BIG joys and {little} sorrows

{Small} in the grand scheme of things sorrow... I have a headache.

During naptime. 

On Friday. 

I feel like there should be some kind of law against this?


Also, it is cloudy and dreary and I feel lonely and blue. 

And I have accidentally overbaked two! pans! of my very favorite chocolate chip cookies. 

And! I tweaked the recipe and it doesn't taste as good. 

BLAH.  Woe is me.  (I know, I know. I am even annoying to myself.)  Moving on!

If my husband were home he would roll his eyes at me and put his thumb and forefinger together to make the world's smallest violin.  I would laugh and feel better. 

(He would also put the kettle on and suggest I take some ibuprofen.  Hold on a sec while I do that.)

Since he is NOT home, dear internet, I am instead sobbing on your shoulder.  You're welcome.  Or click the red X in the corner of the browser.  Either way.

And yes, I am indeed such a ditz that I have to be reminded to take something for my own headaches.  Frequently! Thank goodness for my husband!  He tells me to take something for my headaches, makes me laugh when I am mad (no small talent!), buys me spray paint and chocolate, and never complains.  He is my favorite.

And thank goodness (and a sweet friend) for new to us activities tucked away for dreary days such as this.  Added points if it is educational but they are having too much fun to notice!  They loved arranging the plastic shapes inside the pattern on the laminated sheets.  Kept wanting to keep going.  So fun watching them enjoy it and feel the pride of figuring it out.  They are becoming such smart little people!

Lord, I thank you for thrifted hoodies, cute handmedowns, my video monitor set up, Earl Grey tea, the afternoon sun that is just now bursting through the clouds and through my windows, and Saturday on the horizon. Amen.

And the ibuprofen/hot tea/sweet silence of naptime is kicking in and banishing the headache.  Yay!

Time for me to go wake up some sleeping kiddos {to make sure to have a smooth bedtime!} and maybe play some play dough! :)

Ta ta, friends, and happy weekend!

Keep your eyes out for the BIG joys and remember that the {little} sorrows will pass...

Wordless Wednesday

(Summer wedding! Congrats, Erik and Amber!)

Spring IS on the way!

It was warm enough last week to take the kiddos outside without spending hours bundling everyone up to go out and freeze for ten minutes, so we went out and enjoyed the sunshine!

 

Nathan started out holding my hand and walking sedately.

Then the wild grassy spaces intoxicated his boyish soul,

and he was off, trotting in erratic circles in the still brown grass,

 

exploring the daffodils that are peeking out.

 

And Miriam and I traipsed along behind, 

(she is in the new podaegi I made, which I love)

(post planned on that on Friday)

enjoying the sunshine and fresh air 

and chasing the small explorer with camera in hand.

 

  

My caption for this one-

"Mama, haven't you taken enough pictures?"

 

"I have to go explore tree bark, and sticks, and fallen walnuts, 

and then I have to throw them for the dog, and throw them at the tree, 

and wave and say 'bye!' to every truck or car that goes by on the road..."

Some Favorite Children's Books

 Scuffy the Tugboat and His Adventures Down the River

I LOVE Scuffy. It has been one of my favorite read aloud books for many, many years... our copy is one I gave to one of my brothers many Christmases ago, and he passed it on to our little ones so it could give more enjoyment.  I love the storyline -  Scuffy is discontent where he is, so he sails off to find adventure, and then realizes that he really does need the man with the polka dot tie and his son, and wishes that he were back with them... and just as he is entering the ocean, which has no beginning or end, the man and his son scoop him up and he is safe again.

 

                                  One of our board book favorites is Barnyard Dance!  It was a gift to Nathan when he was born, and we've loved it ever since. It has a fun rhythm and shows all the different farm animals dancing.  It has a lot of "moo" and other animal noises, which makes it a toddler favorite, and the fun pictures also make it a good book to entertain the baby during church.

 "Bounce with the bunny.  Strut with the duck.  Spin with the chickens now- CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK!"


We also have another board book by Sandra Boynton called The Going-To-Bed Book- it is fun and is our current diaper bag book, for distracting and calming a wiggly little one in church or elsewhere. :)


It has a really fun cadence to it as well...

"And down once more, but not so fast, they're on their way to bed at last.
The day is done.  They say good night, and somebody turns off the light."


And of course, we love the classic kid books...
- Green Eggs and Ham,  Bears On Wheels, Make Way for Ducklings, The Little Engine That Could, Corduroy



As you can see, we're bookworms, and it seems to be passing on to the next generation!  I think we better get some more bookcases soon, because these are all  full already...  are any of these your favorite stories too?  Have any others we should put on our library/wish list? :)

(contains affiliate links, FYI)

More Miriam :-)

(All dressed up for her second Sunday)

Miriam Rose

Sunday night, Miriam Rose was born peacefully at home, weighing 7 lbs 8oz, and measuring 20 1/2 inches long.

Banana Breakthrough

Nathan likes eating little banana cubes, but he frequently had trouble picking them up and got frustrated because they were so slippery. Of course, the more you try to pinch up a banana cube, the slipperier it gets, so it would just get worse and I would end up having to feed him the little cubes, which wasn't as fun for either one of us as finger food would've been.

I don't know WHY I didn't think of this sooner... but I took some raisin bran flakes, put them in a baggy, and rolled the rolling pin over them until they were mostly crushed. Then I slice the banana as usual, put two or three pieces in the bag, and shake. I put those in front of him and he can finally just enjoy eating his now non-slippery banana! As a bonus, this gives him a (teeny) amount of fiber, which he also needs.

Yay! I would've shared a picture of this gourmet delight with all y'all, but my camera batteries are dead and we're out of AA's. Sorry. But I'm sure you can imagine it anyway, right?

Merry Christmas!

Nathan thinks Christmas is quite exciting!

A little stressful, though, when you aren't allowed to eat the ribbons off the presents...

But all in all quite interesting and fun...

... and sometimes a bit exhausting, requiring a long winter's nap...

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas decorating!

Meredith at Like Merchant Ships posted recently on decorating with what you have, and posted a lovely photo of her aunt's mantle, which was decorated beautifully and had glass cylinders with oranges and cryptomeria. When I read her post, I was amused by the similarities between her aunt's mantle and my piano top decorations! (Which aren't done, I'm going to decorate the wreath still, and add a table runner... and see what else ends up there!)

I had the cranberries already (I brought them home in a vase with flowers that had been a table decoration at a wedding reception we attended), and the way-too-tall-for-almost-anything candle, and the vase...
Of course, it looks better with the candle lit, at night, but my attempts to get a picture of it in that lighting were less than successful. :-)

I'm happy happy happy happy happy...

... and you might be able to guess why.

Or, if you can't, you can figure it out here.

very joyful and engaging news

I'm engaged to Micah! :-)