Updates and pics

It's been sooo long since I've updated this blog. So, I'll let some of the pictures do the talking...

Somewhere around January 30th we got 11 inches of snow, then another 4 inches a couple days later. It was so deep the girls only made it this far out the back door before getting tired out. I guess if I were trying to walk in snow as deep as my chest, I'd get tired too. When it melted down a little, we made great snowladies and Hannah and Mike made a really cool tunnel.

Annual George Link visit: February 18th our friend George came to visit us on his way through from Kentuky to Illinois. Not sure if we're exactly on the way, but we are so grateful to get to spend time with a good friend! He brought back souveniers from Haiti (where he does lots of mission work) for all of us. A wooden carving of the map of Haiti for me and Mike, and beautiful stone neclaces for the girls. Hannah and Alli were able to give George the money they had been saving up "to feed the kids in Haiti."

Cousin's Sleepover I: Julie went to Chicago to get her visa for her trip to China, so we were happy to get Grace, Hope, and Joy overnight and the next day (February19-20)! As you can see, what sleepover is complete without some princesses, some fairies, and some pajama girls? We made puppets, mostly just because I ran out of paper for them to draw on! :) We had fun!

Alli's 4th Birthday!!!! When I asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she said, "A purple cake with yellow frosting in the shape of a butterfly...AND, pancakes with strawberries." She didn't even ask for any toys. So we took the girls to International House of Pancakes for lunch! She had fun making the cake with me, we used food coloring to make the inside purple. She got some cute books, a movie she loves, some screaming rocket balloons, and an aquarium with two frogs and a snail. She named them "Beauty, Celeste, and Charlie." (Update: one frog died after a few days, and the other wasn't lookin' so hot, so they went for a "swim" down the toilet. The snail is in a cup of water. We're going to plant a terrarrium in the aquarium. haha )

Look at this amazing tower Hannah built! It got knocked down and she rebuilt it just for this photo.

March is great kite-flying weather!

Carrie's 2nd birthday!! Since we celebrated Alli's just a few days before, it seemed like a week-long party! The girls and I made white cupcakes with pink frosting and sprinkles.

Cousin's Sleepover II: Julie went to China to visit her sister and her niece, so Hope and Joy stayed here for 3 days (March 16-19)! We did every fun thing we could think of--painting birdhouses, picnic, tie-dye, walks to the playground, etc. We had a blast!

...and that's all for now!!! Whew, sorry to you dial-up people!

Signs of spring

Yesterday I heard a Red-winged blackbird, a sure sign of spring! And today we went for a nice muddy walk with my parents. They're in town for Hannah's preschool "grandparent's day." She has been excited about this for two weeks. In her class they have practiced songs and decorated their room for the grandparents. It is so nice to have the grandparents here! We're having so much fun just playing together with the kids.

A few days ago as we were eating, Hannah interpreted some scripture for us. She said, "Jesus doesn't like to eat alone. You know why? Because 'Man does not eat bread alone.'"

Carrie likes to say Grandma ("Ghee-ma") and Grandpa ("Kee-pa"). And when she laughs at something she says, "Huh, fffunnnyyy, Carrie."

Alli likes to show off that she can do the splits. Ouch!

It's been so long

Ok, so it's been so long that I hardly remember what I haven't written down. We've had Thanksgiving and Christmas. And right now I'm writing from the Smoky mountains while Mike and I are at Christian Camp Leaders conference. Let's start here and work our way back. Gene and Kathy are watching the kids at our house while we're here. I love the Smokies, I think they're prettier than the Rockies. We're staying at the Billy Graham Conference center, and we met Will Graham (Billy Graham's grandson) who works here. We miss the girls, can't wait to get home, but while we're here, we're enjoying the scenery and the friends.

Christmas: We drove and drove and drove this Christmas, but it was fun and the kids did well. First, we went to Joplin for the Proctor family Christmas at Katie's house. It was so much fun to have all the cousins together. We had a Pajama party with breakfast for supper one night, a Feliz Navidad mexican dinner another night. One day it was up in the 60s so we rode 4-wheelers and played outside. Fun stuff! We were able to spend an evening with my sister Rachel and Mark, too, and the kids had fun there too! Then we went to visit Great grandpa Proctor, then Great grandma Weede, and the next day on to La Harpe to see my sister Sarah and John and Mom and Dad. We had a fun evening that first day, Mom and Dad watched the girls while Sarah and John and Mike and I went to Macomb for some horseshoes. No, not the game! Horseshoes are an Illinois food, yum! The next day Rachel and Mark arrived and the house was full of kids ages 6,5,4,3,2, and 1! Running, screaming, laughing, and playing filled the house. We had fun being all together--the only time since last Christmas that we've been able to get all together.

