2015 Powell Christmas Update

Welcome! Thanks for checking in to our annual blog update!  

At our house, Santa's got nothing on the UPS guy.  Andrew loves to watch the truck and often asks the UPS guy lots of questions.  This year, it was his obvious choice for Halloween.

Video of Andrew, the UPS guy on Halloween.  It was one of his favorite days.  His truck was filled with tiny boxes (packages) of Nerds and Dots.  So great.

2015 Milestones

~Andrew finally finished potty training and for the FIRST TIME IN EIGHT YEARS we crossed  diapers/pullups off our monthly shopping list.  Rejoice with us.
~The twins started 3 day preschool and for the FIRST TIME IN EIGHT YEARS Kristen was alone for 6.9 hours each week. 
~This September, our family went for a walk in the woods...and nobody shlepped around a giant backpack filled with just-in-case-clothes/wipes/pullups/snacks.  Jim and I realized its one of the first family outings now that we have hit this new stage where life with kids is a little more free with a little less baggage (physical...perhaps not emotional). :)

2015 Favorites

Jack, age 9:
SPORTS
The Ravens
The Orioles
Playing football for the North Carroll Titans (first year!)
Baseball all-star AND winner of the Home Run Derby
Football cards.  Asking his Dad repeatedly...is this guy good?
Determined, Perpetual Motion, Reckless, Passionate
Neon.  Under Armour.  And Nike.
Roaming neighborhood and woods with walkie-talkies.

Tom, age 7:
SPORTS with his older brother (especially kicking field goals!)
The Eagles (thanks Uncle Eric!)
The Orioles
Playing basketball for St. John (Knicks)
Math wiz, and reads pretty well too
Baseball team with big brother--an amazing catcher!
Comedian, Crowd Pleaser, Loyal, Perpetual Motion, Kind-hearted
Also Neon.  Under Armour.  Nike.
Roaming neighborhood and woods with walkie-talkies.

Andrew, age 4.5:
Playing with his firetrucks and backhoes. (He can play toys for longer than any of our other kids ever could...combined!)  Andrew plays with toys the way Andy did in Toy Story...he pulls unrelated items, plus a repurposed hot wheels track segment and carefully curated collection of hardware from Jim's workbench and sets up masterfully creative playscapes and interactions between Thomas the train (who lives at the Fire Station and works as a Fire Train) and batman and a lego helicopter.
Being the UPS man for Halloween...and months thereafter.
A Wiseman in Christmas play at pre-school (spot on acting!)
Legos
Favorite Song is holding steady as Tractor, Tractor by Andrew Peterson.
When we ask him his favorite part of school, he smiles and says, "Leaving."  He's kidding.  But he's gonna work that joke for as long as he can.

Jane, age 4.5:
Jane is a delightful contrast to the boys.  She can hold her own with them in terms of energy and fight and recklessness, but she is gentle and nurturing and graceful.  She loves pretty things and tea parties and princesses and dancing.
We bought her a pink Nerf bow & arrow as a Christmas gift.  And a jewelry box.
Jane has a happy heart and will spontaneously burst out with a joyful, "This is the BEST _____ EVER!!!!"  
Legos
Writing and Drawing

In March we were able to meet Ravens player Terrell Suggs and Justin Forsett. 

Easter

Spring Baseball 2015.  Both boys played for the Rockies

Trip to Texas to meet new cousin Kennedy!

Jane and cousin Karoline!

All the grandkids and Kaki and Grandad

This kid LOVES firetrucks

This is also how his Mom felt on the 1st Day of School.

Halloween

This year Crossroads Community Church launched a new campus in Hampstead, MD (about 6 minutes from our house) and that has been an exciting and demanding project for Jim as he continues to oversee Worship and Ministries at both campuses and invest in an excellent team of staff and volunteers.  He continues to preach occasionally as well as leading worship off and on.  Kristen continues to chase kids around the house, do mountains of perpetual laundry, clean up messes of all sorts, attempt to make things pretty and run smoothly (or just run) at home, figure out how to parent 3 strong willed high energy children, and leads the Christmas decorations effort at Crossroads.  She occasionally teaches at the 20 something group and the premarital seminar with Jim.  Contact Kristen on facebook....we'd love to hear from you!

Powell Christmas Update 2014

Merry Christmas from the Powell family!

"Are you tired? Worn out?...Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." ~Jesus, Matthew 11: 28-30

Living freely and lightly...yes, please! We have been learning to relax into the freedom of grace. Finding joy by recognizing all that we are constantly being given. Our prayer for you this Christmas is that the freedom, lightness of heart, and grace available to all of us through Jesus will define your days.

