Photo Shoots

Joan's become a ham in front of the camera...

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It's Fall

We've been in Starkville for 3 months now and things are going really well. Jude's classes are getting to work and he's been doing a few freelance projects on the side, including a gig poster for a concert in Memphis and a winning poster design for the annual Cotton District Arts Festival. I've been actively pursuing an agent for my children's book Ruby Makes Do, but have had no takers yet. Joan is spitting words out all the time and is finally able to face forward in the car... it took 18 months, but she finally got there! In September and October Joan and I went over to Louisiana for two visits and a few weddings. Jude joined us in October for his 10 year class reunion - you'll have to ask him about the questionnaire he filled out for his "time capsule." I'll give you a sneak peek, though. When asked, "What will you look for in a mate?" he answered, "Niceness." Cute, huh? For Halloween, we plan to trick-or-treat with Joan down the historic district just a block away and we'll probably hit up our church for their Oktober Fest and Trunk-or-Treat that they'll have next week. On the flip side of all of this great news, the contract we had in place for our house fell through. It's still on the market as of now, but we're seriously considering a short sale alternative or renting it out for another half a year or so because the cost of rent plus mortgage is starting to catch up to us. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we make some serious decisions in the coming months. And have a great fall, too!

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Ruby Makes Do

I just wanted to share with you a children's book I've written. Right now, I'm waiting for a book to come in with literary agents listed and I'll be sending them a copy. Hopefully someone will pick it up and represent me at publishing firms. Jude will be working on the illustrations and we're both really excited. Let me know what you think!

Ruby Makes Do

When Ruby woke up and stepped out of bed, she knew it would be a long day.

But Ruby was great at keeping a smile and said what her mother would say,

"Sometimes in our lives the sun doesn't shine and even the sky isn't blue.

You just have to try to keep your head up and learn how to always make do."

For most of the day, poor Ruby would be in places where things would go wrong.

She started the day with knots in her hair and more trouble soon came along.

She first couldn't find, her ruby red shoe she normally kept by her bed.

Because one red shoe had vanished like air, she put on a green one instead.

With red on the right and green on the left, she needed to dress the same way.

She put on some clothes that didn't quite match and now she was set for the day.

She liked this new look. She thought it was sharp, and no one could point out a stain.

Then stepping outside, she saw a great sight - the sky had just started to rain.

She said to herself, "Oh, what should I do? I've lost my umbrella once more."

The garbage can lid would block all the rain and now she could slip out the door.

She made it to school with everything dry. But something was wrong with Miss Lee.

She tripped on the step and dropped her new mug, which splattered her shirt with hot tea.

"I got you a pin to cover your stain. It's small, but I think it will do."

Miss Lee put it on and said with a grin, "It's great and it matches my shoe."

When Spelling was done, they waited to sing. Bt soon the whole class was upset.

Miss Lee couldn't get the player to work, and that's when she started to fret.

But Ruby was calm. She said what to do, "Just find me a bowl and a spoon."

She drummed on the dish - the class sang along. They made up a new kind of tune.

They finished their song and then formed a line to gather their toys for outside.

But poor old Miss Lee had lost the shed's key with all of their toys locked inside.

"It's time to make do. We'll play something else. Let's all take a lace from one shoe."

She tied up their ends and made a tight rope. "Now everyone limbo on through."

When playtime was done, they went back inside. Miss Lee tried to find that day's book.

Unfortunately, the story was gone. She needed the whole class to look.

They searched a long time, without any luck and needed to read something new.

So Ruby stood up and said to the class, "It's time to hear Ruby Makes Do."

She shared with her friends, "The secret of smiles, is making what's wrong into right.

Remember this rhyme the next time you frown and soon things will turn out all right.

"Sometimes in our lives, the sun doesn't shine, and even the sky isn't blue.

You just have to try to keep your head up and learn how to always make do."

Joan at Home

The summer is over and Joan and I are filling our days walking to the downtown pet store and library, playing on the front porch, meeting friends at a local park, and watching one Elmo DVD a day. Ok, sometimes two. Jude's classes are going well and he's already been blown away by the way State is taking care of him. They've been super supportive of his needs for the new screen printing lab and getting those things together has been easy. As most of you know, we have officially accepted an offer on our house in Bloomington. Right now the buyers are waiting to sell their own house. As long as it sells before November 23rd, they'll take ours. So please keep the prayers coming that it works out sooner than later! Here are a collection of photos and videos of Joan at home...

