The Bell Times

My Friday Flight

2011-12-18T17:21:00.002-06:00

I was on this flight:

No charges for man who joked about bomb in bag on O'Hare-bound flight

It was a non-event, though, really. I didn't see a thing, except the air marshal talking to different people. Then, after we landed and taxied some, the captain announced that law enforcement was going to come on the plane. And there were police cars on the tarmac waiting for us. They come on, they lead the guy away, we carry on.

3-Year-Old's Opening Salvos

2011-06-12T19:29:00.003-05:00

When our 3-year-old wants to pick a fight with her big brother, she usually starts with a couple verbal salvos like...

It's not your birthday!

You're not five!

Fortunately her brother doesn't use them back on her. Curious how the three-year-old mind works.

Paid in Strawberries

2011-05-04T21:33:00.003-05:00

After dinner, our son asks for two strawberries.

He says he promised to pay his sister two strawberries if she came down and told us something for him, which she (kinda) did.

He gets them out, washes them, seeks her out and gives them to her. She accepts and enjoys them.

Kirsten and I stare blankly at each other.

Who loves Rebekah?

2011-04-15T07:19:00.003-05:00

A recent conversation with Rebekah:

“I'm a big girl!”

“Yes, you're getting bigger every day! You're bigger than a lot of girls. But remember that the bigger girls at church are still bigger than you? You're just the size God wants you to be right now.”

“God loves me, and the police love me too.”

“Well, um, yeah!”

Dear Dinner-Time Luke

2011-04-13T14:02:00.003-05:00

A note...

Dear Dinner-Time Luke,

When you leave the table before you've had enough to eat, then I get super-hungry! It's miserable. Awful. Terrible. Horrible!

Please stay at the table and get enough to eat for me!

Sincerely Yours,
Bed-Time Luke

Luke says, "I didn't write that!" (I say, "you dictated it!")

Three Unsupervised Minutes

2011-01-12T12:58:00.003-06:00

Three unsupervised minutes with the box of band-aids, and Rebekah has a dozen plastered on her feet.

I'm glad we buy the off-brand!

She's always had thing for band-aids. For a while there, talking her out of one was a chore. "There's no blood on that owie, so it doesn't need a band-aid!" She would disagree emphatically.

Rebekah's Quote-of-the-Day

2010-12-10T15:16:00.003-06:00

Rebekah's quote of the day:

Sometimes I'm going to go poop, then I already did.

Halloween Irony

2010-10-11T09:52:00.002-05:00

To set up our scary Halloween spider-webs, I had to brush away a bunch of REAL spider-webs.

Which is scarier?

Luke hit the age where cute Halloween decorations don't cut it.

Squirrel in the Van!

2010-09-30T09:43:00.006-05:00

It's the middle of the day yesterday and the kids come back from school. Someone (who shall remain nameless) leaves the van's side door open--just for a few minutes. Then Kirsten gets in (the driver's seat), closes the door, and gets ready to leave for her appointment.

She hears a rustle in the back and sees a squirrel pop up!

She jumps out and comes inside, and I'm assigned to the case. And Luke has to come out to see what's going on.

So I have him stand back. I open the van's side door and stand back myself.

Silence...

The squirrel shoots out of the side door like a rocket, up the front porch stairs and right past Luke. Within a foot of Luke's feet. He flies across the porch, through the railing, across the lawn and up our neighbor's tree.

Luke and I both jump about a foot in the air, then laugh our heads off.

Don't think our van is so crumb-filled that a squirrel would think it's a gold mine. 'Cause, like, you know, um, ...

A 3-Year-Old's Enthusiasm

2010-09-03T12:43:00.003-05:00

Any place worth going to is worth running to.

Turkish Delight

2010-05-27T12:26:00.003-05:00

Time to datestamp an event...

Last night I read Luke chapter 8 of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." After I was done reading, I folded the page down to mark where we left off. I rested my eyes for a little bit, and woke up to find Luke reading the next chapter! When he was done, he folded down the page to mark where he left off. Today I asked him about what he read, and he told me all about Peter going off on his own and was after more Turkish Delish. He also said he can't wait to meet Aslan. :) Me too!

A Camel!

2010-04-28T06:13:00.002-05:00

I saw a camel in the jungle!

Rebekah exclaims as we're driving to church.

We think she saw a deer in one of the forest areas we drive by.

Another Earthquake

2010-02-10T16:01:00.002-06:00

This one I didn't feel: Magnitude 3.8 at 4am.

Smaller than the last one.

Mountain Boarding

2009-10-22T16:35:00.002-05:00

The intrepid mountain boarder.

He did great!

I went down twice and crashed both times. Ouch!

Michillinda

2009-09-03T17:22:00.005-05:00

This is Michillinda Lodge, a place we vacationed as kids. We found it on the way back from another vacation and stopped in.

Unfortunately, we're not out of the woods on our camera troubles, so all these pictures are shot with my cell phone. (Yikes! I know.)

Anyway, see the whole Michillinda picture set as a slide show.

Update: I'm kind of glad I did take these pictures with my cell phone. As much as I'd love to give you razor-sharp images, the impressionistic quality of these cell phone pictures seems kind of appropriate.

Sharing a chair

2009-08-01T07:07:00.003-05:00

Rebekah and her cousin Jonathan share a stool at dinner.

It was very sweet.

Camera Disaster

2009-07-31T17:41:00.003-05:00

I'm very sorry to report that our new camera is trashed.

Wasn't too expensive, but we lost a few months' worth of pictures.

One of our children, who shall remain nameless, with a friend over, decided to try taking a picture from inside the toilet. At least that's the story.

I tried drying it out for a couple days, recharging the battery, putting the memory card in a computer, but, alas, no.

So it'll be cell-phone pictures for a while, until we replace it. (But even that's a step up from no pictures, eh? More blog posts coming soon!)

Food Allergy Awareness Week

2009-05-13T13:07:00.004-05:00

Happy Food Allergy Awareness Week! :>)

Many of you know Luke is allergic to peanuts and that he suffers from cronic eczema. Over the last year, we made significant progress identifying additional food allergies that aggravate his eczema because they caused an itchy mild rash. He is moderately allergic to eggs, apples (birch tree), and mildly allergy to soy (that we mostly ignore). I'm fairly certain Luke ate either eggs and/or apples every day. By modifying his diet and finding a new home for our dog we have been able to dramatically change the quality of Luke's life (and mine for that matter).

