Re:Us

Boys will be boys

2008-02-12T14:27:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting parody ad I saw on the back of a magazine I received for free. Now, I don't have a boy, and I've never raised a boy, but it seems to me that boys should be allowed (maybe even encouraged?) to get hurt often. That is, boys should be allowed to be boys, so when they are done being boys, they will be men.

Just some Christmas pics

2008-01-24T03:52:00.001-08:00

Going backwards through time, these pics are from the extended family Christmas celebration at our house, a visit from Aunty Nay Nay, the immediate family Christmas celebration at our house, and the extended family Christmas celebration at the Welling's house. Okay!

I had a feeling...

2008-01-21T20:36:00.000-08:00

I don't recall the circumstances, but I remember thinking recently that little Stella might be interested in the same sorts of things that I am...wishful thinking, maybe. More to the point, I had a feeling she would turn out to be theologically astute. Just a feeling, really; I can't put my finger on anything that might amount to a reason leading to that conclusion. In any event, here's a photo, completely unstaged (honestly), that I think lends itself in the direction of confirming my feelings on the matter.

Pics of the Pumpkin Patch

2007-10-15T19:31:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, we traveled to Grand Prairie to celebrate a double header: Papa's birthday and Uncle JJ's fiance's birthday. While there, we also did a little harvest celebrating as well. Avoiding the obvious questions about "harvest celebrating" for folks who get there "produce" from an "aisle" where it "rains" out of little nozzles every 15 minutes or so, lets move on to the pics. That is, after all, why you are here.
But first, I should tell you what you are about to see. There were pumpkins (large ones, small ones, orange ones, green bumpy ones, on the ground, in buckets, in troughs etc.), tractors, a hay maze (which made for a confusing day for that man whose last name was, apparently, Mays: anyone at the patch: "Hay maze!" Mr. Mays: "Hey what?!"), a corn maze, (which made for a confusing day for the Native Americans present, for whom "corn maize" is redundant), a playground, and lots of people. It was a beautiful day, so there are many pics. Here ya go:

Did I wake up in 1938?

2007-09-18T05:59:00.000-07:00

This report was waiting for me this morning when I sat down at the computer to catch up on some obscure theological debate.

"Villagers in Peru are struck by a mysterious illness after a meteorite crashes nearby..."

"Residents complained of headaches and vomiting brought on by a "strange odor..."

"Boiling water started coming out of the crater and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby. Residents are very concerned..."

No kidding! Doesn't anyone remember what happened after the last meteorite? Well, the top unscrewed and these egg-shaped craft came walking out and zapped all the onlookers with spraying sparks, for starters. Then they started collecting people and draining the life out of them for use in some kind of extra-terrestrial garden project...whatever it was, it was not good for the people involved.

Peruvian Villagers: after your headaches wear off, but before the egg-craft come out, I want you to run up and sneeze or cough toward the meteor. The creatures inside have not be vaccinated, so if you can get them sick with the cold or flu, they'll die. I'm serious; this is what happened last time.

A number of things to know...

2007-07-29T17:55:00.000-07:00

Here they are, not in any kind of order, except right to left and top to bottom:

1. d. reeves design house is trotting along. On the back of our products, we mention something about how d. reeves design house is also our house: our dining room is our production facility. "Now this is cute and all, but surely that's all it is; we know you have some kind of rented space in a warehouse or something." Nope, and below is a pic to prove it. That's us, in our dining room. What you can't see is the dining table for all the 4"x6.5" albums stacked on top of it.

2. We recently joined our local YMCA. I am reminded of a quip one of my professors at OSU loved to rehearse: "Why do we call it the 'Y'? You don't have to be young, and it isn't just for males, and membership is not restricted to Christians...we should call it the 'A'. Anyway, the girls positively love swimming at the Y; take a look:

3. Stella had not been gaining weight the way all the inanimate, laminated charts expected her to. So Diane started a rigorous 3000 calorie/day diet. By the by, I have also been on a 3000 calorie/day diet, but it is more accidental than prescribed, and seems to be producing something that looks like a pregnant belly...no pictures to prove this, but who would look?
In any event, Diane's increased diet is working and Stella is gaining weight now like a champ, and a heavy weight one at that. Here she is standing:

Also, since mommy needs to eat more, Stella decided she (Stella) would help out with the cooking. In lieu of chef's hat, she donned a pair of bloomers. We think its pretty convincing:

4. Emma is doing well as well. Much of her day is given to telling stories about all the interesting things she and her baby do. Ironically, those things are nearly identical to the things that Mommy does with her. She is also exploring all the things her body can do. Lately, she will stand atop her potty (lid closed), crouch down, then spring into the air while making a complex swishing sound (with her mouth). Think of one of the action/martial arts sequences in The Matrix; though she's not seen it, she's pretending it.
Here's a picture of Emma's most recent exploration. I think she thought she was caving.

5. Podcasting is free, and apparently they'll let just anybody do it. Just kidding; here is a link to the sermon podcasts of a good friend of mine who is the pastor of a church in Greenville, Texas. And since I have pictures for all the rest, here's one of Greg. No, he has never been arrested, and he is not as dorky as he looks.

