James Get's Lubed

Followed by more misadventures of Kasaan in timeout.

Finding Nemo

The pursuit of a father to embrace his son while watching together in wonder the beauty of creation.

The New House

Yeah so I promise to get some new shots of the house. This one doesn't really show off the...anything...I'll get some better ones.

And My Heart Beats for You

Greg Focker here, male nurse, checking his vitals. All clear. Mommy the nurse has gotten to him before daddy the preacher. My work tools just aren't as gadgety fun!

Our Garden

At the end of March we planted our first garden. Our wonderful neighbors gave us the land to use and we have had so much fun. It has been hard work for Margaret and I in different areas. Me with the weeds and the planting and her with the canning and the blanching. But its been a great experience.

We planted cucumbers, onions, rutabaga, romaine, radishes, cabbage, zucchini, yellow squash, green peppers, beans, egg plant, tomatoes, corn, cantaloupe, watermelon, pumpkins and red potatoes.

With Farmer Kasaan's special gardening magic our little field turned into a money saving, feast.

Kasaan Armstrong

Aunt Kathy's

There are few places in our little world that provide as much love, joy, and indulgence as Aunt Kathy's house. Let me explain-if you have kids do you know that one house you go to and as soon as you walk in the friends or family just wants to love on you and your kids in whatever way possible? That is Kathy! Kasaan loves hanging out with his cousins over there but most importantly he loves tuties (Cookies) that he gets there! Life is good for the Jennings, at least now that Kathy is close.

Our Colorful Little Boy

OK--so this is the beginning of a new beginning for us. I'm attempting to blog and work. I was so good at blogging when I was just a student. I promise to keep up. We are doing great and loving being in Virginia. We miss our dear friends all over the place but we can't wait for you to come and visit us in our new home. We'll get some pics up soon. Love you all!

gregg

Kasaan and Cousins

Virginia is for Lovers

Bird, Kasaan and I flew to Virginia last week to interview to serve at Commonground Christian Church in Fredricksburg, VA. The weekend was amazing. We knew we were in the right place with each new conversation. A couple days after flying home we were offered the job and with glad hearts we accepted. It is hard to believe that we will be leaving our dear friends and especially those we have made at Harbor of Hope. We will be moving the first week in January and will be starting down there soon after. The church is 50 minutes from Bird's family and for that we could not be more excited. Just to see Kasaan play with all his cousins last week, people who love him so much was the best thing for us.

Please pray for us as we transition. For those of you who know us well...this chance to serve God is what we have been preparing for for years. Pray that God will give us wisdom to be used radically for him. Commonground is a young church with tons of vision. Vision for mission, vision for the hurting. It could not be a better fit for all of us. Thank you God.

Bird took the pic of this church just minutes from our house here in Lawrence.

Happy Birthday Kasaan!

On November 17th Kasaan turned one year old. Don't let the smile fool you. He wouldn't go in the tunnel for anything.

I don't know why but anytime Veggie Tales is on the DVD the dude goes nuts. He loves Bob and Larry. So Margaret not only made an amazing cake she also put together an amazing menu filled with Asian noodles, Spinach dip, I made iced lattes, we had home made cookies, cupcakes, and an amazing fruit tart.

So many of Kasaan's friends came over but his best friend Emma who lives with us in the house had no problem showing him what to do with that cake. I could not believe it. Margaret spent so much time perfecting Bob and Larry and then when we put the thing in front of him he wouldn't touch it. Grandma Jennings would be proud. NO SUGAR!! He literally didn't know what to do with it. He hated the feel of it on his hands and the chocolate you see on his lips is from us trying to encourage him that it was the most delicious thing he had ever put in his mouth. Anyway the kid loves Italian he loves meat, he loves yogurt and this cake stuff is too much. Honestly he didn't eat one bite. So I gave him a doughnut so he could fit in with Emma. The chocolate that you see on him was mostly from Emma giving him some love pats.

So many of our friends came over the celebrate with us. We had a limbo contest, we had an apple bobbing contest and we had a cider doughnut eating contest. It was a great day. Kasaan would like to say thanks to all who helped make his day so special.
This kid is just happy to see all his friends. We had so much fun and he better not forget it. Ha!

Baby Steps

It has been a long time since I have written from my heart. Not that the posts over the last year have been mindless babble but more that I have been guarded and not allowed my words to be vulnerable. It has been a hard year for family and I truly believe I am learning to walk at the same time as Kasaan. As he moves away from the couch and into the center of the room I am moving away from the infancy of my own closed mind. There was once a man in me who knew how to drink deep of the morrow of life. The last couple years, I admittedly have forgotten how to walk. Maybe its the accusation to Paul in me, "too much study has made you mad." Maybe it's the cold of Boston or maybe, just maybe its a weak theology of joy. I have allowed things to be too serious too often. I am guilty of too much advocacy and have neglected the simple things. Baby steps I'm telling you. Back to the laughter, back to the jokes, back to the smiles. When I was 18 months old I was diagnosed with spinal meningitis and had to learn how to walk all over again as a toddler. The last 4 years have taken a different kind of toll on my body and here I find myself learning to walk all over again. Walking in laughter. Taking myself way less serious. Trusting God's work and taking my little ministry way less serious. And if my progress truly is in line with Kasaan's physical abilities; I'll be running by summer.

