Jeff, Katie, Sam, and Maya Delp

10 Years and $10,000

2011-11-07T20:53:00.001-05:00

When I moved to Atlanta 10 years ago, I was: carless, homeless, and only had one contact in the whole city. I say I moved here on faith, others say that I was stupid. Whichever it was, I believed that I was following God's lead to come and serve in the city. My desire was to help people living in impoverished neighborhoods to turn their neighborhoods around on their own. I came up with this idea after reading John Perkins' book Beyond Charity and was ready to impact the world one neighborhood at a time!

Needless to say, God had amazing things in store for my life that had nothing to do with my original desire. As many of you know, the first person I met helped me start my first job (DOOR). The second person I met is currently my wife and mother of my children. She in turn connected me to Bob Lupton and Leroy Barber, and my life has not been the same ever since. What has transpired over the past 10 years is nothing short of miraculous. When I left for Atlanta on July 7, 2001, I could not have envisioned a better place to be in my life than where I am today.

Where I am today is leading FCS Community Economic Development. Remember that desire that I came to Atlanta with 10 years ago, well it fell onto my lap about 2 years ago. After serving with DOOR & Mission Year since moving to Atlanta, I was asked to lead FCS Community Economic Development (CED). At the time, CED was struggling to make it financially and they needed someone to come in and try to right the ship. When I started, there was one store (South Atlanta Marketplace), it created 2 jobs, offered 80 hours of work a week, was $10,000 in debt, and was merely an after-thought in peoples mind in the community.

Today, CED employs 10 part-time and 1 full-time positions through 5 different programs (Refugee Beads, Community Grounds, Pride for Parents, South Atlanta Bike Shop, and South Atlanta Marketplace), offers over 200 hours of employment a week, has sent two employees off to college, and has become the heartbeat of our community. Two years ago, if the stores closed the loss in the community would have been minimal. Today, if the stores were to close, there would be a significant loss for our neighborhood to recover from.

I am proud to say that with God's help, the transformation of the CED is almost complete. Since I have started with CED, we have operated in the black - meaning we are no more behind than we were the day I started 2 years ago. But we still maintain the same level of inherited debt and that has impeded our ability to take CED to the next level - sustainability.

I believe strongly in the value and mission of what we do through each of our programs. We are empowering individuals and families in South Atlanta to change their neighborhood from within- exactly what I felt called to 10 years ago. In order for us to succeed at this mission and become sustainable in what we do, the time has come to get rid of the "albatross" that hangs around our neck.

I have made a pledge to raise $10,000 in the next 3 weeks, by November 25th, to help break free from what has been holding us back. Why the 25th? 1) It is my birthday (great birthday present idea) and 2) It is also Black Friday. Black Friday gets its name because it is the day that retailers traditionally move from the "red" into the "black" for the year. For us, when we raise $10,000 before November 25, we will eliminate any doubt that we will be able to continue to provide these jobs and services in South Atlanta through 2012 and can call it "Freedom Friday." It would also be one of the best birthday presents I've ever received.

I am asking you to consider giving a special gift over the next 3 weeks to help propel us forward into 2012. Please consider supporting us with a special one time gift. Your gift will help ensure that we can continue with our mission to provide jobs, job training, positive community space, and hope in our neighbors that with their own hard work they can make it in life.

In order to give, you can do one of the following:

1) Give online at www.fcsministries.org/get-involved and choose FCS Community Economic Development from the drop down menu.

2) Write a check to:

FCS Community Economic Development

PO Box 17628

Atlanta, GA 30316

Thank you for supporting us and partnering with us over the past 2 years. I would not be here without you. From all of the people that you have helped impact over the past 2 years, I say thank you. You have made a lasting difference in someone's life by supporting CED and I hope you will allow CED to continue to do so in 2012 by making a special one time gift!

Thanks,

Jeff

Oatmeal

2011-09-18T07:43:00.000-04:00

Sam...Sam...Sam... We often shake our head and wonder what will become of him in utter amazement!

A few months ago, Sam was given the "street name" Oatmeal from our neighbors (this is his Oatmeal shirt given to him by Leroy). For those that don't know, many kids in our neighborhood have a street name, something their friends call them on the street. There are many neighborhood kids that we only know by their street name. It is amazing to go with Sam anywhere in the neighborhood because you will hear people call him Oatmeal. If we are in the Marketplace, at the YMCA, on a bike ride or walk, at the bank, wherever, someone is bound to recognize Sam and call him Oatmeal!

Four years ago, Sam was known for being pushed in a double stroller all around the neighborhood by a goofy bearded man. Today he is becoming to be known for himself and who he is. There is a reason that people know Oatmeal and it is not just because of his nickname. Sam really does navigate his world well and is comfortable in many situations. We are absolutely in love with the fact that he can navigate this world that we have placed him in. As he gets older and begins to move around the neighborhood on his own, we can have the confidence that he will be OK and best of all, will be known by his neighbors around him!

Pictures of Maya Biking

2011-09-18T07:30:00.005-04:00

It did not take long for Maya to migrate from the back deck to the street out front on her bike. In terms of trying things new, she has a little more of a thrill gene than many of her Delp counterparts. With the lone exception of being able to stop (something that is pretty vital in the grand scheme of things) Maya did great on her bike. When I tried to teach her how to stop, I would say "peddle backwards" or "peddle the other way" and she would just turn her bike around. Smart move on her part, but not really what I was going for!

I do believe that Sam and Maya are going to have many great adventures on their bikes together. As their age difference becomes less and less significant, it is beautiful to watch their friendship and fondness for each other grow. I think Sam was just as happy for Maya to have a bike as any of us were!

I like this next picture because I love the idea of training Sam and Maya to one day go beyond this stop sign! There is a huge world out there for them and it is an exciting thing as a parent to prepare your child for it. I often wonder what this world will hold for them and what they will become and I am excited to see what that is!

Here is our very proud new bike rider Maya! We like to say: "you never know what you are going to get with Maya." But the truth is, she has brings an amazing amount of joy, laughter, creativity, and spontaneity to the Delp family (with a little bit of sass to go with it also)! We love you Maya!

Maya Biking

2011-09-17T16:19:00.000-04:00

The Delp family has turned into a biking family! Maya has decided she needed an upgrade from the tricycle which was entirely too slow! The other day when we were riding bikes at Stanton Park, Maya hopped on a friends bike and off she went. You'd think she had ridden a bike before. She has not wanted to go back since.

We had a bike donated to the Marketplace this week, so I decided to purchase it for her (yes, there are some perks to working at a Thrift Store). After she helped me make it Maya sized, she was off and biking on our back porch!

I can't wait to have biking days with the entire family!

First day of Pre-School

2011-09-15T20:49:00.001-04:00

The kids have already been back in pre-school for a month already, but here they are on their first day. Sam is in pre-K this year. He is really enjoying it, and we are amazed at how much he is learning. Maya is loving the 2 year old class and talks about the "babies" in the one year old class that she was in last year.

Labor Day Road Trip

2011-09-15T20:41:00.002-04:00

For Labor Day weekend the Delp's hit the road. We head to Kansas for my (Katie's) grandfather's birthday and some time with my aunties and cousins. We had a fun celebration and it was great to catch up with family. Then we headed to Kansas City to spend the weekend with our dear friends, the Tramel's. It was a great time with great friends and the kids played non-stop.

Sam and Jaelyn are such good buddies and instantly reunited their sweet friendship.

A train ride at the farmer's market

The kids experienced their first carnival. They absolutely loved the rides!

Day at the Aquarium

2011-09-15T09:18:00.001-04:00

We scored some free tickets to the Georgia Aquarium, so we enjoyed a day of being tourist in our own city. The kids loved the aquarium, and we had a great day as a family.

Summer Catch Up

2011-09-15T09:08:00.000-04:00

This summer flew by as always, and I just realized that we barely blogged! For the few of you who follow our blog, here are a few pictures from the summer.

We had lots of fun with friends in the backyard with the pool until it got just too darn hot!

Once it was too hot outside, we built many, many forts.

Baseball Season is Over

2011-06-26T08:06:00.000-04:00

A year in the making, Sam and the South Atlanta Tigers season is now over. We had a lot of fun and Sam really loved playing all season long. Every day during the week Sam would ask to practice outside so he could get better for the game on Saturday (we moved practice inside the past few weeks due to it being crazy hot outside:

(and yes, that is Maya playing catcher! She loved her role!)

He did get better all season long and so did the other players. We definitely think we found something that Sam really enjoys and is good at.

Sam was convinced that he was going to hit a home run during his last game. He was so convinced that he struck out in his first at bat because he was swinging for the fences. So after I talked him down in his second at bat and encouraged him to just hit the ball, this is what happened:

The last week of the season, we went to a Braves game with the entire team. After the game, Sam proclaimed that he was a Braves fan (doh!) but don't worry, he still loves the Phillies and asked to watch baseball with me most nights. Here is a pic with Sam's best friend John at the game together:

All in all it was a fun season. Sam is already looking forward to playing soccer in the fall! Let's hope it is just as good!

A Wonderful Father's Day

2011-06-21T19:51:00.000-04:00

What a wonderful father's it was this past weekend. The kids and Katie made me feel really special. I loved spending time with Sam and Maya and on Father's day as we got to play some of my favorite indoor activities. Here are Sam and Maya lined up to play baseball. And yes, that is Maya down in a catcher's stance:

Here are Sam and I playing air hockey on a little something I picked up from the Marketplace, one of the perks of my job!

Colorado Vacation

2011-06-11T08:57:00.002-04:00

Here is a sampling of our vacation to Colorado last week. It was a wonderful time together as a family and relaxing. We were so happy to see Shawn, Shelva, Symeon, and Marin, as well as get some time with our Atlanta friends in a different setting.

We'll post some more details of the trip later, including horse riding, but have fun looking at the pics.

Click here to view these pictures larger

Acting Crazy

2011-06-11T08:51:00.000-04:00

It is safe to say that Maya and Sam enjoyed their time in Colorado! One thing they enjoyed was the "stage" that they made in our cabin. Katie and I were treated to nightly displays of entertainment from Sam and Maya. It is nice to know that Sam and Maya can entertain themselves (and us) without TV and the like. Here is a sampling of their "finest" work:

Maya Reading

2011-06-11T08:25:00.000-04:00

Not to be out done by Sam, Maya is convinced that she is reading also. It only takes her about 2-3 times before she has a book memorized and can then "read" the book back to us. Her favorite books that she has memorized are Go Dog Go and Are You My Mother?

