kids

Highlights of Today

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Although spring has sprung, today the fuzzy sweaters and cozy moccasins were pulled out for another encore.

Elsie somehow manages without too many layers.  Her accessories of late include this prized necklace that Nadine bought for her with her Awana Bucks, and a sparkly home-made headband from Aunt Heidi.  Her motto is: never leave home without them!

There was a full-out battle today with bow, sword, marshmallow blaster, and old tv-video game gun cut lose from its wires.

I think we won.

Highlights included: chia seed pancakes at supper, vacuuming the living room, memorizing verses in Jack’s bed with him and Elsie, sitting in the sunshine, listening to Jonathan Antoine, soaking up Betty’s baby browns, and sipping some hot tea numerous times throughout this colder day.

Happy Tuesday!

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!

A Beautiful Birthday

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Today was my birthday, and it was truly a special day.  All week, the moment I sink into the driver’s seat before going somewhere, the kids have broken out into a hearty rendition of “Happy Birthday”.  I’ve felt the excitement growing.  I love birthdays.  Then this morning it arrived!  I woke up and was served a delicious waffle and hot tea by my husband.  He took the entire day off work just so I could have some time alone.  He shooed me out of the house and I perused thrift stores and had lunch at my favorite cafe with a good book to keep me company.  I perused more thrift stores and didn’t feel the rush of people needing me.  The press to answer questions and solve problems was lifted for a few glorious hours.  Notes, messages, a few cards and lots of love was poured out today.  Matthew took the kids out on a mystery trip and came home with something I’ve always wanted but would never buy for myself: a glass tea-pot and flowering tea.  Nadine mopped the floors for me.  Then, I invited some girl friends over for some much-needed hang-out time.  When my sister arrived, she said she brought one more thing with her.  Thinking she forgot something in the car, I just about fainted when my other New York State-dwelling sister popped out from around the corner!  What a delight to see her face and laugh our guts out all together.  I’m so bummed I never asked my fabulous photographer friend to take a picture of us sisters together.  But, here is a snapshot of my day in part:

Chocolate,flowers, tea, sisters, friends, messages, more tea, surprise packages, drawings, and many renditions of “Happy Birthday” have made today so incredibly delicious.

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?

Monday Crunchies

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Monday.  The day when it feels like every cracker crumb is stuck to the bottom of my slippers as I crunch across my kitchen floor.  The day when school sneaks up and says, “Boo!”and scares me every time.  The day when the contents of my fridge force my creativity to expand to un-natural proportions just to think of something with which to feed my tribe.  The day when an extra cup of tea is in tall order.  I honestly don’t dislike Mondays, mostly because there is nothing too drastically different about them than every other day in the week.  I still cook, clean, change diapers, do laundry, make three meals, sweep dust bunnies, wipe mysterious stickies off the floor, play referee, and plop into bed exhausted.  True, Monday follows our one and only guaranteed family day, which is always a bit of a letdown.  I guess that is why my kitchen floor feels more crunchy than usual and school seems a bit harder than other days.  Today Betty also seemed to turn a corner in her tiny growing-up life.  She has a snotty nose and a sore throat, but there was more to her wee little crying fits than just all that.  They definitely left me swirling a little bit.  I’m bracing myself for a new year, new Betty.


Is there anything cuter than a heart on the bum?  Perhaps, maybe, that heart sneaking away up the stairs in a flash…

I had a lot of girl time this weekend while Matthew took the boys rock-climbing among other things.  It is rare that I catch all three playing so sweetly together.  Nadine was pushing the littles in the clothes basket, which was just as exciting as any boardwalk ride, let me tell you!

 

Betty weighed in a whopping eighteen pounds at  her one-year check-up.  She loves to walk, assisted.   Some of her new tricks include blowing kisses and giving away real-life, sloppy wet smooches on your cheeks.  She climbs the stairs in a jiffy and then lays on her belly at the top and squawks for help to get back down again.


On Saturday when she was starting to get feverish, Nadine rocked her right to sleep while humming “Silent Night”.  It was precious.


Speaking of sleep, this is my favorite part of Monday and every day. Sneaking into the kids’ bedrooms and watching the way sleep transforms their darling faces.  Betty snores and is always in a different position.  Sometimes on her tummy, sometimes her back, sometimes with her feet straight up in  the air on the side of her pack n’ play.  Elijah generally is sprawled out across his bed and can’t be woken up for anything.  Just like his daddy.  Jack is usually curled up into a tight ball, sometimes his entire body underneath the covers.  Just like his mama.  Nadine is almost never asleep before I go to bed, but when the rarity occurs, she is on her back, straight and tall, or half way under her covers and half-way on top of them.  She’s somewhat haphazard when she sleeps.  There is frequently something funny about how Elsie has fallen asleep.  She doesn’t have any one special thing which she likes to sleep with every night.  She almost always is asleep on her back, like a statue, sometimes hands folded across her chest.  The other night, unbeknownst to me, she fell asleep holding a balloon she had received that day.  It is pretty tricky taking pictures in a dark bedroom, but the flash didn’t even make her flinch.


This Monday Matthew got his third out of four infusions.  He’s feeling so much better than three weeks ago, and next week we’ll see where he is in a bit more detail.  When he got home from work, I was sitting on the dirty kitchen floor with Betty on my lap, banging spoons onto a metal bowl.  He knew about my challenges of Monday.  Then he handed me pure gold:  my favoritest tea ever and German chocolate.  Now there is a sweet way to end a Monday.