Christmas with the in-laws

Kevin and I spent last weekend in Chicago with the Bodines. We realized that for all the times we go to visit my family, we never go downtown. On our first day there we rode the train into the city. We saw the window display at Marshall Fields (Macy's), ate dinner at an English Pub, browsed the International Christmas market, and saw Mama Mia (a late anniversary gift). The show was lots of fun, and we had a really good time.

It has been a long time since we went away, so we were glad for the excuse to be gone for a few days. We (especially me) needed the break. Elinore was totally terrified of my parents' dog. If they were even in the same room, Elinore was in a panic.

We are so excited to be at Mom and Dad W.'s tonight!
Here is Elinore in her Christmas dress. 

Christmas in a cup

A couple of days ago, I was reading someone's blog (someone from the States, though I can't remember who) and they were saying that one of their Christmas traditions was to get a gingerbread latte during the holidays. Now I don't really care much about Starbucks, and if I were in the States I probably wouldn't think twice about it, but we do strange things to try to reconnect with our home culture and at the time I read it, I thought "Hey, I could do that, and maybe I'd feel more like it's Christmas!" Seems kinda crazy, and even now it's hard to explain but as many of you have lived overseas, you probably know how it is. So, even though it cost as much as 4 meals ($2.50) I decided to spend some of my Christmas money on a gingerbread latte. It was tasty and I was kind of enjoying it until I got outside where the sun blazing and I started feeling very hot. Then I wished I'd asked for an iced gingerbread latte. I took off the lid to try to cool it a bit and the very hot latte sloshed down on my bag and leg. So now I was trying to catch a songthaew with my drink in one hand, while trying to hold my latte soaked plastic bag at a distance with the other. Thankfully, I made eye contact and got a songthaew quickly. At last, I could enjoy drinking in peace... except that the songthaew was so bumpy that I couldn't drink from the now lidless cup without splashing myself. "Oh well," I though, "at least I can take a sip when he gets to red lights and lets other people off"...except he sped through all lights and let only one other person off before me. So all the way home (on the songthaew, running across the road, riding the motorbike taxi home) I was holding my drink at a distance lest it slosh me. When I got home, I found I didn't really care much about drinking it anymore. Maybe I shouldn't have worried about being late and stayed to drink it in the aircon of Starbucks. Or maybe I should have waited til I had more time. Or maybe I should have remembered that Christmas doesn't come in a cup.

Saturday Night Reflections

I know that everyone is especially busy in December, but I figure that 12 days is long enough to go without posting any thoughts. I certainly have nothing profound to say, but I am thoroughly enjoying the Christmas music playing and the glow of the tree lights. How good it is (should be) to stop every year and wait for Christmas. There is no other day during the year that is anticipated, advertised, and shopped for like Christmas; it even has its own music dominating the radio stations for 6-8 weeks before the actual day. If only all this hype could point the way to the actual meaning of Christmas and not take on a life of its own. I guess we all have to make our own decisions about what we need to do, or not do, to make our celebration of Christmas the life-transforming event it truly is, year after year after year. Although some of my reasons for loving this season of the year seem superficial, I hope I can use them to prepare me for the Main Event.

The First Real Chore

Elinore's first chore is to unload all of the silverware from the dishwasher. We sort of happened upon it accidentally. I was unloading the dishwasher, and she came in and wanted to help. She pulls out each item (one at a time - don't worry, no sharp objects) and hands them to me. As I take them from her I say what it is (fork, spoon, spatula,...), and I put them in the drawer. The first time she cried when all the silverware was put away!! I definitely need to take advantage of her enjoying helping. 

ANOTHER GOLDEN BIRTHDAY TODAY

What are the chances of a husband and wife both having their golden birthdays in the same year? Probably slim, but Jen and Kevin have managed to do so. Happy 26th Birthday, Jen! This birthday certainly deserves some special recognition, as did Kevin's on Sept. 27. Let us know if you decide to take a little celebration trip, and we can take care of Elinore. We wish you many more years of God's rich blessings.
Love, Mom and Dad W.

One little, two little, three little, four little Indians

Uncle Jason and Aunt Amy were initiated into the tribe this morning.

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY, ELINORE !

