Our Little Corner

Katie's First Week

2011-09-26T22:48:00.001-04:00

Friends Come to Visit

2011-09-26T22:46:00.001-04:00

Our Family Enjoying Katie

2011-09-26T22:42:00.001-04:00

Our Blessing from the Lord: Katie Diane

2011-09-24T11:57:00.004-04:00

Expecting a Baby Girl

2011-09-17T13:00:00.001-04:00

Yes, I know it’s been over a year since I posted, but here Iam back again. It may be yet anotheryear until I post again but hopefully not. A lot has happened this year. InJune we finally made a permanent move from NC to TN. We bought a house here in TN even though theone in NC still has not sold.

In January of this year we learned I was expecting and weare now less than a week away from welcoming our daughter into this world. My C-section is scheduled for the morning of September22. The Lord has protected me from thepre-eclampsia I had with William, and my average blood pressure throughout thispregnancy has been 110/70. This timearound I have a complete placenta previa but, by the mercy of the Lord, I havehad no hemorrhaging much to the surprise of my OB who expected me to begin tohave problems with bleeding at 28 or 30 weeks. I’ll be 37 weeks this coming Wednesday.

Last week the Dr. did put me on bed rest after I washospitalized for slight spotting. Hekept me for observation overnight and as everything appeared to be going wellsent me home to rest, hence, the updated blog. If you keep scrolling down, you’ll see pics all the way back from lastyear and then hopefully up through today. We will see how far I get.

Will we have a baby today?

My Belly at 36 weeks. One week before delivery.

Pictures throughout the Year

2011-09-10T21:09:00.000-04:00

January

Watching something on TV. I love the crossed legs.

February

March
The fireman suit is made of flannel. Its a halloween costume I bought after halloween. One day in the middle of summer he wore it outside all day long. He's hot natured to begin with and sweats all the time, but he also loves "snuggly clothes" as he puts it. Can't figure him out.

June

Grandma Ayscue dressed him in Papa's boxers

September

September
We sent him up to his room to have some quiet time. Russ went up to tell him he could come out and couldn't find him at first. Here he is in his closet, snuggled up in his animal bin fast asleep. He loves really small, cozy places.

These next 3 are actually from September of 2010

Cooking with William

2011-09-09T21:42:00.000-04:00

Williamloves, loves to cook. I know lots ofkids do, but he may be a bit extreme. Every day he asks me if I’m going to cook dinner and can he help. If I answer in the affirmative, he willinglydrops everything he’s doing, races into the kitchen, gets on his apron, andpulls up the stool. Cooking shows areone of his favorite things to watch. Wesometimes watch them together after he wakes up from his nap, before I startdinner. We watch them more often since I’vebeen pregnant. He has been known to sitthere watching them for at least an hour. He has even picked up some of the terminology and mannerisms of the hosts. The other day he told me, “this is abeautiful dinner mommy”. Rachel Rayalways tries her cooking and goes, “m, m, m”. At dinner, when he tries a bite, he will often go, “m, m, m”. That can get a bit annoying.

All the above are from February when we made Valentine cookies

These two are from May

Myrtle Beach

2011-05-15T19:48:00.000-04:00

This year we were blessed to once again go to the Berry’scondo in Myrtle Beach. We met Kerry andDenise with their two girls there and had a wonderful time together. William loved the ocean and the sand and heloved playing with his cousin Stephanie. It was fun seeing them interact with each other.

By the Pool at Myrtle Beach

2011-05-14T20:38:00.000-04:00

Fun with Cousins

2011-05-14T19:45:00.000-04:00

Miniaturing Golf

2011-05-13T20:52:00.000-04:00

Williamwent miniature golfing for the first time while we were at Myrtle Beach. The three of us went to Calabash and ate atDock Side and then golfed. The fun thingabout this golf course is Russ remembered golfing here when he was ateenager. He and his brother Randypacked pimento cheese sandwiches and paid to golf here all day. William seemed to enjoy his first experienceand we actually got through the entire course. Mom was the winner by the way, just in case anyone was wondering.

William's First Hair Cut

2011-03-22T19:42:00.000-04:00

I can hardly believe William did not need a hair cut untilafter his 3^rd birthday. Itwas hard for me to give the go-a-head for this one but I finally had to givein. I greatly enjoyed his baby curls foras long as I could.

Bouncing at the Mall

2011-03-10T19:29:00.000-05:00

Don’t know what you call these things but whatever they areWilliam saw someone bouncing one day and talked about it from that timeforward. One rainy Saturday Russ and Itook him to the Johnson City Mall and let him bounce. I didn’t know if he would actually go throughwith it but he did. I don’t think he was100% at ease but I was glad he did not back out.

William's Third Birthday

2011-02-19T19:11:00.000-05:00

We were so glad all our NC family could come to the William’sbirthday this year. He really likesMickey Mouse, thanks to the show ‘Mickey Mouse Club House’, so we had a MickeyMouse theme. It was lots of fun and this year hewas really into “presidents”, his word for presents.

