stories

This week, instead of pictures, I'll try to share with you a little of what's going on in each of our lives.  A family newsletter of sorts.

I'll start with Micaiah, since he's the youngest.  He's talking a lot now, saying at least 5 word sentences, repeating everything we say.  Ella has caught on to this which can be quite funny sometimes.  She's learned to say what she wants to hear him say and coach him to repeat it over and over again, and she gets a kick out of the fact that he calls her "Wawa."  She's met another friend at school who is a big sister and she seems to enjoy this role and "responsibility" that she has.  If you've read my facebook status updates, you might have seen that the other day Micaiah pointed to the letter "E" and said, "E"; then he pointed to the color "blue" and stated that word as well.  Later that day we were walking through the parking lot and there was a big sign printed on the building.  "MomMom!!" he exclaimed (and he really did exclaim/ shout it--I thought something was seriously wrong), "ABCs ABCs!!!"  He was looking up at those words on the building and wanting me to know that there are letters in those words.

Ella.  She's been making me laugh lately with this new thing she does when she's happy or excited.  She stomps her feet real fast like some kind of charging animal, sticks her tongue out while smiling to her fullest, and has her hands up to her chest like a bunny rabbit.  It's funny, just hard to describe.  I asked her how she learned to do that and she said "I made it up."  She likes to make the craziest names up for dolls and playthings and her current name of choice is "Chrysala."  It always used to be something like "Mara" or "Merida."  It's fun hearing all her stories of school with her friends, the things her teacher does, and the crazy things that other kids do at school.  Every story she tells has a certain confidence of herself.  If it's something bad that happened, even to her, you can tell that it doesn't really bother her.  If it's something fun, you can tell that she was in the middle of the action.

Todd.  He bought a bass guitar yesterday and is happy to be playing music again.  He's going to be playing some with the praise band at church.  Also, he preached in Emmanuel chapel yesterday and was well received.  His life is full with church interactions, meet-ups with old and new friends, and spending time in the community, like going to the YMCA.

Me.  I've been cooking a lot lately, which always just makes me feel "like myself."  I love it.  Ella's in school so Micaiah and I alternate days between having a "quiet" day at home, just playing/working around here and going out and doing things.  Yesterday we went to my parents' for the morning, sometimes we'll run errands, go to the library, or stop by the church where Todd is working.  I've been tackling the pile of mending clothes that I brought with me from Kentucky but soon I'm going to launch into a curtain sewing project.  I look forward to this project time but not sure when I'll ever have time to fit it in!

Around

I haven't posted for awhile, so I thought I would give family members and friends the chance to see how the kids are growing.  I'm sharing some random pics of the kids at play.  Enjoy!

The truth

I love the way Eugene Peterson writes and I think the following is so powerful.  It sums up the core values of my Christian walk.
"The truth about me is that God made and loves me.  The truth about those sitting beside me is that God made them and loves them, and each one is therefore my neighbor.  The truth about the world is that God rules and provides for it.  The truth about what is wrong with the world is that I and the neighbor sitting beside me have sinned in refusing to let God be for us, over us and in us.  The truth about what is at the center of our lives and of our history is that Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross for our sins and raised from the tomb for our salvation and that we can participate in new life as we believe in him, accept his mercy, respond to his love, attend to his commands."
Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, p.28