Samantha: 55 Months, Week 4
Aedan: 20 Months, Week 2 (Week 89)
In preparing for our trip to Puerto Rico, Tuesday was all about getting ready, doing laundry, and getting packed. We did go swimming again at the Rec Center that morning, just to take advantage of the free week one more time. Ben decided to go with us and go to campus later, which was totally unexpected and I appreciated it. I could have handled taking the kids by myself, but it was much easier having two sets of hands. The kids had a great time swimming, and this time the basketball hoop was available which made Aedan happy. He just wanted Daddy to lift him up so that he could dunk the basketball over and over again. Samantha brought toys with her this time, so she had a great time diving for her seahorses and playing with her Ariel barbie. Samantha and I even played out the Ariel story in the pool, her being Ariel and me being King Triton, of course. We had a great morning together and swimming really wore the kids out. When we got back home, I gave the kids baths since they were wet already and then we could have more time to play that evening instead of having to do bath time.
We decided not to go to our community group so that we weren't rushing around getting ready at the last minute. We wanted to be all packed up that night so that we could drop Samantha off at preschool Wednesday morning before heading off to the airport. The only obligation we had that day was Samantha's first gymnastics class. Ben got home early so that I could take Samantha, and she was pretty excited about doing gymnastics again. I signed her up for the Beginners Girls' Class just for a short J-term session and didn't really know what to expect from it. At the beginning they stretched out, and then the teachers set up an obstacle course. You can see in this video that they went through the course with a cartwheel, then a round-off on to a round mat, then a forward roll, then a backward roll, then jumping up three soft mats before hopping on one foot on some rugs. I was really surprised at the advanced level stuff they were having the kids do. Samantha really only knows how to do a forward roll and has never even been taught the steps of a cartwheel. Clearly, there were a few older girls in the class that had learned these things in the past, as they were a lot more comfortable with the movements. I was glad that Samantha was trying her best though. She wasn't giving up because it was too hard, and she wasn't worried about the other girls who could do more than her. I was proud of her effort and her willingness to try anything.
After going through the obstacle course a few times, they had time to walk on the balance beams. Again, Samantha hasn't walked on a balance beam in a long time, and many times the beams she walked on in the parent/child class in Bloomington were set on the floor so that if they lost their balance they weren't far from the ground. With these beams being so much higher, Samantha was a little unsure of herself. It took her awhile to learn how to comfortably put one foot in front of the other, and the teacher had to walk with her and help her keep her balance the whole time. They walked in different ways, like dipping feet below the beam, pointing legs straight out in front of them, and walking forwards, sideways, and backwards. Samantha got really good at jumping off the beam as she practiced more and more. At first she was afraid and the teacher helped to guide her down, but then she felt brave enough to try it on her own, eventually working up to landing on her feet and not falling over. Again, I was so proud of the effort and concentration she put into it. She kept looking over at me, smiling, and giving me a thumbs up.
After the balance beam, they went over to the uneven bars for another type of obstacle course. First, they hung on the bars, put their feet up and over, flipping over the bar. Then, they grabbed onto a bar, put their feet on a rolling cushion mat before rolling off onto the floor. Then, she walked like a bear across another mat. Again, as Samantha went around and around the obstacle course, she got better and better, which is really all that we could ask for. Towards the end, she was even able to hold herself up with her arms after spinning around and before dropping to the ground. She kept her focus and did what she was supposed to do with very little reminders.
To end the class, they did another obstacle course where they ran down a mat, jumped on a trampoline that sent them up on a mat, then jumped as far as they could off another trampoline, before doing a forward roll down a slanted mat. Samantha kept up her energy the whole hour long session, followed directions well, and she said that she had a great time and couldn't wait to go back again next week.
That evening, as we were in the middle of dinner, Grandma showed up and the kids were SO excited. Samantha knew she was coming and couldn't wait to see her. After a few minutes Grandma had to go back out to the car to get her things and Aedan got so upset that he cried really hard. I think he thought that she was already leaving. It's cute to see how loved Grandma is by our kids, but particularly by Aedan. He has a special affinity for her. Not much dinner was eaten after her arrival because the kids just wanted to get down and play with her. It was helpful having Grandma come for the night because it gave Ben and me time to gather up our things and get packed up while the kids were entertained.
