Boys and blue jeans

If you have a boy who is three or younger or hope to have a boy someday, I'm about to tell you something very, very important. Because if you're smart, you'll buy up every pair of boys jeans you ever run across at a garage sale or resale shop size 5 or larger. 

Because at least in our house, jeans just don't survive. Which is actually kinda still shocking to me since my boy seems to grow an inch a month. The fact that he blows out knees faster than his pants turn into high waters is illogical and should be illegal. But it's a reality. Last year, he had no pants left at the end of the season. He fared better this year (assuming he doesn't wear jeans from now until June!), but only thanks to a sack full of jeans from a friend. How her son managed to have so many pairs of jeans that survived can only mean three possible things: 

1. His school has no recess. 

2. He grows an inch a week. 

3. He goes to a private school and wears a uniform five of seven days a week. 

It's not summer yet, but we have seven relatively intact pairs of jeans (a couple are worn but no holes yet!) and two pairs of pants. I assume they fit, but I also thought the size 7 jeans I sent to camp on Monday night fit, and apparently he couldn't pull them over his thighs, so who knows!

For contrast, here's a display of jeans that didn't survive. They fill an entire drawer in his dresser. There are 14 jeans. They are perfectly fine, except for the knee/s. Some of them lasted to the very end of the season, getting lots of wear. Others seemed only to survive until lunch recess on their first day. No amount of bribery will work in convincing your son to be kinder to his clothes. This is simply a fact of life, like the sky is blue and the Cubs will never be world champions. 

We organized Ryker's room today. He has a fair amount of shorts, and also a large stack of jeans with holes in the knees, which will make very nice shorts should we come into a shortage, I guess like if there's a laundry picket at our house. As for the seven pair below, I hope I see you (and you fit Ryker) in the fall. 

Sure signs of summer

Ryker's skin cannot be found. Here's how he returned after camping last night with his dad and some other scouts at New Salem. Yes, boy and dirt are synonymous this time of year. 

Abby begins to chase and catch insects. Here is a baby lightening bug she found this morning. 

Shoes are a unnecessary. Grass comes inside the house. Oh, and dirty paw prints can be found all over my floors. 

And the dogs are pooped by 10 a.m. and nap away during the warm afternoons. Plus, if you say their names, the boy dog doesn't budge, but the girl dog gives you dirty looks. :) 

Random projects we've been working on

It's been a busy, busy place around our home the last several weeks. Indoor soccer finally came to an end last weekend, while church choir is picking back up full-swing and it won't be long before baseball and softball practices begin!

But we've been doing plenty of non-sports activities around the house, too. Have a look at some of our projects.

The first one is part of our great room remodel project that is sort of ongoing. Taking out the fireplace gave us this huge wall, and we've been contemplating how to fill it. We started with this dominant double canvas art work that ties in the ceiling beam color-wise. We want the things on this wall to represent what's important to us as a family -- those things that all four of us love. Well, we all love books, the outdoors, God, the Cardinals. So we've got our "tree of life" that is actually the tree from our field that I photographed. I bumped up the contrast on the image and knocked off all the tiny branches in Photoshop. 

We decoupaged pages from books onto two canvases of the same width. Harry Potter pages, because that's a favorite. And then I found an old devotion book with prayers and poems of faith in a resale shop. We rounded it out with another old book that had extra crusty, yellowed pages to give the wall some texture and "pop." 

And then I had a brilliant idea -- most of mine are, right? Anyhow, we had an old coffee table in the garage. Dan stripped it and painted it black to match our end tables and then we decoupaged the same types of pages in the middle. 

Here's a closeup of the tree canvases before they were hung. Printing out the tree on individual sheets of paper and wrapping it around the edge of the canvas was a bit harder than I thought I would be. Especially when I lost a piece and had to go back and crop out that section again. We still want to put a bird on a branch -- a Cardinal bird, of course. But Abby insists it has to be a Cardinal I've photographed so that the piece is 100 percent original. She's a stickler! Next up: filling in the space around this artwork. I'm envisioning favorite family scriptures artistically represented with -- maybe -- one family photo. We have plenty of photographs all over this room, so I don't want to overdo it on photos! What I love about this wall is that it will represent art we made and things that are important to us. 

