Mr. Social...

We went to a Rugby game tonight of one of our teens, Emily. It was there that I realized how well socialized Ethan is (maybe to a fault). He was walking around with Susie (the teen's mom), and walked right over to a lady who had a small dog. The dog was very friendly and Ethan decided to make himself right at home. He sat on the lady's lap and grabbed the dog's leash. Susie said, "He not only sat on her lap, but he organized how he wanted her to sit." He made her put her legs Indian style so he could sit in her lap. She went along and graciously allowed him to sit on her lap. She was friendly also, but probably wondered who this baby was and why he was sitting on her lap. I walked over and said "Hi. Our dog has a blue leash also, and Ethan likes to hold onto it when we're going for walks. He must think that this dog is nice like Spencer also." He then proceeded to visit with another couple next to us with a 2 year old. They had pop bottles and the boy had a sippy cup, so he wanted to have those of course. Then there were 2 teenage girls on our other side, who he walked up to and waved to. They were picking at the grass, so he took the blade of grass from one of the girls, and later tried to take their phones. (I didn't let him.) Then he walked over to a group of guys, one of whom had a baby girl (~7 months or so) in a front-pack. He waved HI to them also, and then I intercepted him. So I guess we're thankful that Ethan is so used to people that he feels comfortable around others, as long as we're right there beside him and it is safe for him.

Playing outside and inside....

With the temperatures being so warm, we have been getting outside a lot lately. Ethan loves being outside in the fresh air. He's still not too sure about the grass. But he did explore it a little yesterday. "Hmm, I'm not sure I like the feel of this poky stuff on my feet." "Oh, what's that? A little rock? Can I put it in my mouth?""What are those, Mom?"

"So this is the bushy tree I see blowing outside my window. It feels funny."
"All of this grass and dirt are making me itch." (Not really.)
"Here, Spencer, let's play ball."

"Okay, it's my turn now."
"Yeah! Good job, Ethan!"

" I can... almost ...reach... the window." (Look at those tippy toes.) :-)
"I'm not tired, I'm just recharging."

Fishing for Souls....

Last night we completed our 2008 Round Robin Missions Conference. We have 8 area churches who all pick a missionary to come share their mission with us. Then they rotate around to the other churches to present their ministry. This year our theme was "Fishing for Souls." Our theme verse was Mark 1:17-18: "Then Jesus said to them, 'Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.' ".

Missionaries included: Steve & Naomi Sponable from Pleasant Valley Bible Camp in East Jordan, MI. Michael & Lois Huseby from Frontier School of the Bible in Wyoming. Bob & Carolyn Losch from Mission Possible. Kathy Gleckler with Child Evangelism Fellowship. Brian & Carole Wechsler with Village Missions. Mike & Neva Bardon from Baptist Mid Missions serving in Utah. Tim & Charlene Miskimmen with ABWE serving in Southeast Asia.

Saturday night was our kick-off with the missionaries all having booths set up for people to come visit. Guests all checked in and received a booklet to go around and check out each booth, looking for an answer to a specific question for each missionary. They received a bag of "bait" (different candy: gummy worms, swedish fish, goldfish crackers, etc.) also. When they completed their book, they got to put their name in for a door prize, which each missionary brought. We had a great attendance out Saturday night with 175-200 people attending.

Bob Losch, missionary representing Mission Possible.

Children checking out the booths and tables.

One of the youngest guests, our friend, Ethan Simmond. We had Ethan, his dad and mom, Samuel & Heather, over for dinner Tuesday evening along with Missionary Steve Sponable, representing Pleasant Valley Bible Camp.

Naomi Sponable, and her youngest son, William talking to "Hopper" about her possibly working at Pleasant Valley this summer.

People of all ages enjoyed the hand on visuals.

Then of course, there were ice cream sundaes for every one also.

The teenagers and adults met upstairs for the opening session following the ice cream and display "fishing trip".

A kids choir, including children from several of the churches, sang the song, "Be a Missionary."

It was another great conference with great presentations from the missionaries. What a blessing to hear what God is doing locally and around the World!

Go Train Go!

Ethan loves to read books. He got some new ones for his birthday from Aunt Alisha that are among his new favorites. Brown Bear, Brown Bear is one of them.

Ethan reading another new favorite book with Daddy, Go Train Go!
Cute new jammies from Nana & Papa.
Sleeping sweetly during nap time. We usually have to go wake him up so he doesn't sleep too long, or else, he doesn't sleep as well at night.

Such a good boy...

