Trinity is Four Years Old Today

Some of you may remember some of these pictures...

Just a few seconds into the world!

Four Generations

About to have the joy of dedicating her to the Lord

Bedtime

Two Halloween Fairies

How Does This Thing Work?

And Trinity Today!

What a joy and blessing this little one has been to her Papa and me! Four years ago today I was driving to the Twin Cities as fast as possible. Mommy was in labor for a while, but didn't go to the hospital quite as soon as she should have...and T. came into the world before Dr. arrived. Very exciting!

She is turning into a lovely little girl, very talkative (wonder where she got that from?), very polite, a lover of music and words (wonder where she got that from?) and seems to be good at numbers too. Today she is at our house while Mommy makes some changes to turn her room into something for "a big girl" but there's a sledding B'day party tomorrow with several of her friends. There must be some advantage to having a January birthday and living in Wisconsin! Oh yeah...snow! And a snowman birthday cake. And sledding. Yep.

Trinity Goes to a Rendezvous Camp

Last weekend we did this --and Trinity came along. Four days away from Mommy and Daddy was a long stretch for a three-year-old, but she had so much fun she did not want to leave. Every Memorial Day weekend, we go to Frontiers Camping Fellowship Family Camp. This one is different than others I've posted about because it is leaders of Royal Rangers (an Assemblies of God boy's group sort of like scouting) and their families. FCF is a group not everyone chooses to join, but those who do are sort of like other rendezvous reenactors I have posted about.

We see friends we sometimes haven't see for a year, have lots of fun, spend time singing and having devotions around a camp fire, and eat too much.

It was great to see you, Tom and Cindy and Bob and Darla and Stew and Debbie, and Gerry and Debbie and Gary and Heather...and so on. Here is Trinity, having a great time.


Mommy made T.'s calico dress, a plains Indian style. Trinity made the "beautiful" beaded necklace and the candy bracelet.


I'm making up my bed, Grandma!

Papa bought me a beautiful new dress. Look at my beautiful skirt. It goes out! Do you like it? (T. likes the word "beautiful.)

I love it too! Thank you, Papa!


Here is another new dress, actually more Civil War period, but...whatever. Well, it didn't exactly go with the pink plastic Disney Princess shoes, but other than that she looked like a doll.

Ewww! That ant is eating that dead catta-piller. Don't step on it!

Back to camp. She refused to change into something cooler.

Dancing with glowy things at night! Blow out the lantern, Papa, so we can see!


Four days of nonstop fun with lots of other children, necklace making, "glowy things" each night, marshmallow roasting, learning new words and new songs and socializing with the entire encampment, and Miss Trinity was exhausted by Monday. This is about 8 a.m. She showed a very plucky side. She insisted on trying everything the big kids did, including bobbing for apples (I did NOT expect her to stick her head in the water), Frisbee tossing, and many other things she couldn't do--but don't tell HER that. I love her confidence. I love this kid. :-)

Conversation With a Budding Biologist

Those of you who know me at all, in real life or just in cyber space, know about Trinity, who is about 2 and 1/2. I cannot overstate what a blessing this little grandchild has been to her "Papa" and me. She is the bright spot in a very difficult few years, and she helps us look to the future with joy and hope. Today she was picking wildflowers in her yard with intense concentration. You can see it on her face in the picture. The pretty little flowers are called "Indian paint brush." Trinity is quite a conversationalist.

Here is a little of our conversation today.

Trinity: HELLO, Grandma! Come see my flowers. We have to pick them.
Grandma: We have to pick them?
Trinity: (With that look she gives me that says she wonders why I am so dense), Yes, Grandma. We have to.
G: Okay then, let's go. We walk out into her large yard and she takes me to the flowers. There are many. She points, with authority.
T: You pick here and I pick dose over dere.
G: Okay
T: Grandma, we need more. We gots to pick more.

After intense and focused flower picking:

G: I'll be right back. We need a glass to put these in.
T: Okay, Grandma. Thanks, Grandma.
G: Here you go.
T: What you gots for da flowers?
G: A glass.
T: That is my glass! Not for flowers, for me!
G: It is still your glass. You can drink out of it when the flowers are gone.
T: Oh! Big smile. Okay, Grandma!

