We're entering into Roman history with our Story of the World book this week. I ordered a few library books to supplement our SOTW reading. While we were at the library, Sunny saw me checking out one about the ten worst things about living in the Roman Empire and asked what it was about. I just said, "Rome". Well, at lunch, she told Miss Mouse that she wanted to read "that book about Jerome" after lunch. She was very thoughtful while we began reading her chosen book, and finally, she said, "I thought you said this was about someone named Jerome, but it must be about the city of Rome?".
Well, continuing on with my Roman theme, the girls learned a bit - a very, very little bit - about gladiators today. Basically, we talked about that they were invited to a huge feast the day before they were to fight, and that the people giving the feast got a kick out of knowing that half the gladiators would probably be dead the next day. Sick. We also talked about how once the gladiator raised a finger of his left hand to beg for mercy, the emperor either put his thumb up, meaning the gladiator lived, or his thumb down, meaning the gladiator died. Sick, again. The girls were pretty grossed out and kept repeating how glad they are to live now instead of back then. It was a mantra through the day.
But then after supper, we turned the tv on. This is a rare occasion in our house; usually the 7 o'clock hour is reading hour, but I was completely fried from poor little Manly fussing for 15 hours nearly straight (of course, today was the day he had his 3 month photos at the mall....which I sort of wish I'd never started and just had always done myself...but I digress....). So, I tentatively let the tv stay on past Wheel of Fortune. The kids had taken my kindle to Mighty's room to watch Mr. Rogers during Wheel, so they were surprised to find the box still glowing when they came out. Incidentally, they put Mighty in his crib and watch it that way so that he's "contained"....they also shut the light off for a more realistic "movie theater" experience. Anyway, America's Got Talent was the 7 o'clock show tonight, and it got me thinking. The girls and I had all been fairly self-righteously horrified that people back in Roman times found it entertaining and edifying to watch other humans kill each other or be killed. It's horrific. It's sick. It's horrid. It's wrong.
Then, on my television, in front of millions of viewers, a 12-year-old little boy broke down in tears because he and his partner, a 12-year-old little girl with braces and a squeaky, baby voice, had messed up on their dance routine. Messed up on the routine they worked on six hours a day, six days a week. Little Girl squeaked out, "I know we messed up. But I, well, I hope they....I hope they still like us. Um, maybe they didn't see?", which is when Little Boy burst into tears. And right then two sets of big eyes turned to me and asked if those kids didn't know that the winning wasn't the most important thing. If they didn't know that just performing and making others happy by showing them a beautiful dance was the point of it all. Oh, girls. It's you who don't know, I'm afraid.
And I sort of wanted to hang my head in shame. Because even though we don't watch others slaughter each other physically anymore, we still hang on every word and every tear and every heart-wrenching sob story of reality tv. We really aren't that different than the Romans. I't's just that we don't want to watch the physical body be killed. We want to watch the spirit die.
Of course there's the argument that the story of the winner will be the story of a hero. The story of someone fighting his or her way up from the bottom, working their hind end off, and pulling himself or herself up by the bootstraps. I get that. I cry happy tears with the winner, too.
But I also feel a twinge of sadness when a couple of bands choose to do original songs and are met with comments like, "Oh (say it with the same inflection you'd give "eeww"). An original. Humph. You know THAT'S a risk, right?" or, after the heartfelt performance, "So, now you've done an original...do you think it worked for you?". I know musicians and artists, and I know they put their live hearts out on a platter when they present original works. At least one of these particular original songs was quite good, too, but congratulating people for their hard work, giving some constructive feedback, and cheering them on to higher heights just must not pull in ratings, I suppose. *Sigh* After those bands performed, the girls asked why the judges seemed not to like anyone's songs and commented that even though each band sounded a little different, they all sounded nice. Maybe the world wouldn't work if everyone saw life through children's eyes, but I'm just going to enjoy this time before they realize that "second place is just the first loser". I spent most of my teenage and young twenties believing that, to the point of feeling ashamed of the marathon time I achieved while running with separated rib cartilage. It's refreshing to be around people who don't think that way, or who at least don't think that way yet. People who really don't want to see the physical - or spiritual - slaying of others.*
*If you love America's Got Talent, I mean no offense. I'm probably overtired and overanalyzing the whole thing, but the parallel between the Roman gladiators and our modern-day obsession with kicking people off shows just grabbed me today.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Hickory Smoke
We're looking at - hoping to? - thinking about? - planning to? - remodeling our kitchen. Miss Mouse has picked out her favorite countertop swatch; it isn't the favorite of the adults, but it is called "hickory smoke". Just keep this in mind while reading about our day.
