What Little Guy is doing these days ...
He likes eating lemons, after I squeeze them into my tea or water.
When we are sitting at the table (near the sliding glass door) at lunch and the sun goes behind the clouds, he always looks up at the overhead light and furrows his brow.
For Daddy's birthday we got a helium balloon at Kroger (just as we did for his birthday). It made the trip through Kroger more fun, and has brought over a week of entertainment.
I was folding the freshly laundered guest room sheets. As I shook them, they billowed and he got a running start and charged headfirst
into them, along with all his runny nose and
teething drool. Apologies in advance to all future guests!
He was sitting in his high chair while I got breakfast ready and his CD was playing. I wondered why he was putting his head down and covering his eyes. "He shouldn't be tired," I thought. Then I listened to the music. The Doxology was playing and had just gotten to, "Amen."
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Monday, April 27, 2015
1000 Gifts, Vol. 4, # 94
{from a few weeks ago}
951. an impromptu weekday lunch date (when we went to pick up our car after the repairs were finished)
952. a little boy sleeping soundly through lunch in his car seat so we could have undistracted adult conversation
953. a close (24 miles away) audiologist to make new ear molds for a growing boy
954. a NICE audiologist who is re-doing the new ear molds, as she is not used to doing toddler ear molds
955. bright sunny days even if the temp doesn't get out of the 30s
956. asking my in-laws to go on a Saturday night date with me (to the Gaithers)
957. requesting Usborne Lift the flap books from interlibrary loan after we got one in a lot of used books (and it was/is a WINNER!)
958. many, many steps to get our sand table ready on the front porch (a November purchase on an online garage sale, two separate bags of play sand purchased, and a bungee cord replaced so the lid will stay closed)
959. anticipation of summer!
960. leaves! blossoming trees! redbud!
951. an impromptu weekday lunch date (when we went to pick up our car after the repairs were finished)
952. a little boy sleeping soundly through lunch in his car seat so we could have undistracted adult conversation
953. a close (24 miles away) audiologist to make new ear molds for a growing boy
954. a NICE audiologist who is re-doing the new ear molds, as she is not used to doing toddler ear molds
955. bright sunny days even if the temp doesn't get out of the 30s
956. asking my in-laws to go on a Saturday night date with me (to the Gaithers)
957. requesting Usborne Lift the flap books from interlibrary loan after we got one in a lot of used books (and it was/is a WINNER!)
958. many, many steps to get our sand table ready on the front porch (a November purchase on an online garage sale, two separate bags of play sand purchased, and a bungee cord replaced so the lid will stay closed)
959. anticipation of summer!
960. leaves! blossoming trees! redbud!
Saturday, April 25, 2015
The greatest need of your child (-ren)
Robert Murray M’Cheyne, the famous nineteenth century Scottish Presbyterian, was right when he said, “The greatest need of my people is my own holiness.”That is the opening paragraph of a blog post at The Gospel Coalition. And it's a quote I must have heard hundreds of times during my time in Japan.
But why stop with pastors? I think it is also the greatest need of my son. Well, obviously he needs Jesus. But in terms of what he needs most from me, it is my own holiness, my own pursuit of Jesus.
"Apart from me you can do nothing." Apart from Jesus, I cannot lead him to Jesus. Apart from Jesus, I cannot demonstrate to him the joy and freedom and love and grace of Christ.
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Outdoor Living
Jim may be a farmer, but I'm an indoor person.
Enter: Little Guy! Ta-da!! It's outdoor living time!!!
This is where I need advice on how to "do" outdoor living with a 15 month old. :)
We live on the (outside) corner on a U-shaped street, so our lot is pie shaped. The U-shaped neighborhood is surrounded by corn or soybean fields (depending on the year), as in the edge of the grass in our yard goes up to dirt where big tractors travel with plows or planters or combines, and during the growing season, a small child could easily get lost in there!
The front yard is small, but the backyard fans out. (It's sort of diamond-shaped with the front tip of the diamond cut off at the street.)
There's an 8' x 8' concrete pad out the sliding glass door in the back, a narrow front porch (which now houses the sand table and a folding chair for me), and his other outdoor toys are: a ride-on (push, no wheels) John Deere gator, a push toy lawnmower, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and a softball. This week I'm to pick up a little slide from a friend, now that her granddaughter has outgrown it.
Of course, there is always running, running, and more running. And there's the pull of the sidewalk, going along the sidewalk towards our neighbors', especially if they're outside with their dog and he wants to see the "Bow-wow."