The Guests

2011-02-19T19:01:00.000-05:00

The Cake

2011-02-19T18:55:00.000-05:00

The Masterpiece

2011-02-19T18:52:00.000-05:00

Christmas with the Ayscues

2011-01-22T18:41:00.000-05:00

St. Louis Cousins

2011-01-04T16:06:00.000-05:00

New Years Eve

2010-12-31T16:04:00.000-05:00

St. Louis Museum of Transportation

2010-12-29T15:43:00.000-05:00

Thereare a few things William absolutely loves. He loves any type of trains or planes and he also loves to cook, more oncooking later. When we were in St. Louiswe took him to the Museum of Transportation. Why we left his coat at home I will never know. However, I did have extra clothes so he haslots of layers on which was a blessing considering it was sleeting while wewere there. Why we went to an outsidemuseum in the sleet is another question that has no answer.

Gallagher's

2010-12-28T15:36:00.000-05:00

We all went to dinner at Gallagher’s restaurant in Waterloo,IL. We love their family style, friedchicken dinner. I guarantee you’ve neverhad this type of fried chicken or mashed potatoes before, unless you came toour wedding dinner reception. Then youhave.

Christmas Morning

2010-12-25T15:28:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T15:22:00.000-05:00

Christmas Snow

2010-12-23T15:17:00.000-05:00

We spent Christmas in St. Louis this year and had anextended family reunion with our cousins from NC and our Uncle George fromOH. It’s funny to think of how small ourextended family was when I was growing up when I compare it to how big ourchildren’s extended family is. I had oneaunt & uncle and 3 cousins. William has14 aunts and uncles and at least 24 first cousins and 5 second cousins, most ofwhom are on the Dickmann side. We hadkids galore at Christmas. Fun times.

Oh, and it snowed while we were there so the kids from NC gotto play in Christmas snow!

Our Apartment Christmas Tree

2010-12-06T15:03:00.000-05:00

Our apartment was about 450 square feet and so having aChristmas tree proved to be a challenge. We basically had two rooms, the living room and our bedroom. William slept in a closet and the kitchen waslike a hallway. In the living room wehad a card table where we ate, a love seat, a little chair for William, and aTV. There was not much floor space leftfor a Christmas tree.

There was however, lots of wall space. So, we came up with this idea. William loved decorating it and he did notseem to know the difference between this Christmas tree and a real 3dimensional Christmas tree. It was allthe same to him. All he knew is that hegot to “hang” ornaments.

And, if I may be permitted to add a side note,this attitude of William’s was always a blessing and encouragement to us. He was happy and thankful all year long. He could have cared less about where he wassleeping and how small everything was and what he didn’t have. He just enjoyed what he had. Often I would look at him and ask the Lord towork in me the heart of child.

NC State Fair

2010-10-21T13:59:00.000-04:00

William loved the NC State Fair this year. He got to ride several rides and heremembered the fair all year long. Sometimes, out of the clear blue, he would start to talk about riding thehorses and ask when we could get more tickets so we could go again. In August, 2011, when he heard us talkingabout the Appalachian Fair he was certain we were going to go and talked aboutit every day until we did.

It's 10:00 p.m. We have been at the fair almost 12 hours and are waiting for the fireworks to begin.

Warrior Path State Park

2010-09-17T13:50:00.000-04:00

We live close to a very nice state park called WarriorPath. The park has a very elaborateplayground that is handicapped accessible. It’s one of only a handful in the U.S. Besides all the neat playground equipment it also has “stations” thattell the story of ‘The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe’. They have lots of full size props that goalong with the story that the kids can touch and climb on.

Apartment Life

2010-09-15T13:45:00.000-04:00

I would not describe our apartment as a pleasant place tolive, although while we were there we made the best of it. However, it was pretty stinky, the carpet hadmore stains than any carpet I’ve ever seen, and we seemed to have a herd ofelephants living above us who were most active between the hours of 12 and 3a.m. We lived there for a year and onceI got pregnant the smell was almost unbearable. But we were together, and that is what mattered most!

Creation Kingdom

2010-08-14T16:40:00.001-04:00

There are very few good things I can say about this time when Russ is in TN and William and I are in NC. The only thing I can say I heartily enjoy is when I’m in TN for the weekend and we have the freedom to go exploring. A few weekends ago we went to “The Creation Kingdom” in VA. It’s only about 30 min away from where we are. It’s only been around for about a year and it’s basically a very small private zoo. I really couldn’t believe how ramshackled it was but the animals looked very healthy and active so I guess it was okay. We enjoyed looking at the animals and feeding them.

Creation Kingdom:Feeding the Animals

2010-08-14T16:39:00.000-04:00

Creation Kingdom: Animals big and small

2010-08-14T16:25:00.000-04:00

There were several animals to see: barnyard animals, exotic birds, monkeys, tigers, leopards, zebras, and more. William liked feeding the barnyard animals best of all.

Don't know if you can see it or not, but that's a tiger back there.

I've seen an ostrich before but maybe not this close. I actually fed this one. The fence was big enough for him to stick his neck through which was a bit diconcerting becasue he really was a massive bird.

