Lessons to Glean from Pancakes

The teacher in me felt compelled to celebrate National Pancake Day, no we didn’t read any stories about pancakes or do any silly experiments with them but…

I convinced C that it was a good idea to have breakfast for dinner and we headed to IHOP to take advantage of free short stacks (three pancakes).  This was my first outing to IHOP in several years…but definitely the most memorable, let me explain…

B has really been struggling with the transition from a bottle to a sippy cup and with being fed by a spoon to feeding himself…I have been trying not to worry about it, but will be honest and admit that I have had visions of B still eating puréed fruits and veggies in high school! Last night as I was going to sleep, I realized that I hadn’t given this “concern” over to the Lord and I prayed for B’s transition….GOD IS SO GOOD…as of this afternoon, B drank FROM A SIPPY CUP and then tonight totally surprised us by not just trying….but really ENGULFING A PANCAKE!

We were able to capture the culinary milestone with some pretty funny photos…am I proud that his first real finger food experience was eating an IHOP pancake…well, my pride says no, but really deep down my heart says …YES!!!!! 

Here is a glimpse of our meal…

Lessons to glean from pancakes:

1. God is in control

2.  B will do things in his time and I really shouldn’t compare him with others!

…and here is evidence of success with the sippy cup!

The Blog Stalking Mom & Her Little Cowboy

I have a confession…

I really enjoy reading other people’s blogs…I love scrolling through photos and really enjoy getting a glimpse other peoples’ lives.  Why I am so intrigued and captivated, I don’t know…but a dear friend of mine just introduced me to this blog and I feel like I need to share it…

http://www.flythroughourwindow.com/

I know this mom is a normal woman, just like me…but her words are so encouraging and it is so neat to see her faith evident in her job as being a mom…not to mention, she has some incredible talent!

What caught my attention most was the banner across the top of her blog that reads…

“The fundamental mission of motherhood now is the same as it always was: to nurture, protect, and instruct children, to create a home environment that enables them to learn and grow, to help them develop a heart for God and his purposes, and to send them out into the world prepared to live both fully and meaningfully.”

Sally Clarkson from the Mission of Motherhood

 

I just want to say…  “I SO AGREE!”

I so desire for B to “develop a heart for God and His purposes and want to send him into the world prepared to live both fully and meaningfully!”

I feel like this is a good reminder of  part of my life’s purpose right now…it can be a very humbling place to be, but really I don’t desire to be anywhere else, I have been made for this job, I love it and I am so grateful for it!

Speaking of being grateful…how could I not be grateful for this little cowboy?   B’s outfit is sort of a west meets the north with a little bit of puppy dog mixed in.

 

p.s.

Happy Birthday M! We hope you have a special day celebrating your first year of life with your family! We love you all the way from Texas!

Can I Press Pause?

There are moments when I wish that I could just press pause…it feels like B is growing up so fast, it is like we have blinked and he is almost ready for college…well not really, but these months have just flown by!

C was gracious and sweet to give B his bath tonight, I took full advantage of the opportunity to capture the event that bath time is with the camera.  B continues to love his baths, he is quite fascinated by the water and loves to splash and watch the water fly in the air!

 

As B continues to explore the art of feeding himself, bath times will undoubtedly turn into an every night routine (give or take)…I guess it will allow us to really savor in sweet memories like this!

Snow? Again?

B heard a rumor that we may be getting some more snow this week…

This photo seems to capture his feelings about the weather…

A mixture of pure excitement and grrrrrrrr (frustration) because it’s time to be warm outside!

(that or his hat must really taste good?)

 

My Boys

I love this photo, B looks like he is thinking “Come on mom, please just take the photo so that Dad and I can keep playing!”

Grace

Being a mom has opened my humble little world up in more ways than I ever could have imagined…

One of the ways has been the opportunity to join a “Mom’s Group”.  The goal of the group is to formally meet at least once a month to discuss a book we are reading together and to connect and share motherhood  milestones and prayer requests from the past month. 

We are currently reading TrueFaced by, Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol and John Lynch, (the same book that our small group is reading) this book is fantastic…it is both encouraging and convicting on multiple levels! 

I left this month’s mom’s discussion  incredibly encouraged and felt like I needed to share what really stuck out in the book…

“Many of us understand grace as a theological position. And it is delightfully that. Undeserved, unending, unearned, unwavering, grace is God’s inexhaustible love and absolute acceptance of us, coupled with his unabashed delight in us. Grace brings us adoption into God’s family, a new identity, a new life, new power, new capacity, and God’s full protection-with absolutely no strings attached.

But grace is much more than a theological position. Equally and simultaneously, grace is an actual environment, a realm, a present-tense reality that weaves around and through every moment of even our worst day. God’s gift of grace continuously and always surrounds us…”                                     p.69 TrueFaced

How awesome is it use this idea/concept of grace as a filter for our everyday experiences…it really puts life into perspective  and reminds me that nothing is too big, too great or too difficult because I have God’s full protection…NO MATTER WHAT! He is continually surrounding me with His gift of grace…I just need to choose to believe and accept it!

