Story of My Life

My big four-year-old

2012-01-06T19:38:00.000-08:00

So, I realized that it has been almost a month since Leesi's birthday and I still haven't written about her at age four.

My sweet girl is still Mommy's big helper. She loves helping me cook, and is at the point where she can actually be helpful. She often makes sandwiches for her and Jonathan's lunch (mostly pb&j, but sometimes tuna). She loves pouring her own cereal and milk in the morning. The other day she started to get upset because Jonathan got to help with the dishes and I told her that she couldn't. She settled down when I told her that she could help me later. And then she relished the opportunity to wash the mirrors and dust with me. I know this helpfulness will probably end all to soon, but for now it's nice... most of the time.

She loves to read books (which I also love, so we're a good combo). Some of her favorites are Berenstain Bears, and Little Critter.

She is quite good at riding her tricycle, and is just now moving up to a big girl bike with training wheels (she got it for her birthday). She likes riding the big bike, but she's fallen off of it a couple of times, which has made her a little leery of it too. So sometimes she switches back to the trike.

She is still quite shy and mostly won't talk to people that she doesn't know well, and often won't talk to people that she does know well. Someone in our care group described her as "cold" and I have to agree, she has a look that can wither even the friendliest of adults. I've started doing role-playing to help her get used to the idea of talking to people she knows. I'll say, "You be so-and-so and I'll be Leesi, and you say hi to me." etc. I think it may be helping a little. It's definitely something we're going to be working on this year. Mainly I just want her to at least acknowledge people she knows with a "hi" or even just a smile.

But of course she is not cold all the time (or even most of the time). She loves her little friends, and can be quite loud with them. She plays and giggles with Jonathan all the time. They are the best of little buddies, and I'm hopeful that their friendship will continue as they grow up. She loves her daddy. The other day, after Daddy was being particularly silly, she announced, "Boys are funny, girls aren't funny." Which of course, is a statement about our family and made me laugh so hard, it still makes me smile to myself when I think about it. Even still, she is a Mommy's girl and often demands, "I want Mommy to do it!"

She LOVES doing art projects. If I had to pick one activity that she chooses to do more than anything else, it would be this... art projects. She is quite prolific and when she runs out of room in designated art displaying areas, she'll take it upon herself to find the scotch tape and begin taping them up in random places around the house. Some of her artwork is quite... how shall I call it... original. Art can be pieces of crumpled up tinfoil, dirt and water smeared onto paper and then folded and folded again, pieces of paper cut apart and then taped back together in different configurations, or scraps of paper with one or two lines drawn on them. No one could accuse her of being stuck in a box when it comes to her artwork. She is a master of "mixed media."

She knows her own mind and has her own opinions. She still chooses her own outfits everyday, but I feel like the outfits are getting a little less outlandish. Or maybe I'm just getting used to them. I don't know.

She can be a little bossy with her family, "Now Mommy you go there, and Jonathan you sit here." But she acquiesses fairly quickly to her friends.

She regularly asks, "Why?" and the other day told me, "Mommy, don't ask why so much!"

She also has a keen ear for information. You can't get much past this girl anymore. When she hears some little tidbit that she finds of interest, it's like her little ears perk up. "What?" she asks.

She still has a rest time each day, though she never sleeps anymore. But she needs the alone time (and I do too - we're both introverts). During her rest time I'll hear little conversations she makes up between her dolls or stuffed animals. My favorite is when I hear the calm Mommy voice saying, "You need to share." or the chipper Mommy voice saying, "Can you clean up your toys? Time to clean up!"

She is usually fairly obedient, and has now finally gotten past the frequent meltdowns and tantrums (thank the Lord!). For the most part she is cooperative, and easy and fun to be around. Of course, she still has her meltdowns, but they are fewer and farther between these days. I had so many people tell me that age three is harder than two... which I think is true in some ways, but not completely. And I am hoping that these past few months are a herald of what is coming at age four.

My precious Elisa Marie, I love you to pieces. You bring so much joy to our family, and I can't wait to see all that you are going to be!

Happy Birthday!

2011-12-20T22:40:00.000-08:00

To my wonderful husband, Greg...

who makes me laugh when I need to lighten up,

who folds countless baskets of laundry without complaint,

who is an expert bath-giver and tummy tickler,

who is always up for an adventure,

who works tirelessly to build relationships with and mentor students,

who loves me well, even when I'm not so easy to love.

I love you Babe.

Happy Birthday!

Hello Kitty Birthday

2011-12-12T14:29:00.000-08:00

Elisa will turn four tomorrow. On Friday we had her birthday party. She wanted a Hello Kitty party. Which was super easy to do, since Hello Kitty is absolutely everywhere right now.

At Jonathan's birthday party back in October. I felt like I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Every time Jonathan saw me he said, "Momma! Momma!" In this heartbreaking way. Like, "It's been sooo long since I've seen you, where have you been?" I learned some things the hard way from his birthday party:

1) Do easy food.

2) Don't try to decorate the cake the day of.

3) If possible, delegate! And talk about any expectations you have of your husband.

4) If you aren't throwing the party in your own home, but need to do set-up and decorations in the party location, give yourself adequate time.

5) Remember that the point is to make a fun and memorable day for the birthday boy/girl... not to impress others or outdo yourself in some way. It will be more fun for them (and you) if you are not stressed out!

This time around, the party preparations went much more smoothly. We ordered pizza; and I assembled fruit, veggie, and cracker/dip trays. So the food was easy. I did the cake the night before. I had Greg make the balloon flower decorations while I was doing the cake (I'm so glad I did this, since these ended up being a little more complicated than one would think). I started decorating the lounge where we had the party the morning of, instead of waiting until the hour before. And I paused to refocus myself and pray the afternoon before the party instead of frantically working all day. The fruit kebabs turned into a fruit plate because I ran out of time, but I was in a much better frame of mind by the time the party rolled around. I had a great time at the party. I was able to talk to my guests, and enjoy watching the kids play. I think Leesi had a great time too.

We had the party in the lounge which is separated from our apartment by a small hallway. Both doors were open, and so at one point the older kids disappeared into our apartment. All of a sudden the parents looked around and thought, "Where did all the kids go?" We found them in our downstairs, pushing the button on our Skiing Santa, who sings a little song. (He used to also actually ski across the room, but this year when I pulled him out, I found that he no longer does that.) They had this whole routine worked out of freezing in one place while Santa talked, and then starting to dance when Santa started singing. It was so cute, and it just goes to show you that sometimes the funnest party games and activities are not the ones you thought up.

Here are some pictures of the festivities:

Hello Kitty cake and kisses.

The food table (pre-food).

Greg made balloon flowers and animals for the kids

Pin the bow on Hello Kitty. Mysteriously all bows ended up perfectly placed.

Party favors and prizes

(Prizes never were given out. Prizes are a bad idea for this age, unless everyone gets one.)

What was I thinking?

The big birthday girl and Momma.

Christmas tree time

2011-12-04T23:26:00.000-08:00

Most years that we've lived in Portland we have gotten our Christmas tree from this great u-cut place called Sandy Farms. It's cheap (this year it was $15-$20 per tree, in years past we've gotten trees for as little as $5), it's fun, and it's tradition. Every year we wonder, is it worth the drive? Couldn't we just pay five dollars more and get a tree down the street. But each year we go, and each year we love it. There's something about it, the whole experience, that we love... the drive, the search, the cold, the sawing, the hauling, the hot chocolate at the end. This year was no different. We had a great morning on Saturday finding our tree.

It was quite cold. Right around freezing. All the shady places were still covered in frost. Leesi kept saying, "I'm freezin!" and "I'm getting really icy!" So after we found our tree, and while Greg was still trying to figure out the big tree, the kids and I went back to the barn for hot cocoa. I think this was their favorite part.

We found a tree for us, as well as a tree for outside at the school's Christmas party. After some discussion about whether or not it would fit on top of our car Greg chose the largest doug fir he could find. When the workers were trying to put it through the baler, it got stuck and it took a little time and ingenuity to get it unstuck. We cheered when it finally made it through the baler. It took 4 men to load it onto the top of our car and I think it bent our roof rack a little. It was quite the adventure. But now the Christmas party will have a beautiful large tree. And we have a beautiful tree too. It's only half way decorated so far. We're looking forward to finishing it up tomorrow!

Jonathan's jacket flip

2011-12-02T14:51:00.000-08:00

Jonathan learned how to do this about a week ago. And I think it may be just about the cutest thing ever.

Leesi and the zipper

2011-12-02T14:23:00.000-08:00

Almost ready for a big boy bed...

2011-11-30T15:12:00.000-08:00

So I posted this on Facebook. But I wanted to post it here too, so that when I look back I'll remember.

A few mornings ago I was awake, but still in bed and pretty soon I heard Leesi say (through the monitor), "You did it Buddy! Do you wanna come snuggle in bed with me?"

Yes indeed, Jonathan has learned to get out of his crib (and the Pack'n'Play that he naps in too).

At least there was one person in the family who was excited for him.

Slowing, part two

2011-11-28T22:03:00.000-08:00

In my previous post I wrote out a bunch of excerpts from The Good and Beautiful God about slowing down. I wanted to take time to write a little bit more about my experience of slowing. As you can see, I haven't been in a real big hurry to get around to the second part of this post... I guess that's appropriate. ;-)

As we learn to slow down at first it may feel painful because we are so addicted to productivity, or used to hurrying. But as we physically slow ourselves down our hearts and spirits slow down too. And as I quoted before "The deepest part of the soul likes to go slow.... Slowing down the pace of our lives means eliminating hurry and limiting the demands and activities in our lives. Then we are more likely to take delight in our lives and make room for God."

Anyway, so in this book the author gives a lot of ideas for slowing yourself down. Drive in the slowest lane of traffic. Get in the longest line at the grocery store. This one is one of my favorites in a funny way: Take an hour to move like a sloth (I can just imagine someone doing this, walking across the living room with the slowest steps possible, taking 30 seconds to move the fork from the plate to your mouth, etc. It just makes me laugh). Make one day a slow day: linger over breakfast, cut out t.v. and media, go for a leisurely walk, watch the sunset. Plan a meal with friends or family: cook slowly, enjoy the smells of the food, linger over dinner, eat slowly, enjoy the food and company.

So I read all these ideas and then realized that the only thing I needed to do to slow down was to go at the pace of my children. Wow, do they ever go slow! I mean, sure, they have boundless energy and can run really fast, but as far as productivity goes, they go slow. It can take 10 minutes or more to get from the car to the front door, or worse vice versa (insert teeth grinding here). I often find myself telling them, "Hurry. Hurry!"

So a few weeks ago when I determined to slow down (as my homework prescribed) I decided that I would stop hurrying my children. I let them explore every puddle on the way from the car to the front door. I didn't rush them to get ready in the morning so that we could go and "do something better."

Of course, there are times when I needed to go quickly. But I resolved to do it with an unhurried heart, a heart that is not fearful but is fully resting in God's goodness to me regardless of circumstances. "I'll move my legs as fast as I can while my heart is happy and unhurried." (Remember that quote from the book? It's one of my favorites!)

Case in point: Wednesday mornings (Bible Study mornings). We have to be leaving our house with everyone dressed, fed, and presentable at 9:00. For us that usually means a hurried morning of pushing. I'm pushing Elisa to get dressed, pushing Jonathan to eat faster, pushing myself to get the dishwasher loaded and my makeup on. And all this, while trying to stem the tide of chaos which threatens to flood our house each moment. "Elisa, no you can't start an art project now. And didn't I just ask you to use the bathroom." "Jonathan, are you poopy again? I just changed you!" I have to say that we usually have some kind of major meltdown on Wednesday mornings (from a kid, not me, in case you were wondering... although I'm not far behind).

Almost always my hurry is fear related. I worry about what others will think of me if I'm late. I fear rejection, embarrassment, letting others down. My kids see that fear in me and mirror it. Then it builds and consumes us in a huge cycle... worry, fear, hurry, worry, fear, hurry.

One Wednesday morning not long ago, Elisa screamed and cried all the way to church. I was so rattled I missed a turn. And when I finally sat down at Bible Study it took about 10 minutes of deep breathing before I felt like my heart rate was back to normal.

