Snooling

The doors!

2012-02-16T08:39:00.000-08:00

Train spotting in redwood city...

2012-02-14T18:35:00.000-08:00

Our restaurant had a front row seat :)

Tool bench with Opi...

2012-01-27T12:27:00.000-08:00

Fixing toy trains is fun!!!

Fwd: Leo storms Train Town in Sonoma

2012-01-07T18:16:00.001-08:00

Doesn't he look dashing in the engineer cap he got for Christmas from Godma and Godpa?

Our fearless slider...

2011-12-25T12:31:00.001-08:00

House Progress December 2011

2011-12-21T11:23:00.001-08:00

We are enjoying watching our new home come together - such a blessing from God!

The front...

From the back...

Another view from the back

Leo loves playing on all the big equipment.

Lincoln logs

2011-11-21T00:03:00.001-08:00

Spinning ABCs

2011-11-13T18:38:00.001-08:00

Pop goes the weasel...

2011-11-11T08:19:00.000-08:00

First upward building today!!

2011-11-08T09:17:00.000-08:00

The construction begins

2011-09-26T17:13:00.000-07:00

Fun with Pops!

2011-08-14T09:11:00.000-07:00

Yes, he eats with chop sticks...

2011-08-13T18:36:00.000-07:00

Papa's wisdom...

2011-07-13T18:57:00.000-07:00

Pete has taught Leo two reasons why we can't fit on his horse at the park - papa is too big, but mama is too slim - good man! Leo has accompanying hand motions - see below...

Watching trains at roaring camp :)

2011-07-04T12:26:00.000-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

30lbs on the big boy scale!

2011-06-29T09:08:00.001-07:00

Leo eating his birthday cookie :)

2011-06-27T12:25:00.000-07:00

Rock scrambling with papa!

2011-06-23T11:57:00.000-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

Hüpfer Hüpfer Papa!! Leo works on his hops

2011-06-23T11:56:00.000-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

Our bookworm - he's been reading lots during drives...

2011-06-22T09:16:00.000-07:00

Car boredom

2011-06-17T11:55:00.000-07:00

One boy + one peanut butter sandwich = one styling hairdo

Getting ready with grandpa...

2011-06-15T17:09:00.000-07:00

Train at Visona Park

2011-06-11T12:10:00.001-07:00

Leo a mile high!

2011-05-30T10:54:00.000-07:00

On the swing with omi

2011-05-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

And the cuddles got even better...

2011-05-19T15:55:00.000-07:00

Cuddles!

2011-05-19T15:53:00.001-07:00

Leo slept in his big boy bed today as I can't lift him into his crib since I threw out my back. It makes for fun cuddle time post nap though - I just crawled right in! (self take on the iPhone is a little fuzzy in bad light...)

Teeter totter!

2011-05-13T08:59:00.000-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

Breakfast at our new house

2011-05-10T09:37:00.001-07:00

We took breakfast to our new house via wagon this morning - it stinks too much to eat inside bit the porch made a nice breakfast table.

Trip trap nonsense

2011-05-03T18:52:00.000-07:00

Ah our baby registry naïvety has been evident this week as Leo has decided the top shelf is too juvenile for him. All the adults sit on the bottom shelf of their chairs, no?

You can take the boy out of the tractor...

2011-04-23T19:06:00.000-07:00

Audi loaner beats out playground any day mom!

2011-04-18T09:34:00.000-07:00

Leo left the play ground in order to play in the front seat of our audi Q5 loaner... Love having recall work done! I'm a little worried about when it goes back to dealer though - he's been singing to himself "mama car, mama car, mama car..." can't be a good sign.

Leo's freestylin'

2011-04-16T19:01:00.000-07:00

Let's hike mom!

2011-04-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

Back ip the peninsula

2011-04-09T17:42:00.000-07:00

We wanted to make our all-day passes count so after leo's nap we took the train to Redwood City and stopped at a German beer garden we've wanted to try for a while. Yum!

Turf's up!

2011-04-06T09:12:00.000-07:00

There putting in turf at willow park!!!

Leo puts the M3 through its paces

2011-04-03T16:49:00.000-07:00

Opi's little helper...

2011-04-03T16:47:00.001-07:00

We're installing a saftey mirror outside our apartment at a blind coner by the driveway. Thanks to Nathan Watson for Leo's outfit and construction cone :)

Boysand trucks!

2011-04-01T08:57:00.000-07:00

Their pouring cement at our park today - hopefully only a few more weeks now!

2011-04-01T08:52:00.000-07:00

Curious...

2011-03-30T22:00:00.001-07:00

Just a bonus - turn your monitor to the left and you're sitting at a stop light...

