Finished!

As You May Have Heard...

We got some snow here. A lot of snow. In our attempt to be both frugal and stay with the church here in NY through Christmas (as it turns out, almost everyone in the church went "home" for Christmas) we booked a December 28 flight to Tennessee which was cancelled following this week's blizzard.

Ezra offered to clear the runway at LGA with his snow plow (a plastic tub) so that our plane could take off. I informed him that I had no snow clearing device (we just have the one plastic tub) and he told me that was okay, I could just use my hands. After some convincing, he finally accepted the fact that he and I would not be able to clear the runways ourselves. His back-up plan was to walk to Tennessee. We could just put him in the backpack carrier. He could wear his sunglasses so that the snow wouldn't blow into his eyes and he'd wear his snow pants and we could just start walking. He really, really wanted to see his grandparents.

Here are some of the sights from Long Island City:





I took a video from our window, but will have to try again later to upload it. In the meantime, enjoy this time lapse video of the snowfall by Mike Black:

December 2010 Blizzard Timelapse from Michael Black on Vimeo.

Today, Corey completed plans for the boys' bunk beds in Google Sketchup. The plan is for toddler sized mattresses and the top bed is only 44" from the ground. We plan to hang room darkening curtains from the top rail. Ezra had been sleeping in a Kidco Peapod Plus, which we loved until it broke. (We got a lot of wear out of it and will likely buy another someday.) Elias is in a Pack-N-Play, but we'd like to have real beds for them, so this is our plan:



There WILL be a rail on that bottom bed and we may put an extra rail up top. I'll post some pictures when we get it finished.

Ezra and I went out to the playground this morning and started work on an igloo. We plan to close in the roof tomorrow and post some pictures. Stay tuned. We got our place cleaned up and are working on a video tour for you.

We're pretty bummed about not being able to see friends and family for Christmas and New Year's celebrations, but it has been nice to have some downtime together.

L

While You Were (Supposed to Be) Sleeping

I came home from a late night grocery run to discover Ezra, rather than sleeping, had been doing a little work in TuxPaint. Computer on mute so as not to be discovered by Corey. Apparently he had also been shopping for a new iPod, browsing Photo Booth pics, and adjusting the settings on my laptop.

*GASP!* There's Blood EVERYWHERE!

So today things were going fairly well. Then Ezra decided to use our apple peeler/corer/slicer to prepare himself a snack. Not to be outdone, little e. raced to get in on the action.

(DISCLAIMER: this story gets disgusting. If you are squeamish, you should stop reading now.)

Minor altercation in the kitchen.

Boys were separated and returned to a (relatively) safe position.

Ezra's world ends. Not only have I taken his hope of a snack, but I have also kept him from beating his brother in what otherwise would have been a fair fight.

Flailing ensues.

Flailing continues.

Flailing and mourning make a tour of the living room/dining room/bedroom.

The disturbed elder child ends his raging after taking a flying leap into his brother's bed. When I feel he has calmed down enough to hear what's going to happen next, I approach. (Side note: I do not condone the throwing of fits. It prompts in me such distaste that I have found it best lately to remain calm and not engage in emotional warfare with my 2-year-old.)

I stop. Blood. Everywhere. Something incoherent about boogers.

I figure he has a bloody nose, but how? It's all over his face, hands, and neck. It's almost as disgusting as the time a couple of months back that the little guy drew on the walls... I'll stop. Suffice it to say that they have now each had a "Carrie" moment.

So the elder is not injured. He's still mumbling about boogers and his apple slicer as I race off to find the younger who must surely have collapsed by now.

Little guy is clean. Back to Ezra. I managed to find the tiniest cut on the tip of his small finger. Apparently he had cut it on the slicer, but the cut was so minor he either didn't realize or didn't care. I calm down and take a look around and that's when I notice...

THERE. IS. BLOOD. EVERYWHERE.

Everything he rolled around on and stomped across. Books. Carpet, (yay, washable FLOR tiles!) pillows, rugs, couch cushions, blankets...I could go on, but I'm sure that's more than enough for you. Call it a late Halloween story. ...or Reformation Day story, whichever you prefer because believe me, there will be a reformation in the life of my elder child. (How 'bout them apples, big E.?) I sincerely hope we are nearing the end of our "fireside chats" on the topic of tantrums.

Time With Boys and Fun at Maker Faire

Couple of pictures taken recently;

the boys driving around inside Home Depot, and Ezra at the cafe for man-time. The pictures say enough about themselves

What great boys!