Best of Waco, Back in Action

2007-06-21T21:32:00.000-07:00

That's right, our having a second child and starting a scrapbooking business have encroached on our enjoying-Waco time, but you will forgive us for this, of course. In any event, we're back in it: our friends in the BOW club, the Barnards, brought over some malts from Health Camp (don't let the name fool you; I believe I gained a pound per spoonful).

What's most important here is probably the flavor of the malts, but that is an inadequate way to approach the subject. It is in inadequate in that it misleads the reader to think that the best way to describe what we enjoyed was a malt with some added flavors, those being peanut butter and hot fudge. This would be a serious error in description. No, what we enjoyed would be better described as a 16 oz. Styrofoam cup of intensely sweet peanut butter with a hint of some melty ice cream and some hot fudge smeared on the inner wall of the cup. Not a malt with some flavors; a FLAVOR in the shape of a malt. But "intensely sweet" is not the best way to describe the peanut buttery-ness; think Reese's Peanut Butter Cup peanut butter, volume turned up to 10. The peanut butter was equal parts sugar and peanut: sug-nut butter (pronounced shug-nut), pea-nugar butter, peanut sug-butt (that doesn't seem right, but its close).

We all agreed that adding hot fudge to a sug-nut butter malt is good in theory, but smearing it on the inside of the cup in small quantity seemed not to produce the same results had it actually been mixed in.

We recommend these malts, but you should hawk-watch the kid mixing the mix: when he says he's finished, ask him to return to the mixer for another spin, and add some more fudge, buddy.

Here's some pics (look closely at my right side...that love-handle? All the malt's fault):

From Waco to Musashino-Shi

2007-06-05T19:47:00.000-07:00

I have to say I am very proud of Diane. d. reeves design house is going very well; Diane's gifts and creativity are really shining, and are being confirmed by others in the scrapbook industry (there's an industry? yep, a whole industry). Consider this one expression of my rising up and calling her blessed...
An editor of a Japanese scrapbook magazine (the industry is global? yep, global) ordered a sample of d. reeves products for a mini-album story she is doing for the mag. We just tracked the shipment: it has left Waco, spent a few minutes in Memphis, and promptly flew to Narita-Shi, Tokyo, Japan. Final destination: Musashino-Shi, Tokyo, Japan. I know! All the way to Musashino-Shi! We did a quick Google search for Narita-Shi to see where it sits in relation to Musashino-Shi...we didn't find much, which, incidentally, adds to the exotic mystery.

If you have extra time, Google the Shi's of Musashino or Narita and send us a map. Make sure its got those neat red lines like in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom".

Emma's Gallery

2007-06-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

For her birthday, Emma received a nice easel. This seems to have set her right-brain to turning; these three pictures she called "Circles". Click the pics to see them larger.

After her "shape study", Emma drew this, which she called (no joke) "Rain on a Window":

"Birthday, the 3rd: a photo narrative, part the third"

2007-06-04T18:58:00.000-07:00

"Birthday, the 3rd: a photo narrative, part two"

2007-06-04T18:42:00.001-07:00

"Birthday, the 3rd: a photo narrative"

2007-06-04T18:34:00.000-07:00

Our Own Lives?

2007-06-04T08:27:00.000-07:00

I have a friend who is spending the summer in the Middle East working on some sociology project. She mentioned on her blog a conversation she had with some of her friends there regarding the marrying of men based on their level of cleanliness (in context, the conversation made loads more sense than it sounds here).

While I don't have any immediate insight with regard to the "messy/tidy" man question, I am interested in this sentence from the conversation:

"Would she (a wife who excels at keeping her husband "tidy") have time for anything else if she is always cleaning after her husband? Maybe a messy-looking guy is preferable because his wife would have more time to herself and have her own life, but compromise with a less-than clean-looking husband."

It is a strange expectation, in my sometimes-not-humble-enough opinion, that once a man and a woman become "one flesh", that either of them would maintain anything that would warrant being called his or her "own life." A man and a woman enter into the marriage covenant precisely because they have discovered that it is not good to be alone, and that it is very good to be together; why would they, then, want to go on being alone?

This seems to me a symptom of an already and implicitly accepted centering of the individual, where everything is ushered through the filter of the survival and happiness of "I". Sure there are communities, but they are understood primarily as the individual-voluntary gathering of individuals who have implicitly agreed that "I can come and go as it suits me, and I will remain here in as much as it is good for me and my interests or it holds my attention span." This life is much like a rave: sure I'm at the "club" (a quick nod to the idea of community), but I am dancing my own dance in my own space; near other people, but certainly not with them." And in case you can't tell, that sentence is meant to be critical.

Imagine a community whose members, rather than primarily seeking to hold onto their own lives, actually seek to give up their own lives in service to the others. Imagine a marriage that works this way! Imagine individual people who seek to enter into marriage in order that they might give up their "own lives" in service to their spouse! Here's an interesting test: if the preceding sentences sound repulsive, we should ask "why?" "Do I consider myself 'first' or 'last'"?

