We were looking forward to another November baby, and the best medicine
throughout another eight months of “morning” sickness was the presence of the
older three children.
Now that all of you have heard our news I feel I have a legitimate excuse
for not having accomplished much the past month :). I'm simply too
"zausterfied" to think about any big projects soon! Anneke was very
sweet last week; though she didn't know I was pregnant, she could see I wasn't
feeling well and was doing her level best to try to make me feel better.
"I'll try to help you, mom... Maybe you should lay downstairs on the
couch by the fire with a cosy blanket... I can do some house work for you...
you look pretty, Mom... ", etc!
The other day when I started dusting the house she wanted to help me, but
ended up only doing a bit of wiping around the kitchen before declaring herself
"done". She went downstairs immediately afterward, no doubt to tell
Joseph about her act of goodwill, because soon he come traipsing up wanting to
help. She put on her tutorial air, and showed him where and how to dust, and he
faithfully followed me through the whole house, scrubbing and polishing. Anneke
followed along giving pointers, and finally exclaimed, "What will Daddy
say when he sees this house?" (Of course I did not break it to her that
dusting is not something that usually gets noticed - unless it's not done,
right?) She continued, "I bet he'll say, 'Why is the house so clean and
sparkly? Who cleaned it?' And then we'll say, "WE did!!". Jo and I
were still cleaning feverishly, and I merely smiled at her musings while my
dust rag kept on it's whirlwind tour down the stairway. When we finally wound
up back in the kitchen she declared with a loud sigh, "I'm tired! We've
been working SO hard!"
Jesus,
Tender Shepherd
We are
memorizing Isaiah 40, and Anneke's 'best part' are the verses about Jesus
leading his flock like a shepherd, gathering them in His arms, and carrying
them in His bosom. I can tell this is her favorite because a pleased smile
spreads across her face every time we get to those verses (don't you love how
kids are so transparent?), and then she turns to Jo and says, "Isn't that
wonderful, Jo? God is so faithful!" And the other day she added, "But
we don't get to see God yet, so we're a little bit sad. But when we die we get
to see him."
A Big Fight
Generally speaking, the kids all get along really well. However, the other
day there was an incident where Joseph came running across the yard from the
sandbox, wailing the whole way, evidently on a mission to report a grievance,
while Anneke was hot on his heels with an explanation. Accusing and defensive
words (respectively) preceded them into the house, and naturally Anneke's words
were the first to be comprehended.
"...But he was breaking the thing I made!"
"Okay," I said, "Now let me hear what Jo says was
happening."
I awaited the outpouring of Jo's grievance, anticipating a doozey based on
the volume of his wailing.
"A-a-aa-aa-Anna says I have to be nice!!"
I waited for more. Jo looked at me expectantly.
"Uh...well, you DO have to be nice," I pointed out.
He looked astounded by this unexpected response.
"But I LIKE being not nice!"
Daddy's Birthday
The big excitement around here is M's birthday tomorrow.
Anna loves to
prepare for a shebang, and this occasion is one she's been talking about for
months. In fact, she even started on his gift months ago, though it had fallen
by the wayside in the meantime and had to be quickly finished up today. It is a
book which she wrote and illustrated herself. Originally intended to be a novel
of epic proportions, she only actually managed to finish 5 or 6 pages. She kept
showing me how many pages thick is was going to be, and would stare off
dreamily into the distance just envisioning Daddy's delight over the finished
product... Unfortunately all this dreaming did not help her novel, and many a
sentence was left hanging during these diversions. Nevertheless it's a pretty
sweet present, I think. We wrapped it up in a fancy cover today, and hid it
away. Of course she made a show of checking the security of the hiding spot right
when daddy came home (which he didn't notice), with her secret smile. Yesterday
she was walking around with it under her shirt when he wasn't even anywhere
near, just in case. She loves all the mystery.
Jo, too, is getting right into
the spirit of things, and he dashed off a great orange scribble on a piece of
scrap paper, as his present. After painstakingly hiding it, first in one place,
then another, he promptly brought it out of hiding when daddy came home and
showed it to him :). For what it's worth, it's back in hiding again now.