We were so busy enjoying your party that I am posting this the day after your birthday. We have many good pictures, but I like this one because it shows your "appreciation" for your very special cow cake. It was delicious! We are so glad we could celebrate your day with you and know the coming year will be a very exciting one for you with new things to learn every day. We love you very much. Grandpa and GrandmaW. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ERIC !

Since your birthday is nearly over, we hope it was a good one and that turning 35 has not been too traumatic. It has been a bit difficult for us to realize that we are old enough to have a son who is halfway to 70, but that's just because we've been forced to come to grips with our own mortality in many ways lately. Working with young people and living with a 5-year-old should keep you young at heart. We send our love, prayers, and best wishes across the ocean. Dad and Mom

Green Knight Revisited

If you spend any amount of time with Sam, you know he loves to dress up. This can be challenging for him, Brian and me to come up with suitible costumes. Today he read about Franklin the Green Knight again at the drs office and wanted me to make him a helmet. I really wasn't feeling creative, but he insisted. Looking up pictures on the web, then at our supplies of Cheerios boxes, staples, and scissors I think he realized the daunting task. "Mama, it's OK if this one looks a little different." I'm so thankful he isn't as much of a perfectionist as I. It turned out pretty well, though, don't you think?

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY, GABE !

5 years old already? It seems like only yesterday that we received that phone call from Thailand telling us that we were grandparents. What a great adventure our grandchildren have provided us. There is nothing like it. We hope you enjoy the last few hours of your birthday, Gabe. We love looking at pictures of you, like this one, from last summer. We love you and miss you. Grandma and Grandpa W. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TIGGER (SAM) !

Tigger (the one on the left in this picture) is celebrating his 4th birthday today. Congratulations ! We hope you have a very special day. We love you--and Pooh too.
Grandma and Grandpa W. 

Resurfaced

Well, since everyone is convinced we've dropped off the planet, I've decided to post while I have a few minutes and an internet connection. I've only just read all your most recent posts as our internet connection has been terrible lately. We're considering going to the phone company to beg for DSL again. I suppose you all know from our lack of communication that we're pretty busy, but I always feel guilty saying we're busy, because really, who isn't? I guess it's just been even more busy than usual and it seems like events sometimes conspire against us to make the simple complicated. To give an example: Our starter stopped functioning on Saturday night when Eric was about to take me out for dinner. Thankfully, our next-door neighbors saved the evening by lending us their car, but we were without a car until Wednesday afternoon. This isn't as dire in Thailand as it would be in the States, but it's still inconvenient. On Tuesday, I was scheduled to have lunch with someone that I absolutely could not cancel on and had scheduled to have a someone watch Gabe at the office while we were at lunch. At the last minute, a friend called me to say that she wouldn't be home in time and could I take her son with me to work where she would pick him up. Our boys spend every day together and we regularly help each other in these situations so I wasn't really stressed by this. However, I realized I had no money to get transport to the preschool. I rode my bike to front of the moobaan where the motorbike taxis wait and I asked one of them to take me to the preschool where I would get money to pay him. He agreed and after we arrived I asked the first person I saw for 10 baht to pay the unfortunate man. Unfortunately, she had no money, so I raced up four flights of stairs (so much for my shower:) ) where I ransacked a purse that had been abandoned for months (don't worry, I'll pay it back) for 20 baht. I raced back downstairs to pay the man shouting to Gabe & Stanley on the way down that we had to leave quickly. Gabe and Stanley followed me, but unfortunately, Stanley had no shoes. This is a common occurence for him, and normally, it's not a problem. Today though, I was unable to figure out how I was going to be able to hail a songthaew while carrying a very heavy 4-year-old and with no money. Thankfully, I saw one of the parents who I knew would be driving past Lotus. "A-ha," I thought, "if he can drive me to Lotus I can get money and buy Stanley some 15 baht shoes and hire a maniac driver and we just might get to the office in time." Thankfully, he was much more generous than I gave him credit for and drove way out of his way to take us to the office. We arrived on the stroke of 12, much to the relief of my co-worker who had been planning a surprise party for me. Whew! What a day, and it was only noon.

