Best Laid Plans

Aaaahhhh....the best laid plans never cease to fall apart, eh? The wonderful thing is that even when those plans go to pieces, things still seem to come together in special ways, especially around the holidays.

We've had some rough Christmases in the seven years we've been married. Our first Christmas together was spent with my family (all of these "Christmases" should be looked at as late-Christmas-day-after-church-and-travel). They held off supper for us to arrive, so we got done opening presents around 11 p.m. Not so brilliant an idea, but it was sweet and special. Unfortunately, my Grandma had an accident that year. She ended up being run over on her leg by a very large, very heavy pickup. It could have been much worse, but it rather tarnished the holiday that year, for her especially, I think!

Christmas 2003 was great except for the pit stop we had to make halfway on our twelve hour trip to dispose of the blankets our new kitty had "tinkled" all over. We were very new pet owners at the time. Dietrich meowed most of the twelve hours, too. Not the "plan" but good memories!

Christmas 2004 found us three months pregnant stranded in a gas station (back then they still allowed smoking, too...pleasant) just about halfway to my family's Christmas dinner. Grandma graciously suggested waiting it on us again, but that plan was vetoed by most of the rest of the family, including us. My Dad and uncle headed out to rescue us and our broken down car. We loaded the car on Uncle Bill's flatbed trailer at 8:30 p.m. and arrived at our destination at around 2:30 a.m. Christmas dinner that year was a cheddar-dog for Mr. T, a pizza for me (cooked specially for me because the lady felt so bad for us), and Reese's ice cream pies for dessert. Yum. Let me tell you. That was the year we found out our dog and cat could feasibly ride in the same kennel. Out of necessity, Mr. T shoved Hubert in his kennel, then took Dietrich (the cat), opened the kennel door, and said "Hubert, you know Dietrich. Dietrich, you remember Hubert." It actually worked. As ridiculous as being stranded in a gas station, three months pregnant, still a bit nauseous, and bored out of your mind playing cards all day is, it really drove home the true point of the holiday. So often we start thinking that the "real meaning of Christmas" is being with family to celebrate and love each other. That's an incredibly awesome by-product of the real meaning in my mind. The real point is to celebrate the birth of Jesus, no matter who we are with or where we are at. I suppose maybe soldiers deployed in the far reaches of the world know this the best. The ability to celebrate with our families in loving environments is simply a by-product of Christ's love for us. As unpleasant as Christmas 2004 was, I'm thankful for the lessons it taught me. I'm also hopeful to never repeat it....

Christmas 2005. Oof. Ouch. That one turned out painfully different from what was "planned". Christmas 2006 our poor kitty Dietrich got sick and died Christmas Day.

Christmas 2007 and 2008 were quieter, thank goodness. Now, we are at Christmas Eve 2009 and are looking at a possible plan-changing snow storm headed our direction. We're still hopeful to avoid it, but the meteorologists aren't giving us much to go on.

All day we debated about which church service to attend. The girls didn't nap as "planned", so we didn't go to Mr. T's service as "planned". The girls and I made it out of the house 13 minutes before the 6 p.m. service. Miss Mouse lost a shoe in the driveway as I carried her to the car. I forgot my jacket. Baby Mouse was deliriously tired but couldn't nap. Miss Mouse lost another shoe in the parking lot at church. I grabbed one Mouse under each arm and headed for the door; thankfully a nice man opened the outside doors for us. I get a lot of pitied looks because I look like a struggling single mom. I'm always glad when people do nice things for me because it tells me that is how they would treat a real struggling single mom. We got situated with Daddy in a pew in the front, and I realized I had also forgotten the diaper bag. We made it through the service together, though. Just not as "planned"! It's hard to say where we'll be tomorrow - where we "plan" to be or somewhere else doing something un"planned"!