This is surely all a great mystery, as Paul was quick to declare. But it is a good mystery, for it is to push us forward to a better Marriage, the consummate Marriage of The Husband and His Bride: the One lays His life down for the other, the other returns all praise and thanksgiving to the One.

Jeremy

I don't think that's how this is supposed to work...

2007-05-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

Stella is a stunt-woman. I don't know if this is because she is fearlessly brave, or if she has not fallen down enough times to remember what pain is like; regardless of the reason, she is stunt-ish. Here's some proof-pics:

my other blog

2007-02-15T08:16:00.000-08:00

So I started another blog, it is my creative blog. I post things about my crafts, scrapbooking, house stuff and the girls. Feel free to check it out.

dianereeves.blogspot.com

Have a good day.

Waterdeep

2007-02-03T19:34:00.000-08:00

I feel so old school talking about Waterdeep, but Jeremy and I have been listening to them lately. In particular, we are listening to their old stuff album. I have the blue disk at home and J has the green/yellow disk at work. The first time I heard a Waterdeep song I was at my friend Sarah's house in Kingwood. It was the summer before my freshman year at Baylor. We were hanging out upstairs and her older sister, Rebekah was playing the Sink or Swim cd. Sink or Swim was the first song I heard. I remember thinking Wow, Christian music doesn't have to be cheesy and from that point on my standerd for a Christain song was much higher. When Jeremy and I were dating one of our favorite things to do was go to their concerts. So fun, it's been a long time. You should check it out.

New Post, Old Pics

2007-01-29T12:25:00.000-08:00

These pics are a bit "old" ("old" compared to today, down-right newborn compared to, say, the writing of the Pentateuch...take your pick). In any event, they are shots of Emma's first haircut. She got to sit in a Jeep; when I get my hair cut, all I get is a lousy chair with an ill-adjusted footrest.

Enjoy!

Here we are, we are here

2006-12-20T21:29:00.000-08:00

Sometimes the dishes don't get washed, and the dirty clothes pile up, and I can't remember when I mowed the lawn last. Sometimes we just enjoy being here, with each other.

Aunt Nay Nay

2006-12-20T20:51:00.000-08:00

Recently, we enjoyed a visit from Aunt Nay Nay, also known as Janee, also known as Actress Extraordinaire, also known as my sister. Aunt Nay Nay and Emma both donned aprons, and went straight to work on a batch of cookies. Action shots here:

Giving Thanks

2006-12-20T19:58:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving, we traveled to Houston. It was Stella's first road trip, and when we told her the plan, we are pretty sure she said, "Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?". Pretty sure. During the holiday, Emma painted, Uncle Glenn practiced being Daddy (hold her like a baby, Glenn, not a Yule Log), we ate, and there was a kids' table.

2006-10-29T16:29:00.000-08:00

Today was Stella's first day at Redeemer. She did well and I actually got to hear the entire sermon. I tried to get a picture of the girls so I could scrapbook this occasion and this is what I got. You can't always get the little ones to cooperate can you? After church our community group from church met for lunch at Cameron Park. It was a gorgeous day out there and very busy, lots of frisbee golfers and people running in a marathon. Emma got to feed the ducks with some of the kids in our group. It is so neat seeing friends love on our kids and play with them. It is such a gift to be a part of a community. It was good to hang out.

Early Arrival

2006-09-21T20:20:00.000-07:00

So, of course, we are sorry for the delay. But, if you consider that Stella came a week early, then we are actually telling the story before it is supposed to happen; how can you call that a delay?

Diane's contractions began on Thursday the 14th, and were the of the kind to cause no concern; preparatory is what they're called. If those contractions job is to prepare us, they're fired. On Friday, the "preparatory" contractions continued. They were irregular, far apart, short...the kind that cause no concern.
Saturday, Diane and Zeze (Jeremy's mom) went to a scrapbooking class from 4-7 p.m. taught by a world-renowned scrapper, Ali Edwards (we know we know, we'll try to get her autograph for you). During the class the contractions got more painful, but only curiously stronger. They were strong enough to pause Diane's scrapping, but really not so strong as to cause concern. The other scrapping ladies cheered Diane to continue the scrap-work, and with their encouragement she endured. Did I mention that before a meal before the scrap class, we prayed that Stella wouldn't come until after the class? God is good, He hears us.
When Diane and Zeze got home, the contractions were enough to lay Diane down, and Jeremy was set to fist-rubbing her lower back in that spot that contractions really seem to bother. Really, nothing to be concerned about. Then, during a rather laid back effort to pack bags for the hospital (still a week till she's due, after all), something broke: yep, it was water. It was at that moment that we thought we ought to get concerned, and we decided it was off to the hospital. But first...

(in the bedroom)
Diane: "Let me just use the restroom before we go"
Jeremy: "Okay, but then we need to get in the car and go."

(in the bathroom)
Diane: "I think I'm having the baby!"
Jeremy: "Zeze, call 911! We're having the baby!"

(in the kitchen)
Emma: What's that noise?!"
Papa: Oh, don't you worry about that. Want some more chocolate milk?"

(laying on the bathroom floor)
Diane: "Is she out yet?!"
Jeremy: "Nope...Yep!"
Stella: "Wah...Waaaaah!"