Here she is reading Go Dog Go back to us while in the mountains:

Sam Reading

2011-06-11T08:10:00.002-04:00

I just posted on all of the amazing things that Sam and Maya have done over the past few weeks. However, this one deserves a post all by itself!

Sam has read his first book! Mommy and Sam sat down together and sounded out the words in the book and Sam made it all of the way through! It has long been a tradition of the Delp children to memorize books (as you will see later with Maya) but this was a legitimate sounding out of words and reading!

It is so amazing to watch as Sam and Maya both continue to learn and grow and get into new things. Reading opens up Sam's world to so much and I cannot wait to explore that world with him.

Here is Sam showing off his reading to Mandy:

New Heights

2011-06-11T08:10:00.000-04:00

Over the past few weeks, it seems like Sam and Maya have both grown up a ton. It is amazing how at certain times you just notice that things click on inside a child's head and they just get stuff. It has been so amazing to watch both Sam and Maya learn and grow is so many ways over the past few weeks.

What Sam is doing now:

Hitting home runs - literally. Playing baseball in back yard has been a fun past time for Sam and I over the past year. However, that may be coming to an end, at least for hitting. Ever since Sam hit the baseball over Symeon's house in Denver, he has been a hitting machine (well, that may be an exageration, but he has improved). Sam wants to practice hitting so much and he has been getting better and better. I promised him if he hit the ball over the fence in our backyard, I'd get him an ice cream cone. Yesterday, he hit the ball over the fence not once, but 6 times. I guess it is time to start throwing over hand or move locations!

Swimming - Sam has always had a love for water and was never scared of it which we appreciated a lot. Now that the summer heat is upon us, we have been going to the pool again. Yesterday Sam completely surprised Katie and I by actually swimming for a little bit. Legitimately swimming! Now, it will be a long time before Sam starts swimming laps at the YMCA, but still the fact that everything just clicked in his body and he was able to figure it out was so awesome to watch.

Adding - Sam is super excited to be in the oldest class at pre-school this summer and next year. He is taking it serious and he knows / expects to be able to read at the end of this year. However, one thing that we stumbled upon in the last few days was Sam adding. Being a lover of math myself, I can't believe that I didn't start this sooner, but Sam has really taken to want to learn and adding has been his thing of late.

Maya has also developed and picked things up a ton lately.

First off, her ridiculous potty training. Katie and I knew she was getting close to potty training and had discussed training Maya during the two week break between school and when their summer camp started at the end of May. However, when we were in PA visiting my family, Maya began to show signs that she was uber close to getting it. I made a trip to Wal-Mart (yes, Jeff went to Wal-Mart) and picked up some pull-ups. That next morning, we put her in pull ups to make it easier for her to go. She went potty first thing in the morning and literrally has not looked back since. Sure she has had her share of accidents. But since that first potty run on that Monday morning at Mom-Mom's house, she has essentially been potty trained.

Maya has been a little reluctant in the water lately for reasons we cannot figure out. The other day when we were going to the pool, she literally cried the entire 45 minutes from when I mentioned it until we got into the pool. However, after she got over herself and decided to like the water, she really pushed herself. We have always pushed Sam and Maya both to put their faces in the water to get used to it. We figured it they were comfortable enough to put their faces in the water, that would help them learn how to swim when the time came. Well, on this morning Maya decided that she could put her face in water. Ever since the first time she did it, she has not looked back (seeing a theme in Maya's development here?) She was so excited and proud of herself when she did it. It was amazing to watch!

Maya Playing the Harmonica

2011-04-27T13:13:00.000-04:00

In case you haven't seen Maya in a while, here is one example of how you might find her on any given afternoon:

Rite of Passage

2011-04-26T21:43:00.001-04:00

Earlier this month, Sam embarked on his first rite of passage: A road trip without Mom and Dad. Our good friends were traveling to Houston to see their family and so we sent Sam along to see his Grammy and Grandpa. Sam has always been a great traveler, but we were anxious to see how he would do without us. Needless to say, he was just fine and discovered that he gets to eat Fruit Loops every time he stays at a hotel.

Once he got to Texas, Sam had a blast with Grammy and Grandpa. These are a few picture highlights of his trip to the Blue Bell Factory, his Uncle Steve's house, Texas Blue Bonnets, his first cowboy hat, and a fishing trip with Grandpa:

The highlight of the trip for Sam was a trip to Sheppard's Barbershop in downtown Conroe, TX. This is a man's place and Sam loved his guy time. A sheriff came in and showed Sam his badge and he loved it. We found out later that this was the first time Sam had bubble gum. Out of all the stories we heard from his trip, we heard the most about Sheppard's.

On a side note, Sam came home from the trip with a "street" name. For those unfamiliar with growing up in urban communities, most kids are given a street name while they are growing up. For those of us that have gotten to know kids in South Atlanta, we often have to sift through what are street names and what are given names. Well, Sam got his street name given to him by Leroy on this trip. His street name is now "Oatmeal." Next time you see Sam call him Oatmeal and he will give you a pretty good laugh.

Friends

2011-04-26T21:21:00.000-04:00

Sam and Maya are blessed to have many friends in their lives from church and from the neighborhood. We are excited for the group of kids that they will get a chance to grow up around. They have already started creating some great memories together. Here is the our young ones on Easter morning getting ready for some breakfast:

Maya and her friend Abby have developed a wonderful friendship together. Maya loves "her" Abby (she also refers to Sam and "her Sammy D"). Something tells me that Maya and Abby are going to get along just fine for a long time to come.

What we love most though are how great friends Sam and Maya are turning out to be. They really do love each other. If they go to bed without the other, the one that went to bed usually comes out upset because they want to go to bed together. The other night, they spent the better part of an hour talking to each other in bed before they fell asleep. Maya must have a hug from her Sammy when he comes down in the morning (Maya is usually for about an hour or two before Sammy).

We are grateful for their relationship and don't take it for granted. Both Katie and I love our siblings and are grateful for the relationships that we have with them and are thankful that it looks like Sam and Maya will share that special bond together.

Gardening

2011-04-26T21:10:00.000-04:00

After an almost 3 year hiatus, the Delp's are back to gardening! Something about digging in the ground when the littles ones are crawling in it makes it a little hard to get motivated! This year we have done quite a bit of work in the back yard after the tree came down and we put a fence in. Here is a bit of the work that we have done:

We are utilizing this space as a fruit, vegetable, and rose garden. Thus far we have blueberries, strawberries, peppers, herbs, tomatoes, and zucchini growing.

This is our attempt at being Georgian, a Peach Tree:

Sam and Maya have really taken to the garden and Sam especially loves to "check" on his flowers daily. He gives me updates as to which flowers have bloomed and which plants have fruit on them. No strawberries yet for us:

Sam has enjoyed eating Dill, Basil, and Spinach directly from the plant. Thanks Grammy and Grandpa for teaching him this great trick. Though something tells me he will enjoy blueberries a little more.

My favorite addition to the landscaping are the lights that lighten the walking path at night. Sam and Maya love to "turn them on" each night. They put their hands over the solar censors to turn the on. It is pretty funny.

Baseball

2011-04-11T08:03:00.001-04:00

Sam loves his Baseball! He got a hard bat for his birthday and this is what he did with it! We can't wait until baseball practice starts this week to tone his skills!

Look at that concentration! Just like Daddy taught him...keep his eye on the ball!

Pictures from Sam's Birthday

2011-04-11T07:09:00.002-04:00

Sam turned 4 a few weeks ago and we have a wonderful Baseball Birthday party for him down at the Carver High School Baseball field. Here are the pictural highlights of the party!

Click here to view these pictures larger

How we found Sam

2011-03-03T19:02:00.000-05:00

Sam has fought naps ever since he was about 1 day old. He has not napped regularly since his second birthday (his sister is the exact opposite, she regularly takes 3 hour naps is has been known to put herself down for a nap).

Every now and again, we will come to get Sam from his quiet time and find him asleep. Today, this is how we found him:

Yes, he is asleep under a wash basket on top of a bean bag, another wash basket, and Mommy's chair. Who knows how in the world this managed to happen, but it was quite funny to find him this way.

Our Wednesdays

2011-03-02T21:59:00.000-05:00

I am very thankful for the privilege of spending 2 days a week with Sam and Maya. I find myself looking forward to our days together and we have a great time together. Of course, how could you not have fun with these cuties:

Maya enjoying the remains of Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. I mean really...

I wonder where she learned it from?

The day I was waiting for has officially arrived: Sam is useful around the house! While mowing the lawn may still be a few years off, he is taking having jobs very seriously. Here he is taking out the trash for the first time.

Sam and Maya relaxing after a hard day... on Mommy's newly painted chairs. The only thing missing is a nice cold drink for them.

Tandem Biking

2011-02-28T14:11:00.000-05:00

Biking has become a Delp family favorite over the last few weeks. First, we got Maya a helmet so she can ride her "bike" (read tractor) with Sammy out front. She absolutely loves it and walks around the house in it looking adorable.

Secondly, the Delps spent an afternoon riding on the West End Beltline Trail. Katie braved riding my mountain bike and we hooked the kids up in my bike trailer. They absolutely loved spending the afternoon in the trailer and Katie and I enjoyed riding bikes together. It was a fun family outing. Can't wait until the entire Beltline is done!

Finally, Sam has started offering rides on his bigger tricycle. Here is a photo and video of him giving Maya a lift. He was also willing to let Abby go for a ride as well. It is really sweet to watch Sam be such a great big brother to Maya. He absolutely loves her and she loves him!

Of course, this reminds me of another Delp duo on bikes ... Katie may have peddles here but she helped about just as much as Maya did:

Spring Planting

2011-02-23T15:58:00.000-05:00

Sam and I embarked on some spring planting this afternoon. After some success with our first science experiment, we decided that we wanted more.

Sam diligently counted out each seed (carrots, lettuce, onions, peppers, and brocoli ) and put them in each cup. He didn't want the "dirty" job of filling the cups with dirt, so that was left to me.

