California

Portrait of Sofia D'Ambrosi

Oil on Linen streched over board 14 x 11

ollie looking at his grandparents

It appears that he has blue eyes so we can keep him.

And the winner is...

After much deliberation, thought, and a careful study of all of the brackets that were sent in, we finally picked a name for our new baby...the name is:

OLIVER FINNLEY CLARK

We are especially pleased with this combination because we have the option of calling the baby Oliver or Finn! Thanks to all who completed brackets and a special thanks to Dad for taking the time to create the bracket and send it out to everyone! We had so much fun reading your submissions.

A special kudos to Tracie, who had both Oliver and Finn going to the finals.

The Baby

welcome baby uhhh...

Have yet to decide on a name, but we had a baby today! It's a boy 20 3/4" long and 8lbs 4 oz. Healthy and super great - has a giant cleft in his chin and a little bit of fuzzy hair. We'll post some pictures soon

sketchbook collection

Can tell all the spots where the kids "helped" me with these sketches?

Asher's prayer last night

So, we have been trying to encourage Asher to pray before going to bed. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Is it wrong to bribe him? I don't want to brainwash the kid, but at the same time, I think its good for kids to learn good habits early on. So anyway, last night I agreed to read another book to him if he prayed first. It worked. This was his prayer:
"Heavenly Father,
Thank you for mommy and daddy and Ruthie and Asher. Thank you for Ruthie and Asher and mommy. Thank you for eating apples, thank you for riding my bicycle. Thank you for watching Kipper. Thank you for reading books. Help us to be happy. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Totally unprompted. (Okay, I did actually have to tell him to add daddy to the list of people he was thankful for. But that was it.)

Precious.

New York

Okay, so it was a quick trip, but we managed to squeeze in just enough sight-seeing and just enough relaxing and enjoying the time without kids. We took a bus, which was nice because neither one of us had to drive or navigate. We got in on Friday night and walked around Manhattan until we found some food (random Indian restaurant that turned out to be quite good!) and then we stumbled into Times Square.

On Saturday, we took the ferry to Ellis Island and Liberty Island.

We didn't take too many pictures during the rest of the trip, but here's a quick summary...Saturday night we walked around lower Manhattan, saw ground zero, and found a yummy Italian meal at a tiny little restaurant off Broadway. Sunday we lazed around the hotel and enjoyed the extra hour of sleep. We finally made our way into the city around lunchtime and met up with my cousin, Nate. We attempted a bike ride at Central Park, but had to give up due to the throng of people in the aftermath of the New York marathon. Still, it was fun to be there and to see all of the finishers and their supporters. Nate took us to a yummy meal at a hummus place (I think it was actually called "Hummus" and then helped us catch a cab back to our bus. We made it just in time and got on right as the bus was pulling out! Whew! We didn't realize how hard it would be to get a taxi due to all the marathoners. Anyway, it was a short but great trip, and we had a wonderful time.

Meanwhile, back in DC, Kelly did a great job taking care of the kids...

Asher made cookies while Ruthie cleaned the kitchen...

And on Saturday, they took a took a walk in the park...

On Sunday, Kelly wrestled with both kids at church. Thanks, Kel!! You are the best!

Where the Wild Things Are (aka Our House)

Halloween photo shoot

We started out with a monkey and a giraffe...

See no evil, speak no evil?

Then we switched to a giraffe and Fifi the pink poodle...

Does Ruthie have to do EVERYTHING her brother does?

Right before this photo, I said "Asher, don't pick your nose!" Go figure.

Halloween

Here are a few pics from Halloween. We didn't get a good one of Asher, so we are thinking about playing dress-up again tonight, just so we can take some pics!




Asher and Ruthie love baby Hank! They are very cute with him - they are very interested in everything he does, and they constantly want to hold him and help him. So far, they are generally good about being gentle. This is giving us some encouragement regarding baby #3's chances for survival.