Family News

Some exciting updates for our family:

Michiel is done with his first year of his MAT program! One down, one to go. And he has almost the whole month of August off. I am also not working that month, so we're planning some super family fun...and relaxing, of course.

My sister, Jolene, has moved back to Silverton!!!!! I'm so excited to have her close by. She's been three hours away, in Bend, since we moved back here, and I can't wait to see her more regularly!

And congratulations to Therese, who just got the position of Assistant Principal at Silverton High School. No more commuting to Molalla! No more doing a job she's not getting paid for!

More Questions from the Mind of Alexander

I am constantly amazed by the things my child wonders about...and my absolute inability to explain things to him.

The other day he asked me what was here before we were, and I told him there were lots of other people living on earth going back hundreds and hundreds of years.

Alexander: No, I mean before that.

Me: Um, you mean the dinosaurs?

Alexander: No, before that mom. Before our earth, and before the other planets.

Me: Well, there was something called the Big Bang, but let's ask Papa about it when he gets home.

I am constantly referring him to Michiel or the internet. Seriously, what 4-year-old asks origin questions? Probably all of them, in one way or another.

He also recently asked how far the sky goes and my personal favorite: "How do they get the electricity to go through the power lines?"

Um...you got me there. I've got to brush up on my science.

Alexander's theory about the power lines was that it flows on water because he knows electricity is sometimes generated using water at dams. "You know, those high-electric dams."

And don't even get me started on religion.

We haven't raised him with religion, but now he's asking questions about holiday traditions. Those stories are pretty funky if you aren't eased into them. I tried explaining things to him this Easter but ended up confusing myself.

"So, there's a pagan holiday celebrating new life and fertility...hence, the egg. Oh, and there's also this guy who got nailed to a cross and died for our sins. But that's kind of a gruesome story. But beautiful too. Hey, um, let's go find your Easter basket!"

No wonder people tell their children, "Jesus was crucified and the easter bunny brings you candy," and leave it at that.

Airplanes

Annabel is really into airplanes right now. Whenever she hears one, she stops whatever she's doing, gets a look of complete wonder on her face, points upward, and says, "Airpane, airpane."

Alexander used to do that when he was her age, only it was firetrucks for him.

Oh, and she's a cool dude, too:

Strawberries!

Last week we went strawberry picking, and it was glorious! Annabel stuffed her face, and Alexander ran up and down the rows searching for the biggest berries. Hooray! Summer is finally here!

Here is a picture from the Silverton Strawberry Festival, held the week before strawberries were ripe for U-pick. Our guests from the Netherlands--Bram, Mirjam, and Marius--joined us.

Mouthful of Words

Annabel is talking more and more each day. She's constantly trying to repeat what she hears us say, and the mangled versions she comes up with are quite something. Her latest favorites are:

Jo-Jo!
She says this with such gusto that if she has anything in her mouth at the time, it's bound to come shooting out. We were so delighted when she first said "Jo-Jo," that we all cheered and clapped and now when she says it, she'll often cheer or clap for herself.

She'll point out Jo in pictures then point to Eric and say, "Erk."

She doesn't say Kevin yet, but when I try to get her to, she'll often say, "Tchees," because she knows they go together.

She also likes to look at books with the Alphabet in big block letters. When she sees the letters, she starts swaying back and forth, singing, "Aeeee, Beees.....Aeeee, Beees." That's all she knows of the song. But she'll also start singing the alphabet song any time she sees big block letters, like on signs. Whenever we go grocery shopping at Roth's and she sees those big green letters, she starts swaying and singing.

A couple of days ago, we were all sitting around the table talking about oma and opa's boat trip to Poland. Alexander was remembering when he had been on their boat and saying that he'd like to do that again. All of a sudden, Annabel threw up her arms and said, "Oma!" then grinned at us, looking very pleased with herself.

She Loves to Swing

We knew this before. From her very first swing experience in Bend a few months ago, we've known that we have a swing-loving girl. What we didn't know until just yesterday, was that she can hold on and swing all by herself--with pushing help, of course.

And she LOVES to swing. Absolutely loves it. Michiel was out there with her for half an hour just swinging away. Every time we try to stop to go do something else, she signs for more and runs back to the swing.
It's amazing what our children can do. I had no idea she was ready to swing by herself. I wonder what tricks Alexander has up his sleeve...

Let Them Eat Watermelon

Is it summer already or what?

If it were, we'd be eating outside and running through the sprinkler afterwards, but alas, it's still too cold for that.

Give it another month and I'll be complaining about the heat.