Neither Ben nor I sleep very well before heading off on a trip. Ben worries about whether we have everything we need and getting to the airport on time. I am just plain excited and can't stop thinking about all the fun we will have. We were up early on Wednesday morning so that we could do last minute things and get everything ready before heading out to take Samantha to preschool. We got there before 9:00, then took her in her room to hug her good-bye. She was a little sad, giving me a longer hug than normal and telling me that she was going to miss me. When we left home, Aedan didn't really care about us leaving him because he was with Grandma, and he had her all to himself while Samantha was at preschool that morning.
Ben and I flew out of Indianapolis because the flights and prices worked out better, plus then we could pick up Samantha and Aedan in Upland on Sunday when we returned. We arrived at the airport around 11:00, got through security quickly, and were able to take both our bags on as carry-ons, saving us time from having to check and claim our luggage. We got ourselves some lunch and ate before getting on the plane. Here we are at noon, sitting on the plane before flying to Charlotte. We knew it was going to be a long day of travelling, but we were excited about our final destination: San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The flight to Charlotte was only about an hour and half, and then we had a several hour layover in Charlotte before our flight left for San Juan. We came prepared with our computers (so that Ben could work on grading and emails for his online classes and I could work on my blog and other things to keep myself occupied). I also had a couple books loaded on my Kindle so that I could read on the plane and while we were waiting. Really, even though it was long, the time passed by quickly. We had very little to complain about because we were travelling by ourselves with no kids to entertain and only ourselves to take care of. We landed in San Juan very late at night and walked out of the airport to get a taxi to our hotel. The warm, humid air hit me like a warm blanket, and I knew we were not in Ohio anymore. I was so excited about this change in climate. We made it to our hotel without much of a problem, checked in, got settled in a little bit, and then crashed. We had had a long day of travelling and were exhausted.
We woke up on Thursday refreshed and ready for a day of adventure, exploring San Juan. Now, the real reason we came to Puerto Rico was for a political science conference at which Ben was presenting two papers. He had one to present on Thursday at 11:30, so we got ready, grabbed a quick breakfast at Starbucks, and then took a taxi to the conference hotel so that Ben could get checked in and prepared for his panel.
The weather was gorgeous the entire time we were in San Juan. It was in the mid-80s, sunny, often not a cloud in the sky. I was wearing a sleeveless shirt, shorts, and flip-flops. Oh man, it was such a glorious change from our dull and dreary Ohio winter. Ben and I have never been to a tropical island like this. In fact, the whole trip seemed almost like a second honeymoon for us, and I was enjoying every minute of our time there.
Ben got checked in pretty quickly and still had some time to kill, so we decided to walk around the conference hotel for awhile. They had a nice private beach area that jutted out on a peninsula into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The water was so blue and clear. The palm trees were wonderful, and we stood for awhile just watching the waves lap up onto the shore. I feel like these pictures just don't do it justice.
The other fun thing about being on a tropical island were the iguanas everywhere! Here they are just sunning themselves on the rocks. Some of them were huge and just walked around on the beach, not caring about all the people around one bit.
After feeling like I should probably share the hammock with other people, I got up to walk around again, check out the views, and found a comfy spot in the shade of the hotel where I could work on my computer while waiting for Ben to finish up. Again, look at this spectacular view! Palm trees are just so cool and weird looking. I love them.
Once Ben was finished with his paper, we met back up, had a quick lunch at a Quiznos in the hotel, and then took a taxi back to our hotel so that Ben could change and drop off his briefcase. Here are some pictures Ben took of the outside of our hotel. It was just a small hotel, but it was significantly cheaper than other hotels in the area, and it still had everything we needed even though it was described as "minimalist" on its website. The hotel was all open on the inside, almost like an inner courtyard where the stairs were that led up to different floors with different rooms. It was an interesting concept, but it seemed like a lot of places were like that in San Juan. Even the conference hotel was all open air in the lobby. The driveway where the taxis dropped you off was open to the area where you checked in, that led into a lobby area with chairs and tables. It definitely gave you a more open, warm, tropical feel.
We remarked several times how nice it was that we were travelling without kids because we were heading out to explore in the afternoon, not having to worry about anyone's schedule or routine or nap time. (It's amazing how confining and limiting those things can be at times.) We decided to spend Thursday afternoon exploring the old forts that protected San Juan from approaching enemies. We took a taxi to the Castillo de San Cristobal and paid the $5 per person to get into both forts. It was fun climbing around these ancient structures, reading some of the history of how Puerto Rico was involved in various wars, particularly WWII, and of course, looking out over the magnificent views of the ocean and old San Juan.