Prayers
Jo usually asks if he can "pray after" at meals (meaning, after
whoever else is praying), and his prayers always follow the same pattern, and
invariably require some parental prompting.
Me: Dear -
Jo: Lord... Help us for this food... (why he asks for help instead of
giving thanks I leave to your imagination. I never claimed to be a good cook!)
Me: Help us to -
Jo: Bless Daddy...
Jim: Dad-dy...
Me: Help us to OBEY
Jo: Obey...
Jim: Bey..
.
Me: For Jesus sake -
Jo: Amen.
Jim: Men!
That's his regular prayer :). It gets more interesting when I try to vary
the content and add new, unfinished sentences for him to fill in, because he
struggles with an inability to read my mind and almost always inserts a
completely unlooked-for ending.
As mentioned, Jim mumbles along quietly, usually also invoking blessings
on "mommy...guh-kuh [Anneke].... baby". He only comes out strong on
the Amen, at which point he also snatches his hand away from mine with such
speed as can only be acquired after months of practice.
A Birth Announcement (and a Foreshadowing...)
We just wanted to share with you the good news that we received another
precious son yesterday! We named him William David - names which mean
"Strong-willed warrior" and "Beloved", respectively. He
already demonstrated to us by much screaming and howling in the hours following
the birth how fitting the first name is... Let's just hope he doesn't become a
self-willed warrior, but one that is strong-willed in serving the Lord and
fighting the good fight of faith!
"Like arrows in the hands of a warrior, so are the sons of one’s
youth." (Psalm 127:4)
Sweet Jims
I just love my little Jims - he is at that age where he is still so cheery
and easy going… He drives his little cars around for hours, parking them in
neat little rows, studying the movement of their wheels with a scientific air,
or parallel parking them with bumpers kissing. If no cars are readily available
he puts his hands in gear and drives them over the furniture.
Anticipating Another Christmas
Anneke and Jo are prolific card writers, and though I tried to encourage
them to limit their card-giving to one card per person (especially for me and
M), I'm afraid our stocking is already full... No doubt with dozens of papers
decorated with Jo's trademark scribbles. He's determined we should have a full
stocking this year, I suppose, Santa Claus or no Santa Claus ("Santa Claus
is just a fertend guy, hey mom?"). Anneke, I think, has tried to stick to
the limit, but she makes up for it by giving me an average of two "I love
you mom" cards every day. It feels very cruel to cast these tokens of
affection into the garbage but I'm sure you'll agree that with the card traffic
we've got coming through one must be brutal. Haven't we been trained from our
youth upward on that great principle, "Get rid of it!"? My strategy is to keep their pictures or
cards in view for a little while, then move them to the top of the fridge, and
if they are not missed for a week or so, they go discretely in the can. I have
told them that I throw things away after awhile but it seems less painful not
to draw attention to the fact every time! The other day Anneke was admiring a
picture she had made for Maurice many months ago, that was spared the can and left
on the fridge due to its sweet message. "This one has lasted a long time,
hey mom?" she observed, fingering the texture of the paper as if hoping to
discover the secret to its longevity in the quality thereof. She seemed to
think the thousands of other pictures had just disintegrated into nothingness.
The Anticipated Christmas
"The hap-happiest season of all" is almost over! We had our cosy
family celebration on Monday, which started off with the usual merry music,
candlelight, excitement, gift giving, good food, and good cheer. I say,
"started off", because by about 7:30 everything but the candlelight
had pretty much dwindled away. Especially lacking on the part of the tired
boyfies was the good cheer. Anneke had put an invitation in M's stocking to a
special program, which was supposed to be a reenactment of the wise men seeking
the baby Jesus. Trouble is, two of the wise men had minds of their own (and, as
Jo is wont to say, "I made up my mind, Anna; I made up it!"), and
wouldn't stand with Anneke, or sing the final song, or keep their turbans where
they belonged. So Anneke sang "Joy to the World" alone, with a
deadpan expression, and then Jo came along and pulled her turban off, too.
Sometimes the best contribution we can make towards "peace on earth"
is to hussle the kids off to bed as quickly as possible.
