Head, Heart and Hands

Most Sunday afternoons I get to be with my kids in a very special way -- Bible class or Sunday school.  Even from the swaddling days, we've enjoyed reading to our kids from God's word . . . (man time flies!!!  Excuse me while I go have a little cry) . . .

I'm pretty sure Ella went to the nursery class the first time she came to church...at 4 weeks, maybe, 5?  I dropped her off in the nursery in her baby capsule and in exchange got a beeper in case she needed me!  Ah 'letting go' begins so early.

Here's a pic of Ella in class when she was tiny.  Look at her holding her little Bible.  So sweet.  Miss Toni...we miss you!

During her first five months of life we were on the road a lot since we were preparing to move to Australia.  If we visited a church that had a cradle roll class . . . off she went.  She was fine (mostly I think she slept through the little class) and I got to engage in an class with other adults.  Then when we moved here, I didn't want Ella missing out on the fun, so started doing a similar class to what she'd get otherwise.  Then Noah came along and he joined right on in.

I think this pic is Noah's first little class we did.  Ella is handing him his Bible...aww.

For the first couple of years of their lives their class has centered around "God made the world, God made me, God loves me'.  Lots of songs and lots of props.  And lots of emphasis on being loved and treasured by God.  One of their absolute favorite things from the infants class is where we read a special message in their Bibles (the same one every week!)  Noah especially loves this.  I open their little Bibles, hold their index finger and we read 'God made Noah! God loves Noah!'  And then they squeal and laugh.  So funny!  And the great part is that I didn't have to come up with these ideas on my own.  Before leaving Round Rock, I video recorded a class so I could learn the songs and so on.  Thanks to the fearless teachers who've gone before me!

More recently we've been learning about other things from our Bibles as well -- stories of people who encountered God, loved God, obeyed God, disobeyed God, told other people about Him -- you get the drift.  I don't want to just bombard them with facts and try to find activities that help engage their mind, their heart and their hands...helping them to look upward, inward and outward, if that makes sense.

Today was about Abraham.  We talked about how God spoke to Abraham and Abraham listened.  He did what God asked him to do and he trusted God.  Since he and his family lived in tents, we made a tent out of a sheet thrown over chairs and that's where the kids sat for the story.

And then, after talking about how God told Abraham to move to a foreign place, we packed up the tent and our things and moved on (in this case the other end of the room!)

The kids were quite intrigued!

And then for some craft.  Abraham got some cotton wool for a beard.  I told Ella that Abraham was already old at this time . . . older than Grammy and Pa!!!  She liked that!

Then glitter to decorate stars to remind us of God's promise to Abraham; that his children would be more than the stars in the sky!

And as a special treat today, we even made star cookies.  They may have even been a little glittery from our craft (though we did wash hands!)

And here's our finished craft.  With two Abrahams, cause I have two kids, you know.  And I get oh, so tired of picking up two crafts from the floor, so we just made one poster.  :-)

As a parent, physical growth is amazing.  The emergence of speech has left me, well, speechless at times.  It's incredible to watch them navigate the world around them by sitting, crawling, standing, walking, running.  To now jumping and balancing on their heads!

But nothing, absolutely nothing, will top watching my kids grow in their understanding of God!  How much they are loved and cared for by Him, and in knowing that God has been, and will always be, faithful and with them!  What a privilege to grow in faith together.  And the great part is, I'm human, I make mistakes, I fail my kids . . . but it isn't all up to me . . . God makes Himself known and these little hearts can receive it so tenderly!  (And thank you to the fantastic people who've also taught my kids, shared ideas, and taken the time to put great ideas on the internet to make our job much, much easier and more fun!)

Canberra

Whoa, another blog post!  So many (four?!) after such a long hiatus.  I've been looking through pictures and realizing that even when times have felt really hard, there have been a lot of bright spots!  Take our dear friends in Canberra, the Jennings for example.

Each year, we do our best to visit each other once (so a trip to Canberra for us, and a trip to Wollongong for them) and then we meet up at Camp Challenge from Dec 27-Jan 1 each year and get to enjoy five nights of fun and relaxation.  Good, good times.

