For Your Enjoyment...Christmas Worship Videos

As many of you know, Paul Baloche is one of my favorite worship leaders. He is an incredible songwriter and musician.

I thought I would post some videos of him singing a few of his Christmas songs. Take a listen, they really are beautifully done orchestrations and videos.

"A Christmas Offering"



"We Adore You"



"God With Us"

Have a Christ-Centered and Merry Christmas!!

Free At Last. . .At Least for a Few Weeks

This week, I completed all of my coursework for the three computer programming classes that I have been working on since September. While there were times that balancing the workload with my job and family was overwhelming, I overall enjoyed the classes. It seems that I have a knack for programming.

I am looking forward to a few weeks of not having to be up to all hours studying.

A while back, I posted a link to the website I was designing for one of my classes. It is completed and will be live for a few more weeks. Here is the link if you want to check it out: www.davidcfox.info

In January, I start 4 new classes! Managing that and a new baby should be quite the adjustment.

Allyson Singing at Church

We had our Kid's Christmas Program this afternoon. Allyson's class opened the program with two very short songs.

Can you hear Ally's voice?? They sure were cute.

You can view the video below or save the video to your computer by right-clicking Here and selecting "Save As".

Ally's First Painting

Last night, Allyson was inspired to paint a picture. Usually, this means that she will end up with a bunch of indistinguishable smudges of color on the page.

We were shocked last night when she did a "self-portrait" that actually looked like what she said she was painting!

Here you go...the world debut of "Allyson Mackenzie: A Self-Portrait".
Value: Priceless!

For Fun...Merry Tossmas!

If you are like me, you have taken notice of the fact that many businesses are going out of their way to exclude the word Christmas from their "Holiday" ads this year. Are you bothered by this?

I learned about the following video clip while listening to Todd Friel on the Way of the Master Radio Show and found it humorous and disturbing at the same time.

As I See It....I Need a Stick

On Wednesday mornings, I have the responsibility of taking Allyson to the babysitter's house before I go to work. These trips are one of my favorite times of the week, because Allyson always has something enlightening or entertaining to say in the van.

Today, we were talking about what it will be like at our house when the new baby arrives. The subject of what we are going to need to teach her came up and we were listing all of the things she is going to need to learn. Allyson was making suggestions like she needs to show her the couch, and the kitchen set, and she will need to learn to march, etc. Allyson then said, "I am going to need to get a stick to teach her." I asked her why she needed a stick (knowing I was in for a "blogworthy" explanation!!).

She replied, "I need a stick so that I can point to the letters when I am teaching her them."

Apparently, she has seen images of teachers using a pointing stick. I asked if her teacher at school uses a stick, and she said no. It is amazing how the three-year-old mind works!!

The funny part is that Allyson doesn't even know her letters yet! Perhaps we need to "get a stick" and start teaching her the letters.

Maybe we have a future teacher on our hands!

Have a great day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just wanted to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! Our pastor had an excellent sermon this week where he reminded us to take some time to thank God for the gift of salvation that He has made freely available to us. When was the last time that you gave thanks for your salvation? It is something that those who have been Christians for some time can easily take for granted.

Take some time today to reflect on how Christ has transformed your life!

Just for fun: The clip below is a video that we showed before our Thanksgiving Eve service last night.

Have a great day!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

On Sunday night, Kristen and I set up the Christmas tree and put the lights and garland on it after Allyson was in bed. (We knew that it would take 3 times as long with Allyson awake) When Allyson woke up this morning, she was thrilled to see the tree and was anxious to decorate it. After dinner tonight, we spent a relaxing evening together decorating the tree.

It was fun to see her excitement as she rediscovered all of the different decorations. She was very much into it. She wanted to see what was inside of every container, box, and bag.

The video below is nothing too exciting (meaning it is mainly grandparent material!). Please do not feel obligated to watch it. It is about 4 minutes long. My favorite part is the impromptu song that Allyson starts to sing to herself at about 2 minutes into the video.

Have a great week and Thanksgiving!

It's a . . . Princess Party!!

Allyson had the privilege of attending a Princess/Tea/Birthday Party on Saturday. This was her first party invitation from a classmate!

As you can tell, she quite enjoyed getting dressed up like a princess. She is definitely all girl!