After we filled the cups with dirt and seed, we decided to try to create a greenhouse. We looked around the house for the best possible fit and we found one of mommy's storage containers which I am sure I complained about buying. Well, now it finally has a good use as a greenhouse!

Of course, as the follow video attests to, Sam still has a little confusion in regards to what a greenhouse actually is.

Maya's First Girl Scout Cookie

2011-02-21T16:49:00.000-05:00

I am pretty sure that Maya enjoyed her first Girl Scout Cookie. Did anyone have any doubt?

The funny thing is how she will eat cookies and candy. She takes the smallest possible bites of them so that she can enjoy it over a long period of time. Sam will be done with his treat about 5 minutes before Maya. Of course, the longer she holds it, the more time she has to get it all over her face and hands!

Maya's Quotes

2011-02-21T14:46:00.000-05:00

Not to be out done by her brother, Maya has a quote for this week too:

"My poo-poo is a rock"

Of course, this comes after:'

"I see my poo-poo?"

John and Hilary should be proud of Maya's affection for her own poo.

Meet Ya-Ya and Wam-Wam

2011-02-21T10:00:00.000-05:00

Sam and Maya have given themselves nicknames. Maya is known as Ya-Ya and Sam is Wham-Wham. Here are Ya-Ya and Wham-Wham eating an ice cream cone on the front porch together have a conversation. You really can't get much cuter than this!

Sam and Maya Riding Bikes (Tractors)

2011-02-21T09:57:00.000-05:00

Sam has loved riding his bike for the past year. It has only been in the past few weeks though that he has mustard up the courage to ride his bike down our driveway. I am really proud of how "brave" he has become with the riding. He has taken a few spills, but he gets right back up and keeps going. He has even taught our neighbors to ride down the hill. His friend Zachary was not too keen on it though. Maya is just biding her time until her legs are long enough to get on Sam's tricycle! For the time being, she is content on the tractor.

Grape to Raisin Experiment

2011-02-21T08:49:00.000-05:00

Sam asked the other day- "How do you make raisins?" Well, this is why I love the internet. We watched another family's experiment in making raisins from grapes and embarked on our very own. Sam was very patient only only ate one raisin early. Otherwise, he was great at checking on the raisins daily and commenting on their changing status. The final analysis is that it takes 5 days to make raisins from grapes. Here are the highlights:

Maya did not have much enjoyment in the experiment, but she did love a good hat after it was over:

Another Sam Quote

2011-02-17T12:37:00.000-05:00

Sam has been full of quotable moments lately. Here is another one that we'll chalk up to his fine Sunday School teachers (who are now our neighbors):

"Mommy, sometimes kids are mean because they forget that God loves them."

Gotta love it! I hope that he remembers that God loves him!

New Fence/New Neighbors

2011-02-16T14:21:00.000-05:00

For 3 years, we have felt pretty lonely on our block. At our lowest point, there were only 3 houses out of 9 that were occupied. We then had great neighbors move in next to us only to have them lose their house about a year later. You can only imagine how thrilled we were when our goods friends the "monks" moved into the house next to us. They go to our church and have been involved in South Atlanta for almost as long as Katie and I have been. We are excited to have them as neighbors!

Some things we are doing intentional with them, including our back yard. They have a dog and we have two kids. So we decided that fencing in the yard would be a good idea. We have had it for a week and we love it! It is so nice to let the kids be outside without worrying about them. In fact, Sam is in quiet time at this very moment outside! These are some pictures of our new fence:

In order for the fence to go in, we needed to take a tree down that was rotting from the bottom up. In the second picture below you can see the hole that was in the middle of the stump. Taking the tree down was kind of bitter sweet. It was a great old tree that provided wonderful shade, but we were nervous since the tree hung over Sam and Maya's room. We are glad that it is down and we no longer need to worry about it falling. We do have a bit of a mess to clean up though!

Finally, we now have a great place to put a clothes line up in our back yard! I have been wanting to do this for a while to cut down on energy expenses. Today is the first day that we have been able to use it. Sam and Maya were a bit confused about it at first, then they though it was silly, then they enjoyed helping Daddy hang the clothes on the line.

Lately

2011-02-16T14:01:00.001-05:00

We have been enjoying some wonderful times as a family lately. The weather has finally warmed up (yes I said finally when it is still February. There is a reason I moved to Georgia and that is because I fully expect it to be warm this time of year). Here are some pictures of our time outside:

Sam has really enjoyed riding bikes with his "neighbors." He refuses to call Essa and Reshawn by their names, he just refers to them as "neighbors." Unfortunately on this day, there were some bike issues and Essa was doing his best to fix his bike and Sam was an eager learner.

Our good friends Brent and Claire told us a story a few weeks ago that Abby, pictured below, declared her intentions to one day marry Sam. Perhaps this is the beginning of a budding relationship. They are definitely two peas in a pod and love to boss each other around! Sound familiar to anyone?

Maya and Sam have loved playing in the backyard. Maya has rediscovered the sand box and can play in there for hours. She absolutely loves pouring anything into anything. She can sit and pour sand into a bucket as long as we would let her.

Sam loves to jump off just about anything. Here he is jumping off of the deck. For those that know Sam, you know that he is not the most adventurist child. However, he has been working on being "brave" lately and has been doing good at it. In a future blog post you will see him riding bike down the our front hill. He is also trying to conquer his fear of dogs. Having a dog move in next door is helping him do that.

These are the "JJs" that Sam purchased for Maya's birthday with his own money. Maya loves them and Sam is really proud of picking them out for her. One morning, while Sam was doing his chore, Maya insisted on going outside with him, with no jacket on.

Sam's first chore has been to take out the compost. He mostly enjoys it and does it when we ask him to. He did tell me at one point: "I only take out compost on Sundays." He has since moved on from the statement and we enjoy seeing him have some responsibility around the house. I can't wait until he can mow grass!

Maya's Birthday Pictures

2011-02-09T13:41:00.000-05:00

First, let me just say that Maya has the best Mommy in the world! Katie did such a wonderful job planning and putting together a cookie monster themed party for Maya! While Maya is only 2, I hope that she grows up to really appreciate how wonderful a mommy she has and I can't wait to see what birthday number 3 brings!

Here are the highlights from the party. Thanks to our friend Andra for taking the wonderful pics!

Funny Sam Quotes

2011-02-09T12:44:00.001-05:00

This past week, Sam had two pretty funny quotes that have made us laugh pretty good. His personality continues to grow and we are enjoying seeing him blossom into a little kid! Here are the quotes:

On Sunday at the Superbowl Party, there was a Pinata. After Sam got his first piece of candy, I told him he could go back for more. He says:

"No Daddy, I got one already, I don't need any more."

I guess he is used to us telling him he can only have one piece of candy!

The second came on Monday. We got a steal of a deal on hockey tickets. We purchased hockey tickets and got tickets to the Aquarium and the Zoo for free! I told Sam that we would be going to a hockey game on Sunday and he says:

"No Daddy, I want to go to church on Sunday."

Who can argue with that?

Maya Birthday

2011-02-09T11:14:00.000-05:00

Maya turned 2 last week! We are so grateful for our daughter and her community of friends. Enjoy the video. There will be more pics posted later today.

What would your family do with a week indoors...

2011-01-14T14:39:00.000-05:00

The Delps do all of the puzzles in the house:

Highlights from the snow!

2011-01-14T14:18:00.000-05:00

It has been a long week in Atlanta for lots of families. No school, work, or ability to go too many places. We have very little to complain about as we were well stocked on food (without stocking up), have great friends to visit close by, had the coffee shop to go to, and were able to get out if we wanted (even though most places were closed or out of things so there was no where to go to).

The kids enjoyed the snow the first day before it turned into one big ice ball. Here are the highlights from our one day of playing outside:

Pillow Fight

2011-01-14T14:12:00.000-05:00

When snow keeps you inside for over a week, what else would you do if you were 3 than embark on a pillow fight?

Snowmagaeden

2011-01-13T07:40:00.001-05:00

So it snowed....on Sunday night...and ended before Midnight...and yet here it is Thursday and we are still off of school and work. Pretty crazy for a mere 3 inches of snow. Atlanta's snow removal policy is to wait until it melts. Not a bad theory except when the low temp is 12 and the high is 30 for a week after a snow storm!

We are all managing pretty well, although we are beginning to run out of food. An attempt to go to the grocery store on Tuesday was met with long lines (about an hour long) and barely anything on the shelves. It has scarred me and I am reluctant to go back. Who knew that I really should have stocked up on goods for 3 inches. Oh well...lessoned learned.

The kids enjoyed the snow on Monday. They had a lot of fun sledding, trying to make snow men, throwing snowballs, and playing with friends. Our front hill makes a natural sledding hill and we made a great track to slide down. Unfortunately, we only had a tupperware container lid to slide down on, hence limiting the enjoyment of sledding a little bit. This is the 3rd year in a row that we have been able to sled at least once during the winter, so I will probably buy a sled for next year (which of course means we will not get snow for the next 5 years).

Here are the pictures from the week:

Christmas 2010

2010-12-30T08:25:00.001-05:00

In case you couldn't tell, I have been playing around with IMovie on our Mac now that we have a new video camera. This is the last video that I will do for a while (given that I head back to work next week).

This past week was a fantastic time with friends a family. The week of Christmas was quite the highlight with the Pink Pig, Caroling, Grammy and Grandpa here, and snow on Christmas. It was one of the best Christmas weeks that I have had in a long time.

Some of my highlights from the "Christmas Season" as Sam calls it (as opposed to Christmas Day) were:

1) Putting Christmas lights up with Sam on our house and on Angie's House
2) Watching St. Nicholas with Sam and Maya under the baseball blanket
3) Sam wanting to color under the Christmas Tree when we first put it up
4) Maya really learning how to talk in sentences the last few weeks
5) An amazing few weeks at the South Atlanta Marketplace and Pride for Parents
6) Seeing our PA and Texas families

I am sure that there are more that I will add here later as well. As the kids get older, I am sure each Christmas will be filled with unique memories. The following video highlights our memories from this Christmas:

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White Christmas

2010-12-28T11:39:00.000-05:00

It snowed in Atlanta on Christmas Day for the first time since 1888. That was a pretty special treat for our family. Of course Sam and Maya enjoy snow on any day, but it was fun to have it on Christmas. These are some highlights of our time together in the snow.

