Sparkle!

Hannah and Peter thoroughly enjoyed making short work of a box of sparklers from a friend at work. (Thanks, Kelley!)

Would you believe it was actually Daddy's first time ever using sparklers, too?? I was quite surprised, but he reminded me that he simply used bigger, better, noisier, more impressive things ...

Personally, I like sparklers. :o)

A Taste of Strawberry

It's hard to explain, but the Lord burdened me this summer to really make sure I'm investing myself in the hearts of my children. Sometimes it's easy to get in the rut of just making sure everybody's clean and fed and dressed ... okay, the kids are good to go, now on to housework, paperwork, bills, and so on and so forth. Sometimes I forget to really enjoy the wonderful blessings the Lord has given us! Especially when clutter reigns and whiny voices with increasing decibels are begging for this, that, and the other ... Yes. It's true. Our children struggle with whining. :o/ But they struggle most when Mommy has her focus shifted to other (far less important) things.

I'm working on it across the board, but my greatest burden has been for Hannah-bug. As far as girls go, we're now in the minority--it's just her and me. The Lord really impressed on my heart that now is the time to be cultivating a special relationship with her--not when she's 13.

So, those thoughts have been on my heart. We've done some "special" things, but mostly I've just been purposefully including her as an important helper in my uniquely "Mommy" jobs--like bathing babies, going grocery shopping, etc. She goes grocery shopping with me now every week--and she's becoming a very fun companion! :o) (I usually go Thursday evenings, so the boys can stay home with Chris.)

Previously, I had gotten into the bad habit of allowing a treat from the candy aisle pretty regularly when the kids were shopping with me. Basically the treat was a reward/bribe for reasonably good behavior. Multiple issues had surfaced from that, including an inability to enter a store without thinking that we had to get a "special treat." So, as Chris as I talked about it, we knew that needed to stop. However, when I decided that part of the change I wanted to make was taking Hannah with me any time she wanted to come (which is about 99% of the time), I knew I needed a creative replacement for the candy so I had something I could say "yes" to.

So what did we come up with? $2. Hannah has $2 of my weekly grocery budget that she can pretty much decide to spend however she'd like to get a special treat for the family ... it's worked great! She loves the responsiblity, I'm able to teach her how to make good choices, and while it's still a "special treat," the selfishness is gone because it's for everybody and the whining is gone because it's a known quantity with a very specific framework.

So far we've enjoyed her choice of all-natural popsicles and strawberries ...

You mentioned strawberries? Enter Mommy's childhood cookbook and the original reason for this post which has gotten much longer and wordier than I intended! (Sorry folks!)

My First Baking Book

As the dog-eared corners testify, I loved this cookbook as a child!

The recipes are written with very clear, illustrated, step-by-step instructions. It's great for kids!

And Hannah has been wanting to make Spring Strawberry Baskets for months.

I knew they were going to be more than a little time-consuming, so I've been putting it off, but when a good sale combined with a good coupon made for a fantastic deal on strawberries earlier this month, I finally decided that now was the time ... and I was not disappointed. :o) Hannah was thrilled!

Yes, making the baskets was as time-consuming as I expected it to be, but we had fun and they tasted good even if they didn't look beautiful. :o)

Beautiful hearts are much more important than beautiful baskets.
Or beautiful houses.
Or "Me Time."

This Mommy is still learning. I'm glad God's not done with me yet! :o)

Let's play ball!

Trac Ball that is! Finding outdoor games that are fun for a wide range of ages and abilities can be a wee bit challenging if you've ever tried to do it. Especially when one of the adults who would be participating simply cannot do much effectively with a ball at. all. Grandpa introduced us to Trac Ball at his last visit and Peter especially enjoyed it--he can get some real mileage on his throws and his catching capacity is multiplied ten-fold! :o) When Daddy commented on how much he also enjoyed playing it with him, Mommy decided she had a Father's Day gift!

But, for the record, there is no "k" in Trac Ball. Try Googling for "Track Ball" and see how long it takes you to find this game! It took me a long time to get enough descriptive words before I finally stumbled on the proper spelling. But it was well worth the effort, as we've had lots of fun with it in the evenings. :o) Even I can throw and sometimes even catch the balls!! And that's saying something! (Don't laugh too hard, Heather!) Would you believe though that 3 times out of 5, I manage to hit the power lines? Ah well!

And thankfully, we've finally gotten Hannah to get over her fear of losing the ball and actually be able to enjoy playing with it! :o)

Peter, ... well, let's just say he gets into it. Thoroughly. :o) Stop for pictures? Mommy, I'm busy. playing. working hard. This is no time for pictures. Alright. I'll pause for 1.5 seconds. Got it? Good. Pose? Not a chance. :o)

So, what fun games do you like that work for athletic preschool boys, school-age artsy girls, clumsy non-athletic mommies, and very fast athletic daddies? :o)

Happy 3 Months!

