Other's Day

Maybe it's the fact that Matt's birthday sign is still hanging by our table. Maybe it's that the diaper laundry needs done. And things need packed for the girls. And we missed Sunday School because the girls slept in. Maybe it's the extra flare of allegies that are making my stomach sour from the added mucus (mmmm, yes). Or maybe it's the fact that I view Mother's Day in terms of my Mom and Matt's. Or maybe it's that nothing abnormal happened this morning, the same kiss and goodbye as every other Sunday.

But today does not feel like "my" Mother's day.

I have this laundry list of things to do today - laundry included. And going to Grandma's house to celebrate her. And then there's trying to fit in naps and the question of where. And then there's the evening church service and everything that makes today feel like a small holiday celebrating something or someone else.

I'm not trying to sound selfish or complainy. That's not the point at all. Today just doesn't feel like My Mother's Day. I see the posts on facebook and the organizations' links to generic Mother's Day greetings, but it just seems like Mother's Day is happening everywhere but here.

Kind of odd, but true.

It's just the start of another day here. Normal breakfast needs from two little girls and one swimmer tag-along. Normal getting dressed and faces wiped and teeth brushed. Normal breakfast table conversation. Normal showering and getting dressed with nothing that really seems to fit or in which I feel comfortable in this baby-carrying phase. Quiet... normal.

I'm not expecting fanfare and quite honestly I don't enjoy being in the spotlight and am hopeful to avoid any Mother's day public attention at church when we go to service here later. But it just feels... like it's not My Mother's Day, but it's everyone else's.

So today I'll enjoy celebrating Grandma, remembering our celebration of Goga (my Mom's pet name) yesterday, and I'll run the schedule as normal, enjoying our girls and their delights.


Maybe it's just that Mother's Day feels like every other day because... that's what Mother's Day is.

Err maybe it's just the prego hormones playing with my head. ;)

Christmas on May 11th

I heard the doorbell ring while I was sitting at the computer researching local pick-your-own farms. My ears perked up... could it be? I had just heard air breaks.... Could it be?!

I half-danced to the doorway as I saw the joyful brown tail end of the truck through the front window's open blinds. It could be... it could be.

A smile spread across my face as I saw the small package sitting on my doorstep, the delivery man having returned to his truck with a wave.

MY PACKAGE!!!!!

Christmas had come on May 11th when it was scheduled to come on May 12th.

I swiped up that package and headed for the kitchen pear knife in the knife-block. (Am I the only one that uses those things to open boxes?)  The seams cut easily and joy filled my heart at the sight of the bubble wrap (a promise of pop-ability later). There it sat, my organic coconut oil - a hope of three year old eczema and toddler diaper rash surrendering control.

So what did I do?

I knew she was still awake in that crib, fighting the occasional nap time stubbornness. I plucked that child right out of the crib, pasted her fanny and tucked her right back in. And the already asleep three year old? One side of her cheek was dusted. =D

People... it was CHRISTMAS!!!! hehe.


- Hopeful for future results. =)


*** When you fight sensitive skin needs any hope of relief is such a welcome helper, especially when watching your kids suffer. That AND... clearly I am easily amused. ;)

Wordless Wednesdays: Close

 Close:

it's their default. 

- blessed so.

*** I had to post this edition of the Wordless Wednesday late due to these pictures be taken in a batch of Birthday pictures given to Matt on his Birthday Thursday. I didn't want to spoil the surprise. Thanks for your patience. ;)

Our Matthew

Today's Matt's birthday!!! Happy Birthday, Love!

To celebrate, the girls made cards last night to give to him for his birthday today. Well after making the cards they couldn't stand him not being a part of their little worlds and had to give it to him right then and there. So he had pre-birthday card enjoyment last night.

Rachael (40 months) wrote almost all the letters on her card, excluding those we have yet to learn (we're on P right now as we head through the alphabet). I'm proud of her little 3 year old work.

 Only letters she didn't write were T and Y.

Only letters she didn't write were V, Y and U. 

(And obviously the date and age.)

Abi (22 months) clearly did not write the letters on her card, but she did add the commentary on the inside and tell me what to write:

Front & Back

[Abi's words:] "Tell Daddy... 'Here Daddy Birthday."

