Week #24

 With the warming temperatures, it's time for the our blog to come out of hibernation!

This week we celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday, and began the season of Lent. During Tiny Chapel, Pastor Mark told us that God has big plans for us, even though we are little. He also reminded us that Jesus died for our sins so we could live our lives for Him! Our Bible story this week was about Jesus using a boy's lunch to feed 5,000 people. Jesus can do the impossible because He is God!

We were in full assessment mode this week as we prepared report cards for parents - it's such a blessing to see how much the kids have grown so far this year!

Coming soon... 

What's with the weather? Also, God can use anyone to do his work, even a wee little man that climbs trees!

Week #18

We got to read The Hat this week and found a lot of the animals that we read about in The Mitten in December.

In math we talked about patterns and even tried to stump our teacher with our very own creation! During our Bible Time, we read about how Jesus chose 12 special friends to follow him and, eventually, start the Christian church. We learned that we can be His friends, too, and tell others about Him, just like his 12 original disciples. 

In art we added salt to some of our watercolor paintings to see how it changed the texture of the picture. 

Most importantly, we (finally!) saw the sun!!

Coming soon...

National Lutheran Schools Week, Indoor Olympics, and space!

A Couple Days Ago...

...I packed away Gracie's mobile gym and the bouncy seat, as they can no longer stand up to her activity (literally, she pulled up on the mobile gym and bonked her head more times than I would have liked), and is almost bouncing herself completely through the bouncy seat. But she's a big kid that sits up now, so she's not interested in reclining in anyway...ever, really.

She's only 9 months old, but as a box fills with toys she's "too old" for, I feel like a whole chapter of her life is already over. AT 9 MONTHS! I am excited about the new things she's picking up everyday, and her little snippets of independence, but I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a part of me that's a bit teary when I think of what we've left behind already.

What must it have been like for Mary; to be excitedly anticipating how her son was going to save the world but still be a little bit sad that he doesn't fall asleep with his hands frozen in mid air anymore.

I love you peachy keen...

Gracie and the Apple Orchard

Yesterday we went to the doctor to get some information and make sure everything is hunky dory for our upcoming trip. We found out there's a whole slew of real food that we could be giving her...like chunks of muffin, crackers, little bits of noodles even! We are super excited to give her some new stuff to eat.

And, yes, we got the pass..so Popo can FINALLY have her try a lemon; something he's wanted to do since she was born!

AND and..she's up to 20 pounds and 27 1/2 inches!

I don't know what the deal is, but for the last week and a half, Gracie has almost been like a different kid. It's so much easier to get her to smile and she's super happy most of the time. You'd think a tooth finally broke through, but no signs of one yet. Her sleep hasn't really changed, her diet hasn't really changed...she's just flipped a switch.

And it's FANtastic. She's sitting up on her own now and can do so for a pretty long time (I haven't seen her topple in a few days now). She's still stuck in reverse in the walker, but she'll figure it out. :O)

It only seems fitting...

...that the day after Halloween we would wipe the cobwebs off of our blog.

Sooo...we had a kid almost 8 months ago. That pretty much brings us up to now.



She is sitting up really well these days and can pretty much flip herself over every which way (though she's not a fan of being on he stomach, so she doesn't do that very often). She's not crawling or curing cancer yet, but every kid develops a little differently.

Just as long as she's able to correctly grip a putter by the age of two, Derrel will be content.

The Ebert Christmas Tour 2009

Hello, blog.
It has been awhile. What better time to reconnect then at Christmas time. It's been amazing the way the Lord has worked in our life over the last year. Even in the most recent months, he's provided a home for us, a wonderfully warm and devoted new church family, and a job the makes Derrel so much happier than he's been in months.

Getting ready to travel for Christmas can be tiring and, I'm ashamed to say, somewhat dreaded. I was just talking to Derrel last night about how all the airports and suitcases were kind of a drag, and prayed that God would give my heart a good working over. As I was getting ready this morning, the first song I heard on the radio was written from the perspective of an orphan. The chorus said "All I Want is to be Home for Christmas."

Talk about conviction. Here I had been so whiney about having to travel, when we are abundantly blessed with a wonderful and loving family that so deeply wants to spend time with us. I am so embarrassed by earlier feelings, but am so grateful to God for opening my eyes to see the overwhelming love and support that he's put in our lives.

