Plumber-Butt

Apparently, low-rider pants do the same thing to babies that they do to us females.

Sike!

Due to a series of unfortunate events, our house is no longer under contract. Our faith and patience have been tested in many ways. We have wanted to punch and kick several people in the process. I have been accused of threatening people with lawsuits and verbally abusing people all the while they are falsifying documents and lying. Anyway, it has been a rough couple of days. However, we are still moving. Brian and I have decided enough is enough with living in one place and working in another. We will be moving in June unless another series of unfortunate events takes place but we feel that this is what God is wanting us to do at this point. What can you do? You can pray that our house will sell (for real this time)by June so that we don't have to ask for donations from you to pay for two house payments.

On a lighter note, Mary Kate is six months old today! Yeah! I can't believe that she is a half-year old. Brian and I have loved being parents and we can't believe that Mary Kate is our daughter. She is a joy and delight every minute (yes, even when she is grunting loudly for something she wants). So, happy half-year-birthday to Mary Kate!

Holy Father, Batman!!

Have you ever had an experience that changed your life forever? Is there anyone out there in the world who, if you saw them on the street or anywhere else, would seem "larger than life?" Our Aunt Chris and Brian's grandmother got a chance to answer both of those questions recently on a trip to the Vatican:

Here's Grandma Bojo kissing the hand of Pope Benedict XVI (click on the picture for a bigger image):



And Brian's Aunt Chris doing the same:



Both say it was a life-changing experience they will never forget. If you ever meet or see them, be sure to ask for the story...it's a good one!

It's About Time!!!

We have good news! Our house is under contract! Yeah! We can hardly believe it. We most likely will have to be out in about three weeks. I will be contacting Jennifer Starr, the moving expert, to get some much needed pointers. :) We will be traveling to Rome very soon to try to find a house that we can move into A.S.A.P. If we don't find anything, then we will rent until we find something or until we can build a house.

In other news, Mary Kate is sitting up! She is also a grump. She is cutting her bottom teeth and I guess that is making her grouchy. Yikes!

Brian's First Marathon

Way to go, Brian! Brian ran and finished his first full marathon. He even ran it after biking 17 miles the day before. He wants to improve his time for the next marathon, but Mary Kate and I are so proud of him for running that long way. Here are a few pictures of the blessed event.


I know this picture is not good, but I was running to beat him to the finish line with the camera and I barely made it in time. Also, it was so bright that I couldn't see where I was aiming the camera.


Brian smiling for the camera. Or not.


Brian shaking hands with the race director.


P.S. Since I am already bragging about my husband, I'll say that he put all of the laundry away last night without me asking him. I know, I know. I am lucky!

Virginia Creeping Along

We took a vacation this weekend to the Virginia Creeper Trail in Abingdon, Virginia. If you haven't been there with your family, we highly recommend it. On the way up, we drove through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Here we are on the border of North Carolina and Tennessee:



The Creeper Trail is an old railroad bed that...you know what, just read the historical marker:



The thing that all the cool kids do at the trail is rent bikes, get in a van, and get dumped at the top of a mountain, and ride down the trail. Since you're pretty much coasting downhill, anybody who can stay upright on a bike can do it (just watch for saddle soreness the next day!). Distance? It's 17 miles from the White Top trail head (where the marker above is located) to Damascus, VA, and 17 more miles from Damascus to Abingdon. Yes, we just rode to Damascus - our posse included Brian, Jenny, Jenny's Mom & Dad, Jenny's sister Madelyn & her friend Whitney, and Brian's Dad. The scenery was breathtaking. Here are some shots from the trail:

Jenny & Brian:



Diane, Jenny, Robert, & Pops, about 100 yards down the trail...NOT resting already, we promise:



The stereotypical American general store, which much to our chagrin, was closed. Our Snickers run would have to wait:



Madelyn & Whitney, on a cool-looking boulder in the middle of a stream:



We'll post more pictures of our trip later today.

Venting

Well, our house has been for sale for almost a year. Some of you might not believe that it has almost been a year, but I assure you- it has. I have a few bones to pick with prospective buyers. Here they are:
1. We do not have, never have had, and never will have a bonus room. If your heart is set on one- don't waste our time.

2. No, we do not have a basement. If you are wanting a house with a basement, please do not make me frantically clean my house and shove my daughter and dog in the car, only to say that you wanted a basement.

3. Yes, we are the first house in the neighborhood on the right. The traffic doesn't bother us. We are inside most of the time.

