15th Anniversary Trip: Chattanooga, TN

It's hard to believe I haven't even posted pictures from our anniversary trip back in April yet ... We had a fantastic time, of course, the bed and breakfast was delightful, the food (most importantly!) was delicious, and the drive was gorgeous. Y'all know Jeff was in seventh heaven driving in the mountains.

The first item of "business" on our itinerary was a tour of the Chattanooga Volkswagen plant. That was pretty amazing. The streamlined processes, the meticulous attention to detail, the effort gone through to preserve the environment while still being practical ... incredible. But no pictures of that!

 Naturally we visited the famous "Chattanooga Choo Choo" hotel, and toured the model railway museum. As you can see from the sky the weather was stunning - it made walking all over town an absolute joy.

Jeff seriously took nearly a dozen pictures to try to get one where I didn't look goofy. But he was determined! I think he almost made it. ;)

We walked across the Walnut Street Bridge - well, halfway across. Then we turned and came back the same way. It was at the end of the day and I just wasn't up for it! You can see the aquarium over my left shoulder - we didn't go on this trip, no time, and we wanted to walk the city rather than be indoors. We even ate lunch outside twice (not on the same day, ha!), it was that beautiful! And on that note, we highly recommend Urban Stack for mouth-watering burgers, and Brewhaus for not necessarily authentic, but deliciously Americanized casual German food.

The views from the bridge speak for themselves ...

The circular design in bricks on the right is an arrangement of fountains.

My favorite view from the bridge.

Our bed and breakfast ... The hospitality there was outstanding - the hostess even prepared some Turkish coffee especially for Jeff when she found out how much he loves his coffee.

My Father's House

This was a view near our B&B on Signal Mountain. The second mountain in the distance is Lookout Mountain. We didn't visit it this time for any day-time hiking, but we did do the Lantern Tour of Ruby Falls which was very cool. We had a terrific tour guide, and that makes all the difference, of course!

Heading home ...

The Pottery Palette

A couple of months ago, two friends of mine opened a new paint-your-own-pottery place in downtown. I was immediately excited, of course! Not only do I love to see new businesses come to the downtown area I couldn't wait to get in there and get creative. When I stopped in to say hello and check the place out, I knew I'd have a hard time deciding what to paint first. From adorable little figurines (owls!) to coffee mugs (Jeff!) to vases and platters ... decisions, decisions.

Anyway, you probably know me well enough to guess that I chose the practical route first. It helped that my friend Amber was with me and she chose the adorable owl, so I got to enjoy that vicariously. I picked out a coaster set, four disks with a black metal holder.

The plan, which I have already implemented, was to make a coaster for each child. Then when they drink water throughout the day they can place their cups on the coaster belonging to them. I don't have to wash 15 cups every day, and they don't have to wonder what happened to their cup.

I wish I were more artistic, but I know my limitations. Initials and polka dots.

Kaity, Joe, Selah, Lauryn. :)

Naturally Lauryn won't be using hers for a while, but I'm sure it'll come in handy for all those cups of coffee I'll need to get through her first year!

Randomness.

One thing I hate about not posting for a while is that I have no idea where to start when I get back to it! Consequently, following is a random collection of daily life snapshots. Enjoy.

Selah declared these bears to be Mommy and Daddy and set them up this way several times over a period of a couple of days. She is such a mess! I'm not sure what this says about her perception of us ...

Selah loves to "help" Joe with his dishes.

Play-Doh! My kids are no exception to the universal love kids have for this salty toy.

When our local library had its grand opening, we had a great time enjoying the festivities. Kaity and Selah had their faces painted. Even though this was a couple of months ago, on a recent trip to the library she asked if she could get a cat on her nose ... it took me a minute to realize she wanted her face painted like a kitty again!

Snuggling and watching TV. My sweet kiddos.