William was fascinated by the little silk worm he found crawling along the picnic table.

Creation Kingdom: Feeding the Goats

2010-08-14T16:07:00.000-04:00

Did I mention William like feeding the goats?

Like Father Like Son: Take 1

2010-08-14T08:43:00.000-04:00

Like Father Like Son: Take 2

2010-08-14T07:43:00.000-04:00

Our Apartment: William's Room

2010-08-13T22:23:00.000-04:00

Since July Russ has been working in TN at Touchstone Wireless as those who still read this infrequently updated blog know. We have a one bedroom apartment there that we are very thankful for. One of the great things about it is that even though it's only one bedroom there is a little nook for William to sleep all by himself--the laundry closet. It's seems to have been made with his pack n play in mind.

Kingsport Fun Fest

2010-07-27T21:05:00.001-04:00

As soon as our house sells we'll be moving to the tri-cities area. It seems like a great place to raise a family and both Russ and I are excited about being there. Kingsport is one of the tri-cities. Every year they have a week they call "Fun Fest". There are all kinds of activities for kids of all ages. They have a parade to kick things off on Friday that we watched. We also stumbled across a model competition on Saturday that was at a park we went to. On Tuesday William and I went to another part of Fun Fest where they have all kinds of different activities for kids. I went with a new friend, Patricia and her kids. Patricia and her family attend Cornerstone Chapel, the church we have been visiting when we're in TN. So with that explanation here are some pics. Hope you enjoy.

Fun Fest: See Sawing

2010-07-27T21:04:00.000-04:00

Fun Fest: Bubbles

2010-07-27T20:55:00.000-04:00

Fun Fest: The Train

2010-07-27T20:49:00.000-04:00

William loves trains. He also loves buttons, levers, switches, anything mechanical. This train combined both loves. It was a train and he got to pull a rope that rang a bell. Can't get much better than that.

William with his new friend Elizabeth

The kids in the red and blue cars go to Cornerstone

Fun Fest: Milking a Cow

2010-07-27T20:25:00.000-04:00

Mom's Shoes

2010-07-26T23:46:00.003-04:00

I have a walk in closet off my bathroom and so whenever I get ready, William “plays” in my closet. For several months that consisted in putting on and off my shoes.

Sweet Curls

2010-07-26T23:19:00.002-04:00

William still hasn’t gotten a haircut. Russ keeps telling me, “soon”. I love his curls and I can’t imagine cutting them, even though I know I’ll have to... too soon.

Tennessee

2010-07-26T23:06:00.003-04:00

Many of you know this by now, but our family is in the process of moving to Tennessee. Russ took a job at Touchstone Wireless and has been working there since June 28. We have a one bedroom apartment where Russ stays during the week. Sometimes William and I are there and sometime we are here in NC. We’re all praying our house sells quickly so we can be together full time again. These are pictures I took the first time we went to visit the area to see if the Lord might be leading us there.

Father's Day

2010-06-20T23:28:00.000-04:00

For some reason I always forget to take “formal” pictures of Mother’s and Father’s Day. I finally remembered to get the camera at the end of the day. He’s his father’s son, even down to the crossed legs.

Dessert

2010-03-26T23:00:00.000-04:00

This is William eating a complimentary dessert at Carrabbas in FL. I wonder how long he will keep his “little boy charm”

Animals of Gatorland

2010-03-26T22:47:00.000-04:00

Gatorland

2010-03-26T22:19:00.000-04:00

We loved going to Gatorland while we were in Orlando. It was the perfect speed for William. He loved it and so did we. The rookery was really great. I love bird watching and there were lots of birds to see.

Charleston White Point Gardens

2010-03-26T21:57:00.001-04:00

Charleston Harbor

2010-03-26T21:40:00.001-04:00

Our Family on Vacation

2010-03-15T21:30:00.005-04:00

We just got back from a short but wonderful family vacation. About 6 months ago Hilton resorts called us and offered us great deal. We could stay in one of their Orlando resorts if we would agree to listen to a 2 hour sales pitch. Since Orlando is within driving distance and I’ve never been, I took them up on it. We left Thursday at about 3:30 and drove to Charleston, SC where we stayed the first night. Friday morning we took a short walking tour of the city, ate at the Swamp Fox restaurant, which was located inside the Francis Marion Hotel, and then left for Orlando at about 1:30 in the afternoon.

I’d never really been to Charleston and I loved it! It’s a wonderful place to visit and I hope we can go back. Not only is it full of history but it has all kinds of neat little shops and outdoor markets. The food at the Swamp Fox was some of the best I’ve had. To honor the spirit of ol’ Dixie I ordered ‘low country shrimp and grits’. It was delicious. Russ had crab cakes. William had grilled cheese. However, he did enjoy the fried green tomatoes with a goat cheese and pepper jelly garnish appetizer that we ordered. It’s too bad they don’t serve a child size portion of the regular menu. He loves eating all kinds of different foods and I hate that he has to get grilled cheese.

