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Brian, Kristine, Analise, and Josiah Toone


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Severe Weather

1st March 2007

Kristine, Analise, Josiah, and I road out our first potential tornado here in Alabama, and we are all very thankfully safe. I can’t imagine what the people in Enterprise, Alabama are going through right now. I was actually within an hour of Enterprise at a conference this afternoon at Tuskegee University. Fortunately, the conference was very short and I was on my way back home by 3pm. I drove through a blinding rainstorm in Montgomery and made it home to this:

Note that there are four watches and warnings and two special weather statements. I took the last picture above right before we headed downstairs to our basement. The clouds kept getting darker and darker, and the path of the "mezocyclone" prompting the tornado warning was predicted to pass right over our house. We decided it was best to head downstairs. Fortunately, we just had very heavy rain and then it was over. The pictures from the Enterprise High School are just devastating:


(NPR image, Photo Credit: Rob Carr)

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My husband is hot!

27th February 2007

Yesterday was his first race of the year and he was hot on the bike. Of course, I’m partial, and I think he looked hot in his new Birmingham Velo team jersey and shorts. You don’t have to agree or disagree with that part, but he went off the front of the pack early on with a pro rider from Georgia and the two of them duked it out to the end, beating the main group by 5 minutes. He was flying! He ended up in second, and I’m sure he’ll chime in with the details, but he could have been first. Either way, he raced well, and it’s a great confidence boost to start his season. (He’s the third rider in this picture – this was on one of the early laps.)

Josiah and I were able to go watch the race, for which I’m really glad. I was pretty bummed on Saturday evening, thinking that I’d better stay home from church with Josiah since he’d had a fever off and on. But when he woke up without a fever, Brian convinced me that we should come watch his race. I love cheering him on, so it wasn’t a hard sell! Analise spent a fun day with Brian’s parents, so Josiah and I had a nice time playing at the playground and watching Brian’s 5 laps of the race.

Watch out, anyone on a bike… Brian’s hot this year!

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Finally the weekend

24th February 2007

Well, I’m glad it’s the weekend.  Still dealing with a sick Josiah today.  He’s running a fever, and he’s pretty grumpy.  I’m debating taking him to the after-hours clinic today, but hoping I can wait until Monday.  I snuggled him to sleep this morning, and caught this sweet picture of him in his crib.  He’s a serious belly-sleeper, and he often ends up with his butt up in the air.  Cute.

Two quick pictures of Analise… She was coloring a birthday card the other day, and when I came back to check on her, I found she’d finished the card and decided she needed to be colored!  She said, "Look, mommy, I’ve got present hands!"  And then yesterday she did the same thing watercoloring!  The bottom picture is just after we got home from the ear surgery.  She was having a sausage egg biscuit in the kitchen with Dora, sipping her apple juice. 

The kiddos are napping, we’ve got the Tour of California playing live on the computer.  Exciting stage of the race today, and we should have a relaxing afternoon taking care of little things listening to it.  Yeah for the weekend!  

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The question of the week:

23rd February 2007

This is the new phase Analise is in.  "Why?"  Everything I ask her to do, she asks, "why?"  I know it’s a simple childhood phase, and it’s part of learning.  But at her age, I’m not sure it’s actually rooted in curiosity, so much as just postponing the "doing".  It’s incredibly trying to my patience… or maybe that’s just because it’s Friday of what’s been kind of a long week. 

Josiah’s got a nasty cold and cough.  We visited the doctor Wednesday to make sure it wasn’t anything serious (our copay total for 2007 keeps going up and up…), but it wasn’t, so hopefully it’ll run its course in the next few days.  Today, though, he’s snotty, slightly unhappy, and feverish with his juicy cough.  Poor boy. 

Analise seems to be completely over the ear stuff.  I can even tell she’s hearing better.  Just yesterday she burst out with, "M, mmmm is for Mommy!"  We tried several other letters – B, A, J, K  – and she found words that started with them, as well!  Very impressive, I think, especially since she’s still working on letter recognition. 

