T.E.A.M. Althouse

The TEAM Logo

2010-10-26T22:16:00.001-04:00

Anna has been wanting to paint her “names” (a.k.a. letters) lately. Melody had her paint the letters of our first names. So, now we have our very own logo on the back door!

Quick Boston Trip

2010-10-20T18:55:00.001-04:00

With the Farmer boys near Harvard

Make Way For Ducklings at Boston Common.

Maybe I’m Back

2010-10-20T14:56:00.001-04:00

So I haven’t blogged in a LONG time. Erin is 6 now and Anna is 2 and a half. Facebook has become the social media of choice of late, but I know not everyone is on FB. So, if you aren’t on FB, be aware that we are alive. I might try and put some photos back on here to keep things up to date. I’m home with a sick Erin today, so that’s why I have time to write this. Hopefully there will be more to come.

-Tim

Anna at a year

2009-09-08T22:32:00.000-04:00

Very late update. Here are Anna’s 1-year pics.

First Day of Kindergarten

2009-09-08T11:08:00.008-04:00

So, clearly I have not blogged in quite a long time. But since today was Erin's first day of Kindergarten, I think it's time I did.

This morning there was a light drizzle, but we decided to walk the 5 blocks or so anyway. We dropped off Anna at the daycare before we left since she wasn't enjoying the wetness. We got to the school right at 8:30 when they were letting the kids who got there earlier go to their classes. We arrived at the room to find only one other kid there. Erin was a little shy at first, but once the teacher's assistant asked to see all the stuff she brought, she got into that task and didn't seem to to care that we were leaving. I'll try to post later today about how the rest of the day went.
-Tim

We forgot to take Erin's 5 year picture with Big Giant Bear.

11 Month pics

2009-03-05T21:04:00.000-05:00

11 months and 1 tooth

Anna Walking

2009-03-05T09:50:00.000-05:00

Anna took her first steps last night. 11 months and 4 days.

Beat Boxing

2009-03-03T21:08:00.003-05:00

Erin's new favorite thing, beat boxing. She learned this from her new favorite PBS show, The Electric Company. (That was her dad's favorite show when he was young, too!)

Jan/Feb pics

2009-02-10T21:36:00.002-05:00

Quick picture update.

Click on the pic for January pictures. This was our first measurable snow this winter.

From Jan2009

Click on the pic for February pictures. This is Anna's 10-month picture.

From Feb2009

9 month picture

2009-01-27T18:12:00.006-05:00

I guess I should get the 9 month picture up before Anna hits 10 months on Thursday. Also a pic from today's first snow of the winter.

Picture Update

2008-12-22T23:11:00.004-05:00

I have been lacking in the blogging department. Or even in the uploading pictures department. So here are a bunch of pics from November and December. And some videos as well.

http://picasaweb.google.com/timandmelody

Our Little Singer

2008-12-21T22:22:00.005-05:00

Our church had a Christmas program today and Erin had a solo in "The Friendly Beasts" song. A video is below. Melody and Tim were part of a six person Christmas choir, too. But, thankfully, there is no video of that!

Going to the Dentist

2008-11-01T21:41:00.003-04:00

We finally got our oldest daughter to the dentist at age 4 and 2 months. While my daughter's health is of utmost importance to me, I admit I have been procrastinating on this one major rite of passage. We brush regularly, and try to drink water instead of sugary drinks, but our insurance didn't cover any pediatric dentists and our family dentist wouldn't see a 3 year old. So I used all these excuses to cover for what I was really worried about...a child who would totally freak out and cry, bite the dentist, you name it...

The day before "D" day, we checked out all the "____________ Goes to the Dentist" books you could find. You fill in the blank...Dora, Green Puppy (from Blue's Clues), Vera, etc. In 'Vera Goes to the Dentist' the child, Vera, actually does bite the dentist, and runs out of the dentists office while the dentist and her mother chase her around the block. Oops! I should have pre-screened the books!

It turned out that all my worrying was for naught (as it usually is). While she did request that I hold her hand throughout the entire check-up, that was a small price to pay for her calm cooperation.

They cleaned and polished her teeth, and I even snuck a photo while the dental hygienist went out to get the dentist. The dentist said her teeth looked good. When I said it was her first visit to the dentist, he said, "Then they look really good." So now I can leave my mother-guilt behind. I did not permanently harm my daughter's teeth by waiting so long to take her to the dentist.

