Bad Company Corrupts Good Character

But we haven't had any bad company, and most character here is still in its early formation. Now here's a word on both.

We've had the fun of hosting lots of people in the last 30 days. After the Morgans came to visit, the Bradleys came, then the adult Fanks, then the Lumpkins. Here are the highlights from each visit (excluding the Morgans since they got a blog post earlier).


THE BRADLEYS-
We ate supper, played at the park, went to the zoo, had naps, ate supper at Children's hospital and played at the hospital park, the men folk went to a ballgame while the women folk got to play with Kristen from the golden days of yore (that is, when I was 10 and Andrea was 9 and we lived on Pleasant Grove Rd.) Then Sunday we all went to church, came home, ate lunch and sent the Bradleys on their way. They only left behind 2 dresses. Anabelle and Ava were so much fun to be around. Ava did not kick or push Silas down the stairs or even strangle him. After the threat of a spanking for taking toys away from Silas, she even started sharing toys and giving hugs. Anabelle really liked running with Lewis. I think he was really glad to have someone to chase. The low point was church on Sunday. I won't write about it here, but I will say that we are visiting other churches again.


THE FANKS-
I baked a pasta dish that was fun to put together and we enjoyed eating leftover apple pie and seeing Pop's Ghana pictures. Sadly, Joel had to be at work all the next day but the rest of us took another great trip to the zoo. This was especially fun because the lowland gorilla's were running from one end of their exhibit to the other and the tigers were swimming in their swimming pool. After the zoo, we ate lunch at home and while the boys took naps, Pops and Debbie sent me to run fun errands. I bought a grill pan at Williams Sonoma that I have returned already because it's not for glass top stoves.

Why anyone would want a glass top stove for functionality is beyond me.

After I got home, we played outside in the pool and then ate pancakes for supper. I am especially grateful for all the dishes that Debbie cleaned up. Having others wash my dishes is certainaly a way that I understand that someone cares about me!

THE LUMPKINS-
The Lumpkins have moved out of their apartment. We were their first of several half-way houses on their journey to Fuller Seminary. Silas really liked waking up to find that Eleanor was here and Eleanor was sweetly attentive to Micah, informing me frequently of his name and location. For supper we ate a taco pizza and after the babies were asleep, or trying to fall asleep, we mixed frozen drinks and celebrated the creative triage systems of UAMS. The next day was a little crazy for the Lumpkins. I imagine if they ever have the internet again, they might write on their blog about their experience with a moving company. I hope so.



As far as good character is concerned, we are working daily to improve manners and attitudes in our home. We are hoping to replace "uh-huh" with "yes ma'am" or "yes sir" and the dramatic throwing of milk paired with the yelling of "Don't want it!" with "I'm finished." It's so rewarding to see success and to feel that we are hopefully instilling respect for parents and elders in a culture that is increasingly self-centered. We are thrilled to watch Silas try to comfort Micah when he's crying and even share some of his favorite toys with him. I pray that Silas' actions are the early signs of a compassionate heart and that we may continue to help him develop this to bring hope to hurting world.


I also pray that we can get the crayon off the screen of our laptop.

In other news,
Micah is rolling all over the place and scootching around and trying to eat everything in sight. He is almost sleeping from 10pm to 7am without waking up. A couple of other favorites about Micah: he loves the johnny jump up, apple sauce, and laughing at himself in the mirror.

Joel is working 8-5 this month and getting ready for his first time as a witness in a criminal trial. Joel is definitely sleeping from 10pm to 7am without waking up. He's fixing up his bike!

I am going to be the elementary Spanish teacher for the homeschooling co-op here. It's the perfect job right now as it's only 1 hour a week, and they will provide childcare.