2014 Christmas Update

This year has been a first for us in that we had no children between the ages of birth and 2.5. It has allowed us to discover and enjoy some of the more “non stroller friendly” areas of Maryland, including Kristen's new favorite escape from reality Ladew Topiary Gardens, which is where we had our impromptu Christmas card photo taken (as well as the photos below with red brick backgrounds)

Another first is that in September we passed up our 4th anniversary as Maryland residents and we have now lived in Maryland longer than any other state since we both left for college. Lexington, VA still claims 6 non-consecutive years (1996-2000 and 2004-2006) but we have finally managed to live in one place for longer than 4 years in a row. Milestone.

Jack(8) is in 2nd grade and Tom(6) is in Kindergarten at Manchester Elementary. The twins are 3 and a half "ish" and fun as ever. They stay at home with Kristen during the days, spending most of their time playing together with toys or dressing up as Batman/UPS man/Cinderella/Queen Elsa and many others.

Most days end with both Kristen and myself feeling like we've been run over by a freight train, but we also have a deep sense of thankfulness for the young lives that God has entrusted us with. We feel mostly in-over-our-heads, but certainly privileged to be parents to these kiddos!

In many ways the previous two paragraphs sum up our lives in 2014, but a few other things stand out as well: 1) Jim is still Worship Pastor at Crossroads Community Church in Westminster, MD. He loves it, and leads a team of staff to create a refreshing environment in which all people are welcome and can experience the truth of who Jesus is in an engaging, modern, relevant, and creative way. 2) Kristen is volunteering with leading a Mom's of Pre-schoolers group at the church, which has been an encouragement to both she and the group as a whole, as they navigate this monumental task of raising children. 3) We made it to Ocean City, MD again this summer and had a great time swimming and eating too much Fisher's caramel corn. 4) Jack played spring soccer and had a great time, and had a few great kicks. 5) We visited Lexington, VA, home of both VMI (Jim's Alma Mater) and Washington and Lee (Kristen's Alma Mater). While visiting we had a chance to see a re-enactment of the Battle of New Market (150th Anniversary) which was mind-blowing for the kids (o.k...and Jim). 6) Kristen's parents (Kaki and Grandad) visited several times, which is always great, but especially when we had a chance to sit in the backyard at the picnic table and have a traditional Maryland Crab feast. It doesn't get much better than that! 7) Jack and Tom were baptized this August. Pure joy!

We'll leave this update with a few of our "Favorite Things" from 2014:

Favorite Things 2014

Andrew:
Delivery Trucks (Dewivewy Twucks). He spent today in his UPS uniform. He fetches the mail from the mailbox and delivers it to our front door.
Batman Toys
Saying the Lego Movie line: "Honey, where are my pants??"
Back-hoes
Snack Bars (clif z-bars for kids. Send him some,via UPS...you'll make his week)
Apple Juice
Pull-ups (hoping to get rid of these in 2015!)
Sugar Snap peas
French Fries (He refers to McDonalds as "FrenchFries" which is about the only thing we buy from there)
PBS Kids (Daniel Tiger)

Jane:
Elsa (from Frozen...duh). She loves to use "Elsa hands" to freeze people during tag.
Cinderella. Don't tell her, but she is getting glass (plastic) slippers for Christmas.
Pioneer Club (Wed night activity at the church up the street)
Food (the girl can and will eat everything. Veggies, yes. Tom Kha soup from Tim Thai's in Westminster? Bring it on.)
The Pirate Fairy (Kristen pretty much loves this movie too.)
Getting into older brothers' stuff (especially art supplies).
Drawing countless tiny circles. Fine motor skills...check.
All things girly....but she doesn't miss a chance to join her brothers in playroom wrestle mania either.

Thomas:
Kindergarten
Baked Potato from MES school lunch
Playing backyard football with Jack
Philadelphia Eagles (thank you Uncle Eric)
Connect 4 (he is brilliant at this game)
Making people laugh
Swiss Family Robinson

Jack:
Playing football with Tom or Dad or anyone who will play with him. And with himself.
Talking about football.
Watching Ravens football.
Swiss Family Robinson
Friends at school
Going to downtown Baltimore
Old Bay
Lamborghinis (and any other sports car). He watches the cars as we drive around and calls out by name any Mustangs or sports cars he sees (Mustangs are most common around these parts. This happens so much that Andrew recently told Kristen...I see a Mustang!!)
Fudge

2013 Christmas Update

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:

Her baby doll (ask her, what is your babies name? she says, “baby”.)
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:

Tractors & Backhoes. He sings about them, talks about them, spots them from miles away, carries them about the house.
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:

Pilfering his brothers legos, hiding the evidence, feigning innocence
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 lovely durable home.