Earlier today Miss Mouse and I hung a large sheet of paper on her wall where Santa was supposed to paint the moon. While Miss Mouse was playing with her Christmas Eve dinner (she didn't like it, I guess....), Mr. T painted the moon. There was a bit of miscommunication, though, at that point. I thought we were going downstairs to open presents and then that her room was fine for her to enter - that was my "plan". Well, we got upstairs from opening a couple presents, and, as I was getting ready to shower for church, Miss Mouse came running full speed out of her room yelling "Santa was here! He painted my moon!!!" It seems that being a mommy has made me a quicker thinker, so I got excited with her and went to check it out. Sure enough. Mr. T had left the paper off for the moon to dry....I guess he "planned" for the room to be off limits for a longer period of time than I had understood. Oops. I told Miss Mouse that Santa thought she was such a good girl he had to visit our house first. She'll be excited to see that he left some paint under the tree in the morning for the stars that she wants....Oops! Like I said, the best laid "plans"....

We hope your plans and your un"plans" work together to help you celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus the Christ in special, enjoyable ways! Merry Christmas!

Santa Claus

We visited Santa on Friday evening. I was thankful that we were all able to be there; initially we thought the girls and I would have to go alone, and since we were "bachelorettes" at the Holiday Light Parade this year, I hated to have us do this as a three-quarters-family, too. The past couple of weeks, though, have been pretty hairy as far as having much downtime. When Mr. T and I realized we could meet at the Santa Village for a short run-through and quick picture, we were excited. Relieved. Not quite being Super Mom, I wasn't able to carry Baby Mouse on one hip and figure out a way to help Miss Mouse do art projects, visit reindeer, etc. alone after Mr. T needed to take off....so we looked at the reindeer on the way to Santa's house, visited the toy train display (which she remembered from last year and asked about on the drive to the Village), and visited Santa. Then the girls and I headed home when Mr. T needed to get to church to preach. A short visit but a sweet visit because we were all together.

Baby Mouse wasn't terribly impressed. It made my day that she wasn't screaming and terrified!

Miss Mouse was quite impressed. She asked Santa for a "moon for my wall"...yeah, you can imagine the look on Santa's face. I quickly tried to explain that the baby has a nursery with a moon and stars on the wall, and that is what Miss Mouse has decided she wants for Christmas from Santa - a moon on her wall, too, and perhaps some stars, as well. You know what I'll be doing on Christmas Eve after Miss Mouse falls into a deep sleep, eh? Ah well. Mr. T preaches the late service anyway. The television in the bedroom doesn't work (wonderful decision to go digital...bah humbug), so I can't stay awake waiting for him to come home by watching the First Lutheran Christmas Eve service the way I did last year. I'm fairly excited to paint the moon and then wrap up the leftover paint....we're going to tell her Santa just had time to paint the moon, but he left the paint so that we could put up some stars if she wants. A little odd, but it makes me feel sort of good that she isn't too excited about stuff yet. That day will come all too soon, but for now it is rather fun having a toddler who wants a "moon on my wall".

Adventure!

The girls and I took a field trip Wednesday. We headed out yonder to see Mr. T's cousin (my cousin-in-law and new friend) and her little ones for the day. They live on a wonderfully remote ("isolated" is not the correct word because they have neighbors, of course, who they probably actually interact with, and, really, in this technology age, are any of us really, truly isolated anymore? Could we be, even if we wanted at this point?) farm, surprisingly not far from where we used to live.

We spent the day playing hard, taking lots of pictures, and just generally having fun. Miss Mouse loved Jess's baby girl, who is only a couple months younger than our Baby Mouse, and I got lots of hugs from her middle boy, who is just a few months older than our Miss Mouse. Her oldest boy graciously tolerated our girls, though he was fairly disappointed (understandably) when Baby Mouse glommed onto his puzzle pieces (with her mouth, of course). I think the disappointment was compounded by the realization that the baby in his own house would soon be trying the same tricks. Anyway, the girls had a wonderful time playing with their, hm, would they be second cousins, and I had a great time visiting with a friend who is also a cousin-in-law! Have I written that a couple times now? Even though Mr. T and I have been married now 7.5 years, I just still can't get over having actual cousins (even though they're in-laws - I've claimed them - all!). It was really fun and special being the only two grandchildren/nieces in our family, but it's fun to have cousins, too.

