Most people think of snow in December...or at least cold weather. We've had a weird weather week. We haven't seen the sun (nope, not one peek of it) but the clouds have kept the weather warm. We've had highs in the 70s. It has been a great week to put up outside Christmas decorations (Yeah! The first year ever that we have actually put any outside) and play in the leaves. I have some great pictures of both of these events on my camera, which only hooks up to the other computer. I'll try to get online tomorrow to post those pictures.
The Christmas spirit is high this week in our house and the boys are busting with excitement. Just the decorations in the house are enough to let them know that something is different. Plus, we've been making cookies, singing carols and visiting friends. Andrew wants to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus every night when we light the Advent wreath. Their favorite countdown tool is the chocolate advent calendar that my Aunt Martha gave us. They never forget to ask for their chocolate after dinner and count how many more windows they have left to open. It truely is fun seeing Christmas from a child's perspective.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
A great week
As I was on the phone with my Mom this morning telling her about our week, I realized it had been one of those rare weeks where I can actually see progress in all three children.
You see, when I worked outside of the home, one of my favorite times of year was the big Annual Review. It gave me such satisfaction to put together the report of all my tangible accomplishments for the year and what my plans were for the following year. Even at the end of most weeks, I could look at my To-Do list and visibly see what was accomplished for the week.
Well, I've realized that I don't get many such opportunities in Motherhood. Sure, I can tangibly count the loads of laundry and diapers changed, but as for my main goal of raising well-balanced, educated, socially minded children...most weeks I just hope and pray that we are on the right path.
This week was different. Somehow, as I talked with my Mom, I realized I can visibly see how all three of my children have changed and grown and are different than they were on Monday.
For instance, Scott has just this week started reading simple words from books and is doing great with the pattern work I'm giving him for Math. Andrew suddenly decided this week that he was not wearing diapers. After months of cleaning his messes and getting frustrated and going back to diapers, he suddenly has figured it out. And Amanda has little hairs on top of her head that are visibly longer than they were on Sunday. Just today, she "graduated" from sleeping in her carseat to sleeping in the crib. She is having much more awake time this week and smiling so much.
It is little revelations such as these that remind me that all the hard work is worth it.
You see, when I worked outside of the home, one of my favorite times of year was the big Annual Review. It gave me such satisfaction to put together the report of all my tangible accomplishments for the year and what my plans were for the following year. Even at the end of most weeks, I could look at my To-Do list and visibly see what was accomplished for the week.
Well, I've realized that I don't get many such opportunities in Motherhood. Sure, I can tangibly count the loads of laundry and diapers changed, but as for my main goal of raising well-balanced, educated, socially minded children...most weeks I just hope and pray that we are on the right path.
This week was different. Somehow, as I talked with my Mom, I realized I can visibly see how all three of my children have changed and grown and are different than they were on Monday.
For instance, Scott has just this week started reading simple words from books and is doing great with the pattern work I'm giving him for Math. Andrew suddenly decided this week that he was not wearing diapers. After months of cleaning his messes and getting frustrated and going back to diapers, he suddenly has figured it out. And Amanda has little hairs on top of her head that are visibly longer than they were on Sunday. Just today, she "graduated" from sleeping in her carseat to sleeping in the crib. She is having much more awake time this week and smiling so much.
It is little revelations such as these that remind me that all the hard work is worth it.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Third Time's A Charm!
What they say is true. After two unsuccessful attempts to get the Christmas Card photo, I was finally able to take it this morning. The first attempt was at Thanksgiving and everyone was hungry and tired of photos by the time we got around to our family. The second time was before church a few weeks ago. Typical of a Sunday morning, we were rushing around trying to get everyone ready and just could not get a great picture.
This morning we had all the time in the world. And, I'm not above bribing to get sweet smiles. Here is a picture of them enjoying the reward - candy canes. And below is a special holiday video.
