Family news and fun stuff

Welcome back!  A lot has changed since April. 
We are enjoying a very humid but pleasant summer, one full of changes for our household - one being the addition of a window-mounted air conditioner. There have been a couple of road trips around the state to see New Hampshire in the summer time, and lots of little family adventures.  Silas has loved having some extra time with his Daddy since David has been primarily working from home since February. Being able to devote so much of his time to his ministry-related work and to our family was a great thing, despite the tight finances that resulted from his other job's slow streak.

However, David’s secular work schedule gets busy once more with the official word from Schumacher equipment that they couldn't keep him.  After about 4 months of us waiting to hear that they were busy enough to give him hours again, his boss finally had to bite the bullet and let David go because they simply would not be able to give him any work.  It’s a slow time for their business which is sad, and Mr. Schumacher really did not want to lay David off.  But that is how things go sometimes.  He was very kind, however, in referring David to a friend of his who is in a similar industry, but completely different circumstances.  Mr. Bailey, VP of Operations at High Speed Routing, was in need of a skilled worker to oversee the work of his temporary hired help.  David is now working as a shop foreman, doing quality checks on projects done by the other employees and stepping in when the work is more technical, requiring a trained machinist’s expertise.  He is loving the work and grateful for the income, and his new boss is very amiable and understanding of his other responsibilities - a major blessing.

Keeley is now 2 weeks away from Baby Girl’s due date.  Although we still lean toward the name “Zoe” we have not made any official decisions… this may be one of those “I picked it in the delivery room” stories.  So far she is feeling good, with lots of movement from the baby and a few rounds of Braxton-Hicks to keep her on her toes.  Pregnancy Brain is in full swing, meaning keys and cell-phone are in a constant flux of being lost and found.  As her energy levels ebb and flow, she and Silas spend lots of time on the floor reading books or snuggled on the couch watching Winnie the Pooh.  But as he becomes ever more helpful, it has been easier to stay on top of some tasks like unloading the dishwasher and vacuuming the floors despite Mommy’s waxing and waning motivation to do housework.  She still keeps an appointment or two going for her Mary Kay business each week, but always with the proviso that another consultant may step in to take over an appointment should she suddenly go into labor. 

Silas has developed so many new skills over the last week, let alone 2 or 3 months.  To name a few, he has begun “reading aloud” from the many books that Mommy has read to him a million times.

It is so cool to see him open a page that says, “Mickey’s car is red,” and hear him say with excitement, “Meghne. Cah. Wed.”  Today after hearing Mommy read his favorite book about puppies twice, he pulled it toward himself and said, “Me.”  He now indicates if he wants to hold something or do something himself by saying, “Me.”  So he said a word or two from each of the pages – it’s remarkable that at less than two years old children can associate so many words with images they remember seeing over and over.  He is also learning to count… sort of.  To help him learn to be patient when he wants Mommy or Daddy to drop everything and do something with him, we have begun asking him to be patient and count with us.  He usually just says “two” over and over, but occasionally we get “fwee” out of him as well.  Again, most of these things have started just in the last week, so Mom has decided to get smart about documenting the little guy’s advancements: there is now a white board next to the coffee pot that says, “This week Silas has…” where we can just jot down his new tricks as they happen.  Then each week, they can be put into a post to share here with our friends and family.  Keep us accountable – if there is not another post up next week, someone Facebook a reminder to us! 

We love you, and hope you enjoy these family updates.  For ministry-related news, we send out an email with our newsletter every month to family and supporters, and anyone who asks to be put onto our mailing list.  Let us know if you would like to be on it!  Thanks for stopping in, and have a great week!