Broken toe…

It was a day of waiting rooms. 
Marie hurt her foot at the Sky High Trampoline Park in Oregon on June 8th.  Every once in a while – like every 10 days/two weeks – Marie would mention her toe still hurt.  With soccer seasons approaching, we decided we ought to take her to the doctor. 

The boys already had well child checks scheduled for 8:30 AM.  So the receptionist added Marie in to the morning.  Katriel did not want to stay home with Nan so along she came.

The ped sent us to radiology.

Where not only did Katriel make herself comfortable reading books, she also belted out songs from the Muppets movies. 

Toe was broken. 
We made a late afternoon appointment to see the ortho PA.
 
Broken toe.  Post-op shoe.  Plans to re-image in three weeks.  And PRAYERS her foot will heal in time to play soccer. 

Katriel’s art…

It was quiet. 
As in quiet enough for us to whip through devotion….
Where could she be?
She was colorin’. 
“What are you doing, Katriel?”
”I drew a bunny!!!!”

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Tabitha and Johanna set up a “library” in the basement.  Business was lagging, so Tabitha outfitted Johanna in a sandwich-style placard and sent her out to drum up business.

Hidin

It was too quiet the other morning. I grabbed the iPad from the boys and tiptoed in on Katriel who had found my iPhone and activated AmazonVideo...

(I love the way she reacts when she realizes she's been caught.)

Seabreeze Day 2015

It was a fun day.  We did not anticipate a day at Seabreeze this summer.  As a matter of fact, as we were driving home from Darien Lake last month the kids asked if we would be going to Seabreeze this summer.  I said, and I quote, “Unless some crazy awesome discount rate comes up, I just don’t see us going this year.”  The next day I went to work and, lo and behold, employees were being offered a crazy awesome discount rate in lieu of an employee picnic. 

Yee.  Haw. 

Kirek

One of the first great things we noticed when we moved here in 2007 was the preponderance of backyard visitors.  Our first meal in this house had us counting 14 deer in the back yard.  Other visitors have included raccoons in the trees, an occasional fox or coyote, unwanted groundhogs, straying cats and dogs, and bunnies. 

Our favorite are the bunnies.  I’ve always loved bunnies and it seems my kids feel similarly.  Katriel REALLY loves bunnies.  Really, really.

Well, this morning as I was cleaning the kitchen Marie called out to me that something was wrong with a bunny’s ear.  I comforted her, saying that bunnies can actually turn their ears to many angles.  She then asked if bunnies can flop down part of their ear while the rest of it stood up.  This I had to see. 

It looks like this bunny had a go with something.  BUT – since the bunny is still here we decided she must be very smart and brave. 

We quickly took the the business of naming her.  Her?  Yes, Marie said it looked like a girl bunny. 
I typed in “names that mean brave” in the computer that was just next to the window.  Hundreds of names popped up.  I asked Marie to pick a letter.  She selected K.  And then when we saw the name Kirek, she chose that one.  Kirek is an Israeli name that means brave.  PERFECT. 

 

The bunny lingered close to the house.  Really close.  And while she looked up frequently she never scampered off.  Most bunnies do not stay near the house long.  The noises in the house usually send them running.  She moved from near the family room window to around by the living room window by the time the kids assembled for devotion.  Stewart saw her and said, “Oh.  That must be the deaf bunny.”  I asked why he thought she was deaf and pointed out that just because her ear was damaged couldn’t guarantee she could not hear.  He acknowledged that but went on to explain that he and Daddy had encountered a bunny they were sure was deaf because she did not high-tail it off when they were working around the yard noisily.  It was only when she saw them approaching that she darted away. 

This theory was tested and seemingly proven when we had a two-year-old jab on the window, and then again when Marie opened and shut the front door to head out for a photo. 

Yes.  Kirek seems to either REALLY REALLY trust us, or she is hearing impaired.  She has yet to tell us how she sustained the injury to her ear.  We like to imagine that she was pounced upon by a dog, or fox, but because she is so brave and brilliant she escaped death.

/r/ for reward!

We had a speech pathologist come for a few months this spring to help Tabitha polish her /r/ sound.  At first she wasn’t eager to have the lessons.  And there was a considerable amount of daily drills for her to do with me.  But I suggested that we could make a trip to Longhorn Steakhouse once she’d achieved her goal.

 

She made the goal. 

 

We sent this video to her speech teacher.
To God be the glory.

Say it ain’t so…

School prep is an ongoing thing for these disciples.  We made time today to round up books from bookshelves, totes, and newly arrived boxes.
I was showing Stewart some of his books for Literature as Marie looked on.
Stewart hung is head.  Marie exclaimed, “Wow! I REALLY hope the LORD returns before I have to read that!”

Sabbath rest.

Sadly, we don’t get to rest some Sundays. 
But today – we delighted in one another’s company, the sun and warmth, and leftovers.
And we did it all day long. 

Fellowship

Lots of it. 
We used to enjoy a lot of time with friends.  We recognized that we’d gotten pretty rusty.
So, this summer we’ve made a bigger effort this year to actually INVITE over some folks we’ve always said we wanted to spend some fellowship time with. 
It’s been excellent.

Now, all I need is more weekends.  :)

Narnians!

Tab had her friend over after VBS.  Susan and Lucy Pevensie!

Later little sister gave it a try. 
 

VBS at Pittsford CC, 2015

The kids attended or served at Pittsford Community Church’s VBS this year.  It was the 25th year of VBS for the church, and it was our family’s 10 year to attend.  We’ve gone from having two boys in the 4 year old and post-Kindergarten classes, to having the boys both lead, and the girls all attend.  This year I served, as well.   I said I was happy to help anywhere but craft.  At first they put me down for security, but after the first day they asked me to support the P4 (4 year old preschoolers) class.  This was extra cool, because it was where Nigel was serving. 

After three years of being an assistant in Bible Stewart was asked to lead one of the Bible teams.  His friend Brian was assigned to be his assistant and it worked out most excellently. 

Katriel got to go and was put in the 3 year old classroom, even though she is not yet 2½.  She handled it very well, and it was probably more fun for her then 3 hours of nursery time.  I got to see her frequently as her group and the group I was in were out and about.

Nigel served both in the drama and in P4. 
In P4 he brought the bear Akili to life. 

 

He also manned the coloring station.  I was his assistant. 

  

His other role was as Archie Nemesis, the bad guy in the drama. 

Johanna was so happy to see her friend Laura everyday and give her big hugs. 

Thursday was the famous water day.  They had waterslides and obstacle courses for the kids. 

Thursday evening there was an evening program where the kids sang their songs for us. 

 

It was so much fun.  Next year Marie will be old enough to help.  I can’t wait to serve again!!!

What happens when you make cake with fresh berries and forget to eat the leftovers.

Happy Birthday, Marie.

Eleven years old!
We woke her up with a birthday song. 
Doesn’t she look, um, delighted?

It was the first day of VBS and she spent her morning there.
After lunch, her friend Kole came over for the afternoon and evening.


Nan and Nene also joined us for dinner.  Hawaiian pizza was the main dish, with watermelon and pasta salad accompaniment.  Summer-yum food!
Such sweet beauties. 

We had a few gifts, including the song Tabitha played for her.
 
Lots of silly cards from siblings.

 
And a heart-made gift from Kole. 
 
Jammies. 

And cake.  After we all enjoyed Nigel’s cake 11 days earlier, she put in an order for the same chocolate masterpiece.
 
 
She’s so beautiful.  I love her smile.  I love her heart.  I love her.