Weekend Adventure

2011-03-21T19:39:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a weekend visiting Pete's family in LA - coming back was kinda an adventure - we took detours because of flooding barely made it thought white out snow conditions, then sat in a parking lot on I-5 for an hour going less than 2 miles. Finally we couldn't stand it and made a u-turn through one of those emergency thingers. Turns out they closed the 5 (thanks!). On our way back we got a front row seat for a pg&e power line repair followed by an off road circumnavigation of the working crew and vehicles. After all that we ended up refugees back on Pete's family's door step - 4 hours later. We took the coastal route back this morning. :)

We are inherently wrong doers...

2011-03-08T21:04:00.001-08:00

Slipping and sliding

2011-02-21T12:40:00.000-08:00

Walking his baby...

2011-02-11T17:28:00.000-08:00

$10 iTunes gift card for Tree Identification Anyone?

2011-02-10T11:52:00.000-08:00

These kind of pathetic trees are on our new property - we have to decide which ones we're keeping as we move towards demolition and rebuilding. Can anyone tell me what types of trees these are?

$10 iTunes gift card for the first person to credibly identify ALL 8 of these trees in a comment below!!

Tree A (And B Behind - I'm pretty sure these are "twins")

From Drop Box

Tree B (closer up)

From Drop Box

Tree C

From Drop Box

Tree D - We think this one is dead and might have to go... :(

From Drop Box

Tree E

From Drop Box

Tree F - Someone said Pepper Tree?

From Drop Box

Tree G

From Drop Box

Tree H - We think this guys is a Juniper...

From Drop Box

Ready for the sun...

2011-02-07T09:47:00.000-08:00

Leo's new swing :)

2011-02-05T13:42:00.000-08:00

Yummy surprise breakfast

2011-02-05T09:03:00.000-08:00

Sign of the times...

2011-01-29T09:01:00.000-08:00

Leo and his mow-hawk are excited about fresh and easy coming to willow glen march 2nd!

2011-01-26T16:39:00.000-08:00

Leo's favorite perch

2011-01-24T08:27:00.000-08:00

He's his mommy's son...

Laughing lattes

2011-01-24T07:56:00.001-08:00

ABCs

2011-01-18T14:43:00.000-08:00

Leo especially loves this toy from his cousins!

Leo's Train Table

2011-01-09T22:43:00.001-08:00

Remembering

2010-12-14T20:52:00.000-08:00

My good friend Maggie just gave us the most beautiful Christmas gift I've ever received. I've scanned some of the pages in to share here but it really doesn't compare to holding the lovingly constructed details and textures in your very own hands. You'll have to come over for tea to see our precious art exhibit in person - yes that's a personal invitation!

Here's what we wrote in our Christmas e-letter (if you didn't get it check your spam then send me an email) about our 3 little ones.

Tribute

We never would have imagined that we would be visited with joy and sorrow three times this year. We cherished our short time with you sweet babies, and ache that you are no longer with us. We await with anticipation our heavenly family reunion.

Addison Gabriel Nathaniel, 2/20/2010 - Addison means son of Adam while his middle names honor two cherished children whose parents chose to value life in the womb: Joel Nathaniel Lubiens and Gabriel Scott Adams.
Casey Nolan Mara, 7/15/2010 - Casey means brave, while Nolan (well known) and Mara (bitter sea) remind us how many have tasted this same sorrow.
Trinity Jehoiada Derek, 10/11/2010 - Trinity reminds us both of God's three fold person as well as our third loss. Jehoiada (God knows) and Derek (the way) remind us that our Lord knew our path even before we walked it.

“As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.” -Ecclesiastes 11:5

Pizza Mohawk Man

2010-12-07T12:33:00.000-08:00

Christmas tree

2010-12-03T16:56:00.000-08:00

Goodwill on the big screen...

2010-11-10T11:11:00.000-08:00

Or rather 3 big screens at my local goodwill. Does anyone else think this is a travesty of the goodwill tradition?

This life is the pits!

2010-11-09T17:23:00.001-08:00

Pig pile!

2010-11-07T15:42:00.000-08:00

If ever a wiz there was...

2010-10-30T21:32:00.001-07:00

Our costumes this year...

80's party favors!

2010-10-30T21:30:00.000-07:00

Power tools...

2010-10-22T19:12:00.000-07:00

Swinging...

2010-10-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

Tight places... Fun faces

2010-10-20T16:54:00.000-07:00

Our new place
Has less space
But don't worry fellows
We've got lots of pillows!

Blow, blow, blow your nose...

2010-10-19T17:37:00.000-07:00

Tragedy

2010-10-13T20:36:00.000-07:00

It is with a heavy heart we share the news of our miscarriage. This one has been especially hard, since this indicates there may be something going on, as this third occurrence is further than the "statistical norm". We just feel emotionally exhausted, after suffering from hearing the baby's survival percentage change weekly, from 99% to 0% to 40% to 95% to miscarriage.

We would definitely appreciate your prayers.

Good Reading...

2010-10-08T20:34:00.000-07:00

The Myth of The Perfect Parent

New Handel Baby!