Froggy Love!!!

Allyson received this frog from our friends Roxie and Jeanne a long time ago, and he has gone essentially unnoticed for quite some time. Well, his turn to be loved again has come around this weekend. She has been lugging him around the house all weekend! Before going upstairs to get ready for bed tonight, she decided she needed some pictures taken with Froggy, so we jumped on the opportunity to take some pictures while she was interested. They came out cute, so we thought we would post them for your enjoyment.

 

 

 

A Kitchen Set in Your Bedroom???

On Thursday, Allyson woke up from her nap on a mission. She had big plans for me when I got home from work. She had figured out that there was enough of an "area" in her room for her $2.50 Kitchen Set (click the link to view the post if you don't know what I am talking about). It was quite cute watching her "design" how she wanted it to go in her room. She was waving her arms and continuously pointing out the "area" that was empty and needing to be filled with her kitchen set.

She looked like she belonged on one of those HGTV/TLC home design shows!

I obliged and fulfilled her wishes of having a "kitchen" in her room (What else would a Dad do??!!), and she was quite thrilled about it. Now, there is not a lot of free space in her bedroom, but that seems to be the way she likes it.

Kristen and I did not think about how having this extra distraction in her bedroom would affect naptime and bedtime. Fortunately, she has been going to bed at night without a problem, although she was up at the crack of dawn on Friday filling her teapot and calling for someone to come up there to play with her.

At naptime on Friday, we could hear the clanging of plastic dinnerware only a few minutes after she went to bed. Kristen hollered up to her and told her she needed to be in bed. Ally's response was a quick, "Oh....??" She acted like this was new information to her! Fortunately, she lay down and we didn't hear anything else.

3-year-olds sure are funny!

Just For Fun....Ninja Parade

Ninja Parade Slips Through Town Unnoticed Once Again

Christmas Gift List

For our family members who have asked us for a Christmas List, you can view it here:
Fox Family Wish List.

We have tried to provide links to sources for items in order to simplify things for you.

Please feel no obligation to look at the list or to buy anything for us. We just wanted to put this out there for those who need/want it.

I have also provided a link to the list in the sidebar of our blog.

Have a great day.

30 Weeks and Counting...

As you can see, the baby is continuing to grow. This one is a wild child. Tonight as we were laying on the couch watching a movie, Kristen's belly was visibly moving all over the place. We aren't sure if the baby was doing somersaults or what, but she was certainly busy in there!

We are excited to meet this little turkey! Only a few weeks left!

Have a great week.

Two Words...

Fashion Statement!!!!

Halloween...Oops...I mean Fall Festival Photos :)

Kristen was responsible for organizing and hosting a Fall Festival at Emmanuel tonight. We didn't have the greatest turn-out from our congregation or the community, but it was well-organized and those that did attend had a lot of fun.

Allyson took a little while to warm up to the games, but ended loving them! She dressed up as a cheerleader. We tried to get a picture of her waving her pom poms, but you know three-year-olds....they don't always do what you want them to. The night was a success for Allyson....she came home with 3 new rings, a bag full of candy, a bracelet, and miscellaneous other trinkets!

Here are a few photos of the night. If I would have known that the pictures were going to come out as well as they did (it was very dark outside), I would have taken more pictures! Sorry.

davidcfox.info

Hi All,

As most of you know, I am working on some classes in Programming at our tech school. Currently, I am learning Visual Basic.NET, mySQL, and XHTML/CSS. Of all the classes, I am most enjoying the process of learning the ins and outs of web page programming in the XHTML class. In this class, we have begun a project of designing a personal homepage that implements the techniques that we are learning.

http://davidcfox.info is the address of that site.

It is still in its infancy stages, but I thought I would let you see that I am learning something in these classes. The site will be a work in progress, so check back every few weeks to see what has been added.

Ultimately, this new site will be modified to serve as a means of introducing myself to potential employers, but for now, it is just a mish-mash of things both personal and professional.

Do you have any ideas as to things you think I should implement on davidcfox.info?

Have a great day, and do not feel obligated in the least to check out the new site...unless....you want to see Kristen getting eaten by a dinosaur!!

As I See It....Getting Fat

Last night we were getting Allyson ready for bed when she looked Kristen in the eye and said, "Am I going to get fat when I grow up?"

