Attack of the Ants!!

Apparently we aren't the only ones welcoming Spring. Claire and I were sitting on the couch this afternoon when I thought I saw something moving across the carpet. I looked closer to see, and I saw an ant, and behind it, another crawling out of the carpet, and behind it, another. Suddenly, I noticed there were ants all over the carpet. I squished the ones I saw at first, but after a while I new I would need a faster method. So, I grabbed the vacuum cleaner. After sucking up a good many, I was told that they would probably survive the vacuum, and are probably crawling around in there. Ugh. I looked online to see if I could find a natural way of killing the ants both inside and outside (they just keep appearing out of the carpet) the vacuum. I found various methods of "all natural" ant control, including the following:

The Finger Method
1. Place finger over ant.
2. Push finger firmly on ant.
3. Twist and roll finger so the carcass will stick to said finger.
4. Repeat if necessary.
5. Wash hands as squashed ants stink.


Really??? Well, I'm off to battle the ants!

The Priorities of Life

The Two Most Important Things in Life (According to Claire):

Number One - Knowing God.

Number Two - Getting to a bathroom when you need one.

OBX III

Today's Agenda: North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island!

OBX II

Today's weather was on the cool and windy side. We took a drive down to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse since it wasn't going to be a good beach day. The tour of the actual lighthouse was closed (Claire wouldn't have gone up that high anyway), so we enjoyed the view from below...

On our way back, we stopped at a giant Adirondak chair for some silly pictures...

The Blog is Back: Outer Banks!!

We're having a great time in North Carolina! It was warm enough today to eat lunch on the balcony!! Here are a few pictures of the day...

Longwood Gardens

I had the privilege of visiting Longwood Gardens yesterday. Here are some picture highlights.

I just got back from the NEXT 2010 conference in Baltimore, MD. The messages are all available for download here. I had an awesome time. Although I missed my Claire more than I can say, it was so good to spend time being refreshed with truth and reminded of the love of my FIRST LOVE, Jesus Christ. If you get a chance, check out these excellent messages!

Finally, A New Blog Post!

For the few of you out there that actually check our blog regularly, I apologize for every time you checked it since my last post, only to see that same old white squirrel! I know it looks creepy, so I am truly sorry for any emotional scarring or nightmares I've caused.

Seriously, though, here are a few pictures that show what we've been up to since the snow has melted...


Trip to the Baltimore Aquarium (Mimi not pictured)


Bubbles!


Claire's favorite fish - the seahorse!


Claire helping Mimi bake pies for Easter - in her pie-making outfit???


Easter Morning

"The White Squirrel"

Since this past fall, we have had a new visitor to our neighborhood - "The White Squirrel," a.k.a., "Marshmallow." We noticed him across the street in the trees at first. Every now and then, we would see him run around, usually across the street. About two weeks ago, however, Claire and I looked out the back window at the bird feeders and saw him sneaking a treat! He has some good camouflage with all of the snow we've had!

Snow Day!!

We measured 20 inches of snow in our front yard. Claire had a blast in the snow today!! It was too light for a snowman, though. Maybe next time. :)

A Cold Winter's Night

I just snuck into Claire's room to snap this picture quick...



Unless it's a bath night, Claire typically wears summer p.j.'s to bed and still sometimes complains of being hot. Tonight was a bath night, and she must have been feeling exceptionally chilly, because she asked to wear a hat and gloves (actually, a mitten on one hand and a glove on the other) to bed. Of course, the mitten had to come off for thumb-access. Grammy may also recognize that she is wearing her plush robe, which also has fleece pajamas underneath!! She should be nice and toasty now!!

Merry Christmas!

I hope all who read this blog had a very Merry Christmas this year!

We spent Christmas Eve with our church family celebrating our Savior's birth. The church service was one of my favorite Christmas Eve services yet, featuring songs from Andrew Peterson's Behold the Lamb of God, and of course, songs sung by our church's very cute, lovable, and entertaining children. Most of all, it is a highlight of mine to worship the Lord for giving up his majestic throne in heaven and being born a lowly man all so that he could rescue lost sinners. We have an amazing God, and Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year to celebrate all that he is. It is always difficult not to become distracted by the cares and responsibilities of life during this season, but by God's grace, I hope I was able to at least come back to a place where I could remember the true reason for the season, and also to reflect that truth to Claire.

