Old Videos

http://wbsenglish.blogspot.com

It's taken me awhile to get these up on the blog, but they're still worth seeing...

Today's Parlance


They're entertaining each other! (Lord, please let it last, please let it last...)

All Change

Alathea's adding (or in the process of adding) new things to her repertoire all the time. In the last few weeks she's discovered swinging, which she really likes. And in the last couple of days she's managed to stay on her hands and knees and rock, rather than flopping straight onto her tummy from a sitting position. Last night she started pulling up on a chair. Watch out! My life is about to change forever with two mobile children...



Facebookers, see http://wbsenglish.blogspot.com to view this video:

Belated Apology

This was my first attempt at french braiding Sophia's hair. As you can see, it's baggy in a lot of places, so I need to keep practicing.

As I was doing it, I recalled how picky I was as a pre-teen on the ship when Elizabeth Dennis french braided my hair on numerous occasions. If something was slightly imperfect, I'd want her to do it over. Now I see it's not so simple making hair styles come out perfectly, and so I want to say, "I'm sorry, Elizabeth!" No french braid she ever did with my hair looked like this!

Feeding Herself

Sadie

Sadie is Wes' Relay Worker (intern) this academic year. She helped lead the Goldsmiths CU last year. Relay is a year of discipleship for the individual concerned, and it's also a chance for them to get their feet wet in Christian ministry--to see if it's something they want to pursue further in the future.

Forum 2010

Here are a few pictures from UCCF's annual student leaders' conference. Not so much rain as the past two years, which is great for everyone but especially for those camping. Wes appreciated a very practical message given by UCCF's president urging the students to "throw off the sin that so easily entangles" us. A lot of students went forward for prayer afterward and Wes was able to encourage those with whom he prayed that God has given him victory over the years in areas of weakness.

Please pray with us that this week at the start of the academic year will set the tone in Christian Unions on university campuses across the UK.

Mike, a leader of the Goldsmiths CU

Eureka!

http://wbsenglish.blogspot.com

Check out the video of Sophia's first day of preschool in the post below this one. I've been trying to get this blasted thing to work for ages and kept getting an error message while previewing. Just read somewhere that it will work if you actually publish it to the blog, even though it tells you in the preview there's an error. Wish I'd tried that a week and a half ago. So here's the video I promised to several people!

First Day of Preschool

Sophia and I have both been looking forward to this day for most of 2010, and I didn't break down in tears as I sent my three-year-old off, without a hitch, to way-more-fun-than-she'd-be-having-with-me. But it did get me thinking about a paradox of parenthood. Some days are interminable; it seems that bedtime will never come. While, at the same time, you blink and more than three years have gone.

The part that scares me about this new phase in Sophia's life is that I'm not there to protect her. I'm leaving her with people I don't really know, and I don't know what's happening to her during those three hours. Her report of the morning's activities was very upbeat, so I'm sure everything was fine, but as I made my way to Bible study at my church with only one child, I was keenly aware that I must leave Sophia's welfare in God's hands--as it always is anyway.

Failed Photo Shoot

Both girls were dressed up for church this Sunday in clothes from my aunt, so I wanted to capture the moment. However, they weren't very willing to sit on the couch together for a photo. Hence, the following unsatisfactory result. Naturally the one photo in which they're both looking at the camera, I blinked!

Getting Soft

I suppose it's a well-documented fact that the more children one has, the laxer some rules get. Last Saturday Alathea tasted her first pancake (no syrup, yet, though), and yesterday an elderly friend gave her a few french fries. I don't think I would've let Sophia have these foods at 8 months, but I guess other aspects of daily life are harder for the second child than the first--like having to wait longer for what you're wanting and not being the center of attention all the time...

Facebookers, see http://wbsenglish.blogspot.com to view this video of Alathea.

Along with documenting Alathea's self-feeding progress, this video also captures Sophia's habit of answering on behalf of her sister.

An Americanism?

Apparently "dog-gone-it" is a hilariously American expression, or so a British friend informed me (as she mocked me to my face after I used it in conversation). I guess it does sound a bit funny if I stop to think about it, but there are a lot of times it comes in pretty handy, dog-gone-it!