But, on the first Wednesday morning of intentionally slowing my heart while trying to move my legs as fast as possible, there were no meltdowns. I had time for joy. I laughed with my kids. We looked at leaves on the ground on the way to the car. We still moved quickly. In fact I caught my kids telling each other, "Hurry. Hurry!" (The words that I had ingrained in them). But I corrected them, "No, it's okay. We do have to try to go quickly but we're okay. Everything will be okay." And that's what I was telling my heart at the same time. I kept repeating my mantra of "God has everything under control. I have nothing to fear."

I got to Bible Study early. My kids were happier than usual. I was happier than usual. It was wonderful.

Of course, I do have to add that the next time we went to Bible Study with this same unhurried heart philosophy I was quite late and had to walk in awkwardly and find a seat while everyone watched. But you know what? I didn't care. My kids were happy, no deep breathing was needed.

As I learn to go more slowly and stop hurrying my kids, I notice that I am doing less things... there are fewer outings to the library and the park. But I am enjoying the everyday things more. Diaper changes and putting on shoes and socks are not inconveniences on the way to something good. They are the good of the current moment. They are an opportunity to closely interact with my kids in a way that meets their needs. I am beginning to delight in the everyday moments instead of rushing off to the next place.

More on this topic to come... eventually... don't hurry me!

Slowing, part one

2011-11-20T13:54:00.000-08:00

This week has been... a good week... but an interesting week. A couple weeks ago our car gave out on us. We are a one car family, but luckily we were able to borrow a car for the first week that our car was in the shop. We thought that we were going to get our car back early the next week. But it turned out that it had to go back to be fixed two more times. And so we didn't really get our car back until Friday. So, last week we didn't have a car, it was rainy, and both of my kids have colds. So we mostly stayed home and didn't do much. It was a great lesson in slowing.

Appropriately that was our spiritual discipline assignment for our Sunday school class for the last two weeks. Slowing.

One of Greg's favorite books is The Life You've Always Wanted by John Ortberg. In it he talks about the discipline of slowing. He says that once when he was entering a new ministry he called a spiritual mentor for advice. His mentor told him, "Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life." Ortberg wrote this down on his paper and then asked, "Okay, what's next?" "There is no next." his mentor replied.

Our Sunday School is going through the book The Good and Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith. I can't explain slowing down better than he did, so here are a few excerpts:

Hurry and distraction are nothing new, but in our age we seem to have perfected them. More than at any time in history we have become obsessed with productivity, speed and efficiency.... And while we increasingly move faster, we are enjoying life less.

Our impatience has made life a dizzying blur. And as a result, our spiritual lives are diminished. As we try harder, we are becoming spiritually shallow and deeply disappointed--not exactly a recipe for a robust life.

The mantra of our achievement-oriented world is, "You are only as valuable as what you produce." This leads to the narrative that what we produce determines our value, and therefore the more we produce the more valuable we are. What we did yesterday is old news; what matter is what we are doing today.

Satan does not always appear as a red devil, a ghastly monster or the object of sexual desire. Sometimes he simply inserts a false narrative (achievement equals value) into our minds. Once that narrative gets firmly planted, we are headed toward destruction without realizing it. The narrative can sound almost Christian. That's why it slips in unnoticed.... But one day we wake up and realize that the things most important to us--time with God and our family, our emotional and physical health--were sacrificed on the alter of achievement (or the success of our church). And we have nothing to show for such an amazing sacrifice.

Jesus told Martha, "There is need of only one thing." That one thing is listening to Jesus. Jesus did not say that the "one thing" was to obey his commandments (though that will come.) The first thing, the one needful thing, is to listen to his teachings. The world tries to pull us away from this important thing. Martha's way was good, but Mary's way was better. She looked at the situation and evaluated what was most important. Jesus was in her home, and being with him was the most important things she could do.

The most important aspects of our lives cannot be rushed. We cannot love, think, eat, laugh, or pray in a hurry.

Taking time is especially important in our spiritual lives. In our spiritual life we cannot do anything important in a hurry.

Why is eliminating hurry from our lives so crucial? When we eliminate hurry we become present, or more specifically, present to the present moment in all of its glory. We become aware of our surroundings. We see colors and smell smells; we hear hushed sounds and can actually feel the wind in our faces. In short, we "show up" and experience the fulness of life. And that includes, not least of all, being present to God. If I am to live well as a Christian, I need to be constantly connected to God. Hurry is not part of a well-lived life.

It is possible to act quickly without hurrying. If I have only ten minutes to get from one end of the airport to another, I can move quickly without hurrying. Hurry is an inner condition that is fear-based: "If I don't make my plane everything will be ruined. Life as I know it is over!" But when I walk in step with God I learn to say, "If I don't make that plane I'll be fine. God is with me. Things will work out. Meanwhile, I'll move my legs as fast as I can while my heart is happy and unhurried."

Slowing down is the way our soul works. Robert Barron says, "The deepest part of the soul likes to go slow, since it seeks to savor rather than to accomplish; it wants to rest in and contemplate the good rather than hurry off to another place." ... Slowing down the pace of our lives means eliminating hurry and limiting the demands and activities in our lives. Then we are more likely to take delight in our lives and make room for God.

Fall Activities

2011-11-09T20:17:00.000-08:00

Just some fun fall things we've been up to lately.

A trip to the pumpkin patch with Grammy.

Finding the perfect pumpkins.

Washing the pumpkins.

Our finished Jack-o-lanterns, an octopus and a smiley face.

A fall art project - trees made by painting with q-tips.

We had so much fun that Leesi asked to do this a second time.

Happy Fall!

Halloween

2011-11-05T00:15:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post a picture from Halloween. Tigger and Tinkerbell. We had a fun time this year. Leesi is now totally old enough to realize that Halloween means she gets candy. Also, she was excited about her Tinkerbell costume (although she didn't want to wear the wings). Jonathan didn't want to put on a costume at all. But he saw some other kids in costumes, so he was a little more willing to let me put the Tigger costume on him. He started to protest a little as I put his legs in. But once it was on, he was totally fine with it. This was Leesi's costume two years ago.

We went to the school's halloween party. Greg was doing balloon animals for the kids there, which was fun. But he didn't get to go trick or treating with us. So after we were done at the party we just went around to the student apartments on campus and came home with a perfectly reasonable amount of candy.

Earler in the day on Halloween Elisa and I did a Jack-O-lantern sponge painting project. It was super fun, and has made me want to do more sponge painting!

Jonathan at two

2011-11-02T20:16:00.000-07:00

So, my sweet little boy is now a big 2-year-old.

He is entering a new phase of willfulness... go figure. All of a sudden he is falling apart and screaming when things don't go quite the way he wants them to. It has been a little challenging for me, but at least I've experienced this before with Leesi... so it isn't a huge surprise.

But the willfulness isn't all there is to him. He is still a sweetheart. He loves to snuggle and be held. At night he gives me a hug, a squeeze, and a kiss. He lays his head on one of my shoulders and says "huuuuug", then switches to the other shoulder and says "squeeeeze", then last a kiss complete with smacking sound.

He is beginning to be quite the talker. He has gone about learning to talk in a whole different way than Leesi. He repeats everything. Now, I think he understands everything we say to him. But even before he understood, he would repeat back whatever you said. He strings long sentences together (even like 8 word sentences sometimes!). Leesi didn't repeat things as much. She thought a lot more before saying things. Jonathan has been an experiential learner. He likes to pray. He starts by saying something that sounds sort of like Jesus, and then he says a long string of nonsense words, and then "Amen!"

Jonathan loves to sing. Some of his favorites are Itsy Bitsy Spider, ABCs (with letters... but not necessarily in the right order!), Jesus Loves Me, My God is So Great, Old MacDonald etc. The last few nights, right before I leave their bedroom, I've been singing "God has smiled on me" which is a song I used to sing to them when they were babies. A couple nights ago they both all of a sudden started singing along. It was a sweet, sweet moment to hear Leesi and Jonathan's little voices singing, "God has smiled on me; He has set me free. God has smiled on me; He's been good to me."

In some ways he is such a boy. He loves trucks, trains, and things that go. When he's riding in the car he is content just to look out the window and watch the cars go by. He comments on any big trucks we see. And he always points out trains or the Max, and then says "Toot, toot!" He loves playing with balls. He has taken a particular interest in basketball, quite apart from anything we have done. My parents sometimes hang a bucket on a nail from a post on their deck and Jonathan goes to town "making baskets". He also has a fairly deep little voice. And is quite pushy (literally), which my mom says is kind of a boy thing.

But in other ways he breaks the gender stereotypes (which I think is fairly normal). He likes to wear little clips in his hair, and he likes to put on bracelets and necklaces. He sees Leesi getting her hair fixed and wearing jewelry and he wants to get in on the action too. Today I took him to Bible study with two little clips in his hair. I'm not quite sure what his teachers thought of that when I dropped him off... but all I can say is that some days I just have to pick my battles, and today that one wasn't worth fighting.

So here are his stats at 2:

Height: 37 1/4 inches (97%)

Weight: 28lbs. 9oz. (59%)

Jonathan's Party

2011-10-16T21:03:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had a birthday party for Jonathan. We decided to go with a theme of "Trains, Planes, and Automobiles" since that encompasses so many things Jonathan loves. Here are some of the highlights:

A masking tape road went in a circle around the room. The kids just ran and ran and ran pushing their various big vehicles. They loved it!

A coloring table was a good place to rest for awhile after all that running.

We also had a bean pool which the kids loved. They played in the beans with various cups and small trucks. It was a popular station.

We had really yummy food. We (by which I mean Greg) grilled chicken in a yummy marinade. There were so many compliments on the chicken. We also had chicken nuggets (for the kiddos), fruit, caesar salad, crackers and cheese, chips and artichoke dip, jello salad, and bread. I tried to make a variety of things that would please both the kids and the adults.

The piece de resistance of the meal was definitely the cake. My friend Lori and I made the cake. Actually, I did the grunt work and Lori was the cake artist. She sculpted the cake and did all the decorating work at the end. Isn't it amazing? I helped her until we had gotten all the train cars frosted. Then I left to get set up for the party. When I first saw it at the party I couldn't believe how good it looked. The kids loved it too. On the caboose door you can see where a little finger tried to get in. :-)

When we sang Happy Birthday to Jonathan he sang along. He even inserted his name in the proper place. So cute. For a few weeks beforehand we had been singing Happy Birthday at lunch or dinner time and then Jonathan and Leesi would dip their fork into their applesauce, or ketchup, or yogurt and hold it out, saying "blow-out-the-candle." And we would all take turns "blowing it out". I'm not exactly sure how this got started, but Jonathan had plenty of practice blowing out the candle. So when it came time he blew out his candles, no problem.

We put up pictures of Jonathan on one wall, along with our happy birthday banner. And I put out his first year photo book for people to browse through. I love looking back on old pictures and remembering! We had a gorgeous day for the party. It was warm and sunny. You can see the beautiful sunlight streaming in the windows in this picture.

Greg and I spent a few hours (while watching t.v.) folding red and blue paper airplanes for this garland. I was trying to think of a cheap way to bring something festive to a large white room. I think it worked pretty well. Although, the picture doesn't quite do it justice.

At the end of the party we had a competition for the adults. A paper airplane contest: one piece of paper, one throw to see who could get the farthest. Everyone got into it. The kids loved watching too. It was hilarious to see all the airplanes that only made it a foot or two.

We had the party in a room on campus that's across from our apartment. It worked out great. Plenty of room for everyone and for the kids to run. But it was a little bit of a challenge in that we didn't have much time ahead of time for setup. We also had to bring everything over from our house. I was running a little behind (of course), so it was craziness right before the party started. I enlisted the help of everyone who showed up early. My parents, brother, sister-in-law, Wanda, and my friend Becca all helped with the crazy set-up process. We couldn't have done it without them. And then at the end, so many people helped us clean up. I ended the night feeling so thankful for friends and family. (And feeling like next time we're going to have a simpler party!) Overall, the party was a fun time to celebrate a little boy who has charmed us over the last two years with his smile and his funny little ways. Happy Birthday Buddy!

