Garden Day!

I'm so excited to post this!! Last summer I decided to start a garden, but it was a little too late and I had no clue what I was doing. So I started by making a compost bin and getting the soil ready. We've been composting since then and it's working well. The bins are now behind the fence because they can get pretty stinky. They're also very heavy. I'm not sure what to do when I actually need to move it to the garden.

In April I planted some seeds and waited, waited, waited. I planted lettuce, swiss chard, spinach, green beans, radishes, zinnias (flowers), carrots and sugar peas. About a month ago we started getting some bean sprouts, a bunch of radishes, some spinach, sugar peas, and a bit of lettuce. And lots and lots and lots of weeds. There were so many weeds it looked more like a weed garden. Every few days I'd spend a while outside picking weeds, but it was taking forever. Bill would also yell, "How's your weed garden coming along?" (I didn't take any pictures of the garden 'o weeds because it was really embarassing!)

But today my mother-in-law, the greatest of them all, visited and went to town pulling the weeds. We also transplanted some of the spinach sprouts and she gave me some onion sprouts. She also built a lattice for the sugar peas. Now the garden looks ship-shape and I can't wait to reap the fruits, I mean vegetables, of my/our labor. I even got a first crop of radishes for a salad! Woohoo!!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

I've been meaning to blog about Caley's first ballet "recital"! Read about it on the "Caley's Classroom" blog.

Caley's Daddy Date

Bill was able to take some time off this week and last. One afternoon he and Caley went on a date and had a great time! Here are some super cute pictures.
They visited our townhouse that was Caley's first home. Look at the shiny siding!!

This is at Emery's Garden, a nursery in Lynnwood. Actually it's more like a nursery/farm with free roaming peacocks and chickens in coops.

They visited a park on 164th st in Lynnwood and Caley tried her hand at taking pictures of Daddy.

Mother's Day Tea Party

You may remember reading about our tea party from last year. This year it was an extravaganza. My friends and I invited several moms with young kids and had a great time visiting in the sun, drinking tea (or apple juice for the kidlets), eating yummy snacks, and watching our kids run and play. I hope this becomes a Mother's Day tradition. The weather cooperated beautifully and so many people helped pull it off, from lending tables and chairs, to sharing teacups, saucers, and decorations. Thank you friends! 

Book Review: Lord Please Meet Me in the Laundry Room

This is an embarassing confession, but I rarely read books. Not counting reading books to the kids, I really haven't read anything since it was required reading in college, and even then I probably skimmed most of the material. And I was an English major. Doubly embarassing. I read blogs and things online, and have read a few books in bible study, but it's been a long time since I read something just for fun and just for me.

I regularly read the Mommy Life blog by Barbara Curtis and in January she assigned her readers to read the classic Animal Farm and she would lead a discussion. I thought I'd try it, since we have a copy of Animal Farm and it's a very short book. I loved it. All I wanted to do was read Animal Farm and all I could think of was the pigs and the old dog and the hardworking horse. Of course it's satire and many parallels can be drawn between what Orwell was satirising and the current American government. After that, I felt a love of reading I hadn't felt in a long time.

So I read Barbara Curtis' book Lord, Please Meet Me in the Laundry Room and I'm glad I did. It's another short read, and very relevant to someone in my position as a mom to young kids. Among the big ideas in this book, one is that in a mother's life there may not be a lot of time alone doing bible study, there are always interruptions like a screaming baby, a needy toddler, laundry, dishes or dinner to be made. It's a good thing the Lord meets us where we are and sometimes it might be in the laundry room while doing the 18th load of laundry. From page 24, "When I turn my thoughts to God, loading the dishwasher, sweeping the floor, getting up to nurse the baby at night, even changing a diaper can be a prayer. And as I turn my thoughts to Him, I pray for all the mommies like me who are too busy wiping peanut butter and jelly off little faces and kissing owies to maintain the practice of what the less encumbered call quiet time." Since reading this, it's made me look at my daily tasks different and thank God for them. I am thankful I have loads and loads of laundry to do, because it means my house has growing children who have the energy to get dirty while they're playing. This doesn't mean I have an excuse for not doing "quiet time." I spend way too much wasted time on the computer and watching TV, when I should be deepening my relationship with Jesus. 

