Our Little Walker…

Gotcha!

No, B isn’t walking yet, but he has become quite proficient with his little walker. In effort to encourage B to make progress with his balance and confidence, C and I decided to take him and his walker on a little adventure as a sort of finale for our Father’s Day celebrating.

So, C, B, his walker and I walked to get ice cream after dinner…

We brought the stroller just in case, but later learned that the stroller could have stayed parked at home…B WALKED THE ENTIRE WAY!!! His little eyes lit up as he walked past trees, acorns, branches etc. He had an “I’m working hard and proud of myself” smile on his face the entire time.

We are guessing that B will sleep hard tonight as a result of his big adventure and hope that he might be resting up to take some big steps on his own someday in the future!

Happy Sunday.

Be blessed.

Our Super C

(In this photo…pretend the baby backpack is a super hero cape that has the letter “C” on it)

"Wearing nothing but blue jeans and a t-shirt, you defend this family from the evil forces of suburbia…

when the house needs work-

you’re there.

when the car needs fixing-

you’re there.

you are a super husband.

and, while you might not wear tights, have a side kick, or be a hero to millions-

you’ll always be a hero to us!”

(taken from a Carlton greeting card)

C,

I wouldn’t trade our little life for anything else here on earth, you make an incredible teammate and I am so thankfully for all that the Lord has provided us with. You do a whole lot more than this silly greeting card depicts…but I thought these words did a quite humorous job of articulating some of  your most important (even if you feel like they are mundane) tasks.  B and I are so grateful for you and all the ways that you lead and serve our little family of three (really, four because Ella is grateful for you too).

Thank you for all that you do!

We love you!

Happy Father’s Day!

Also, Happy Father’s Day to my dad, C’s dad and to our grandfathers! We love you all.

Happy Sunday.

Be blessed.

It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood…

 (taken from wikipedia)

I recently “read” (really listened to) the book  The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers: Spiritual Insights from the World's Most Beloved Neighbor by, Amy Hollingsworth.

As a little girl, and even now as a grown up, I never knew that Mister Rogers had the faith that he did.  Listening to the book provided a really neat glimpse into Mister' Rogers life, he really did first and foremost have a heart for the Lord and secondly a heart for little ones.

Since listening to the book, I discovered another book that someone gave us as a baby gift, The Mister Rogers Parenting Resource Book: Helping to Understand Your Young Child and encourage learning and pretending by, Fred Rogers.  I had honestly forgotten about the book until this afternoon when it caught my eye sitting on a book shelf as B and I were playing together.

My new admiration for Mister Rogers and heightened curiosity led me to open the book and read a few pages…

In my couple minutes of reading I found this that stood out to me:

“Early childhood is the most important part of our life. It informs all that we do thereafter. All our lives, we rework the same struggles from our childhood needing to feel loved, finding a healthy balance between independence and dependence, being able to handle separation from loved ones, dealing with aggression, and working on self control…”  p.15

This is exactly what I learned in all of my early childhood education classes in college.  However, at that time in my life I lacked any personal classroom experience or children of my own. Retrospectively, I realize that I didn’t have a grasp of importance of children’s earliest years.

It is true, the lessons that B is in the midst of learning are lessons that C and I are still putting into practice  on a regular basis…I am humbled by the task of parenting…humbled that the experiences that B is experiencing right now will have impact on his later life, but also so grateful to experience such a privilege.

Thank You Lord for entrusting B to our care. And thank You for Mister Rogers and his legacy.  Amen

Happy Friday!

Be Blessed.

 http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Faith-Mister-Rogers-Spiritual/dp/0849918944/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276896980&sr=1-3

A Fact of Life

There are definitely benefits of choosing to live in a home that is almost 90 years old, there is charm and there are details that newer homes don’t have…BUT there can be downsides too…

Our sweet little house seems to have little dust factories in every room, though I have not seen the factories I am convinced they exist…maybe under the baseboards or somewhere! I think the factories work overtime at night, because each morning I find myself amazed by the little dust bunnies floating on the floor almost asking to be picked up by the vacuum. I am sure that having a big dog doesn’t help the situation either.