Maya the Artist

2010-12-27T19:07:00.000-05:00

I have to admit that I have not been as good as documenting Maya's life as I was with Sam. I promised that the second child would not get the shaft, but a series of unplanned technology changes has made it difficult. Thankfully, we now have a new video camera and can begin taking videos of Maya.

With that in mind, here is the first Maya themed video in quite some time. She is huge fan of painting and anything art related. The video shows some of her better artistic exploits! Enjoy and there will be more to come...

Cold Days in Georgia

2010-12-14T22:19:00.000-05:00

We are experience a colder than normal few days around these parts. The high temp was only 26 the other day. The kids are embracing it pretty well. Here are two pictures of Sam, Maya, John, and Aisha watching it snow on Sunday. John was belting out "Merry Christmas" over and over again as they watched it snow.

Sam wanted to play in the snow, which was minimal, but we went outside anyway. What do you do after you get inside from playing in the snow? Drink hot chocolate of course. Sam has a new favorite drink I believe.

Maya loves to Paint

2010-12-01T22:49:00.000-05:00

Maya definitely has an artistic flair to her. Katie loves to brag that she is routinely praised by her art teacher at school for her attention and love of art time. At home, she loves to color and "shulk" (draw spoken in Maya's language). Hours can be spent each day coloring different pages out of the Sesame Street coloring books.

A few weeks ago, I took Sam and Maya to the children's museum. While there, I discovered a painting station that I knew Maya would love. I didn't dare take both Sam and Maya into the station as it would have been too much to handle. This past weekend we had plenty of free time, so the whole family decided to go Children's Museum.

After a short stop at the balls (Sam must play there first), we went to the painting station. Maya absolutely loved it and spent probably 30 minutes doing it. Here are some pictures of her creations with her mom:

Coloring by the Christmas Tree

2010-12-01T22:42:00.000-05:00

Sam has the holiday spirit! Ever since decorations have started coming out last weekend, Sam has been taking it all in.

Probably the most random and funny thing that Sam has done is that he wants to color in front of the Christmas Tree. We have no idea where he may have picked up this idea from, but it is so strong that we have moved the coloring table next to the tree because this has become a daily thing that he wants to do. And of course, if Sam wants to do it, that means Maya does to.

Here are some pictures of Sam doing his coloring in front of the tree:

Their Very Own Christmas Tree

2010-11-27T07:56:00.001-05:00

Thanks to the Christmas Sale at the Marketplace, we were able to purchase several small Christmas Trees very cheaply. So Sam and Maya now have their very own Christmas Tree in their room. There are very proud of their tree as you can see:

Christmas Lights

2010-11-25T21:14:00.000-05:00

Every year I have lived in Atlanta, I have put Christmas lights up on our house. It is something that I look forward to every year and have a friendly competition with a certain Cowboys fan one block away. It is also something that I remember doing with my dad way back when and look am exciting to enjoy doing it with Sam. This year I was able to bring a few pieces of my dad's old display along with us back from PA to add to our tacky holiday cheer on Thayer Ave and Sam is finally old enough to actually be helpful in putting up the light display!

Sam's job was to place the Toy Soldiers, Candles, and Lamp posts, as well as, test each light string. No worries, the scene was no where like National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. He only had to check about 5-6 strings of lights. Each time he plugged one in, there was a loud "It works!" Sam took his job very seriously and was very proud of his work. Every time he finished "his job," Sam was eager for his next one.

The best part of the display was when we had the official unveiling of the lights. We started at the Barbers house and then walked over to our house for our unveiling. There was a crowd of about 20 people and Sam got to walk up the stairs, very proudly mind you, in front of the crowd and light the display himself. Katie said that you could see the rite of passage all over how he was carrying himself up the stairs.

I am so thankful to be able to share these moments with Sam and have a little fun together. I am also thankful that Katie "lets" us do the lights our way (tacky is more valuable that pretty).

Cycle of Love Pictures

2010-11-22T20:56:00.000-05:00

This is the crew before our departure from the Right Stuff Ministries Thrift Store in Leeds, AL. They were amazing hosts for us allowing us to sleep in the store and feeding us dinner and breakfast. It was an amazing way to start out the trip.

One of the best view from day one of riding. We rode through an extremely rural part of Northeast Alabama. It was a beautiful time of year to be riding through with trees in all different stages of colors. This was a dam that was along the way and made for a great lunch spot.

One of the less beautiful parts of Northeastern Alabama was the dogs that we encountered. Several riders had close calls with dogs chasing them and trying to bite them. Thankfully, no one was actually bitten and we all made it through safely. Next year everyone will carry dog mace.

Day 2 saw us ride along the Silver Comet Trail in Northwest Georgia. It is a 61 mile trail and made for some easy riding. This is us loading up after one of our stops. We had 4 drivers stationed along the route that provided us with food and water along the way so we did not have to carry everything on our bikes.

Since we had riders of different levels on the trip, we decided to meet up at Centennial Park and ride the last two miles together back to South Atlanta. It was timed perfectly as everyone arrived at the same time. It was an amazing moment pulling into the park and feeling a great accomplishment.

We finished the ride in the parking lot of the South Atlanta Marketplace and had a great crowd of people waiting for us there. It was awesome to hear everyone cheering for us as we came down the home stretch.

There were many moments over the two days that were special to me and that I will cherish for a long time. But my favorite part of the ride was the last five blocks back to our house from the Marketplace along with Sam. He insisted on riding his bike to the Marketplace and even though my body had nothing left in it, he wanted nothing else but to ride home with Daddy. Not much would stop me from getting on the bike again after that. I hope that one day Sam and I will share in some wonderful bicycling adventures together!

Cycle of Love

2010-11-22T12:45:00.000-05:00

162.88 miles… 16 hours over 2 days… 15 riders from Leeds, AL to the neighborhood of South Atlanta…4 support drivers…1 masseuse = One Amazing trip!

Words can hardly describe the experience that was the Cycle of Love . When I first wrote you back in August, I had 3 goals: 1) Improve my personal physical condition 2) Grow and deepen the relationships that I have with some wonderful ministry partners 3) Raise money for Pride for Parents. I am happy to say that all three have been accomplished!

Over the past few years, I had sacrificed personal health for being too active in ministry. There was not a lot of balance in my life and it got to the point in August where I was feeling a lot of pain that I knew was related to eating bad and not exercising. I knew that I needed to do something to improve my health or else something bad could happen. This ride has given me the motivation to get back into shape and feel good about myself again. Since August, I have lost over 10 pounds and gone are the pains that I was feeling related to treating my body poorly. There is no way that I would have finished the ride had I not trained and gotten into shape and there is a great sense of accomplishment that I feel having completed the ride.

On a ride like this with so many great people, there are too many stories to share in a short space. Not one of us would have finished this ride alone and I am very grateful for the community that was built on this trip. The conversations that were had and the tremendous feeling of accomplishment we felt together will live on for a lifetime. To borrow a line from Danny, one of the riders: “My body has never felt so bad and my mind so good.” As we rode into Centennial Park to gather before finishing our ride to South Atlanta, I am sure that we could have ridden over the Rocky Mountains together, our minds and togetherness felt that good!

Of course, all of this was done for a purpose beyond myself and those that I was riding with. I participated in this ride in order to raise money for Pride for Parents, a program of FCS Community Economic Development. A goal of $5000 was set to raise so that we could provide toys and gifts for families in South Atlanta at the South Atlanta Marketplace. Thanks to our other riders – Curtis Kester and Ryan Baldassaro, we were able to raise $3000 of that $5000 goal. What an amazing accomplishment! I am so thankful to all of those that gave and contributed to our ride. The knowledge of your support helped push me through some of the hardest points of the trip.

The hardest part of the trip was around mile 130. We were about halfway through day two and you could have easily convinced me to pack it in. Riding 130 miles was no small feat and I could have easily been proud of myself for what I accomplished. My legs were tired, my back hurt, and my bike was not functioning properly. While that decision would have been easy to make and I could have been proud of what I accomplished, I would have missed out on what was easily the best part of the trip, the finish. There is very little that I would trade for the amazing feeling of pulling into the parking lot at the South Atlanta Marketplace and seeing my family and other supporters greet us there.

Just like finishing those last 32 miles, I would like to finish the final part of our financial goal. If you are able, please consider helping Pride for Parents finish those last 32 miles strong. We are tired, our backs hurt, and our bikes are a little broken, but we can push on! We can be proud of the $3000 that we raised for this great cause, but reaching our goal will be even better! I invite you to help us push beyond mile 130 and get to our goal of $5000.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to share this experience with you. So many of you have expressed a keen interest in supporting the ride. I am truly indebted to you for allowing me to participate in this life changing experience.

Sincerely (and just a little bit tired),

Jeff Delp

A Little More Halloween

2010-11-01T20:10:00.000-04:00

Just had to share some more pictures from the weekend that our friend, Andra, took. She's much, much better at capturing our children on film than we are...

Riding Bike on the Beltline

2010-11-01T13:44:00.000-04:00

Since Sam was born I have wanted to get a child trailer for my bike so I could bring Sam and then Maya along on my rides. However, I never thought the cost of the trailer could be justified for how often we would actually make it to one of the trails outside the city so I never purchased one. With the 170 bike ride only a few weeks away, I had a need to get my hands on a road bike since my mountain bike was not going to cut it for the trip. Thanks to a great deal found on Craigslist, I now have a road bike and a child trailer! It was a great two for one deal.

This past Sunday a group of riders from the Cycle of Love went on our weekend journey to train. We only had a few hours to ride due to the busy nature of the halloween weekend so we decided to stay close and ride on a new section of the Atlanta Beltline Trail. The Beltline is going to change the way that we live our lives in Atlanta, even if it is still 15 years from completion (check out the website at www.beltline.org) .

It was awesome to share my first ride on the Beltline Trail with Sam. I am pretty sure that Sam thought he was cool because he got to hang out with the big boys and their bikes! He was super excited to go and packed a bag full of books, toys, and snacks to enjoy in the trailer. We rode for about an hour and then stopped at a playground to let Sam get out for a minute. He played literally for one minute and wanted to get back in the trailer and continue riding (much to the chagrine of Daddy who wanted a little more of break). I am very glad that I got to share some of my training with Sam now with the trailer. I hope that he shares some of my love for biking hen he gets older.