We were both a little taken back by that and immediately asked her why she thought of that. She couldn't give an answer. So, I asked her, "Who do you know that is fat?" She then pointed at me!!!

How sad it is that a 3-year-old is thinking about that already.

New Domain Name

Well, I couldn't resist it anymore. Once I saw that www.davidandkristenfox.com was still available for purchase, I broke down and spent the $10 to purchase it as our own.

So, now, you are visiting our blog at our new address! (Just look at your address bar above.) Pretty cool, huh?

You can still use the old blogspot address, as it will forward to www.davidandkristenfox.com automatically.

I do have some plans for ways to use this domain name to host more features for your enjoyment, but unfortunately, my web programming skills are still a little weak, and more importantly, my time for such things is quite minimal. For now, enjoy the blog.

Is she already a teenager?

There was a time, not long ago, when I (Kristen) knew how Allyson spent the 24 hours in each day. I could tell you, if you desired, exactly what she played with and watched, and how many hours she slept. Things changed as she went to a babysitter while I worked my part-time job, but at that point I still had a pretty good idea of what was happening in those hours.

Now, she heads off to school twice a week. The teacher cannot possibly tell each parent at the end of each day what they did and how they excelled. I do understand this, but there are days that it is hard to accept. I was becoming skilled at asking just the right questions to elicit detailed answers about Ally's day at preschool. I thought Ally and I had our question and answer routine down pat.

On Tuesday, I asked my first question and her answer was, "Nothing." I asked the next question and her answer was, "Nothing." I asked the third, thinking I would hit on something she'd love to share. That's when she proclaimed, "No more questions, please, Mom."

And, you guessed it, that's what I've heard each day since. I'd love to share with you what Ally accomplished at school this week, but now I'm officially out of the loop.

Some Pictures from Allyson's School

Today was the Mother's Tea at Allyson's School. Here are some photos from today. You can click on the slideshow to visit the album where these pictures are stored.

Random Statements...from the Mind of a 3-Year-Old

As most of you know, Allyson is quite a character. Lately, it seems that her mind is working overtime. She comes up with the most random ideas and says the funniest things at times.

We thought it would be fun to share some of these "random" statements here on the blog. So look for these "Random Statements" posts for a quick laugh in the coming weeks.

Here are two to get this series started:

1. This weekend, Allyson began intently calling for Mom like she needed something urgent. When Kristen responded, here is what was so urgent...Allyson said, "Mama, I don't have any Pom-Poms."



2. This afternoon as I (David) was taking her to the babysitter's house, Allyson made this statement completely out of the blue. "It's all my fault." I then asked, "What is your fault?" She responded, "It's all my fault because I don't have any pineapple lipstick."

Have a great day.

Out of the Mouths of Babes....

Just thought I would pass on a funny story from our small group on Sunday night.

As I was putting out the drinks (pop and water), one of the little boys asked me if there was "alcoholed". I didn't quite get what he asked, so I said, "What do you want?" He then repeated it and said, "Is there alcoholed? You know, it is for adults." At this point, I realized that he was talking about alcohol and noticed the embarrassed looks on his parents' faces.

It gave us a great laugh. Maybe it will cause his parents to be a little more careful about what they consume in front of him.

Have a great day.

Daddy keeping secrets...

As we were leaving the neighborhood this morning, on the way to preschool, Ally was chatting about red lights and how they mean we have to stop. (I'm not sure where this came from as there are no traffic lights in our neighborhood...) Anyway, I told her that we were coming up to a red STOP sign and I asked her what I should do. She quickly responded that I needed to stop. (Yeah, she's pretty quick.) Then she proceeds to tell a very interesting story that went something like this:

"Remember that day when I got popcorn with Daddy at the Farmer's Market?" (This was last Saturday, when I was at a church shower and Daddy and Ally were bonding.)
"Yes, Ally, I remember that."
"Well Daddy went through a red light."
"He did?"
"Yep, and he told me to 'Sshhhh.'"

At first I thought, she must be mistaken, until she said the Sshhh part - that sounded exactly like Daddy.

At these moments, I'm particularly thankful for cell phones. I dial up Daddy and say, "Guess what? Ally just tattled!" As you may have guessed, there was a story behind his law-breaking and he did look both ways before crossing. You'll have to ask him for the justification of his sin.