Today we've got Boy Scouts Pinewood Derby all day. Here's Ryker's car when it was still a work in progress. It turned out very cool looking! And just wait until you see Abby's -- completely envisioned by her!

I liked this photo, so I had to share! She thinks her eyes are green, but here in front of these bleachers, I think it's quite obvious they're blue!

 Ryker's made shot at the last basketball game. 

He played most of the game (they only had six players) but sat out when his leg "hurt." We were chuckling when we saw him looking all cute and cross-legged on the bench. My baby. Getting a little misty-eyed here, so moving on....

Ryker bringing the ball down the court. We think he's amazing. Yep.

I'm so excited about this, though the notebook seems to be missing at the moment. Abby has picked up where the Harry Potter series left off and is writing her own epilogue novel. And...it's amazing! We thought she was copying something when we picked up the notebook and read it. Then we watched her scratch out two full pages at Ryker's basketball game and knew it was all her. She even explained her creative process -- amazing! When/if we find the notebook, we're going to let her start her blog. I'll type it in for her since she's not very fast at typing. Please send her lots of encouragement so she'll finish it. 

As she read it to us, her toes were wiggling like wild. She gets that from her mema (and maybe her ADHD). Her toes NEVER stop moving. :) 

Here's Ryker reading an equally awesome story that encompasses little monsters, windshield wipers, and me threatening him with death while pointing an umbrella at him (this is fiction, folks, I swear. we don't own umbrellas!). 

Lent: It's more than just giving it up

In my church, we don't exactly make a big deal about Lent. In fact, I don't think anyone's mentioned it. Ever.

Growing up Lutheran, it was a major holiday. But all I recall about it is Ash Wednesday. The appeal for a child: black ashes on your forehead that your mom actually won't wipe off -- immediately anyway. And that's about it. A lot of people I knew gave up something, but they were Catholic. Lutherans didn't always do that. 

Lent is not Biblical, at least not in the sense that Easter and Christmas are actual events. Lent is not a day or even a ritual recognized in the text. But it is Biblical to the extent that (when practiced as intended) it celebrates disciplines that we should be incorporating in our walk with Christ -- fasting, praying, meditating, etc. -- all in an effort to grow closer with our Savior. I like the way this blogger explains the connection between the Bible and Lent: http://www.flowingfaith.com/2011/03/is-lent-biblical.html. 

What Lent means to most people is "giving up" something. You hear people talk about what they're giving up, though rarely do you hear them explain why they're giving it up. Some fast from something -- sometimes a meal once a week or red meat. Often people give up sugary foods -- chocolate or soda -- and some are forfeiting Facebook. 

It wasn't until a few years ago that I really understood why we should fast or give up something in discipline with our faith. Jesus did it and he talked about it as if it was something we would simply do. He expects it of us, not at Lent, but as a general practice. Why? 

When we give something up, we replace it with something spiritual. The time it takes to prepare and eat a meal -- or surf Facebook -- can then be given to God. To listen. To hear his call. To pray and meditate. Fasting also allows us to live a life with less, giving us perspective on those who, not by choice, do so daily. In other words, most of the world's population. A great resource on how to fast and why is Richard Foster's "Spiritual Disciplines."

While I hadn't planned to give up anything for Lent, I realized that I sort of have. I turned in my resignation at my full-time job a couple weeks ago. I'm giving it up. Permanently.  

There are a lot of reasons, really. But what it boils down to most is that I am not serving God, nor listening to God, in my current schedule. Something had to give. And so I prayed about what to do, and he made it clear that he wants to be first in my life (I knew this) and that I should be obedient to this -- immediately. 

Like a child, I dug my heels in hard at this message. It seemed sudden. Dramatic. Unnecessary. I attempted to negotiate just like a child might. I fussed and complained. Still, he was unrelenting. He wants more of me, and serving him and my family from home is where he desires for me to be. 

While I'm giving up my corporate position, I'm not going to stop working. Because I need some kind of income to sustain our budget. Not much. Certainly not what I was earning. There won't be many dinners out or trips to the movies after we make the transition. We'll have to save a little more, do a little less. We might even have to give up on the idea of visiting my sister in Germany, which really stinks. We've been here before, financially speaking, and it's OK. Really. 

