Steve takes all on our family growth chart! He has grown 7 inches in 18 months, 4 in the past year alone. He hopes he continues down this path for at least another 3 to 4 inches so he can look down upon his dad!
He'll be 14 in a few short months and the picture here shows how much he looks forward to that!
New things on his horizon: getting braces OFF in November, a 3-D pottery class (he enjoys trying new mediums of creating), debate, his first soccer season where he has chosen the position of Forward, and switching instruments from flute to guitar.
Because everyone in the family is growing, it just seems like Paige is not
(and to her credit she takes the teasing about this rather well) but the truth is she has grown the 2nd most this past year! A whole 3 and 1/4 inches. We also realized that at this same age, Taryn was just about the same height so she was very excited about finding that out! (In our family, Taryn reaching 5' 2" is a big deal because having a 1/2 Filipino heritage assumes shortness and being taller than me, Mom, is just plain "cool" in their minds).
New things on her horizon: taking drama and art at Grace Academy which is her first exposure to going to "real" school and not a co-op where mom is still hanging around, weekly gymnastics classes, Omnibus (history, theology & literature) with her dad which means a whole lot of reading, writing and verbal discussion and a preschool helper at church on a very regular basis because she loves to play with kids! Oh, one more thing, she might be getting braces next. We'll find out soon as she has her first orthodontic appt next month!
One of the upsides of driving kids to all their classes and activities is having all this car-time to read. What else is there to do when you have to wait in the car for blocks of time! (I don't dare shop cuz this only gets me into trouble with my budget). There is an older lady at my church who is an avid fiction lover, like me, and goes through them quite quickly. She encouraged me to read at least ONE thought-provoking non-fiction read for at least every 10 fiction ones. And, our town happens to not only have a great city library but also a pretty good Christian library too at a nearby Lutheran church. So, this helps a lot not having to buy everything I read through so quickly. Anyway, back to the book on the left. I've heard many good things about this book. So far, it has been challenging on so many conviction levels. I put this on my daughter's reading list this year so I figured I should probably read it first and I'm glad that I am. Hopefully, I'll be able to not just read it and say "oh, that was a good read" but put into practice some of what I learned!
If you know Sam and Chris, they like to compete, being brothers and all and only 16 months apart, it just goes with the territory. This is what makes them the best of friends and at the same time the worst of enemies! Thankfully, it is more of the former rather than the latter.
On that note, Chris TOO grew exactly 2 and 1/2 inches last year! So, they make quite a pair, even growing at the exact same rate.
Chris is happy to be 10. He is definitely in that in-between stage of wanting to stay a kid but wishing he could have all the privileges the older kids have.
New things on his horizon: washing dishes (he couldn't wait to do this but is realizing quickly it isn't as glorious as he thought), being able to spend his money instead of putting ALL his allowance or cash gifts he gets directly into his savings account, learning how to have a reflective time and how to express his feelings by doing a Heart journal and finally having a later bedtime - no more having to be upstairs and in his room by 7:30p.m.
Since it's the beginning of another schoolyear, we're doing a short series this week on each kid. Just random stats on their lives this Fall of 2008. Something to record so they can look back next year and see how they've changed.
This past year, Sam grew 2 and 1/2 inches!!!
He is 8 and 3/4(almost 9-emphasis his) and even though he will be 9 in Dec., he says he wishes I could transform him back into being a baby again esp. when he sees his baby pixes. (a typical baby of the family). Older kids keep telling me to stop babying the poor boy. That's just so hard to do!
New things on his horizon: piano lessons and typing tutor on the computer (he would really like his own instant message account LOL), being on a basketball team and playing actual games and a birthday party since we only do parties every other year so for him it's been FOREVER and keeping a devotional journal.
Grace, Grace, Wonderful Grace, Coming down from the Father Above,
Sweep over my spirit,forever, I pray, in fathomless billows of Love.