I'm telling ya...this girl's gonna keep us on our toes.

A Lot of Fun for $2.50

On the way home from church today, Kristen and Allyson spotted an offer they could not pass up. A couple of kids had an old kitchen playset in their driveway with a "For Sale" sign on it.

They wanted $2.50 for the whole set! Being the generous person that she is, Kristen felt we needed to have this play set in our home, and she paid double for it!!!! Yes, folks, $5 for a whole kitchen play set.

Needless to say....Allyson is extremely excited about this new purchase. Hey, if it only costs a few bucks to keep her happy, I'm all for it! We are quite aware that the day is coming when she will not be thrilled about somebody else's used toys.

Here are a few pictures of Ally with her new "kitchen".

Watoto...

We had the privilege of hosting the Watoto Children's Choir in concert on Saturday and in our morning worship services this morning.

This group of 18 Ugandan children who ranged in age from 7 -12 truly blessed our hearts. The Holy Spirit was definitely evident in their authentic praise! Their stories were touching and challenging. All of them have been orphaned due to AIDs, civil war, or some other calamity.

Take a moment if you have time this week and read about the ministry of Watoto at www.watoto.com. This ministry is doing an incredible work to provide orphans with a healthy home environment and the opportunities that they need to become tomorrow's leaders of Africa.

For those of you who read this and live in Minnesota, you may want to try to catch them in concert this week. They are going to be several places in Mankato and the Twin Cities in the coming week. Check out their website for the schedule.

Have a great weekend and thank God for the blessings he has given you!

Noisy Pants....What a Problem!

Just thought I would make a quick post about a problem that we had in getting Allyson dressed today.

With the change of seasons upon us, it has been necessary to start making the adjustment back to pants and long sleeves. Unfortunately, Allyson is not enjoying either!

This morning, Kristen put on a new outfit that had nylon pants. You know, the kind of pants that are kind of noisy when you move in them. Well, Allyson said that she could not wear noisy pants and begged to take them off.

Kristen and I found it quite humorous.

However, we have been asking ourselves, did we cause her to become this anal? or....are some people just born that way? Let us know your thoughts on this issue.

Some New Videos

We finally pulled the video camera out when Allyson was in a performing kind of mood. We moved the furniture around in our living room to accomodate for the church small group we are hosting on Sunday evenings. Now, Ally thinks that the area right in front of the couch, which leads into the dining room, is a "stage".

Sorry that she is singing the same song you have heard 10 times before, but for some reason "ABC" and "Twinkle Twinkle" are her go to performance pieces. She does know a ton of other songs, but we are unsuccessful in capturing those to video!

Hope you are having a great week.


This is Allyson singing, re-singing, and taking a bow!


Here is Allyson telling us about a song that she does at Pre-School.

The Growing Belly!

You asked for it, you've got it. Did you know we take requests here on the Fox family blog? Someone asked to see Baby #2's growth and here you go!

Dave says this is not an accurate display of my tummy. Apparently, it is much larger, but the picture is lying. ? Nice.

Needless to say, the baby is there, and hyperactive. Almost any time of the day, I can feel her gymnastic moves. Seriously, if they hadn't promised there was just one, I'd swear there were two in there...

Any other requests? :)

Why Are So Many Christians Inconsistent?

Below, I have pasted the content of my latest post at my church blog, worship.emmanuelfmc.org. I won't do this often, but thought it may provoke some thoughts here also. Feel free to ignore it if you would rather just have pictures of Allyson here. :)

Here is the post:

Last night, I spoke to the youth group here at Emmanuel about this issue.

I thought that I would share some of my thoughts on this issue here on my blog. I hope that some of you will be challenged by it, and I also hope that you will leave some comments with your thoughts on this topic.
One of my greatest frustrations is the fact that it seems that so many Christians struggle with consistency in their spiritual walk with Christ. It would seem that once we find Christ, it would be easy to stay close to Him and walk in relationship with Him.

Unfortunately, many of us struggle with consistency because we are unwilling to lay aside the old habits and vices of our life before Christ. We are living life with a "hybridized" worldview. Rather than completely giving ourselves over to Christ, we try to hold onto some of those habits and thought patterns that were part of our lives prior to giving our lives to Christ.
This type of worldview is ineffective and will lead to spiritual frustration and inconsistency.