Drumlin Farm!

Thanks to some of our great friends we had a fabulous day at Drumlin Farm. A farm where injured wild animals are brought to get rehibilitated and then sent back into the wild. Brian and Andrea Cutler work there and made our visit so speical . They took us back stage to see a giant turtle, a rabbit, and a skunk. We had so much fun. Oh my the Owls. How beautiful. That was our favorite animal. Oh yeah, one more great shot from Halloween.

Walking? What!

This kid has been walking every day for the last two weeks and he is so proud of himself. He you see him carrying his little lamb (which we named David) back to mommy. A little game of fetch. I throw David on the bed, you walk to him get him and walk him back to me. He is loving it. It also helps with sleep at night. By 7 o'clock his is so tired.

In and around Halloween!

Bird turned 23 on September 17th and we decided to celebrate at our new favorite restaurant. Italian of course. We had such a great day. We hiked Mt. Monadnock, ate pancakes, and ate eggplant parm! So lately we have been figuring out what the heck are we going to do for money and so I started back up at Starbucks a couple of weeks ago. I'm enjoying the coffee shop but of course its not what the next 10 years hold for us. But for now its working. Bird started working in the ER at Lowell General and is doing that 3 days a week. I'm at the coffee shop the other three days and we are able to avoid childcare that way. It works for us. So one of Bird's best friends in the whole world flew in from Cali last week and they were able to spend a wonderful day together. Janelle Lemons was a part of Bird's Bible study at the seminary and they have something very special. Janelle celebrated Kasaan with us on Halloween as we took him to a local church to hang out.

Bird 100% made Kasaan's costume even down to sewing the name on the front and back of the jersey. If you've ever seen the Green Monster for the Boston Red Sox his name is Wally. Kasaan is our little green monster, born in Boston, and totally lovable. I'm was so amazed at Bird's skill--that girl can do anything with her hands. I wish I was half as artsy.

It was a wild day. By the grace of God we were saved from hitting a dear on the highway, we were 2 hours late to the Halloween party, we dropped Janelle off near Bunker Hill at a friends, so we just drove up to see the historic spot, I mean a jam packed day. And we loved it. Kasaan didn't love the party that much--the music was too loud and he didn't know any o the kids so he clung on to me for dear life. He's like that Monster from Monster's Inc. Totally spooked by stuff.

By the end of the night he was exhausted and fell asleep in the car. Good thing mom is not scared of little monsters she just scooped him up and put him to bed.

Catching up with Great Friends

Anthony, Candy, and Isabelle Cravaritis were able to stop by for a quick visit while we were in Virginia. Anthony and I were on staff together at New Life Christian Church and roommates for a while before we both got married. Being able to see them and meet their sweet baby girl was huge highlight for us.

Uncle Eddie making Kasaan Feel Much Better

Crabbing with Aunt Birdie

Sick Boy

Family Vacation!

When you plan a trip to the beach all you think of is the tan, the breeze, the relaxation, the naps in the shade. Yes, we got all of that but we are parents now and you just can't plan for much anymore. With 13 people in a two bedroom beach house we crammed as much fun, games, food, and sun as you can in just a few days. Kasaan got to hang out with all his cousins on Bird's side including the newest addition, Eddie and Paula's son Mason. What an answer to prayers that kid is! Kasaan's first day on the beach he was as chill as we have ever seen him. We kept telling Kathy and mom, "This is not like Kasaan to be so cuddly."

That night he was up all night, screaming and keeping the whole house awake. The next day we took him to the ER where Bird was too sick to even come in...she slept in the car while KJ and I spent a couple hours in the hospital. It turned out that he had just the mouth part of hand, foot and mouth. He had big sores in the back of his throat and he was just miserable. Margaret was no better. She was exhausted and in tears with pain from a migraine. When we got home from the hospital I had two sick kids on my hands. Lois took great care of Bird and I did my best to care for Kasaan.

Oh wait it gets better. We left the beach on Sunday to go back to Northern Virginia from Delaware. It is normally a three hour drive but since it was my 31st birthday we were handed a different adventure. The Bay Bridge sits between the beach and home and on that Sunday morning there was a tracker trailer that went over the bridge. It was a horrible tragedy causing hours of delay. My entire birthday was spent in the car. 10 hours later we arrived at home just in time to go to bed. 10 hours int he car with a sick kid. Lilly was amazing though and she brought so much joy to all of us in the car.