Happy Birthday, Kathryn!

More Pics

A few more to add to Kathryn's climbing pictures...I looked away for a second and found her doing this:

Ordinary Sacrifice

From Disciplines of a Godly Life (Donald Whitney):

"In some ways we would prefer to hear Jesus' call to deny father and mother, houses, and land for the sake of the gospel, than His word to wash feet. Radical self-denial gives us the feel of adventure. If we forsake all, we even have the chance of glorious martyrdom. But in service we are banished to the mundane the ordinary, the trivial."

This quote stood out to me as I read Donald Whitney's chapter on the discipline of serving. For someone who likes the approval of others, this is quite a challenge. Am I only willing to sacrifice in the "big stuff," that will be noticed by others? Or am I willing to serve in whatever way God would call me to, even if it goes unnoticed by others? Perhaps especially when it goes unnoticed by others. Whitney goes on to say:

"The ministry of serving may be as public as preaching or teaching, but more often it will be as sequestered as nursery duty. It may be as visible as singing a solo, but usually it will be as unnoticed as operating the sound equipment to amplify the solo. Serving may be as appreciated as a good testimony in a worship service, but typically it's as thankless as washing dishes after a church social...Beyond the church walls, serving is baby-sitting for neighbors, taking meals to families in flux, running errands for the homebound, providing transportation for the one whose car breaks down, feeding pets and watering plants for vacationers, and--hardest of all--having a servant's heart in the home."

Am I looking for ways to serve to be noticed by others or in ways that may be only noticed by God? Do I set aside my serving for "big stuff" or am I willing to sacrifice in the "mundane, the ordinary, the trivial"? hmmm. Food for thought.

Okay, I'm really not trying to turn this blog into a shrine of Kathryn, but I do think this video is pretty funny.

Christmas Pictures...finally!

Okay, sorry it took me a while to get these pictures on...Here are some pictures from Christmas. We went to Muncie, IN for 4 days then on to Wheaton for 5. We are once again thankful for wonderful families with whom to celebrate Christmas.

Kathryn learned where "nose" is, and she's pointing to her new dolly's nose.

Playing with cousin Hayden, who is 3 months younger

Of course the wrapping is the most interesting part!

One of our many attempts to get a cousins picture in Wheaton...at least in this one no one is screaming. :)

"Papa" (my dad) and the girls building a snowman with the 6+ inches of snow we got

Kathryn and "Papaw" (Nick's dad)

With "Mamaw" (Nick's Mom)

"Hey, I think I can figure this one out!"

Guess Who's Climbing?

Kathryn has discovered climbing, so now it's not too uncommon to see her in funny places that she's gotten herself into. She keeps us laughing!

How I spent my Friday Night

Here's a video clip from a gig before Christmas...I was sitting right next to the drummer onstage, and I was able to get some video clips with my camera when I wasn't playing. This was a very fun job...definitely not my usual fare. :) Sorry the video is a little blurry...I had to compress the quality to download it.

Time for Red Dresses!

Jeanie and I noticed that our girls had on almost matching red dresses this Sunday, so we had to get pictures of the girls together. And yes, they are barefoot...since it's been in the 70's this week! Wonderful, but not really feeling like Christmastime!

Tis the Season...

...for Baking! Two days this week have been given to some serious baking with Jeanie...we decided to bake cookies for the neighborhood and hand them out with invitations to our church's Christmas Eve service. I'm looking forward to meeting some neighbors I don't yet know. Behold the fruits of our labor... Are you hungry?



Another "baking" endeavor, which has occupied our kitchen table in its entirety for the last few days, is a gingerbread house that our college group made. It's quite impressive, with a garage, car, and swingset and all. It's actually a contest within the college group of who can build the best house. The other part of this equation is whose house can blow up the best. Yes, you read that correctly. What you can't see is that this house is loaded with all kinds of firecrackers (notice one inside the chimney), and beautiful house is going to be blown apart to smitherines come Tuesday. Ah, well, I suppose there had to be some interest for the guys in all of this! :)

Stage 1
The finished masterpiece

...For Baking!

Christmas Time...Already?!?

I must admit, December has snuck up on me this year. The last two years I put Christmas stuff up around the house the day after Thanksgiving, and as of now, none of it is even down from the attic. And I even found myself thinking I might forgo decorating the house this year *ghasp!* Okay, so I won't really forgo it, but I did think about it. So perhaps after I get done with this post I will haul the tubs down from the attic. We are looking forward to traveling to see both of our families again this year, which is always a fun time for us. Oftentimes people look amazed when I tell them our agenda of traveling, but for us, we love spending the time with each of our families. I think part of what has helped is that Christmas has never really been tied to a specific day, so most of our real celebration times are not on the 25th. We have ours the 17th or 18th, then with the Swans on the 24th, then with my family around the 28th. I do look forward to establishing some more of our own traditions as Kathryn gets older. One of our favorite traditions is decorating an ornament each year by writing around the outside all the things that characterize that year. So this year we will have Kathryn's birth, moving back to Charlotte, Nick starting his new job, etc. And then we stick a rolled up piece of paper inside the ornament with all of our prayer requests for the coming year. I don't remember all of what we put on last year's, but I know we included a healthy baby, and that we would be able to come back to Charlotte. It is such a neat time of seeing how the Lord has answered prayers, both in ways we hoped for and ways that surprised us. So now let me hear from all of you- what is your favorite Christmas tradition? You can write about them in your comments. :)

I think this is our final Christmas picture...and in case I don't manage to get it printed in time and distributed, I thought I'd put it on here as well. Thanks to Jeanie for taking the picture!