As we were riding the Beltline, we couldn't help but talk about how it would change our lives drastically. The Beltline will be a 22 mile loop around downtown Atlanta of bike trails, walking trails, parks, and a light rail line. It passes through the north end of our neighborhood, about 1/2 mile away at most. When complete, we will be able to bike, walk, or take the train to 95% of the places we go in Atlanta. Our kids, who will be teenagers when it is complete, will have their Atlanta world opened to them without the use of a car (good thing because I am still holding to the no license before 18 theory for Sam and Maya). One of my biggest struggles of living in Atlanta is the lack of the urban amenities that I thought I would have when I moved to Atlanta (easy access to walking, biking, and public transit) and the Beltline will go a long way towards changing that. I can't wait and yesterday was just a tease in terms of what's to come hopefully!

Of course, all the excited of the day was too much for a 3 year old to handle as he fell asleep towards the end of our ride:

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T21:26:00.000-04:00

We had a fun Halloween weekend in the Delp house this year. The festivities started on Thursday at the kids' pre-school with their Halloween parade. Fireman, Sam and his trusty dalmatian, Maya were super sweet and held hands during the parade.

On Saturday, a few neighbors and I organized the (1st annual) South Atlanta Treat Street. The event went really well, and it was great to have a safe and creative option for the children in our neighborhood. Sam and Maya ate way too much candy and by the end of the night they were running in circles while naked in the living room. Here is some of the fun from Treat Street.

Here is the cupcake walk:

Sam and Maya loved "Donut on a String". They both took it very seriously, especially Maya. She got right in the middle of the bigger kids and ate her donut.

Fashion Statements

2010-10-31T08:16:00.000-04:00

We try to put all of the cute pictures of our kids up here so that you can adore them and see how wonderful they are. Sometimes there is a not so cute picture that is too hard to keep off of here. This is one of them. This is how Maya and Sam needed to leave the house one day. I tried and tried to get them to put their hats until their hoods, but to no avail, this was how they wanted to go. And of course, Maya needed to get some good nose picking in for good measure as well.

Applesauce Making

2010-10-31T08:11:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite memories as a kid was the annual applesauce making day at our house. I loved to eat applesauce a whole lot more than making it, but I really did appreciate my mom and Nana making applesauce every year. I don't think I ate store bought applesauce until I was in college and I was very disappointed.

We have tried to carry on the tradition of applesauce making while we have been in Atlanta and we have included several of our community members in the annual fall festival. It has become a fun annual event that this year involved 6 different families/houses. It was quite the assembly line! Here are some pictures of our fun this year. We made a ton of applesauce in a very short time. It was a lot of fun and I am already looking forward to it next year!

Tricks

2010-10-31T06:53:00.000-04:00

Sam started dance class last month and we have been amazed at how much he has taken to the idea of dancing. The theory behind the dance class isn't so much about dance at this age as it is about body movement. Sam comes home from class every Thursday and shows us the moves or "shapes" that he learned that day at class. It has clearly been a wonderful thing for Sam and he loves going to class.

We now have as a part of our daily routine a time for "tricks." This is where Sam, Maya, Daddy, and Maya take turns doing "tricks" with our bodies. It is super fun watching Sam be so creative with his moves. Between jumps, standing on one foot, different roll over techniques, etc... Sam has quite a few moves. Daddy and Mommy have to be creative also to not always do the same thing. That can't be said for Maya though. Her main tricks are standing on her tippy-toes and flying around in circles like an airplane.

Mommy tried to teaching Sam how to do a head stand. Here is how that went:

Morning Reading

2010-10-31T06:45:00.000-04:00

Mornings at the Delp house are quite the affair. Katie and I have started waking up at 6 am together so that we can have some quiet time alone without the kids before they wake up. This worked wonderfully for about 2 weeks and then someone told our kids what we were doing and they started waking up earlier and earlier. Now, we maybe get 1/2 hour alone before one of them wakes up. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

One thing that Sam and I enjoy together when they do wake up is a little reading time in the morning. Daddy is catching up on current events and Sam is checking out the newest Fisher Price toy catalog. He hasn't started drinking coffee yet, but assures me that once he is a big guy like Daddy he will.

Questions

2010-10-17T14:03:00.000-04:00

We knew it would come one day: The age of questions. Why this? Why that? What does this do? Why? What if we didn't do that? What if cars had no wheels? What if houses could fly?

Every moment of every day Sam is full of questions. He asks them constantly. So much so, that Katie counted 15 questions within a brief 5 minute span. And I don't think that is a record.

Admittedly, it is sometimes challenging to come up with answers to all of Sam's questions in life. Sometimes we tell him to save it for Grandpa, especially if it is a science questions, sometimes we ignore it, sometimes we ask him a question back.

But mostly, we are happy to see Sam really exploring his world. By and large most of Sam's questions are truly inquisitive and not just for the sake of asking a question. He is really trying to figure out his world and we are seeing that play out in the form him asking questions. Annoyance aside, it is wonderful to watch a 3 year old trying to understand why things work. We often take things for granted or have a much better filter than to ask the question a 3 year old asks, but at times (say from question 1-10 in a 5 minute span) it is enjoyable to watch Sam learn about his world.

Bike Riding

2010-10-17T13:55:00.000-04:00

As I prepare for the Cycle of Love coming up in November, Sam has taken an interest in biking with me. Normally he just rides his bike on the back porch where it is flat and he does not have to worry about cars. However, this weekend Katie and I were able to convince Sam to ride his bike on the street. Yes parents out there, we had to convince our son to ride his bike on the street.

Sam has a lot of rules of his own making about life. These rules are often combined with rules that we have set up for Sam. Parents rule: Do not go in the street without holding an adult's hand + Sam's rule: Do not ride up or down a hill because it may be slightly dangerous = Sam does not want to ride his bike on the street. Even the slight inclines on the sidewalk that make way for the driveway cause concern for Sam and usually results in him getting off of his bike and pushing it.

As we watch Sam and see his world grow, we learn more and more about what makes him tick. At his very core, Sam is a very cautious child. He does not like to take risks and prefers to play things pretty safe. Hence why he did not want to ride his bike on the sidewalk 6 months ago. The difference is that he can tell us these things now. Of course, I also find out what Katie has been telling Sam. Things such as: "But daddy, Mommy said I will break my head open if I fall on my bike with out a helmet."

So between our rules, Sam's rules, and Katie's words of caution we had to convince Sam that riding his bike on the street was a good idea. Seems like an odd thing for a parent to do.

Well, Sam has taken to really enjoy riding his bike with Daddy on the street. Yesterday we rode to his friend John's house and today we road our bikes together to church. It took us longer to ride our bikes to church than to walk, but it was worth it. As we got farther along in the ride, we saw Sam's confidence grow and grow. It was great to see his confidence grow block by block along the ride. By the time we got back to the house, Sam was really moving.

Here is a picture of the two of us riding together last night. I look forward to much longer rides together one day. And while I would love for him to join us on the 174 mile Cycle of Love ride, that may be a few years off.

Window Washing

2010-10-10T20:11:00.000-04:00

Following in the theme of our kids trying to be helpful around the house, this one shows how ridiculous they can be sometimes! Sam has been insistent on washing the back window lately. Who knows how he got on this kick, where it got it from, or how long it will last, but it is pretty funny. And of course, whatever Sam does Maya must do also. Here is some evidence of their work:

Before you start calling to hire them for your home, we need to work on how well they actually clean. The windows usually end of dirtier when they are done with them than when they started!

An Evening at the Delp House

2010-10-10T20:04:00.000-04:00

We have been enjoying family time a lot lately. Maya is old enough now that she is able to join in most of the activities that we do. Sam is generally very patient with Maya and lets her help in her own way. One of their favorite activities is to help in the kitchen, especially with cookies. We decided to make some fall sugar cookies with the kids, and here is what ensued:

This second picture is Maya's S.O.S. to Auntie Shelva for a apron for Christmas. She would like one to match Sam's in the kitchen!

Sam has loved games for a long time. Right now, one of his favorite games is Guess Who which he is really good at. He also enjoys Connect Four, puzzles, and the duck game. When we play Connect Four, we don't really play by the official rules. The version we play involved each of us trying to get our color at the top of the frame. Sam thinks it is hilarious. Tonight Maya joined in the fun as well. She was just as enthusiastic:

Maya Playing Outside

2010-10-04T14:07:00.003-04:00

Here is the final video of today. Over the past week or two, we have really seen a change in how Maya plays. She has become a lot more independent and has gotten more advanced in what she does. Of course, Maya loves to help around the house. In the video, she is helping to sweep the back porch while Sam peddles around her. And then she is showing off her basketball skills, which are quite good I might say!

Maya Puddles and Jumping

2010-10-04T13:24:00.002-04:00

Here are two videos of Maya that I have been wanting to post for a while now. She loves exploring her world and constantly thinks that she is bigger than she really is. Here is her trying to jumping on the baseball field:

And her she is playing in the puddles:

Lunch time at the Delps

2010-10-04T13:18:00.003-04:00

Well, I finally figured out how to edit with the mac (wasn't hard, just needed the time). So here comes a bunch of videos that were long overdue. We'll start with the one from today. Sam loves to make Maya laugh and when they get going, who knows how silly they will get. A few notes: 1) I need to change the aspect ratio in the future. If you click on the video and go to the Youtube sight, you can see the whole width. 2) In case you were wondering what Sam and Maya are doing in the middle section of the video, that is Sam "putting the fire out." He pretends that he is a fire man and goes around the house making that noise. Yes, he is a boy!

Here is just a small example of how the two of them can get each other going.

Cooking with the Kiddos

2010-10-04T11:41:00.003-04:00

Fall is finally here in Atlanta and what better way to end a glorious fall weekend of apple picking, pumpkin patching, wagon riding, and applesauce making than to make pumpkin bread. Of course, we have two little helpers that are eager to help and lick the batter when they are done. Each one has a job to do. Maya is becoming the master mixer:

Sam takes his job of placing the muffin papers in each slot very seriously.

And of course, both Sam and Maya love to eat up whatever is left on the batter:

September '10 Slideshow

2010-10-01T19:48:00.002-04:00

At the end of each month, we will try to put a slideshow up of highlights from the month that may or may not have made it on the blog. Enjoy.