Working with a dietician and putting Luke on a systematic elimination diet was a turning point for us. The traditional medical community by and large were not helpful...and actually hindered his treatment. One Dr told us our dog wasn't the problem, but Luke has a level 4 dog allergy. Another Dr. tested for an egg allergy, but didn't feel a level 2 allergy was significant to inform us and until I saw a copy of the results (on a fluke) we assumed he was negative for eggs.

Each turn of the key to unlock his allergies has taken painstaking diligence, and I can't imagine having made the progress we've made with his allergies and skin had I not been home full time with Luke and able to cronicle every morsel that went into his mouth. I still think there may be more, but I think we got the biggies.

The picture above is what his legs and arms used to look like. And that was with applying ointments and prescription creams daily. His skin is basically clear now, and his flairs are easily controlled with prescription medications when needed. Thank you, Jesus.

He's still itchy. He'll always have sensitive skin. But, we're no longer chasing the symptoms that were creating an out of control itch cycle. He's a different kid. We're a different family.

Children's Museum in South Bend

2009-04-06T06:48:00.005-05:00

A few weeks ago I took the kids to South Bend to visit my parents. Jim had a lot of work to do, so he stayed behind and took advantage of the solitude to get things done. My mom took the kids the childrens' museum in South Bend. The kids had a blast (while I had a massage down the block!). Thanks, MOM!

New entertainment

2009-02-28T21:38:00.003-06:00

So today Rebekah struggles her way onto a chair in the dining room. She's just barely big enough to make it onto some grown-ups' chairs.

Then she stands up on the chair on her toes and plays with the dining room light switch.

When I tried to persuade her that this might be a dangerous idea for a one-year-old, guess how that went?

Some Christmas Memories

2009-02-24T05:49:00.001-06:00

Cheers!

Thanksgiving Memories

2009-01-06T21:05:00.001-06:00

Yes, we're that far behind...

Judy and Annika at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Matt and Andrew.

My sweeties!

Hi, Sweetie(s)!

2008-11-24T12:43:00.003-06:00

A few nice shots of Rebekah...

We're goofing off while Kirsten is out shopping.

Kirsten sometimes thinks I get nothing else done while I'm with the kids, but as you can plainly see I'm not getting nothing else done. Right?

Browse them here.

Luke's Halloween Goose

2008-11-01T12:12:00.004-05:00

Luke's preschool visited the local retirement center to sing their Halloween songs and parade around in their costumes. Apparently Luke was blocking this lady's view of the other children and she gave him a little pinch on the toosh.
Luke had fun with his cousins and neighbor friend trick or treating. Luke announced at every door (unprompted and unstoppable) "I can't have peanuts." Sometimes followed by, "I need one for my mom and dad, too."
Isn't she the cutest little bumble bee you've ever seen? Oh, wait....maybe Luke was.

I wanna be a biped!

2008-10-29T14:25:00.003-05:00

Rebekah's walking now. Not long ago she took her first casual stroll from the kitchen to the front door. It was great. Now she can go just about anywhere, and she's choosing walking over crawling.

Oval head for an oval office

2008-10-11T20:14:00.004-05:00

Luke said he's voting for Obama today. When asked why he said, "Because he has an oval head and that's my favorite shaped head."

I'm going to check the will and see if Luke's still in it.

Kawaii Ne?

2008-10-11T17:02:00.007-05:00

My parents visited Pete in Okinawa and brought back these outfits for Luke and Rebekah.

Happy Birthday Rebekah!

2008-09-01T15:00:00.004-05:00

Rebekah is one! We will celebrate with family next Sunday after her dedication. This is a picture of her trying to grab one of Luke's dinos while he's looking away. I love it.

Below is an entry from Rebekah's journal. It's for her first birthday. It's a bit long, and we don't really expect our gentle readers to read the whole thing...except maybe her grandmas and grandpas.

**********************************************

9/1/2008: Yesterday was your first birthday! Happy Birthday! We went to church (it was Sunday). Mormor and Morfar were here for the weekend. We sang Happy Birthday to you.
What are you up to? (In no particular order…)

You’re standing on your own pretty well, but not taking a step yet.
You can walk when we hold both your hands. You love it. A couple days ago you took a few steps with me just holding one hand.

For a while you’d go to the basement stairs, use the baby-gate to stand up, then rattle it. (Want to watch TV in the basement?)

You love to climb the stairs, to the second floor. Naturally, up is less intimidating than down, but you work on both to some extent. We’re trying to work on your technique for going down (just like up, but backwards). Sometimes you try sitting and scooting down, but you’re not ready for that yet.

You know how to start your brother’s Shake-and-Go racer, and make it do its crash.

You love our electric piano. I play its songs and you dance. We use it for background music. You bang on the keys, then turn and smile at me.

You still prefer people to things. You get more excited over toy people (dolls, little figures) than your brother’s vehicles and stuff, though you like them well enough. You like it when we play peek-a-boo. Sometimes you play it yourself, with a towel or something you find around.

You’re very cute with your big ducky (she’s almost as big as you): you hug her and touch your nose to hers. A week ago when Annika was born (her brothers stayed with us), you got a hold of Jonathan’s stuffed cow and it was very cute: you’d hold it and reach around and gently grab its front hoof, then give it a big hug.

I know you know a lot of words, but I don’t think you’re too close to talking.

You love it when Luke makes you laugh. He loves it too. You still love to watch him.

You’ve been crawling like a pro for months now, but it’s frustrating trying to crawl in dresses (which you wear pretty often). I try to pull them back with a clothes pin so you can crawl better, but I can’t do it as often as I’d like.

You love playing chase: you crawl a few feet, then turn back to see who’s chasing you. Then spin around and do it again. Super cute!

You’ve got spunk: you like to grab the toys your brother is playing with. We’re working on this—trying to be fair to each of you. He sometimes likes to take away the toy you’re playing with, and he’s got the size advantage. Neither is ok.

