Sunday, 22 May 2011
Addie, our funny girl
Here are three pics I got recently of Adelaide. They capture her personality in a very fun way: Enjoy:
Jack, the Footballer
Last weekend we were fortunate enough to have a visit from one of our favourite people, Keri. All the kids love her but Jack in particular has really taken to her. It is not hard to see why. She gives him lots of attention (which anyone who knows Jack knows that 'time spent' is definitely his love language). Jack and Keri went out in the back garden to play soccer/football. Keri indulged him and took a video which he definitely 'performed' for. Here it is:
Saturday, 14 May 2011
Thank you Keri and Alec
A fun package arrived in the post today for Jack and Theo. They were sure to throw these German football jerseys on right away. Our boys have become obsessed with any type of jersey. These came from Keri and Alec our friends who are living in Germany for the year.
Keri and Alec have become some of the boys favourite people this year. They have always been some of Charles's and my favourite, but it has been fun to have that feeling restored and reinforced by spending so much time with them this year. And it has been a real joy to see our kids take to them!
Right now the boys are out in the back garden yelling Go Deutschland! I hope our neighbours don't kill us! You know there is no love loss between the English and the German.
Keri and Alec have become some of the boys favourite people this year. They have always been some of Charles's and my favourite, but it has been fun to have that feeling restored and reinforced by spending so much time with them this year. And it has been a real joy to see our kids take to them!
Right now the boys are out in the back garden yelling Go Deutschland! I hope our neighbours don't kill us! You know there is no love loss between the English and the German.
Monday, 9 May 2011
Theo, The Artist
Everything was going smoothly. Theo and Addie were up from their naps. Jack had just returned from a friend's house. Everyone was enjoying a biscuit and a cup of milk. Jack and I decided to water the flowers out back. We left Theo and Addie happily upstairs. Leaving Theo alone with Addie is not an unusual occurrence. What I saw when I came back upstairs was thankfully not usual:
Theo had 'coloured' with markers Addie's face black. Addie was sitting happily there still eating her biscuit. I asked Theo what Addie did when he was colouring her and he said she just scooted around (aka 'trying to escape').
Just for the record, the pictures were taken only after Theo was put in his room to be disciplined. We all know he doesn't need to know that I found this incident funny until he is much much older!
Theo had 'coloured' with markers Addie's face black. Addie was sitting happily there still eating her biscuit. I asked Theo what Addie did when he was colouring her and he said she just scooted around (aka 'trying to escape').
Just for the record, the pictures were taken only after Theo was put in his room to be disciplined. We all know he doesn't need to know that I found this incident funny until he is much much older!
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Happy Mother's Day!
This is a guest post from Mr. Foot Down. In the past for American Mother's Day, Mrs. Thumb Up wrote a Top 10 things she's learned from her mom and is grateful for. We thought it would be a nice mother's day gift this year if I did the same for my mom. So here goes (in some rough order but not precise!).
10. My mom has always loved music. She would listen to music all the time and has a wonderful singing voice. I took piano for 6 or 7 years because she thought it was important. My younger siblings have gone on to great heights in performance and composition. I love music now, and it seems so far that my children do too, and that's attributable in no small part to my mom.
9. My mom models sincerity in how she speaks. I still use way too much sarcasm, but by comparison in a UK context, I look incredibly earnest, and I'm sure she's part of that.
8. My mom loves to play games. A few games that I can remember us playing, just off the top of my head: Spades, Hearts, Aggravation, King's Corner, Monopoly, Candyland, Cranium, Geek, Bridge (now my favourite), and the life-saver for those long car trips between Kansas City and Houston, the Alphabet game as we looked for words that started with each letter of the alphabet. Mom was pretty dominant at that game, finding just the right word when she needed it. As I write that, I wonder if perhaps she was putting us on sometimes, but then I go back to #9.
7. My mom is the master at looking for a bargain and saving money. I certainly haven't always agreed with the results of such frugality (not least because I've been too interested in getting the 'name brand' at times), but the example overall has been wonderful.
6. My mom has lived with a significant amount of chronic pain for most of my life, and she just gets on with things. Almost never complaining, you'd never know how bad she feels, unless you ask, or just happen to catch the grimace on her face in an unguarded moment. She's accomplished far more, under far worse circumstances physically, than I could ever imagine to.
5. My mom has taken wonderful care of her parents. My grandparents moved up to Liberty some years ago to be near her and the family, and she's really looked out for them, to the point that my grandma now lives with my parents. What a wonderful example that is to me of honouring your father and mother.