After we got our fill of the first fort, we walked on a sidewalk that ran along the water to the other fort called Castillo San Felipe del Morro. It continued to be a beautiful day, and it was pretty windy on this part of the island which is why you see all these families gathered together flying kites. Some of them were pretty high up in the sky as well.
Since we weren't able to go on the walkway, we decided to walk the streets of old San Juan. We passed a cathedral and stopped in to see the architecture and Christmas decorations still up. We asked an employee at Starbucks once about how they still have Christmas decorations up, and she told us about how they celebrate Christmas for a long time, celebrating something called Three King's Day, as well as another festival after our trip that would be the official end of celebrating the holiday. A taxi driver once told us that people are just lazy and like to party, so they are okay with the long, drawn out celebration.
We also walked by the governor's mansion which sits right on the coast.
After breakfast we still had some time before we needed to head to the conference hotel, so we decided to walk down to the beach that is just a couple blocks away from our hotel. I wanted to see what it looked like and how it compared to the beach by the conference hotel to decide if I wanted to stay here and swim or go with Ben again. It was fun standing on the beach with Ben, wading into the water, watching the waves roll up and splash up our legs, enjoying our view and our company. I was having such a wonderful time with my husband, for it's very rare that we have this much time to spend one-on-one with each other.
After Ben was finished with his panel, we had a little snack since we had a big breakfast and didn't feel like much for lunch, and then went back to our hotel to change before going back out to explore. We decided to go back to the the fort with the walkway to see if it was open, which it was, and we had a great stroll around the path full of beautiful views.
Along our walk, we saw this large grassy area in the sun and it was full of iguanas! Everywhere we looked we found another one, and I made sure to take a picture because I figured Samantha would find this interesting.
The other animal we saw a lot of were stray cats. However, there were these plastic bins with holes cut in the side that obviously had food in them, as well as tubs of water for them to drink. Many cats congregated around these areas and were pretty wary of any stranger that approached them. It was interesting because there were so many stray cats wandering around the streets of San Juan, but the people didn't seem to mind since they were helping them survive by feeding them and giving them water down along the walkway.
Ben and I had plans to go to a local Italian restaurant in old San Juan that had good reviews that evening for dinner. We thought it was a little strange going to an Italian restaurant while in Puerto Rico, but we walked past it at 5:30 and a line was already forming, so we knew that couldn't be a bad sign. Plus, most of the people in line were speaking Spanish, so it certainly wasn't a total tourist trap. Most people were ordering pizzas, so we decided we would order a small five cheese pizza along with a chicken parmesan type thing. I really loved the pizza. If only we had good, fresh, non-greasy pizza like that in Oxford. Coming from Chicago, I am a pizza lover and am pretty sad about the lack of good options in our town. Ben asked the waitress at the Italian restaurant for recommendations of a good local coffee shop, so we decided to stop there for a latte before taking a taxi back to our hotel for the night. This coffee shop used beans grown right on the island, and they had a little courtyard area to sit in which we definitely thought was better than sitting inside. Once Ben brought the latte out to me, I just had to take a picture of it because the design they made with the milk was so beautiful. It made me feel fancy drinking a fancy coffee out of a big mug. Their coffee is so smooth and creamy and not bitter at all. I definitely prefer it to the coffee that you can order on the mainland. It was delicious, and we enjoyed our Puerto Rican lattes.
On Saturday we had plans that we were looking forward to for a long time. Our Christmas present to ourselves was a sail and snorkeling excursion. This was a little out of our comfort zone because we don't typically choose to do beach related activities. However, we decided this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and we shouldn't use our excursion to just go hiking, even though that would have been beautiful as well. We had a quick breakfast at the Starbucks across the street from where we were to be picked up. It was about a forty-five minute bus ride to city where the catamaran left from, then about a forty-five minute ride to the island where we made our first stop. Again, we were blessed with beautiful weather, a warm sunny day, and no obligations except to enjoy ourselves. The boat ride out was fun, looking out at the vast ocean stretching in front of us and the city behind us.
They served drinks on the boat while we road out to the island, and we enjoyed our time soaking up the sun.
