David's Third Birthday

David turned three-years-old on April 26! We had a great time celebrating him and thanking God for him!

Here are some things we enjoyed:
- A train cake




- Cowboy boots from his brother




- A Lightening McQueen Sleeping Bag



- A pass to the Zoo and Science Center for our family from Pappap and Grandma



- A party with Bonura cousins in Louisville



- A very cool police hat and fire helmet from Gramps and Grammy



- A firefighter celebration with Anderson cousins in Missouri











- Family time at a Louisville Cardinals' Baseball Game
















Also, chewing his first gum first thing on David's birthday morning was much anticipated and he is enjoying that privalege!

We thank God for David! And we had a great fun birthday celebration! :-)

David's Scripts

David (just turned three-years-old) sometimes has ideas of how conversations should go. I think he scripts them in his mind.

1. David was talking in a very whiny voice. I told him firmly, "Please close your mouth and do not speak again until you can talk in a clear calm voice."

He immediately replied in a clear calm sweet voice, "No, Mama, you say, 'Awwww, David, what's wrong?"

Oh wow - I was definitely taken back by his reply! And I thought to myself, "We are not going by your script, David, but by mine!"


2. David was sitting with me on the back outdoor steps, watching Daniel and two friends (ages almost-five and two) play in a puddle in our driveway. David suddenly yelled across the yard to the boys, "Hey guys! (pause) Hey guys!"

Daniel replied from the puddle, "What, David?"

David said loudly, "Say, 'David, come on!'"

Daniel, confused, responded again, "What, David?"

David repeated from the steps, "Say, 'David, come on!"

So Daniel motioned and yelled across the yard, "David, come on!"

And David replied casually, "Naw, I'm sitting with Mom," and he leaned over to cuddle with me.

?????? Maybe he just wanted to be wanted by the boys! :-)

Stomach Flu and Salad?

Both our boys like salad. Real salad - with veggies in it! Maybe it is because we only feed them one meal a day and it is always salad?! Just kidding.

Daniel (4 years 9 months - he's counting!) especially prefers salad. He will choose a salad at a restaurant every chance he gets - even over a burger and fries! And he likes cool dressings -- honey mustard, poppy seed, raspberry vinaigrette, etc.

Today Daniel woke up with the stomach flu. After throwing up for the 2nd time, he moaned, "Mom, I don't want breakfast, (sigh), and I don't want lunch. (sigh) But I do want dinner."

I was thinking "That's reasonable - maybe you'll be feeling better by dinner time."

Then Daniel added, "I do want dinner - if we are having salad."

Hmmmm ... generally we follow the stomach flu with toast and Sprite. Salad?!?

Homecoming 2006 - Naked Toddler Jumping!

Oct 2006 - We went to Taylor University Homecoming. Professors from each major were in the gym so students could come visit with them. Lots of kids were jumping on the pole vault mat at one end of the gym, so we let Daniel (almost 2 1/2 years old at the time) join them as we visited.

Suddenly, from across the gym, Joseph saw Daniel start to take his shirt off, so he excused himself from his conversation and started walking towards him. In the mean time, as Daniel proceeded to take off his pants, Joseph started running across the gym towards him. Daniel continued to undress, until he was happily jumping on the mat in nothing but his socks!!!

After increasing to a full sprint, Joseph tackled Daniel to cover him! As he began to re-dress Daniel, and he asked, "Daniel, what were you doing? Why did you take your clothes off?"

Daniel answered simply, "I was hot!" :-)

2006-2007

I found some memories I jotted down from 2006-2007. Here they are ...

1. Oct 2006 - Daniel (2 yrs 4 months) prayed, "Thank you God that you are so kind and gentle."

2. Oct 2006 - We potty trained Daniel, at the encouragement of our dear friend Amy Morello, who was potty training her twins Alex and Peter! It is always better to potty train with a friend, right?!

3. Nov 2006 - Daniel (2 1/2 years old) had an ear infection, and after we explained this to him, he said, "Does David have an ear-itation, too?" :-)

4. Feb 2007 - Daniel (2 2/3 years old) was repeatedly struggling to stay in his toddler bed, and so he had been disciplined quite a bit. This led to two notable conversations:

- Over time we had shared with him that Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment for our sin. After being disciplined again for getting out of bed, Daniel asked with a deep sigh, "When will Jesus take my discipline?"

- Later he asked, "Mama, when you lived with Gramps and Grammy, and when you slept in the bed I sleep in [he usually slept in my old room on Belleridge Pike] , and when you got out of bed, did you get disciplined?" Yep, sure did, son!

When I am afraid ...

David's (almost 3) memory verse for Sunday School is Psalm 56:3, "When I am afraid, I will trust in You, God."

One of the teachers reviewed the verse with the kids as she got their snack. After saying the verse with them, she asked, "So, children, what do we do when we are afraid?"

David answered enthusiastically, "We run, run, run, run [picture him pumping his little arms in a running motion] ... weally weally wast [really, really fast] ... and go hide!"

The other boys chimed in passionately, "Yeah! We hide from the monster!"

Monster?!? The teacher said all thoughts of the memory verse were lost at this point as the boys discussed the monster and what do to about him!

And all she was asking for was "I will trust in You, God." :-)

Quotables

Daniel (4 1/2 years old) commented tonight while eating a McDonald's Sundae, "Ice cream is the best thing in the world, (reflective pause), except for Jesus!" :-)

David (almost 3), was talking about food he likes, including "maca-cheese 'n roni." :-)

Hydrangea Hair

We just got home from a pleasant couple days at Joseph's parents' house in Pennsylvania. The following conversation was hilarious to us as we enjoyed lunch after church. Gigi is Joseph's grandma, Daniel's Great-grandma. You'll also need to know that there was a vase on the counter filled with a bouquet of hydrangea blossoms.

