Teachability

The first five years or so of a kids life are the most impressionable years [or so I've read]. So it's important to teach things during these years if you want them to really sink in and last throughout their life. Things like values, integrity, respect, and how to pose for pictures.*

My children have really picked up on random picture poses, thanks to my siblings. Here is my family's Christmas photo. Now you see. My son believes all children should pose this way, especially his dear cousin. In this picture my son is teaching his cousin some of the finer points of picture poses. Sometimes I wonder why my sister-in-law lets us influence her son, but I'm sure glad she does. Think of all the fun family pictures she will have in the next 18 years.

*please note that the importance of these items are not equal.

First Night of Awana

My kids and my nephew were extreemly excited to attend the first night of Awana. Can you tell?

Pink Markers

There is much to learn and discover about life. Let me share some of the recently acquired knowledge of certain members of our household:

• If you put a pink marker in the sink with water, you get pink water.
• Pajama day at Kindergarten is fun - even the TEACHER wore jammies!
• Staplers can staple more than just paper.
• Kittens scratch you if you hold them too tight. Or if you try to pick them up by their head.
• A turkey (the oven kind from the grocery store) have a red and white belly button that pops up when they are ready to eat.
• Everyone gets a birthday every year!
• Kittens like to play hide'n'seek. They hide, you try to find them.
• Cherry pie is really good. Well, the ice cream on top and the cherry filling is good. The crust looks cool left on the plate by itself.
• Kid's scissors can cut through Mom's nice tablecloth.
• Markers can be used to make a "kitty face" on little sisters.
• Dinosaurs are really cool.

Crops

We had a good corn crop this year. The kids enjoyed picking the corn, running down the rows of corn, shucking the corn, hauling the cornstalks over to the pasture in their wagon, throwing the cornstalks to the horses, and eating corn-on-the-cob. It was all good.

Birthday

My three-year-old daughter loves being three, especially now that her cousin is three, also. She likes to come up with different ways she can hold up three fingers to show people she is three years old. She also loves talking about her birthday at Nana's house when she had a pink cake. She was telling me about her pink cake a few days ago, and I casually asked what kind of cake she would like at her next birthday and was amused at the conversation that followed. This is how our conversation went:

Me: "What kind of cake do you want at your next birthday?"
Daughter: *gasp* "I get ANOTHER birthday?"
Me: "Yes, in a few months you get another birthday!"
Daughter: *very pleased* "ANOTHER birthday!" *getting extremely excited* When will I get my next birthday?"
Me: "After it gets cold and snowy and after Christmas you will have another birthday."
Daughter: "Will I be three?"
Me: "You will be four years old on your next birthday!"
Daughter: "Four years old? FOUR YEARS OLD!!" *hold up four fingers and stares at them in amazement*

It's amazing watching her little mind and personality grow, learn, change, and develop. Children are such amazing wonders of God's creation.

A Random Before and After

I decided to do a little project in my little house. Our house is a bit on the small side, so I am always looking for ways to make better use of the space in my house. I sold the oak buffet and ordered white cabinets to match the upper cabinets we had installed back when this was the office space back before the basement was finished so the office could be down in the basement. You got that? :)

This is the before picture.

Anyway, I was thrilled that I could figure out how to build this [almost] all by myself. I did need a little help installing the counter top because I couldn't be on top of and underneath the counter top at the same time.

This is the after picture. I really like the use of space. I have all of the kids' crayons/markers/paper/stencils/etc in one drawer, and my pretty dishes and tablecloths in the middle two lower cabinets, and my uppercase living stuff in the other drawer. The kids' art stuff used to be on the fridge and in a basket and tucked here and there, so I really like having it all in one spot, and the kids enjoy having their own drawer and being able to get their coloring paper and crayons out all by themselves.

He had to help me push down on the counter top because my son just didn't quite weigh enough.

Combines

My nephew told me today that, "your house is fun because you have combines." So, if you want a house that's really fun, all you have to do is buy a few combines. :)

Today

Today I communicated with a group of ladies who are older, wiser, and more respected that I am. I had been hurt and frustrated by a decision their group made, and I needed to tell them that. Kindly tell them, but in a real way. That's not a very fun thing to do. It took me a month of prayer, thought, and discussion with my husband for me to figure out what to say to them. And I still don't think I got it exactly right. But then maybe my words don't matter so much; maybe it's the One who I let use me that matters.

I think that the Deceiver can use these things to cause division, resentment, and bitterness. But I also believe that God can use these things, these hurts and frustrations, to heal and to deepen relationships and to ultimately bring Him glory. And I'm planning on Him using this to open up relationships and to build and deepen understanding among people in this group and me. I'm counting on it.

My Daddy

Occasionally my girls don't get along, especially while driving. Their car seats are right next to each other and they seem to enjoy giving "love touches." If you have siblings, you probably know how this goes. One daughter pokes the other, therefore receiving a poke themselves, so they must give another poke, which is a bit harder than the last poke, then they earn another poke, and so on. You get the picture. Anyway, during one of these "love touches battles," I thought maybe I could talk about the things outside the car as a possible distraction. Looking around at the scenery, I noticed some forklift-type-things next to the highway. I'm sure there's a technical term for this type of equipment, but I don't know what they are called, so bear with me here. They have a scaffold on the top of the forklift that someone can stand on and they extend about 40 feet in the air. Great for putting up Christmas lights, but I don't think that's their main use. So I say to my girls, "Look at those tall forklifts! Do you see how high they are in the air?" My distraction method works - my oldest daughter looks out the window at the 40-foot-high forklifts and says, "WOW! Those are tall! Are those as tall as my daddy?"

My husband is over 40 feet tall, in the eyes of his daughter.

Just another day of being a mom

My three-year-old daughter came speeding down the stairs this afternoon yelling, "Mom! There's a poop on my floor! It fell out of my sister's diaper!"
I imagined the possibilities as I quickly responded to my daughter's call. Would it be solid or liquid? Will it be easy to clean up or was a room sanitation needed? Had the beautiful rug been violated, or was it the hardwood floor that had been contaminated?
It turned out that it was solidly easy to clean up, and this is likely the most uneventful poop story on my blog. Which is good, because I didn't really want to spend my afternoon cleaning up poop. I can think of a whole lot of things I'd rather be doing. Really, I can.

Theology

I'm hoping someone, maybe who attended Bible college, could help me out with a few questions. I've been receiving a few theological questions about the Creator God and his qualities, and I often don't have an answer, or struggle with explaining the answer.

Some recent questions/comments from my pupils:
1) Does God have big, fat shoulders?
2) Does God like milkshakes?
3) Does God have legs?
4) God doesn't like pink and purple.

I have no idea what God's shoulders look like, and I'm not sure about the milkshake thing (although I believe milkshakes are a good thing). My son did conclude that God has legs, because he knows God has hands (because God touches people to heal them), so if God has hands, then legs would be a given. And I believe God likes all of the colors he created, even pink and purple.

Off to read my Bible...