Ireland Update 1

Sorry for no pictures - we don't have much internet here, and I think it's more important for me to spend time with the team and sleep :)

Day 1 - Wednesday, May 29
In some ways today has been an overly simple day. We flew into Belfast, spent the afternoon there, then drove out to the cottages where we'll be staying the rest of the month. On the other hand, it's been a fantastic day - even though our team of 14 students and the two leaders who travelled with us has been rather sleep deprived. Our flight left Newark, NJ at 9:15 p.m., and we arrived in Belfast at 9 a.m. local time - and the leaders tried to keep us busy so we wouldn't sleep until tonight!

In Belfast, we enjoyed lunch at John Brown University's house there, Lakeside Manor. We then rode a bus to do a bit of touring. Went around the Queen's University campus a little, then through a museum and botanical garden. Visited a local coffee shop, and then came the BEST PART of the Belfast day: we went to the C.S. Lewis reading room, which we entered by going through the actual wardrobe door from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe movie!!! I was very thrilled and would have shrieked a bit if we hadn't been in the middle of a library where students were studying for finals - but it was still an immensely exciting experience :)

Once we got to the cottages where we are staying, between Downpatrick and Killyleagh, we unloaded our stuff and started settling in. A rainbow over the distant mountains of Scotland which we could see greeted us. We ate a delicious lasagna dinner, and then we students hiked up a little hill to a viewing platform. The hills here are immensely green, but right now the yellow Gorse bushes are also abundantly blooming all over!

In the evening, I started tracking birds. Loving the selection here - quite different species from the U.S.! It didn't take me long to identify European Goldfinches or to find a Tit nest in a water pump with a broken-off handle. At 9 or 9:30, the leaders finally "allowed" us to go to bed (trying to help us make the six-hour time transition). I hadn't slept a wink since we got off the plane, so I was glad to crash, and I basically slept straight through the night. Here in Ireland, the sun doesn't set until nearly 11, and it rises at about 4 (I've heard) - so the days are very long! All day on our first day we had beautiful sunshine weather - though there must have been some clouds when we came to the cottages because there was a rainbow.

Day 2 - Thursday, May 30
After breakfast, we started in on some training/preparation work for our main ministry, which will occur June 2-16. We tied cording onto name tags, learned the songs we will be teaching the kids, and heard from David Wallace about what to expect from the kids here. David Wallace is the Youth for Christ representative who has been stationed in Killyleagh for the last three years, and he is our team's main contact/coordinator.

Most of our student team also went to the top of a taller hill, called Joe's Mountain, where we climbed onto a pillar from which we could see a 360-degree view of the landscape. It is beautiful :) In the evening after dinner we drove to the ruins of Inch Abbey, founded in about 800 A.D. It was really neat with holes where the stained glass windows used to be, no ceiling, and luscious grass for the carpet. The Jackdaws (similar to our crows) were nesting in the holes in the wall. We also played Ultimate Frisbee in a grassy patch beside the ruins. Again, I thankfully didn't have an issue sleeping through the night. The weather maintained its inordinary sunny quality, which made me happy.

Day 3 - Friday, May 31
Today we focused on more specific preparation for the Kids Club (aka VBS program) which we shall be leading for elementary-aged kids during the ten weekdays. The people who will be teaching the lessons (including me) went through the curriculum which Mrs. Balzer wrote a few years ago for a different town.

Our theme for the VBS is Incredible Kids, talking about character attributes from Col. 3:12-17 as "super powers." As a result, part of what we did today was to plan costumes and "super hero personas" for each of our team members. We'll be doing brief skits each day to set up the lesson topic for the day.

Another program we'll be doing is a sports camp for the teenagers, which will be held three times a week in the evenings. Each night of that, we will have a "half time" when a couple of our team will share their testimonies. I will be sharing mine on Thursday at about 7:45 p.m., which would be 1:45 in the afternoon central time. I would appreciate our prayers for that, as well as for all of our outreach opportunities. Our Kids Club will be from 3:30-5 Ireland time, and the sports camp will be from 7-8:30. We will also be doing presentations in schools, though I don't yet know any more details about that.