Matthew 19:16-26 tells of the "Rich Young Ruler" who asked Jesus how he could attain eternal life. Jesus tells him to keep the commandments. The young man promptly replies saying that he already does that. When the young man asks what else he must do, Jesus challenges him by telling him that he should go and sell all he has and give it to the poor. Jesus follows this up by asking him to come and follow Him. At this, we see a sad young man walking away from Jesus.

This passage of Scripture paints a picture of why so many of us struggle with consistency in our relationship with Christ. There are areas of our life, like this young man's wealth, that we are unwilling to let go of in order to increase in our relationship with Christ. This man's money was not bad in and of itself, but it was a source of satisfaction that He was unwilling to give up for Christ.

Therefore, it would seem that the answer to inconsistency is to begin to recognize those things in our life that we look to instead of Christ for satisfaction. Think about the last time you were feeling depressed/down. What/Who did you turn to in that time? If you are like me, your natural inclination would be to go and spend money on something. Some of you may reach for the ice cream container or turn on some soothing music. While these are not bad things, they are not the "Best Thing" for us in those times. Jesus wants to be our source of comfort and encouragement at all times. Perhaps we need to begin to retrain ourselves to reach out to Him first. It is as we begin to find full satisfaction in Him that we find Him filling our lives up to the point that we can do nothing but walk consistently and closely with Him as our source of life!

Many have heard the illustration of the God-Shaped hole in all of our lives. I believe that is a great analogy for this idea of God being our ultimate source of satisfaction. We can cram new purchases, ice cream, relationships, music, etc. into a space that is reserved for God as we search for fulfillment in life. Only Christ can fill that void so completely that the effects are lasting.

I hope that you will make a conscious effort to begin to reach for God first when you need comforted or encouraged. God can definitely use great friends, music, or other avenues to comfort and encourage you, but we need to seek Him first!

Have a blessed week.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Matthew 22:37 (NIV)

Happy Birthday Mommy!!!

I just wanted to take a moment to wish my mom (Sheila) a Happy Birthday! I won't reveal how old she is, but it is pretty OLD!!

Love you mom and miss you. Hope you are enjoying lots of cake and ice cream today!

Love,
The Foxes

SQL, Website Design, and VB.NET, Oh My!!!

Many of you know that I have started to take some classes in computer/web programming at our local college this fall. If you didn't, now you do.

It seems that a Bachelor's of Music Education Degree doesn't get you very far professionally (Dad, I know, I know....Please don't say, "I told you so!), so I have decided to try to increase my skill base in hopes of either being able to supplement my ministry "income" (is there such a thing?) or to change professions eventually.

Computer programming seems to be a great fit for me, but at this point, I feel like I am barely able to keep up with what I am learning. I am learning three languages at once. Outside of a little HTML knowledge, I am completely illiterate in the area of programming.

I am certain that once I begin to understand the general forms of the languages the classes will be easier. Unfortunately, it looks like I will be sleep deprived until that point.

Please keep us in your prayers as we adjust to the challenges of balancing family, work, and studies.

StoryTime with Allyson

Here is a short video of Allyson "reading" some books. Enjoy.

Singing In Church

Today, Allyson's Children's Church class "sang" (I use the term "sang" loosely) in the worship service. While they didn't sing too loudly, they sure are cute!

Here is a video for your enjoyment.

Party at the Foxes!!!

We hosted 33 people from the Emmanuel Worship Ministry at our home for a cookout tonight. We served hot dogs, bratwurst, hamburgers, pasta salad, multiple types of chips, cookies, watermelon, grapes (green and black varieties), and assorted beverages!

It was a nice time of fellowship and fun. Thanks to all of the rain last month, we had an abundance of mosquitoes feasting on us, but people still stuck around and endured them. I am sure we will all be itching in church tomorrow!

We were glad to have the park behind the house. The kids enjoyed the playground, a group played croquet, and another played "Monster" Volleyball.

I don't believe that we have ever had 33 guests at our home before. It seemed to go well and was minimal stress for us.