Well, he probably wanted someone to notice...

2011-10-13T14:34:00.000-07:00

Today at the library a guy with a green mohawk was browsing for books while we were checking out. Leesi, in a not-so-quiet voice, stated, "Hey Mommy, look! That guy has green hair." I looked around until I spotted the person she was talking about. Then, not exactly sure how to respond, (since he was close enough he'd probably hear whatever I said too) said, "Yep. He sure does." Then she said, "It looks like a seahorse!"

Hmmm... a seahorse. True, but probably not exactly what the guy was going for.

Afternoon Adventure

2011-10-01T22:45:00.000-07:00

This little cutie is about to turn two.

Jonathan is a typical boy who loves all things-that-go.

This afternoon we went out by the airport to watch the planes take off and land. The kids loved it.

"HI AIRPLANE!"

Leesi-isms part two

2011-09-08T20:08:00.000-07:00

I love some of the ways that Leesi pronounces things...

a-careful "Mommy, be a-careful." or "Don't worry, I'll be a-careful."

maked "I'm all maked."

helicockter "I see a helicockter!"

slissors "Mommy, will you get me my little slissors?"

I also love the way her little mind works.

When she has a lot to carry she'll ask me, "Mommy, will you help me? My hands are too heavy." Or just "Help! I have heavy hands!"

The other day she dropped something behind the couch and couldn't reach it. So she told me, "I can't get it, I don't have enough arm."

Evening at the river

2011-08-26T23:08:00.000-07:00

Tonight we went to a birthday party for a little friend. It was at Kelly Point Park, which is a park at the point where the Columbia and Willamette Rivers meet. We had such a lovely evening hanging out with friends, eating good food, and watching the kids play on the river bank in the sand.

There were a couple of kid moments that I wanted to record, so I don't forget them... they were so precious.

There was a little meadow by the picnic tables where we were eating, and Jonathan walked around picking dandelions (think white fluff, not yellow flower), until his hands were full of bouquets of puffy balls. He kept saying "bubble, bubble... blow." At one point he had six or seven dandelions in his hands. It was so cute.

Later we were walking back to the parking lot, about a 5 minute walk. The sun had gone down, and it was quite dark. Since our kids usually go to sleep while it is still light (at least in the summer) Elisa was talking about how dark it was and how she couldn't see. I told her "You know what helps your eyes see better in the dark?... Carrots." She thought on this for awhile and then asked me, "You know what else helps you see better in the dark?... Flashlights."

It was just such a lovely evening. It felt good to relax with friends in a beautiful setting.

Get your boots on!

2011-08-24T22:34:00.001-07:00

But Mom... Why can't I go outside?

WHY?!?

Summer Fun

2011-08-22T21:45:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of what we've been up to this summer...

Playing in fountains around town.

Another trip to the beach... this time it was such a beautiful day. Perfect!

Ice Cream!

I love this picture even though it's blurry... it shows Jonathan's personality so well.

Dinner at the Grilled Cheese grill. We ate on the second story of the bus.

Playing at "Discovery Pond" playground at the Snake Lake Nature Preserve in Tacoma.

This picture melts my heart. I love seeing them hold hands. They are such good buddies.

Jonathan has to be in on any project that involves tools. Here he's helping my dad fix the door.

Just chillin' with popsicles.

August... ugh.

2011-08-20T23:46:00.000-07:00

Every year since Greg started working in Student Development, August has been a rough time of year for me. It's an exciting time of year... RA training, students moving in, beginning of the school year... but all of this means that Greg works long hours. This past week he was on a backpacking trip with his PA staff, he was out of cell phone range. It was the third week he'd been gone out of the past five weeks. And by the end of the week I could really tell... I was ready for him to come home. Yesterday he came back... and it's been so great to have him back! Today we had a great family day with the kids, and then went out on a date this evening (thanks to Wanda, our great baby-sitter). Now the worst of August is behind us and I'm looking forward to the start of classes and getting back into a routine.

Learning to write

2011-08-09T21:23:00.000-07:00

A few months back Elisa started to be really interested in writing her name. I tried to encourage her and to help her do it without being too pushy or practice-y about it. She would put like 7 lines on her E, and she would haphazardly write her letters around the paper... in the right order, but not in a line from left to right. Still, that being said, it was amazing to me. I felt like I had a genius child. (I know a lot of kids start to write their names at this age... but you know... mother's pride). Then, just as suddenly as she started, she stopped. She wasn't interested any more. So, though I really wanted to, I tried not to push it. I firmly believe that a three-year-old needs to play... that is her work for now. (I do try to incorporate purposeful learning activities into her day... but only as long as she is interested in doing them.) There will be plenty of time for schoolwork later. Still, I was a little disappointed. Especially when I saw other kids her age writing their names.

I had put this book on hold ages ago at the library. And I got it a couple months after Elisa stopped being interested in writing her name. It was fascinating. One of the things she said was that there are a number of factors that you need to look for to determine that a child is ready to begin learning to write: that the child has chosen a skill hand, ability to hold a pencil correctly, hand strength, hand dexterity, etc. Another thing that she talks about is how large muscles support small muscles... that's why running, jumping, climbing, riding trikes, and all those other things that kids do naturally, are so important. She talked about starting out with the correct posture and the correct ways to write letters, so that later they don't have to go back and relearn things. Anyway, I gleaned all of this from a short perusal. I didn't have the time right then to read the whole book and I had to take it back to the library. But it was fascinating and it made me feel better about my decision not to push Elisa into writing. It seemed to me as I watched her that her hands weren't quite strong enough yet. So we did some extra play with play-doh and waited. And now, I've started thinking that her hand is strong enough. And guess what? Today we did a chalk writing activity and she totally loved it. I wrote various names that she requested in chalk and then she traced them (at first with her finger dipped in water and then with a paintbrush).

(Picture from this blog post)

Anyway, if this is as fascinating to you as it is to me, and if you have a child at this stage you might want to check out some of the pre-writing activities listed on this post over at Childhood 101. I especially loved this article about hanging on the monkey bars. Happy reading! (and writing!)

So Pretty!

2011-08-07T23:06:00.000-07:00

Dining table and chairs re-do

2011-08-03T20:23:00.000-07:00

Last August I posted about how I found a beautiful drop leaf table that fit perfectly in our small space. Well, I've loved the table. It's been great for everyday use, and for entertaining. But the finish was completely worn off the top and there were a couple of spots where the top was marred by hot things. And our chairs... we got them ten years ago... they had cream colored seat cushions... need I say more? So I decided it was time for a little re-do. Here are the before and afters:

Before:

After:

For the painting I followed the instructions I found here. She made it sound so easy. But as someone who has never really painted furniture before, I have to say that painting the tabletop made me want to pull my hair out. I was trying to make it as smooth as possible, but with such a large flat surface and sticky oil paint it was impossible. So there are definitely brush strokes. I thought about spray painting, since that's really the only way not to have brushstrokes. But considering that it's a dining room table and it gets a lot of use, I wanted something really durable. So I decided to use a brush and a high quality oil based enamel. And despite the brush marks, overall I love how everything turned out. Especially the chairs. The best part of the chairs is that I recovered the seat cushions with outdoor fabric. So water (and presumably red juice) just beads up and wipes off. So hopefully they won't stain quite so badly in the future.

I love it. Every time I sit down I'm pleasantly surprised by the new fabric and black chairs.

Nice to meet you kitty

2011-07-31T22:54:00.000-07:00

Conversation between the kids:

Elisa: (in a kind of motherly, teachy way) "Jonathan, this is Hello Kitty. Can you say Hello Kitty?"

Jonathan: "Hi Kitty"

Elisa: (a little exasperated) "No, no, not hi Kitty. It's Hello Kitty."

Jonathan: "Hi Kitty"

Elisa: (now speaking slowly and enunciating each syllable) "No, it's Hel-lo Kit-ty"

and the conversation went on that way for awhile.

Water play

2011-07-20T21:36:00.000-07:00

My friend Becca, knowing that Greg was going to be gone a lot in July, put together a little water-play kit for the kids. She wanted me to have something to get out for them that I didn't have to generate myself. She bought a big aluminum turkey roasting pan, a silver goblet and tray, a copper kettle, a bunch of pretty glass and natural stones, and some little plastic water animals. I got it out the other day and the kids had so much fun! Elisa played with it first... before long she had taken off all of her clothes so that she could play freely without worrying about getting her clothes wet. I think she really wanted to climb right in herself... but I assured her that she wouldn't fit. Jonathan played with it next. He had so much fun, pouring and scooping rocks. I think another option might be to use it outside... maybe in our little blow-up pool. Then they could really get into it, literally.

San Diego

2011-07-19T13:47:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged very much at all lately. And thinking back over the highlights of the last month makes me want to post some pictures of our San Diego trip.

Greg and I wanted to go somewhere special for our tenth anniversary. My parents had graciously agreed to watch the kids, and we had enough frequent flyer miles for both of us to get free tickets. So we decided we wanted to go to a warm beach. We didn't want to use up two whole days traveling. We chose San Diego thinking that this would be our best bet for a warm beach within a short flight.

Well, little did we know that June in San Diego is notorious for "June gloom." Which is just what we encountered. The weather was gray and gloomy, actually a lot like it is here, maybe a few degrees warmer, but not warm enough to justify the shorts and tank tops that I had packed.

We made the best of it, and actually did get some good weather when we drove away from where we were staying. It was like there was a pocket of clouds that just stayed over Pacific Beach, whenever we left we got a little more sun. And we did some really fun things: we ate lots of good food, rented bikes, went sea kayaking (and saw dolphins), went boogie boarding, explored Balboa park, and did a lot of relaxing. It was great. Here are some of the pics:

The Botanical Building at Balboa Park

Eating a huge bacon cheeseburger at Hodad's (featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives)

Getting ready to go Boogie boarding - so much fun!

Sea kayaking

(we never capsized, though I was afraid we were going to when we came back in over the surf)

Summer

2011-06-28T23:06:00.000-07:00

I love summer. Life just seems a little more carefree. Of course, it doesn't hurt that Greg has June and July off.

This picture kind of sums up some of the things I love about summer: impromptu grilling and eating outside, kids in swimsuits splashing in tiny blow-up pools, carefree afternoons and evenings. It was taken during a lovely family evening. The kids splashed outside and then started watering our "garden" with their tiny watering cans. They rode up and down the sidewalk on their trikes. Greg grilled and we ate these wonderful chicken garlic sausages, and hung out in our lawn chairs. It was one of those beautiful family times that you can't force, but sneaks up on you with its beauty and leaves you smiling for weeks afterwards whenever you remember it.

The Beach!

2011-06-14T21:40:00.000-07:00

So we finally made it to the beach with both kids! Before today, Jonathan had never actually stepped foot onto the beach. And for Leesi, it's been about a year. We're with Greg's mom and Gramma (Grammy and Grams) and we've been having lots of fun. So far two trips to the hotel pool, a trip to the Tillamook cheese factory, and of course, our time on the beach.

This picture was taken on one of Elisa's first trips to the beach. Grams drew the heart and wrote her name.

Today, Grams once again drew hearts and wrote names...

Why kids should always wear brown...

2011-06-09T23:14:00.001-07:00

Swimming lessons

2011-05-17T13:55:00.001-07:00

So, Elisa is taking swimming lessons.

When I first signed her up for swim lessons I was so excited. She loves the water and loves going swimming. And, since it is May, Greg has a more flexible schedule and is able to watch Jonathan while we go to the pool. So I was picturing this great little Mom and daughter date twice a week: a fun little excursion to the pool where Elisa splashes and plays with the other kids while I talk to a mom friend of mine (whose kids are also in swim lessons).

That is not how it has really turned out.

We just attended our fifth lesson today. Elisa has now been in the pool two times, each time for roughly two minutes. The rest of the time she sits on the wall and watches, and tries not to get splashed in the face.

She is interested in what her class is doing. And at first she was excited... but her timidity outweighed her desire to get into the water. Her class is full of exuberant boys and taught by a male teacher. So I wasn't too surprised when she didn't jump in the water right at first. I figured it would just take her awhile to warm up to her teacher.

