Welcome! Nuestra Casa Es Su Casa ...Our house is your house

A glimpse into the life of Daniel and Jaynee Lockwood and their 12 precious blessings. Thank you for visiting; we pray that what we share here may always bring glory to our wonderful God and Saviour. May you praise the Lord with us for the great things He has done and continues to do as we serve Him sharing the gospel here in the little town of Cuidad Insurgentes, BCS Mexico. He alone is good and faithful!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Laughter, Letters, and Life at the Lockwoods

Sunday was hard; Monday was better; Tuesday was good; Wednesday was great! While we won't know what's going on on the "inside" of that little leg for a while still, on the outside, we have a little boy who's back to his happy, cuddly self! True, it's a bit difficult to really cuddle with him~ the first couple days when we'd move him or change positions, he would fuss. But the past couple days, he's let me carry him all around, played in my lap for over an hour while I taught Beka and Ben math, and is giving us lots of good belly laughs! :)
I thought he'd be really fussy simply from not being able to move around like he's use to, but apart from the constant entertainment his siblings provide, he can even amuse himself. This afternoon, he was resting in his crib when I heard a funny banging noise coming from our room. I went back to check and there was Samuel banging his empty bottle against his cast and just giggling..he thought it was so funny. :)


I don't have much else to write. Just wanted to thank you for praying and give an update.
The children received a couple of letters in the mail this week and what joy those notes have given them! During our school time, I have the children write one letter a day. This has become one of our favorite morning activities. My mom had me write letters frequently as a child; she taught us the importance of writing thank yous, remembering someone on their birthday, sending a get well card, or even writing a missionary. Today, it seems people have forgotten how to write letters. With email, texting and all the other high tech forms of communication that are so popular, it seems the pleasure and beauty of taking a pen and paper and putting your thoughts into words with your own handwriting is a lost art.
I am thankful we have internet as there are so many blessings and benefits that we have here as missionaries being able to get a message out quickly. But I never want that to replace taking the time to hand write letters. There is something so special and personal about getting a hand written letter.
We have so many people we love, miss, and with whom we want to communicate. Family, friends, those who pray for and support us, missionaries, those whom we are praying for and want to encourage etc...
My oldest 8 write a letter each school day and often little ones will ask me to do one as well. My 13-6 year old write one all on their own. My 5 year old tells me what he would like to say, I write it out, and then he copies it onto another piece of paper. And my 3 and 4 year old tell me what they would like to say, I write it down in pencil, and they trace over each letter in a crayon. And recently, Eliseo's also been wanting to join in the fun. I gave him a coloring page at first, but he wanted lined paper like the others :) So on the top, I wrote "Dear ...." and wrote "Love, Eliseo" on the bottom...and he took his box of crayons and "wrote away!" :)
What's exciting is that although it only takes us a mere 20-30 minutes a day, by the end of the week, I have a pile of 40-50 letters ready to be mailed! To keep postage affordable, we usually all write to the same person each day :)
Besides wanting to teach my children to write to others, it has been a true benefit to my teaching time with them. Here are some of the things they are learning through their letter writing time:
*How to write the actual letter; what to say; to ask questions; to write specifically; to think about the person to whom they are writing; to pray for them.
*Spelling Practice~ Each misspelled word is written down in a notebook and the next day, they have to write that word 10x and then recite it. They keep a list of the words they misspell in their binders so they can refer to it while writing and for review
*Grammar/Punctuation practice~ Putting into practice what they are learning in their school books
*Handwriting Practice! :) Mommy's been known to say "re-do" if it's too sloppy; we talk about doing all we do heartily as unto the Lord
*Art Practice~ After the letter is written, they enjoy decorating it or making a picture on the back. They can use pencil, colored pencils or crayons...stickers too! Markers and paints don't work well as they soak through :)
*And the icing on the cake...sometimes they get a letter back! And that encourages them more than anything to keep writing! :)



I said I didn't have much to say, but I sure said a lot, didn't I? :)

Thankfully, the last few days have been "normal" :).
Daniel and the older boys just left to go preaching in Zaragoza. Brother Juan has begun preaching out there himself too! I think I get as excited when I see the people in our church begin serving the Lord as I do when I see it in my own children!