Barbara also tells her story of how Jesus worked in her life, through her wild young adulthood as a political leftist, to a single mom with two daughters, to a recovering alcoholic. She married her husband Tripp and together they came to Jesus and she learned how to be a good mother (in her words, page 42). Later they had 7 children together, one with Down Syndrome, and adopted three more with DS. She discusses a bit about having so many children and how it's very similar to being a CEO, running a small company and being organized. She also relates the blessing of having a large family. From page 66-67, "Sometimes the amazement [of people upon finding out their family size] is respectful, but sometimes it hurts, as when people say things like, 'I don't know how you do it. My two are enough to drive me crazy.' It's embrassing to hear another mother say this in front of her children--and mine. I was to grab her hand and say, 'Stop! Think! That's not the way it's supposed to be! These children are our treasures!" She then references Psalm 127 which calls children a heritage from the Lord. 

Upon reading this, I was quite convicted about my comments about Caley and Amelia. Life with these girls is difficult at times, but probably more because I am stubborn, selfish, and don't want to be inconvenienced by their legitimate needs as children. I need to be more cautious with what I say, especially when they are around. Actually, I need to be more cautious about everything I say, whether or not it's about my children! I too often speak without thinking. 

The last chapter of the book is about her child with a "little extra," Jonny. Jonny has Down Syndrome. She writes that among the difficulties associated with having a child with Down syndrome, there are many unexpected joys and rewards! After having Jonny, Barbara birthed her last child, Maddy, and years later adopted three more boys with Down Syndrome. Wow! This is a huge reason why I admire Barbara as a mother, Christian, author, and advocate. On page 124 she writes, "What will be your little extra? It might not be a baby with Down syndrome, but surely as you continue your spiritual journey, God will drop something in your lap or whisper something in your heart that will give you the opportunity to grow and change, to enlarge your capacity to love, to teach you compassion, and to depend on Him and love Him more. "

What will be my/our little extra? When I am 90 and look back on my life, what will I see that helped me learn more about God's love for me and plan for my life? I'm guessing it'll be something I can't fathom right now, because as much as I'd like to be in control, I'm not. God is.

I highly recommend this book and Barbara's blog in general. Thank you!

It's been a while since our last post, but I'm working on some good ones. In the meantime, enjoy these pictures of life recently!

Feeling Blissful

Aside from the occasional meltdown by one of the kids, I love life right now. God is so gracious. Right now I'm listening to beautiful piano music, the kids are napping after a wonderful playgroup morning of learning about Jesus and doing a fun project, and right before naptime they were sitting nicely while I did some chores. I love the friends God has placed in my life right now. I love the blessing of getting to stay home with my children and work on little projects here and there. I love that my husband loves me and works hard to support our family, and comes home to play and love on our kids. I love the blessing of a sunny day after months and months of snotty, cold weather.

Things will change, and if I think about those changes too much I get a little freaked out. I hope though I will always remember this feeling of bliss and blessing. Thank you Jesus.

Easter Baskets

When I was a kid I loved Easter. My parents went all out filling our Easter baskets with goodies. Toys, books, stuffed animals, and of course, CANDY!! I was a candy junkie. My brother and I would get up and find the basket and just chow down. Then of course there was the Easter egg hunt, which produced even more candy. I was a candy hoarder (was? to some extent I still am). I would hoard the candy from Easter and make it last until Halloween when the basket would get refilled. I distinctly remember hiding my stash o' candy in the closet and creeping in to get some. I also have a distinct memory of one Easter at the cabin in Hoodsport. I was in 8th or 9th grade, and I remember doing the Easter egg hunt in my jammies from Indonesia. After Easter basket and candy fest, we'd pack up and go to church. It was always so beautiful at church, with the pretty daffodils and lilies decorating the stage and windowsills. Sometimes we'd head to Grandma's for Easter dinner or have dinner with my Grandpa Floyd and Grandma Harriet at our house.

The last few years, I haven't been overly excited about Easter, at least in the same way I was as a child. I just looked around my house and I don't have any Easter decorations up. None. (Unless you count the gingerbread house we made last week that's been picked over, that's one.) We didn't put together Easter baskets for the girls, but they got some things from Great Grandma Ev and Nana and Grama Bales. Caley's playgroup is learning about Easter and the events leading up to it, but beyond that, I haven't done much. Someone told me about a "tomb cake" that teaches about Jesus' Resurrection. Cook a chocolate cake in a bowl and cut out a door and put a piece of cloth inside to show that Jesus came back to life. It sounds like a wonderful idea, it just didn't happen last week during Holy Week.