Thanksgiving in Asheville

We just got back from a lovely Thanksgiving weekend spent in Asheville with my parents. They came on Tuesday and then we took off to Asheville on Thursday. We ate Thanksgiving lunch/dinner at a Tuscan Italian restaurant (that served an American Thanksgiving meal)- delicious! We weren't sure by the outside what the restaurant would be like, since it looked a little like a hole in the wall. But it turned out to be marvelous- a perfect place to eat our big meal this year. Then on Friday we visited the famous Biltmore Estate (my first time), and it was pretty awesome. The only down side was that we were there on the busiest day of the year, added to the fact that it was very very cold outside (and we had to wait about 2 hours until we could get in). Thankfully we were able to stay inside the information desk area for most of the wait, but everyone else had that same idea. A bit of a zoo, to say the least. BUT it was completely worth it. The house was amazing, as anyone who has been will attest to. Kathryn was a trooper, with only about 10 minutes of nap all day (she fell asleep in the stroller RIGHT before we went in on the tour that didn't allow strollers. Oh well). Thank you, Mom and Dad, for your generosity in allowing for this wonderful, memorable time together!

Reading with Nana
(Kathryn loved all the attention and little games my mom played with her)

The adorable cabin we stayed in- perfect for our 2 night stay there!

It was very cold, which is why we didn't get any pictures with Kathryn or my parents...we were all making a B-line to get warm inside


The beautiful Biltmore Mansion- reminded me of "Pemberly" from Pride and Prejudice

Bottles of wine aging in the winery (notice the dust on the bottles)

We're Back!

No, I didn't drop off the face of the earth. We're just back from a wonderful few days in Asheville...pictures to come soon!

I've Been Tagged

Okay, this feels slightly like a chain letter- being "tagged" and all in the blogosphere. (thanks, Juli!) And because I am home from vacation, I won't feel bad about posting three entries in one day. So, Juli tagged me to list my 8 favorite Childrens books. This is a combination of the ones I remember from growing up and the ones I read to Kathryn:

1. Goodnight Moon

2. Courderoy Bear books(can't spell it, sorry)

3. Goodnight Mr. Tom (novel)

4. Narnia books (read these a few times)

5. Madeline books (in high school, I was trying to memorize the lines of the first book- while I was supposed to be practicing viola- and the phone rang- I was guilty that I was not doing what I was supposed to be doing, so I jumped off the couch and accidentally stepped on my viola, putting a big crack in it. All for the sake of memorizing a stupid kids book! So with a story like that, I figured I better include it on the top 8).

6. Shel Silverstein poems


7. The Giving Tree

8. Cheaper by the Dozen (novel)

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And while I'm at it, there seems to be a trend to post ten things you may not know about me, so here goes:

1. I've been playing viola since I was 4 years old

2. In college, I sometimes didn't go to class on rainy days because I didn't want to get my feet wet on the walk to school. Something I still get teased about by my dear husband. :)

3. Nick and I fell in love over playing games of Scrabble

4. I really like old BBC mystery movies, especially Sherlock Holmes

5. I won an award in 6th grade for being the fastest rope climber in gym class gymnastics

6. I played the String Bass in middle school

7. My middle name was Cynthia before it changed it to Taylor (my maiden name)

8. I love gardening, but have a knack for killing plants

9. My first overnight stay in a hospital was when Kathryn was born

10. I grew up without a TV at home

So did I surprise any of you? I realize I write for a large and varied audience, but hopefully you learned something you didn't know about me 2 minutes ago. :) Happy blogging!

More Vacation Pictures

Yes, all of those pictures in the last post were from our lovely vacation at a cabin in the NC mountains. This was the most relaxing vacation we have ever been on- no agenda, just reading, making fires, talking, playing scrabble, and hiking. No phone, no emails, no chores, no movies. Our 3-night stay was so relaxing and refreshing...what a gift from the Lord in the midst of a busy season. Here are some more pictures.

One of Nick's favorite things is building fires, which included splitting the wood for it.

"Hey Dad, Can I help?"

Kathryn and I went on a little hike to enjoy the beautiful (although chilly) weather.

On a hike to find a waterfall, which was actually all dried up from the drought. Oh well!

Poems in Pictures

"I'll tell you how he sun rose-
A ribbon at a time.
The steeples swam in amethyst,
The news like squirrels ran.

The hills untied their bonnets,
The bobolinks begun.
Then I said softly to myself,
"That must have been the sun!"

Emily Dickonson

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"Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it
And spills the upper boulders in the sun,
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast...

...But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go...

...Good fences make good neighbors."
Robert Frost

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"A fire crackling in a cozy room
Where many memories softly loom
A sparkling fire dances clear
With warm visions of yesteryear
Reminisce for just a little while
Dream or just put on a smile
Take a moment to reflect
To enjoy the view so perfect
For a moment of peacefulness
Enjoy my offering of sweet bliss."

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"Not amber, not crimson
An unknown color with a fascinating beauty"
Minosuke Noguchi


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"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

...I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
Robert Frost

Cutie Pie

9 Month Stats

I took kathryn in for her 9 month checkup this week...hard to believe she's already 9 months. It's funny, I loved having her tiny, but I wouldn't wish it back for anything. She's so much fun now! Let's see, what is she up to these days? Pulling up a lot now, babbling all the time, giving "kisses," and recently more snuggly at bedtime (which I love!). At her checkup, she weighed 19 lbs (50-75%), and measured 28 1/2 inches (75-90%).

More Fun at the Park

One of the great things about neighbors is being able to make unplanned events happen, like the other day we when we went to the park with the Lechners after dinner.

Buddies- Alathea and Kathryn

Good thing Kathryn is tough- she pretty much rolls with all of Alathea's "loving." :)

Love those sweet little eyes, especially when she smiles!

Going down the slide for the first time...she loved it!