Life has felt this chaotic pretty much since we got back from America, and it's taking it's toll. I still stick to my schedule of only going to work during preschool and in an afternoon or two when Gabe is at Stanley's or another friend's house, but besides my set-in-stone schedule with Gabe, every other time has seemed filled with things that Eric and I both feel we should do. Pray for us that we'll hear from God clearly on how to simplify our lives. It can be hard to drop things when everyone else around you is living sacrificially for the benefit of others. I've always been good at saying "no", but it's hard to say "no" to someone who's given generously of themselves for me, suffering refugees and forgotten orphans. Every time I think of saying that my busyness is taking a toll on my personal life, I remember that the person I'm talking to lost their child to a horrible tropical disease, was imprisoned for the gospel, or had to wander in the jungle for 10 years fleeing an army bent on their destruction. I feel like such a wimp.

At the same time, we're still surviving, we have a great community around us that helps us out in every trouble and God seems to carry the slack that we can't pick up. In spite of the busyness we still have the joy of watching our son grow up. He has learned to ride a two-wheeled bike and write many letters and he is becoming quite the little man. Yesterday, we were at a lunch meeting with some board members from our sister organization at a very posh restaurant. Gabe was behaving very well and Eric was talking to someone about post-modernism. Gabe let out a sigh of frustration and said, "Papa, don't talk about post-modernism!" The other quote for the month is "Papa, I can't believe you made it this long!" when told that Eric was turning 35. The above picture is of me opening the first birthday card that Gabe has ever written on his own. The next day, for Leah's birthday, he wrote the his first birthday card ever with the words in the right order:) In case you wonder about the yellow shirts, Google "Yellow shirts, Thailand".

Dream of Fall

On Sunday Brian and Amy joined us for a hike through the woods. It was a perfect morning. It was what you dream fall will be like. A mild 50 degrees, sunny, golden, quiet, still,...

Kevin brought along his GPS and we decided to do a geocache. It is sort of like a treasure hunt found by plotting coordinates into the GPS. Sam thought this was great, and made it his personal duty to find the box, which he did (with a little help, of course)!

It may be one of the few great fall days we get/have gotten this year, so I'm glad we were able to get out and enjoy it. Kevin and I followed up the hike by raking the yard together. This is the first year he's helped me and WOW, it goes so much faster. Besides the fact that 2 people can cover twice as much ground, I realized that I am just slow. I like it when we work together. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANG (AND LYDIA)

Although Ang's birthday will soon be over in Thailand, we still send our love and best wishes. It will be November 5 here for quite a few hours yet. Because October just "disappeared" for us this year, I did not blog a Happy Birthday wish for Lydia on Oct. 26. She is now two, and Ang is __. I do know her age but am not sure if she has now entered the zone when women do not readily share that number. So...Happy Birthday to you both. We are grateful for another year for both of you.

Cow's in My Milk

Suspecting a milk allergy, we have been fasting from dairy products for a few weeks, now. "Soy milk" and "Rice milk" are now part of our kid's vocabulary...poor things. Anyway, they haven't yet adjusted to the taste difference and definitely prefer the original white stuff. This morning, as Lydia sipped her soy milk, she said, "I don't like soy milk. I want the milk with the cows in it."

More of Maine

Here are a few more pictures. In the first set, that huge house is across the street from our friends' house and is an example of how they keep adding sections on to the original which is probably 150 years old. Here is the Queen Mary 2, first as viewed from the top of Mt. Cadillac in Acadia and then at night (actually only 6 PM) from Bar Harbor. There were about 3000 people on board, and they had spent the day shopping, etc. in Bar Harbor. They took small boats to and from the Queen Mary.


 

To Maine and Back

Even though we've been back a couple of weeks, I thought I'd post a few pictures of our trip to Maine. We visited our friends, the Reynolds, in Boothbay, ME where we saw the lobster boats being unloaded and later ate some lobster--both in the shell and in sauce. The Reynolds took us on a tour of the islands and the harbor. We visited Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor where we saw the Queen Mary 2 leave. We saw beautiful colors in New Hampshire and Vermont. As you know, the last night found us near Buffalo, NY and their two feet of snow. We found October to be a wonderful month to travel--the first time we've been able to do so. We highly recommend it.


 

Stuck

I have taught/am teaching Elinore to say "mama" when she needs help instead of frantically whining. I was working on the computer yesterday while she was crawling around the dining room. I suddenly heard her saying, "Mama, mama, mama, mama,..." I looked over and saw this. She had been scavenging for food under the high chair and gotten stuck. 

