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Thursday, May 31, 2007

Notes on the Kiddos


Some observations over the past few weeks....


 


Concerning Colsen:


I've decided that Colsen thinks necks are hilarious.  He thinks it's soooo funny when a person's head nods up and down -- like it shouldn't be able to do that or something.  If you want to get a real hearty chuckle from this kid, just bend your head around a little and show him you have a neck.  He'll think you are quite the funny creature.


And if there was any question about whether or not dramatic genes run in this family, that question has been answered.  We have not one, not two, but now three intensely dramatic kids.  For example, if I am carrying Colsen around and he begins to get an agenda, or at least has some expectations that he's concocted about how he's going to be fed or played with, and then I put him down on the floor.....  Well!  He gets sooooo upset.  He immediately buries his head in the carpet and wails -- he won't even poke his head up like he normally does.  And it's such a heartbreaking cry...  And it usually works-- he gets picked back up!


So now the real question is:   Where did all these dramatic genes come from?


 


Regarding Rayna:


What a little nut this girl is!


She can be so silly...


 Like when I panic because I can't find her anywhere downstairs... but then I see a pair of little feet poking out of the side of Colsen's infant car seat, and she's been sitting in there sucking her thumb for several minutes.


... And she can be mischevious...


  Like when she was downstairs by herself one morning for awhile and Pete yelled down to her, "Rayna, what are you doing?"  and she yelled back, "I'm not touching the muffins on the counter!"


... And she can be oh so stubborn...


  Like when she persists on telling her teacher that her last name is "stoodies"


... And she can be oh so sweet...


  Like when she woke me up one morning last week by coming to the edge of my bed and kissing me lightly on my forehead.  (the BEST way to be woken up)


But a good babysitter she may not be....


  A couple weeks ago I was having a hard time getting things done for the class I had to teach that week.  One evening when Pete and Strider were out, Colsen and Rayna were taking turns being very needy.  Then I put Colsen in his little swing and Rayna started playing with him and getting him to laugh.  Seeing my brief window of opportunity, I ran into the other room to enter grades on the computer.  I kept listening.... and Colsen kept giggling and Rayna kept talking in silly voices.  Then suddenly Colsen gave a brief cry... and then it was quiet.  I ran back into the living room......  and found Colsen playing on the floor and Rayna in the baby swing!!  Fortunately, the swing only sits about a foot off the ground, but still!


.... But even if she's not the most responsible babysitter, she IS learning the more important aspects of mothering...


 Last night, she was playing with her baby panda, and she said, "I'm going to put him to bed." She stuck him in the crib, and then very softly and sweetly sang "Jesus Loves Me" to him.


 


 And Some Stuff about Strider:


Strider had an exciting experience a few weeks back....  He got to go to the Wachovia Championship golf tournament.  A student of mine gave us some tickets for the practice round, so Pete took Strider and they had a fun day together.  Here is Strider's "report" he wrote later:


Golf Tournament
Tuesday May 1.
I got to see Ernie Els.
I did not get to see Tiger Woods.
I got a frozen lemonade.
It was 95 *.
I went on a bus 2 tims.
It was grat.
 


(I helped him spell the big words)


He's also recently decided that a Comedian has got to be the BEST job in the world.


And he's all about the U.S. Presidents these days.  He memorized the order, and now he's been busy looking up how long each of them was in office, etc.  And he asks anyone he talks to who their favorite president is and why -- so be prepared!


 


Life with these nuts is good...


Last night as I was folding laundry, and listening to Rayna singing to her baby panda, Colsen bouncing in his Jumpster and Strider downstairs peppering his dad with questions about U.S. Presidents, I realized I was in the middle of one of the sweetest moments of life.  Until, that is, a few minutes later when Strider walked into my room wearing one of Pete's old shirts as a nightshirt for bed.  Somewhere he had found a 7-up shirt that says "Make 7" on the front and "Up Yours" on the back.  When I expressed dismay, he kept following me around saying, "but I don't get it -- what does it mean??"


 



 


 


 


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Sunday, May 6, 2007

Something Special About This Month


Starting today, May 6th, for the next month both boys here are 6!  (Strider is 6 years old, Colsen is 6 months old)


 And then one month from today, both boys turn 7! (years and months again respectively)


Pretty cool, huh?


 



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The boys around here sure are fun...  and so is our girl!


 



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Thursday, May 3, 2007

Colsen's baptism weekend


On April 22nd, exactly 6 years (to the day!) after Strider was baptized, Colsen was baptized at Church of



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 the Redeemer. 


It was a special weekend... and one of the best parts was that Aunt Sue and Krista came for a visit all the way from Minnesota!


After picking them up from the airport, Pete and the kids took them to the U.S. Whitewater Center, and everyone enjoyed some time to walk around and explore.  It was a beautiful day.


Saturday, April 21, the day they arrived, was Krista's 11th birthday, so we had fun celebrating that too!  Strider and Rayna greeted her with birthday signs and balloons at the airport, and we decorated the house in preparation for her arrival too.  It was also a great reason to make a cake -- a checkerboard cake.  Everyone was amazed by how I put each individual square in it.  :)


Later on in their visit, Sue took Krista and Strider ice skating -- they all seemed to have fun, despite the fact that they all walked away with blisters!


It was nice having Sue and Krista both around.  They were very helpful with the kiddos, and they're so easy-going about everything!


Colsen's big day was great.  I kept him awake all morning (didn't want him to miss anything!) so by the time the baptism actually happened, he was rubbing his face and getting pretty ornery.  And when Dean put the water on his head, he wasn't exactly thrilled either. :)  My favorite part, though (aside from Rayna twirling around in front of the whole church lifting up her dress and trying to play "ring around the rosy" with Strider during the prayer) was when Pete prayed a blessing over Colsen.  The verses we've picked for Colsen are Isaiah 44:3-5, and Psalm 119:1-2, and we pray that he will grow to be a boy and a man "of victorious people" as his name means.  In many ways, this boy tells us the story of God's redemptive plans and we are so thankful for him.


 













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