Click here to view these pictures larger

Apples and Pumpkins

2010-10-01T19:26:00.008-04:00

Sam, Maya, and I took a venture to the North Georgia Mountains this morning for some apples, pumpkins, and a wagon ride. We were supposed to go last weekend, but a round of illnesses in the Delp house prevented that from occurring. Our annual community applesauce day is on Sunday, so we needed to load up on fresh apples to stock our freezer full of applesauce.

Sam absolutely loved the pumpkin patch. He ran around trying to pick up all of the pumpkins, even the ones larger than himself. Maya was pretty unsure about the wagon ride. For someone who is typically pretty adventurous, she was pretty nervous. The apple place was full of school field trips, so we didn't get to spend as much quality time there as we had hoped as both Sam and Maya were more timid with the big kids around.

All in all though, it was good day with the kids. Maya is changing a lot these days. She is definitely more big girl than baby and that has changed her and Sam's relationship also. They have started doing things together, albeit on a small scale, and it has been really fun to watch. They make each other laugh, Sam looks out for Maya and holds her hand when we are in the street or parking lot, and Maya pushes (usually not literally) Sam beyond his timid ways. It is wonderful to see their relationship grow and change over time!

Here are some pictures from today.

The three of us on a wagon ride:

Sam and Maya under the apple tree:

Eating their prized catches of the day:

Holding hands on route to the picnic area:

Unsuccessfully trying to lift the pumpkins:

Sam and Maya painting their pumpkins after we returned home:

All that fun tuckered them out:

Here is a slideshow of the day:

Click here to view these pictures larger

Night out at Braves Game

2010-09-29T20:11:00.005-04:00

A few new things happened tonight during our night out at the Braves game:

1) I cheered for the Braves. Yep, that is right. Jeff Delp cheered for the stinking Braves. My hope is that they make the playoffs and win a series so that I can watch the Phillies play in Atlanta. So for the next 1.5 weeks, Go Braves (I did not do the chop)!

2) Sam road the bus with one of his friends Tobi. The bus was full of high school kids and no one was nice enough to get out of their seats for a couple of 3 year olds. So, stood they did. They took their job very seriously, and despite having one of the craziest bus drivers that i have experienced on MARTA, they survived standing up and very proud of themselves:

Sam has loved peanuts for a while now, but he fell in love with shelled peanuts tonight. And boy are they a time waster! Next, we need to get him to enjoy some southern boiled peanuts!

After the game was over, Brent and I decided that we had the skills to open a day care center on our own. It would be a baseball themed day care of course:

Puddle Walk

2010-09-29T13:13:00.003-04:00

After 3-4 weeks with no rain, we finally had a storm that helped to usher in fall over the weekend. On Monday, fresh off bouts with sicknesses, Daddy decided to take the kids on a puddle walk through the neighborhood. Here is what ensued:

Cycle of Love

2010-09-22T19:46:00.003-04:00

We are taking a commercial break from blogging for this public service announcement:

On November 21 & 22, I will be riding in the Cycle of Love (www.cycleoflove.org) from Birmingham, AL to Atlanta, GA with 10 other colleagues from various ministries around Atlanta. I am doing this ride for a couple of reasons:

1) I am raising money for Pride for Parents (www.prideforparents.org) and FCS Community Economic Development (CED), which runs the South Atlanta Marketplace and Community Grounds Cafe (www.communitygrounds.org). I am now the part-time executive director of CED and I believe strongly in the value of having strong, viable local businesses in our community to provide life and jobs to residents in South Atlanta.

2) I want to help support the other riders and their ministries. Together we make a great team and supporting each other is a great way of supporting our own ministries. The other riders have been an amazing support to me while doing ministry in South Atlanta, and without them, I can't imagine still going strong.

3) I am riding for personal reasons. For the past 3-4 years I have really struggled with maintaining a healthy lifestyle and having the energy that I need to be a good father, be a good husband, and do good at my job. I am using the next 2 months, culminating with the bike ride, to get myself back into shape. I owe it to myself, Katie, Sam, and Maya to have a healthier lifestyle which will ensure that I can keep up for many more years to come.

I am writing you because I would love for you to consider supporting me in this ride. Riding 174 miles is not going to be an easy task and neither is running two businesses in South Atlanta. Having your support will mean a lot to me and will no doubt help my motivation during the hard miles of the ride and the hard times of running CED.

If you would like to support me, please go to www.cycleoflove.org and click the Donate Now button under my name. It will send you to the FCS Donate page and follow the instructions from there. If you want to write a check, please send it to:

FCS Community Economic Development
PO Box 17628
Atlanta, GA 30316

There are several levels of support that you can choose from, or you can decide on a gift on your own. Any amount of support would be appreciated. I have set a goal of raising $5000 during this ride. It is a lofty goal, but one that I think is obtainable. Please consider giving.

Thanks so much!

Jeff

Soccer Sam

2010-09-20T13:28:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago, Sam played in his first soccer game. We signed him up to play in an AYSA league with Inter Atlanta FC and he plays with 3-4 year olds. Playing soccer is a liberal term as what ensues is a bunch of kids running around the ball being distracted by everything else going on in the park. Nonetheless, Sam really enjoys it and has had fun the first two weeks.

We actually missed Sam's first week of soccer because Katie and I were in Chicago at the CCDA conference. Mom Mom and Grandpa Ed took him to his first game and took most of these pictures. What we saw from the second week was kind of what we expected. Sam loved to practice and shoot the ball, but when the game started, he was fine just running around the outside edge of what was going on and really doesn't mix it up with the other kids. I think this past saturday he may have kicked the ball one time and that was even accidental.

I am thankful that he enjoys running around and being active during the games. As a former soccer player, I hope that he becomes less timid in his approach to the game, but I am thankful for the opportunity to share this with him. However, I am going to predict that we do not have the next Landon Donovan in our midst in the Delp household (unless that's Maya).

Maya and the Potty

2010-09-20T13:20:00.003-04:00

Over the past week, Maya has decided to be interested in going to the potty again. She had a brief bout with interest a few months back but this time she has been a bit more successful. However, it still seems like she is a ways off from being potty trained. But even though we think it is still a ways off, we are giving it a shot to see what happens. Here is a shot of Maya in the potty and in one of "Sam's" pull-ups. Sam still claims that they are his even though he barely used them and only used them for a few weeks a year ago.

Sam and School

2010-09-20T13:15:00.004-04:00

We are amazed to think that this is the third year Sam has been at pre-school. Throughout Sam's time at school, we have wondered what exactly goes on during the day. Since about the middle of last year, we have been able to get a report from Sam as to what his view of the day was (which usually differs from other kids views). Talking about his day usually means letting us know what Mr. Coach did and what other kids had to eat for lunch or what they brought for show and tell.

This year, one of Sam's teachers is taking pictures during the day and posting them on Shutterfly, so for the 1st time we can actually see what they are doing during the day. Here are some pictures from the previous week at school:

It is neat to see Sam in his world at school. He has loved it so much and looks forward to going everyday. We are grateful for this part of Sam's life over the past 3 years!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

2010-09-17T13:57:00.003-04:00

Today is Katie's birthday, and all the Delps wish her a happy one! Katie is a special women, a wonderful mother, and a great wife and she deserves to be celebrated today.

Sam decided earlier this week (with a little prompting), that he wanted to buy something for Mommy with his own money. We have been trying to teach Sam a little bit about money and he has a great bank that he got from his Pop-Pop that helps us a lot. I asked him what he wanted to buy with his own money for Mommy and he said flowers. So we went off to Trader Joe's this morning in search for flowers. Sam carried his money in his front shirt pocket, pretty hard to take seriously if you ask me! Sam chose blue hydrangeas for his Mommy (I am going to assume he knew hydrangeas were her favorite flower and that is why he chose them, not because they are blue). It was really sweet to see how seriously Sam took the whole thing. He really appreciates and loves his Mommy!

Maya and Sam helped Daddy make Mommy a special Texas treat for breakfast this morning: Kolachis!

We're not ready to take on the Kolachi Factory yet, but they were good enough to impress Mommy. Happy Birthday Katie!

Boys day out

2010-09-17T13:48:00.003-04:00

Even though Sam loves baseball, we only went to one game all year. I saw an afternoon game on the schedule this week and decided that another game was in order for him and I. Sam didn't quite understand why Ryan Howard and the Phillies would not be playing but he was excited to go see baseball.

We had a fun time riding the bus to the game together. I have not had the chance to take Sam on the bus that much lately, so it was fun showing him the ropes, literally. He found the bus stop, found the right bus number, and pulled the rope when it was our turn to get off the bus.

Sam is in the midst of a phase of life where he is asking questions about everything. Why? Why? Why? We answer that question about a hundred times a day. This day was no different. He asked a million questions on the bus, but that was nothing for the baseball game. He asked about everything from the foul pole, to the ball boys, the Braves Tomahawk, the Bull Pen, etc... The amazing thing is that I really feel like he is taking the information in and not just asking a million questions. I am amazed at how much he is learning right now.

Here are some pictures of our boys day out at the ball game:

Dance Class!

2010-09-17T13:41:00.003-04:00

This week was the start of Sam's class at Moving in the Spirit. Ever since he saw the "Big Show" last year, he was excited to dance with the boys at MITS. This lead to a little bit of disappointment when he found out that girls would be in his class, and not just boys and that Mr. Chris was not his teacher. But he LOVED the class nonetheless.

We are excited for the class because Sam has some friends from school and some friends from church in the class. It is great to have the two worlds meet in the class. Maya also loves the class. When she got home from watching Sam, she continued to practice her moves by jumping around the house for about an hour.

We can't wait for Sam to participate in the big show at the end of the year at the Rialto in Atlanta. We'll let you know when his big debut is coming up!

PS. As someone that has never danced in his life, I am glad that our son has on a hockey shirt and soccer shorts for his dance class!

Growing Up

2010-09-17T13:36:00.004-04:00

It looks like Maya is going to beat Sam in the race towards using the big swing first! Maya loves to think that she is big. The boots are just part of the act. She thinks she can do everything Sam does. Maya wanted no part of the baby swing at the park today, it was just the big swing for her. She even knew how to get herself moving which amazed me (of course, she barely moved, but I was still amazed).

