The Wyatt's

No More Paci's!

2012-01-25T20:49:00.000-06:00

I realize blogging has not been my strong suite lately :)

The month of December was full of all things Christmas related. I think at least 2 straight weeks, if not more, we had something every. single. night. We were worn out but it was a good worn out. We headed to TN for Christmas, left Christmas Eve and I returned back home with Jack on Jan. 2nd because he had to go back to school. Freddy T. had the opportunity to serve as a small group leader at Passion so he headed down to Atlanta for a few days while Lillie and Elliott hung out in Tennessee. We had a good break in TN, but Lillie, Elliott, and myself were sick the majority of the time. I had a horrible cough, Elliott was in the ER Christmas morning getting breathing treatments and medicine and Lillie and Elliott were both over at a family Dr. friends house getting checked up mid week because Elliott wasn't really improving and Lillie was in as bad of shape as Elliott. It was kind of crazy. My time with Jack here alone was sweet. I can't remember the last time we had that kind of time together. Of course he was in school during the day, but we had all evening to hang out. It was fun. Unfortunately I was still feeling rough and didn't get as much accomplished as originally planned, but the rest alone was helpful.

Things are back in full swing here now. I have a few blog posts to update on like some of our Christmas pictures, our newest family pets, Jack's 5th birthday, and probably something else I'm forgetting. Just tonight the kids were looking through a picture book I made from our blog back in 2009, January through June. Reminded me how much I enjoy having this to document our lives. The kids love looking at all the old pictures.

So, for tonight I'll share our latest big accomplishment. On Saturday the 21st, Lillie and Elliott threw their paci's away forever!

We started telling Lillie and Elliott in early December that after Christmas they were going to throw their paci's in the East River (it right out our back door). We talked for weeks getting them pumped up for this big event. Both love their paci's, but Elliott LOVED his. He was pretty attached. We would say "What are you doing after Christmas?" They would yell, "Throwing our paci's in the river!" "Who are you giving your paci to?" "Baby Fishes!" So a early last week Freddy T. told them Saturday morning was the day, we were heading out to the river to throw them away.

One last night getting to sleep with a paci. I've looked at this view for over 3 years... maybe I was more sad about them giving them up than they were.

Headed out!

One final enjoyment... in true Elliott style. He always sucked on it upside down, always.

Lillie's last time!

Of course the morning we plan to do this we wake up to our first real snow of the season. It was cold and very windy.

Isn't that the most pathetic sight.

Yay! My Big Boy and My Big Girl. Elliott didn't care anymore, he was trying to guard his face from the wind and snow blowing.

Here is video documenting the action.

Lillie & Elliott throwing their pacifiers in the East River from Freddy T. Wyatt on Vimeo.

Lillie and Elliott have done really well with out them. Lillie has hardly missed a beat. Elliott has asked for it several times and had a hard time the first nap, but I think they are over it. One more step in growing up!

Joseph, A Shepherd, and An Angel

2011-12-20T10:46:00.003-06:00

This past Sunday the kids at Gallery Church sang a few songs and dressed up like people in the Nativity. Jack was Joseph, Elliott was a shepherd, and Lillie an angel.

They sang Silent Night, Away In A Manger, and Jesus Loves Me.

They also memorized and recited Luke 2:11, "For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

This was before the program.

Practicing their singing.

Elliott desperately wanted to be a horsey. The only way I could convince him to be the shepherd he was assigned was if he got to carry the "little lamb."

Lillie singing.

Jack found a big stick in our neighborhood and we brought it with us to use as a staff. He had it up like a gun and over his head most of the program, he didn't use it as a staff.

Joseph

The whole crew.

I have a video I'll add once I get it downloaded.

2011 Rockefeller Christmas Tree

2011-12-17T20:02:00.001-06:00

This morning, around 7 a.m., Freddy T. had the idea for us to go get our annual family photo taken at the tree in Rockefeller Center. I'm glad we did it because I'm not sure when we would have snuck it in this week. It turned out to be a good time to be out because there was no crowd and the kids had a fun time running around and seeing all the decorations.

Merry Christmas!

(please ignore Lillie's flip flops, that was a battle not worth fighting this morning)

Check out some from the past:

2008

2009

2010

Jack's 5th Birthday Party

2011-12-12T12:50:00.001-06:00

This past Saturday we had a birthday party for Jack. This was his first party with friends and I think he would say it was a success. It had a Lego theme to it and was full of fun and games. When the party was over Jack came up to me and said "Mommy, well done!" Best compliment ever!

We had the party from 1-3, so it didn't call for much more than cupcakes and juice boxes.

The kids had to guess how many Legos were in the jar.

Pin the 5 on the Lego Man and knock down the Legos.

I made Lego bags for everyone.

Lego Happy Birthday Day Banner

Lillie and Elliott getting their prize after playing a Lego toss game.

Dropping pencils into a mason jar

Jack and a few of his friends waiting in line for a game.

Writing down their guesses from the Lego jar.

Me and Freddy T. reading off every one's guesses

All the big kids got to partner with their parents and build either a Lego truck or a Lego airplane.

The big kids showing their creations.

Jack pinning the 5 on the Lego Man.

Lillie was trying to put her 5 in thin air.

Elliott joining his 5 with Lillie's on the wall.

Jack blowing out his candles!

The kids were divided into teams and played the egg and spoon game, except it was a Lego in a spoon. First team to fill their jar past the black line won.

I tried to get a group shot, this was as good as it gets.

We had a great time celebrating Jack with all his friends.

Happy Birthday Freddy T.!

2011-12-12T11:53:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Freddy T.!

Today my husband turns 34! He is a loving husband, wonderful father, faithful pastor and friend. Tomorrow the two of us will celebrate by spending the day...12 whole hours... out enjoying the city and each other. We are really looking forward to it!

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2011

2011-11-26T20:28:00.001-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving (belated) from The Wyatt crew!

This year was our first family trip to the Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade. Freddy T. and Jack have been the past 2 years, but this was Lillie and Elliott's first. Freddy's parents were also in town and it was their first time to see the parade live. We were up early Thursday morning and jumped in a taxi at 5:30 to head to the Upper West Side for the parade. We met Freddy T's parents on 75th and Columbus and walked over to Central Park West to stake our spot. By the time we got situated we were in the 2nd row of chairs (by chairs I mean we hauled our fold up/outdoor chairs with us) and we had a 3 hour wait ahead of us. We packed snacks, blankets, and an I-Pad loaded with many episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The kids did pretty well all things considered. By the time the sun comes up and you get within an hour of the parade it starts getting exciting, everything before that is just doing what you can to stay warm and get out of your sleepy fog!

Gramps put Lillie up on the little box hanging on the light post so she could see. She didn't last up there long but managed to sneak a kiss or two for Gramps.

Jack, Elliott, and Lillie watching as the first band marches by.

The Turkey kicked things off!

Sonic the Hedgehog made his first appearance in 20 years.

Diary of A Wimpy Kid

Buzz Lightyear, big hit with our kids. Elliott especially loves Toy Story these days.

Pillsbury Dough Boy

Kool Aid Man

Sponge Bob

Elliott is also really into Mickey Mouse. He loved this float!

Classic Snoopy

And his gang!

Ronald McDonald. His right skate had a big hole in it, it was just hanging. I've wondered what the float looked like by the end of the parade.

Elliott got real excited when this float came by. He was up on Freddy T.'s shoulders and started naming all the characters.

Jack mainly wanted to see Spiderman.

Lillie enjoyed seeing Hello Kitty.

Another classic, Smurf.

Kermit the Frog.

And last but not least, Santa came to kick off the Christmas season!

We finished off the day with an apartment full of 15 people to enjoy a great meal. Great day and lots to be thankful for!

The Harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few...

2011-11-14T15:00:00.000-06:00

Fall

2011-11-14T07:39:00.001-06:00

It was beautiful here on Saturday. A little chilly, but a perfect fall day. Freddy T. took the kids out for breakfast so I could straighten up, or as Jack would say "Mommy, we are going to eat breakfast with Daddy. You can stay home and do your chores." I actually like doing my "chores" when I'm home alone :) Anyway, on their way to breakfast they found a spot in our neighborhood with lots of leaves and played for a while. Later in the morning I took them back out to play and to get a few pictures. Jack told me later that night he had a lot of fun playing in the leaves not with me, but when Daddy took them. He proceeded to tell me that Daddy made big piles for them to jump in and I didn't.

This one is funny to me because Elliott is pouting in the background.

Sweet Elliott playing in the leaves.

Running to jump in a pile of leaves... a small pile according to Jack :)

Jack

We went to the playground for a few minutes. I told the them to run like wild kids and Lillie threw out her arms and took off.

Jack laying in the pile shielding his eyes from the sun and Lillie throwing leaves.

A few pictures of some trees in our neighborhood. They have been really pretty.

Happy 3rd Birthday Lillie and Elliott!

2011-11-10T10:57:00.001-06:00

This past weekend we celebrated Lillie and Elliott's 3rd birthday. 3 years old... time has gone by fast. Jack's 3rd birthday was fairly simple, so we stuck to that for Lillie and Elliott's 3rd. They still aren't fully aware of what it means to have a big party. My mom and aunt were in town, so the 7 of us celebrated together. We had dinner at Numero 28 in the East Village and came home for cupcakes and presents.

Lillie and Elliott, you two are more and more fun each day. You are a huge gift to Mommy and Daddy and we love you so much.

Lillie, Elliott, and Nay Nay

Jack headed out the door to dinner.

Elliott !

Lillie and Elliott waiting for their cupcakes.

Lillie blowing out her candles... Jack trying to get in on the action.

We missed a picture of Elliott actually blowing out his candles, so he demonstrated for a picture.

Lillie!

Elliott opening up his Mickey Mouse Choo Choo Express DVD... 5 minutes later he got a hold of the case and tried to get the DVD out by himself and snapped it in half. We replaced it at Toys R Us on his actual birthday.

In our family when you turn 3 you get to chew gum. Jack, being the good big brother he is, gave Lillie and Elliott their very own Bubble Tape.

Lillie opening part of her gift from Nay Nay, 3 pairs of play high heels!

Till next year! Happy Birthday!

Field Trip to Union Square

2011-11-04T21:12:00.005-05:00

I had the opportunity Friday to go with Jack's class on a field trip to the Farmers Market in Union Square. It was a lot of fun!

We met at the school and got our assignment for the trip and got paired up with the kids we were responsible for and walked to Union Square. It was only about a 15 minute walk with all the kids. The purpose of the trip was to explore our senses. Each group was assigned a "sense" to explore. Our group was the touching group. We walked around the Farmers Market touching everything we could get our hands on and talking about how it felt. Each group had 5 dollars to purchase something related to the sense they were studying. Our group purchased a cactus.

Jack and his "buddy". We were in the back of the line so you can see the other kids in the class walking ahead of us.

Jack wanted me to take a picture of everything he picked up.

Here he is holding up a cactus for his friends to touch.

This was our "touch" group for the day.

Jack's Class

Fright Night @ PS 40

2011-11-02T20:00:00.003-05:00

Fright Night is a big production at PS 40. The volunteers really go all out to make it a fun event for the kids and families of the school. What made it especially crazy on Saturday was that it snowed all day long. We met up in the lobby of the apartment building of one of the 2 families we were going with. The wind was blowing hard and the very wet snow was falling as we trekked on over to the school. It was probably the least desirable activity to do when that's what's going on outside, but we were committed to go and Jack was excited to spend the evening with his buddies Ryan and John. I didn't take my camera because of the weather, so all I have are a few phone pictures, not good quality, but a few cute pictures.

Jack Pumpkin Bowling

His prize from Pumpkin Bowling

Ryan, Jack, and John

Hula Hoop Toss

Corn Hole

Face Painting. He requested a blue turtle.

They got to vote on the best Jack-O-Lantern... he voted for #22

We ran into 2 other kids from his class, so we tried to get a picture... not very successful.

We had so much going on this weekend that we ended up skipping our neighborhood party on Sunday. Maybe next year!