Ponder: "We are brought into God's Kingdom by grace; we are sanctified by grace; we receive both temporal and spiritual blessings by grace; we are motivated to obedience by grace; we are called to serve and enabled to serve by grace; we receive strength to endure trials by grace; and finally, we are glorified by grace. The entire Christian life is lived under the reign of God's grace." Jerry Bridges
"So God supplies perfectly measured grace to meet the needs of the godly. For daily needs there is daily grace; for sudden needs, sudden grace; for overwhelming need, overwhelming grace. God's grace is given wonderfully, but not wastefully; freely but not foolishly; bountifully but not blindly." John Blanchard
Grace is a "righteousness that is by faith from first to last." God's Grace is both sufficient and Effective.
"Oh what Grace we often forfeit, Oh what painfilled grief we bear; All because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer. "T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear (God) and Grace my fears relieved!"
So you can see that my thoughts have been centering on the Wonderful Grace of Jesus lately.
We have been blessed with visits and activities this month. Our dear friends, Pat and Ray, came from Illinois, and Mickey came to visit for a whole week! She and Matt had a lot of fun times.Here she is shown on Dad's motorcycle.
Also, we visited a group home in Asheville, NC and Matt is on the waiting list for entry. He is shown here with Stephanie, the group home leader, who is a Christian.
Matt is now working at Taco Bell in Monroe! Here he is in his work uniform.
(I can't figure out why I can't get rid of the doubles of the pictures. Help, Alleyn!)
Goodbye for now! God keep you in His Grace!
P.S.
Laura and Dave, Olivia, David, Fiona, and little Ian finally have a home! We are praising and praying with you and for you. Love, Mamma Cole
Howard and Steve caught Uncle Matt "in the act" working hard at Taco Bell today!
- Vunerability is the last thing we would expect to combine with strength. The word literally means "able to be wounded," and therefore, vulnerability flies in the face of our usual concept of strength. To be vunerable is to voluntarily place yourself, for the sake of a larger purpose, in a situation that could bring pain. You see something at stake - your own spiritual growth or someone else's - and you are willing to risk your heart in a vulnerable way.
- Forgiveness is both an event and a process-a big YES, I choose to forgive followed by many little yeses as the months and years roll by.
- Indeed the movement of God in our lives is always to take us by the hand and walk us through the territory of our fear. Sometimes that feels like the adventure that it is-other times, we are led there kicking and screaming. But God leads in that direction because it is the place of encounter with Him.
All quotes from Strong Women, Soft Hearts by Paula Rinehart
Paige went to watch her sister and friends today play volleyball against Union Academy (their cousin Mike's school now). It's only the 2nd game of the season (out of about 21 or so) but here they are in their uniforms ready to get whatever experience they can since
they are new to the sport.
The rest of the crew and their cousin Maddie had an all out NERF GUN war all over the house. (Thanks Uncle Jon and Aunt Steph for inspiring our boys with that present!)
And finally, I took the time to try a Japanese food recipe that my sis and cousin
says taste just like going to an authentic Japanese restaurant. They were right! The Tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlets) turned out superbly! (Thanks for the tip A and G). Steve's first comment after tasting his first bite - "it's just like eating it at a restaurant, Mom." He said he was proud of me. What can be better than that?
Our Christopher Alfonso David Cole turned a big double digit "10" today! We had a crazy mania detective party. This morning a culprit stole the stash of GOLD coins from our family treasure box so the boy's mission was to follow the clues and identify the culprit and figure out where he hid the gold coins. We had three teams; the Daring Detectives, the Spooky Spies and the Smart Sherlocks! It took about 40 minutes and a little bit of help here and there for all three teams but finally the Smart Sherlocks came through and discovered both solutions!
The gold was stashed in the storage shed outside and the sneaky culprit was the "coolest dude" - Stephen Cole. It took all 6 boys and more to get his hands handcuffed and him thrown into jail. But, our family was so relieved to have gotten the treasure returned! (well eaten truthfully).
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