I don't know how it will work. But what I know is this. He demands that I be close to home, work from home, serve him better and put my family above my work. My faith is in him, and I know I don't have to worry. That's what he says, right there in his word. I'll trust him to work out the details. I know it will be just fine.

In the meantime, my forfeiting a full-time career will open up time, a lot of it since I don't know what I'll be doing when I begin working from home -- maybe some photography, some writing, Zumba with the senior ladies at my church. Who knows! But ahhh! to have time! Time that I can dig deeper in the scripture, pray and give myself more fully to God. And that is how I plan to celebrate Lent. 

Have faith....chase your dreams

"If you have an idea, get it out of your head. Create a prototype, get it into the world and then do it. Do it on a small scale. Make something you can hold." What's your idea? You know - that spark you keep dreaming about and doodling while you're on the phone. Draw it out, create something and tell someone else about it. Make it real, and start living your passion.

 I read this on a blog, and it made me think – maybe I’m a touch ADD. My head is about to explode with ideas. I always have unfinished projects, ideas for books, artwork I want to pursue and craft projects I'd like to do with the kids. And then there’s my work, my blogs, my photos, homemade gifts, household projects, and the list goes on…and on.

Right now, I have this great business idea spinning around in my head so fast and no time to sit down and develop it. Yet I’m obsessed with it. Add that to my feelings that I could not seem to juggle the work-life balance of full-time management in the corporate world. My creativity feels stifled during the bulk of my 40-hour work week. I have no voice; my ideas and opinions, they don’t count; and I feel integrity is at stake. And so I’m definitely not living my passion, despite the great-paying job that others would desperately chase in this economy. Here I am, running from it. It makes me sad for myself, like something is wrong with me. I feel like I don’t fit in. Like I don't appreciate an opportunity. When when I attempt it, I feel like a Stepford employee. That’s just sad, too. It seems I've lost my joy.

I want to create. I want to unleash my ideas. That’s what I would encourage my children to do. “Have faith, face your doubts, be courageous and chase your dreams,” I would tell them. So why is it so hard for me to convince myself? Why is my own self-confidence so beaten down? It's unlike me. I'm wondering...what do I have to lose?

  

Why do turtles have to die?

This is my boy. Yep, he's sucking his thumb back there behind Lucy (Isn't she adorable?). If you've met him, you've seen him do it. If he attempts to curb this habit, then he chews on his shirt -- as in big giant holes in minutes. I'm OK with him sucking his thumb. It's cheaper than buying a shirt for every day of his life, especially since we practically need a new pair of jeans after every two wears. I love him to pieces, regardless of what he might say otherwise! The story below is one of a million and one reasons I love him. 

“I love my son.” I don’t say it enough; can one possibly say that enough?

Unlike my daughter who can be emotionally detached from certain worldly injustices, my son possesses a heart and soul much like mine. He feels compassion for others at a deep level; he can’t bear to watch another person – or even a creature for that matter – in pain, even in a fictional movie.

And he’ll let us know! As he did during our recent viewing of “Turtle: The Incredible Journey.”

Abby watched with fascination as baby loggerhead turtles dug upward through their sandy nests for three days then attempted the treacherous journey to the sea 40 meters away, many getting plucked away by predators. “Look, the crab’s going to eat that one,” she said, intently engaged in the mysteries of real beach life unraveling on the screen in front of her.

That simply further infuriated her brother, who was already shouting at this point that we MUST turn off the documentary that he chose between two Saturday night movie picks.

Why. Writhing in anger, Ryker wanted to know why would anyone film or watch this? He choked back tears, yelling instead of crying in his utter frustration. Somehow after 7 years, it's no longer acceptable for him to cry. I believe he thinks if we turn it off, it will be easier for him to turn off the tears.

I told him it was OK.(Boys need to know that.) It’s fine to cry when you’re angry or sad. It’s OK to be emotionally moved by something. I also noted that the turtles being eaten was all part of God’s plan because otherwise our planet would be invaded by these suckers.

