June 28, 2008
"I'm a dog, I'm a dog!"
-Mollie, crawling on all fours after taping a pencil onto her backside as a tail.
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June 20, 2008
My Wife
An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. - Prov 31:10
Today Amy and I celebrate 10 years of marriage. Looking back on pictures of our honeymoon, I am overcome with that dual sense of the past--it seems like yesterday and like worlds ago at the same time. I am reminded of how our friendship first grew over months and even years, how we led music together before we were even dating, and how many times I played (and replayed) one particular answering machine message from her.
These 10 years have been a great adventure of life together and life as a family. Although it is not always easy, Amy is committed to honoring God and being the kind of wife and mother that He desires. God has used her in my life so many times--both in the joy of ministry together, and also to point out my weaknesses and sin to help me grow. Any experience that I have is made better when I can share it with her. Neither of us is perfect, but I pray we can keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, and that he will continue to draw us closer to him and closer to each other as we move toward the years ahead.
Amy, I'm so blessed to have you as my companion on this journey. I love you.
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April 2, 2008
How to Be a Good Husband, by Matthew
Matthew's class recently did a creative writing exercise where they wrote tips to another teacher and her fiancé on how to be a good wife (and husband). The tips were to be read at their rehearsal dinner. We didn't know about this until some of the them were published in the school newsletter. Matthew's was one that was published. Here's his advice on being a good husband:
“You should love God. You will need to know how to take out the trash. If you ever have a baby, you will need to know how to shop for baby stuff, and for regular stuff. You will have to know how to take care of your wife when she gets sick. If you ever have children, you will need to know how to tell them about Jesus."
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March 9, 2008
Snow Play
Finally, we got a snow that was good for playing. And it only took until March 8th! More pictures in the Flickr set.
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January 27, 2008
Shaving Cream Painting
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October 2, 2007
Rite of Passage
She can swing all by herself now.
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September 23, 2007
Cache Run
The kids and I had some "daddy time" this weekend, and we used it to go geocaching, which we haven't done in quite a while. If you're unfamiliar with geocaching, I've covered it on the blog before. We had a great time--Mollie is now old enough that it holds her attention and she can join the hunt.
We found three caches. One was way up at the 4-H center (worked well because Amy was singing at church last night, so we met her afterwards). The other two were closer to home--one on the state hospital grounds and another in the parking lot of Bethel Temple church.
There are lots of reasons to love geocaching:
- Other than the initial (and pretty modest) cost of a GPS receiver, it's virtually free.
- It can be enjoyed by the whole family--the kids sometimes even spot the caches first because of their lower-to-the-ground vantage point.
- You're outside and get exercise without even realizing it.
- It will take you to places you didn't even know existed, and you would have otherwise never visited except for geocaching.
Here's a link to all of my finds.
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September 11, 2007
Daddy/Daughter Lunch Date
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September 7, 2007
First day of Preschool
Mommy's first day teaching, and Mollie's first day of Pre-K (pics below)
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September 3, 2007
You are using Bonetti's defense aginst me, eh?
Best. Movie. Ever. (pics below)
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August 29, 2007
8 Tubes and a Half Mile
Matthew just learned to ride his bike. We actually took the training wheels off last fall, and he rode back and forth on our street a couple of times (ending with crashes) before deciding it was too scary. For the past several months, he avoided the bike and chose instead to ride his Razor. Finally, after some time passed, we convinced him to try again. He had already learned balance from the Razor, so it wasn't too hard for him to get comfortable on the bike.
Now he wants to go for rides every evening. So except for tonight when we finally got some much-needed rain, we've been venturing out as a family for rides around the block. Doing this has reminded me of family bike rides when I was growing up. I never really thought about it much, but those are some of my best memories of childhood. I remember rides with my mom or dad out in the country, a place we would stop to rest that we dubbed the "shady spot", and even getting in major trouble with Mark once for speeding down a hill away from Dad on a busy road (sorry Dad).
I want to build memories like that with my kids--time spent with no agenda, away from the TV or computer screen, just enjoying the world around us and each others' company. It's one of the reasons I'm glad we have worked to keep our evenings relatively free this fall. I hope we are making memories that will last a lifetime.