I can't remember exactly when we went this year.  April, perhaps?  You can tell by the pictures it was already beginning to get chilly there.  We got up early one morning to see launch of some hot air balloons.  Such brave souls we are waking our four kiddos.

So we went.  And we waited.  And waited.  And . . . waited.  And then finally learned that due to the direction of the winds, the hot air balloons wouldn't launch and they were just inflating them for our viewing pleasure.  Oh well.  They really were quite amazing.  And on the way home we were able to see lots of balloons that were able to take off from another location.

Back at the house, Ella and Lily entertained themselves with these little puppies.  Ella has since talked about 'wanting a little dog that I can tie a string around it's neck and drag it along behind me.'  I'm pretty sure she means this is the kindest, most humane way possible.

We also got in a little play time with Bailey and Charlotte, who looks like a little doll!  Ella was sooo happy!

Is it just me or do these boys look a little perturbed at us interrupting them to take a picture?!

I would LOVE to know what world problem these boys are solving

Or maybe they were just figuring out how to get the chickens to come out of the garden.

Our traditional kid-pile-up picture...Noah (aww those fingers!), Ella, Eli, Lily, Bailey and Charlotte.  Gorgeous kids.  We are blessed!

And . . . a bath pic, of course.  Gotta have a few of these on hand for the future. And yes, those are popsicles!

The kids have such fun together.  It is crazy.  Meal times are wild.  The sleepovers (Lily and Ella) were a success!  Toys and dress ups are shared.  Sometimes mediation and negotiations are required.  But for four kids under four, at the time, I think they do so well together.  And as for us adults, well, we hardly come up for air with all the talking over tea and chocolate, and at any other minute we can grab.  We love you, Jennings family!

Open wide, come inside . . .

It's Playschool!  And it is a gem.  My kid's love Playschool and I love it for them, too.  Creative (most of the props are handmade with everyday items), engaging and not hyper-stimulating, like so many of the flashy, fast-moving, animated shows that have become the norm for kids.  When we first moved here and I watched my first episode in a long time, I was very unimpressed, but soon grew to love it for it's brilliant simplicity.

And . . . Playschool goes Live in Concert and came to Wollongong!  So, being the faithful fans we are, we paid our $14.50 (deal!) and saw Big Ted and Jemima live from the toddler moshpit.  Both Ella and Noah were quite reserved about the whole ordeal.  Ella, especially, tends to be very clingy in new situations and the more I push, the more she retreats.  Hmm, come to think of it, she reminds me of someone else I know! 

Enjoying herself ever so cautiously.  Jason on the other hand was having a GREAT time!

Mesmerized!

Meeting Rachael and Jay after the show 

And it should be known that this was actually my first ever concert!  I'll be taking the cool factor up a few notches though when Kiala takes me to see Coldplay in a couple of months.  Hope I can handle it!

Flashback / Fast Forward?

Never having been a wedding dreamer as a child, teen or young adult for that matter, (though I DID enjoy my wedding!) I find it fun/alarming/puzzling/sweet that Ella is SO into getting married.  At least once a day, my children marry each other.  Dressed often as superman but almost always with a King's cape, Noah has even taken to going down on one knee for his bride!

A few nights ago, a distressed Jason called me into the kid's room so that I could 'explain to Ella why she couldn't kiss boys'.  The conversation was gut churning and yet hysterical.  She is only JUST four, after all.  'But I already love them' she said when I suggested that for now, kissing is best reserved for people she really loves -- like family...her mum, dad and Noah.  I guess this is what happens when you encourage very open communication with kids.  Their minds wonder and wander from so early on.

And then last night, Ella was nagging me about my wedding dress.  'Where is it? Can I wear it?', she kept asking.  I thought perhaps Jason had been talking to her about my dress or showed pictures of her BFF, Lily, who recently dressed up in her mum's wedding dress.  But no, it seems, (unless Ella and Lily are texting late at night) this was all from her.  Those two girls seem quite connected though!  They're just five days apart in age and would be happy if their only clothes were dress-ups.  Each year, we spend 5 nights together at a Christian family camp.  I can only imagine the conversations they might have late into the night as they grow.  Back to Ella's request -- inspired by Kate's gift to Lily of letting her play in her wedding dress, and Ella's curiosity and persistence, I thought 'why not?'  And so today we opened a box which has been sealed since January of 2002!