Trying to upload video from the make magazine world maker faire, which Leann presented at, making paper with her partner Grace. I sneaked away and watched this cool demonstration of the coke zero and Mentos trick.

Kimpossible and the Civil War

We're still alive! Our neighborhood is not Mr. Rogers' in the least, but they haven't gotten us yet. We're pretty fast. Don't worry about us! We're safe here and so are the kids. Well, little e. is shaping up to be quite the scrapper, so at least one of the kids is safe. There are a number of things to account for our recent lack of posts. Nothing, I'm sure that would be of interest to you--just ordinary life stuff. I have started a business with a friend of ours. We've made a whopping $15. We would mow yards to supplement, but we haven't found any yet. Heh.

If you know any kids in NY, let them know they're missing out on some top-notch arts experiences.

As for our living arrangements, I had some old photos, but the place looks completely different now. We've got a storage unit we're clearing out so every time we bring something home, the whole place has to shift. I'll get some pictures of our apartment on here for you to see. Here are a couple of winter photos for you to puzzle over in the meantime:

I'm not sure what Queens residents have with cartoon characters. Maybe Garfield and Kimpossible are unrelated and we shouldn't make a case study.

Corey says it's like we're living in a puzzle. And it is! For example:

Yesterday we brought home some furniture so I had to get rid of a floor lamp and replace it with a wall sconce. The sconce-hanging process involved unplugging and rearranging 6 different devices whose cords were wedged behind large pieces of furniture. It was moderately comical. I had to unplug everything we have and move every piece of large furniture in our house in order to hang a lamp. (I told you you wouldn't be interested to hear what we've been up to. Heh.)

For those of you who were wondering what we've been up to with The Gallery, here's the rundown:

-Corey has been working to fine-tune membership stuff. That includes record-keeping, letter sending, and all that goes along with that. The things that, if you've been in a church that's had a hundred years to fine-tune, you probably haven't thought much about. We hadn't.

-I have been working with the Gallery mommas to get a story time running. It ultimately geared toward helping us get to know the families in our area. I'll also be stepping in to a more hands-on role in our children's ministry.

-Corey has also started seminary with the SBTS extension here. We feel that the strong presence of a theologically solid seminary will be vital to ministry in the city. We have seen first hand the effects of misinformation and lack of knowledge on undue prejudices against believers.

-We have been building relationships with members. We have tried to love and encourage and strengthen the community of believers and the church whenever possible. I'm not sure how to quantify this for you, but we feel we have been able to be of particular help in this area.

We plan to send out a more detailed letter in the near future to let you know where we've been and what the future may look like for us. If you've never received anything from us at your current address, please send mailing address to: leann [dot] gregory [at] gmail [dot] com.

One thing I've picked up on is that there exists in many New Yorkers I have spoken with personally a certain prejudice against Southerners. I wonder how much of that is still left from postbellum America. I've been thinking a lot about...about how we develop our systems of thought and belief or, in some cases, fail to adequately develop them... (by adequate, I might just mean adequate by my standards.) I've been hanging around artists and watching a lot of Civil War movies. And bits of reality TV. If you shake that up in a person's brain with a little bit of Chesterton and a night time view of Manhattan, strange things happen. Maybe I'll save all of this for later.

Let's see who's still reading. What's your favorite Civil War movie? If you're not into Civil War movies, what's your favorite book about the Civil War?

Leann

Tents, Beer Pong, and Providence

So this weekend we went camping. That's the commonality between the three things in the title.

Obviously, we stayed in tents. The Burtons (thanks for inviting us!) went with and we had lots of fun. It seemed like eating supper on time was not in God's plan for us. The first night, right at supper time there was a random rain storm. We had to wait it out and then eat. On night two we came back from a day of exploring the beaches and coasts of Rhode Island, and our secluded campsite had turned in to the state's largest beer-pong game (not saying much, since we were in RI). So we had to move our entire setup to a different campsite before supper in case someone decided to give our children beer (Ezra will have to wait till I get out of Seminary) or pee on our tents. There were no hard feelings between the two factions (family vs. underage drinkers), but we had to eat supper after dark.

On the way home we stopped in Providence. No, I don't have a great story about how God made something great happen. We did stop at Cracker Barrel, though, which is always providential.

Hulio the Cartel, and Original Sin

So Greg Hitt has been bugging me to go see Michael Daves play for almost as long as I've known him. The only problem is he plays on Tuesday nights at 10:00, which would make for a rough Wednesday at school. I decided yesterday that there are more important things than sleep, so I went down to SoHo with him last night, and oh my was it good.

