Merry January!

Merry Christmas from the Cranneys!

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It's getting late enough, I should probably just save these pictures for next year's Christmas e-mail, but I might as well get as many updates out before the kiddos (or Stephen) no longer humor me in photo shoots, though admittedly the dead of winter with no coats on was their idea.

We started out 2015 in West Philly attempting to survive a bitter cold winter. We took advantage of cheap plane tickets to Texas to visit three siblings and their families.  As we wandered Baylor campus while visiting my sister, we had no idea we would be back in a few months to make it home for two years.  In April just as we were preparing to spend another year in Philadelphia, Stephen was asked to apply for a a post-doc at the Institute of the Study of Religion at Baylor.   Upon acceptance we finally visited  Philly historical sites and made a dash down to DC hoping the kids were old enough to remember the sites since we guessed it would be a while before we returned.  Stephen graduated with his PhD from UPenn  in Demography and Sociology in May.  We said good-bye to our home of four years and sweet friends and drove our kids and whatever we could cram in the back of our newly acquired van, deep into the heart of Texas.

Disappointed that we couldn't find a half day Kindergarten, or a class that had more than 15 minutes of recess, we decided to homeschool Christian (6) for a year.  While I'm prone to second guess every decision, I'm glad for this extra year to blur the lines between learning and home. Our field trips have included kayaking, rock climbing, a humanitarian farm, camel riding, and even a Mommy-Christian visit to Arizona.   Christian is eager to study the US intervention in the Opium Wars, but  a little less inclined to draw his "s" the right direction.

Simeon (4) can draw and play for hours by himself and other times requires a good 30 minutes of snuggling/smothering. He has enjoyed his coming of age to have his own homeschool time and watches with interest Christian's lessons in math--though he'd prefer I put on Netflix.His prayers occasionally include an asking to do whatever he wants and to eat unhealthy food. He loves Star Wars, Pizza, the color red,  and attempting to sneak out our apartment so he can run laps around our apartment complex.  He thrives off of positive one on one attention which is a little hard to give in our chaotic home, but remains our tenderhearted boy all the same---scowls notwithstanding.

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Talking has made Joshua's (2) begging with his puppy-dog eyes all the more irresistible and as the youngest he is perhaps babied more than he should be. He's growing tall and is eager to take his place with his brothers in all sorts of shenanigans.  Kites, as seen below, are of utmost interest and our Sunday worship usually includes drawing countless to keep him halfway quiet and entertained

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Stephen is loving the freedom of his post-doc to research all his scattered interests.  Publishing papers on various topics in different fields, he's dreading having to reign in his academic ADHD and focus as he approaches the job market this coming fall. He's been taking advantage of Baylor's rock climbing wall, mountain biking paths, and even got his sailing certificate. I've enjoyed being home with the boys and watching the boys come into their own and have my own firsts in mountain biking, snowshoeing, and kayaking.  The Texas weather agrees with my reptilian-like love of warmth, but the call of family festivities called us to a temporary visit to the cold for a wonderful Christmas.  

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a delightful 2016. 

All our love and best wishes!

Rachel, Stephen, Christian, Simeon and Joshua Lev

Update

I just realized that I should probably update the blog since my last post announcing a pregnancy.  It turns out I miscarried last week on Thanksgiving at 10 weeks.  It is a disappointment, but we're good.  I know the way I react to this kind of stuff since I've had scares with all of my kids and had a miscarriage six months ago and wouldn't post news on the internet if I felt awkward talking about it.  (I'm actually morally opposed to the tradition of waiting till everything is "safe" to tell people when one is pregnant for several reasons, but that's a whole other topic for another day).