The peace and stillness out there was extraordinarily good for me - peace and stillness with five kids running around? Yes, really, truly. When I went out to start the car to leave, I heard the quiet and was able to take a deeper breath than I have in a long time (it seems I'm able to breathe differently in the country...I must be odd). I saw the sunset, obstructed by nothing other than a few trees and a clothesline. I heard roosters and a soft "woof" from a shockingly large, friendly dog. I saw an orange cat patroling the perimeter outside. Even inside, I could feel, as Jess described in a post on her blog (I don't know how to link things yet; I wouldn't do it without permission anyway, but she describes this better than I can, I believe), the history of those who lived there before this family, those who planted the trees, built the outbuildings, and dreamed of the farm that could be. It makes me so thankful that I grew up on such a spot of land and a little bit sad that I didn't realize the blessing it was at the time....as a child, I suppose, we assume everyone has what we have and take it for granted. I took another deep breath, thankful for the wonderful day with friends in a beautiful, quiet setting, and then loaded up the girls to head back to the lights and conveniences of the city.

Even More Fun!

Baby Mouse - loves destroying my storage cupboards, just like her big sister did at the same age. My favorite thing about this picture is the pair of boots she's wearing (shocking that my favorite thing isn't showing off the disastrously messy kitchen, eh? We're almost always messy, but we're also almost always quite sanitarily clean which is what counts, right?).

We have discovered the joy of eating snow.

Loving the piano, especially duets with her sister.

Pre-first big haircut!

Post-first big haircut. She was so excited to have it done that when Jill asked who should be first, Miss Mouse or Mommy, she emphatically stated "I will go first!"

Fun comparisons. I am having a grand ole' time dressing these little gals!

Similar but different.

Thank you for humoring me in my "baby mouse comparisons". I just can't think of anything more fun!!! It's just awesome to see how similar, yet different, these girls are in every way - looks, personality, everything. Similar yet different and totally each their own little person.

Just for Fun

Thanks to some tips from one of my cousin-in-laws, I've been having lots of fun with photos lately. I'm nowhere near as talented and proficient at it as she is, but it's really been fun to play!

She's not sad; she's contemplative. Really, truly. She was contemplating the fact that it was her mommy's 30th birthday....

A rare serious shot of this one.

Siblings

We've had a remarkably easy adjustment to having a baby in the household, at least an easy adjustment on Miss Mouse's part. However, I do think they are starting to become full-fledged siblings, complete with a little bit of rivalry which is probably just fine. Miss Mouse has made a few comments to me lately that indicate this is the case. As Baby Mouse becomes more and more mobile, nearly walking really, it is getting more and more challenging for Miss Mouse to be the kind older sister she has always been. There's no doubt that she will continue to be such and that they will remain each others' best little chums, but these are the comments that have been made lately:

1. "You should feed me to sleep tonight, Mommy" - Miss Mouse, last night, after which we discussed the way she used to like to go to sleep as a baby (she never ate to sleep; she rocked). The discussion seemed to help a lot.
2. "I want Baby Mouse to go to the hospital" - Miss Mouse. "Oh, no! We wouldn't want that! What should she go to the hospital for?" - Me. "I want her to go back in your tummy." - Miss Mouse, at lunch today. Hence another discussion about babies only being able to be in a mommy's tummy once, followed by some discussion about how sometimes life seemed easier when Baby Mouse lived in my tummy compared to when she is out crawling around at our house. Again, the discussion seemed to help.

Miss Mouse and I are making Christmas present projects together, whenever Baby Mouse happens to nap, which isn't often. I think that Miss Mouse and I might also do something special together tomorrow. Initially I had thought we'd perhaps take in the Christmas tea at church, but now I'm thinking of a different plan....we'll see what works out best, but I think it is time we have some activities "sans Baby Mouse" to point out the benefits of being a little girl as opposed to a baby. It did impress me, however, that she wanted Baby Mouse to return to my tummy, not to cease to exist or to be left at the hospital with other people! That seems encouraging to me!