This evening we went to Downpatrick, the nearest larger city, which has an Asda (Ireland's version of WalMart). It is also home to the grave which is most commonly attributed to hold St. Patrick's remains. This area of Northern Ireland is the heart of his area of ministry, so we will be visiting several sites related to that.

The Whirlwind

Soooo…it’s been ten days since I flew out to the East Coast, and I have yet to publish anything on here telling you anything about what’s been happening.  I’m quickly realizing that there is more to do than there is time to do it…especially when all I want to do on the weekend is go play tourist or vege.  As a result, I’m going to try to keep this post quick.  I hope to come back later and add a few pictures…but realize that may not happen and that a little bit of something is better than a lot of nothing!  So hang on to your hats folks, it’s been quite the two weeks!

Wednesday June 6 – last day of nannying before setting off on my Washington adventure (for the latter see my previous post)…good happy day in some ways but still also a sad day.  Visited with a friend that evening!

Thursday June 7 – Packing….lots of packing and then almost completely repacking.  Included in this day was a breakdown under the feelings of overwhelmed-ness.  Emotions weren’t helping any.  But it all got done in the end….

Friday June 8 – Flew to Houston for a layover, then my flight to Baltimore got delayed.  Didn’t get in until after 11, if I remember right.  Family friends the Davises were kindly there to pick me up and take me to their home for the weekend.

Saturday June 9 – Mrs. Davis took me shopping for the stuff I didn’t bring, and it was also nice to just have some down time to relax on their beautiful back porch between the rush of packing and leaving and the task of acclimating to a completely different city.  Had fun with the Davis girls!

Sunday June 10 – Attended the Davis’ church…the sermon was certainly applicable to how I was feeling about then.  The pastor was talking about how even when we fail, that doesn’t mean God cannot or will not use us.  Here I was, facing a huge unknown, and God knew just what I needed to hear J
After lunch we loaded my stuff into the car and eventually meandered our way to my apartment! (Driving in DC is very confusing!).  Unloaded, then was dropped off at campus for orientation!  Met my apartment-mates later that evening and started getting settled in.

Monday June 11 – Amazingly managed to get everything unpacked and find a home for all of it by mid-afternoon!  Had our first class on Ethics that evening.  Long class sessions…..6:30-9:30 Monday/Thursday evenings and 9-12 Friday mornings :/  Professor is GREAT though – he’s a good teacher, there’s just a LOT of info.  Thankfully there’s a whole group of girls from the off-campus apartments I’m staying at in my same program, so we commute back and forth together, especially in the evenings.

Tuesday June 12 – Had a big welcome ceremony that morning, then an orientation session from the program with suggestions for how to make the most of our internships.  Five of the six of us who are working in the same building went together and tried out the route from campus to our internship location, then had lunch together.  It would have been totally great, except for the fact that it was raining…but it was still good J  Went on an adventure to Target to get a few extra things that afternoon.

Wednesday June 13 – First day of internships!!!!!!  Lots of orientation information, which was great to hear but a bit of an overload.  After learning some of the basics, we were able to head out early.  Interesting evening lecture from an investigative journalist that night!

Thursday June 14 – After some more orientation-type activities, we dove right in.  Summarized a press release into a story for broadcast, then worked on writing an article from a summary of a research study.  Couldn’t resist visiting the National Cathedral for a little while (only 15 minute walk from the office!)  Second ethics class.

Friday June 15 – Got up early to go run…class in the morning, then third day of internship. Had my story from the day before checked and posted, then wrote a second piece which was also posted that afternoon.  After arriving at the apartment, an apartment-mate and I went to the zoo just for a little while.  Headed to campus for a trivia game hosted by TFAS (the sponsors of the five programs, of which mine is one).  Joined a team with one girl from my internship and four other random people, and we won!!!!!!!  Had dinner with the other girl to celebrate.

Saturday June 16 – Attended a fascinating seminar about the Constitution by a Reagan administration official.  LOVED IT!  Then joined up with a couple other Woodley girls at the Smithsonians.  Wandered around the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art, then called it a day when that closed.  Chilled with the apartment-mates all evening (including watching a movie) rather than doing anything productive…

Sunday June 17 – Father’s Day!  Met up with Josiah and Carolyn Davis to visit their church, had an IPJ friend along with me!  Absolutely loved it – very convicting and very good.  Invited out to the main Davis house for lunch, which was fun J  Came back just in time to change and leave the apartment again, headed for campus to join a bus tour of the monuments organized by the program.  Definitely a good experience!