**I'd like to add that we did this yesterday, and it was a massive tomb cake fail...it didn't cook long enough and when we cut out the door to put Jesus inside (all wrapped up like He was in the story), hot chocolate goo came pouring out. Parts of it were cooked enough, so we just shoved Jesus inside (He got all gooey), acted out the story, and the girls ate the cake afterward. Peter the dinosaur disciple and Princess Atta and Ariel the mermaid (playing the women who went to Jesus' tomb) looked on. Caley understood the story, which is the point, not that it was necessarily pretty. Read more on Caley's Classroom blog asap.**

Caley knows the story of Jesus' death on the cross and his resurrection. It's something she learns all the time, at church, at home, and when she hits her sister. She often says, "Jesus died so we don't die." When she sins (and when I sin) it's a perfect time to teach "The Easter Story." If you learn one thing about Jesus, it should be the Easter story. I would feel guilty about not devoting this entire week to Easter-related stories and activities, but we kind of do that anyway. It shouldn't be a special thing to learn what Jesus did for us, we should always be learning about it and contemplating it.

I'm not against Easter baskets, or candy, or bunnies or eggs. I'm not against doing fun things to illustrate Jesus' miracles or holidays we celebrate. But sometimes Mommy doesn't do things quite on time or the way everyone else does, but if the point is still Jesus then that's okay.

We celebrated Easter this year by going to church and hearing about Jesus, hearing testimonies of lives changed because of Him and seeing people baptized. Mars Hill also had streaming services live from the Ballard campus. We watched some baptisms when we got home and Caley asked, "what is baptism?" She saw a little girl about 5 years old get baptized. What an impact for her! I look forward to the Easter Sunday (or any day) that our girls will profess their faith in Jesus and be baptized by Daddy.

Happy Easter!

Tantrums at Target and, well everywhere

Oh my dear sweet Amelia, where have you gone? You have been replaced by Little Miss Independent in the grocery store, in the parking lot, and so many other places. You want to walk by yourself, where you want to go (which is always 180 degrees from where I need to go). You want to hold the cup and drink, not have a sip while it's in my hand. You don't want to hold anyone's hand while crossing the street, so I have to pick you up, which just makes you more angry. Dear sweet Amelia, I'm just trying to protect you. I don't want to lose you to a crazy car that's driving too fast or a creepy guy looking to snatch up cute little girls in a lamb coat. I don't want you to fall and hurt your pretty little face on the sidewalk. Why don't you see that I love you and want you to stay safe?

It must be the way God feels when I want to do my own thing instead of letting him carry me through. When my stubborness and independence takes over instead of letting my Father care for me as I care for you dear sweet Amelia.

So sweet baby that's not a baby anymore...thank you for showing me how I act toward God sometimes. I'm not angry with you, it's your sin nature...this must be one of the reasons God gave me a toddler, to teach me through you. 

It's Amelia's turn to pray!

A few nights ago before dinner, Amelia prayed for us.

"Jesus, Amen. Yay!! (clapping)"

Lord, I am thankful for messy hands

A few nights ago was "bath night." It is often a struggle giving the girls a bath, because they freak out when I wash their hair, so it doesn't happen as often as it should. Actually, before Tuesday night's bath I can't remember the last time they had one. It was probably when my parents were here a few weeks ago. Does that make me a bad mother? I hope not. They're generally pretty clean because we usually don't let them jump in mud puddles or garbage and I have a system for cleaning the house each week. That and they're related to Bill who's a pretty clean guy so maybe they inherited it. I told my friend with 4 kids that if we ever had a boy I think he'd be pretty clean like Bill. To which she replied, "good luck with that." I think the "clean" days in this house are numbered.

Anyway...during the bath and afterward Amelia just wouldn't cooperate. From splashing and drinking the bathwater, to wiggling uncontrollably while getting dressed, to fighting getting her teeth brushed (I actually had to pin down her arms so I could brush her teeth). Sometimes when the girls are obstinate like this it can make me so angry and I can get really harsh with them. But on bath night, all I could do was smile and thank God that I even have children. I know many years from now I will wish I could still help them with the daily tasks, and many more years after that I will wish they even lived in the same house as me. It's very hard for me to remember this sometimes, when the chore list gets longer with each day and my day isn't going the way I want it. Then it sets that I'm just making it harder on myself because I'm acting selfishly. 