Day trip to the Ocean City beach for the twins 2nd birthday. Abundance of sun, sand and salt water, ice cream and cotton candy. All kids fell asleep in the car at the end of the day within one minute!

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.

Christmas Update 2012

Because God loves us with a never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love - Heaven is breaking through! He is sending us a light from heaven to shine on us like the sun. To shine on those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death. To guide our feet into the way of peace.
(from the Jesus Story Book Bible)


We'd like to share a few of our Christmas Card Pics that did not make the cut:

Really, taking a photo with our whole family is nearly impossible.

It has also been challenging to capture Jane and Andrew in one photo together ever since they started walking. I mostly get a photo of Jane running out of the frame because from the moment I sit her down next to Andrew her only goal is to be up and on her way. But, the day we went after our Christmas Tree, we snapped this rare shot:

Jane and Andrew are 16 months
Thomas and Jack turn 4 and 6 this week
We just bought a house in Manchester Maryland (15 minutes from church) and will be moving in after Christmas.

Sound crazy to you? Feels crazy to us.

Life with the twins:

Check out Jane sending off every Panera customer with her best Bye Bye.


And here are the twins playing peek-a-boo when they should have been taking a nap...


Christmas Update: Tommy and Jack both learned 9 bible verses this fall as a part of their "Hero Training Camp" that their mom bravely led. One of the verses that had the most impact (and practical usage) for us as a family was James 1:2-3. Our adaptation is "hard things can be good...because they make us stronger." The reality of that passage has been quite present for us. 4 young kids is physically, emotionally and mentally draining for parents--and thus for the whole family. It is hard. BUT it really is so worth it! Our kids are amazing little people and we are so very thankful for each of them.

Jack started half day kindergarten in the fall and is loving it. He just had a birthday, and his party was at the bounce place--perfect for his age. 2 weeks ago Jack had a wonderful adventure helping to cut down our Christmas tree in Manchester (our new hometown) and getting hot chocolate and brownies afterwards. Other highlights of the year for Jack were our trip to Ocean City and a great Saturday hike out in the mountains of western Maryland in September.

Thomas is in pre-school and is having a fun time learning and playing with his friends. He loves to ride his new hot wheels bike he got for his birthday from his kaki (Kristen's mom). Tom is a happy guy. He loves to make people laugh, run around naked (in the house). He loves his older brother, Jack, and would follow him anywhere. He is nick-named (in our house) hunka-munka, as he is known to take flight from the top stair and land in his daddy's waiting arms 10 feet below. We call that the "flying hunka-munka." His younger brother Andrew we like to call "hulka-munka." Mainly because he is a similar body density to Tom (quite dense) and I'm sure one day we will experience the "flying hulka-munka" down the stairs.....

Andrew is turning into a really fun guy, and developing his own wonderful, happy-go-lucky personality. (we were worried that he would get lost in the mix what with being the 3rd boy AND tied with the only girl...) He's really a superstar, and is a delight to be around. He loves to say "boo" at the dinner table and make everyone jump (we indulge him over and over). He laughs and laughs...

Jane is different than Andrew. She is a happy girl, but also has a very serious, task-driven personality (ala Jack and Mommy...). She is as cute as can be. She is quite cordial (as you may have seen in the posted video at Panera) and will always tell you bye-bye and give you a wave. She is still much lighter than Andrew but catching up quickly it seems. Jane's first 2 syllable word appeared a few weeks ago: Batman!

Kristen and Jim have their hands full, but their hearts full too. We love our kiddos and each other. We are excited about the new house in Manchester and looking forward to raising our kids there with all the adventure that come with kids growing up. We know it may feel hard or crazy...but, as our kids say around the house: James 1:2-3 "Hard things can be good...because they make us stronger!" I think our family should be mighty strong after all is said and done :)

James 1:2-4 in The Message Version:
Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

We have a few fun videos to post too.

Love,
The Powells

See Jane Walk

After taking a step or maybe two at a time over the past few days, Jane finally figured it out. Here she is on July 15th at just about 11 months and 1 week old.




BTW, we know we haven't been posting lately. Maybe we'll catch up. It does seem easier to upload to facebook, you can always check there for the latest photos. Jury's still out on if we'll keep up this blog...

First Swing

Just About 6 Months Old...