Pretty Packages

Perched among the gifts, Kylie and Luke are anxious to get started unwrapping. Kylie was overheard to say to Luke, “If you need help opening your ‘presidents,’ I’ll help you.”

Hey, thanks to my wonderful brother, I finally got two of my Dell’s networking. It sure is nice to be able to download a page and read it while another one downloads on the other computer. I’m saving so much time on my slow dial-up internet connection I hardly have time to play Spider Solitaire between pages anymore (although I have graduated to the difficult version–I can win one game in 20).

Anyway, here’s a poem I wrote about children:

Life’s Spin

My child’s a button spinning on two strong cords,

Balanced in the middle, alive with motion,

Set in place at conception by loving parents.

Cords which twist together, untwist, twist again

In a pattern of give and take so delicately balanced

That the slightest miscalculation can check the

Finely tuned orchestration of its spin.

As parents we may think we can set life spinning

And then cut it free to go on its own,

But the cords are forever threaded through.

Cords that may lengthen, stretch, thin, or even break.

Cords, nonetheless, which are necessary

For the balance of a child’s spin into adulthood.

Keep the give and take balanced,

So that your child can spin upright,

With a sense of his own independence,

Yet securely held in check by wise and timely tugs.

Look like anyone you know or used to know? This scarecrow made by the kids in the youth group reminded me of Josiah because he wears Josiah’s outgrown basketball clothes.

Kylie and Luke really enjoyed the playground in the park.

Ronni with Nathan Alexander

Here’s the wee one on Virgil’s side of the family–Veronica’s son Nathan Alexander.

Horseback Riding

Can you believe I get paid for doing this? As Youth Activities Director at a local church, I enjoy all the benefits of the activities I design for the kids, from canoeing to skiing. Of course, sometimes it’s the breaks, too, like when I fell and sprained my wrist rollerskating last winter.

Walking

On a walk to see the neighbor donkey.

A Taste for Watermelon

I think it runs in the family. Here are the kids at a picnic in the park.

Prize Watermelon

Here’s my grandkids with my friend, Anna’s prize watermelon. She thinks it may weigh 100 lbs.

Kylie’s Four!

What do you know? The pictures are working after all. They just don’t show up on my preview. These are some shots from Kylie’s fourth birthday.