I Can Go Anywhere!!!!

For those of you who were not blessed with a childhood filled with the TV show, "Reading Rainbow," you probably won't understand the title of this post...but I thought it fitting for what Hobbes has been up to. It's been so fun to watch his personality really show up lately- funny how being mobile can do that to a kid, eh? Also, the discipline factor has really come into play- as Hobbes can reach anything 2 feet and climbable. The good news is that he seems to be (at least for the time being) responding to our 'stern' voices, and of course, hand and leg slaps. He's a pretty good imitation of a puppy learning how to come, sit, well, not potty train...but these things take time, right? I'm just joking on that last part-but he really does come when you call him. The other day I was in the living room, and I needed to go to the bedroom to fold laundry, so I told Hobbes to 'come here.' He thought about first pulling the books off the bookshelf again, but after a few repetitions of the command, he followed me all the way! How proud we can be of the little things!
Anyhow, enough of the contemplative conversation, and on to activities! Here are just a few of the things Hobbes likes to do: Eat a yummy Sunday lunch, sitting at the head of the table.
Get into my closet, and give Mom a smirk when I'm caught.
Knock down towers of blocks and throw the blocks as hard as I can.
Find the Cheerios box, tip it over, and eat them when Mom's not looking...excuse the runny nose, please.:) And, of course, climb the stairs all by myself, and then be so thrilled with myself I bounce up and down, slap my legs, and make loud noises. Love you all!

Big and Busy Boy!

Hello, all! What a wonderful, busy week we have had! As I had mentioned,we had a week break, during which we painted our kitchen, cleaned the house, and sent Bray off to NY. There were 15 singers chosen for this 2nd round of finals, and they were all of very high caliber. Bray was given an outstanding performance of a song, for his opera aria, and was given very positive and encouraging comments! We are now mulling over some ideas that were presented as to the net step on the career front.
Meanwhile, Hobbes and I went to Monroe to hang with the fam, and had a wonderful weekend relaxing, shopping and going to a Ben Folds concert. Ok, Hobbes didn't actually go to the concert, but I did! We only have a short time before the end of the semester, and we are looking forward to coming to Moscow for my brother's wedding in June!!! I can't wait! Until that time, I am playing for a local musical, Nunsense, which keeps me very busy music wise, and Bray is finishing up classes , etc.
Hobbes on the other hand, as you can see from the photos, is working on being a big boy!
He can now crawl officially (as opposed to just backwards), has 6 teeth, helps Dad take out the trash, practices his piano daily, and works hard at playing and getting into everything!!! (Below is a mini poem I wrote for his excursions).
We love you all!



There once was a boy named Hobbes.
His mother gave him lots of jobs.
He took out the trash,
to avoid a lash,
then played the day away.

Carolyn came!!!

Since things have been so crazy, I never got a chance to put up pics from when my sister Carolyn came to visit a few weeks ago. We had a GREAT time...hangin out in small town life, cooking really nice dinners for Bray, visiting friends in Monroe, shopping, touring Vicksburg and getting lost in scary part of town, drinking alcohol:), chattin', and who knows what else sisters get into. Carolyn even made the Monroe newspaper, with a pic of her at the airport. Amazing what happens when you come to the South, eh? Anyhow, I just wanted to share a few photos, and a quick update on what we did, so here you go-Love you, Car!

Easter,NY, and everything in between...

Well, I am finally writing again- I shall not try to list all the excuses for the delay in updates- as Ferris Bueller says, "Life moves pretty fast...":)
Anyhow, we have had our plates full, but have been enjoying life to the fullest- and what better time to do it than Easter? As you can see from the pics, we celebrated our first Easter with Hobbes in Monroe, and he was all decked out...at least for the duration of the picture.:) After that, he wanted the jacket off (WARM weather!) and then, of course, once the eating commenced, it was all over. We had a lovely worship service, Bray sang a duet with a cousin, and I accompanied them, and then we had a very tasty, very filling Easter dinner. Following that was an Easter Egg hunt, unfortunately, it was for kids under 15, so I came away empty-handed and although Hobbes wasn't exactly one of the hunters, he won a prize and sat in his first outdoor baby swing for the entire afternoon! (We don't have a park with a baby swing in P.G.)
Next up on the schedule is Bray's competition in NY. We are currently on our spring break, so I will take Bray to the airport Thursday morning, he competes Saturday at the Eastman school of music in Rochester, NY, and then flies home Sunday. Please do pray that it goes well, that God will be glorified, and that travels will go smoothly. I know this is not the most thorough update, but I figure I shall have more to say after this weekend-as that is the main item on our minds right now. We love you all, hope you had a great Easter, and shall be in touch!
-One last family photo op on Easter morn.

Life on the Mississippi

Hello everyone!

I trust this finds you all well and enjoying spring....for the most part, we have been doing just that, with a few hindrances on the side. As I mentioned in my previous post, my parents came and went, and had a lovely time. Since they left, life has become even more insane, if that is possible. Bray has been working tons, plus preparing for the upcomin NY competition- and Hobbes has been keeping both of us hopping.