Monday June 18 – Another internship day – completed two stories, both of which were posted to the web.  Also was able to learn more about how things are posted to the site, which is great exposure for me to get a little familiar with that!!!  Another night of class – followed by a feeble attempt at productiveness this evening.

Random notes:  ~~Otters say "maaaaa."  At least the National Zoo ones do!  ~~The Catbirds here don't know they're supposed to be shy.  I've seen more and closer than the rest of my whole life.  ~~The Pileated Woodpecker on the tree outside my internship window didn't know he's supposed to be out in the woods far from people either.  ~~Squirrels are all sorts of colors here!  Just yesterday saw a black one and a brownish-grey one almost right next to each other.  ~~And metro is crazy until you get used to it :P

Well that’s all folks, and now I must get to bed because tomorrow we hit the repeat button all over again J  Thanks for reading!  Comments always appreciated – it just might encourage me to post more often!

My Summer Plans....

Ah, poor bloggy.  I know I keep saying I'm going to post on here and then leave you all alone.....but I think that's just the way life is.  Anywho, here's an update on my life/summer plans!

As some of you probably know, I will be spending two months this summer in Washington, D.C. as a student at the Institute on Political Journalism.  I will be leaving soon (June 8th), and I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you more about what I will be doing.

The Institute is one of five led by The Fund for American Studies and hosted by Georgetown University.  There are about 400 students who will be in the Institutes during the time I will be.  These programs provide participating students with an internship and a couple of classes from Georgetown.  Housing is also provided.

I will be in an apartment near the Georgetown campus.  Several other students will be in the same set of apartments.  I will be sharing the three bedroom, two bathroom apartment with six other girls.  I have yet to meet any of them.  In fact, I don’t know anyone at all who I will be with during these two months.  It kind of feels like going to college for the first time all over again…except this time I know it’s only for two months.

My internship will be with WFED radio, a 24 hour news radio station in Washington, D.C.  My understanding is that I will be writing, editing, and conducting man-on-the-street interviews, primarily for stories that will be posted on the station’s website.  I am rather intimidated by this internship, since I know basically nothing about radio broadcasting.  I think it may be good to broaden my horizons though.  I will typically be working 8-5 at my internship, then going to class two or three days a week from 6-9.

While I will obviously be busy, I hope to also have some fun enjoying living in D.C. too.  I am sure I will be visiting most of the Smithsonian museums at some point.  I think some of the program participants are also scheduled to get a tour of the White House!  Perhaps best of all, I will be in D.C. for the 4th of July!  If you watch the concert at the National Mall on TV, look for me – because I am sure I will be there somewhere.

Random thoughts, little update

I know, I do a bad job of keeping this updated...........This is partly because I more frequently use Facebook as a place to keep track of what's going on with my life. When I do have time to just write what I want to, I more frequently write about spiritual (more important) matters, and those posts go on my spiritual blog. I recently (well, in late November) did a seven-part series on there about what God taught me throughout 2011 - best year of my life in many ways :)

But, here's a not-so-spiritually-focused reflection on how my life is going...so it's on this blog ;-) (I know, I'm way too organized for my own good sometimes..........)

Random Thoughts (in no particular order)

1. My boys are still funny~~~I worked over Christmas break nannying. It's interesting to see how the boys are changing some as they grow up more.