After church Christmas Eve and all day Christmas day was spent with family who we love so very much! It can be a full and exhausting 24 hours, but I am so thankful that we can see our family that we love very much for Christmas.

Oh...Christmas Tree

I know most of you probably think this post will include a beautiful picture of a Christmas tree all decorated for Christmas. Well, our tree this year came home last Saturday, became beautifully arranged with Christmas lights and ornaments by Tuesday, and completely undecorated and taken out with the trash on Sunday. The poor tree died only days after being brought home. We would be sitting on the couch and could hear the needles dropping to the floor. My parents went to the same Christmas tree farm they always go to, cut it down themselves, re-cut the bottom off of the tree as soon as they got home and put it in water immediately. Sounds like they did everything right...? Oh well, the only thing I can think of is that Claire and I couldn't go along this year to get it, so now maybe we'll get a second chance. We'll all get a second chance to arrange lights and ornaments. :) Seriously, it is fun the first time, but the second time...??? It kind of gets old. I feel bad for my parents, though, who did the most work already by cutting down the first one, putting it up, decorating, taking it down, cleaning up all of the needles, etc. Hopefully we'll have success with Tree No. 2, which the Christmas tree farm is giving us free of charge.

Claire's 4th Birthday (Sorry So Late!)

Okay, so I need to be more diligent with my blogging. Sorry! Life has definitely been busy lately, but I will try to do better with updating this blog. It's terrible that I am just now getting around to updating the blog with Claire's Birthday, since it was almost 2 months ago!! Oh well, better late than never, right??

I can't believe Claire is 4 years old. She is turning into such a little lady. Here are some pictures from her 4th birthday celebration, which was spent with her family...











The last picture was taken at ZooAmerica, which is where Claire's Aunt Erica, Mimi, and I took her to celebrate her actual birthday. It worked out well that her birthday was on Labor Day so that Mimi and Aunt Erica had the day off. It was a great day!!

I thank God every day for the precious gift Claire is to me. His grace is so evident in her life. She is so gentle and kind, and never fails to brighten my day! Lately I've been having trouble with my car, but every time something has gone wrong with it, she says something to cheer me up. What a sweetie!! She also regularly gives me hugs and kisses out of the blue, just because she feels like it. :) God is so kind to bless me with such a wonderful daughter!

Happy Camper Award

I gave Claire the "Happy Camper Award" for our recent camping trip. She went into it saying, "I don't want to go," and came out saying, "I love camping. I want to do it again!" She was afraid of the campfire before we went, and started to cry when the fire was getting started the first day. But before we knew it, she changed her mind and started to love the campfire! We had a great time with our friends from church, talking around the campfire, taking walks, going to the swimming pool, etc. Thanks to our friends who kindly lent us camping supplies (Tim and Nicoli for the tent, Kevin and Jenny for the air mattress, John and Wendy for the propane stove)! Thanks to Ken and Beth for covering our camping costs and sharing a campsite with us - your generosity is very much appreciated, and we so enjoyed your company! And thanks to Suzanne Risser for organizing the church camping trip, giving me advice and pointers, and generally making me comfortable with the idea of taking Claire camping. I hope it is something we can do more of in the future.

Summertime Fun

It seems as though we've been getting swept away with summer activities lately, which can feel overwhelmingly busy at times, but fun all the while. Here are a few highlights from the summer...

Riverside Park with Isabella



Hershey Gardens with Gabi



Swimming at Aunt Erica's



Playing in the Sand in Stone Harbor, NJ



Crayola Factory in Easton, PA with Mimi & Mommy



We would love to hear what your favorite summertime activities have been, so please feel free to leave comments for us!

Now we are off this afternoon to go camping with some people from church at Camp Hebron through Saturday. It will be Claire's first camping trip, and my first time camping in a tent for more than one night. I will try not to wait too long to update you all on how it went!

Our Vegetable Garden

My dad so graciously dug out an area of the yard for me to plant a vegetable garden this year, and it has done very well. Thanks to my dad for the digging and turning over of soil, my grandfather-in-law for giving us several plants he didn't have room for in his garden, and to God for the abundance of rain this Spring, it is looking very well. I have a few peppers that are soon ready to be picked, several small zucchini, some spinach, and some herbs. The tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, red onions, butternut squash, and a cantaloupe will arrive later this summer and early next fall. It is so much fun to watch, and will be very yummy to eat!!