When we got to the small island where they dropped anchor, one of the crew offered beginner snorkeling lessons to anyone who had never snorkeled before. Ben and I were in that group, and it didn't seem too difficult to figure out. They said this is a good area to snorkel if you never have before because it's not as deep and the current is not as strong. We walked on the beach to the area they said to swim from and took off with our snorkeling gear. It's a bit weird putting your face under water but knowing that you actually can breathe and see without getting water in your eyes and nose. I was worried about getting salt water in my mouth, and it made my lips feel a bit raw around the mouthpiece, but I never had any difficulty. The coral reef we snorkeled in was so cool. We got to see sea urchins and lots of fish swimming right underneath us. It was like being inside an aquarium, and Ben and I kept pointing out different fish we noticed as we swam along in the water. We left with a larger group of people from our catamaran, but they dwindled, and Ben and I went out the farthest into the water. It was just too fascinating to turn around. We had no way to tell what time it was, so finally decided we better turn back around and get back to our catamaran for lunch. Everyone else had already started eating the picnic lunch of sandwiches and salads, but there was still plenty left.
After lunch we had more time to hang out in this location, so we took some pictures before playing more in the water. Ben joined some other guys in tossing around a football, while I just floated around and swam in the water. Do you see how beautiful and clear the water is? It was just perfect. A wonderful way to spend our last day in Puerto Rico.
After our time there, we rode in the catamaran to a different area where the water was deeper and we could go snorkeling again. This time, we were given flippers and life jackets to get around in the water better. I don't know if it was the deeper water or the stronger current, but this time it was a lot harder for Ben and me to snorkel. My goggles kept fogging up, and they kept slipping down my face. Ben was having a hard time with getting water in his mouth. Since the water was deeper, we weren't able to see as many fish swimming around, so we didn't snorkel as long as we did the first time. Instead, we went back on the boat to just relax more and take in the sights and sounds around us.
As our excursion came to a close, the catamaran crew cut up some fresh, tropical fruit to enjoy on the boat ride back. Ben and I were so glad that we chose to do this excursion together. Who knows if we will ever have a chance to do something like that again. And even though we applied sunscreen several times while out on the ocean, we both got sunburns, Ben worse than me. We were both pretty tired from being out in the sun and water all day, so we showered and relaxed at the hotel for awhile before heading out for dinner. We ate at a crepe restaurant, and I think we enjoyed the dessert crepes more than the crepes for our meal. We thought about walking around the Condado area for a while or even checking out the beach, but we were pretty wiped out and we knew we had an early morning the next day so that we could catch our flight back home.
Ben felt worse and worse as the evening went on, probably due to his sunburn. He had the chills and was even beginning to feel sick to his stomach. We packed ourselves up and went to bed early. Our alarm went off at 5:15, we left for the airport at 6:00, and then we arrived at about 6:15 to print our boarding passes and start going through security. However, the airport was packed and the security line took way longer than we expected. We got in the line at 6:23 and didn't make it through security until 7:10 when our flight was at 7:35. We hadn't had breakfast yet and thought we would have plenty of time to pick something up at the airport to eat on the plane. I don't think we've ever been in a security line that took that long. We rushed through the airport, stopping only for a few minutes at a Starbucks for some coffee and a breakfast sandwich so that we wouldn't have to pay outrageous prices for food on the plane. We made it in enough time, but it was very stressful. Since we arrived at the gate about ten minutes before it was scheduled to depart, they made us check our bags even though they were the right size for a carry-on. At that point we didn't care, we were just glad we made it onto our flight.
The rest of the day went smoothly. We just had a lot of waiting to do as we had a four hour layover in Charlotte before our flight to Indianapolis. There were a couple flights leaving before ours that we checked to see if they, by chance, had any space, which they didn't, so we just had to wait longer before we could get home and get our kids.
Here is a picture Ben took of the souvenirs we got for the kids. The dress was for Samantha, of course, and the maracas were for Aedan.
Just last week Samantha was talking about what it would be like to touch a cloud, so I was trying to describe to her what a cloud is made out of, but you could tell she didn't really understand. So on the descent into Indianapolis, Ben took this picture and video for Samantha so she could see what it was like to fly through a cloud.
