I am too tired to play around with the layout of these pictures, so despite my frustration I will leave them as they are and you can pretend they are all evenly spaced and fall into place with the corresponding paragraphs. You’re all smart people I trust you can figure it out.
It is Tuesday…I have so much to catch up on but I don’t know where to begin. I’m a little tired right now too since it’s almost 10:00 so I’ll just mention a few things that stand out in my mind.
Kris and I are trying to teach Owen to be polite. I imagine most parents do that. He is often demanding and is becoming argumentative and we try to curb that by reminding him of his please and thank you’s and encouraging the Southern “Yes, ma’am/sir” in his responses. “I want more cracker!” is met with “how do you ask?” and the quick “please!” doesn’t do the trick. We want the whole thing rephrased and tempered with some respect. Three words will do wonders for any request and they are “May I please…” The other night we knew that we had finally hammered it home when Owen demanded his desire to watch Sesame Street and Kris requested a more polite approach. Owen’s response…”May I please have some…watch Sesame Street!”
Ivan is 12 weeks old today. He’s continuing to grow and change and has developed a wonderful smile that turns to laughter more often than not. He is a joy.
Friday we had the privilege of taking care of the three Fadely children. I mean that Tisra. They are wonderfully active, animated and adorable. Owen loves having them and woke up from his nap so happy because Grant and Dean were standing over him. They had a blast playing upstairs except for a few moments of frustration when the three opinions of a 5 year old an almost 3 year old and a 2 year old couldn’t find middle ground. Thankfully they are all pretty easily distracted. We watched “My Dog Skip” and read stories and chased Lael around the kitchen. She is soooo cute. The gleam in her eye was intense and the chick has picked up some speed. Watch out world!
We had some visitors from out of town on Saturday. Mark and Keri Kornelsen and their daughter Emily (who has a similar gleam in her eyes) were in town from Indianapolis and were able to join us for brunch Saturday morning. It was so nice to catch up with them and see their beautiful daughter. They seem to be doing so well and we easily fell back into conversation just like old times. What a blessing to have friends that share our values, convictions and passions. God is so good.
Also on Saturday, Kris’ mom flew in from Florida to hang out with us for a few days. It is so nice to have a good mother-in-law. I am very blessed in both of my in-laws and just as strongly as I wish my own dad were closer, I truly wish that they lived closer too. As my mother is gone, I am especially grateful for the wisdom, grace and affection that Kris’ mom showers on our family. It is so nice to have someone who loves and appreciates my children with the same passion that I do. To hear her praise them and watch them enjoy her is a blessing and I hope that they will always have a good relationship. We took her to the airport today and her emotions got the best of her as she kissed Owen goodbye…that got me crying by the time I drove off and through my tears I thanked God once again for my wonderful family.
Why is Grant growling at the camera? Thanks again for watching them, you blessed us.
Mark and Keri look great- I would have enjoyed seeing them and meeting little Emily. She’s a cutey.
And, yes, you are very blessed with Kris’ mom- her love for the grandkids and her unstoppable passion for seeing them are wonderful. I’m glad your visit was so lovely.
Wow that does sound busy and I would be just as tired.
It also sounds like it was all worth it, what a wonderful few days you had.
Isn’t it amazing how God is in absolutely everything!
Once while in the process of teaching Chloe manners I tried the “I can’t hear you unless you ask politely” approach. Well, each time I said that she asked louder until she was shouting “I WANT TEA!!!”. It was funny and frustrating. Well, it was more funny than frustrating.
Seeing the pics of Mark and Keri made me wish that I could have seen them. I know we weren’t close friends but when we did see them we always had a good time and good conversation. Their baby is gorgeous. Tell them “hi” for me.
Good in-laws are a true blessing. And it’s always nice to have somebody that is as crazy about your kids as you are- maybe even more so since they see no flaws.
Sounds like a great week!
Wow, you all are busy over there!!!
Tisra’s kids are cute (a girl in the mix, how fun!) and Emily is cute and woweee look at Owen and Ivan. Owen is looking more like a big boy (sorry) and Ivan is growing too!