This morning we had all the time in the world. And, I'm not above bribing to get sweet smiles. Here is a picture of them enjoying the reward - candy canes. And below is a special holiday video.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Farley
It has been a while since Farley has been featured in a post. I couldn't resist taking a picture of this special treat. One of his self-appointed "jobs" is to pre-clean the dishes in the dishwasher. This weekend, he was attacking with vigor an empty peanut butter jar and I decided just to give it to him. A few minutes later, I wondered where he had gone. I found him in his crate daintily licking and being very possessive of his treat.
His other "job" is to entertain the boys (mainly Andrew) when I'm tied up with Amanda. Their favorite game is to run up and down the hall yelling "CHARGE!" Farley bounds after them with his tail wagging all the while. It is a loud game, but one that they all enjoy.
His other "job" is to entertain the boys (mainly Andrew) when I'm tied up with Amanda. Their favorite game is to run up and down the hall yelling "CHARGE!" Farley bounds after them with his tail wagging all the while. It is a loud game, but one that they all enjoy.
for my Uncle Marvin
Thanksgiving was weeks ago and I'm so behind on updating my blog that I thought about skipping the Thanksgiving post and moving on to more current things. But my Uncle Marvin is one of my most faithful readers and I know he will want to see pictures of the entire family. He is my Mom's uncle and we were with her side of the family for the holiday.
We had such an enjoyable time visiting with my brother and his family and my Uncle Bob and his family. Click on the pictures to make them bigger.
We had such an enjoyable time visiting with my brother and his family and my Uncle Bob and his family. Click on the pictures to make them bigger.
I'm becoming my mother...
..or maybe just becoming a Mom.
I guess it was bound to hit me at some point - yesterday morning, to be exact. As Derrick backed the van out of the driveway on the way to church, the voices in the backseat were asking for Silly Songs on the radio.
Let me give a little background before continuing my story. First, requesting certain music while in the car is a relatively new thing for the boys. Gone are the blissful days of NPR. Now the songs that I hum in the shower and wake up in the middle of the night singing are "She'll be coming around the mountain", "Found a Peanut", and "Where is Thumbkin?"
Second, I remember distinctly when I was a child that every Sunday morning, we would travel the 15 minutes to and from church listening to "The Sounds of Faith" on a local radio station (94.9). It was a local show that played "church music" (choirs and the like) on Sunday mornings. My brother and I would groan from the backseat and hope that the program would be over by the time we headed home from church so we could listen to something else.
I bet you can see where this story is going...
Yep, I played the "Mommy sits closer to the radio controls" trump card and immediately switched to our local Christian Radio station, hoping to listen to their normal Sunday morning program - Sunday Morning Celebration. They are in the middle of their 24 hour Christmas music (ugh), so guess where we ended up. You guessed it - The Sounds of Faith.
I could almost feel the relief from the back seat when we got back in the car after church and the program was over. It didn't take long for the boys to request Silly Songs again and for the sounds of silliness to fill the car.
I guess it was bound to hit me at some point - yesterday morning, to be exact. As Derrick backed the van out of the driveway on the way to church, the voices in the backseat were asking for Silly Songs on the radio.
Let me give a little background before continuing my story. First, requesting certain music while in the car is a relatively new thing for the boys. Gone are the blissful days of NPR. Now the songs that I hum in the shower and wake up in the middle of the night singing are "She'll be coming around the mountain", "Found a Peanut", and "Where is Thumbkin?"
Second, I remember distinctly when I was a child that every Sunday morning, we would travel the 15 minutes to and from church listening to "The Sounds of Faith" on a local radio station (94.9). It was a local show that played "church music" (choirs and the like) on Sunday mornings. My brother and I would groan from the backseat and hope that the program would be over by the time we headed home from church so we could listen to something else.
I bet you can see where this story is going...
Yep, I played the "Mommy sits closer to the radio controls" trump card and immediately switched to our local Christian Radio station, hoping to listen to their normal Sunday morning program - Sunday Morning Celebration. They are in the middle of their 24 hour Christmas music (ugh), so guess where we ended up. You guessed it - The Sounds of Faith.
I could almost feel the relief from the back seat when we got back in the car after church and the program was over. It didn't take long for the boys to request Silly Songs again and for the sounds of silliness to fill the car.
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