Celebrating Grandma's Healing

In the Lord's benevolent providence, Kathee's mother has been healed from cancer!  We are praising God for His love and care.  So tonight, in celebration of that miracle, and at the behest and urging of Kathee's father, we got to go to Texas Roadhouse for supper.  As Kathee's sister's family is in India right now, and they are partying down tonight (well, last night due to time difference), we partied along with them in spirit.   

So Gideon got to munch on some peanuts while we waited for our table.  It was fun teaching him how to open the shells.  Not sure if he ate any of the peanuts, or just opened them and through all the contents on the floor.  

Gideon had a blast tonight!  And he absolutely loved the cinnamin butter on the dinner rolls!

And Hope enjoyed her night out on the town, too.  She missed her night nap.... and ROCKED IT!  She was awesome tonight.  And all smiles.  

What a great reason to celebrate.  Our God is good, when things didn't look too good with Grandma's cancer, and when we got word her cancer was gone!  And thanks, Grandpa Smith for the meal.  We love you guys!

Hope and Vada

Yesterday our good friend Tara stopped by with her daughter Vada.  They live a just down the block and we love it when she and her husband and kids visit.  

Vada and Hope get along just great.  And since they both, with the help of their mothers, LOVE PINK, they are two peas in a pod.  

So while the little ladies sat and coo'ed at each other...

The mothers were able to take it all in, as they sat and chatted.  

We love being able to do life with Tara's family, as for a great while Vada was so sick that she wasn't able to leave the house, nor have any visitors.  BUT NOW.....

The fun begins... and Hope just love it!

Yup, Gideon Still Loves His Sister

Fun At Ditty's

Rhonda (Ditty) is a dear friend of the T's.  We enjoy going down to her shop in downtown Moline and hanging out.  Well, okay, let's be honest.  Kathee goes down for the shopping.  Gideon goes for the treats that Ditty gives him.  Hope goes wherever we go.  And I go to hang out with Rhonda and see if I can't make her laugh.    

Rhonda loves our children and is a pretty great surrogate grandmother since our folks live out of town.  

Gideon makes himself at home and pretty much goes wherever he pleases in the store.  

And Hope is getting more and more used to Rhonda.

This is the way I was successful in getting Rhonda to laugh.  I took the girl's tutu that she sells, placed it on Junior's noggin (making it look like the pink afro), and had him go ask her a question.  She got a great laugh out of that one!  

Ditty, thanks for letting us come down and hang out.  We love you! 

Hope and Vada

The link below is a blog of a friend of our's from church.  I love the pictures, and I loved reading the blog.  Getting our two girls together took forever (as Vada has had some significant health trials to overcome before she was able to be around people).  Enjoy the read.
http://twilsonismakingthemostoftoday.blogspot.com/2011/03/long-lost.html

Huey P. Newton

Hope's shout-out to Huey P. Newton

Diversion

I am completing (not very well, it seems) my last study session before I take my first seminary test later tonight.  Although I have my head phones on and Pandora cranking out The Fray, Kathee thought it best to have Gideon in the kitchen with her while I study in the living room so I can better focus (she's awesome).  So they decided to make "dualing" batches.  As Gideon uses the black sauce pan for "making" everything (mostly fake birthday cakes), he and Mama are an insatiable team and a force to be reckoned with.  Now, I'll stop writing and get to the task at hand... memorizing all the important dates in the lives of Erasmus, Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Knox, the confessions, and a whole host of other things.  I'm out! 

Bucket Head

Normally, Gideon keeps this bucket full of his matchbox cars.  So today while Mama, Gideon, and I were playing with his cars (Hope was looking on, less than interested, to be honest), I took the bucket and put it on my head.  Gideon laughed when he saw me do it.  Then, as Kathee was upstairs putting Hope down for sleep again, Gideon took the bucket off my head, put it on, and had to go show Mama that he, too, is a bucket head.  The kid is an absolute joy, and more than just a little nerdy (like his Papa!).   

A Fort Night

Fort Night

Since I have a mid-term to study for tonight, we are staying around the homefront (and I'll continue studying after Gideon goes to bed).  We have been having a blast building forts!  

Her World is SO Tough

So after I got her to start waking up.  She just didn't seem really interested in making a go of staying awake.  I think the pictures say more than a thousand words.  

"Papa, PUT DOWN THE CAMERA AND SHUT OFF THE LIGHT!"

"Seriously, just give me some more.... on never mind, I'll just cry about it!"

All is now right in the world.  

The Sleepy One

Today I got to wake Hope up from her nap.  

I have to say, she sleeps hard.  

Even with a bright light in her eyes, she still managed to sleep.  

I gotta say, she's pretty cute, too!

Starting to wake up...

And then back to sleep.  

Update on Gideon's Shout-Out Last Night

Here is some dialog between my cousin Joseph's wife and me on Facebook today, regarding Gideon's video we posted on Youtube last night as we cheered on my cousin Alicia's state basketball game in Nebraska.

Manalle

I hope you will be listening to the basketball game on Kwbe again today because they thought Gideons shout out was so cute they are going to give him one back today! I just had to share with them, as it was so adorable!! Game starts at 2! Go lady o!


And then here is my response.  We had just turned on the game (on the internet) when we heard the announcer say something like the following:   
Gideon just got a shout-out from KWBE radio during my cousin Alicia Armstrongstate basketball game. Due to Gideon's shout out last night, the announcer said, "Alicia has relatives in Moline, IL, who are listening to the game. We'd like to say hi to 3-year old Gabriel (Gideon), and thank him for listening. He's listening to Alicia Armstrong." HOW COOL IS IT??!!!


How cool is that? 

A Shout Out to My Cousin Alicia

My cousin Alicia is one of the premier athletes in the state of Nebraska.  As a junior, she signed with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to play softball (she's already a multi-year all-state softball player).  She's awesome in soccer, and she's now playing in the state tournament in basketball.  Her dad, my uncle, played football for the Huskers.  So tonight we have been listening to Alicia's basketball game on the internet as her team plays Seward, the two-time defending state champs (who are also on a 70-plus game winning streak).  Here is Gideon's shout out to my cousin!

Gideon's Silly Face

He was pretty excited tonight to show me his silly face.  So naturally I thought the entire world needed to see it, too!

The Kids at the County Clerk's Office

Today we went to the Rock Island County Clerk's Office to get a certified copy of Hope's birth certificate.  We want to get her a passport and need this document.  While we were there, Gideon took it upon himself to entertain his sister so she wouldn't cry.  We think he did a great job!

Hope Doing Her Thang!

Hope is a very smiley girl.  With each day she seems to smile more and more.  She has slept through the night twice this past week, and is engaging more and more.  It's a joy to see her blossoming!

One of the great things is seeing her smile without Mama or me prompting her (although I still do that A LOT!).  

I love it that my kids smile.  I absolutely love it!

This picture is just because I think she's cute when she sleeps.  And her Husker pacifier, which she rarely uses, makes her even cuter!

Hope Smiling!

Hope Pictures

Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps

Today's P90X workout was Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps.  When I got out of the shower (while in the shower, Kathee got Gideon up from his nap), Gideon was carrying around the pull-up bar.  So I showed him how to do push-ups today.  He didn't seem to grasp the concept, but had fun being silly with it.  Here's some of the shots.  

AND DOWN!!!

AND UP!!!