Wow what a year it has been for the Powell family. Kristen and Jim are still happily married and celebrated year thirteen of marriage! We also celebrated our 7th year of having children in our house, which continues to be a great blessing and,of course, a challenge as well. We are in the middle of our first year of elementary school with Jack (7yrs old--first grade). Thomas (5) is in preschool at Grace Christian preschool. The twins turned two in August and remind us of the Jerry Seinfeld quote:
“A two-year old is kind of like having a blender, but you don't have a top for it.”
Except there are two of them. All at once. Being 2 year olds.
If we ever needed proof that we are incurable optimists it would be this:
Roughly once every 6 weeks or so, we decide to go grocery shopping with all four children. Its either optimism or it takes about 5 weeks for our minds to erase the previous trauma.
So, there isn’t much downtime in this current stage of our life. But so many fun moments help to balance the exhaustion and constant laundry.
2013 Favorite Things:
Jane:
Princesses
Superman Pajamas. Tries to wear these ALL THE TIME
Songs of all kinds. The Ocean Song, Twinkle Twinkle, My God is So Big, Itsy Bitsy Spider
Sneaking into our bed throughout the night.
All kinds of foods.
Anything her older brothers do.
Andrew:
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Singing, Guitars, and Drums. He won’t sing louder than Jane. If you get Jane to stop singing though, he will really belt it out, but otherwise he’s her backup vocalist. His Guitar shirt is tied for favorite with his backhoe shirt.
Rock Star Hair. Our only child with curly hair, and given the chance he will sneak off with his Dad’s hair clay and apply lavish amounts to his locks.
Apple Juice, Raisins, & Clif Kid Zbars. The boy has subsisted for days on those 3 items.
Thomas:
Golf.
The Ravens
Tumbling in the playroom. He puts the toddler slide up and uses Jim’s VMI Hay as his gym mat. He’s got flips with no hands, forward rolls with a twist, lots of flair.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Tricking you into saying the word “Underwear” and then smirking.
Legos.
Puzzles.
Mac & Cheese
Jack:
Loves riding the bus to First Grade. Loves being around all his school friends. Sometimes we threaten to drive him to school as a consequence for bad behavior, and he views this as a fate worse than death.
Legos. Especially Clone Wars Legos.
Soccer. Lots of want to, we hope the actual skills will follow soon. Had that moment when your child in mid-game catches the flying soccer ball with his two hands and all the parents on the sidelines turn to look for his parents.
Superheroes, Ninja Turtles, all things having to do with war, battles, and weapons. His Granddad takes him to Gettysburg when he visits and the two of them couldn’t be happier than on the battlefields talking strategy.
Kristen:
1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Such a fan of this book and Ann Voskamp’s blog www.aholyexperience.com. Life Changing. Transformational for my attitude and perspective in the midst of these busy parenting days.
Dressing a girl.
Speaking occasionally to the 20-Something fellowship group at Crossroads
The rare dinner with grownups, quiet voices, and a leisurely pace.
Working with an amazing team of volunteers to paint cheerful murals in the Crossroads Kids’ hallway this summer.
The twins when they giggle.
Chocolate covered banana chips (now playing at a walmart near you) yum.
The Preschool Mom’s Small Group at Crossroads.
Jim. Still. My favorite.
Singing on the Crossroads’ Worship Team.
Pretty much anything Jen Hatmaker writes.
Jim:
Living in Ravens territory.
Dinner at Charlestons in Baltimore (once in a lifetime…amazing!)
Cooking and baking
Wrestle mania with all 4 kids ganging up on me
Pastoring at Crossroads
Hikes in the woods with the family
Kings of Leon, U2, Zac Brown Band, Hillsong and Mumford & Sons
That time when Kristen won 2 pounds of colossal shrimp and I ate them all. Mostly. I did share some...
Thankful for these gifts this year:
Trip back to Texas in May which included the live Rodeo, amazing tex-mex and BBQ, backyard kid rodeo and great time with family.
Our new house! We moved to Manchester, MD last January. The last time we bought a house and moved into it we had…oh, right, zero kids. So that explains why we thought this move would be no big deal. It has been quite the journey getting moved in with 4 little people "helping" us (yes, we still do have an unpacked box in our living room and our “need to paint” list is very lengthy). BUT, as God so often does, he provided so much more than we could have asked or imagined. We have lots of indoor space, a fenced yard and a great neighborhood with lots of young children. And a garage for the first time ever(who knew this could be such a life changer)! Despite the “Terrible Red Crayon Incident” involving Thomas and 64 linear feet of carpet in 5 rooms and the entire stairway, it is shaping up to be a
Friends who love our kids and offer extra hands to help us as we often seem to be outmatched!
Living in Maryland close enough to see Jim’s family often.
There are so many other things this update letter is missing. As you can see, this blog has fallen by the wayside, but if you are interested in "following" us and seeing a whole lot of pics and staying up to date with Powell adventures Kristen is on Facebook and posts often. You can also email us at Kandj(insert_ourlastname)@ gmail (dot) com.