William did great on the 5 hour drive from Charleston to Orlando. The resort was pretty nice. We stayed in a one room studio with a small kitchenette. We really didn’t take advantage of much at the resort. I would have loved to swim at the pool but it was kind of cold. It didn’t get above 71’. But the weather was gorgeous, blue, blue skies, crisp air, wonderful.

Saturday we went to Gatorland. It’s an animal park that has lots of gators, snakes, and birds. It also has a petting zoo with some goats, and lamas and it has train. It was the perfect place to take William. He loved it and we did too. They have a rookery and it was the nesting season so the birds were really fun to watch.

Sunday we didn’t do a whole lot. We had to meet with the salesman, not a fun experience!! About 1 hour into it he asked me what I honestly thought. The whole time he kept telling us he wasn’t going to try and convince us of anything etc. So I told him I thought the resort was beautiful and that I’m sure people did come to feel pampered and luxurious etc., he had said that people buy these things because of the way it makes them feel, but, I said, that feeling was not really a big draw for me. (Not that I mind feeling pampered mind you, but to center every vacation around that is a bit much.) Beside that, I told him, I didn’t think they had resorts at the kind of places I wanted to go, namely historical places. Well, when I said that he started getting quite huffy and, among other things, asked me how, out of their 800 resorts I couldn’t possibly find one I would like to visit, and where was I going to stay when I went on vacation—a tent? So I told him I was not going to talk anymore and didn’t answer him. Russ said a few things and then the dear salesman got up and told us he was going to find someone to let us go early because we obviously were not interested. And that was the end of that. He didn’t even say good bye or nice to meet you or anything. I must admit I was a bit dismayed but at least we got to leave early.

William took a nap that afternoon and when he got up we went to a city park called Eola Park. It had a big lake which we walked around and William played on the slide for a while. We ate dinner at Carrabba’s, came back to our hotel, and put William down to bed.

Monday we got up and hit the road. We drove 10 hours and stopped 2 times for about 10 – 15 minutes each time and believe it or not William did wonderfully!! No fussing no crying, he either slept or talked nonstop saying every word or phrase he could. It was so fun to listen to him. I couldn’t believe how long he actually kept up the talking. We got home at about 7:30 Monday night. William went straight to bed and Russ followed soon after. As for me, I’m blogging.

Charleston Harbor

William loves those hotdogs!

And Mommy loves dip-n-dots--so does William

William and Daddy on the train. It got stuck three times but we finally got off and wisked William back to the hotel for a much needed nap.

William enjoying his free dessert at Carrabba's. The waitress gave him a little glass of chocolate mouse because she said he was just too cute.

The Lion Towel

2010-03-05T08:53:00.003-05:00

I think I may have mentioned it here before, William is a lover of routine. Bath time is one such example. Almost every night after dinner Russ takes him and puts him in the bath tub. William plays in the tub for awhile, and then I come in and wash him. His favorite towel to get dried with is his lion towel. If it happens to be in the wash he doesn’t seem to mind, but when he sees it hanging on the rack waiting for him he gets all excited and says, “Lion” with a big smile. After his bath, he gets dried off and even before he’s done he’ll say, “boo Daddy”. Booing is something he likes to and frequently does do. I’ll wrap him in his towel and he and I will sneak up on Daddy and say, “boo”, at which point Daddy jumps as if he has just been terribly startled and then takes William and gives him a big hug. If William is in the lion towel he’ll say, “lion” and then he will growl like a very fierce lion as I’m sure you can imagine.

Yard Work

2010-03-05T08:34:00.004-05:00

We here in North Carolina, much like the rest of the country, seem to have gotten more cold weather than usually this year. We’ve had lots of gray cold days and, while I should be used to such weather being the native St. Louisan that I am, I have found myself longing for spring with lots of bright sunshine and clear blue skies. Yesterday, and I would like any blog readers I still have to note the use of the word yesterday, was had just such a day. William and I decided to go outside and enjoy bask in the beauty. I thought he would play on his little slide or explore around and I would weed. However, he seems to have taken an early liking to yard work and jumped right in. I dug weeds and he put them in the bucket and then dumped them in the brush. We had lots of fun and I can’t wait for more days like this one was.

William's Two!!

2010-02-27T16:47:00.003-05:00

We celebrated William's Birthday on February 27. Aunt Denise was sick so she and Uncle Kerry couldn't come. We missed them and cousin Stephanie but were glad Grandma and Papa could come.

One of William's favorite books right now is The Little Red Caboose, so I decided to make a train cake.

Presents

2010-02-27T16:01:00.000-05:00

Fun with Noise Makers

2010-02-27T15:59:00.001-05:00

Family Pictures

2010-02-27T15:40:00.000-05:00

William's Birthday Cupcakes

2010-02-27T15:13:00.004-05:00

This year we again had two celebrations for William’s birthday. We had our friends Mike and Barbara over on his actually birthday, February 21. They weren’t going to be able to come to his party so we just decided to have two celebrations. I made cupcakes. As you can see William thoroughly enjoyed them.

"I wonder when the cupcakes are coming?"