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T11:42:00.000-05:00

This is going to be picture heavy, you've been forewarned!

We had such a great time out Trick-or Treating last night. I think it may have been Elliott's best night of his life so far. They all had fun, but he was REALLY into it. If you've tracked with us for the past few years you already know the Halloween drill here in Manhattan, but in case you don't there are lots of pictures to give you an idea. We stayed on 1st Ave. between 14th and 23rd St. It took us roughly 2 hours to walk that stretch and go in and out of the stores. Here in Manhattan the majority of people go to stores for Trick-or-Treating, unlike the suburb neighborhood. There is something about it being a whole community event that I like. It feels strange, but so many stores participate. The kids just run in and go to the check out counter of a deli, or the bar at Starbucks, or the hostess stand in a restaurant. It's lots of fun.

Without further ado...

Introducing Jack the Pirate

Lillie the Ballerina Pirate

(only added the ballerina part because she declared that's what she wanted to be 2 minutes before walking out the door.... so we added the necklace)

and Elliott the Pirate.

I had planned on making these bags for them last year, but just got around to it this year. My friend Melissa and I made them for our kids on the Gallery Church Retreat.

At the dry cleaners across the street from our apartment

Jack and his buddy Ryan.

Barber Shop

Deli

Laundry Mat

At the Bagel shop they got bagels instead of candy... they ate them for breakfast this morning!

Bakery

Another Deli

At Dunkin Donuts they got a whole donut at one and a donut hole at the other one.

Starbucks

I have some pictures to share from Fright Night at Jack's school in the next post... need to get them off my phone.

Catching Up

2011-10-28T20:55:00.000-05:00

Fall is here, maybe... there is a chance of snow tomorrow which makes it feel more like winter is here, but this weekend is full of fall activities. We are getting into our new rhythm with Jack in school and working our day around his schedule. It's been amazing having the connection with other families at his school. There are two families specifically that we've really connected with. This weekend we'll be going to Fright Night at Jack's school with 2 of his friends and their families and then involved in other activities Halloween related Sunday and Monday. I'll write more about them when I have pictures to post.

I feel like once we moved to our new neighborhood a new chapter of this journey opened up for me. The way I'm getting to connect with other moms has been very refreshing to me. I have good friends at church, but have struggled connecting with others outside the church. Part of that is I've had a hard time relating to other moms because my kids have not been in school or in other extracurricular classes. In NYC when you meet another mom the first question is always "where does your child go to school?" It's really great now to be able to share a school and then, with a lot of families in our neighborhood, automatically have some common ground. It's been nice.

We've had a lot going on at The Gallery. Several months ago we moved to one service and in that transition moved the church offices to the back of the room where we have our Sunday morning gatherings. It's been a great transition. The office space is very small, but for the first time since we've lived here Freddy T. actually has a room he can shut the door and have private, quiet study. He can now counsel with people and not have to talk quietly or worry about everyone else in the room being able to hear. It's a great setup. This past week a team was in town and built an amazing floor to ceiling bookcase in Freddy T.'s office. I bet he has told me 1,000 times how excited he is about the new set up. It's really great. I'll have to get some pictures to show you.

Enjoy a few pictures.

Lillie plays her "guitar" on a daily basis. We have a few play guitars, but this is her preference.

This was the first time I braided Lillie's hair, you can't tell, but it was adorable!

When we ride the bus Lillie always asks all the older ladies "what's your name?" They love it! This particular ride the lady, Marilyn, invited Lillie to sit in her lap so she did.

This is "Spike" and Lillie. I told them to smile for the camera. Spike is saying "cheese" and Lillie is smiling.

(Elliott asks to have his hair spiked on a very regular basis)

We were going on our church wide retreat the first of October. I think it was Jack's Gran that introduced him to Bubble Tape, she gave it to him for his airplane bag to travel back to NYC over the summer. So Jack insisted that he needed Bubble Tape for his airplane bag to take on our hour long drive to the retreat. We went to 20 stores looking for Bubble Tape and finally found it... one very random pack on the shelf of a 7-11. He was thrilled.

The kiddos riding a play police motorcycle on the playground.

Jack one morning on our way to school. The Steelers hat goes with him everyday and stays in his backpack.

Elliott taking Grover for a walk and Lillie pushing her baby.

We have neighbors across the hall that are away from May through September. They live here the other months of the year. Anyway, we just met them several weeks ago, since we moved in right after they left. Lillie and Elliott are crazy about Rita and Don. They have lived here for 36 years...same apartment! They think they are supposed to get apple sauce every time we see them. This picture is taken from Rita's kitchen floor.

Sweet brothers... very rare moment!

Oh by the way... we might get 2-4 inches of snow tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Susan!

2011-09-26T22:04:00.002-05:00

My wife is my best friend and lover! We love the adventure of parenting and church planting in NYC together. None of your prayers for us are in vain. Pray a special prayer for Susan today. She turned 30 years old.

She is so, so, so amazing!

To God be the glory, great things he has done in and through my wife!

Birthday Parties!

2011-09-24T20:27:00.002-05:00

The kids went to a birthday party for our neighbors this afternoon. It was on the roof of the 14th St. YMCA. It was a lot of fun! Families in NYC go all out for birthday parties. At this particular party there was a magician. He did a great job. His whole show was probably 45 minutes and he held Jack and Lillie's attention the majority of the time. Elliott left to go play on the playground, but he liked most of it. At one point the magician asked for a volunteer and Jack got picked. I missed the very beginning of the trick, but got most of it on camera. It's shaky because Elliott kept wanting to see the camera and I could hardly keep him back so I could video it. The magician put one ball in Jack's hand and told him to squeeze it and he was going to make it disappear. You can see what happened (the quality is not great, but you get the idea). Jack LOVED it!

I know the post have been "Jack heavy" lately. Maybe this week I'll get some good shots of Lillie and Elliott and let you know what is going on in their world!

9/11 & Church Planting

2011-09-10T07:29:00.007-05:00

It is a sobering time to be in New York City as we reflect upon the horrific events from 10 years ago, 9/11. Thank you all for your prayers and support of our ministry. Only 3% of City Center Manhattan (where we live) is evangelical. God has been working in New York City in amazing ways yet, 'the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few'.

Also worth the read is this article from The Gospel Coalition.

First Day of Kindergarten- Jack

2011-09-08T21:08:00.001-05:00

He did it! Jack went to his first day of kindergarten today. He did awesome!

He was so excited he just wanted to act a little silly getting his picture taken outside of our building

Jack's been counting down the days leading to today. He woke up this morning got dressed, ate breakfast, and sat with his back pack on till 10:15 a.m. when we could finally leave to go to school. It's been raining here for two days straight and calling for it again today. I prayed this morning before I got out of bed that the sun would at least shine around 10 a.m and 11 a.m. Around 8 a.m. this morning the clouds started breaking and the sun came out. I was so grateful! I hated to think our first walk ever to school was going to be in the rain. At Jack's school they gradually ease the kids into a full day of school. I say gradually, it's really only 3 days, but still they aren't thrown in immediately. He went today from 10:50 to 12:30 and tomorrow he'll go from 8:20 to 10:30. Monday will be a half day with his whole class and then Tuesday is the first full day.

Walking to school.

Waiting to go inside.

When we arrived at the school we went inside and waited in a little foyer until we were released to go to Jack's class. This past weekend we met a family on the playground who has a little boy, Ryan, starting kindergarten at PS 40 and we quickly found out that they had the same teacher and were in the same rotation for today and Friday. Jack and Ryan played together for about an hour. I know Jack was excited to know someone in his class and it helped me out as well! While we were waiting Ryan and his family came in, so the boys got to hang out and walk to their classroom together. Nicole, Ryan's mom, told me that Ms. Morris had to ask several times which one was Jack and which one was Ryan. I think it might be the beginning of a special friendship.

Jack and his buddy Ryan

Welcome back to school note from the principal.

Heading up to the second floor to find his class.

We are excited about Jack's teacher. Her name is Ms. Morris and she is a veteran! I'm not totally sure of her age or her experience, but I think she's been teaching at least 30 years. She comes with a reputation of being tough and strict, but gets her job done, and kids seem to love her. It's been told that at one of the big school events all the teachers have a jar with their name on it and kids can put their raffle tickets in the different jars to try for a chance to spend the afternoon with that teacher and do a fun activity of some kind. While most teachers have a hand full of tickets, Ms. Morris' jar is crammed full of tickets, kids past and present want to spend the afternoon with her. That speaks volumes to me.

The kids had to line up before they entered the room. They all went in then parents followed.

Jack's name on the door.

We all made our way to PS 40 this morning. Each morning for the first semester parents are encouraged to sit with their child for the first 15 minutes of school and read together. Jack wanted us all to come to his class, but choose his daddy to stay and read. I have to admit that was tough. I'm really glad for Freddy T. and Jack to have that first opportunity together, but it left my heart tender. I did fine with my emotions while we were at school. I got a little teary eyed on our way to school and again on our way to pick him up. I might have a good cry before bed tonight, but hopefully that will do it. Get it all out of my system!

Getting settled in to start reading with Daddy.

When we went to get Jack, Freddy T. stayed outside with Lillie and Elliott (Elliott asked for Jack 20 times today in the hour he was away. Poor guy, he's got some adjusting to do with the rest of us) and I went inside to wait for Jack outside of his classroom. While all the parents were waiting the assistant principal came by and said "Something you need to know about Ms. Morris is that she is always 5 to 10 minutes late for dismissal which means your kids are always 5 to 10 minutes smarter than all the other classes." When the door opened the kids were lined up and Ms. Morris called students to be dismissed as she saw the parents. Jack was the second one out. All the kids had to say "bye Jack!" and he had to shake the teachers hand. Shaking the teachers hand is a school policy for all grades as the students are dismissed for the day. Anyway, Jack was carrying a drawing he did in class and looked a little shell shocked. I think it was more having to come out of the room to kids saying bye all in unison and a ton of parents watching from the hall. Once we made eye contact he smiled big and practically skipped down the hall. He was pretty pleased with his experience.

Jack and Ms. Morris leaving his first day of kindergarten!

For a first day of school treat we stopped at the little bakery between the school and our apartment and all had gelato. We asked Jack what he learned today and he said "We didn't learn anything. The teacher said a bunch of words then told us we could play with whatever we wanted to!" Oh boy! So, what we can gather from more conversation is that they sat down and talked about the calendar and weather and then got to have free play, to explore and see the fun stuff in the classroom, I assume. I think that's a pretty good idea except that it kind of sets the tone that that's what you do in kindergarten, free play! I had to explain to Jack that that's not how it was going to be everyday, that they would have lots of fun, but they would have a good schedule and lots of learning.

Jack, Lillie, and Elliott enjoying vanilla chocolate chip gelato.

We are so proud of Jack! We feel so good about the decision to let him go ahead and start kindergarten. Keep praying for him and for us (me!). We want our family to really have opportunities serve the faculty and staff at PS 40. From what I understand a good bit of the families are pretty involved at school. Pray we will be the Light of Christ to them.

Here's to a great year in kindergarten!

Getting Ready for Irene

2011-08-27T07:04:00.010-05:00

Susan and I made it safely back from San Francisco last night. We were originally scheduled to fly in late Saturday night and of course with Irene's arrival estimated to be right around that time, our flight was cancelled. The San Francisco trip was amazing. I have the huge privilege of serving as a Trustee of the Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. They flew Susan and me out Wednesday Morning for orientation. Perhaps in later posts I'll tell more about our time at GGBTS. Not only did I learn a lot about the seminary, I also was fueled and sharpened in my leadership by being around their President, Dr. Jeff Iorg. I'm already tearing through a couple of his books on leadership. Dr. Iorg and his wife Ann were amazing hosts. Susan got to go into the city with Ann and a few of the other wives on Thursday. We are very humbled and excited to serve what will probably be the next 9 years.

We planned to stay an extra day to just enjoy the city but with the impending weather we decided to change our flights. Fortunately, that proved to be a very smooth process, props to Delta. We arrived back in NYC late last night and began to assess our options.

