Beautiful day for a hike

Nov 17, 2018

Just two days earlier Maryland got an uncharacteristically early snow. This year has been on pace for Maryland's wettest year on record, but we got a break in the rain and clouds. We grabbed the sunny day and got outside. We headed to our family's favorite hiking trail, Cascade Falls in Patapsco State Park.

I threw bars and apples in my backpack, we filled water bottles, and pulled on boots. We picked Josh up on our way. The sun was shining and it felt warm on our skin. We visited the swinging bridge first. You still can't cross to the other side because the trail on the east side is closed from the Memorial Day weekend flooding damage but it was fun to go out and come back.

Then up we went. We climbed up the hill and followed the trail covered in crisp leaves. Most of the leaves were down and covered the forest floor. Johanna was gung-ho and kept up with her fast paced sisters. We crossed the waterfall, assisting each other from rock to rock and staying relatively dry. The waterproof boots were a crucial aspect of achieving this. We explored and scaled boulders, sitting and taking it in before moving on. We greeted others on the trail and tossed pebbles in the stream.

We took a path up a gully bed and went through a section where thin tree branches arched over the path. We climbed on grand trunks that were laid on their sides revealing their roots. Snacks came out at this point. And after meeting a few more groups who were unsure of their placement on the trails we decided to turn around and head back. The return is always a different experience. We took slightly different routes over the stream, and somehow wound up on a higher log. Johanna ventured out  onto the log ahead of me. It felt much less steady than we hoped and Josh jumped down into the water to give her a hand. I didn't realize it at the time but he wound up with wet shoes and didn't say a word. We descended quickly and piled into the van. We ate our apples but everyone was craving salt and fat that was quickly satisfied by a stop a Chik-fil-a.

It was a delicious day to soak up the grandeur of God's creation.

Car Saga

Summer 2018

My Mom's old Buick was a real blessing. We inherited it when our van was on it's last leg and Emma was a new driver. It eased our purchase of the Kia and it gave Emma some independence and transportation to work. The silver Buick wasn't in great shape. Emma got to take it with her to college and she was quite fond of the old boy. It had some dents, tape on the tail light, and the driver window had to be duct taped shut. But it ran.

Until it stopped. The engine seized up as Emma was driving to the summer camp where she worked. I arranged a tow truck and got her to work. The engine had run out of oil and it was done. I became the taxi service for a few weeks while we searched for a new car. We looked at a few, but with a really small budget the pickings were limited. These were all private sales because dealerships don't bother with the low end late models. Most of our car hunting was done in the rain (we had record rain this summer) and it wasn't pleasant. We had a break in the rain when we checked out a Volkswagen. It was being sold by a guy who didn't speak English well but his 2 little boys helped out with some translating. It looked pretty good and test drove well. Emma was going to be buying this on her own and on our second visit she decided to buy it. It had tinted windows we knew needed to be fixed to pass inspection and a few other things but she went for it.

We brought it for inspection and came away with a list, she put some money into it as she was expecting and had budgeted for. There were a few small things (windshield, after market mirrors, and a tail light) left to fix in order to pass. On another rainy day she rear-ended her friend and messed up the front of her car and his rear bumper.  She did some more adulting and got acquainted with insurance. Luckily we have accident forgiveness and his car was covered.

This is were the honeymoon was over. She had a series of car repair appointments, attempted windshield fixes, hood latch debacales, and failed inspections. She got tow notices at her apartment, and got pulled over twice for expired tags.  She used the college shuttle, and walked to work most days.  This saga raged on as she also worked 5-6 shifts a week and managed a full course load. I helped her set up appointments for body work, she borrowed Jim's Xtera to get to work, and finally she got her radiator mount repaired and fender replaced. She decided to skip the paint to save some money. And it finally passed inspection in November. Next is registration and getting it legal.

She has been dreaming of other cars and the auto relationship is on rocky ground. I just hope she gets some good mileage out of this car after all of the trouble.

