Christmas Captions 2020

Will got rainbow Goldfish crackers in his stocking; that's a pretty good start.

An original Slinky for Declan.

Aiden wanted "The Deep End," the newest book in the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series.  He's read all the others, and I have to admit they are pretty funny!

I found this jumpsuit/romper on Amazon and sent the link to Tim.  Such a sweetie, he remembered and surprised me with it.  Let me tell you, the reviews did not disappoint, I literally wore this thing for three days straight because it was so comfortable.  I wore it all of Christmas Day, then paired it with some gold earrings and a denim jacket for church on Sunday, then another day this week just to putter around the house doing laundry, etc. I plan to get at least one more in black, and maybe even the navy blue/roses one.

I also really wanted this simple little Timex watch (also from Amazon) which Tim was super surprised about because I have never liked gold, but it has been growing on me the last couple of years.  I wear this watch everyday, and everyday Will pushes the Indiglo button and makes it light up :-D

We got this toy vacuum for William (apparently we buy everything from Amazon.) It is his favorite toy.  After coming to see me in the mornings, he goes straight for his little vacuum.  It's so adorable, he just loves it.

Caitlin read the two books that came before this pre-teen graphic novel, and was so excited to spy it in Walmart a few weeks ago.  I flipped through it a bit and while the storyline is relatable for "young people nowadays" (how geriatric did that sound? lol...) the part that sold me was that the main character's baby brother's name is Will, and he's under 2.  Wow, just like our Will, how perfect is that?

Declan is sort of a goof, so we knew this floppy little T-rex hand puppet would have us all in stitches.  Unfortunately, Will is terrified of the thing, so we had to put it away for a bit.

Caitlin picked out this giant shark for Corey and we figured he would play with it in the bath, but he actually plays with it all over the house.  The other night, he put a pull-up on it and tucked it into bed next to him.  Such a card.

Brianna drew an adorable picture of Tim in a multicolor shirt.

I told you Declan was a goof.  Brianna got a hair-styling doll head thing from some relatives and Declan is modeling it for us :-P

Okay, I am such a sucker for big brother/little brother stuff.  Aiden is helping Corey to build his new Lego Minecraft set, and Corey is listening to Aiden's headphones.  

Adorable.

So sweet.  Be still my heart.

Dressed the babies in their new Christmas jammies, unfortunately, Will's had a little too much Christmas at this point.  I thought he would do better if I held him during the picture, but this was the best we could get.  Considering how the rest of 2020 went, I'll take it.

Well, tomorrow's Brianna's 7th birthday, and the last day of the year.  Here's to you and yours, our hopes and prayers for a great 2021.  I won't say all of 2020 was terrible; for our family it was actually very clarifying, if that makes sense.  We learned what was important, what we were capable of, the value of family time, how much we appreciate our freedoms, and just how blessed we really are.  I have no idea what 2021 will bring, but I have the feeling that it will be a year of personal growth for us, to apply the many lessons we learned this year.  Once everything is opened up again and the whole virus thing has quieted down, I have a feeling that many will not take that for granted (me included) and will boldly pursue dreams that had previously lain dormant.  Speaking for myself only here, I think that before the pandemic, I thought I was not able to pursue some interests and dreams, because of my various domestic duties.  During the lockdowns, I realized that I actually was able before, and the limitations were only in my mind.  Knowing that now, I am finally willing, though not yet able.  May 2021 provide the opportunities that I am now ready to pursue.

Personal Growth.

Maybe that will be my defining phrase for 2021.  We'll see. And I'll post it here, don't worry.  To you, from us, Happy New Year :-)

Flopsy and Old Mrs. Rabbit

I took the children on a small excursion to a grassy area today, with watercolors in tow. We spread our quilt on top of dozens of gold and crimson fallen leaves and began our paintings. I brought along Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit, for artistic inspiration.  The children started in painting and drawing with markers.  

I thought I would try a rough sketch before I painted.  I tried a new technique using short, quick strokes to rough out the subjects, after first drawing a few large ovals to save places for them.  I started adding in a few details just to get a feel for it, but had to pack up just then to get home and cook dinner.  I studied my drawing for a moment before I put it in the stroller, and I felt very happy and optimistic, feeling that I'd stumbled upon a method that will really work for me. I have always formerly attempted drawing by simply putting pencil to paper and moving in long, dark strokes, and feeling that I could never graduate past elementary level doodles of which you might discover in a child's notebook. I had thought I just wasn't any good at drawing; a disappointing discovery of my childhood, since I had always felt very artistic and drawn to artsy activities.  I guess I was just doing it wrong all these years.  Maybe a person has to live to almost 28 to realize some of these things.  I know it isn't the stuff of art galleries or anything, but I am pleased that it at least resembles the illustration in the book.  Anyway, I feel very hopeful, and can't wait to work on this piece some more. 

The first photograph is of the children's artwork. Aiden painted the bird, Declan painted the red man and also drew the red squiggles which I quite like, Evelyn drew with markers and then painted over that with water, and Caitlin drew the person with the blue sky above.

The second photograph is of my drawing next to Ms. Potter's book.

(I am trying to refamiliarize myself with Blogger, so I don't know how to fix this yet, but my uploaded photos are cropped in my recent posts. If you click on them, a full size version will open up, however.  So odd.  My apologies.)

