Remember when...

...Abigail split her lip last June?? We sure do...Joel does for sure! He was the brave Daddy who held her hand while they put 2 stitches in. Poor both of them!

Well! This afternoon Elijah fell into the same door frame as Abigail did just the other side but thankfully not quite as hard. He got a little owie, but yay! just a little owie and no stitches required! His owie is actually in the same spot as Abigail's was.In other news...We've made it to a local park a couple times recently. It's been refreshing to get out in some Spring air!

The first time we went, it was just the kids and I so I had my hands full enough with keeping track of both kids in the midst of all the activity without trying to take pictures. Today though, Joel and I both able to go and I could get some pictures.

I have pictures from us at this park a year ago (almost exactly!) when my parents were here visiting. It's fun to see how much Abigail has grown in ability and confidence since that first visit. During that first trip to the park my Dad took her over to the zip line to see if she wanted to try it out, with his help, of course! She didn't want anything to do with it! She basically just stuck to one slide and the merry-go-round.
The other day though, she was going down all three slides and running to the next piece of equipment. Watching for any "one" person on the teeter-totter so she could join them, climbing all around, asking to go "fast" on the merry-go-round and walking across a roped walkway.

There were a group of kids around 10-12 years old there, playing tag and chasing each other up, down and all around the equipment. They would run and push each other down the zip-line and back again. Abigail just stood and watched them. Then she said, "Mama, I wanna do dat." I was amazed and a little skeptical so I told her we'd wait until the kids were done with it.

I waited until she brought it up again...and sure enough, she did! She walked right over to it when no one was there and asked me to put her on it. I carefully did, then walked back and forth with her, then slowly jogged and then all of a sudden she said, "Mama, don't hold me!" and she pushed off all on her own! I was so proud of her! I still stayed close, just in case...but I was so proud of her! I love watching that process develop in her! Today though...she wasn't interested in the zip line at all! Joel and Elijah were though!Tomorrow morning I take off for a JV Women's Retreat in Czech. I'll be gone from Monday morning til Friday evening sometime. I'll be missing Joel and the kids for sure but truth be told I'm also looking forward to having full nights of sleep, being able to eat slowly and enjoy my meals, getting lots and lots of talk time with all the other JV women--especially the 8 hour drive up and back again, and just sitting at Jesus feet and learning something new oh! and getting some new Polish Pottery! What a special week for me!

I'm sure Joel and the kids could use your prayers while I'm away. Joel has a couple projects he's hoping to get accomplished around here in the midst of taking care of the kids. They're going to love having Daddy around full-time this week. The house will be full of laughter, lots of tickle wars and wrestling, building castles with all the couch cushions and pillows and good ol' Daddy's cookin'! I have no idea what that will be! I'm not the most dutiful wife in making a week's worth of meals ahead of time, so the menu is lots of healthy french fries, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, mac-n-cheese...ordering pizza! They'll survive!! : )