Just an informal poll...What age were you, or your kids at your first dentist appointment? I personally have no recollection of going to the dentist for the first time. I'm sure my daughter will forget it too!

Anna - 7 months

2008-10-29T21:57:00.002-04:00

Here are Anna's 7 month pics. And one of Erin painting a pumpkin today.

Anna: 6 month stats

2008-10-14T23:09:00.003-04:00

Height: 26.25 in; 70th percentile
Weight: 17.5 lbs; 75th percentile

4 shots and lots of crying.

An October Break

2008-10-14T23:05:00.002-04:00

Since Melody is not working this year, we were able to join Tim's family for an October trip to Myrtle Beach. The weather was great: sunny and low 80s.

Here are some pictures.

Six Months

2008-09-30T21:58:00.002-04:00

Anna is now 6 months old. Here are some pics from September.

http://picasaweb.google.com/timandmelody/Sept2008#

So Says Erin

2008-09-24T08:44:00.003-04:00

#1.
It's been a couple of weeks since preschool started and every time anyone asks her if she likes preschool she says, No. But then, one day, Erin whispers to Melody:

"To tell you the truth, I like preschool."

Finally, the truth!

#2
Erin asks Melody, "Do you know what I was doing?"
Melody responds, "No."
Erin says, "Then I wasn't doing anything."

Hmm, somehow I doubt that!

(Pre)School Begins

2008-09-14T22:59:00.003-04:00

Erin started preschool at a local church last week. She really enjoys it, yet at any given moment, if you ask her if she likes school, she may say yes or no. She gravitates toward the dress up area. A popular game is pretending to be princesses who fly in a space ship!

This past Saturday, Erin began taking soccer classes. She wanted to be on the red team and we showed up and everyone got a red shirt! The classes are more about learning the skills. The picture below is after Erin dancing after she scored a goal.

Anna is now able to sit up unassisted for fairly long periods of time. But she still isn't fully versed in the art of sitting as the pics below show.

Sitting up

About to topple

The topple

The roll

Our New Kitchen

2008-09-06T13:47:00.003-04:00

This spring we decided to add a dishwasher to our kitchen. After realizing that we'll be in this house longer than planned (thank you, housing market!), we decided we might as well redo the whole kitchen. So after several weeks of construction and waiting, we finally have our completed kitchen. We love it! And no more washing dishes by hand!

Here are some before and after shots.

4 Year Stats

2008-09-04T16:15:00.002-04:00

Erin had her 4-year check-up today. She got 4 shots. She didn't like those, but she seemed more dismayed at the fact that she would have to take Tylenol when she got home. I guess she really hates that stuff!

Anyway, here are the current stats:

Height: 44.25 inches; 100th percentile
Weight: 45 pounds; 95th percentile

I don't know how long this "reporting of height and weight" thing will continue, but at some point I'm sure she will stop me. But for now, she can't read!

-Tim

The Nationals

2008-09-01T21:57:00.006-04:00

Today, Labor Day, Tim's family came down and we went to a Nationals versus Phillies game at the new Nationals Park. It was our first time at the new ballpark and we had a really good time. Both Erin and Anna did very well. Plus the Nats stretched their winning streak to 7 games. The Pennsylvania folk were disappointed, though!

Here are some pictures from the day.

Pirate's Cove and more

2008-08-30T18:08:00.005-04:00

Today we went to Pirate's Cove at Pohick Bay Regional Park. This is the first year they had "Pirate's Cove" and we had been meaning to get there all summer. We finally made it on the last weekend. Basically, it's a couple of slides and some water spray things in the middle of a huge pool, a sand area with buried treasure, and lots of pirate themed decorations.

On the way home we stopped by our favorite concrete maker, Tubby's! Yum! (These Tubby's pics are dedicated to the Farmers.)

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Here is Anna's 5 month growth picture.

And one of Anna and Erin. Notice the contrast in eye color and skin tone between them.

See all the August pics here.

Erin's Co-Birthday Friends

2008-08-24T14:27:00.004-04:00

Erin was born on August 19 between two of our friends' kids. Their moms have been blogging (The Farmer Files and The Eekhoff's Plain Life) about their birthdays and put up a couple of pics from back in the day. I searched our picture archive and came up with a couple of pics as well.

L to R: Farmer, Melody, Eekhoff

This was taken a month before the kids were due.

L to R: Eekhoff, Farmer, Erin

This was taken at 7 1/2 months.

Happy 4th Birthday to all the kiddos!!

