New Pics from our Family Photo Shoot

Ok, so you all know how much I've wanted to have professional pictures done of the family...but since they are so pricy...we asked Aunt Tina to do them for us with her fancy camera and she did a great job! It was a riot trying to get to little ones under the age of 2 to "pose", but here is some of what we got. Isn't the above picture cool?
What a face! I love this one.

Mommy and Chandler
What a grin!!
Precious!

Brothers...and friends...
What a great shot of Daddy and Chandler!
The whole family!

The family
This is what most of the photo shoot looked like...
Precious Daddy and Charlie

Christy has a job!

Praise the Lord for providing a GREAT job! After much searching and praying about finding just the right job, I have accepted a position at Semple Elementary teaching fourth grade! I am so excited because out of all the jobs that I interviewed for/was interested in, this is the job I really wanted. It is less than a mile from Churchill Downs and University of Louisville. It is a "much improving" school with an challenging group of students. But after teaching in the country and the suburbs, I'm excited about being at a downtown school. More posts to follow about what's going on...the next challenge is finding childcare!

Day Out with Thomas

Today, we took the boys to see Thomas the Train at the Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven, KY. We had a great time! We rode a real train, led by Thomas himself! We saw a little magic show and met Sir Topham Hat. I have to admit that before I had children I didn't know who any of these characters were, but now I can sing the "theme song" in my sleep and name off the train's names, numbers, colors, and pretty much describe their personalities! Amazing what we learn for our kids!
The Cream Station is a little restaurant off the square in New Haven. It was a fun place that was very authentic to a little town with a train station in it. It served diner type food and ice cream and had a grill outside. This was Chad's favorite part of the day, so I wanted to include this family photo. After today, we learned that Bardstown (which is just outside New Haven), would be a great over night trip for us (no kids) and some other couples. There are a few bed and breakfasts and amphitheatre for a musical about a person known in Kentucky history (can't remember his name...I'm a Georgia girl!)...looked more intersting than it sounds! Also, "My Old Kentucky Home" sits in Bardstown, so that would be a fun site to see. You can look for pictures from that upcoming trip in late fall.

We ate at this terrific little 'mom and pop' restaurant just off the town square called the Cream Station. The food was delicious and it even had a train that circled around the top of the room while we ate. Charlie was so captivated that we decided to install one at the top of our kitchen so we could have peaceful meals again...just kidding...
The Cream Station...like it's slogan...was "udderly delightful".

Mommy's boys enjoy the train ride
Chandler gets his good looks from his Daddy

Charlie poses with Sir Topham Hat
Charlie proudly holds his "Jr. Engineer" Certificate

More "Redemption"

Charlie & Chandler's Rocking Horse - $6
An old and torn white sheet, redeemed to become tie-top panels - Cost: Free
An old fashioned wooden desk for Charlie - $3

A peaceful place for him to color while I cook - Priceless

Yardsale-ing

One of my (Christy) favorite times of the week is Saturday morning. For the last 2 months, I have set my alarm for 6:30 am on Saturday morning and headed out the door by 7. You may wonder why...who would choose to wake up this early on a Saturday morning? Well, the reason lies in the many yard sales that occur in Louisville. I believe that Louisville is the absolute best city for yard sales! After I've had my morning coffee and muffin at "My Favorite Muffin" near my house and had some solitude and quiet time reading my devotional and Bible, I get to work searching the "yard sale page" of the Courier Journal. There are probably one hundred yard sales featured each week! I choose a section of town and map out my journey at the little bistro table in the muffin shop. Of course, I have on no make-up, a baseball cap, and clothes that could be my jammies...but aren't...so if you live in Louisville and decide to join me, this is what you get. A few friends have joined me in the recent weeks, Rebecca Sekelsky and I hit the Hurstbourne Subdivison yard sales, and Dawn Dausman and Kim Carpenter and I shopped Strathmoor Community.
I think that the reason I love this time of the week is because I love getting up on my own and not making juice or "eggs and toast" as Charlie always requests. I get into the car without buckling up anyone but myself. I sit at a little table without picking up thrown utensils and messes, nor feeding a baby in between bites! Then, I read my Bible and pray without having to discipline, get things, clean up things, and protect Chandler from Charlie's "playing", all before saying "Amen". It's MY time and I love it!
Not only that, but there is something magical and even spirirtual about buying someone else's junk and redeeming it into something useful! Where else do you find the contents of people's basements, closets, and 50-year old boxes, all arranged neatly on a card table with little prices that are negotiable? There's great pride in "talking the owner down" from $2 to $1 on a set of napkin rings that could be transformed into curtain hardware!
So far, my best buy has been the "faux adorondak chair and ottoman" that I bought for $7. It currently sits under a great shade tree in my backyard. My next favorite are the two shutters I bought for $4 TOGETHER that I converted into a message/picture board. As most of you know, I'm always trying to "organize" something, so to hold the little memos and postcards that get lost in the drawer (or tossed in the trash), I hung two shutters together on a wall in the kitchen. Although they are still awaiting a fresh coat of paint, they are working just fine. And my final "gold nugget" was the message board I bought for $1. We needed something to hold the mail, who doesnt'? So, I bought this pee-green mail holder with a magnetic board attached. I didn't like the color, so I taped off the magnetic part and the little hooks to hold keys and spray painted the rest black. It looks great right by the door.
I know its a little "sentimental" to share these finds with the world, but you know, it's feels so good to take something that noone else wants and fix it up and use it. I wonder if that's how God feels when he redeems us out of our old life and gives us purpose and usefulness. When I look at those "finds", and I don't see what they might have been...trash, junk, or unwated items in old boxes...but I see what they have become: a chair to watch my boys play in the back yard and capture memories of a stage in life that can never be repeated; or a message board to keep track of little cards of encouragement from dear friends who love us so; or a mail holder to hold our mail and keys as we enter our home and leave little love notes to each other as we come and go.
For me, yard sale-ing is not just about saving money, but its about redemption. All of us, at one time, were junk on a card table, and God has made us incredibly meaningful and purposeful. Thank God for His redeeming love and grace.