William blew out one candle and Daddy blew at the other.

Basketball Hoop

2010-02-27T14:32:00.000-05:00

New Posts

2010-02-25T21:01:00.002-05:00

Hopefully I'll get some current posts up soon. William has turned 2 after all and we've had lots of snow. We even built a snowman. However, I still had lots of pictures from September - November that I had to post. I've done that. If anyone is interested click on those months and you'll see them.

Waiting to Board

2010-01-01T18:37:00.000-05:00

This year we left for St. Louis on December 29. I really liked being able to be home for the holiday season and then leaving at the end to go to St. Louis. That way we got to enjoy all the Christmas festivities and traditions as a nuclear family and also got to celebrate Christmas a second time with Grandma and Grandpa and cousins. It was perfect and I hope we can do this for most Christmases.

This is William waiting to board the plane. He did great for the entire trip.

Christmas Day Morning

2009-12-26T21:58:00.006-05:00

Christmas morning we all woke up…late. Don’t know how many years we’ll be able to say that, but I was delighted. We had cranberry scones and clotted cream for breakfast and then opened more presents.

William first looked through his shoe box. He found a nut about which he was not very excited.

But then he found the candy and gobbled one up as fast as he could.

William loves using the broom and dust pan. He finds a little piece of paper, puts it on the dust pan and then tries so hard to make it stay while he carries it towards the trash can to dump it.

William seemed to enjoy all his presents but he loved the box that Russ's tie tack came in just as much.

Later that morning our wonderful neighbor came over to give William a present.

Christmas Eve

2009-12-26T21:45:00.003-05:00

We spent Christmas Eve at our home. We had finger food for dinner and opened a few presents. William got two different balls, a Nerf ball and a Sky ball. The Sky ball is really bouncy. He loved both and played with them a long time. He was even able to catch them pretty well.

Cleaning the Beaters

2009-12-26T21:24:00.005-05:00

This year we invited people from our church to our house for a Christmas celebration. First we all caroled at a local nursing home and then met back at our house for food and fellowship. William and I had lots of fun making food for the event. I really did have fun. Enough people volunteered to bring things that I was able to relax and not get worn out making all the food. At the end of the night lots of the ladies helped clean up and the only thing I had to do the next day was put everything away. I didn’t get any pictures of the night, but I did get pictures of one of William’s helpful tasks leading up to the event. He was more than happy to help clean the beaters of all the crab dip.

The Tree

2009-12-26T21:00:00.003-05:00

I’ve always loved Christmas trees. I like everything about them…um…almost everything. I like picking them out, this year we went to 6 different places before finding the perfect tree, setting them up, hanging the ornaments, smelling the pine scent and of course sitting back and enjoying the finished product. William loves them too. Every day I would wait till he was up and then tell him, “let’s turn on the tree”. He would get a big smile, stand back, and watch me while I flipped the switch. Then he would point and say, “tree on”.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-26T20:35:00.005-05:00

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you from the Ayscues. I didn’t get our annual Christmas letter written, but I did get our Christmas picture cards mailed, although most of you probably got them after Christmas. We have had a wonderful Christmas season. William has been an absolute joy! He is old enough to enjoy all the trees, lights, and other pretty things around the house. He’s also old enough to enjoy cookies, and candy and ice cream and I’ve had lots of fun letting him eat extras “because it’s Christmas time”. We’ve had a month of rejoicing in God’s blessings and standing in awe and wonderment at His great goodness to us. It is so wonderful to be able to rejoice in the Lord and to know the only reason we can rejoice is because Christ gave his life that we might live.

Glow Worm

2009-11-28T20:59:00.000-05:00

Stephanie and Papa at Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T20:56:00.000-05:00

Friday Morning

2009-11-27T20:40:00.000-05:00

Everyone stays the night on Thanksgiving so Friday morning is a fun relaxed time. We have a big breakfast, how that is possible after eating a huge dinner the night before I don’t know, and everyone just hangs out. It was fun watching the cousins interact with each other. They got along quite well which was great.

"Here Stephanie, let me help you up on that horse."

Thanksgiving Day

2009-11-26T20:27:00.001-05:00

Goose, Goose?

2009-11-10T20:19:00.000-05:00

William’s favorite book to read is one Grandma and Grandpa Dickmann gave him for his first birthday. It’s a book of Nursery Rhymes. Whenever he wants us to read to him he says, “Goose, Goose?” Russ was reading to him before we went the worship service on Sunday morning. Are'nt those two of the best looking guys ever?

Reformation Day

2009-10-31T19:58:00.000-04:00

Reformation/Thanksgiving season was lots of fun. William learned what pumpkins were. He kept calling them “balls” but he recognized them where ever we saw them, even in the picture of the nursery rhyme “Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater”. We didn’t have our traditional celebration on the actual Reformation Day, can’t remember why. However, a few days later we did have our traditional pumpkin stew and apple fritters. Mmm – good!!