Last night we went out for dinner to one of our favorite restaurants (locally anyway) Ruby Tuesdays. Taking a "toddler," which I guess Ethan would be considered now since he's walking, out to a nice sit down restaurant isn't always fun to say the least. But Ethan did so well! We sat in the back corner by the kitchen. That was a good spot for us to eat I guess, because Ethan was so enthralled at watching everyone coming and going, that he stayed pretty well occupied for most of the meal. He munched on Fruit Puffs, and ate his dinner too, but he was so good all night. We were very thankful to be able to enjoy a nice dinner out with him. After dinner we had to run a few errands, and Ethan just rode along nicely. He rides so well in the car, and just watches everybody in the store also. We came home, put him in the bath tub, and then he got his second wind. (Who can blame him after sitting for 2+hours.) He wanted to get down and run and play. He was so stir crazy he wouldn't even sit down and finish his bottle. He only drank a couple of ounces. We finally just put him to bed, because we knew he was tired. He slept all night again, and woke up around 8:15 AM. What a blessing he is! We're so thankful that he is so well adjusted, that we can take off, and he is flexible to whatever situation we're in - most of the time! We'll see how he does this next week. We have our Missions Conference beginning tonight, so we'll be running every evening and a few times during the days for the next week straight. We'll see if he continues his flexibility throughout this crazy week!

Ethan's 1 year check-up...

Ethan had his one year check up yesterday. He weighs 24 lbs. 11 oz. (when he's naked; He weighs 25 pounds here on our scale, but that's when he's dressed, I guess.) He is 31 1/4 inches tall. He is in the 75th percentile for his weight, and 90th percentile for his height. As the doctor said, "So, he's tall and skinny, like his parents." I guess that's good. (His head circumference is 18 inches too - for whatever that's worth.) The doctor also said, "He looks great! You guys are doing a good job." Then the not-so-fun part of the check-up. Ethan received 6 shots/immunizations. Poor baby! They do 3 in each leg, with 2 nurses injecting one each at the same time. Both nurses said, "Wow, he's got strong legs!" We were leaving the office, and overheard the nurse make the same remark again, "That baby had strong legs," in the inner office to another nurse. He is very strong. (That's probably why he began walking so early.) Anyway, we were thankful to once again hear that we have a happy, healthy baby (toddler now) boy! He also said that we can switch Ethan from formula to cow's milk. We'll probably give him a little time, and then begin the switch over. One friend of mine said she tried with her baby girl (who also recently turned 1) and she threw it up. I wonder what other people's experiences have been. If you have any experiences you'd like to share, I'd love to hear them. Once again we begin another transition phase of food and milk. Ethan is doing much better with eating solid foods. He ate some toast, macaroni & cheese, and Jell-o today. (He turned his nose up and cried at his baby food.) I think he's going to think he's ready for all people food. That's what the doctor said he should be eating now too. He said he should be pretty much feeding himself now, whatever we eat. We're working on it, slowly, but surely. He has 7 teeth and the last one (top front) is close to breaking through, I think. The doctor also prescribed a baby multi-vitamin with fluoride in it. I'm also curious to hear what you other young moms have experienced with your babies and multi-vitamins. The doctor seemed convinced that he'd be able to chew it. He said, "It's just like candy." (Well, my 1 year old doesn't eat candy!) He said they're like the "Flinstones vitamins". Those are pretty hard, as I remember them. We haven't gotten them yet, but we'll probably give them a try.

Scariest Mom moment!

Tonight I had the scariest Mom moment of my life! We were at church for a Child Evangelism Fellowship banquet. The children were taken upstairs to play during the program. I went upstairs to check on Ethan, after helping clean up a little bit, during the program. Ethan was sitting quietly with one of our teens "Hopper." Of course, once he saw me he came to me. He quickly realized I was staying, and wanted to get down to play. He was wandering around like he normally does, and I started talking to the teen girls. I started looking at another boy who looked like he either sat in some juice, or he wet his pants. Then I noticed Ethan spit up on the carpet. I went over to wipe his face, and noticed he was still chewing, and continued spitting up. I immediately thought something was wrong! I leaned him forward and patted his back to see if he had to spit something out. Then I yelled, "GO GET BART!" (One pre-teen said, Who's Bart? Hopper ran to get him.)I looked in Ethan's mouth and stuck to the roof of his mouth was a sticker. I stuck my finger in and pulled it out! Then I hugged him and cried! HOW SCARY!! I am so thankful that it was "just a sticker" because it was still in his mouth. I am thankful that he did not swallow anything (that I know of!). I am thankful to the Lord that I was there to catch it right away when it happened. It's easy to think, he's walking fine, so I can take my eye off him a little bit. But he is at that age where EVERYTHING goes in his mouth. I hope and pray that nothing like that happens again! I'm sure I will be watching him like a hawk now!

