The Jordan Journeys: October 2018

Monday, October 22, 2018

Professional Photos 2018

I tried to get away with not doing an "official" family photo shoot this year since I didn't think the kids had changed drastically since last year. But, when I started to piece together this year's Christmas card with snapshots I took throughout the year, I realized that it wasn't going to work how I wanted.

So... I'm so grateful because I stumbled across an amazing portrait photographer who does big commercial shoots for magazines during the week, but "relaxes" on the weekends in his studio while shooting children (crazy man, but God bless him.)

I am over the moon with these new snaps that this genius of a man (FACES by Ian Cole) shot in just 20 minutes stat. Easy and gorgeous and done!

I love how Palmer looks so old and still so young all at the same time.

Checking out the shots...

I love how Grace's spunk and confidence shines thru and of course, there will always be a little ballet for this four-year-old.

These two monkeys...

I think the photos so captured the personalities of everyone. Thank you, Ian!

-Bethany

Thursday, October 18, 2018

A Rainy Fall

Over here, we've been experiencing nearly daily rain for about two months. Although we are enjoying the break from the summer heat, much of our annual fall plans have been canceled or postponed due to the wet weather. In between it all, we've been preparing for two big home tours featuring our two-year long home project. Last minute sprucing and rain-impacted repairs have dominated a lot of my time and we are looking forward to sharing this project with the public and then moving on to new things.

Here's a look at life lately...

Palmer's been reading a ton of biographies and translating them into his own childhood experiences.

Everyone from Thomas Jefferson to Benjamin Franklin to Neil Armstrong to Henry Ford to Steve Jobs is inspiring his creative and inventive mind. He's making curious requests like, "Mom- I need your computer and the iPads because I need to design a computer program right now." I reply that he doesn't know how to do these things and no, he will not be getting my computer because we don't know what to do next. His answer? "Mom, Steve Jobs just figured it out in his garage and I need you to let me do the same!" Eek.

Also, Palmer asked us if he could camp out in the backyard by himself because Neil Armstrong did it at his age. We told Palmer he could camp alone if he set up the tent alone. Well, what do you know... Success on all fronts.

Grace is acting so grown up lately and LOVES to help in the kitchen. She also is doing a great job of making her bed and cleaning her room before coming down in the morning and she is always so proud of her self-sufficiency.

We've been adapting to new school routines. For Grace, Pre-K seems like such a big transition and jump. Her class this year is much more "big school" and she is growing by leaps and bounds every day. We are seeing huge improvements in her writing of letters, identifying letter sounds, working on numbers, and even wanting to explore with some Bob books. Grace gets so tickled with herself when she masters something.

Palmer is getting a little extra attention on his handwriting(!) and is working on a printing book. He loves to turn around and show Grace what to do with HER writing.

Palmer has adjusted to his new school and is getting quite settled. He's made new friends and his thriving with his studies and the new routine. He is learning how to juggle old friends and new friends and be able to socialize with both.

Palmer especially feels handsome on his "full dress" day once a week where he goes to "long chapel" with a tie.

We've had a few outings despite all the rain...

We met Uncle Luke and Aunt Holly for a little cousin trip to Fossil Rim. All of the kids and adults packed into my car for some good times with our furry friends...

Palmer is active on a golf team thru our club and enjoying tournament play with other clubs. He also got to meet his sports hero, Jordan Spieth, at a local park and was so excited to see Jordan in person.

Dad, the caddy...

Grace is super into gymnastics (in addition to the ever constant love of ballet). She splits her time at home between practicing handstands, dancing, and singing up a storm on any "stage" she can find.

Grace and I went with Grammi to see the annual display at the Arboretum.

And Palmer and I joined up with Aunt Samantha for a fun "off" day from school at the fair.

I've also wanted to get over and see the Tibetan monks do their annual sand mandala at the Crow Museum (ever since I saw the tradition in a Mad Men episode years ago). This year, we fought the rain and went to see the sand art before the monks sent the display into the river (part of their ritual).

Imagine our surprise when I visited with one of the monks and mentioned that someone in their group had been at Palmer's school for a visit on the previous day. The monk who I was chatting with told me to hold on a moment because he had "a gift" for our kids. He came back with a giant stuffed minion- something he had won at the State Fair on the previous night! Too funny. Our morning was memorable, to say the least.

Palmer has been getting a little into the political process this year. We talk a lot about current events, who is running, and what they believe. There are a lot of political signs in our neighborhood, so the topic comes up a lot. I took Palmer to meet Beto O'Rourke, the congressman running for US Senate in Texas. We went for a run with Beto at White Rock Lake. It was fun for him to connect the dots between the person he has watched on TV and the person who we saw at the lake.

Lastly, Rick took the kids to the annual DAC fishing tournament. This year, Palmer was super serious about getting as many fish as possible to win a trophy. Of course, Grace told the judge at the end of the competition that she caught "40" fish. Sounds like a true fisherwoman, right there...