The Bell Family

New Blog

Courtney — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 10:00:03 +0000

Hello friends! We want to invite you all to view our new blog–Parenting with Bells On. We aren’t getting rid of this blog, but it will now primarily be used for family updates.

Letting My Inner Geek Out

Bill — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 02:00:22 +0000

This had nothing to do with anything. I just came across both of these within a few weeks of each other and they each made me giggle. Cuz I’m a geek.

There. I said it.

I hope you get it. Court didn’t. I had to show her the clip at the bottom of this post. She didn’t think it was funny.

She’s not a geek.

But at least she stills loves me…

Merry Christmas, y’all!

And in case you’re one of those non-geeks who didn’t get either one of those jokes:

Halloween 2011

Courtney — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:05:01 +0000

Had a great time again this year. Three little princesses (OK, four, but the youngest didn’t wear a costume) and a transformer–Optimus Prime to be exact. Love this night.

Kidisms

Courtney — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 10:58:59 +0000

Yes, yes, I know it’s been forever since we posted. We’ll get back into it eventually, right?!

Liam trying out a new phrase:

That cracks my head off! (combination of “That cracks me up” and “I laughed my head off.”)

Sorry for the mental image in this one. Said when Esther sneezed without covering her mouth:

Ariana: Your ‘bless you’ hit me!

Trying to get dressed one morning:

Ariana: My shirt is outside in.

Guilty conscience at work:

Ariana: (crying and running to Bill and me)

Liam: (close at her heals and wide-eyed) I didn’t do anything!!!

Ariana: (looking at Liam, confused) I know. I hit my leg on the bunk bed.

Referring to our friend who is folickly-challenged (by the way, our friend is not a horse–simply has an unfortunate name):

Liam: Some babies are born with hair, but most come out looking like Mr. Ed.

Bill attempting to get Essie to tell him about watching Blue’s Clues:

Bill: Did you watch Yellow’s Hints?

Esther: (huge grin) No!

Bill: Did you watch Purple’s Mysteries?

Esther: (huge grin) No!

Bill: Well what did you watch?

Esther: (smile quickly disappears replaced by look of absolute confusion–imagine drool here)

Bill: (laughing heartily) Did you watch Blue’s Shoes?

Esther: (huge grin) No!

Bill: Did you watch Blue’s News?

Esther: (huge grin) No! We watched a movie about Blue!

Introducing Victoria Grace

Bill — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 19:17:04 +0000

Well, if you didn’t already know, little Victoria Grace Bell was born last night at 9:52 p.m. She weighed in at 6 lbs 10 oz and was 20 inches long. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

(More photos are available over at Court’s and my Facebook pages)

My Wife Cracks Me Up, Part 2

Bill — Tue, 31 May 2011 21:45:15 +0000

Court: “I’m looking forward to teaching the kids history, especially since there’s so much I don’t know. For instance, I don’t know anything about our presidents, like Winston Churchill.”

What Is the Church?

Courtney — Fri, 27 May 2011 18:11:08 +0000

Bill wrote a children’s book a little while back with sweet friend of ours. It’s now available for purchase through Amazon. I love him.

Kidisms

Courtney — Thu, 26 May 2011 20:05:16 +0000

On food:

Liam: Crackers are scrumptious because they’re so cracky.

In discussing the possibility of Victoria being born on Liam’s birthday:

Me: Do you want Victoria to share a birthday with you?

Liam: No. I’ve been thinking about this. If two people in the same house have the same birthday at the same time, then one will have to go to a different house with their mom or dad so they can have a birthday.

Ariana is the queen of giving “Sunday School answers (God! Jesus!)” to almost all of Bill’s questions over dinner.

Bill: How was sin different in Noah’s day than today? (real answer is there was no difference)

Ariana: I don’t know. Jesus!

To show the pattern of this, over dinner one night the real answer was “God.” We realized then how closely Miriam listens to her big sister.

Bill: Who created all things?

Ariana: God!

Miriam (immediately following): Jesus!

I always love my kids understanding of relationships.

Ariana: When Liam gets big, he’ll have to marry a different mommy who doesn’t have a husband.

Telling Daddy about his zoo trip:

Liam: We saw the polar bears, and there was a man who was feeding them fish. We’ll call him The Man Who Feeds Fish to Polar Bears.

While at the park:

Ariana: Look at the gooses!

(Bill and I chuckle at the cuteness of her statement)

Ariana (trying to justify her term): That’s what I call a group of gooses.

New Family Pictures

Courtney — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 18:40:51 +0000

We had our pictures done a couple of weeks ago by Ginny Hobbs. She did a beautiful job capturing the playfulness of our family. You can view the pictures by going here. Click on “Portfolio” and then “Bell Family.”

Carrie Q.

Courtney — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 10:00:11 +0000

I love her. A bunch. To finish my short series on friendships, I want to honor one of the best I have.

I have known Carrie for almost four years now. I was in community group with her during almost all of my CG adventures during Sojourn. We have been in accountability together for a year and a half. She has three girls, too, and her oldest, Noelle, is the same age as my oldest, Liam. Noelle has announced that if Liam buys her a butterfly ring, she will marry him (of course she said she would marry a different little boy we know if he bought her a diamond ring). Carrie and I have also lived 1/2 mile from each other for 3 1/2 years now.

I can laugh hard when I’m with her. I mean really, really hard. We can sing Amy Grant, Sandy Patty, and Backyardigan songs together. We swap funny kid stories. We love drama, not the real-life kind but the kind on a stage with spotlights. The bigger the crowd, the more we can ham it up. We are both lovers of choir and men who play guitar (O.K. each of us only loves one man who plays guitar, and it’s not the same man).

Those are bonuses of what I get by having Carrie in my life. The real reason I love Carrie is she can sharpen me and point me to Christ better than almost anyone I know. This woman is full of wisdom and grace. She is sinful like everyone else but is quick to confess that sin and seek repentance. She takes my legalistic tendancies and points me nowhere but the cross and the forgiveness I have already received, encouraging me to rest in His strength and wisdom, not my own. I have called her to get her input on how to deal with touchy situations with others more than once because I know she is careful with her speech and her words are full of scripture. This is the kind of friend every believer should pray for, and I am grateful to God for giving me so much goodness through Carrie.