Wrapping Up

 

I have been contemplating for some time about whether to continue this blog. It was begun as a means to communicate with family that does not live in town, and that has been the only reason I have kept up with it for so long. In order to be more available to my family and on the computer less, I have decided to discontinue blogging. GASP! For now, anyway.

Instead I hope to send out emails with pictures a few times a year (maybe quarterly?) to keep some of our loved ones updated on our lives. If you would like to be included in that email list, please send me an email or leave me a comment with your email address. Thanks for following on our journey the last five years (wow, I can’t believe it has been that long!).

An Update

We’ve crossed a milestone around here lately. Toby is potty training! He started initiating it several months ago (I think because Elinore always lets him go in to the bathroom with her. Sort of a social thing…). Last week I decided to give it a go. It went okay for the first few days, but I discovered that he has a bladder of steel. He could hold it so long that I wasn’t really able to get him to go on the potty even though he wasn’t having accidents. On Tuesday morning I threw in the towel. I decided to give it a couple more months and put him back in a diaper. Something must have clicked because for the rest of that day he totally took control. Asked to go and went on the potty and stayed dry all day. I guess he just has to be the one calling the shots!!

He heard me use the term “potty training” and now he keeps talking about how he wants to “ride the potty train, choo choo!” So it is going great and he’s wearing undies everyday! Yeah, I get a break from diapers before the next one comes – which will be right around December 14! Just to catch any rumors that might be circulating. I’m almost 9 weeks along and seem to have just entered the yuckiness of the first trimester (which doesn’t leave me much time left, so I’m feeling very grateful). We’re all very excited to be growing our family by one more. We’d appreciate your prayers through the pregnancy and also as I am really hoping to do a VBAC this time in order to avoid another c-section.

On our way to the park the other day Elinore asked me if I knew how to tear down a house really fast. I said, “Wow, Elinore, I don’t think I could do it very fast. Tearing down a house is a lot of work.”
She says, “Well, Mom, first you get a digger. Then the arm of the digger just plunges into the house and tears it apart.” A pause. “Daddy told me that.” I wish you could have heard the emphasis in her voice on the word plunges. She is so funny. A few times lately I’ve looked at her and noticed how quickly she is growing up. She is getting so tall and smart, and she is such a great friend to her brother.

The big 2.

Toby turned 2 over the weekend and we had a really nice party with both sides of the family here. The kids played really well, I wasn't stressed out, our families all seemed to enjoy themselves, and Toby was absolutely delighted. He and Elinore have not stopped playing with his new things all week. These pictures all seem to have caught him with a serious expression - not representative at all to the enthusiasm he was displaying! He really was having fun. The train cakes were not as easy as they looked in the picture, but they came out okay (thanks, laura!), and Toby was very happy to have a train cake. Can't believe he's 2 already.

 

 

 

Another Good Oone

Florida

A few weeks ago we made a trip to Florida to visit my grandparents. It was good to have a change of pace for a little while and to feel the sunshine on our faces. We had a couple very nice days while we were visiting, so we played on the beach (it was too cold to swim). We collected shells, dug, played with little sand crabs, and just let the warm sunshine soak into us. My grandma kept us well fed! Yum! We played lots of games, and we went to a warm spring to see the manatees. The day we went the manatee count was 52, so we were able to see a lot of them up close. Neither Kevin nor I had ever seen manatees, so we were delighted at the experience. We were surprised at how lumbering and ungraceful they would be without the grace that the water provides. They seem so gentle and unassuming. We also saw a wide variety of unique birds rather up close, as you can see by the picture of the pelican.

I think my kids exhaust my grandparents with their seemingly endless energy, but Elinore did slow down long enough to work on some challenging puzzles with my grandma. I am so honored to think that my children get a chance to really know their great-grandparents a little bit. It was so good to be there and spend time with them. I wish it didn't have to be so infrequent.

 
 
 
 

Helping my grandparents do some yardwork inspired me to get my own yard cleaned up. Come on, spring!

Februrary

In February we spent a weekend with our friends in northern Michigan. The snow was lovely. We spent lots of time playing in it and skiing. I finally got a picture of Elinore on skiis. She has gotten really quick and agile on them this season. That makes it more fun for all of us. The kids all got on very well and had a blast playing together all weekend.

 
 

My sister spent a weekend with us soon after that. We took her sledding and to see the butterflies at Meijer Gardens. The kids always enjoy all the attention they get from their aunts!

 

A Poem a Day

We are trying to start a habit of reading a poem a day at lunchtime. This was today's. Elinore thought it was funny. I thought it was worth sharing.

The Blind Men and the Elephant
(A Hindoo Fable)

It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind

The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!"

The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, "Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!"

The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a snake!"

The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he;
" 'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!"

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!"

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a rope!"

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

Moral:
So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has actually seen!

John Godfrey Saxe

Guy

Toby has a little construction guy that goes with one of his tractors. Today we were playing with it and I said, "Toby, do you want to name your guy? You could call him Charlie...or Bill...or Ned..."
Toby says, "Cinderella?"

Can you tell he has a big sister?
Poor kid, someday he'll be embarrassed about that!