Hudson, 4 1/2 months

I haven't sat down and written about him in awhile, so a very lazy Saturday afternoon seemed like a good time.

Hudson is 4 1/2 months old now. He got two teeth a couple weeks ago, and they're sharp!
He still sleeps more than the girls ever did, but not nearly as much as he did when he was tiny. He kicks me during the night when he's ready to nurse again...much better than hearing him cry! He still cries as little as possible, but he has learned to yell if he really needs something.

He loves to play. He loves his toes...my hair...and the toys on his Exersaucer. He rolls both ways and has started to scootch, though not with much direction yet. Josh caught him trying to get up on his hands and knees, and I saw it later...he's one determined boy! I kept hoping maybe he'd wait longer to walk than the girls did, but I'd be shocked if he's not walking by Christmas, just like they were. (Jasmine was walking at 7 1/2 months, and Bekah was 8 1/2 months when she *finally* got around to walking!)

He is such a sweet-natured baby. He adores his sisters (Jasmine gets bigger smiles than Bekah, but I think that's mostly because Bekah doesn't spend as long trying to get him to smile) and he thinks we're pretty cool too. He loves to snuggle, but enjoys his play time more and more!

Here's a picture I got a few minutes ago:

Vivian, part 2

It looks like we'll need a part 3, because it started sprinkling (with very ominous-looking clouds) before we could finish, but I'm happy with the shots we got yesterday. She's so much fun!





And really letting her personality show:

The Zoo with the Marching Band

I told Jasmine this morning that we were going somewhere this afternoon, to a place where she'd see animals and marching bands. So when Josh came home for lunch and for us to head to the county fair, she told him we were going to the zoo and to see a marching band! Makes sense to me!
Right after we got there, we saw the band playing. Unfortunately the parade must be just a weekend thing, but it was fun to hear them play. The girls enjoyed it:



We headed back to the animals section, passing on the way the TONS of food vendors. I had already told Josh we'd make sure to get him some funnel cake, but when he saw "fried chocolate chip cookie dough" advertised, he decided to get that instead.

I passed, getting an ice cream instead. I can't handle that much fried food of any kind!

We got closer to the animals, but stopped at the "Backyard Circus." It was cute...but kind of sad. The ringleader chose children to pretend to be the different parts of the circus, and when he called for volunteers for the butterfly ballerinas, I was so sad for Jasmine that she couldn't be one of them.

In reality, she might have been too shy to do it, but she loves being a ballerina and it broke my heart not to even ask her if she wanted to join.

I saw a sign that, um, was a little funny to me:
(for people who don't know my feelings on this, the fact that we brought a stroller for Hudson but he spent a total of about 15 minutes in it before being transferred to my Moby, where he could snuggle me instead, should tell you why I didn't find the need to go here)

We finally found the animals. The girls loved petting the rabbits:
And I loved seeing the bunnies that looked more like, um, dust bunnies and cotton balls:

All-in-all, it was a very enjoyable afternoon!


I must not have gotten enough sunblock on one of my shoulders, but everyone else seems to be in good shape.

New Blog Look!

I am now sporting the gorgeous kit of Kelley Mickus, using the blogwear created by Courtney Wilson! Isn't it gorgeous??
I thought it fitting, since I've been posting so many pictures lately. What do you think?

Vivian's Senior Pictures, Part One

When Vivian first asked me to do her senior pictures, I thought how perfect Josh's parents' backyard would be for some of them. I couldn't figure out how to make that work, though, until I realized we were going to have Hudson's dedication there!
So I had Vivi bring a couple outfits to choose from for some shots around their creek. We didn't spend too long out there, but I'm happy with what we have! We'll do the rest of the shoot this coming Saturday out by them, but it's exciting to have a start!

Blessed Day

We got summer! The past two days have hit 90, which is remarkable since we've barely hit 80 up to this point.
Today we dedicated Hudson to the Lord. It was all of our "local" family (Grandma Virkler and Josh's Aunt Marsha drove in from their homes a few hours away, but otherwise it was people in the area)...there were 20 of us crammed in the living room! It was a very special time, praying over him and thanking God for the amazing child He has blessed us with.
then we had a few hours of *fun*, swimming, fossil-hunting, playing volleyball, and eating. And I got some pictures of Vivian for her senior pictures. I won't show them 'til I get her OK, though.