Daniel, sincerely: Gigi, when I came in the door I thought those flowers were you because they look like your hair.

Gigi, matter-of-factly: Well, thank you, I think those flowers are lovely.

Daniel reiterated: The flowers make me think of you because they look like your hair. They are the same shape, but they aren't the same color.

Gigi, with good humor: I could probably do something about that! :-)

"Dig"

I generally pick out our boys clothes, but today I went in David's room (he'll be three-years-old in April) and found that he had sorted through his shirt drawer to find just the right one - messing up all the piles in the process.

I called him into his room and said firmly, "David, you cannot dig through this drawer."

His quick response, "But Mom, I'm an excavator!" :-)

Are you okay?

Daniel is learning to sound out some simple words. Tonight in the car, he confidently declared, "I know how to spell 'Are you okay?'"

"Oh, really?" we said, curiously.

He answered, "R-U-O-K!" :-)

He's ready to text message! :-)

Power Outages and Grandma Anderson

Well, from recent ice storms, a power line to our house was down and we were without power for a week. Our swing set was crushed and our fence was damaged on all three sides! These pictures were taken from our back door. But we were thankful our neighbor's house, our house, our car and our shed didn't get hit!

Joseph and I and the boys stayed a night at Joseph brother Doug's house by the fire place ;-), and then a night with good friends from church. On Friday the boys and I drove to my parents' in MO and Joseph stayed at the Bitners' (his sister who lives 6 miles from us).


The Lord's timing was very kind. My-86-year old grandma lives in the same town as my parents in the alzheimer's wing of a nursing home. On Saturday (while I was in MO because of the power outages) the nurses called and said she had been struggling to eat. We visited her that evening, and she was indeed have great difficulty swallowing - one of the last stages of alzheimer's. On Sunday, she was nearly unresponsive. On Monday the nurses called and said the end was near. So, because I was in town, I was able to sit with her for a couple hours. She died later that night very peacefully while Dad sat with her. The Lord was very merciful to her (and to my dad!) because she wasn't in pain.

The unusual thing about her passing was that my mom couldn't be there. Her dad had knee replacement surgery two hours away the same day Grandma died, and Mom needed to be there to care for her dad. So, the Lord's timing was kind that I could be there with my dad and help make arrangements, etc. This helped puts mom's mind as ease since she couldn't be there to help Dad. What a crazy situation!

Our power returned Tuesday, so the boys and I came home on Wed. Joseph, Daniel and I left on Fri morning to go to IL for Grandma's visitation and funeral. We were so thankful that Grandma and the Lord were honored in the funeral. My brother got to share during the service from Grandma's favorite passages of Scripture - those she could still quote even when she couldn't remember anything else, and those passages that were very well marked in her Bible and catechism book. Very special. The pastor also did a lovely job of honoring God for the evidence of His work in Grandma. Very meaningful. We will certainly miss her, and we are thankful for life on earth and her eternal life!

It has been a whirlwind couple weeks, but we are warm, fed, together and have much to be thankful for.

... in a size 4T??

We have a good friend, Harry Miles, who played college football for the Citadel in South Carolina. He is now a very good high school head football coach in Savannah, GA. We recently enjoyed a lovely visit with Harry and his wife Sarah. (Sarah is my dear friend from high school - we've been friends for over half our lives! Wow!)

Harry is still a big, strong man! 6'4" and thick with muscle! The boys REALLY liked seeing Harry's Citadel football helmet and he even let them try it on. Then he got out his BIG jersey from when he played at the Citadel. It seemed almost as tall as Daniel!

When Daniel saw this real football jersey, his eyes were wide with amazement. He asked Harry with all sincerity, "Do you have one in a size 4T?" :-)

Daniel and David felt pretty cool swimming in the jersey and helmet!

Texas Cousins!

We just enjoyed a very fun visit with my brother Jonathan and Christy and their girls - Anna (6), Abby (5), Aubrey(3) and Ashlyn (1). Our boys Daniel (4) and David (2) fit right in the age line up! Their family slept in our newly finished basement, and we squeezed 10 around our kitchen table - 4 kids shared 2 chairs and it worked just fine! They left this afternoon after almost a week.

Jonathan went to class at Southern Seminary each day, Joseph worked some and wished he was working some more (we are getting the hang of securing substitute teaching jobs!), and Christy and I grew the babies in our "tummies!"

The kids played and played and played! They played much more wildly than the girls are used to - our boys encouraged them to spy, and our boys talked them into "manly" wrestling (and then we explained that you can't "manly" wrestle with girls!!)! The kids also played more calmly than the boys are used to - lots of playing "house," and David is pretty attached to Aubrey's doll that she accidentally left behind! Good times together!

One funny moment (among many!) was when David really surprised two of the girls! They were pretty shocked when they were taking a bath, and David not only let himself in the bathroom, but took off his clothes and got in the tub with them ... and then proceeded to pee in the tub!!

We played Wii, ate sushi, went swimming, got a flat tire fixed, watched videos for rest time, played with Bonura/Bitner cousins, watched football, ate more junk than usual, had good conversations and thanked God for our time together!

By the way, as you can see, it is a near miracle to get six kids to hold still and look at a camera at the same time - and we didn't have a miracle this time! :-)