• Brian is super good at Legos! He's determined and patient (most of the time) to complete his sets. Legos are nearly the only thing that would keep his attention for longer than about 15 minutes...... The other thing that does a decent job of keeping his interest is playing football in the front yard. We had fun doing that every day of the last week. The first day he saw me with my new hair cut (my hair's now a little shorter than shoulder-length) he said, "Is it just me, or did you get a hair cut??" Such a funny way of asking it :D
• Christopher is still cute :) The first day I was doing the "this little piggy" on his toes as I had done other times, and he remarked "Esther, you do funny things to me." Another day we were playing outside, and he picked up a stick. "This stick's going to watch us," he announced, and proceeded to place it carefully where we wouldn't step on it. Some other time during lunch he proceeded to make up a little song (some background is that they got cookie cutters in the shape of Star Wars "Tie fighters" to cut sandwich shapes): "Tie fighter, Tie fighter.....I eat my samwich {he still mispronounces it...} in a tree house because it has a table"...No idea where the last part came from :D He's also decided that playing restaurant is great fun. We did it for a couple hours each day the last week :)
• Both of them were sad I had to come back to college. I was telling Brian when I'd have to go back to school, and he asked when I'd be back. I told him I'd probably come see him during Spring Break, which is in March. "But that's a long time from now!" he moaned. Yes, I know bud. I'll miss you too.

2. Family is special~~~Not only was I able to spend time with my immediate family (Dad, Mom, Nathan), but we also made a trip up to NE for cousin Brad's wedding and saw most of Mom's immediate family. But we came home one short, since Nathan flew back to USAFA from Oklahoma City. And he most likely won't be coming back to Dallas until Thanksgiving. Which is sad :(

3. I love my friends~~~even if Nathan says it's silly that I say that to my girl friends.

• Mrs. S is my everything lady - she was my co-op teacher in high school, she's let me work for her for a super long time, we can sit and talk , I get to make cards with her - Teacher, Boss, Friend. I'm super grateful for her :)
• Courtney - even though I only get to see her when I'm in Dallas on breaks, it's always a joy to spend a couple of hours just talking together (usually at Starbucks :D). I'm also glad that we chat online once in a while.
• Sarah - she's an absolutely amazing friend :D This semester she's studying abroad, so I miss her A LOT. But the other day I got a sweet letter from her that made my week :) So thankful for her :)
• Jessica - my sweet roommate who willing puts up with me day-in and day-out :) We can laugh with each other, making fun of ourselves and what happens to us - or we can talk about serious things. I'm going to miss her when she graduates!
• Lynnette - she's one of those people who I know I can talk to about anything (as are most of my friends on this list....). We've had several adventures together - like walking all the way around the Dogwood Trail in a foot and a half of snow or going on a horseback ride out at New Life Ranch.
• Hannah and Laura - who formed the most terrific Honors Orientation mentor group ever! I'm thankful for and love both of them individually, but when you get the three of us together, you had better watch out! It was so a God-thing that they were "my" girls - I soon recognized that we would be good friends beyond the class :)
• Sojourn girls! - I love my hall!!!!! I've been in the same dorm room for three years now, and even though the hall does change some from semester to semester, it's a great place to live :D

4. Time is a weird thing~~~This is something I've really noticed in college. It works something like this: the days go fast, the weeks go slow (it takes forever to get to the weekend), the months run away, and the years simply fly. I'm 21 now. And yes, that's a rather scary thought. To celebrate that milestone, I {ok, you can quit holding your breath! I didn't do anything crazy!} wrote my first Christmas letter :)

5. God's got me~~~Over break I really wrestled with the question of whether or not to enroll in the IPJ program after I was accepted (If you don't know what this program is, ask and I'll be happy to explain - I just don't feel like typing it out right now). Part of me feels as though it's almost selfish to go and do something like that when there are other people who will be using their summers to serve overseas. But I have come to peace that this is what God wants me to do at this time - and yes, I am excited :D As Lynnette said, often times when we come to a cross-roads a lot of the growth process is choosing which path to go down - and the choice prepares us for travelling down the path. I still have a lot to learn, but I feel as though I'm listening a lot better now than I have in my life before. And I have faith and believe that God will continue working in and through me :)

