The Big Nashville Retrospective

In the middle of March we pushed Jim and Tillie's good graces and good humor by piling into their minivan and coming along on their vacation to Nashville, Tennessee. It was my week of spring break, plus Josiah's preschool break as well, so we figured, why not? I mean, who doesn't love driving 800 miles straight with a 1-year-old and a 4-year-old?

We left Lancaster first thing on Saturday morning, March 12, and arrived in Nashville some 13 hours later. We made the return trip in about 12 hours on Sunday, March 20th. And in between, we had a wonderful time with Jesse's brother's family who lives in Nashville! Here are some of the highlights...

Monday: The Opryland Hotel. Its enormous, flower-filled conservatories, complete with waterfalls, rivers, and other amazing features, are amazing. I never knew such a thing existed inside under glass. William absolutely loved anything involving falling water, and for my part, I loved watching Josiah hold his big cousins' hands while they explored! Nash and Anna were great with the boys all week.

 



Tuesday: We laid low for the day...walked Chloe the dog...played with marbles...hung out...   In the evening we had dinner with our wonderful friends Brad and Heather Daugherty. Such a long overdue treat!

Wednesday: Explored Centennial park and fed the ducks, checked out the downtown farmers' market, and saw a bit of downtown Nashville. I should mention that Will was cutting molars during this entire week. The picture of him miserable in Jesse's arms is probably a more accurate image of him for the week than the happy ones. Poor little sweetie.

This picture, below, cracks us up each time we see it! We were trying to get a fun action jumping shot of the kids. Anna not only nailed the jump but also nailed her brother's face on the way up. And Josiah sort of missed it entirely. So funny! (They're jumping on a really neat, enormous map of the state of Tennessee engraved in the stone on the ground.)

Thursday: Nashville Zoo. What a wonderful place! The kids had a great time in spite of the heat. Can you believe it got to over 80 degrees F that day?

 William loved stroking this guy, above, and Josiah always loves hugging on his baby brother, below!

Friday: Cheekwood Botanical Gardens and Art Museum. Nash and William stayed home with Jim and Tillie, but Josiah and Anna were best buddies for the morning here. It would be even more beautiful to come back to Cheekwood when things are really in bloom!

Matching jammies

William usually just wears Josiah's hand-me-downs, but I love it when they receive matching outfits. Thanks to Colin and Ann for these birthday jammies they received last fall. So cute! 

Reunited

Not only did Daddy return over the weekend, but Nannan and Papa (my parents) also arrived. Yes, there was much rejoicing in the Casler household on Sunday!

My dad and Jesse share a birthday...sort of. See, Dad was a leap year baby, and Jesse's birthday is on March 1, so they both get a birthday the day after February 28th. Or something like that. Anyway, we celebrated in style on Tuesday night, then sadly waved goodbye to Nannan and Papa on Wednesday morning. Your visit was too short, you two!

Looking forward to the future: We'll have to do it up right with an even bigger party next year for my Dad's sweet sixteen, don't you think?

(Jesse and William have this super-cute thing where they feed each other simultaneously. I love it! Oh, and Josiah and my mom made the lovely birthday head dress, er, crown for Jesse. Josiah was very proud of the beautiful candle coloring!)

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

As he's gotten older, Josiah has become somewhat sadder about Jesse's absences. I didn't blog during Jesse's last trip (in January, to the Dominican Republic), but there were tears a couple of times, and Josiah told me very earnestly one morning that he was going to learn as much as he could so he could go with Daddy and work with him on trips. He's got a tender heart, that boy.

A few anecdotes from this week? Well, on Monday night I heard outright sobbing coming from Josiah's room after bedtime (not common). "We didn't do a blog post for Daddy!" he told me, between the sobs. "He won't know about our day and he'll miss us so much!" Fortunately, he was quickly reassured when I explained that I always put up the posts at night, once he and William are in bed, and he went to sleep content after that. Then, all week he's been reserving special things — things to "save for Daddy." For instance, for several days we've managed to keep a block tower intact in the living room (no small feat with a 16-month-old in the house). "Daddy will love it!" he says emphatically each day. It's pictured at right. Today he found some little glitter specks on his hand and wanted to save those too. "Won't Daddy think my glitter sparkles are so interesting?" He favored that hand for over an hour, unwilling to use it lest his glitter wipe off. Eventually I convinced him that taking a photo would be a good idea, so he could wash his hands and eat dinner; it took significant persuasion to get him there! 