Potty Please

2009-10-30T19:31:00.001-04:00

I started potty training William in October. I think I have the exact date written down…somewhere. I must say that potty training is the one thing I will never, ever, ever miss—lots of prayer, lots of frustration, lots of asking forgiveness etc. William seemed to survive all the bumbling of his mother quite well and after the first week he all of sudden started going potty on the toilet when I put him there. He was far from trained, but after that first week there was no turning back. He continued to progress and we used less and less diapers. However, we did use more cleaning solution for the multiple accidents, so glad for hardwood floors. He has just turned 2 and he’s still not crossed the finish line but he’s inching closer.

Williamsburg with Harry and Monnie

2009-10-29T19:19:00.000-04:00

William's in the Stocks

2009-10-28T19:12:00.000-04:00

Maintaining Spiritual Zeal

2009-10-13T09:11:00.002-04:00

This was an email I got from a friend. It was written by a pastor in Wales. I thought it was really good so I'm going to post it. Mostly so I can go back and read it.

Maintaining Spiritual Zeal

There is not one way to true spiritual fervour. There is no master key that opens every life to being fervent in Spirit. Let me give you many directives that are truly important, and some not so important (you must decide which is which for we are all different members of the body). How may this grace of true zeal be yours in greater abundance than it is at present? Thirty guidelines:

1. Don’t neglect asking God to make you more fervent in spirit every single day.

2.Go to bed on time and get up on time each morning so that you start unrushed.

3.Sit under the best ministry you can get each Sunday. If you can get better preaching elsewhere why stay here? Life is too short.

4.Hitch your wagon to a star. Our lives are creaking ol d wagons; our congregation is a groaning wagon, but there are stars to which we can be hitched. I am talking of Martin Luther, John Bunyan, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Robert Murray M’Cheyne, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, J. Gresham Machen, Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Read what they say; if they have recordings then listen to them. Learn of their lives and their battles. Makes them your role models – a number of men not one. Let their example and teaching help draw you through life. Hitch your wagon to them.

5.Unclutter your life. Our lives are all a pruning away what is inessential and a search for the simple things of the gospel.

6.Allow extra time to do things and to get to people and places.

7.Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over a period; don't lump the hard things all together.

8. Take one day at a time.

9.Separate your worries from your concerns. If a situation is a concern, think about it, and ask God what he would have you do and let go of the anxiety, and put your trust in him. Why worry about situations concerning which you can do nothing? Commit it to the Lord and get on with life.

10.Live within your budget; don’t use credit cards for ordinary purchases.

11.Have backups; an extra car key in a friend’s house, an extra house key buried in the garden. A rickety old laptop . . . even a typewriter for emergencies.

12.K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.

13.Carry a Bible with you to read while waiting in line.

14.When we are ill, we are never quite as ill as we imagine we are. We always add on a proportion. Remember you are never as bad as you think you are.

15.Get enough rest, and eat sensible enjoyable food. One morning you don’t feel like reading the Scriptures. You don’t feel like working or praying. So you tend to say to yourself, 'Well I’m not feeli ng well today and I can’t do this.' No. You mustn’t say that, you must rouse yourself. Shake off dull sloth and joyful rise.

16.We all feel better if our minds are being exercised. Read more than the daily paper and novels. Do more than watch the TV. Think. Read non-fiction. The more you use your mind the better.

17.Get organized so that you use your time to maximal efficiency. It is amazing what you can do if you plan well.

18.Listen to CD’s while driving. That can redeem the time.

19.Write down thoughts and inspirations that have come to you or you’ll forget them.

20.Every day, find time to be alone. Once again, every day, find time to be alone.

21.When you are bowed down, then talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don’t wait until later.

22.Make friends with as many godly people as you can.

23.Keep some little cards; inscribe new Scriptures on them; commit them to memory.
24.Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is to say, 'The Lord Omnipotent is King.'

25.Keep smiling when you are tricked and criticised.

26.Take your work and studies seriously, but not yourself at all.

27.Develop a forgiving attitude (most Christians are doing the best they can).

28.Do everything for double usefulness. Bake two cakes or two quiches and take one to someone who is housebound. Write two letters to missionaries when you are in the rare writing mood.

29.Men and women, 'we must hurry.' That was the great word of William Chalmers Burns in Scotland as he thought of the shortness of the time. Buy up the opportunities of the week that lies ahead. It will never return.

30.Never resist an inclination to pray.

Paul the Apostle urges us to ensure that the energy of the Spirit is at work in us constantly with no hindrances preventing it. Resist the hindrances, remove the obstacles, and maintain the glow. You cannot work up the fire but you can remove the ashes and be stirring up the gift of God within you. We must not quench the Spirit. We must resist the drift to becoming lukewarm. That is not an option. The Lord will spew us out of his mouth if we do not become fervent in spirit. We must recapture every day our first love.

-- Geoff Thomas

I CanTouch the Vacuum!

2009-10-13T05:00:00.001-04:00

One of the quirky things about our adorable son has been the number and type of things that scare him. I can’t even begin to list them all. Anything from loud noises, not odd you may say, to barking dogs that can barely be heard because he’s inside and they are outside. A tomato vine, the toys they purposefully make to crinkle when baby grasp them in his hand…Well, like I said, I cannot even begin to list all the things.

