Ordinary Life : parenthood

Showing posts with label parenthood. Show all posts

What A Day

Happy Baby Brad & Jamela!

Can't wait to meet you,

Little BabyBerry Hagan!

I Feel Pretty

Riley can reach the make-up drawer now... and she has paid close enough attention to get the general idea.

When all was said and done, I lifted her to the mirror and said "Aren't you pretty?"

She said "I'm a mess!"

Oh, yes.
She is.

Rye loves the "cone-part".
So, that is where she started.

Lovey Gets A Bath

Grammy gave "Lovey" to Riley when she was born.

This large, loveable pink pooch has been through various moves and times of storage; as well as plenty of playtime with Rye.
Because of all the living and loving evident in Lovey's fur, we recently took him to the local laundromat for a quick, sudsy spin and a fluffy air dry... Riley cheered Lovey on the whole way, Fisher cheered Rye on.

Riley and Fisher have similar dispositions towards their stuffed friends-simply put, stuffed animals are real... and the cuter the stuffy, the more in tune with its feelings they seem to be... situations like being put in the washing machine are matters of survival, not just hygiene.

It's cute ~until something tragic happens, like a severed limb (or ear!) or a spill over of stuffing or something... you would think we'd lost a family member in the trauma unit should something like that occur. (There was a light stuffing leakage on this day and ALL of my kids thought we'd lost Lovey.)

So, imagine our motley Brew Crew hauling Lovey, the Giant Pink Puppy into the Laundromat; moving from station to station as the mob that we are, creating all the necessary chaos to operate the machines, as we fight for the best 'seat' to watch the 'show'(or camera angle to take pictures, ::guilty gulp::) pummeling & elbowing one another from time to time when someone blocks our view...some of us cheering and shouting at the 'screen' like we were watching that Notorious College Football Championship instead of ...a WASHING MACHINE.

I tell you, we fit right in at the Laundromat! And I cannot wait to go back sometime soon, which we are going to have to do, because I still have sixteen dollars on the Wash & Dry card they make you trade your real money in for. Turns out the math they taught me in school did not cover properly estimating time & money in a laundromat that lists prices like a slot machine... blinky little screen things that they are!

I have got to add two little asides before you get your turn at "Watching-A-Washing-Machine" (sounds like a great new trend to start- quick someone, Pin This!)

1.) As we were talking about this adventure later, Rye said "Lovey go in the dishwasher!" (I think that might be worth a try next time ... I've been needing to mop the floor again anyway.)

2.) There is a thrift store that funds a local pet rescue a few doors down from the laundromat. As we waited on the dryer to finish, we moseyed down to see what we could see. When the lady at the door asked us "Are you looking for anything in particular today?" and I explained "No, ma'm~ we're just washing our dog next door, killing a little time as we wait for him to dry." It really WAS the right thing to do to specify that we were referring to a stuffed dog, but it would have been so much funnier to just leave it at "dog" don't ya think?

Princess Clay

Rye has her daddy wrapped around that pretty little pinky...

Puddle Splashing

As Clay was leaving for work, Rye decided to walk him down... we are in the midst of potty training, which should help explain to all who know, why she's just in a tee shirt. For the uninitiated, the less layers, the more success we seem to have.

I thought, "No worries- it is early morning, we will just walk him to the truck and be right back in the house" And we were right on schedule too, until she spotted the puddles. The neighbors came out to watch and cheer her on

(She loves Mr. Jim & Mrs. Peggy and asked them to join her in the splashing fun)

Eventually, I had to force her to slosh on in to the house... but not before Mr. Jim spoiled her with a bag of M&M's from his 'robot' (automatic candy dispense)

Unicorn Milk

Riley brought her cup to me "More Unicorn Milk? "

I corrected her manners, having her ask "More Unicorn Milk, PLEASE?"

I filled her cup with goat milk and sent her happily on her way.

Later, as we were watching 'Tangled' (for the 37 millionth time), for the sake of continuity, I pointed out a goat from one of the scenes and asked "Is that a unicorn?"