Family Times

What is it about weddings, anniversary celebrations, and, yes, funerals that bring so many emotions to the surface? I sometimes wish we could live more often with that heightened sense of bonding, appreciation, respect, and love that we feel at times like Saturday. We were all so grateful for Grandpa's life, legacy, and faith. We expressed our feelings, and what one person said reminded all the others of yet another aspect for which to be grateful. We felt bathed in God's blessing, undeserving but so thankful.

Dad and I want to thank all of you for the many ways you contributed to the days of celebrating Grandpa's life--from the food to the written and spoken words. They mean more than I can say. As someone who hadn't known Grandpa well said after the funeral, "I really feel as though I know who he was and how he lived." The blessing has been passed on to all of us--even to Sophie, with his last kiss.

I know we always write about our kids...

...but I just have to do it again. Just a couple snipits:
1) Yesterday, both of my amazing kids ate multiple brussel sprouts without coersion.
2) Sam has a bit of a cold. This morning I said, "Sam! The cinnamon rolls are almost done! Do you smeel them?" "No," he answered. "I have a nose problem."

Apple-picking

This may very well be one of my favorite things of the year. I caught a couple good ones of you B-wolt people on Sunday. Oh, sweet crisp goodness dripping down your chin
 

Short Days

I've been feeling guilty about not posting more often, so I decided this was the night to appease my conscience. This has been one of the busiest times our family has ever had in Thailand. To give you an idea of what life is like these days, here's today's schedule for us.
6:20-Eric gets up, I sleepwalk, but go back to bed as I was up very, very late preparing for preschool today. I had no time to plan previously with the village trip (see our blog).
6:30-Gabe gets up and eats breakfast with Eric
7:30-Eric leaves for school and I get up and get ready to go
8:00-Stanley comes over so that I can drive him to preschool. My mom calls and I have only 10 minutes to talk (while I'm eating) before we have to leave. As I'm getting in the car, I hand the phone to Gabe so that he can talk to Grandpa about nail-guns and cars all the way to preschool.
8:20-Arrive at preschool
8:30-11:30-Teaching: This is one of the most exhausting and humbling parts of my life. I think I'm a better teacher this year, but it's still a huge challenge to keep up with the fast pace of preschool children. It's also continually humbling to see your child acting selfishly, unkindly & vengefully to other children. Actually, Gabe is a great kid and he is mostly sweet, helpful and fun, but sin will come to the surface and it's not fun to have other moms around to see it. The comfort is that all of our kids do it and that it's a great opportunity to teach about relating to others. All of us moms agree that what we see in our kids in a group is not what we normally see. In spite of the drain that teaching is, it's very rewarding. Last year, I had to focus mostly on Gabe's social behavior. This year, he's really ready to learn and since preschool started this year, he's just taken off in almost all areas.
12:30-I arrive home and feel like laying on the couch for the rest of the afternoon, especially since it's particularly hot today, but it's time to go to work. I can't skip Mondays as there is great demand for money on Mondays. On our way out we stop at Stanley's house and Bronwen & I talk more about preschool (it seems we talk about it 75% of the time).
1:30-Arrive at work. Talk to a bunch of people who have been waiting for me while Gabe talks to a bunch of people who have been waiting for him.
2:30-I have a meeting while Gabe watches a Peanuts video.
3:30-Do e-mails and other computer work while Gabe reenacts what he saw in the Peanuts video. It's very cute to watch him do this.
4:00-Eric gets home.
4:15-5:00-Eric plays in a frisbee golf intermural game
5:00-Gabe decides he's tired of playing at my office and wants to go home. I try to wrap things up with his help (he makes copies for me, gets me office supplies, fetches papers from the printer, etc.) but am hindered by lots of last-minute requests including one to stop by someone's house to decide if they are seriously ill or just kind of sick.
5:30-Eric leaves for a chapel team meeting over dinner.
6:00-Gabe & I finally leave the office and visit the sick person who is already recovering.
6:15-I take Gabe out to dinner for banana pancakes. We have a great time talking about the silly pictures on the walls.
6:45-Gabe & I go grocery shopping. He tells me what to buy and helps me get it weighed. For the last 10 minutes, he's singing "God is bigger than the bogeyman" and people laugh as they pass him.
7:30-Gabe & I arrive home and get ready for bed(for him)
8:00-Eric arrives home from chapel meeting
8:00-10:30-I read, but mostly don't answer e-mail and do some blogging. Eric studies comparative gov't.

