God vs. the Redskins

Here's a great conversation I had with Emma today while she was cleaning up her toys:

Emma: I'm on God's team, because I love God. Are you on God's team?

Me: Yes, I am because I love God too.

Emma: Is everybody on God's team?

Me: Well, not everyone. Because not everyone loves God.

Emma: So then they're on the Redskins team?

I guess some people would feel that way, wouldn't they? Oh, out of the mouth of babes...

Driving in VA

As we were driving around town last Friday, a driver (half-way through a turn in the middle of an intersection) decided to start reversing his car into oncoming traffic.

Dan, Yon, and I all looked at each other shocked and said we couldn't believe what was going on.

Then Emma said, "Somebody should beep their horn at him."

I guess she's catching onto driving up here quicker than I thought. :)

Our BIG Move

September 15 and I am finally getting around to posting again. And boy, have our lives changed! We are now a family of 5 living in Virginia.



First, let me clarify about the 'family of 5' thing. We recently invited Dan's mentee from church to come live with us, and he accepted. So now, I have a 16-, 5-, and almost 2-year-old. Lots of adjustments, but it is totally worth it.



And then there's the moving to Virginia part. Dan accepted a job here in NoVa (that's shorthand for northern Virginia, as I am learning) in June and started working here at the beginning of August. The kids and I moved up during the first weekend in September, and started homeschooling the week after.



Yes...homeschooling an 11th grade student, and kingergartener, and a two-year-old. Mostly with the two-year-old, though, we just let him color, watch movies, and play with toys. But the older two are doing so well. I wasn't sure how we were all going to adjust, but we're starting to get the hang of it. I am learning a lot (and having to remember a lot of math that was stuck in the memory bank somewhere), and God is teaching me the value of patience.



We have been blessed with the opportunity to stay with Dan's uncle and aunt while we wait on our house in Charleston to rent so we won't be burdened with a mortgage payment and a rental payment in Virginia. Learning all about God's perfect timing and provision. And we have found a pretty neat church here: Fairfax Community Church. It reminds me a lot of Seacoast, which I miss SO much, but it definitely has a northern Virginia 'flavor'. Can't wait to start volunteering and finding my place serving.



I really wish I had pictures, but I packed my camera and not the cable that connects it to my computer. Oh well...I am sure I will find it once all of our stuff is pulled out of storage and we're settled into a house.



Ethan's naptime is over...time to get running again!

My quarterly blog report

Three months without blogging. A new record for me. I guess it's a testimony to how many other things we've been up to.

So here we are. Here's a recap of the last three months in pictures.

Emma's still singing. And she loves to make up songs and even new words to sing in those songs. It gets really funny when she tries to tell us what she wants, but she's using one of her made-up words.

What do you know?! We had snow like everyone else in Charleston! Dan LOVED it, Emma enjoyed it, and Ethan was only interested in looking at others playing in it.

We used some of our tax refund this year to get a new television. Dan and Ethan have been in video game heaven. And I'm not going to lie: I've enjoyed it too.

We had a good visit to Edgemoor. While we were gone, Dan painted the bathroom, set up Ethan's room with a 'big boy' bed, and put some handles on the kitchen drawers. He says we'll have to go out of town again for him to have time to finish. :)

We adopted a dog named Lacy from one of the hygienists at my dentist's office. She's a three-year-old Silky poo (silky terrier/poodle mix), weighs about four pounds, and loves walks around the neighborhood on her cute pink leash.

So there it is. The Delaney family update with a few pictures and 100 words or less. I feel like I should get graded for this.

20-10...already an eventful year

It is so hard to believe that 2009 and an entire decade of early adult/adult life is behind me. Where did the last 10 years go? I've lived through two entire decades and almost (gulp) a third. 3-0 is coming too fast.

We had a wonderful and relaxing Christmas. We enjoyed a fun family service on Christmas Eve where Emma played an angel in the Christmas story. I don't know what it is, but it melts a momma's heart to see her child living out what happened that first Christmas. I know it made the whole story more real for her as she is finally understanding what it means when we say we're celebrating Jesus' birthday.

I was a little bummed that we didn't get to see my Dad's family or most of Dan's family, but that is what happens when everyone is so spread out! We did have a great Christmas brunch with Nana Boo (Dan's aunt) and Steve and Crystal. Those are some really fun people! Then we went to my Mom's house for dinner and presents. My Mom LOVES to give gifts to show her love, and she's so creative with gift baskets. My favorite gift of the season: a set of "designer" reusable bags that she got me from a website called Blue Avacado (http://www.blueavocado.com/). They are super-cute and much sturdier than some of the bags you buy at the grocery stores.

And after such a quiet Christmas, I should have known something might happen to liven our lives again. And guess what?! I got to spend a few hours one night last week in the ER. Apparently, I have some gallstones that have been giving me terrible stomach pains, so I am getting my gallbladder removed on Tuesday. As it turns out, losing a significant amount of weight and exercising can cause one to develop gallstones. Who knew? Just praying that the procedure goes as plans, and the surgeon says I can "go out and play rugby the next day." Don't think I'll be doing that, but I may enjoy a HUGE cheeseburger combo with a milkshake. The diet can be on hold for a day, right?

Sorry for no pictures of all of this fun. We left my camera at my Dad's house back at Thanksgiving, so it's a good thing they're coming down to visit this weekend (not just for the camera, but because it has been too long since we've seen them). I bought one of those cheap disposable ones to use on Christmas. Haven't gotten it developed yet, though.

So that's the latest and greatest from our house. I will hopefully post my recovery status and lots of pictures from the last two months after this weekend!

2009: Not the year of the blog

2009 was not a good year for blogging for me. Yet, it was still a wonderful year! So many great moments and memories in our family, which got me thinking: what are the best moments of this past year?

So here we are (in no particular order): The Top 10 Delaney family moments/memories of 2009...

10. Getting Netflix. Yep. I love good movies, and watching a good movie with Dan is always good time for cuddling.

9. The SC Children's Museum. One of the coolest places in SC, hands down.





8. Emma turning 4 and Ethan turning 1. Every birthday each child has is such a special reminder of the wonderful gifts God has given us.


7. Summer Dreams. Working with 5 teenage interns for a summer and having fun at church two days a week was AWESOME!
6. The DC trip with the interns. Ethan may not have done too well with the travelling, but DC is fun any time of the year.


5. Starting homeschool. Emma is a sponge who loves learning, so she has been the greatest little student.


4. Couponing. Who knew saving money could be so much fun? But we have enjoying the fruits of this labor!


3. Baking Christmas cookies. Emma and I have so much fun baking, and Dan and Ethan have so much fun eating. It's a win-win situation, really.

2. Finding our place at the Dream Center. That is one AWESOME place!

1. DC Trip #2. Five days on the road with the family and so many wonderful memories... stopping at rest stops for food/playtime... going to the zoo when it was 35 degrees outside... drinking cider on the couch and enjoying the Food Network... chasing Ethan up the steps about 50 times... Wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

Before and After...

I love 'before & after' posts/pictures...love seeing the way people can redesign frugally and creatively...love freshening up a space and feeling like it's a whole new space.

I guess we're in 'before & after' mode at the Delaney house. As some of you saw on FB, we're selling lots of stuff on Craigslist...some of it to just get rid of stuff (a little stuffitis sets in occasionally, and we always regret it later) and some of it to simplify and freshen up the look of our house.

It's a long process--selling, rearranging what we have, patching holes/scuffs, repainting where need be, etc, etc--but I cannot wait for the end result.

I'm sure everyone's waiting on baited breath for the 'after'. And I am learning a major lesson in patience :)