Our New Lives

I saw this the other day and thought it was a pretty good visual of how our lives have changed over the last few years.

This very distinguished looking glass, designed to hold the famous Belgian white wheat ale from The Hoegaarden Brewery in Belgium, was "acquired" by Lynne and myself one late night about eight years ago from a bar in Sweden (we paid for them of course). We had a lot of fun that night and when we awoke the next morning and eventually realized why our heads hurt, the glasses sitting in our hotel room served to jog the many memories from the night before. They were fun times indeed.

So you can see why the image of this glass being used as an excellent receptacle for warming Isabel's bottle may provide an excellent metaphor for how our lives have changed. I cannot remember the last time Lynne and I last awoke in a hotel bedroom with sore heads with a couple of empty "acquired' glasses sitting on the sideboard.

I miss those days but we have moved on and neither of us would even consider going back given what we have now. We love our girls to much. Back then we had a few fun days and nights but now every day, evening and night with the girls is packed with fun.

Cheers!!
(Lindsay - thanks for taking the picture!)

 

Who is Stealing from the Fridge?

Anja's new trick is to walk around everywhere with her stool to gain greater access. The fridge is now prime territory since there is normally interesting stuff there!!

We are having a relatively normal week. Busy of course but normal. We are on a drive right now to try getting the girls to sleep a little earlier in the evening. To get more sleep since we think they are not getting enough but also so that we get some time together in the evening. As it was we were getting the girls to bed and then simply crashing in bed ourselves!! I think it may be working a little. It's now 8.05pm and both girls are down for the night - we think or rather we hope!

Hope you are all doing well.

 

Getting Through the Weekend!

It's so nice to be able to log on to ones computer without knowing that it's going to crash several times before you have any chance of actually doing anything. Lovely!! Anyhow, I digress!!

Hope you are all enjoying this long Thanksgiving weekend? We are pretty chilled out here in West Lafayette. Taking it easy during the day, long evening dinners followed by marathon bedtime reading sessions in front of our open fire crackling away.

I have been able to get a few runs in over the weekend, 11 miles which helped to counter the good food and calorie laden beverages that have been consumed!

We had Kaisa and Kevin, together with their girls over for dinner last night!! It was fun.

Shown below are a few more photos from Thanksgiving dinner the other day!! No comments please on the placement of my head relative to the two red candles on the sideboard behind. I'm sure some of you "Devils" out there will find this amusing!

 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving

Today the day presented itself in two parts. The quiet first half saw the four of us, with Daisy of course, taking it easy all day. The girls slept a lot which helped us relax. Lynne was able to take a few moments to herself and escaped into some book or other whilst I spent a few frustrating hours trying to get our new computer fully loaded with all our software. Got there in the end but only after a few frayed nerves!!

The second half, this evening was a little more hectic. We were invited to spend Thanksgiving with our neighbours Phil and Liz and the Krause family. They had 20 family members to share their turkey and ham so us joining did not add much stress. It was a great evening. Liz and Phil, many thanks for the invitation, we truly enjoyed it. We sampled some true American family indulgence and interaction, even had a birthday to celebrate. Got home to get the girls to bed at approximately their usual bedtime. It's 11.20pm and I have just now stopped fussing with the computer.

I like this holiday thing...we still have three free days ahead of us!! Yipeee!

During our visit to the Krause's I took a few family pictures, shown below is their family!

 

There goes Daddy with the Camera Again!

Lynne was reading to the girls the other evening and it jogged memories from two years back when Lynne first started reading to Anja! She has not stopped since!!

Anyhow, I grabbed the camera to capture the scene (as you do) and hit this perfect shot on just the second attempt. I'm sure it's not perfect from a photographic sense, but right now perfection for me is everybody looking at the camera, and wow are those girls looking at what Daddy is up to!

I like this picture a lot...the girls in my life!

 

We Are Back!!

New computer arrived this evening so I have a new toy to play with over this long four day Thanksgiving Holiday here in the States. Expect lots of updates. I'm already having trouble with a network drive (aarrgh!!)

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who will celebrate it!!

This is a recent picture of Isabel - boy is she getting big, alert and an attitude!!

 

Weekend Update

Well after a long struggle, I have been able to get our computer stable enough to write a few posts. This should not continue for much longer and normal service should resume shortly.

We are taking it easy this weekend. No scheduled activities other than dinner at Lorraine and Randy's tonight. I did however manage to get my usual Saturday morning 5 mile run in which I was pleased about. I was travelling to Europe this week for work and it took it's toll.

Pat is still here helping out which is great, although we will now enter our last week without parental (or grand parental help). Yes, Isabel will reach her 14th week next Saturday and from then on there will not be a grandparent here. Wonder if she will notice? We certainly will. From next week, just Lynne, myself and the girls. Incredible really. The miles from West Lafayette to both Ireland and England have not provided much of a barrier to the love and care that the grand mothers were able to provide.

