These Days

*2016 project to take and post pictures of the kids every week. We went to the park this afternoon. Neil practiced using his new in-line skates. Ela went on the swing for the first time. And some with the parents, too.=)

Here are the books I read this month. 7 by Jen Hatmaker  (4/5) Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hr Bookstore by Robin Sloan (4/5) I bought this book because I was intrigued by the title. And it's about a bookstore.=) This is fantasy/mystery novel about Mr. Penumbra's bookstore and the strange patrons that come in for odd and old titles. The new night shift clerk and protagonist Clay Jannon figured out what's going on, identified patterns using technology and inadvertently dives into a clandestine organization that has existed for centuries. I enjoyed this book. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller (4/5) This books starts a little slow, with Donald Miller narrating the story about writing the screenplay for Blue Like Jazz, a movie based on his life. He was doing this with two other writers and they collaborated over a many months. Miller learned about the storywriting for the movies and why some events in his life need to be rewritten for the story to be m...

Many months back, I blogged about a trip to Penang, Malaysia that happened years ago. My intent then was to post about life and travels before the switch to blogspot in 2009. I believe those moments deserve their place in this blog because they were special experiences to me. Maybe it's the new year but I am feeling motivated to do these throwback posts. So here's another installment on... The Grand Canyon and Sedona in Arizona I'm thankful to Intel for several business trips to Chandler, Arizona which allowed me to visit the Grand Canyon twice and Sedona four times between 2003 and 2007, and at different seasons, too. It would be nice to go back, especially with the kids. September 2003 November 2003 November 2003 again September 2007

*2016 project to take and post pictures of the kids every week.

Ela turned 9 months old on Monday! I missed posting about her 8th month so this is a 2-in-1. Her doctor's visit was today and current stats are: Height: 2' 2" (25th percentile) Weight: 16 lbs 13 oz (25th percentile) Head Circumference: 50% percentile No shots today, just general developmental assessment. She's doing ok on most milestones except for the talking part. She's not yet saying consonant sounds but we hope it will be soon. Neil talked/read really early and we have to remember that babies develop at their own pace. She was drooling a lot around 8 months and we thought she was teething but so far, no teeth yet. She likes most food we give her. The only thing she was averse to was turkey. She is fascinated by the tags on clothes, pillows, etc. She plays with them and inevitably puts them in her mouth. We got her a walker and she has enjoyed cruising around the living room by herself. She can walk while holding on to the railing on her crib or the...

Neil has been fascinated by powers of 2 recently and would frequently run the numbers on the calculator. Yesterday he wrote the values on his Megasketcher from memory up to 2^21, which is 2097152. I was amazed and had to check he had everything right. And he did. This kid amazes me.

Outdoor pictures from yesterday's hike.   Ela is turning 9 months old this week! Neil has said several times that he likes hiking. *2016 project to take and post pictures of the kids every week.

We went on a hike yesterday. I've been searching for easy, kid-friendly trails since our hike at the Chattahoochee River Recreation Center last year because Neil said he loved it. I thought we would have to wait until spring to hike but the weather was warmer yesterday (54F) so we took advantage, as did the other people we met on the trail. The Sope Creek Trail is less than 8 miles from the apartment. We were there at 3:30PM because that was the warmest part of the day. It took about 30 minutes to get to the creek, with some fairly steep incline. We took the easier trail going back. Hats off to Rich who had Ela on the carrier the whole time. The creek flows through Sope Creek Park’s eastern side, tumbling over strewn angular boulders in a run past the 19th century paper mill ruins.  The mill, built in 1855, was destroyed by Union armies during the Civil War, targeted for its role in paper production used for Confederate currency.  The remnants of the foundation and fi...

With Netflix, Movies On Demand and the local library, I was able to watch a lot of movies last year. The ones I really liked are in bold font. A Good Lie The Interview Into the Woods God's Not Dead Interstellar Divergent We Are Marshall Mockingjay Part 1 Mighty Joe Young The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Hector and the Search for Happiness Gone Girl The Book Thief The Cobbler The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies Bedtime Stories Rise of the Guardians Inside Out Ant Man The Imitation Game If I Stay Kingsman Tomorrowland Ex-Machina Spy Cinderella Jurassic World Age of Adaline Insurgent Star Wars: The Force Awakens Documentaries: Magic Beyond Words: The JK Rowling Story The True Cost Patterns of Evidence Capital C (Crowdfunding) Slingshot - Dean Kamen documentary

Sunday morning. At home, after church. *2016 project to take and post pictures of the kids every week.

7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker . I finished this book yesterday. The author lives in Austin, Texas with her husband who's a pastor and 5 kids (two were adopted from Ethiopia). This book is her personal journal from months of challenging herself and family to take a closer look at their possessions and consumption by extreme reduction. She did each challenge for a month -- clothes, spending, waste, food, possessions, media and stress. It's called seven because she limited the items in the challenge to 7. Like wearing 7 items of clothing, 7 items of food, 7 stores to spend at, etc. It is extreme and sometimes that is what is required to realize how much we have, how much we can do without, and ironically how richer life would be with less. It is essentially a fast from things so that in the freed up space, the quieter but more important things are seen. Spiritual truths are revealed. The author shared funny stories and failures but she stuck w...