And at about 8:15pm, on the bathroom floor at our house, we had our second daughter. We rode to the hospital in an ambulance rather than the family car, the rest is all pretty normal.

Stella was 6lbs. 4oz., 19 inches long, and pretty much looks just like her big sister. Here's some pics:

2006-09-21T20:14:00.000-07:00

Catch up with a catch all

2006-08-08T20:02:00.000-07:00

Lots to say, and we're doing it all in one post. Relevant pics can be seen below:

1. We have a middle name for the new kid: Louise. Yep, so its Stella Louise. Thanks, we like it too. Yes, you can use it if you'd like.

2. The Best of Waco Club met again last month for chips and salsa from Jesse's Tortilla Factory. Apparently, Jesse was killed there a few years back, but the place is still his, and someone keeps making tortillas and frying 'em into chips. The salsa (which Texans ridiculously insist on calling "hot sauce") was great; very tomatoey (you say toe-maw-toe-esque, I say toe-may-to-ey), Emma even liked it. Since we didn't think it right to make a meal out of just chips and "hot sauce" we picked up some tamale's, also from Jesse's. Don't get us wrong, these are tasty tamales...but we were mistaken when thinking we could make a meal out of them. They should be called "ta-mini-males" or "ta-tiny-males" or "ta-small-ees" cause there just little. The verdict of the BOW Club is: get the chips and salsa, and get the ta-small-ees too, only, get two bags rather than one.

3. To beat the heat, we family-tripped to the Pecan Bottoms Spray Park in Cameron Park a few weeks ago. Yet another reason to move to Waco. So it gets hot here, sure, but we got cold water shootin' out of the ground and sprayin' out of colorful shaped pipes at the push of a button! Emma couldn't get enough...and check out Daddy, he's manning the button in the pics below.

2006-08-08T20:00:00.001-07:00

The Reveal

2006-07-20T20:43:00.000-07:00

Two things going on here:
1. Ultra Sound Pictures--we admit they are late; there, we've confessed.
2. Name of Baby in said pictures--keep in mind this is not a potential name, it is the name. Really, we have appreciated everyone's input; the suggestion box has been taken in the back and emptied out. While we're still shuffling through the entries for a middle name, the first name is set in stone.

First, take a look at the pics

The Pics

2006-07-20T20:29:00.000-07:00

Drum Roll Please...

2006-07-20T20:26:00.000-07:00

The moment you've all been waiting for:

World, meet Stella.

Middle name is still to come...

Happy 2nd Emma!

2006-06-28T20:53:00.000-07:00

On June 3rd, Emma turned 2! We had a backyard party with family and friends. The guests under 4 feet in height blew bubbles and played in the sandbox and playhouse. The guests over 4 feet assisted in the bubble production with the addition of a shop fan to increase both the bubble number and velocity; over-4-feet guests also stayed in a safely uncrouched position outside of the playhouse, and quietly but eagerly awaited a piece of cake.

When the time came for gifts, Emma quickly learned to say "Happy Birthday" (which she pronounces "appy birs-a-day") immediately upon opening the card, then she promptly cast the card aside to get to the real stuff. Thanks everyone for coming!

Best of Waco--Tres Leches

2006-06-28T20:18:00.000-07:00

Best of Waco Club, entry #2:

The Critics picks in the Wacoan recommended we try the Tres Leches cakes from Fiesta Mart, an ethnic (?) grocery store in a largely post-white-flight section of Waco. Here is what the critics said: "This fabulous white cake, soaked in milk, is iced with whipped cream and topped beautifully with peaches, pineapple, and strawberries." According to the critics, Fiesta Mart's tres leches are the best within a 100-mile radius. Interestingly, googling "tres leches" reveals that the cakes from the Fiesta Mart in Austin Texas were awarded the highest overall score in an informal taste test of 8 tres leches purveyors there. Leaving aside obvious questions like "How 'informal' could the taste test have been if it included an 'overall score'", and "What constitutes a 'formal' taste test of a milk-soaked bread dessert," it seems that the Waco Critics are right about the 100-mile reach of Fiesta Mart's tres leches reign, at least in southerly direction. The best of Waco club (Joe, Anna, Jeremy, Diane) agrees: the tres leches deserve tres cheers.

The one caveat the Waco Critics provided was "May Be Addictive." True dat. The pic shows the cake in its handy flip-top carrying case.

Best of Waco

2006-04-21T09:30:00.000-07:00

A recent issue of the Wacoan magazine featured the yearly "Best of Waco" column. Apparently, the folks over at the Wacoan relied strictly on the votes of the local chapter of the "World Homogenization Society". Why do I think this? Well, here's a few of the "Best of Waco" picks for this year:

Best Appetizers: Cheddars Restaurant
Best Hamburger: Fuddruckers
Best Desserts: Olive Garden

Are you kidding?! Does it seem right that a person enjoying a tiramisu at the Olive Garden in Nashville can legitimately say "You know, this is the best dessert in Waco"? It almost goes without saying that in order to enjoy the best of Waco, one should be required to come to Waco.