Sweet sisters they are and will be.

"Um, Gracious Jesus..."

Miss Mouse has been refusing to pray at bedtime for a few weeks. I just always ask, and if she says she doesn't want to, I don't force the issue. Last night, though, she decided she did want to pray. And pray, and pray, and pray. I started thinking it was seeming a lot like "stalling" for bedtime, so I told her she could continue to pray after I sang her her songs and went out of the room. She could pray as long as she wanted at that point, but we needed to sing the songs. She sighed and said she had one more prayer. I kept my mouth closed and shortly heard this:
"Um, Gracious Jesus, we thank you for our most adorable baby. We pray she has a gooooood baff. Gooood night seep. Wake up wested and amen." Thank goodness I kept my mouth shut. I should add that I have never, ever begun a prayer with "Gracious Jesus"; that's all hers.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I can't help starting with a few more "Mouse-isms".

*"Look at me flying over the countryside!!!" on the swing in the backyard.

*"Pastor Stephie said her cousin doesn't fold towels right. She showed her how to fold towels the right way. Pastor Stephie knows how to fold towels." This didn't come until the Sunday after Stephanie's sermon on being a woman of God. The point of the towel illustration was that Stephanie wanted her husband's (not cousin's!) help folding towels but then decided he wasn't doing it right and had to be told how to do it correctly. It was a self-effacing illustration to show how women need to let things go at a certain point. I guess it really made a point to Miss Mouse! She thinks "Pastor Stephie" is about the coolest thing, so it's possible any and all illustrations used by Stephanie will make lasting impressions on Miss Mouse.

Actually, I was very impressed that she was holding onto a sermon that she'd heard over a week ago; I'm big into having my children in church with me, not at the nursery, so it's extremely encouraging to realize that she is getting something out of church. I've never questioned that children do "get something out of church", and, in fact, I believe they add a lot to church, as well. However, I'm in a minority with that opinion, it seems, and it was just incredibly reinforcing for me as I continue to sweat my way through services with the three of us spread out in a pew strewn with snacks and "quiet" books and toys. That sentence from Miss Mouse was exactly what I needed, especially as Baby Mouse is entering a more, um, "active" stage of church attending.

*This one isn't a saying, but it was another sweet moment. Again, it involves church, but, so goes our life, eh? As the offering plate was passed last Sunday, Miss Mouse saw other people dropping in their welcome cards (it was the way for people to sign up for participating in the church decorating night next week). As the plate was passed by us, I reached for it, but Miss Mouse put her little hands up, stopped the plate, and popped in her welcome card. She looked at me with a very proud smile.

To explain why the last two incidents above were so incredibly encouraging last Sunday, I should explain more about the day. It happens that we were late to church (well, we followed Mr. T and the other pastors in, so for me, that's late) and had slim pickins as far as seating options. Everyone sits on the edge of the pews (especially when you're the one last in looking for a spot, it seems like everyone is on the edge)! The only place we could sneak in without tripping over anyone was a pew fairly far to the front (which doesn't bother me really) next to a couple that are fairly well-known for not believing children should be in church. That obviously bothers me and, though I really do like the couple an awful lot and have had several great visits with them, I was terribly nervous to sit by them with my pair of Mice. Good thing I remembered deoderant!

There are few words for how proud I was of Miss Mouse for sitting reading her bulletin through most of the service and then having a quiet Cheerio (actually Whole O's, with the dietary restrictions right now) snack during the sermon. It blew me out of the water when she popped in the welcome card. After the service the woman we were sitting next to complimented me on my beautiful girls who were so well-behaved during church; she had nearly fallen off the pew laughing at the welcome card incident; so I'm encouraged to think that she and her husband saw my girls and perhaps saw a glimmer of how important it is to have children in church. Miss Mouse didn't learn how to participate in a church service by playing in a nursery. It's fine for the parents that do take their children there; I don't have a problem with it, but I do have a problem with being such an "odd duck" because I don't take my kids there! My hope and prayer is that the little Mice will soften hearts toward children in worship simply by being there and being their sweet selves.

