More mushrooms

One excited girl when she finds a mushroom that is muy grande!

How does he know?

They play

It's music to my ears when I hear these two playing so well together.

Teaching her to wash

It should shock no one that Oma took the time to teach Emma how to wash dishes in the sink while she was here visiting.

Hide and seek

One of Emma's new favorite things to do these days is play hide and seek.  This was one of the games Oma taught her while she was here taking care of Great Gram.

Of course, hide and seek for her consists of her telling you where she wants you to hide, then her counting until ten, and then spotting you where she expects you to be.  If she suspects you are not going where you were told to go, she will "cheat" and look to see where you are going.  She will then correct you.

Now if you are the one counting, she will find a good hiding spot, but as soon as you are done counting, she'll pop her head out and say:  "I right here!"

Where is Waldo?

Anyone spot a cute pair of eyes?

The problem

Emma went to her little friend's birthday party last weekend and indulged herself in the very blue, dye-colored cupcake frosting.  Though she had had a very short nap that afternoon, she was wide awake until 10 pm that evening.  After about the nth time of being called into her bedroom that night, Byron officially declared I was on what he was calling "cupcake duty."

It sure was a fun day!

Breakfast at home

Breakfast at our household normally involves Emma going through three different food selections before deciding she doesn't want to eat any of them, LB throwing all of his food on the floor, Daddy trying to read his Bible while listening to Christmas music or the "Disney Princess" Pandora station, and Mommy drinking her morning smoothie while getting Daddy's lunch ready and unloading the dishwasher... we are quite the whirlwind that time of the day. 

But if you look past the craziness of the moment, you'll see sweet little children laughing at each other, playing peek-a-boo, and wearing Mommy's headband (note Emma).

WHY-Wednesday: Why you should read "Crazy Busy"

One of my greatest pleasures in life is reading.  Nothing quite like a good book at your bed side table (or reclining chair in the TV room, as is the case for me). 

Over the course of this past year, I have read about 20 books (both fiction and non-fiction), most of which have been absolutely incredible.  All of them have impacted me to a certain degree-- some much more than others.

One day I'll write a post on a few of my favorite books, but today I am just going to focus on one:

Crazy Busy 

by Kevin Deyoung.

People-- all of you do yourself a favor and click here right now (yes, right now!) and purchase this book immediately.

A few sample quotes from the book--

"But the truth is, you're only indispensable until you say no.  You are unique.  Your gifts are important.  People love you.  But you're not irreplaceable" (p. 36).

Ouch!

"Good hospital-ity is making your home a hospital.  The idea is that friends and family and the wounded and weary people come to your home and leave helped and refreshed.  And yet, too often hospitality is a nerve-wracking experience for hosts and guests alike.  Instead of setting our guests at ease, we set them on edge by telling them how bad the food will be, and what a mess the house is, and how sorry we are for the kids' behavior.  We get worked up and crazy busy in all the wrong ways" (p. 41).

Ummm... guilty as charged.

"The people on this planet who end up doing nothing are those who never realized they couldn't do everything" (p. 60).

"God does expect us to say no to a whole lot of good things so that we can be freed up to say yes to the most important things he has for us" (p 63).

In regards to raising children--

"I just know that the longer I parent the more I want to focus on doing a few things really well, and not get too worked up about everything else.  I want to spend time with my kids, teach them the Bible, take them to church, laugh with them, cry with them, discipline them when they disobey, say 'sorry' when I mess up, and pray a ton.  I want them to look back and think, 'I'm not sure what my parents were doing or if they even knew what they were doing.  But I always knew my parents loved me, and I knew they loved Jesus'" (p. 74).

And the home run, the theme of all Themes, the one that hits the nail on the head--

"We want to be harried and hassled and busy.  Unconsciously, we want the very things we complain about.  For if we had leisure, we would look at ourselves and listen to our hearts and see the great gaping hole in our hearts and be terrified, because that hole is so big that nothing but God can fill it" (p. 83, emphasis mine).

And with that, my friends, I bid you a good day :)

Mushrooms

Emma has developed a liking for mushrooms, so now every time we come across some, she gets very excited.  

We found the biggest ones yet earlier today while walking around the block.

Mr. Cool

Mr. Handsome

With his guayabera and new shoes.

** Handsome! **

OMA

OMA is back in town taking care of great Gram as she continues to recover from her hip fracture. In the meantime Little Man gets lots of OMA snuggles.

How she counts

Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco,

seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez,

once, doce, trece, catorce, quince,

diecises, dieciocho, diecinueve, dieciveinte.

My Byrons

Love these two men of mine.

She likes to jump

We have a very fearful little girl at home, but her newest *thing* these days is jumping.  Walking with her anywhere now takes twice as long since we now need to stop at every level drop we come across.  She also likes jumping over things such as small rocks or holes along the way.  

I love observing her conquer her own Goliaths in life.

WHY-Wednesday: Why I slow down time.

It's ironic that I find myself writing a post on slowing down time, when just a couple of weeks ago I wrote on longing for these little years to be gone.  But hopefully I find an empathetic ear out there who understands the daily battle between longing to be child-free and not wanting to wish my life away.

About six months ago I read the book "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp.  I am actually borderline embarrassed to admit I even read it.  I am not a huge fan of hers, and her style of writing is kind of annoying to me.  But, if you can get over her overly melancholic way of expressing herself, what she has to say is pretty awesome.  You can find her blog here.

Anyway, the whole point of her book can be summarized by her following quote:

"Giving thanks for one thousand things is ultimately an invitation to slow time down with the weight of full attention."

A second quote by Mark Buchanan that compliments Ann Voskamp's previous quote is:

"I cannot think of a single advantage I've gained from being in a hurry... through all this haste I thought I was making up time.  It turns out I was just throwing it away."