In the house:

T: Here, Grandma. Puts more flowers in da glass
G: Can we put the glass in the window here so Mommy can see it?
T: NO! I gots to hold dem! They my flowers. I hold dem!



When I mentioned that she would not be able to hold anything else if she held the flowers, she looked concerned and handed them over. At that point she heard a bird from outside the window and announced:
T: Hear it? Thass a cardinal! (She was correct.)
G: You are right. And what is that bird on the clothesline?
T: Thass a woodpecker, Grandma! (She was correct.)
We went outside, and picking up a flower pot she asked,
T: You want to count with me? We count da pots!
G: Okay. (After some counting, she picked up a pile of those little plastic things with a picture and the name, that go in pots, and she showed them to me.
T: See, Grandma? I has lotsa pictures of flowers! That one is yalloh. Is a marigold! (She was correct.)

Then we went to the chicken coop, and she announced,
T: Baby chicks are getting big, Grandma! They not babies so much anymore. Then she pointed to her chest and smiled and added
They growing, just like me!

At that point a bluebird hit the glass window and she looked up with great concern on her face.

T: Whassa matter that bird? What that bird doing?
G: I don't know. Maybe it sees itself in the window.
T: I go see outside now, Grandma. You stay here and watch da chicks for me, okay?
G: I'm coming outside too.
We look around and she says, "It a daddy bird. It have a nest somewhere."

Then she sees my fingernails with a coat of polish (not usual for me) and says, with enthusiasm,
T: Nice fingers, Grandma! They brown!
G: Well, sort of brown I guess.
T: They brown.
G: Okay
T: See my toes? They pink toes, Grandma. Mommy makes my toes pink.
She then stuck out her tongue and added
T: My tongue pink too. Kool Aide makes my tongue pink, Grandma. Is you tongue pink too? Lemme see, Grandma!
Then she pulled up her shirt.
T: Thass is my belly button and thass is my nipples. You gots them too, Grandma?
G: Trying hard not to laugh Yes, Trinity. Everyone has a belly button and everyone has nipples.
T: EVERYONE? Oh!

I'm exhausted from all this conversation. And she has started asking, "Why?" Oh dear.

First a Little Fun, then a Little Update

A bunch o' chicks have arrived at Trinity's home.

Here is Kris, teaching Trinity to "pet very gently."

And Daddy, who has transformed an old chicken coop into what we are calling "The Chicken Hilton."

A little "Rhode Island Red." These are -- or will be-- the laying hens who will hopefully produce lots and lots of eggs for the family to sell.

And the pretty little yellow ones will be...ulp...dinner some day. But not for a long while. Aren't they just the cutest little things?

Now the update. Ken is slowly continuing to improve. His appointment with the infection specialist was delayed, but he is off the IV antibiotics (though the IV line, called a PICC is still in place) and taking two different oral ones. It has been over a month since we first visited the Emergency Room. He is hoping to go back to work part time soon.

First, however, comes a visit to the Veterans Administration Hospital for a whole day of evaluation for disability payments. We leave tomorrow, spend the night, and he will spend all day Tuesday getting poked, prodded, questioned, viewed and reviewed. He has received a small check from the USMC for years now, but there is a good possibility that this will be greatly increased because of long-term diabetes-related issues and consequences of a knee injury incurred while working for Uncle Sam. You know, bad news and good news. This is "good," because...

I am still unemployed. Still looking daily. Still praying "fervently"about minsitry opportunities and trying to trust God and do what I can in that arena...but mostly, right now, just needing to work somewhere. The situation is getting drastic. Wal Mart? Maybe. Nuff' said.

It seems that Ken's brother Kevin, who I wrote about here, will be coming to live with us in about a month. We thought this was going to happen just about a year ago, but he had a heart attack and was unable to travel, and other things changed. This time it looks pretty certain. He is an amputee, and there are lots of other issues. We look forward to it, but it will be challenging for all of us, especially considering our finances. Kevin gets disability, but...

Well, see you when we get back from the VA.

A Little Trinity Collage

I will soon try to post something deep and thoughtful, or at least get on with the doings in Little Big Foot. Meantime, here is recently-turned-two-years-old Trinity.

Digging in the dirt...trying on a hat...throwing pine cones into the stream behind our house.

