Timeless Beauty

Our field trip to the Duke Homestead was great! The children learned about how Christmas was celebrated 150 years ago in the Duke house. We also popped popcorn over the fire and sang Christmas carols. I had to buy some bonnets for the girls, and now of course I will have to make a tiny replica for Eliana. Josiah was very skilled at the primitive craft of threading ribbon though a construction-paper stocking!

the baby whisperer

Eliana and her great-grandmother have something special going on. Cuddling, thumb-sucking, humming, and cooing ensue when those two get together in a comfy chair. Gigi can get her to sleep in her arms, which is something I am not able to do! Several times over the Thanksgiving weekend, they slipped away into their own little world. For precious memories like this, I am thankful.

Stream of Consciousness

Josiah starts talking the moment he wakes up in the morning. Today, it was a commentary on the status of all the vehicles and infrastructure in his train table "city." I love how one topic flows into the next. He asked about the colors on the traffic signal, then said, "How about Orange? What does orange mean?" I said that orange means Caution. His face lit up with a flash of recognition, and he raced over to his trundle bed and pointed to the safety instructions. "That says caution!" he shouted triumphantly. Then we lay down on our bellies to read the fine print together. He turned toward me, little crusty nose and pillowy lips just inches from mine, and stroked my cheek. "You don't have a sparkly face, Mommy. Daddy has a sparkly face. I don't have a sparkly face, either." So we discussed how, when he is a big man like daddy, he will have a sparkly face (whiskers). And flat hair. Because he's a boy.

Then we went downstairs to get some breakfast.

10 Things I'm Thankful For, by Renée

1. My sisters
2. Hannah (my cat)
3. My mom & dad
4. My brother
5. Raggedy-Ann
6. Sweets
7. My notebook
8. My crayons
9. My room
10. Fall, spring, summer, winter

I am always finding bits of writing around the house by the young author Renée E. Reeves. Reading these affords a glimpse into her heart and her world. This particular item serves to remind me that children do not need fancy, expensive STUFF to be happy!

A Cure for the Road Trip Blues

Grumpy and overtired from a weekend of fun...is there any way to get happy again? Can this road trip be saved?? All it takes is a little frozen chocolate goodness. The effort it takes to move the Frosty through the straw distracts him from all his woes.

Take Me Home, Country Roads

They say you can't go home again, but we sure had fun returning to West Virginia for a long-overdue visit this weekend! Check out these two cuties now (and then). Josiah and Molly Louise had fun catching up, I'm sure. We all enjoyed spending time with our church family, eating good food at the Marcinkos, and cruising around Teays Valley. Curiously, the only place I did not feel any real attachment to was our old house. We drove by on the way out of town. Although we have many wonderful memories of our time there, it isn't our home any longer. Relationships and shared experiences are what connect us to that place. So I suppose you can go home again, if you find your home in the hearts of those you love.

Spiritual Growth

Operation Christmas Child is in full swing at our church, and at churches all over the country. Families are encouraged to pack a shoebox full of small gifts to send to a needy child. Recipients of the shoeboxes are also given The Greatest Gift of All, the Gospel message in their own language. Our children really enjoy helping to select the gifts and prepare the boxes for shipment. They were also able to complete an "About Me" coloring page to include in the box, which allows them to share some information about where they live, what they like to do, how many pets they have, etc. One of the fill-in-the-blanks was, I love Jesus because __________.
Celeste wrote, "because he loves me." Simple and true! Renée wrote, "because he loves me and he came to save me." Their answers are similar, but Renée, at eight years old, is becoming aware of her own sinful nature and her need for a savior. Celeste is very secure in her knowledge of God's love for her, which I think is appropriate for her age. Josiah already seems to have a good grasp of God's omnipresence and His omnipotence. Whenever he has a problem, however trivial it may be, he says "It's okay. God will help me feel better/not be scared/fix my toy/finish my chicken." The other day, a friend of mine was trying to caution Josiah against playing in a large rubbermaid storage tub. "You don't want to fall in there and get stuck," she said. "It would be dark in the box, " I added. "That's okay," he quickly replied, "God would be in the box." What could I do but agree!

It's the Little Things

My little girls asked to have a tea party using their small table, a real tablecloth, and real napkins (because that complements the plastic food). I had a hundred other things on my list for the day, and really didn't feel terribly excited about moving furniture and setting up a tea party in my bedroom. I am so glad I decided to bag the boring must-do's for some time with my sweet girls! They were very appreciative and thought it was grand fun.

Celeste was a little confused as to the role of the pinky finger when drinking tea. I informed her, in my best British accent, that one holds the handle of the teacup with one's thumb and forefinger, whilst at the same time, crooking one's pinky finger delicately out to the side. Being a True Princess, she very quickly corrected her gaucherie.

Why I Love Homeschooling

I get to look at these sweet cheeks and luscious eyelashes while he works!
I have to remember that we keep our hands to ourselves at preschool.
Josiah's favorite things right now are mazes, the human body, and rhyming words.

My Baby Pirate is Three

Josiah celebrated his third birthday on Friday night with pizza, an airplane cake, and a robot pinata. He was thrilled beyond words to be allowed to beat the robot over and over again with the tee from his T-ball stand. None of the usual "take one swing then move to the back of the line." SO unsatisfying! We let him whack it until he was exhausted.

Time Flies

I know that moons rise and time flies

And sweet little girls get older

But when your tooth aches

or your heart breaks

Will you still cry on my shoulder?

Hey beautiful girl,

Daddy loves you, he loves you

Most beautiful girl in the whole wide world.

from Beautiful Girl by Randall Goodgame and Andrew Peterson

Same and Different

Goodnight Moon is the title of a wonderful, simple, lyrical children's book written by Margaret Wise Brown. I chose this as the title of our blog because I enjoy reading it to the children. I love to think about how many times I must have read this book! The rocking chair, on its fourth nursery rotation, is dinged up. The board book has corners rounded by little mouths that eagerly gummed its pages. Today, the little person on my lap is Eliana, but I have lived this moment with each of the children.

My father told me the story of a doctor who had performed many knee and hip replacements during the span of his career. When asked if doing this sort of procedure ever became boring or assembly-line, he replied that although the surgery was the same in some ways, in never failed to amaze him how each person's knee was different from all the other knees in some way. God created our human bodies to function in pretty much the same way - hearts to pump blood, neurons to send messages, tendons to attach muscle to bone. Yet each human is an individual. "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:13-14

Many aspects of parenting have become familiar: establishing a nap schedule, introducing solid food, reading Goodnight Moon. Because each child is an individual, an eternal soul who has been entrusted to me for a short time, I have the joy of discovering the differences within these common experiences. Renée liked to catch the water droplets falling from the washcloth; Eliana likes to stuff the washcloth in her mouth and suck it. Celeste has her Bear-Bear and Josiah his beloved Mimi Rabbit. Vive la différence!