In Medias Res

What's been going on with the house?

2010-09-07T01:43:34Z

Things have slowed down quite a bit, but here are a few pictures of our progress.

Halleigh's Day

2010-08-05T01:16:37Z

Today the demons had it out for Halleigh.
She started the day by nose-diving out of the car onto the concrete busting open her lip and scraping her face raw.
Then she ended the day by stepping on a nail that went straight through her shoe and about an inch into her foot. How it didn't poke out the top, I don't know. Luckily she is up on her shots, so crisis and shots were averted. Injury #1 at the at the house goes to Halleigh Jane Travis.
Poor kid, better luck tomorrow HJ.

Beau 15-Month Stats

2010-08-02T01:10:02Z

Height: 31 inches 45th percentile
Weight: 21.08 lbs 8th percentile
Head Circ.: 46 cm 18th percentile

He's started running with bent knees. Which is a huge improvement over the Frankenstein run he was doing. He throws a ball almost as well as Halleigh. His favorite toys include all balls, cars, trucks, strollers, bats, pretty much anything he can push, throw, swing, or kick. He's such a boy.
New words: cookie, doggie, dada, up
He learned how to blow bubbles, jump off the side of the pool, and hold his breath. We have really enjoyed the pool this summer and he really is quite comfortable in the water.
Halleigh calls him creamy (soft skin).

Recent House Pictures

2010-07-26T14:08:34Z

Here is the link to the latest house pictures. Be forewarned that some of them are pretty scary. For those of you who will enjoy time at our house in the future, rest assured that all scariness will be replaced. :)

Shawnee House Renovation July 26th

A note on grief

2010-07-23T11:19:22Z

Admittedly, I haven't had to deal with a whole lot of death and loss in my lifetime. All of my grandparents, thank the Lord, are still living. (Actually I have lost most of my step-grandparents, but the people who have loved me from my conception are all still alive.)

In this microwave cooking, instant grits, fly across the country in a few hours, instant communication via Skype and email world, one thing that nature still has it's firm grasp on is grief. You can't speed through or abbreviate the grieving process. Every morning, for the last seven days, I have laid in my bed looking at an empty spot on the floor and wished that someone had figured out how to microwave cook through grief.

It has been a week, and the wound from the hole is my heart is still quite raw, sometimes still seeping with anguish... where is the heal in seven days Neosporin for that?

Kona Bean Travis July 2, 2003- July 16, 2010

2010-07-21T15:17:37Z

I didn't know what I wanted to do as a memorial for Kona on the blog. As a journal of sorts of our life, I felt like something had to be said. But what do you say?

She was a one of a kind dog. There has never and will never again be a dog just like Kona. She was exactly what we needed in our life when we got her.

She was named after Kona Coffee Beans, we went on our honeymoon to Hawaii and fell in love with Kona coffee, and so it seemed fitting that our brown and black dog be named Kona Bean.

She has been a constant companion of Miles and I for pretty much our whole marriage. She has been all over the country and has experienced things that dogs rarely get to do. Snowshoeing in Montana, backpacking through Utah, swimming in Key West, visiting our nation's capitol, being the mascot for a middle school youth group, traveling across the country in the front seat of a Honda Civic, camping in Yellowstone, swimming in the boiling river, Snake, Logan, Maddison, Gallatain, Yellowstone, Bull Run, and Eno rivers (the girl liked to swim) and the list goes on and on.

I tearfully went through hundreds of pictures that we have of our beloved Kona, and here are a few that I love.

She was our fluffy muppet, our western big-eared dog and we loved her more than we can put into words. She truly was part of our family and we all feel the hole that she left. We gave her the best life that we could, and hope that she knew to her last breath that she was cherished.

Our house

2010-07-16T21:50:48Z

Here is a link to the album where I will be posting renovation pictures of our house. The pictures have captions, which will hopefully tell the story.

We have already done quite a bit of work, and I'll update the album with pictures as we go, so you too can share in the drama. :)

Shawnee House Renovation June 30th

There are no words to express how much I love this boy!

2010-06-21T02:33:45Z

Beach Week

2010-06-08T15:30:17Z

Cleaning off the camera

2010-05-22T02:12:58Z

In preparation for our trip to the gulf coast next week, I cleaned off the SD card in our camera, and found a few (okay, so several) gems that I had to share... enjoy!

Beau at One Year

2010-05-06T19:40:16Z

Weight: 20.04 lbs (15th Percentile)
Height: 30 inches (50th Percentile)
Head: 18 inches (25th Percentile)

Walking, saying a few words (Kona- Ka, Halleigh- Ha, Mama, Daddy, hi, uh oh), eating everything in sight, cuddly, climbing on EVERYTHING!

The supreme compliment

2010-05-05T15:41:03Z

I knew I had arrived, in Halleigh's eyes, when she looked up at me this morning and said, "Mom, you are the best ballerina mom in the world, I so so really love you." My cup runneth over.

Easter!

2010-04-05T16:26:50Z

We had such a great Easter; an Easter church reception, church service, and the annual Weinard Easter Party. It was A LOT of fun and we had two very tired children at the end of the day. I can't wait to see the annual picture that Chad and Ashley take of the party goers.
I think that Halleigh is in sugar shock today.

One funny story from the day: When we woke Halleigh up to get ready for church we were telling her that it was Easter and that we had a surprise for her in the dining room (her Easter basket). She wasn't really excited, so Miles asked her, "Halleigh do you know about what we celebrate for Easter?" She immediately brighten and said, "Yes, Jesus... hold on let me get my bible." She quickly turned to the Easter story in her Jesus Storybook Bible and I read her the Easter story. She sat there quietly and after she said, "Jesus is alive again," in the most matter of fact voice she has. Then we went to see the Easter basket... Miles and I turned to each other and laughed; we must be doing something right! She was more excited about the Easter story in the bible than the surprise waiting for her in the other room.

Things I am looking forward to about moving:

2010-04-03T13:09:46Z

1. The laundry room, main entry, and kitchen will no longer be the same room.
2. There will be an area for toys, that is not in the living room
3. The office and treadmill will not be in our bedroom anymore.
4. We'll have a bathroom specifically for guests.
5. We are buying and AWESOME refrigerator.
6. Flat cook top on the oven.
7. 1/2 miles from Duke Park

When we are up to our eyeballs in renovation work, you may have to remind me of this list. YAY!

and the winner is...

2010-04-02T16:06:39Z

We have told many people about this and then I forgot that I had not officially recognized it on IMR... home sweet home... after a major remodel, hopefully sometime around July 1st.

1619 Shawnee St.