Linking arms with Chatham Financial

 God has truly gifted Dave. I am not only thankful for my brilliant husband, I am also thankful that God led us into working with Bridges. It is really the perfect fit for Dave. This current job, reaching out to international students (mostly Chinese), has brought out his skill set in such a beautiful way. Dave is the only full-time staff working on Penn & Drexel, yet because he is naturally gifted in resourcing and connecting people, he has a team of dozens.
Dave connected with the University City Chinese Church and a CEO out in Kennet Square, Michael Bontrager, to share how Michael's faith impacts how he runs his company.

 Over 50 students showed up and none left unimpressed with Michael's presentation. He shared how his company's values, which come from the Bible, prove to push the company forward in positive ways. I talked to one girl that is a grad student at Drexel over lunch. She said she had never heard of a company mixing their faith and work together. She really enjoyed Michael's perspective.

Harold, David, Lin, Zoe & Dave

Longwood Gardens

 After Chatham Financial everyone headed over to Longwood Gardens. For many of the students it was their first time. They were amazing at the breathtaking bulbs that bloomed and the incredibly grounds.
Our kids were so exhausted that we had to break off rather quickly. After some orange juice and pizza they were charged up and running around. They really enjoyed the children's garden.

Pictured below is Lilia and Zoe. Zoe is from China and she came to America as a Christian. She is a Drexel undergrad student studying chemical engineering. Zoe loves the kids, especially Lilia. They held hands most of the day. Stuff like that puts a smile on my face!

Longwood portraits

Companion plants to tomatoes & peppers

   One of the easiest vegetables to grow in your garden or even a planter on your front steps are tomatoes. They love full sun and an even amount of water. Water often and deeply, soaking the soil six to eight inches deep at least twice a week. Tomatoes do not respond well to letting the soil dry out between waterings. A layer of mulch (straw, plastic, grass ) will help conserve soil moisture during the hot, dry days of July and August. (from tomatogardeningguru.com)
   This summer you can enjoy ripe juicy tomatoes on salads, burgers and sandwiches. Here are some plants which will help to produce great a great crop:

• Basil, chives, and nodding onion help repel a number of pests like aphids and whitefly.
• The flowers of basil and thyme attract pollinators, which tomato flowers need for fertilization and fruit set.
• Chives, bee balm and basil improve the health and flavor of tomatoes.
• Marigolds are the companion plant workhorse, repelling nematodes, tomato worm and slugs.
• Parsley attracts hoverflies, which fond the common tomato pests to be quite tasty.

Here is a great recipe using fresh tomatoes from your garden. It's called Tortellini Salad and it's the perfect side dish to bring to any summer party. It can be served cold, but it's better at room temperature.

When life gives you lemons...

When life gives you lemons make lemonade.
That's how the phrase goes right?
Instead of making lemonade (that's for optimists), I make a sour face. And that's what I've been doing for over a week now.
Two weekends ago Lilia woke up with pink eye. Who ever created pink eye is so incredibly evil! That stuff is awful.
I'm already borderline OCD about germs and so this just pushed me over the edge. I was terrified of any of us getting it. The drops were a pain because Lilia would squeeze her eye so shut I had to PRY it open just to maybe get the drops in.
Dave threw up and was in bed all day Monday, the 15, the day before his birthday.
Tuesday Lilia threw up once and was fine the rest of the day.
Thursday Alex woke up with pink eye. So of course I used the same drops. I wasn't going to waste $25 and an hour of my time for some doc to tell me what I already knew.
Lilia got pink eye again on Friday.
Have I mentioned that I have ZERO compassion. I don't do well with sick people.
I would make the world's worst nurse.
The patient rings for the nurse. I come in, "What? What is it now? Why do you need me again?!"
I'm not that mean to the kids, just Dave. It's laughable in our marriage - I promise.
So to all those lemons that were thrown at us, we didn't drink a single drop of lemonade. I just threw the lemons and made sour faces at them. I don't do well with sickness.
There. Now you know the real Katie. I'm exposing my sinful heart; the ugly darkness.
I think I just needed to get that all out. Ok, now I feel a bit better.
Oh and Dave woke up with viral pink eye on Monday. After that I stopped caring about getting it or passing it. It's totally out of my control. Hey, does that comment taste a tiny bit like lemonade? I'd better ask an optimist.

Penn's Bio Pond

 We were all excited for Saturday morning. The new children's zoo opened up at the Philadelphia Zoo and it's amazing. We had 9:30 reservations to view it, however Lilia woke up at 6:45am with pink eye. After talking with a nurse, eye drops would be available soon, but it still wasn't a good idea to go. Instead we settled for Penn's Bio Pond on campus.
There were tons of coy fish, which my kids fed their goldfish snack to. There were also lots of turtles and blooming spring flowers. We had a good time and it was beautiful, but we were all a little disappointed to have missed out on the zoo.

Birds of a Feather

 Dave spotted this cardinal and I was able to sneak up and get some good shots. There was even a 2nd bird (in the photo below) that I didn't see before. I was so focused on the bright red cardinal.
There are no birds in the bottom picture. I just loved how the yellow flowering bushes were so full and lush and then there was this think straight tree right in the middle.

Spring Flowers

Weekend excursions

 Getting out on the weekend is a high priority for us. The weather has been finally getting nice and we are taking advantage of it! Two weeks ago we packed up the kids bikes and explored along the Wissahicken.
The kids are such a fun age where we can go out for hours, pack a lunch and not worry about naps. They biked for quite a while, threw rocks into the river and explored some of the trails.

Last weekend we went to Ridley Creek. I love living in the city, but time spent in nature is crucial for me. We headed out for a long hike in the woods. It's amazing how well kids do on a hiking trail. Lilia never complained about being tired and Alex hiked most of it on his own.
We hope to spend the summer taking classes in Colorado through CRU. I motivate the kids by telling them we are training for hiking in Colorado.

Easter