Today Matt will be spoiled with his choice of cinnamon rolls for breakfast. We have a family tradition of getting to pick whatever you want to eat for one or two meals the day of your birthday. Matt has a lunch date at a local hospital today and his pick was red lobster for a nice date with Mommy and no kiddies tonight. So that left breakfast for the "I'll 'cook,' dear" meal of the day. I'm grateful he picked something easy and tasty. ;)

I'm SUPER excited about giving Matt his gift today and I won't tell you any more because I want it to be a surprise.

Last night Rachael came out to the store late after church with me to pick out Daddy's "practical gift" and get his cupcake. It took everything within that preschooler to pick the blue cupcake for Daddy over the pink one she was sure he would enjoy as much as she desired. But she thought about Daddy and settled for the cupcake with the most sprinkles I have ever seen on it - well aware that our tradition is to get an over-sized cupcake and cut it into equal pieces to share amongst the family. So when our teeth and tongues are blue tomorrow, you'll know why. ;)

So from me and the clan, I send out a huge  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 

to our dear Matt. 

- We love you so much more than we can possibly express in one day.

In Our Arms

Our newest church member was starting to get fussy. It had been a long day of stimulus with feeding time and bed time right around the corner. He found self-soothing in his hand, slurping and enjoying the semi-controlled friend. Mommy came out of her class to pace a bit with him, concerned that his sucking was amplified and distracting for others. I offered to take him. not because she couldn't handle him. I knew my offer wouldn't communicate to her my lack of confidence in her ability. She willingly handed him off, happy to share the blessing of a snuggler.

We chatted a bit as I held him.

He kept his eyes on her, flashing her a smile each time she came into closer view. A bright, vibrant smile no one else could get. The sign of full trust and confidence.

Then he started to get fussy again, the hand and the pacifier were not enough. She reached to take him back as he worked himself into a little fit. Within seconds of smelling her hair and feeling that familiar bounce at her shoulder, he nuzzled closer and settled down. Self-control and patience returned to him. His security in her spoke volumes. That was his Mommy. The right one. And he was in the right place.




I had forgotten what it was like in the beginning. O, I've always loved the snuggling and thanks to my current youngest, she has carried most of her snuggling traits/needs well into toddlerhood. But there's something different about that beginning snuggling. Before words can be communicated... wants, needs... When baby looks to your cues and reads your body language like a book, and you theirs.

And there is something precious in the blessing of feeling their comfort in Mommy's arms. Just holding sometimes is enough. The confidence, reassurance and peace they find in Mommy's voice, soft touch and gentle bounces. Mommy knows the best way to snuggle, the right positions, that comfy spot.

It all came flooding back. And in that moment I wanted to hold Hannah right then and there... physically wrapping her in the love we have for her. Giving her the confidence and the comfort and the peace that God has blessed Mothers to give...

She was kicking and squirming again last night. And she's kicking and squirming again this morning. Evidence of her timer not being done for a little while yet - she has too much room still. =)

But some day she may get to read this and know that she was so loved from the very beginning...


before we ever once held her in our arms...

Wordless Wednesdays: Perspective

Never underestimate the value of a single (non-wheelchair) bathroom stall...

it usually means you're little-kidless. 

=)

- Moms, enjoy life's little breaks... all of them.

Nipping Bad Habits

In evaluating the household (important thing to do periodically), I've come to the realization that we have fallen into a few bad habits.  Abi - screaming/crying/tantrumming more when things don't go her way. Rachael - being quite bossy in play.  And me - not being more involved in discipleship. On the outside these are very normal things. Moms get tired, three year olds get bossy in an effort for "independence" and directing "more advanced role play", and nearly two year olds become overcome with emotions and, thus, begin tantrumming. But could you imagine what we would be like if Jesus decided to stop discipling because "we were just acting normally" and thus left us to our own demise? Not a pretty picture.

So I was thinking of practical ways to nip these few bad habits in the butt, or at least try our best to work toward great self-control.

So for me - it means intentionality, greater listening and more calm responses.
Rachael - practicing hospitality and greater problem-solving in including Abi in play and interpreting Abi's wants/needs.
Abi - using words to express her wants/needs and compromising.