4.5. My mom is one of the smartest people I know, and she (along with my dad) always encouraged us to think and try to learn. If a word was used at the dinner table which we didn't know, we were encouraged to go look it up and learn how to use it. I have no doubt that my own work in a theological college has been shaped significantly by how my mom cultivated that sense of intellectual curiousity and value on the life of the mind.
4. My mom loves the church. She places a really high value on their local church and makes being there every Sunday a priority, even in the midst of physical pain often. That kind of love for God's people is profoundly biblical and a great example.
3. My mom commits herself to love her kids sacrificially. She had me when she was rather young, and of course, we just kept coming. From the beginning she made it her 'job' to raise us and teach us and spend time with us and be a godly, loving parent. When I see so often my own sinful, selfish heart when I'm with my kids, I marvel all the more how my mom has done it.
2. My mom has shown me how to love your spouse and put their needs before your own and be on the same page and support them and build them up. If I could be a fraction of as good a spouse to Mrs. Thumb Up as my mom has been to my dad, I think my wife will be really blessed.
1. My mom loves Jesus. She follows and trusts God, and that faith shapes everything about her life. Before I had ever heard of Abraham Kuyper, I saw a real-life example of his quote about every square inch of existence belonging to Jesus Christ. She has been willing to love and follow Jesus whatever the cost, and that indeed is the greatest gift a parent can give their children.
Thank you so much, Mom, for all these gifts (and so many more!). Happy Mother's Day.
10. My mom has always loved music. She would listen to music all the time and has a wonderful singing voice. I took piano for 6 or 7 years because she thought it was important. My younger siblings have gone on to great heights in performance and composition. I love music now, and it seems so far that my children do too, and that's attributable in no small part to my mom.
9. My mom models sincerity in how she speaks. I still use way too much sarcasm, but by comparison in a UK context, I look incredibly earnest, and I'm sure she's part of that.
8. My mom loves to play games. A few games that I can remember us playing, just off the top of my head: Spades, Hearts, Aggravation, King's Corner, Monopoly, Candyland, Cranium, Geek, Bridge (now my favourite), and the life-saver for those long car trips between Kansas City and Houston, the Alphabet game as we looked for words that started with each letter of the alphabet. Mom was pretty dominant at that game, finding just the right word when she needed it. As I write that, I wonder if perhaps she was putting us on sometimes, but then I go back to #9.
7. My mom is the master at looking for a bargain and saving money. I certainly haven't always agreed with the results of such frugality (not least because I've been too interested in getting the 'name brand' at times), but the example overall has been wonderful.
6. My mom has lived with a significant amount of chronic pain for most of my life, and she just gets on with things. Almost never complaining, you'd never know how bad she feels, unless you ask, or just happen to catch the grimace on her face in an unguarded moment. She's accomplished far more, under far worse circumstances physically, than I could ever imagine to.
5. My mom has taken wonderful care of her parents. My grandparents moved up to Liberty some years ago to be near her and the family, and she's really looked out for them, to the point that my grandma now lives with my parents. What a wonderful example that is to me of honouring your father and mother.
4.5. My mom is one of the smartest people I know, and she (along with my dad) always encouraged us to think and try to learn. If a word was used at the dinner table which we didn't know, we were encouraged to go look it up and learn how to use it. I have no doubt that my own work in a theological college has been shaped significantly by how my mom cultivated that sense of intellectual curiousity and value on the life of the mind.
4. My mom loves the church. She places a really high value on their local church and makes being there every Sunday a priority, even in the midst of physical pain often. That kind of love for God's people is profoundly biblical and a great example.
3. My mom commits herself to love her kids sacrificially. She had me when she was rather young, and of course, we just kept coming. From the beginning she made it her 'job' to raise us and teach us and spend time with us and be a godly, loving parent. When I see so often my own sinful, selfish heart when I'm with my kids, I marvel all the more how my mom has done it.
2. My mom has shown me how to love your spouse and put their needs before your own and be on the same page and support them and build them up. If I could be a fraction of as good a spouse to Mrs. Thumb Up as my mom has been to my dad, I think my wife will be really blessed.
1. My mom loves Jesus. She follows and trusts God, and that faith shapes everything about her life. Before I had ever heard of Abraham Kuyper, I saw a real-life example of his quote about every square inch of existence belonging to Jesus Christ. She has been willing to love and follow Jesus whatever the cost, and that indeed is the greatest gift a parent can give their children.
Thank you so much, Mom, for all these gifts (and so many more!). Happy Mother's Day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)