We arrived to a cold, icy, snowy Indianapolis. When we landed we got messages from Ben's dad saying that 69 was closed down for part of the day due to accidents and the conditions of the roads were not great. Driving on icy roads makes me nervous, so Ben lovingly volunteered to drive to Upland even though I was nervous the entire time. It took us longer to get out of the airport due to having to check our bags all the way through and then driving more slowly due to the weather and road conditions, so we didn't arrive in Upland until 7:30. Our original plan was to drive home that night so that we could get back in our own beds and get Samantha to preschool on Monday morning. However, as we drove, I became more and more uncomfortable with that idea. If 69 was that bad, and it was a major interstate, what would some of the little country roads be like that we take to get back to Oxford? Plus, it was already approaching the kids' bedtime and it would take us longer to drive on the roads in order to be careful enough. We would have to hope that they would just fall asleep in the car, but that seemed unlikely, especially after being gone from them for so many days. Also, Ben and I were just plain tired. We had been up since 5:15 which is 4:15 Indiana time. We had been travelling all day, and all I wanted was to collapse into a bed. So, after much going back and forth, we decided to stay in Upland for the night and leave in the morning after getting a good night's rest, hoping that the roads would be better, and at least knowing we would be travelling in the daylight. We decided it wasn't worth it getting back super late and possibly putting ourselves in danger by driving on icy roads, just to get back for Samantha to go to preschool.
Anyways, it was wonderful to see the kids again. For however much it was great to be away and spend time together just the two of us, it was exciting to see our kids again. Aedan looked at us almost like he didn't believe we were there, but then he lit up and gave me a huge hug. Samantha was excited to see the presents we got for them, even though she was hoping for a toy and was a little disappointed that we just got her a dress. She warmed up to the idea after awhile, tried it on, and then decided that she really did like it, even putting on a dance performance for us.
Ben and I slept like logs that night, and I was so glad we decided to stay in Upland. We got up before the kids on Monday morning so we could shower and be ready. We had thoughts of maybe trying to get Samantha to preschool for a little while, but Ben's mom called and said the roads were still pretty rough and that we shouldn't be in a hurry to leave, so we decided that Samantha would just miss the day and that would be okay. So, we had breakfast, got our stuff and the kids loaded up, and then hit the road. The road conditions were worse up north around Upland and greatly improved as we crossed into Ohio. It took us a little longer to get home, but not much at all. Then, the rest of the day was spent unpacking, putting things away, and having time for the whole family to nap that afternoon. It was great to be back home and start getting settled back into a normal routine again.
Now, after telling the tale of our week in Puerto Rico from the perspective of Ben and me; I now switch to telling about Samantha and Aedan's week with Papa and Grandma (Mamaw). Grandma lovingly typed out some words for me, so I will copy them here. Her words are the paragraphs in quotations.
"I arrived in Oxford on Tuesday evening so I could be ready to take over when Ben and Jenny left on Wednesday morning. It was nice to be able to play with Aedan and Samantha before they went to bed. I feel like a real “loved Grandma” when I am around them since they love to have us play with them."
"On Wednesday morning Ben and Jenny left with my car and dropped Samantha off at her pre-school for the morning. We traded cars since the car seats, travel books and toys were already in Ben and Jenny’s car. They had the car packed so I only needed to add my items and the last minute items such the diaper bag and sippy cup. I had a significant amount of trouble buckling Aedan in his car seat so we were the last ones to pick up a child from the preschool at noon. I had decided to have us eat at Wendy’s in Oxford before we left for Upland. When I got there I could not find Aedan’s sippy cup so it was lost somewhere between the living room and Wendy’s. I got water in my cup and had Aedan use my cup at dinner and for the rest of the week he used one of Samantha’s sippy cups."
"On Wednesday evening Bill had a meeting at church at 5:30 and then stayed there to lead Bible study. Because of that he came home a little early so he could play with the kids before he left for his meeting. Our evening was fairly uneventful but I put Aedan to bed early since he had a very poor nap in the car on the way to Upland earlier in the day."
"On Thursday, the weather was sunny so after playing in the house earlier in the morning, we played outside later in the morning. We have a plethora of balls of various types and sizes as well as a big wheel, wagon and small tricycle. Both Samantha and Aedan had fun playing with those items as well as just walking through the yard and going on a bear hunt. Thursday evening was exciting since Jeni and Alaina were coming to spend some time with everyone. Samantha and Alaina love to play with each other so much. In fact, Samantha decided to not watch her movie after nap and wait for Alaina to come so they could watch part of Frozen together. Our house was filled Thursday evening with the sing-along the girls had with the movie. Aedan continued to play with his favorite toys which were the Veggie Tale stuffed characters and the Menards bear. Each of those would have a song they would play and that, by far, was Aedan’s favorite activity."
