Moving Along.....

So much has happened since I last posted.... here's an update: Bryant, having finished a brillant football career as quarterback at Alabama, has been accepted to medical school and doing missionary work in China. Elisabeth is enrolled at Harvard Law (early admissions), and Scarlette just won the Nobel Prize for physics. They've accomplished so much - we're so proud.

OK - it hasn't really been that long since I last posted, but it has been a long time (sorry) and major things have happened.  Our most exciting accomplishment: Bryant is walking!! Ta-Da! He went from crawling to walking in about a day. He still crawls on occasion, but walking is his primary mode of transportation. Yay, Pud-Bud!!!

His  - and Elisabeth's - primary form of defense is, unfortunately, biting. Bryant is particulary vicious with it. Luckily, he usually prefaces the bite with a loud growl so the soon-to-be victim is forewarned. Elisabeth, on the other hand, is very stealthily. She is biting you before you know it, and she leaves teeth marks. One of her favorite games is to bite my fingers and then laugh hysterically after I yell and try to remove my fingers. Before she laughs, she clamps down harder.

Elisabeth carries on long conversations - with us, with Scarlette, with Bryant, with anyone. No one can understand a word she is saying, but she is very earnest in her communications. She even cocks her head as she is speaking as though she is gauging your comprehension of the topic. I can't sing her to sleep anymore because when I start singing, she starts singing too and keeps herself awake. She is very social; she waves at any adult she passes. Bryant is rather shy.

They are 17 months old now, and I must admit that I miss my babies - as much as I adore my toddlers and enjoy enormously watching their daily new adventures.

Miss Scarlette recently completed her first (half) year of preschool and sang in the preschool graduation ceremony for the 4 year olds. A moment of panic for me - she refused to sing initially when she discovered that she was not the one graduating, but relented when she learned that she would graduate next year. She's put in her order for next year's rest mat (it must have an attached blanket) and has began reciting television commercials. Recently, she looked at me and said, "Mom, there's smart - and then there's K-Mart smart." Excellent marketing, K-Mart.

With summer begininng, VBS next week and vacations planned, I'm sure I'll have much more to say - and I promise to post more often. Thanks for reading!! Talk to you soon!

No, I'm Not Dead

...but I bet you were beginning to think so. I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted anything! In my defense, everyone in the family has been sick and we've managed to work in a weekend trip lately, but my apologies for my slackness. My failure to post was definitely not due to a lack of material, believe me.

So, let's get started again....

The Playdate That Never Ends

We have finally reached the stage in the life of the twins for which I have been waiting - they are now interacting with each other. I would say "playing with each other", but truthfully, they fight quite a bit as well. It's fascinating to watch - I'm really wasting money by paying for satellite service each month, for they are much more entertaining. For the longest time, they played next to each other, but never with each other. Now, they share toys - or more accurately - steal toys from each other. One will take a toy from the other, and then run away and attempt to hide with it. Although Elisabeth can walk and Bryant cannot, he can move faster than her using his patent-pending one-legged scoot. I cannnot do justice to this move in words, but I will try - the left leg is bent forward in front of him on the floor. The right leg is bent on the knee, foot on the floor. He takes a "step" (I use the word loosely) with the right foot and then slides the left leg along the floor. It sounds - and looks - awkward, but is very effective. One day last week, Bryant took a toy from Elisabeth, swept quickly across the room, and hid behind the recliner. Elisabeth, bellowing in fury all the way, gave chase and found his hiding place. John witnessed this incident and says that, while he could not see what happened behind the recliner, he could see the Elisabeth prevailed when she emerged with the toy again after screams of protest from the boy.

Elisabeth, on the other hand, has discovered the way to aggravate Bryant is to wait until he is sucking his thumb, then walk up and pull it out of his mouth. When he is tired, he does not appreciate this. When he is in a good mood, though, he laughs and then quickly puts it back in so she will do it again. She will give him a hug when he is crying, though.

I must stop now, though. I am not with them right now and won't be for awhile, and remembering this makes me miss them. Next time, we'll talk about Elisabeth's enormous vocabulary - pity we can't understand the language she's speaking....

My favorite quote from the new movie "Alice in Wonderland":

The Mad Hatter: Have I gone mad?

Alice Kingsley: I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are.

Quite frankly, I love this quote because it made me realize that just because I might really enjoy things and activities that others find strange, that does not mean I am wrong or that I should change. I am now embracing my oddness. In fact, I think soon I will post a list of all the strange things I like. However, my blog censor (John) has informed me that, as I am not including enough information about Pud-Bud and Lissibet, I should change the name of the blog. Therefore, the next post will be about them, I promise....