Brian’s mom was over to babysit this morning while I headed to the DMV to get a replacement driver’s license.  Two weeks ago, Josiah was playing with mine at the mall, and we lost it in JC Penny.  The next day, though, when I called to see if anyone had found it, they had it!  I got over there to pick it up a day or so later, but believe it or not, they couldn’t find it!?!  I’ve called several times since then but still no luck, and I was putting off the tedious task of dealing with the DMV.  Alabama’s DMV system is notoriously busy and very not-automated.  In Wisconsin, I could walk in, wait maybe 15 minutes, have my picture taken, pay $4 and walk out with a brand new license.  Here, though, it was going to cost $15 and you only get a paper temporary license until they mail your new one in 2-3 weeks.  Crazy.  But I found a satellite office that did replacements and renewals, and it was a simple 10 minute in-and-out.  MUCH easier than I expected.  I got a new picture – good thing I blew dry and curled my hair this morning! – and I got to update the weight – down several pounds, yeah!!  So maybe it’ll be nice to have a new license that shows the "recent" me better. 

The other highlight of the week has been the Amgen Tour of California bike race going on from this past Sunday until Saturday.  We’ve been watching the coverage live on their website, and it’s been really exciting!  It’s nearly as exciting as the Tour de France, as many of the top riders are competing in it.  The race even went past our old apartment in Davis!  It would have been so cool to walk outside our place and watch such a top-notch race!

Ok, PBS’s Between the Lions is almost over, and Analise is almost done with lunch, so I’d better cut this off.  Looking forward to a quiet weekend with my family… hopefully everyone gets well!

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Ears!

20th February 2007

Today was the big day for Analise to have tubes put in her ears.  She’s been a champ!  We were out of the house at 5:35 am and back home by 7:30am.  Wow!  (It helps that the outpatient surgery center is 5 minutes from our house!)  We took Analise in her pj’s, and she played right up until they took her back.  She had a new little Dora doll that she took with her to show everyone.  We didn’t hear her fuss at all! 

The doctor checked in with us after about 10 minutes, and he said everything went well.  They suctioned out a lot of thick fluid in one ear, but there was no sign of lingering infection.  They brought her back to snuggle in my lap less than 20 minutes later.  She was sleepy, but not at all grumpy.  She actually wanted to stay in "her room", she called it… probably because she knew once we got home my attention would be a little more divided to Josiah. 

But we headed out with a quick stop at McD’s.  She’s been resting with movies and PBS shows on the couch this morning, as have I.  Josiah has a terrible cold and cough, so he’s really snuggly, too, but I’m trying to make sure Analise gets all the "mommy moments" she needs today.  She’s asleep in the bedroom now, and Josiah is playing.  It’s a juggling act!  Thanks for all the prayers! Analise was a champ!

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Weekend wrap-up

18th February 2007

I’m sure many of you will check in on Monday morning, pleasantly surprised to find a whole slew of new posts from us. I’m trying to make up for my silence!

Remember this photo? Yes, a big day in the house as Analise learned how fun scissors were. I forgot to mention that when she first used them, I gave them to her and didn’t hear a SINGLE word from her for an hour as she snipped shred after shred. I had to "cut her off" (hehe!) to go to bed, and the first thing she said upon waking was, "Mommy, I want to cut more." Goodness.

Well, here was the photo from last night:

(suspense…)

(!!!!!)

I was finishing up Josiah’s bath, while Brian was supervising Analise’s pre-bedtime playing. He was a bit distracted and when he turned back to Analise he found her soft curls amongst the paper clippings. He said, "WHAT’S THAT? ANALISE! YOUR HAIR!" I came running with Josiah, Analise burst into tears, mostly because I think Brian surprised her. I couldn’t decide whether to comfort her or check out her hair! It’s not so bad. One piece is bang-length in the front, and the others are underneath on the side. Her hair is pretty layered, anyway, so you really won’t notice anything but the front one, and it still pulls back into a clip. (I did have to recreate this photo… the scene got interrupted quite frantically!)