But I had Phillip get a shot of the five of us, so there finally exists one!

Second Place!

My picture of Bekah playing marimba got second :D

This week's challenge is the one I suggested: fun. I had a tough time figuring out which pictures to put up, but here's what I eventually settled on:

Favorite Things, Part 3 (by Josh)

So much for this being a week of favorites! We really didn't follow through on this one. Oh well...

One of the big reasons we wanted to do this theme was to talk about our favorite charities.

#1
Obviously my sister, Charity Kayembe, tops the list. :-)




#2
Another of our favorites is Compassion (I think they dropped the "International"?). My sister and I sponsored a girl named Priskila from Indonesia through them for years, and then when Charla and I got married the two of us took over completely. Then at Kingdom Bound we picked up another sponsorship packet and added Rosa from Peru.

Compassion does a fantastic job of ministering to the whole person. They help provide for physical needs, education, clothing, etc. They go to great lengths to ensure that they are not just putting band-aids on the child's problems, but enriching their lives to truly give them a better tomorrow.

The best thing is that their motto is sponsoring children "In Jesus' Name". This is in stark contrast to the other big child sponsorship organizations, even those who are supposedly Christian. To our shock and dismay, when my Grandmother tried to sponsor a child through one of these other "Christian" organizations, she was specifically instructed not to talk to the child about Christ! We wouldn't want to offend the sensibilities of the people we're trying to minister to, now would we? Ugh.

But really, if we're not doing all this in Jesus' Name, then what's the point? The recipient will think "wow, Compassion is such a nice organization" or "wow, Americans are such nice people" or "wow, Josh and Charla Virkler are so wonderful". But the reason we're doing this is because of Jesus. He's our example who showed us how to love the unlovely and the downcast. He called us to do the same, and minister to the broken and dying in this world. It's all because of Him. You take Him out of the equation, and what have you got? Just some feel-good, pat-yourself-on-the-back, worthless nonsense (in my always-humble opinion anyway).


#3
(Ok, not really #3 in the sense that it's our third-favorite. More in the sense that I decided I needed to break this up with section headings, and numbering them 1-3 seemed to make sense at the time. Pardon my inconsistency of thought.)
Rounding out the top three is perhaps our all-time favorite charitable organization: EndPoverty.org. These guys are absolutely amazing. You may have heard of micro-enterprise and micro-loan programs which are helping the poor of the world to lift themselves out of poverty. Instead of giving a handout, or a one-time donation that gets consumed and forgotten, this organization provides loans which enable these enterprising third-world citizens to start a small business. Anyone who's not a communist knows that this is perhaps the best way to truly help people change their financial situation, and really their whole life, long-term.

Once the business gets up and running and producing revenue, the loan is paid back into the system, where it is available for the next person who needs a micro-loan. (We're talking about incredibly small amounts of money here, by Western standards. They aren't starting a McDonalds franchise or anything, but maybe just obtaining a rickshaw or a cart to sell snacks out of.) What this means is that every donation into the system goes on to help people in perpetuity! It is not consumed, but leveraged again and again, basically forever. It's kind of like the philanthropists version of passive income. :-)

Like Compassion, the best part of EndPoverty.org is that they do all of this amazing work in Jesus' Name. They partner with the local churches, and administer these programs through them. This allows the Church to gain standing in the community, and be seen as a helper and a provider for those in need, rather than simply a house of worship or teaching. It also takes that moral high ground away from the government and brings it back to the people of God, where it has always belonged.

Please go check out their websites out now:
www.Compassion.com
www.EndPoverty.org

On the Fast Track

Hudson doesn't want to be shown up by his sisters, apparently.

Not truly sitting, but definitely figured out how to hold himself up in the "tripod" (or "quadpod," since he was using both arms). He'll be 4 months old on Saturday (where has the time gone?) and apparently thinks that Jasmine's and Bekah's timing would work for him, too.
(Jasmine walked at 7 1/2 months, and Bekah was "much later" at 8 1/2 months. So we'll see what he decides to go for!)

The Girls

Jasime has mastered swimming and floating with a cast:

And Bekah loved the Queen Ann's Lace on the way out of the zoo:

Friday couldn't come soon enough!