Our home is on the very border of the mandatory evac uation zone "A" and on the 13th floor. Apartments that are on the 10th floor and higher are at greater risks for debris flying through windows. So, we've decided to go out to Kelly, Brooke, Hannah and Nathan Love's place in Brooklyn. They manage and live in the David Dean Mission House and have plenty of room and are outside of all three evacuation zones. We might've been just fine in our apartment, but we really wanted to find the most comfortable and safe place for our kids. Our kids love Hannah (12) and Nathan (8) and will have a blast with a two night slumber party. It is a little cloudy outside but pretty calm this morning. We'll do our best to keep you updated via twitter. You can follow me on twitter here and Susan here.

Jack Is Going To Kindergarten

2011-08-15T12:22:00.005-05:00

We've had some exciting developments with Jack and school this year. You may remember the post from a while back where I explained briefly the ins and outs of the NYC public school system and Kindergarten admissions. Since then we got Jack's Gifted and Talented test results back and he did not score in the 90th percentile to be considered for a Gifted and Talented School, so we were moving forward with homeschooling.

After we moved into our new apartment, in a new neighborhood, separately Freddy T. and I began having conversations with other parents on the playgrounds about our zoned school, PS 40. Every conversation was the same, parents raving about how great the school was and how pleased their experience had been. After we talked about it we decided we would set up an appointment to meet with a counselor or principal and get a better feel for the school and see if we thought it might be a good fit for Jack this year.

Before I share the rest of our story, read this blog post from Logan Gentry, a pastor at Apostles Church here in NYC. They have a 5 year old little boy starting Kindergarten this year and this was their experience.

Since we discovered the cut off date for kindergarten was December 31^st and that Eli would become a kindergarten this coming fall, we have had a consistent conversation about a number of schooling options for all of our kids. We were both in public school the majority of our lives, but more schooling options are now available than ever before since the rise of charter schools and more private schools being in NYC. Homeschooling is also the choice of some of our friends and so we definitely considered it.

We explored a private school, who generously offered us a pro-rated price of $12,000 for the last 6 months of Pre-K. (Thanks, but we’ll go ahead and pocket that 12K we don’t have and teach Eli his letters and colors) We explored and even experimented with home school and investigated charter schools.

In the end, we felt strongly about pursuing the best public school education we could find for our children, assisting the teachers & faculty of that school, and assisting our children and their classmates however we could in pursuing academic excellence (not in the over-parenting-do-your-kid’s-homework way). Sounds simple enough, until you tackle the various enrollment issues of NYC.

Similar to the majority of the US, NYC has zoned elementary schools and districts, so we moved to a good district and zone for public school. We were excited about the local public school, but also discovered NYC’s gifted and talented program.

In February, Eli took a test for gifted and talented, which was like the SAT for 4-year olds and the results were to be provided for us in April. If he scored in the 90s, he could have the option of being in a gifted and talented program in our district, 97 and above would allow him to be in 1 of 5 city-wide schools with the other 5-year older geniuses of NYC.

In March, we applied to our local public school to find out 3 weeks later that we were 27 out of 67 on the wait list for kindergarten. It’s all the letter said, no mention of what next. So we wondered 2 things, 1) Where are all these soon to be 5 year olds in our school zone? We had not seen that many. 2) Now what?

Next, we were notified of a wait list meeting, which involved a number of angry parents from the district squaring off against 2 district employees who were interrupted and yelled at the majority of the night. We did find out we would get an alternative school offer as close to our house as possible in late May.

In April, we found out Eli scored a 94 and was accepted in the gifted and talented program, we then had a week to rank all the programs in our district which runs from the Upper East Side down to midtown, across to the west side and down to the end of Manhattan. After ranking, we were told we would find out in early June which school he was placed in.

Our alternative offer for general public school came in late May and we had 2 weeks to accept the offer or decline, but declining would mean the possibility of losing the option of public kindergarten. We figured the gifted and talented placement would come before the 2 weeks was up, providing us some time to make a decision. We were wrong. We had to enroll the 10^th of June and we would receive the G&T placement the following week.

So we enrolled Eli in his alternative offer and then found out the following week he was placed in Chelsea Prep for the G&T program which is on the opposite end of Manhattan from where we live and we were told in the letter there would be no public transportation options, which we eventually found out was not true. (generic letters as communication are so fun and uninformative)

We toured Chelsea Prep and were completely amazed by their program (which includes him learning Mandarin) and fell in love with the school. It will be a great opportunity for Eli’s education and we are excited that he will be entering kindergarten there in the fall. We are looking forward to getting to know the families of his classmates who lives all over Manhattan.

It was quite a confusing process for this first time parent.

So this blog excerpt pretty much sums up the craziness of getting into Kindergarten. Needless to say we weren't even sure Jack would have a spot in our zoned school seeing that it was the middle of July and the first round of applications are due in March. Anyway, I gathered all of our paper work and headed to the doctors office to get Jack's immunization records, on our way back from the doctor I told Jack we would go by the school and see if it was open to set up an appointment with someone. When we got there we (me, Jack, Lillie and Elliott) were directed to the Parent Coordinators office. I told her I wanted to inquire about signing Jack up for Kindergarten and asked how long the waiting list was. She said, "no waiting list right now, do you have his paper work?" I did and handed it over. At that point Freddy T. and I had not made a final decision about school for Jack but I figured I'd go ahead and get him signed up and we could always pull him out later if need be, but he had a spot! After lots of paper work was filled out, the Parent Coordinator came back and told me the principal was in a meeting but she wanted to meet Jack could we wait a few more minutes. I could not believe it. Here we were at the school, paper work filled out, and now the principal wanted to meet Jack. I honestly don't know many public school principals that would come out of a meeting to meet a perspective student. The principal, Mrs. Felder, came and talked to me and Jack, she was so nice and encouraging about Jack being in Kindergarten. She told me that at the end of the school year if we, along with her and his teacher, felt like he was not ready to move onto 1st grade we could hold him back and let him repeat Kindergarten. While we don't anticipate that happening, I'm very relieved to know they won't just get a kid in the school and push him through with no consideration of what is best for him. So just like that... in the middle of July, no waiting list, in and out in an hour and Jack was fully signed up to start school! God provided and worked out the details perfectly. All the horror stories we've been prepared to experience in getting into a school we want for our kids... none of it, so simple. We are grateful!

So can you believe it? This guy is going to Kindergarten!

We are all pretty excited. We've seen him grow and develop so much in the past 6 months or so that makes us believe this is the right step and that he is ready. It will be a big adjustment since he has never been in preschool or in any formal structured environment on a regular basis. Please pray for him that he will have a smooth adjustment (School starts Sept. 8th. He'll have several half days and start full time on Sept. 13th), that he continues to be excited about school, that he makes good friends, that his teacher will be a great fit for him, and for me and Freddy T. Our world will change a lot now that we are on a public school schedule and journeying in unknown territory, but we are really excited for all the opportunities well have to serve the school and interact with other families.
PS 40. Doesn't it look huge? The first three floors are PS 40, an elementary school. The 4th and 5th floor is a middle school, totally separate school, same building. And guess what Jack thinks is the coolest thing about the school...the playground is on the roof!

SBTS-NYC

2011-08-05T21:11:00.005-05:00

In addition to planting a church, as though that's not enough, I've recently been asked to serve as the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary New York City Extension Center Director. I know, its a mouthful. That's why I'm calling it SBTS-NYC. If you know of anyone in the NYC area that may be interested in Seminary or know someone who is considering attending Seminary and is also interested in Urban Ministry...SBTS-NYC may be the perfect fit. Take a look.

SBTS-NYC Extension Center from SBTS_NYC on Vimeo.

Rainbows

2011-07-07T15:31:00.004-05:00

Every time it rains here in the afternoon and the sun comes out during or right after the rain shower a perfect rainbow forms right on the edge of the river, perfectly positioned in front of our living room window. I can't get a great picture, so this does not do it justice, but it's been a fun surprise to find out about.

Outside of Our Four Walls

2011-07-06T08:43:00.009-05:00

It's so hard to describe to people what our neighborhood is like. I was reading the history of it on Wikipedia the other night and on there it was described as a neighborhood for New Yorker's to " to live in a park- to live in the country in the heart of New York." This is a pretty good description of how we feel. We LOVE it here and feel like we've finally found our place to call home. It's not uncommon for New Yorker's to move as often as we have, especially in your early years, because you just don't know which neighborhood fits your needs the best till you give it a try. It's a lot of trial and error. We were told when we moved to NYC that you have to choose space or location. In other words, most places that are very spacious are in a not so convenient location and the apartments that are in a great location are small. It's just the way it is! In our first apartment we had location and in our second we had space. I knew within a year of having space that I didn't care as much about space, give me location! So here we are in a great area, within walking distance (20-25 minutes) or a bus ride to church, and in a smaller apartment. We are so happy and grateful to be here!

So welcome to our neighborhood. On our way to the grocery store yesterday we took a little tour of the property to get some pictures to show you around.

This is our building. I blurred out any street signs or our building number, no need to share those details on here, but this is where we live. You can't see our windows from this direction, but we live on the 13th floor. We may be weird, but we like living on the upper floors.

As we walk toward the center of the neighborhood, called the Oval, you walk on quiet sidewalks lined with trees and flowers, so peaceful.

In the center of the Oval is a big, fun fountain. The kids always want to go try to stick their hands in the water.

At each corner of the Oval you'll find Oval Study, Oval Lounge, Oval Kids, and Oval Film. For a very low monthly fee you can become a member of the Oval Amenities and enjoy all the activities that are offered in these places. From the time we moved to NYC Freddy T. has been looking for a quiet, nice place to study. The offices at church are open air and don't provide the environment he needs to study and prepare messages. Now that we live here, Freddy T. goes to the Study most mornings. There are big tables you can spread out on and there is a no cell phone policy so it's quiet. We really feel like God has provided for him in a bigger way than we even knew to ask. It only takes a few minutes from our door to walk here. The other night we ordered take out and had it delivered to this location and we met Freddy T. there and had dinner together out on one of the picnic tables.

This is Oval Kids. We haven't made it over there yet, but look forward to enjoying all the activities, especially in the winter!

And this is Oval Film. You can kind of see that dark hole in the picture, that goes into a small movie theater. Every night they play 2 movies and as long as you are a member you just pop in and watch! They play a huge variety of movies, every genre, older movies and newer releases. I didn't take a picture of Oval Lounge, but it looks generally the same.

There are 12 play areas on the property, 5 are actual play grounds. The others are basketball courts, soccer fields, tennis, etc. Here are pictures of 3 of the play grounds, we didn't pass the other two.

We call this the clock play ground. You can kind of see on top of the play area a little clock. When we first came to check the area out and walked upon this playground Jack stood at the entrance and spread out his arms and yelled "this is perfect!"

The Train Playground

We call this one Peter Cooper Playground because it is the only one on the Peter Cooper side of the property. This is the one closest to our apartment.

This is a glimpse of the big lawn that is around the fountain.

More sidewalks and trees.

(I know this seems petty, but we don't take great sidewalks and trees for granted)

The Empire State Building in view as we cross the street to the grocery store.

This is looking South down 1st Ave. All the red buildings on the left are part of our neighborhood.

More trees :)

This is a grassy knoll outside our building. Ours is the one in the back of the picture. The other day Freddy T. brought Jack out and taught him a little about the great game of baseball. I have a feeling we'll be out in this area quite a bit.

Another thing that is so fun about this place is that they do community events all the time. Our first weekend here after vacation we spent a Saturday evening out in the Oval with our neighbors at a Carnival/Circus type thing. There were clown acts, a cowboy, jugglers, and other circus type performances.

Lillie found a little crack in the barriers to look through.

Jack and Elliott standing on the gate watching the juggler. One of our neighbors is to the left of Elliott.

Did I mention there are 9 kids that live on our floor... Jack is the oldest and boy/girl twins live right next door.