So there you have it. I personally am feeling very stretched and often wonder if I can keep it up, but there are good parts. I'm very glad for the chance to be involved in Gabe's education and to have other moms to help me get through it. I'm so glad Gabe's such a sweet kid and that we get to do so much together, even if it isn't his idea of fun. In spite of Eric's crazy schedule he seems energized and is enjoying his responsibilities at school.

HAPPY GOLDEN BIRTHDAY, KEVIN !

Congratulations on this once-in-a-lifetime occasion! Not only are you turning 27 on the 27th, but it's also your first birthday as Elinore's father. We hope your coming year will be blessed with many memorable times with your family and friends. We are proud and grateful to have you for a son and look forward to helping you celebrate. Love, Dad and Mom

Kid Update

We have started some more intentional learning times with Sam. I try to give him some special one-on-one attention every day. One of the things we are trying is called Handwriting Without Tears and he LOVES it. Today was very exciting, as he sounded out his first word!!! He chose three letters to make with the wooden shapes. I realized it made a word and helped him sound it out. He was so thrilled he didn't want to stop making letters.















Sisters...I had the evening alone with them on Saturday. Lydia is very sweet with Sophie. Very gentle and loving...giving kisses all the time. Will they look like eachother? How will their personalities be different? How will they love to play together? What secrets will they share? I can't wait to find out!!

 

Matching Socks

I feel like it is never too early to introduce a child to helping with household tasks. One of Elinore's duties is to match socks. Everytime I fold laundry, she is in charge of all the socks. She takes her job very seriously. 

Great-Grandpa

It's hard to believe that this picture was taken less than two weeks ago. As Grandpa remains in the hospital, on oxygen, and unable to eat most of the time, I fondly remember that Saturday morning. He so enjoyed holding Sophie and watching the others swim. Please pray for him as he goes through this difficult season of his life.  

HAPPY 3RD ANNIVERSARY, KEVIN AND JEN

Unlike today, September 12, 2003, was a beautiful sunny day, and we remember it as though it were yesterday. Congratulations!! Wish I knew how to post one of your wedding pictures--maybe next year. Hope you have some time today for remembering, reflecting, and rejoicing. May God give you many more years together.
Love, Dad and Mom

My Man

He left this morning for CA. Jealous, yes, but I'm where I'm supposed to be. And I'm so honored to be sending him. I have no doubt he will encourage, challenge, and love our friends there better than I ever could. He was so wonderful in leaving: watered everything so I wouldn't have to worry about it until Sunday, tidied up his stuff, packed himself, wrapped up loose ends with friends and community, gave special attention to Lydia & Sam before he left, including special orders to Sam, because he is now man of the house, made sure I had groceries and laundry done and many more things I can't think of now...oh, yeah, he even emptied the compost bucket! I think being around a lot during this new addition has given him a picture of how insane things can get. I found myself helping each of the kids at the same time this morning: holding Sophie because she was fussy, feeding Lydia breakfast and making a police badge for Sam (he is Sergant Murphy today.) I know Brian would appreciate the challenge of the chaos and help if he were here. I'm so thankful he isn't a "command man." He jumps in to help whenever he can. Yesterday he watched Lydia so I could go to another homeschool gathering. This morning, after a wonderful night's sleep for me and not-so for him, he said, "Well, if one of us could get a good night sleep heading into this weekend, I'm glad it was you." This is precious to me because usually we compete over who got the worst sleep. So, Mom & Dad W, even though he might not say it, you must have done a few things right in raising him. There is no other man I would want for my lover, friend and partner in life. I just love him so!

Taking after her father

Sophie just started loosing her hair yesterday. Now, in addition to looking even more like Brian, she enters a stage of being not-as-cute. Sooooo...her are a couple really good shots from before she started balding. Hopefully it comes back red, again!!

Stinkin' Cute

Just A few photos that we took the other day...great subject to work with.