Estimated reading time: 4 minute(s)

Since computer (and especially blogging) time is limited… please allow me to share some fun stories/thoughts using another list-style post…

• Julia just turned two, but she is the smartest cookie in the bunch sometimes. This week she has been really helpful with the laundry. I don’t always know whose clothes are whose, but she does! Seriously funny. And helpful! Also, she is a great talker (though sometimes hard to understand). Maybe one of the cutest things she says is when she’s really excited about something, she says, “Yay-uh”. (Pronounced like a souther gospel preacher, which I’m pretty sure she’s never heard…) 🙂 Hilarious!
• The Sabres won tonight. They keep stringing me along. They sit 5 points out of the final playoff spot with only 12 possible points remaining. Thanks to some good scheduling, the team we are chasing (Boston) is our opponent for two of those games, so we can possibly make up 4 points in those two games. There’s still a very outside chance they can make the playoffs, but I’m really not optimistic about any chance of advancing if they do. We shall see…
• Michigan State has worked their way into the sweet sixteen in the NCAA tournament. (Which is now only the terrific twelve or something after last night’s games…) They really have a good team this year. Solid rebounding (as always) from our big guys, Namick & Suton, and a stellar freshman Kalin Lucas, as well as solid scoring threats in Morgan, Allen, & Gray. Ohh yeah… we also have that guy Drew Neitzel… he’s pretty good. (If you don’t know him, he’s a senior, and he was fanastic as a sophomore at least, and has only kept getting better.) 🙂 They play Friday (and hopefully Sunday). Friday’s game is against the #1 seed in the South region, Memphis. 9:57pm tip off on CBS. Well worth watching!
• Kirstie just oozes nice. It’s incredible. If there is ever any “not-niceness” between anyone in the family, Kirstie steps in to the edification of the one not-niced. Every time. She’s so great! Such a gentle heart. She’s my little lover. She often tells me, “I just love you, Dad!” And then gives me a big hug, and often a big kiss. Well, as you can guess… I just love her, too. 🙂
• Sometimes I really can’t believe how old Ian is. He is nine, and definitely becoming his own person. We can see the things he really likes to do. He even talks about it. He’s starting to figure it out too. He’s very creative. He too is a gentle spirit. (Sometimes too gentle. 🙁 Easily crushed.) He’s an artist. He’s such a people person. Loves people. Could be his weakness actually (people pleasing) but it will also be a great strength. I’m honestly a little nervous about this transitional stage. Will I(we) handle it well? Will we be able to encourage Ian as he really begins becoming a unique individual? It’s a very interesting stage for all of us. I think we are merely on the cusp, but we’re definitely there. All we can do is just love him, train him best we know how, and live out what we say. And overall, make sure he knows that he is completely safe with us any time and always. That may be harder than it sounds – or I may just think too much. 🙂
• Alex is TOO picky! Argh. It’s been quite a struggle with people bringing us food (a bunch of new stuff he hasn’t really seen before) and getting him to eat. Not to mention the great Easter candy he knows we have… that’s quite a distraction as well. 🙂 It was funny today when we were dealing with all that again for the 17,000th time that I actually thought of “the kids in India” when I was so mad at his pickiness. “You know, the kids in India don’t have any food! They just eat rice, if they can find any!!!” (Not sure on the accuracy of that statement… but thought it was funny that I actually thought it, and sorta used it. I am truly a dad, and truly old.) 🙂
• Emma Caroline couldn’t be cuter. 🙂 Funny story from today… we got a new monitor so Jen can be down here and Emma can sleep upstairs. All of a sudden we heard a screaming baby in the monitor! Yikes! What happened?? That was not normal. (Although, she has had a tendency to “freak out” at times…) So, Jen went to help her – but she was sound asleep. Completely still. Weird. When Jen came back down, Emma started freaking out again! Worse than before! Very, very strange… Jen went back up… Emma was completely still!!!! Finally, we sent Ian up to check while we stayed down to listen… you guessed it.. we were picking up someone else’s baby!!!! Ha! Very weird. Kinda funny… very weird.

Much more to tell, but no time, and no energy with which to tell it. Must sleep.