As I See It....A Cure for Stomach Aches

Allyson has come up with a new cure for stomach aches! For the last several days she has told us multiple times that her stomach hurts. She then proceeds to say, "I think I need to wrestle with Daddy to make it feel better."

Today, she thought that wrestling with me would help her shoulder to feel better too!

So, the next time your stomach or shoulder hurts, find a good wrestling partner and see if a little wrestling doesn't help!

The First Day of School

Today was a monumental day in Allyson's life. She successfully attended her first day of school. The only tears that were shed were those of Mommy! We were so impressed with her. She went right into the class and didn't even hesitate. It sounds like she had a great day, and she wants to go back!

We were quite proud of our little schoolgirl. She said she played with play-doh, read books, and sang songs. Sounds like a pretty good day, right?

This afternoon, Ally started with her new sitter, Ms. Betty (aka Grandma Betty). This was met with a bit less enthusiasm - how could anything compare with preschool? Ms. Betty has two cats that Ally has quickly bonded with. She told Betty that she really wanted one of her own, but Betty remembered that David is allergic, so she quickly told Ally that she'd have to enjoy the cats at Betty's house. Ally's response? Here goes..."When Daddy goes to work, I'll ask Mommy and she'll say yes, we'll get a cat." Hmmm.

I have attached a slideshow that includes pictures of Ally's first day for your enjoyment.

Have a great day.

Rock Climbing in Thongs, Paddleboats, and Friends

We just arrived home from what turned out to be a great weekend at Lake Geneva Christian Camp in Alexandria, MN. We visited with several friends from Hillside Assembly, played in the lake, climbed the rock wall, enjoyed lots and lots of food, and celebrated a wedding. It was an incredible priviledge to spend extra time with Roxie and Jeanne.....:)

One of the highlights of the weekend was a last minute opportunity to play a concert fro the worship service at Crystal Hills Assembly of God in Paynesville. While that was not originally in our plans, it proved to be a great blessing to us. The pastor actually gave Kristen and I 45 minutes of the Sunday morning service. We really had a great time with them. I didn't sleep at all on Saturday night, but it was worth the worry. God's faithfulness continues to amaze me.

Traffic on the highway was crazy today, but we made it home safely. It seems that half of the state of Illinois was headed home from the Wisconsin Dells today!!

Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Click Here to View All of Our Lake Geneva Pictures

Saxophone Concert Clip

We are having a great weekend in Alexandria, MN. I played a concert here on Friday night that went well. The people were extremely responsive and complimentary. It was fun to be playing again. There will be a few more posts with pictures and more details soon. I just wanted to get on tonight and post a quick video clip of me playing the saxophone. How vain am I??? :)

Guess What We're Having...

Below you will see two photos from the ultrasound yesterday. Can you tell whether it is a boy or girl? We'll give you a hint....it is a boy or a girl! :)

Off to Minnesota

We are in Minnesota again this weekend for a retreat at Lake Geneva Christian Camp in Alexandria. I am playing a saxophone concert for the retreat, and then we are spending the weekend up there relaxing and spending time with some old friends.

It should be a nice relaxing time away after a rather hectic week.

Hopefully, my lips will hold up to 45 minutes of playing the saxophone.

Oh...by the way, we found out the sex of our baby. All I can say for now is that we are having either a boy or a girl.

As I See It...Prayer and Spiderman

As you know, three-year-olds can say some funny things. We are constantly amazed at how Ally processes things in her mind. So, I thought that we should start the "As I See It" posts to document Allyson's perceptions about everyday topics. Hopefully, this will be the first in a series of posts....

1. This morning, we went to the donut shop before Kristen's pre-natal appointment and when I asked Allyson to pray for our food, she said, "We don't need to pray for this because it's not hot."
   
   
2. Yesterday, I asked her if she wanted some Spiderman fruit snacks, and she refused saying, "I'm not a boy, so I can't eat Spiderman fruit snacks."
   
   

The Rain Has Ceased.....For Now

We are thoroughly enjoying a rain-free day today! We got donuts this morning and relaxed until lunchtime.

This afternoon, the sun is shining and the temperature is beautiful. I took advantage of the respite from the rain and mowed our overgrown and highly saturated lawn. Spent a large part of the afternoon on the deck reading.

