...because she really likes to grab at faces. She also loves playing with daddy. Look closely and you'll see a BIG smile on her face, and if this had audio, you'd hear that English baby belly laugh that Will made so famous in his infancy. I just love her babyness, her chubby little hands and arms, and her fat little legs, her laughter and her serious faces that look like she's thinking soooooooooo hard about something...
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Friday, June 09, 2006
every girl's gotta have a hobby...
well, I have always wanted to be able to sew. I started by altering some baby burp cloths, moved on to pillowcases and small blankets, and recently decided it was time to do something with all the gorgeous fabric I had been accumulating in the hopes that I would do...something...with it. So here is a recent attempt-in-progrss. The roses are going to be a little top, and then the black and pink polka dots are going to (hopefully) be a diaper cover...
Monday, June 05, 2006
Moved by the Spirit?
Ahhh, Will. How I delight in my very...special...child.
Will's newest antecdote began at church on Sunday morning. Will would normally go to kids' praise during the sermon, but we had decided that we wanted him to stay with us and sit through the sermon for a while and see how he did. So we packed a bag with legos, colors, and other quietly amusing items in the hopes that he would learn to sit through a sermon.
It turned out the sermon was about Jesus' parable of the seeds. This, we though, was great because Will is really intrigued by natural science and has recently taken a great interest particularly in seeds and plants. As soon as he heard Eddie, our preacher, begin to talk about seeds and what kind of soil they would flourish in, I saw his ears perk up, and my five-year-old was more intensely focused on the sermon that even most adults might have been. He listened attentively as Eddie talked about where seeds fall, rocky soil, and weeds, and what that all meant. He then began to read from the bible to the congregation. He read from Mark 4, and when he got to verse 9, he placed special emphasis on Jesus' words.
"He who has ears," he began, then paused, smiling at the congregation. "He who has ears? Who has ears?" He paused and then continued. "He who has ears let him hear!"
At that moment, my son, who had become so wrapped up in the sermon that he apparently felt that Eddie was speaking only to him, excitedly informed the entire congregation:
"We ALL have ears!"
Oh, my.
Yes, it was very funny. And I would be lying if I said I was upset with him, because I wasn't. After all, Jesus said that we must become like a child to enter the kingdom of heaven, and Will showed us all that day what the enthusiasm of a child can feel like when listening to stories about Jesus. I know that Jesus would have been pleased to hear my son answer Eddie's question so loudly and firmly, so how could I be upset at him? No one else was. It was cute, but it was also really special. And even though afterwards we explained to him that sometimes when a preacher asks a question, he doesn't necessarily want an answer outloud, sometimes he wants us to answer it in our heads, we also told him that he wasn't in trouble and that we were proud he was so interested in what Eddie was saying.
I was worried that he wouldn't learn anything in the auditorium with us, but I think he did. And more importantly, he taught me something: that becoming like a child in Christ is real, and Jesus knew that when he set the example, bidding the children to come unto him. He wanted us all to know and to remember each time we saw a child delight in the wonders of Him that full-hearted faith and undeniable excitement are attainable for us all.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
what a predicament
The intrepid Adelaide English is not afraid to climb any mountain or go headfirst where her curiosity leads here. Here, in her natural habitat, we caught her trying to figure her way out of this curious situation...
heehee yeah, we helped her...after we got some pictures...
heehee yeah, we helped her...after we got some pictures...
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
the graduate
Ms. Dawn (right) and Ms. Jenni (left) will have my eternal love and devotion for the love, patience and learning they have given Will these past few months. They are the special kind of teachers, the ones you can look back on and always know that they changed you for the better. Thanks to them both.
What a day!
Today was Will's last day of preschool. It was pretty momentous for me, but it seemed like he was just kind of like, "well, okay. Now for kindergarten." I will miss his teachers because they have done a fantastic job with him. We're enrolling Adelaide at the "Mother's Day Out" at Crosspoint next year because it is such an awesome program. I can't imagine anywhere else that a child would come home explaining Picasso's blue period and how "Mr. Vivaldi" wrote music about the seasons (noting that he recognized it from Baby Einstein videos) and still just have fun. It was great and I am so glad we found it.
Will has made great strides in maturity level over the last month. I have noticed it, Ben has noticed it, and his teachers REALLY noticed it. He got a happy face every day at school during May, which was really great for him. As a reward, we took him to a "Build-a-bear" knockoff called Wacky Bear in the Mall of Louisiana. He'd been asking for AGES to do that, so this was his big reward for doing so incredibly well over the last few weeks. I was ready to just feel like I was getting totally ripped off, but it was actually a fun experience. Ben took Adelaide so that I could pay total attention to Will, and we had a good time. He picked out his bear, and then the worker at the store stuffed it--but he let Will help. Will pressed the pedal that activated the stuffing mechanism, then he let will put the blinking "heart" inside the bear (The worker placed it so it was in the right place.) We got to name him (as creative as Will is, you'd think he'd have been more inventive than "Wacky"...but whatever...) and make a "birth certificate." Then Will picked out clothes for the bear. We got out of there for under $30, so I felt pretty good about the experience.
After that, Will was very serious about doting on Wacky. He carried him around like we carry Adelaide (do you think I'll need to make a "bear sling" for Wacky?) and was very contientious about where he put him. In fact, when Ben was taking Will to potty before we left to come home, I offered to hold Wacky while they went to the facilities. Will was actually skeptical -- he was like, "Mommy, take good care of him!" As I'm walking Adelaide in the stroller over to the Aveda store to browse, I answer him with, "Will, I can take care of a baby, I think I can take care of your bear." I then turn back the way I'm headed and promptly walk the stroller directly into a glass wall. Luckily, Will didn't see that or he probably would have done his bathroom business right there, he was being so OCD about the bear. It was cute, though. (Oh, and the baby -- and the glass wall -- are no worse for the wear.) He's sleeping with him now.
What a juxtiposition -- my big boy, maturing, leaving preschool behind, snuggled up with a teddy bear in bed. I love it, though. I am glad that my child is learning to mature, make good decisions, and be a helper, but that he is none to ready to leave childhood behind. I really do cherish these moments. The way God has blessed our family this year is incredible, and when I see my firstborn hold out his arms for me to hug him and tuck him into his Buzz Lightyear sheets, I feel it so acutely -- that love, that happiness, that true contentment that is permeating my life right now. I embrace it.
007 as a preschooler
I'm sure this is what 007 looked like at HIS preschool class parties. Will is, after all, a super spy.
Will Van Gogh1
Will learned about major artists this year in Pre-K, and they did projects in the style of some of the masters' classic works. This is mine and Ben's favorite one of the Van Gogh's. It is so good, and the texture (which you can't tell on the scan) is just great.
Will Picasso face
Will learned about major artists this year in Pre-K, and they did projects in the style of some of the masters' classic works.
Will Van Gogh irises1
Will learned about major artists this year in Pre-K, and they did projects in the style of some of the masters' classic works.
Will Van Gogh starry night1
Will learned about major artists this year in Pre-K, and they did projects in the style of some of the masters' classic works.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Adelaide's cover shot
Here she is...Miss Baton Rouge baaaaby
Haha, well, it isn't the greatest because I had to scan it in. I just ran by tonight to grab a couple. But I had to share!
Haha, well, it isn't the greatest because I had to scan it in. I just ran by tonight to grab a couple. But I had to share!
she hated the hat
I mean hated. fought. like I was strapping a bonnet full of bees on her head. But she forgot about it long enough to laugh at what her brother was doing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
