Stuart Sits Through Church!

We have reached a critical point in Stuart's life. He has sat through church for the last four Sabbaths without being taken out and without making any noise. We are exceedingly thankful to God for this. We have worked hard for the last year to ensure that Stuart learned how to sit through church quietly. We have looked to God for guidance and He has blessed us.
It's very important for a little guy like Stuart to learn how to sit through church. Learning the skill of sitting quietly now will only help him years from now when he can actually understand what's going on. After all, if he doesn't learn how to sit quietly now, how can he learn to pay attention and understand later? I think we've turned a corner with Stuart, in the very least we now know that he can sit through church. I expect a few hiccups now and then, especially if he's cutting a tooth or not feeling well. But he can sit through church and now we expect him to every week.
All of the credit for this goes to the Lord, who has blessed Janna with the ability to diligently enforce the principle of sitting quietly in church to Stuart. Janna and I insist on our kids learning how to behave in church, after all we don't want our kids to disrupt other worshipers. Beyond that, we don't want our kids being disrespectful to God in His house. We have sought his guidance and He has blessed us. Like I said, Janna has been very diligent about teaching Stuart for the last year and now at 14 months he's able to sit through church. Aaron Rozenboom's grandfather apparently said that a one year old should be able to sit through church. We really were only about six weeks off. That's not bad. Maybe Stuart's new sibling will learn faster.

Family Trip To The Fair

Today we decided to see how the other half live by going to the Ionia County Fair. Lemme tell you, it's always fascinating to go to a county fair here in Michigan. First of all, it's an opportunity to see the people who keep Old Country Buffet in business. Second of all, it's an opportunity to see all of the people who are either growing pot in their back yard and/or have a meth lab in their basement. Thirdly, it's a chance to see a lot of animals which for Stuart is exciting.
Like the mini cow I've always wanted, live and in person.
Stuart loved visiting with the goats, which as far as he was concerned were dogs.
Stuart got to see some exotic animals, like this elephant that was hanging around out back eating hay. I'm thinking those little wires aren't enough to hold this sucker back if he went wild. We took our pictures and took off.
Stuart got to see a kangaroo, which in his world is little more than a hopping dog.
This camel seems pretty annoyed to have his picture taken.
Stuart spent some more time with the goats. At some point he needs to understand that goats aren't dogs. But at 14 months we'll let it slide.
So they had this circus at the fair that was just like stepping back into the 1880's. Here we see a white tiger caged up, what you can't see is his pal who isn't very happy to be penned up with this guy.
Here kitty kitty. The lions looked like they were picking out people in the audience to eat for dinner. Thankfully these guys are so high on cat nip that they won't actually do it.
Or won't they? I'm here to tell you, if those cats really wanted out of there they could easily take down that flimsy fence. Those kids sitting in the grass up front would have been the first to go, I figure Janna, Stuart and I could high tail it out of there while the lion eats those kids. Speaking of high tailing it out of there, we saw a clown and left the circus early. We were tired and had a long day at the fair. We're looking forward to worshiping the Lord tomorrow. Stuart's been really good the last two weeks, we're hopping he's turned a corner on that front.

House For Sale

So, our house is up for sale. If anyone knows anyone who is looking for a home, let them know about our place.
Stuart and Deirbhile get along great. She allows Stuart to pull her ears, pull her fur and climb about her person without the slightest thought. She never goes after him, such a good girl she is.
Not only does she not attack, she plays with him. Even when we think she's getting sick of rough house Stuart, she gets up and sits back down next to him waiting for the next round to begin.
Seamus is no different. Both of these dogs put up with a lot from Stuart without ever attacking.
Stuart likes to play with the stuff in the bookshelf. Needless to say, the books are out of his reach. His toys on the other hand are free to be taken down and thrown about the living room.
Today we're spending the day smoking pigs for tomorrow's church lunch. We've got 25 pounds of pig in the smoker, we're using hickory and cherry wood. I'm sure it will be excellent.