Employed, new Baby, NanoWrimo, amazing Grace

We've been busy - hence the lack of posting since June!
Jason
1. In July he got hired at Bridgeborn through Pinpoint IT, and is currently employed there as a 3 month contract-to-hire.  On Oct 29th, he was told his contract was up and that they were letting him go.  Quite stunning, especially with a baby due on October 31st.  He prayed, shared and coveted the prayers of others to Jesus that he be employed - and Jesus took care of the needs, supplying the exact same job not 15 hours later.  He is currently awaiting a full-time position.
2. Is currently engaged to complete NaNoWriMo (link).  He is currently posting both his entry (here) and a narrative on his efforts (here).  As of this entry he has written just around 5,000 words for his entry and another 5,000 words for his narrative.
3. He is working with the Home Educators Association of Virginia on their website. (link)
4. Finished his undergraduate with God's help and received the certificate!
5. Survived a staph infection - likely caused by too tight shoes, foot bleeding, and walking in the rain.

Ruth
1. Recently gave birth to an amazing baby boy; his name is MichaelAndrew Isaac, he was born Nov 02 (2 days "late"), weighed 10.5 lbs, was 21 in long (with 15.5" head), and the labor took upwards of 10 hours.

2. Ruth finished her courting/engagement/wedding/anniversary gift of a crocheted web-comic.  It took hundreds of hours to finish:

3. She is currently engaged in planning out the epilogue of her book "Wanting Nothing", which will be a rewrite of the last third - the book up to this point is what happened in her courtship with Jason up to where she was at the time of her writing and the remainder covered her hopes and dreams; God had a much better plan.

Peter

1. Is very, very close to both running and speaking.  He has been seen stumbling forward in a less-than-controlled manner and speaks words at random.  It is clear he has an ever-increasing vocabulary, but usually only "speaks" during calmer circumstances, predominantly curiosity.

2. Spent the anniversary of his parents at Ruth's parent's house and enjoyed massive visiting time.

3. Has not mastered multi-variable calculus.  Although his parents are not worried, more evaluation testing might be in order.

4. Still getting used to being a brother.  Is still young so the transition should (hopefully) be relatively easy.

Michael

1. Was born 11/02/09 (less than a week ago).

2. Is single, according to FaceBook.  Look out ladies, charm personified is out and about!  His parents have their work cut out for them.

3. Is mostly feeding on a schedule - the times of which are getting progressively further apart ... to the satisfaction of both parties involved.

4. Has not mastered the uneven bars and thus has worried his parents over his apathetic attitude toward gymnastics.

Other

As always, this kind of sparse documentation always leaves out sooo many details.  Here is a summary of some stuffs:

* Midwife came and was a blessing - especially since the baby was born 2 days "late"

* We finished refinancing the house - and because of God's providence had to pay little towards it

* During the two months in which Jason was unemployed - the cupboards were NEVER bare.

* The screened-in porch in the house has been mostly (90%) converted to an office with lots of windows!

* Massive family/friend help has been integral to keeping efforts to improve the general feel of the house - special massive "props" go out to God and Ruth's father.

* David (Jason's friend) has given us two couches - so no sitting in chair-only for visitors!

* A high-chair, training potty, double-stroller, and alphabet foam floor mats all showed up ... blessings toward raising our children!  In particular, the high-chair has redefined how we feed Peter.

* Swagbucks no longer offers the acoustic guitar (as mentioned previously).  In love and with planning, Ruth bought Jason an acoustic guitar for their anniversary - it came with an electronic tuner, spare strings, and a primer book.

Change is

December 2008

Sooo much has changed since last I posted - here is some updates

(0)
Our walk with Christ has been changing - and I'm fighting to give God the glory.
The fact is that none of us can succeed without His presence within our lives. Fight to choose him!

(1)
We moved!
Before Pic:


After pic:


Before was a townhouse - we were sooo blessed by the corner lot. It gave us a little more room and made moving in and out a whole lot easier. Both pictures were taken from Google Maps, which explains the mower in the before-pic and the truck in the after-pic. Also - the trees suggested by the shading on the truck were also removed - so that place on our lot is quite bald!
The after home is a rancher - a little less room on a half-acre lot. Soo much room!!
God is so faithful!

(2)
Peter has been growing! He can almost walk - backward!
He has his own face-book page (link).
And he is a continual delight to the both of us.

(3)
I'm in the middle of my second semester at Thomas Edison State College (link).
It's been an interesting thing - to juggle work, school, baby, wife, and house. Almost sounds like a modified rock-paper-scissors game.

(4)
Ruth and I are participating in our own version of the Biggest Loser.
If you wish details, please ask us in person ... or we may have a blog up about it.
Last week was our first week and team Cooper lost 19 pounds!

(5)
Ruth and I have been taking ballroom dancing!
We've learned some steps from Foxtrot, Swing, Waltz, Rumba, Tango, and one other that does not come to mind at the moment.
Other than swing, they seem to all fall into variations of a kind of square dance.
Perhaps there is an alternation of quick to slow, maybe a bending of the knee, but the basic flow is almost identical to each.
... Maybe I need to practice more ... they're not properly differentiated to me yet. Still - it's been fun and great exercise!

(6)
I continue to misspell practice and presence.
Hopefully I'll now get them right:
both end in "C" and that'll be enough for me.

(7)
I learned that FreeRice.com (link) has more settings than simply vocabulary.
This is a site that I thought initially held only vocabulary words - until I realized there are other options. It's a cyclic quizzing site and correct answers reward "the hungry with rice" (see site for details - it is interesting nonetheless) and found that correct answers can be in English vocabulary, English grammar, countries of the world, works of art, and really - not a profoundly large smattering, but enough that I think a visit to the site is worth a mention.

(8)
Well that's enough - hopefully I can get into the habit of sharing once a week

and last, and certainly least:
Here are the top 10 ways to amuse a geek
1. Make a list of the top 10 ways to amuse a geek.
2. Use binary.


May the holidays draw you closer to Christ!

How much of our crying out to the Lord is vanity?

:- Peter
Peter has been growing so very, very fast. I don't have great recollection of any particular day, but it is amazing to me how much he's grown since I first held him, an hour after he was born, less than two months ago.

:- General
Growth is painful, as are the transitions between growth spurts. Ruth has shared that she remembers growing. I don't recall anything close to that ... but growing, regardless of context, is hard. It's hard for cities, it's hard for companies, and it's hard for people.

:- Ruth
Ruth has been doing wonderfully. She is becoming increasingly aware of her fitness needs and I have heard her plan. She put in for two part-time jobs: newspaper delivery driver and Trader magazine (Friday Only) delivery driver. We're getting rid of the credit cards!!! She also has an accountability coach, which is always encouraging. Her birthday is on Monday!! I already planned a small surprise - I anticipate she'll like it :)

:- General
Being a father is very eye-opening. I know it's cliche ... but you have a much clearer understanding of what God sacrificed when He gave His only begotten son. In addition, you see how much He wants to give us good things, and most of the time we're whining. Simply whining. All is vanity says the preacher. This applies even to heart-felt worship. If God didn't guide your heart to do it, even if you were focused on God, it's likely it's a form of vanity.

:- Jason
House purchase moving forward, settlement date seems to be end of September.
Classes are progressing nicely - have an appointment with adviser in early September and should start up new classes cleanly. Also, no word on amount or degree of corporate reimbursement, but any would help knock out the credit.
We also have a budget. Dave Ramsey Rocks!!

Bye Ya'll!