Last week, Thomas gave me a homily. So this week I returned the favor: http://thinkingcoramdeo.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/fifth-sunday-of-lent.html
Oh, and happy St Patrick's Day!
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Posted with Blogsy
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
book launch
A book launch isn't the place that you'd expect to find many children. I am glad, though, that my children weren't the only ones there. Anna was her usual self, alternating between charming people and getting into mischief. Thomas was my publicist and chief book-seller. (I admit it was difficult to get him to hand over the cash. What £40? he asked...) Not that many books were sold. Just two, in fact. Given that the crowd were mostly students at the theological college in which I teach, it's not surprising. Some of the university students might have fat allowances, but those preparing for ministry don't.
Special price £39. Thomas thought I should get the money. I am really grateful that a couple of people actually bought the book!
Iain brought a tank. Who wouldn't? He was soon tearing around college with his friend Bleddyn. Book launch? What book launch?
Some folks actually had a look at the merchandise. I appreciated everyone who came, though, even if they only came for the wine. I even appreciated the student who showed up towards the end, expecting another event, who'd forgotten entirely about the book launch. Never mind--he had a look at the book, anyway.
Lucy smiled at everyone and made friends. She insisted that I pick her up frequently, though, with the result that when it came time for me to say a few words, I did so with toddler on hip. Since I wrote most of the original text during kids' naptimes and precious hours while they were at nursery, it seems appropriate that they were close at hand for the speeches.
Anna, enjoying a still and quiet moment, between dashes for the stairs or kitchen.
I think they all had a good time. I'm just glad nobody had a tantrum or spilled anything. As not-conducive to book-writing as the children are, I know with absolute certainty that I couldn't have done it without them.
Special price £39. Thomas thought I should get the money. I am really grateful that a couple of people actually bought the book!
Iain brought a tank. Who wouldn't? He was soon tearing around college with his friend Bleddyn. Book launch? What book launch?
Lucy smiled at everyone and made friends. She insisted that I pick her up frequently, though, with the result that when it came time for me to say a few words, I did so with toddler on hip. Since I wrote most of the original text during kids' naptimes and precious hours while they were at nursery, it seems appropriate that they were close at hand for the speeches.
I think they all had a good time. I'm just glad nobody had a tantrum or spilled anything. As not-conducive to book-writing as the children are, I know with absolute certainty that I couldn't have done it without them.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
sisters
Lucy is in that wonderful phase in which new words and phrases are being added to her vocabulary daily. One of the words she enjoys is 'sisters,' and she's clear about how to use it. 'Anna,' she'll say, pointing at 'Anna.' And then, still pointing, 'sister!'
Like her sister, she loves dancing. She loves the Wiggles, though it sounds more like 'Billig' when she says it. Maybe someday she'll be doing ballet with Anna, in matching outfits like Anna and her classmate in the photo.
I can't keep up with all that goes on around here, really. Sometimes it seems crazy even to try. Still, I ought to find out what the noise downstairs means... not sisters, this time, but their brothers.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Sometimes no news is good news
When I started this blog, I had no long-term purpose. Anna was having three surgeries in the space of a summer, one of which was a heart surgery. I just wanted a way to let friends and family know how she was doing.
Thankfully, I haven't used this space to report that sort of news lately. Of course, Anna keeps us guessing: last weekend the kids all had a virus, which seemed mostly to have run its course. But then Anna spiked a fever (40.1C/103.2F) and broke out in a rash, and had us all in a dither. (Well, not Anna, exactly, but the doctor who suggested that if she hadn't improved after 24 hours of oral antibiotics, we would have to have her admitted to the hospital.) A couple of days later, she was dancing around the dining room to her new favourite song. But that's Anna.