Welcome to Our New Apartment!

2011-07-01T13:14:00.004-05:00

This is becoming a somewhat yearly blog post. Welcome to our new home!

(our first NYC apartment on the Upper West Side)

(our second NYC apartment in Harlem)

There are still a handful of things we need to do, but welcome!

I can't remember what all Freddy T. shared with you about our new place, but we are living in a 1 bedroom apartment. Our living room is so large we have made the back part of it our bedroom. I've kind of been wanting new bedding. Yesterday I put the tan quilt over the bed and folded up our red on at the foot. It's a nice change and it kind of helps our bed not stick out so bad when you first come into our apartment. Now I want to get a new bed skirt that has some pattern in it. Maybe a red and cream stripe, something like that...maybe.

This is the view standing at the front of the living room looking toward our "bedroom." We bought those bookshelves at IKEA and had some good friends help (we encouraged, they installed) us anchor them to the wall... they aren't going anywhere. The main thing we still need to do is hang a curtain from wall to wall right behind the bookshelves. Most of the time the curtains will be wide open and this is what you'll see, but there are times, like this weekend, when we have company and it is just better all around to be able to have separation from us and the person sleeping on the couch :)

This is standing at the front door looking into the living room.

And this is the view standing from the window looking toward the living room. To the far left you can kind of see the front door.

And this is the view from our living room/ bedroom window. It is really great! At our old apartment I looked at a brick wall. This is SO much better! This shot is looking over the East River toward the Queensboro Bridge, Roosevelt Island, and Queens, across the river.

The kids have a great bedroom. Everything fits so well. We have done nothing as far as decorating goes in this room, so it's pretty plain, but they like it. I'm anxious to pull it all together and make it a "comfortable" feeling room. I have some ideas!

This is standing in the corner of the room looking toward the beds. Lillie is in the twin bed on the left, Jack and Elliott sleep in the bunk beds. Elliott says "Jack sleeps up, I sleep down."

Another shot towards Lillie's side of the room.

This is from Jack's bed looking toward the opposite corner.

Here's the view from the kids bedroom. The pointy building on the left is the Chrysler Building, so cool to see it from their window, especially at night!

Our bathroom, not much to say about it. It's small, but nice.

Our kitchen is bigger than our previous 2 apartments. I'm really enjoying it. It has a dishwasher and a pantry and lots of cabinet space and the best part is a window! We even have room to put a small table, maybe a little round top with 2 chairs. We aren't looking for one right now, but we'll keep our eyes opened in case one pops up.

This is what you see when you walk in our front door.

The right side of the kitchen.

The left side looking from the window.

Another view from our apartment, this time from the kitchen window.

This place fits our family perfectly. We still have plenty, but have learned to live on less. It's very refreshing to me to only have to clean a small space, only have to clean one bathroom. We did loose a washer and dryer in our apartment, but there is a laundry room on the bottom floor of our apartment, and since Lillie and Elliott are mobile it's much easier than it used to bed to get laundry done. Now we all just walk or occasionally the kids all ride their scooters down. It's not been bad at all. Our apartments have a website where I can view the laundry room and see how many washers and dryers are occupied and how much longer they have on their cycle so I don't haul everything down there just to find that they are full. So convenient.

Next week I'll try to take you on a little tour of our great neighborhood... get ready, you're going to love it!

A Few Pictures From TN and GA

2011-06-27T09:56:00.006-05:00

Here are a few snapshots from our time in TN and GA.

Lillie, Elliott, and Jack got to ride on Gramp's lawn mower. I didn't catch a picture of Jack, but here are Lillie and Elliott.

Elliott playing with Freddy T.'s old truck "Smokey". It's a little blurry.

This was the first time I've ever taken all 3 kids into Walmart. I think it was Lillie and Elliott's first Walmart trip ever!

The reason for the trip was to buy a baby pool for my mom's patio. Here's how we got it home.

They LOVED playing in that little pool.

This is very random, but at my mom's Lillie got into my old curio cabinet and took out my first pair of ballet shoes and wore them around the house. She loved wearing them.

We took a trip with my Dad down to Georgia to visit my grandparents, aunt and uncle, and cousins. I hate that I didn't get a picture of my dad or my grandparents with the kids. I don't know what I was thinking. We were only there for about 2 days. Our full day there was spent around the pool at my aunt and uncles house. The kids had so much fun. Lillie and Elliott warmed up to the water pretty good. It was perfect preparation for the beach. Jack is a little more timid when it comes to pools. He takes his own sweet time getting comfortable. We had a major breakthrough that day though. Jack for the first time moved away from the pool steps. He was quite proud of himself, and so were we!

We left from GA on a Saturday morning, I rented a car for me and the kids to drive down to the beach in Florida for vacations with Freddy T.'s family. It was a 6 hour drive and I managed by myself. The kids were champions. We only stopped once and it was for a quick pee pee break and to walk around for a few minutes, other than that we kept moving along. I can't believe how smooth the drive went. This was us leaving my aunt and uncles house headed to Florida.

More pictures to come from our time in Florida.

A Taste of More To Come

2011-06-22T08:52:00.004-05:00

The past few months have felt so busy. My blogging has really taken a back seat to all we've had going on. Freddy T. has shared with you a little about our moving process, but we actually began packing 2 or 3 months ago and are now just a few things short of having everything pretty much in place. It will feel so good to be settled in. The kids room still needs some decorating attention, but it's going to have to wait. Once that is done is when everything, to me, will feel finished, but that will take some time. I'll try to post some pictures of the apartment next week. So far we LOVE being in a new location and new apartment. Our apartment feels like such a good fit for our family. Even though we've down sized to a 1 bedroom, everything fits in this apartment better than any other we've had. Our neighborhood could not get any better. One day soon I'll take pictures outside so you can see how wonderful it is here.

In the past month we did some traveling. We spent a few weeks in TN with our family. My sister graduated from high school and it was great to be there for that and celebrate with our family, the kids had fun playing with their cousins, I got to take a special, quick trip down to Florida to celebrate my best friend getting engaged, we traveled with my dad down to GA to visit my grandparents, aunt and uncle, and cousins, and finally finished up our travels with a family beach trip to Destin, FL with Freddy T's family. I'll post pictures and more detailed posts later, there is just so much to catch up on.

Since we've been home I've been trying to get back in a routine, but with 3 weeks of travel and moving right before that, it's taking me a little longer than normal to find my rhythm again. That being said, we've spent quite a bit of time out in the new neighborhood enjoying some of the new playgrounds and activities offered down here. Again I'll blog about this in more detail soon.

So... that was kind of a jumbled mess. I'm ready to get back in my blogging routine and look forward to catching everyone up. The next few posts will be mixed with some recent things going on and some out of date, but I still want to have things documented, so bear with me.

I'm trying to get some pictures off my phone and I need to get a few more from some other people. Thanks for hanging in there with us, looking forward to being back on our normal track.

Here's the only picture I have at my fingertips for this post.

Congratulations again Sarah!

(me, my sister Sarah and my brother James)

A Wild and Wonderful Week Part 2

2011-05-27T12:25:00.005-05:00

Last Friday morning Susan and I loaded into my dad's explorer and began to drive to Louisville. This was a drive that we had made at least 75 times in 2005-2006 while we were living in Louisville and I was preaching in TN on the weekends. It was almost surreal stopping at our normal Starbucks. The power of good memories are difficult to put into words. Even more so, when those memories are laced with the faithfulness of God, worship is the only response. Starbucks in hand, we began to drive down the long two-lane that would eventually lead us to I65 in Bowling Green and then on to Louisville. Reflection overload kicked in and in a matter of minutes we were so overwhelmed with God's faithfulness to us over the years that we erupted in prayer and praise to God. The reflection continued through our whole weekend. Once we arrived in Louisville, we drove past our old apt/house, went to my favorite coffee shop, and spent some quality time with some of our best friends, Kyle and Ashley Barrett.

We were in town for the wedding of a dear couple that go to the Gallery Church. Counting our old worship pastor who now lives in Portland, OR, there were 22 people from the Gallery Church that made the trek to the wedding. Once again, Susan and I had an opportunity to reflect upon God's faithfulness over the last couple of years and how He has beautifully woven together this community of faith.

Another unexpected thing I experienced on this trip was a bit of what felt like closure to our first chapter of our lives in NYC and the dawning of a new. A little over 2.5 years ago, Susan and I stepped out with the biggest faith either of us had ever known in our move to NYC. Every step of our move was in partnership with two families, The Coes & The Rameys. Aaron Coe was the founding pastor of the Gallery Church and the man God used to mobilze us out of comfort onto the front lines in NYC. Aaron was Susan's college minister @ MTSU. He and Carmen have a son that is six months older than Jack and has been Jack's best buddy since we moved to NYC. Paul Ramey has been a good friend for many years and moved when we did with his family from Portland to be our worship pastor. If you've kept up with this blog over the years, you know that Paul's family had a very difficult time in the city and they made a brave decision to move back to Portland. Paul is now serving in a great church in Portland. Aaron has just recently accepted a position as the Vice President of Mobilization at the North American Mission Board (NAMB) in Alpharetta, which is a huge win and stride forward in the fulfillment of our church planting vision for NYC (more on this in an upcoming post), though it is a personal loss for Susan and me as the Coe's were our partners in ministry and best friends in the city. At the wedding, Aaron, Paul and I got to spend some quality time together. This time was very, very sweet. Getting to hear each of these guys talk about life and where they are at came with a real sense of rightness for each of them. And though Paul has been gone from NYC for some time now, getting to be with him and Aaron together, really gave me a sense of closure to our first chapter in NYC. Sad, yet so many reasons to rejoice. God is good. He is so, so good. A new day is dawning, and I'm excited to see what's on the horizon. Always grateful for your prayers.

(Aaron's move to NAMB is incredibly significant and I'll share more in an upcoming post about that, stay tuned.)

A Wild and Wonderful Week Part 1

2011-05-24T14:13:00.006-05:00

The Saturday before last I played tackle football on The Gallery Church's Men's Retreat. The next day on my way home from church I had a scooter wreck because some crazy bicyclist cut in front of me at the last minute to the tune of a crushed blinker, bruised or cracked ribs, nasty bruised elbow, and shock shakes about two hours later. The shock shakes were a first for me. The morning after the scooter wreck, I packed a Uhaul (with the help of some awesome peeps) for our move from Harlem down to E 20th Street. The old man with Jack on his shoulders is "Danny Boy". I'm actually going to try to do an individual post on Danny Boy sometime soon, but to whet your appetite here is a video of him from Amateur Night at the Apollo. Details on why the move and about our new neighborhood in a later post. It wasn't really until Tuesday that I began to feel the effects of the scooter wreck = painful.

Tuesday we kicked it in high gear getting the new apartment set up. We had friends that helped us with the kids...and Susan put her cape on and did an amazing job getting things in their place. We LOVE our new neighborhood for many reasons, but the main reason we made the move was to be close to the church. Mission accomplished.

Thursday morning we woke early to catch an 8am flight to Nashville. I do not know what we were thinking scheduling such an early flight. About the time we were walking out the door I noticed a voice mail on my phone. Our Delta flight was delayed to 9:45. This really was going to be CRAZY keeping the kids chill in the airport for an extra almost 2 hours. I got on the phone with Orbitz and they couldn't help at all, so I called Delta who triumphed with amazing PR and secured flights for us that left at 8:30am and arrived 10 minutes earlier than we were to originally land. Way to go Delta!

We had a sweet time connecting with family and then left the kids and headed to Louisville on Friday morning...

My bottom lip will get me a hug and a kiss.

2011-04-27T21:50:00.005-05:00

Susan captured this hilarious video of Lillie and Elliott today. Be sure to watch the whole thing. There are so many times Lillie reminds me of Diana my oldest sister. L and E are more fun every day! We love them so much!

We're moving to a new neighborhood May 16th, and the twins will move to big boy and big girl beds. So they need to get their jumping in the crib out of their system. Prayers appreciated for the transition. ;-)

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T14:45:00.002-05:00

Happy Easter

Lillie and Elliott enjoying a few snacks after church.

