Sara at Subjective Beauty designed my new header and I love it! She was so great to work with- very professional, great ideas, excellent response time, quick turn-around. Really, everything I could ask for! It was a pleasure doing business with her. Now, if I can just get her to learn WordPress code I’ll have her redesign the whole blog for me… (hint, hint…) Thanks again, Sara- you did a fabulous job!
This video is short BUT so cool- I had to share it! (It’s only 2 minutes and some odd seconds long!)
Because Savannah was so sick we canceled our plans to go to the circus. I was so disappointed! Apparently though, Kip and I had a miscommunication because he called me as I was walking back into the house (from taking Savvy to the pediatrician. Barbara stayed with the big kids) to say that he had bought the tickets. Our regular sitter, Ms. Barbara, overheard me saying to Kip “Oh no! I’ve already emailed M (our other sitter) and canceled!” Barbara graciously offered to stay with Savvy so that we could still go. I would normally not have left a sick baby but Barbara has 2 grown daughters of her own plus she taught Kindergarten and First Grade for 26 years (I think) and has taught First Grade for 20ish years. All that to say, she has plenty of experience. She has been our regular sitter for 18 months now so I knew Savvy was comfortable with her.
Mary and Nathan, ready to go!
Mary, with the horses.
The acrobatics were truly amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it. Really fabulous.
Each child was allowed to pick a souvenir. Not surprisingly, Nathan chose a sword and Mary chose a Horse.
Wednesday, 12/31/08
It was SO windy on Wednesday! The kids played outside for a couple hours in the morning until I called them in for lunch. Not even 5 minutes later a HUGE branch came down destroying a section of the fence and pulverizing one of their soccer goals. Thank GOD for his perfect timing! They could have been really hurt had they been playing in that corner of the yard when the branch came down.
The destroyed section of fence and soccer goal.
Do you know what the first thing Nathan said was when he saw the broken fence? “OH GOOD! Now I can get out of the fence!”
Another large limb down.
The limb must have hit the ground like a spear- look at how deep the hole is where it was driven straight into the ground. Can you imagine if it had hit one of the children in the head???
Thursday, 1/1/09
We went out today to inspect the damage. No wind today.
What a hambone!
Sweet Savvy learned a new trick on Christmas day. She can now climb the stairs in about 2 seconds flat. Here she goes.
Comfy, cozy baby.
I was poking around looking at pictures in my old photobucket account when I came across these coasters I made in September, 2007. My fabulous OBGYN whom I LOVED was moving to NY to be with her husband. She delivered all three of my kids and was a wonderful lady. I gave her this set of coasters, all tied up with a pretty ribbon. I wish I would have taken a picture of that because it did look really nice.
(Savannah was only 5 or 6 weeks old when I made these- too little to do a handprint as she was still keeping her hand in a fist position. That’s why she has a footprint.)
Here they are:
I’ve been sitting on this little gem of a post for a while now just waiting until I get annoyed enough to post. Today’s the day!
One of my biggest PET PEEVES is when I hear parents say that their child isn’t “listening”. I’ve got a news flash- he hears you JUST fine. What your child is doing is NOT OBEYING.
He HEARS what you are telling him he just doesn’t WANT to do it so HE’S IGNORING YOU.
It is beyond outrageous to hear someone say “She’s only three, I can’t expect her to listen to me.” Whaaaa? (Thanks, Sarah C.!) Does she “listen” to you when you say “Let’s go get icecream”? Can she “hear” you when you say “Let’s go to the toy store”? Is she able to obey those times? If you say “Susy- go get in your carseat- we’re going to get icecream!” does she run to the car and get in her seat? Common sense would dictate that if the child can “hear” the good things and can choose to obey when it benefits her, that she can “hear” you the rest of the time as well. She has the ability to obey, she is choosing not to. Either these people have a child who is seriously cognitively delayed or my children are brilliant. Because you know what, my 15 month old is able to obey. I can give her a command and she knows EXACTLY what she is being told to do/not do. Sometimes she obeys and sometimes she doesn’t. We’re working on that. But it’s certainly not a question of “does she understand”. She understands juuuuust fine.
Another bit of common sense: Seriously, if you can’t get your three year old to obey, what are you going to do when she’s fifteen? Do you think they just arbitrarily decide to obey at a certain age? Are you counting on being able to reason with them as they get older? What if the child doesn’t like you reasoning? Then what do you do?
Honestly, this is just baffling to me. Why would you not just teach them to be obedient at a young age?