The morning began with me laying Manly Mouse back in his crib after apparently snuggling him. I don't remember when he came in for a snuggle; normally I have a really strange ability to glance at the clock and remember exact times (i.e., "Manly was up last night at 3:14 and 5:23"). My sister says it's weird, but it's how my brain works. Well, the clock is currently plugged into the outlet attached to the light switch, so we're footloose and fancy free at 3:14 a.m. and have no idea what time it is. It must be having this fourth baby has made me loosen up because I would NEVER have been okay with a bedroom where I didn't have immediate access to a clock before we had Manly. To be honest, I still prefer to have the clock available, and I have my phone by the bed to check in case Sunny wakes up at a ridiculous hour. But having to look on my phone for a clock is a really huge step for me. Anyway, I put Manly back in his crib, and somehow made it out to the living room to snuggle Sunny in the recliner. The ticking, analog clock in the living room told me it was close to 7, but my eyes couldn't focus. So, I just kept leaning over on Sunny and cuddling up to her, essentially using her as a pillow. As I drifted in and out of wakefulness, I could hear her giggling at me and telling me I was making her "too warm, Mommy!". Mike was on the couch zonked out after another night of Mighty's nightmares, and I think Sunny was quite enjoying being the only conscious person in the room!
Somehow we got Miss Mouse off to dance camp on time, though I will admit it was the second day in a row that I drove her there in my pajamas.
We got out for our morning walk after dance, before the day heated up too high, and had a lovely time. There might not be much more pleasant than a walk with my kiddos down shady streets on a summer morning with a light, cool breeze blowing.
For perhaps the first time in 14 weeks, the boys napped at the same time this afternoon, and I was not needed to hold either one of them! I certainly don't mind rocking and snuggling, but it did feel good to get some organizing done in the basement with the girls while the boys napped. I'm trying to turn the spare room into a school room, and, though we have a long ways to go, we got an incredible start today.
Our evening was possibly the most interesting part of our day. We struck out on collecting milkweed for our butterfly jar, but we have high hopes that Mike can score us some tomorrow. There's a ton of it in the ditches north of town....but apparently 4:30 p.m. is NOT the time to go if you want to park alongside the road and inconspicuously pick ditch weeds. Note to self for future reference!
However, we did score ourselves the last parking spot anywhere near the art gallery downtown and had an incredible, amazing, super-fun time at the Community Art Evening (I can't remember the official title) tonight! It was spectacular. Really. Spectacular. We started off in one of the galleries where the girls helped hand-weave on a giant loom. The artist makes rug-like structures that are going to be used for something....not sure what, but they'd sure make great rugs. Well, if you want your guests to just stand in one place and squish their toes into your rug their whole visit. They're that soft and comfy. There were multiple woven pieces on the floor for display. While the girls were weaving with the artist - and they did this for a loooooong time since we were on the early side for the program which meant they didn't have to share this station with any other participants for quite some time - Mighty and I explored the other displays. He initially just wanted to touch the woven pieces, but they were so soft, he suddenly flopped himself down on one. When the artist heard my admonition to him that he needed to get up, she told him he could stay because "that's what they're for; they're supposed to be touched". He was thrilled and flopped backwards, laying down on one and telling her "bed! bed!". It was a pretty impressive compliment from a one-year-old, I think.
Another station he really liked was a map of the city. It was drawn partly on the floor and partly on the wall, and you were supposed to put a sticker on it for something special in town. I wanted to put one on the church's location for "a place where I feel spiritually connected", but with Mighty joyfully jumping all over the map, I wasn't able to concentrate closely enough to find the exact location. I thought it might be strange to put it a street or so off and end up saying I felt "spiritually connected" at the Loaf-n-Jug or something. So, we just jumped on the map and didn't add a sticker. So cool, though, that it was FOR jumping on and pointing to and touching. There aren't many galleries where one can take one's one-year-old and just let him go to town like that!! I think his favorite station was the marimbas made out of gourds. There were two mallets to hit them with, and he absolutely adored it. He sat in his stroller and made music, music, music!
By that time, Manly was awake from his catnap and wondering what the whole stalling thing was about. He prefers to move in the stroller! The girls were just finishing up making wire-art where they got to cut as much wire as they wanted from a giant roll and then turn it into a sculpture. Miss Mouse made a really large heart with circles hanging on it. It was cute and made me so proud of my little "I-must-have-rules-to-be-creative" child, because she came up with it without any ideas from anyone else or any instructions. Sunny, who I thought would love the station, got frustrated and decided to turn her butterfly into a caterpillar. She would have needed more time than Manly could have given her for that station, and I think she knew it.
So, after spending 35 minutes in the gallery, we headed out to the parking lot where there was a band warming up, a pick-a-cast-off-plate-and-paint-it art project, and an ice cream bicycle. Yes, I just wrote "ice cream bicycle". The sun had sunk below the buildings downtown by this point; the wind was just strong enough to keep any bugs away; and there was enough of a crowd to ensure the museum keeps offering these programs, but not enough that anyone was fighting over cast-off plates or paint for their palettes at all. It was gorgeous. Someday soon I'm going to start carrying my camera again. Maybe I couldn't have captured it well enough anyway. Manly was still awake and beginning to be unhappy, but when the music started, he sort of forgot that he was supposed to be fussy and teething. That gave the girls time to not feel rushed on their projects; Miss Mouse painted a plate, just the way I would have, with a few designs in an orderly fashion all around the rim. Sunny started with splotches of color all over the inside of her bowl.....then before I knew what happened, the splotches had merged together and swirled around and mixed together. The rim on the outside is sort of bleeding green, but the inside is completely covered in a mixture of colors. On first glance it might look random and impatiently messy, but it took each girl about the same amount of time to paint. I love seeing how their different personalities come out in their differently creative styles!