But the real story is what happened afterward. Greg and I were hanging around outside the subway, and up comes Soren from Denmark, complimenting us on our incredible style (yes, I thought it odd too). Shortly thereafter, Hulio, the owner of the establishment next to which we were standing, came out, introduced himself, told us he could tell we were good men, and then briefly defended the actions of the Mexican drug cartel.

He went in, came back out to tell us about his life and his catholic girlfriend, and muse about the human condition. The most pointed moment was when he said, with his thick, Cuban, son of a gangster accent, I think we are all basically good, etc. I replied that I didn't think I was born good. He replied to my reply that, yes, I was born good. I contested saying, maybe you're right, but something bad happened, and indeed happens to us all, which comment he wholeheartedly agreed with. Good talk.

If you'd told me two years ago I'd find myself standing at the entrance to a subway with my new friend from Ohio, talking to the owner of hispanic club about original sin, I'd have said...well...I guess I'd have said that sounds like fun; indeed it was.

Letters

Dearest Husband,

Please make SURE I am AWAKE before you leave for work. This morning I rose to find our eldest engaged in a rousing game of Settlers of Catan. He refers to it as, "The star game." It seems we will need to do some remediation in the area of shape identification.

Thank You,

Your Loving Wife

P.S. After he finished Settlers, he designated a plastic comb as a knife and proceeded to saw his granola bar into tiny pieces while using his foot to try and turn on the TV to watch Wonder Pets. "If I push that button, The Wonder Pets will come on TV. They certainly will."

Dear Elias,

Please stop waking up at 3:30 AM. I realize it's probably habit and, being the social creature you are, you just need company however we would all be much happier if you could just tough it out. Since we are in this tiny studio with neighbors on both sides, we can't just let you cry it out. Perhaps you could just restrain yourself between the hours of 7PM and 6AM. I feel this is a reasonable request.

Love,

Mom

Dear Reader,

Thank you for bearing with us through endless stories about our children. We are faring as well as a couple possibly could in a tiny apartment in NYC. This past week, we spotted some crocuses peeking up out of the ground in Central Park. It seems we have made it through the cold night. Winter is on its way out. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine what Noah must have felt when he saw that first patch of dry land. We've been lost at sea all winter, but it feels great to be able to get out again and stretch our legs and remember how warm and wonderful the sunshine can be.

We have decided to stay in New York another year. We miss friends and family, but we feel that we have been able to be of some service to the church here and have finally met some kindred spirits with whom to share bits of our lives. We are spurring one another on toward love and good deeds. The church here has had its share of struggles, but we see signs of life too numerous to count. The Lord has graced us with His light in many ways.

This Stick

DO TOOO.

12345 Go! Yay! Yaaaaaaay!

My Mouth is for scraping my teeth.

Tonodono. Ewayowayo.

We can't talk.

Note: The previous post (including the title) was dictated by my 2 yr old. So, here are some pictures. One is of two kids at my school that dressed up like you know who. The other is my beautiful wife and youngest son, Elias.

Ezra said...

"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great...job."

I guess if you have to work, that's not a bad job to have!

Rene Milot

34 Degrees

It's cold outside. Today I moved into the final stage of grief for warmer weather: acceptance. I miss the summer. I look forward to warmer weather with great anticipation. By the time it is reasonably comfortable outside, little e. will be sitting up. Maybe he will start crawling. Big E. might be big enough to walk to the playground, or at least pedal his tricycle. There will be leaves on the trees and flowers in the grass. It is beautiful that our Creator gives us a concrete reminder of what it is to hope for renewal.

I made a green tea cake for church this week. Boy, was it ugly. Have you ever seen the cakes I have made? I have made some seriously ugly cakes. I should keep an ugly cake scrapbook. The matcha colored the frosting a terribly unappetizing moss green. E. won't even eat it. He doesn't know his colors yet, but he knows there is something wrong with that cake. I tried putting powdered sugar on it. That made it worse and I didn't think it could get any worse. It looked like mold. Needless to say, I kept the ugly (but absolutely delicious) cake for myself. Today I offered a piece to E. He said, "Okay. Momma, will you cut the green part off my piece?" Maybe I'll save this recipe for St. Patrick's day.

Happy New Year!

Not much to say about these last few weeks. We've had our ups and downs. How about some pictures? (Most recent first--all the way back to Christmas morning.)

E. and I went up to the roof to build a snowman.

Is this your headband? No? It's not mine, either.

Friends!

White Christmas (notice that the bag of trash is actually whiter than the snow)

Ezra got a guitar for Christmas. It's a little green guitar.

Opening Christmas presents