Our littlest man is on the move! On the day Micah turned 5 months old, he was playing on this mat while I was sitting on the floor a few meters away working on my laptop. While I was working, he successfully turned himself around and made it all the way to me. It was he first time I’d seen him move deliberately and successfully to a spot that far away. Watch out world! Since then he’s all over the place and is starting to get up on his knees as well.
Now that he can move around our house, Micah isn’t too happy to sit in his chair or to be up on the couch with us. But this means I’ve got to keep reminding his siblings to watch out for him and I have to keep an eye on what he aiming for. He loves playing on the floor and is so happy when we get down and lay with him. I usually spend time every afternoon playing with him – he laughs and laughs.
Sunday, April 11, we celebrated Anna’s 7th birthday! We started two weeks before with her birthday countdown calendar, which included gifts and treats for the 12 days leading up to her birthday. This year Anna’s birthday movie was Pollyanna.
This year Anna drew 3D cakes to make her own birthday banner. We put it up over her bedroom door the night before her birthday. (I drew the sign in the middle of the banner.) Anna’s really doing well in Art class. I always enjoy seeing her projects and the extra projects she makes after learning how to do the process.
One gift I worked on for Anna was a matching doll dress from some fabric she bought last year for a dress. Our local seamstress made the dress for Anna, but said she wasn’t sure she could make doll clothes. I’m wasn’t sure I could either – but it worked.
This year Anna requested tacos for for birthday meal. We all enjoyed her choice! Since Anna’s birthday was on a Sunday we had her meal during lunch. We started the day with our home church service (church meetings are canceled due to Covid) and then the kids played Phase10 with Josh while I worked on lunch. We did gifts from parents before lunch and gifts from siblings after lunch. It was a fun day!
We’re thankful for Anna and the gift she is to our family. She’s had a great year of progressing in her reading skills. She often takes books above her reading level and works at reading them. I’m amazed at the words she figures out. She loves math. She love laughing. She loves her dolls – all 9 of them! She is a good helper and will hold Micah for a long time. She also loves writing and illustrating original books. She did her own hair for her birthday pictures.
We’re thankful for our Anna. Her birth was my unexpected VBAC that allowed me to have our next three children without surgery. Thankful for that gift from God. Thankful for our middle daughter and all the joy she brings our lives!
We started our Holy Week celebrations by decorating our Resurrection tree and beginning our nightly singing and reading from Noel Piper’s Lenten Lights.
Palm Sunday we did a play of Christ’s triumphal entry. Monday night we did a play of Jesus cleansing the temple.
Wednesday night we had our traditional egg hunt. We had enough eggs for each child to find 17. After they found their eggs, they traded them in for merchandise at our little store. We did the whole process twice. Big favorites at the store this year were 3-in-1 instant coffee and poppers. We went outside and the kids used all their poppers – it was fun to see the sparks in the dark.
Thursday night we had our Maundy Thursday service with feet washing. The older washed the feet of the younger. Ezra ended by washing Josh’s feet. Our feet are always very dirty so it took some scrubbing to get them clean.
Friday morning we did a Resurrection art lesson over video chat taught by a fellow MK in Cambodia.
Sunday morning we celebrated Easter with the Crowleys and some others. We were sad that we couldn’t be with our Jarai church (churches are closed because of Covid), but we were glad to be able to be with other believers. Thankful that Christ is Alive and that He’s ours forevermore!
April 3rd we celebrated Josh’s 40th birthday! We started the celebrating exactly 40 days before with a small party and presentation of 5 envelopes. Each envelope contained a statement signed by all saying that we would do certain chores of Josh’s for the next 40 days: 1.) Wash the supper dishes; 2.) Make the morning coffee; 3.)Crack the breakfast eggs; 4.) Fill the water filter; and 5.) Make the morning oatmeal. That was his big gift! We also watched Sargent York together the week of Josh’s birthday. It was the first time for the kids to watch a war movie and they handled it well. Of course, the fighting scene is a very small part of the whole movie.
The morning of Josh’s birthday we drove to Ban Lung to spend the day/evening with the Crowleys. In the evening we grilled hotdogs and chicken kabobs and had a picnic with bakes beans and veggies.
After the meal we had a program for Josh. Each of the kids prepared a original gift for him. Clara wrote a poem called My Daddy’s Birthday Poem. Anna wrote and illustrated a story called My Daddy. Isaiah wrote, typed, and illustrated a story called Daddy’s Bike Adventure. Becca wrote a list called 40 Reasons Daddy is Great. Each of the kids read their gift aloud. Ezra didn’t want to be left out, so he sang Christ is Mine Forevermore.
Afterwards we ate dessert. It’s always a bit tricky making cake during hot season. This year there was the added excitement of transporting the cake to Ban Lung.
We’re thankful for Josh and the 40 years God has given him. Thankful for all he means to us and to everyone else he comes in contact with him. Happy Birthday my Man!