A Little Catching Up

2011-04-20T12:18:00.008-05:00

We are alive and well, even though it's been a while since the last blog post from me. I've hit a bit of writers block and since I've been doing school work with Jack that has taken some of my extra time that I typically found for blogging.

A little school update. We are in our 8th week of homeschooling and Jack loves it! He asks on a daily basis if he gets to do school work. A week or so ago we sat down and looked back through all the work he has done so far. He was so proud and could not stop smiling. It was sweet.

I'll just post a bunch of pictures with a little commentary to cover the past few weeks.

This was a month ago or so in central park. Not a great picture, but a fun one up on a huge rock. I never got them all looking and the sun was making a pretty bad glare, but in every picture from this day Jack is making the same face... fingers pulling his mouth out and his tongue sticking out.

This is how Lillie looks a lot of the time. A hat, a necklace, and a pair of shoes. And in this picture Elliott's paci.

One morning a few weeks ago we collected all of our broken crayons and melted them in the oven to create new crayons. I didn't take an after picture, but you get the idea.

This past Monday was beautiful. A little cool in the shade, but it felt nice and springy in the sun. Since schools are on spring break this week we were able to go to one of our favorite play grounds (it's used during the week for the schools recess). Across the street is a neighborhood garden. We love coming to this garden in the spring and summer. It's like a nice, private, unique space in the middle of a bunch of buildings and busy streets. Right now they are having a tulip festival.

Jack choose to have his picture taken on the bench, no where near any of the pretty flowers.

I tried to get a group shot, but Jack turned his back and the other two followed.

This old wagon/ wheel barrow was in the back corner of the garden and the kids had a lot of fun climbing around on it.

Another attempt at a group shot.

Lillie and Elliott ran up the hill with Jack. This is what they did when they got to our door.

You'll find Lillie in my black high heels a lot.

Elliott finishing up from eating his prized waffles. He loves them!

Today we needed to return some over due library books. I've been putting it off, just could not find the motivation to walk down the the library and "do" the library thing, but today was it.

This is how you'll find Jack a lot of times riding behind the stroller, when he is not walking, with a stick in his hand.

Of course we got the the library at 10:40 and it did not open till 11. They do not have a drop box ( I thought every library had a drop box) so we had to wait for 20 minutes to get in. And yes we did wait, I had no plans on coming back anytime soon.

I planned on just dropping off the over due books and paying my late fee (which only turned out to be 90 cents), but Jack wanted to go look at more books. So we headed up to the children's floor. After being there 5 minutes and looking through books the librarian came out with an Easter craft for all the kids.

They had a good time decorating their eggs and putting a piece of candy in it. You can tell Lillie is trying to get into her candy in this picture instead of decorating the egg.

And she put the stickers on her face, not on the egg.

And I caught Elliott hiding behind the stroller sneaking his chocolate.

We've been out of town quite a bit the past few weeks. We were in Texas the first weekend in April for Passion Ft. Worth. We had a great weekend. Friends from church stayed with our kids. It is a huge blessing to have people we trust our kids with when we need to be out of town for a few days. The same friends came and kept the kids last week while we were in Chicago for a conference. It was a nice time of rest. Not like the relaxing, sit by a pool rest, we were busy both times, but the kind of rest where you're not in charge of anyone else. It was needed.

Before we went to Chicago we made a little detour to TN. Freddy T.'s grandmother passed away and he had the privilege of preaching her funeral. He did a great job and I think she would be pleased with how it all turned out. And of course she would be proud of Freddy T.

In other news, we have a busy next month and a half. We have a lot going on at church this week for Holy Week and are looking forward to the Easter Services. The following weekend Jack and Freddy T. will be in TN for a missions conference and I'll be away at our churches Women's retreat. We're looking forward to spending some good quality time with family toward the end of May and early June. If all goes as planned, we will actually be moving out of our apartment at the end of May. I'll post more about that later, but we are excited to venture into a new neighborhood and area that we are not real, real familiar with, but it is closer to church and we think it will be a great location for our family. We have to be out by the end of May, so Freddy T. will be moving all our stuff while I'm in TN with the kids.

I'm going to get back in blogging mode. I'm so grateful and encouraged by people when they tell me they keep up with us on here. I want to be faithful to keeping it up.

If you made it this far thanks for reading! Hope you are enjoying warm weather where ever you are... and please send it all this way!

Pray for New York City!

2011-03-29T09:49:00.007-05:00

Some friends from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and the North American Mission Board, put together this prayer guide video. I am thankful for their labors.

Big Apple Adventure // Missions Moment Videos

2011-03-24T20:45:00.004-05:00

The long awaited missions moment videos are now ready! We really think these videos will help energize your VBS Missions Offering while teaching them a little about church planting and NYC. Please share a link to these videos on your blog, twitter, Facebook, or just email your friends in ministry. It will be a huge lift to our work here! We are Grateful!

See the rest of the videos HERE!

A Little Dirt

2011-03-19T18:32:00.001-05:00

Who said city boys don't like to get dirty?

Rainy Day Entertainment

2011-03-10T15:26:00.001-06:00

A little late afternoon rainy day entertainment.

Happy Belated National Delurking Day

2011-03-09T10:58:00.003-06:00

January 14th, 2011 was National Delurking Day for blogs. On this day you were to leave a comment on the blogs you silently read. According to my blog stats last month alone pages of our blog were viewed 3,701 times. I know who about 15 of you are! So today in honor of a day two months ago that I missed let your presence be known!

Leave us your name and where you're reading from and if we don't know you at all, tell us how you found us or what your connection to us is.

Thanks for reading. Getting comments does assure us that people care about this blog and encourages to keep it up.

Enjoy your Wednesday!

This picture is from our Monday outing a few weeks ago to the World Financial Center. It is a little jaunt for us to get there from our apartment, but a great place to spend a rainy Monday. The kids had a great time!

Our First Week of Homeschooling!

2011-03-04T17:58:00.006-06:00

Last July I learned that Jack would be starting Kindergarten in September 2011. The school system here in NYC is unlike any other I'm familiar with. The cut off date for Kindergarten here is December 31st. If your child turns 5 any time during a particular year they are expected to start Kindergarten in September of that year. I was really caught off guard. I never imagined Jack would go to Kindergarten at the age of 4 1/2. The real kicker is that they don't allow you to hold your child back. Kindergarten is not required by law, but if you choose not to send your child in the year they turn 5 then they go to 1st grade the next year. It still kind of blows my mind, especially the educator in me, it just seems to early for me to have to put Jack in school.

This became a topic of many conversations for Freddy T. and me. I went ahead and signed Jack up to take the Gifted and Talented Test, in case we wanted to send him on to public school. Depending on his score for this test he could qualify to go to a school for the Gifted and Talented. Basically these schools teach on a little higher level than the actual grade level. It would also increase our options for schools, if he were to get in. He took that test in January, we'll get the results sometime in April. When I took him for the test there were about 15 other kids there to test as well. When I went to sign Jack in they had to see a birth certificate or a passport and wanted to know what preschool he goes to. Jack was one of two kids who brought a birth certificate, the rest had passports. Of all the 15 kids Jack was the only one not in preschool. That is New York City for you.

After giving it some thought and weighing the pros and cons, Freddy T. and I decided we would keep Jack out of Kindergarten and home school him, at least for a year. There were many deciding factors. Freddy T. suggested that I have a plan by March as to what I was going to do with Jack for school. I did some research and looked over some curriculum that a friend gave me and and made a plan. I decided to start him with a preschool/Kindergarten curriculum. The set up I'm doing is a 27 week plan. That would take us through July. I know of a few weeks we will be out of town, so I'm guessing this will carry us through September, we'll see. After that my plan is to focus on Reading and Math and continue weaving other subjects in. I haven't done all my research on that part yet. But as far as what is expected to learn in Kindergarten he will be exposed to over the next 5 or 6 months and anything we miss I'll include once we work through this material.

So March 1st was our first day of school. I've really enjoyed preparing and planning for our days. Jack has been very receptive to the work and has done a good job with it so far. It's been rewarding to see him do his work. We do school 4 days a week. Right now we have been spending an hour to an hour and a half total each day on actual school work. I'm still learning what is easy for him and what is challenging. We are working daily on writing. He knows his letters, with the exception of a few lower case ones that still confuse him, but writing is another story.

I'm still trying to figure out how to manage Lillie and Elliott. I'm working on some file folder games that will help them learn colors and animals, basic things like that, and we have a few games that they play and they read, but it's still slightly chaotic.

Here is a glimpse of what Jack did this week for school. Most of our work came from the Letter of The Week curriculum. I've been so impressed with this website/blog. I'm getting my ideas for other subject areas from a book called Early Education At Home (a friend gave me this book.)

Jack working on his math.

Jack had to dictate a memory to me about a time he was with his family. Then he had to illustrate the story. He told me he didn't know how to draw, but I told him it was just important to try, so here you go.

(he said that there were lots of different colored cookies)

On this one he picked up a blue crayon to draw the water then looked at me and said "wait!" "That flood water was brown, not blue." Then he drew a boat. The three little circles on the left are Daddy, Jack, and Gramps on the boat.

I cut out all the parts for our "a apple" from foam sheets. Jack did all the gluing and arranging.

Applejack's glued to the letter A.

Elliott working with the pattern blocks and boards. Lillie was sitting at the table working on them two seconds before I got the camera out.

You can make a difference & The best VBS idea ever!!!

2011-02-23T15:39:00.002-06:00

From time to time on the blog we give you chances to partner with our ministry here in NYC. It is pretty amazing that you can impact the world by supporting church planters in New York City! There are over 800 languages spoken in NYC! 1 out of every 300 people on the planet live within 50 miles of Times Square, and God has sent us to this dark city to shine His light and share His love. Thanks for faithfully following the blog and praying for us.

Consider joining God at work today by supporting our ministry with a financial gift!

If God has recently given you an unexpected financial blessing, or your heart has been stirred to make a sacrifice, don't miss the awesome opportunity of helping reach the nations in NYC for Christ. Give a gift today.

Have you heard about the BEST VBS IDEA EVER yet? So we are a little biased, but watch the video below and check out this website to learn more!

VBS Missions Offering from Freddy T. Wyatt on Vimeo.

Chalkboard Paint

2011-02-16T10:04:00.005-06:00

The kids got this great wooden table and chairs for Christmas. They have really enjoyed it. The other day I was looking at a Real Simple article on organizing clutter and saw a little chalkboard table sitting in the corner of the kitchen in one of the pictures. It had nothing to do with the article, but it caught my attention. I immediately knew I wanted to recreate that table with the little table we have. I've been curious about chalkboard paint for a while, just never ventured out to give it a try.

So here it goes.

SUCCESS!

Oh and while I was painting it on the stove top, I had another revelation.

I have a very small kitchen. We entertain a lot. Because of our limited table space I often have to serve our guest buffet style from the kitchen counter. There is just very limited space. I've often said I needed a butcher block or some kind of board to put over the sink to create more counter space when we are serving food. This little table is a fold up table and fits perfectly over the kitchen sink. So next time I need a little extra counter space I have the perfect solution... as long as kids are not using it to actually eat at.

Happy Valentines Day

2011-02-14T19:04:00.002-06:00

Happy Valentines Day

Love The Wyatt Crew

Double The Fun!

2011-02-13T19:48:00.002-06:00

Ahhh, The Sun!

2011-02-06T16:12:00.004-06:00

Today was beautiful! I think it was only 40 degrees, but it felt like 75 to us!

As we turned the corner to head up our hill there was this red, wooden chair sitting up against the wall. Jack climbed up in it, sat back, unzipped his coat, and smiled a huge smile. He said for me to go on he would catch up with me in a few minutes. To us New Yorkers, and many others who have endured a very cold, snowy winter this far, today was simply refreshing.

Retro

2011-02-05T08:21:00.001-06:00

I took these pictures this past summer with my phone using the Retro Camera App. They are not fancy, just fun.