And how do Rachael and Abi advance those skills? You got it, Mommy's modeling (you didn't know I was a model in my spare time did you?).

This may sound like technical mumbo-jumbo but the reality is that I need to show my children how to play, respect each other, and, in turn, love each other "right where they are." This should be an intentional thing because, just like anyone, we all struggle with our sin nature that says, "MINE!", "DO THIS!", and "GO AWAY!" No one needed to teach me selfishness and I sure haven't needed to teach my kids either. But the way I model respect and love in our household is their foundation for all their interactions outside of the home.

Please hear me clearly that I am not expecting perfection. Abi and Rachael have yet to give their lives to Christ, and therefore cannot live out the full hospitality, love and grace that the Holy Spirit within us fosters.But me, on the other hand, being in Christ, that's a different story. I may be the voice of reason here for a good long while (and I think I should be) but I also desire for Rachael and Abi to have a clear picture of what treating other's like "in Jesus" or "while thinking about Jesus" should look like as opposed to thinking only of self. Since primarily morality is a parent's discipleship tool as we wait and pray for the Scriptures to stir up within our kids, it's important to make clearly defined expectations. It goes beyond not wanting our kids to be fools in public (not the point), but it's figuring out the reality of living with and truly enjoying the lifestyle of your kids. Putting up with behaviors only goes so far in a hands-off approach. Children never grow into moral maturity on their own. Heck, adults don't even grow into moral maturity on their own. We need constant examples, grace and someone to come alongside us to love us into self-control in Christ.

We still will have our off days and off moments of "please, you just go play over there by yourself and you way over there by yourself." But I have been encouraged by the small progresses just a morning's worth of intentional training has produced: Rachael asking Abi with a please to play certain ways and respecting her "no" and alternative way of play despite not wanting to, Abi using more words quickly after her initial 2 second explosion or not even exploding twice, and me really focusing on discipleship and showing my kids more of Jesus in grace and practical love.

It sounds like simple things, and it is! But sometimes the simplest things are the hardest to build a consistent self-control when you look at the big picture of where you wish you could be. Step by step, situation by situation... I'm reminded of our encouragement to never grow tired of doing good (2 Timothy 3:13) and our responsibility as parents to train our children in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6). Training takes time, extra effort, modeling and grace.

God teaches me best through open eyes to His example of parenting me. And I am so blessed that He lovingly, quietly and gently sits down beside me, guiding me into the way I should better treat  and teach others.  Teaching hospitality and kindness breeds hospitality and kindness in myself.

- Learning with my kids.

Our "Mat Man"

For homeschooling today we continued our focus on anatomy. We've been randomly talking about body features (rated G) throughout our routine. Cat anatomy is fun as we catch a run-by "volunteer" (who forgives easily with a few treats).

After completing our lessons on M (we took Friday off), we jumped into our "Mat Man" activity. Now I totally robbed this idea from Handwriting Without Tears so don't give me any of the credit for the idea. I didn't think they'd mind since I already bought something from them and they post their lessons online for the taking. But instead of buying their "Mat Man" parts and books, I used two bottle caps (different sizes for distinguishing two different parts), cut outs of Rachael's hands and feet (better than this, especially since they don't include feet and we had fun tracing), and "hair" made from the scraps of cloth diaper fleece - Holler! It took me about 5 minutes on the sewing machine to make up my "hair" so that it'll survive at least two more kids and now belong in the "Mat Man" bag of body parts. hehe. I also used my own $.29 (from Hobby Lobby) rubber foam rectangle (better than this price) for the body and used my previously cut out letter pieces for the outlines.  I also made eyes from leftover pieces of poster board foam after making the traced and cut out letter pieces that we use in our introduction to letters. (A cheaper version of this while still purchasing this from the company.)

Here's our "Mat Man":

I first started out by putting him together myself, as Rachael and I referenced to features that belong on a body. Then we took our magnifying glass and used it as a pointer/inspector of specific body parts, labeling them on ourselves as we labeled them on "Mat Man".

 "the nose"

"the neck"

We also labeled them on Abi of course! And did you catch that from the above picture that Abi took the initiative of labeling herself amidst our lesson [byproduct of an engaged listener =) ].