Most of you know that I just began my computer programming classes at our local Technical College. I am learning HTML, Java, SQL, and Visual Basic among other things this fall. I am excited to be learning something completely new, but I am nervous about being able to keep up with schoolwork, family, and church commitments. I guess I will become a master of time management!

We are heading out to an Anniversary Party for an older couple in the church later today. Although we are not excited about it, Allyson heard the word "party" and cannot stop talking about it! I hope she isn't disappointed when we get there! :)

Have a great weekend!

A reminder from my own childhood...

So here I am! ("Finally," David says.) Yes, he's been bugging me for weeks to take my turn on the Fox blog. I sit here on a rainy afternoon, with the sounds of deep breathing in the monitor (that's the best sound ever), and the smell of freshly baked lemon bars. Yep, it's been that kind of day - you want to pat me on the back?

I wanted to relay a little story that I know my mom will appreciate. This morning Ally and I ran a few errands...to the church and the bank before Ally even voiced this all-important question, "How many places are we going today?" You see, she has learned something about her mom. I love running. Not the actual kind of running(no way), but the running errands kind. I love wandering through Kohl's, even if I have $2.49 in my wallet and no particular clothing or houseware need. However, errand running has changed since parenthood. And now, I'm faced with the question, "How many stores today, mom?" I can't lie, this kid is too quick for that, but today my answer is a good one, so I'm not too worried. I smile and say, "Two stores today, honey." Her face literally lights up and she says, "I LOVE two stores!" Somewhat surprised, I say, "You love it?" She says, "Yeah, it's so much better than 5 stores." I told you, she's quick!

My mom will vouch for this, I often asked her the same question, but it didn't occur until I was much older and could choose to stay home or go with her on the errands. My answer to her was completely dependent on her answer to the same question Ally asked me today, "How many stores?" I remember my mom giving a vague answer (probably an underestimated number), to encourage me to join her. Once in the car, I was stuck and she could stretch the trip by saying, "That store is in the same parking lot, so it doesn't count." Although irritated at the time, I'm older and wiser now. Ally doesn't have the choice now, she has to come along, but mom was just trying to be supermom, getting all the errands done AND spending quality time with her girl. Maybe that's why I like running around today...

K

Anklets and New Shoes/Crocs

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma V. for the new croc style shoes for Allyson. She loves them.

Allyson is still quite attached to her jewelry. However,she has been getting more creative with its placement. As you will see in the pictures below, she is wearing anklets and......elbow bracelets????

Allyson's friend Jordan came over for a playdate this morning. Ally was hyped up about it the minute she woke up this morning. It sounds like they got along well and had a ton of fun together playing at the park and here at the house.

Thanks for the comments you all left. It is nice to know that you all are using the site. We will try to record some video to post in the next week. We don't want you to get bored with just pictures!

Leave us a Comment

Hi there family! We have put this site up for you grandparents, friends, and family. Leave us a comment once and a while. It would be fun to get some interaction going on here. It is simple to do. Just click on the "Comment" button at the bottom of the post and drop us a note.

It will only take a second, and it will let us know that you have been here.

Withdrawal Symptoms

Since we have arrived home from our Minnesota trip, we have been trying to discourage Allyson from thumbsucking. She has been so good about resisting the urge to suck her thumb. However, sometimes life gets to be a little too much, and in those moments, she calls out, "Mom, I think I need to suck my thumb." Even in those moments, she can usually be encouraged to be a big girl, and the need for the thumb subsides.

She has developed a substitutionary method in which she pats "Monkey's" tail on her cheek instead of sucking her thumb. It is quite humorous to watch.

After having a particularly frustrating bout of whiny behavior yesterday morning, Kristen and I came to the conclusion that this poor behavior is her way of dealing with the frustration of not being able to suck her thumb. She is having withdrawal symptoms!!!!

Yesterday, in Wal-Mart, she finally lost and said she REALLY needed to suck her thumb. She had been behaving so badly that we told her to go ahead. It was amazing, all of a sudden she was a happier girl!

Please keep her in your prayers as she tries to break this habit. :) She is so good about trying. Also, pray for our patience as parents in helping her get through this time.

Below is a picture taken following the Wal-Mart trip. As you can see, she is quite "stylish."

Have a great day!

An Interesting Article...

