rain puddles, steps and the chicken dance

So this time around in parenting (remember my husband and I have a 26, almost 12 and a 9 year-old and now a 16 month-old too), I am stopping a bit more to enjoy little moments that to others might seem insignificant but to me it’s a gift.

The other day she unceremoniously stepped off a small cement step all by herself.  She usually turns around and scoots safely backwards off the step or holds my hand while I help her carefully step down. I nudged my husband to look at our little girl and we praised her new skill. A list that continues to grow each day. I feel so blessed to be a part of her life and that I can be home to raise her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This girl is such a joy in our lives. She makes us laugh, grow, smile, hug more, sing more and dance more! She loves music and knows the sign for music. We taught her to sign music because she kept going over to the computer keyboard and trying to turn the music on herself. Her favorite song is Greater by Mercy Me! It has great words and is a great dancing song too! She also loves The Chicken Dance, as well, which her grandmother introduced her to!

She keeps us busy but a good busy and I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

Here is a picture of her running in rain puddles for the first time! She was thrilled and fascinated! She did this continually for fifteen minutes. She didn’t want to go inside. What a blessing!

summer lists

Every June I have the boys make a list of things they would like to do over the summer. The list usually includes having cousins sleep over, play dates with friends, family activities, camping, day trips and things to make. We hang it in the fridge and check off as many items as we can. It is fun to look back and see the fun things we accomplished just by writing them down.

One thing new this year, was picking a design for a t-shirt. We bought shirts in their size for three dollars each at a craft store and after they finalized their design we bought some fabric paint. I prewashed and then ironed the shirts before painting them. And I also put cardboard inside the shirt so the paint wouldn’t get on the back side. My middle guy wanted Clyde, the orange ghost from Pac-Man. And my youngest wanted the Indiana Jones hat and whip on his shirt. I hand painted the shirts and the boys were thrilled with how they turned out! Here are the results.

Oh, and I started my first quilt! I am so excited! I’ll post pictures soon!

Smith Mountain Lake

Towards the end of July, we went to Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia to visit our oldest son who moved close to the area. Friends of his graciously let us use their lake house for the week: a long, glorious, relaxing week! It was fun to vacation as a family and bond again. With our oldest moving away, it has been hard on the younger boys who miss him a lot. As for me, each month seems to get a bit easier. Skype helps a lot! I don’t think a mom ever stops missing her son but we realize moving out is good and healthy for them and creates maturity.

The ride down was absolutely gorgeous!



Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park

 The mountains were so beautiful and everything was so green and lush.

My photos don’t do justice to the beauty.

Some fun things we did around Smith Mountain Lake…

We swam,

relaxed,

fished






and watched the sun set.

On the lake, they have an ‘ice cream boat’ rather then an ice cream truck.

It had the same music and sold the same items as the truck. We were very surprised and amused! The boys have never had ice cream from a truck but it was too good to pass on ‘ice cream delivered to us on a lake.’ The man just comes close to the inlets and if you wave your hand he will drive over to you, tie his boat to your dock and give you the goodies.

Down the road there is an area where you can feed hundreds of carp pieces of bread or popcorn.

Our youngest was determined to catch one with his bare hands.

He came pretty close. A local told us that there was another area, farther down the road, where you could buy a cup of peanut butter, put it on your toes, stick your toes in the water and the carp will suck the peanut butter off your toes!   We passed on that.   We went fishing on the little pier. We all caught tiny fish and then released them. My middle son caught his very first fish!


 My youngest was very brave and learned how to put a worm on a hook.

Eww!

Since we were there for a whole week, we played the game Risk!

Risk is about a two or three day game in our house so it was perfect to play together in the evening over The Best Ice Cream Ever: locally made at The Homestead Creamery!! YUM!!!

We saw hummingbirds, a blue heron, hawks, a bazillion butterflies, chipmunks, fish, groundhogs and deer!

The cool thing is that the movie, “What About Bob?” was filmed in the area and on and around the lake! We checked out some spots where the movie scenes were shot. We may or may not have visited Dr. Marvin’s home.

We had a wonderful visit with our oldest son! He loves his new job and has made some fantastic friends! He is a little homesick at times but we try to make up with phones calls and photos to keep him up to date!

Example: this afternoon my youngest waited to pull his tooth out so he could do it over Skype with his big brother! Cute and gross at the same time! It is hard at times to be far away from such a great guy but I know this is where God wants my son to be and that gives me the deepest peace.

And next week I will be announcing some big news!

Come back and check it out!

introverts and motherhood

I just read this article about introverts and motherhood (via the Aquila Report) and thought I would share it. I wouldn’t say that I am a true introvert but I absolutely volley between needing to get out and be around people and then needing some (or a lot of) alone time to recuperate: maybe a bit more of the later. It was very encouraging to me to read that there are other mothers out there who struggle with the same issues but that there are ways to accept who you are and work with your strengths and weaknesses.