Then I took "Matt Man" apart and had Rachael rebuild him, identifying all of his parts.

She had also traced/cut out her own hands and Abi's feet (hard to keep your own feet flat while tracing, plus we like to include Abi wherever we can) on black paper and used them on her version of "Mat Man" before we pasted them to a paper and decorated them with leftover Easter stickers. =)

Abi made herself ready to join Rachael "at" school this morning. -->

 

Tongue helps for concentration. ;)

I chose, for the sake of Rachael's previous anatomy knowledge, to divide the arm into two sections, highlighting the elbow (an open space on "Mat Man") in between and showing how our arms could bend either direction due to the elbow. I did likewise with the legs and then had Rachael identify upper and lower arms and legs. She was just a bit ready for a slightly more detailed look at anatomy than a single representation of the arm or leg as one piece. To expand upon this lesson in the future, we will bring "Mat Man" back out and enjoy positioning "Mat Man" in various positions due to his elbows and knees providing motion. This way we can also talk about needing energy for motion (beginning science) and how food processed through the digestive track allows for the making of energy - thus enabling us to run and jump and move, etc. We've just barely introduced this topic at current, only emphasizing that many things inside help us to sleep, eat, drink, breathe and move.

Rachael has also begun to have casual conversation identifying what things are and are not "alive" and why/how we know that. We have identified eating, breathing, drinking, and sleeping as indicators of life at this point (we're not into photosynthesis or bacterial life yet - wink,wink). It has been a fun game which also spurred on the unexpected thought from the three year old that "sometimes I pretend my dolls are alive, but they're not really," and how drawn objects and created things, like "Mat Man" are a symbol of being alive, but are not actually alive. She really kinda floored me with that line of analytical thought. So "Mat Man" has also been tied to using our imaginations and the distinction between real and pretend.

Rachael was very proud of her ability to create "Mat Man" (hense the initiative to "ta da!" in the picture) and clearly the wheels are turning about "alive" and "not alive" and how that relates to our daily life.

- Fun lesson indeed!

Bargains Arise!

I went to a local kid sale today at a nearby church. I had been thinking over our baby stash, cloth diaper stash and what things we truly wanted to get prior to Hannah's arrival. (Hannah - so nice to name her kicks and soon-to-be snuggles.) Having two girls 17 months apart can put some serious wear and tear on your baby items and has left some birth to potty training items in need of replacing.

I have found the easiest "large sale" shopping to be done for a newbie who has yet arrived due to every size being a viable option. This allows for me to pass over items that are "too high" in my personal price without the pushing need to go home with something for the child to wear/use "today."

So I have acquired the following things for a total of $28.

[Vibrating bouncer ($8 and CUTE), toddler shirt-bib, plastic toddler bib, plastic paint-smock bib, 2 receiving blankets (I see cloth wipes in the future), plastic-backed spit-up rag, 1 large namebrand cloth prefold diaper cover (Abi can wear now) [got it for $1 - resale price = $9], 1 medium cloth prefold diaper cover (got it for $1), 3 small namebrand cloth prefold diaper covers (visions of newborn to 4 month old Hannah in cloth) [avg. resale price per cover = $5-9. I got each one for $1-1.50], 5 plastic-backed bibs, 9 newborn-3 month bibs, 3 changing pad cloths (easy blow-out clean-up), and two 2T cloth pull-ups (for when Abi's ready to start learning).]


All for TWENTY-EIGHT DOLLARS, people. And this wipes out half of our "we'd like to get before we bring Hannah home" list.

- Enough to bring a smile to anyone's face on a rainy-thunderstorm day. =D

Teaching Responsibility

We had a great time time last Thursday having a little practical lesson on responsibility. After the girls woke up from their naps, we took advantage of that fresh recharging of energy to work on a house chore together. This is one house chore that usually gets overlooked because, quite honestly, I just don't think actively about it.

So since utter delight can be found in nearly every activity when you are 3 and nearly 2 years old, we all dropped to our knees and enjoyed us some wonderful kitchen floor ice skating.

