fun

Irregular Aberrations

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There are many unusual things around our house.  Out of place.  Puzzling.  Strange.  Aberrant, not typical sights, but more common than I realized.  I actually never noticed these peculiar highlights until my friend Susan pointed out a marker stuck in the candle jar inside the bathroom.  Ever since then my eyes have been peeled for such irregular sights.  This happens to be one of my favorites.  Tea bags left in the flower pot by a nameless guest.  They’re still there, because they make me smile when I think of her.

This week I looked up to find this sight:

Nerf gun fights have been in full array here these days.  It must have been a fun target to hit, jingling with each shot.  This reminds me that it’s high time for the mistle-toe to be lovingly tucked away into the Christmas bins.  I’m not sure how it missed being packed for so long.  Must be that I have other things which keep me busy.

Lemonaide Friday

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The outdoors calls me so loudly that I’m completely tuned out to the inside mess.  Winter coats still hang, abandoned on the coat rack.  Winter boots, sporting spring mud, lay on the laundry room floor, making dust piles as they dry.  Forgotten toys spill onto the living room rug, traded for much more useful objects like sticks, rocks and freshly plucked flowers growing in the crab grass.  I barely coaxed the two older ones to finish their school reports today, but they’re taking a break from the sweat of the wild to glue their bottoms to their chairs for one last time this week.  Pencils scratch quietly, Betty makes background noises, and the other two littles are busy with their own thing.  Jack colors in his book in a detailed manner.  Elsie talks to Betty and makes her laugh.  Betty wants to go outside, but Elsie tells her, “Betty, you’re going to be a grown up like me!  See?  I can reach this thing!” as she touches the door handle to go outside.  Betty is impressed.

Betty has done some of her own impressing today.  She learned how to crawl back down the stairs!  She is also into wearing necklaces and loves to get dolled up with hair bands and shoes and sunglasses.  Breakfast always includes saying hi to herself in the mirrored tray of her vintage highchair.

Elsie loves to read.  She “reads” from memory with great inflection and pronunciation.  When she was telling me her memory verse (which was Genesis 1:1), she said, “God created the heavens and the sun!”  (instead of earth).  It was cute.  She writes her name perfectly and loves to copy how to write other words.  Her eyes are bright and her smile is huge when she brings me the clipboard with the words she has copied, neatly sprawled across the white page.  She is on the verge of really reading, which is the earliest any of our kids have ever been ready.  It’s so exciting to watch.

Nadine has a pink little vest for her bunny, Toby.  He gets walked every day.  It is really funny to watch people do a double take on what they think is a dog… until they see it hopping down the sidewalk.  Between Toby and Jack, we go through about two pounds of carrots in a week.

To celebrate the first day of spring, Uncle Jon & Aunt Capri, along with Grandma Weldon, took us to the Philadelphia zoo!  We had a blast seeing all the animals.  I despise snakes, but couldn’t quite draw myself away from the rattlesnake, whose tongue kept hissing at me through the glass.  The hippos were also in on the action, giving us huge yawns with jaws that kill.  

We joked that Matt would have to compete with the turtle on how much salad to eat for lunch.  The otters were fun, but watching Betty grin and squeal and point at their antics was the most fun of all.

Elijah let me in on a little secret this week:  “You know what, Mom?  When you play nicely with Elsie she’s really fun to play with!”  I’m glad he discovered this so early on.  He truly is a great big brother.  Lately he would rather be playing with legos than eating, drinking, or sleeping.  Well, maybe not sleeping.  That boy likes his sleep.  He amazes me with his creations and makes a good convincing argument that to buy him more legos would be very educational!  This shot of him at the zoo in one of the play dinosaur eggs cracks me up.  No pun intended.

His outfits as of late are something to behold.  He & Elsie both have no qualms about not matching in public.  That means Mommy must also have no qualms.  I’m getting there.  I usually don’t notice until we’re getting out of the car at our destination, anyway.

Today Jack learned how to make oats all by himself.  He was so thrilled as he measured the oats into the pot, squished up the bananas in the bowl, stirred in the water and then mixed it all together.  “Now I can make oats whenever I want!” he told me proudly.  Of course, after you ask.  That boy is either munching on oats, apples, or carrots.  He is also usually airborne.  He is constantly learning new flips on the trampoline, and even though his skin may be tough, his heart is tender.  He is such a little boy at heart.

On the way home from the zoo, it being the first day of Spring and all, we decided to stop at Rita’s for some free water-ice! After waiting a half hour in line, it was pointless to drive away at that point.  So we stayed a whole hour until we cheerfully received our free treat.

