Fun and games

This morning when Carrie Ann woke up, she said, "Betadine, foo." At first I thought she meant foot, but then realized she was asking for food (and Bethany). I said, "Would you like to go out and pick some raspberries?" and she replied, "I-sy dopadies! Betadine dopadies! Tysis dopadies!" In otherwords, "outside, raspberries!" Outside is sometimes ouw-sigh, or i-sigh. Dopadies was first strawberries, but now means raspberries. Tysis is pretty consistent for Matthias now. I tried to get her to say her name. "Does Bethany like raspberries?" "Betadine dopadies!" "Does Matthias like raspberries?" "Tysis dopadies!" "Does Carrie Ann like raspberries?" "Tatie ann dopadies!" It is very hard to distinguish between Carrie as she says it, and Daddy! The Ann is very low, like "awn" or "on", so Carrie Ann -- Tatie on -- almost sounds the same as "Daddy's home!" one of her current favourite phrases!

I found this site on one of Rob's friend's blogs:

If you want one too, go to meez.com. Put my username in (rebeccajz) when you register and we both get extra coinz. (Coinz are points for "buying" some of the fancier items, such as the striped Hanbok I chose.)

Menstrual Miracle

(Bodily fluids warning: if you're uncomfortable reading about bodily fluids, skip this post!)

This week I had Praise and Worship for our church service: leading the singing for three or four songs at the beginning of the service. On Friday, my period threatened to start, and lately I've been really exhausted and crampy for the first two days of my period. So I prayed that God would let my period wait until after Praise and Worship to start, so that I could give the praise service my whole energy. Well, I had a little spotting the rest of Friday and Saturday morning, but I felt great, and no period. Praise and Worship went really well -- it was apparent that God had led the choice of the songs, and half a dozen people told me after the service how blest they were by the singing. Within ten minutes of the end of the service, I started cramping, and sure enough, my period had started. Amazing! You know, my meditation at the beginning of Praise and Worship was how God shows his love for us in a million ways -- I mentioned the random, beautiful poppy blooming in my yard -- but delaying my period for one day is another wonderful gesture from Him, blessing me by allowing me to be a blessing to His children in our church. Thank God for small miracles that mean a lot!

Carrie Ann looks like her cousins (or they look like her)

First Aria, then Carrie Ann at about the same age.
(Wearing the same sleeper, since we handed it down. Yay for handing down! Carrie Ann also started sucking her thumb at this age.)
Next, Silas and then Carrie Ann at about one month:

They even have the same rash!
Silas and Aria generally look so different, I was amazed to find pictures of Carrie Ann that fit to each of them!

Father's Day

Going backward in time, here are some nice pictures Mom Z took on Father's Day:

This one turned out well, but for a laugh look in the photo gallery for the one of me sticking out my tongue!

PS I posted a few today, so read on...

Children's Parade

Wow! I must have been tired when I posted on May 21 (Famous!). Not only did I get the pictures in the wrong spots, but I found at least one typo. Sorry! (It's fixed now.) Frank's mom took a great picture of us at the children's parade, thereby ending my photographer's regret of taking lots of pictures and not getting a single really good one. Here it is:

Dance Recital

Bethany had her end of the year dance recital at the end of June. I got to be "backstage Mom", which was a lot of fun! It made for a busy week, especially since the parents were responsible for the stage makeup and I don't have a clue about makeup -- nor any around. But a friend from Homelinks who had a daughter performing as well helped me out, and I only had to buy a couple things that you shouldn't share. There are a few pictures up in my photo gallery (link at the right), but here is one of Bethany's class doing their "final pose":

The teacher liked the "hand pointing down" pose, and used it in a lot of the dances. Carrie Ann must have noticed, because on Canada Day, while the Creston Fiddlers were playing, she danced around in a circle with one arm up, hand pointed down! In fact, she danced around and around until she was so dizzy she couldn't walk in a straight line anymore. It was quite cute, and lots of the grandmas commented to me on it afterwards. She also walked through the audience, greeting everyone. I think she might have been looking for Grandma. She sure was excited when she finally found her!

Celebrate!

Wow! Last Thursday, we were playing with some friends who have a 2 ft baby slide, and Carrie Ann got up the courage to slide down all by herself, without holding my hand! Today, Matthias read four chapters in his chapter book (about 5 pages per chapter) without any nagging from me! I just suggested that he read, and promised I would match whatever he read (read him one chapter aloud for each chapter he read silently), and he sat down and read two chapters. Then I matched him one for the chapter he read yesterday, and two for the chapters today, and then he went ahead and read the last two chapters on his own! This is a real break-through for him, it is the first time he has read willingly, more than I required! I am so excited! It is common for MD boys to be a couple years behind in language skills when they are young, but usually the difference diminishes once they are able to read fluently. So he is almost there! (Well, we still have to work on writing!) And Bethany managed to swim about 2 metres head-up today! She has been practicing so hard, and could swim quite far underwater, but the need to come up for air always hindered her. So now she paddles like crazy and can keep her head up for a bit! There's still room for work, but this is a major step for her too. It is hard to believe she will be six in two more months. And I'll be 32 in two days -- 32 is one of my favourite numbers, so I hope that means it will be a good year!