In an earlier post I mentioned planning for the holidays. Yesterday we did one of the Thanksgiving crafts I had picked out for us to do back in September. Using some cardstock and $1 ink pads from AC Moore, the kids used their fingerprints and thumbprints to make these cute Thanksgiving Turkeys. We made cards that we are mailing to grandparents and some elderly relatives that live in Virginia and New York. We also made place cards for the Thanskgiving table. Here’s some pictures of our handiwork:
Kip traced the kids hands and then they did the coloring to make handprint turkeys.
Mary made these handprint turkeys all by herself.
I mentioned in yesterday’s post about Savannah’s Busy Box. Here it is.
A 10cent pencil box that I got from Wal-Mart on clearance. Filled with odds and ends that we’ve picked up.
A tin that the covers pops on and off, film canisters, a change purse that snaps open, a little zippered bag, a bottle with a cap that twists on and off, two scoops, the hard plastic thing from the inside of a tape roll, straws bent into triangle, a flexi-mouse, a block with a jingle bell in it, a piece of ribbon, and a yellow coin keeper. This is enough stuff to keep her busy for quite a while. Opening and closing things. Hiding the ribbon or the block inside of the different containers and she looks for them, etc.
Kip has a friend who is an artist. He does folk/primitive art from a Christian view point. He and Kip have been doing a Bible study every other week together. This is the painting he gave Kip to commemorate their finishing the book of John together.
We found the *perfect* spot for it in our kitchen- I love it!
Does anyone know why today is a special day??
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Happy Birthday to the Marine Corps today!
I realized I hadn’t posted a picture of our “Countdown to Christmas” Chain.
I don’t know about you guys but WE GOT A LOT OF CANDY. Way to much for my little chickadees to be eating all at once. Also, at this young age, they have no concept of how long it will be until Christmas is here. So, for the last several years, I’ve used our Halloween candy to make a “countdown to Christmas”.
I lay out a huge, long piece of cling-wrap on the counter. I count out 54 pieces of candy to represent the 54 days between Halloween and Christmas. (actually, I do 108 pieces- so each kid gets one piece a day). I lay out the candy in a line on the cling wrap leaving 2-3 inches between each piece of candy. Then I roll up the cling wrap and use string to tie off the sections between each piece of candy. I’ve got two pieces in each section so that M. and N. each get one piece.
They know they each get one piece of candy after lunch if they’ve eaten well. And they know that when we get to the end of the chain it will be Christmas. As November progresses into December, they really watch the chain and check it daily to see how much shorter it is getting.
My Mom came to visit on Friday night and to spend the night. She brought the kids a new Thanksgiving book. Here she is reading to the two big kids.
I don’t know why this picture of my kitchen looked so cozy to me. That is my FAVORITE Yankee Candle burning in the back- “Macintosh Peach” (which means, of course, that it has been discontinued and can now only be found on Ebay) and my favorite red pot that I always keep out.
What a big change from when we bought it, huh? I’m not sure what was worse- the wallpaper border, the light fixture, the cabinets, or the fact that the stove top was so close to the cabinet on the left that the two burners on the left were completely unusable because you couldn’t get the pots on them because of the wall. When I said we did a complete renovation, I wasn’t kidding.
First- Click on THIS GREAT PLAYLIST so you can listen while you read. The music is very peaceful.
(I should add, I didn’t make this playlist. It came from Jewells at Eyes of Wonder and I’ve just enjoyed it these last few days. )
A picture for your enjoyment- all three kids munching on popcorn during Friday night movie night.
1. Need a great gift for a boy? This PIRATE SHIP from Hearthsong is an awesome deal for $21! Nathan FREAKED OUT when he got this for his birthday last year and it’s one of the toys that he *still* plays with 9 months later- how many toys can you say that about? It’s a great quality pirate ship- I can’t believe they’ve got it on sale for such a good price.
2. As a parent there are so many choices- organic or not? plastic sippy cups or stainless steel? etc. Here’s an excellent post entitled “Good Choices” that discusses the Mommy guilt associated with making all these decisions. Here’s an excerpt:
Parenting and homemaking are full of decisions. There are the big choices that everyone debates: breast or bottle, career or stay home, vaccinate or refuse. For some of us, these may be easy choices to make. But beyond the major decisions, there are many day-to-day alternatives available that can cause inward struggle for those of us who are constantly bombarded with information on how to take the best possible care of our families. In trying to be good neighbors, good stewards, good wives, and good mothers, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and unsure of which choice is best.