 To be honest, I’m not a huge water-ice fan, and I had a splitting head-ache by the time the whole ordeal was over.  But, the kids were happy and we made a fun memory.

Well, the reports are finished.  School is done for the week.  The kids have squeezed the entire bowl of lemons to make lemonaide, and I’m going to go play outside.

A Growth-full Week

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It’s been the inevitable low after the high.  A great weekend, followed by some real-life hard times.  What better way to break up the monotony than taking a field trip to a local farm/veterinary clinic?  So, yesterday we headed out to some friends’ farm for some animal fun.

Nadine was in her glory, feeding the baby goats and petting the horses.  Betty wasn’t as sure about the goats at first, but soon warmed up to them.  She also got licked many time by one of the dogs until she giggled.  It was so adorable.

 

 

Jack was super brave to ride the horse bare-back in his crocs.  He’s brave in other ways too.  The other day I was watching him from the bathroom window.  He was outside, tying a karate belt to a tree branch.  Next, he climbed the tree and tied the other end to a higher branch.  Then he jumped down and grabbed hold of the loop he just made.  After a quick tug to make sure it was tight, he confidently hoisted himself about four off the ground and started to pull himself up by the rope.  All of a sudden, one end came untied and he fell flat on his back with a thud.  I expected tears, but he lay there for a second before brushing himself off and standing up.  I came outside to make sure he was okay, and before I could ask him, he said, “Mom!  Guess what?  I just made a trap and it works!”  Pause.  “I tested it.”  Oh, my.

I know the Lord has great plans for that boy.  When he’s not being tough, he is super sweet.  He’s been diligently working on his letters and numbers.  I found that counting to a hundred while pulling out a measuring tape is right up his alley.

Betty has been changing so much this month!  She still gives us “the look” with wrinkled nose, furrowed eyebrows and a loud squawking sound to accompany it.  We are working on our manners and today she learned how to give high fives.  Her favorite thing outside is to collect rocks, put them into something and give a high five after each rock.  She’s sporting seven teeth, with more popping through very soon.  She loves to talk with her hands and tell stories with much inflection.  Perhaps a linguist?

There is something satisfying about watching boys whack things with sticks.  Their language isn’t with words, but rather with loud noises and a mutual understanding of sounds and war-like cries.

They are very different than girls.


Girls are pretty and sweet.  Even with a drooly mouth, this one still looks beautiful.

So, even though I’ve been challenged to my core this week on wife-hood and mother-hood, I’m so thankful for the rewards each day.  Hugs, forgiveness, love, smiles, and little glimpses of growth in hearts and minds.

Pixie Dust That Glows

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Four years ago our little Elsie Rose was born.  On Sunday we celebrated that joyful day!

There was a constant sense of urgency throughout my pregnancy, and the doctors wanted her born by her due date or else they told me I would have a C-section.  Long story short, she was born on her due date, just after midnight, six hours before they had me scheduled for a C-section.  I wasn’t planning on showing up for it, but it was such a relief not to have to go through with fighting them about it.  She was born in a hurry… my birth record sheet says 3 minutes from 6cm to when she was in my arms.  It was intense and hugely powerful.  She has always been a super independent little girl.  Her curls have straightened out a bit this year, but her personality is just the same.  She still enjoys changing outfits throughout the day, coloring for hours on end, and playing princess with anyone.  Yesterday she got Jack to play princess with her because she let him wear her new birthday ring.  It worked like a charm!  That boy loves jewelry, sticks, rocks, shiny things, oh, and his new orange bandana that his Uncle Jon gave him this weekend.  He told me that he’s going to wear it forever. 
This weekend, while Matthew and I relished having two nights away at a marriage retreat with church friends, the kids had fun at Grandma Weldon’s.  It was awesome that Aunt Heidi and Uncle Jake kept a running list of funnies that they said.  The one that sticks out in my head is that when Betty was getting her diaper changed Elsie said she didn’t like poopy diapers.  Jack then reassured her that, “There won’t be any poopy diapers in heaven.”

  

This week Betty has been sporting a tiny Pebble-ish pony tail on top of her head.  The loud squawking sounds she belts out speak volumes, as do her brown eyes.


It’s hard to resist such cuteness.  She stood by the coffee table, and waited for someone to shell out the chocolate cupcakes.  She is an unashamed lover of chocolate.