The Party

2008-08-23T23:19:00.007-04:00

Erin requested a princess party this year. So we obliged.

Most of the kids in front of the castle.

Melody created a huge castle on our entertainment center and we had the kids create crowns. We also had a pinata and played pin the kiss/crown on the frog. (We figured the boys might not want to "kiss" the frog. We were wrong!)

Instead of everyone bringing gifts for Erin (she has enough stuff as it is), we decided to have a Book Ball. Each child brought a new, wrapped book and then played a game to distribute a gift to each one. Everyone seemed to enjoy getting a new book. At first Erin wasn't too keen on not getting gifts from everyone, but she got presents from family and that seemed to satisfy her.

Erin gets her book read to her by Laura.

Clockwise: Erin, Andrew, Taidou, Laura, Kaela, Nico, and Michaelah

Everyone had fun and the weather cooperated so it wasn't too hot.

See all the pics HERE.

The princess cake.

Four Years Old

2008-08-21T22:20:00.002-04:00

Erin celebrated her 4th birthday on Tuesday. At her request, we had chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, and cooked broccoli. (What kid requests broccoli?!?)

We are having a princess/prince party on Saturday, so we'll have more pics coming.

Michigan and August Pics

2008-08-21T22:01:00.006-04:00

We had a good time in Michigan earlier this month. Even with two 7-hour drives to get there and one 14-hour drive to get back, we can say we had a lot of fun. Erin did great on the drives with only one meltdown. Anna did pretty well also. In fact she did better on those drives than she did on some of the shorter ones up north.

We had good visits with Melody's family. We visited the farm and spent some time with Grandma E. at the nursing home. Most of our time was spent at Aunt Esther's cottage on Douglas Lake. It was pretty cool even for Michigan (upper 60's some days, with a breeze). But Erin had fun swimming in the lake with her 2nd cousins.

We had a mini celebration of Erin's 4th birthday in Michigan as well. She had a lot of fun and got some good gifts.

After Michigan, Melody and Anna went off to a weekend with some college girlfriends and Tim and Erin went to his parents' place and had fun at Hershey Park with his mom and sister's work picnic.

We finally made it home 12 days after we left.

See lots of pictures HERE.

Anna's 4 Month Stats

2008-08-10T18:57:00.002-04:00

Weight: 15 lb 4 oz - 90th percentile
Height: 24.75 in. - 75th percentile

Even More July Pictures

2008-08-04T22:09:00.003-04:00

See them all here.

More July Pictures

2008-07-19T15:50:00.001-04:00

See them all HERE

So Says Erin

2008-07-19T09:35:00.001-04:00

While eating several-days-old cotton candy...

"Tastes like a rug, but sure is good!"

June Pics (and early July)

2008-07-04T12:15:00.004-04:00

New pictures are up. HERE

April and May Pics

2008-06-02T21:41:00.002-04:00

From May 2008

New pics from April and May on our picture website.

From April 2008

So Says Erin

2008-06-01T09:26:00.001-04:00

"It's good that you suck."

Said while sucking up spaghetti at dinner.

So Says Erin

2008-06-01T09:25:00.002-04:00

While holding a pack of crayons, Erin inexplicably says, "Regular handbags can get stolen when they are open."

She said it came from her imagination.

That's one random imagination.

Basement

2008-05-29T21:29:00.004-04:00

Since our basement flooded during the deluge a couple of weeks ago, we got new carpet installed and painted the play/guest room. The carpet is very soft (and fuzzy).

Kickball

2008-05-29T21:17:00.004-04:00

Erin's kickball team... The Sand Gnats.

Sean, Erin, Joey, Hannah, Nathan, Kaela, and Hope.
(Then Sean and Erin again for some reason.) Daniel is missing.

Erin and Kaela

Anna - 2 month stats

2008-05-29T07:36:00.002-04:00

Anna had her 2 month check-up yesterday. She received 4 shots.

Weight: 11 lb 10 oz - 74th percentile
Height: 23 in. - 74th percentile

Oh, and her head size was in the 50th percentile. So she has a normal sized head on a large body.

More pics when I get a chance. It's been a busy week.

-Tim

Anna's Baby Dedication

2008-05-04T21:32:00.006-04:00

Today we had Anna's baby dedication at church. Our families came down from PA including my grandparents, Wilmer and Anna, baby Anna's namesake. As it turns out, Great Grandma Anna was named after her grandmother, Anna Wise. There is also an Anna on Melody's side. Melody's dad's dad's mom is Anna Nolt. So Anna is in the blood.