You get frustrated at things sometimes. When you can’t make something work; when we take away something you shouldn’t be playing with; when we sweep something out of your mouth; when we change your diaper without giving you adequate distraction; when we use the booger-sucker on your nose; when we put you down for a nap before you’re ready; when we leave you at the table. You let us know in no uncertain terms. You can cry like it’s the end of the world. But you gain your composure pretty fast, too.

You still have a smile for just about everyone, and a wonderful disposition in spite of your tough times. Even when you’re sick, you manage to muster your positive cheerful little self better than I (your Dad) ever do. Your smile melts my heart big-time.

You’re very expressive. You raise your eyebrows, furl them, cock them a little.
You’re growing some hair, though it’s still pretty wispy. We put a little bow in it sometimes—very cute! You’re just starting to look less like a little bald baby, and more like a toddler. Everything still goes in your mouth (it’s just where you’re at).

I love being your Daddy!

9/1/2008: [Kirsten] My turn! Happy birthday, little Rebekah! It’s hard to believe your one already! You’re a great addition to our family. We love you!

You are still nursing like it’s a bit of heaven on earth. You’ve never really taken a bottle or used a pacifier, no need I guess. You’re s-l-o-w-l-y weaning to a sippy cup. I’m not rushing things since you could have food allergies like Luke. And the truth is, our quiet nursing times are often a favorite part of my day.

You have an intense look in your eyes. People often comment on it when they are trying to get you to smile. They can tell you are studying their every move. Your dad has the same stare, so you get it from him. When you do smile for them, you light up the room, so their work is well rewarded.

You are a very determined girl, who does not give up easily. You love to learn new skills and will practice them until you have them mastered. I’m sure this will serve you well in this life.

We are dedicating you next Sunday and having your birthday party then. It’s rally Sunday at church, so everyone will be together in one service. The guest speaker is C. John Weborg…and modern day saint who happens to be Covenant. Mom (your mormor) asked Dad (grandpa) who he would most like to preach on the Sunday you’re dedicated and he said John Weborg! What a blessing! We are hoping the church we have chosen to raise you will play an important role in helping us raise you up to be a Jesus follower. I want more than anything for you to see Jesus make a difference in our lives. I hope our lives draw you to Him and that you will want to love and serve Him and our family together we will be the hands, feet and voice of Jesus to each other, to our neighbors….and the world (you and Luke can do that in your 20's...we'll pay for your flight).

I love you, my sweet, strong little lady.

How many doctors does it take to....

2008-08-09T21:51:00.005-05:00

During our recent trip to Nebraska, Luke's nose mysteriously turned red. Out of the blue. Just the tip of it. It was weird. This picture doesn't do it justice. I gave him Benedryl in case he was having an allergic reaction, but it didn't help.

We had three doctors present at the cabin with us. THREE. And not one had a clue what was wrong with Luke and shrugged it off. Hmph. And, even worse, we didn't have an internet connection so I couldn't go to Dr. Google to look up horror stories on the internet.

Crazy Legs Jennings

2008-08-07T13:37:00.002-05:00

Jim's cousin's husband is the the guy in the white striped shirt. Jim would be comfortable with these guys on the dance floor~!

Rebekah Pics

2008-07-28T06:33:00.003-05:00

A couple cute (but kinda old) Rebekah pics...

Sorry we've not blogged more. It's been a very crazy summer, and the next month might be crazier still...

Liverty and Justice for All

2008-07-05T16:06:00.003-05:00

Hope you had a great 4th of July!

"Remember! I'll do like liverty."

Raising barbarians...

2008-06-18T10:05:00.002-05:00

More Vacation Pictures

2008-06-18T09:41:00.003-05:00

Family Vacation!

2008-06-07T22:12:00.003-05:00

We're back from vacation.

We had a great time with the extended Bell family. We rented a house on "the big lake" near South Haven. Trying to coordinate two families napping needs is next to impossible, so renting a house together is great when you have little ones.

This is a picture of Luke and Jonathan playing at the Dutch Village in Holland. Note the clogs. I had a few flashbacks to the Swedish clogs I wore all during grade school. (I was terrible at kickball because of them.)

More pics later.

Superheros

2008-05-23T12:24:00.003-05:00

Luke and his friend Frankie play superheroes!

More pictures here.

Here is the church, here is the steeple...

2008-05-08T11:23:00.003-05:00

Last weekend Jim and I were greeters at church.

Luke and his friend Malachi were playing close by us, and folding their fingers together and making a pointy thing with their index fingers.

I thought, isn't that sweet? They learned "Here is the church, here is the steeple" in the Little Lambs sunday school class.

Then, to my horror, they shoot at people with their steeples as they walk in the door saying "Pow, pow...gotcha."

Yes, welcome to Hinsdale Covenant Church indeed.

Food allergies suck for everyone

2008-04-29T22:28:00.011-05:00

Luke is sleeping next to me as I write. He just had some weird reaction to something he ate and we treated it with a dose of Benedryl, which fortunately did the trick. It's probably a cross contamination thing, where maybe the toast he just had somehow got a molecule of peanut on it or something. Or maybe he's allergic to Sunflower Seed Butter, but he's had that before without an issue. That's what's so maddening about this shit, the answers aren't always clear.

As I watch Luke sleep I'm feeling overwhelmed with emotion. At 3.5, he's too young to learn the "life's not fair" lesson. And, I'm a little angry about it. As all good anger belongs displaced on some intangible other person, I'm going to write a little rant in response to the attitudes I've encountered from time to time towards food allergies.

The people who read our blog regularly aren't my intended audience, but it's a public place to state a few things and that alone provides me a sense of satisfaction. Thanks for bearing with me...here goes...

By sending a message of inconvenience and deprivation regarding procedures put in place to protect another child, you miss an opportunity to teach your child to respond to other people's challenges with compassion and understanding. For example, "My son is deprived his daily peanut butter sandwich and it's not fair to him." It's silly to think your child's quality of life seriously depends upon a peanut butter sandwich. Come on people, model something positive to your child.

I wish people would stop telling me kids who live on farms don't have allergies, that our houses are too clean, or that allergies are caused by vaccines. At this point, that's not helpful (or conclusive) information, though I wish somebody would find the magic bullet to stop the allergy epidemic.

And, lastly, those of us who carry epipens and benedryl in our purses would be ELATED to be able to send anything we wanted for snack-time. I don't like the limitations either. The alternative is having my child feel left out or worse and I have to believe we all would do the same for our child.