 

One of Elsie’s presents was a specially made-by-Jack cardboard robot named “Elsie-bot”.  She was proud to hold it up in front of herself and be a robot.  I love their creative ideas.


I’m so thankful for my Elsie Belsie Rosie Tootsy Pooky Cutie Pie.  (Those are lyrics from a sweet song her Aunt Heidi wrote about her.)  In fact, I think I will close with that song.  It sums her up so perfectly.

Curly hair, button nose, big brown eyes and pretty painted toes. 
Oh, how I love my Elsie Rose.
Here she comes, there she goes, with  fairy friends and pixie dust that glows
Oh, how I love my Elsie Rose.

In polka dots and pretty bows,
Busy Town is where she likes to go. 

Elsie Belsie Rosie Tootsy Pooky Cutie Pie.  She’s my Elsie Rose!  I love you so!

China Tea Cups and DNA

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Thursdays are a highlight for us this year.  Every afternoon we get together with some super cool homeschool families and have a blast doing aspects of school that wouldn’t normally be possible at home.  Last week the kids learned all about DNA from their amazing Science teacher.  They extracted DNA from a strawberry and I couldn’t explain how… I just know that I’ve never seen a five-year-old stoked about DNA.  Then we had a valentines day party with mailboxes and cards and a snack that doubled as lunch!

Today, my friend Kim, from Sanderson Images, came up with this fantastic idea to make the kids’ school portraits really creative.  She and her husband took these amazing photos a couple of weeks ago, then today the kids made a collage around their picture of things they like.  I love how each one turned out so unique to their own personalities and loves.  (I got to decorate Betty’s… fun!)
On other school days, we often break for tea around ten o’clock.  It doesn’t take much to convince me that the teapot and fancy teacups need a little love.  A fine tea time will often bring out the best in children.  When real china is served into their sweet little hands, they feel special and of much worth.

It’s a precious memory that I plan on continuing for the rest of my life.

  There is something so sweet when I see two of our children pair up and sit as close as they can to each other.

Then there is the sweetness that is sleeping children.  Apparently socks on the hands are all the rage for sweet dreams.  No lie, sometimes I sleep with socks on my hands too.  It’s not because I’m trying to fit in, it’s just because they’re so cracked that I lather vaseline all over them and then cover them with socks.  In the morning my hands are soft again… at least for a couple hours.  After laundry, cooking 3 meals, cleaning up from 21 place settings, scrubbing hands besides my own, and a great many other things… my hands are usually dry as a bone once more.  I don’t mind, though.   I love my job, I love this beautiful life God has given me.  In fact, this thankfulness inspires me to try my hand at poetry for the first time in years:

Thank you, Lord for mailboxes and letters.
Thank you for china tea cups and DNA. 
Thank you for socks on hands and dreams so sweet.
Thank you for precious friends to grace each day. 

Snap-O

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Today, after a wonderful morning with my kids, unexpectedly meeting delightful friends in a parking lot, and filling our fridge with much-needed food… something went snap.  Was it the thirtieth time of stepping over that puzzle on the dining room floor?  Maybe the crunch under my feet of the seventh goldfish meeting it’s demise.  Perhaps it was the picking of the the lock in the front door with a jack knife.  No, I bet it was that last time someone said they were hungry, even though they just ate eleven minutes ago.  Whatever the case, this mama went “SNAP-O!”  Snap-O.  Sounds like a fun game!  It’s not.  It’s dreadful, really.  It’s when your mouth opens and things rather loudly come out that aren’t nice.  It often leads to tears.  It must be followed up by apologies, or snap-o becomes contagious.

A wonderful admonition came when I was talking on the phone to Matthew and he reminded me (again) that they are children.  I thought maybe I got that by now.  Sometimes I forget, though.  Sometimes I expect so much out of them or myself and before I know it, “SNAP-O” comes flying at me like a deck of cards being released and I stand there blinking and confused.  I get tired of picking up the cards again, but thankfully forgiveness deals me another turn.  God is so gracious.

Then there was rollerblading through the kitchen,  a crying baby who wanted to be held, and multiple requests for food.  Relief came when Matthew walked in the door and offered to take the kids to the park so I could finish making supper.  I didn’t realize how much I needed that break until it came.  Peace reigned supreme as he called from the front door, “I have all of them!”  Even Betty?  Even Betty.  Twenty minutes later they came back with rosy cheeks and Betty was all smiles.  She knows she’s hot stuff doing big girl things like playing at the park with her brothers and sisters.  Her grin couldn’t be erased.