I thank him for the opportunity and ability to be able to visit family during this season, and hope that this post might be an encouragement to anyone else that might be getting wrapped up in what could be the chaos of the season.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Mid Columbia Duck Race

This video is brought to you by our new Canon Powershot. Woo hoo!!
Because Facebook can't handle the awesome girth of this video, I'm forced to post it here, where only a small number of the population can appreciate it. So you better appreciate the heck out of it.

Picture Parade

I guess some people might think it more important to post pictures of latest happenings before posting a random dress and a weak committal.

Don't judge us.




What we got going:
1. Our First Rodeo- unfortunately all of the pictures of the rodeo itself were much to blurry to post.
2 & 3. Satchmo's birthday-yes, that is a candle in his food, and yes it did take a while to get him to eat after he burned himself, but he forgot all about the incident when he got his new toy.
4-7. Whale watching-though it was hard to get really great shots of the whales, we were able to get a pretty good shot of some deer on an island. Think about it. Deer on an island. Crazy.
8&9. We were finally able to get a game night going with our friends and church. Guesstures, Catch Phrase, and Redneck Life. It was a pretty good time, and minimal bloodshed!!

First Things First

Ok, so I really biffed it on the whole "Last 7 Days in B'Ham" posts. I'll just sum up. Packed. Cleaned. Packed. Went whale watching. Packed. Pictures to follow, but first...

On to other things. As I was closing up my seller's account at a local consignment shop, this little number kicked my shins and pulled my hair to get my attention, and threatened my dog's life if I were to have without it:


This is my motivation. Yes, it's a size 10, and yes I haven't been a size 10 in seven years, but I have faith.
And faith is now coming in a cute little strapless dress. After we move, Derrel and I have 100% dedication to getting back to a reasonable weight (though, as I write this, Derrel is already waffling down to 99%).

I'm counting on you, inanimate blog, to hold us accountable.

Operation Sweet Dress: Commence.

Nothing to see here...

I have no intentions of turning this blog into a design blog, mainly because I'm just ripping off ideas from other people, but I can only bookmark so many things before my browser reaches out and slaps me in the face, so I'm going to sometimes use this blog as a way to keep track of some ideas I really dig.

Thing I Dig: Volume 1

I think I want to make a couple of these lanterns to hang out on the back patio in our new place:
Balloon Lanterns- http://www.instructables.com/id/SIW4EWYFVW21DE6/

Headboard panels: http://high-heelfootinthedoor.blogspot.com/2009/08/diy-3-panel-headboard.html

Gallery Wall: I'm already on the hunt for some fun pieces for this-http://high-heelfootinthedoor.blogspot.com/2009/07/how-to-gallery-wall-artwork.html

So I had this idea...

...about 3 weeks ago, that I was going to do this daily writing project called "Net 30." It would have tracked our last 30 days in Bellingham prior to our move east, and I thought that it would maybe motivate me to wring every last drop of goodness out of this area before we go. I was pretty excited about it.

Now, 17 days later, the idea was a bit of a wash. Most of the days have been filled with packing, trying to unload stuff on Craigslist, and trying to piece together our oh-so-near future in Pasco. While selling an old Erasure video at our local music store for fifty cents may have excited me, the actual documentation of that story here would have been, hmmm, less than engaging.

But I'm gonna give it another go...for the last week. Yes we don't move for another two weeks, but I better rest up this next week in preparation for 7-day Bellingham fest that will ensue.

Why take advantage of today if you can squeeze a nap in and give it a go tomorrow?

Consider yourself teased.

Times I Wish...

...I had a shirt on that said "My humor falls to the sarcastic side," take one:

Neighbor: So, our block party is going to be August 1st.
Me: That's cool. I'll have to double-check, but I think our church is hosting a block party the same day.
Neighbor: Oh, well....ours is going to be better! (chuckles)
Me: (smiling) Yes, but will yours have Jesus in attendance?
Neighbor: ...

This awkward moment was brought to you by the "maybe Nicole shouldn't make any jokes until people know her fairly well" campaign. I think the best way to make new friends is to definitely talk like I truly believe I will be having a hula-hoop off with the dear Lord in our church parking lot.

The Modern Day Cover Letter

Zeke's Portable Toilets
326 York Street
Bellingham, Washington

To Whom it May Concern:

I am applying for the receptionist position I discovered upon calling your office this afternoon. While I should probably offer that my life's dream has been to work in close proximity to portable sewage boxes, let's just be honest. You're the last company listed in my phone book that I haven't yet applied to..