Rant complete. I feel better. Sorta.

Way to go Rebecca!

2008-04-28T11:07:00.003-05:00

Rebecca Miller used to babysit Luke when we lived in the city. She would take him on adventures all over the city, and he loved it. Absolutely loved it (and her).

Congratulations are in order because Rebecca received a Fullbright scholarship. You can read about it on the covchurch website. She started a blog so that those of us who care can keep up on her overseas experience.

I wish I had a picture of her and Luke to post...but I don't!

Earthquake

2008-04-18T10:45:00.005-05:00

I felt it this morning, and realized it was probably an earthquake. The house shook gently for maybe 30 seconds. (It felt gentle at least.) The windows rattled a little.

There's a train track near our house, and it felt as though we were close to a passing train, but there was no train horn, no train noise. No train.

I thought briefly about what to do if it got worse, but assumed it wouldn't. (I don't know why.)

The USGS calls it magnitude 4.5, but others put it at 5.2 or even 5.4.

Update: Here's the only link not expired as of 2/10/2010: Magnitude 5.4 Illinois.

Got Milk?

2008-04-17T07:25:00.003-05:00

Mmmmm.... milk....

Where'd he go?

2008-03-30T14:54:00.002-05:00

So I'm at my computer at night and I hear rustle, bump, moan from Luke's room. Then silence.

I investigate.

Strange. His fire engine bed is empty.

Where is he?

Oh, there he is.

It didn't even wake him up.

I don't think we'll be getting a bunk bed any time soon.

Uncle Pete's Visit

2008-03-15T17:46:00.002-05:00

Uncle Pete came all the way from Okinawa, Japan for a post-Christmas visit. The kids loved hanging out with him for a couple days. It was GREAT seeing him!

Pete is serving in the Navy as a Chaplain on the marine base in Okinawa. He taught Luke a few words in Japanese and entertained us with some pretty funny stories of interactions he's had with the island natives. If you know him, ask him some time to tell you the story about Martin Luther King Day.

So...should we kill the birds?

2008-02-25T19:04:00.005-06:00

We're getting ready to redecorate the sunroom into a playroom. We're going to put carpenting over the parkay (sp?) flooring and paint the walls and trim. The big question is...do we paint over the mural on the ceiling? Swallows, clouds, and even some glow in the dark stars. If we are going to paint it, we should do it before we have the carpenting installed.

So help me out....what do you think? Should the swallows stay or go?
PS Take note of the brown foil ceiling in our dining room. The previous lady of the house didn't leave *anything* undecorated.

Jim's Update: I think the consensus is that we keep them!

Shoes

2008-02-23T09:13:00.002-06:00

I know I'm a sap, and I've done this before, but here's another shoe-shot I couldn't resist.

So tiny!

Some Christmas Memories

2008-02-09T05:57:00.000-06:00

Wow! Is it February already?!?!?! No wonder this blog feels neglected...

Matt and Judy get some well-deserved (and much-too-short) rest...

Jonathan and Andrew yuck it up for the camera...

Johnny having a ball with Lindsey.

Luke's ornament on our town's Christmas tree.

Here's the slide show.

Snow-Shovelling Meditation

2008-02-01T13:09:00.000-06:00

"Cursed is the ground ...
   through painful toil you will shovel it
   all the days of your life.
It will produce snow and slush for you,
   and you will shovel the snow of the driveway.

Genesis 3:17-18, The Bible (my paraphrase)

Last night's snow was a heavy one!

Ok, keeping perspective: even without a snow blower, we have it very easy.

Heidi our Christmas Guest

2008-01-24T05:52:00.000-06:00

Luke's preschool adopted a reindeer from the Brookfield zoo: Heidi. This is Heidi's toy version. Each kid takes her for a week, on an adventure, and talks about it in the scrapbook that travels with her.

We got Heidi over Christmas break, so we took her to exotic Toledo, Ohio.

Yes, that's "Coastal Ohio," with Lake Erie being the coast. Never thought of it that way before, did you?

Rebekah doesn't know what to make of her.

She's Growing

2008-01-11T05:42:00.000-06:00

Take another look at this picture...

Kirsten (or Nancy?) just happened to take a picture of Rebekah as a newborn, sitting next to that same outfit!

Wow! The outfit that looked giant in September now fits her perfectly!

P.S.: These just-happened-to-catch kind of shots amaze me. I want to be more alert to them. (But is that possible? Sometimes the most interesting thing in a 50-year-old picture is some little detail off to the side. What details of our pictures will our grandkids find most interesting?)

Where's Rebekah?

2008-01-07T21:17:00.000-06:00

I looked though our pictures from the holidays and can't find any recent photos of Rebekah, so Luke gets the limelight again. The poor middle child always gets the shaft.

Rebekah is weighing in at a little over 15 pounds these days. She's gone from a bag of bones to a little porker with thighs as chunky as a sumo wrestler. (I'm the only one allowed to say that.)

Luke, Rebekah and I went to her 4 month appointment today. She laughs now, and showed off that skill when Dr. Gillespie was checking her hips. Every time she moved a leg Rebekah cackled at her. Such a happy girl!

Luke took a pass on the stickers the nurse offered him saying "Not today." He had his eye on the tongue depressors in the jar and asked the doctor for them when she arrived. He played happily with two tongue depressers and made different numbers and letters (each announced to Dr. G enthusiastically). His attitude at the office is a bit different when it's HIS turn to get shots!

Thanksgiving Memories

2007-12-30T18:32:00.000-06:00

Here are a few Thanksgiving memories...

Rebekah Lenore, meet your Great Aunt Carolyn Lenore!

Mormor gives Luke a 2007 Christmas ornament, as is their tradition. This one is a fire helmet with Luke engraved. Thanks, Mormor!

Ah, the Thanksgiving dinner! Much to be thankful for right here!

We hosted Thanksgiving, then went to Mormor and Grandpa's for the weekend... and more Christmas traditions. Luke puts the angel atop the tree, and sets up the nativity.

(He's a little young for handling such fragile pieces. We were more than a little nervous about that. But he did great.)

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T06:44:00.001-06:00

May God's astonishing love become even more real to you as you celebrate Jesus' birth.