Thanksgiving: Mark and Julie invited us to celebrate Thanksgiving with them again this year. Julie's parents and her brother and his family come, too, so we have a lot of fun! The kids played dress-up, and they danced and ran around while Mark played the piano. We are so thankful to have family nearby.

Other: Hannah has been saying some funny things lately. She's been making everything into a sermon. For example, the other day as she was washing her hands she said, "You know, the bubbles take away the dirt off our hands, just like God takes the dirt and sin off us us!" Alli is such a little helper, she loves her frilly apron that Grandma Humphrey made her and she wears it almost everyday. She will do anything--taking dirty laundry to the basket, little pieces of trash to the can, etc. and she comes back to see if there is anything else I need. Carrie has been saying all sorts of new words. She is funny when whe tries to stick up for herself against the other girls. She says, with a growl, "No Alli! No Hannah! Stop it!" then she curls her nose up and laughs!

stitches, spelling, snowsuits, and soapbox

Last weekend we tried out the new pizza place in Trafalgar. I didn't take much for the girls to play with since I figured we wouldn't have to wait long--it's Trafalgar after all, how many people in a town this big could order pizza at one time? The answer, of course, is just about every single person in town. Also, it's mainly a pick-up place. They have seats, but your best bet is to order ahead and then get there, wait in line 20 minutes, get your pizza 20 minutes after it's done, and take it home to eat. There was a steady line about 8-10 people long waiting for their orders. But the pizza was good. Anyway, that's beside the point. While we were there, Hannah randomly asks, "How did your babies come out of your belly?" Luckily in my case I have an easy answer to that question. I said, "They cut a hole in my belly, get the baby out, and close it up." She jokingly said, "Well, how do they close it up, cause they don't sew it." "Actually, they do," I answered. Then she said really loud, "OH! I AM NOT HAVING ANY BABIES! I DO NOT WANT THEM TO SEW ON ME!" Alli said, "While I was in your belly, I didn't cry did I. No, I was a good baby."

Hannah's been learning to read at home. She can sound out some words and she can read some words, so I decided to get some early reader books from the library and give her the satisfaction of reading an entire book. She likes it, but it's amazing how many exceptions there are in our language. I have to keep saying, "These letters together say "___", but a few words later those same letters say something completely different. Anyway, she told me her thoat hurt and was saying, "O-U! O-U! Get it Mom? Ow?"

Alli twists her hair and sucks her thumb just like Hannah. But Alli takes a smaller piece of hair and twists it so tight that it gets in knots. Yesterday she woke up from her nap and looked like she had five little antennae sticking out of her head because she twists and twists and then folds it over and it twists onto itself and then twists again. Kinda like miniature dreadlocks.

Carrie can be jealous and bossy at times with her sisters. I've been watching a little three year old, Anna Beth, four days a week and that brings out the jealousy even more. When Anna Beth walks in the door, Carrie immediately says, "A-Besh! Sh! Shh! Stop!" as if she's already getting into "Carrie's things." She's a sweet girl, though and is easy to take care of.

Today we woke up to a little layer of snow covering the ground. I thought it would be fun for the girls to play in it. So I helped them get dressed. That took about half an hour. Hannah dressed herself and was waiting to go outside patiently, but I knew that by the time I got the others dressed she would be ready to come in so I made her wait for everyone together. Carrie cried for most of that half hour because she didn't want her boots on. I should have left them off anyway cause she didn't like the cold and cried when I took her out there. Would have saved myself one dose of the crying if I had let her go out there barefooted instead of fussing over the boots since she cried anyway when we got out there. Anyway...they liked it kindof. They played for about 20 minutes. Pretty good I thought, and no one had to come in to go potty! Yay! But that was at 8:25 this morning, so we had a long morning to fill with indoor playing and crafts. We made turkeys and glued on tissue paper tail feathers.

