May 14, 2015, at 9:38 pm | I did it! They did it! I finally taught the girls to tie their shoelaces! I had been putting off the teaching process for far too long because I don’t tie a bow exactly right, so I kept hoping someone else would volunteer to teach them the proper technique. However, when I went shopping for sneakers last week, I absentmindedly bought Becky a pair of shoes with laces instead of our standard Velcro straps. Oops! I’m glad I was forced to do it, because the teaching process really went much quicker than I had expected. I googled a few different techniques, but I was baffled by all the “teach your kid to tie shoes in 1 minute/ 5 minutes/ bunnny ears/ fool-proof method/blah blah blah” videos. If I couldn’t figure out how to copy the video, I sure wasn’t going to be able to teach the girls that way. I eventually stumbled upon an old 1980’s Sesame Street video on YouTube which used the technique very similar to mine (except I still do it backwards), and showed it to the girls. Between that video and a bunch of trial and error on all our parts, both girls mastered it in a single afternoon! We’re all very excited!
May 13, 2015, at 9:56 pm |
May 12, 2015, at 11:30 pm | We’re having quite a bit of excavation done on our backyard right now. The boys think we’ve bought them another toy!
May 10, 2015, at 10:08 pm | Every passing year of motherhood, I am more and more in awe of my mom. She made it look effortless. She made the daily-cooking, hourly-cleaning, laundry-folding, thermometer-wielding, playdate-driving, soccer-game-watching, homework-assisting, complaint-listening, tear-drying art of mothering look second-nature. And it made me want to be a mom. And now, here I am, almost seven years into mothering, and I know that many times it’s anything but effortless or second-nature. It’s hard helping little people who don’t want to be helped. It’s thankless cooking and cleaning for little people who just keeping spitting out the food and making more messes. It’s exhausting caring for sick little people who don’t understand why they don’t feel well. It’s heart-rending watching little people figure out that things in life don’t always go smoothly. But my mom knew that motherhood was a gift from God. And because of her, I know it, too. And so I can view the hard times as a gift, as a way to give God glory. Because it’s not through my strength that I can do hard things. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil 4:13). And because of Christ, motherhood is full of joy. It’s an act of service to the Lord, one for which He will continue to equip me. It’s joyous because it’s a way we can better understand what Christ did for us – thankless, complaining, sick, undeserving little people though we are – on the Cross. Motherhood is a joy every time I look at these four amazing people and realize that God loves me even more than I love them, and that He died to save us, working all things out for His Glory and our good.
My mom gave me a wonderful book called “Treasuring Christ When Your Hands are Full” by Gloria Furman. Furman writes, “The gifts that God gives us serve this holy purpose – to direct our praise to the giver of those gifts. If you enjoy the gift of your children and the gift of your motherhood, but your joy terminates in those gifts, then you’ve missed the point of the gifts” (p.31). The point of motherhood, the point of life, is to glorify God for creating us, sustaining us, and saving us.
So Mom, thanks not only for displaying the gracious gift of motherhood, but for teaching me that “every good and perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17). I love you.
May 8, 2015, at 10:20 pm |
May 7, 2015, at 10:02 pm | Danny was running too fast and fell face-first into the dirt.
I called over to him, “It’s okay, Dan. Just brush yourself off.”
From his prostrate position on the ground, Danny mumbled, “I can’t. I’m a pancake.”
*******
Danny was sitting on my lap and twirling my hair around his finger. He looked up and whispered in admiration, “Your hair looks like a racecar.”
*******
I saw Danny standing quietly in a darkened hallway. He saw me and whispered, “I’m hiding.”
I said, “Oh, are you pooping?”
He nodded slightly and whispered again, “Stop finding me.”
*******
The boys were “helping” me water the plants, when Jimmy suddenly turned the hose on his brother and soaked him.
Danny hollered out, “I am NOT A FLOWER!”
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Danny was pleading with Susie to help him with a game on the iPad. She tried to explain to him she didn’t know how the game worked so she wouldn’t be of any help. He wouldn’t take no for an answer.
He scolded her, “Come on, don’t be a wuss!”
*******
Danny: “Dogs don’t eat bones. They’re too spicy.”
Me: “What do dogs eat then?”
Danny: “Apples.”
May 4, 2015, at 10:38 pm | I took this picture a few weeks ago when we had had a string of warm, sunny days and then a bit of a cold snap. Jimmy couldn’t get warm after a brief stint outside riding his bike in the chilly air, so he insisted on keeping his gear on while he was watching a TV show. I thought he looked pretty comfy!
May 3, 2015, at 10:32 pm | Last week, it seemed like everyone in the house took turns being sick with something or other. Here’s Becky early last week:
Sometimes when the kids are sick is the only time they’re still long enough for me to capture how sweet and beautiful they are! I love how peaceful she looks here. She felt a lot better after that much-needed morning rest. Here’s to a healthier week!
May 1, 2015, at 10:50 pm | We spent last weekend in Pennsylvania while we attended a Bible conference and visited with our friends and family there. I’m so thankful for our friends for hosting us, especially given the multitude of illnesses we were spreading around. I can’t believe I neglected to take a single picture! I did, however, manage to snap a picture of Susie’s “weekend news” where she described our fun visit:
 
Translation: “I went to Pennsylvania to see Gavin and Mason and Wyatt and Ron and Tiffany. When we were there we got to play a little bit. We went to a conference there. I had to wear a fancy dress. After the conference when we got home to Mason and Gavin’s house we played the wii a little bit.” The picture she drew is of a Nintendo Wii screen where she and her sister were competing in a sword-fighting competition. 🙂
April 30, 2015, at 9:27 pm | Remember this picture from last year, when poor little Jimmy didn’t have any tool belts or safety equipment?
Well, Grammie took the hint last year and got the child equipment in spades! And now here he is all decked out, a year later, a big FOUR YEAR OLD. How did that time pass so quickly?!
 
Jimmy, you are such a delight to be around. You are as energetic and eager to please as a puppy, as cuddly as a kitten (which you like to pretend to be often!), you are curious and sweet and chivalrous and goofy and incredibly helpful. I can’t get over how blessed we are to have you in our family. We love you!
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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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