Perhaps my favorite little example came first thing this morning. As I got ready for work, Josiah went to my jewelry box and asked if he could wear one of my necklaces "for just a little while." I opened up the door where the necklaces hang and told him he could choose whichever one he wanted. He looked for a while, fingering each one, and eventually settled on a string of pearls. As I took it out, he said, "But I was really looking for that little one. That little one that opens?" I quickly realized he meant my small silver locket, which wasn't hanging with the others. When I found it, he smiled from ear to ear. "See? It's me and Daddy in here," he said as he opened it. He wore it until we left for school. I wish I'd thought to take a photo. Suffice it to say, Jesse, we all look forward to you getting home this weekend. Safe travels!!

The Friar's Etude

  

Don't worry, honey...

...we've got everything under control.

Having you away definitely leaves a big void in the house, Jesse. But I'm cracking the whip, we've got a strict schedule, and we're staying on top of everything. At this point Josiah knows not to even ask about breakfast until the counters are scrubbed, the floor is mopped, and the garbage has been taken out. Yep, we've got everything under control, so don't worry about a thing.

Baby in Red

Is there anything better than a baby who's beside himself with laughter? How about a roly poly boy who's wearing fire truck red stockings*? A guaranteed grin-getter. Josiah sure has a way with getting his brother going these days, usually over the most basic things. The two of them are so much fun to watch together!

We all had a good day today, by the way, Jesse. Several inches of snow fell overnight, but Justin was our guardian angel and shoveled us out early-early.


Laughter, the best medicine (Feb 2011) from Krista Casler on Vimeo.

* Don't worry, this is William's only pair of tights! They were a Christmas gift from a dear family member—who shall remain nameless—who was concerned about bare legs showing in the cold when his little trousies would ride up. He usually wears them under pants so they look like red socks...but here he was halfway to pajamas...  And seriously, doesn't it just add to the cuteness?

Moscow and Marbles

Well, Jesse, I guess we're back in bloggy business. You've spent the day exploring Red Square and St. Basil's Cathedral...we're here at home losing our marbles. Well, fortunately no marbles were lost in the making of this post, and William definitely had fun getting to play with Josiah's "big boy" marble run. (Toward the end, he started to think it was pretty funny to make like he was going to put one in his mouth because it got an enormous rise out of me. We had to end the fun after half an hour because I couldn't maintain the hyper-vigilance any longer!) Here's a short video, too.


Untitled from Krista Casler on Vimeo.

Halloween

Last Thursday we went to Jesse's office for the annual HOPE "trick or treat" hour. Doesn't William make the sweetest ventriloquist doll, with Jesse, his dashing operator?

Ventriloquist act from Krista Casler on Vimeo.
When he was a little boy, Jesse learned to sing "Row, row, row your boat" in a round by himself. He did it by watching a ventriloquist act again and again on video. Since this tidbit of Jesse lore is known by many of his colleagues, it's perhaps no surprise that he was asked to perform the song at his office. And...turns out, it was caught on video!

Birthday Boy

Josiah turned 4 last month. I add my voice to the the pan-parental refrain and wonder where the years have already flown. He wanted to have his party (still just a small family affair this year) outdoors, and I have to give it to him...it was really nice to have it out back! He selected the meal and the details of the cake, and he definitely enjoyed his presents. I sure do love that boy!

(We relit the candles and blew them out again once we came inside, since William had to go to bed and it was getting dark.)

Time Goes By - August ed.

Plenty of things happened in August, but really, only one of them matters:

Mama and Pop Pop Casler moved to Lancaster.

Not just to Lancaster, in fact, but to our little neighborhood, a 3-minute walk away. 

(It's a couple of months later, and I still need to pause momentarily to convince myself that it's true and to calm my inner celebratory frenzy!)

Seriously, we couldn't be more delighted to have Jesse's parents so close or be more thankful for their incredible generosity. They are caring for the boys during the workdays. What a blessing. It's a joy to think that the boys will never remember a time when Jim and Tillie weren't an intimate part of their lives, and it's wonderful to see how Josiah and William's relationship with them has grown already. 

These photos are from just a few days after they arrived, when we enjoyed a morning together picking peaches and apples. We love you so much, Mama and Pop Pop!!

Time Goes By - July ed.

Shocking! Coverage of three months in three days!

July was notable mostly because it involved our one proper vacation for the year, a 10-day visit to Alton, NH. But before those photos, here are two from earlier in the month:

Riddles joined our household for a little over a week while her people were in the midst of major home improvement projects. Josiah took care of Riddles almost exclusively, doing everything aside from dealing with her litter box. He kept her water dish filled, fed her each day, and played with her as much as she allowed!

William began showing a keen interest in being a part of family activities. This particular picture always makes me grin as William "Goes Fish" in the pile while Jesse and Josiah are distracted with an exchange!

And now for a selection of vacation pics:

 Playing in Lake Winnipesaukee.