I Corinthians 15:58

Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

May His grace strengthen and enable you daily as you serve Him wherever He has called you.

17 comments:

  1. Hi Jaynee, Samuel does look so happy and I am just he is kept busy by adoring siblings~

    You always encourage me with your homeschooling. I figure if you can do it with your 12 I can do it with my 8 (I can't actually have Garrett write letters anymore, being that he's gone and married, so we don't count him :-)

    Our children love getting letters too. And I agree, I ~love~ handwritten letters!

    Thanks for the update~ Cinnamon

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  2. Grandpa and Grandma SmithApr 15, 2010, 7:09:00 PM

    We've been praying for our little grandson. Thank you for the update. It's nice to see his smiling face and the activities of the siblings who entertain him. We enjoy being the recipient of many of those letters and have our walls covered in their artwork. We're so glad you carried that lesson of writing into your home and are teaching our Grandchildren to do so also. We're praying there will be no need for surgery and that Samuel's leg will heal quickly. Our love to all.

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  3. What a wonderful update.....thank you for sharing.

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  4. What a wonderful idea! I used to write ALL the time but then when I started having kids I didn't make the time for it anymore. I think I might try your idea but less often!lol I don't think we have that many people to write to:)

    So glad to hear that things are getting better with the leg. God is soooooo good:)
    Shorty

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  5. Mom, You taught me many things that I teach my children today! Thank you! :)
    Tell Dad his birthday letters got sent off a week ago or so. Hoping they get there by his b'day.

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  6. When I said that I wanted to see picture of the bows being worn, I meant, the girls wearing them. =0)

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  7. what a fun update!! and you make homeschooling sound like so much fun!!!:)

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  8. jaynee, What a blessing to see Samuels smiling face. Praying for you all.... I had left a comment earlier but it seems to be lost...not sure if I pressed the right buttons at the end. Know that you and your beautiful family are often in my thoughts and prayers. I love the lesson in writing...I think I need to step that up a bit here...Blessings to you all
    shelley p
    from over the pond.

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  9. Jaynee -- Thank you for reminding us and for teaching your children the importance of the handwritten note. I, too, was raised writing letters, notecards, and thank you notes, and to this day (I'm 44) I enjoy receiving a handwritten note! I remember practicing my penmanship so my notes to others would be pretty! But hey, I have lovely penmanship and receive compliments on it all the time, so I guess all that practice was worth it!

    Best wishes as your little guy heals and thank you so much for your blog. Your family is a blessing to so many!
    Karen in Washington State

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  10. One thing I have always noticed about your children (besides how cute they are) is that they are always smiling! Love it!

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  11. Thank you for the great idea. I'm going to do this.

    Amy in MN

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  12. I'm so glad that little Samuel is doing so much better!!

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  13. I agree that that art of letter writing is a thing of the past. HOwever my mother in law does not "like" tchonology, she refuses to get a cell phone or a computer at 85 i do not blame her. But i make sure that once a month I put pen to paper and send her a note :) i think it is great you are teaching your children this art.
    Can you use stamps that are bought in the U.S.?

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  14. Pauline, No, we cannot use USA stamps. We have to use Mexican stamps. We go to the post office once a week or so and buy the necessary postage to mail each letter. Sometimes, we have to come back another week because the post office doesn't have any stamps on hand. :)

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  15. Your children are so cute and happy! I love reading your blog. Your family is real and inspiring. Praying for little Samuel!

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  16. Hooray for you, teaching your children the fine art of letter-writing! This may be "old-fashioned" in the internet era, but there is no better way to show someone you are really thinking about them from afar (or even not so far).

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  17. Oh Jaynee that is too bad, seems that i have stock in the american post office, i love to send letters and cards. Maybe I will jsut send a few dollars that you can turn into pesos so that you can continue to send your letters :)
    Thanks for blogging i truly enjoy reading all your posts :)

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