Take a look at this sweet girl!
Bright blue eyes, baby fine blond hair, heart warming smile.
She turned ONE last week.
May God bless us with many more birthdays to celebrate you, Addie!
Photo credits: Deb Gritter
Monday, June 17, 2013
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Landing in Lafayette
Here we are! The long anticipated summer pastoral ministry internship. Brad already knocked out two of the ten weeks so as a family we are now here for the remaining eight weeks all together. It's going to be good. (Skip to the bottom for prayer requests if you want.)
We arrived Saturday...much later than we'd hoped but still at a reasonable hour. It was a good trip down (we drove the two cars - boys in one, girls in the other) and the main delaying factor was that no one coordinated their bathroom needs! Anyway, we made it to town, unloaded and unpacked. The first nap and first bedtime proved to be a challenge for Addie. Whether because it was a new place, or because she was all wound up from all the excitement, who knows. Peter and Cora managed to settle in to the new place well. Sometimes I wonder if sharing a bedroom makes that transition easier for them? They are not alone in a new place. As for Brad and me, it was nice to have all the work (of packing and planning) behind us and to be able to settle in. There are always new sounds and new smells that I find I am sensitive to in a new place. Mostly the sounds unsettling. I think it's because parenting uses all 5 (or more if you have more) senses. When I can't see my children, my sense of hearing is on higher alert. When I'm in an unfamiliar place where I can't easily identify all the clicks, ticks, bumps and thumps, I find that I'm alerted to every little sound until I determine if it's something I need to pay attention to or not. It's all part of adjusting...
A few key planning things about Saturday: after we had settled in we took the kids to the church and walked around together. We hoped this would help Sunday morning to be less overwhelming for them (and therefore for us also). Also, we brought our own sheets, comforters and pillows along so that it would be a little more familiar sleeping environment for each of us.
Sunday morning church service was lovely, and we felt warmly greeted and welcomed by many people from a variety of age groups. I think we also had about 5 invitations to come swimming over the summer in people's private pools! I hope we can take advantage of those offers!
After some afternoon naps we ventured out to a park with a playground, then to Meijer to pick up some goldfish. We are borrowing friends' fish tank for the summer and thought it would be a fun diversion for the kids to have fish (for however long they survive - the fish, that is.) Cora names hers Lipstick because it has white around its face except for bright orange lips. Peter named his Uncle Brandon. I have no idea why.
Day 2: Monday morning, Brad left for the office and I decided the kids and I should try to feed the ducks and geese that live in our apartment complex's pond. We'd fed them from our deck on Sunday, but this morning I wanted to walk around the pond together. However, as we approached the reeds the big white goose came after us with wings spread out and beak hissing. Seeing it up close and aggressive like that made me realize how big of a bird it actually is! Knowing that there are baby birds around (I thought only ducklings, but maybe I'm wrong) I decided we'd better chuck the bread and get out of that bird's territory. It felt a little bit like running from the bear at the cabin, but less dramatic.
We ended up wandering around the various parking lots, essentially just trying to enjoy the cool morning air and getting out some energy before going in for Addie's morning nap. Peter spotted a tiny frog on the sidewalk near our building. Cora scooped it up in her hands to examine it, and then we noticed that there were a bunch of tiny baby frogs! We collected 5 in a plastic bowl, added some rain water from a puddle and a couple rocks and put them on our deck. Cora happily summed 2 pets + 5 pets = 7 pets! The frogs proved to be of high interest all day, but Cora decided that to take good care of nature we should let them go that night. (I was relieved that we weren't going to have to clean their water, too, and figure out how to feed them...and later deal with the trauma of missing or deceased pets.)
Another element of planning that came into play on Monday was swimming lessons! I had signed up both older kids at the YMCA a few weeks ago. I hoped it would give us something to look forward to in these early days before we really have much else to do. The kids' swimming personalities remained consistent with history: Cora was in her element. Peter was uncomfortable and hesitant. He's been doing better recently so I had hoped this would be more fun for him...maybe by the end of the session?
Day 3: Don't worry, I won't be counting and reporting every day! I'll lose track in a few days and things will start blending together from one day to the next. Tuesdays will be gymnastics lessons day. Again, the older two are signed up for classes (not at the Y this time). Again, their personalities were interesting to observe. Cora jumped right in and had a blast. Peter was really intimidated to go with his class without me. I was somewhat surprised by this, but I decided to play hard ball with him. I first gave him a little sympathy, but then it was time to get out and let him see that he would be OK. He mostly was OK. The trick is to not let him catch my eye, so I pretty much couldn't look in the direction of his class, otherwise he would chicken out and came crying over to me, which he did once. Boy is that tough to be so tough! But tonight at dinner he was excitedly talking all about the fun things he did at "gym-nack-sticks".