Crib Tents

2011-02-03T08:44:00.008-06:00

Back in December Princess Lillie mastered the art of climbing out of the bed. And it was an art. She would push her bed away from the wall and throw her legs over the back of the crib. Then use the wall as some support as she shimmied her way down, eventually making her way to the floor. It got bad. She would come out of her crib 10 times at night before she ever fell asleep. Punishment did not phase her one bit. Elliott I don't think would have ever thought to do this on his own, but once he saw Lillie doing it he had to give it a try. You can see in the picture below how successful he was.

On more than one occasion I heard him crying and came in the room to find this. He never successfully made it to the ground. On a side note... if Jack ever climbs in their beds to play with them, he still calls me to get him out. He won't even climb out.

Anyway, the Sunday night before we went to TN for Christmas I decided for their safety to take the cribs down and let them just sleep on their mattresses. We would put them in "big kid" beds once we returned from traveling. It was a DISASTER. Actually it was worse than that. For 3 hours I was constantly putting them back in the bed. They were clearly not ready for it, but I could not let them keep climbing out or at least trying, in Elliott's case. It was just dangerous. So we put the pack-n-plays up and they slept in those that night. Lillie had to be put back in hers twice before she fell asleep and Elliott was so exhausted that he would not stop screaming. After a long, long time rocking him to calm him down, he fell asleep in our bed. It was BAD!

The next morning I told Freddy T. I was putting the beds back together and searching this city for a crib tent. I didn't care how much it cost or where I had to go to get it, we were getting one. I think he thought I was kind of crazy, but in my mind it was the only option. Thankfully the first store I called had a ton in stock, so that afternoon I purchased two.

The Crib Tent's are by far the best money I've spent on any single baby item ever. They have saved our sanity and our kids safety. The kids are fully enclosed in this mesh tent like thing cover their crib. The mattress actually sits inside the tent. There is no way for them to get out. It has worked like a charm. We even took them down and packed them in our suitcases and hauled them to TN. It was totally worth it.

Speaking of beds. Jack made mine this morning (unprompted by me), while I was drying my hair. It will probably drive me crazy all day, but I'm not touching it. I'm grateful he had it in his heart to help me out.

Tractors in NYC!

2011-01-30T12:54:00.003-06:00

Who ever said we don't have tractors in New York City!

Seeing the 1 line in Times Square being worked on was the highlight of Jack's train ride home from church today!

Music To Our Ears

2011-01-29T19:21:00.005-06:00

Our nightly routine once Jack is in bed is to pray, sing, then talk. He won't let you skip any step or go out of order.

Enjoy the sweet voice we hear night after night.

(there is no video, it's only audio)

When Jack was just 1 1/2 Freddy T. started singing Holy, Holy, Holy to him at night.

Untitled from Freddy T. Wyatt on Vimeo.

Jesus Loves Me

Untitled from Freddy T. Wyatt on Vimeo.

The Flower Song- Jack begged to sing one more song last night. I suggested Jesus Loves The Little Children, but he wanted the Flower Song... clearly he is making it up as he goes. At the beginning he started singing The Color Song, one he made up as well, but then corrects himself.

Untitled from Freddy T. Wyatt on Vimeo.

Ice Skating In Bryant Park

2011-01-29T14:10:00.003-06:00

This morning Freddy T. and I headed out early with Jack to take him ice skating for his first time. We decided to go down to Bryant Park since the rink opened at 8:00, quite a bit earlier than the others. It was fun being out with Jack doing a "big kid" activity. I think Jack had a good time over all. I don't think he liked not feeling in control of his legs. We went around the rink a handful of times, but his legs were so wobbly. It was hard to explain to him what to do. Finally on the last lap or so we went really, really slow and he seemed to make some improvement. He was ready to go home a littler sooner than we hoped, but he did a good job trying. Afterwards he got a big donut to eat and wanted to go out in the park to eat it,then we headed to a near by place to enjoy a little brunch. It was pretty cold out there this morning, but the sun was shining and it really was beautiful and fun being surrounded by all the snow!

(It's not posting right, but once you hit play you can rotate the video)

They would not let us take pictures on the ice, so here are a few before and afters.

19 Inches....Of Snow!

2011-01-29T14:00:00.005-06:00

On Wednesday night we got hit with another big snow. This time the grand total was 19 inches! It's more snow than I've ever walked in in my life! I knew I had to take Jack out there to play, but wasn't too interested in taking Lillie and Elliott, so we waited till nap time and put them down for bed, put our layers on and headed down to the courtyard. It ended up being a really good decision. Jack and I played for 45 minutes and had a great time. The snow was hard for Jack to walk in, Lillie and Elliott would have been unable to move!

Lillie and Elliott enjoying the fun!

We tried 2 different times to build a snow fort. Both times my efforts caved in, I just don't have the skills. Then I noticed the snow covered picnic table and a light bulb went off. We just built up the walls around the table. From the outside you'd never know... and now it would not cave in.

Jack helped pack the snow in the sides. I don't know if you can tell or not, but there is a hump in the back on the right... that's his chimney!

Jack insisted that I crawl in first then he joined me. I thought we were going to have to bust through the walls to get out, it was such a tight squeeze. While we were in there he looked up at the center of the table and said "Mommy look! We have a smoke detector!"

Then he noticed the little dial on top of one of the legs and claimed we also had a clock!

And Another Snow Day!

2011-01-26T12:39:00.005-06:00

I did it again. I loaded everyone up with lots of layers and we ventured back down to the courtyard to enjoy the snow. I think we actually stayed out there a minute or two longer than it took us to get ready this time. After calling for, wrestling with, layering on clothes for all 3 kids, I had to get my layers on. Jack stood at the door and said, "Mommy! What are we waiting on?" Like I was the one holding us up!

Anyway. There is only so much we can do in the courtyard. No hills, no trees, just a flat, tiled, squared area. Since Elliott has not been much of a fan in the past and the snow was falling fast, I decided to let them all take umbrellas out. Why not right? Maybe if he wasn't getting hit in the face with snow he would like it more. Well, Elliott wasn't really interested in the umbrellas, but the snow did slow down while we were out, so that was nice. The umbrellas provided a little bit of change of scenery this time around anyway.

So here they are, MORE snow pictures... except with a little more color!

This was our first court yard snow angel of the year.

After we came in I put Lillie and Elliott in their bed for a few minutes and ran down and collected "untouched" snow. We made Apple Juice Snow Drinks!

I can't stand apple juice, so I had a Coke Snow Drink!

Dance Party, Trains, and Play Dough

2011-01-26T11:12:00.005-06:00

It's snowing again! This is the 3rd time we've had a decent snow in the last few weeks. I like the snow, it's just that when it is snowing we are limited to what we can do. The two main factors are pushing a stroller through slushy, icy, snowy sidewalks is just hard! And I'm sure when the kids are older this won't be a problem, but my kids only last outside playing in the snow for a short period of time, so going outside to play other than the court yard behind our apartment is almost pointless.

So Monday, it wasn't snowing, but it was FREEZING outside. The weather men were saying to only leave if you had to. Since there was no where we had to go, we were cooped up inside all day.

You have to get kind of creative when it comes to staying in a small apartment with 3 kids all day. Monday evening Freddy T. called the kids into the bathroom to give them crazy hair, followed by a living room dance party.

Things getting a little wild!

Daddy Daughter Dance

As you can tell in a few pictures, Elliott was over the dancing pretty quick.

On Tuesday I pulled out the train table. The kids had fun playing on it while the snow was falling in the back ground.

You can typically find Lillie with some "extras" on. This flashlight is a regular these days and she pulled the headband out of the chest of drawers. She has on Silly Bandz in the dancing pictures.

Unfortunately the train table causes more fights than I ever anticipated, so we have to put it away often. But it's great when they are getting along.

This morning Jack and I made play dough. It's always fun, I just wish it was fun for longer than 10 minutes!

2010 Homemade Christmas Gifts

2011-01-21T12:37:00.007-06:00

Each June or July I start looking around on the Internet for ideas on things to make people for Christmas. Part of the reason is because it is often cheaper, the other part is that I really enjoy doing crafts and there is a part of me that still finds more meaning in a gift that someone took time to make or create for them. I'm not sure my young nieces and nephews feel the same way, but maybe someday they will see the value in it.

Thanks to crafty blogs, the ideas and tutorials out there are really great and a lot of them are actually things kids and adults would enjoy having. This is one of the first years I've actually started early enough to finish a few projects for Christmas gifts.

I made my kids and my niece and nephew each a Family Memory Game.

I first saw this idea and wanted to do it for my kids. I knew Jack would love playing it and it would help Lillie and Elliott learn the names and faces of family they don't get to see often. I basically followed the tutorial and then made the bag up myself.

I cut out the first letter of the last name of the family getting the game out of fabric and sewed it to the bag, to try to personalize it even more.

I bought the wooden rectangles from Hobby Lobby (online because we don't have that store here) and painted them all black. Then I cut out rectangles from matching scrap book paper and decoupaged it to one side.

For the other side I took pictures of family members (mostly pulled off of Facebook) and had 2 wallet size copies printed (also uploaded online and mailed to my apartment). I then decoupaged them to the other side of the rectangle, and after everything was dry I had a matching game!

So this was a fun one, but it did take much longer than I anticipated since I made 3 sets.

Next I made one of my nephews a car cozy. I don't have pictures of the one I made him, but I do have an extra one here at home that I'll pull out for Elliott at some point, you'll get the idea though.

This is a little travel hot wheels car carrier. It rolls up to be pretty compact. When unrolled you'll find 6 pockets for the cars and a road. I thought it might be good to have around at a restaurant or the doctors office or anywhere a toddler boy needs to be entertained.

This was a fun project that I enjoyed making with my friend Melissa. You can check out her blog post with pictures of her finished product.

My kids have never owned a scarf, mainly because they've just been too young, but this year I decided they might benefit from one. I found scarves at Gap that were $12.50. I examined them and all it was was some felt sewn together and had a ball thing hanging at the end. I decided to just make them. I probably didn't spend $12.50 on all 3 that I made.

The boys each got a Steelers scarf and Lillie's is a little more girly. For hers I just sewed 3 strips of felt together down the center and then cut slits on each side, probably an inch apart. It's warmer than I imagined it would be.

I also made these luggage tags as part of my sisters gift. I don't have any pictures, but they were easy too!

My final project was to create a train table for the kids. Jack still loves playing trains and Elliott is getting into them. We've always had tracks, but no formal train table. Honestly we don't have room in our apartment for a real train table, so I decided to order tracks and make my own board that I could slide in and out from under Jack's bed. I bought Melissa and Doug's train tracks, they work with Thomas Trains but are much cheaper than Thomas Tracks. Then bought a piece of plywood, sanded it down and painted green and blue to indicate grass and water. It's not fancy at all, but simple and serves the purpose. Then using the layout that was suggested with the tracks I put the set together and hot glued it to the board. Now when they want to play trains I pull it out and either keep it on the floor or put it on top of the toy box, so they can stand up and play with it, at night it slides back under the bed.

So here it is January and I've already started my spread sheet of family members names so when I come across a fun idea I can make a note of it and get started. My goal this year is to be entirely done with Christmas shopping by Thanksgiving. This way I can relieve stress through out the year by working on projects and eliminate the potential stress of last minute Christmas shopping!

Do you have any fun crafting blogs you read?

January Snow Days

2011-01-20T13:48:00.004-06:00

It was kind of bitter sweet missing the blizzard that took place up here right before Christmas but the day after we got back from our vacation we got snow. It wasn't much, just a few inches, but the kids were excited so I bundled them up and we headed out side. As you'll be able to see the courtyard wasn't even completely covered. Jack LOVED being out there. Lillie seemed content and Elliott wanted to come back inside almost as soon as we stepped out.

You can tell from this picture that there's hardly snow to even play in.

Even though the snow wasn't deep, it was the good wet kind, perfect for throwing snowball.

And eating!