Merry Christmas!

P.S.: No, we didn't send a single card this year. Maybe next year we'll be more together. Sorry. :-(

Which One's Older?

2007-12-20T16:16:00.000-06:00

This strange story kinda makes you fall back, doesn't it?

A set of twins is born just as Daylight Savings ends. The first is born at 1:32 a.m. Then Daylight Savings ends, they set the clocks back, and the second one is born at 1:06 a.m., before the first! So instead of being 34 minutes older, he's recorded as 26 minutes younger.

Twins' stuff kind of intrigues me, since Kirsten's one.

(Hat-tip: Comp.risks.)

Family Get-Together

2007-12-17T06:27:00.000-06:00

Luke had a blast with his cousin Cristian at this family get-together.

"Cheeeeeeeeeeese!"

Cristian is just a couple months older than Luke, but towers over him.

I forgot to get out the camera until right at the end. Rats!

[P.S.: Thanks, Nancy, for the name spelling help!]

Get the Bad Guys

2007-12-10T09:50:00.001-06:00

Jonathan and Luke play "Get the Bad Guys" at the park.

They put on their fiercest faces...

"Bad guys beware!"

You don't see this in Riverside...

2007-12-07T23:16:00.000-06:00

Do you think they are headed to playgroup?

Lovely Ladies

2007-12-07T14:15:00.000-06:00

I joined a journalling group at Hinsdale Covenant Church. Each week we mull over a few pages of Praying our Goodbyes, journal for about 15 minutes on something related, and then read what we journalled to the others (optional).

I'm the youngest. Sister Josephine is the oldest. She's ninety. While I journal about things like saying goodbye to Rebekah's newborn hair, they journal about losing lifelong friends or parents.

I feel like I have found a secret goldmine of wisdom, grace, and safety. And, it has opened my eyes to the joys and trials of life seasons ahead in unexpected ways and pulls me out of my consuming mommy world.

If I can grow gray in the grace of these ladies' company, I will be one lucky gal.

Call and Say Hi!

2007-11-23T22:44:00.000-06:00

Here's an interesting article in US News & World Report:

Talking With Others May Make You Smarter

The gift of gab could boost brainpower, new research suggests.

A U.S. team found that talking to another person for 10 minutes a day improves memory and test scores.

They found that "socializing was just as effective as more traditional kinds of mental exercise in boosting memory and intellectual performance," ...

Do you work from home? Are you home with the kids? Think about giving someone a quick call to chat. Maybe a different person every day.

I think it's good for the soul, too, and I'm trying to make it a habit. As the Bible says:

encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today ...

Rebekah's Poise

2007-11-16T20:19:00.001-06:00

Rebekah strikes the perfect catalog model pose.

You can't beat this pose, either.

Ok, one more...

Men's Group

2007-11-13T09:12:00.000-06:00

A big shout-out to my men's group!

Here we are at Steve King's place, chillin', solving the world's problems, and getting to know Jesus better. (Um, not necessarily in that order.)

I appreciate you guys a bunch (even though you'd never guess from my attendance!).

Thanks, Mormor!

2007-11-09T22:58:00.001-06:00

Mormor enjoys her grandbabies...

Mormor has come in most weekends since Rebekah arrived, pitching in to help at every opportunity.

She's amazing. Kirsten jokes that a whirlwind of accomplishment follows her. That's about right.

It's startling when a pile of clean, folded laundry just appears. Startling in a nice way.

Thanks, Mormor! We appreciate you so much! I can't imagine where we'd be without you!

Luke and Jonathan

2007-11-08T21:38:00.000-06:00

Judy and I have been trading watching each other's boys once a week. It's been great fun for us to have Jonathan over and a nice break to have a quiet house to get some things done (like a nice long shower).

Last week I made a couple pans of colored rice and added a pile of frozen peas and let the boys play in it with their little trucks. It kept them entertained for quite a while.

I think my favorite thing is to listen to their conversations and squables. Today I overheard this conversation while they were watching the landscapers clean up the leaves in our back yard:

Luke: Where did all those leaves come from?

JP: They came from the leaf blower. That's why they call it a leaf blower.

Yes, it is a bad idea...

2007-11-08T21:31:00.001-06:00

to let your kid eat raw ramen noodles.

It's just too messy and the stray noodles hurt when you step on them.

A Good Big Brother

2007-11-07T22:08:00.000-06:00

What a great big brother Luke is...

I'm providing the safety net. After all, he's only three.

A Word to the 17 year old Trick or Treaters...

2007-11-01T14:10:00.000-05:00

If you were a trick-or-treater this year, you should be banned from voting in the next United States Presidential election. Period.

Luke: Fierce or Friendly?

2007-10-30T22:30:00.000-05:00

Luke is a lion!

The tail makes the outfit, in his opinion.

Give us your fiercest lion growl!

Rebekah's costume. (Cow or dalmation?)

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Rebekah and the Family...

2007-10-26T20:54:00.001-05:00

Rebekah and the family...

Here's the little cutie...

Grandpa's little girl...

Aunt Judy rocks!

A proud Grandma...

Monkey See Monkey Do

2007-10-24T08:21:00.000-05:00

Don't you love it?

The Wood and Silverware Anniversary

2007-10-18T17:51:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is Jim and my 5 year wedding anniversary. My how things have changed since we first got married. We are on our third home, two super kids, both our job situations have changed, and Sydney has found a permanent new home (more on that later).

Jim, if you are reading this now, and thinking "Crud, I didn't get Shug anything" don't worry. Order this for me and I'll be quite content. I love you and I love being your wife!

JIM ADDS: Crud, I didn't get Shuuug anything!

Aww, do ya mean it?!?!?

Few could put up with me well as you have! You're the best, baby! Happy Anniversary! I love you a bunch!

On My Own: Day 3

2007-10-18T14:37:00.000-05:00

Jim has been down in the depths of the New York City transit tunnels for the last few days. His client is installing software into over 200 elevators. Jim played a key role in developing it and he needs to be onsite to help troubleshoot. (Honey, correct me if I'm wrong here....) The system is going to allow phone access to the elevators in the subway system, which is particularly crucial during emergency situations. Cool, eh?

