hoping Wyatt's tooth emerges soon. Teething is not fun at all.
cheering on the World Cup.
reflecting on last Sunday's message (listen to it here).
experimenting with our oven's temperatures.
devouring cookies that were supposed to go to our neighbors, but got a little too brown.
wondering where I would have packed my postage stamps.
unpacking the last of the boxes: we now have a bookshelf!
watching Wyatt army crawl all over the house.
marveling at how much energy he has.
rejoicing in how God has provided everything we need.
designing research to get this PhD underway!
enjoying this town.
walking wherever we can, up hills and down hills and up more hills.
forgetting to bring an umbrella and getting rained on twice. (Wyatt did not seem to mind at all. Yay for our outdoorsy boy!)
Monday, June 16, 2014
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
week one.
Have we only been in Virginia for one week? What a week it's been! Here're some highlights:
While Cody and Otto drove and co-piloted the U-Haul-pulling-the-car rig, Wyatt and I flew up to Virginia, sparing him excessive time in the dreaded car seat. During our 3-hour-turned-6-hour layover in Atlanta (our plane had mechanical issues with its wing; I'm so thankful it was caught when everyone was still on the ground!), he sat on my lap, ate cantaloupe, looked out the window over the runway, and laughed every time a luggage car or bus or truck passed by; he squealed when a plane taxied past. Wyatt absolutely loved the airport and he did so amazingly well.
We've settled into our townhouse (minus two boxes of random decor items and over a dozen boxes of books) and are so thankful God provided this place. We found it on Craigslist and mailed the security deposit, sight unseen, but it is perfect for us. It's the only one with a yard and it has the most trees nearby, providing lots of shade. Our boys love playing in the grass. Another perk is that the bedrooms are on the second floor, so when I open the shades in Wyatt's room, he's eye level with birds perched in the evergreens' branches. Our boy loves his birds. It's also located in such a convenient part of town! The university, downtown, an amazing playground, and a grocery store are all within walking distance!
My older sister Jenny came to help us move in and she was such a blessing, unpacking boxes, entertaining Wyatt, doing dishes, hauling trash to the dumpster...I'm so thankful for her serving spirit!
On Friday, we attended an outdoor concert downtown.
On Monday, we took Wyatt on his first hike. The trail meandered through a forest, alongside a creek, and Wyatt kept looking all around, trying to take it all in, and squealing with delight. His sweet sound, along with the sound of the creek flowing and the birds singing and the sight of the bright green trees stretching towards the blue sky...creation was praising its Creator and it was so beautifully overwhelming.
On Tuesday, we drove to the orchard where Cody will be conducting his research. I had to take a picture of him with his baby boy and baby trees; I'm sure they'll be looking a lot different in four years, at the end of his PhD program!
I've been reflecting on how God's providential hand has been so evident in this new adventure. Neither Cody nor I would have ever imagined we'd be living in Virginia as Cody pursues a PhD, but we are so grateful that God led us here in His perfect timing.
There are hills and mountains and cooler temperatures and dirt and grass and windy back country roads and fireflies and old red barns...this is our home now and my heart is so happy.
While Cody and Otto drove and co-piloted the U-Haul-pulling-the-car rig, Wyatt and I flew up to Virginia, sparing him excessive time in the dreaded car seat. During our 3-hour-turned-6-hour layover in Atlanta (our plane had mechanical issues with its wing; I'm so thankful it was caught when everyone was still on the ground!), he sat on my lap, ate cantaloupe, looked out the window over the runway, and laughed every time a luggage car or bus or truck passed by; he squealed when a plane taxied past. Wyatt absolutely loved the airport and he did so amazingly well.
My older sister Jenny came to help us move in and she was such a blessing, unpacking boxes, entertaining Wyatt, doing dishes, hauling trash to the dumpster...I'm so thankful for her serving spirit!
On Friday, we attended an outdoor concert downtown.
On Monday, we took Wyatt on his first hike. The trail meandered through a forest, alongside a creek, and Wyatt kept looking all around, trying to take it all in, and squealing with delight. His sweet sound, along with the sound of the creek flowing and the birds singing and the sight of the bright green trees stretching towards the blue sky...creation was praising its Creator and it was so beautifully overwhelming.
On Tuesday, we drove to the orchard where Cody will be conducting his research. I had to take a picture of him with his baby boy and baby trees; I'm sure they'll be looking a lot different in four years, at the end of his PhD program!
I've been reflecting on how God's providential hand has been so evident in this new adventure. Neither Cody nor I would have ever imagined we'd be living in Virginia as Cody pursues a PhD, but we are so grateful that God led us here in His perfect timing.
There are hills and mountains and cooler temperatures and dirt and grass and windy back country roads and fireflies and old red barns...this is our home now and my heart is so happy.