Eating cookies is a passion for Maya and she loves to be outside. So what better way to spend the evening but on the front porch dipping my favorite cookies in milk with Maya! She loved them of course and we had a great time together. It was one of the first evenings that we were up with Maya without Sam (Sam had a 7 o'clock bed time due to his inability to handle all the activity of school, dance class, and a friend over). We are realizing how much we enjoy time with each child one on one. They are such unique and special individuals and we love to see them flourish when they are by themselves.

FInally Outside

2010-09-06T09:27:00.001-04:00

It has been a long hot summer in Atlanta. For the past month, we have all be itching to get outside but it has just been unbearable. The temperature finally broke this weekend and it has been amazing. The kids have wanted to go outside for the first time in a month of two (you know it is hot when your 19 month old says it is hot when she walks out the door).

Sam and Maya have had fun discovering or rediscovering their outdoor world. There should be no surprise that this means Maya has discovered sidewalk chalk and that Sam has reinstated his love for the baseball tee. Here are some pictures of our weekend outside:

The bicycling road crew is ready to go. Sam has been very interested in Daddy's long bike ride coming up. Maya is just discovering the joy of riding a bike. I cannot wait to take them on the Silver Comet trail in a few years!

Maya loves body art and that is no different with sidewalk chalk. She is either trying to "paint" her toe nails or just drawing on her feet. I am not quite sure.

Sam has finally found a friend his age to play baseball with him . Sam's friend Jon shares his love for baseball. They enjoyed playing together yesterday after the church potluck.

Sam's perch on the school playground. We love that smile!

Maya and Babies

2010-09-03T12:21:00.003-04:00

There are a few things that we know Maya likes: cookies, doggies (at least from a distance), Thomas Trains (she likes to be like her brother), drawing, and babies.

Her favorite books at the moment include any books that have babies in them, she loves to push her babies around in the stroller or the grocery cart, and she has started to care for her babies. This last part has been absolutely ridiculous. These are some pictures that I took of Maya trying to care for her baby. She brought diaper changing stuff over and asked to undress the baby. She then gave the baby her blanket and put her "night, night." It was quite a funny example of how she tries to care for her baby.

More Random Maya

2010-09-03T12:16:00.006-04:00

We wish we had a camera ready at all times with Maya because she does so many random funny things around the house. Here are just a few more examples of ways we find Maya:

Are you surprised that Maya loves cookies? We aren't either given that it is her favorite word after Mommy-Daddy (which is often said as one word).

Maya has started to show an affection for playing dress up. Here is one of her most recent attempts at getting clothes on herself.

Maya loves her grocery cart and her baby. Today she decided that she needed to push the cart while on her knees.

Our Sweet Little Maya

2010-08-30T13:41:00.003-04:00

Maya is such a happy girl! We are so grateful for her personality and how we get to see it develop over time. She is her momma's girl for sure as she walks around the house with a huge smile on her face most of the time. Here is Maya doing some of her favorite things:

Maya loves to help out in the kitchen with Mommy and Daddy. This usually involves her moving items from one bowl to another. Here she is moving cheese. Of course the amount of cheese she is moving decreases over time due to her eating most of it.

Maya loves ice cream. Not much more needs to be said.

Maya loves a good playground. Today, she went down the sliding board all by herself. This is something that took longer than I suspect given her care free attitude. She was so proud of herself after she did it. The next time she went up the stairs to the top of the slide, she laughed and giggled the whole way while saying: "Me, Me, look at me."

We feel like this picture tells Maya's story the best. She is just full of smiles.

Road Tripping With the Delps

2010-08-30T13:33:00.002-04:00

Living 12 hours from both sets of grandparents, with 2 kids 3 and under leaves us little choice but to make lots of road trips to Texas and Pennsylvania. These have become family events that we have looked forward to and have enjoyed over the past few years.

They are made a lot easier because we have the best traveling family ever! Yes, the rumor is true, we made it to Texas in less than 12 hours with only stopping one time to let the kids out of the car (compare that to 14+ hours for Grammy and Grandpa)! We even did the same thing on the way home. We did not use a DVD player and the words "we didn't have DVD players in our cars growing up" were uttered numerous times.

Before you go and call the authorities on us for inhumane treatment of our children, they rather enjoyed it. You would be amazed at how long a Dum Dum lollipop can keep a child occupied. Or in Sam's case, you'd be amazed at how looking at bridges and searching for alligators can keep him busy for hours. Maya got lost hundreds of times under her blanket, thankfully we found her every time.

I hope that our road trips to PA and Texas will remain family favorites for years to come (somehow I don't think they will enjoy them when they are teenagers, but one can hope). I know as they get older we will need to stop more, but for now I will enjoy seeing how fast we can make it!

Baseball

2010-08-30T13:22:00.006-04:00

Sam has a deep love for baseball. It has been long enough now, that I can't remember when this started, but I think it was this spring when he started seeing little boys playing baseball at the YMCA. Every Saturday morning in April and May we went to the YMCA for swim lessons with Sam's friend Oliver. After swim lessons, Oliver and Sam would go outside to play on the playground. It wasn't too long until we found Sam looking like this:

This lead to Sam wanting to play baseball almost every afternoon and talking almost every adult in the neighborhood into playing with him. We did our best to find him an appropriate tee that didn't break (don't buy baseball tees from Target, they are crummy). Most afternoons in April and May at our house looked something like this:

Finally, on Memorial Day weekend, Sam got to attend a real baseball game with his Mom Mom and Grandpa Ed. We knew this would be a big event in his life. After all, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard were going to be there, his two favorite players. He had been talking about it for weeks. We really didn't know how he would handle watching the game though (even the strongest supporters of baseball acknowledge that the game is kind of slow for kids). Well, Sam absolutely loved it, and he did not move from his seat for almost the entire game (including post game Beach Boys concert). Yep, he sat in his seat for almost 4 hours. Here are some pictures of his first game that he remembers:

Daddy's Helper

2010-08-29T20:18:00.004-04:00

Several weeks ago, I embarked on trying to fix our door bell. It had been broken a few days earlier and I figured it couldn't be that hard to fix. Sam was around and Maya was down for a nap, so I asked him to help. To make a long story short, I came to realize that Sam was old enough to actually be helpful with projects around the house. He handed me things while I was up on the ladder, and most importantly, he tested the door bell outside while I stayed inside to see what the door bell was doing.

Tonight, Sam and I got a little more ambitious. In an effort to save some money, we installed ceiling fans in our bedroom. Sam was super excited to be daddy's helper. We had a great time together and Sam was very patient, even more patient that daddy. Sam doesn't often hear his Dad cuss (yes, skeptics out there, I don't cuss that much), but he caught a few today. Maybe the seeds of Sam's cussing were planted today, who knows.

What I do know, is that I really enjoyed doing a project with Sam. He was again quite helpful and he really enjoyed just playing with daddy's tools. It was fun to see him be so proud of our work after it was finished. I hope that this is the start of many more projects to come. Our next project: Christmas lights!!!!

Our Silly Maya

2010-08-29T20:11:00.002-04:00

Maya has a pretty silly personality. She often wonders around the house trying to find ways of being silly and is very proud of herself when she finds a way of doing it. 9 times out of 10, her silliness comes out with her wearing her boots around the house in some form or fashion. Occasionally, it involves other accessories as well, such as various kinds of hats.

Here are some pictures of ways that we routinely find Maya walking around the house:

Show and Tell

2010-08-29T20:01:00.002-04:00

We all remember show and tell from our elementary school days. However, we probably do not all remember how important it was in our lives at the time. Sam's 3 year old class at school is doing show and tell this year and each week they need to bring something that starts with a certain letter. This week was A.

We had talked about it with Sam before Thursday and asked him what he wanted take: airplane, Annie (Thomas' coach), alligator, or apple. His choice was an alligator that Grandpa got him at Cabela's in PA. Thursday morning when it was time to go to school, Sam remembered his alligator without our prompting. It was clearly going to be the highlight of the day.

After school, Sam shared that he got to stand in the middle of the class and talk about his alligator: where they live, who gave it to him, that they have no noses, etc... He was very proud of his alligator and he could rattle off what everyone else in the class brought as well.

We look forward to a whole year of this! Although next week could be tough with the letter B being the letter of choice. Will Sam choose: a Baseball, a bat, a favorite Book, or a belt buckle from Grandpa. Leave a comment and give us your guess!

Sam's alligator:

Evening of Baseball

2010-08-26T22:04:00.000-04:00

Last night we enjoyed a fun evening on the baseball field with the Slade's. Sam's love for baseball comes only second to his trains, so he had a ball running the bases over and over again. Maya was a little more interested in just playing in the dirt, but she gave it a shot.

Catching Up

2010-08-23T13:10:00.002-04:00

There has been a lag in blog posts here since May. A huge part of that is because our life as a family has been teetering on crazy for well over 2 years now. That all kind of hit a head this summer and we were just trying to keep up with life.

We have made some decisions about our life as a family that have taken place this August. I have decided to leave Mission Year and work part time with FCS Community Economic Development. This allows me to stay home 2-3 days a week with Sam and Maya. It also means that one of us will not always be working which has seemed to be the case over the last two years. We are hoping that this will free us up to enjoy our family a lot more instead of just passing each other by so much of the time.

One by product of this switch is some added time for me at home to keep up the blog and other things that will help us remember our time with our kids. I will be trying to piece together our summer over the next few weeks.

It was a wonderful summer for us, even though it was quite hectic at times. We were blessed with two additions to our household and were so thankful they were here. Caty and Meroe brought a lot of joy, happiness, and laughter to our house this summer. The volunteered with our church summer camp and lived with us. We also got a chance to spend some time at the beach, in Texas, with Shawn and Shelva, and Mom Mom and Grandpa Ed this summer. It was great to have so much family time in such a short amount of time. We watched Maya transition from a walking baby into a toddler from June-August. It has been a remarkable transition that is a joy to watch happen right in front of our eyes.

We hope to have picture highlights up from the summer sometime soon!

Reading Time

2010-08-23T11:37:00.003-04:00

Sam and Maya love to read (a trait inherited by their mother. I routinely am unable to recall any books that I read as a child). It has been really fun to see them enjoy books so much.

