pink

Poor little pink racoon. I covered him in sunscreen, but alas, the routine of jumping in the water, and rubbing his eyes over and over did away with its efficacy. I must apologize to my Uncle Dave, the dermatologist, who taught me well to fear the effects of the sun!

A new one

"Caden, go get your hat."

"Mom, thats not my job! My job is to grow!"

I told him he has time to do some other things while he's working on that.

A couple cuties

We're Back!

Last week, we vacationed in Myrtle Beach with Shann's parents and his sister Sharra and her family. Many more pictures to follow, but I wanted to post one of the kid's highlights. :)

Tattling

We have a song we listen to that goes, "I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands." It is based on Psalm 119:60. I often remind the kids of this, that they need to obey right away, and not delay obedience. We often talk about what these words mean.

During our very long car ride home from Ohio last week, Caden looked up and out the window and said, "God, Alyssa is delaying and not hastening. But I am hastening and not delaying."

We've been working on the issue of tattling.
Maybe we should move on to pride for awhile. :)

We love Grammy

Its that time already

Tea Party in the Woods

First, Grandma thanks Caden and Alyssa for coming to her tea party. Then tea (C & A actually had juice in their cups).
Finally the cookies! The cookies slid off her plate 3 different times, so I think Alyssa ate a little mulch as well.
This beats high tea at the Ritz any day!

A Visit to Trinity Equipment

While we were in Ohio, my mom and I took the kids to see Grandpa's office. Grandpa had a great many fun things to show the kids. The visit started off with each of them getting their own bottle of water. So fun. They also got little airplanes, bubble wrap, and a key chain! Here, they are learning about coal cars. Grandpa showing some of the products he sells.
Looking the part of an old railroad crout.
Weigh in on the shipping scale! 38lbs.

27lbs.
Wearing Trinity stickers. Grandpa, thanks for the visit!

Home at last!

As you know, Juline is now home in Haiti with her family. I finally got a couple of pictures of her trip back. Here she is in the airport with Vanessa, the director of the organization, who escorted her home. Here are her parents, so happy to have her back. This picture makes me giggle, since those shoes didn't stay on for me either! Her mom has one in her hand.
I found out Juline is the youngest of 5! No wonder she was such a content baby! Her parents stayed overnight in the clinic, and then headed home, a several hour ride by bus.
Juliny Pie, I miss you, but I'm so glad your your mom and dad have you back.

Parenting in the grey

Alyssa Jane has taken to cursing. Not sure where she picked it up, but when she is not happy about her circumstances, she says angrily, "Oh bemmers!" (arms crossed, lower lip stuck out, knitted brows, the whole deal). We've analyzed this phrase, wondering if she heard some cool older cousin saying "Bummer", or something like that. For the first week or so, Shann and I could not decide whether to discipline, and even if we'd wanted to, we couldn't have kept a straight face. It seemed so harmless and cute! But in the long run, we figured it was better not to let her have the need for an expletive (of any sort) when in trying situations.
So now, "Oh, bemmers" is pretty much curbed. I'm sad in a way, because it really was funny.

Before I had children, I really thought parenting would be more black and white. But it isn't, and there are so many situations that we have to stop and figure out what the right response is. And I know the issues will get much more complicated than the cute cursing of a 2 year old.

Dad on the Anti-Inflammatory Diet

Anyone jealous?