a life beyond running shoes.

we had a bit different good friday this year. it is the time to reflect on jesus.... his sacrifice, the magnitude of his love for me, the weight of my sin.... looking forward to easter and the glorious resurrection. yet, this year.... it marked the two year anniversary of my father-in-law's passing. all my in-law's were together.... we were not able to be with them. we had to carve out our own space to remember, reflect, grieve, celebrate..... we watched the video from his funeral... i miss a lot about him. these are his hands. something so memorable about him. i miss his laugh. the way he loved my kids. the way he loved me. the husband and father he was..... "may the god of hope fill you will all joy and peace as you trust in him so that you may overflow with the hope by the power of his holy spirit." -rom 15:13 happy easter.

of course, i dont' think you can actually see the leaves in the shot. but this is one of the neighborhood playgrounds. it was 45 degrees.... i had on my hat & gloves. the kids didn't. playground in the midst of buildings. gotta love brooklyn! and yes we do. and how much do i love little bit's giggle..... he loves to go as high as possible. peanut does not.

trick or treating with dad! he had two batmen and a dinosaur (4th year using the costume that we aren't quite sure if it is a dragon or dinosaur) with him plus some friends from church. thanks you for joining my family!!! of course, peanut (who is allergic to milk) traded all of his chocolate candy before i could get home and intervene.....so that i could have it for myself. selfish mommy!

boys and i went to do some garden clean-up after church. we picked up trash, raked leaves, and met neighbors. it is part of sustainable flatbush . they are starting a community garden across the street from our new worship space. it is on the property of flatbush reformed church, the oldest worshiping church in brooklyn. i don't have pics, but their website might later. we came home and daddy was starting dinner: short ribs. ....braised over many hours in wine and herbs. farmer's market roasted potatoes with rosemary from our garden. the last of the csa tomatoes cooked with butter and shallots for a tomato soup. watched family movie. played. ate. laughed. it was a great day of rest. and this is just too cute: (she is counting in case you can't figure that out)

one of the typical summer scenes here in new york are open fire hydrants. the fire fighters open up the water when temperatures get above 90 (okay, i lied.... or actually - i looked into and apparently it is illegal to open fire hydrants.)..... and kids all over the city play in them. this is the first summer our kids have been old enough to enjoy the pleasure of it.... and they have been more comfortable with water in general. we visit the public pool weekly.... if not twice a week. that is an experience in and of itself..... but here are the boys enjoy life here in brooklyn:

this is just crazy!!! but indeed it is true. he is riding a bike. for daddy's birthday we had steak and roasted beet salad sunday night with flourless chocolate cake (thank you 3 peas) and watched series finale of lost . but monday, we went up to nyack.... rockland state park to try out the boys on their bikes. we tried taking off little bit's training wheels.... and low and behold..... he could do it. peanut finally got the hang of starting by himself last weekend (he learned last summer)..... but little bit's new bike was more comfortable with training wheels. we had to push him to try w/o. this. kid. is. amazing.

sweet pea is a funny little girl. she amuses herself.... and the rest of us as well. she is a joy and delight and makes each day interesting.... so somewhere between a funk and a slump is the possibility of being a little depressed. that is okay.... i still like my kids, love them and want to eat them up.... i still like my husband, adore and enjoy him to pieces. this too shall pass...... now, if i could just get my running shoes back on.....i'm sure it would do wonders.

we are away for a few days with some friends... no daddy. so he doesn't forget us..... this is our favorite church song right now. he sings it all the time. full volume. full body. it is awesome. enjoy! and yes, we use photo booth.

we love to sing church songs all week long. we have some new favorites but today he wanted to sing one of our favorite from christmas. never mind that we are in the easter season..... theology lesson to come :) he also likes to make up words that fit into songs. he is the creative type!

the baby girl is walking. she took a few steps before her birthday but has taken off this week. and here is proof: (eat your heart out grandparents....)