Please Lord, remind me of this feeling of thankfulness. Thank you for giving me a family to care for and dirt on the floor to sweep up. 

I love this poem, my friend Melody posted it on her blog a while ago and it's too good not to pass on.

I heard my Mom say as she scrubbed today,

"I'm thankful for brushes and brooms,

I'm glad to clean my cozy house

That's filled with cheerful rooms."

I heard my Mom say at the washing machine,

"I'm thankful for dirty clothes.

I'm glad that I have a healthy child

Who can play each day he grows."

I heard my Mom say at the sink tonight,

"I'm thankful for dirty dishes.

I'm glad we filled our plates with food

Instead of empty wishes.:

I heard Mom say in her prayers tonight,

"I'm thankful for problems today.

If life never got a little bit rough,

I might forget to pray."

~V. Gilbert Beers

"Precious Moments"

After dinner last night the girls did some watercoloring. Caley thought it was more fun to color her hands, so her art time was quickly over. She, of course, protested and I said "Only babies do that Caley, are you a baby? Babies don't get to do big girl things" while washing her hands. Bill was standing next to us and added, "Caley, if you're a baby you have to wear diapers and sleep in a crib and have a binky. Do you want to do that?" 

And she enthusiastically said, "YES!!"

Reverse psychology--FAIL. 

My first half!

Today I ran the Mercer Island Half Marathon. The various races (5k, 10k, kids dash, and half marathon) benefitted the awareness and prevention of colon cancer. I started running after Amelia was born and honestly never thought I'd be able to do this! I had heard the course was hilly, so I was fully expecting to crash and burn, even though I've been training a lot. The hills were more rolling and gradual which made it easier than I thought, but there were a few bigger ones that were challenging. There were water stations every mile or so and halfway through I had a Clif gel shot (which I don't recommend as a snack but only if you're doing a lot of activity and need a boost, it wasn't gourmet). The course was along Mercer Way, so it was fairly scenic. The only scary part was a disrespectful driver who was driving on the course behind people and wouldn't stop and turn around. I am very thankful no one was hurt. It just shows that even in official races I need to be aware of my surroundings when I'm running. I finished in about 2 hours and 20 minutes (official results here), which is what I expected since my pace is about 10-11 min/mile.

Bill and the kids came to the finish line and cheered me on. In these pictures I look a little funny because I got kind of emotional when I saw them on the sidelines. I'm so thankful to have a supportive family!

I hope this isn't my last half marathon, but I'm going to take it easy this week and recuperate for a few days.

I just had to share this video of Sarah Palin on the topic of Special Olympics. I especially loved what she said about when her son, Trig, was born:

"It was like an hourglass turned upside down; my heart filled up with love, and my mind emptied itself of all the different worries and fears and concerns that I had..."

By the way, I researched about this because there was so concern that Palin cut funding 

in her state for Special Olympics, but that is misleading. Read about it here.

Three-to-One

I went to grad school for early childhood special education. In that program I worked in two preschools in several different capacities, in the general classroom as an assistant, as a research assistant administering tests and videotaping test sessions, and one-on-one in the autism classroom doing ABA therapy, mostly using discrete trials. Once a quarter my practicum advisor observed my work and part of her observation was making sure I had a 3-to-1 ratio of positive comments to neutral or negative demands and directions. Basically in my interactions with the children, I had to constantly be praising and encouraging the child. Neutral comments basically counted as negative ones. These included placing demands on the child and really has nothing to do with the tone of voice. It seems easy, but it's not! 

The ratio of 3-to-1 is because a negative experience stands out more than a positive experience. Think of your relationships, do you remember the negatives easier than the positives? 

I was thinking about how this applies to my life now as a parent. I have a feeling if my practicum advisor were to observe me on a normal day at home, my ratio would be embarassing! For much of the day I'm directing Caley and Amelia's behavior (neutral- "Come eat your lunch", "Get your blanket for bed", "Go to sleep") or flat out rebuking them when they do something wrong (negative- "Don't take your sister's toys"). And I know I'm not praising them three times more than negative or neutral interactions. Children remember the bad times far easier than the good times. I'm not saying it's not okay to tell your kids what to do in the normal course of the day, but I feel like I don't make a concerted effort to outnumber the neutral/negatives with positive interactions. 