Thankfully, I haven't used this space to report that sort of news lately. Of course, Anna keeps us guessing: last weekend the kids all had a virus, which seemed mostly to have run its course. But then Anna spiked a fever (40.1C/103.2F) and broke out in a rash, and had us all in a dither. (Well, not Anna, exactly, but the doctor who suggested that if she hadn't improved after 24 hours of oral antibiotics, we would have to have her admitted to the hospital.) A couple of days later, she was dancing around the dining room to her new favourite song. But that's Anna.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Fairies, redux
Ferries? I thought. Then it dawned on me what he was asking. He was trying to figure out what those little twinkling lights were, and 'fairies' was his best guess.
Now he's 6, and I miss those moments. The world is less magical. He wants to know if Spider-man is real. He draws pictures of tanks and likes watching Scooby-doo. So yesterday, he was sitting on my knee and I told him the story about the fairies. 'How old was I, mummy?' he asked, and 'what did I say?' and 'what did you say?' until he had the whole narrative.
A little while later, Lewis came upstairs, and Iain met him at the top. 'Daddy,' he said, 'when I was little...' and proceeded to relate the whole tale, proudly. 'I said, "Are they fairies?'..."
It was almost as good the second time around.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Birthday season
Birthday season is over. Anna is 11 (and will tell you so, if you catch her in the right mood), Thomas is 9, and Iain is 6. Thank goodness Lucy's birthday isn't until the spring. I am not ready for her to be 2.
The boys' birthday parties were on consecutive Fridays, and as different as they are. Iain and a dozen classmates ran around an indoor play place for an hour and had pizza. He hated being the centre of attention when it was time to sing and blow out candles. He turned away from the table, even, hiding his face, and refused to blow out the candles. Why? I asked him. He said, 'Because everyone will clap.' Iain is so easygoing and talkative at home and with friends that nobody would guess how shy he is. Thomas and Anna, with help from Iain's friend Alex, blew out the candles for him, and everyone did clap. But he survived, and wants to have a party when he's 7. I have explained to him, though, that 6 is hard enough to take: he can't possibly be seven.
Thomas had a football (soccer) party--no big surprise there. He and about ten friends from school (and one from his football team) played hard for more than an hour before gathering for a bit of mayhem around a big supper table. One of his friends had an MP3 player with a portable speaker and got them all moving to the song from Madagascar (I like to move it...). Noisy, chaotic, and fun for all around the table. It was great to see Thomas enjoying himself so much. He had a really good birthday, and I am pleased.
Among Thomas's gifts were a couple of £10 notes and gift cards, and he calculated his birthday wealth at £50. I asked him how much he was going to give away. At first he looked at me like I was crazy (fair enough, I guess). But we talked about it, about charitable giving, and he thought for a moment. 'Maximum £8,' he said. That seemed like a lot to me--more than the 5-10% that I had in mind--and I said so. But he had decided, and didn't back down. He followed through, too, starting with £2 in the collection at church. I am amazed at him. He has a generous heart. I wonder what he'll be like when he's older, with his sensitive soul: this is a boy who cannot bear to hear of the suffering of others. He feels it so deeply.
Anna has grown, and grown up, an amazing amount. Today she looked at a picture in the Sunday newspaper, one I had noticed out of the corner of my eye. 'Mario,' she said, not perfectly distinctly, but clearly enough. Yes, that's who it was--as soon as she said it, I knew that was why the figure was familiar. How does she know that's Mario? I wondered. We don't have any video games here. She must have picked it up at school.
They know all sorts of things now, things I haven't taught them. And Thomas knows all sorts of things I don't even know. Mostly these are about football. But he is extending his knowledge of geography and is learning French at school; he's learning German from a friend. Iain knows all sorts of things about tanks, most of which Lewis has taught him. So far he hasn't outstripped me, but I can see that day coming.
I love it that they're growing up, and I hate it that they're growing up. This parenting thing is exhausting, frustrating, heartbreaking sometimes; but it is also filled with joy and amazement. I just hope that I will learn to ignore the socks on the floor and appreciate Lucy's little feet, Iain's delightful smile, Thomas's sensitive thoughtfulness, and Anna's enjoyment of the small things. I always wanted this, and now I have it: my four little dreams come true.