However, just recently he has begun to conquer his fear much to the delight of not only his parents but also himself. Up till now he has been absolutely terrified of the vacuum. I could never vacuum when he was awake because he would just become unglued. But he was not only afraid of the vacuum when it was on. He was afraid to be anywhere around the vacuum cleaner. Once I had it in a bedroom that he had to crawl by. Well he stopped dead in his tracks and started sobbing. I couldn’t figure what in the world was wrong with him until I saw the vacuum. So I closed the bedroom door. Nothing doing! He still wouldn’t go anywhere near that door. So I had to pick him up and carry him to another part of the house. When we stayed with my mom and dad, mom had her vacuum in a room we had to pass frequently. Every time we walked by it he would put out his arm and jabber something. I think he was saying, “That’s the vacuum!! Hurry we have to get past it before it eats us up.”

Last month there was a breakthrough. The vacuum was in my bedroom waiting for me to get around to vacuuming. William walked in there and saw the vacuum. But instead of heading in the other direction he stopped sat down and just stared at it. Not a short stare. This was a long stare. In fact he stayed there looking at it like he was watching a show on TV or something. He would sit and sit and sit. It was the funniest thing. I just left the vacuum there for several days and at different times during the day I’d find him sitting there looking at the vacuum, sucking his fingers and acting like he was looking at some type of breathtaking scenery. Then he started to touch it. He would go over to it and put his hand on it and look at me like he had just done something great. And I acted like he had of course. I mean, I still won’t even think of touching a roach. Not even a dead one. So I can understand a little boy’s delight in touching the scary vacuum. Go William. Now we have to get past men with bushy beards and…

Labor Day

2009-10-09T20:11:00.004-04:00

I’m finally up to September!! We celebrated Labor Day with our friends from Grace church. This, by the way, is the church Russ and I are attending full time now. Anyway, it was a fun time. When we got there it was a cloudy, cool day, but about an hour or so into the picnic a slow steady rain began to fall and kept up for the rest of the time.

Bellow are several shots of the spectators at the annual Watermellon Seed Spitting Contest.

John is the official judge of the Spitting Contest which is held rain or shine.

Rita Schunck, the pastor's wife, and Geneva. Geneva is about 4 months

younger than William.

Autumn is about 2 1/2 years old and loves to play mommy with William.

William kept trying to catch rain drops on his tongue.

William Reads The Foot Book

2009-10-09T05:01:00.000-04:00

Aunt Mel reads the Foot Book

2009-10-09T05:00:00.001-04:00

So far the books William really likes are: Mr. Brown can Moo, The Foot Book, We're Going on a Bear Hunt, and Brown Bear, Brown Bear. We read a few others but these are the ones that keep his attention. Of these his top favorites are The Foot Book and Mr. Brown can Moo. So the next two posts are going to feautre The Foot Book.

Swimming at Susan's

2009-10-08T05:00:00.000-04:00

This was the first time William swam in a big pool.

Hanging out with Jake and Stan

2009-10-07T05:00:00.000-04:00

Becky and Brian et al. are the bikers in the family so one day William, Jake, Stan and yours truly took a bike ride around the neighborhood.

Tea and Cousins

2009-10-06T05:02:00.000-04:00

We always see lots of friends and family when we’re in St. Louis. One afternoon we joined some Providence ladies for tea. We dined at a quaint little tea house in Fenton. I had so much fun. William, however, was not as pleased with the venue. I think there were just too many feminine vibs for any male, even one that was only eighteen months old.

That evening we went to Uncle John and Aunt Sarah's for dinner. William had lots of fun with all the munchins that reside there.

The Twins

2009-10-06T05:01:00.000-04:00

My sister Becky had identical twin boys on June 18. We spent lots of time with them when we were in St. Louis. It was kind of crazy with her four and my one. We didn’t get as much talking and visiting done as we would have liked and no shopping trips. Michael and Martin are doing great and it was fun holding and feeding them.

Ted Drews

2009-10-05T05:01:00.000-04:00

After Grants farm we went to Ted Drew's. It's the best frozen custard place there is. Still owned by the family who founded it, the Drews of course. They have two locations. They sell custard and Christmas trees. At Christmas time they put heaters under their order windows so that you can order frozen custard in sub zero temperatures and not freeze. The great thing about getting custard then is that you can eat it nice and slow and it will stay good and hard.

This was William's first ice cream cone. He loved it!!

Grant's Farm

2009-10-05T05:00:00.000-04:00

Our second St. Louis day was taken up with visiting Grant’s Farm and Ted Drews. For those of you not from St. Louis Grant’s Farm is named after its previous owner, Ulysses S. Grant. It is now owned by the Anheuser Bush family. They have a wildlife area where animals from all over the world roam. There is a tram that takes visitors all through the area so you can see the different animals. The tram ride ends at a park where there are parrots, monkeys, turtles, elephants, eagles and several animals to see. They have a baby goat yard where guests can feed baby goats bottles. That’s where William and I are in the first several pictures.