I'm so ready for the weekend. I had no idea a 5-day week could feel so long!
I didn't place in the "wings" contest last week, but that was hardly a surprise. There were incredible pictures to compete with!
This week's challenge is "musician," so I put in these:



No, it isn't a rule that I have to use pictures of both girls; it's just worked that way so far! (Jasmine's playing a painted wooden recorder, and Bekah's trying the marimba at the children's museum)

Favorite Things II

Yesterday was another nightmare of a day. When Josh and Jasmine were at the hospital downtown getting her leg x-rayed to make sure it was healing correctly (which it is, praise God!), the car was broken into. They smashed the passenger-side window to get to the GPS and iPod nano. And the transmitter and other thingamajig needed to plug those in and so that the iPod played through the radio. (c'mon, tell me you're not in awe of my technical knowledge!)
Car insurance will cover the cost of a replacement window (which is supposed to be repaired today but I haven't heard anything from Josh) but we're on our own for the other. Deductible is too high for homeowner's insurance to cover the cost of the things stolen.

Anyways, we ended the day well, getting a lovely date while the girls spent that entire time swimming (yay for fiberglass casts!) but by the time we got home, we were all exhausted. So no post! I'm sure I had a bunch of people who were anxious to hear what else we like (man, I'm sarcastic today!) so I'm sorry.

So, without further ado...

Wednesday: online/computer stuff

Some of this might apply to everyone, others to almost no one. But in case you're looking for new places/things to try, here's what we've found to be the best :)

If you find yourself needing to rename a bunch of files, but dread doing them all individually, there's an awesome (free) download I use. It's called Batch ReNamer, and it's awesome. Simple, efficient, and makes the process almost fun!

If you ever get into digital scrapbooking, or are even thinking about trying it, you need to check out thedigichick.com. I know I'm not impartial, but it's the friendliest, most helpful, most talented, least drama-filled site you'll find for digital scrapping. And if you get into hybrid (which means you do part on the computer and part with scissors and glue), thehybridchick.com has amazing tutorials :)

Looking for free fonts? My favorite is dafont.com. And my favorite font designer, when I'm not looking for typewriter fonts? Kimberly Geswein :)

And if you decide you'd like to learn how to improve the look of your pictures once you've taken them (and you have Photoshop or Photoshop Elements), I highly recommend Jessica Sprague's Photo Editing: Good-to-Great Workflow. (not free, unlike the rest of the things I've linked to today, but well worth the money) I consider that it finally made my camera purchases and my upgrade in Photoshop completely worth it. Since I took the course, I've gotten so many comments (positive ;) ) on my photos, and it's not that I've taken better pictures than that (the pictures that won first and second in last week's contest were from a year and an older camera ago!)

A Few Of Our Favorite Things

Hopefully we can do this all week; Josh and I thought it would be neat to share a few things we've discovered that we consider to be incredible. I said I'd go first!

****

Monday: books

We have a bunch of children's Bibles and Bible story books, but my friend Carole found the most incredible one I've ever seen. It's called The Jesus Storybook Bible, and it is written beautifully. Each story has a direct connection to how the story fits into God's bigger picture.
How many sermons have there been about how the whole Bible points directly to Jesus? How the whole Old Testament tells of the coming Messiah, and the New Testament focuses on what He means to us? But when you're in the middle of the story of David and Goliath, it's easy to forget that bigger picture.
This book tells the story like it's someone sitting in the room, telling children the story (but not talking down to them, one of my biggest pet peeves), and then concludes each one with how that story tells a little more about the coming Messiah and how He fits in to that story.
I read the very first story to the girls and cried as I read it to them. It was obvious that the author has a very real, tender relationship with the Lord, because His love is apparent in every line. I told Josh he had to read it too, and he agreed that it was very powerful.
Now he reads a chapter (or 4) after reading our Bible to the family. The girls love them and always ask for at least one more each night. That's confirmation enough for me!

If you're looking for light reading for kids, our very favorite author is Sandra Boynton. She's funny, the pictures are cute, and the rhymes flow well (I hate reading books that have rhymes whose rhythms are hard to figure out) We own (at last count) 13 of her board books. She has a great book about chocolate, and one year she made an absolutely hilarious chocolate calendar (unfortunately she decided not to keep doing those, which is too bad because I know a few people who would enjoy getting them as Christmas presents).
Some of the girls' favorites:
Knuffle Bunny
Frog and Toad
Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type (and others by the same author)
and Fox in Socks (my favorite Suess book because I can read it without stumbling)