Maya's favorite book at the moment is a book called "I'm a Big Brother." Sam got it when he found out that he was going to be a big brother. Maya loves it because it is all about babies and she loves to point out the Mommy, Daddy, baby, "Sam", and Grammy and Grandpa on each page. Her other recent favorites have included: I know Rhino, a Thomas Book (another book bought for Sam), and Who's Driving.

Sam has multiple favorite books at the moment, it is hard to pick out one. He generally enjoys books that are fairly silly, such as the Stinky Cheese Man and An Alligator Under my Bed. He also enjoys a good dose of Curious George.

What Sam and Maya both love to do is act out books. We routinely find Sam or Maya with Lego blocks on their head shouting: "Caps for Sale, Caps for Sale, $.50 a cap." Or we find Maya turning off the lights in the living room, having everyone go to sleep, and then waking up when she turns the lights back on. Sam joins in by quoting the lines from Go Dog Go of: "Now it is day, now is the time to play."

There have been a few books that Sam claims to be able to "read." They included Mr. Brown can Moo and I Know a Rhino. We have read them to him so much that he can literally recite the entire book. Of course, this is also a trait he received from his mother because, as the story goes, she claimed to be able to read when she went to school even though she couldn't, she just had them memorized.

Here are some pictures of a recent story time in our room:

Together

2010-08-20T13:12:00.004-04:00

Sam and Maya have quite the fond relationship most of the time. We love hearing the excitement in Maya's voice when she says "Sa" (her version of Sam) when he comes down in the morning (Maya is the earlier riser usually). Sam does his best to include Maya in conversations and often asks her questions such as, "What is your favorite color?" or "What do you want to eat MaYAA" (his inflection).

But siblings wouldn't be siblings without torture and oh man, can they torture one another. It is quite amazing to watch how ingrained it is in them from such an early age. Sam will just stand on Maya's blanket just to get a reaction of our her or Maya will just walk up to Sam's trains and throw them half way across the room to watch Sam melt down like no ones business.

Today I was able to capture each of their favorite tactics in physically torturing the other one. First Maya's favorite move:

The old head sit by Maya is by far her favorite. She even enjoys doing this one to daddy as well. It is not often that she is able to get Sam in this position, it usually involves Sam letting her, but when it happens, oh is she happy.

Sam's favorite move:

Sam has enjoyed the "wollybooger" from a very young age. He could spend hours doing these to Mommy and Daddy. He no longer has the need to do them to us, because he has his sister to torment with them. Of course, they are the funniest when Maya is running around the house holding her shirt up trying to avoid one of his "attacks."

Hots Dogs and Trains

2010-08-20T13:01:00.003-04:00

Two Summers ago, I took Sam somewhere new every Friday on the train. It was a meaningful exercise for me to do with Sam. Because of time constraints of my job (s) and the challenge of taking two on MARTA, I have not rekindled that tradition until today. Sam, Maya, and I went to the kid'suem (as Sam calls it) or the Children's Museum to most.

Sam and Maya first went the Kid's Museum with Mom Mom and Grandpa Ed back in May and Sam feel in love with it. They have some ball contraption that Sam can play with for hours, literally. It is really fun to watch Sam be so confident and play so well without us. It has been one of the first places that we truly aren't needed. Maya on the other hand, well, we'll save that story for later.

After the museum, we were going to go to Chick-Fil-A for lunch. But a combination of a large gas leak downtown and a siting of a street hot dog vendor made us change our minds. I love a good street vendor. It is one of the things that I love about a city, just walk up to a street corner and get yourself a nice, cheap, and probably a little dirty hot dog. In ten years, this is my first hot dog from a street vendor in Atlanta. So really the pictures should be of me probably and not the kids, but they are cuter and they can't take pictures yet. So here they are eating on the train:

First Day Of School

2010-08-20T08:13:00.002-04:00

Well, after a 3.5 month absence, we finally decided to post something here. What better way to start it off than back to school pics!

This is Maya's first year at school. We sent her to a few weeks of summer camp at her school, but this week marked the official first day. We weren't quite sure which side of her would come out: the person that loves people and enjoys being social or the girl that loves her daddy and mommy so much that she can't stand to be without them. Thankfully for everyone involved, she loved her first day of school and was even the prized art student of the day (something that made Mommy immensely proud).

Here are some pictures of Sam and Maya on their way to school:

This is Sam's 3rd year at Ormewood. We realized that it is the same amount of time from him starting there until when he will be going to a big school. That is really crazy to think about. This year is somewhat different for Sam. He will be going on Tuesday/Thursdays which means that he will be going with different friends than the last two years. Thankfully, one of his best buddies Zachery is going to school this year and is in his class. That made the transition for him much better. Here is the eager student on the first day (and yes, Maya would not pose for a individual shot):

More Sports

2010-05-07T16:09:00.002-04:00

Here are two more of the sports that Sam loves to play. In the basketball video, it looks like Maya is trying to play defense against Sam. In the golf video, the "hole" is the entire rug.

Golf

Basketball

Urban Exploring

2010-05-04T16:07:00.005-04:00

The world is beginning to open up to Sam. His understanding and curiosity are growing by leaps and bounds. Lately, Sam has been obsessed with Lady Bugs. Every walk that we take through the neighborhood turns into a lady bug hunt. He classifies lady bugs by their color - red or orange. All lady bugs fall into one of those two categories. This is the scene that we typically see when we turn around to see where Sam is on our walks:

Many of our walks lately have been to the community garden around the corner of our house. Sam doesn't like to eat too many vegetables, but I am holding out hope that the process of watching them grow and eating them from our garden will make it more exciting (I know, I am probably just kidding myself). Sam loves to walk to the garden and help mommy weed or daddy water. He is also great at pointed out the lady bugs, or in the case of yesterday, finding mud filled puddles to jump in with his boots. Here is our garden plot very early on in the season:

Sports

2010-05-04T15:59:00.002-04:00

Those of you that know me, know that I am a huge sports fan. It pretty much goes with the territory of being from Philly. You don't have too many options if you don't want to tune out over half of what people talk about in Philly.

Anyway, for most of his life, Sam has not been that into sports (other than what I pushed on him at what Katie would consider too early of an age). However, in the past few weeks Sam has really taken to playing almost any sport. It has been really fun to interact with him in a much different way than what I have been used to. I still don't plan to push sports on him too much, but I am enjoying the fact that he likes to play. If you ask Sam what he wants to do when he is 4, he will tell you that he wants to play baseball at the YMCA! I can't wait for that!

Here are some videos of Sam playing a few sports in the living room. Enjoy!

Soccer

Hockey

Baseball (sorry for the sideways angle. I'll take another one and replace it)

Sam's 3rd Birthday Party

2010-04-16T13:21:00.003-04:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

We had a fabulous 3rd birthday party for Sam. We got all of his friends together from church and school and took the train to the CNN Center for lunch. After lunch we went to Centennial Park to the playground.

One would have thought getting eight to ten 2-3 year olds onto the train orderly and without losing anyone would have been challenging, but the kids were so enthralled with the train ride that they were gems.

The CNN Center was a bit overwhelming for the kids we think. Not that 2-3 year olds sit around and chat it up during lunch anyway, but the volleyball tournament next door made it a little more crowded than we anticipated and so we quickly moved outdoors to the park.

A grand time was had by all. And at the end of the day, Sam kept saying, "next I will be 4, then I will be 5, what comes after 5?"

Easter

2010-04-16T12:13:00.003-04:00

The whole easter weekend this year was quite the whirlwind affair with Sam's Birthday party, a church potluck/easter egg hunt, Grammy and Grandpa visiting, and getting ready for a week in PA. In the midst of all of that, we had some time to enjoy having an easter egg hunt and getting a little dressed up (for the Delps).

It did not take Maya long to figure out the concept of an easter egg hunt. I helped her find her first egg and she just took off after that. She was completely into it and I imagine was wanting to keep up with her big brother.

We had our easter service at church outside again this year, so our dress may not seem entirely appropriate (note the Phillies hat) but it was for us on that day. One day we will get a picture of the four of us when everyone is looking at the camera and smiling.

Pigtails

2010-04-16T11:25:00.002-04:00

I am just getting this post started and will let Katie finish it up because she enjoyed this process the most of the three of us. But I will say that Maya looks ridiculously cute in her pigtails. I can't say that I am bursting with confidence in being a dad to a little girl, but I am excited to learn and see how wonderful it can be. Maya has been a such a joy to have around and it is wonderful to see her continuously discover her world. Putting her hair in pigtails this past week is just another symbol of our little girl getting bigger.

Cousins

2010-04-16T10:58:00.006-04:00

Over spring break, we were able to travel to Pennsylvania and visit family. The 4 cousins had a wonderful time together for the most part, especially when we were outside. They loved this playground at a park nearby Mom Mom's house. We are excited for them to be able to grow up and get to know each other. I am thankful for Sam and Maya having wonderful family in their lives.

It was a great time, even though we had quite the scare there. Sam, who is notoriously timid on playgrounds, especially climbing elements, decided to climb up a part of the playground that we were kind of shocked he was willing to do. We watched him do it several times over, probably 20-25 times and he loved doing it. After Sam took a little break from climbing it, I went to sit down and talked with my brother Shawn and was no longer there to spot him as he climbed the next time. He made it all the way to the top of the ladder, about 5 ft, and then slipped and fell to the floor of the playground. It is quite terrifying to see your son falling sprawled out to the ground. Thankfully, everything was OK and the biggest injury was just some scraps on his face.

We have always been thankful for our two precious children, but moments like that make you all the more thankful. We love Sam and Maya so much and are thankful to God for putting them in our lives.

Bird's Nest

2010-04-16T10:53:00.003-04:00

A couple of birds have decided to make a corner of our porch their home for their nest. It has been a really neat process to watch them bring twigs and sticks to the nest. Sam has been very intrigued by the whole process and has started to want to build his own nests (since he is getting bigger and can do things all by himself, which he tells us all the time). Here is his version of a birds nest:

I love my son and think he is brilliant like any parent should, but this is a moment where I think God has a sense of humor. How amazing that birds can create such wonderful creations that actually work! Maybe one day Sam's will get there. Not a bad start, perhaps the first step next time will be to not use a plastic golf club to gather his materials.