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August 23, 2007
The Struggle of Letting Go
We're approaching the 1-year anniversary of my brother and his wife heading to West Africa to be full-time missionaries. Dad recently wrote a very honest reflection about his and Mom's struggle with, and eventual acceptance and blessing of their decision to go. An excerpt:
As Mark and Parker continued through the process, Janis and I were hoping (and selfishly praying) that God would help them to see that they were already serving as very effective missionaries to the youth culture – and that “if it was God’s will” (as it was our will) that something would come up to block the process.
It's called "The Struggle of Letting Go: A Perspective from the Father of a Missionary".
Reading Dad's article reminds me that I have no idea where God will call my kids. When we dedicated them at church, we acknowledged that they were not ours, but rather God's, and only entrusted to our care for a short while. I need to be constantly reminded of this fact. Is this how I am approaching my parenting and my prayers for the kids? Or am I, like Dad once did, just asking God to bless my plans for their lives?
Thanks for the humble and encouraging article, Dad.
Posted by jvp at 10:59 PM | Comments (1)
August 16, 2007
School Time
It's back-to-school time and Matthew is now starting first grade. He loves school and was excited about starting up again. I've posted a few pictures from his first day.
The beginning of this school year marks some major changes in our family life:
1. Matthew is now in "full-time" school, which means Amy only has two more hours a day with him than me (3-5 PM). This has been sad for her, another little step in the progressive "letting go" process.
2. We are adjusting to the reality of having our schedule set by the school calendar.
3. Amy is going to be teaching at Mollie's preschool, during the hours that Mollie is in Pre-K. This will be the first time in 7 years that she has worked outside the home!
Amidst all of this change, we're trying to figure out our fall schedule. What activities can we commit to? What ministry areas at church? How do we protect our time together as a couple? As a whole family? We're trying to make sure our pace doesn't become hectic, which is hard when so many "good" activities are available.
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July 22, 2007
Aargh!!!
Matthew turned 7 this past weekend, and we all had great fun throwing him a pirate party. It's hard to believe he will be starting first grade this year! For his party, the whole family got into the pirate theme. Click here to see more photos from the party.
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November 1, 2006
Mollie's Class Leader
Mollie got to be preschool class leader for the first time today. She was very proud to be the leader and did a great job. She is getting so big, it's hard to believe.
As class leader, Mollie got to bring Mommy to class with her, plus she got to do the calendar, bring snacks for everyone and set them up, and be the leader of the lines whenever the class walked anywhere. She even helped Mommy and Daddy make the snack that she took to share with her class.
View all the photos in this set.
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August 17, 2006
Kindergarten!
I can't believe it, but Matthew is now in Kindergarten. He's going to Evansville Christian School. Even though it's only a half-day program and we are very excited about the quality of the program, we are feeling a little sadness knowing that he is now entering "school life," and things won't ever be quite the same again.
We walked him into school on the first day, and he was totally fine and ready to go; he even told Amy not to hold his hand. Now don't misunderstand me--we are glad he didn't have an emotional breakdown, but there's still a part of me that wants him to hold on. That wants him to need us. I'm sure this is just one of many moments where we realize that he is letting go of us a little bit. Amy was wiping tears as we walked away. And this is only kindergarten.
view the photo album for this entry
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November 21, 2005
First broken bone
Well, Mollie has now become the first of the kids to have a broken bone. She was climbing over the arm of our recliner last week and somehow fell off and cracked a bone in her elbow. It's not too bad, and she only has to have the cast for two weeks. The first couple of days were a little tough for her, but she's finally starting to use her right hand some, and getting used to having it on. She has always favored her left hand, which has made it easier for her as well.
Matthew has been very gracious with Mollie, although last night, he decided he wanted to get a sponge bath in the kitchen sink too! That would have been quite a sight! We've all signed the cast, and you can click the picdture above for a closeup showing everyone's messages. If you want to send a message to Mollie, you can either e-mail her at mollie@thephillipsfam.com, or click the "Comments" link below, and we'll make sure she gets your message.
Posted by jvp at 10:16 AM | Comments (2)
September 25, 2005
Tee Ball
Matthew started playing Tee Ball this past week. It's a small fall league run by our church, with 4 teams. Since it's starting so late in the fall, it will just last 6 weeks, with 8 total games. So far, they have practiced twice, and he loves it! He wanted to play Tee Ball this summer, but we decided to not do it, because it was a big commitment--every Saturday morning for nearly the whole summer. When we found out CFC was forming a league, we were excited to have him play in it.
Their first game is on Wednesday, and I'll post more pictures then. Until that time, here are some pictures of his first practice.
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