Sorry for the wait

     Sorry for the blog hiatus (if you can call it that), but we've had a busy, yet wonderful few days.  As many of you know, Thanksgiving is Mark's busiest time of the year.  His dad came down for 8 days to help him (specifically with stuffing), he had 2 employees all week, AND I helped out on Wednesday.  Needless to say, it was great to take a few days off from the route and focus on family and feasting.
     On Thanksgiving Day, we took Grandpa back to the airport and headed to Mt. Airy.  We had a few hours of fun at Grandma and Papa John's house before heading over to my aunt & uncle's home where all the Webb's gathered for supper.  The supper was amazing and Marcus LOVED Ellie's green beans.  That is, once he actually tried them.  He spent the first half of supper throwing rolls, but once we got a TASTE of it into his mouth, he couldn't get enough!  We also had a fun question/answer game that my cousin Ashley brought out after we all ate that was enjoyable.
     Friday morning, Mark, TJ, my step-brother Josh, and my dad all went hunting.  Although TJ was the only one to see any deer, no shots were fired.  We spent the day cooking, relaxing, and playing with Marcus.  The men went back out that night and both my dad and Mark killed does.  We're thankful because our freezer was looking a little bare!  My dad was gracious enough to get the meat processed & will bring it up here for us in a few weeks. 
     Saturday morning, they went hunting AGAIN while I packed up our belongings.  Not many deer were moving, so Mark was back by 9am and we left around 11.  TJ and Olivia went with Mark, Marcus, and I to my cousin Shad's home.  I've blogged about them before, but in case you're unfamiliar, he and his wife live probably 20-30 minutes from my dad's home, they have eight wonderful children (ages 19 months - 18 years old), and they are full-fledged born again believers in Jesus who actually LIVE IT OUT.  They're such inspirations to me!  All five of us enjoyed a few hours at their home just talking and checking out their property a little more than before.  This time, we got to see their garden, green house, chicken pen, and cows.  Marcus had an absolute ball exploring and I love learning how to do new things that promote a self-sustaining lifestyle like they have.  Shad was wonderful about teaching and encouraging Mark and TJ to be Godly leaders of their homes and both he and Lauri give great advice about child rearing.  My latest question was about how to get your child to stop whining.  So far, so good, but we're only 2 days into "Operation Ignore the Whining." 
     Saturday afternoon we made one last stop in Mt. Airy to see my mom and John.  Olivia, Mom, and I took Marcus to a nearby park to play for a few hours until we got our car back, up and running.  We finally made it home, late Saturday night, but we we so THANKFUL for the time spent with family and friends.  I was PATHETIC at taking pictures at either of my parents' homes, but did take a few at Shad and Lauri's.  I hope you can forgive my scatterbrainedness (yes, that's a word) and I'll try to do a better job next time.  Until then, enjoy the pics below. :)

I have no idea where I got these 1980's looking shades, but Marcus loves playing with them.

Playing with Grandpa the night before he went back home.

"Jumping on Grandpa is fun!"

Grandma sent me some nice, warm mittens and Marcus loved playing with them.

He would show them to me first, then shake them until they came off.

Playing with Aunt Liv at Granddad and Granny's house.

Checking out the chickens & cows & the Bolen home.

John Wesley carrying a chicken like he's done it 1,000 times.

Marcus squatting down to see it all.

Micah and Elizabeth being silly on the roof of the chicken coop.

Marcus (14mo), Leah (almost 30), and Stephen (19mo).

Playing with Grandpa Schuurman

     Marcus has enjoyed Grandpa's visit thus far, and so have we!  He not only helps Mark out at work, but they get a lot of "Honey-Do" list items finished like putting up a ceiling light in the basement. 
     Marcus can't yet say, "Grandpa," but he's actually been calling him, "Pa-pa."  It sounds so sweet when he says it.  Wednesday night at church, Grandpa came to get him from the nursery and Marcus' face LIT UP in smiles as he recognized him.  They have played a LOT and in this video, Grandpa was showing him how to stack his block cups back together.  It was funny because Marcus kept getting frustrated and would run away.  But every time he'd come back and ask for Grandpa to show him again. 

At the park

Because I didn't put many last time...

Here are a few more pictures we took yesterday and today, to make up for the lack of pictures from the last blog. :)

Blowing kisses

He refused to sit still.