He is so in love with us…just like C and I are in love with B…this encourages me to remember that as we are captivated by B’s little life…our Heavenly Father feels the same about each of us!

These are a few recent photos of B as C and I were totally captivated by his antics at the dinner table…Just picture the two of us laughing behind the camera…who would have known that a spoon could bring so much joy?

Here’s to grace!!!!

B’s Fort

Making forts is something that my brothers and I enjoyed doing when we were little…I can remember how a couple of blankets coupled with a few chairs could transform a common room into a fort!

The other day, while we hunkered down with all the snow, B and I made a fort…he loved it! He crawled in and out and in and out…here are some photos I took in an attempt to capture the precious moment and  simple joy that he experienced!

 

Happy Birthday M!

I guess I have gotten a little blog happy today…it’s what happens when there is 12 inches of snow outside and the city you live in sort of shuts down!

This is my dear cousin M, her birthday is tomorrow…the day before Valentines Day. I can remember attending several Valentine themed parties for her growing up. One of the most memorable was a sleep over party where she and I fell asleep before everyone else and we both woke up to discover there had been a conversation heart fight while we were asleep…there were heart candies everywhere! Oh, were those the days!

M now has a daughter, A, who is about a month older than B…I am sure A & B may someday have party stories of their own to share!

Here is to some of the memories…

 

 

Happy Birthday M!

Family “TeePee” Time

My mom passed this along to me last week and I just now got a chance to read/watch it because of the unexpected snow day we are enjoying.    

My brothers and I had the honor and privilege of attending Kanakuk Kamp for a number of years, we spent many nights sleeping in teepees and many mornings enjoying the famous Kanakuk Koffee Kake. But even more, Kanakuk played a huge role in my own spiritual life and walk with the Lord and it is my hope that our children may one day be able to have the same privilege.

As B grows up, C and I so desire to be intentional about telling him about Jesus Christ and spending quality time together as a family…

http://www.kanakuk.com/youandyourchild/Windows Live Writer Blog

“Cousins”

“Gatsby, are you getting to enjoy this fun cold white stuff at your house? It’s the best isn’t it?” -Ella

"It's so cold I can't keep my eyes open!"-Gatsby

Gatsby is Ella’s “cousin” (he is my brother’s dog). My brother, J, and Gatsby live in Waco, it doesn’t look like they got quite as much snow at their house, but it’s still white and still snow…you have to love Texas in February!

Good Morning!

This is what we woke up to this morning… 

It truly could be Minnesota, Colorado or somewhere in New England outside our door this morning. Everything is still pretty quiet and muted, but you can hear the drips of snow melting from the trees and roofs. Sometimes it even looks like it is still snowing because the heavy snow is falling off of the trees.

The snow is so heavy that a lot of tree branches are bowing and almost touching the ground!

No snow plows here!

B wasn’t quite sure what to think of the snow…though, we are pretty sure he enjoyed it as his eyes lit up when he saw it this morning.

There is no question that Ella is LOVING the snow…though playing fetch can be a little more difficult in regard to finding a ball after it has been thrown, I think she and C have lost one or two balls while playing both yesterday and this morning (one is on the roof of our house).

This snow is such a special treat, we will be sure to savor it as we know that it will melt soon!

Snowy Adventure

I feel like a little kid in regard to this snow, it is making me feel really nostalgic for my childhood in Minnesota, where we would more often than not wake up to days like this in the winter.

With that said, I so desire for our children to be able to enjoy snow…maybe not in the same way that I did growing up…but I do want to take advantage of any/every opportunity we can get…it really is one of my simple joys!

So during B’s nap, I decided to send some photos to be printed. After B woke up, I put him back in his snow suit, bundled him up in the stroller (with my rain coat as a “waterproof barrier’ because the snow is so wet) donned my rain boots (with wool socks), ski jacket, hat and mittens and set off on a snowy/slushy walk to go pick the photos up.

  

The walk was quite a workout, pushing the stroller through the snow/slush was a little more difficult than I anticipated…plus, it really is pretty warm outside.

As we walked I noticed how quiet it is outside. I love that about snow, it not only covers things up to make them look so beautiful, but it also muffles and mutes sounds…when it is falling it really does feel like you are in a snow globe and time is sort of seems to stand still.

B seemed to enjoy the little adventure, he babbled and “talked” some as we walked…it was a little bumpy as we went off-roading a couple times, I think he enjoyed that part!

We found this little snow family on our walk…how great,  a Daddy, Momma and Baby snow family all outside enjoying the snow just like B and I were! (The dad is wearing a cowboy hat…only in Texas!)

 

On our way home, I saw a family of five rolling a huge snow ball in the park near our house. The snow ball was probably about three and half feet in diameter…there were two smaller (yet still quite large) snow balls just waiting to be stacked on top of the big one to make what I would assume to be a large snowman.  The giggles and chatter amongst the family warmed my heart…I am sure that the three kids will remember today for quite awhile!

This is what it looked like when we got home from our walk.

Though B will not remember our little adventure in the Texas snow, I know that I will and I am grateful for the memory. I am sure that we were quite a sight as we/I trudged through the snow and slush…but it was worth it, it was fun…it was a memory!

Oh, to be a kid again!