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Mississippians

Well, we've made it to Mississippi! We love, love, love our new house! It was so easy moving in with all of the help from our friends in Bloomington and all of our family members helping in MS. Gigi and Papa John took Joan back to Sulphur for a few days while Jude and I finished unpacking. And now all we have to do is hang a few more posters in the kitchen and we're set. Jude starts orientation this week and classes begin the 17th. So far, we've already met two couples after Mass and one of the couples are LSU alums. A few perks this week have been visiting the town market along Main Street, attending the Knights of Columbus pancake breakfast, and discovering an armadillo dead on our curb. Ah Mississippi, you sure know how to welcome us! Enjoy the tour of our new house and an extra video for some extreme laughter.

Lazy July Days

Well, it's already mid-July! Joan had a great time in Dayton, OH visiting Chloe, Art, Tootsie, and Big Poppa. They took us to the water park and the Cincinnati zoo. It has been so nice living close to Chloe and Art! We'll definitely miss that in Mississippi. Speaking of Mississippi, we drove down there from Dayton - the longest car ride of our lives to date (10+ hours of an uncomfortable Joan in the back seat). I'm pretty sure we'll be breaking up the journey into two days next time! But it was all worth it! We found a great rental house in Starville that's in one of the historic districts. It was built in the 30's and holds beautiful woodwork and tons of space for us to grow. Our landlord is another MSU professor that has bought and renovated several properties on his road to preserve the architecture and neighborhood. We'll be moving in on August 1st. We just need to sell our Bloomington house. We haven't had any bids yet and we're starting to feel the pressure of selling now. Please pray for us and for God's guidance. We'll keep you posted and we'll also put up pictures of the new house when we get some. Enjoy the rest...

Lazy June Days

We don't have too much to post, but had some cute pics and funny videos. Joan is now walking pretty much all the time, and getting injured fairly often as a result. She just passed thirteen months, and has learned a few words. Her favorite word is "NO" of course, but she also says Uh Oh, Baby, Bubble, Juice, Shoes, & Jesus. I decided to build Joan a fort out of the sofa cushions. She likes it, but once I take the cushions off the couch, she'd rather climb on and off the couch than go inside her little fort - oh well. We'll be traveling to Dayton tomorrow to visit Uncle Art, Aunt Chloe, Big Poppa, and Tootsie! After that, we're driving all the way to Starkville, MS to find our new home. If no one buys our house in Bloomington, then we'll have two homes!

The Fort: Take 1

The Fort: Take 2

Walking & Talking

Louisiana Birthdays

We recently flew to Louisiana so Joan could celebrate her birthday with her extended families in New Iberia and Sulphur. Her parties were watermelon themed, and Mom made Joan a special cake twice from scratch! It was beautiful and delicious. Joan visited Big Poppa at the Bank and Tootsie at St. Edward's School. In New Iberia, we went to the park to feed the ducks and took a picture of what a real swamp looks like for all our Illinois friends. In Sulphur we spent a day at the water park with Gigi and Emily, Joan's only first cousin. We had a great time. Joan received so many wonderful presents, thank you so much to everyone who attended her parties and gave her a gift. Joan is beginning to take some steps, so we have no doubt she'll be walking soon! We're going to Dayton, OH next week to visit Uncle Art and Aunt Chloe one last time before moving to Mississippi. 

Louisiana Videos

Joan is old!

Well, she's getting there! Joan's first birthday just passed and we had a practice birthday party with our friends in Bloomington. Soon, she'll be heading to LA for the real thing. We got her a small pig cake from the grocery store that symbolized her survival of the swine flu during her first year. She didn't really like it, though... The other photos are of her playing around the house. In parent news... Jude finished school and is ready for Mississippi State. He also just got into a poster design competition, so we're really proud! I just finished my book Ruby Makes Do which I will post on here shortly and I practiced baking a cake for Joan's birthday in LA which will have a watermelon theme. I think the homemade double layer chocolate cake with Butter Roux icing is fantastic and so yummy! Who knew I had it in me... Please enjoy.