The girls primarily just played, slopping suds about. But they did have some very nice scrubbing moments  as well while I washed up the floor. They enjoyed the opportunity to "help Mommy" and take responsibility for caring for the house with me. We talked about how everyone uses the kitchen and enjoys eating the food that is in the kitchen, therefore it's nice for everyone to help in keeping it clean. Such joy and delight came from the accomplishment of the shining floor with a united cheer and we all had a very fun time with some water/bubble play. Rachael provided a soundtrack to our cleaning (she's quite the songwriter) and Abi even took on the liberty of washing her legs, my little over-achiever. ;)

So with a shine, thus ends another fun lesson in responsibility and being family helpers.

The Verdict Is In....

Thank you, first and foremost for those of you who enjoyed playing the baby gender guessing game. It was fun and I really appreciate all your excitement about baby.

Well after our ultrasound the verdict is in...


We will be welcoming to our household,

making our duo a trio:

HANNAH JOY!!!

=D

And we couldn't be more thrilled.

So for those of you keeping tabs: Matt was right! And the joke lives on that "he only makes girls."


Hannah is healthy, strong little girl measuring at 21 weeks. She has a wonderfully steady heartbeat at 153 beats per minute and is quite the mover (she's kicking as I type this)- making our ultrasound pictures a bit on the blurry side. I was sure not to eat this time so as to give her any extra jitters, but she is just a busy little girl. =) Which is a WONDERFUL thing for us all to experience! And everything in there looks great and on track and healthy. Thank You, Lord, for the blessing!

For those of you who remember, Rachael wanted a boy. And while she repeated her requests a few times at the Dr. office, once she realized that we can't dress a boy in pink, she was 100% in favor of having a Hannah added to our family. She is now naming her dolls Hannah, with an occasional Elijah Joel in there, despite the focus being on Hannah.



We're looking forward to our little ladies trio maker coming to theaters in early September 2012.


I really can't stop smiling and I don't plan to. =D

Anatomy

We took the opportunity to have some fun with our anatomy lesson yesterday. I got a few basic anatomy kid-friendly books from the library (one is a baby book identifying baby parts, but functional and the other two are more advanced anatomy). Not expecting Rachael to grasp the full knowledge of the respiratory and circulatory system, despite the nice pictures =), I just wanted her to be introduced to the fact that a bunch of different stuff inside of us helps us to move and function. I think she might have walked away from the lesson with that - and a billion questions. hehe.

So then I came up with the fun idea of cutting body parts out of a magazine to make our own people (not as gruesome as it just sounded in that sentence). It was a fun project to prepare, wondering what creations would come out of the pieces. We worked together scaling through features of the face or body and talking about where they were placed (me primarily helping with spacial positioning to allow for additional features on the page since Rachael doesn't really have any spacial concept yet). And this is what we created:

Since we picked each feature independent of the others I found the varying leg sizes fun as well as the large mismatched ears and small hair. =)

 Rachael identified the child on the left to be a "boy face" (actually a girl's) and "girlie short hair" (actually a boy's) which I found quite entertaining between the boy shirt and big girlie skirt. =)

We had a heck of a lot of fun. =)

Wordless Wednesday: Our Commute

 

- So Rachael. -

P.S. Shoes and helmet required for non-front-walkway play. ;)

For Newbee

I made two newborn prefold diapers today thanks to some old towel pieces and flannel sheets (thanks again, Rachel). It's nice to use things here, donating about an hour to figuring out what I was doing (woot!) and about a half hour to forty minutes (if I had to change to bobbin) a piece to each diaper following. Planning on just adding about 6-12 newbee diapers to the stash with maybe only the cost of thread (if I run out). From what I've researched it's helpful to have a few tiny diapers for the freshie stage up until about 2-3 months when they can go into more "normal" sizes. Abi was gracious to play nicely on the floor to the hum of the sewing machine (after waking up early from nap). 

 One is layered 2x4x2 (I) and the other is 4x6x4 (II). 

My old doll from childhood modeling. 

With the assistance of Abi. =) 

I'll probably make more of the 4x6x4 or a 2x6x2 combo since the middle thickness is the real hero in the pottying story.

 

- Kind of exciting to slowly start the "get ready for baby" preparations. 