6. New Year, new me~~~right? So also in honor of my first year as a 21-year-old, I made my first New Year's resolutions:

• Workout six days/week, for at least 30 minutes. So far so good on this one. Having swimming class twice a week and being expected to swim two hours outside of that certainly helps! (And no, I can't swim. That's why I'm in the class!) After last semester of barely working out at all, I can't run nearly as far/fast as I would like. But it's amazing how much variety I've had so far - I could do core, PT, bike, run, play intramural basketball (yes, I'm horrible), swim, etc. etc.
• Read for 30 minutes five days/week (outside of homework). Last year I was completely addicted to a TV show. I've had at least eight books sitting on my shelf for that same year that I've been wanting to read. I go to my church library and there are so many books I'd love to read! So I've quit my TV show cold turkey (no, it wasn't a fun decision) and made a point of reading. Some of the great books I've read so far?
  --Crazy Love
  --Discerning the Voice of God
  --Kisses from Katie
  All great books I highly recommend! :D I can tell this one's going to be a little tough as the semester gets busier. But I hope to keep it up!
• Write for 30 minutes five days/week (outside of school papers etc.). Even though I've done pretty well on this one, there are still more times than I can keep up with when something will get me thinking and reflecting. I feel as though I learn more from what happens to me when I write about it. Blogging, journaling, they both count - and I like them both :D

7. Yes, I'm busy~~~I'm taking 18 hours of classes (two of which require major chunks of time outside of class), writing and working as a page editor for the campus newspaper, serving as the CEF GNC ministry leader, working 10 hours/week as a TA for workstudy, and trying to keep my New Year's resolutions AND my sanity. Yep, I think I over-committed myself. As I've done before. Yep, you'd think I'd learn....but noooooo :P It's hard for me to admit this as a perfectionistic over-achiever who likes {or maybe did like} to be a perfect student.....but I'm beginning to realize that maybe busywork assignments aren't the very most important thing in the equation of my life. No, don't worry. I have plenty of the busybee honors student in me still to not fail my classes (I think). And I am still struggling some with how to balance doing well at my occupation right now (I am primarily a student after all!) AND investing in people which has so much more eternal significance. It's not easy, especially since I often tend to over-think things....

So...that's all I can think of right now....and I need to head for bed soon. So thanks for reading, and if you think of me I'd appreciate your prayers that I would 1. Keep my perspective on God, 2. Focus on listening for His call, and 3. Learn how to properly balance how I spend my time.

10 Minutes in the Life of Mr. B

{Mr. B is one of our nicknames for Bluebonnet :) This is a little story about what he did this morning that I found amusing. The pictures were taken afterwards to recreate the scene.}

This morning soon after I got up Bluebonnet flew to the bathroom to sit on the towel rack and talk to the budgie in the mirror, as he often does:

I was busy doing other stuff at first and didn't notice what he was doing, but he evidently flew down to the counter and dropped one of "his" pencils (pencils are his favorite toy ever :D) off the counter and into the sink:

(If you can't tell, he's actually holding the pencil in his beak in this picture)

Anyway, when I started paying attention again he was talking to the broken hand mirror that sits on the counter:

Then he ran over to the edge of the counter looking for his pencil on the floor (where he usually drops it to):

Not finding the pencil there, he checked in the only other logical place he could think of - the sink!

Knowing that he couldn't go into the sink to play with the pencil, he ran back to his budgie friend in the mirror. But being the ADD budgie he is, he soon ran over to his other pencil on the counter. I had purposely tucked it behind some other stuff to make it more difficult for him to drop it over the edge:

Well he was a determined little fella. He hopped on top of my retainer case to get to it. After a couple tries, he got it out from behind the stuff:

And then, he carried it clear from about here to the edge and dropped it over! I've never seen him carry a pencil that far before - strong little budgie!

As soon as he had dropped it to the floor he flew down to join it. Again he lifted it clear off the ground and carried it for a little ways! About that time he realized I was watching him and so he got completely distracted ;-)

As I was taking pictures for this post, he did some other funny things. One of them was evidently stepping on the pencil which caused it to roll away from him. Since he's a rather timid little creature (he only weighs an ounce, after all!) he jumped when the pencil went rattling across the counter. I'm pretty sure this picture caught him in the middle of the jump :)

Here's a picture of him in the act of dropping a pencil over the edge of the counter. I don't know why he thinks it's so fun to make a pencil fall...but he does it a lot. Whenever I get home from being gone for a couple hours I find pencils on the floor throughout the house :D

A little later, he decided to take a shower. He takes showers by running around on my hands and arms while they're in the sink under the faucet on spray mode. He had a pretty good shower too! So afterwards he was a wet little budgie. You know the wet dog smell? Well it's true for birds too ;-)

The End. Thanks for reading! :D

Funny Fellas

Here's a post I've been meaning to do for a while.....about the funny things my little boys that I nanny say and do :) Brian will be 7 in July, and Christopher just turned 3.