We had our first serious scare yesterday- Hobbes had fallen asleep on our bed, and Bray had put pillows on both sides of him. He is currently not officially crawling yet, but somehow, in the few minutes we were in the living room doing something, he scooched and rolled off our bed (2-3 ft)onto the hardwood floor. Needless to say, we were very worried, but he wasnt bleeding or anything, so Bray went to work, and Hobbes kept crying. I got out my parenting book, and was reading about head injuries, and for what had happened, they recommended immediately going to the hospital. Well, I was about to call Bray, when Hobbes started throwing up profusely, which sent me into a near panic....I called Bray, and we drove 45 min to the hospital. There, we went to the emergency room, had to wait 45min plus, but by this time Hobbes seemed to be returning to normal. In the car, he had kept getting sick, and I had kept him awake the whole time. Finally, 4 hours and one CT scan later, we were given the clear, and Hobbes is fine and dandy. God is merciful!

So, besides the norm of business and day to day routines, music stuff, hospitals, etc, we are doing well, and are very thankful at the graciousness of God! Love to you all!

PS- this is Hobbes enjoying sucking spaghetti noodles, and the pansies in one of our window boxes-I love flowers!

Oops:)

As you can see from the previous post, I accidentally hit the enter button as I was about to type, and it published...so I'll explain the pics in this blog. As I had mentioned, my fam came down from Idaho and Wisconsin to see us last week- and we had a wonderful, crazy, too short time together. We took them around the south- we went into the huge plantation house we had only seen the outside of last time, we shopped, ate, walked, played, and just had a good time together. My aunt Wendy and her fam were kind enough to drive down from Wisconsin as well, so we had a full house! But, oh, what fun!Hobbes loved all the attention- which I have truly noticed this week, as it's just me to entertain him during the day now.
In case you haven't figured it out yet, I do have internet at my house!!! So I shall be able to keep in better touch with all of you. Yay! The next month and a half are going to be crazzzyyy! I know I say that a lot, but this time it's reallly true. Bray made the finals for a Kurt Weill (composer) competition in New York in April, so he'll head up there and compete- pray it goes well...and my sister Carolyn comes April 1, so I get to play some more. We're getting very excited for my brother Seth's wedding, and seeing all the wonderful Moscow people again. Not to mention Bucer's coffee. Well, that's the major news for now, so until next time..love yall!
(Iknow, I did it, I wrote the Southern yall...just to keep you guys interested)
For the pics-me and the buddy wearing our cowboy hats and being crazy,
one is of the fam outside my house, my dad and Hobbes having a memorable moment on the tree stump outside our house(it was a Beautiful day), another is a really artsy pic of Uncle Matt and Hobbes through the window in Monroe-see the reflection of the clouds? I thought that was neat, and last but not least, another cool shot of the Mississippi river-for those of you who have only seen it on the cover of Mark Twain's book.:)
For my mom's benefit only:me and Bray really miss you:) heehee

The

Story:The Busy Little Hobbes; by his mom

Hobbes is a little boy. He is very young. He cannot walk or crawl, but does his best to get around. He has several favorite things he likes to do- eat, sleep, play, and cuddle with mom and dad.
Each day, Hobbes tries something new. Sometimes it's a new vegetable, sometimes something he's found on the ground, and sometimes just whatever comes into his head. Most often he goes with the latter. This week, Hobbes decided to do something different every day.
The first day, he stood up in his car seat in the grocery cart while riding in the store with mom and dad- and he didn't even fall down!

The second day, he decided to try to be like his Grandpa Garfield and learn to play the drums-but most of the time he just liked to put them in his mouth.
The third day, Hobbes found an apple a piano student had given his mom-and he decided that he should have it, too. So, he did...yum!
The fourth day, Hobbes got tired of all the hullabaloo, and decided to take all his clothes off and 'air out.' So, once again, he did- but, mom caught him!
The fifth day, Hobbes was just about to take out mom's Subway sandwich and eat it while she was driving, but....he fell asleep.

THE END!!!

PS- This is an actual restaurant near Natchez, that Bray and I accidentally found a week ago- it's called 'Mammy's Cupboard.' Fun, eh? We love you all! Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, I'm not computer illiterate, we just had to get a different modem, so our internet is still 'on the way.' We'll let you know when it's actually up and functional.

INTERNET ON THE WAY!!!!!

Well, we SHOULD have our internet set up by Thursday of this week, cross your fingers, and then I shall be connected to the world once more. We are about to head back home, so this is just a quick update until our internet is set up. Things have been crazy as usual- but the new part of the crazy is that the weather has been strange and spontaneous.
One day it was perfectly sunny, I was inside with Hobbes, and all of a sudden I heard a pounding and thundering on the roof. I ran to the window, and saw HUGE pieces of hail pouring down, like thousands of mini golf balls that had escaped out of their cart.
It was insane! I wanted to run out in it, but was afraid of getting bruised on the head, so instead I went out after it had stopped and took the picture down below. It was after it had melted a bit, so it's not quite as big as it was....but it was nice to see the ground 'white' again!:)
The 2 pics of Hobbes in his sailor suit I just had to take because he was super-cute. Anyhow, we send in the video for the comp in New York this week, so pray for that, and that we would keep everything in perspective, and above all glorify God. We love you all! Hope to update you more at the end of this week!:)
By the way, for those of you who know me REALLY well, does the face at the top of this post look familiar of days gone by? Don't answer if you know.:)

Southern Beauty...