Wilmer and Anna and Anna

Post-dedication lunch at Chadwick's

Aunt Mindy and her newly knitted blanket

Growth

2008-05-04T21:21:00.002-04:00

We now have some growth comparison shots along the right side of the page. A slide show of Erin's growth pictures is there as well. For Erin, we used a large-ish teddy bear. Erin got to pick out the stuffed animal for Anna's growth pictures while shopping with Melody's mom right after Anna was born. She chose the largest one she saw! Hence, the HUGE dog.

This week

2008-04-27T09:41:00.002-04:00

More close ups

2008-04-25T10:26:00.006-04:00

Some new pictures of Anna. She's got some funny looks at times.

Still has blue eyes and slightly reddish hair. Not sure where that is coming from!

Close-ups

2008-04-02T21:07:00.004-04:00

Birth Story (condensed)

2008-03-31T21:49:00.004-04:00

At about 4 am on Saturday morning, Melody began having regular contractions about 6 or 7 minutes apart. This lasted about 2-3 hours. We called her parents in PA and they headed down to help us watch Erin. Contractions continued on and off at various intervals all day, but not really becoming regular. Melody and I took a nap at about 1 pm and when we woke up, she was having contractions about 3-4 minutes apart very regularly. We even attempted to walk a bit in the park behind the house, but she couldn't make it very far. So, we called the midwife and she told us to come on in to the hospital. When we got there at about 3 pm, Melody was 5 cm dilated and quickly went to 7 cm then almost fully. Somewhere in there Melody got her epidural and was much more comfortable. At about 5:45 pm, Melody began to push and after about 3 sets of pushes, Anna Naomi was born at 6:03 pm. She had the cord wrapped tightly around her neck and was a fairly deep purple. The midwife quickly cut the cord and handed her off. We had heart monitor attached to her head the whole time and her heart rate was fine the whole time, so the midwife wasn't too concerned. Anna quickly regained her color and was handed to Melody. Melody's mom was in helping with counting along with me. My parents were in the next room waiting. Melody's dad was at our house with Erin and arrived soon after Anna was born.

There you have the not-too-gory details.

We came home today and are settling into being a family of four. My mom is here to help us until Wednesday and my sister will be coming down for the first half of next week.

It's 10:00 and I'm not sure why I'm still up since Anna kept us up half the night last night. Seems she hasn't realized that darkness is the time to sleep. We're working on teaching her.

-Tim

Welcome Anna Naomi

2008-03-31T14:48:00.004-04:00

See more pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/timandmelody/AnnaNaomi

Bookmark this page and check back for updates!

-Tim

Flower Girl

2008-03-18T20:30:00.004-04:00

Flower Girl!

2008-03-16T20:01:00.003-04:00

The big day has come and gone. We got to see Erin walk down the aisle in a white dress. We're glad it will be a good many years before she's the bride. She didn't seem terribly aware that the whole day was NOT actually all about her, but rather about my cousin Courtney and her new husband Dave. After being told she did a "good job" a few times, her response became, "I know!"

Once she got down the aisle and was sitting with us during the ceremony, she declared she was both hungry and thirsty. I had done my best to offer her food and drink (and bathroom) before she began her flower girl duties. She was so busy playing with the junior bride's maid and ring bearer that she didn't want to stop for anything. Thankfully I did get her to go to the bathroom beforehand, but she hadn't had a drink for awhile. Thankfully it was a short ceremony. I actually had an opportunity to bring her a drink towards the end of the ceremony, as well. One of the bride's maids nearly fainted, and had to sit down. I went out to get her a drink of water and brought one back for Erin as well.

Erin's favorite part of the day (besides wearing the fancy dress and shoes-which she called 'slippers') was the DANCING. For the first 8 songs or so she was the ONLY one out on the dance floor. Occasionally she was joined by another child or two, but she had no inhibitions about showing off her "moves." All this after only a few sips of my virgin pina colada.

It was a fun day, and a long day. We showed up for hair at 10:15 am and got home around 8:30 pm. I was also quite grateful that I made it to this day, and through this day, without going into labor! Tim and I were also grateful that she slept in until 9:00am this Sunday morning. We all needed the rest!

So Says Erin

2008-02-17T13:01:00.001-05:00

"My mommy, daddy and aunt are dragging me crazy!"