Nobody could have convinced me that parenting was such hard work. I would never have believed it. But if the work is harder than I thought, so also is the love deeper and the joy greater than I ever could have imagined.
Happy birthday, Anna, Thomas and Iain.
The boys' birthday parties were on consecutive Fridays, and as different as they are. Iain and a dozen classmates ran around an indoor play place for an hour and had pizza. He hated being the centre of attention when it was time to sing and blow out candles. He turned away from the table, even, hiding his face, and refused to blow out the candles. Why? I asked him. He said, 'Because everyone will clap.' Iain is so easygoing and talkative at home and with friends that nobody would guess how shy he is. Thomas and Anna, with help from Iain's friend Alex, blew out the candles for him, and everyone did clap. But he survived, and wants to have a party when he's 7. I have explained to him, though, that 6 is hard enough to take: he can't possibly be seven.
Thomas had a football (soccer) party--no big surprise there. He and about ten friends from school (and one from his football team) played hard for more than an hour before gathering for a bit of mayhem around a big supper table. One of his friends had an MP3 player with a portable speaker and got them all moving to the song from Madagascar (I like to move it...). Noisy, chaotic, and fun for all around the table. It was great to see Thomas enjoying himself so much. He had a really good birthday, and I am pleased.
Among Thomas's gifts were a couple of £10 notes and gift cards, and he calculated his birthday wealth at £50. I asked him how much he was going to give away. At first he looked at me like I was crazy (fair enough, I guess). But we talked about it, about charitable giving, and he thought for a moment. 'Maximum £8,' he said. That seemed like a lot to me--more than the 5-10% that I had in mind--and I said so. But he had decided, and didn't back down. He followed through, too, starting with £2 in the collection at church. I am amazed at him. He has a generous heart. I wonder what he'll be like when he's older, with his sensitive soul: this is a boy who cannot bear to hear of the suffering of others. He feels it so deeply.
Anna has grown, and grown up, an amazing amount. Today she looked at a picture in the Sunday newspaper, one I had noticed out of the corner of my eye. 'Mario,' she said, not perfectly distinctly, but clearly enough. Yes, that's who it was--as soon as she said it, I knew that was why the figure was familiar. How does she know that's Mario? I wondered. We don't have any video games here. She must have picked it up at school.
They know all sorts of things now, things I haven't taught them. And Thomas knows all sorts of things I don't even know. Mostly these are about football. But he is extending his knowledge of geography and is learning French at school; he's learning German from a friend. Iain knows all sorts of things about tanks, most of which Lewis has taught him. So far he hasn't outstripped me, but I can see that day coming.
I love it that they're growing up, and I hate it that they're growing up. This parenting thing is exhausting, frustrating, heartbreaking sometimes; but it is also filled with joy and amazement. I just hope that I will learn to ignore the socks on the floor and appreciate Lucy's little feet, Iain's delightful smile, Thomas's sensitive thoughtfulness, and Anna's enjoyment of the small things. I always wanted this, and now I have it: my four little dreams come true.
Nobody could have convinced me that parenting was such hard work. I would never have believed it. But if the work is harder than I thought, so also is the love deeper and the joy greater than I ever could have imagined.
Happy birthday, Anna, Thomas and Iain.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
birthday season
Autumn is always busy. Birthday season begins in late August, when I start planning for Anna's birthday, and runs until October 12th, Thomas's birthday. In between, we have the start of school for the children, the start of the new term for our students (with all the events that involves), and--of course--Iain's birthday. We're coming up to the end of birthday season now, thankfully. I enjoy their birthdays--how could I not?--but I always breathe a sigh of relief when the morning of October 13th (or the day after Thomas's party) dawns. (A full birthday report with photos will follow.)
Thank goodness Lucy's birthday isn't until May. Between now and then, we just have to get through Christmas...
Thank goodness Lucy's birthday isn't until May. Between now and then, we just have to get through Christmas...
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