I think it's a given that the summer will include a wading pool. Also, we have access to two fun parks 3/4 mile away and two more near Grandma's 5 miles away. Our neighbors have also offered access to their future purchase of a swingset. (Their children are both girls and are both older than ours.)
But, we have no shade in our yard (thus the sand table on the front porch). Also, we have rip-roaring wind, so we can't really leave anything, including the slide, outside.
How would you spend time outside with a toddler in this yard? It's a lot easier to sit in the living room or kitchen and watch him play in a room with four walls (or gates where there are no walls)!
Enter: Little Guy! Ta-da!! It's outdoor living time!!!
This is where I need advice on how to "do" outdoor living with a 15 month old. :)
We live on the (outside) corner on a U-shaped street, so our lot is pie shaped. The U-shaped neighborhood is surrounded by corn or soybean fields (depending on the year), as in the edge of the grass in our yard goes up to dirt where big tractors travel with plows or planters or combines, and during the growing season, a small child could easily get lost in there!
The front yard is small, but the backyard fans out. (It's sort of diamond-shaped with the front tip of the diamond cut off at the street.)
There's an 8' x 8' concrete pad out the sliding glass door in the back, a narrow front porch (which now houses the sand table and a folding chair for me), and his other outdoor toys are: a ride-on (push, no wheels) John Deere gator, a push toy lawnmower, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and a softball. This week I'm to pick up a little slide from a friend, now that her granddaughter has outgrown it.
Of course, there is always running, running, and more running. And there's the pull of the sidewalk, going along the sidewalk towards our neighbors', especially if they're outside with their dog and he wants to see the "Bow-wow."
I think it's a given that the summer will include a wading pool. Also, we have access to two fun parks 3/4 mile away and two more near Grandma's 5 miles away. Our neighbors have also offered access to their future purchase of a swingset. (Their children are both girls and are both older than ours.)
But, we have no shade in our yard (thus the sand table on the front porch). Also, we have rip-roaring wind, so we can't really leave anything, including the slide, outside.
How would you spend time outside with a toddler in this yard? It's a lot easier to sit in the living room or kitchen and watch him play in a room with four walls (or gates where there are no walls)!
Monday, April 20, 2015
Discovering the world day by day!!!!
Highlights for Little Guy last week:
playing outside for hours on end in 75-80* weather (The
lowlight is coming as he doesn't know a cold front is coming in, which
will cramp his style.)
spending 2+ hours at the farm Sunday night while we went to small group
playing in the church nursery for 45 minutes Thursday
morning during speech therapy (no other kids! all those toys!)
going to "Grandma's park" (i.e., the village park, which is next to
their house). He is sporting new scrapes and bruises, proof of a
good time!
going to Goodwill in Champaign after his hearing test & finding
lift-the-flap books for 50 cents ***AND*** a Fisher Price play phone for
$4.99 (which I thought was highway robbery until I looked online when we got home and
saw it for $30)
trying to play the organ at Goodwill but not getting any sound out of it
playing Grandma's piano Friday for a LONG time
going to Subway in Champaign, ordering off the menu,
and having him eat it (first time for him to eat in a restaurant
without me taking food for him)
having big ice cubes in his sippy cup of water!!!! (And so, there is more drinking of water!)
ceiling fan season is back!!!!
an explosion of speech (or I learned the technical term is "jargon"). Chee for cheese, baa for ball, wah-wah for water, uppuh for applesauce, and it sounded for all the world like he said Grandpa repeatedly tho' it has not been repeated.
Saturday, April 18, 2015
The "Drudgery" of Motherhood?
In a P.S. to one of Tara Barthel's recent blog posts, she quotes G. K. Chesterton. As always, Chesterton is brilliant! [Emphasis mine.]
“Babies need not to be taught a trade,
but to be introduced to a world. To put the matter shortly, woman is
generally shut up in a house with a human being at the time when he asks
all the questions that there are, and some that there aren’t. It would
be odd if she retained any of the narrowness of a specialist. Now if
anyone says that this duty of general enlightenment (even when freed
from modern rules and hours, and exercised more spontaneously by a more
protected person) is in itself too exacting and oppressive, I can
understand the view. I can only answer that our race has thought it
worth while to cast this burden on women in order to keep common-sense
in the world.
But when people begin to talk about this
domestic duty as not merely difficult but trivial and dreary, I simply
give up the question. For I cannot with the utmost energy of imagination
conceive what they mean. When domesticity, for instance, is called
drudgery, all the difficulty arises from a double meaning in the word.