 - If we find out on Friday that we're having a boy, he'll be relieving himself in flower-print prefolds. hehe. I don't think he'll care and it's what I have to work with. Eh! Baby'll just be sleeping through newbee life anyway. And we could find some cute neutral covers to help him out if he's a he. ;)

39 Months

We took an opportunity to do homeschooling today. We don't usually do it on a Saturday, but the Littlest was sick Monday and we were all seeking a day of rest. Since I like to try to do three days of homeschooling per week, we did not do homeschooling on Friday, and Daddy is away on a youth trip this weekend, I figured Saturday was as good as any.

We took the opportunity to do some review. We have been going through an alphabet series of one letter, upper and lower case, per week. Since Rachael is 39 months, I am not expecting her to be able to freehand lower case letters yet (that is a more advanced skill since a lot of those letters have less defined lines [approximately Kindergarten aged]). But in our series (that I'm making up with the help for a few preschool/pre-Kindergarten workbooks I got at the dollar store and a teacher supply store [whoppin' dollar fifty] and the rest I improv based on state standards for what a child should know to enter Kindergarten), she is expected to trace and attempt to freehand all the capital letters in the alphabet, as well as identify the lower case letters. We have gone from A to L thus far and are in week eleven of the series. I anticipate another 12 weeks of letter introductions to occur (we'll combine some familiar letters in one week) and then have a review week or two before starting our "formal" Pre-K curriculum. I have been using the resources through the Answers In Genesis curriculum packet to introduce various topics to Rachael so the curriculum will not be completely foreign when we start doing a more structured preschooling. And the alphabet flashcards and 8'11" display resources along with tracing marks have proven helpful for the past series.

I've also been using what we refer to as "word pieces" to introduce the letters to Rachael as she has developed her fine motor skills in tracing and, ultimately, writing. These "word pieces" help to introduce the letters in segments, or strokes, and better help her organize the concept of writing the letter. She has really enjoyed the puzzle-like quality and handful of activities on the backs of the mats to aid in the letter's introduction. While I did not pay for the wooden pieces (they were a bit pricey), but simply traced my sister in law's pieces and cut them out of foam board, I did purchase the laminated alphabet pages and have used them for an introduction and reintroduction (should it be needed) of the letters at the start of each week.  I just couldn't justify spending $53+ for an introduction material, even if I am planning on using it for all the kids in our household. The upfront cost when on a budget was a bit extreme. But not wanting to break copyright codes, I planned on just purchasing the sheets and then measuring the size of the "wood pieces" until my sister in law decided to purchase the wooden pieces and therefore I could measure the size from the wooden pieces themselves. So between the two of us, she really helped me out to make that product fit our budget and homeschooling needs. We're just careful not to beat up our "word pieces" as we should be respectful and kind to all our supplies. I may very well actually buy the wood pieces here down the line, but not this year with our tight budget.

I have also used various storybooks, Rachael's tag (not tag Jr.) reader system (A Christmas gift secondhand for $8.50 plus two books and then added other books via Christmas wish lists and sales racks), library books, and written sentences/words for the purpose of letter identification to begin to introduce the concept of decoding words. I've checked out "Teach Your Child to Read in 110 Easy Lessons" from the library and am hoping to start that with Rachael as well when we begin her "formal" pre-K curriculum. Since I have modeled my created lesson plans from the curriculum we are going to use for Rachael's "formal" pre-K, it should be a more natural transition into increased listening/interaction time. We have been averaging an hour to an hour and a half of preschool three times a week. The curriculum we will begin is a 1.5 to 2 hour 4-5 day a week curriculum that is more holistic in skill and themed. Since Rachael has been exposed to many of the resources, saving the more advanced ones of course to use in the actual curriculum, the compilation of the resources should not overwhelm her. The curriculum in itself is for 180 days and since we are schooling year-round (at least for now) we are in no rush to take any quick pace. Rachael will begin her pre-K curriculum at the ripe age of 3.5. And if you've met her or held a conversation with her, I think you'll understand why so "soon."

So back to my original point of this post (though the previous explanations are quite beneficial in understanding how we came about this fruit). I had Rachael do some review today and I wanted to share her work with you all. Much of this work she completed independently while I fixed lunch, did house chores and put Abi down for a nap. I popped in for occasional instruction and to see how she was fairing. But without further delay, I give you Rachael's A-L work.

