The Color Green

Rich Mullins wrote a gorgeous song praising God for creating the color green. I just heard on the radio last week that looking at something green actually lowers your blood pressure and calms your body (according to some clinical study I don't understand fully). People have often told me I have a green thumb, inherited from my paternal grandmother or my maternal great-grandmother. Whatever, ... I just feel content and alive to have plants around growing and flourishing. So I've gone a bit overboard in choosing new colors for the blog, but the white/grey theme was too bland for my tastes, and if this is about our family life with 3 young kids, then nothing EVER stays white!

If something is hard to read, please let me know! I join Rich in praising God for the color green, and for sustaining all the 'green' things in this world that we can breathe freely.

Debonaire

A few weeks ago we attended 'Auntie Kayla's' wedding in Seattle. Everything was very formal and fancy when the boys arrived. They played around a bit on the dance floor while Anna and Grandma checked in with the ladies-in-waiting. They were very impressed by lighting, gorgeous flowers and silky dark, floor-length tablecloths and gave us their best 'debonaire' faces. I think this is my new favorite picture of James and Joel - acting grownup, but not grownup yet!

James loved the food. Joel LOVED the dancing. Anna just wanted to go to bed I think. Everything went really well, it was tons of fun, and great time for me to catch up with old friends.

P.S. So what makes you put on a debonaire face?

P.P.S. Do you think debonaire in English comes from 'de bon aire' in French - like 'a good impression'?

I forgot to add the credit goes to my Mom for Anna's photo-shoot wardrobe. She carefully saved some cute outfits that I used to wear in my toddler days. I think it's a better color for Anna than me - she got the blue eyes! =)

Say cheese!

After at least three photo shoots in several different configurations and locations, after more than six months of trying occasionally and unsuccessfully, we have FINALLY achieved a family picture where all 5 of us look pleasantly at the camera! (see profile pic at right) This is a big day. I think we should print up hundreds and mail them to people to put on their fridges!

[that is to say, we finally have a new prayer card picture! Thank you God!... and thank you to GIMP developers -so the most wonderful program ever]

Life v Reality

James was just sitting on the potty, and asked for some
clarification on the book he was reading. Normally I try to leave
him to his own devices in that room these days, but it sounded like
an educational opportunity, so I figured I should deal with it.
He was looking at a book that had an image of our solar system, with
rings symbolizing the planets' orbits, and pictures of the planets
(with Pluto included, no less...). He wanted to know which one was
the one the Death Star destroyed.
I talked to him a bit about how Star Wars is a story, and that it
isn't real -- and what he was looking at (more or less) was. He
looked at me with understanding (or pity?) and repeated the question.
I showed him the Earth, where we live. He asked if that was the
planet. No, we're still here.
I finally explained that Alderaan was in a different solar system.
Then he told me that he liked Saturn and Jupiter the best, and that
was that.

Joel is playing in the other room

I know because I can hear him. Occasionally we have this pipe dream
in which we ask a child to "play quietly", and even more
occasionally we get something like that. With the synergy between
James and Joel, however, things usually get rough before long.
But right now, James is in preschool. And Anna is napping. Kim is
also working. There's no one else there, and he's still making the
most noise in the house! Earlier I heard him running from one side
of the room, bumping into things on each trip. Just now he was
fighting over a toy (by himself!?). I have to keep telling myself
that there really isn't another child involved. I guess this is
what elementary report cards call "plays well by himself." One
other advantage we have is that it is usually easy to find him.

Girls just wanna have fun

Okay, I'm the first to agree that boys and girls are totally different, but when it comes to eating - at least in our family - hungry eaters of both genders are messy! Anna can pack it in with the best of them! (In this case applesauce yogurt) Note the right hand... and pigtails! It's true - they really DO grow up so fast.

Traveling tikes

I'm sure every missionary kid (MK) goes through this several times in the course of their formative years, but our kids have really been great travelers this year. Our longest driving day has been about 10 hours only stopping for one meal and a couple potty trips. So far Wendy's and Subway have been our roadtrip mainstays. Not to mention books on tape and Wee Sing Silly Songs! James just finished listening to what he calls 'Gandalf' (aka The Hobbit) on tape because he's the kid who never sleeps on the road - like Mom. Wendy's 'kids toys' these days are Cranium mini-games, which are awesome for kids about 3 years older than James, but he tries anyway, and we clean up the mess anyway.
They usually consider driving an adventure and often rate the overall trip by how many trains or train tracks we saw. They can't quite count all the freight cars yet (some are nearly 100 cars long by my counting), but they always count how many engines are pulling the load. Airplanes, mountains (especially volcanoes), and car carriers have their merits too.
I'm not sure how we managed to snap a picture of Anna asleep, as she almost never sleeps in the car and often complains or resorts to outright screams of protest. She's not-so-much the travel girl, but who can blame her with 5 weeks of ear infections and 4 molars coming in! Joel is very helpful to give her a pacifier or share his snack or find a toy for sister.
As you can see Joel has finally mastered the cheesy camera smile at 3 1/2. He's a happy, go-lucky guy no matter where we are. God has graced us this first furlough with some wonderful trips to see some wonderful people, and three great little travelers!

A new thing!

So, I used to think I could be the coolest Mom ever and blog for each of my children separately - they ARE very distinct personalities - but it just didn't happen. Back to reality. I hereby merge our several blogs into a one-stop-read about the happenings of any of our five members (and therefore ten feet!) With our 'ten foot family' we trot the globe seeking ways to chop up words for the furtherance of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This year that will likely mean trotting from the green side of Oregon to the high savannahs of Kenya to the edge of the Ruwezoris in Congo, but you'll have to stay tuned to find out!

In case you want to reference the unused blogs:
jowele.blogspot.com
jamese.blogspot.com
mamajemz.blogspot.com
annalynne.blogspot.com

Kent will keep his, and I'll put a link for that one.
Here goes!...