All is not lost: this issue of the Wacoan also included the "Critics Picks", and you will be happy to know that Fuddruckers didn't make the list. After reading this list, we felt compelled to support local Waco and do battle with the "World Homogenization Society" by patronizing each establishment on the critic's list.

Here's the plan: each month we will visit one or two of the restaurants on the list and order the dish recommended by the critics. Then, we will come back here and give you our take.

When's this thing getting kicked off? Three hours ago.

Breakfast Burritos at Adrianna and Janette's-
We loaded up ourselves and our friends, Joe and Anna, and headed to the part of town the realtors don't want you see. After passing the place twice (its on a one way street and is not well marked), we turned the minivan into the tiny parking lot of what is likely an old convenience store. Using the security bars to open the door, we entered an extravagantly colored eating area, where we sat at a 4 top covered in green plastic. Each of us promptly ordered the large breakfast burrito in various combinations of egg, potato, bacon, chorizo, cheese, and pico de gallo. "These things are huge" was the universal response when the breakfast was brought. The eggs: perfectly scrambled, not soggy, not bone dry; the bacon: crispy, thick, expertly sized for biting; the chorizo: well-mixed, just enough south-of-the-border flavor, not too greasy; the potato: moist, firm but not tough, soft but not squishy; the pico de gallo: fresh, cilantro-tasty. The critics are right, these burritos are worth coming to Waco. For $2.25/burrito, we left satisfied.
The atmosphere was great! "The People's Court" was on a muted TV on a table in the corner; a diverse group of patrons sat at tables and stood in line; clickity-clank of kitchen utensils tapped from the back. A constant flow of customers gave us hope that Adrianna and Janette's will be around for some time. Next time you're in Waco, we'll take you.

Check back in May for the next installment.

Jeremy

Church-Going

2006-04-13T18:25:00.000-07:00

Today a person came into our church office to ask us about the Easter service schedule. In the course of the conversation, this person revealed that he had left a church after having attended for 25 years, and is now worshipping with our congregation.
I don't know the strength of commitment that this person had to the previous church, and I don't really know the circumstances surrounding the departure. But the encounter made me wonder about what it would take to lead a person to leave a church relationship of 25 years, which is also to ask why a person goes to a particular church.
So I thought I would take a survey. In the comment section, explain 2 things:
1. why you go to church
2. why you go to the particular church you go to

Let me know!

Jeremy

Mayday, Mayday!

2006-03-30T17:43:00.000-08:00

There's really no reason for this, just watch it for fun! Click the link and laugh outloud.

Sing-a-long Songs

2006-03-30T10:31:00.000-08:00

Songs for your kids and you! Diane iTuned (can that be a verb?) this album the other day, and it is great! Click the link to check it out.

Hokey Pokey passed away

2006-03-23T10:42:00.000-08:00

I got this in an email from a friend who fowarded it from one of his professors:

"Sad News
With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is
worth reflecting on the death of a very important person, which almost went
unnoticed last week.
Larry LaPrise, the man that wrote "The Hokey Pokey" died peacefully at the
age of 93. The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the
coffin. They put his left leg in. And then the trouble started.
Shut up. You know it's funny."

New Glass

2006-03-06T19:55:00.000-08:00

We recently had a rose window installed at our new building. The man who made it crafts all his windows in the old way: real lead, hand made glass. Take a look.

Chiggy-check the links

2006-03-06T19:37:00.000-08:00

Look left. We figured out how to add links to our blog! Here's a word of caution: links on a blog are like books on a bookshelf: display of a book does not necessarily constitute endorsement of the entire content of the book. In fact, I have a good friend who displays his books with their bindings toward the back of the bookshelf; his reasoning includes something about not be judged on the basis of books he may or may not have read. But I'm not talking about books; check out the links!

Blogging about something other than not-blogging

2006-03-01T17:54:00.000-08:00

Since many of you were beginning to think this was less a blog about the Reeves and more a blog about our inability to consistently blog (see "Like we were saying..." from Tuesday, December 21, 2004, and "Fast and Furious" from Monday, February 27, 2006), here's some meat.

Wanna good "we should get together and talk about this" movie? See Equilibrium. A bit of a slow start, but the socio-cultural questions are interesting. Additionally, for us citizens of another world, the implicit assertions regarding the meaning of freedom and liberation should be more deeply pursued than the intended socio-cultural ones: "Okay, sure, you're free from a lifeless life. But what are you free to?" For skeptics, keep in mind that even Diane liked it.

Books? If you have time, take a read of Meredith Kline's "Kingdom Prologue: Genesis Foundations for a Covenantal Worldview." Kline is his own worst enemy, as his writing style is somewhat inaccesible. But, given time, you'll get used to it, and grow to enjoy it. Here's a snippit from the cover: As intimated by the subtitle, Genesis Foundations for a Covenantal Worldview, the immediate literary focus of this study is the book of Genesis and its account of the formative ages in the eschatological movement of the kingdom of God from creation to consummation. Bonus: the book is free for the downloading here. Also, if you are interesting in further chasing the subject of covenant theology (and if you are a believer, you should be) Michael Horton's "God of Promise: Introducing Covenant Theology" might be a good start. I say "might" because I haven't read it, as it has just recently been released.

