Abby's new car

I went garage-saleing for 6 hours this past Saturday. A whole bunch of people were having garage sales as part of the "Earth Day" celebrations. I came home with a good number of very useful and needed items, including a twin mattress for our new kid(s) bed, a leather office chair for me, and a car for Abby! While I was out shopping, Randy and Abby went to his parents' house to help on projects around the house. We all had a great time at our tasks.

Abby absolutely LOVES her car!! She was just wiggling with excitement as she drove it for the first time, and quickly perfected the art of getting in and out of it. She can only push it backwards when she's in it so far, so when she gets stuck up against something, she hops out and pushes it away from the blockage, and then hops back in and goes again. She likes storing her blankie on the ledge in the back window.

HI from Abby!

Don't you just love her wild hair?! She went straight to her car after she woke up from her nap... :)

Patience and Solomon

I got to watch my cousin's kids a couple times today while they went to the dentist. Solomon (1 year old) was here for about an hour this morning while Patience went to the dentist, and then both Patience (almost 4 years old) and Solomon were here this afternoon while their mom went to the dentist. It took Abby a bit to adjust to having a boy littler than her here, but she finally got the hang of it pretty good (as well as a 2 year old can). She so much wants to wrestle and play with these kid friends, but most of them don't want to join her in that activity. I got a couple cute pictures of the kids together.

Abby and Solomon...he's not sure about having Abby as his big sister!

Patience


Brother and sister--Patience and Solomon

Very Blessed!

We are so blessed! The first word we hear from Abby in the morning (at least 99.5% of the time) is a cheerful "HI!" She is SO HAPPY when she wakes up! Here's what I found when I went in this morning:

She's been in the habit of taking off her pajamas when she wakes up in the morning. That's why she doesn't have any PJ's on. She also had one side of her diaper unfastened. Good thing I went in there when I did, or she may have been in her birthday suit!

This cheerfulness caused cousin Emily much consternation when they woke up from their naps yesterday, but otherwise the girls played very nicely together. It just made my heart feel so happy and satisfied to hear the girls chattering and playing together! They had a GREAT time in the sand and dirt in the corner of the garden. I snuck out the deck door and took a few pictures from a distance, not wanting to disturb them, but then got up closer and took more pictures. They were having so much fun that the didn't even mind me taking pictures! Abby had dumped a bunch of dirt over Emily's head before I got out there, but it didn't seem to bother her too much. Both girls were filthy by the time they got done playing, but they were happy, and that is what was most important.

Randy snapped a couple pictures of me and Abby on Sunday as we prepared hash browns for breakfast. Some friends had given us a kids sized apron when we got Abby, and I finally hauled it out for her to use. She loved it!

And the reason I can have all these fun times with Abby and my nieces and cousins is because I have a husband who faithfully goes to work every day, even when he doesn't feel like it. I have the most loving, forgiving, humble, kind, hard-working, God-fearing husband in the world! I am spoiled rotten! I love you, Honey!

Good Weekend

We just got home a while ago with several things that God has provided for us for the next part in our journey. He provided a twin bed, dresser, and a crib that has the correct slat size for fostering. Each item had its own story of provision from the Lord. Thank you Lord for providing what we needed for this process.

And what a wonderful weekend of getting things done. I love my wife and daughter! We had a great time together getting things moved and other projects done.

Looking forward to a great Sunday!

The Dentist Was Wrong!

Yep, you guessed it! Another tooth! As we were getting Abby ready for bed tonight, we were talking with her about exciting things in her life recently, and mentioned her new tooth (the one we knew about). She loves it when we talk about her teeth now, and opened her mouth so we could see/feel it. We showed her plenty of excitement about that tooth, and she kept asking for more investigation (and the associated cheering), so we did. We looked and felt in all the gaps around her mouth, and to our surprise, felt a tooth that had just broke thru! This is the other eye tooth on the bottom. The gaps in her mouth are quickly filling up!!! Thank you Lord!!! (and thanks to those of you who have been praying!)

Easter Cookies - followup

Well, the cookies were a flop - literally! They were flat when I pulled them out of the oven on Sunday morning, but I took them to church anyway and we ate them up in class. They tasted fine. Andrew made them with his Dad (with prep help from mom) at home on Saturday and said theirs turned out just fine, so I know the recipe works. Something just went wrong with my preparation. So our "tomb" (cookie) wasn't empty/hollow, but Jesus' tomb is still empty! Praise God!!