Grabbing the camera cord

The Chatterbox

     I know every child is different, but I've never know a child Marcus' age to say so many words or communicate so well.  Maybe it's because he's OUR child and we think he's a genius, but then again, maybe he really IS that smart.
     Most every day, when he wakes up, his first word is ball.  This is the word he says most often and the word that is most clear.  He can, but won't say on command, "mama" and "daddy."  His version of car sounds like, "kuh" and when he says star (like the one hanging on our walls), it sounds just like "car."  He says "book" and our favorite word to hear him say is baby because he says it like, "bay-bee!"  It's just adorable.
     On the side of our fridge, we have pictures of our immediate family members.  Since none of them live close by, we show Marcus their pictures daily and go over who is who.  He can pick out his Aunt Liv any day of the week, but the only name he's able to say thus far is, "Papa" for his Papa John.  Yesterday, he actually said, "Papa," and pointed at all 3 of his grandpa's.  At least he gets the gist of it, but one day, I'm sure he'll say all their names.
     Earlier this week, I was dressing him to go out of the house.  Upon putting his shirt on, I said, "Marcus can you say ball?" and he said, "ball!"  Then I said, "can you say mama?" and he said, "ball."  "Can you say daddy?"  "Ball!"  "Can you say doggie?" and he said, "woof! woof!"  Then he and I both had a good giggle about it because he was joking with me!  He says, "gog" for dog, so I knew he was in control of what he was saying.  What a funny little boy we have!
     Thankfully, he's not yet said, "no" but I swear I think he said "zipper" the other night (only it sounded like "ipper").  Even though he hasn't yet said yes or no, he's very good at communicating his wants and needs.  If he doesn't want something, say that we're feeding him, he literally turns his head and hides it or he hits the food out of our hands (we're working on correcting that behavior).  If he wants something, he points, grunts, or signs, "more."
     He knows what we're saying, even though he can't say the words himself.  When we say, "let's go change your diaper" and walks into his room.  When it's time for a bath, we tell him and he heads into the bathroom.  He loves to go get books and have us read them to him and he especially loves playing/throwing a ball of any type.  Correction, he loves throwing anything ANYtime.  He throws his paci, he throws food, he throws books, and oh yeah, he throws balls!  He LOVES to throw anywhere, anytime.
     Anyhow, we're thankful for our little chatterbox and we love hearing him talk to himself before he falls asleep at night.  He's a great little boy and we're loving the new changes that come with him getting older.

On our way outside, even though it's getting colder.

"Cheese!"

Trying to grab my keys since he associates this with going outside.

 

 

 

Family Times

     This past Friday was my mom's birthday.  We knew she was having a birthday supper at The Depot, but we weren't sure if we could make it.  Fortunately, we DID and boy was it a surprise to her!  Marcus got to see aunts, uncles, grandparents, and other extended family.  But for him, he was most excited to see the bears, deer, and other stuffed animals in the main lobby.  It actually was a very pretty scene, but he LOVED going out there.
     We drove back Friday after supper because Mark's Uncle Ralph & Auntie Audrey were coming into town on Saturday.  That evening we took them to supper in downtown Asheville.  We had a lovely time together and Marcus really took well to them.  They joined us for church on Sunday twice with chili for lunch in between there.  Even though it was a short visit, it was really great to spend time with them.  I would not get myself in trouble by saying they are our "favorite" set of Aunt/Uncle, but let's just say they're up there near the top.  They are fine people and we really appreciate who they are and how they share their love for Jesus in all that they do.
     Below are a few pictures to summarize our family-filled few days this weekend.  Enjoy! :)

Aunt Liv got in some good "Lovin-on-Marcus" time.

Grandma and Marcus in front of the big buck.

I forgot to use my flash, but it's still a good pic.

Marcus and Uncle Ralph both love the outdoors.

Auntie Audrey read MANY books to Marcus after lunch.

Noah's Ark was book #2 of probably 17.  Just kidding.

Here we all are - 5 Schuurmans!

One guess who did this...

The Price of Disobedience

     This week, Marcus got his first big, yucky scrape on his head.  As we returned home one day, I took him out of his car seat and began to unload the car.  He usually walks to the steps and I follow close behind as he crawls up himself.  This time, however, he wanted to go down the hill to see the dogs across the creek.  I put down my bags and said, "Marcus STOP!"  Rather than listen to my warning, he began to run from me.  He can hardly walk downhill, much less run, so I knew this wasn't going to be good.  I began to run over to him, which just caused him to go faster, and then he started to totter and fall over.  It could've been MUCH worse, but he fell and scraped the side of his forehead on the pavement.  Needless to say, he was quite upset for a while about it, as was I, but before too long, he was back to playing like normal. 
     I say all this because he taught ME a lesson.  It's so similar to how the Lord warns us and doesn't want us to hurt.  He warns us of danger but when we disobey, we're choosing that path of disobedience.  James MacDonald is a pastor from Canada who now lives in Chicago and preaches all over the U.S.  One of our favorite quotes of his is, "Choose to sin - Choose to suffer."  When we choose that path of our own way, we're CHOOSING the repercussions that come with it.  God's not necessarily punishing us...we did it to ourselves. 
     But then again, despite our stupidity, he can scoop us up, comfort us during the pain, and try again to lead us down the right path.  He bandages our wounds, kisses our foreheads, and gives us a little pat on the tush as we try to walk again.  What a mighty Father we have in Heaven, who teaches us lessons in many different ways (even through parenthood of a toddler). 
     Finally, I'm adding a video of Marcus and his new favorite toy.  Balls are obviously his favorite thing of all time, but this machine is a great tool for him to play with on his own.  For whatever reason, he really loves the purple ball and will try until he gets a hold on it.  He doesn't mind watching the rest of the balls pop through it, but he wants to HOLD the purple one.  Either way, we hope you get a kick out of watching him and his new, fun toy.