Last Sunday as a whole was a wonderful day. Not only did Miss Mouse silently preach a sermon on children in church, but we were welcomed by two older women behind us after the service and invited down to coffee!! It was nearing Baby Mouse's naptime which meant we declined, but the ladies helped Miss Mouse with her coat, helped me wrestle Baby Mouse into her carseat, and were really, truly interested in me and the Mice. True interest is something I don't experience a whole lot in a very large area anymore (comparatively anyway), so it is precious and appreciated when it is present. When we got home, Miss Mouse worked on a Thanksgiving project, listing things she is thankful for on a turkey we drew in an outline of her hand. I love these projects! On my turkey I wrote "Mr. T, Baby Mouse, Miss Mouse, Hubert"; on her turkey she had me write "sunglasses, watch, Mickey, outside shoes" - we'll have to work on that a bit in the coming years!

As Thanksgiving rolls around yet again, I find myself increasingly thankful each day for the love of a husband who is pulled in way too many directions and yet strives continually to keep his family at the top of the priority list; the love of a toddler who strokes my hair and sings to me, who nurses her baby doll (and, for that matter, her stuffed kitten), who 'teaches' her doll to wave at plants in the same way I'm teaching her baby sister, and who says "sure (sir!)" way more often than can be expected of a two-year-old; the love of a baby who smiles almost continually, who has no fear - crawling alone into her large, empty carseat box in the living room or into dark rooms to search out adventure, who continues to nurse to sleep at 9.5 months old, who doesn't sleep through the night but who basically just wants either to play and have a good time or to nurse and cuddle if she's up, who grins so wide that her dimple shows, who looks just like my Dad when she's serious (complete with the ears he and I share!) and just like my Grandpa Don and Auntie Linda when she smiles; and the love of family and friends who, incredibly, wound up throwing me two surprise thirtieth birthday parties, who celebrate with me on occasions like that and who have been with and put up with me on other occasions where life was at its worst. It's a very blessed person who can write that paragraph. Blessed and thankful. Happy Thanksgiving.

Sweetest Things

Every stage that the girls hit is my favorite. Every time I think it can't get better, it does. These are some phrases heard around our house lately:
*"Ooohhh! It's a clean baby!" upon seeing Mr. T bring Baby Mouse out after a bath this weekend. Apparently she was extraordinarily dirty before the bath???
*"Where are you? Where are you, Baby?" anytime her sister is not in her line of sight.
*"The newspastor tells us what the weather is like" emphasis on the "p" there.
*"There's a snowflake! And another! And another! And another! And another!" as we drove on a Christmas-light-decorated street Friday night.

The highlight of it all was last night putting her to bed. I always sing three songs of her choice; last night she asked me to lay by her to sing. I complied, and she looked me in the eyes and said "tonight, I will sing to you". Okay, sure. She proceeds to sing, to the best of her ability, I Love to Tell the Story. Then she says, "I will sing the Mama, Mama song." Not being sure what that was, I got curious. Apparently it is "Mama, Mama is beautiful" over and over to the tune of Jesus Loves Me. Life doesn't get much better.

Waving and Other Noteworthy Accomplishments

Showing Mr. Food her clean plate.
Happy Birthday, Mommy. That's right. One of the accomplishments around here has been turning 30....an accomplishment for one of us, anyway.

Pulling herself up for the first time. It was great having the camera ready! Since then she pulls herself up all over the place and then proceeds to flop down. If she flops on her bum, she's okay unless she flops hard which seems to irritate her gums (that's how hard she flops). If she flops on her shoulder or back, we have tears. Learning to crawl and learning to stand are so hard on the body (and on the mommy!).