It’s been a good weekend, in spite of terrible sleep again. We had a great Parent’s Night Out on Friday. Since Brian and I had been together a couple times recently, he graciously offered to let me do some shopping at Kohl’s while he hung out at the coffeeshop. I got several GREAT deals on a things for me and the kiddos. Yesterday, Brian rode with his team in the morning and worked at church all afternoon. Today was the usual teach-Sunday-School/lunch-at-Toones/afternoon-nap routine. Then I headed back to church for a baptism celebration. Brian and the kids went to his parents so he could watch the Tour of California bike race on the Versus TV network. He’s pretty excited that there’s great cycling going on in the US that he can keep tabs on, at least this week. Oh – and head’s up for our CA friends… Tuesday the race is going from Santa Rosa to Winters to Davis to Woodland to end in Sacramento. You’ve got world class cycling right down the road! Enjoy it for us!

Hope everyone’s had a good weekend!

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My mini photo-shoot!

16th February 2007

Analise and Josiah are so funny together. A couple weeks ago, they looked so cute together on Sunday, I decided to try to take some pictures of them together, since there are so few. Below, you’ll see why I PAY a photographer for pictures of my kids together! Thank goodness for Portrait Innovations!


Josiah loved being on the couch, so he wanted to squirm away and crawl.


Oh yes, I forgot… a cracked lip from falling while crawling.


Almost a cute hugging moment!


Analise has learned that Josiah likes being tickled, though she usually ends up laying on top of him,
which he eventually finds uncomfortable!

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2 Days Late… Happy Valentine’s Day!

16th February 2007

Here are a couple photos with our love…

The party at Analise’s school… Her best friend, Jacob is the little blond on the left.

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A new level of busy-ness in our house!

16th February 2007

My hands have been full this week with busy little kids. Here’s how it looked:

  • Sunday: Get kids and myself ready to go to Sunday School and church on my own, while Brian was at the Mercedes Marathon. Josiah was happily playing on the floor while I got Analise taken care of in the bathroom, when I heard him start crying. He had pulled himself up and fallen, cracking his nose on the corner of the stereo speaker. Poor boy! He had a nice little gash on his nose, and it slowly turned into a small black eye. The first marring of his handsome little face… I’m sure the first of many! (see photo below)
  • Monday: I met some women from church to sew. I’m tackling another smocked dress like this one for Analise’s 2nd birthday. Then I frantically got my house in order for another Tastefully Simple party
    at my place. Whew! It was exhausting, but it went really well.
    Thanks to my sweet babysitter, Abigail, and my super husband for
    keeping my kiddos relatively happy downstairs for the whole 2 hours. I’ve now got my own Tastefully Simple website… check it out at http://www.tastefullysimple.com/web/ktoone
  • Tuesday: After a terrible night’s sleep due to the kiddos, we had an early appointment for an ultrasound just to check out Josiah’s kidneys and some bloodwork (he was a champ – not even a whimper from him!). Then, I had to pick up Analise to drop her off at school, run to the grocery store, get back to Analise’s school for registration for next year’s class. Then Josiah and I visited her class for their Valentine’s party. Pictures to come in the next post… Thankfully, the afternoon nap saved us all. We grabbed sandwiches at Roly-Poly for dinner, and we got caught in a severe weather evening, including hail.
  • Wednesday: Happy Valentine’s Day! Belated pictures in the next post… We went out for dinner as a home church to a nearby Chinese restaurant. We’re having a really good time discussing a book called Trolls & Truth:14 Realities About Today’s Church We Don’t Want To See, written by the pastor of The Church Under the Bridge in Waco, TX. It’s very thought-provoking, and really gives ideas for practical theology for the church today. For Valentine’s Day, I got Brian a new Tour de France DVD (his favorite thing to watch on TV!), he got me a Mad About You DVD (collection of the best episodes – I’m so excited!). Analise got a new pair of pink Crocs and a couple Dora and Backyardigans books, and Josiah got a new piece for his Fisher Price Animal Train. My big wish for the day… a good night’s sleep.
  • Thursday: Didn’t get my wish, though my sweet hubby let me sleep in a little. Brian’s dad babysat in the morning, while I took Analise to her ENT doctor’s appointment. He agreed she’s got lots of fluid in her ears, though, thankfully, the infection is cleared up. She’s going to be getting tubes on Tuesday morning at 6:30am. I dropped her off at school. Brian called to tell me he’d forgotten that he’d gotten tickets for Samford’s annual Step Sing production. His parents agreed to babysit. We enjoyed ourselves until the intermission, when we both realized we were exhausted. We caught the first couple acts of the 2nd half before coming home.
  • Today: Again, a rough night’s sleep. What a week it’s been! Tonight I really was craving a night in to relax, but our church is having a Parent’s Night Out, so we’re going to drop Josiah off for a couple hours while I do some shopping I’ve wanted to do and Brian hangs at a coffee shop. Analise is going to spend the night at Brian’s parent’s house. Now, if only Josiah would give us a quiet night’s sleep, this could be a GREAT deal…


