Road Trip

We are home. For a while. I hope. My fingers feel like they've been permanently molded around the steering wheel of our van. Between the trip to Illinois last week and the trip to Marion (IN) last night/today, I'm ready to stay put... at least til Easter.

We took our fabulous group of students to visit our mission's home office yesterday. We left at 5:15PM on Wednesday and returned today at 4:55PM. It was a whirlwind visit to say the least, but when you travel with friends, it helps the time in the car go [a little] faster. We would like to stay longer but when you're trying to balance students' availability and limited time, you do what you do to include as many as possible.

This is the time of year when we bring on board our new cabinet members and phase out our seniors. It's bittersweet. The new bunch is especially fun, but we've grown quite attached to our seniors and it's hard to imagine life here without them. Thus is life in campus ministry.

Ellie continues to amaze us in the speech department. On Tuesday she did something I've been waiting 27 months for... to hear her call for me, "Mooommmmy!" (and when I didn't respond immediately from the other room -- because I was raised not to holler through a house unless I was seriously hurt) she called even more demandingly, "MOMMY!" Yes, she knows I am mommy, and has even summoned her father with "Daddy", but my turn hadn't come until this week. We'll work on the tone later. Right now I'm savoring this. It sure beats grunting, whining, or throwing an all out fit on the floor complete with kicking.

Then last night, she did something else we've been working on for ages... for her to ask for something stating, "I want ____ (fill in the blank)___". I think we've seriously been working on this with her for nearly a year. Last night she said, "Mommy (gasp!), I want candy!" (double gasp!). No way! I can't believe she spoke in a sentence and stated what she wanted! It was quite late in the evening so I didn't exactly give her candy, but she did get a cookie. If she says it again, we'll know it's 'stuck.'

She's said a few other things that have us pleased as punch, such as using the possessive 'my' in front of things that are hers on more than one occasion. While most kids learn to say 'mine!' before nearly anything else, Ellie has not quite yet grasped that concept. Perhaps a sibling would help in that area...

I'm sure there's more I could share, but I shall stop here. Enjoy your weekend!