Latest Ellie-ism

Last night was clear and the stars were starting to come out. Ellie looked up and said "I can not reach." I said, "That's right, only God can reach that high." She said, "Actually, I can use a stool."

It's fall again

I guess I'm continuing to roll with the technology punches, as my blog updates have been usurped mainly with the ever-convenient Twitter. I never thought I'd use it when it first came out - you can tell from comparing the frequency of tweets to actual blog posts how that hunch crashed and burned. I'm wondering if that's a subtle hint to me to say more with less.

Our summer was lovely. We closed on our house - the one I mentioned previously - and moved in pretty much that afternoon. Photos here. It's such a joy to come home to a beautiful, peaceful, and quiet setting. I love everything from the dirt road to the screened-in porch to the cemetery across the street. Another huge improvement for me in particular has been the kitchen - it's openness lets me feel lke I can still be a part of things while I'm in there, and I never imagined that something as simple as a dishwasher could change my whole outlook on cooking. Blessed invention!!

Ellie's vocabulary is continuing to expand, and it's so delightful to have conversations with her. She's moved into the preschool class at daycare and is thriving. And, praise God, she is finally sleeping in her own bed. What a relief.

I have a lot on my plate at work for the fall semester - I'm working on a teaching project and going to a few conferences - one in Salt Lake City in October, where I've never been. I hope I'll be able to get sufficient caffeination while there. :-) Even more exciting is the prospect of a trip to Ireland in the spring to attend a conference in Limerick. How cool would that be.

Justin is doing well also - with his fingers in several pies as usual. He just finished a really insightful sermon series on "great prayers of the Bible." He has also become quite adept at the PS3 version of Monopoly.

odds and ends

We've had insane weather here in mid-Michigan - snow in the beginning of April, and 85 degrees at the end. Looks like we've settled back in to the 60s for a bit. It's that time of year where one tries to decide what the optimum temperature is for putting away the socks. Is 55 still too cold? How about 60? What if it's freezing in the morning and 70 in the afternoon? Ah, the agony of decision. Signs of spring are everywhere, from harried-looking students in their last week of class, to the blooming magnolia and tulip trees, the Gideons handing out Bibles on the library bridge. Ellie is learning about the buds - how God makes them grow with sunshine and rain into flowers and leaves.

Ellie has also been putting together longer sentences. Justin came in the front door over the weekend and she said "Papa's all wet from the rain." She also said "I try to get my hand down there" when digging out raisins from a box. I'm just glad she was digging for raisins and not other things that she's been known to seek out on occasion. She's also become quite the climber - I looked away for a minute the other day and when I turned around she was sitting in the middle of the dining room table playing with my phone.

We are still waiting to hear on the final loan approval for our house. It's taking a long time. We hope that's a good thing. One never knows.

house update

I know the blog posts have been sporadic at best, but that's largely Facebook's fault. OK, blame laid, now for news.

So, for those of you who may not be caught up with our house hunting adventures (cue Suzanne Whang and the doorbell) we have moved from seasoned hobbyists to actual buyers. Our realtor is breathing a sigh of relief. We've found a house in DeWitt (just north of Lansing) on which we've had an offer accepted. You can see photos here. It's an old church, built in 1856, that had been abandoned, fallen into disrepair, and was brought back to life with a complete renovation in 2006, turning it into a 3-bedroom 3.5-bath house. It's way cool and fits us to a T.

So, here is where we currently stand in the process. Our offer was accepted, we signed paperwork, and we just completed the inspections yesterday. We won't receive the results from the well/septic test for a bit, but the home inspection revealed that the house is in fantastic shape, right down to the old stone foundation. The renovations were done thoroughly and well.

Tonight we're sitting down to fill out the loan paperwork. We haven't hit any major snags so far, so we hope that trend continues. It's still possible for the entire thing to fall through - you never know. Next up, hopefully, is setting the closing date. I will try and update when that's been done.

spartacular

Ellie was very excited to see the photo of Mommy & Sparty. I ran into him at the Study Abroad fair yesterday.

In other news, we're putting new fixtures in the bathroom this week. We replaced the wall sconces, the faucet, and the ceiling light/fan unit which hasn't worked since we moved in. We've been working on the bathroom little by little for the past 6 1/2 years and it's come a long way from the peach and green bordered, lace curtained room it was when we moved in. We're still stuck with some oak and brass, but it's coming along nicely. It was Justin's idea to crackle the walls a few years ago and I still think it looks pretty cool. Of course, 10 years from now we'll be talking about how dated it is!

mad hatter

I finally managed to get at least one fitting, warm hat made for each member of our family. Here's Ellie wearing all of them at once, as she loves to do. There's a certain satisfaction in seeing all of us with a nice warm handmade hat - I suspect it's the (very elusive) Proverbs 31 woman coming out... "When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet..." as well as the part about wool and flax. Although I haven't seen any flax-based yarn yet, and these hats are acrylic... shhh.

A deep breath...

... at least for one or two days. It seems like we have seasons of busy-ness at chez miller, one of which is thankfully ending. I just got back from Denver and the ALA Midwinter conference (lots of librarians, for the acronymically-challenged). Photos here. Justin and I treated each other to iPhones for Christmas and have been glued to them ever since. I've just discovered the photography apps. Click here for some of my nutty experimental photos.

Ellie is growing so fast. She's making sentences like a pro and knows almost all of her letters. Her latest favorite word is flamingo, pronounced "fa-ma-lingo." I never knew that the iPhone would be so mesmerizing to children. I've downloaded a whole screen full of apps for her, including animal noises, alphabet flashcards, and poppable bubble wrap. She's also quite the fan of YouTube, where we can watch such things as the Laughing Baby, kids jumping on a blow-up castle, the Veggie Tales theme song, ballet dancing, and the Spartan Marching Band tuba section. She loves tubas, I'm not sure why. I'll wait until she's older to explain that the ones she likes are really sousaphones. That's just not information that I think other kids would respond well to her sharing. :-) It is very strange for me to think that for all of her life, phones will have been able to play videos, make chicken and dog noises, and let you draw on the screen. She won't even know what a curly cord is for, never mind a rotary dial.

Justin is well also. He's very excited about the possibility of starting a new outreach of Immanuel, either in in East Lansing or at LCC. There are some very interesting opportunities before us in those areas, so we'll see how the Lord leads. We're also in perpetual house hunting mode. We've had a few very interesting possibilities come up, only to have other buyers snatch them up before we could make an offer. He does have an eye for these things - almost too good of one. :-)