-Erin

Tim's New Toy

2008-02-10T20:34:00.001-05:00

Since I'm going on maternity leave soon, and will be giving up my FCPS laptop, we decided to buy a new laptop. Our desktop computer is from Fall 2001, and is a source of annoyance and frustration. What seemed wonderful and fast 6 1/2 years ago, just isn't cutting it today. Now we're all about wireless laptops wherever in the house we want to be. I haven't really gotten to touch the new computer yet. Tim will have to share eventually, though by the time I give up my work laptop, I will have something, rather someone else in my lap constantly.

December pictures

2008-01-08T22:30:00.000-05:00

I've finally gotten around to uploading a bunch of pictures from December onto the Picasa site. They are here.

So Says Erin

2008-01-02T22:51:00.000-05:00

After 10 days of being away from home visiting the grandparents and falling asleep in the car on the way home, I put Erin in bed, she wakes up a bit, stretches out, and says...

"I love my bed."

-Tim

Baby Kicks

2007-12-12T13:32:00.001-05:00

Last night I was finally able to feel the babe kick. I bent down, said, "Kick, [baby's name], kick" and she obliged with a couple of strong ones. Melody has been feeling internal kicks for weeks now, but finally, at 24 weeks, it's a little more real for me.

Baby Game

2007-12-10T14:10:00.000-05:00

I just set up a Baby Game. Go put in your guess for birthday, weight, and length.

http://www.expectnet.com/games/ALTHOUSE

Name guesses can be emailed to me directly!

So Says Erin 6

2007-12-04T21:19:00.000-05:00

After a few hours of trying on flower girl dresses complete with tiara, Erin has to get back into her street clothes and says with resignation in her voice, "Back to regular Erin."

This was the eventual dress choice.

But this was Erin's favorite.

This was the original choice, but sadly it didn't come in the right color.

Great Falls

2007-12-04T21:00:00.001-05:00

Last Friday, David Z and I went hiking at Great Falls National Park along the Potomac River. I had never been there before. It's a pretty cool place with lots of trails and views of the rapids and gorge.

Random Pictures

2007-12-03T21:05:00.000-05:00

Here are some random pictures from the last month. I'm not going to try and explain them.

It's a GIRL!!

2007-11-09T09:48:00.000-05:00

We had our mid-pregnancy ultrasound this morning and found out we are having another girl. She's healthy and active. She also has long thigh bones, so I guess we may have another tall one. Here are just a couple of the pictures we got. They are clearer in person.

Profile of her head

Head and arms and belly

One Year Ago

2007-11-07T13:11:00.000-05:00

One year ago today I had spinal surgery (microdiscectomy) at Georgetown University Hospital to fix a ruptured disc in my lower back. I was in varying degrees of pain that progressively got worse for 8 months. I constantly had pain down my right leg and always stood at an angle to try to alleviate the pain. But immediately after the surgery all the leg pain was gone and it has never come back. I now stand and walk correctly and only occasionally have a stiff back.

Anyway, I just wanted to acknowledge this milestone. Also, Happy 1st Birthday to Djemba!

Candy Collecting

2007-11-03T22:45:00.000-04:00

Erin had a good time collecting candy from our neighbors this year. We only ever take her to neighbors on our street, so she never gets too much candy. She likes giving out the candy at home. Most of the night we stood around with our neighbors waiting for kids to come by. We had far fewer kids this year than last year, so we had more leftover candy. Erin was a mermaid princess. Melody had bunny ears. Tim was Tim.

Mason Neck

2007-10-28T20:28:00.001-04:00

We went to Mason Neck State Park today. It was a little cool and windy along the river, but it was
really nice and colorful. Erin fell asleep on the way there, so we loaded her into her too-small-for-her stroller and started walking. She soon woke up and enjoyed the fact that she didn't have to walk. We ended the day by eating dinner at the excellent Tubby's Chili Parlor where we had great cheeseburgers and concretes.

See all the other pics
HERE.

Videos

2007-10-28T20:14:00.000-04:00

Here are two videos from the past week. They are just Erin jumping around.

The Pumpkin Patch

2007-10-23T20:39:00.000-04:00

Melody and Erin went to the Pumpkin Patch on Monday. They had a great time on the slides and pretending Erin was in jail.

See all the pictures HERE.

So Says Erin 5

2007-10-18T19:55:00.000-04:00

"I'm going to be a princess when I go to heaven. Jesus will like that. I'm going to show him my dance."