One of the favorite places to do pull-ups is the front door. Baby Mouse loves spying on Ken and Carroll. I have a feeling this is going to get really entrenched now, too, since I saw Ken putting up his Christmas lights today. There's not much better than pulling-up and looking at Christmas lights!

Baby Mouse crawled her way over to a plant yesterday, looked at it as if to contemplate taking a big bite, and then waved at it. Just like Miss Mouse and I have been teaching her! Oh, what a proud Mommy and what a proud older sister we were! Miss Mouse shrieked, "See's waving, Mommy! See's waving at de plant!!" Fun stuff around these parts!

In other news, Baby Mouse weighs 17 pounds, 5 ounces now at 9 months and is 28.5 inches long. She's on track to be a string bean like her older sister.

Happy Halloween!

The pumpkin on the left is Baby Mouse's. It has teeth to match hers. The pumpkin on the right is the creation of Miss Mouse. She picked the shapes for Daddy to cut into the pumpkin. Hence, the angst-ridden look. The tiny one Miss Mouse is examining was created for yours truly! It has a heart followed by M - O - M. My heart melted.

Winnie the Pooh and our toddler-pumpkin. The poor toddler, for the second year in a row, wound up with a rotten pumpkin. Last year, we just told her that hers was the one we had already carved. At 18 months, she didn't really care, other than that she thought it was pretty funny the pumpkin was "peeewwwy". This year, she insisted that we carve a pumpkin for Baby Mouse first, so we did. When Mr. T cut into Miss Mouse's pumpkin and found it was, again, "peewwwy", he just couldn't take it. Off to the grocery store he drove. Unfortunately, between 3:30, when I bought the two initial pumpkins, and 7:30, when he was after the replacement pumpkin, they had sold out. He called me from way down south at a different grocery store and said if they didn't have one there, he would work his way north and find one. He was one determined Daddy! Thankfully, his second stop had this lop-sided beast, but he picked up the tiny one as backup in case the beast was rotten, too. That's how I ended up getting a pumpkin in my honor. I heard giggles coming from the kitchen as they carved Miss Mouse's shape choices into her beast of a pumpkin (I was feeding Baby Mouse for the night), and then I heard some hushed voices which must have been the carving of the Momkin.

Mmmm.....squishy! From three pumpkins we harvested two cups of seeds. Not great, but it was a fun endeavor!

Our little toothy baby.

The beginning of the top teeth.

This probably shows how funny it is right now to see Baby Mouse with that one big front tooth hanging down! The ones next to it on either side are in as well, but they aren't really visible yet.

Fall Fun

Freezing temperatures brought sweet, purple carrots. I had to let her savor one fresh from the garden, er, pot.
Yes, that's right! She's a moose! Hunter extraordinaire (i.e., Mr. T) got his moose three hours into the season, two miles north of my parents place with the assistance of the state's Best Moose Guide (i.e., my Dad) . We left home at 9:54 p.m. Thursday, October 1, arriving at the farm at 5:45 a.m. Friday, October 2. Moose Hunter Extraordinaire slept for a few hours and then headed out for his hunt. Who knew it would be so short? It was great to have the availability of a tractor and trailor to haul the massive cow back to my parents' machine shed for processing. In addition to being a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Mr. T, he also has the distinction of shooting the first (legal) moose in Ambrose Township as it was just opened for moose hunting this year. Miss Mouse was super excited to see the moose, which she had been looking for through the night on our trip to the farm (yes, she was supposed to be sleeping but kept looking for the moose to "pet him"). When she got over to see Madam Moose, the reaction was as follows: "Oooohhh! Moose has an owie! Moose has a big, red owie. Moose is sleeping on the tractor. Moose will rest. Then Moose will feel better." Um, yeah. Since moose is technically (I'm told) considered venison, we have decided that the 300 pounds of meat in our freezer is definitely, certainly venison. Even the Great Hunter Himself didn't want to explain to our sweet, sensitive two-year-old that no, the moose won't feel better, we will eat her. Ugh.

