January 31, 2011, at 10:32 pm | A recent conversation I had with Susie:
Me: “Who makes the snow fall?”
Susie: “God.”
Me: “Who makes the rain fall?”
Susie: “Jesus.”
Me: “Who makes the sun shine?”
Susie: “Mommy.”
Glad to know my daughter considers me the source of the light in her life, even if her meteorology (and theology) is way off!
January 31, 2011, at 12:20 am | Popcorn and a movie…and milk. Happy campers.
January 28, 2011, at 11:20 pm | Sleeping Susie
January 27, 2011, at 11:17 pm | Has anybody seen where our pool went?
I’m starting to think I’m never going to find my yard again. It’s somewhere out there, I think…but I’m going on faith at this point, because a snowstorm last night deposited almost another foot of snow around here and brought the depth to probably four feet. Poor Jim is struggling to keep our driveway clear, but we’re rapidly running out of space to put the snow. Jim kept telling me that I need to get the girls outside so they can experience this record-breaking winter wonderland, and I kept telling him that I like to feel my toes, thank you very much.
But tonight, he wore me down. Or rather, I decided that anything – even the risk of losing the feeling in my toes – was worth getting out of this house. So when he went outside to plow, I stuffed the girls and myself into our snowsuits and headed outside (“stuffed” being a very literal term, as Susie and Becky’s snow clothes are size 12 and 18 months respectively, and my jumpsuit is definitely not a maternity cut).
You can see that Becky (on the left) was about as excited as I was about our impending adventure.
I tried to capture the elusive self-portrait-plus-two shot so I could document that I really, truly was going to trudge out into the cold. I tried to put on my best game face, but I think my grin looks a little panicked, don’t you?
As soon we exited the garage, Susie started walking and didn’t stop. Her little legs chugged her down the plowed driveway into the darkness and it was all I could do to keep up with her while simultaneously dragging a whimpering Becky behind me and reassuring her that this was indeed, fun. I felt like quite the hypocrite telling her to get over her fears and just put one foot in front of the other. At one point, she looked up at me with a look of sheer desperation and near-terror, crying for me to carry her instead of making her walk. My heart just melted for the poor child (I knew just how she felt), but I also knew she was thoroughly capable of making her way along the driveway. Carrying her was only going to reinforce her fears.
So I smiled even wider, danced around in my clunky boots and laughingly tried to show her how much fun we were all having, and how great it was to be like Daddy out in the snow. She tentatively started walking again, still clinging to my hand, and soon we were all trucking along without a problem. Jim then drove over in the Ranger, picked us all up and took us for a spin, which the girls adored. Every time he slammed into a snowbank with his plow, the girls squealed with delight. Becky even turned to me and announced, “This is SO! MUCH! FUN!”
When the girls and I called it quits soon afterward and I was busy peeling cold, wet clothing off of us all, I couldn’t help but be struck by the larger implications of our snowy evening outing. So often, especially during this time of year, I feel stuck. I feel like there’s no end in sight to winter, and I’m too much of a wimp to enjoy the season while it’s here. The nights are long, the days are cold, and I just want someone to carry me through so I don’t have to get my feet wet. If I just stay inside and pout, yes, spring will come eventually. But what will I have missed while I’m waiting?
I know I’ve mentioned before that I had high hopes that the girls could turn me into a winter outdoor person, hopes that haven’t yet come to fruition. So I don’t harbor any delusions that my flash of insight tonight will have me frolicking outside on a daily basis. Or even a weekly one. But I hope that slowly, I will learn to be less scared of the uncomfortable, less hesitant about venturing into the unknown. I pray that the Lord will give me the strength to trust Him to sustain me, no matter the turbulent water or snowy path, when He says “Come” (Matthew 14:29).
January 26, 2011, at 10:45 pm | Cranky mom? Give me a meal I don’t have to cook.
Cranky kids? Give them corn dogs.
As Jim always told me, Chili’s truly is the answer to all my problems.
January 25, 2011, at 9:51 pm | At least someone around here will sit on the potty for more than two seconds!
January 24, 2011, at 9:34 pm | The E-Trade baby has his Blackberry during time-out.
My girls have their iPad during bath time.
What is this world coming to?
P.S. I think Jim (and the girls) would say it’s a wonderful world!
January 23, 2011, at 10:56 pm | The girls got to eat chocolate ice cream for dessert…
…and the Steelers are going to the Superbowl.
We are one happy family!
January 21, 2011, at 11:02 pm | On a recent trip to our friend Maria’s house, the girls were delighted to play with a dollhouse that Maria’s niece Maura had brought over to entertain them. I hadn’t expected the girls to be so captivated by the house; I figured that such imaginative play was still a ways off in their future. But the girls proved me wrong – they spent much of our time at Maria’s arranging and rearranging the dolls and the furniture (and bickering with each other such arrangements). Maura saw how much pleasure the girls took in the dollhouse and graciously offered to let us take it home. To say we were all excited and grateful for her generosity is a serious understatement!
The girls have thoroughly enjoyed playing with the dollhouse every day, and I have thoroughly enjoyed having a few extra minutes every day that I don’t have to scramble to come up with fun indoor activities!
Thank you, Maura and family!
Here’s a rather distracted video of the girls thanking Maura for the dollhouse. It’s a bit of a crazy clip, but I hope it conveys our excitement!
January 20, 2011, at 9:21 pm | Susie is a creature of comfort, especially at bedtime. She loves her blanket (her "B”), warm milk, steamy baths, stuffed animals, snuggles, and now, thanks to the generosity of Jim’s Aunt Mary…her new fleece robe. Susie knows how to relax in style!
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ABOUT US I'm blessed to be saved by the grace of God, loved by my wonderful husband Jim, and embraced by my twin girls, Rebecca Faith and Susanna Joy and my sons Jimmy and Danny. I started this blog in May 2008 when I was hospitalized for pre-term labor at 24 weeks gestation. The Lord allowed me to keep the girls inside until they were 34 weeks along, and on July 27th, Rebecca made her debut, followed by Susanna, five minutes later, on July 28th. We ecstatically welcomed Jimmy into our lives on April 25th, 2011, and Danny on August 31, 2012. This blog has been a personal journal of faith and motherhood and the only way I can remember which child did what and when. Thanks for stopping by to share in my Faith and Joy! Feel free to e-mail me at: [email protected].
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