A Sunday to Remember

Yesterday was a day that I will treasure for a long time to come.  We overslept church but still had a pleasant family time at home. Tim had a wonderful idea to clean out the car, so we all did, and felt great afterward, because it was long overdue.  He also thought it time to promote little Brianna to a forward facing car seat, since she turned a year old on December 31st. It was an exciting yet emotional thing for this mama to do, and I'm glad my husband made the decision.

After the car was clean, we all loaded in and headed to our local five dollar drive through car wash. We picked up two coffees from Starbucks on the way, with our Christmas gift card. It was fun to drink our coffees and chat while the track pulled our car through the wash.  It was even more fun to watch the children's delight as the suds and brushes moved across the car windows.

Next, we headed to the grocery store and did our weekly shop as well as picked up a few extra treats for an afternoon picnic! Once at home, Tim and I rushed to put the groceries away, grabbed our double stroller, and we all took off again.  We parked near our city's walking/biking trail, loaded the babies and our picnic into the stroller, and enjoyed a really beautiful walk. 

The trail took us behind some pretty two story houses, a ponding basin where geese kept taking flight in groups up and over our heads (wow!), and finally to a park where we sat and ate an early dinner of salad, sandwiches, chips, and cookies. It was really beautiful and I feel like it swept all the cobwebs from my mind. The children played on the playground until the sun got quite low, then we set off on the trail again, back to our car. It was a two mile walk, round trip, and we all felt refreshed and ready for a rest at home.  Tim's parents met us at our car to drop off Aiden and we all headed home after a wonderful, wonderful day.

The Widow with the Two Mites

I read a devotional today from a weekly series on women of the Bible. Here is the wonderful lesson that I took away from it today:

Even if it doesn't seem like much, even if no one else knows...if you are giving your all, He sees and He is well pleased with you.

As a mother of several small children, it is easy to feel like no one knows or appreciates everything I do in a day. We young mothers have the privilege of training our children and keeping house all day, but at the end of the day, when daddy comes home, it often looks as though perhaps nothing productive was done at all. Take heart young mothers, that the Lord sees all that you do and knows the motives of your heart. He hears every story you read. He feels the gentle guidance of your hand as you assist in printing letters and cutting paper. He counts each time you:  sweep the floor, wash the dishes, change a diaper, wash someone else's hands, do a load of laundry, sing a cheerful song, kiss an owie, trip on something you didn't leave out, lol!  I think he overlooks:  your messy hair bun, the lipstick forgotten in your makeup bag, the baby drool on your shirt, your unmanicured nails, etc.

God sees all of the important things you do each day (yes, they are very important!), even when it may feel that no one knows your sacrifice. He loves you, His hard worker, and He says you are doing a great job!

I pray that you feel exceedingly blessed by Him today, and that you feel encouraged as you offer up your daily sacrifice to our Lord :-)

Where Does My Help Come From?

In a few days we will be moving. The floor of the kids' room is crowded by 2 toddler mattresses, 1 queen size mattress, 1 "pop-up" crib, and one chest of drawers.  Our "former" master bedroom is half full, floor to ceiling, with moving boxes and disassembled furniture.

My two oldest children (2 1/2 and 4yrs) have been ill since early yesterday afternoon with fevers and other unpleasant side effects of some sort of flu virus, I'm guessing. My baby (1yr) has been suffering terribly from the torments of teething, and I have to admit that my husband's and my sleep has been, as well.

Aiden's mattress borders with my side of the queen mattress and so we sleep inches away from each other. He loves being so close to me and sleeps so soundly this way.

With all that said, here are the events of my morning as they played out, after minimal hours of sleep:

I awaken to my poor Aiden, whimpering next to me on his mattress. I look over and offer words of comfort just before he starts getting sick. He is lying down, so I help him sit up. All of this commotion has woken the baby who was next to me in bed, and feels denied his morning nursing. Tim is awake now and tries to comfort the baby as I change Aiden's clothes and bedding and get him a drink of water. Declan (the baby) is nearing hysterics, as I (in my sleep-deprived stupor) take a ridiculously long time trying to find where I put the extra pillows. I finally settle Aiden back into his freshly made bed, and take the baby from my equally drowsy husband.

It is stuffy in "the bedroom" as we now call it, from the morning's events, so I bring Declan out to our recliner in the living room. I sit down next to the open sliding glass door and nurse my teething babe. It is cool and overcast outside (which I love) and the air smells heavy with the promise of rain. I open the web browser on my phone to my home page, biblegateway.com, and read their "verses of the day" selection, which are:

Psalm 121:1-3 (NASB)
The LORD the Keeper of Israel.
A Song of Ascents.
"I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth
He will not allow your foot to slip
He who keeps you will not slumber"

It begins to sprinkle lightly outside and the fragrance is Heavenly. Declan nurses contentedly and looks up at me, his comfort, his safety. My husband wanders in and plops into a stuffed chair facing me. We smile at each other and share my foot rest. I think of the passage I'd just read, and feel so blessed at how God has turned my morning around, and glad that I thought of looking to His Word, before anything else on this morning. And no matter what transpires today, sick children and all, I can look towards the Heavens; I know where my help comes from :-)

Freeze Those Imperfect Moments

Sometimes when life feels hard, I want a break for a while; a little getaway from reality and responsibility. Then there are times like right now: some dirty dishes in the sink, toys on the floor, me drinking coffee and still partially jammie-clad...and the children playing happily, quietly on the floor together. These moments I want to freeze and keep forever. No, they aren't perfect, but they're precious. And they'll never come again.