In a way, that was part of the documentary’s message. The filmmakers wanted us to understand just how many odds the loggerhead turtle had to overcome in order to make it back to that same beach in 20 years and lay her own eggs. In fact, the film said only 1 in 10,000 does.

It was bittersweet when my baby boy, who ultimately gave the film a chance, crashed out on my lap about halfway through. I was sad that he didn’t get to see the part where the loggerhead, fully mature, snacked on a crunchy crab on the floor of the Caribbean Sea. (Retaliation for her brother's untimely death?)

But I pondered – as this 7-year-old’s frame stretched the length of my body, our legs intertwined – how many more times in my life would I be able to cherish a moment like this?

I love that he’s as emotionally connected as he is intellectually strong and athletically gifted. I couldn’t be more proud of him and the wonderful man I know he’ll someday become.

I just hope, unlike his mom, he doesn’t cry at the emotional climax of every movie – even cartoons and (gulp) some commercials. The movie we saw the night before comes to mind (spoiler alert!), the part where the mom gentle sets her life-saving helmet on her son’s head after his helmet shatters at the predictable ending of the subpar “Mars Needs Moms.”

If he’d seen the rogue tear ruefully rolling down my check that I strategically covered behind a pillow, Ryker would probably have uttered the words, “Come on, Amy. You’re crying? That’s just ridiculous.”

Sometimes, it is. And that's OK, too.

In between

I subscribe to Seth Godin's blog, but after hearing of his spiritual beliefs, I've mostly demoted him to background noise. But I clicked on the RSS today and read this short entry:

"We're hoping to succeed; we're okay with failure. We just don't want to land in between."

--David Chang

He's serious. Lots of people say this, but few are willing to put themselves at risk, which destroys the likelihood of success and dramatically increases the chance of in between.

This made me wonder, what if Albert Einstein or Mother Teresa had been told not to bother trying because not many people make it to the level of success they ultimately achieved? What if we told our children that reaching for their hearts' desires is too risky because they're statistically likely to fail. What if we didn't need to tell our children that because they see it reflected in our own actions? How many of us are living "in between" -- an uncomfortable place of dissatisfaction and contrived happiness because we're too afraid to have faith in something bigger that seems against the odds? 

The sermon preached at my church this morning was a great reminder of what should motivate us in life, and if we live this lifestyle, truly live it, we'll experience failure and success. That's because, as Ken illustrated with the story of Abraham obeying God in taking Isaac to the alter as a living sacrifice, our life of worship will be: 

* Tried and Tested. (Genesis 22: 1)

* Come with a Cost. (22:2)

* Ordered by Obedience. (22:3,4)

* Fueled by Faith. (22:5-10)

* Secured by God's Sight. (22:11-14)

No, a lifestyle of worship isn't easy. It certainly requires risk but the difference between Godin's illustration and God's story is that Christians can count on faith, because the truth is God WILL provide. Yes, living in between is way too uncomfortable; it means I'm not willing to risk failure and I don't have faith. And that's hardly a life worth living!

Please pray for me as I seek God's voice for a decision in my life. He's calling me to be obedient. Tune in to hear how I respond to God's calling. Big changes (risks) are coming...I hope!

What I liked about Christmas 2011

So, this took long enough. The highlights from Christmas in images only a month later: 

My middle sister's surprise gift. It was PERFECT! We each got a bottle aptly named after our personality trait. Mine, on the left, is smarty pants. :) I might make it into a vase if I ever drink it. Still in the fridge! 

My dad didn't disappoint...he had his usual mid-day nap. Traditions. That's why we like the holidays!

It was nice enough out for the kids to play tag outside at Mema and Papa's house Monday. 

Of course, they all got sleds and really wanted to use them. But the lack of snow certainly didn't stop them. 

The poor 13-year-old cousin had the bulk of the work pushing everyone down the hill. 

Dan always has some trick up his sleeve. This year, he wrapped the kids' iPod nanos in giant boxes to throw them off!

My sister Jamie and her husband Teddy were home for three days from Germany. 

And of course, the No. 1 reason Christmas 2011 was so great....Dan got all the gifts. Wait, no, those weren't his. We were all glad he dodged a bullet, recovered from sepsis and was healthy enough to be home from the hospital.

Amen.