Music? In our kitchen we have been enamored with David Gray's "White Ladder" and "Life in Slow Motion." We are forever indebted to aunt Nay Nay for pointing us in his direction. Thanks Nay! Check out David Gray right here.

These should keep you busy. Let us know what you think!

After the Zoo? Nite-nite.

2006-02-27T18:56:00.000-08:00

All that sliding can wear a gal out. Good night!

2006-02-27T18:54:00.000-08:00

So if for no other reason, you should move to Waco to live near us. But if you need another reason, try the Waco Zoo. Its the best. Here's Emma, sliding down the plexiglass slide through the sea-otter environment. Daddy's at the top with a smile, Mommy's at the end with a grin, and Emma is in first-time-on-a-slide glory!

Fast and Furious

2006-02-27T17:46:00.000-08:00

Ok, so we have not been so good at blogging in the past. We freely admit that there have been long and negligent pauses in our posting, extended periods of an eerie quiet, 3625 Morrow blanketed in a lost silence. I mean, how hard is it to type a bit about our lives, post a few pics so our peeps and keep up? Really, its as though those Reeves wanted to disappear, like they have something to hide. Well, what if we did have something to hide? What of it? In the spirit of full disclosure, we are ready to come clean, ready to admit to the world the reason for our blogging barrier. You'd better sit down, and get a glass of Sprite to calm your stomach (for those like Timothy, you should exchange the Sprite for a glass of Merlot). Since the blogging beginning, we have suffered against an insurmountable enemy, a ghost in our machine, controlling our every cyber-move, inhibiting connectivity on all fronts. The bop bop bop beederrrrp beeeeeedlerrrrrrrp neenoorr neenoorr neeeenooooor of this adversary's tonal growl is a constant reminder of its hiding in the background. Its name? Dialup. And out of the silent planet came a warrior, a champion, to slay the Dialup-dragon. This champion rode the wires of the dragon's stomping ground, destroying the army of the dragon with his wireless weapon. The champion: SBC Yahoo DSL at the low, low price of $12.99/month.

Then the blogger ran out of creativity, the champion asserted its own tyrannical nature, and had to be tamed by the AT&T line technichian named "Jeff." Finally, all was brought into subjection to the one paying the bill, as it should be. The point of all this nonsense? Dialup is dead, DSL is (relatively) fast and furious, and we are beeeloggin'!

2006-02-05T11:57:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, Diane got a bag...a really big bag. Jeremy and Diane were happy...very happy.

2006-02-05T11:34:00.000-08:00

Jeremy and Emma in the side-yard. Emma enjoyed playing the leaves; Jeremy was reading a book and drinking some sort of amber colored liquid...what is that, Jeremy?

clearwater.JPG

2005-11-04T08:45:00.000-08:00

clearwater.JPG
Originally uploaded by JDE and B.

To see more pictures of the Wichita Mountains '05 trip, click on the pic!

2005-02-14T19:20:00.001-08:00

The Kitchen again...

2005-02-14T19:20:00.000-08:00

The Kitchen so far (taken at Emma's baptism party)

2005-02-14T19:18:00.000-08:00

Emma exersaucering

Like we were saying...

2004-12-21T23:58:00.000-08:00

Since there is no sense in a wordy come-back, we'll pick up where we left off.

Our computer monitor stopped working; remember the sizzle-crackle sound (if yo don't know the story and want to, see Tech-No-logy below). I took it apart to take a look at it. And I did take a look at it. It was something like when your friend's car won't start, and he opens the hood and you both just stand there looking, hands on hips, wondering what all those wires and hoses do. And you look here and you look there, hoping that your feeling of inadequacy does not show on the outside as much as you feel it on the inside.

So with the monitor casing off (read: car hood up), I looked here and I looked there. Positively, I gained a greater appreciation for whomever it was that designed this thing (though that quickly faded when I remembered that it wasn't working). Negatively (and as I fully expected), the problem was not obvious. Solution: give it to Goodwill. There's something sinister about calling the donation of an unusable computer monitor whose demise included the threat of electrical fire "goodwill." But we didn't pick the name...we just dropped it off.

All three of you who read this are now wondering, "Is this guy so good at typing (not to mention web-navigation) that for him the use of a monitor is superfluous? How is he 'blogging' without a monitor?" Answer to first question: Yes. Answer to second question: He's not. My esteemed crime scene investigating brother donated a (working) monitor to the Blog-cause, and we are back up and running.

Enough of hearing from me. Why don't you do what you really came to do? Here are some pictures of Emma. Enjoy...we know you will.

2004-12-20T19:05:00.000-08:00

Emma's silly face.

2004-12-20T19:04:00.000-08:00

Emma with Grandpa and Grandma Welling, Uncle Glenn, and Great Grandmother Richards.

2004-12-20T19:02:00.000-08:00

Papa, Gramsy, and Emma

2004-12-20T19:01:00.000-08:00

Emma and Aunt Janee...happy!

