Wednesday, October 31, 2012

This Post Brought To You By The Pumpkin Patch

Or better know as, the day I took my camera with me but my battery was dead, so I took all these pictures on my phone.  




Water pump races

Practicing gymnastics everywhere



Hmmm, why is this picture upside down?  It is probably a metaphor of my day to day life...
Artist+mother =creative disorganization

We might be dressed for fall, but it was about 100 degrees this day...(Grandma, remember the day we did the corn maze?  Similar temperature!!!!  Didn't really feel like autumn!)
This little hair dresser is so independent these days.  She insisted on sitting all by herself on the hayride

Maggie chooses pumpkins like she chooses her people; very carefully, but when she has dubbed you as hers, she is faithfully yours.:)
Every post has to have one of these pictures that make me do a long deep sigh...I desperately search for the time, but I just don't know where it went...



Happy Pumpkin Day!!!!
Maybe one day I'll get our costume pictures up :)

Grace & Peace
xoxo

Monday, October 22, 2012

Her Cheerleader, Her Critic

*This post is two weeks old...things have turned around a bit, for the better.
This week at gymnastics I was sitting on the edge of  the big trampoline cheering as loud as I could for Libby as she jump without hesitation almost accomplishing her seat drop.  The first couple weeks of gymnastics she barely tiptoed onto the trampoline.  She told me later she was afraid of it b/c she couldn't see what was underneath it.  So as she jumped on Friday with real air underneath her feet...I  beamed with pride.  



It is no different when she writes a perfect "E," or when Maggie matches the red button to the red cup, or when she finally rides the merry-go-round without crying,  with a "Mama look at me" grin. It's part of my job...The part of my job description that says "when your kid does something new, you cheer and you cheer loudly."
I want them to know everyday that I think that they are amazing.
However, there are times when cheering for them becomes somewhat harder to do.  So, allow me, to take this moment to give you one to many examples of moments this week when cheering for them was the furthest thing from my mind.
1.  When I went to get them up from afternoon naps and found the big sister dowsing the  little sister  and her room in baby powder.


2.  When big sister drew all over the kitchen table because it was "fun"
3.  When I found a pile of freshly cut Cinderella hair in the play room
4.  When I let them go upstairs with out me for bath time and big sister dumped a whole bottle of shampoo in the tub with the water (fyi, I was about 2.5 seconds behind them, when I say "with out me" I mean I didn't hold their hands up the stairs)
Somewhere in that list is a teachable moment that I must have missed, because of what happened yesterday.
I'll spare you the details of this story and tell you that after hiding from me for several minutes I found my big girl playing in the playroom with a set freshly cut bangs.  Crooked bangs.

 Ho-hum.  Back to today.  When I started this post 2 weeks ago I think I had a lot more to say.  All I can think now is when I look at her I realize that the self inflicted hair cut has made her look so much older.  I keep starring in her face searching for my baby and all I see is a little girl...Not even a toddler anymore a real little girl who is very good at testing her boundaries, but is also incredibly amazing.

Grace and Peace and sorry for the lack of posts.
xoxo

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Charlotte

One day last week Libby and I discovered an enormous spider that established residency outside my bedroom window.  Libby was intrigued.  I actually have a whole video of her talking about Charlotte the spider.  It is hilarious,  but the internet hates me and refused to upload it from my phone.
Before the internet and I became at odds with each other, I did manage to upload this video of Maggie talking about the "big" spider.  I have watched it everyday since just to laugh.  She was petrified of even looking at the spider.  She continued to talk about it for about 3 hours straight that night and everyday since if it comes up in conversation.  She is so cute and perhaps a little obsessive.

The weather has turned frightfully cold these last two days, and to Maggie's delight, has sent our dear Charlotte packing.  
Grace and Peace
xoxo

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Thanks Mel



"My heart has more room, even though my mind has less;
 My soul has more thirst, even though my body needs more rest; 
My memories are more cherished, even though my time is not my own; 

My God is bigger, even though He remains the same yesterday today and forever. 
Just as my life has been changed, I want the world to be changed by my children as they live out the incredible purpose that our Heavenly Father has designed for them. 

Teaching them along the way as I am learning myself how to Love more deeply,
Give more generously,
Pray more earnestly, 
Live more purely,
 and Forgive more readily. 
Thanks to my children, I will never be the same."
~Melanie Connell

My friend Mel wrote these words a long time ago and they have stuck with  me over my mothering years.  When I find myself thinking about something I had before I had my children...(presently, a bathroom not soaked with tub water, a kitchen not buried in a thin layer of maple syrup, and a house that does not have  .5  million sticky cups hidden in various places)

I remember that I have so much more now.  Like a little girl that reminds how beautiful the sky is and a littler girl that sometimes cries just because she needs me to hug her.
That is so much better that a clean house.
That is all.
Grace and Peace
One more thing.  I miss my old camera that I lost at the park in the spring.  I'm thankful that I have a new camera, but it is not the same.  In fact I use my phone camera almost as much as my regular camera...I miss my old camera.   I still can't talk about it that often.
Here are some picture from my phone, just for Grandma:)




xoxo

Monday, October 1, 2012

Precious


I joined a Community Bible Study this fall.  To sum it up in one word, amazing!  I have learned so much just in three weeks.  I feel like I am in college again except this time I actually really enjoy learning and I listen to the teacher.  A huge bonus about CBS is they have an amazing children's program.  Every week Libby leaves singing songs that I used to sing in Sunday School and some songs that I've never even heard.  They also send a folder home with her that includes a coloring sheet from the story they learned, a small craft, and a sheet that I thought would reinforce the story for her...Lo and behold every time I pick this paper up it is an encouragement to me!  I was organizing them this afternoon and this verse was at the top of the page, "Do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."  Ephesians 6:4.


I feel like I need someone to staple this verse to my forehead so I don't forget it.  I have learned so much lately about how my tone of voice affects how my children respond to me.  It is so easy to get frustrated when NO ONE, including the dog, listens to what I say.  However, when I stop and communicate with them in way that is loving and respectful the out come is always better than when I'm standing in the kitchen screaming.  Alas, nothing works for the dog, but that is a post for another day.  This post is for my girls, they are precious little human beings and the way that I communicate with them today will affect the way that they communicate with others later....I pray that it is with love and kindness and not standing in the middle of a room screaming. :)

Grace and peace and precious faces
xoox