But now it has been five sessions. And I'm starting to think that it just may not happen. We are over halfway through (nine sessions total), and I am afraid that she has grown comfortable sitting on the wall... and won't go out of her comfort zone, even to experience the fun games in the water.

It makes me so sad.

I feel like she's totally missing out. And I know she could really like it and have fun, if she was willing to try it.

I've thought A LOT about what my response to this should be. I've thought through my options: verbal pressure, bribery, threats, dropping out, going and acting like it doesn't matter whether she gets in or not, letting her be totally on her own while at the pool, sitting next to her on the edge and encouraging her to try different games... etc. etc. etc.

After a lot of thought I decided that she needs to deal with it on her own. No matter how it turns out... even if she sits on the wall for the entire nine sessions. I don't know if this is the right decision or not. But I know that for her personality it seems to make the most sense. She is fairly shy toward new people and in new settings. She has to be allowed to go at her own pace or she just kind of shuts down. She certainly has a will, and if she decides that she doesn't want to do something, she's not going to do it... at least, not without a battle. I don't want to make swimming some kind of discipline issue. There is something about this situation that is extremely hard for her. (I know this because she fell asleep during rest time after her first two swim classes and she never really takes a nap anymore.) And I decided against any artificial reward system because I think that if she is able to conquer her fear and get in the water, swimming will be it's own reward. If I institute some kind of fake reward it kind of takes away her victory and makes it about something else.

We have her blow bubbles in the tub. We talk about her teacher and the games that she "plays" at the pool. I've ordered some books about swimming from the library. We've gone swimming at the same pool as a family (and we'll try to do this a couple more times). I'm doing anything I can to make her comfortable with the idea of swimming lessons.

But now it's up to her, and I'm afraid she won't get in the pool. It's so hard to sit and watch your kid get left behind. But in this case I have to remind myself, she will learn to swim someday (just maybe not this year), she will learn how to talk to a teacher. This is not really a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

And now I'm starting to think that in swimming lessons what is important is not what Elisa does or doesn't do, but what I teach her through my response to her. In other words, I thought I was signing up for swimming lessons, but what I was really signing up for was parenting lessons.

Joy!

2011-05-10T21:12:00.001-07:00

Bean play

2011-05-06T19:35:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Jonathan and Elisa got up from their naps to discover this:

They dove right in, and let me tell you, the beans did not stay in the bin for long!

I had been meaning to do this for awhile. A friend had mentioned doing something similar with one of her kids, I had tons of dry beans and lentils on hand, and I grew really inspired by a few posts on invitations to play at Childhood 101.

Afterwards clean up was fairly simple. We just dumped the beans into a big container to save for another day, folded up the cloth underneath, and vacuumed.

The next day Elisa wanted to do another "bean play." (Just so you know, we didn't do it.) Elisa still mentions it periodically. I guess we'll have to do it again soon!

Seaside Getaway

2011-05-02T14:14:00.000-07:00

For Christmas Wanda gave us a Groupon for a night at a hotel in Seaside and dinner at the hotel restaurant. She also said she'd watch the kids while we went away.

Wow. It was like, the best Christmas present ever. We had such a great weekend away. The weather was perfect: sunny with beautiful blue sky. It had been awhile since we'd been to the beach, and let me tell you, when we got our first glimpse, it took my breath away.

We had so much fun on the beach: flying our kite, throwing the frisbee, walking, and getting our feet just a little bit wet (brrr). We also enjoyed the hotel pool, hot tub, and sauna; ate lots and lots of food; and went on a morning run (after sleeping in). One highlight of the weekend was when I beat Greg at air hockey! First time ever.

When we got back to Wanda's house Elisa shrieked with delight and then ran around like a wild woman. Jonathan saw Greg and RAN to him! Then he contentedly sat on his lap. He's such a Daddy's boy. When he finally did notice me he didn't really show any expression. Just like, "Oh, you're here too. That's nice." It was kind of funny. But I feel like it's about Greg's turn to have one of the kids like him more than me. So I don't begrudge him that.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T23:34:00.000-07:00

How siblings show affection...

Don't worry. Jonathan is not always the one getting picked on, he sits on Leesi all the time too.

For some reason they think this is a hilarious game.

Look! My kids actually match! It's rare enough to have Elisa wear a whole outfit that doesn't clash in some way. To have them match each other is like, another level. And they even somewhat cooperated for the picture: miracle.

Happy Easter to you all!

Easter Fun

2011-04-23T20:25:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful day we had for our Easter egg hunt at church today. It was sunny and warm, a perfect spring day. It was both kids' first egg hunt, and I think it was a hit. When we got home Leesi dumped all her candy on the floor and said, "Let's count my candy." Which was such a big girl kind of thing to say. She's growing up.

Jonathan was in the 2 and under area, which meant there were a bunch of eggs just laying in the grass. He opened an egg and inside he found... fruit snacks!!! Fruit snacks are like his favorite thing ever. He held them out to me and said, "open." Then he wandered around eating fruit snacks for the rest of the time.

On a somewhat related note, I made this purse for Elisa:

I gave it to her this morning for the Easter egg hunt. At first Elisa was walking around trying to hold her eggs and her purse. She didn't quite get that she was supposed to put the eggs in the purse.

It was a great day and we're ready for all our Easter celebrations tomorrow.

There was a little girl...

2011-04-21T00:09:00.001-07:00

Last week I started this post...

Ever have one of those days where you doubt in every way your parenting abilities... those days where you are sure that no child in the history of the world has ever behaved so badly and still turned out to be a productive human being?

It was one of those days. Monday was also one of those days.

I feel discouraged.

I then launched into a description of Elisa's behavior. But then I got lost in that, and wasn't quite sure how to wrap up the post. Now, a week later, I feel like I have adequate perspective to be able to finish this post.

The truth is that all of last week was pretty bad. Elisa had many, many time outs last week. She screamed loudly throughout most of these time outs. For some of them, I had to hold her door closed, while she tried wildly to pull it open from the other side. I could go on and on about her bad behavior, but I'll probably get lost in the descriptions again, and never finish the post. So let's just leave it at that.

Monday morning she woke up, a new person. She has been a total sweetheart for most of the week: obedient, loving, kind, fun. Today she had a couple rough patches, but it was a busy whirlwind of a day... so nothing unusual.

She reminds me of the poem about the little girl with a little curl right in the middle of her forehead: when she was good, she was very, very good; and when she was bad, she was horrid.

Parenting is hard, isn't it?

This is the first three year old I've had... so I'm still figuring out how to go about parenting a three year old. I remember a mom telling me, before I had kids, "Read all you can about parenting now, because once you have kids, it's all on the job training." It's really true. As soon as you kind of "figure out" one stage, you're onto the next... and each kid is different. So, while you can learn from the first kid, you still have to readjust your strategies for the next.

Right now I'm reading 1-2-3 Magic. It's a book about discipline and it's given me some good ideas and advice. I'm almost finished with it, and then I'm going to start implementing it. Maybe I'll post more about this later (no promises).

Anyway, thanks for making it this far through my ramblings. I think I just needed to get some of that off my chest. Last week when Elisa was acting so terribly I really did feel alone. I missed all the moms in Arkansas that I used to get together with. I felt like everyone was honest with each other about how our children were (or weren't) behaving... and I just needed someone to tell me, "My kid does that too."

Humble King

2011-04-17T22:19:00.000-07:00

Palm Sunday. Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. Crowds laud him as king, laying down palm branches. Behold your king comes, humble and riding on a donkey (from Zechariah 9).

Today we sang, "I'm kneeling down again, here at your feet. Show me how much you love humility.... You are the God of the broken, friend of the weak. You wash the feet of the weary, embrace the ones in need. I want to be like you Jesus, to have this heart in me. You are the God of the humble. You are the humble king."

It's so relieving to rest before a humble king.

Tilly and Friends

2011-04-13T13:21:00.001-07:00

Elisa and I have discovered a fun new book series that she's really into right now. They are by Polly Dunbar and they are the Tilly and Friends books. They have super cute illustrations and sweet short little stories. The book that started us on the Tilly and Friends kick was this one:

It's called Where's Tumpty and it features a big blue elephant named Tumpty who is trying to hide. The cover shows him hiding beneath a large cardboard box, with his eyes tightly shut. There are six characters in the stories, and so far, there are six books: one for each character. They are very sweet and fun to read. My favorite one is probably Doodle Bites. Elisa likes them all.

Jonathan at 18 months

2011-04-08T13:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Jonathan was officially 18 months. And he is quite the little boy. He continually keeps me on my toes with his penchant for exploring. He is just now becoming more verbal. He doesn't have very many words yet, but I feel like his vocabulary is on the brink of exploding. The last couple of days he has added a new word each day.

Here are his words so far:

Mama

Dadda

hello (how-o)

milk (which also sounds like mama)

hot

mine (my!) (hmm, wonder who taught him this one!)

night-night (na-na)

light (lide)

slide (lide)

elmo

ball

bird

balloon (ba-oon!)

apple

all gone or all done

ride

eye

again (eye-en!)

bye bye

a bite

help

walk

He is also becoming a master at various animal sounds. His favorite is the elephant. He loves to cover his mouth with a cup or cardboard tube (or really anything at all) and make a loud "wooooo" sound. The cat and the cow still sound pretty much the same. But his roar is quite good, as is his quack. It's like the deepest most boyish quack I've ever heard. And whenever he sees a dog he gets really excited and pronounces "woof, woof!"

Motivation

2011-04-07T23:24:00.000-07:00

Last week I found myself... fatigued... with life. I didn't have my usual energy for parenting. I didn't have any motivation for activities with the kids. We went to the library and got a whole bunch of new books, and that's really what saved me. For most of the week we read books and books and books, because other than that I didn't really feel like doing anything. I felt short and impatient with Elisa. I also felt done with our current lifestyle. Burnt out of living on campus, burnt out of being an RD wife. It was just one of those weeks.

The week before that (so two weeks ago), Greg was gone for the entire week on a Spring Break Mission's trip with students. Luckily, I was able to go up and see my parents for most of that time. (So much better than when we lived in Arkansas with no family within 2,000 miles). But still, I think that week apart from Greg took its toll on me, and fed into the next week of fatigue, sadness, and lack of motivation.

But this week has been much better. I find myself motivated once again. Today we went to the Children's Museum AND the library (doing two things in one day shows a huge amount of motivation on my part, just so you know). The weather was great, and I even got some one-on-one play time with Jonathan outside in the beautiful evening. It was so fun to watch him toddle around, excited by the lichen he found on the ground, excited by the birds, excited by the balloons he saw in someone's dorm room window. We walked up to the dog park where he happily watched the dogs. He even got to pet one. Overall a beautiful, wonderful day.

I also am starting to feel a little re-energized to be living on campus. I was reading today in 2 Corinthians 3-4 about ministry. Chapter 4 ends this way:

"For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."

So much of the time I think about how I want to own a house and have a yard. I get so focused on these temporary things, that I lose sight of eternal things. What would it mean for me to "look at things which are not seen"? What does ministering out of a place of surrender mean for me? What if I constantly delivered myself over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in me? (2 Cor. 4:11) So that is what I am mulling over right now. I'll let you know how it goes.

An Addendum

2011-04-04T00:35:00.001-07:00

I don't know how I failed to mention this in my last post. But when I opened the bike trailer after the ride I found Jonathan and Elisa holding hands... their little hands clasped together and Leesi looking up at me, sweet as pie, with Jonathan fast asleep beside her. I could have just cried from the sheer sweetness of the moment.

Hello Spring!

2011-04-02T15:04:00.000-07:00

I know that Spring around here means mostly rain. But it's nice to have a break every once in a while. Today has reminded me of the lovely spring weather we would have in Arkansas. It was the perfect day for a bike ride!

Jonathan totally fell asleep. Now he is refusing to take his nap. Oh well.

Martha Doesn't Say Sorry

2011-03-31T14:14:00.000-07:00

I think most young kids love books. Elisa is no exception. She loves to be read to, and she will sit still through very long books with few pictures. (My mom once read her the whole original Velveteen Rabbit story with just a single picture to every full page of words, and she sat still through the whole thing, and wanted it read again, even though she certainly didn't understand most of it).

