I'm a sitter!

Today was a big day for Eliot - he officially sat on his own and his first tooth has broken through. Big steps for a little boy. 

Makeover

I got two very cool chairs from my Grandma. They have been sitting in my parents' downstairs for  a few years now. As we start to organize for the move to our new house, I decided these chairs could do with a makeover so off to work I went.

The cool chairs before the makeover

And three days later, ta da:

So fun!

Jack's Journal

As an effort to get Jack into the discipline of keeping a journal and doing daily writing, we have had him start a journal. We currently give him a topic each day and he is free to form his own thoughts and write them in his own manner. Today I asked him to write about his favourite things from the weekend. Here is a copy of his entry ( I have typed it below because it is a bit blurry):

1. I enjoyed this weekend playing in the park.
2. I enjoyed seeing my family this weekend.
3. I enjoyed getting to remember about grandma and what a great grandma she was.

Four Year Old Funnies

Theo is definitely at that age - the age where I feel I could write almost everything down he said because it would be worth remembering for laughs later. Here are two from today:

On the way to the bathroom store today to look at shower heads (boring to most people especially a six-year-old!) -

Jack: Why do we all have to go to the store?
Charles: Jack, mom and dad are not here for your enjoyment only. We have errands to do today that take priority over going to the park.
Jack: Why couldn't we stay with Grandmother?
Charles: Jack, Grandmother is not going to take you to the park either. She has things to do right now as well. She too is not here just for your enjoyment.
Theo (very quickly and boldly): Yeah Jack. Grandmother is not here for our enjoyment, but Grandad is.


Tonight at Bible time - Jack asks a question that is very interesting but completely off topic.

Charles: Jack, what does this question have to do with Genesis 1?
Jack: Nothing, I was just curious.
Erin: We should have named you George (as in Curious George).
Theo: Yeah, and God should have made you a monkey!

I love four-year-olds.

Happy Mother's Day in October

Over the past weeks, we have been reflecting on some of our favourite things about Charles's mom, Monette. This led us to remember a post Charles wrote for his mom last Mother's Day, and we thought it was worth reposting. Here it is, if you missed it the first time. And if you were fortunate enough to read it the first time, here it is again. We think it is worth a second read (or a third, or fourth...)


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.