We had swimming lessons again this afternoon and I had to play hardball again with Peter. He put on his resistance tactics when we got there, but thankfully an extra teacher was on hand and she was amazing. She stepped right in and coaxed him away from me and to the side of the pool. Phew! Again, he ended up laughing and having a blast. Here's to hoping that tomorrow he goes without a fight!
Afterwards, we made a trip to pick up the items that I'd been adding to my list of things that we either didn't think to pack (stain remover spray) or just realized we need (a few more hangers). Our apartment has been very well furnished and supplied by people in the church. Much better than I had anticipated! So the list was relatively short, and are not things I would ask to borrow for a summer. After dinner we took a family walk through the cemetery that is across the street. I didn't think there would be a good place for the kids to bike-ride, but actually this is perfect. There are lots of paved roads to follow but no traffic or streets to cross! And our kids are young enough to not be creeped out by hanging out in a cemetery!
Some prayer requests:
1) Addie has had a fever since Monday noon. It goes down for a while and then comes back up, but I hope she doesn't get too sick. (Thankfully I did pack our thermometer and infant tylenol!)
2) Cora has been asking already when we're going to make new friends. We haven't met anyone with kids around Cora and Peters' ages yet, so I'm keeping my eyes open and my heart praying.
We arrived Saturday...much later than we'd hoped but still at a reasonable hour. It was a good trip down (we drove the two cars - boys in one, girls in the other) and the main delaying factor was that no one coordinated their bathroom needs! Anyway, we made it to town, unloaded and unpacked. The first nap and first bedtime proved to be a challenge for Addie. Whether because it was a new place, or because she was all wound up from all the excitement, who knows. Peter and Cora managed to settle in to the new place well. Sometimes I wonder if sharing a bedroom makes that transition easier for them? They are not alone in a new place. As for Brad and me, it was nice to have all the work (of packing and planning) behind us and to be able to settle in. There are always new sounds and new smells that I find I am sensitive to in a new place. Mostly the sounds unsettling. I think it's because parenting uses all 5 (or more if you have more) senses. When I can't see my children, my sense of hearing is on higher alert. When I'm in an unfamiliar place where I can't easily identify all the clicks, ticks, bumps and thumps, I find that I'm alerted to every little sound until I determine if it's something I need to pay attention to or not. It's all part of adjusting...
A few key planning things about Saturday: after we had settled in we took the kids to the church and walked around together. We hoped this would help Sunday morning to be less overwhelming for them (and therefore for us also). Also, we brought our own sheets, comforters and pillows along so that it would be a little more familiar sleeping environment for each of us.
Sunday morning church service was lovely, and we felt warmly greeted and welcomed by many people from a variety of age groups. I think we also had about 5 invitations to come swimming over the summer in people's private pools! I hope we can take advantage of those offers!
After some afternoon naps we ventured out to a park with a playground, then to Meijer to pick up some goldfish. We are borrowing friends' fish tank for the summer and thought it would be a fun diversion for the kids to have fish (for however long they survive - the fish, that is.) Cora names hers Lipstick because it has white around its face except for bright orange lips. Peter named his Uncle Brandon. I have no idea why.
Day 2: Monday morning, Brad left for the office and I decided the kids and I should try to feed the ducks and geese that live in our apartment complex's pond. We'd fed them from our deck on Sunday, but this morning I wanted to walk around the pond together. However, as we approached the reeds the big white goose came after us with wings spread out and beak hissing. Seeing it up close and aggressive like that made me realize how big of a bird it actually is! Knowing that there are baby birds around (I thought only ducklings, but maybe I'm wrong) I decided we'd better chuck the bread and get out of that bird's territory. It felt a little bit like running from the bear at the cabin, but less dramatic.
We ended up wandering around the various parking lots, essentially just trying to enjoy the cool morning air and getting out some energy before going in for Addie's morning nap. Peter spotted a tiny frog on the sidewalk near our building. Cora scooped it up in her hands to examine it, and then we noticed that there were a bunch of tiny baby frogs! We collected 5 in a plastic bowl, added some rain water from a puddle and a couple rocks and put them on our deck. Cora happily summed 2 pets + 5 pets = 7 pets! The frogs proved to be of high interest all day, but Cora decided that to take good care of nature we should let them go that night. (I was relieved that we weren't going to have to clean their water, too, and figure out how to feed them...and later deal with the trauma of missing or deceased pets.)