I've been going to the Morgan County Jail to help a friend teach Bible study two Thursdays a month. I love it! The girls there are just soaking it all up. Nine of them accepted Jesus and were baptized a couple weeks before I started. They baptized them in a livestock water trough. They are so desparate for a Savior. Most of them I think are in for drugs/alcohol (but I don't know for sure), and I was saying to Mike the other day that it is only by the grace of God that we aren't there in their place. Many of them had decent lives, but just got caught up in something. Some grew up in Christian homes, one planned on going into the ministry, one has a son who is an intern for John McCain, etc. Basically, many of them are just normal average people like us, and we have been protected from all that. Anyway, it's so encouraging to see these girls (most of them are younger than me!) who are "safe" from all those influences, they are clean and sober, and they are at the end of their rope and they are ready for a change. Not every female inmate comes to Bible study, sometimes 2/3 of them, usually 1/2. I expected that they would be skeptical, just wanting an evening out of their cells, but they are interested, they ask questions, they write down any scripture reference we make so they can look it up in their free time, they memorize verses to earn a Bible--and they are so thrilled to receive it! It's not prison, it's just the county jail. So, they might be held waiting for their sentence, etc. Anyway, they are typically there one year or less, so they are coming back out into the community and going to need to be welcomed into a church family and helped along in their faith. They are going to need to be strong to resist the same old influences, they are going to need to make a serious change in order to not be back in jail again. Most of them have kids, many of them young kids like mine. Some of them don't know where they are, just that they are in the foster system, but they don't have contact with them. Who knows what their foster parents are telling the kids about their mom? I admit I would have been one to say, "They should have loved their kids enough to stop whatever they were doing." But drugs don't say that, and if no one else in their life was a positive influence... And really it doesn't matter now, what matters is that these girls change their lives so that it won't happen again. They are so sad to be separated from their kids, and maybe that's punishment enough. When they get out, they need to make strong connections in a church that will support them and accept them and help them. Trish and I are the only women's Bible study, there are at least 3 men's Bible studies. So there is room for more as the jail staff is open to it. Right now we can only go twice a month, but pray that we will be allowed to go every week and that we would be allowed to have one-on-one discussions with the girls too. So pray for these girls. And maybe your county jail needs a Bible study. okay, I'll get off my soapbox now.

Fall pictures

More silly sayings...and some sentimental

I don't remember how this conversation got started, but we ended up talking about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (not sure about the spelling, but this isn't English class). I told Hannah that I had heard on the news that morning about a lady from South Africa who was a missionary in Afghanistan working to help people with disabilities. I explained that there is a group of people called the Taliban who were mean to her because she was "spreading Christianity." They don't know God and they don't understand that His son Jesus is the only way to heaven, and they got mad at her. You can read it here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,440841,00.html
Anyway, Hannah was listening carefully then said very seriously, "Mom, I know what we need to do. We need to get a Bible--maybe a bunch of them. And send it to the guys who don't know about God. And we need to get a piece of paper and write down all the important stuff for them to know about and put that on top of the Bible. That way they will know about God and won't be mean to people anymore." She thought a minute more and said, "Mom, can I change my mind about something? Can I change my roller skate bank to be for Bibles instead?" (Ever since she went to a friend's house and played with their roller skates it has been all she can think about. She started a piggy bank and will do all kinds of jobs to earn money, and even though we never told her this, she says that if she isn't nice and kind then she won't get paid! But when she first started saving for it she wanted to take the money she had been saving for two years to send to Haiti and use it for skates. We explained that the Haiti money is for the kids in Haiti and she can't take that away from them to use on herself. So in this instance she was asking if it would be ok to use skate money to to toward Bibles, and of course, the answer is yes. And just for that, I think she'll see skates under the tree at Christmas!) Then she thought a little bit and asked, "Mom, would it be ok if I went over to that place and helped them learn about God?" I told her that if God wanted her to that she would go no matter what, but she needs to listen to what God wants her to do. I hope he wants her in a safer place, but wherever he leads...

On a lighter note!... Some funny things Alli has said:
"My tongue is like a napkin." (When I asked her to use her napkin to wipe her face.)

Yesterday there were a lot of jet trails in the sky, and the girls were pointing them out. Alli argued, "That's not a real plane, that's just a toy one. See the rope on the back of it?"

This past weekend the girls' cousin, Joy, got bapized so we went to celebrate with them. When it was time to leave their house to come home Alli got close to Mark and said quietly, "I like your children."

Hannah has been giving "re-useable hugs and kisses." Sometimes I'll ask her for just one more kiss after she has already given one and she'll say, "No, that last one was a re-useable." Or, at bedtime I'll kiss her and she'll ask, "Is that a re-useable?" She even asked Gramma Kathy this past weekend (they were here for the baptism as well)!

Silly sayings

A recent conversation with Hannah and I went like this:
Hannah: "Mom, I don't want to go to outer space."
Me: "Why not?"
Hannah: "Because...I wouldn't be able to find America without the words on there."
Me: (Just to be sure) "What words?"
Hannah: "You know--the words on the globe!"

There is a boy in Hannah's class in Preschool that Hannah says "acts mean to everyone." We were explaining to her that she still needs to be his friend anyway, and Michael said, "Sometimes if a boy bothers you, it's just because he likes you." I interjected, "--As a friend!" The next day Hannah came home from school and said, " I know (this boy) loves me 'cause he treats me bad. And I'm gonna go back and tell my other friends that he treats us bad because he loves us!" I had to kinda straighten that out a little.

When Alli is thirsty she says, "I'm stirsty."

Alli doesn't like people to laugh at her, but that's really hard because she's sooooo funny! If she thinks we're laughing at her for something she gets really serious and says, "Don't LAUGH at me!" Which makes it even harder to keep a straight face!