Let me start off by saying that they have both changed since last summer!! I saw them a few times during the school year, so they both remember me and everything. But I can certainly see changes. For example:

• Christopher talks a lot more, and tries to tell me stories
• Christopher has learned how to use his imagination!!!!
• He's also completed potty training, which is great :D
• He's also learned to talk back..........which isn't so good :/
• Brian interacts with me more...car rides are rarely quiet now :D
• He's learning a sense of decency! Last year he would change clothes wherever, but now he does it in his room or the bathroom and warns me not to come in ;-)
• Brian can stay in the lines really well when he's coloring - and he does a great job!
• He's even starting to let me take his picture a bit more! :)

So, now on to some of the funny things they've done.....sadly this will be an incomplete list because I've been meaning to do this for a little while and might have forgotten some things.

1. Christopher's a fire man! He loves everything to do with fighting fires and has for the past 6 months or so. He's got a whole outfit that he loves wearing. When I watched them some during Christmas break, he rarely left the house without wanting his fireman's jacket and helmet. On the first or second day that I was there, this is how I discovered he had an imagination. He was telling me all about the fire we were fighting together and what tools we were using.

2. Christopher's stories. He always wants to tell people about what's happened to him recently... But when you mix a limited vocabulary with imperfect pronunciation and emphatic, fast talking it's usually difficult to follow what he's saying unless you know what's going on :D

3. Bugs Bunny. Christopher's evidently been watching Looney Tunes, because he likes imitating it. At lunchtime he always wants to eat some baby carrots so he can start eating one in the corner of his mouth and then hold it while saying "Ehhhhh, what's up doc?" His dad had to tell me what he was doing the first time, and we agreed the best part of the show is that it makes Christopher like carrots ;-)

4. Pronunciation. There are some things Christopher doesn't know how to pronounce properly yet, and it's really funny. "Samwich" (sandwich), "Buebies" (blueberries), "Noom Dough" (Moon Dough - I'll explain next), "Barnes an' Oble" (Barnes & Noble), etc. Although I think his mispronunciations are cute, I do try to help him learn the right way to say things :)

Moon Dough is this new-fangled version of Play Dough. Instead of being like clay, Moon Dough is more like a powder that kind of sticks together if you press it into a hard mold. If you try to mold it with your fingers, however, it just gives way. It's really weird to play with for the first time because it's not at all wet like Play Dough. It's dry, and that fact messes with your brain at first.

5. Simple misunderstanding. The other day when the boys and I went to the pool, some other children were playing there too and were nice enough to share their pool toys. They had some diving rings and they let Christopher play with one. So he trots over to me (he has this really funny prancing/trotting walk he does sometimes - kind of hopping from one foot to the other), holding the ring with both hands on his bottom. I couldn't figure out why he was holding it that way....then he said "I'm going to get it off the bottom!" Evidently the kids had told him that he was supposed to get the toy off the bottom of the pool and he took that to mean off his bottom! I couldn't help but laughing out loud at that - it was soooo funny to see :D

6. Hello, my name is Grammar. At least that's what Brian said I should be called. One time we were in the car stuck in traffic and we somehow got on the subject of littering. He said "I'm going to eat littering!" which started me off on an explanation of the fact that you can't eat verbs because they're actions. "It's like saying you're going to eat running!" I said. I had prefaced my mini-lecture with the question "do you know what grammar is?" Well then he said my name should be grammar because I talk about it so much. ;-) Evidently I told him the first week that I was grading papers and checking them for grammar. I don't remember telling him that, but he does. I think I've talked to him about grammar maybe one other time........