Adventures in feeding: Josiah prefers PowerBars (above) though he does like a sweet potatoes, too (below).
Analise managed to stay out of my way and yet rub his toes (below).


You can’t quite see the black eye – it was from on side of his nose and inner eye. Analise felt worse than he did, I think.
She was telling everyone, "My baby brother fell and hurt his nose. I was sad!"


A nice moment together! It was brief… Josiah decided the block houses along the train tracks were too appealing to just look at.


Analise had her first scissors experience! She loves them. I’ll have to be careful to keep them out of reach
or I might find her practicing on important things, but she’s incredibly adept at making confetti!

Josiah is all over the place and into everything. He’s a serious threat to Analise, and she’s struggling with his new momentum. She wants to play with him… sort of. When he starts pulling on things she’s playing with, she gets frustrated, so I’m much more of a referee now. He’s pulling up on everything he can get to hold him. He’s learned to crawl until his head bumps into things so that he’s close enough to pull up on them, as opposed to trying to pull up but finding himself too far away from things last week. He’s pulling things off bookshelves and loving the fridge magnet letters. Every time I turn around, he’s found a new place to pull up in the living room, when just the other day I was saying there weren’t too many things for him to hold onto in here! Just today he was balancing on Analise’s chair and got up to stand by his Exersaucer by himself. The quiet-sit-and-play-by-himself stage was VERY short indeed!


Yes, that is a random Analise foot in the picture!

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Snow!!!

14th February 2007

I went outside this morning to take our recycleables up to the street, and I saw that there were little white granules of something gently resting on the lid of the recycle bin. Could it be? No, impossible. Yes, it was snow! I ran back inside to get Kristine and Analise (it was too cold for Josiah) to show them the snow not even realizing that it was actually still snowing! Now, we’re not talking about a tremendous amount (maybe one tiny snow flake every 3-5 seconds) — but hey, we’ll take what we can get. I think Analise was too cold to be excited, but Kristine shared in the "I can’t believe it’s snowing" feeling that it’s easy to catch onto here in the South.

As I was biking to school, it did get a bit heavier with small snow flakes starting to accumulate on my fleece jacket. So I think it is safe to say, we had an "accumulating" snowfall. The only other place I saw any accumulation was on the a couple patches of ice on the bridge over Shades Creek. I’ve included pictures below of both my glove and jacket (the arrows indicate the accumulated snowflakes) and also the ice. Note the snow flakes covering the ice.

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