2004-12-20T19:00:00.000-08:00

Emma discovers Aunt Janee's chin.

2004-12-20T18:59:00.000-08:00

Emma and Uncle Jason playing.

2004-12-20T18:58:00.000-08:00

Emma, happy to be with Uncle Jason.

2004-12-20T18:57:00.000-08:00

Emma and Daddy...concerned.

Tech-No-logy

2004-09-02T14:45:00.000-07:00

The promises of technology have once again proven themselves hollow. Here's the story:
We usually leave our computer on all day long, and turn it off at night. About a month ago, the monitor began blinking off, and it's off-blinking seemed to coincide with our footsteps as we would walk past the desk it was on. It was a nuisance, but when we stopped walking, it stopped blinking. Since we are accustomed to sitting while using the computer, the blinking didn't effect our computer usage.
But one day, the blinking stopped coinciding with our footsteps and began coninciding with the electromagnetic pulses of the earth's gravitational field (I have no idea what that means, but what I am trying to say is that the blinking happened continuously, even while we tried using the computer). After a time, the blinking was accompanied by a sizzling-popping noise. I've heard that sizzling-popping noises related to electricity are a negative thing, so I turned of the monitor and unplugged it. And there it has sat, taking up useful space. What's interesting about computer products is that while a piece of equipment is doing what it is supposed to do, it is wonderful. When that same piece of equipment ceases doing what it is supposed to do, it doesn't necessarily become useful for something else. When a tree's useful fruit-producing, shade-providing life is over, it can become a baseball bat or so many wooden spoons. When a shirt's useful body-covering, style-displaying life is over, it can become a rag or a hankie (or burp-cloth). But when a computer monitor's useful computer-monitoring, user-interfacing life is over, it becomes a broken monitor. If you think I am wrong, try stirring pudding or wiping up spilled Kool-Aid with your old keyboard...the results are embarrassing, and only serve to produce a bigger mess.

All this is to give you reasons why we haven't been able to update our blog with pictures of Emma. But let's use our imagination, shall we? Here's a picture of Emma after a recent bath. Her hair is sticking up like a punk-rocker's mohawk, and her skin is sour-cream white and shiny. Cute, huh?
Oh! Here's one where she is sitting in her bouncy-seat all wrapped up in a blanket. One of the corners of the blanket is sticking up above her head so she looks like an elf or gnome (you're doing the imagining, you pick).

OK. We'll try fix the monitor problem and put the real pictures on the site. For now, keep imagining the cutest baby you can...and that'll be Emma.

Jeremy

Bloomin' Blooms!

2004-07-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

So the people that lived here before the people that lived here before us (get that?) must have had thumbs many deep shades of green. Below are some flowers that are the fruit of their labor (certainly not the fruit of ours). We don't know what most of the flowers are, but we know "perddy" when we see it. If you know what they are, let us know. And if you know the scientific nomenclature, you get two points.

2004-07-19T18:39:00.000-07:00

Here is a light purple flower (made to look even lighter due to the sun shining through its petals). It is growing on small tree in our back yard. We also have white flowers of the same shape and size, but again, we have no idea what most of them are.

2004-07-19T18:37:00.000-07:00

This is, of course, a rose of some sort. We have twelve different colors or color combinations in the side yard.

2004-07-19T18:36:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorites. It is growing on a short, bush-like tree (or a tree-like bush...).

2004-07-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

...and here's an orange one. We have no idea what this one is either. It is growing at the top of a tall, thick stalk with really big leaves.

2004-07-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

Emma and Daddy on Father's day. Emma is making a very odd face. Take a look below to see it closer...

2004-07-01T10:57:00.000-07:00

One and All! Take the "Reading Emma's Face" quiz. Here is "the face" close up...is she happy? surprised? angry? sleepy? whistling? You decide. Cast your vote by entering a comment.

Kitchen Update

2004-06-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

OK, OK...We know you are here to see pictures of Emma...but she's busy right now. So while you are here, you might as well take a look at the progress in the Kitchen. For a "before" picture, scroll way down to the bottom.

2004-06-21T21:00:00.000-07:00

The Kitchen

2004-06-21T20:59:00.000-07:00

The Kitchen...again.

2004-06-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

Picture of Kitchen from same angle as "before" picture way down at the bottom of this blog (would that be the blogtom?).

New Emma Pictures Below!

2004-06-16T15:30:00.001-07:00

2004-06-16T15:30:00.000-07:00

No, she's not snarling...she's yawning. But I'm pretty sure you can see right up her nose. Looks clean!

2004-06-16T15:28:00.000-07:00

After every battle, one must face the ugly aftermath. After Emma's first bath, we faced the AfterBath!

2004-06-16T15:25:00.000-07:00

Emma's afternoon nap. She sleeps best when she's wrapped up snug as a bug.

2004-06-12T20:24:00.000-07:00

Here's Emma enjoying her Boppy Throne.

2004-06-12T20:16:00.000-07:00

Emma, wrapped up like a burrito. Those are her uncle Glenn's legs she's reclining on.

New Look, Same Blog

2004-06-07T23:05:00.000-07:00

Don't be confused, everyone. We thought this look was easier to use than the previous one. All the cute Emma propoganda can still be seen below, and there is more to come. Try to contain yourselves...