The Owl's Nest is Crowded These Days

Going from two inhabitants to five is interesting. We are, however, doing fine and mostly having fun. Son in Law, Daryl, has a job beginning Monday. It is not his dream job, nor what he thought he'd be doing, but it is employment and for now that is good. Kris has landed a seasonal job that will end after Christmas, so she is still looking. They found a wonderful farmhouse in the contry about 10 miles from us, and they will be moving come December.

Meanwhile, here are some pictures.

Trinity's Tigger costume was just right for a few trick or treat stops on a cold day.

And a Tinker Bell costume was just right for visiting "GrandmaMommy" at the nursing home.

Turns out that Tinker Bell's great grandmother was a a sort of fairy godmother--also dressed as a fairy! I don't think she quite realized it, but we did and it was sweet.

Kids and residents mingled in the dining room.

Exploring Grandma and Papa's back yard with Rex.

Wind! And leaves!

Another visit to the nursing home brings a smile to "GrandmaMommy." This is rare, but Trinity is doing great, smiling and waving at the people, and even being willing to sit on Grandmommy's lap for a ride in the wheelchair. We took Rex too, and we think he's going to become a great visitor at the nursing home too.

Record breaking warmth has allowed for days outside! We are enjoying it while we can, knowing it won't last. In the seventies in November! Fabulous!

More later.

Ken is recovering from a toe amputation and has returned to work on "light duty." I have finished the marriage sermon series and will be making CDs soon. I'm working on a devotional book to pass out at church for Advent, and putting together a series of sermons, "Christmas at the O.A.S.I.S." to remind us of our OASIS themed mission statement. I hope the month of December is going to include worship dance, dramatic reading, a skit or two. Depending on how my series of devotionals turns out, I'll probably post them here.

What's new with you?

Play is Work

I did not take many pictures last week because I kept forgetting to bring the camera. I was happy to note that Trinity does not, as she sometimes seems in her pictures, look like a three year old! There is still roundness to her face, her legs are still chubby, and she has not quite started reading as of yet. ;-) The only pictures I managed to get were a couple of her as she played with blocks in her Uncle Josh's back yard. She did this for over an hour, with the greatest intensity. She was clearly working!

She has the sweetest smile, and I tried to get her to smile at me for a picture, and when she finally did glance up, it was with a look that said, "Grandma, can you not see how busy I am?" I could almost hear the gears whirring in her little head.

"Indian" Flower Girl

Mommy and Daddy and Trinity at a Rendezvous! Is the headband cute or what? We will be going to see them at the end of the week.

Just Too Cute Not to Share

Trinity is not terribly stable on her feet yet, but wants to run. She is so full of life and smiles and spunk. She is, at not quite one and a half, already quite determined.

These pictures are all from two weeks ago when we had a short visit with my mother at the nursing home. At one point her mommy scolded her, "Trinity, sit down" when she insisted on standing up in a chair. A few moments later she took my mom's little stuffed cat, plopped it on a seat and said "Sit down!" She even got a small chuckle from her Great Grandmommy Leta. Ah, the children at day care don't know what they are in for when Princess Trinity Ann is about six months older.

Earlier that day, Sunday, she was dancing and clapping in church as we sang (distracting all), and at the end of service she crawled up on the altar steps where I had placed a microphone, and she stood up and begain babbling into it.

Maybe she is a Rev Gal in the making. :-)

I also added some pictures to the post below about Sunday's worship service.

Trinity Ann Visits Great Grandmommy Leta

Spring Wind

It is still chilly in the north and our trees are still bare. But out back the pussy willow bush is budding, and the grass is turning green. The last few days have been warmer, but very windy. The forecast is telling us to hope for seventy degrees today! Woo Hoo!

Yesterday Trinity had her well-baby check up. Mommy tells me the doc says she is "off the chart" at thirty three inches in length. She is going to be tall like her Grandpa's family, it seems.

She loves being outside, which is just now a possibility. Here she is, out in her still-bare backyard, exulting about the rocks in her hands and the wind in her hair.

Her shirt asks, "Is it me or does this diaper make my butt look big?"

A few Pictures from Mommy's Camera

Ken and my mom are on their way from Wisconsin.

Here are a few pictures. The first one is only moments after she arrived.

Tired daddy and Trinity.

Mommy and the red little papoose. Mommy looked the same way when she arrived, and we are thinking Trinity is going to be kind of dark.

Uncle Josh is infatuated with his new neice.