2010-10-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers these last few weeks! We've had quite a emotional roller coaster ride. Three weeks ago Julie took a pregnancy test and it was positive. Given our previous two miscarriages we made an appointment with our doctor right away and she sent us to get some blood test. The test measured Julie's HCG count which was supposed to double over two days. My HCG count actually went down over 2 days - our doctor didn't' have much hope except the fact that she had done a vaginal ultrasound both of the test days and our little baby had grown from a tiny uterine bubble to a definitive yoke and sack. Given the contrasting tests she gave it a 40% chance of viability. Today she did another ultrasound to look for a heartbeat... and there it was! She says our chances are not about 95% that it will be a normal pregnancy!

Drumroll- here's a pic of our little one:

I just learned to use a spoon mom!

2010-09-25T17:40:00.000-07:00

And you take me to Ethiopian!

Leo likes to put his feet up while I exercise at the track!

2010-09-23T10:18:00.001-07:00

Leo's Smile

2010-09-21T20:33:00.000-07:00

In the hurry-burry of things lately an important Leo milestone has come and gone. In 2 days during two weeks before our trip, as we prepped the house for sale Leo went from 0 teeth to 4 teeth. Phew!

He doesn't generally smile big enough to show them off unless your angle is the ground up so we had to make him laugh really hard to get a glimpse. Dad to the rescue.

how do we say goodbye?

2010-09-21T20:19:00.000-07:00

We feel so blessed that our house had a good offer so quickly, but we can't say we aren't sad to say goodbye. I think it will be easier once we have a "next place" to look forward to :)

Travel Posts

2010-09-16T22:05:00.001-07:00

Posting post-trip postings at handeltravels.blogspot.com.

Proverbs 31 Women

2010-09-09T14:35:00.001-07:00

Some archeological insights to what a Proverbs 31 woman's life would have been like: Digging up Women

Chop chop Leo...

2010-08-27T14:22:00.000-07:00

Moving on...

2010-08-26T14:34:00.000-07:00

We are sad to say good-bye. See the virtual tour if you want to know what I've been working on for the last 2 weeks solid!

Our House Photos

We are in trouble...

2010-08-26T12:25:00.001-07:00

more carrots?

2010-08-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

Lately leo has not been eating his carrots, which he formerly loved. This morning at breakfast Pete was so excited that his three carrots had disappeared from his plate. Mom rushed to get him "replacements". But in a moment of skepticism decided to survey the surroundings more closely. Ah ha! Leo had "stowed" the carrots in the kleenex box! Sneaky sneaky...

Lickin' the brownie plate...

2010-08-17T20:48:00.001-07:00

Doggie kisses

2010-07-23T19:48:00.000-07:00

Hmmm that's the wrong end Leo!

Video evidence...

2010-07-21T19:42:00.000-07:00

Don't whine in the wine bag...

2010-07-21T19:38:00.000-07:00

There we were - caught on a chilly evening with a shipment of wine from Martin ranch and Leo in his shorts. This was the result, we think they should start a baby trouser line.

Let's go swimming...

2010-07-19T22:30:00.000-07:00

Warning - 1:42 min of Leo cuteness...

Leo @ 1 year

2010-07-14T23:11:00.000-07:00

YouTube Video

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Yummy yogurt

2010-07-13T14:42:00.000-07:00

More walking!!!

2010-07-06T22:45:00.000-07:00

Leo enjoying his new airplane...

2010-07-06T15:25:00.000-07:00

Look mom no hands... Well maybe I need one to steer... Hmmmm on second thought it seems to take two to steer and keep this propeller thinger going...

Get ready sf opera!!

2010-07-06T10:26:00.000-07:00

Leo started making singing attempts after a few rounds of e-i-e-i-o today. This wasn't his best rendition and you'll have to slog through 20 sec of Pete and I "priming the pump" to get to the virtuoso material. Sorry!

Summer sleeping

2010-07-05T22:39:00.000-07:00

Classic cover rejection... The rebellion begins...

Leo pontificates on his new love of blueberry pancakes

2010-07-03T09:36:00.000-07:00

Walking!!!

2010-06-18T19:41:00.000-07:00

Leo loves his lattes...

2010-06-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

Or at least having two starbucks straws at once....

Part two...

2010-06-10T16:02:00.000-07:00

Leo the bag porter...

2010-06-10T16:01:00.000-07:00

Walking... Sort of...

2010-06-09T18:54:00.000-07:00

Leo the indian drummer...

2010-06-05T16:58:00.001-07:00

Complete with authentic outfit and drum from his auntie amy's world
travels...

Organizing meals for someone?

2010-06-04T11:39:00.000-07:00

Three helpful websites:

http://www.takethemameal.com/

(no account creation for meal volunteers! Just a password you can send out in your invite email.)

http://www.foodtidings.com

(more modern interface but everyone must create an account)

https://www.mealbaby.com/
(suggested by stef)

Eating with a spoon...

2010-05-31T19:00:00.000-07:00