So let's get to the meat of it; what makes me an attractive candidate for this position? I need a paycheck. This can also be read as "loyal" or "a woman with long-term plans to work her way up in the company." I like scrapbook stores and occasional consignment store shopping sprees, so my desperation for steady money means bending to you every whim. As far as skills, I can read, write, and speak English. I'm able to breathe in and out, generally without having to remind myself, and I'm able to use a computer, at least to the extent that I know how to find help on the internet, or send facebook messages to my smart friends and family members. I'm also post-it friendly, so receiving and relaying messages shouldn't be a problem (maybe I could even relay them to you via facebook).

I'd greatly appreciate an opportunity to meet with you to discuss my resume, but we both know that won't happen. Somewhere in the midst of carrying the 400 applications you've received for this position from one desk to another, mine will slip out, miraculously show up in your trash bin in a wad, or I'll get the automated message that, despite the fact the job description listed "human with conversational knowledge of life outside the cave" as the only requirement, I don't qualify. Either way I've fulfilled my unemployment requirements, and will happily grunt and drag my club behind me all the way to the bank.

Halfheartedly,
Nicole Ebert

Well, um, hello.
This is awkward.
It has been awhile. I'm so sorry that I've been distracted by facebook and it's evil talons of status updates and PathWord games. I hope you can forgive me.
Please?
What if I promise to drone on about something completely irrelevant, right now?
Thank you for your kindness.

I was at Costco today, about 20 minutes before they opened, just sitting in my car. There were already quite a few cars in the parking lot. About 10 minutes prior to show time at least 30 people lined up at the liftgate with carts in hand. Is Meatloaf signing autographs today? Are they afraid that Costco is going to run out of the five-pound box of Special K cereal? The store deals in massive amounts of everything. I guarantee you won't have problems finding that two-story container of taco seasoning if you don't make it in until 10:30.

In other news, I never thought I would say this, but I'm glad the American Idol finale is two hours tonight. My poor, sad husband was home sick today. In attempts to be a good wife, I brought him food, let him snore the roof of our house when he fell asleep and, finally, gave him full control of the television. ALL. DAY. We went from golf, to baseball, to horse racing, to ping-pong. TO PING-PONG! American Idol means two hours free of incessant, mundane commentary or non-stop yelling about nothing in particular.

Wait....

Tulip Festival!!

Though it was the one day this week that the sun didn't find its way out, we braved the weather for the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, and I think it was worth it...

Our Big Kid Date

Last night we went downtown to Mount Baker Theatre to see Ain't Misbehavin' with American Idol's own Ruben Studdard. It was pretty fun. The theatre was pretty neat. It was first built to show silent movies, and now it catches some one-night-only performances of touring Broadway shows. We're going to see the Drowsy Chaperone next month. Before the play we went to our local Cliff House and, I've gotta say, it was a pretty swell night.

In the Midst of Greatness

We were waiting for Derrel's golf clubs at SeaTac Airport when we saw the following:

I thought it was an oversized flag, and Derrel thought it was vaulting poles. Well, he was right. We overheard some airport folks talking and it turns out their vaulting poles for the Olympics. I took a quick look at the baggage tag: L.L. Kelvin. A Google search of his name takes you to a UK shopping website. He may be a "Did you mean to type L.L. Cool J?" now, but look out for him during the next Summer Games!

Look How Hip We Are: Volume 2

Derrel and I decided that, because Bellingham has so many hole-in-the-wall restaurants, that every time we want to eat out, we'll try a new place. So before the second round of late night hotdogness (see Volume 1), we headed into Historic Fairhaven to try Flat's Tapas Bar. I had been to Tapa the World in Sacramento a couple of times, so this didn't intimidate me too much, and Derrel was sport enough to go along.



We sit down and start to look over the menu and, despite the vegetable-heavy descriptions (which usually mean 'CODE RED' for Derrel and me), we decided to stick around anyway. Derrel found his olive branch in something he saw at another table heavy with ham and sausage, and I found rest in a macaroni dish packed with cheeses I'd never heard of (half in English and half in squiggly).



And, despite being put off at first by the portions (Is this like the Coldstone try-a-flavor size?), Flat's Tapas Bar was a success (as were the various rounds of hangman and tic-tac-toe).

And yes, the Eberts prefer the Coldstone system of measurement to any metric or standard systems.