'Mmm-Hmm!' she nodded affirmatively.

I guess they DO both have a horn...or two...on their head.

She has since heard us refer to goat milk, and will ask for it properly some of the time. Other times she sticks with the unicorn story.

I bought the first quart of goat's milk assuming I would be looking for ways to sneak the majority of it into cooking & baking. I didn't think she would finish the first sippy cup full. I never thought she'd come to prefer it.

Last night, she tossed a cup of cow's milk my way and called after it 'Goat milk....pweeeze?!'

Go figure.

One quart of goat's milk is the same price as one gallon of cow's milk.

She has seemed to have a better appetite and less tummy upset... and she has slept soundly through a few more hours than usual... maybe the magical properties of 'unicorn milk' is to thank?

Perhaps that is also why I'm not correcting her on the 'unicorn milk' thing ...even encouraging it a bit...it makes it sound more exotic, worth the quadrupled cost...and the very compliant toddler.

Besides, it's just too cute.

Two asides before I close:
First~I showed her the picture of a real goat this morning, to which she exclaimed: "PUPPY!"
(True Story)
And second~ yes, I have tried the goat milk. And no it isn't terrible... really.

I believe it was the picture on the front of this carton that led her to believe she is drinking unicorn milk...though this goat has no horns to speak of.

Fathers

While looking for something celebratory for my nephew's birthday, I came across this piece for mothers. In the interest of equality, I share this equally challenging & powerful piece on the calling of fathers.

I am grateful for the good fathers I know.

If you are a dad, I hope you celebrate the gift that God has given you in the form of your children and take to heart the call to disciple them & ready them to be presented back to their Giver someday.

Mothers

As I was looking for something 'sentimental' of sorts, to mark my nephew's 5th birthday and to celebrate his mom and dad's 5th anniversary as parents

(Reagan made them parents for the first ~but not last~ time)

I came across this piece on motherhood. It seems to be an excerpt from a mother's day sermon at a church I've never been too.

It is a really good thought.

It made me thankful for all the godly mothers I know. It also made me want to encourage those who may not value the calling God has placed on the life of a mother... especially friends and family who are moms but think that it doesn't count as much.

I hope you will be encouraged if you are a mom. I hope you will pass this on if you know any other mothers that need to be reminded... or perhaps told for the very first time.

And...if you happen to be a father? Well... there's something in there for you too

:) Big Smiles Until We Meet Again

Wee Catechize

We have been doing a version of catechism with the children for the past few years. It started with reading through "Training Hearts, Teaching Minds" and the desire to give our children a solid foundation of biblical truths.

Now, before you dismiss catechizing as an archaic practice or too quickly equate it with a Catholic-only practice, let me say that I have found it a wonderful way to ensure I'm 'covering all the bases' as I attempt to train my children in Biblical doctrine. Someone else likened it to teaching the times tables and I have to say, I believe that is a more than adequate analogy.

We've gotten off track in our home with teaching through the questions more often than we've sailed right through. Even so, it is nice to have a schedule of sorts- a checklist of fundamentals to make sure we've covered as we go; to pick up where we left off.

It was while looking for varied schedules that I came across this blog post:

'Cheerios with a Side of Catechism'

If you click over there, you'll find a link to catechism themed songs and a print out of questions that you can take your child through.

Around the same time that I came across the post, we were trying to wrap our brains around the most unexpected blessing: we found out we were going to have Riley.

When I read the suggested age on the list of questions, I fell in love with the idea of starting simplified catechizing as early as possible. (Another one of those things I feel bad about not catching on to sooner with The Bigs... thankfully, God is so much bigger than our parenting gaps!)

Since that time, we've found some additional resources and more supporters/discussions about the value of 'catechizing':

Voddie Baucham

Paul Washer
CJ & Kevin Mahaney w/ Curtis Allen

But now, without further delay, Riley answers the first two questions from the revised