Here is a video of Aedan playing with his favorite toys: the Veggie Tales characters.
Aunt Jeni did a good job of taking pictures and posting them on Facebook so that we could see what the kids were up to while we were in Puerto Rico. Here's what she said when posting these pictures: "Since our arrival, I have been "frozen" multiple times by 2 Elsas, fired (from being a mom, I think) by my daughter, and loved on by Aedan...I'm a busy girl."
"On Friday morning Jeni made some finger paint and set the kids up to painting pictures. They all preferred to use a brush instead of their fingers. All of the kids, including Aedan, spent quite a bit of time painting. After the painting was cleaned up, Jeni had Alaina and Samantha make cookies from a Christmas cookie mix she was able to buy on clearance. The mix was for candy cane cookies but she had the girls use the dough to make any kind of shape they wanted for their cookies."
"After nap time, Jeni took Alaina and Samantha to a movie and to Wendy’s after the movie. The girls really enjoyed their outing."
"On Saturday we were able to play outside again since it was even warmer than it was earlier in the week. All of the kids enjoy getting out to play with the balls and bats, basketball goal, wagon, and just going on walks. Alaina and Jeni left after lunch so it was sad to see them go but we knew that all of us would try to get together again soon. I was putting Aedan to bed for his nap when Alaina and Jeni got ready to leave. After changing Aedan’s diaper and giving him his pacifier, I rocked him in the rocker next to his pack-and-play. Alaina came into the room to tell me “goodbye” as I was rocking Aedan and he did not stir at all, although he was not asleep. I don’t know if he enjoys the cuddle time before nap as much as I do but I hope he does. It is very precious to hold him for a few minutes, sing to him and pray over him."
This video is of the girls playing the piano very loudly on Saturday morning. Aunt Jeni described it well by saying, "I am still pretty sure there is no word in the English language to describe the volume of that duet."
At some point on Saturday morning, Aunt Jeni put some washable hair dye in the kids' hair. Of course Aedan had to try it along with the girls. Here is Jeni's comment that went along with the pictures: "This is what happens when I'm trusted with your kids, Ben Toll."
And here is another random video of Samantha and Aedan playing with Papa and Mamaw on Saturday night once Jeni and Alaina were gone. Once again, you can see Aedan's favorite toys spread all around the living room.
"On Sunday morning we went to church with the children. Samantha has always done so well when we drop her off to her class. Aedan did not enjoy being dropped off and apparently he cried off and on for the whole service. Bill and I took the kids to McDonalds after church for lunch since Samantha wanted to try McDonalds. She could not remember ever going to a McDonalds and she wanted to see if she liked it. Apparently she did since she ate all her food except her fries."
"The weather kept getting worse all day on Sunday with very icy conditions. We were concerned about Ben and Jenny’s arrival back home. Several times the interstate was closed because of accidents so we tried to make sure Ben and Jenny were aware of the situation as they arrived at the Indy airport. Thankfully they made it to our house although it was later than they had planned. Both children were very excited to see them. I thought the look on Aedan’s face was priceless as he turned around and saw them standing in the room on Sunday evening. His giggles and laughs were much happier after they arrived than the giggles and laughs we heard earlier in the week."
"Since this is the end of my story for the week I will close with a few gems from the children:
- Samantha said when watching Daniel Tiger on the TV: I think Daniel Tiger is older than I am since sometimes he goes places by himself.
- Samantha said when we were pretending I was in time out and she was talking to me as a parent: She wanted to know why I did a bad thing and I said it was because Satan made me do it. She told me that Satan doesn’t make us do bad things and that Satan was the same as the Serpent that talked to Adam and Eve. The Serpent tells us to do good things too since he told Eve to eat the apple. (Ben and Jenny, I tried to straighten her out on that theological point but you might want to work on it.)
- To Aedan, cleanliness must be next to Godliness or at least it is necessary after a meal. Every meal after eating, Aedan would run to get the broom and try to sweep up under the table. After a few swipes he would be happy enough to put the broom away and let me finish the job. He is also very insistent to help clean up the trash after eating out at a fast food restaurant. I couldn’t understand why he was so upset at the end of our meal at McDonalds until I realized he wanted down so he could throw away the trash with Bill."
"It was such a tremendous blessing to be trusted with our grandchildren for several days. We want to be an integral part of their lives and hope that our influence is a positive one that they will treasure for all of their lives."
(Blog about January 5-11, 2015)
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