One book that we checked out recently really captured her imagination. (I'd hear her reenacting the story with her stuffed animals at rest time.) It's called Martha Doesn't Say Sorry and it's about a little otter who doesn't want to say sorry when she does something wrong. Then when she finally does say sorry, she says it so very quietly that no one can hear her. I think the reason that Elisa loved it so much is that Elisa may as well be Martha. Elisa also doesn't say sorry. After we had read it a few times Elisa started playing that part of Martha. She would say "I'm sorry" in her tiniest little voice. And then as the story went on she'd say it a little louder and a little louder. It may be my imagination, but I think that since we had that book, she's gotten better at saying sorry.

I read a couple negative reviews on Amazon that argue that the moral of the story is that you can behave horribly so long as you say sorry... which is of course, not what any parent wants. So here excuse me while I digress for just a minute. In our house one thing that we've found helpful is making Elisa not just say sorry, but also asking her what she can do to make amends for the wrong thing she's done. (Offering a toy, giving a hug, etc.) The point is that a half-hearted sorry flung over the shoulder as she flees from her wailing brother is not enough. She has a part in coming up with the idea of what to do to comfort him. And of course, consequences still apply. Anyway, the point of this post wasn't supposed to be about parenting. I just couldn't help myself after I read those negative reviews.

Another book that had a similar effect was Will Sheila Share? A story about a little girl who is struggling to share. One of her little friends wonders, "CAN Sheila share? ... When she has green beans she can share." Elisa loved it.

Both of these books have simple pictures and short and to-the-point text, so they are great for very young readers.

Lent

2011-03-09T13:12:00.000-08:00

Happy Ash Wednesday to you all. I don't know if that's an oxymoron or not... do you wish people a "happy day" to remember that we are dust and to dust we shall return? hmmm

As I think about entering the season of Lent this year I'm wondering what I can do to make more space for God in my life. What are the physical things I can do to help my spirit enter into stillness before God? Of course there are things that can be given up: chocolate, coffee, t.v., etc. And there are things that can be added: special times of prayer, repentance, Bible study, worship, etc. I haven't decided what I'm going to do this year yet. Have you? I want to do more than dye eggs and make baskets in preparation for Easter. I want to prepare my heart as well.

If you'd like to read more information about the season of Lent, or Ash Wednesday here's a link! http://www.crivoice.org/cylent.html

The moment you've all been waiting for...

2011-03-08T23:34:00.000-08:00

Remember this post and this one? Well, guess what!?! I finally finished our stockings. I'm so excited about it that I couldn't even wait until tomorrow to post a picture!

I can't stop looking at them! Aren't they cute? Maybe I'll leave them up until Christmas.

Day to day moments...

2011-02-28T20:51:00.000-08:00

Making Chocolate Soup.

Ingredients (according to Leesi): Chocolate, Chocolate pudding, marshmallows, a little bit of sugar, a little bit of salt, and chocolate pie.

Tonight she drew a person. I think she's only done it once before.

She had me add a hat.

Perfect thing to do on a rainy day.

Happy Birthday Mom!

2011-02-22T22:54:00.000-08:00

Today was my mom's birthday and for the first time in a few years I was able to be with her to celebrate. It was a fun to be together. Leesi was also very excited to celebrate with Grandma. She loves birthdays, particularly birthday cake and birthday presents. She told Grandma, "I am going to give you a present! I am going to give you blue pajamas!" My mom was nice enough to still act surprised when she opened the gift.

Happy Birthday Mom. I love you and I'm so happy that now we live close enough to visit you on your birthday! I have learned so much from you. Your conscientiousness in all that you do inspires me. And it's fun to watch your excitement for your grandkids. Hope this year is a great one!

Jonathan at 16 months

2011-02-19T14:42:00.000-08:00

Jonathan is at that super cute, but somewhat frustrated age of 16 months. He toddles around getting into whatever mischief he can. And he just doesn't quite understand no yet... I mean, he understands the meaning of the word no... but he can't quite follow through on a no. We have to follow through for him, which leaves him howling in protest.

The other day I kept on seeing him putting things in his mouth. I wondered what he was eating and where it was coming from, but I just thought that he had found a little cheerio on the ground or something, so I wasn't too worried. (Cheerios on the ground are fair game in our house, a perfectly acceptable snack). Then I finally figured out the truth. I caught him in the act. He was opening the kitchen garbage can and digging out little pieces of pancake that had been thrown away after breakfast. "No buddy! You can't eat that!" I pried his latest prize out of his tight little fist and threw it away. He opened the garbage can, ready to pluck it out again. So I took the trash out... which left him howling in misery.

He also loves putting his hands in the toilet whenever he can. One morning he dunked his gummy vitamin in and then was about to put it in his mouth, I snatched it away... and he screamed his little head off. Luckily he gets distracted by hand washing... which we do many, many times a day. He definitely keeps me on my toes.

He's starting to develop some really cool dance moves. The turn-around-then-squat-down seems to be his favorite move right now. And he also is really starting to get into pushing his cars and trucks around. He has a big Tonka truck (Christmas present - thanks John and Kristine!) that he often gets out and pushes around the house while making his interpretation of "vroom".

As far as talking goes, he is just beginning to repeat sounds and say a few words. We think he says Momma and Dadda. He also says, "Na na" (Night Night), Hot, Up, and "How-o" (Hello - into a pretend phone). He does the signs for more, all-done, and milk... but only when he feels like it. He's learned that standing in his high chair will yield results far faster than signing all-done.

He loves playing outside. He particularly likes going up and down the stairs and the hills outside... trying to master them. When we go to the park he LOVES the swings and the slides. A couple weeks ago we went to the park on a very cold day. The kids were bundled up, but it was still just too cold to be there long. After 45 minutes I decided we had had enough. Jonathan was hunkered down in his swing, his lip quivering every few minutes from the cold. But he still howled his protest when I got him out of the swing, and cried all the way to the car.

He eats absolutely everything (except, of course, the things we want him to eat, like vegetables). Play doh, crayons, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, markers, bar soap... they all go into his mouth.

He loves clapping hands and giving high-fives. He laughs uproariously even when he doesn't get the joke. He is such a joy.

Here are his stats at 16 months:

Weight: 24 lbs. 4 oz. (37th percentile)

Height: 31 1/2 inches (45th percentile)

Head: 19 1/4 inches (87th percentile)

Our Jumping Song!

2011-02-09T14:08:00.000-08:00

Here's a video I put together of the kids to the tune of our favorite "jumping song" (as Elisa likes to call it, since we always do all of the actions along with the song). Hope you enjoy.

Blech!

2011-02-02T14:10:00.001-08:00

The last two months have not been good to me. Well, that's overstating it a bit. But we've had a disproportionate amount of sickness in our home in the months of December and January.

The last two weeks are proof enough. In that time three of us have had the stomach flu, two of us have had intense and long lasting fevers (separate and unrelated to the stomach flu). And Elisa has had not just one, but two fevers, and a burst eardrum (I wince just thinking about how much that must hurt).

All of us are starting to feel better. Elisa ear is slowly healing. Greg and I are draggy and tired, but no longer full-on sick. And Jonathan appears to be just fine.

So... we're instituting stricter hand-washing regimes, and Lysol wipes are my new best friends. And we're hoping for a healthier February!

Two perspectives on housework

2011-01-22T21:48:00.000-08:00

In my last post I talked about this CD that Elisa got from the library. Here are the lyrics from one of the poems. (It is hilarious to hear it read by Carol Channing. I wish I could find a way to put it on here so you could listen to it.)

Housework

You know, there are times when we happen to be
Just sitting there, quietly watching TV,
When the program we're watching will stop for a while
And suddenly someone appears with a smile,
And starts to show us how terribly urgent
It is to buy some brand of detergent,
Or soap or cleanser or cleaner or powder or paste or wax or bleach,
To help with the housework.

Now, most of the time it's a lady we see,
Who's doing the housework on TV.
She's cheerfully scouring a skillet or two,
Or she's polishing pots till they gleam like new,
Or she's scrubbing the tub or she's mopping the floors,
Or she's wiping the stains from the walls and the doors,
Or she's washing the windows, the dishes, the clothes,
Or waxing the furniture till it just glows,
Or cleaning the fridge or the stove or the sink,
With a light-hearted smile, and a friendly wink,
And she's doing her best to make us think
That her soap, or detergent or cleanser or cleaner or powder or paste or wax or bleach,
Is the best kind of soap, or detergent or cleanser or cleaner or powder or paste or wax or bleach,
That there is in the whole wide world.
And, maybe it is, and maybe it isn't,
And maybe it does what they say it will do,
But I'll tell you one thing I know is true.
The lady we see when we're watching TV,
The lady who smiles as she scours or scrubs or rubs or washes or wipes or mops or dusts or cleans,
Or whatever she does on our TV screens,
That lady is smiling because she's an actress,
And she's earning money for learning those speeches
That mention those wonderful soaps and detergents and cleansers and cleaners and powders and pastes and waxes and bleaches.

So, the very next time you happen to be
Just sitting there quietly watching TV,
And you see some nice lady who smiles
As she scours or scrubs or rubs or washes or wipes or mops or dusts or cleans,
Remember, nobody smiles doing housework but those ladies you see on TV.
Your mommy hates housework,
Your daddy hates housework,
I hate housework too.
And when you grow up, so will you.
Because even if the soap or cleanser or cleaner or powder or paste or wax or bleach
That you use is the very best one,
Housework is just no fun.

Children, when you have a house of your own,
Make sure, when there's house work to do,
That you don't have to do it alone.
Little boys, little girls, when you're big husbands and wives,
If you want all the days of your lives
To seem sunny as summer weather,
Make sure, when there's housework to do,
That you do it together!

~by Sheldon Harnick

Then there's this perspective on housework over on Ann Voskamp's blog. Jump over there to read the whole entry, but here's a quote:

Is this housework a picture of entering into Redemption? To bring restoration to that which has fallen… This housework, this kitchen work, a picture of prayer? To bring the ordinary life to the Omnipotent God…. Where else do we meet God if not in the everyday work?

“To lift up the hands in prayer gives God glory, but a man with a dungfork in his hand, a woman with a slop pail, give Him glory too. God is so great that all things give Him glory – if you mean that they should.”

~Ignatius Loyola

Mommy is my occupation

2011-01-17T13:35:00.000-08:00

Lately Elisa has been listening to this CD from the library entitled, Free To Be You and Me. It's a CD that first came out in 1973 and it is very agenda driven. It asserts through poems, songs and stories that women are indeed equal to men, that girls and boys can be anything they want when they grow up etc. etc. It is pretty amusing, a lot of the stories are downright funny (for adults that is, Elisa doesn't get the stories at all). Now I am sure that back in the 70's this was needed. But now it is apparent that perhaps the pendulum had to swing a little too far in order for them to assert their point.

Anyway, another thing Elisa has been into lately is Richard Scarry books. You know the ones: tons of detailed pictures on each page, usually involving animals doing things around town, in an airport, at home etc. So I checked out a Richard Scarry DVD for her from the library. And wow! She loved it! The theme of the video is "What do people do all day?" And it is about different occupations. At the end of the video there is a song that starts, "You can be anything you want to be..."

So, now I have set the stage for the following conversation that occurred yesterday over lunch...

Elisa: "Mommy, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

Me: "I want to be a mommy."

Elisa: (regards me carefully for a moment and then, clearly unsatisfied by my answer says) "No." "What do you want to be?" (sees that I am eating a carrot) "Maybe a carrot-eater?" (This comes from a Richard Scarry book where Lowly worm says that he'd like to be a apple-pie-eater when he grows up, and the narrator says, "Well, I think that is very nice work indeed.")

Me: "Sure, I'd like to be a carrot-eater."

Elisa: (pleased with my new answer) "I want to be a cake decorator."

Me: "Do you know what a cake decorator does?"

Elisa: "Yes, she puts the flowers behind the cakes and then takes them for birthdays." She then launches into "Happy Birthday" to Jonathan, which he fully appreciates.