Shiloh

There's a member of our family that I haven't introduced yet, and I feel compelled to do so now. Shiloh is our angel in Heaven, the baby that I carried briefly and then lost in December 2007. Within days of learning I was pregnant, I began to have problems. I was so worried, and I prayed constantly about this child. I felt overwhelmingly that the child was a girl, and that God wanted me to come to a place of peace about her future. Shiloh is a Hebrew word that means "Place of Peace". In my mind, I began to call her Shiloh. No, she isn't named after Angelina Jolie's daughter (for those of you keeping score at home, it took me 8 posts to mention Angelina Jolie. Start looking for a reference to Johnny Depp.). On December 27, 2007, the doctor confirmed what I knew already - Shiloh had gone home. I would never hold her in this life, never see her first day of school, never see her graduate, never see her get married, never hold her children. As the doctor spoke, a life that would never be flashed before my eyes. I was at peace, though, because I knew she was at peace, and that this was part of God's plan. I couldn't see this at the time, but now I can see God's hand - He showed me that I could get pregnant without medication (something that had bothered me for a long time), and I know now that I didn't miss Shiloh's life: I was there for every minute of it. All the things I thought I would miss were not part of God's plan. There is a peace in that. And most exciting of all, she will be there to meet me when I get to Heaven! I will meet my Shiloh one day. Meeting Jesus and Shiloh - seeing the faces for the first time of those so dear to me. Heaven is real, everyone - so glad I'm going!

Have a great - and blessed - day, my friends....

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Could there be better weather than we had yesterday? Absolutely perfect. Sunny, about 70 degrees, nice breeze. This is weather you just can't pass up. So, I blew off going to the gym and took my crew out for a walk to the park. The park experience wasn't anything spectacular, but the walk up and down my street was. I learned so much about my neighborhood! For example, a family on my street has a pet bobcat. Has a collar and everything. I didn't know that before yesterday (and wish I didn't know it now). I also learned that a couple on my street are former international missionaries who are now ministering here. In fact, they've already led my neighbors to a personal relationship with Jesus! How cool is that! I was able to talk with a young couple who are considering purchasing the house for sale across the street. I really hope they do. I was able to share my new-found information with them (admittedly, I left out the part about the bobcat). My next-door neighbors now have their grandchildren living with them, so now Scarlette has a new playmate just her age. Just a great afternoon all around. So there's no moral to this story, no speech, no list. Just wanted to share. Here a few pictures of the little ones....

 

We Shall Overcome…..Stupidity

I'm sure you are as relieved as I am that race relations in America are finally in absolute harmony. No longer can any trace of racism, profiling, or discrimination be found in this great nation of ours. At least, I assume that's the case, since the Reverend Jesse Jackson now has enough free time to take up that monumental issue that affects the futures of millions – electronic bingo. During his visit to Alabama this past weekend, the Reverend Jackson compared the current fight over the bingo machines to that fought here 45 years ago, comparing the governor's stance and use of troopers to close bingo halls to Gov. Wallace and his use of state troopers to attack civil rights protesters.

I am amazed by this entire incident, mainly on two points. First, it is painfully obvious that, while great strides have been made in civil rights and race relations in the last 50 years, there are still issues. There is still work to be done. Is that not important anymore? Does Rev. Jackson feel as though he can move on now? Secondly, this man stood next to the lifeless body of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a man who gave his life so that African-Americans could enjoy the right to live, work, and vote as God gave all men. Dr. King, along with countless others, were beaten, jailed and some killed for this movement based primarily on the fact that the oppression of human beings by other human beings is unconscionable – we are all made in the image of God. It was a fight for basic human rights. To compare this movement and the sacrifice of those brave people to the fight for electronic bingo is appalling.

The basic facts in this fight are clear. The machines in question are illegal based on Alabama law. Therefore, they cannot be operated legally. Any establishment operating said machines is in violation of the law. The governor has the duty to enforce the law, and the state troopers are the vehicle with which he is authorized to enforce it. If you want to provide electronic bingo in your establishment, find a way to do so legally. If you want to use these particular machines, change the law. Until then, Gov. Riley must enforce the law as written.

I agree with Rev. Jackson in that he hates to see so many out of work, and their families struggling as a result. However, the governor cannot be held responsible for the illegal actions of others. The blame must be placed at the feet of those owners who hired all of these workers, knowing that they were operating illegally and knowing there was a risk they would be shut down. Those put out of work should look to them for answers. The Reverend Jackson should look back to the memory of Dr. King and work to make sure his dream is a reality.