If you can relate to this struggle, I hope that this article encourages you.

little things

Summer break is just around the corner we can actually feel it!  We had our first really hot day so the boys were outside a lot cooling off in our blow up pool.  It’s just big enough for them at this age and they don’t really care as long as they get wet.

 My boys at home are nine (but, oh, so close to ten) and seven. They are growing up, but I like that they will stop their world to race over and show me the tiniest, green inchworm, because they know I care. And I take the time to show my interest in their discovery because they grow up too soon.

These days, there are many things

 that tug at a mother’s attention.

I try to choose wisely. 

Most days, I get it right,

 the other days, I can’t get back.

I can simply learn from them. 

Don’t forget to pay attention to the little things

 because those little things

 may really be the big things.

nails

I had the chance to hang out with my almost-nine-year-old niece this week and we painted our nails together. It was fun. My husband strongly dislikes the smell of finger nail polish so I rarely do my own nails. Also, being a mother doesn’t allow much down time for painting nails either. So, since I was at her house, I jumped at the chance!

She used a light-purple, crackle-polish over a bright orange. I used her Hello Kitty nail polish and painted my fingers in fun, rainbow colors. I topped it off with some glittery nail polish. I couldn’t stop smiling at how silly my nails looked, but it was fun spending time with her.

Note to self:

Skip the green Hello Kitty fingernail polish next time. I think it has permanently stained my ring-finger nails.

Update:
(I found out you can buff your nails or soak your nails in lemon juice or hydrogen peroxide to get the stain off. I buffered my nails and the stain came off just fine!)  

cinnamon buns & enjoying the ride

We made cinnamon buns a while back and even though the kitchen was a wild mess at the end, we had a blast. I am learning more and more how to step back and let my children do more for themselves. It is hard at times to let go…knowing I could pour the two cups of flour easily with minimal amounts of flour particles billowing into the air.

But I’ve realized over time that letting my children make mistakes is their best teaching tool; even in the kitchen. For some mothers, that sounds like nails on a chalkboard. But my kids know where the paper towels, napkins, rags, hand broom and dust pan are and when they inevitably spill something they say, “oops!” and scurry to clean it up properly. I tell them it is alright to make mistakes and that they now know how to be more careful next time; and they are.

Our fancy-shmancy cinnamon rolls came from my Betty Crocker recipe book.

 We had fun mixing the yeast and kneading the dough, watching the dough rise and their favorite…rolling out the dough.

I can’t decide which is sweeter:

 the cinnamon buns or my sons tiny hands pulling the thread around the cinnamon roll.

"Wait!"

 "We have to bake them first!"

When the cinnamon rolls were finished baking, we poured a simple vanilla, powdered sugar icing on top. Yum!

I love how simple and yet tasty the Betty Crocker recipes are.

Their recipes are perfect for this busy stage in my life.

I know there will be plenty of opportunities in the future when I will have the time to hunt down obscure ingredients, but for now, I am focusing on making memories with my children and not competing for a blue ribbon.

*** 

I will leave you with my favorite quote from the movie Parenthood (1989).

[Gil has been complaining about his complicated life; Grandma wanders into the room]

Grandma: You know, when I was nineteen, Grandpa took me on a roller coaster.
Gil: Oh?
Grandma: Up, down, up, down. Oh, what a ride!
Gil: What a great story.

Grandma: I always wanted to go again. You know, it was just so interesting to me that a ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick, so excited, and so thrilled all together! Some didn't like it. They went on the merry-go-round. That just goes around. Nothing. I like the roller coaster. You get more out of it.

***
Bake something with your kids. Get messy. Enjoy the ride!

{ What do you or your kids love to bake? }

a lot to be thankful for

On this last day of August, I am reflecting over our summer and it has been a really great summer for our family. Last year, our summer project was tearing down an old deck, breaking up concrete and regrading the backyard. It was exhausting and consumed our entire summer. This summer was more relaxing and our only house project was hitting our 1970’s basement which is in much need of TLC. We are breaking that project up in small baby steps. That left time to really relax and enjoy each other, work out at the gym, serve at our church, fellowship with friends and family and meet some new friends too!


Our family did say goodbye to several friends and loved ones and through faith we believe we will see them once again in heaven. Some that left were as young as 44 and others, though seasoned with age, it still seemed too soon to say goodbye. Each touched our lives in many ways and, in time, we will find a place for our grief. We will take what they have impressed on us and share it with others.

With life so fleeting, I am reminded to slow down, yet again, and look into my children’s eyes and really look at them, really listen, and linger a little longer as I hug them and tuck them in at night. Yes, there will always be house projects and life gets messy and loud, but they are only little once; once. You never get that time back. So I am soaking in their energy, laughter and never ending questions and focusing on being joyful and content with what I have been given.

And boy, do I have a lot to be thankful for!

... and so much more!