We thank you both again.

So, hoping that you are all doing well. Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching and Christmas soon thereafter of course. Lots of posts before then however.

Later.

 

Anja the Wicked Witch

This year, Anja's first real year enjoying Halloween, chose to be a wicked witch. My mother bought this costume weeks ago when her and Anja were out on a shopping trip.

Lynne, myself and Anja all went on our first ever Trick or Treat trip to our neighbours houses. It was a great experience. She was very shy at first but soon loosened up when she realized there were goodies to be had at each house.

 

Posting via Email

Hi All,

I'm posting now via email since it's so hard to get on our home computer - it continually dies midway though start-up. A new computer has been ordered. The pictures may be few and far between over the next week or so.
 
Anyhow we are all still doing OK. I just got back from a whistle stop tour  to Edinburgh. I left Monday and got back Thursday evening. Very tired but that was partly due to the fact that we stayed over one night in Ireland and caught up with Clive and Mum for a night out in Dublin. It was a lot of fun.

I'll post a weekend update tomorrow.

Hope you are all doing well.

Happy Halloween

Today I carved my first ever pumpkin, the big one that we collected at the pumpkin patch a couple of weeks ago. Anja was very excited since many of the books we are reading right now have carved pumpkins and other Halloween paraphernalia. Lynne was responsible for the art work and I was the butcher! It was a lot of fun, particularly to see her excitement with the lit pumpkin before she went to bed this evening.

We have had a great weekend, I am mostly over my cold which makes me happy anyhow. Pat arrived safely last night and has already spent a few hours walking the floor with Isabel.

Have a great week everybody.

ps. If I do not post much this week it is because of this stupid computer I am on right now. It is playing silly buggers and it takes forever to get it started without crashing. It's extremely frustrating (can you tell?). We have plans for a new one!!

 

 

 

 

The Girls at 11 Weeks

I know, I know, I was not going to do this But Lynne made me do it !!

We were all browsing old pictures this evening and Lynne suggested that I compare the girls at Isabels current age. As it turns out, it was quite simple really since Anja, just like Isabel now, spent a lot of time in our blue bouncing chair at this age and there were lots of photos. They do obviously look similar but already quite different. Isabel's hair being an obvious start.

Friday evening here and we are looking forward to a relaxing weekend. Pat (aka Gran) arrives for another 3 week visit tomorrow.

 

Mum Has Now Left for Home

Earlier today I dropped Mum off at the bus stop for her long trip back to Ireland. Where does five and half weeks go? I have been getting texts from her all evening and her latest indicated that she had safely checked in, was having some food and a few beers. Perfect prior to a long haul flight.

We went out for dinner last night while Lynne looked after the girls. It was a nice end to a great visit, I enjoyed the dinner and the time together.

Mum was an amazing help with Isabel and Anja over the last few weeks, we are forever grateful. Many thanks Mum.

 

 

 

Anja Growing Up

I have not posted these photos before, I just received them from Lisa. They are from assorted visits over this summer to her house and were snapped on her digital.

I just love the middle one. On a hot summer evening, these girls just love ice-cream, as most adults do to be fair. Shown with Anja are two of her best friends, Reina and Anna.

 

 

 

Isabel Getting Bigger

I don't get the camera out as often as I should but when I do it strikes me later what a difference a week makes to how a 10 week old baby is doing. She is developing fast and is already a very happy baby, most of the time (she is actually screaming as I write here in my Mum's arms).

 

Updated Family Photos

Mum is going back this week so we took a few family photos so that she would have them for her trip home to Ireland. Below are a few of the better ones!!

 

 

Hi to Christine who Lives in Madison

Christine lives in Madison, Wisconsin and is a regular viewer. Hi There. We live opposite to her Dad, Carl, and when they are in town she and her husband Chris always pop over to say hello. She called in this weekend since she was in town with a nice Bucky Badger shirt for Isabel. Many thanks. She reads here regularly and often updates her Dad on how life is going in West Lafayette, or specifically our house. Funny old world.

 

Busy Weekend Tiling

We had a busy weekend. With Lisa and Brad's help we ripped out the old tiles from inside the new front door (installed this week) and replaced them with some nice new shiny ones. Many thanks Brad and Lisa for all your help this weekend.

 

 

Time Out with Granny!

Yet another shot of Mum doing what she has been doing.

 

I'm having a Ball

Ruby is really enjoying her time on the swing!!

 

Playtime in the Park

What a great shot of Lindsay, Ruby and Anja in the park today. Excellent eye Kyle?

You will see that the weather has turned a little colder recently. We now have normal October weather.

Today was a joyous occasion - Lynne had her cast removed. her wrist has healed well but is still very weak. The road to full recovery has begun in earnest!!

 

Two Young Ladies Hanging Out

A picture from yesterday with Ruby and Isabel sitting on the toddler couch!!