This weekend was fun and relaxing at the Weldon’s.  We enjoyed a walk, good food, and being together.Outside, the sidewalk chalk scrawled out just one request: snow, please.
The snowman lights echoed the request.

Cozy warmth beckoned me back inside, where the sound of Adele filled the kitchen and the sight of busy little chefs were hard at work.Elsewhere, the boys found things which their hearts enjoy.


Family is so incredibly special to me.  I have to focus in on these amazing moments of love…especially when I feel the Snap about to fly.

What on Earth???

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The other day Elsie said something so funny, yet so profound.  Matthew was working on something and instead of asking him, “What on earth are you doing?” she asked, “What are you doing on the earth!”  It is a valid question, you know.  One that we all should answer.  What am I doing?  Besides the obvious course of survival mode we all habitually travel to remain alive?  There have been definite days in my life where I barely survive.  Days with little feeling of hope, excitement, or feelings of fulfillment.  What am I doing on this earth?  Is my purpose far-reaching, even eternal?  Was I merely put on this earth to wipe babies’ bottoms and cook one-thousand-and-ninety-five meals a year?  Or is there a deeper purpose for my existence?

Yesterday was one of those days when it was pretty hard not to feel the breath of heaven wash over my soul.  I know that sixty-two degrees in January, in Pennsylvania, is not normal or to be expected.  I also know it is fleeting.  My entire being craved the sunshine and warm air so intensely that I feel like it was a gift from my Father sent to bless me personally.  I also know it blessed many other people as well!  I had the privilege of sharing the afternoon with some friends from church, and we took a nature walk through a near-by park.  The outdoors called our names and we just hollered right back, “Coming!”  And we went.


Betty was so cute with her little friend, Will.  She is one month older and liked trying to hold his hand.  They were so sweet together!


We explored the water and soaked in our fill of Vitamin D.

This is one reason I’m on this earth: to love these amazing kids who love life and the God who made them.

Oh to see more clearly that when I love them… what I am doing on this earth is making a difference in eternity.

I am so thankful for every moment on this earth.  There are glimpses of glory and heaven when the sunshine kisses my skin.  Then there are glimpses of how temporary our time on this earth is.  On our way home from the park we were almost hit head-on by someone speeding around the corner of a tight turn.  A flash of how fleeting and wonderful each moment we are given flew through my mind in an instant.


This morning when I got up, the kids had been awake for a little while and told me they had a surprise that I would really like.  Yesterday they had made me breakfast, so I was pretty curious what they had up their pajama sleeves this morning.  I shuffled downstairs to my chipper children who had finished two subjects of school already.  Neatly and correctly.  This has never happened before!  It touches my heart when they think of these kinds of things on their own.  It gives me hope to counter attack the doubt that sneaks into my thoughts sometimes.  My kids are messy, loud, and don’t always make the right choices.  Guess what?  Neither do I.  But they are also growing, learning, and come up with the most brilliant ideas!  I learn from them every day, and even though I love them so much, I need to tell them so better.  Hug them often.  Say, “You’re so smart!” more.  I can’t take it for granted that they’re alive!  I believe God created them to do unique and awesome things while they’re here.  Somehow He entrusted me with this crazy huge job called Mothering.

So, what are you doing on earth?

Highlights of Color and Love

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Last night I was playing through the events of the day and picking out my favorite ones.  One of the highlights of my day definitely was when I was playing the piano with Betty on my lap and she kept laying her head down on the keys.  That is her signature move for love.  In words, if she could speak them, she said, “Mom, I love the piano and I could sit on your lap and listen all day.”  The second highlight came while I was sitting at the piano and turned to see a dear friend standing at my door and hoping to find the tea pot on.  Friends, my tea pot is always on.  It was 2pm and I was still in my PJ’s:  red fleecy pants with valentine hearts, and a green Ocean City sweatshirt.  I looked like Valentine’s-Day-still-clinging-to-Christmas.  It was groovy.  For an instant I felt embarrassed, but that quickly left me when I remembered that real friends step inside your house, no matter how it or you look.  And somehow nothing matters except their presence blessing your home.  It was truly a highlight.

Sometimes I want to jump inside of Jack’s head.  He thinks deep thoughts, but can’t always express them.  Like yesterday when he told me he just can’t wait to get to heaven.  He is pretty sure that God is going to lower a sheet from the sky and haul us all up there.  I just listened as his wiry strong body tried to fit on my lap.  I like to talk about heaven with my kids, because they have such peace about how good it is.  The unknown is fearful and a bit insecure for us.  Often our “knowledge” gets in the way of our faith.