Later on in the car ride, he declared out of the blue - "You are part of the family, because you're my nanny!" I can't remember any reason for why he would have said that right then, but it made me very happy :) I think he sees me as something like a friend/big sister now. Occasionally as we're walking around at the Science Place or Zoo or something like that his hand will almost unconsciously slip into mine for a moment. It's never for very long, but it's still sweet of him :)

7. Playful ruts. It's funny to see how easily children get into habits and routine. They get to where they have certain favorite activities and certain ways they play with things. For example, whenever I take Christopher to the park I can count on the fact that he'll swing, do certain other activities, and swing more. Whenever we go to the pool (which has been every day this week!), Brian wants to play dolphin and Christopher wants to play doctor. And just because I took a seat cover off one of the beach chairs to stand on because the pavement was too hot one time, he thinks that's what must be done to play doctor properly ;-) When we go to Barnes & Noble, Brian typically wants me to read the same books to him and Christopher always goes and finds the same toy to play with. I do try to vary our activities and how we play with the toys...but it's just interesting to see their inclination to the familiar!

8. Children see/hear, Children do/say. Those two young fellas know almost every word of some pop songs like Bieber's "Baby" and Cruz's "Dynamite." I even heard Christopher sing the proper "Jingle Bells" all the way through the other day...but he might have been having some help with it. One of Christopher's favorite pretends is to use a "samarizer" like in the kid's show "Power Rangers." Almost any object the size of a TV remote quickly "becomes" one in his hands.

Boy oh boy is this one a good reminder. Anything they see me do or hear me say they could easily pick up and repeat. That's plain scary!!!

9. Sleepy boy. Christopher quit taking regular naps sometime early last fall. But this summer we've been having so much fun that he does get worn out. I can always tell when he gets tired because he'll start sucking his right thumb and his left hand will either get tucked into the waistband of his shorts or his fingers will slip through the tag on the side seam of his shirt. And about 75% of the time that I drive somewhere in the car with just him he'll fall asleep within a couple of minutes. One day he even let me read him to sleep and then I sat there on his bed and let him sleep on my lap for about 30 minutes. He tried to roll over at one point, so I helped him off my lap. He sat up on his knees and I thought for a minute that he was awake. He must have had his eyes open. But he wasn't really awake, because he put his head right down on his pillow/blanket and was sound asleep again :)

10. Surprise! This one kind of goes along with #7. I usually ride the train down to work, and the dad usually picks me up from the train station near their apartment. Christopher is usually with him. He knows all about "your train station" as he calls it, and I've taken the boys on the train whenever we've gone to the zoo. Anyway, Christopher is apparently of the opinion that the only way I can come see him is by the train. On the few occasions when I've driven down instead of riding the train, he's always really surprised to see me. It takes him a minute to register how in the world I got there, but then he greets me with "Esther!" in an excited voice :)

11. Talky talky. I'm kind of unsure what to do about this one...... The boys both love talking to other people - on the elevator, when we're at the pool, at the book store, etc. They're always curious about what adults are doing and love telling them about what we've been up to. While I know it's good for them to be friendly and curious, there's that old law of childhood - "don't talk to strangers!" And sometimes the boys just want to keep talking and I'm worried the adults might not appreciate these kids being so nosy and talking so long.

So there are some of my fun stories from my terrific job :D Of course, not everything is always so easy or always rosy. The boys aren't perfect and neither am I. And there's things I see that make my heart ache. But I prefer to focus on the happy things while trying to figure out how to deal with the flaws in a way that I don't step outside my bounds.

Relationship books (semi-reviews)

Back at the beginning of last semester, my room mate gave me a couple books to borrow...and I finally got around to reading them this semester. The first took me a while to get through, but I read the second in two days. They are both great books and both have been tools God has used this semester to grow me spiritually.

Book Info:
Title - When God Writes Your Love Story: The Ultimate Guide to Guy/Girl Relationships
Authors - Eric & Leslie Ludy
Publisher - Multnomah Books, 2009
Paperback, 15 chapters, 304 pages

Title - Emotional Purity: An Affair of the Heart
Author - Heather Arnel Paulsen
Publisher - Crossway Books, 2007
Paperback, 17 chapters, 151 pages

Although both of these books are focused on guy/girl relationships (and were very beneficial to me on that level), they both also apply to life on a deeper and broader level. Each uses real-life examples and scripture in searching out how Christian young people should handle relationships with the other sex.

Neither book offers a solution that is truly easy or in line with what common culture has come to expect. And yet each shows a way for singles to avoid the endless cycle of short-term relationships and broken hearts. In a day and age when people like me can feel there's no one who desires to approach relationships the way we do, these books give hope and solutions.