P.S. I did an online search for why my egg whites didn't set up (I got a bit of yolk in my whites, and fished it out with spoon and fingers). Here's the link for anyone else who is curious about how to make good meringue.

Christ is Risen!

Happy Resurrection Sunday (a.k.a. Easter)!!! This is my favorite time of year because of the celebration of Christ's death and resurrection, and also because springtime is here.

The two girls from my Sunday School class came over today to make Easter Cookies. (Andrew wasn't able to come. We missed you, Andrew!) It took much longer than anticipated because the egg/sugar mixture wouldn't set up, but it was fun to have the girls over and to work thru this activity together. I don't think they got as much out of it as I did, but that's ok.

Here are some pictures of Alyssa and Josefina, and a copy of the recipe. Thanks Holly for sending the recipe to me!

Alyssa and Josefina are ready to cook!

Mixing the eggs, sugar, vinegar and salt

Putting the finished product onto the cookie sheets

Guarding the "tomb"

Recipe:

Easter Cookies to be made the evening before Easter
You will need to preheat oven to 300 degrees (this is important - don't wait until you're half done with the recipe)!
1 cup whole pecans
1 tsp. Vinegar
3 egg whites
Pinch salt
1 cup sugar
Zipper baggie
Wooden spoon
Tape
Bible

Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested. He was beaten by the Roman soldiers.
Read John 19:1-3.

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. Vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink.
Read John 19:28-30.

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life.
Read John 10:10-11.

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin.
Read Luke 23:27.

So far, the ingredients are not very appetizing.

Add 1 cup sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him.
Read Palms 34:8 and John 3:16.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white Represents -- in God's eyes -- the purity of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.
Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper-covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid.
Read Matt. 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF.

Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed.
Read Matt. 27:65-66.

GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.
Read John 16:20 and 22.

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.
Read Matt. 28:1-9

Sanding, Stickers, Sickness

One of the things on my to-do list is to re-stain some of the trim in our spare bathroom. I started on that project last week, and of course my helper was right there with me! :)

Randy came down with a NASTY version of the flu last Friday. It started with a bad headache and achyness all over, and deteriorated down to "the worst stomache ache I've ever had", complete with vomiting and diarrhea on Saturday night/Sunday. He stayed home from church on Sunday, and missed work on Monday and Tuesday. If you know Randy very well, you know it's hard to get him to miss those things, so that gives you some idea of the severity of this flu bug. I got the lighter version of it (thank you, Lord!), and was just sick on Sunday night. We weren't sure what we would do if both of us came down with Randy's version. Who would watch over Abby? She stayed healthy thru it all (so far), for which we are very grateful.

Abby and I made it to church on Sunday morning and for half the service on Sunday evening. Abby was playing with some stickers as we got ready for church in the evening. Do you see where she decided to place them? :) Silly girl!

Springtime fun

There is nothing better than springtime in Washington. Sunshine, breeze, fresh, clean air, trees and flowers blooming, grass growing, clothes hanging on the clothesline, and DIRT! I reserved an empty flower bed in our yard so Abby can dig in the dirt to her heart's content, and she has been doing that these last few days. She got a little wheelbarrow, cart, shovel, hand rake, and pail for her birthday, and she's been playing by herself so nicely out there in that dirt. It's so much fun to watch her! A couple times she has loaded up her tools into her wheelbarrow and brought it all to the house when she was done playing. Of course, the wheelbarrow had a small load of dirt in it, too, but I was happy to unload that for her outside as a tradeoff for her good work in picking up her toys.

She has also figured out how to pedal her trike! She can barely reach the pedals, but I taught her how to push on one side (which moves the trike forward or back a little bit and allows the other pedal to come up to a height that she can reach it), and then push on the other pedal. She mostly rocks back and forth, but she's getting better at it all the time and can move herself several feet forward or back. We can tell that she's growing taller because her pants keep getting shorter, and so I think she'll be able to ride that trike all over the deck by the time summer is over (maybe even by the time summer gets here!)

Surprise!! It's another TOOTH!!!

I noticed a most exciting sight as I brushed Abby's teeth before bed tonight: She cut another tooth!!! We finally have another bottom tooth, and this one will help fill in a gap between her bottom front teeth and a molar. Her tooth total is now 12 (7 on top, 5 on the bottom). THANK YOU, LORD!!!