Mighty, for his part, also got a plate. He painted his diligently with orange paint, and it looks actually really "modern" and artsy. Or it looks like a one-year-old did it. I guess it depends on your mindset at the moment, but I was incredibly proud of my little guy who hasn't slept a solid night since Saturday and was getting ravenously hungry. He did a great job being patient and even participating.
Before we left, I just HAD to go over and look at the flavors of the ice cream. I had no intention of buying any because it was nearly six o'clock, but I'd never seen an ice cream bicycle. Wow. I'd also never seen flavors like: brown sugar bacon, white chocolate lemon, dark chocolate lavendar, salted caramel (okay, I've had that at Cherry Berry), pistachio (probably heard of that one before, too), rhubarb (yep, that's familiar), hickory smoked vanilla. So, not only were the flavors bizarre, but they were all push-ups! Do I live under a rock that I haven't been exposed to this stuff before? Quite possible. So, please stop laughing at me if the rest of the world has already experienced and become immune to a brown sugar bacon ice cream push-up. But since I'm not, I couldn't resist. The ice cream man assured me that I had 20-30 minutes before they turned to soup, so with the girls assent to help us get the car loaded ASAP, we bought four push-ups for dessert. Mike got brown sugar bacon (the look on his face when I presented it to him at home was PRICELESS....I wished my brother-in-law was in town because I think he'd have given me the same look); Sunny chose rhubarb, which she ended up not liking and "donating" to her Dad; I chose dark chocolate lavender (which I'll be eating one spoonful at a time so as to hopefully not upset Manly's tummy!); and Miss Mouse chose - gleefully - hickory smoke vanilla. I could not figure out why she looked like a canary-eating cat when she chose her flavor. Then she told me "Well, I figured since I've chosen Hickory Smoke as the countertop I love the most, and I won't be getting THAT, then I might as well get hickory smoke ice cream!!". Oh, sweet girl. And she loved it. LOVED it. I sampled a taste, as in half a spoonful, and nearly vomited. It tastes like sausage ice cream. She LOVED every bite.
Good thing. She's right that she won't be getting hickory smoke countertops. We're not sure if or when I'm going to get my "platinum" or "bella capri" countertops, either......but maybe I can find some ice cream with those names......hm!
The morning began with me laying Manly Mouse back in his crib after apparently snuggling him. I don't remember when he came in for a snuggle; normally I have a really strange ability to glance at the clock and remember exact times (i.e., "Manly was up last night at 3:14 and 5:23"). My sister says it's weird, but it's how my brain works. Well, the clock is currently plugged into the outlet attached to the light switch, so we're footloose and fancy free at 3:14 a.m. and have no idea what time it is. It must be having this fourth baby has made me loosen up because I would NEVER have been okay with a bedroom where I didn't have immediate access to a clock before we had Manly. To be honest, I still prefer to have the clock available, and I have my phone by the bed to check in case Sunny wakes up at a ridiculous hour. But having to look on my phone for a clock is a really huge step for me. Anyway, I put Manly back in his crib, and somehow made it out to the living room to snuggle Sunny in the recliner. The ticking, analog clock in the living room told me it was close to 7, but my eyes couldn't focus. So, I just kept leaning over on Sunny and cuddling up to her, essentially using her as a pillow. As I drifted in and out of wakefulness, I could hear her giggling at me and telling me I was making her "too warm, Mommy!". Mike was on the couch zonked out after another night of Mighty's nightmares, and I think Sunny was quite enjoying being the only conscious person in the room!
Somehow we got Miss Mouse off to dance camp on time, though I will admit it was the second day in a row that I drove her there in my pajamas.
We got out for our morning walk after dance, before the day heated up too high, and had a lovely time. There might not be much more pleasant than a walk with my kiddos down shady streets on a summer morning with a light, cool breeze blowing.
For perhaps the first time in 14 weeks, the boys napped at the same time this afternoon, and I was not needed to hold either one of them! I certainly don't mind rocking and snuggling, but it did feel good to get some organizing done in the basement with the girls while the boys napped. I'm trying to turn the spare room into a school room, and, though we have a long ways to go, we got an incredible start today.
Our evening was possibly the most interesting part of our day. We struck out on collecting milkweed for our butterfly jar, but we have high hopes that Mike can score us some tomorrow. There's a ton of it in the ditches north of town....but apparently 4:30 p.m. is NOT the time to go if you want to park alongside the road and inconspicuously pick ditch weeds. Note to self for future reference!
