my kids read too much.

i've actually never said the above.
and i kinda doubt i ever will. so in our house, we are doing what we can to encourage book indulgence. we have officially kicked off our "reading for media" program in the prentiss household...

(boys playing the new lego star wars that oliver got for his bday!
NOT difficult to get them to play this)

(boys listening and working on a history lesson from the story of the world)
(doesn't count toward minutes as "reading" but a really nice activity that they actually like, but still harder to get them to do this~ like reading.)

you might say we've been known to indulge a little in the media* world. we love movies, mama loves for the kids to quietly watch a show (or two... okay on a bad day, even more!), we love music, u-tube, blogs, games, etc....
all of this adds up~ QUICKLY.
i often feel myself slipping into over indulging with it all, especially during something like a move~ hypothetically speaking of course.
so.
here's my attempt at getting a handle on it all: for every minute that the kids read during the day, they gain a minute of media time (up to a maximum of 60 minutes). they keep track of their own minutes and it all works out beautifully. and by doing this, we are all helped in choosing what is good over what is easy.

the only problem that we've run into is regarding the guitar hero game that the boys just bought at a yard sale. I (the mom who kinda doesn't really get the video game world) LOVE THIS GAME. so i want to bend the rules a little here... but i'll be strong. ;) i promise.

********

on a side note, THANK you ALL for checking in with me and letting me know you're out there. all of your comments felt like one great big hug!! and really i'm blown away. i thought for sure that i had killed this blog by not contributing for so long.

so thanks for hanging in there. i hope to post at least once a week and at some point, i'll do a "house warming party", blog style of course. wish i could post more!
xo~ kp

*i don't think it's wrong to use extra media with kids to endure a difficult period of life, fyi. so you are not allowed to feel condemned (here) if you have been doing so. it doesn't mean you're a bad mom if you do... we all cope with circumstances differently AND we all have different capacities and convictions. so be free!! now go love your kids!

i'm posting something.

(elliot and kiddos on our front steps)

see that adorable missing-a-tooth smile?
that's how i feel about any of you still lingering around here...
thanks for hanging in there.

i want you to know that i'm slowing working toward making space in my life for things like this 'ole blog. it's important to me~ makes me feel healthier in a way.
this move we have been through from california to portland, oregon has been consuming. for some reason, i haven't known how to share about all the emotions involved in front of this immense audience of ten?? readers and so it has left me somewhat silent.
but, i'm coming up for air.

and i'm going to be pushing my thoughts, photos and kids on you all once again.
that is...
~IF~
any of you are still out there... anyone?... anyone??...
bueller??...

something important:

i know some of you who read this blog also pray.

and i want you to do so for some new friends of ours.
i've hesitated to even put this on here because i don't want to dramatize it some way and it's just been difficult to know what to say, but i feel it's important to gather as many people as we can to comfort and pray for this family.

melissa and kalen have a little boy named aiden that is almost two.
around two weeks ago, aidan fell three stories from a window that had a loose screen. he landed on his head on the sidewalk. miraculously, he survived... and is even recovering now and looking better each day. but they have a long road ahead of them~ many needs, many steps, many questions and many fears to face~ our hope is that there will also be many miracles to come.

if you could, please move off of this (lame and neglected) blog and over to their blog (www.prayersforaidan.blogspot.com)to read about the journey this family has been on since aidan ended up in pediatric ICU.
and don't just read... pray if you will. and let them know you were there. don't worry about having the right words, just let them know they are not alone. kalen shared with me one night that the love of perfect strangers for his son that they didn't even know helped him believe that God really does love him. perhaps God could increase all of our faith through joining into this difficult road ahead for melissa, kalen and aidan.
please join them.

moving on...

we have 6 days left until this house is no longer our home.

it's starting to sink in.

we are packing up to leave, and the house is rapidly returning to it's impersonal state. my head is spinning most most of the time as i try to keep up with everything that needs to happen in the next few days. i wanted to take pictures of the things that made me fall in love with this house and show you the things i would gladly say goodbye to. i thought that would be a fun post to share...but the boxes started getting full, the pictures were down off the walls and i had to admit that there just wasn't time.

and there is not time for other things as well. there is not enough time to say goodbye slowly... or to stop and ponder the wealth that God has brought us through this place. but, soon the boxes will be loaded on to a truck (or pod?), the house will be clean and ready for new life and the keys will be returned. and i think after we lock the doors here, i will always look back with so much gratitude~ perhaps even awe over the goodness found here.

we are about to be homeless for a while. it's a strange feeling, but i think it's good for my soul as well... it reminds me of how short life is and confronts me once again with my faith that says, "this is not my home." i was totally comfortable to stay here for the long haul, but God had different plans for us. over and over again, he teaches me that he is my home~ the "place" that i am to settle.
i'm far from learning that, but the chapters i'm moving through are at least pushing me a little closer to that truth.

so we go.
we'll find another city in which we'll dwell and a house that we will color as our own home.
i am really really looking forward to seeing that come to life, but for today, there are tears in my eyes.

(images were taken on a typical morning... music playing from the keyboard and kids dancing around in their pjs...)

check it out!

www.katieprentissphotography.com

it's finally done... :)
just in time to move... ;)

you are out of the loop.

and it's all my fault.
you see, we've been a bit distracted and befuddled (that was fun to say) lately...
just like in this photo:

we are in the midst of TRANSITION again.
for various reasons, brian resigned from his position at our church (Grace Presbyterian in palo alto). i would love to sit and chat about how it all happened but there are just too many details and information for this here blog... besides, if we told you everything, then we'd have to kill you. ;)

so here we are. loving our life, but watching it change before our eyes. (yes, i'm standing on the ledge and i'm still not taller than him!! geez.)
change is one of the few things we can always expect, right? it's crazy that this (below) is how we started out. we even honeymooned to this exact location... a mere 11.5 years ago. i remember thinking that i could totally live in san francisco at that point, but yet it still blows my mind that God directed our path to land just 30ish miles south of the city. we moved out to the bay area (mountain view) 3.5 years ago and it has been a gift to us to live and work here. and now we are leaving with an extra kid in tow, a new business for me and neighbors and a church family that we have truly loved and will miss.
and since we don't quite know where we're ending up, it's great to know that i have good company regardless. i love this man so much more now than i did then. (if i were a better blogger, i would also post a picture of us from our honeymoon. you know that i'm not though.)

so. we find ourselves in midst of boxes again (thankfully at least one of us is packing right now)... packing to move to an unknown. believing our feet will once again find solid ground to land upon and giving thanks for the places we've been.

wheels.

he comes.

he goes.

his fear doesn't show.

he's silly.

he's sweet.

but he has a mean streak. (grrrrr.)

that grows if you say to him, "no."

elliot is sporting his new christmas wheels he got from his papa and dado. he is currently working on developing a new extreme sport with his radio flyer scooter. if you are interested in sponsoring his athleticism, just let us know.

what? a post??

i promise you one thing little blog o' mine. i miss you when i'm gone. truly.

and when i stay away too long, it seems difficult to know where to start
but, here is where i'll begin for now:

i want all of you to know about these SAINTS that work so hard to bring hope to a place that is tortured with poverty. HAITI.




this sweet sweet mama has changed my life by sharing her heart for adopting two Haitian children.
i don't know her nor have i ever been to haiti.
but these stories have changed me.

even while our economy causes struggles for us, it is NOTHING like what these people face every year of their lives.
consider giving.
consider praying.
consider staying informed.

there are heroes among us.