Jack thinks in straight lines.  He thinks a lot like how he laid these cards out on the table the other day.


Methodically.  Carefully.  A bit wildly at times.  Notice the sword at the ready in the backpack?  Have I mentioned before how big his hands are?  They’re almost my size.  Carrots and the color orange rock his world.  Why not turn them into works of art?  Yesterday he did just that:


Yes, he did that with his teeth.

Another highlight of my day was cozying the whole family up in the living room to watch Kung Fu Panda 2.

  I love my kids.  I love that all four of their blankets are from when I was growing up.  I love that Jack’s special Pooh blanket was actually a baby gift for Nadine and that he somehow adopted it for himself.  I love that Elsie has the most ginormous blanket and the littlest bed and that her Aunt Heather had it on her bed before she got married and moved away.  I made Jack’s blanket when I was about 13, my first and only attempt at quilting.  I was going to give it to my brother for Christmas that year, but thought maybe the roses were a little too feminine when it was all said and done.  Sorry, John!  We have never had the whole matching nursery/bedroom ensemble and it’s pretty obvious with the medley of colors hugging the kids in that picture.

Our color scheme is a coordination of memories and love.  That makes me want to do a Betty move and put my head down on each cozy nook in that picture and say, I love you.

December Rain and Some Sparkle

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It’s raining outside.  I’m fine with that.  We got our farm run in today, returns done, bananas bought, and everyone is finally asleep.  I say finally, because usually they do well going to bed, but tonight the boys decided to be silly and put on almost every pair of pajamas they owned.  I know they miss their daddy, and things get a little hairy around here when we miss our daddy.

As said yesterday, there was something special planned for our date last night.  Someone’s wish came true.  Nadine has been hoping to get her ears pierced for a long time.  On our date, we did just that.  Her excitement was through the roof!  She looks so grown up and stylish with her new bit of sparkle.

It’s been a challenging week with Matthew gone in Philadelphia.  Despite the fact that I’ve been getting a lot accomplished, it’s been crazy.  Today alone, I had something extremely painful land on the bridge of my nose and now I have a nice cheery red mark and a bruise.  Then Jack fell head-long onto the sidewalk while racing at an insane speed on a toddler car.  I’ll give you a little tidbit of his conversation with Matthew on the phone:  “Daddy,” he said through tears, “I fell and hit my head and my brain is bleeding!”  I could hear a very concerned voice on the other end ask if I was there.  Jack handed the phone over to me and I reassured Matthew that it was just a bump, and that his skull was infact still intact and there was just some skin bleeding.  Jack is such a strong little guy, that when he gets hurt for real, he doesn’t really know what to do with himself.  He rested for a bit, enjoyed the undivided attention from mommy, and the last brownie, then perked up just fine.  He was pretty thrilled too that his hair covers the bump just right, because he doesn’t want anyone to see it.

Some moments today I felt a little overwhelmed, a little crazed.  I overheard Elsie say, “I’m freaking out!”  Yeah.  That’s about how I felt at some moments today.  Not sure where she heard that, though.  I’m trying to hold down this energetic fort, but at the end of the day, I feel a ton exhausted.  There is always someone needing me, that sometimes I go outside and sit in our van for two minutes.  Today I tried that trick.  Ten seconds later, a little happy face peered in the window at me and said very loudly, “The door is locked!” while she tried to open the car.  I smiled back and did nothing.  A minute later I went back inside feeling better.  I find that works better than locking myself in the bathroom, because in the bathroom I can still hear everyone, and inevitably someone always has to desperately pee at the same exact time I am desperately trying to have a time out.  All you moms out there, I understand.  I understand that even though you’re constantly surrounded by chaos and voices and little people, you can still feel lonely.  I understand that sometimes you talk to yourself, because it’s as close as you can get to an adult conversation.  I understand that two minutes of seclusion can be more priceless than a clean home.  I understand the vicious cycle of laundry, and the feeling of victory at folding the last shirt, only to realize that the bin you thought was empty, has magically re-filled with dirty clothes yet again.  I have first-hand experience with the dust bunny mystery.  It’s no mystery!  They hop out of the dust pan and back into the corners the moment my back is turned.

Yeah, this week has been challenging.  I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that Christmas is in two days.  Speaking of wrapping, I haven’t even started.  But, unlike my three-year-old, I’m not freaking out.  I’m enjoying the sound of rain in December.