Kirsten's Birthday

No journal entry - just a very pretty four-year-old in her favorite 'twirling' dress.

Kirsten at Two

Just found this short note...

"Mommy, can you put this hat on me?" It was really a scarf, not a hat, and it needed to be tied under her chin.
For a two-year-old as restless as mine, tying her shoes is a major undertaking. Trying to tie a ribbon under her chin is almost impossible.
"Look at Mommy, Kirsten!" I'm sure I said it six times before I finished tying. Did it ever occur to her that if she'd sit still it would only take half as long?

My journal continued with a lesson on my own unwillingness to "Be still and know..."

Demanding Attention

Just a note about these pic's... When the girls were little, I sewed a fair bit, and am quite proud to say I made these dresses for the girls.

May 12, 1983
Today Einar starts on the suppression crew. He'll be working weekends for the summer.
Rachel loves to say "Know what?" "What's that?" etc. She is so sweet - most of the time. She doesn't get along with Angela and Jesse yet - keeps running in crying "Angela (or Jesse) push Rachel!" That's her excuse for crying even if she and Kirsten have been playing alone so I doubt it's true very often - if ever. I could believe it of Jesse - he has this image he feels he has to live up to and likes to keep Rachel scared of him. He doesn't hurt her - just growls at her! They're quite a pair.
I asked Rachel recently, "Who is a brat?" She said "Rachel is a brat." I asked, " Who is a turkey?" "Rachel is a turkey." "Who is Mommy's sweetheart?" "Rachel is Mommy's sweetart." "Who is sweet and beautiful?" "Rachel is sweet and bootiful." I'm sure I could have gone on and on. She loved that game!

Rachel never was very conventional in her 'sitting.' She'd rather be straddled across the chair and the table than sit on her bum. I used to comment that it was cuz she had no bum - I think she wore newborn diapers until she was a year old. Or maybe the first size after that. Whatever the reason, she is suspended here between the chair back and the table, and that was quite common for her.

June 13
We now have two kittens - Spic and Span. Rachel just loves them! She's rough with them but they seem to love it. She picks Span up by the tail or head or whatever! Last time she was holding her so awkwardly, I went to rescue Span, but she was purring away! They're two of a kind - they both love attention any way they can get it.
Rachel had a temper tantrum the other day. Einar got down on his hands and knees facing her and copied her. She just looked at him for a minute, then got up, walked around him and spanked him as hard as she could. She knew what to do in such a situation!

Encouragement

Hebrews 10:24-25
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Today I was encouraged - first by the enthusiasm of my dear niece Karen. She had to shovel snow (in BC where it is wet and heavy) and was so grateful for the good workout it gave her. I have a few acquaintances like that... ones who take the situations most of us complain about and turn them into blessings. (Reminds me of another niece who had a way of turning bedtime - 'jammy time' - into the most exciting time of day. But I think every time of day was met with that same enthusiasm in that home!)

Back to the shoveling... I do have a bit of a conundrum. We have the world's most slippery driveway. 'Not shoveling' seemed like a good idea - not as slippery this way. But it is beginning to snow again, and the longer I wait, the harder it will be. Today is a beautiful day by Winnipeg standards. It is -9 (Celsius) with no wind. Can't beat that in January!

So, with a little less enthusiasm that Karen, I bundled up and went out. The toque soon came off and my driveway was about 1/3 done when the neighbor came out with the 3 children in her care. We started chatting, and it turns out they have had a snowblower for a few years, and her husband complains that he never gets to use it. She's too quick with the shovel.

"But," she said to me, "The kids love to be outside, and it's a beautiful day, so why would I stay inside and do nothing when I can get my workout by shoveling." Her husband had come to our place one day with his snowblower (I'm not surprised - that is the kind of neighborhood we have) - but didn't get very far when he realized how slippery it was. With a brand new job he couldn't afford to fall and hurt himself.

An hour and a half later I'm back in... I'm not sure how much of that time was spent chatting with the neighbor, but it is done. Next time I won't wait as long. If we haven't driven over the snow, it is much easier to move... And next winter, hopefully, we'll have done something to the driveway to make it easier to move on it without all the slip-sliding!