Jack trying to catch some flakes in his mouth.

Then Lillie tried.

Jack building a snowman.

"Steamer" the Snowman

Once you walked on the snow it basically turned to slush. Jack like stomping in the puddles.

Several days later we got a big snow! I think it was about 8 or 9 inches. I really was not excited to bundle the kids back up, knowing that Elliott really didn't like it out in the snow last time, but it was a big snow so we went for it.

Lillie on the elevator headed down.

Elliott, we'll see how this goes.

Wow! The snow is much deeper this time.

Jack brought his shovel and rake down this time to play with.

In no time at all Elliott was over it and Lillie would not keep her gloves on, so we had to go back inside. I hated it for Jack because he was having such a good time out there, but it was too much to handle on my own. So we came back up and I let Jack go out and play on the balcony.

He and Elliott had a one sided snowball fight... Elliott stood inside laughing and Jack launched snowballs at the door.

Supposedly we are getting more snow tonight. I doubt I'll haul them out in it tomorrow.

Go Steelers!

2011-01-19T08:07:00.002-06:00

Here We Go Steelers, Here We Go!

We are cheering our Steelers all the way to the Super Bowl!

Pizza Pete's and Joe's

2011-01-18T09:53:00.004-06:00

Jack and Freddy T.'s favorite pizza place is on the Upper West Side, Pizza Pete's. Monday after Lillie's haircut we headed up a few blocks to have lunch.

A picture of Freddy T.'s favorite, fresh mozzarella.

Jack gives it 2 thumbs up!

Elliott give it his version of thumbs up.

This is the first time Lillie has successfully given a thumbs up, usually she sticks up her pointer finger like Elliott.

After lunch treat, suckers thanks to Lillie's haircut.

No outing to the Upper West Side is complete without a stop at Joe The Art of Coffee. The store is too small for us all to go in, so I usually wait outside with the kids. We didn't bring our stroller this particular day (our first outing of this kind with out one), so I had my hands full trying to keep them all in one place.

I was trying to get a cute group shot and couldn't get them to all sit at once.

Now they are all in one place, just not looking. I'm sure that lady on the other side of the window loved them staring at her.

Lillie's First Haircut! 1/10/11

2011-01-18T09:19:00.005-06:00

We took Lillie to get her first haircut last Monday. I think the lady only cut off 1/2 an inch, but it looks better, like there is a little shape to it now. Lillie freaked out when we sat her in the chair, so I had to step in and hold her. She had a tight grip on me the entire time.

This is before the haircut, modeling a pair of blue sunglasses... upside down of course.

Not too sure about this.

Elliott enjoying the police car seat in the back ground.

All done! Trying on the white pair now!

Christmas in Tennessee December 2010

2011-01-15T10:17:00.008-06:00

We had a super busy and personally hard week before we left to go to TN for Christmas. When we got to TN and took a deep breath, I realized I forgot my camera, and also forgot my Dad's Christmas gift and the Christmas gifts Jack had bought for Lillie and Elliott. So I have no pictures of my own to share. We had a good time in TN with family. There is not a lot of order to these pictures, mainly just wanting to have them documented.

The kids and grand kids on my side of the family.

The grand kids. There are 10 of them 4 and younger... and 2 on the way!

My Mom reading the Christmas Story with my kids and my brothers kids.

Jack helped Nay Nay make brownies.

Then Lillie and Elliott got in the middle of it as well.

My brother James and his wife Amber and their 2 girls Karlee and Katelyn

Passing out presents.

Cookie decorating and Gran and Gramps.

Hudson getting help with his cookie decorating.

Uncle Bubba and Wyatt.... Wyatt's birthday is a few days after Christmas they they decorated a birthday cake cookie.

Jack and Wyatt

Trevor working hard.

The grand kids on Freddy T.'s side of the family...all boys and one girl.

Gramps and Hudson.

Freddy T.'s dad is the only grandfather I know that goes by 3 different names.

Diana's kids call him Gramps.

Kristi's kids call him HaHa.

Freddy T.'s kids call him Grangramps.

Gramps is the official name.

Watch this video to get a glimpse of what it was like trying to get the kids to sit still, smile, and look at the camera for a group Christmas picture. It's pretty funny!

Growth Community Cookie Decorating- 12.7.10

2011-01-15T09:34:00.007-06:00

I've got so much catching up to do that if I try to back post everything none of it will ever be read, because no one is looking back on our blog to find hidden entries, so I'll just post entries as I get to them and put the date at the top of the blog.

Freddy T.'s family decorates cookies every year around Christmas. It's always been a fun tradition to be a part of. Since we live so far away and don't make it back to TN until right before Christmas we usually miss out on cookie decorating (although this year we did it the night we arrived in town). Because it's a fun tradition we have carried with us and we decorate cookies with friends and our "family" here. Jack says we have family family and we have church family. I'm really grateful for his perspective on that.

One of the ways we connect with church family is by hosting and being a part of a Growth Community. We have about 10 people that come over to our apartment every Tuesday night for dessert and discussion of the sermon the previous Sunday and prayer. It's hard to put into words how valuable these people are to us. We have laughed together, cried together, carried burdens, and celebrated victories. Lillie and Elliott don't even know this goes on because they are already in bed by the time we get started, but Jack LOVES our growth community and looks forward to them being in our home every week.

All that to say, when it came time this year for cookie decorating we knew the group to do it with. Some weeks it's equally as good to just be and play together as it would be to discuss the sermon. So early in December we did just that!

Jack was still in his sling, so he was one handing it.

Elizabeth working hard!

David concentrating on the sprinkles!

Half way done.

Emily adding her initials to the stocking.

Finished cookies.

David and Jeremy hanging out.

Too many sprinkles Jack!

Happy 4th Birthday Jack!

2010-12-24T13:55:00.001-06:00

Happy 4th Birthday Jack!

4 years old must be a magical age, Jack is so proud to be a 4 year old!

A few days before his birthday he was standing in front of a mirror and said (while nodding his head), "I'm 4 years old! I'm 4 years old! My legs are longer, my head is bigger... yeah, I'm 4 years old!"

Because Jack's birthday falls on Christmas Eve, we decided this year to have 2 separate small celebrations. First the day before his birthday with my dad and the Wyatt's, then after Christmas with my mom's side of the family. Both were informal, but he had a good time.

Mary Coleman made a cake for Jack and I decorated it (wrote Happy Birthday Jack, there wasn't much decorating going on!)

Jack really wanted a Jet Pack for Christmas or his birthday. About 3 days before his birthday we still didn't have a gift for him and Freddy T. mentioned trying to find a jet pack. We didn't even know what to look for, so I typed in "Jet Pack" on Amazon.com and this came up. It was perfect and it was free 2 day shipping, so we ordered it and it arrived in TN the afternoon of his party.

He loved it! At one point I think he really thought it was going to give him real flying ability.

A few days after his birthday we had round 2 of birthday celebrations. This time was just as exciting as the first party.

He had a little help opening his gifts this time.

Freddy T. and I are so proud of Jack and so honored to get to be his parents. He is a loving little boy and full of life! We love you Jackers!

Bring a group of ANY size to NYC!!!

2010-12-23T08:40:00.000-06:00

Hey Friends! We need mission teams in NYC of ANY size and pretty much ANY age the following dates!

March 20-13
June 13-16
June 26-29

Please let us know if you are interested in bringing a group of 5 or 50, 2 or 20, 7 or 17! It will be an experience you'll never forget and it will advance God's work in wonderful ways!

We need your help...and it is easy!

2010-12-21T12:27:00.006-06:00

Some of you may know that Lifeway Christian Resources has named their theme for the 2011 Vacation Bible School, "Big Apple Adventure". We are humbled and excited about this and the opportunity it provides for us and our ministry here. Thousands of churches across the nation will be praying for NYC as they teach their kids about Jesus.

Could you help us with a small favor. We really need your help on this! Would you prayerfully send the video below to all the Pastors, Children's Ministers and VBS directors that you know and ask them to do the same? It is a very easy way for you to support our ministry here in NYC!

VBS Missions Offering from Freddy T. Wyatt on Vimeo.

Thanks so much for considering forwarding this on! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Jack and Santa Claus

2010-12-10T12:51:00.005-06:00

*If someone in your family believes in Santa Claus don't let them read this and don't read it aloud.*

Freddy T. and I never really made a formal decision on how we were going to handle Santa Claus. One Sunday last Christmas the teachers in Gallery Kid told us that when asked "What is Christmas all about?", Jack told them Santa Claus. When they told him it was all about Jesus, he firmly stood by his Santa Claus answer. So Freddy T. tried to talk to him about it last year and they got into a friendly debate, Jesus vs. Santa Claus. Freddy T. finally told Jack that Santa Claus was pretend. It was kind of a knee jerk reaction, but the truth nonetheless. He shared with Jack that Mommy and Daddy are the ones who give him presents under the tree and that Santa Claus was fun to talk about and fun to pretend with, but that's what it was... pretend.

Jack was so adamant that Santa Claus was real, a hard core believer, we really didn't think he heard a word about Christmas being about Jesus and the truth about Santa Claus. So one day last Christmas, while we were in TN, Jack and Patton, our nephew who was in Kindergarten at the time (and a SC believer), were in the car with Freddy T.'s mom. While they were riding down the road Jack looked at Patton and said, "Patton, you know Santa Claus is not real, it's just pretend and it's really your Mommy and Daddy!" It still makes me laugh. I wish I could have seen the look on Mary Coleman's face as she hears her 2 year old grandson saying this to her 6 year old grandson. I think Patton thought Jack didn't know what he was talking about because he was just a 2 year old. That was the end of the conversation and to my knowledge it was not mentioned again.

On a side note. We have no problem with anyone who chooses to believe in Santa Claus at their house (we even took our kids to see him this year). I did as a kid and loved it! This is just how our family is handling it. And it's not my desire to have my kids spoil it for any other children. Part of what is so funny to me about Jack and Patton's conversation is the fact that Jack was listening to every word. We had no idea! And if you could have heard Mary Coleman telling the story at a Christmas party last year, it was pretty funny!

Don't be discouraged though. The spirit of Santa Claus is alive and well in this household. Jack has not stopped talking about him since last Christmas. He asked multiple times through out the year to watch Christmas movies, but I would not let him till November. He has talked about it with our friends. My friend Rachel was over one afternoon back in September and Santa Claus came up in conversation. She asked Jack about him and Jack said, "My Daddy says he's pretend, but I think he is real!"

We are making some progress this year. We've been talking a lot about Baby Jesus and Jack is beginning to understand that it is in fact ALL about Jesus and he'll tell you Santa Claus is just pretend, but his imagination runs wild with thoughts of the big, jolly guy. As I wrote few posts ago, Jack was upset at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade because the real Santa Claus was not there. The real one would have come out of the sky, not on a float.

So, all of that said to bring you our final Christmas decoration. A few mornings ago Jack brought our family together and shared this,"We have a problem. We don't have a chimney in our apartment and Santa Claus is too big to fit in our front door. We have to build one!" And he proceeded to give us all jobs. Who am I to crush his imagination? If the kid wants a chimney, then we will find a way to have a chimney in our apartment. My mind started spinning. I'm not an artist, but I like a challenge like the one Jack gave us. Brenda, an intern at church who has helped me once a week this semester, was coming over that day so I could run errands, so it was the perfect chance to gather our supplies. I bought paint and felt and 3 little stockings. That afternoon I dug cardboard out of the recycling room in our building and began construction. I spent 2 days, when I had a chance, to work on the chimney. The second day Jack helped me a lot. He painted all the red and black (I had already painted it white and taped everything off so he just had to cover it with red). I made the mantle, cut the flames out of felt, put names on the stocking, and gathered a few sticks. Once the paint was dry we hung it up and put the finishing touches on it. He loves it and so do Lillie and Elliott. It adds a little cozy piece to our tiny hallway. And best of all, we have a chimney for Santa Claus!