However, we did score ourselves the last parking spot anywhere near the art gallery downtown and had an incredible, amazing, super-fun time at the Community Art Evening (I can't remember the official title) tonight! It was spectacular. Really. Spectacular. We started off in one of the galleries where the girls helped hand-weave on a giant loom. The artist makes rug-like structures that are going to be used for something....not sure what, but they'd sure make great rugs. Well, if you want your guests to just stand in one place and squish their toes into your rug their whole visit. They're that soft and comfy. There were multiple woven pieces on the floor for display. While the girls were weaving with the artist - and they did this for a loooooong time since we were on the early side for the program which meant they didn't have to share this station with any other participants for quite some time - Mighty and I explored the other displays. He initially just wanted to touch the woven pieces, but they were so soft, he suddenly flopped himself down on one. When the artist heard my admonition to him that he needed to get up, she told him he could stay because "that's what they're for; they're supposed to be touched". He was thrilled and flopped backwards, laying down on one and telling her "bed! bed!". It was a pretty impressive compliment from a one-year-old, I think.
Another station he really liked was a map of the city. It was drawn partly on the floor and partly on the wall, and you were supposed to put a sticker on it for something special in town. I wanted to put one on the church's location for "a place where I feel spiritually connected", but with Mighty joyfully jumping all over the map, I wasn't able to concentrate closely enough to find the exact location. I thought it might be strange to put it a street or so off and end up saying I felt "spiritually connected" at the Loaf-n-Jug or something. So, we just jumped on the map and didn't add a sticker. So cool, though, that it was FOR jumping on and pointing to and touching. There aren't many galleries where one can take one's one-year-old and just let him go to town like that!! I think his favorite station was the marimbas made out of gourds. There were two mallets to hit them with, and he absolutely adored it. He sat in his stroller and made music, music, music!
By that time, Manly was awake from his catnap and wondering what the whole stalling thing was about. He prefers to move in the stroller! The girls were just finishing up making wire-art where they got to cut as much wire as they wanted from a giant roll and then turn it into a sculpture. Miss Mouse made a really large heart with circles hanging on it. It was cute and made me so proud of my little "I-must-have-rules-to-be-creative" child, because she came up with it without any ideas from anyone else or any instructions. Sunny, who I thought would love the station, got frustrated and decided to turn her butterfly into a caterpillar. She would have needed more time than Manly could have given her for that station, and I think she knew it.
So, after spending 35 minutes in the gallery, we headed out to the parking lot where there was a band warming up, a pick-a-cast-off-plate-and-paint-it art project, and an ice cream bicycle. Yes, I just wrote "ice cream bicycle". The sun had sunk below the buildings downtown by this point; the wind was just strong enough to keep any bugs away; and there was enough of a crowd to ensure the museum keeps offering these programs, but not enough that anyone was fighting over cast-off plates or paint for their palettes at all. It was gorgeous. Someday soon I'm going to start carrying my camera again. Maybe I couldn't have captured it well enough anyway. Manly was still awake and beginning to be unhappy, but when the music started, he sort of forgot that he was supposed to be fussy and teething. That gave the girls time to not feel rushed on their projects; Miss Mouse painted a plate, just the way I would have, with a few designs in an orderly fashion all around the rim. Sunny started with splotches of color all over the inside of her bowl.....then before I knew what happened, the splotches had merged together and swirled around and mixed together. The rim on the outside is sort of bleeding green, but the inside is completely covered in a mixture of colors. On first glance it might look random and impatiently messy, but it took each girl about the same amount of time to paint. I love seeing how their different personalities come out in their differently creative styles!
Mighty, for his part, also got a plate. He painted his diligently with orange paint, and it looks actually really "modern" and artsy. Or it looks like a one-year-old did it. I guess it depends on your mindset at the moment, but I was incredibly proud of my little guy who hasn't slept a solid night since Saturday and was getting ravenously hungry. He did a great job being patient and even participating.
Before we left, I just HAD to go over and look at the flavors of the ice cream. I had no intention of buying any because it was nearly six o'clock, but I'd never seen an ice cream bicycle. Wow. I'd also never seen flavors like: brown sugar bacon, white chocolate lemon, dark chocolate lavendar, salted caramel (okay, I've had that at Cherry Berry), pistachio (probably heard of that one before, too), rhubarb (yep, that's familiar), hickory smoked vanilla. So, not only were the flavors bizarre, but they were all push-ups! Do I live under a rock that I haven't been exposed to this stuff before? Quite possible. So, please stop laughing at me if the rest of the world has already experienced and become immune to a brown sugar bacon ice cream push-up. But since I'm not, I couldn't resist. The ice cream man assured me that I had 20-30 minutes before they turned to soup, so with the girls assent to help us get the car loaded ASAP, we bought four push-ups for dessert. Mike got brown sugar bacon (the look on his face when I presented it to him at home was PRICELESS....I wished my brother-in-law was in town because I think he'd have given me the same look); Sunny chose rhubarb, which she ended up not liking and "donating" to her Dad; I chose dark chocolate lavender (which I'll be eating one spoonful at a time so as to hopefully not upset Manly's tummy!); and Miss Mouse chose - gleefully - hickory smoke vanilla. I could not figure out why she looked like a canary-eating cat when she chose her flavor. Then she told me "Well, I figured since I've chosen Hickory Smoke as the countertop I love the most, and I won't be getting THAT, then I might as well get hickory smoke ice cream!!". Oh, sweet girl. And she loved it. LOVED it. I sampled a taste, as in half a spoonful, and nearly vomited. It tastes like sausage ice cream. She LOVED every bite.