snow: three inches cancelled our training run this weekend..... but it afforded lots of fun. sports: geaux saints! food: barley soup with kale, dill, fennel and lemon (bon appetit page 89 ) perfect thin crust home-made pizza (cook's illustrated website) chunky cheese bread (passion for baking page 44) note: as 3 peas has said , it is worth the price of book. kids: rocking out to super bowl commercial:

he is his own person. fully. completely. one thing about him is his love for all things sports. that would include the clothing. he fights with me every morning to wear basketball shorts. even if it is 19 degrees outside. we compromise. he wears shorts inside and changes when we have to leave the house. of course, he changes into some version of sweats or athletic pants. (translation: he needs sport clothes. when he grows he needs big boy sport clothes and right now he is wearing little sport clothes. also, he was singing "leaning on the everlasting arms" from church this past week.) he also love music. here is his own version of language with a little "unto the lord" thrown in there. (he is a pastor's kid and all) he does create his own words and sentences. funny boy!

some more words from wolterstorff: "i remember delighting in them -- trees, art, house, music, pink morning sky, work well done, flowers, books. i still delight in them. i'm still grateful. but the zest is gone. the passion is cooled, the striving quieted, the longing stilled. my attachment loosened. no longer do i set my heart on them. they don't matter. instead of rowing, i float. the joy that comes my way i savor. but the seeking, the clutching, the aiming, is gone. i don't suppose anyone on the outside notices. i go through all my paces. what the world gives, i still accept. but what it promised, i no longer reach for. i've become an alien in the world, shyling toucing it as if it's not mine. i don't belong anymore. when someone loved leaves home, home become mere house. "that shared grief isolates the sharers from each other. though united in what we are grieving, we grieve differenlty. as each death has its own character, so too each gr...

note: she is standing at the coffee table where she pulled herself up. she likes to lick the table. it is a good thing she does not have any teeth yet..... babble away baby girl!!

she can crawl... just about a week and a half ago she decided she was tired of sitting still. she took her time but now can get just about anywhere she needs to. she can also get into all of her brother's things. she is driving them crazy. i love it! we get to have lots of conversations about a kind heart. we have very little kindness when she grabs uno cards or knocks over the train tracks or grabs books or takes race cars or......

we had some fun during lunch with just ourselves. we like being us....some days. translation: all the single ladies, all the single ladies. (yes, he is singing beyonce)

since my peanut is still home all morning long before going to pre-k in the afternoon, i have been attempting to structure our mornings a bit. it helps me and we are having a lot of fun. we have "mommy school," adventure (aka errands) morning, craft time, and baking time. i have also initiated a "chore" for each day that they are helping me with.... laundry (sorting based on colors), vacuuming (which they love), and cleaning the toilets (since they are the reason they are so nasty! yuck - boys!). one of the things we have really started with more intentionality is their bible verses.... here is week 1: "a soft answer turns away wrath." proverbs 16:1 "be strong and courageous. do not be frightened and do not be dismayed for the lord your god is with you wherever you go." joshua 1:9 (we were working on courage for school) we have also been working on catechism questions.... a question and answer learning tool to help kids learn about god ...

this is one of our favorite songs from church. translation: weeping last for just one night but joy comes in the morning. clap your hands, sing alleluia clap your hands, praise the lord. i hav e been trying t o capture this new babble for over a week...... super cute. also, my brother is home! safe and sound from his 4th tour..... his baby is due in just about three weeks.

about living in new york are the cool things that happen around town. like free puppet/theater shows in the park.... this was midsummer night's dream . one of the other fun things about living in new york is getting out of new york. on friday, we left the city and head to a state park. we got to have a picnic, ride scooters (peanut got a new razor from a stoop sale), and ride bikes (little bit got this after a failed attempt to make the wooden bike short enough for him). (the strider bike is the only bike on the market that can go low enough for him). it was so quiet and peaceful. we had a wonderful time that came to a screeching halt when the skies opened up with rain and hail. everyone slept in the car on the way home.

i have much to catch up on since we had four cousins visiting us last week, but the first thing i must post is this video of peanut.... remember he is 4. i think i am having heart palpitations realizing that he is getting bigger. video was taken on friday - first day out with hand-me-down bike. thanks to the new iphone daddy got, it was captured on film. we attribute the ease of transition to the peddle-less bike he got for his 3rd birthday. theory is that it teaches balance therefore not needing training wheels when you move to the big boy bike. i guess it worked. (and i have to admit that my heart melted when i was mentioned...sigh.) by the way..... little bit is beside himself that he can't do this as well.