The Big Silver Rectangle

One of the first things Jeff and I began to think about when we learned we'd been blessed with baby #4 is a vehicle. Our small house was a close second, but we figured we'd cross that bridge later. The vehicle situation was a bit more urgent. A family of six would definitely not fit in either a Jetta or a Taurus. Jeff began an internet search over the next few weeks, just keeping an eye on what was out there and figuring up how much money we'd need, the value of our current vehicles and how to juggle it all around to get a van of some sort. Being a VW nut, he naturally had picked out his ideal - a 2003 Eurovan. In the meantime, we had been borrowing his parents' truck, trying to sell it for them while one of our vehicles was undergoing maintenance.

Jeff's parents had graciously offered to share a portion of the sale price of their truck to help us get what we needed for a van. That amount plus what we saved, plus selling one of our cars would give us a nice amount for a good used vehicle. We were very thankful and Jeff continued looking for a suitable van. After some thought and prayer, Jeff and his parents decided that it would be easier all around if we just traded vehicles - we would have the truck to sell, keeping all the money from it, and he would sign over the Jetta to them and they could sell that.

Meanwhile, incredibly, Jeff found a 2003 Eurovan, silver, in really good condition but with high mileage. The price was truly lower than we'd ever expected to find, yet slightly higher than what we could profit from the truck. Exchanging emails, Jeff inquired whether they'd take anything in trade. The reply was a curt, "Only a 4 wheel drive truck." Well, guess what we had to trade ...

After more emails with pictures and details going back and forth, the couple agreed to meet up with us - at their house in North Carolina to see if the trade would work out. You know how there are moments in your life when everything comes together perfectly? That God has truly orchestrated the steps and prepared the way so that His hand is unmistakable? This was one of those times. They immediately liked the truck and we knew this was the van for us.

As the men looked over the vehicles, the wife and I began chatting and discovered many similarities in our lives - a connection to the military, children with a similar age gap (i.e. Kaity and baby being 13 years apart), homeschooling, even their little girl's name being the same as Joe's middle name! When we walked into their home, the first thing that caught my eye was a familiar-looking carved wooden plaque on the wall. As I approached it, I realized the carving was of the city where I was born in Germany, with the name carved underneath! When I asked about it, the husband told us his grandmother had immigrated to the United States from that very city.

It was really overwhelming to see God meet this need in our lives so beautifully. We traded the truck evenly for the van, at no out-of-pocket expense other than the gas to collect it.

As an interesting follow-up, Jeff's brother Jason had had the Jetta, working on it and getting it ready to sell. Jeff and I went to pick it up so Jeff could list it for sale and have it available to show to those interested. When Jeff arrived home with it, our neighbor came over to ask about it. Amazingly, he was in the market for a good used vehicle and ended up buying the Jetta!

Our van, which I affectionately refer to as The Big Silver Rectangle. It's much roomier than a standard minivan and we love it! It seats seven, in case God has any more surprises in store for us ...

A Rose By Any Other Name ...

Our littlest girl has a name at last!

Lauryn has been on our list for a long time - I've wanted an "L" initial because I love the way it sounds and looks and I love to write it in cursive ... we chose the "-yn" spelling because it echoes the spelling of my mom's name and of Kaitlyn's.

Elyse is a popular German name meaning "Pledged to God". It's very similar to another family name, Lois, without being the same name. A bonus is that it is the middle name of two lovely, godly women I know.

McKinney is Jeff's mom's maiden name. We have always liked it and wanted to use it but have been hesitant because it's also our nephew's name. Because Lauryn will have Elyse as her official middle name we wanted to honor Jeff's mom and their Irish heritage by using it here. 

A New Hair ... Don't.

Several weeks ago, our youngest little troublemaker got hold of a pair of scissors and cut a swatch of hair out of what would be bangs if she had them. I've been waiting for the hair to grow out enough to actually trim bangs all the way across in order to even out the look a little! That section is still a bit short, but I decided it was close enough to work.

Here she is, in all her banged and silly glory:

CHEESE!

You can see where she cut out a chunk, but I didn't want to go that short with her bangs. They'll even out eventually!