 A train ride on the Hobo Railroad. 

 Yummy!

 Every mini-golf course has its challenges. Sand traps...water traps...windmills...hills...

But THIS mini-golf course had the ultimate: the baby ball snatcher!

 Josiah got heavily into playing ball this summer, both pitched and off the tee.

 Handsome boy!

At the end of our time in NH, my parents agreed to care for the boys for a day so Jesse and I could celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary. We went to the Castle in the Clouds. The views were breathtaking, the history was fascinating, the weather was picture perfect, and we enjoyed a delicious meal on premises too. It was a lovely day – so long as we avoided thinking about how OLD we must be getting to be celebrating eleven years! 

Thursday good night

Hi Jesse, my love. Another midnight missive. The good news is, I think I'm just about prepared to face tomorrow! I have a snack prepared for Josiah's class, since he's the provider tomorrow. I have many gorgeous loaves of locally baked 14-grain bread sliced and ready to deliver to his school too, as specifically requested, to feed the ~55 employees for the monthly "locavore" luncheon. Fresh groceries are in the house (we were seriously low, with no fruit or veggies left). I've filled the car with gas (I was crossing my fingers earlier this evening that it would even start so I could limp the quarter mile to Turkey Hill, it was was that bad! Crisis!). Wet clothes, shoes, and umbrellas are drying from the pouring rain we had all day. A "June update" blog post is up. I had a good catch-up call with my mom. And a good catch-up talk with Holly. The living room has been vacuumed, finally (when the carpet actually crunches, that's a sign that it's time to vacuum, right?). Dishes are all washed. Laundry is in progress (although, oops, that reminds me that I never started the nasty-nasty diapers. It's going to stink upstairs I bet). I have a vague clue about what I'm doing in both of my classes tomorrow. I've put out garbage. I've finally just finished (like, 20 minutes ago) getting my head around a new study to start next week, with meetings scheduled to get students rolling on them in the morning. I attended a fascinating lecture today on the evolution of religion. I created a cool train track with Josiah, filled out forms for a variety of students for a variety of reasons, made dinner, made silly faces, made the boys laugh, made phone calls, made up (several) songs. I've nursed William. I've washed a couple of fridge shelves because I just couldn't look at them one.more.time. And while I'm listing really surprising stuff: I even took a shower.

I know what you're thinking, and you're right. You got yourself a keeper. And you know what would clinch that thought? If you could just see my fantastical hair after how much time I spent in the rain today. Jaw-dropping volume I'm sporting, I tell you. Jaw-dropping.

Oh, and the other thing I've done today? Miss you. Lots and lots. Come back soon, will you?

And now to bed.

Love, Krista

Time Goes By - June ed.

As promised, I'm back with a new, very brief update. I give you: the month of June. 

 Our summer was enriched by the fact that we hosted two college students from the end of May through early August. Emma (who attends Missouri State) and Amy (a Messiah College student) were interns at HOPE International, and it was great having them live with us! The boys really loved them. 

We try to provide Josiah with lots of opportunity to genuinely contribute to the family by giving him responsibilities of many sorts. He's usually very proud of his role in our home, and it's remarkable how much more mature he is on days when we've been intentional about treating him maturely. (We've even already started on, for instance, proper knife skills – although you probably won't get a photo of that, since I stay within inches of the cutting board when he's wielding a chef's knife!) In any case, here he is working away on pitting cherries we'd picked together at our favorite orchard. He stayed at it for ages and did an excellent job.

Here's the first time I let Josiah feed William. They both LOVED it! 

 Of course, lest you think he's too mature, be not led astray! He's definitely a monkey who, like any 3-year-old, can't find a smile when the camera's out! :) This photo is from a lovely day spent in Philadelphia one Saturday in June. We so rarely take the time to just go and "do" a destination. It was great. 

Balance Bike

For his fourth birthday a month back, Josiah received a little two-wheeler bike. It's a hand-me-down we've been saving from his cousins Jaron and Bryn (thanks guys!). I convinced Jesse to pull the pedals off of it for now so that Josiah can use it as a balance bike – learning balance from the get-go rather than going the standard training wheels route. He's already doing a great job, which is impressive given that the poor munchkin inherited a hefty portion of his mother's uncoordinated genes! Jesse, here's a video from today showing what progress he's made in just the few super-quick times we've gone out in the past week. He's so excited to show you when you return!!


Balance Bike from Krista Casler on Vimeo.

(For any bike safety police looking askance at my dear child's bare head, FYI, he always wears a helmet...plus elbow pads, knee pads, and gloves, too! But for this one video op, just on our driveway, he opted to be unencumbered by the usual gear. And (gasp!) his safety lovin' mother was cool with that.)