Lately I've been trying to be more conscious of noticing when Caley (usually) does something nice. She is so nice when I give her milk, she almost always says "Thank you." I try to say "Thanks for saying thanks Caley!" When they're just playing and I'm able to get some work done or just take a break, I have been trying to remember to say thanks or "I like the way you two are playing." This seems silly that I should even need to make a concerted effort to recognize the little things they do, but it's the truth. Many of the frustrations I may have with my kids and every day life are because I'm sinful, lazy and selfish. I want things to be my way or no way. I want my kids to read my mind and obey immediately. I am acting like a child. I can see God's hand in this. Lately I have had to go to Caley and ask for forgiveness for being too harsh or impatient. She sees my admission of sin and asking of forgiveness and hopefully will learn to do the same.

With God's grace, and thankfully he has an abundance of it, it won't always be this way. With grace, prayer and practice, praising my children will hopefully be more natural and the ratio will be three-to-zero. 

I just can't figure this kid out

It seems like no matter where I move Amelia's crib, she outsmarts me. Her crib is along the wall next to Caley's room. Often she will spit her binky out at night and when she wakes to get milk in the early hours I have to move her crib to find it. Her crib never seems to stay in one place. Sometimes it'll be too close to the light switch and she'll turn her light on in the middle of the night. Sometimes I'll get her from bed and she'll have moved the dirty laundry from her laundry basket around her crib. One time I checked on her and she was putting on clothes from her laundry basket. Today I moved her crib further from the light switch and she could reach the decorative wooden safety pin on her wall. I got her from naptime and she was holding it saying "uh-oh, uh-oh." When she doesn't get things from around the outside of her crib, she sometimes manages to get stuck between the rungs or partly climb out of it. This kid is a genius. Maybe not, but she seems like it because when Caley was her age she was just learning to walk, so crib shenanigans were unknown to me. Maybe I could put a fitted sheet over the top of the crib as a tent. Maybe I could wrap the rungs with Saranwrap. Maybe I could make her sleep in a straitjacket. Maybe it's time to move her out of the crib. But that would mean admitting she's not a baby anymore. 

Preschool Crafts

This quarter I have been working Wednesday nights at church in the preschool class. Parents are in classes or Redemption Groups so the kids are in "Kids Kore." It's one of the highlights of my week. It is very tiring at the end of a long day, but I love seeing the kids learn about Jesus and love Him more. I also love Wednesday nights because Caley is in the preschool class, and it's fun to see her playing with other kids in that setting. 

We are doing the Big Book curriculum, which is basically a Bible story a week told through a big storybook. Then we play some games to help the kids learn the story and do a craft. I've been planning and preparing the crafts this quarter, which is really fun for me. There has been the occasional week I can't think of a craft or run out of time to prepare, but the good thing about preschoolers is that they're easily amused. In a pinch, shaving cream, playdough, or just coloring is a good activity. They especially like playing group games like "Lost Little Sheep" which the class assistant Janessa does with them, or just running around pretending to be a dinosaur. It gets really loud in class sometimes. But that's bound to happen with 15 kids in a room at 830 at night.

Here are the crafts we've done. Most of these crafts I got from the internet and tweaked a bit.

Story of Abraham and Sarah
Noah and the Ark
Joshua and the Wall of Jericho- baked dough bricks (salt, flour, water) with playdough as the mortar
On left- Daniel in the lion's den; On right- Moses in the bulrushes (egg carton cup for basket, piece of felt, tiny baby inside)

Jonah and the big fish

Can you tell I like using paper plates? They're not just for eating! 

Encouragement

For some reason when I woke up this morning, I felt convicted that I don't share my faith in Jesus "enough." I was hearing lies such as, "You aren't working hard enough; your kids don't know how to talk to people about Jesus; you need to do more." 

Then at breakfast, without any prompting from me, Caley turned to Amelia and said, "Once upon a time, Jesus died on the cross. And the bad guys did bad things to him and then he rose from the dead!"

Thanks for the encouragement Caley. :) I know there is always more to be done, but I'm glad you know the basics and aren't afraid to share them. Thank you Lord for your amazing timing.

I have some competition

As much as I'd like to be innovative and franchising, I just can't compete with Disney. They went and stole my idea for an EVE doll. I should have patented it. :)

Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but I still like the homemade version.