Dinner at Gramma Wilson's...

Saturday night we went over to Gramma Brenda's and Grampa Don's house for dinner. I guess we celebrated Ethan's birthday, but Brenda's was Friday, the 11th also. This was our first visit with them at their home for several months. It was nice to catch up and visit a little. Don continues to struggle with the trigeminal nerve in his face sending excrutiating pain off and on. We appreciate your continued prayers for them. They head back to Mayo Clinic in early May.

As usual, Brenda made a wonderful meal. (She is a gourmet cook, after all!) We had roast pork, hashbrown potato casserole, corn, salad w/ mandarin oranges and poppy seed dressing, bread and jam, relishes, etc. The meal was delicious. (Ethan ate his food, some toast, and some applesauce.) (I love this face that Ethan makes. He tucks the corners of his mouth back and has this contented look on his face. It is so cute when he does it.)
"Yeah, Ethan!" (I'm not sure what he was doing, probably clapping also.)
Ethan ate in his new booster seat that Grandma & Grandpa Haase gave him for his birthday. The toys entertained him before we ate. He liked his new chair!
Gramma made Ethan a homemade cloth ball made of football shapes.
Grampa Don playing with Ethan.

Ethan got to open up another birthday present.

He knew to go right for the card first.

He got a set of 4 books of "Baby's First Words,"

Gramma also made Ethan some homemade "bib overalls". They are a cloth body bib, the goes around his neck and then attach around his ankles. We laughed and laughed, because as he wandered around, he looked like a catcher playing baseball.

Ending the night off with a taste of Gramma's yummy dessert. It was a cherry cheese pound cake pie-type dessert. It was delicious! Thank you Gramma Brenda & Grampa Don for a wonderful evening of food, fellowship, and gifts for Ethan!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Spencer!

Today is our dog, Spencer's, 2nd Birthday! He is a black and white English Springer Spaniel. I was raised having Springer Spaniels, so when we decided to get a dog, I knew I wanted a Springer Spaniel. They are such nice dogs with kids and families. He does have quite a bit of energy, but he has also settled down a LOT since we first got him. We got Spencer from a good friend in Cadillac, who breeds Springers. Natalie is a teacher at Cadillac Heritage Christian School, where I used to teach. I believe her husband, Brad's, birthday is today also. Happy Birthday Brad!

Ethan sharing his birthday balloons with Spencer.

He is a beautiful dog!
Such a cute face!
This is Spencer with all of his brothers and sisters 2 years ago (when he was probably 4-6 weeks old). Can you guess which one is Spencer? He is at the top right;the one with the most black in his coat.

Spencer and I getting to know each other, before we could bring him home.

Bart eventually warmed up to the idea of us getting a puppy. (It only took 8 years. :-))In fact, one of our teens from our Youth Group one Sunday night, said, "Debbie, I finally figured out how you got pregnant." I said, "Good!" (Where is this heading?) She said, "You got a puppy, and then you got pregnant!" (Phew!) She was partly right, I guess. We got Spencer and conceived about a month later! (How's that for a new fertility plan?) Anyway, we're glad we got him, most of the time. :-) (It is more difficult to plan to be away with a dog. He rides nicely in the van though. And he does great at Nana & Papa's house. Grandma & Grandpa have a dog just like Spencer (black and white Springer also), and he does not like to play with Spencer. He's not used to "fellowshipping" with other dogs. :-) ) Time to go out for a walk.

Busy Bees Room Finished!

Last week, we finished working in our "Busy Bees" Classroom at church. Bart and I were able to help paint a little during the first part of the week, before we left to go downstate for Ethan's party. The rest was done by Karl, Melissa, Phil, Carol, Ed, Jason, Emily, Heather, Samuel, Dave, etc. The back wall was drywalled, new cabinet doors put over the plumbing and electric box. Windows were trimmed out. The walls and doors were all painted. New cupboards and a counter top were put in also. We are so thankful to the many people that helped with this big project. It is a great improvement!

The rest of these are pictures that I borrowed from Nancy's blog (with permission). She got some of the pictures of work being done while we were gone, and then again last night during Awana.
New cupboards, counter top, and a half door.

Ed, one of the handy men who helped.

New foam flooring, is very fun for the kids. (Hopefully it holds up like it's supposed to.)

Karl & Melissa's two kids, Karl and Emma. Aren't they cute??

Karl, Jason and Annabelle admiring their finished work.

Here are some of the kids from our Puggles group at Awana. (The 2 year olds).

These are some of the kids that we did this project for.

Emily, director of Puggles and helper, Millie.