Since we already have stockings with our names on them we gave Brandon (an intern/Gallery Administrator who lives with us) one of these stockings and of course the animals Jack sleeps with, and who are very dear to him, need stockings, so Lucky and Puppet are sharing one and Monkey and Puppy have the other.

Lillie and Elliott stare at the "fire" and say, "hot, hot, hot!"

Christmas Decorations

2010-12-09T14:08:00.013-06:00

I wish I had known that our first Christmas in a house would be our last. I had fun decorating for Christmas in 2007, but would have taken it all in more and enjoyed it more had I known what I know now. For the past two years our Christmas decorating has been the bare minimum. Stockings and a tree. Partly because it was a lot of work to get it all together and our kids didn't even really know what was going on or care and the other part was the fact that our apartment is small and there aren't a lot of options or space for decorating.

Last year was Jack's first Christmas to really get into things and boy did he get into them. He has talked about Christmas and Santa Claus (which I'll share about in my next post) every month of 2010. He LOVES this season, so this year I decided to ramp things up a bit. It's mostly homemade things, but it has made our apartment feel festive and special this holiday.

It's our little tradition for Freddy T. and Jack to go out and get our tree. I'm sure next year Elliott will join them, maybe Lillie too, but this year it was the two originals. They had to walk a few blocks to get to a tree stand and then haul whatever they bought back home. My jaw dropped when I saw our tree out in our hallway all wrapped up. It was so tall! I could tell it was a big one. I can't imagine how heavy it was for Freddy T. to carry it home. He said Jack kept saying, "You can do it Daddy! You're almost there!" We brought it in and got it set up and it is in fact the biggest tree we've ever owned. But it is a beautiful one! We put lights on the first night we had it and then the next day I, along with all 3 kids, put the ornaments up. It was thankfully an enjoyable experience considering I was braced for the worse. Last year we had a gate around the tree to keep little hands off of it. Since then I've sold the gate, so this year there has been a lot of "don't' touch the tree" and "no, no!" I think Lillie and Elliott think ornaments are called "no, nos!"

Enjoy a little tour of our decorations.

First some decorating action!

Elliott checking things out.

Jack adding a few ornaments.

About half way through I heard Elliott saying "Mommy! Mommy!," when I went to find him he had crawled up in Jack's bed with his paci and blanket and covered up and said "night, night!"

Since Jack had to take it easy, due to his arm, he said he could be the ornament passer outer!

Now for a tour of ornaments.

These next few are little ornaments we were given from different countries and the globe has "For God so loved the world" from John 3:16 written on it. I look forward to adding more little tokens from people who have visited other countries or served as missionaries there and sharing them with our kids. We want them to be mission minded people.

From the Clayton's who served in Mexico.

From Hannah, Freddy T.'s cousin,when she took a trip to Russia.

These two are "just married" ornaments from 2004.

This one if from the year I was pregnant with Jack. It is one of my favorite ones on our tree.

This is for Lillie's 1st Christmas. Elliott had one and Jack broke it on Christmas morning 2008. I think my mom has a replacement for me, but it's in TN still. I didn't even put it out last year because it didn't feel fair for Lillie to have one and not Elliott. This year I got over it. Maybe next year I'll have Elliott's from TN to put with it. I just need to think about it before the tree goes up!

Here is our tribute to New York City. We got the "city" ornament in 2004 after we had served up here as church planting interns. The taxi is from 2008. It was our first Christmas in NYC and Jack was into taxis pretty good. He was even one for Halloween that year.

And we have this taxi ornament too. This year it is one of Lillie and Elliott's favorite. They look at it and say "car!"

The year I was pregnant with Jack I was also teaching 8th grade and one of my students (who I think actually reads this blog still) gave me this ornament. I really love it!

And then we got a new one to represent our family as it was Christmas 2008, with Lillie and Elliott.

A student of mine in 2006 had this little ornament as part of the bow on the gift he gave me for Christmas the year Jack was due. I let Jack hang this one and if you look closely you can see how he chose to hang most of the ornaments he hung this year... on a light bulb instead of a branch!

I love this cross. It's small, but beautiful and it's because the birth of Jesus and his death on the cross that we even have a reason to celebrate Christmas.

And finally, after several years of looking for a tree topper that I liked and having no luck, I decided last year to let Jack make our star. I hope it lasts a long time! Today he actually informed me that he didn't like that star, that special stars were yellow and we needed a special star.

And for a few other decorations around our apartment.

I added this "real" wreath to the window in our living room and then put one on our front door. There are only 2 apartments on our floor and the other one is vacant, so we are the only ones who get to enjoy it, but it's fun to have it up and it smells so good!

Here's the tree and the stockings. Mine and Freddy T.'s stockings are hanging behind the tree, you just can't see them.

And finally I let the teacher come out of me and the kids and I made hand print wreaths. They are hanging in the doorway to our kitchen. I think it might be my favorite decoration of the year.

I have one more decoration I've been working on for a few days. I'll share it with you tomorrow, along with a funny story about Jack and Santa Claus!

Santaland at Macy's and The Rockefeller Christmas Tree

2010-12-06T13:10:00.009-06:00

Today we went to Santaland at Macy's. Santaland is a portion of the 8th floor where you venture through a magical wonderland and get to meet the big man himself. My pictures don't really do it justice, but the kids loved it! Elliott was a little hesitant and reserved, except for looking at the trains and Lillie and Jack just enjoyed it all. The main reason for going to Santaland is, of course, to see Santa. The big moment at the Macy's Day Parade is when Santa closes out the parade and makes his grand seasonal appearance. At that moment Jack became very frustrated because he knew right away it was not the real Santa Claus. The real Santa comes out of the sky, not in a sleigh on a float. So, we went to check this one out. I don't know what his thoughts are about the "realness", but he liked it nonetheless. Jack's big thing he wants for Christmas this year is for our family to get Jet Packs, so we can all fly. He relayed the message on to Santa. From the look on Santa's face, my guess is that was a new one to him!

"Getting on" the train to the Northpole.

In one of the cars.

Entering the North Pole

They all loved the trains and I love this picture of Lillie and Elliott.

This reminded Freddy T. of the train station in New Brunswick, NJ (where I lived for a year and where Freddy T. joined me for a few months after we got married) and George Street that is kind of the main stretch of road in downtown New Brunswick.

This is our first ever picture with Santa Claus and all the kids.

You get to visit Santa Clause in his own little house. When you leave you are directed to the exit. If you look back you'll see about 5 or 6 other houses. There is a Santa in each one! They work hard to make sure the kids go the right way so they don't discover there is more than one!

Afterwards we went down to the 7th floor to eat at McDonald's and then off to Rockefeller Center to get our annual family picture at the Christmas Tree. I'm way ahead of the game this year. Last year it was the night before we were leaving for TN, when I hauled the kids down there to meet Freddy T. and it was a blizzard out there.

This one won't go down in the books as the best picture ever taken. The man who took it for us got more of the pavement in the picture and didn't even get the whole tree, you can't see the top, and you can barely make out that it's even our family, but oh well... here you go!

Jack has to wear one of my jackets until his arm is out of the sling. He has been such a sport.

Freddy T. had to make a big deal of the ornaments and get Jack to tell me about them in order to get him to look at the camera.

This was our first trip during the day. It was easier, but the tree is much prettier at night. You can barely tell there are lights on it here.

There are Elmo's and Cookie Monsters floating around during the holidays offering to take their picture with your kids. You take a picture then they pull out their bag for money. It's worth a dollar or two, especially this year when Elliott is pretty fond of Elmo and his Sesame Street Pals.

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-01T17:24:00.004-06:00

Back in 2006 when Jack was born, I went into the hospital on Christmas Eve and came home the day after Christmas. We had a unique Christmas that year. It kind of felt like we missed it. Missed it in the sense that it was not like "normal." You know what I mean....

This is how I feel about Thanksgiving this year. I did the majority of the cooking this year for about 10-12 people, plus my children. It really was not all that bad. Katie Lyche came over Wednesday evening and prepped our turkey and made our stuffing. Katie is an aspiring chef/ personal chef and a member of The Gallery. We got her to do this last year too and we will continue to as long as she is available. I did some prepping for the rest of the meal on Wednesday then basically finished everything up Thanksgiving morning while Jack and Freddy T. were at the Macy's parade. They left around 6ish and I just stayed up and got to work. We had a nice day at the apartment. Friends started arriving around 3:30 and we were set to eat at 5:00. Jack was exhausted from being up so early, so he took an extra long nap that afternoon. We were about 10 minutes away from cutting the turkey, who Jack named Coffee Cutter (don't ask, I have no idea where that came from) and I heard Jack crying. I went to see what was wrong and Freddy T. was in the room with him. Jack had fallen out of the bed(first time ever) and was complaining about his neck/shoulder hurting. We finally got him calmed down, but he was still complaining. After calling my friend Melissa, who is a nurse, and getting her advice, we decided to take him to the ER. He wanted me to take him, so we headed out the door. My best friend Ellie flew in from Nashville that afternoon and had been at our apartment maybe 30 minutes, so she went with us. Thankfully the ER was fairly calm and we were in and out in 2 hours. Jack had x-rays and the result was a fractured collar bone, i.e. broken collar bone. So he is in a sling and can't act like a 3 year old boy for a few weeks. He is not in any pain and has handled everything very well. He'll go back to the orthopedic doctor in a week to make sure the bone is healing properly. Pray that it is. We leave for TN in a few weeks and we want more than anything for Jack to be able to play with his cousins without any major concern.

This is Jack when we got him home and in his p.j.'s. He put someones hat on and got right back to playing.

This is a few days later. He is getting to watch a lot of movies in efforts to get him to stay calm and still.

We'll we got home from the hospital and heated up leftovers from dinner. It was still good. It will be a Thanksgiving to remember for sure!

Passion 2011

2010-11-29T17:09:00.002-06:00

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November

2010-11-28T12:35:00.004-06:00

What a month! It's been good, full, busy... maybe we are really more tired than we even know! The month of November proved to be pretty busy for our family. Freddy T. had to travel on several occasions so he was way for a few short periods of time. My mom and grandmother came to visit during one of those times. It was nice and helpful to have a few extra helping hands. I hosted a girls night one evening, an open invitation to all the girls at The Gallery to just come over and hang out for dessert and coffee. We had probably 10 girls here. It was fun to get together with them. Other than those things, we've been plugging away like normal. We've had a few play dates and outings, a few people over for dinner, a few dates, just a little bit of everything.

The main reason for the lack of blogging is that I now have 2 two year olds. I think that says enough and needs no explanation, but sometimes I think that unless you've actually experienced it, you just cannot understand. They feed off of each other. They encourage each other in bad behavior. They can be really sweet and they can be nothing but trouble.

One day I was in the bedroom folding clothes and the kids were playing. May I remind you, we live in an apartment, one room is not far at all from one at the other end of the apartment, we are in close quarters. I noticed the apartment was nice and quiet and then I got worried. I went to go check on everyone and found Lillie and Elliott in the kitchen. They had opened the freezer and pulled out the baking soda and dumped the whole box on the floor and were sitting in it playing, having a great time!

A few mornings ago, after my shower, I went into the kids room to get them out of their beds, where they were supposed to be having some quiet time and book reading time. Again, it was strangely quiet in there. When I walked over to Lillie's bed this is what I found. Elliott had thrown his pillow over to her bed, she took the pillow case off and unzipped the pillow and pulled out all the stuffing. Fluffy stuff was everywhere. She started crying when I noticed it.

I made play dough the other morning. It held their attention for a little while. Jack played forever, the twins not quite as long.

This is Freddy T. reading to the kids before bed. This is typically a time for Lillie and Elliott and Daddy. This particular night Jack joined in. Clearly he is not headed to bed at the moment.

And this is how our living room looks on a semi-regular basis if we've been home all day.

We also had a big Thanksgiving feast at our home Thursday night, 12 people plus my kids. I'll post about that in the next post and last night Freddy T. and Jack went on their yearly adventure to buy our Christmas tree. Just wait till you see the size of the one he brought home. It's a big, beautiful tree.