If drudgery only means dreadfully hard work, I admit the woman drudges
in the home, as a man might drudge at the Cathedral of Amiens or drudge
behind a gun at Trafalgar. But if it means that the hard work is more
heavy because it is trifling, colorless and of small import to the soul,
then as I say, I give it up; I do not know what the words mean.
To be Queen Elizabeth within a definite
area, deciding sales, banquets, labors and holidays; to be Whiteley
within a certain area, providing toys, boots, sheets cakes. and books,
to be Aristotle within a certain area, teaching morals, manners,
theology, and hygiene; I can understand how this might exhaust the mind, but I cannot imagine how it could narrow it.
How can it be a large career to tell other people’s children about the
Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one’s own children about the
universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and
narrow to be everything to someone? No; a woman’s function is laborious,
but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute.” G.K. Chesterton
Thursday, April 16, 2015
A tree
::from the archives::
March 24, 2009:
April 4, 2009:
April 5, 2009:
April 6, 2009:
April 7, 2009:
April 8, 2009:
April 9, 2009:
April 10, 2009:
April 11, 2009:
April 12, 2009:
April 13, 2009:
April 16, 2009:
This cherry tree next to my parking space is a good reminder of the transience of life.
March 24, 2009:
April 4, 2009:
April 5, 2009:
April 6, 2009:
April 7, 2009:
April 8, 2009:
April 9, 2009:
April 10, 2009:
April 11, 2009:
April 12, 2009:
April 13, 2009:
April 16, 2009:
This cherry tree next to my parking space is a good reminder of the transience of life.
9 For all our days pass away under your wrath;~Psalm 90
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
12 So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Monday, April 13, 2015
15 months & counting
So, a few months ago, when Little Guy's feet were too big for the footed pajamas in his size, we transitioned to 2-piece pajamas. {sigh!}
Now, as he starts wearing short sleeves, we're transitioning from onesie shirts to polos and tees. He looks so grown up!!
He's been saying, "ka-kuh" for cracker and this week started saying, "wa-wa" for water. He also says "pah" for "pop-up toast." His aural rehab therapist counted "bow-wow" as his first word.
He's been saying, "ma-ma" for a long time now, but it doesn't mean me. I taught him to use it when he needs help, instead of whining, grunting or screaming. But it's causing some problems now, because he doesn't know that it means me. I picked him up from his cousins' last night and they each said he called them, "Mama" all night. Well, no, he wanted help. :)
We're still working on eating a variety of foods, especially those beyond carbohydrates. :) This morning he sat in my lap finishing his milk, as I was eating a homemade egg mcmuffin. When he wanted some of it, I gladly let him. And he ate the second half of it! Not only did he eat eggs for the first time, but he also ate a "big person" sandwich.
We are moving up in the world.
I wish you could hear our small group pray for him each time ... for his hearing and speaking, and that he will hear the Lord's voice and follow Him.
Now, as he starts wearing short sleeves, we're transitioning from onesie shirts to polos and tees. He looks so grown up!!
He's been saying, "ka-kuh" for cracker and this week started saying, "wa-wa" for water. He also says "pah" for "pop-up toast." His aural rehab therapist counted "bow-wow" as his first word.
He's been saying, "ma-ma" for a long time now, but it doesn't mean me. I taught him to use it when he needs help, instead of whining, grunting or screaming. But it's causing some problems now, because he doesn't know that it means me. I picked him up from his cousins' last night and they each said he called them, "Mama" all night. Well, no, he wanted help. :)
We're still working on eating a variety of foods, especially those beyond carbohydrates. :) This morning he sat in my lap finishing his milk, as I was eating a homemade egg mcmuffin. When he wanted some of it, I gladly let him. And he ate the second half of it! Not only did he eat eggs for the first time, but he also ate a "big person" sandwich.
We are moving up in the world.
I wish you could hear our small group pray for him each time ... for his hearing and speaking, and that he will hear the Lord's voice and follow Him.
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Words & Music
Although Little Guy's expressive speech is delayed, his receptive speech is on target, and his expressions are adorable!
In speech therapy this week, I was on the play phone, pretending I was talking with Jim and said, "You're coming home for lunch? Okay." Little Guy immediately started clapping. Too bad I was just pretending. :(
Each time "Jesus Loves Me" starts playing on the CD player, his eyes light up, he catches my eye, and repeatedly says with a smile, "Bi-Bi" (for "Bible," I assume).