3. Here’s a neat blog- Holy Experience
4. I love what she has to say about ugly-beautiful.
5. Amazing post on Motherhood: What A Mother Must Sacrifice
6. Who’s Donating to Charity? I was surprised to see who’s REALLY donating to charity and who IS NOT.
7. GET REAL I really struggle with this. On the one hand I am so sick and tired of hearing all the negativity about children. Most women I know do nothing but complain, complain, complain about their children. Honestly, if all I knew about there were our conversations I’d think they didn’t even like their kids. I know that isn’t true but it’s what they sound like. SO- I’m careful to try to speak postively about the blessing of children and the joy that they bring. But- the other hand is that it IS a lot of work. Sometimes I do just want to get real about it but then I hate to contribute to the culture of complaining about our children.
Amy wrote: Now, a recent introduction to a stranger left her gawking at my brood of children and quipping, “Yeah and I bet you homeschool too.” Hm. I really need to lose the denim jumper. Speaking of my wardrobe, I loosened the Superman cape, looked at her, paused, and said very slowly for emphasis, “It is very…hard….work and sometimes I am not very good at it.”
How true this is for me- sometimes I’m not very good at it. It IS hard work. But it doesn’t take away the joy of it either.
8. Train Them Until You Like Them Ah Jess, she is always right on the money. Excellent, excellent post. She wrote:
We don’t want to include our children in our lives if they are undisciplined and out of control.
True, isn’t it? Be sure to read the rest of this short post…
9. More Good Stuff from Jess: I loved today’s POST . I thought #’s 4,5,6 were especially true. I’ve seen what Jess describes below countless time and it pains me- it’s just so unkind. Here’s a little bit from her list- #6:
Don’t believe me? Think again.
If a two-year-old in a family of seven children has tantrums or is wearing mismatched clothes, it’s because “the mom is spread too thin”. But if that same child is the only child of two doting parents, it’s because “bless his heart; he’s a normal two-year-old” and because independent little two-year-olds love to pick out their own clothes.
If a mother of three children is exhausted as she’s pregnant with her fourth, it’s likely to be met with an “I told you so” attitude from those who have already inappropriately shared their thoughts about family size. And she rarely gets sympathy. More likely, she’ll get a “you made your bed, now lie in it” perspective from most of the people around her. But a first time mother struggling with morning sickness gets sympathetic comments and offers for how others can help.
And lest you think I’m just whining as a mom of four, I’m really not… I’m just stating things the way I’ve plainly seen them. And these are things I hear from many of you, my friends and readers.
10. Teen Culture and the Rebelution Against It
This line of thinking pervades our society.
People don’t see children as assets but drains on the family economy. And some are aghast at the idea that children should have to take on a certain level of healthy responsibility, unable to see the destructive forces of NOT requiring it.
I took all three kids with me last Friday to run some errands and stopped at a yard sale on the way home. I was carrying Savvy and holding Nathan’s hand while he held Mary’s hand. They walked in quietly- no shouting or running or endless begging for things. The elderly lady running the yard sale asked “are those all yours?” to which I replied yes. (really? did she think I picked one or two up on the side of the road or something??) She went on to say “really??? they’re *all* yours???” like she just couldn’t believe I have SO MANY children. seriously. It’s only three. You would have thought I was walking in with 14 kids or something. She seemed horrified that I would have *three* children. ???
11. Not Just Because He Wears A Napkin On His Head
Antique Mommy writes: The prevailing assumption in our culture is that parents can’t wait for their children to grow up and leave home….
12. Do You Need A Make-Over? I’m really enjoying this series by Generation Cedar. Here’s a short description of the series:
This series will look at about 15 virtues specific to women, mentioned in Scripture, and we’ll discuss what they mean and how we can cultivate those in our own lives. These are virtues that will literally change your outward appearance! And while some of these may be present simply as a result of being a child of God, more often they must be practiced and deliberately improved.
The big kids yesterday (Monday, 9/22) wearing the t-shirts that PawPaw and Mimi brought them back from their honeymoon.
This was posted on a message board that I go to by mamalama. Loved it so thought I would share it here.
We Are Called… to bless our husbands, not to bless our sober husbands.
We Are Called… to honor our husbands, not to honor our wise husbands.
We Are Called… to submit to our husbands, not to submit to our tender husbands.
We Are Called… to respect our husbands, not to respect our selfless husbands.
We Are Called… to serve our husbands, not to serve our faithful husbands.
We Are Called… to praise our husbands, not to praise our industrious husbands.
We Are Called… to fellowship with our husbands, not to fellowship with our thoughtful husbands.
We Are Called… to be kind to our husbands, not to be kind to our appreciative husbands.
We Are Called… to love and adore these men that God has united us with, for better or for worse. Our assignment doesn’t change with our husband’s moods or behavior.