So...I've been on my own with both kids for the last few days. Luckily the kids have timed their needy moments quite nicely and I only forgot Rebekah in the car once (Judy caugh it moments later once again we overted Children's Services). Thankfully Jim's on his way home soon. I miss Jim the most when it's time to lock the doors and turn off the lights. It creeps me out.

I haven't posted in a while, so here are a few of my favorite shots from the last few weeks:

Mom, Jonathan and Luke at the zoo

Rebekah in my old sweater

Baby of Frankenstein sleeping...

Luke and his new fire engine bed the first week. (He's a little higher up the learning curve now.)

Making Luke laugh while we waited for our pancakes to arrive

Hi Sweetie!

2007-10-01T08:53:00.000-05:00

What a great shot!

Thanks, Mormor, for capturing this one!

A Diplomatic Answer

2007-09-30T14:29:00.000-05:00

So I'm putting Luke to bed. Singing to him is the last stage before lights-out, so he resists.

"No! Stop singing!" He says.

"But I like to sing to you. I'm a good singer."

He says, "You're a good reader."

(That's a compliment, right?)

Epiphany Lutheran's Toy Sale

2007-09-28T09:03:00.001-05:00

We signed up to sell some stuff at Epiphany Lutheran's annual Toy Sale in Elmhurst. I dropped it off last night.

If you're interested, the sale is tomorrow, Saturday Sept. 30 29th, 8am to noon.

It's an amazing event. The Eighth Organizational Wonder of the World. I had to take a few pictures. Indulge me.

Mountains of colorful toys. The volunteer says, "Yes, and when you touch any of them, they talk, sing, or beckon you to pay." And random ones just go off spontaneously.

A field of strollers.

Dozens of everything you can think of, big and small.

You can sign up to automatically donate your unwanted items that don't sell. It's a very cool thing all around.

Morfar's Trumpet

2007-09-27T09:36:00.000-05:00

While Kirsten was having Rebekah, Luke's Mormor and Morfar were taking care of him. He had a great time.

Here he is trying Morfar's trumpet. Loved it.

Camera Shy

2007-09-25T06:50:00.000-05:00

Rebekah says, "No pictures, please!"

Four-Family Brunch

2007-09-21T16:57:00.000-05:00

Had a great brunch with these folks not long after we moved in. It's great introducing friends to friends. So nice how close people are now.

Lots of kids, but not the madhouse you'd expect.

Baby Carly stole the show.

Baby Carly meets baby Andrew. She likes him!

Luke and Carly.

Little Girls' Clothes

2007-09-16T23:00:00.000-05:00

Ok, we're very slow on getting more pictures up. Thanks for your patience.

Everybody's looking forward to shopping for little girls' clothes. They say they're cuter than little boys' clothes. Hmph.

Looks like she has some growing to do even to fit into these!

Rebekah Pics

2007-09-07T07:51:00.000-05:00

Sorry to deprive everyone of Rebekah pictures! Here are a couple.

She has a full head of beautiful brown hair under that cap (right now at least).

Rebekah's (and Kirsten's) Day Three Update

2007-09-03T10:38:00.000-05:00

Update, 7pm: All tests are fine! We checked out around 5pm and are home safe and sound!

********

Rebekah will be three days old in a couple hours.

Rebekah is doing great. She's back to her old self: nursing just fine and more alert, just like the first 17 hours. (HA! How many people refer to a three-day-old baby's "old self?" You read it here first!) All her blood tests and stats so far have come back fine (no infection), and she acts fine. We're waiting for one more test that has to stew for 48 hours. Soup's on at 4pm today. We'll see. (Worst-case: If it comes back positive, she's gotta stay seven days and get a course of antibiotics.)

They warned us that baby-docs can be ~~overly~~ very cautious, and might still want to watch her for another 24 hours. Can't blame them, I guess.

Kirsten's doing great, too. Much, much better than last time. She's up and about, and it seems weeks ahead of where she was last time. (Kirsten really gets credit for two births last time, as difficult as that was.)

We just signed Kirten's discharge papers, but we'll stick around for Rebekah.

Thanks for all the prayer! We can tell!

Sorry we haven't been able to call everybody we've wanted to! Hope these blog updates help!

Rebekah Lenore Bell

2007-09-02T11:22:00.000-05:00

Little Rebekah Lenore Bell was born at 1:17 pm on Friday, August 31 and weighed 6 lbs 14 oz.

Rebekah shares a birthday with her great-grandma Lenore Dahlstrom and a nose with the many of her Freed relatives.

Rebekah nursed great the first few hours, but quickly decided she liked to sleep more than eat. Her blood sugar level dropped and since Kirsten was GBS positive, it landed Rebekah in the Special Care Nursery (NICU) for a couple days. She is doing great, but we have to wait for the results of a blood culture on Monday to determine if she comes home with us tomorrow.

Jim adds: She was 18-1/2 inches long, and her nose is absolutely beautiful, like the rest of her! My nose is a poor reflection of the perfect Freed nose, and I don't think hers looks anything like either one. But we'll see.

Did I mention she's beautiful?

Money Well Spent

2007-08-30T16:35:00.000-05:00

I hired a housekeeper for Jim (a.k.a. landscapers to mow the yard). Today was their first day. They arrived, mowed the yard, and drove off in under 6 minutes.

Amazing.

It takes Jim longer than that to put his outdoor work shoes on.

At $17 per week, that is money well spent.

Libby & Sean's Wedding

2007-08-26T13:58:00.000-05:00

Before our lives went haywire with selling, buying and moving, we had a great weekend in Nebraska celebrating Libby and Sean's wedding. It was a great, relaxing time. Kind of the calm before the storm.

Luke had lots of fun with Sophia. We got to see the infamous walnut grove. I (Jim) got to meet the rest of the family.

Click here for the pictures. There are some gems.

Best wishes, Sean, Libby and Sophia! Thanks for letting us be a little part of your special day!

VBAC or Cesarean?

2007-08-23T22:19:00.000-05:00

One week to go before our little girl enters this world (unless she decides to come sooner) and we can't wait to meet her! Now if we could just settle on a name.

When I should have been dreaming about what to name our daughter, I've spent time deciding whether to attempt a vbac (vaginal birth after cesarean) or to schedule a cesarean. And, holy cow, is it difficult to find neutral quality research on this topic that isn't influenced by an agenda.

