columbia
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elmwood roy lynch park.
I want to practice photography more this summer, and in the past I’ve been spectacularly terrible about taking my camera out and about. Most of that is because I’m picky about taking photos: I want it to be a cloudy day, and I don’t like photographing indoors. But I’m trying to stretch myself by showing you some of our favorite haunts around Columbia. Before we bought our house, we rented an adorable and decrepit 1930’s bungalow a couple miles away in Elmwood Park. We adored that neighborhood, particularly the fact that we could walk to the neighborhood playground — although back then it was sort of a sad hodge-podge of…
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soccer camp.
Hi there friends! We’re enjoying our summer and managing to keep it just-the-right-amount of busyness. Last week David flew to Alabama for PCA General Assembly (an annual gathering of pastors), and Judah went to his first soccer camp at CIU. He had such a great time: learned some skills, saw some old friends and made new friends, and really liked his coaches. With David out of town, it was nice for me to have just three kids during the day; I was also thankful for help from family and friends. In the evenings, Judah, Amie and I made slice-and-bake cookies, cuddled on the couch, and watched episodes of The British…
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meeting the philly cousins.
David’s sister Becky and her kids came from Philadelphia for a visit, and got to join in the fun at the end of Gabe’s party. They stayed around the corner at David’s parents’ house, and we all had a great two days together. It was their first time meeting Gabe and Noah in person. Gabe and Ilan are the same age, and so are Noah and Anli. Lina is in-between Judah and Amie, and the two girls wanted to spend every minute together! Thanks so much for making the trip, you guys!!!
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an ode to book and tea club.
Happy Monday and happy April! I hope that even if you live in the north, you’re beginning to shed layers and see signs of spring. The pollen is starting to ease up here and as you can see from the photo, the azaleas are bursting into bloom, which is one of my favorite things about this time of year (also: open windows, longer days, not having to remember jackets for four kids). We’re headlong into year two of the Book and Tea Club that my mother-in-law, Linda, and I started last January. It was born out of a longtime dream of mine to start a book club, and the years…
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two on friday.
Please excuse my temporary postponement of “Four on Friday” posts. My laptop is on the fritz again, and I’m currently having it looked at by, not one, but both of my tech-savvy brothers. It’s a little embarrassing how lost I feel, actually, without my computer. I think it’s kind of my command-center, certainly for photos and writing. I write a lot — every single day if I can. Just to keep practicing and trying to get better. Okay, let’s be honest — really just because I love it. And between blog posts and homeschooling plans and Shutterfly books, I have all kinds of projects going on the computer. Ahh well,…
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a visit from the seattle gentino’s.
David’s aunts and his cousin Annie visited us from Seattle for the holiday weekend, and despite some cold weather, we had a great time together! Here’s what we did . . . We went to the trampoline park: We shopped and ate out: We spent cozy evenings at home reading books, watching Cinderella, Downton Abbey and the Grammy’s: We called our PA family: We had girl time and painted pottery: We watched the kids’ swim lessons: We watched Steve do crazy things with fire: We mostly just loved being together! Thanks for coming, you guys! We miss you already!
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the flood.
Hello from a very wet Columbia! Thanks so much to all who have checked in on us. It’s been a crazy few days. About a hundred of us from CPC went on a church retreat this weekend. We heard the forecast of record rainfall and possible flooding before we left, but didn’t comprehend the magnitude of it. Our retreat was at Ridgehaven camp in Brevard, NC, and we got lots of rain, but nothing major. We were tucked away in the mountains — wet, but thoroughly enjoying ourselves — when on Sunday morning we began to get word of the flooding back in South Carolina. Some people left the retreat…
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new additions.
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this week.
Hi friends! Sorry I’ve been MIA. My laptop has been at the computer doctor (a.k.a. my brother’s house). It was struggling, to say the least, but he worked his magic, and now five years’ worth of stuff is stored safely away on an external hard drive and I have a new operating system. Hooray! I’ve been working on some posts about our house and organizing, like I promised. In the meantime, here’s a few photos. David and I got a date last Thursday night. We went to Five Points for Ethiopian food, then parked on Sumter Street and walked down to the State House to scope out the pre-Confederate flag…
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friday.
Hello friends! I didn’t make it to “four on friday” this week but here’s a little peak into what we’ve been up to: 1. Summer hair cuts! Gabe and Noah loved their first head shaves from Daddy and it makes these 104-degree days marginally more bearable (I’m thinking of getting one myself). 2. Classical Conversations practicum. Our homeschool group puts on a three-day practicum in the summers. Moms receive training and encouragement, and kids can be part of CC day camp. Judah went to “Geography-Art camp” and Amie went to “Play camp.” The little guys spent the days with Mum-mum and they went to “Library camp” each morning. The…