October Pictures

2007-10-16T21:03:00.000-04:00

We've been pretty busy these last few weekends. We didn't take too many pictures, but what we have is here.

The first weekend in October we drove down to Harrisonburg to the Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale. We saw old college friends and got some great apple butter and Brunswick stew. We also went to the Green Valley Book Fair and got some cheap books.

Dad & Mom A. and Krista came down for Columbus Day and we went to Arlington Cemetery and the Natural History Museum. It was a long, hot day of walking.

Last weekend we headed up to PA for an annual auction at Hinkletown Mennonite School where Melody's mom is the Administrator/Development Director. We got a few odds and ends and ate too many baked goods!

Finally, on Monday, Erin and Melody baked some cookies.
Even more baked goods! Yum.

So Says Erin 4

2007-10-05T19:34:00.000-04:00

Erin: "I like weed."
Melody: "What? You like weed?"
Erin: "No. I like Weed!" (Reed, Melody's coworker's son)

I didn't think we'd have this discussion until much later, if ever.

So Says Erin 3

2007-10-02T21:55:00.000-04:00

Whispering to Melody, Erin says, "I want to tell you a secret. I wish I could have a chocolate tree." (Dora reference for those not in the know.)

So Says Erin 2

2007-09-23T19:47:00.000-04:00

As Aunt Mindy was carrying Erin on her back, Erin says:

"I'm heavy, isn't I? Isn't me? I don't know what to say!"

A Tree and Another Video

2007-09-19T22:52:00.000-04:00

We planted a crape myrtle this week. Hopefully it will disguise our less than fantastic front lawn.

There are more angles and a couple of pictures of Erin on the picture site, here.

And now... some more excellent videography by yours truly. And more "Spanish."

Heartbeat

2007-09-16T18:30:00.000-04:00

On Friday we finally got to hear our new baby's heartbeat. After searching for a bit, we heard the quick, rhythmic thumping at about 160 bpm. At least for me, this thing is finally real. For Melody, it's been real every time she looks at a vegetable and is no longer hungry. Erin kept asking why we were there. But, she also was poking Melody's belly button and, when asked what she was doing, replied that she was trying to get the baby out. So at least she's understanding.

Random Videos

2007-09-12T18:51:00.000-04:00

This video starts out with Erin speaking Spanish. Please excuse the jelly face.

This video has Erin playing with the splatter cover from the microwave.

Random Stuff

2007-09-12T08:41:00.000-04:00

So, clearly, I am not very good at writing a blog on a regular basis. That may have to do with the fact that my life isn't the most exciting one out there. :-) Anyway, here are some random thoughts.

- Erin's newest name for a sibling is "Yoohoo." It would make it easy to call him/her, for sure.

- Erin wants us to stay home from work everyday, but also threatens to put on her crocs and walk across the street to Ms. Stacie's house 30 minutes before she's scheduled to go over there.

- Paco and Nina, our new neighbor's chihuahuas, are very cute and playful. They bark a lot.

- Erin thinks she can speak Spanish. She cannot.

- I'm more than halfway through watching The Office, Season 3 on DVD. And I am ready for the new season to start on Sept 27.

- We have had The Pink Panther from our Blockbuster Online queue sitting at home for about a week waiting to be watched. I hear it's pretty good.

- I planted grass in our front lawn this weekend. Again. The lack of rain this summer killed my last attempt.

- I shouldn't be blogging at work, so I will stop.

Here we go again!

2007-09-03T19:15:00.000-04:00

Yes, that's right! A new, little Althouse will be joining our family next year. April 3, 2008, to be exact (or as exact as a due date can be!).

Melody is doing well, but very tired right now, especially with school starting up again. We've told Erin about the fact that a baby is coming, but I don't think she really gets it or remembers after a day of not talking about it. So, she doesn't have a clue. But she does want a sister and a brother, whose names change daily and range from both named Erin to Scrubba (brother) and Bubba (sister).

Anyway, bookmark this site or subscribe to the RSS feeds (see the "Posts (Atom)" link at the bottom of the page) to keep up to date on the latest Althouse Adventures!

A few new pics

2007-09-03T19:00:00.000-04:00

I posted a few new pictures from the beach that were still on the camera. See them here.

Birthday Pictures (& more)

2007-08-28T11:14:00.000-04:00

Erin turned 3 on August 19 and we had a little party to celebrate. She requested a pink cake with a pony and Dora. Her big gift this year was a bicycle. She still needs to work on pedaling, steering, and looking up all the the same time!

