and he is anxious to be doing more!

Behind the scenes at Prince of Peace, the Director of Christian Education asked me to help teach the Children's Sunday School class for a couple weeks in February (one of the other teachers will be having her FIFTH baby in March!) Since I still haven't found myself a job, I am pretty excited to have something to do! In addition, Caleb and I volunteered to bring 10 DOZEN cookies for fellowship in February—busy is good, right?

Outside of Sundays, we’re still contemplating if we should send Caleb to preschool for the next few months. This morning he sat down to “read” a book to Ethan and me. It’s adorable to see what he has learned from watching his preschool teachers in Fargo. Today was a little different than past experiences however, he actually moved his fingers along the words and spoke slowly as though he was sounding them out. "As though" being the operative phrase—he isn't actually able to do that just yet, but I think this implies that he is ready! Now just a little help from his mama :)

As for Ethan, he battled his first visit to the doctor for stitches last week (just one stitch actually). He was just running through the kitchen when Caleb peeked around the corner to surprise him, and the poor guy landed face first on the hard kitchen floor. If you know Ethan, your familiar with his tendency to smile with his bottom lip tucked into his mouth, but as a result, those top teeth cut right through his lip leaving a pretty nasty gash :(

The good news is the little ones bounce back the quickest—today’s best belly laughs were the result of simulated sneezing (just another tactic he picked up from good ol' big brother). It’s amazing what will make a little boy giggle! and giggle! and giggle...one of those moments you can only hope to recreate later and capture on video.

Overall, I thought we had a fairly uneventful week, but this first blog has me second guessing... ;)