Good thing. She's right that she won't be getting hickory smoke countertops. We're not sure if or when I'm going to get my "platinum" or "bella capri" countertops, either......but maybe I can find some ice cream with those names......hm!
Friday, July 18, 2014
Be Still
About five years ago, I remember writing a blog post by this title. It was focused on how little Sunny's constant need to be held and snuggled was forcing me to just "be still" and what an interesting and important experience that was. Apparently, though, I didn't learn much about being still because within a few months of her birth, I was back at my crazy-hectic pace of trying to start a home business making crocheted hats and other cutesie items while [thinking about] being a supportive wife to a hubby who worked 70+ hour weeks and a mama to two little girls. At the height of my craze, I was crocheting at least 21 hours per week, feeling the stress on my carpal tunnel area (which I know nothing about except how it feels when it is under duress!!), communicating with my husband either via snapping or random bursts of waterworks, feeling anxious and irritated with my girlies when they wouldn't/couldn't settle down for bed or naptimes when I needed them to so that I could pick up the ever-important crochet hook, attempting to bake every morsel of bread we ate by hand, and basically doing anything but being "still". Yeah, still was about the only thing I wasn't. Depressed? Check. Anxious? Check. Irritable? Check. Sad? Lonely? Isolated? Check, check, and check. Yep, unfortunately that lesson I thought I learned while holding little Sunny's tiny baby-body on my chest and catching any catnaps I could didn't last long. Once she started sleeping more than 45 minutes a shot, I took off like a shot, sure that it was of utmost importance to be something other than just these girls' mom and Mike's wife. And it felt really good to tell people that my creations were sold and such and such store in town, and it felt even better when such and such store called me to let me know I had a check waiting for items sold. Truly, if a person can run a home business and enjoy it, I will be the first to cheer for her (and probably buy her stuff!). But this perceived success was bringing anything but joy into our household. As the year 2009 spiraled downhill in professional stress for Mike, extreme sleeplessness for me and little Sunny, episodes of depression thrown in for both of us, and a confusing adjustment time for Miss Mouse, my pursuit of something "more" for my life was adding to the pile of stress threatening to bury us. It doesn't seem that I learned much about being still and knowing that God is God.
Fast forward five years, and here I sit most nights with another tiny child who loves to be rocked and held and snuggled and touched. This little boy is, if anything, perhaps MORE snuggly than his big sister! There are nights when, if he's fussy, I lay him on the couch or bed and put my cheek on his cheek.....and he settles. Sweet, sweet, sweet. BUT, it means that most of his naps are either: 1. in his car seat on our newly-instituted morning walk/bike ride, which is incredibly awesome and heart-warming and like a breath of fresh air to me to be able to get out with all four kiddos and enjoy our neighborhood and weather! or 2. in his car seat while we grocery shop, which has resulted in me actually shoplifting a tube of toothpaste when he woke up and cried pitifully (we went back in and paid for it when Miss Mouse realized we had walked out with it - that's how distracted I was - my seven year old had to notice and remind me!!!) or 3. in my arms as I pace through the house and watch the bigger kids play in the yard....without being able to play with them like I could if I could lay Baby Boy down. What is great, though, is that this time, I'm enjoying this! Whereas with Sunny, I contemplated the idea that she would really never sleep on her own without me holding her and got really stressed about it, with Manly I'm not worried that he'll still be napping in my arms when he's twenty. This time I am looking ahead to when I CAN lay him down in his crib and have some nap play time with the "big" kids while at the same time, I'm loving every minute of being pretty much the only person in the world who knows e.x.a.c.t.l.y how Manly Mouse likes being held. We're not doing much running this summer - physically or figuratively! We're quite "still", really, compared to how we usually squeeze in as many library program presentations as possible, spend time at the splash pad, head off to the park, or spend time at our parents' places (and we do miss all of these things!). This summer we're mostly doing lots of reading and playing in our own yard. And we're being still. And finding that it's wonderful in it's own way. Miss Mouse reads our evening devotion; she spends time in her bed in the morning reading a Bible she thinks she stole from our bedroom. Sunny and Miss Mouse slept together this week, and Sunny prayed her big sister to sleep. So, maybe, just maybe, these babies will learn about being still, breathing, exhaling sooner than their mama did. I'm so thankful for one more little baby to rock, one more time to be forced to slow down and just be.
