Hello Everyone!
Can you believe how long it's been since I posted? Believe it or not, it's not completely my fault...about a month ago there was a huge storm, and even though we had a surge protector, it shorted out the power supply on our computer...and we are still waiting on the part.:(Oh the trials we have had with this computer!
Anyhow, I shall put up some pics from past events, but for now, I thought I would show what we've been doing the past week! We are in Moscow, and we just had my brother Seth's wedding! It has been so fun, seeing all of our relatives, friends and family...there's truly nothing like coming 'home.' Unfortunately, Bray had to go back to work Monday, so Hobbes and I are here alone until next Tuesday...and we have been busy going to the park with our little buds, watching movies with the girls, having coffee with Uncle Jordan, and just going around Moscow, enjoying the cool breeze and lack of humidity! ;) So, we hope all has been well with everyone, and we shall keep you updated on all of our goings on! Love to you all!
For the pics: Hobbes looking out the airplane window/ The happy fam at the wedding!/ My dad and my grandma dancing at the reception/ My Aunt Jill and cousin Peter/Seth and Naphtali getting covered in birdseed/ me and my new sister-in-law, Naphtali!

YAY-Lots of Pics!

Hello, everyone! Once again it's been awhile..but that is mostly due to the fact that we're not finished till this coming Friday.:(
So, in order to keep you all aware of what's been happenin, I thought I'd try and sum it all up in one sitting.
This weekend we went to Monroe for Bray's youngest brother's graduation. Although we had to leave the next day, we had a wonderful time, and even got to see Hobbes' other great-grandma for the very first time!
If you're wondering what the pics of Bray and I are of...well, there's not a good explanation, but there's a funny one! Bray's sister Charity works at an ice cream store in Monroe. They were having a 'Rock-Paper-Scissors' competition to get business,etc, so we all came down to compete. In short, I beat all the boys, won our bracket, and then lost...to a 5 year old. Now I would not have been beat so easily had I known the first prize was free ice cream for a year and a $100 Target card! I didn't care about the ice cream, but, honestly, does a 5 year old need a Target card? Such is life.;)

The pool pics are of yesterday afternoon, when we actually took Hobbes into deep water, and swam around for several hours-he loved it! We had to take a dry-off break on the deck, and that's the pic of him and the umbrella.




Yesterday Bray and I had to do the music for the whole church service again, so we had Jordan come over to do a duet, and then Bray's mom, Caleb and Charity came to listen and stayed for Sunday dinner. It was a lovely day, and after they left was when we went to the pool! We have 1 more week, 1 week break and then summer school begins....but we shall see a lot of you in just a few weeks at my brother's wedding! We love you!
The last few pics are of Hobbes, loving his reflection in the balloon,Bray and Hob outside our house in his mini pool, and Hob and I on Mother's Day.:)

Fun Changes...New Phases

Hello, all! I'm sure that by now the May Madness has hit everyone- whether it be jobs, end of school schtuff or just the beginning of summer planning and events, this is a CRAZY month!
We have finished up a few things, but we still don't really see a light at the end of the tunnel yet.
As you can see from the first picture, I finished playing for the musical "Nunsense," for which I am very glad-although it was good for me musically, it was incredibly time-consuming. However, I thought we should show you all a photo, so that you may all have blackmail material on me for later.:)
It has been in the 70-80's here, so one evening, we popped over to the pool behind our house, and took Hobbes in for the first time. It was late, so we couldn't stay very long,but ohhh he loved it! He kept bending down to splash his hands in the water, and wanted us to walk him back and forth forever. Occasionally, he would stop and stomp his feet really fast in the water. We'll get more pics as we have (hopefully) more time to go swimming.
The plaid pic of Hobbes is to show what we call his 'crazy' pants...they were on sale, and I must add that it was Bray who picked them out...we're branching out into the crazy styles.:)
Last but not least, I had to put up the pic of Hobbes under the table. He is trying very hard to walk, but still has to have something to hold onto. He does do a bear-crawl, and one day, I was doing bills at the table, and all of a sudden felt a bump on my leg. I had put Hobbes in the living room, playing with his booster seat, and he had pushed it all the way under the table, gotten in it and sat down, and was playing with some papers I had thrown on the floor- tryin to do what Mom was doing! It was very cute. Well, I hope you all survive the madness...and have a wonderful Mother's Day! (Moms, I mean)

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.:)