Monday, May 26, 2014
Dear Folks,
Jess and I are preparing for quite a life change beginning next week. In attempts to keep as many of you in touch as possible, we will depend on social media of various means to communicate. If you have not been previously aware of our blog, check out some of Jess' prior posts (she's rather cute, and quite a blogger!).
If you've not yet heard, I [Cody], have officially been accepted into a PhD program. The Lord's timing always manages to surprise me with how He works in a free-will system without fail.
So Jess and I will move to Virginia for the next chapter in our lives. We are excited about the ministry that the Lord is preparing for us, and preparing us for.
We will keep you posted with all the Kiefer happenings in VA. For now, back to box-packing and yard sale preparing!
-C.
If you've not yet heard, I [Cody], have officially been accepted into a PhD program. The Lord's timing always manages to surprise me with how He works in a free-will system without fail.
So Jess and I will move to Virginia for the next chapter in our lives. We are excited about the ministry that the Lord is preparing for us, and preparing us for.
We will keep you posted with all the Kiefer happenings in VA. For now, back to box-packing and yard sale preparing!
-C.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
seeking peace.
Today was one of those days. Probably because last night was one of those nights. Wyatt and I were awake far more than we were asleep. It left both of us deliriously tired and completely out of sorts all day today. He fought sleep and I was fighting for him to sleep...the more he fought the more I would fight, too. He would cry and rub his eyes and yawn and repeat, repeat, repeat...I would sway and sing and walk back and forth and back and forth and offer him milk and repeat, repeat, repeat...to no avail. I'd give him toys while I tried to work, offer him the bouncy seat, nothing was working. At the end of the workday we were both frustrated and so very tired.
Defeated, I decided that we were going home an hour early. As I snapped his car seat in its base and leaned forward to kiss his forehead with a "Let's go home! I'll see you there, my love," he looked deeply back at me with those beautiful eyes of his. I started the car, turned up the air, and hopped in the backseat next to him. He immediately smiled and grabbed my finger. "Let's pray, Wyatt, okay?" And I prayed out loud to the Mighty God, the Prince of Peace, the Creator, our Sustainer, the All-Sufficient One Who graciously holds us in His hands. Oh how I needed Him.
Once we arrived home, I put on the Rend Collective station on Pandora, scooped up Wyatt, and we started dancing and swaying and singing around the living room. My tense shoulders loosened and his smile got bigger and bigger. I smiled and he laughed.
Later on, as I took a break from making dinner to check on him in his bouncy seat, I leaned forward to kiss him and he reached forward with both hands to hold my face. It was the first time he's ever done that and it melted me.
"Cease striving. Know that I am God." In these situations - in any situation - I need to just stop striving and just be. Just rest in God's peace because He will keep me in perfect peace when my mind is fixed on Him. Not on things that need to be done or situations that I want to change. Just on Him alone.
Defeated, I decided that we were going home an hour early. As I snapped his car seat in its base and leaned forward to kiss his forehead with a "Let's go home! I'll see you there, my love," he looked deeply back at me with those beautiful eyes of his. I started the car, turned up the air, and hopped in the backseat next to him. He immediately smiled and grabbed my finger. "Let's pray, Wyatt, okay?" And I prayed out loud to the Mighty God, the Prince of Peace, the Creator, our Sustainer, the All-Sufficient One Who graciously holds us in His hands. Oh how I needed Him.
Once we arrived home, I put on the Rend Collective station on Pandora, scooped up Wyatt, and we started dancing and swaying and singing around the living room. My tense shoulders loosened and his smile got bigger and bigger. I smiled and he laughed.
Later on, as I took a break from making dinner to check on him in his bouncy seat, I leaned forward to kiss him and he reached forward with both hands to hold my face. It was the first time he's ever done that and it melted me.
"Cease striving. Know that I am God." In these situations - in any situation - I need to just stop striving and just be. Just rest in God's peace because He will keep me in perfect peace when my mind is fixed on Him. Not on things that need to be done or situations that I want to change. Just on Him alone.
Friday, March 7, 2014
a salute to Sally Lunn.
Four years ago, on Valentine's Day, Cody brought his old bread machine over to my place as a gift. It sat in my cabinet, untouched, until we got married and then it moved to a new cabinet to sit untouched. Fast forward to six months ago when I discovered that I needed to be on a dairy-free, soy-free diet for Wyatt. And then I discovered that every single loaf of bread* in Publix has soybean oil in it. What's a bread-loving girl to do? Whip out her old bread machine and make her own, of course!
*There was one variety of bread, Ezekiel Bread, that didn't have soy in it. But it was too expensive for this thrifty person's taste.
The bread machine came with Betty Crocker's Bread Machine Cookbook, circa 1995, and in it I found a recipe entitled Sally Lunn. "This popular tea bread is believed to have been named for a woman who worked in the bakery where it was created."
I can tell you why it was popular: it's so good. I have easily made over three dozen loaves so far. And it is so easy to do.
Step 1: compile ingredients.
Step 2: measure ingredients and dump them in the bread machine pan in the order listed.