Baby Einstein DVDs Don't Work

A research team at the University of Washington has determined that babies watching television for an hour a day learned less vocabulary than babies...

I stumbled upon this research this morning. I found it quite interesting. Take a minute to check it out.

The Great Bed Transition

Well, we finally did it this weekend.

We decided that Allyson is probably the oldest child in the country still sleeping in a crib! What can we say....we loved the ability to have her "contained" in the safety of the crib at night. No running around after bedtime...no sneaking downstairs...etc.

With some elbow grease and some sweat, we moved the crib out of her room and into the guest room. I know, that doesn't sound too difficult except for the fact that the crib has to be disassembled to get it through the doorway! It is a pain in the neck.

To make a long story short, Allyson is now officially a big kid who sleeps in a real bed. We heard a bang in the middle of the night on Friday. She had fallen out of the bed. Apparently it didn't bother her too bad, because when we asked her about it in the morning, she said that that was just a dream! Thankfully, she hasn't fallen again, and she is staying in her room after bedtime and during her naps.

I'll post a picture of her room at the bottom of this post in a day or two.

Photos from our Minnesota Trip

Here are a few select photos from our trip this past week. I have posted a link to the photo album at the bottom of this post.







Click on the image below to view the entire photo album from this trip:

Trip to Minnesota August 2007

We're Home In Wisconsin

We spent the bulk of today driving South through Wisconsin from Duluth. It was a beautiful day and traffic was minimal.

Our trip was full of activity and went by quickly. Allyson loved playing with her cousin Elyse. The two of them together was definitely an energetic sight to behold.

The wedding went well and we enjoyed our time in Duluth.

We are unpacked and ready for our own bed tonight. Allyson crashed quickly after laying down in her bed. She is currently snoring away!

In Minnesota

We are in Minnesota for the next few days. We had a nice dinner with a friend in South Minneapolis before going up to Kristen's parents' house.

Fortunately, we did not take 35W to get here. It was quite disturbing to learn of the bridge collapse. What a mess. We were in the car when we learned of the collapse.

We were close to Kristen's parents' home when we encountered a large amount of water on the road ahead of us. A car in front of us hit the "puddle", hydroplaned, and slammed into another van right in front of us. I don't think I ever pumped the brakes that fast in my life! Thank God for keeping His hand on us last night. We were able to stop and avoid a head-on collision with the car in front of us.

We will post some photos from our trip later in the weekend.

Baby's Heartbeat

Today we went to the doctor for Kristen's pre-natal visit. We brought Ally along, as we did not have a babysitter available. Thankfully, it was not a "thorough" examination today. We bribed Allyson with a candy bracelet, and she behaved wonderfully. It was quite cool to hear the baby's heartbeat beating strongly. Allyson seemed to the think the heartbeat was pretty neat, but she was a little disappointed that the baby was not ready to come out and come home with us.

VBS is Finished!

We survived another week of Vacation Bible School! Kristen and her volunteers did an outstanding job of organizing and leading the kids in an exciting week.

We saw about 50 students throughout the week. The energy level of the volunteers and the kids was much higher this year than last year which made the event much more exciting.

Allyson greatly enjoyed her first time as an "official" VBS attendee. She even got on the platform last night at the parent's night and sang with the rest of the kids!

It is apparent that she, even at age 3, has developed a new level of understanding about who God is as a result of what she learned this week. Her prayers have gone to a new level this week, and she is wanting to be the one to pray at most meals and before she goes to bed.

Have a great weekend.

The Queen of Bling

Allyson has an incredible attraction to large, plastic, and rather gaudy jewelry! One of her favorite pieces is a plastic beetle ring. It is quite hideous, but as she says, "She is stylish with it on." With her, more is better. We have been trying to get her to cut back on the number of bracelets, rings, and necklaces she wears when we go out in public. She can't understand why we don't think she needs 6-8 rings and enough necklaces to put Mr. T to shame.

Here are a few pictures of "blinged" out Allyson!

VBS Week Continues

We had another great day today. Just wanted to post a few photos of Allyson in her big cowboy hat! She started whistling tonight. After she did it, she said something to the effect of, "I growed up. In a lot of weeks I was little, but this day I learned how to whistle."

I guess we have us a real whistling grown-up in our house now!