In my research, I crossed paths with many women who feel strongly that they were cheated out of a life experience by their doctor and are quite angry about it, and they have a right to feel that way. I'm just not one of those angry women. I had pre-eclampsia, was induced, had a big baby with a big head, pushed for 3.5 hours, and ended up having a cesarean. Not fun. But, I have Luke and I have my health. In the process of deciding what path to take for this delivery, I've only become more grateful I was never in a place where I lost sight of what a significant gift both those things are.

Lost story short, we decided to schedule a cesarean. At first it felt like a wimpy decision especially when I hear other people's beautiful birth experiences and wish they could be mine. But, my reality is, that although 70-80% of women can have a successful vbac, my age, the reasons for my cesarean, my incision was infected, etc put me in a higher risk category of a failed vbac than the typical 70-80%. Quite frankly, I don't want to put my body or my husband through that same experience.

It was so freeing to give myself permission to skip the attempt at a vbac. Now you can just pray for my attitude towards are the women who ask (in a tone that quite clearly indicates their position) "A vbac isn't an option?" while you're praying for a safe delivery for our little one...

quote of the day

2007-08-20T20:49:00.000-05:00

Right after Luke passes a some gas he says to me in a serious tone, "There's a frog in my pants and I can't get him out."

PS Complete tanjent, yet very related to my day since I hired a chimney sweep, a housekeeper for when the baby first arrives, and was saved from hiring slimey carpet cleaners that had a deceptive ad delivered to our home. Angieslist.com rocks. I can't imagine hiring a contractor without checking the list first and the montly fee is so worth it for any homeowner. I even found my new local hair salon via on Angie's List.

I'm Free!

2007-08-15T19:49:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we celebrated Luke's third birthday Luke-style with a his all time favorite food - waffles!

We had breakfast with Judy and the boys and then opened a few presents. Paul and Kathy stopped by for a little bit to help us celebrate. Yep. Pretty low-key, but in my opinion, just the right amount of excitement for our "I'm free" year old. (The TH sound is going to take a little practice...)

Mite be Trouble

2007-08-13T22:23:00.000-05:00

Update: Bad news for us. An itch mite epidemic occured in 2004 in Nebraska and Kansas. According to this the first bites were reported in early to mid August, but mites were still active and biting as late as December 7. Stupid cicadas are probably to blame.

I've been getting eaten alive by something since we moved in. Since the house sat empty for several months before we bought it, we knew we'd be dealing with some "wildlife." So far, that's been daddy long-legs, and we're getting the upper hand.

But I find more and more mysterious welts on me, and last night was really bad. Today I count 26 welts of all sizes, including a couple in my scalp and one in my eyebrow.

As it turns out, they're mites, and they're pretty bad this year.

Fortunately, Luke hasn't gotten a single one. Kirsten has a few.

Luke and I were out early yesterday evening, and were fine. But walking the dog after dark I was eaten alive.

Cicadas, spiders, and now mites. It's been a year of plagues here.

And, yeah, they're itchy.

A Fox

2007-08-12T22:27:00.000-05:00

Luke and I joined his Uncle Matt and cousin Jonathan in a trip to a park this evening. A park farther from our house.

As dusk approached, we saw a fox!

He didn't get too close, but he saw us and we saw him. Matt saw him first, I think. He had come up over a little hill and into the field on the far side of the playground. He must have come through someone's yard, because across the street were only houses (no woods or anything). Someone at the park said he once had foxes living under his bushes for a while. (Yikes!)

Being concerned, I came home and did some research. Here's what the the Humane Society says:

People are sometimes surprised to learn that foxes live in their neighborhoods, but there's almost never any cause for concern. Foxes are not dangerous to humans, except when rabid, and fox rabies are rare in most places.

Good to know. Their only advice is to keep your cats indoors, and protect your chickens and rabbits.

I was surprised at how small and scrawny he looked. Kind of starved and sickly looking, with very short hair. At best he was half the size of our dog (who wasn't present). As it turns out, all foxes are that small or smaller.

Naming Button's Sister

2007-08-10T07:26:00.000-05:00

When Luke was on his way, we looked to America's Founding Fathers for name inspiration. And entertainment. Some signers of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution had very interesting names: Lyman, Caesar, Elbridge, Oliver, Josiah, Gunning, Pierce, Rufus. But the most interesting was "Button Gwinnett," and we started referring to him as Button. (I'm glad it didn't stick.)

So now we're looking for inspiration for our little girl.

I think Swedish names are interesting: Trind, Valborg, Agda, Arnborg, Aslog, Bengta, Bothild, Gunilla, Solvig. (Kirsten knew a wonderful woman named Gunilla.)

A cool thing about Swedish names are the non-english letters, too: naming her Åsa would make her the darling of everyone who had to put her name into a computer.

Here's another treasure trove. Know where these came from? Arial, Verdana, Maiandra, Lucida, Sylfaen, Vrinda. Font names!

But Kirsten's source takes the cake: she looks through her junk-mail folder for interesting names! All those junk mails are worth something after all.

Anyway, naming a baby is a big responsibility. So we gotta laugh a little along the way. (And please forgive me if one of those names is yours or a loved one's.)

Where do you get inspiration? All suggestions welcome!

My favorite recent Luke quotes...

2007-08-07T14:45:00.000-05:00

"Mommy and daddy have big bellies. We have to watch out. We don't want their bellies to hit people."

"Okay mommy, first I'm going to talk about the nature of God. Then it's your turn."

New Homeowner Anxiety

2007-07-31T22:25:00.000-05:00

Getting ready for church, Kirsten and I are pushing past each other in the bathroom. Boy does it seem crowded. Yikes! We've outgrown this house before the first mortgage payment!

Ok, calm down. Kirsten's in her third trimester, so she and the baby need room. And the dog has to crowd in the bathroom with us (don't ask me why). And Luke's booster stool hasn't quite found its place either, so I'm stumbling past it. (You know, so he can reach the sink to wash his hands.)

So maybe it's just a little new homeowner anxiety. We'll get there.

In spite of a few of these little episodes, we love this place.