He is definitely a music-lover, and I foresee drums in our future. (Wonder if we could sound-proof a room for that endeavor?) If he's listening to classical music, he waves his hands like he's conducting. For the more catchy Sunday School songs, he dances or sways back and forth. Even a toy that makes "toy music" will cause him to stop whatever he's doing and, with a big smile, start dancing.
His favorite musical activity is drumming. He drums equally well with his hands or his feet, and does what I've been told is a good job alternating right and left. If his hands aren't free, he'll jerk his head to the beat. :{
In speech therapy this week, I was on the play phone, pretending I was talking with Jim and said, "You're coming home for lunch? Okay." Little Guy immediately started clapping. Too bad I was just pretending. :(
Each time "Jesus Loves Me" starts playing on the CD player, his eyes light up, he catches my eye, and repeatedly says with a smile, "Bi-Bi" (for "Bible," I assume).
He is definitely a music-lover, and I foresee drums in our future. (Wonder if we could sound-proof a room for that endeavor?) If he's listening to classical music, he waves his hands like he's conducting. For the more catchy Sunday School songs, he dances or sways back and forth. Even a toy that makes "toy music" will cause him to stop whatever he's doing and, with a big smile, start dancing.
His favorite musical activity is drumming. He drums equally well with his hands or his feet, and does what I've been told is a good job alternating right and left. If his hands aren't free, he'll jerk his head to the beat. :{
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Deals
I don't play the drugstore game, and I'm a coupon failure. But I love a good deal!
A few years ago, after wanting the T-fal Actifry for a couple years, we got the T-fal Actifry on a dream deal - 20% off coupon PLUS $75 rebate.
Last year, after we decided to get my father-in-law a Mini Keurig for his birthday, I was tasked with picking it up. Rather housebound with a baby, I researched online and found a super deal I could hardly believe. On sale PLUS 30% off coupon PLUS Kohl's cash PLUS $20 rebate. I don't know why I didn't get one for us at the same time. When would I ever get such a good deal?!?
A few months later we did get a Mini Keurig (same deal minus the rebate).
Fast forward several months and there was a Mini Keurig recall. I called the number for them to mail me the repair kit. Nothing. Fast forward three months and I called the number to see where it was. Within a few days I received the repair kit PLUS a coupon for two 24-count boxes of K-cups and free shipping.
So, even though I paid $20 more for ours than we did for my father-in-law's, this week I received $37 worth of coffee and tea (with free shipping). It all evened out.
Our future house guests thank the Keurig company. :)
A few years ago, after wanting the T-fal Actifry for a couple years, we got the T-fal Actifry on a dream deal - 20% off coupon PLUS $75 rebate.
Last year, after we decided to get my father-in-law a Mini Keurig for his birthday, I was tasked with picking it up. Rather housebound with a baby, I researched online and found a super deal I could hardly believe. On sale PLUS 30% off coupon PLUS Kohl's cash PLUS $20 rebate. I don't know why I didn't get one for us at the same time. When would I ever get such a good deal?!?
A few months later we did get a Mini Keurig (same deal minus the rebate).
Fast forward several months and there was a Mini Keurig recall. I called the number for them to mail me the repair kit. Nothing. Fast forward three months and I called the number to see where it was. Within a few days I received the repair kit PLUS a coupon for two 24-count boxes of K-cups and free shipping.
So, even though I paid $20 more for ours than we did for my father-in-law's, this week I received $37 worth of coffee and tea (with free shipping). It all evened out.
Our future house guests thank the Keurig company. :)
Friday, April 3, 2015
It's Friday, but Sunday's coming!
::from the archives::
S.M. Lockridge preached a famous sermon titled, "It's Friday, but Sunday's coming." (You can find it on YouTube, but the one I found was to the visuals from "Passion of the Christ," and I'm too wimpy to watch that, but you could always just listen, to get the full effect of his cadence and emphasis.)
Today, this day between Friday and Sunday, the weight of the world feels heavy.
All is well in the four walls of my home, and I'm doing all I can to keep it that way. This control freak is enjoying being in control ... keeping the washer and dryer running, folding clean laundry, stocking the fridge for Easter lunch, finishing last minute house-cleaning tasks, and being lulled into thinking that I am in control.
But last night we attended The Service of Darkness at a church in the nearby city. Tattered black fabric hung as banners. One candle was extinguished (and the lights were dimmed) after each reading of one of the last words of Christ. The music was somber. Near the end of the service, the drums rolled, louder and louder, and then a door SLAMMED! shut, signifying the closing of the tomb. As the bells tolled 33 times to represent Christ's 33 earthly years, we sang, "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?"