The Best Laid Plans ...

As Robert Burns famously said - "The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, Gang aft agley ..." which is most commonly translated, "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry ..."

Joe vividly illustrated that for us today! We took the kiddos to Jeff's parents' house last night in anticipation of our departure to Tennessee to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. Thankfully we did not plan to leave until tomorrow since this afternoon I got an apologetic phone call from Cheryl letting me know that Joe had wrecked his bike and gashed his chin on the bike's handlebars. She thought it would probably need stitches. She was right! I drove out there and picked him up, taking him to the local urgent care facility.

He was pretty nervous, as he didn't remember the last time he needed stitches. Anyway, Joe is a brave soul and five stitches later he's doing much better!

Warning: Graphic-ish "before" shot to follow!

Bless his heart.

Nobody is a Secret Agent - Chapter 7, part 3

Nobody is a Secret Agent - Chapter 7, Part 3

By Kaity Pittard, Extraordinaire

Previously... "Do you know what's in that door over there?"

"No, I've never really wondered, want to find out?"

"Sure". She pulled out a key and handed it to Jessica. Jessica walked over and put the key in the lock and turned it. The door swung open...

Inside the door were some plastic bags and twist ties, like the ones used to package the ginger bread men in the stand above. In between the two piles of objects was a small roundish object wrapped in heavy brown paper. Jessica gasped, she slowly pulled it out. She pushed back the paper, the surface was glistening red, the missing ruby! Jessica had done it! The girl was curious, 

    "What's that?" Tara asked.

    "A stolen ruby, and I just found it!"

    "A stolen ruby?! Here? How?"

    "That's what I'm wondering", said Jessica. Tiger walked by, and through the glass front of the bakery, saw the scene inside. She rushed in.

    "What's going on?" said Tiger, in a slightly baffled yet inquiring tone.

    "I found it, I found the ruby!"

    "Really?, that's great! You'd better get home before your Mom realizes you're gone!"

    "You're right, bye!" They walked outside.

    "Here, hand me the ruby, I'll return it." Jessica gave her the brown parcel. As it exchanged hands, someone darted forward and grabbed it. Judging by the suddenness of his appearance, he had been waiting outside for her to leave so he could recover his treasure. It had to be the thief. Immediately, they ran after him. It had stopped raining, but it was hard not to slip. He was very fast, they rounded turn after turn but could never get him. Tiger made her go back down the tube to the Agency. With all the action, Jessica could hardy stand to leave, but she did what she was told. As she called Julie to open the tube, she heard the chase get farther ad farther away, finally fading as Jessica jumped in.

~

    "Where in the world were you?!"

    "I was looking for you!"

    "Don't yell at me, I told you to stay in one spot if you're lost!"

    "Yeah Jessica, Mom said-"

    "Knock it off Kyle!"

    "Calm down you two!" Jessica was trying to find an excuse for being missing. She had just found her Mom and brother in the store after getting back. She figured she would have to withstand her Mom's wrath.

    "I'm sorry Mom, I panicked."

    "Alright, don't let it happen again. Let's just finish up shopping and get home." Whew! Jessica was surprised she was let off so easily. It wouldn't happen again, she had to be more careful.

Chapter Eight Coming soon,

Something Surprising will be revealed about Alice!

Scripture Scraps

I saw this idea on Pinterest a couple of weeks ago and I knew I had to do it! It's a scripture memory book, made in scrapbook style. Since I've begun mine, Selah has already proven that she loves to look through it. The idea is to intersperse family and familiar pictures with relevant scripture that you want to memorize.

Kaity has enjoyed the project, too, and made a page of her own with her favorite verse, 1 Timothy 4:12. I'm really looking forward to adding more and more pages so that we can hide God's word in our hearts.

Like Father, Like Daughter

I guess she's seen her daddy in this position enough times that it just seemed like the thing to do!

She had all the necessary tools -  a set of dominoes, keys, and her "scooverdrive".