Baby Shower for Baby J

Nov 11,   2018

It had been over 4 years since our family got to celebrate a new member of the family, but we got to do just that recently. Joe and Magaly are expecting their 6th baby in early January. We are all very excited, and happy to say that excitement has overtaken worry from just month earlier.  On Sept 7th Magaly and 4 of the five kids were in a car accident. Magaly and Martin were both taken to the ER. Martin was released that night with minor injuries. Magaly was only 22 weeks pregnant and sustained most of the impact. They were worried about Baby J and the trauma her abdomen sustained, so she was transfered to University of Marylamd hospital because they handle high risk OB. They did lots of tests and monitoring and after 4 nights at the hospital she got to go home.  Gradually over the next few weeks the placenta healed and her cracked sternum began to hurt less.  Magaly's  tests got back to normal and they switched her to a normal appointment schedule.

We also shifted from concerned "how is the baby" questions to planning a baby shower. Becky hosted and we got to see her newly painted main floor. Mary suggested a "Cute as a Button" theme and we in regular fashion put together a fun baby shower, mostly at the last minute.

Magaly looked radiant as all of the moms and girl cousins plus a number of friends filled the house. Katherine made the sweetest cake and cupcakes that fit our theme perfectly Sarah made button favors and Heather ordered the gifts (car seats) which she had shipped to Becky's. I brought flowers and decorations and we all brought food.  It is a lot of fun to get together to celebrate the gift of life.

Baby J we can't wait to hold you, but we are so glad you didn't have to make an early entrance.

Johanna turns 6

November 2, 2018

Johanna Faith Kehrman turned six years old, and she turns my heart to joy.

Johanna has an amazing memory, especially for music. She frequently sings to herself and really likes listening to music while she is drawing and writing.  Her memory also means that she will hold us to things, including things that were "maybes". It pops in her head and she says "remember you said".

Johanna is also all over the place,  skipping from topic to thing to project and back. She is very capable of doing things independently but frequently will not accomplish what she intended or what was asked of her. She gets frustrated with herself in addition to our frustration and say "I got distracted". We are working together on that.

Johanna has discovered the fun of having neighborhood friends and loves to play at a friends house or have a friend to play at our house. Having her own room makes having friends over a much easier prospect as there isn't someone else's things to be careful of or wishes to consider. Johanna does miss sharing a room with Bridget, but conflict has dramatically decreased and that is good for everyone. She mostly misses Bridget at bedtime when the room is quiet. Johanna misses Emma too and likes to send her emojis on my phone. Johanna's love for stories is as strong as ever and Rachael volunteered to read her the first Harry Potter book. They only get to read a little bit every once in a while but it is great to see them enjoy it together.

Our little girl is starting to read and the letter/sound connections are starting to stick. The letter i and l give her a lot of trouble especially with certain fonts. She likes to write things down and will call out 'Momma how do you spell ___?" If an I is included she'll ask "Is that the one with the dot?" Johanna adjusted to kindergarten really well, she loves her teacher Ms. Maltese and there isn't any classroom drama. Johanna loves the structure of the day and thrives with the schedule.  There are a number of Spanish speaking students in her class and she prides herself on knowing Spanish, even if it is only a little. She has had no complaints and is doing great.

As much as she is growing, she is still my little one. She curls into a ball when she sleeps and pulls her "big blue" up to her nose. When she wakes up she rubs her nose with the knuckle of her pointer finger. She either wakes up talking ready to share all of her thoughts or super grumpy, until she eats and uses the bathroom. Johanna can be very insistent but also very concerned and loving.

Johanna is over-flowing and she makes my heart overflow. I love to hear her sing, to see her engrossed in a book, to observe her accomplish her purpose. She is beautifully and wonderfully made.

May God Bless you Johanna!

On her birthday I went into her class. I got to read her favorite book "Coco", which was perfect for an All Soul's Day birthday. We shared drinks and goldfish and then made tissue paper flowers with her whole class. That afternoon Emma came to visit, and I made her favorite meal, Spaghetti and Meatballs.  Megan had taken Johanna on walks to our local Italian store and Hanna fell in love with cannoli. So for her birthday she made a special request for cannoli for dessert.