We also went with Tim's family to Rehoboth Beach the week after her birthday and Erin had a great week there.

You can see pictures from the birthday party, the beach, and some from freezing corn at our picture website here.

Vacation Ending

2007-08-26T00:11:00.000-04:00

Our week at Rehoboth Beach is coming to an end. We had two good beach days, 1 OK beach day, and a lot of rainy days. Thankfully we ended the week on the good days.

We took Erin on rides at the boardwalk tonight. She has been terrified of public toilets all summer and has been using the plastic potty we keep in the back of the minivan. But tonight we parked far away from the boardwalk and Erin had to go. We gave her the choice of going home or using the real potty and riding on rides. After many tears and one failed attempt, she finally did it and was able to ride the rides. Her clear favorite was the paratrooper ride.

We'll have some pictures up next week once we're home. Internet here is spotty so I don't want to try and upload them now.

A quick story from the beach today. Dad was holding Erin out in the water, which was quite calm at times. Suddenly a large wave came up and Dad lifted her up as high as he could. Everything went under except Erin's head. When the wave passed, Dad had no shorts! And another wave was coming! Fortunately he was able to pull them up enough and get over the next wave. It was quite a site.

So Says Erin

2007-08-13T20:34:00.000-04:00

"Telly is a messy mess. But, for Ernie I have words of praise. Thank you, Lord."

Sunday night

2007-08-12T20:59:00.001-04:00

Tonight at our small group we studied the second half of Philippians, chapter 1. Paul talks about his imprisonment and how to live is to show the world Christ because Christ is in him, and to die would be great because he would be with Christ. This reminds me of a book I just finished reading called "The Heavenly Man." It's about one of the founders of the Chinese house churches. He and the Chinese Christians have suffered tremendously as they have sought to spread the love and salvation of Jesus Christ. Brother Yun often speaks of these words as he was being tortured in prison. Yun and the Chinese Christians feel a call to be missionaries in the countries between China and Jerusalem, where Christianity began. They call it the "Back to Jerusalem" movement. Many of these countries are in the Muslim world and they know that the persecution they have suffered over the last 40 years has been the training they needed for this difficult and dangerous work.

I urge you to read "The Heavenly Man" and/or "Back to Jerusalem."

Friday night is finally here!

2007-08-10T22:43:00.000-04:00

Our VBS finished up tonight. And we are all 3 tired. Erin went to bed very quickly and I'm not sure why Melody and I are still awake.

We were blessed with 4 nights of 30 to 35 kids. They really had a fun time. Hopefully they learned some Bible stories/lessons and will share them with their families. We hope to see some of them at church on Sunday, too. (This is a picture of Erin and her friend Michaelah.)

Our church is looking for a 12 passenger van since the old one has finally quit on us. If anyone knows of a good used van (not 15 passenger), let me know.

New pictures

2007-08-09T22:22:00.001-04:00

We have some new pictures from July through today. These include our trip to Michigan.

http://picasaweb.google.com/timandmelody

New Hope's VBS

2007-08-08T09:31:00.001-04:00

Our church is running a Vacation Bible School this week. On Monday we had 9 kids. On Tuesday, 30 kids. And we're running out of space! I had to run to Michael's twice to get craft supplies since the kids just kept coming. Erin is really into it. She loves the music and singing. And her friend Michaelah came last night so she was all happy. Anyway, we'll see how the rest of the week goes. It happens to be the hottest week of the year. Supposed to be 101 today. The activities center we are renting has AC, but with 30 kids and 10 adults, it doesn't really stay too cool.

Back from Michigan

2007-07-30T09:19:00.000-04:00

We're back! We spent a week in Michigan (17 miles south of the bridge to the UP) with Melody's family and had a great time. I started and finished the last Harry Potter as well. Erin had a great time and did amazingly well on the 14 hour trip to PA. Mobile DVD players really do work wonders!

Now it's back to the grind. But another vacation to the Delaware shore in 3 weeks!

First Post

2007-07-13T20:05:00.001-04:00

So, I am going to try and start this blogging thing. I don't think it will be a daily thing because I don't really have all that much to say. And my life isn't that exciting.

I'm not going to explain who I am because anyone who reads this already knows me (Tim), Melody, and Erin.

You can go see pictures of our life at http://picasaweb.google.com/timandmelody.

Until next time.