At three months, Matthew is simply a delight! :o) He's happy, content, and blesses anyone who will give him the least bit of attention with huge smiles! He's about 16.5 lbs according to our scale at home. Definitely a chunky monkey! :o)

As of the last couple weeks, he is consistently sleeping through the night--every night! Yeah! :o) Hannah accomplished that at two months, but Peter was somewhere around 36 months (eh-hem!), so we're definitely thankful for solid nights of sleep! Matthew goes to bed between 9:00 and 10:00 and I wake him up to eat around 5:30. Yeah! Praise the Lord!

He has discovered mirrors and loves to stare and make faces at himself. :o) He's also batting at his toys and starting to roll from side to side.

We love you, Monkey!

:::

P.S. - I stole the star idea from a friend (Thanks, Bethany!) ... I wanted to do something similar for both Hannah and Peter, but I just never did, because I missed the first couple months, and then it seemed silly to start in the middle. I decided that this time, I didn't care. :o) We'll start at three months, and Lord willing, we'll get "star pictures" for months 4 through 12 as well! :o)

Glimpses of July

Yikes! Only one week left in July! It hardly seems possible! Sorry for the long absence here ... we had VBS at church last week, and I've been down for the count with a nasty summer cold this week. However, praise the Lord, I'm starting to feel much better and everyone else seems to be staying healthy, so we're getting back into the swing of things. I have lots of posts waiting to be written, but for now, here's a little glimpse of the family ...

Peter loves riding the tractor with Daddy! This particular Saturday, Hannah and Matthew went with Mommy to do multiple errands while Daddy and Peter took care of the yard. (Mommy definitely felt like "Super Mommy" to take two with me for at least five stops when I was not feeling well. But Hannah wanted to come with me and was sweet and Matthew slept the entire time, so it was good.) :o)

Matthew's getting big--the kids are able to enjoy "playing" with him more now. He just lights up for anyone who will give him attention, so it's lots of fun!

Can't use the Bumbo seat for long stretches yet, but he enjoys it for short periods! :o)

Peter's getting better at coloring--he's generally coloring the picture now, rather than just scribbling. We're currently dealing with a "bump" in the road of potty training--appreciate your prayers for that! :o)

Daddy made a really cool, really big Lego airplane!

Yep, give Daddy a Thumbs-Up!

Hmmm, so this is what the boys do while the girls are shopping ... ?

Gotta love smiles!

And this one's for Grandpa H! Peter likes his corn just the way you do, Grandpa!

We're enjoying summer ... more posts to follow in upcoming days!

Redefining "Tummy Time"

Who can resist baby giggles???

Let's all say "Moooo!"

We all enjoyed our second annual celebration of Chick-fil-A's "Cow Appreciation Day" with cow costumes and free food! :o)

Isn't he cute?!? :o)

Mommy enjoyed making cow custumes with Hannah rather than cooking dinner yesterday! :o) Thanks, Chick-fil-A! :o)

Just Peachy!

We thoroughly enjoyed celebrating Indpendence Day weekend at the Lexington County Peach Festival this year!

My wonderful engineer rigged a nifty cover for the kids' wagon. What a blessing! It won't make it in any of the latest fashion catalogs, but as we passed families with obviously tired children worn out from the heat, we were very thankful our munchkins had a comfortable ride and protection from the sun. (And we heard more than one comment to the effect of "What a good idea!" and "They've got it made!") :o)

Matthew spent most of his time in the car seat stroller, but the wagon made a convenient spot to care for those necessary things of babyhood as well. :o)
The tractor display was definitely one of the kids' favorite parts . . .

(Doesn't Peter look like he's really driving here? He was rather disappointed that they wouldn't move.)After the tractors we enjoyed a special treat of peach icecream. Mmmm! Ice cream is infinitely more tasty after a hot afternoon in the sun! (You could buy just about any food you can imagine created with peaches . . . slushies, cobbler, pie, ice cream, etc.!)

We also enjoyed a small Revolutionary War reenactment . . .

(Preparing for the loud boom)

And then Hannah and Peter also enjoyed some time in the kids' zone . . .

Hannah's smile couldn't possibly have been any bigger for her entire ride!

Peter wasn't actually tall enough for either of these rides, but they let him on this one since Chris could join him. They both had fun! :o)

Of course bounce houses are always fun!

And one of the highlights of our weekend . . .

Spending the night at a hotel!

It gave us a quiet spot to relax in the evening before we went back out for fireworks. It was definitely special for the kids. (Mommy was glad to have gotten a very reasonable rate through Priceline's Name Your Own Price scheme . . . )

Ready for nap! (Yeah right!)

We made it back for our church potluck and afternoon service, then we headed home to crash for the afternoon. :o) The kids slept till after 6:00!

Once everyone rejoined the land of the living, we decided on a simple, impromptu picnic: hotdogs, peaches, popcorn, and smores. :o) Some of our favorite foods!

With such late, long naps, we decided we might as well chase down some more fireworks since the kids obviously wouldn't be ready for bed again at 8:00! We headed downtown, but as we merged with the masses, we noticed a couple vehicles decisively turn off the beaten path. Chris decided they probably knew where they were going, and decided to follow them. They led us to a great spot! :o)

Altogether, we enjoyed a wonderful, fun-filled weekend. We give our thanks to those who have fought, and died, to bless us with the freedom we enjoy.