It might make some readers (if I still have any of this neglected blog) uncomfortable to read, but my last miscarriage is a treasured experience.  I ended up hemorrhaging during what was suppose to be pie time at Thanksgiving dinner at my sister's house.  It was kind of scary and I was so grateful for Mary taking me to the ER and staying with me so that Stephen could take the boys home and put them to bed (also for Jared who so willing sent Mary off even if that meant putting their still nursing baby to bed without her mother).  Maybe it's because I had just read this article, or because I was with my powerhouse sister, or the spirit of Thanksgiving, or perhaps because I realized that exactly 31 years before I was in the hospital, my mother was in labor with me but something made my heart reach out to the women before me.  For the women who have made my existence possible facing pain and danger that is almost non-existent in our medically advanced society.  I'm so humbled to be apart of the noble sisterhood of womanhood.

Also on updates, I have a child who is six!!!  Christian was thrown two parties one a surprise Harry Potter one by the Colletts and another Star Wars  by his Oma who was visiting  not far away the same week.  We also had a visit from my parents the week before which was delightful and gave us a chance to relax. I am so proud of Christian, he is a loyal friend, honest and upright--and yet has compassion.  I've loved teaching him to read and watching him imagine and explore as we've done homeschool.  I've love seeing him bond with his brothers.

Thanksgiving with the Colletts (aka gourmet chefs!)

The hospital kindly gave me some disposable pants:

Homeschool co-op visit to the camel farm:

Too sick and ill prepared with Stephen at a conference to do a homemade special birthday breakfast:

The big sister taking care of the little sister

More co-op pics

The kids couldn't get enough of the wide open spaces---I'm starting to feel desperate to get settled though that may be years away. 

Some pictures taken by my amazingly talented sister-in-law Becca of New Brunsfels and an Oma visit:

Deep in the Heart of Texas

We're finally settled here in good ole Waco and are discovering the charms of Texas.  As much as we loved the people and our lives in Philly---it is incredibly easier here.  Whether it's a transition out of Stephen being a PhD candidate, owning a vehicle, living closer to family, easier callings, older kids,  or perhaps the luxury of a garbage disposal; Stephen and I just couldn't stand the manageability of our lives any longer. That's right, Stephen and I have resorted to our faithful source of chaos, adventure, and endless entertainment--a baby.  I'm still early on and not due until June, but I have long discovered that women react in two different ways to good news.  Some are like Mary the mother of Jesus and hold these things in the heart, and some are like Mary Magdalene and tell everyone they meet. I'm pretty sure I couldn't be anything but the latter if I tried.   Yesterday we celebrated our 7th Anniversary.

If I'm a little fatter than normal, it's simply because we found out that Baylor has it's own Cannon Center of sorts, or student dining. Apparently staff and their families get a discount so it's $3.50 for an adult and children under seven are free.  While this may not be much of a deal for most families, being able to feed our family of five for $7 a meal is amazing!  Yes, we are going to have to help our kids with impulse control since pizza and desserts are there every day, but . . . this is seriously amazing.

Homeschooling

We tried school for a bit, but in the end, it was getting in the way of us having some great adventures.  Living close to Baylor we have access to kayaking in wetlands, beach, slackline, massive rock wall with child harnesses, swimming pools, zoo, and a children's museum.  So we've decided to stall on the public school for a year and plunge into homeschool.  All day school was just too much for me and for my curious little guy, he was obedient and well behaved, but it didn't light the flame we hoped it would.  He needs his quiet imaginative play. I could go on and on, but I won't bore you.  We're still experimenting, but I honestly think I'm a better mom when I have a challenge and feeling the responsibility of Christian's educational exploration is thrilling.  

Okay, Simeon is obsessed with Star Wars--yikes.  Christian is too.  It has something to do with their heathen Collett cousins introducing them to the dark side.  (Oh it's fun to call Colletts heathens).  Anyway, if you are planning on talking to Simeon in the near (and perhaps far) future, know that lightsabers and "Tar Boars" will come up.  

Joshua is talking more and more and is always begging us to read to him.  He begs me too hold him and then points to himself and says "mommy's baby".  I says "yes" and he smiles, reassured that there is no usurper in the works. That said, I see him growing older and choosing to join his brothers more and more. It seems our favorite family game is to ask Joshua a leading yes or no question and have him agree with us.  Joshua does a great job of entertaining with his responses.