4. Yes, we do back up to a road. However, when faced with a choice of seeing a neighbor out back in his boxers smoking a cigarette and a nice iron fence with shrubbery and a road, we will choose the road.

5. No, the bulldog stone on top of the hill is not marking a grave of a bulldog. But, if that will make you buy the house, then sure it is. :)

Mmmm... Tasty!

Mary Kate has discovered her feet! Every time I change her diaper, she quickly grabs her feet and tries to shove them in her mouth. She has succeeded two times so far. I can't believe she can bend that way. Here are some pictures to prove it.

Plums Anyone?

quiz kids

Okay, just to be cool, we plugged all of our names on Quiz Galaxy, following the lead of Jennifer and Becky. Here goes:

Brian: "One who is constantly high." No doubt - high on life, and gas fumes from the commute. Thank God for NPR.

Jenny: "A master blogger." I say the same thing to her every day. This site is obviously prophetic.

Mary Kate: "A poltergeist sent back in time to change the course of history forever." BOO! We're so proud...our little girl will change the course of...okay nevermind.

Aggie: "Fuzzy to the touch." Bingo. Perhaps related to Jennifer's cat.

It's Raining, it's Pouring!

Brian and I had a date night last Saturday. We went out to eat and to Target. While we were in Target, we just had to look at the baby stuff. We stumbled upon the cutest pair of baby rainboots that I have ever seen. I asked Brian if he could resist the urge to buy them and he said, "It will be raining in the morning and we don't want her feet to get wet." My husband- always looking out for the needs of his daughter. :)

Here are the boots!


This is MK's face when she saw them.

Girly- Girl

Mary Kate is a girly-girl as far as we can tell. She got some rice cereal on her hands the other day and didn't like it at all. She likes to dress girly (or I dress her girly) and she likes to wear bows in her hair, even though her hair is not quite thick enough to hold it for more than three seconds. Here she is with one of the bows that Nana gave her.

Random Pictures

A shot before church with Grammy and Grandaddy.



The Klempners and the Walkers came for a visit. We enjoyed our time with them.

High Chair Pictures

Thanks to Nana and Pops

Nana and Pops gave Mary Kate a high chair. She is now experimenting with rice cereal and needs a place to sit and eat it. Brian put it together on Saturday and I was enthralled with it. It plays music, and it has toys, and you can put the tray in the dishwasher! It also has three reclining positions and eight heighth positions! Brian asked me if I wanted to sit in it. :)Picture to follow. The Blogger is having difficulties.

Thanks to Grammy and Grandaddy

Mary Kate has a Megasaucer given to her by my Mom and Dad. She wasn't sure what to do with it at first, but she is a pro at playing with it now. She really likes the fact that she can see all around her. A new perspective!

I am currently reading Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger by Ron Sider, which Christianity Today considers one of the top 10 religious books of the twentieth century. As I told Jenny a few nights ago, it is already one of the most influential books I have ever read, and I highly recommend it to anyone. One of the things this book has encouraged me to do is set up a link to The Hunger Site on this blog. On that site, you can click a link, and the sponsors of the link will donate funds to reputable organizations that fight hunger and poverty around the world. It's free, and there is no requirement to enter any information about yourself. Just click.

I encourage anyone who visits our blog to go to this site and click. I ask anyone who regularly visits our blog to visit the site and click before you read our updates. You can do so once a day for free.

I also linked to World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization. Anyone who is interested in heeding Jesus's call to care for the poor and least of these among us will have a ball surfing around their site.

love and peace,
brian

Meet the Motes!

We would like to welcome more family to the blogging universe - Brian's cousin Luke Motes and his wife Becky, along with their two little men John Patrick and Ben. Brian & Luke were born two months apart, and grew up together over at Grandma & Papa Bojo's. Luke's wife Becky runs the blog and does a great job. Like our household, the wife & mom is the brains of the operation. Their site is called Three Men and a Lady, and will now be found on our Links section over on the right.

Poor Aggie

Aggie's life has changed dramatically since we had MK. We used to play with her all of the time and now she doesn't get played with much. She spends most of her day sleeping and chasing me around the house with her slipper begging to play. Sometimes, Mary Kate pulls her hair if Aggie ventures to close to her. This is a typical expression of Poor Aggie when she has been trying to play with me for hours.

Daddy's Thumb

Mary Kate has been sucking her thumb when she can get it into her mouth. Last night she was sitting with Brian and she grabbed his thumb and stuck it in her mouth. I guess it tasted better than hers!