It's so funny having this conversation with my just turned three-year-old. And it dawns on me that she already recognizes the potential to "be" something when she grows up. She takes for granted that she will be a mommy. Of course she will be a mommy. But now she is realizing that she could also do something else too. And the potential! The sky is the limit when you are three!

But for me, now that I am thirty-one... well, I guess I'll have to settle with being a carrot-eater.

Parenting with doubts and worries.

2011-01-11T13:33:00.000-08:00

When Did I Get Like This? The Screamer, The Worrier, The Dinosaur-Chicken-Nugget-Buyer & Other Mothers I Swore I'd Never Be.

I'm reading this book. I got it from the library yesterday, and today I'm a little over halfway through (thanks to Greg's late night meeting). After reading the title, I knew I had to read the book.

You see, I swore I'd never be the dirty car seat and stroller mother. You know the ones: cheerios and crumbs in every possible nook and cranny of their kid's car seat. It's not that I thought less of those parents, certainly they had reasons for not cleaning out their kid's seat. I just wasn't going to be one of them.

I did pretty well when it was just Elisa. One of my friends even commented, "My daughter has the same car seat as yours, but Elisa's looks so... clean!"

Fast forward 2 years, and yep, you guessed it. I am now a card carrying member of the Dirty Car Seat Club (well okay, that last part is made up... certainly if I had time to join a club, I'd have time to clean out the car seat.) Once I accidentally smashed a banana between the infant seat and the seat base. By the time I finally took the base out of the car to try and clean it, it wouldn't come clean any longer. Or maybe I just gave up too easily. I guess we'll never know, because unless some astonishing change happens (nesting instincts in the final days before our next child is born perhaps?), I will not be cleaning the car seat base.

Honestly, it doesn't bother me that I've become this mother. The cleanliness of the car seats is really the least of my concern these days. But there are other things that really do bother me. Am I spending enough time with Jonathan alone? Am I giving him enough attention? After all, shouldn't he be talking by now? Is it normal for older siblings to feel so jealous of younger siblings that they continually refer to themselves and demand that you refer to them as "the baby"? Are they getting enough vegetables? Enough flouride? Enough exercise? Are they under-socialized since I stay home with them? The questions go on and on. Don't get me wrong. I know I'm a good mom... just in the way that most moms are good moms: I love my kids. I spend time with my kids. I do what I think is best for them in the long run. But I know that a lot is riding on my decisions... and so I'm constantly trying to be the best mom I can be. And sometimes, fears and doubts creep in. Am I doing enough? Am I enough?

And yet, my children continue to grow and thrive. They may end up in therapy someday, lamenting that their mother was a constant worrywart, who never cleaned out the car. But for now, they are blissfully unaware of my doubts, fears, and shortcomings. A hug from Mommy is enough to calm crying, and a kiss from Mommy has magical healing power. Someday Mommy's hugs and kisses won't be enough. But when my kids get to that day, I know that God will meet them there... and He will be enough. So today I find comfort in the fact that we are all imperfect parents who do our best and let our perfect Heavenly Father do the rest.

Stockings

2011-01-09T23:07:00.000-08:00

Remember this post? Well, I didn't get our stockings done in time for this Christmas. But I'm determined to have them done in time for next Christmas! And now I can proudly say: one down, three to go!

(Ignore my crazy outfit, it was late at night and I had already put on my pj pants!)

Christmas kids

2011-01-07T14:04:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas. It was so nice not to have to travel. We spent time with Greg's family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Then spent the next few days up in Tacoma with my family.

Two of my favorite kid moments over Christmas:

A couple weeks before Christmas, Elisa requested that I put "I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus" by the Jackson 5 on repeat on her CD player during rest time (she doesn't nap anymore). "Are you sure you won't get tired of it?" I asked. She assured me that that is what she wanted. So, I obliged. She listened to it over and over again for the next 2 hours. After rest time she told me, "I didn't get tired of it; I got awake of it!"

Jonathan is such a little ham... during Christmas at Wanda's he made an entrance wearing this...

...which got a great response. He was super happy with himself.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmastime! And Happy New Year! (Yes, I am a few days behind)

Christmas preparations

2010-12-30T20:43:00.000-08:00

What we've been up to lately...

making a Christmas paper chain

cutting our Christmas tree

decorating the tree

undecorating the tree

making our own spiced nuts and packaging them up for friends

ringing bells in our church's bell choir

listening to over 200 Tubas play Christmas carols at Pioneer Square

making salt dough ornaments

Sleeping like a baby

2010-12-21T23:47:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday!

2010-12-20T23:04:00.000-08:00

To the man I love, a wonderful husband and father, a very Happy Birthday! I can't imagine life without you. I'm so glad we're in this together!

Three!

2010-12-13T23:32:00.000-08:00

Three years have flown by... and now my baby has turned into this little girl....

She is cute, funny, fun, and smart. She is opinionated and can be demanding. She loves reading, doing art projects, playing with Little People, dressing her dolls, jumping off of furniture, and most of all she LOVES music. She amazes me each day and I'm so glad to be her Momma.

Today was a very special day. We started her birthday by going swimming at Mt. Scott. All the grandparents were there, as well as a little friend from church.

In the evening after opening gifts we went to a special place for dinner.

Can you guess where it is?

Did you guess yet? If not, this next picture should give it away...

Elisa chose to go to IKEA for her birthday. And I have to say, it was perfect. So kid-friendly and fun. We ate in the restaurant, and then played in the children's section. Elisa and Jonathan had a heyday! Elisa also chose princess plates and napkins, and chocolate cake.

Happy 3rd birthday my little girl. I love you beyond words.

Elisa's outfit

2010-11-12T15:08:00.000-08:00

Elisa is very opinionated about her clothing. I used to be mortified at some of the outfits she put together. Now I'm a little more used to it. This morning was a perfect example. Before I started taking the video she was looking at herself and talking and making faces in the mirror. She does it just for a second in the video too. So funny.

Hiking in the Gorge

2010-11-12T14:46:00.000-08:00

Just a couple of pictures from last weekend... hiking with my parents out in the gorge. It was gorgeous!

Leesi-isms

2010-11-12T00:16:00.000-08:00

Leesi is now going on three (just one month until her birthday) and so of course she speaks like a champ. But sometimes the way she pronounces things is still quite funny.

Here are some of my favorites:

hanitizer "I don't need soap, I used hanitizer."

(hand sanitizer)

yittle "I'm yittle pookie, and you are big pookie."

(little)

bite-a-wims "Mommy, I want my bite-a-wims!"

(vitamins)

monica "I'm just playin' my monica."

(harmonica)

wave "I'm going to wave you." (she says, holding up the tape measure)

(weigh)

spoovie "Mommy, please can we have spoovies for breakfast, please?"

(smoothie)

Halloween

2010-11-02T14:12:00.000-07:00

Halloween was fun this year. I feel like this was the first year that Elisa was really old enough to understand anything that was happening. In the weeks leading up to Halloween I asked her what she wanted to be for "dress-up day" (she has a Pooh book in which Pooh dresses up as a honeybee for "dress-up day", so I figured this would be a good way to refer to Halloween). She told me she wanted to be a block (as in a child's classic letter block). She stuck with this choice every time I asked her about it, until the day that I started cutting up a big box for her costume. Then she decided she'd rather be a puppy (we already had both the puppy and the giraffe costumes thanks to Wanda's garage sale-ing skills). So, on Halloween we dressed up and headed over to the school's carnival. A couple of friends from church, who Elisa just absolutely adores, also came (they are in one of the bottom pictures). After the carnival we did a small amount of trick or treating at some of the school apartments. Elisa told me, "This candy is all for me, Mommy." She repeated this a couple of times. Pretty smart, huh? Or as Greg said last night as he raided her candy stash, "Oh foolish, foolish child."

Perfect Fall

2010-11-02T14:10:00.000-07:00

Fall has been amazing here. We've had quite a few perfect sunny days, and the leaves are just gorgeous! Everywhere you look the trees are turning. I love it.

Here's the view out of my window this morning... foggy, but still beautiful. And the second picture is the view out of my window right now... sunny, and the trees are just glowing.

One year

2010-10-07T14:08:00.000-07:00

Last year on this day, we were in the hospital. We weren't quite sure what we were about to get ourselves into. What would life with two kids look like? What would the baby's personality be like? What were we going to name him?!?

Then without much labor or pain, a baby boy came into the world. He kept his eyes tightly shut for days, it seemed... like he wasn't quite sure what he had gotten himself into either. He was a big boy (9lbs. 4oz.) with huge chubby cheeks that made one wonder where his chin had gone. We named him Jonathan. He was God's gracious gift to us. He stayed up at night (even that first night) and slept all day. He wanted to nurse for long periods of time. Elisa got used to sitting beside me on the couch, reading book after book, while Jonathan nursed.

As his little personality started to show, I knew that we had just been given a total sweetheart. He smiled easily and cried rarely. When laid down in his crib, he would just fall asleep, without so much as a whimper. He was such an easy baby.

Now, a whole year has gone by. He is one. He is still a sweetheart. Still falls asleep easily. Still wakes up at night sometimes. Still smiles easily and cries rarely. He loves people... especially those he knows: Elisa, Greg, me, his grandparents.

He is starting to do things that amaze me. I think he might be slightly mechanical/spatial: he tries to build with Elisa's legos (just can't quite get them to stick together like she does); he puts toys away or into other things (the other day took the fridge magnets down and put them into a snack cup). He's very physical: loves to climb (will even climb up the step stool in the bathroom and then onto the precarious ledge of the large rubbermaid container that sits under the sink so that he can reach into the sink); crawls very fast (kind of looks like a bulldog when he's coming towards you); loves to climb stairs and is really trying to figure out how to get down stairs; will climb up the couch and onto the window sill and then stand there banging on the window and "yelling" at people who walk by.

He loves exploring. He's very curious about everything. Whenever the fridge door is open he crawls just as fast as he can to try to get there before it closes again. One time he got there in time to grab a plum and take a huge bite out of it before we could do anything. When the house door is open, he tries to escape. "He's caping, He's caping!" Leesi will yell gleefully whenever this happens. When the bathroom door is open, he loves to open the toilet lid and splash in the water, or climb onto Leesi's little potty and then play with the toilet paper.

A whole year. We've had a whole year with this little guy... and life with him just gets better and better. I am so thankful for him... for his personality, his laughter, his life. I'm thankful that we have a son, and that Elisa has a brother.

Happy Birthday Jonathan! We love you!

Punkin' Patch

2010-10-03T22:57:00.000-07:00

To celebrate Wanda's Birthday we went for a fun excursion to the Pumpkin Patch out at Sauvie's Island. Elisa had a great time walking through the pumpkin patch to try to find the perfect pumpkin. (The one pictured below wasn't the one we ended up with, by the way... the one we ended up with was much bigger). We also saw animals, rode on a hay wagon, bought fresh produce, and had a picnic lunch.

This will definitely be something we do again. What a great fall day!

Grammy

2010-10-03T22:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday (a couple days late) to a wonderful mother-in-law, who also happens to be a great Grammy. Elisa adores her Grammy and worked really hard to make special artwork for her. Of course, it was a team effort. She did all the artwork behind the letters. I was inspired by this blog.

Grabby Grabbersons

2010-09-21T23:11:00.000-07:00

Jonathan is that age where he is interested in the things that others have (now that I stop and think about it, maybe this isn't related to an age... maybe it's just the human condition). And he has the motor skills and the grabbing power to assert his little will. Elisa is constantly in terror that he will take something she is playing with. (Which is funny, considering how often she snatches things that he is playing with, all while saying politely, "Can I have that please, Jonathan?")

She often carries her stroller around as high as her little arms can reach and sets it on high places: the coffee table, the couch, her bed... just so that Jonathan won't grab it. This morning she came out of her bedroom carrying some toy and said, "He was trying to grab this. Isn't him crazy?" It cracked me up to hear her use the word "crazy" referring to her brother. She also regularly asks me, "Is him a Grabbersons?"

