All About NICHOLAS!!

Hey everybody! My name is Nicholas and I'm 10 years old. Here are some facts about me to help you get to know me.


Favorite meal: Minestrone soup (Miss Casie's recipe!)

Least Favorite meal: Scallop chowder

Favorite hobby: wrestling with Dad

Favorite movie: Night at the Museum

Favorite book: Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Least favorite book: Robinson Crusoe by DeFoe

Favorite thing to do in CA: Disneyland

Favorite thing about moving to CA: The beach

Least favorite thing about CA: earthquakes

Something I miss a lot in CT: a plethora of friends (Editor's note: he actually wrote that word! We are sitting here laughing about "Would you say I have a plethora of pinatas? Yes, I would say you have a plethora. Do you know what is a plethora?" Hee-Hee!! For those of you who are scratching your heads, it's a quote from The Three Amigos)

Favorite subject in school: science, especially science projects

Least favorite subject: math

I'm most afraid of: Black Widow spiders

Gustav's CD is finally available!!!!!

Bad picture, I know. I couldn't figure out how to improve it. But the good new is: it's here, it's here, it's finally HERE!! From Darkness Into Light is now available at Amazon!!! Here's the link (hopefully!)

From Darkness Into Light

I am so proud of Gustav! This is good stuff! Kudos to Casie and Cynthia, also, for playing so very, very well!

DOUBLE DIGITS!!

Happy Birthday, Nicholas!

On Monday, our eldest offspring hit double digits! What an amazing thing! There are days I don't feel old enough to even have children, never mind FIVE children, never mind one child that is TEN!! It's great to be deluded.

We spent a very, very enjoyable day at Sea World in San Diego. Nicholas got to direct us to all the things he wanted to see. The dolphin show was particularly fun and Nicholas chose to sit in the "soak zone" during the Shamu 'Believe' show...while the rest of us sat safe and dry in row 17! His big disappointment...he didn't actually get soaked! Mom and Dad got him a new computer which will actually play all of the mystery games he's fallen in love with. He's loving some of the Sherlock Holmes stories adapted into computer games. He also recently spent some of his birthday money from Nana and Grampa and bought some Sherlock Holmes stories to read.

One of the ridiculously exciting perks of turning ten in our house is the right to stay up later than everyone else. So, Nicholas beamed from ear to ear last night as he stayed up with Mom and Dad (and Kurt!) until 9:45PM! Of course, there was wailing and gnashing of teeth in the younger female offspring....MUCH wailing, and copious quantities of gnashing! Ah, the tortured life of the middle child...ask me how I know!

What a blessing it is to see Nicholas maturing into a thoughtful young man. How nice it is to see some of the rashness and recklessness replaced by thoughtfulness and self-control. He still has his moments, but that seed of manhood is beginning to be visible if you look long and hard enough...and are patient enough.

What a blessing Nicholas is in our lives. We praise God for him every day! Happy birthday, buddy! Welcome to the double digits!

All About LILLIAN!

Hi! I'm Lillian. I am 6 years old. Here's a little bit about me.

Favorite meal: Strawberry bread

Least favorite meal: TUNA!

Favorite hobby: Collecting rocks

Favorite movie: Henry V (the one with Kenneth Branagh)

Favorite book: Elmer and the Dragon

Least favorite book: The Adventures of Peter Cottontail

Favorite thing to do in CA: Disneyland

Favorite thing about moving to CA: the weather (Editor's Note: Did I mention it is 75 and sunny??)

Least favorite thing about CA: there are so many people

Something I miss lots in CT: My friends

I'm most afraid of: Loud, scary sounds

Favorite subject in school: History read-alouds (current fave: Bud, Not Buddy)

Least favorite subject in school: practicing my violin (EN: Sorry Cynthia!!)

How I like to spend my free time: in my outside playhouse

Favorite thing to do as a family: playing board games like Clue, Gobblet, Life

All About GRETCHEN!

I'm Gretchen. I'm 8 years old. Here are some things about me:

Favorite meal: Chicken noodle soup

Least favorite meal: Salmon

Favorite hobby: Collecting coins from different countries

Favorite movie: The Great Escape

Favorite book: Eragon & Eldest by Christopher Paolini

Least favorite book: The Neverending Story (editor's note: This really was the never ending story. We borrowed it from the library and it was missing the last couple of pages!)

Favorite thing to do in CA: Play with my new friends

Favorite thing about moving to CA: the weather

Least favorite thing about CA: It never snows

What I miss about CT: having space

What I'm most afraid of: all kinds of snakes

Favorite subject in school: History read-alouds

Least favorite subject in school: writing

Favorite thing to do as a family: go to the beach

How I spend my free time: reading

My favorite thing to do outside: climb trees