Fast forward five years, and here I sit most nights with another tiny child who loves to be rocked and held and snuggled and touched. This little boy is, if anything, perhaps MORE snuggly than his big sister! There are nights when, if he's fussy, I lay him on the couch or bed and put my cheek on his cheek.....and he settles. Sweet, sweet, sweet. BUT, it means that most of his naps are either: 1. in his car seat on our newly-instituted morning walk/bike ride, which is incredibly awesome and heart-warming and like a breath of fresh air to me to be able to get out with all four kiddos and enjoy our neighborhood and weather! or 2. in his car seat while we grocery shop, which has resulted in me actually shoplifting a tube of toothpaste when he woke up and cried pitifully (we went back in and paid for it when Miss Mouse realized we had walked out with it - that's how distracted I was - my seven year old had to notice and remind me!!!) or 3. in my arms as I pace through the house and watch the bigger kids play in the yard....without being able to play with them like I could if I could lay Baby Boy down. What is great, though, is that this time, I'm enjoying this! Whereas with Sunny, I contemplated the idea that she would really never sleep on her own without me holding her and got really stressed about it, with Manly I'm not worried that he'll still be napping in my arms when he's twenty. This time I am looking ahead to when I CAN lay him down in his crib and have some nap play time with the "big" kids while at the same time, I'm loving every minute of being pretty much the only person in the world who knows e.x.a.c.t.l.y how Manly Mouse likes being held. We're not doing much running this summer - physically or figuratively! We're quite "still", really, compared to how we usually squeeze in as many library program presentations as possible, spend time at the splash pad, head off to the park, or spend time at our parents' places (and we do miss all of these things!). This summer we're mostly doing lots of reading and playing in our own yard. And we're being still. And finding that it's wonderful in it's own way. Miss Mouse reads our evening devotion; she spends time in her bed in the morning reading a Bible she thinks she stole from our bedroom. Sunny and Miss Mouse slept together this week, and Sunny prayed her big sister to sleep. So, maybe, just maybe, these babies will learn about being still, breathing, exhaling sooner than their mama did. I'm so thankful for one more little baby to rock, one more time to be forced to slow down and just be.
Friday, July 4, 2014
Some Days
Sometimes a day comes along that is just about as close to perfect as can be. I'm feeling that way tonight. Happy Independence Day!
As I write, two overly-excited girls are enjoying a firework show with their Daddy. Next year, I've booked them in for a date with me. I realized yesterday that since 2007, I've spent all but one summer either pregnant or nursing. That realization made me smile. I'm content here at home, doing dishes, folding some laundry, blogging a bit, and maybe reading a tiny little bit of a wonderful new book that kept me up way too late last night. I'm content for this year and am so incredibly thankful for the privilege of holding another tiny baby, of clipping teeny, tiny fingernails, reveling in wide baby smiles, walking the floor because I know exactly how that little guy likes to get comfortable when he's not. Yet, I'm looking forward to seeing the firework show again next year. Then, in the next years, I'm so very, very excited to share these shows with our whole family!
But today, I set out to make this particular Independence Day as fun and exciting as possible. The girls would have loved to head out to our historical society in town for the afternoon, but I wasn't ready to have little Manly hang out for something that exciting (stimulating) yet. He still has fussy periods, and I pictured us stuck out there with no way to get home except with a baby so upset he nearly screamed himself to vomit in his carseat. That didn't seem like my idea of a fun Fourth for any of us. So, we stayed home. Still, I thought we should make it special.
First order of the day was to freeze red and blue ice cubes. I used white grape juice, which I regretted the minute I poured them and remembered that juice wouldn't freeze very hard. They actually turned out just fine, though! If the girls liked seltzer water, that was the pinterest recommendation. I don't often follow directions, though, so I was pleased to see that the girls' smiles were miles wide when they saw their dessert drink from supper. Dessert was frozen watermelon popsicles cut into star shapes. The girls helped me (well, Mike took over when Manly needed his mama) make them this morning, so they were also specially excited about these popsicle treats. Mike grilled burgers, to order, for supper, and we enjoyed a very-Fancy-Nancy salad, if I do say so myself (and I do!) of mixed greens from our CSA, feta cheese, toasted pecans, cucumbers, also from our CSA, and juneberries from our YARD and picked by Sunny! It was Yummy; notice the capital Y is intentional! Miss Mouse kept saying, "Mommy, you've made this the best holiday ever!", and then Sunny would echo. Their smiles would have been enough, but those words melted my heart.
Being likely the biggest pinterest project failure anyone could find, it's hard to describe how much it means that those two little girls - and even Mighty, who begged (successfully) to be included in the "bwue" ice cubes - actually enjoyed ideas I found and attempted. That their grape juice turned a dark purple was, for them, just a fun review lesson in color combination. That one of the watermelon stars broke apart during creation was just a chance to see if you could patch it together and freeze it that way. Their sweet, positive outlooks leave me shaking my head at how I could have been blessed with this "job" of being their mama!
Now, the above paragraphs don't mention the unexpected floor vacuuming and washing that occurred after breakfast when Sunny enthusiastically announced that she could peel grapes (and said peel somehow ended up on the floor....), or the removal of a favorite toddler toy from the living room because two school-age sisters couldn't stop fighting over it, or the screaming, starving tot who just could.not.possibly sit for an Independence Day photo before he had lunch, or the baby who fussed within three minute everytime I laid him down for a nap this morning because every.single.time he needed a dirty diaper, or the two girls who came crashing into the house for ice packs because they'd clunked heads when pushing each other on the swingset (in a friendly manner, thankfully!). But somedays, like today, those things all seem to fit themselves into proper perspective as road bumps that provide opportunities for teaching and for showering these littles with grace and forgiveness. Days like this remind me of how easily they will show others that grace if only they are shown how. If they feel it, they will show it, share it. I wish I were better at it, and I surely wish I could keep spilled grapes in perspective every day. We're getting there, though, and even in our failures, we're learning to love others. Today, though, was a treat. Happy Fourth of July!