Last week we were at a bakery (a vegan bakery, by the way) eating some dessert. Greg was holding Jonathan on his lap and reading some pamphlet (probably about being vegan or something). Next thing we knew, Jonathan had grabbed Greg's plate, pulled it off the table, and dropped it on the floor, where it shattered into tiny pieces.

Yep, him is a Grabbersons.

11 months

2010-09-07T13:40:00.000-07:00

This little guy is now 11 months old! Just one more month until the big first birthday! I can't believe it. I am already grieving the fact that my baby soon won't really be a baby anymore. I figure as long as he can't walk I can still call him a baby. And of course he'll still be the baby in our family until a younger sibling comes along.

So at 11 months Jonathan is an active crawler. When we set him down downstairs his goal is to make it up the spiral staircase while we're not looking. Yikes! He loves keys, wallets, and cell phones (basically, all the things he's not allowed to have) and he screams like you've broken his little heart if you take any of the aforementioned items away from him. If we accidentally forget to put the lid down on the toilet we'll often find him happily splashing his hands in the water. He also loves crawling under chairs and through the legs of his high chair. He loves his big sister and wants to be involved in everything she does. Sometimes this causes problems, but for the most part Elisa really likes him too. He prefers to feed himself and he loves fruit: melon, peaches, pears, nectarines, bananas. I was having a hard time figuring out what I could feed him that would have protein, then this week we discovered that he loves refried beans (sometimes with avocado mixed in) and little pieces of tuna fish sandwich. He's finally consistently sleeping through the night!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you tell I'm excited about this one? It helps that he now has his own room (...I mean closet). So anyway, that's a little snapshot of Jonathan at 11 months. We all love him so much and are so thankful that we get to be a part of his little life!

No children were harmed in the making of this video

2010-09-06T21:06:00.000-07:00

Growing up

2010-08-18T21:39:00.000-07:00

All of a sudden my kids are so old. I mean really. Elisa has had this huge growth spurt. Even more than the physical growth, she's changed from a toddler to a little girl. It's amazing. Here she is playing with the "big kids" at the family reunion. She was right in the action at the drinking fountain. I couldn't believe it, what happened to my little girl?

And here's Jonathan who still mostly eats baby food, but is starting to be able to chew other things too. He's all about melon. I gave him two huge wedges of watermelon at lunch and before I knew it, they were completely gone. He's really physically active too. I think he's trying to make up for lost time. He was so late in learning to crawl, but once he started he just went wild. Now he pulls up to stand, and walks holding onto furniture. And of course he's still a total smiler.

New Apartment

2010-08-18T14:45:00.000-07:00

So we are now living in SE Portland. Once again we're in an apartment in the men's dorm; this time at Warner Pacific College. The living space in the apartment is tiny. Yep, so tiny that it warrants its own font size. The living room is 10x10 and there isn't really a dining room... just a space between the front door and the bathroom door that serves as a hallway and play area and dining area all in one. Needless to say, I needed a small table. I decided a drop leaf table would probably be the way to go. I've always loved drop leaf tables, so this gave me an excuse to buy one. But then my brother said I could borrow one from him. So that's what we were planning on doing... until this morning.

My mom came to stay with me for a few days this week and help out while Greg is away with student leaders on a big backpacking trip. This morning we decided we'd check out the local Habitat for Humanity Restore. It's a store that sells both new and used building materials and some furniture. It's a really great place. Not only does it keep reusable building materials out of the landfill, it also raises money for Habitat for Humanity and provides great deals for... well, me!

So, I'll cut to the chase. There we were at Restore and what do I see but a beautiful drop leaf table! And of course, I just have to check it out. It's solid wood; has an extra leaf; everything is in working order; and the best part is... it's $25. Yes, you see that right: $25.

Well, we take measurements and talk about whether or not it will fit in my dining room (er, my wall) and then whether or not it will fit in the car. We drive back home, measure the wall, and decide to get it. I drive back (without kids and car seats this time). When I get to the store I tell the man that I want to buy the drop leaf table. He asks me how much it is and when I tell him $25 I feel a little bit bad. I kind of wonder if he'll believe me. So I say, "It's a steal." He replies, "Everything here is a steal." It slides like a dream into the back of the Subaru. And now I am the proud owner of this little beauty:

WooHoo!

2010-08-05T20:43:00.000-07:00

Greg has a job.

Phew! What a relief!

He will be working at Warner Pacific (a very small Christian University in Portland) as the Area Coordinator or Residence Life Director or some such title... basically doing the same thing he was doing at JBU. We are excited... and most of all, we are relieved. It's good to be done with the waiting. We'll start moving into our new apartment (on campus - in the dorm) sometime this weekend. And Greg just jumps right in and starts work next week.

I'm sure I will have more details soon. But for now... it's just a big sigh of relief.

Summer Fun

2010-07-29T15:13:00.000-07:00

Dad and Jonathan - just chillin'.

Leesi, in constant motion.

Jonathan helps Grandpa celebrate his birthday.

Grandma models the mallard duck costume at the nature center.

Leesi loves being a puppy. Jonathan is ambivalent about being a giraffe.

A ride on the ferris wheel with a two-year old can be a frightening experience

(for the mom, that is).

Jonathan's tiny pool

A trip to the Columbia County Fair with Grammy.

"Pigs won't get me, pigs won't get me!"

Tea Party with Grammy and Grams... what fun!

Transition

2010-07-25T22:09:00.000-07:00

Well, life in transition continues... We would have liked to be settled by now, in an apartment or home, and in a new job. But that apparently is not what God had for us. And so we continue to wait. It gets a bit discouraging at times. (You can read Greg's posts here, here, and here for a little more info on the past month of job searching)

I'm trying to be patient, and thankful. I'm trying to trust instead of worrying.

So in this moment I choose to be thankful... thankful that we have wonderful families who have graciously opened their homes to us and let us take over their living space with toys and clothes and diapers; thankful that we have still have some money in the bank and one last paycheck coming from JBU, thankful that I get to have my wonderful husband around a little more often, thankful for my beautiful children, thankful for wonderful weather... most of all, thankful for a heavenly Father who loves us, is all-powerful, and will work to bring about what is best in His time.

Another year

2010-07-09T22:09:00.003-07:00

Today was my birthday, and it was wonderful. It started with a cute little girl giving me a birthday card and saying, "Happy Birthday Momma!" and ended with dinner and a walk on the water with my love. This was the view from my seat at dinner. Thank you to everyone who made this a special day for me!

4th of July

2010-07-05T10:28:00.002-07:00

At one point yesterday Elisa pointed up at the sky and asked, "What's that blue thing Mommy?"

Yep. That pretty much sums up the weather we've been having.

But I've long thought that summer doesn't really come to the Northwest until the Fourth of July. So, summer here we come... right?

Thicker than water

2010-06-29T14:30:00.004-07:00

Blogging has been kind of sparse lately. It's not that I don't have time... I do. It's not that I don't have internet access... I do. I've been thinking about it, and I've decided it's that I don't have the emotional space. There's been a lot of change in our lives and there is going to be a lot more change before we are done. And I just can't quite sort through it to come up with any kind of cohesive thought to write about. And even when I do sort through part of it, I don't really feel like writing about it for all to see.

But here's something I can say. Though it was sad to leave, there are moments when I'm reminded that this is why we moved. Here's one of those moments:

My dad gives horsey rides to both kids and when he gives Jonathan a horsey ride, Elisa often joins in the fun. You can't quite see it in this picture but she has Itty on her shoulders and is following Papa all around the yard. I'm so glad that our kids have the chance to get to know their grandparents (and aunt and uncle too). That really is the reason we moved back and it's so good to be around our families again.

Here we are

2010-06-16T19:43:00.002-07:00

A lot has happened in the last few weeks. We're now in Oregon (Columbia City) at Wanda's (Greg's mom's) house. Every summer we spend a few weeks with each set of parents. This year however, we're here in the Northwest to stay. It's weird, in some ways it feels like just another summer.... but not quite. I can't stop thinking about all that needs to happen in the next month. Greg still needs to find a job, and we need to find an apartment and move all of our stuff in (right now it's in Wanda's garage).

At different times I feel quite anxious about the fact that Greg doesn't have a job. But I keep hearing God say, "Rest." "Trust me," "Wait and see how I provide for you."

He also says,

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

So here we are in Oregon... in a place of dependence on God.

Elisa's first prayer

2010-05-28T21:39:00.003-07:00

Tonight at dinner, after Greg had prayed, Elisa said that she wanted to pray. So we bowed our heads and closed our eyes once again. I expected her to decide that she didn't want to after all. So I was pleasantly surprised when she started,
"Dear Jesus"
Long pause - I nodded encouragingly at her.
"For the food."
Another pause.
"For Mommy and Daddy."
Pause.
"Amen."

Cutest thing ever.

Greg had tears in his eyes.

Creek Walk

2010-05-26T22:34:00.003-07:00

A couple of evenings lately we've gone down the hill to the creek. It runs through campus and it's such a pretty spot; it's a shame that I never took the time to go down there until recently. But better late than never. The other night Leesi really got into it... literally. She was having so much fun that clothes were soon abandoned.

Cute Family

2010-05-17T12:49:00.002-07:00

Just wanted to link to Greg's blog where there are some cute new videos of the kids. Check 'em out!

Picnic on the Quad

2010-05-12T11:52:00.003-07:00

Before Jonathan was born Elisa and I used to spend a fair amount of time sitting in the grassy area outside our house. We had picnics, blew bubbles, and just generally lounged about on our blanket in the sunshine. We still go out sometimes when the weather's nice. Today we had a picnic. It was nice (though quite windy!), and made me realize that I'm going to miss "the Quad."

Mother's Day Love

2010-05-09T19:19:00.005-07:00

In honor of Mother's Day, here are a few links to things you mother's out there might enjoy.

Here's a link to one of my favorite parenting sites, A Magical Childhood. Click on "Poems" on the left-hand side and it will take you to a bunch of great poems about pregnancy, motherhood, and kids. My favorite is called "Birth Story" and starts with...

"Ah, toots, you were a long wait.

All springs I grew watermelon-large

while you square-danced within

and told stories to my hands."

Don't you want to know how it ends?

For those of you with older kids, here's a list of questions to use to spur on conversations during family dinners.

Here's free downloadable artwork that you can print and frame. Cute, fun, and funky. Lots of them could work in a kid's room. Here's one of my favs...

Happy Mother's Day! Especially to my mom and mother-in-law. I love you both so much and value your place in my life. I am excited to live closer to both of you very soon!

Jonathan at 7 months and a fairy princess

2010-05-08T19:45:00.003-07:00

Here's my cute Jonathan boy at 7 months. This is his normal tongue smile. He's sitting up really well these days, though he still tips over sometimes. He STILL has not rolled from his tummy to his back! So he rolls onto his tummy and then after a few minutes he gets really upset because he can't roll back over! He is really into playing with toys now. And of course, everything goes into his mouth. This past week he has been sick with an ear infection and upper respiratory infection. He's been really unhappy and fussy. But after a couple doses of his antibiotics, he's doing much better (as you can tell from the picture above - taken today).

For quite some time Elisa has been very opinionated about what clothes she wears. Lately she wants to wear dresses and skirts most of the time. She has started making comments about looking like, "a little princess." Greg and I have no idea where she picked this up. We have never used the "p" word! She also loves wearing tights. This outfit offers the best of both worlds... great tights and an attention-getting dress. You may remember it as her Halloween costume from last year. She's worn it two different days this week. And she loves to accessorize! (In these pictures notice the sparkly bracelet on her right arm). But she's not all girly. As you can tell, we were outside playing with cars.

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

2010-05-08T12:02:00.004-07:00

Yesterday Elisa and I went to the grocery store together. I took the back roads because I had noticed there were horses out in a certain field and I wanted Elisa to be able to see them. So I drove really slowly past the place with the horses and we oohed and aahed together. After we had driven past the horses this was our conversation:

"I want to see horses again."

"No, I don't think we'll get to see any more horses."

"Maybe an elephant?"

"An elephant?"

"Yeah, I want to see elephants."

"No, I don't think we'll see any elephants."

"Maybe some zebras?"

"No, I don't think we'll see any zebras."