More pictures of Emma

2004-06-07T23:00:00.000-07:00

Look below for more pics of the newest member of the Reeves and Welling families.

2004-06-07T20:03:00.000-07:00

This is how Emma gets burped. Without fail, after she burps, she falls asleep in this little frog position, daddy's hand on her little bottom.

2004-06-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

Little Emma...big bed. No babies were left unattended in the taking of this photo.

Introducing Emma Gayle...

2004-06-05T16:41:00.000-07:00

Mom and Dad: tired as all get-out, and happier than that.
Emma Gayle: sleeping, eating great, and beautiful.
Here's the story:
On our last visit to the doctor, she informed us she would be going out of town before our due date of June 6th. She had, therefore, scheduled us to be induced on Thursday, June 3rd, so we would not have to deliver with another doctor. We had a few days to talk about it, and given Diane's comfortable feeling with our regular doctor and dislike of change (and other factors) we decided to go for it.
Thursday, June 3rd--
6:30am--Soon to be Mom and Dad, with "bun in oven" arrive at hospital and are placed in nice big LDR (labor, deliver, and recovery) room.
7:40am--Nurses administer Pitocin to Diane to start contractions...and sure enough the contractions start.
7:45am-10:00am (at 3-4 minute intervals)--the contractions keep coming. Diane was excellent at breathing through them.
10:00am--Contractions slow a bit, Jeremy quickly runs to the cafeteria (through a ridiculous labrynth of hospital corridors...think lab-rat in some sort of mad scientest maze) for a coffee and breakfast.
10:07am--Jeremy returns to the LDR room.
11:00am-ish--Diane rediscovers a childhood love of orange popsicles (she repeats rediscovery 3 more times throughout the day).
11:30am-3:30pm--Repeat of morning contractions. Again, Diane does wonderfully with the breathing.
4:00pm--The Reeves Family (Terry, Sharri, Jason and Janee') arrive to cheer on the soon to be new dad and laboring mom.
8:00pm--The hospital room had cable, so by this time we had watched almost 12 hours of home-improvement television and talked about all the ideas for our new (to us) home, all the while breathing through contractions.
9:00pm--Diane has dilated to 6 centimeters, and progress has seemes slow. Almost-new mom is getting discouraged.
10:00pm--3 of Diane's friends (Nancy, Traci, and Amy) arrive at hospital to offer encouragement. This was just the thing to get Diane over the edge.
10:25pm-ish--Three friends leave, and immediately Diane is ready to go! "Thanks for coming, friends! It was just what Diane needed!"
10:45pm-ish--Doctor arrives, and Diane starts pushing.
11:08pm--Emma Gayle arrives! Dad bursts out with unintelligible cave-man-esque burbles of joy, and he's pretty sure he remembers a few tears (but just a few).

Emma Gayle, beautifully round-shaped head, narrow heels like her mom, button-nosed face, and skin as smooth as a baby's butt (I guess that goes without saying), arrived to the inexpressable love of her parents, grandparents, aunt and uncles. She weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. Needless to say, she's perfect (total depravity aside).

Scroll down to see pictures

2004-06-05T14:25:00.000-07:00

Emma Gayle...blowing bubbles and being beautiful.

2004-06-05T14:20:00.000-07:00

Proud Dad and beautiful Daughter.

2004-06-05T11:47:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the world, Emma Gayle...click the pic to see it close up (and why would anyone not want to see it close up?). Scroll down to see more pictures.

2004-06-05T11:44:00.000-07:00

Emma and Mom, glowing.

So...Hot...

2004-05-30T16:50:00.000-07:00

If you were to add up Texas heat, a broken A/C, sub-tropical humidity, a pregnant wife, and a slobbery panting dog, you'd get the Reeves' house...and you might get as frustrated as we are. Some might ask us "What about your Calvinism now, huh?" And we'd probably say something like, "Yeah, well, you know, we didn't write the Bible, we just read it."

A few house pics

2004-05-28T06:38:00.000-07:00

The two pictures below are from around the time we moved in (Fall 2003). Soon you will see "after" pictures (when I replace the battery in the digital camera).

2004-05-28T06:32:00.000-07:00

The Living Room...although in this picture there is not much living going on. Click on it for a larger view.

2004-05-28T06:27:00.000-07:00

Our Kitchen after the "Um...just tear everything out, I guess" phase.

To you, the reader...

2004-05-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

Well, we are catching up. Here we are, in electronic print, with many colored dots and all pomp. We feel it necessary to say things like "Welcome to our Blog," and "Blogging is fun," and "Blog away with me, to another world," and "Bliggity-Blog-Blagoing," but we have no idea what any of that means.

To friends and family: Diane and I thought that since we will be introducing new life to which you will be related, you all might like to see her progress. This will be the place to find regular updates about Emma Gayle in all her wide-eyed googling and wobbly imbalancedness, and to watch as she learns and grows.

As you know, the due date is June 6th...that's a week from Sunday. The nursery is pretty much finished, and you can see the pictures soon.