 [My writing: circle of third C and notation where Rachael corrected her own form. Penned third D during explanation to Rachael of the side that the curved part of the D was supposed to be on - she wrote it backward (not a big deal, but still wanting her to see the difference).]

 [My writing: Rachael's self-correction of the second F after drawing the first circled line, she explained that she adjusted the line over to fit the F better.]

I'd say it's going well.

I'm VERY proud of her. She really worked HARD on this review and applied herself with great concentration, asking questions about letter formation where she had forgotten.


Once again, the child is only 39 months. =)

- Go Rachael!!!

Nap Ringlets

Just had some fun and applied some slight gel to nap ringlets.

Apparently I wasn't the only one having fun. =)

It Overflows.

I sat in the quiet, drinking in the rest. Overhearing the nursery fan on the baby monitor which blended in well with the ceiling fan's rotation behind me. The quiet hum of the dryer, spinning my latest load of diapers. The sight of the other diapers dancing on the clothes line in the backyard sun through my peripherals. Silence filling the house. Rest.

I prayed throughout my project. Painting rubber cement on a blank index. Thank You, Lord for this rest. Bonding a blank index to the former. Thank You, Lord, for Esther's heart. Squaring the corners. In stepping up with Your passion inside her to share the Word. Picking up a magnet and painting on rubber cement. Thank you for the hearts of Will and Theresa. Strokes of the brush. How they are giving it all daily for Your Kingdom. Pressing the magnet to the cards. Please breathe into them rest... peace. 

A smile crept on my lips at the thoughts and prayers for Emmanuel - his growing heart in the Lord. And Ayuba's willingness to serve. Those beautiful faces. Beautiful people. Almost as a lullaby did my soul sing it's thankfulness. King of kings.... Lord of lords... I remembered the Psalm I read just this morning.

Spinning of the fans. The persistently light humming of the dryer. Thank You, Lord for this rest. 


My cup is full...

Instant thought of the list of names to be written on these new magnets. Those dedicating themselves unto the Lord and those that have yet to meet Him. Those I have the privilege to pray for.

In utero dancing.

it overflows...

Wordless Wednesday: Helping

Rachael and Abi got Abi dressed last Friday.

 [Shirt says: "Beary Cute"]

Then Mommy helped.

The Cute Newbee

I'm posting this for my friend, Jess. ... Because I know that it will give her a delight in cloth diapering cuteness.

This is our cute newbee to the stash.

For a whoppin' $5 (and free shipping) from Alvababy.

To get my stash to about 30 (maybe a few less) in prep for the new baby, I am just adding in one of these per month (or every other) from my allowance money til I hit "about" 30. I like the "snapping over" feature for itty bitty and the versatility of the one-sized, pocket diaper. And the print..... =D


- Thanks for sharing this moment with me. =)

A Favorite

As a mom of two book-lovers, I am often brought a stack of books and asked to "read the book, please?" And for those of you who have read books for a while to your kids there are the favorites and the ones you wish they didn't like so much. =)

This one I love so and am always happy to see amongst the stack. So I thought I'd share it with you all, so you could share in the joy of the "Wrapping Paper Romp." We gave this one to Abi at her first Christmas when she was prime-subject to her own Wrapping Paper Romp.

So without further delay, I give you a favorite of ours - or at least mine.

 "Wrapping Paper Romp by Patricia Hubbell. Pictures by Jennifer Plecas.

 Baby's got a present, a present in a box. It's time to do the wrapping paper, wrapping paper romp.

 Crinkle it, Wrinkle it. Wear it for a crown. Listen to the paper snap. Flap it up and down.

 Lift the lid up off the box. What is that inside? Tissue paper, tissue paper, hold it up and hide. 

 Play a little peek-a-boo. Tear. Tear. Tear. Hear the paper rustle. Pat it on your hair. 

 What's beneath the tissue paper? What does Baby see? A family of teddy bears- One, two... THREE!

 Fling the teddies on the floor. What has Baby found? Another piece of tissue paper! Wave it all around.

 Look at all the paper. Look who's in the box. It's fun to do the wrapping paper, wrapping paper romp!

"The End."

- Hope you enjoyed. =)