Another element of planning that came into play on Monday was swimming lessons! I had signed up both older kids at the YMCA a few weeks ago. I hoped it would give us something to look forward to in these early days before we really have much else to do. The kids' swimming personalities remained consistent with history: Cora was in her element. Peter was uncomfortable and hesitant. He's been doing better recently so I had hoped this would be more fun for him...maybe by the end of the session?Day 3: Don't worry, I won't be counting and reporting every day! I'll lose track in a few days and things will start blending together from one day to the next. Tuesdays will be gymnastics lessons day. Again, the older two are signed up for classes (not at the Y this time). Again, their personalities were interesting to observe. Cora jumped right in and had a blast. Peter was really intimidated to go with his class without me. I was somewhat surprised by this, but I decided to play hard ball with him. I first gave him a little sympathy, but then it was time to get out and let him see that he would be OK. He mostly was OK. The trick is to not let him catch my eye, so I pretty much couldn't look in the direction of his class, otherwise he would chicken out and came crying over to me, which he did once. Boy is that tough to be so tough! But tonight at dinner he was excitedly talking all about the fun things he did at "gym-nack-sticks".
We had swimming lessons again this afternoon and I had to play hardball again with Peter. He put on his resistance tactics when we got there, but thankfully an extra teacher was on hand and she was amazing. She stepped right in and coaxed him away from me and to the side of the pool. Phew! Again, he ended up laughing and having a blast. Here's to hoping that tomorrow he goes without a fight!
Afterwards, we made a trip to pick up the items that I'd been adding to my list of things that we either didn't think to pack (stain remover spray) or just realized we need (a few more hangers). Our apartment has been very well furnished and supplied by people in the church. Much better than I had anticipated! So the list was relatively short, and are not things I would ask to borrow for a summer. After dinner we took a family walk through the cemetery that is across the street. I didn't think there would be a good place for the kids to bike-ride, but actually this is perfect. There are lots of paved roads to follow but no traffic or streets to cross! And our kids are young enough to not be creeped out by hanging out in a cemetery!
Some prayer requests:
1) Addie has had a fever since Monday noon. It goes down for a while and then comes back up, but I hope she doesn't get too sick. (Thankfully I did pack our thermometer and infant tylenol!)
2) Cora has been asking already when we're going to make new friends. We haven't met anyone with kids around Cora and Peters' ages yet, so I'm keeping my eyes open and my heart praying.
Friday, June 07, 2013
Kindergarten Reflections
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| Last day of kindergarten! |
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| First day of kindergarten last August |
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| The bus-stop gang: a lively crew to start each day with! |
I know she's grown at least 1/2 and inch since her birthday in January. She got a big hair cut this winter, and now you can see in the pictures her hair is as long today as it was last August.
On a more exciting note, she has learned so much in school. I'm so impressed with how well she handled this year. It was a big step of faith to put her in 1)Spanish immersion and 2) all-day every-day kindergarten. She had to start all over in a new school and make new friends in a class that had been together for at least one year of preschool. She had to adjust to being away from home for much of the day, every day. (I think that was a harder adjustment for me than for her!) She had to adjust to everything being taught in Spanish, learning to read and write and do math and other subjects in Spanish, and at the end of the year to only speak Spanish in the classroom. Overall, she sailed through the year without too much trouble. What an answer to prayer!
As a person with an invested interest in foreign language acquisition, it has been a fascinating year for me to watch the process. At this point, Cora can already carry on a simple but long conversation about most daily activities with me in Spanish. Her accent and pronunciation are impressive but the grammatical accuracy is like speaking with a 3 year old (but after only 9 months of academic immersion!). Spanish speakers would understand what she means even though she might say the equivalent of "I likes a apple." As with anyone learning a language at any point in their life, that will improve with time and more target language exposure. She has also transferred a lot of the language skills to English on her own. She enjoys writing notes to friends and sounds out the words in English (however she's not learning English phonics yet).
In short, Cora has really enjoyed kindergarten. She seemed to get along well with her classmates and teachers and made a couple close friends, too. But I'm excited to have her home with us for the summer! Let summer vacation begin!
Tuesday, June 04, 2013
May 2013
Addie turned 11 months a few weeks ago, and now we're actually closer to her birthday. She is hard to capture in a sitting, still position, so this month I avoided the conflict and just got a picture of her standing by her booster chair.
It's funny how she always realizes this sticker is on her shirt and she tries to pull it off! No matter how sneaky I try to be about it, she recognizes it and tries to get rid of it.
Cuddle-buds
We've been enjoying seeing our friends a little more now that it's warm and everyone's running around outside more often! We've had lots of fun "end of the year" get-togethers.
Addie has little interest lately in sitting and playing with toys. Instead she is exploring the world from a perspective that is a foot higher than before. She loves pushing toys that she can walk behind and toys she can climb on and over. Her expression here is a common one recently, and you can imagine her sweet baby voice making an excited, "oh oh oh" sound!
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