April Showers and dresses with flowers

I've been so busy the last few weeks! We drove to Chicago to meet up with Uncle Art, Aunt Chloe, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Tara. First we went to the Museum of Science and Industry. It was a lot of fun! I got to see baby Chicks being hatched, and there was a fun play area for little kids like me. After we all explored the museum, we went to Gino's to get some authentic Chicago deep-dish pizza, mmmm. Once we got home, Mommy bought me a new spring dress, aren't I cute? Also, last weekend, my good friend Eliette Gesterling came to visit me from Springfield. She's two years old but she's pretty nice for a big kid I guess. We had so much fun.

Tuesday I'll be ONE YEAR OLD! I'll have some more photos to share soon from my first of several birthday parties. 

Happy Easter!

We have a large collection of photos this time around - there were too many to edit! They include some fun candid shots with Joan's friend, Lucy, and a record of her pretty Easter Triduum dresses. Joan's beautiful white Easter dress is so cute on her and so are her little peep-toe shoes, which she refuses to wear. I've never known a girl who hates shoes as much as Joan does. I might be thankful of that when she's a teenager... 

My First Shiner!

Jude thinks I'm silly for making this post, but I don't care. I wanted to show off my black eye that I got while trying to get into my car from out of the rain. I think it's pretty sweet looking and wanted to share my excitement with you! Also in the news is an update on our moving status. Jude accepted a teaching job at Mississippi State University and will be starting there in August. We're really excited! Now all we need to do is sell this house. St. Joseph, pray for us!

The night of the fight

The Day After

March Videos

These are a few of our latest videos. We finally managed to capture Joan "purring" on film as well as other cute moments.  Enjoy!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Well, our trip to Louisiana was really nice - we couldn't believe the 80 degree weather! Jude's job interviews went well. He had one in Houston, 2 in Lafayette, and one in Baton Rouge.  Everyone was very helpful and very complimentary of his work. Now we just have to wait and see if a position opens up.  Please pray that something will open up soon. We've also had three people come to see the house in the last 6 days, so hopefully we continue to get more traffic. Joan is doing well and is looking forward to the next time she can visit family. Enjoy the few photos of Joan.

Supernova Lova

I took Alisha to a themed suite in a nearby town for Valentines day because she had been seeing commercials for it for two years. The rooms were so cheesy that we just couldn't pass up this opportunity. Around the same time we were invited by some friends to submit a short film for their amateur film festival. So we wrote a cheesy love song full of space metaphors and filmed the music video at this suite. Here is the video - we won best overall, too!

Joan is almost 10 months!

So much has been going on this last month.  Jude has begun his job search for something closer to home, so please keep that in your prayers.  He has some interviews already scheduled and we hope things work out!  We've also put our house up for sale and hope to have a buyer by the summer.  

Joan loves coming to work with me at the Catholic Student Center at ISU and loves playing with "Gemma" their resident dog.  She's babbling tons and making cute little kissing noises all the time.  Her top teeth should be in any day now - we can tell by her crankiness! We've also seen her stand by herself for a few seconds, but I'm not quite ready to see my little girl walk yet...

I decided I wanted to become a Children's Book Author.  I had my first story "Ruby Makes-Do" done, but then learned that rhyming stories don't really have a great shot unless they're flawless.  So it either needs a lot more work on its specific rhythm and beat count, or I've got to try and re-write it in prose.  I'll let you all know when I've got some progress.  Well, as always, enjoy the videos and photos.  There's a lot, so pace yourself!

Nap time

Kisses

Joan's dog Gemma from the Catholic Center

Silly Books...

Mean Books...

Nosy Rosey

And finally, some random photos. Oh and Joan isn't bruised - she got Ashes for Ash Wednesday

Giggles

If you love baby Giggles, you'll love this!

Getting some culture!

We've had such a great time with Joan lately!  She's had her first experience at the zoo in Louisiana and we took her recently to the Field Museum in Chicago.  She loved them both and here are a few photos of our trips with a few random pictures at the end.

Video Time!

We have a collection of cute videos that we'd like to share!  Joan is doing so well and learning so many new things everyday!  Enjoy...