Church Mouse

2007-07-29T17:57:00.001-05:00

Today we visited Hinsdale Covenant Church. During the service we saw something we've never seen happen in church before. A little mouse decided to join us for worship. One go-get em parishioner jumped up out of seat, chased the mouse, and caught him with his HANDS!

They are finishing a new building addition and I guess a few critters have made their way into the church in the process. This is one of the churches on our short list as we consider what church family makes the most sense for our family.

We're In!

2007-07-27T22:48:00.000-05:00

We're in our new place!

Miraculously, everything went like clockwork just about the entire week. The walkthroughs, the movers, both closings, the movers again. Wow. Whew.

Two seventeen foot moving trucks showed up with all our stuff. I couldn't believe my eyes.

Kirsten was amazing. She did most of the packing since I had to work. She was a packing machine.

In the few days since we've been here, we've gotten an amazing amount done. Things don't look so bad. (As long as you don't look in a few key places!)

We have so many people to thank! Many thanks to Kirsten's parents, who spent the weekend helping us get settled in. We'd be sunk without them.

Judy and Matt: thank you for letting us use your house in the transition, and for all the boxes.

Thank you Beth for bringing your kids over and helping us pack. What a huge help!

Our realtors were absolutely great. Barb, you're awesome. You, too, Carol.

Ok, Ok, I'm starting to sound like an Oscar speech. Anyway, we'll try to thank each of you as we get the chance.

We're loving it here!

Andrew's 1st Birthday

2007-07-13T23:57:00.000-05:00

A few memories of Andrew's first birthday.

The birthday boy reflects on the first year of his life as he gives his birthday speech.

Jonathan and Grandma, too.

What are these guys up to? Should I be suspicious?

Paul and Kathy's Blog

2007-07-05T07:08:00.001-05:00

Paul, Kathy and Carly have a new family blog:

campbellskid.blogspot.com

Happy Blogging!

Luke's Journal

2007-06-27T09:41:00.000-05:00

Jim has a journal about Luke. I love to sneak on his computer and read it. Today, I found this entry...

The day before yesterday, Luke and I (Jim) were reading his board book, Baby’s First Bible. The last page shows little children running to Jesus, and He’s holding up a baby that looks a lot like Luke. I’ve told him all along, “That’s you! Jesus is looking at you and smiling because he loves you!” This time Luke says that’s him. Then he points at Jesus and says, “He’s gotta work.” Ouch! That’s what I tell Luke. I know personally that our view of authority figures, especially our parents, profoundly influences our view of God. I tell Luke that I need to work, that I like to work, but like playing with him better.

*****

Jim says: Caught you!

By the way: as with everything on this blog, we'd love to get your input. How do we raise a kid without distorting his view of God too badly? It's a profound responsibility.

90 degrees the wrong way...

2007-06-25T21:46:00.000-05:00

Luke and I have been working diligently on potty training. In September he starts preschool a couple afternoons a week, and one of the requirements is that he is potty trained. Multiple articles I've read have advised against potty training during a move or other big life event. So, that leaves this month to get this done.

It's much harder than I thought.

First of all, he doesn't seem to mind sitting in a puddle of piddle while playing with his trains. (I try putting big boy undies on him from time to time...)

Secondly, Luke only seems to communicate when he has to go potty when he's in his bed (and wants out). Classic, no?

Finally, (and I'd really like to know who's side of the family is to blame for this) when Luke goes standing up with everything pointing in the right direction, you would think gravity would do its thing. Instead the pee takes a 90 degree turn and sprays up into the air. Thank heavens for easy clean tiles.

Thanks to a trick that Judy taught me, we've implemented the "surprise bag" which is a bag full of goodies that Luke gets to pick from each time he goes potty successfully. It's been the best thing we've tried yet, but it's still slow go...

Pray for us.

Alexa

2007-06-16T22:56:00.000-05:00

A little tribute to our friend Alexa...

Performing a percussion duet...

Giving autographs after the performance...

After a death-defying acrobatic act...

Ta-daa!

We miss you (and your parents)! Hope you're enjoying your new home. Our love goes out to you.

Our new home in Riverside!

2007-06-02T13:23:00.000-05:00

We're still in shock, but we put in an offer on a house in Riverside that we really had no business making. Much to our surprise, delight, and trepidation, we came to an agreement. So, as of mid-July, we'll be here.

Click here for a tour. (Our tastes are tamer than the sellers', but overall it's great. Take special note of the distinctly RED media room!)

All in all, we made out quite well in a sleepy housing market. Our condo sold quickly for a good price to a couple who has been looking in our building for TWO YEARS. We are 5 doors down from Matt and Judy (Jim's sister) so it's good thing we like each other! We're in the grade school district we wanted and there's good space for Jim's office...things we thought we would have to compromise in order to stay in budget.

Fortunately, there is an Aldi near by, because this was a budget s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-r. We look forward to having you all over for hotdogs and ramen noodles very soon.

Our little business: OBE

2007-05-31T06:46:00.000-05:00

OBE means "Overtaken (or Overcome) By Events." Our little online shop is OBE.

We're out of time to devote to it: our upcoming move has crowded it out. Zillions of things, large and small, to resolve. That's consuming all our stray (and non-stray) moments.

More supplier problems. None of our original designs made it out. That one design we ground out based on the clip-art we had available. We did it just to put something up (that let us start exploring the online advertising part).

Maybe next year. Still a valuable learning experience, which was what it was about for us. And we're pondering what we've learned to apply it to other things, too.

No richer, but a little smarter!

We won't forget the little people when....

2007-05-25T22:39:00.001-05:00

our new t-shirt business makes a killing.

Jim and I have been curious to learn the ins and outs of doing business online. So, we launched a silly little t-shirt business in honor of the 17 year cicada just to see what would happen. You can visit our store at www.cicadatees.com.

What have we learned so far?

That everything takes 3 times as much tinkering as you think.
Venders (and others) sometimes disappoint you and we weren't able to launch 2 other designs as hoped. Bummer. They were good.
Search engine advertising is easy to set up, but complicated to master.
Jim and I have very different advertising philosophies. It takes a lot of bickering and hmphs to come to an agreement.

All suggestions welcome...and we'll even split the profits with you if you provide an image we like. If we make any money at all, we plan to keep the thing up for the next cicada brood in another part of the country.