As I write, two overly-excited girls are enjoying a firework show with their Daddy. Next year, I've booked them in for a date with me. I realized yesterday that since 2007, I've spent all but one summer either pregnant or nursing. That realization made me smile. I'm content here at home, doing dishes, folding some laundry, blogging a bit, and maybe reading a tiny little bit of a wonderful new book that kept me up way too late last night. I'm content for this year and am so incredibly thankful for the privilege of holding another tiny baby, of clipping teeny, tiny fingernails, reveling in wide baby smiles, walking the floor because I know exactly how that little guy likes to get comfortable when he's not. Yet, I'm looking forward to seeing the firework show again next year. Then, in the next years, I'm so very, very excited to share these shows with our whole family!
But today, I set out to make this particular Independence Day as fun and exciting as possible. The girls would have loved to head out to our historical society in town for the afternoon, but I wasn't ready to have little Manly hang out for something that exciting (stimulating) yet. He still has fussy periods, and I pictured us stuck out there with no way to get home except with a baby so upset he nearly screamed himself to vomit in his carseat. That didn't seem like my idea of a fun Fourth for any of us. So, we stayed home. Still, I thought we should make it special.
First order of the day was to freeze red and blue ice cubes. I used white grape juice, which I regretted the minute I poured them and remembered that juice wouldn't freeze very hard. They actually turned out just fine, though! If the girls liked seltzer water, that was the pinterest recommendation. I don't often follow directions, though, so I was pleased to see that the girls' smiles were miles wide when they saw their dessert drink from supper. Dessert was frozen watermelon popsicles cut into star shapes. The girls helped me (well, Mike took over when Manly needed his mama) make them this morning, so they were also specially excited about these popsicle treats. Mike grilled burgers, to order, for supper, and we enjoyed a very-Fancy-Nancy salad, if I do say so myself (and I do!) of mixed greens from our CSA, feta cheese, toasted pecans, cucumbers, also from our CSA, and juneberries from our YARD and picked by Sunny! It was Yummy; notice the capital Y is intentional! Miss Mouse kept saying, "Mommy, you've made this the best holiday ever!", and then Sunny would echo. Their smiles would have been enough, but those words melted my heart.
Being likely the biggest pinterest project failure anyone could find, it's hard to describe how much it means that those two little girls - and even Mighty, who begged (successfully) to be included in the "bwue" ice cubes - actually enjoyed ideas I found and attempted. That their grape juice turned a dark purple was, for them, just a fun review lesson in color combination. That one of the watermelon stars broke apart during creation was just a chance to see if you could patch it together and freeze it that way. Their sweet, positive outlooks leave me shaking my head at how I could have been blessed with this "job" of being their mama!
Now, the above paragraphs don't mention the unexpected floor vacuuming and washing that occurred after breakfast when Sunny enthusiastically announced that she could peel grapes (and said peel somehow ended up on the floor....), or the removal of a favorite toddler toy from the living room because two school-age sisters couldn't stop fighting over it, or the screaming, starving tot who just could.not.possibly sit for an Independence Day photo before he had lunch, or the baby who fussed within three minute everytime I laid him down for a nap this morning because every.single.time he needed a dirty diaper, or the two girls who came crashing into the house for ice packs because they'd clunked heads when pushing each other on the swingset (in a friendly manner, thankfully!). But somedays, like today, those things all seem to fit themselves into proper perspective as road bumps that provide opportunities for teaching and for showering these littles with grace and forgiveness. Days like this remind me of how easily they will show others that grace if only they are shown how. If they feel it, they will show it, share it. I wish I were better at it, and I surely wish I could keep spilled grapes in perspective every day. We're getting there, though, and even in our failures, we're learning to love others. Today, though, was a treat. Happy Fourth of July!
Monday, June 30, 2014
Lemonade
The girls have talked about having a lemonade stand now for two summers. Perhaps because as a child I put so much effort and hope into my own lemonade stands and had very little success, I didn't act on their excitement until now. There were always excuses - we're too busy; it's too hot; it's too windy; it's too cold, etc.
Lately, though, I've been feeling convicted of times when I brush their dreams aside, even when they are seemingly "small" dreams, like having a lemonade stand. Right now, there's a legitimate excuse who has made life incredibly busy, difficult to balance, and more than a little bit hectic. Actually, there are two of them, and they're both under two.
Maybe that's why I decided that this is the summer the girls, who help out so willingly and sweetly, who love their little brothers beyond words, were going to get their lemonade stand.