The moment we start rushing through our days, trying to keep up with laundry, dinner, and our never-ending to-do list... yes, our life gets lived out effectively, but there is nobody there to enjoy it.

Yesterday was one of those days.  My sweet children were there usual selves, and had I continued doing all that "needed to be done," I would have never been able to savor the precious gift of simplicity through them.

1.  Getting to see my little girl imitate the only mom she knows to be hers, and liking what I see.

2.  The way my fearful girl learns to overcome simple fears such as getting close to a cooking stove.

WHY-Wednesday: Why I lie down in the afternoons.

Okay, so this week's post may be extremely obvious to some, or a luxury to others.

But for me it's been a novelty... and revolutionary!

To lie down for my own nap in the afternoons.

You mean, I should not use my quiet to...

... catch-up around the house?

... fix dinner?

or

... fold laundry?

To rest while the kids are resting themselves?!

 ** What a waste a time! **

Right around the time I was struggling with my emotions of mild depression, I heard a friend say:

"We should not work to rest, but must be rested in order to work."

That is, we must not work ourselves so hard that we have no other option but to need rest.

Instead, we must always be rested so we can then work.

Again, this may be obvious to most, but revolutionary for me.

So now, when the kids go down for their naps at around 1 PM, I may straighten the kitchen a little, poke around Facebook for a few minutes, but shortly after I put myself in bed.  No iPad, no phone, no book.  I lie down under the covers and stay there for at least 30 minutes.  I make myself shut down.

If after 30 minutes I have not fallen asleep, I can get up and continue with my chores.  But if during that 30-minute period I do fall asleep, then I stay asleep until I wake up on my own or the kids do that for me.

I have never been a napper, but to my amazement I do end up falling asleep on most afternoons.  Which makes me wonder... 

how long have I been living this incredibly sleep-deprived life?

The messy Slouch

BB continues to be a lazy little man.  I like to call him "Slouch" or "Flojito" because of the way he likes to sit while he eats.

Last Saturday night was no exception.  We had lasagna for dinner, and my oh myyy... how I wish I had recorded him!  He made a huge mess all around his face, then proceeded to put the food all over his hair, then rub it all over his belly.

There couldn't have been a happier Flojito.

"Just Me and My Dad"

Daddy and Emma went on their first camping trip last weekend.  Byron had the desire to experience that with his little girl, and finally got to do it.

All four of us headed out to the family picnic area early in the afternoon on Friday.  We lit a fire, roasted hot dogs, ate some dinner, then BB and Mommy returned home and left the campers behind.

BB was fussy until someone began feeding him.

 

"Mami, tengo miedo." aka-- my fearful daughter saying she was afraid.

After Mommy and BB headed home, Emma and Daddy set up the tent.  Byron says that as soon as the tent was up, Emma stepped back and said:  "That's a good tent."

They had their family worship time, sang, looked at the moon and stars, and then was put to "bed."

Poor girl, she had a hard time falling asleep, but once she finally did at 11 pm, she slept through the night.

Woke up a happy girl bright and early at 7 am.

Memma and Poppa brought pancakes and scrambled eggs for breakfast.  

Mommy and BB hit a few yard sales in the morning before heading out there ourselves.

Memories in the making :)

He likes rocking chairs

Actually, he likes pretty much any high spot he is tall enough to get on.  It's fun to begin noticing the striking differences between him and Emma.  While Emma is as fearful as they come, this little man loves a good chase, high places, and a good challenge.

He likes to climb on chairs, boxes, steps... anything really, then just sit there until somebody spots him, then he just flashes his big grin at you.

His big (scary) thing he does now is not only climb on the rocking chairs, but also stand on them (and rock them while at it).  The nursery workers at church are terrified of him doing this, and say that no other child has ever done that.

She wears her daddy's pants

"Those are just a tad too big for you, Sweet Girl."

One of Emma's big things to do these days is to loop Byron's belt on him.  Byron puts on his pants, tucks his shirt in, and then little Emma Girl comes around and laces his belt around his waist.  

Love seeing that girl at work!

Oma and Great Gram in town

We enjoyed both Oma and Great Gram's company last week for a full week.  They drove down from Illinois to Georgia to be with us.  Emma warmed up to both of them pretty quickly, though my very-attached-to-me son did not do as well.

First night they arrived they got straight to work-- read, read, read!

Great Gram got to meet her first great-grandson for the first time.

One of our favorite outings while they were visiting was to a peach stand 30 minutes from our home.  We got to purchase some delicious home-made peach ice cream, enjoy it with each other, and buy beautiful one-pound peaches.

 

Oma and G. Gram got to see where both Emma and BB go to MDO.

Oma got to take the kids to the park some, and the kids came back with some flowers for Mommy.

Sitting around the table right before dinner was served.

 

On their last day visiting us, they took us out for breakfast.  

Waiting for our table.

Oma took the kids to the park again while I took advantage of being kid-free to put the house back to normal before they left later that day.  It was super hot, but the kids and Oma all had a great time!

Good having family in town to love on our children all week long.

All in all, it was a great trip until four hours into their drive back to Illinois (right outside of Atlanta) my grandmother fell and fracture her hip.  She had surgery done the next day, and as of today they are still trying to figure out what it is they need to do.  They are away from family and in a non-familiar hospital/town.  Mom had to postpone her long-awaited trip back to Mexico, and is now living as a "hobo" (her words, not mine) in my grandmother's hospital room.  She had to turn in her rental car, she left her cell phone at my home, and my grandmother's cell phone she does not know how to use and has run out of credit.  Like Byron likes to say:  "this is a book in the making."

Praying for you, Mom :)