"Maybe some lions?"

"No, we probably won't see any lions. Oh, look... cows!"

She asked about all these animals in total seriousness. To her, it makes just as much sense that we would see lions on our way to the store as it does that we would see horses or cows. So funny.

And the verdict is...

2010-05-08T11:42:00.002-07:00

After much prayer and consideration we decided to turn down the position at SPU. It was not an easy decision to make. There were pros and cons both ways. But I am confident that this was a good decision for us. Of course, now Greg still needs to find a job... so we would appreciate your continuing prayers for that.

Today is move out day for students here. Now that we know that Greg will most likely not be in Student Development again next year, I feel a real sense of loss as I see all the guys leaving. It has been really fun having guys into our apartment on a regular basis. It's been great getting to know students a little bit. I feel like I haven't gotten to be as involved as I would have liked (having two babies and all). But I've definitely enjoyed the interactions that I've had and the relationships that I've formed. I look forward to seeing how we are able to minister to people in the next chapter of our lives.

SPU offer

2010-05-05T10:46:00.002-07:00

So yesterday afternoon Greg received a call from SPU and they offered him the position. We have until Friday morning to make up our minds.

Where do we live?

2010-05-04T19:34:00.003-07:00

Oh, Arkansas. Wow.

In defense of Arkansas I'd just like to say that I've never met anyone like this in the time I've lived here.

Decisions, Decisions...

2010-05-03T19:36:00.004-07:00

So Greg went to Seattle last week to interview at SPU. The position he was interviewing for is essentially the same position as he's currently in. There were a lot of positives... he liked the people, the school, the apartment etc. There were a few negatives too (which I won't go into here). He got back late last Thursday night and since then we have been going back and forth about whether or not we would take the position if it were offered to us.

It's so hard! We really don't know what to do. With JBU, I felt strongly led by God. I think He knew I would need that reassurance from Him because at first after we moved here it was really hard for me. But because of that strong leading, even through the loneliness, I knew that God had led us here and that he had something good for me.

This decision is different. It's a decision. I think we could take this job, and it would be fine... or we could decline it, and it would be fine. It's just a question of what we want to do. And what do we want? For now, neither of us seem to know.

Packing

2010-04-29T20:55:00.004-07:00

Today a moving company guy came and looked through our entire house in order to give us an estimate of how much they would charge to move us. When I think about packing all this up and moving it makes me wish I were a little more like Ghandi, whose possessions at the time of his death were as follows: His two dinner bowls, wooden fork and spoon, the famous porcelain monkeys, his diary, prayer book, watch, spittoon, letter openers and two pair of sandals. I carry more than that with me just to run to the grocery store with the kids.

A new camera

2010-04-22T19:57:00.002-07:00

In case you don't know, our camera fell off of the stroller and broke a few months ago. Our budget has been really tight, so we haven't been able to buy a new one yet. Last week we received our tax refund, so now we finally have the money to buy a new digital camera! The one we had before was just a small point and shoot. We really liked it; it took great pictures and was small enough that we carried it everywhere. When it broke we went back to using our film camera, which is a large SLR. We've really noticed that with the SLR we're able to take much better quality pictures, and we have more control... but since it's so large we don't want to carry it around with us. So now that it's time to buy a new one we're really debating. Should we buy a point and shoot or an SLR? The point and shoot would be a much cheaper option (less than $200). If we decided to go with the digital SLR we would only have to buy the camera body since we already have a lens but it would still cost $400-$500. Any advice?

Jonathan at 6 months

2010-04-12T19:26:00.005-07:00

Length: 28 inches

Weight: 18 lbs. 9.5 oz.

Jonathan continues to be such a happy boy. He's just the sweetest baby... so easy and such a smiler. In the past couple weeks he has started sitting on his own (for short amounts of time). And just yesterday he started rolling over (back to tummy). He did it a few times today too, and each time he got upset when he found himself on his tummy. He hates being on his tummy.

We have started feeding him cereal... which he doesn't really like and doesn't really eat. But today I felt like we were making some progress. I think he actually swallowed a couple tablespoons worth. We'll keep trying.

He sleeps about 8 hours at a stretch at night, and takes 3 naps during the day. I feel like he should be sleeping longer at night by now. But the doctor reminded me that every kid is different and 8 hours is just fine.

Overall, he is just a joy. He loves jumping in his Johnny-jump-up (or his "Jonathan jump-up") and he loves when people talk to him and pay attention to him. He smiles readily, even at strangers. I think he's going to be fairly social.

We are so thankful for our precious Jonathan. He lives up to his name, "God's gracious gift."

Little Talker

2010-04-12T13:05:00.013-07:00

It's so fun to know what goes on in Elisa's head now that she is talking more. Today she told me, "I need my little IPod." I said, "You don't have an IPod." She said, "I'm just going to go running." And off she went, running down the sidewalk.

A little bit later I was feeding Jonathan and she was coloring at the table. She told me, "I colored the frog's toenails. I colored them black." I looked, and sure enough, she had colored his toenails.

A few days ago she was studying these flowers while eating her snack at the table. After awhile she said, "That fish is eating them." "What?" "That fish is eating the flowers." "Oh... you're right!"

None of these conversations are that extraordinary. It's just that for so long most of the things she says are things that she's heard us say. So now it's fun to see her original thoughts coming out.

She calls everything "little", and she doubles words... like, "I need my little milky-milk." I guess she gets this from me.

Another thing that's been fun lately is watching how much she loves Jonathan. She really likes him. This morning I asked her what she wanted to do today and she said, "Play with Jonathan." I think to a certain extent she wishes she could be the Momma. So she parents Itty. She always informs us what Itty needs. Among other things he needs: his paci, some tummy time, his diaper changed, to drink Leesi's milk, a little toy, and the other day (when I was taking pictures of Jonathan) she told me that Itty needed his picture taken. This is what we got...

What a sweet girl. Itty puts up with all this attention quite well... in fact I think he rather likes it. Jonathan loves Elisa too. But sometimes he needs a little space.

Already?

2010-04-07T19:03:00.002-07:00

Jonathan is 6 months old today. Wow... how the time has flown. It didn't go nearly this fast with Elisa. I still feel like Jonathan was just born a few weeks ago.

No pictures or height/weight stats tonight. I'll post some soon (maybe after we go to the doctor). But I just had to mention that this is officially Jonathan's 1/2 year birthday.

Wow.

I still can't believe it.

Easter Weekend

2010-04-04T19:38:00.002-07:00

Just a quick post to say Happy Easter and to show you all what we've been up to around here.

Yesterday Elisa helped me make these cute paper baskets and then fill them with goodies to give out to our guests today. I've made these little baskets for a few years now... so fun and easy. This tutorial gives the basic instructions for how to make these (though I'm never quite as precise in how I make them as they are).

This was the first year Elisa has dyed eggs. It was really fun, though I felt like we were teetering on disaster the entire time... you know, a two-year-old around permanent dye just makes me nervous. But no big catastrophes.

Greg and I also tried this project. Sorry no pictures. I think we blew our balloons up too big. So we decided to put the chocolate mousse that I made into wine glasses instead. Then today, we cut up strawberries and put them into our chocolate bowls with whipped cream on top. Yum.

We had fun with all of our projects yesterday. As my children get older I want to think about how I can make meaningful traditions with them. I love all the fun traditions we have around holidays. But I hope to also have some traditions that bring home the meaning of Easter to my kids. Any ideas?

Anyway, today we went to church and then had some friends over for Easter lunch. All in all, it was a really good Easter weekend (though Greg ended up having to work a ton). I feel like we made some fun memories, and we spent a lot of time outside in the fabulous spring weather. Most of all, it's good to be thankful for all that we have to celebrate:

Therefore, having been justified by faith,

we have PEACE with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1)

Growing up

2010-04-01T21:18:00.002-07:00

Both kids have started doing new and exciting things lately. Take a look...

This evening

2010-03-29T19:26:00.005-07:00

John and Kristine very graciously lent us one of their digital cameras to use until we get a new one. This means I can once again take tons of pictures... even "unimportant" pictures that turn out badly and get deleted before they even hit the computer. Ah, the freedom.

So, here are some "unimportant" pictures of a very ordinary evening at our house.

I thought if I made Elisa's dinner into a face she might eat more of it. But she took three bites and then kept insisting on "fruit snacks" (which are a recent addition at our house and since they are pretty much just sugar, Elisa LOVES them.) So we bribed her to take 10 more bites so that she could get dessert. Her choices for dessert were ice cream, vanilla wafers, or fruit snacks. And yes, she chose fruit snacks.

After dinner Elisa started playing with her stickers, and before we knew it she had stuck one on Jonathan's head. He went along with it at first...

...but eventually he didn't think it was too funny.

We went on a short walk after dinner. Elisa didn't want me to take any pictures of her. But she was so cute that I snuck one anyway.

Here's Jonathan showing off his new tongue smile. He sure loves his dad. I don't know who he likes more, Greg or Elisa, but I feel like I come in third on the list... which is funny considering that I'm the food supply.

Elisa kept hopping down the stairs saying, "boing!" She is such a big girl now.

So that was our ordinary (and yet extraordinary) evening. Each day I feel so thankful for my beautiful family. I love the ages of our kids. And I love each new age and stage that comes. I love seeing them interact with each other and with Greg. I think of all the older people who tell me, "I miss the days when my kids were little; those days go by so fast. Cherish them." And I can already feel these days slipping through my fingers.

This is not to say that life is perfect (or even close to it). We still have moments during the day full of whining, crying, and fits. And some days it seems that bad moods are the norm and the lovely moments are the exception. But it's all worth it when I see two little faces smiling up at me... and I turn to meet Greg's eyes, and we shake our heads in wonder and say, "so cute."

Diamond Digging!

2010-03-24T21:06:00.006-07:00

So it's Spring Break here. My brother and sister-in-law came down to visit us and we all took a trip down to Murfreesboro Arkansas for a little diamond digging!

Arkansas is home to the only diamond-producing site that is open to the public, Crater of Diamonds State Park. My brother learned this as a little kid, and has always wanted to visit. So, now that we live in Arkansas, this was his opportunity.

This is what it looks like... a field of dirt. It had rained quite heavily the day before we arrived, and so the ground was sticky mud. I had worn slip on shoes which threatened to suck off of my feet with each step. Greg was a little more prepared with water-proof boots. And Elisa chose to wear her pretty pink shoes. The clay-mud built up on our shoes with each step resulting in hilariously heavy feet.

John and Kristine were the serious diamond hunters... wet sifting through the dirt. Greg and Elisa helped them a little, while I walked around with Jonathan and tried to make sure my shoes stayed on my feet. In the end we didn't find any diamonds, but we had a memorable time at an Arkansas landmark. And we made fun memories with John and Kristine. Thanks guys, for coming all this way to be with us!

Diaper Deal

2010-03-11T20:40:00.006-08:00

So, right now I have two kids in diapers. Elisa was SUPER into potty training right around the time that she turned two. For a couple weeks she used the potty, wore big girl underwear, and was very self-motivated. She could totally do it, and I was ecstatic. But then for some reason she decided that she'd rather just wear diapers. I have decided not to push her just yet, but let her lead the way for now. So once again, I have two in diapers.

Now as most of you know I have done both cloth and disposable diapers (See this post and this post to read more on this). Right now Jonathan wears both cloth and disposables, and Elisa is exclusively in disposables. (She needed new diaper covers and we decided not to replace them since she was "so close" to potty training).

Anyway, I guess I bring all this up to say that diapers are expensive. And diapering two children (even one that often wears cloth) is really expensive. So I wanted to tell anyone who is in the same boat as me about a great deal at Diapers.com.

If you are a new customer they will give you $10 off your first order (of $49 or more) when you use the referral code CARX1546 (this also gives me a $5 credit). Then print off this form and follow the instructions on the bottom to get a $14.97 rebate from Parenting Early Years magazine. I did this about a month ago and received my rebate check last week, so it really works! I ended up paying about 11 cents per diaper... which is such a great deal! Cheaper even than buying the big case of store brand diapers at Sam's Club (which are about 17 cents per diaper). So give them a try if you haven't yet!