First came the veil, which wasn't actually sealed with the dress.  In fact when Ella was not quite 6 months old, I placed the veil on her when we first moved to Australia, after going through my things at mum's house.

Doesn't every bride check on her Bearded Dragon Lizards while getting ready?

The anticipation builds!  The box is brought down from the closet

Someone was a little bit delighted!  Oh and in case you're wondering if I rushed out to pick some flowers as a prop?  No, I didn't.  Ella picked these yesterday and as soon as she had the dress on said 'Mum!  Please get those flowers for me!'  She knows how a wedding should roll!

I'm not sure what I've been saving my wedding dress for.  I realize that the chances of Ella choosing to wear my dress are probably pretty low, and not something I had my heart set on anyhow (although I would be thrilled should she marry and want to wear it!)  What fun to see her joy and delight in trying on my dress.  We've long told her stories of how her Mum and Dad met, and fell in love and of our wedding day.  Tonight she played with my wedding ring on my finger while I sang "Jesus Loves Me" to her.  I wonder if she will remember this day?

This doesn't come without angst for me as a parent, but with all her curiosity and great enthusiasm for weddings and getting married, it makes for a perfect way to share with her how special marriage is.  We talk about how maybe one day she might meet a man who loves God and who will love her and be very kind to her (keep it simple, right?!)  Today she smiled big and nodded her head and said 'yeah, and we can spend the REST of our lives together!'

Now if only Jason will let her out before she's say, 30.

Making a comeback?

So the blog has fallen by the wayside. I'm not sure I want to keep at it, but since it's virtually my kid's (virtual) baby book, I'll see if I can get back into it. So, let's attempt a catch-up. Ella is 4 and Noah will soon be 3. This is sounding a bit like my last blog post...reporting on ages :-)

These two are something else. They spend their days playing together -- mostly marrying each other. Ella dresses as a Princess and Noah usually as Spiderman. At Ella's request he (usually) dons his cape, making him a King and fit to be her groom. (It isn't acceptable for Ella to marry someone without a cape and usually brings great distress on the whole family if Noah doesn't comply) Ella has proudly mastered toilet training! We are proud of her (and just plain thankful!) Noah is doing pretty well, too. We recently decorated a potty with truck stickers and I guess this pleased him well! And the boy loves his chocolate -- so since we've cut out most all sugar loaded snacks at home, he's all the more keen to sit himself down and earn a chocolate chip. Isn't that something, eleven months without blogging and the first things I peck out on my blog are about my kid's marrying and using the potty. But these are our days. The kids are enjoying spending one day a week at a preschool. It's so great to see them so settled and learning. They're also swimming once a week, and as a friend suggested, we might ought to look for gills on our kids -- in particular Noah. Ella, too, has such confidence in the water and is doing great at learning to swim. On Sunday evenings, we still open our home to anyone who wants to come. If you come, consider yourself warned that our kids will be all over you and begging you to do this or that with them. They're so welcoming and loving...it is no wonder that Jesus tells us to be like little ones! While the adults have a Bible study, conversation, sharing time, I usually take the kids out and do a Bible class for them. I've done some kind of class with them since Ella was about 8 months old. I imagine it just gets better and better but I sure love this time with them. I love Ella's insight and both of their excitement and joy about it. I love what they can remember and the connections they make. And I LOVE to hear them chat about these things on their own. Recently we talked about having faith as small as a mustard seed. That was about three weeks ago. Just today while munching on some strawberries, I heard Ella say 'Noah do you see the seeds...this seed is small but will grow into something so big!'

(proudly displaying their craft from the week we talked about the 10 lepers and about saying 'thank you') Of course I have loads of hopes and dreams for my kids, but nothing greater or more important to me than that they know how treasured they are by God, and that they will know and love Him and have JOY in following Him. Well, not quite a full update, but we'll see how this blogging things goes from here!