As the crowd silently left the stone church building to scatter to their homes throughout the city, I pondered how the disciples must have felt after living through the experiences we were remembering. We know the ending, but they did not.
Today, on this day between Friday and Sunday, I called a friend to share in her sadness as a little baby in her extended family is on a ventilator with no brain activity.
Today, on this day between Friday and Sunday, I thought of a young widow I know whose husband's memorial service was a week ago today.
Today, on this day between Friday and Sunday, Jim and I recalled others we know whose circumstances are sad and inexplicable.
Today, on this day between Friday and Sunday, Jim reminded me that the Lord does not willingly afflict.
Our hope is this: that he who is in us is greater than he who is in the world.
S.M. Lockridge preached a famous sermon titled, "It's Friday, but Sunday's coming." (You can find it on YouTube, but the one I found was to the visuals from "Passion of the Christ," and I'm too wimpy to watch that, but you could always just listen, to get the full effect of his cadence and emphasis.)
Today, this day between Friday and Sunday, the weight of the world feels heavy.
All is well in the four walls of my home, and I'm doing all I can to keep it that way. This control freak is enjoying being in control ... keeping the washer and dryer running, folding clean laundry, stocking the fridge for Easter lunch, finishing last minute house-cleaning tasks, and being lulled into thinking that I am in control.
But last night we attended The Service of Darkness at a church in the nearby city. Tattered black fabric hung as banners. One candle was extinguished (and the lights were dimmed) after each reading of one of the last words of Christ. The music was somber. Near the end of the service, the drums rolled, louder and louder, and then a door SLAMMED! shut, signifying the closing of the tomb. As the bells tolled 33 times to represent Christ's 33 earthly years, we sang, "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?"
As the crowd silently left the stone church building to scatter to their homes throughout the city, I pondered how the disciples must have felt after living through the experiences we were remembering. We know the ending, but they did not.
Today, on this day between Friday and Sunday, I called a friend to share in her sadness as a little baby in her extended family is on a ventilator with no brain activity.
Today, on this day between Friday and Sunday, I thought of a young widow I know whose husband's memorial service was a week ago today.
Today, on this day between Friday and Sunday, Jim and I recalled others we know whose circumstances are sad and inexplicable.
Today, on this day between Friday and Sunday, Jim reminded me that the Lord does not willingly afflict.
... the Lord will notOn this day between Friday and Sunday, we mourn with those who mourn, we grieve but not without hope, and we cling to the fact that the same power that raised Christ from the dead is at work today ... in our hearts ... in this world ... redeeming the broken pieces, of which there are so very many.
cast off forever,
but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
for he does not afflict from his heart
or grieve the children of men.
Our hope is this: that he who is in us is greater than he who is in the world.
Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Easter, Part 4: Memories
::from the archives::
Easter as a child meant singing "UP from the grave He arose!"
It meant an 8 AM Sunrise Service, followed by homemade biscuits, ham, and eggs in the church basement.
It usually meant the annual visit of a family friend, one of our honorary aunts.
It meant Easter baskets and jelly beans.
It meant going to the nursing home to bring various friends and relatives to our home for dinner.
It often meant spoonbread was on the menu, because it would bring back memories for said friends and relatives (and also be easy for them to eat).
It was the only Sunday all year where there was no evening service, thus it felt like a holiday among Sundays.
It did not mean a new Easter dress. (If I happened to have a new spring dress, it must have made an appearance at least one Sunday before Easter. Family rule.)
It meant forsythia, daffodils, and the hills behind the church building, sprinkled with dogwood and redbud!
Easter, Part 1: Anticipation
Easter, Part 2: Reading
Easter, Part 3: Listening
Easter as a child meant singing "UP from the grave He arose!"
It meant an 8 AM Sunrise Service, followed by homemade biscuits, ham, and eggs in the church basement.
It usually meant the annual visit of a family friend, one of our honorary aunts.
It meant Easter baskets and jelly beans.
It meant going to the nursing home to bring various friends and relatives to our home for dinner.
It often meant spoonbread was on the menu, because it would bring back memories for said friends and relatives (and also be easy for them to eat).
It was the only Sunday all year where there was no evening service, thus it felt like a holiday among Sundays.
It did not mean a new Easter dress. (If I happened to have a new spring dress, it must have made an appearance at least one Sunday before Easter. Family rule.)
It meant forsythia, daffodils, and the hills behind the church building, sprinkled with dogwood and redbud!
Easter, Part 1: Anticipation
Easter, Part 2: Reading
Easter, Part 3: Listening
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