Remote Controlled Airplane Show

Just around the corner from our house is Tom Sawyer State Park. At this park is something I've never seen, or even heard of before. This park is one of the only "Radio Controlled Airfield". It has a landing strip and everything. Well, two weeks ago, the park hosted an airshow and we decided to go. It was cheap fun and we'd never been to anything like it, so why not? It was one of the most interesting things Chad or I had ever seen! People drove from around the country with their flying aparatise (plane, helicopter, etc.) in tow in a very professional looking trailer, to participate in this airshow. They were very serious pilots!! Some of the airplanes had wing spans up to 5 feet across. They were huge! They were very loud and beautifully painted. A "regular" there said that they can cost up to $10,000 each.
As each plane took the runway one after the other, they performed tricks and flips and dives. Some would "hover" over the ground almost crashing! Some would nose dive to the ground, only to pull up just before crashing. The flips and dives were amazing and all of it was put to music. It was totally "Top Gun style"...well sort of.
Charlie enjoyed the first few minutes of it. He was convinced that the planes were "Jay Jay" (if you are a parent, you know who this is). Charlie has only seen a 10 second commercial for "Jay Jay", and now anything that flies is "Jay Jay". As time wore on, it got hotter and, well you know how it goes...Charlie got more and more tired (aka: whiny). So, we packed up the stroller and went home. Maybe next time the "Airshow" comes to town, Charlie will appreciate it as much as Chad and I did!
Moral of the story: look for something fun and cheap to do that you aren't currently interested in. We did and we might have found a new hobby! Every Monday night, "ametuers" can come out and try flying a tester plane...so far we haven't...but who knows?

Fathers Day

Blogging is normally left up to my wife, but since it was Fathers Day, I decided to write a few words. Fathers Day for me was a great experience. I hung out at the house with the the boys and mommy. We played...we ate...we watched soccer and golf...what more can a dad want? Happy Fathers Day to all. Mine was great. Thank you...thank you...thank you. Adios.

Oh, to be two again...

Charlie got a little hot, so...we pulled out the Sprinkler and, well, the picture tells the rest. Oh, to be two again. No, mommy and daddy did not join in...despite Charlie's begs to "play too".

More Pictures...

The top left picture of Charlie and "Chan" shows how large Chandler is! He's more than half the length of Charlie!! A few weeks ago, we left the kids with a babysitter while we went to a couple's shower, and she had trouble finding Charlie's diapers. No problem, she just put one of Chandler's on him...strange how a 2 year old can wear the same size diaper as his 5 month old brother! The top right picture shows 3 generations of Briscoe men at our deck party...Uncle Woody, George, Chad, and Charlie and Chandler. Passing the name on! In the bottom picture, Charlie and I take our own picture. He's so cute!

Chandler is Eating!

Wow! How time flies! Chandler turned 5 months on May 21, and he started eating rice cereal! He spits out most of it, but hopefully he'll get the hang of it soon. Big brother Charlie always wants a part of the action!

Spring is in the Air at the Briscoe house!

We've been busy over the last few weeks! We hosted a little deck party with some family and friends and enjoyed some house guests, George and Melissa. Of course, we couldn't have guests without putting them to work, so we did a kitchen remodel too! "Design on a Dime" at it's finest! We'll put more pictures on the blog after we make a few finishing touches and touch ups! You can see part of the new kitchen in the picture of Charlie "helping" make coffee above, but we'll put better pictures on here in the days to come! Enjoy!