The Muppets and my pony

We like the Muppets. We saw the movie on opening afternoon -- Abby's birthday. It was a celebration of sorts. Then three weeks later Dan ended up in the ICU with the same condition that killed Muppets creator Jim Henson. That's just a weird random fact. 


The point of this story, or blog post is really how kids (and sometimes adults. OK. Fine. Me.)... It's interesting how kids and myself sing our own made-up lyrics when we don't really hear or understand what's being sung. 


Usually this is adorable, except when I'm doing this. Only Dan thinks it's adorable, and he says this exclusively because it was written into our marriage vows. 


Anyway, a certain aunt from Germany bought Ryker the Muppets movie soundtrack for Christmas; Turns out to be a great family gift. We've been jamming to that thing ever since! It's definitely the kind of music that both children and adults of my generation can appreciate. In fact, it led us to semi-introduce our kids to Nirvana. (A story for another day.) 


The Muppets soundtrack is what led me to google "Marconi" one day while we were in the car listening to the rock 'n' roll classic "We Built This City." Dan earnestly wanted to know who Marconi was, as in "Marconi plays the mamba." Who is this Marconi and why does he want to play the mamba so badly. So I looked it up on my iPhone. (Exactly how did we live without instant access to the world at our fingertips via 3G?) 


This is what I found, and I'm quoting Wikipedia. Not because I think it's authoritative, but because it was the first thing that popped up on my search. "Marconi is often credited as the inventor of radio, and indeed he shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Ferdinand Braun 'in recognition of their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy.'"


Geez. I felt kinda stupid after that. Of course Marconi would be playing the mamba. Why wouldn't he? 


Well, quite possibly because my kids (and maybe me. OK. Me, too.) thought that "my pony" was playing the mamba. Marconi. My pony. Please tell me you see how the mistake can be made! And really that makes for a much more interesting mental image. Don't you think? Please tell me you agree. My poor delicate ego couldn't handle it any other way. 


Now, you MUST share. What lyrics have you misunderstood? I mean your kids...what lyrics have your kids misunderstood? Kindly comment below so I don't feel so silly!

A day of fun!

I probably shouldn't admit this, but these photos are OLD. Well, not terribly, and I am blogging darn it. The fact that I'm blogging stuff from three weeks ago doesn't matter to me yet! These are photos from a day at the Children's Museum in Decatur -- an awesome place where you can easily spend half a day. It was the last day of Christmas break. I took the day off work because it was Dan's first day back to work since his illness Dec. 12. He wasn't even close to 100 percent when he returned to work and he wasn't able to do much with the kids -- outside of trips to the library -- while he was home with them. So we took a day to get out of the house and have some fun, leave our troubles behind. We hijacked some friends who desperately needed a day, too. Both of us moms have to-do lists that drop to the floor, so we didn't really have the time. But you know, if we wanted to wait until we have the time, we'd sadly have empty houses. We HAVE to take days like these and leave our stacks of work untouched until the kids are in bed.

I love this pic of my two munchkins playing in the bubbles, and I loved it best in black and white. 

They played here for a long time, especially Abby. She loved the mail room and bank, sorting and delivering mail and money. 

Olivia's tradition. Can you see both images of her? 

Kenneth at the drive-up window at the bank. 

My kids are goofy -- big surprise!

Ryker as the patient. Later, I had to be the patient. I went in with a stomach ache and ended up with a broken arm, AND I gave birth to a baby. 

Olivia shows an x-ray to Ryker. 

LOVE THIS PHOTO! 

I hung with these two for quite a while, and they played very well together. I think Ryker is probably that way with most kids. He's SO GOOD with younger kids, not that Olivia is much younger. He wants a baby brother -- or sister -- so badly. I know he'd be a great big brother. But our hands feel so full already! I don't know how families do it, especially when they have special needs kids. I'm exhausted thinking about it. 

Speaking of exhausted, we took a wee detour after the museum to go through the Starbucks drive-through. Not only for momma but the kiddos, too! Don't worry--they don't drink caffeine!

It was great to have this day, and I hope we can squeeze in many others this year. It's as good for me as it is for them. What are some fun day trips that you have with your kids? Share some ideas so we'll know where to go next time!