- 1 egg plus enough water to measure 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar
- 6 Tablespoons softened butter (I use Earth Balance Soy-Free Natural Buttery Spread)
- 3 cups flour (I use either all All-Purpose flour, or 2/3 AP flour and 1/3 Whole Wheat Flour)
- 1 teaspoon bread machine yeast
Step 3: turn on the bread machine.
Step 4: 2 hours and 50 minutes later, enjoy your homemade loaf!
It's so good warm, pulled apart, and slathered with butter. Or toasted and slathered with butter. Or as sandwich bread. Or with honey or peanut butter or peanut butter and honey. I'm trying it as French toast tomorrow...oh, Sally Lunn, I love you!
*There was one variety of bread, Ezekiel Bread, that didn't have soy in it. But it was too expensive for this thrifty person's taste.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
our little man's bedroom.
Welcome to your tour of Wyatt's bedroom! I so loved decorating this space and getting it ready for Wyatt, but even more I love spending time in it with him. It's such a happy, peaceful room and I hope he likes it, too! Without further adieu:
Cody's idea to put the crib in the closet was such a good one! Since this photo was taken, I added a mobile to the crib, filled the fox bin with toys, added a gray sheet to the crib mattress, and removed the afghan and stuffed animals in the crib. Fun fact: my great aunt (who is currently 97 years old!) made that afghan for me when I was born! : )
Wyatt's map of Narnia (since his middle name, Caspian, came from The Chronicles of Narnia), stuffed tiger (the first thing we bought when we discovered we were pregnant), a framed pressed fern from a favorite spot of mine, a collection of arrowheads that I discovered (for my little Choctaw), Cody's childhood collection of books, a bin of random toys, our diaper bag, and a rocking lion, of course.
am so thankful we chose to set his diaper changing station on the dresser. This set-up works so very well for us, from the tower of diaper changing supplies to the drawers that hold everything we need. It's all so accessible and handy. Diapers, right there to the left. Change of shirt? Top drawer: boom. Time for pjs? Other top drawer. Creams or burp clothes? Check the top tier. Oh, his face needs washing? Let me reach left for the spray bottle and right for a washcloth and - voila! - clean face! It's the perfect set-up, I tell you.
This wall makes me so happy. I love the alphabet cards, the bookcase, the storage bins...
A closer view of the lion and the rug...and that, oh friends and blog readers, concludes the tour. What do you think?
Thursday, August 22, 2013
clotheslines 101
Cody and our landlord recently put a clothesline in the backyard and I am so very excited! Some ladies like receiving jewelry or fancy chocolates or clothes or a bouquet of roses...just install a clothesline for me and I can't get much happier.
I imagined how cute Baby K's diapers will look, all lined up and pinned up and bleaching in the sun. Or how good it'll feel to again use a sun-dried towel after a shower. Yes, yes, please.
Since I was washing our sheets and bedding anyway, I decided to have them dry outside on the clothesline. I grabbed some clothespins and hauled the laundry basket to the backyard. Soon the line was full of wet linens all happily hanging in the bright sunshine. They'll be dry in 30 minutes and the bed'll be made before 10:00am, I thought to myself and went inside to do some more housework.
An hour later, I heard thunder. And then I saw rain. And then I remembered the laundry on the clothesline. 'Twas too late to rescue my linens; they received another rinsing. Three more, in fact, by the end of the day. Silly rainy season. There would be a shower, the sun would come out and dry the sheets, I'd remember them just as another rain shower started, then the sun would dry them again, but I'd forget about them until after another shower came...and on and on and on.
So now they're drying in the drier. First attempt at using my clothesline = fail. But we're learning, right? And I didn't use any more electricity than I would have originally! And I'm going to have extra clean sheets tonight when I go to bed. It all sounds good to me.
I imagined how cute Baby K's diapers will look, all lined up and pinned up and bleaching in the sun. Or how good it'll feel to again use a sun-dried towel after a shower. Yes, yes, please.
Since I was washing our sheets and bedding anyway, I decided to have them dry outside on the clothesline. I grabbed some clothespins and hauled the laundry basket to the backyard. Soon the line was full of wet linens all happily hanging in the bright sunshine. They'll be dry in 30 minutes and the bed'll be made before 10:00am, I thought to myself and went inside to do some more housework.
An hour later, I heard thunder. And then I saw rain. And then I remembered the laundry on the clothesline. 'Twas too late to rescue my linens; they received another rinsing. Three more, in fact, by the end of the day. Silly rainy season. There would be a shower, the sun would come out and dry the sheets, I'd remember them just as another rain shower started, then the sun would dry them again, but I'd forget about them until after another shower came...and on and on and on.
So now they're drying in the drier. First attempt at using my clothesline = fail. But we're learning, right? And I didn't use any more electricity than I would have originally! And I'm going to have extra clean sheets tonight when I go to bed. It all sounds good to me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)