That's me walking into the yard, Russ videoing it and Dad's the one taking the pictures.

William did great. I thought he would scream and want to get out of there but we actually were able to fee the whole bottle to the greedy goats and after that William even managed to walk a few steps on his own before they started nibbling at him. It's so fun to do things with your kids that your parents did with you when you were little.

Gran'ts farm has a German theme so you end at the German beer garden where they serve complimentary samples of their brew. We tasted the Imbev beer, not very good, and had a pretzel.

Russ had never seen Clydesdales in person before. This is a momma and her foal. They really are huge animals.

Okay, for those of you who care to comment, which of these two pictures do you think I should pick as the facebook picture and the blog profile picture?

Mother in Law's House

2009-10-04T05:01:00.002-04:00

We got to St. Louis right around dinner time and decided to go to The Mother in Law’s House, a restaurant in historic St. Charles. For those of you in St. Louis who haven’t been, GO. We love it. It’s a quaint little restaurant with lots of class and really wonderful food. The mother in law is still there making all her guests feel right at home. One of the delicacies for which she is famous are blueberry muffins. I doubt very much if anyone has ever had a muffin like the Mother in Law’s. She makes them herself from scratch every day. At some point towards the beginning of your meal she comes with her little basket of muffins and gives you one and only one. If you are brave enough to ask for another she just smiles and gently denies your request. Come to think of it, the muffins kind of remind me of Turkish Delight. Once you’ve tasted them you just want another so badly. But no one ever gets another. No one, that is, except William. Yes, William got two blueberry muffins from the Mother in Law herself. Think of that.

That's number two!!

My three most favorite sweets in the whole world.

Plane Ride to St. Louis

2009-10-04T05:00:00.000-04:00

Well we went to St. Louis August 20. Seems forever ago but for the next several days there will be lots of St. Louis posts. Here goes.

We get to see Grandma and Grandpa for the first time in a long time!

Papa Ayscue's Birthday

2009-10-03T05:00:00.003-04:00

We celebrated Dad Ayscue's birthday in early August even though he was born in July. I volunteer at the Pregnancy Care Center here in town so every other Monday Mom and Dad Ayscue come and watch William while I go to the center. I work from 12:30-5:00. It was on one of those Mondays that we had a cake and sang Happy Birthday. Dad Ayscue is 77 years old and I'm very glad William gets to spend lots of time with him. Of course he is the apple of Papa's eye.

Fun in the Drawer

2009-10-02T13:33:00.006-04:00

Granted, William is not supposed to be doing anything he is doing in these pictures but look at how much fun he’s having!! It made me so sad when we told him he couldn’t play in the drawer any more. I’ve got to find him something he can climb on. He absolutely loves climbing. We have a marble hearth in front of our fireplace and he loves stepping up there and running around. The marble is only raised about half an inch from the floor but he still thinks he’s big stuff when he steps up there.

Riding Horses

2009-10-02T13:12:00.003-04:00

I think these are some of the cutest pictures. This was the last night Nik was with us. He spent the whole month of July with our family and we were touched in ways we could not have anticipated. He and William really did become very good friends. Even after being apart for two weeks, the first time William saw Nik's picture in an album he pointed to it and said, "Dee", which is what they called each other. Whenever William walked by that album, even when it was closed, he would point to it and say, "Dee, Dee". It's amazing what goes on in their little minds that we will never know.

This has got to be one of the top photos of William. Look at those little round cheeks!

Ayscue Beach Trip

2009-10-02T11:04:00.003-04:00

This was way back at the beginning of July. Will I ever get caught up?

Wrestling with Daddy

2009-10-02T10:36:00.004-04:00

One of my favorite things to watch is William and Russ wrestling. William is so much fun!! Besides wrestling he loves playing "Get You". He will smile real big and lean forward and say "get you". Then he'll turn and run, saying, "get you" over and over. He wants you to chase him, catch him and tickle him. He wont even run very far and if you don't get him fast enough he'll just stop and wait for you to catch him because he likes to be held and tickled. He loves snuggling these days and whenever I get down on the floor he runs over and hugs all over me. Then we just play on the floor which mostly consists of him giving me tons of hugs over and over and me kissing all over him. I love it!! :)

Backyard Fun

2009-10-02T09:46:00.005-04:00

Way back in July three St. Louis friends came to visit. They were here for a week and besides hanging out around here we went to Monticello, Williamsburg and Emerald Isle. We had lots of fun. Here are some pictures of them with William. Nik was still with us at that time too. He's the other little boy in the pics.

Hanging out with the Georges

2009-09-26T19:02:00.000-04:00

Lots of Smiles

2009-09-26T18:29:00.000-04:00

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Love that Spaghetti

2009-09-26T18:12:00.000-04:00

Overalls

2009-09-26T18:05:00.000-04:00

Fat Tummy

2009-09-26T17:59:00.000-04:00

We are constantly amazed at our sons fat tummy. How does he managed to stand upright?

Grandpa & Grandma Dickmann Visit

2009-09-25T17:52:00.001-04:00