March 1983

March 21

First day of spring and we've had sunshine for four days already. Today is the fifth! The girls have been in shorts already so I have summer clothes out and winter clothes packed away. we didn't really have a winter this year and I'm not expecting one now!

Rachel will be two in a week! Last week at Bible Club they had her come up for her 'graduation' certificate (from Nursery to Sunshine Class.) Doug Muir held her up so everyone could see her and they all clapped. She loved it.

Her favorite saying right now is "Kiki run away from me." If she's mad at me she'll even threaten to run away from me. She does it too - runs all the way to the other end of the trailer! She's a jealous kid too. If she refuses to give a hug or a kiss you only need to hug and kiss someone else, and she comes running. Even Einar & I can'g hug in peace when she's around.

Kirsten started ballet about a month ago. She just loves it! I can't believe how grown-up she is! She and Angela are getting along great right now - without leaving Rachel out! Kirsten has been able to print for a while. She can't spell so I do that, but she can make most of the letters and can print her own name with me only telling her what the last letter is. When she decides to learn something, she is quick. She learned to tie her shoes in about a month. I may have shown her how four times - I don't think more.

Einar's been working at Shannon Falls (EBAP) for several months now. He's been promised his job at the Forestry again.

March 29

Yesterday was Rachel's second birthday. Sue and her three kids (she started babysitting a boy named Justin today) and Garry & Wendy and Jenny Price (& kids) came over for cake. I sewed Rachel a jogging suit for her birthday.

I'm thinking of putting the girls into swimming lessons.

Today is Tuesday. Thursday is Einar's last day at Shannon Falls, then he starts next Tuesday at Forestry. He's looking forward to that!

1983

Jan 4

On Sunday we were at Mom & Dad's in Richmond. We went to church in Cloverdale and met some of Einar's old friends. Also had a good time at Liv & Rogers. In the evening we ran over to the hospital to see friends and their new baby. We got back to a very strange sight. Rachel hadn't napped all day and was sitting up with her eyes closed. She'd almost fall over, catch herself and doze off again. It was so cute!

Today Kirsten & I went to the library to bring back her books and get more. She just loves going to the library. Einar spends a lot of time reading to her and it has been a blessing having him around.

He also does all the dishes, and the vacuuming very faithfully. He probably does much more than his fair share of the work - and so willingly usually. I have much to learn.

It's just after midnight and he's not home from a CSSM meeting yet. I should get to bed - I have a tupperware party tomorrow morning. Einar has to take Rachel in for a needle tomorrow. She hasn't had her 12 or 18 month shots yet.

The girls and I had a good quiet evening and they went to bed very nicely tonight. I hope they sleep a bit in the morning too.

January 26

What an exciting week! On Saturday the men of the church had breakfast together and decided that with so many unemployed men, maybe they should start the church addition. We have pretty well all the trades we need in our own congregation. So they started on Monday and are going full-swing. On Monday they got all the permits and approvals, got the hole dug and forms built. Yesterday they poured cement and started to tear down the outside of the wall. It's really exciting - and it's so nice that the guys have something to do while they are jobless.

Einar has to go for an interview today so he might be back at work soon - even if it is only the EBAP program. Every little bit of income helps!

We spent Sunday afternoon at Purdies and had a great time with them. The girls miss Mom & Dad, and though they're not a substitute, they sure are special!

Last 1982 Post

December 29
Kirsten is 3 1/2 and a real sweetheart. Sometimes she's more of a baby than Rachel. She will hardly feed herself - likes to be fed. Rachel is also better at following directions than Kirsten (to find something for me) but Kirsten is getting better.
Mom & Dad moved to Saskatchewan last month. Christmas wasn't the same without them. I think the girls really missed them. I'm glad we got to go to Saskatchewan with them - it makes them seem a bit closer.
Rachel hasn't gotten any less silly. One of her current games is to grab mine or Einar's hair and lift it up to whisper a secret. She doesn't use real words when whispering. The other day she was trying to keep an orange from me and ran around with it above her head so I couldn't reach it!