They worked on the signs all day on Thursday. Sunny told me it was "the best day ever", which I somewhat believed, even though she, at one point when upset with her older sister, told me it was "the worst day ever". I really do believe her positive assessment, though, because they were so very, very excited.
The best part, the part that melted my heart entirely, is that they were over-the-moon excited about this lemonade stand because they are using it as a way to raise money for Compassion International. Instead of collecting funds to upgrade their toy stash or increase their nail polish hoard, they've, from the beginning of "lemonade stand dreaming", been desiring to raise money so that they can help children like those we sponsor.
It's humbling, really, because I wouldn't have ever thought of giving away the few quarters I earned at my dusty, little stand.
Sunny, who has begun to flex her little butterfly wings as an i.n.d.i.v.i.d.u.a.l this summer, decided she wanted to sell PINK lemonade and raise money for Compassion's medical assistance fund. That helps children who may need to see a doctor for medical needs beyond those which the typical sponsorship can pay for. Sunny will tell you "it helps kids who are in the hospital". It sort of helps those kids GET into the hospital.
One of the little girls we sponsor was born with an ear problem. Her "good" ear compensates for now, so she's doing fine. But it's a problem that would have been fairly minor to fix in the U.S. Most of us would have been able to have had it fixed for our children, whether through private insurance or public assistance programs. I'm thankful for that. It's possible that our sponsored child will be able to have surgery to improve her hearing function when she is older (for some reason, because the issue wasn't corrected in infancy, she will need to wait until she's mostly done growing before considering having things corrected), and it's special to see Sunny, who is close to the same age as this particular sponsored child, wanting to raise money for children whose parents can't get them medical care.
Sunny's sign says, "We are giving this money to Compassion", which is exactly what she told me she wanted it to say. I just wrote out the bubble letters, and she colored away.
After several cars drove by and didn't seem to even notice the stand, the girls started waving frantically at each car, and sometimes holding up their lemonade jugs. I was a little bit embarrassed by their desperation, but, on the other hand, I thought the cars who drove by this ensemble should be more embarrassed than I was.
Notice the appropriately colored-coded outfits? Sunny is wearing pink for her pink lemonade stand, and Miss Mouse is wearing yellow and blue because she is selling yellow lemonade and raising money for clean water, which is often thought of as blue. They totally came up with this all on their own.
Notice the appropriately colored-coded outfits? Sunny is wearing pink for her pink lemonade stand, and Miss Mouse is wearing yellow and blue because she is selling yellow lemonade and raising money for clean water, which is often thought of as blue. They totally came up with this all on their own.
Miss Mouse, who chose yellow lemonade, made the sign that says, "Your lemonade buys clean water. All proceeds to Compassion International". She's been stuck on Compassion's Water of Life filter program for several years. It's a lofty goal for a lemonade stand on our street, since each filter costs $70.00. I think they made $10 last Friday. Since it was all from our neighbors, I'm not sure they would keep up their profits if they put the stand out seven weeks in a row, either. But Miss Mouse is so hopeful she'll get to buy a water filter. It upsets her to no end thinking that there are children like her who have to drink water that has been exposed to animal (and sometimes human) waster, or that there are little girls who have to spend the day hauling water for their family rather than going to a Compassion project for education, skills training, and to learn about Jesus. It may be the accepted way of life in many areas of the world, but it certainly shouldn't be. And she is just positive she can do something to change life for a family by providing them with a water filter; she's right.
Since they have such honorable goals for their proceeds, the "powers that be" in the house decided to award them a grant for the cost of the materials. We're not charging for posterboard, lemonade, or ice, even though I suppose that would have been a teachable moment. Sometimes they teach me more than I teach them.
Manly was such a trooper. He and I hung out in his playpen, somewhat out of the wind, for most of the lemonade stand. He did great, watching the leaves on the trees. It was a cloudy day, though hot and humid, so it really was perfect for a small baby, except for the wind.
Right as Manly was getting fussy, Mike got home from his bike ride and took over the outside, parental supervision duties. Mighty had just woken up from his nap, so he had a snack in his stroller while the girls wrapped up the stand.
I don't even know what to say about these photos other than that Sunny adores her littlest brother.
With a capital A. ADORES.
Mighty loves his little brother, too. He just does it in such a "big boy, let's play and wrestle" way. He knows Manly doesn't wrestle, but he wants to "hug, hug" him and "kiss, kiss" him in ways that demand supervision!
They really are going to be best buddies.
I love this photo because I've seen one of Mike holding his baby sister when Steph was younger than Manly, I think, and Mike has this same expression on his face.
After the lemonade stand, after the cleanup, after giving all four kids baths and showering ourselves, Mike and I took our whole brood to a wedding reception an hour out of town. We're either really energetic these days or completely crazy, but it was a blast! I'm not sure either one of us ate our meals completely sitting down, between getting food or drink for one child or another, feeding Manly, changing diapers, etc., but it really was fun to get out of town and spend time together as a family!
Reading
My heart melted the other day when Mighty Mouse started reading to Manly Mouse. I distinctly remember when Miss Mouse started reading to Sunny. How blessed am I to get to see that repeat? Wow.
Sheepdog
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