We were able to spend more than a week at the farm, so Miss Mouse enjoyed many tractor rides with Grandpa, and both Mice had much fun time with Grammy, Great Grandma Muriel, Auntie Laura and her menagerie of animals (Louie the rabbit, Jewel the horse, and Baby Mew-Mew the new stray kitten....), Auntie Laura's friend Jon, Great Auntie Linda, Great Auntie Karen, and Great Uncle Bill. The Mice even got to stop at Great Auntie Karen and Great Uncle Bill's store; I love the smell of leather and animal feed, probably due to the Williston Saddlery always sort of being a magical place to me. Hey, they have a life-size horse! There aren't many more magical things than that for a small girl!!

Baby Mouse is willing to taste test some solid food.

Baby Mouse is not pleased. "What were you thinking, Mommy?!"

The girls and I had a fun visit to the lake to do fall pictures with Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Dick. We were only there about 24 hours, but we packed in an awful lot of fun, including a ride on a golf cart!

My hat models. Anyone want one? A hat, I mean. The Mice are not for sale.

The dress says, fittingly, "Daddy's Little Dear".

Good friends from Enderlin shared some of their harvest with us. We enjoyed cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, and a pumpkin.

Have I mentioned we love matching clothes around here?

The Synod's Youngest Traditionalist

On evenings when Mr. T is at work, of which there have been many lately, I sometimes use the piano as a distraction for restless Mice. The other night I was playing a "concert" with Baby Mouse cooing and squealing in the background as she usually does the moment I touch the keys. She bounces on her little hind end "dancing" so hard she sometimes tips over. Pretty cute.

That night, though, Miss Mouse added some requests. First, The God Song known to most people as How Great Thou Art. Next, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Baa Baa Black Sheep, etc. Then she asked me to start just playing random songs out of the "cranberry" hymnal. Sure. No problem. No problem, that is, until I began playing a more contemporary song with sort of a "campish" beat to it - "Stop! Stop! Stop it!!! Not that one! This one!" Miss Mouse made her preferences known clearly as she turned the page to a much more traditional old hymn. How she knew she had chosen an old hymn, I have no idea, but she definitely did not appreciate the "camp" type songs that I attempted. She does seem to like the contemporary worship at church just as well as the traditional (which we have attended the past two Sundays - she loves the organ, and though I suppose I shouldn't admit it, I love the bit of a more close-knit feel to the group.....).

Perhaps we will rule out camp counselor as a potential college summer job for that one; Baby Mouse might be another story.....

Bits & Pieces

Daddy's girl.

We've had quite the couple of weeks around here. I'll start with some cute phrases Miss Mouse has started to use. She's into a new phase of language development, too; I've noticed that she adds "ed" to almost every word now - hurt"ed", buy"ed" - she's trying to figure out the "rules", and I just think it is absolutely awesome that she figures them each out without me correcting her at all! I just repeat things like "oh, yes, we bought that at the store", and I know she'll pick up on it at some point! She picked up on the I/me distinction in the same way. Such fun stuff. Here are some of the recent sayings:

*Upon noticing that Baby Mouse was getting a bit fussy on the floor the other night, Miss Mouse translated, "She's saying 'Help me, Mommy! Please help me, Mommy!'"

*At the grocery store: "Somebody put an onion on the potatoes! That's kinda weird!"

*Ending every pretend phone call on her old phone from my parents: "Yep. You bet!" She picked that one up from Daddy and his frequent cell phone phrases.

*In response to our chiropractor asking her yesterday how she was doing: "I am not doing very good (she'll pick up on the correct use of well/good, too)." She probably wasn't doing well as she fell off the slide in the backyard onto her head and shoulder two weeks ago (we reference this fall often because it happened when she refused to listen to my repeated warnings against climbing the slide the wrong way....we use a lot of "you didn't listen to Mommy and got hurt, so now you should listen, right?"....I'm a stickler on the slide thing because when I was about 8 I saw a little girl fall off and get hurt very, very badly).

