Abby with her beloved little Book and a fish bath toy.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Love Letter
"Dad, I love you because you are fun and I will always love you with all my heart. Dear Lily"
I helped her spell "always."
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Eighteen Months and Counting
Abigail had her 18 month wellcheck last week. Faithful to her genes, she was 40th percentile for height, 75th percentile for weight, and 90th percentile for head circumference.
Abby seems to learn something new every day. She has no problem communicating with her little vocabulary. Her favorite words are "uh-oh," "dis" (this), and "me, me, me!" She loves to point out every bus and she especially loves to greet her beloved Daddy.
She loves books, and will bring you book after book from the bookshelf so you can read to her. She has a little green Gideon New Testament she carries with her almost everywhere.
She likes to draw, and will often color/draw for a good 30-45 minutes while I do school with William. I would prefer she napped (We are all so much happier when she does!), but I'm grateful she lasts that long at the kitchen table.
Abby is a typical third-born child in the way she is always wanting to do what the big kids do. She is very independent and wants to walk and do things herself. She follows the older two around and especially copies Lily (who has learned to take it as a compliment, PTL). Abby has shown quite a bit of interest in the potty, but after one day of trying to do both potty training and school, I've decided to put that off till a holiday break.
Abby continues to have a special soft spot for Bingley, and I often have to remind her that her food is for her and not for the doggie. She seems to enjoy the outdoors and is not afraid to try new things. She's a bundle of love with a lot of potential, and I'm looking forward to seeing the woman she becomes.
Abby seems to learn something new every day. She has no problem communicating with her little vocabulary. Her favorite words are "uh-oh," "dis" (this), and "me, me, me!" She loves to point out every bus and she especially loves to greet her beloved Daddy.
She loves books, and will bring you book after book from the bookshelf so you can read to her. She has a little green Gideon New Testament she carries with her almost everywhere.
She likes to draw, and will often color/draw for a good 30-45 minutes while I do school with William. I would prefer she napped (We are all so much happier when she does!), but I'm grateful she lasts that long at the kitchen table.
Abby is a typical third-born child in the way she is always wanting to do what the big kids do. She is very independent and wants to walk and do things herself. She follows the older two around and especially copies Lily (who has learned to take it as a compliment, PTL). Abby has shown quite a bit of interest in the potty, but after one day of trying to do both potty training and school, I've decided to put that off till a holiday break.
Abby continues to have a special soft spot for Bingley, and I often have to remind her that her food is for her and not for the doggie. She seems to enjoy the outdoors and is not afraid to try new things. She's a bundle of love with a lot of potential, and I'm looking forward to seeing the woman she becomes.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Bye, Bye Blankie
Sometime this summer, Lily's "purple" blankie got chewed down to a little shred. We safety pinned the shred to the backup "white" blankie. Eventually, Lily got annoyed by the pin and took it off and just had the white blankie. Then one day, about 3 weeks ago now, she lost the white blankie in Wal-Mart. We didn't realize it till we reached the van. We retraced our steps and asked every employee and left a note at customer service.
Ever since then, Lily has jumped when the phone rang, "Mom, that might be my white blankie." The first few times we went back to Wal-Mart (we go there a lot!), she looked under every shelf and display. We've checked back at customer service a couple more times.
So today we were at Wal-Mart again, and Lily started talking about her blankie, wondering where it could be. I tried to gently break the news to her. "Honey, it might be gone." I wondered what the people around us thought as I tried to explain to Lily how it could possibly have happened that her precious blankie could have been confused with a rag or something else that would have gotten thrown away. We checked at customer service one more time; no blankie. Lily started to cry.
At that point we were waiting in the checkout, so I could give her a long hug. I have to say I was sad too for her sake. It was her most precious possession. Amazingly, she didn't have a total meltdown. She really has grown so much.
I was so touched, then, when we got home and I noticed an old, stiff piece of the purple blankie under some things on the kitchen counter. (which tells you something about the condition of my counters!) I showed it to Lily. She got excited for a minute. Then she tried to snuggle with it, and it was not snuggly, and she tried to chew it for a minute, and it must have lost its flavor, because then she handed it back to me and said she didn't want it anymore. "That's fine, honey, I'll put it in your baby book," I said.
Wasn't that so sweet of God to give my daughter closure like that?? He watches every sparrow...
Ever since then, Lily has jumped when the phone rang, "Mom, that might be my white blankie." The first few times we went back to Wal-Mart (we go there a lot!), she looked under every shelf and display. We've checked back at customer service a couple more times.
So today we were at Wal-Mart again, and Lily started talking about her blankie, wondering where it could be. I tried to gently break the news to her. "Honey, it might be gone." I wondered what the people around us thought as I tried to explain to Lily how it could possibly have happened that her precious blankie could have been confused with a rag or something else that would have gotten thrown away. We checked at customer service one more time; no blankie. Lily started to cry.
At that point we were waiting in the checkout, so I could give her a long hug. I have to say I was sad too for her sake. It was her most precious possession. Amazingly, she didn't have a total meltdown. She really has grown so much.
I was so touched, then, when we got home and I noticed an old, stiff piece of the purple blankie under some things on the kitchen counter. (which tells you something about the condition of my counters!) I showed it to Lily. She got excited for a minute. Then she tried to snuggle with it, and it was not snuggly, and she tried to chew it for a minute, and it must have lost its flavor, because then she handed it back to me and said she didn't want it anymore. "That's fine, honey, I'll put it in your baby book," I said.
Wasn't that so sweet of God to give my daughter closure like that?? He watches every sparrow...
Sunday, September 30, 2012
More Ships
Little did I know what I started when I decided to take the kids to Navy Week. William is so into the ocean and all things "deep, deep, deep." So yesterday I decided to go with the obsession and visit the World War II submarine and the bulk freighter in the city harbor. The kids loved it! They especially loved the sub because they were allowed to try out the beds, tables, sinks (that fold up), and many gears. Their favorite was working the gun on the deck.
This is the bulk feighter. It carried bulk goods like iron ore, coal, and grain from Duluth to Cleveland and back again. It's actually larger than Noah's ark.
Always Christmas
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Explanations from the SGM Board
This past week the current SGM Board did us all the service of explaining their perspective and actions this past year, for which I am very grateful. The responses match very consistently with the explanations communicated to us personally, but I'm so glad they've been published so all SGM church members can read them.
Personally, I found the following sections most clarifying:
Regarding the way CJ and the SGM Leadership Team has related to CLC pastors (which in a previous blogpost this week the current board acknowledged have been in conflict) and members:
"These questions do not involve matters of sin or ethical violation—they are matters of judgment." (p.1)
They go on to say, "We also want to allow debatable secondary issues to distract us from our mission to plant and build local churches and to find a governance that pleases the Lord and seems good to as many of us as possible. As we have so many times in the past, let’s strive to allow grace and love to win the day."
And regarding CJ being re-instated as President:
Personally, I found the following sections most clarifying:
Regarding the way CJ and the SGM Leadership Team has related to CLC pastors (which in a previous blogpost this week the current board acknowledged have been in conflict) and members:
"These questions do not involve matters of sin or ethical violation—they are matters of judgment." (p.1)
They go on to say, "We also want to allow debatable secondary issues to distract us from our mission to plant and build local churches and to find a governance that pleases the Lord and seems good to as many of us as possible. As we have so many times in the past, let’s strive to allow grace and love to win the day."
And regarding CJ being re-instated as President:
"We do not think this is the time for a debate about who should lead our ministry. We have a major transition to make in our governance, and we believe that no other leader in our movement has the qualities that will effectively guide us through these changes." (p.5)
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