Hello everyone! Things have become insanely busy....or maybe, they just haven't stopped being busy.:) Anyhow, we are in the midst of the new semester, and with it has come several changes and exciting new things. We got our computer, and our in the middle of getting set up with bellsouth, so soooonnn I shall be online all the time!!! Also, for those of you who have tried to call me recently, I have had much cell phone troubles, and thus have been without a phone until hopefully tomorrow. So do not think me rude if I have not replied to a message.:)
Well I have started a new job at the school doing some secretarial/computer work up at what we call the 'White House.' The reason for this being that it actually is an old, beautiful, southern white house. I work from about 9-12 am, and then Bray begins teaching at about a quarter to 12, so Hobbes takes his nap and stays home. Because of the different scheduling, Bray's day starts later and goes later. It has been really great for me to have something structured in the day, and I am enjoying it so far. I will also be playing for the upcoming children's musical they have, so I am looking forward to the interaction with the kids, as well as warming up my skills on the ivories once more.:)
Bray has been steadily teaching, practicing, performing, driving the bus, you name it, he's doing it. On Friday his choir had a performance a few hours away, at which, I might add, they did amazingly well, so we drove there, got home late, then got up early to drive 3 hours to Cleveland, MS for the regional Metropolitan Opera competition. We brought Charity along to babysit, as I was playing. Bray won one of the 3 awards, and although we will not participate in the next level, did very well, and found out some good info for teachers for Bray, young artist programs,etc.. We have a Kurt Weill competition in February which we have to send a video in for, so that is our next focus on the opera side of things. Other than that, we are looking forward to visits from parents and relatives, and just keeping on top of everything. We miss you all as always, and shall keep you updated as often as possible!





for the pics:Bray & Archer throwing sticks in the river by the levy, Hobbes and I watching the water, and a beautiful reflection of a tree in the water. Down below, a pic of us one gorgeous Sunday morn, and Hobbes and Bray celebrating at the Met competition yesterday. Enjoy!

Pics from Shawna's wedding,Moscow, etc.

Shawna and I right before the wedding!
Shawna and Josh at the reception- cutting the cake...
Bray and I 'gettin' jiggy with it,' and then a crazy pic of me and my dad...
Isaac, Bray and Hobbes, being boys, and last but not least, my mom and Hobbes, saying goodbye at the airport.:(

Home again, home again...

Well, we're back. We had a fairly uneventful trip home, albeit that I was sick the night before, and was dragging my feet a bit on the way. It was hard to say goodbye to my parents, but we cheered ourselves with the hope of a visit from them sometime in March...hint hint!
Jordan picked us up from the airport, and then we went to Monroe for church and the annual pastor's conference. Unfortunately, Bray had to go back to work earlier than expected, and so I stayed the week at his parents' house.

Hobbes and I had lots of fun- playing with the cousins, going to Bethany's for lunch, visiting with the Wilsons (down for the conference) and playing matching outfits with Jaiken and Archer...see left. ( down below is what the back of their outfits say- Hobbes has frogs, Jaiken has snails)

















To the left is a pic of all of Wendy and Steve's kids....we haven't been altogether at the same time since the 2 babes were born. (Going left to right: Caleb, Bray, Matt, Remy, Jordan, Kajsa, Charity, Bethany, Hobbes, Archer, Jaiken)Needless to say, it has been a wonderful vacation, but we are ready to get home and back to the grindstone! Thanks to all who hosted us and entertained us in Moscow....it felt like going home. We miss you all, and look forward to future visits! God bless!

Happy new year!

Hello everyone...I hope you had a great new years...as I mentioned in my previous post, we were in Portland, Oregon with my extended family. It was a short but sweet visit- we spent some time with Hobbes' great-grandma, and 2 of his great aunts.
Although things have been crazy-busy, both Bray and I have greatly appreciated the time we have had with friends and family. As you can see from the pics, we went ice skating, played a hilarious board game called Quelf, had coffee, coffee, coffee...and did wedding stuff for one of my best friends, Shawna.
It will be a bittersweet parting on Saturday, as we head home- although we are looking forward to seeing Bray's family too. Moscow still feels the most like home to us- but it's good to experience new things. So if ever you want a taste of the South-give us a ring, and we'll put you up. Have a great new year, and we miss you all!
Here is a 4-generation picture for my side of the family, with my dad's mom...below is Hobbes experiencing Powell's bookstore ( one of the very be st in my opinion) with his grandparents.The lovely woman giving Hobbes his first lick of a candy cane is my Aunt Jill. Last but not least, is a pic with all of my siblings on New Year's. Enjoy!