In the midst of developing language, she's also learning about an entirely new eating system. We found out last week that she is sensitive to a great many foods: wheat, gluten, rye, eggs, all dairy, casein, whey, and to a lesser extent peanuts, almonds, soy, citrus fruits. We've been dealing with some intenstinal issues for about a year, and we were at a loss as to what else to try. Believe me, you name it, we tried it. We're thankful that we were able to have these tests done and find these sensitivities before fighting with this problem any longer. Hopefully cutting out these foods will make a big difference for her. We're very hopeful that in six months, when she is retested for sensitivities, that her little body will have healed enough that we will be able to tell to what she is truly sensitive. We were told that it is highly unlikely that she is actually sensitive to all these food groups; instead, she is showing sensitivity because she is so inflamed and irritated right now. So, there is some hope that we will "only" have to deal with one or two or even three sensitivities in the long run instead of what we're dealing with right now. I'm learning new recipes and cooking styles, and we are really learning to eat without cheese! That's a real trick for us!

Last Sunday was "Rally Sunday" here, so the flurry of activity has started up again here. Wedding season keeps summers fairly busy, but without the two mid-week worship services and two mid-week Bible studies that Mr. T is involved with, it keeps things a little lighter. This year, they've added a third mid-week worship service; the girls and I are trying hard to adjust to this new schedule. I'm sure it's as hard for Mr. T to be away from his girls (the smaller two at least!) as it is for them to have him away. Seeing the girls for 30 minutes a day from Sunday to Sunday this week is getting pretty rough for all involved. He's hopeful that there will be some break-time on Friday and bit on Saturday, as well, but we're also mindful that he is "on call" for the weekend and has a wedding Friday, one Saturday, and a wild game feed for men on Sunday. Yipes!

I suppose this schedule is particularly hard for me to understand because I was raised on a farm where families, children and wives, were often directly involved in the careers of the fathers/husbands. It's not necessarily that my dad worked fewers hours than Mr. T; it's just that I was able to see him basically whenever I wanted - ride on the tractor, ride on the combine, ride in the truck, tag along for animal chores, take suppers to the field, etc. Growing up, I also saw rural ministry where families of pastors were also very connected to their congregations; I quickly learned things are different in larger congregations. It's not a complaint - things are just very different for pastors' families in a congregation of 10,000 members than in a congregation for 500 - sometimes that is good and sometimes that is not. Thankfully we see the wonderful work that God is doing through Mr. T's ministry and try to remember that when we're separated so much during weeks like this! Miss Mouse is already proud of her Daddy; she and Baby Mouse couldn't ask for a better one.

In the words of Miss Mouse, "There's the little mousey!"



They look good, don't they?!

Who knew a six-foot-two man and a three-foot girl could fit together in a barrel train?! They had a great ride! He tried to get out of it twice, asking Miss Mouse 'would you rather have Mommy?' The repeated, emphatic answer was "Daddy! Not Mommy!" The Mice know what they want at an early age, I guess, and in this case, Miss Mouse got exactly what she wanted - a train ride with Daddy!

Goodbye (Official) Summer!

Cousin Christina's wedding - can you tell I love matching clothes??? Thanks, Grandma K.

Our pursuits on hot days.

Baby Mouse loves her swimming suit and sitting in the kiddie "tub pool".

There's an identical picture to this one from last year at this time.


She's just giddy about chopping turkey with Grammy!


Baby Mouse enjoying the baby swing and looking surprisingly like her sister in the same hat.

Playin' at the park.

Miss Mouse on her test flight!

Having fun at the lake.

The girls both love that Baby Mouse has a highchair now. Miss Mouse questioned "Can she sit right by me?". She now, at each meal, asks "Can she join me?". We hope this attitude lasts on both their parts!

Update to a picture from when Baby Mouse was about 6 weeks.

Stroller buddies.

We've been running like mad until just as of late, enjoying the last of our 'official' summer activities....weddings, lake time, farm time, park time, stroller rides, etc. Hopefully many of these activities will continue long on into the autumn, but, as we've been hearing, this is the last official summer weekend.