All this to say, B has become quite accustomed to my almost daily routine of vacuuming. He has started to follow me around the house with the help of his walker. Our vacuuming routine reminds me of  little kids who follow a parent mowing the lawn pushing a  toy lawnmower.

I felt the need to capture a photo of  my vacuum helper this morning, in effort to provide a daily glimpse of our life…no, it is not glamorous by any means, but in all honesty, it is a good reminder for me.  This morning, I am convicted to look at mundane tasks in my daily routine with more joy because in all honesty, I don’t think I could trade it for anything!

Happy Friday!

Be blessed.

Welcome Baby E!

 

B got to go meet his “cousin” baby, E, yesterday afternoon (it was easier to get a photo of E than B, he found himself quite busy wanting to explore the hospital room).

This is B’s first cousin on C’s side of the family.

B told baby E that he can’t wait to sure here the ropes!

Welcome Baby E!

Congratulations N & B!

Happy Friday!

Be blessed.

My Knight(s) in Shining Armor

I alluded to C celebrating my birthday in my recent brownie pan post, but feel like I need to give him a little more credit, let me explain.

Over the past few years, C has realized what a gift it is for me to have my birthday be celebrated. I by no means want or expect a singing telegram, airplane banner or fireworks but do feel so honored with a  little bit of celebrating because having a birthday in the middle of summer can be easily forgotten or overlooked.

With all that said, my birthday this year was quite fantastic. I woke up to the two boys in my life singing a sweet (and low) rendition of the Happy Birthday song …

Then I got to go to church (which we had been absent from for 5 weeks due to traveling/family events).

After church, C & B took me out for lunch to one of my favorite Cowtown spots, Central Market. We enjoyed a low key lunch and then perused the aisles of the store to pick up some groceries for the week (another birthday treat because the fruit and veggies are exceptional at Central Market –but a little pricey).

Later, B went down for a nap and C surprised me with a gift certificate for a massage as my gift from B. C said that B had thought that I might enjoy/need that after the escapades of all of our emergency room trips in Colorado.  Words can’t describe how incredible the massage was…though I am still a little sore. The masseuse noticed that the right side of my neck and back was tight….hmmmm, do you think that might be from carrying a 27 pound friend on my hip? No, he still isn’t walking!!!

Later, some friends (who I think are really angels in disguise) offered to take care of B so that C and I could go to dinner. It was a treat to sit and talk and not worry about tending to B and his needs. We caped off the evening with my favorite cake which is Black Forest Cake from the Swiss Pastry Shop….if you haven’t tried this cake you need to add it to your bucket list whenever you find yourself in Cowtown, it is DELECTABLE!

I thought my birthday was quite complete with the massage and brownie pan…BUT later in the week the Post Man delivered a nondescript brown box…C encouraged me to open it and much to my surprise and awe I found KEURIG COFFEE MAKER!!! Again, let me explain….

Recently, our coffee maker, that we received as a wedding  gift, decided that it wanted to dispense the brewed coffee onto the kitchen counter as opposed to the coffee maker’s pot. After trying to resolve the mess of a problem, we came to the conclusion that the maker had seen happier days…which meant no more morning coffee at the house.  This left me working to find ways to justify stopping at Starbucks and even McDonalds for a good cup of joe…UNTIL NOW!

 

B helped me unpack my surprise gift…and yes, as soon as it came out of the box, it found a new permanent  home on our kitchen counter!

To make it even more special, C ordered Caribou Coffee pods for the maker…Cowtown is very unfortunate to not have this splendid coffee house to enjoy, BUT now I can enjoy it in our neck of the wood, even though I am not in Minnesota, all because of C’s thoughtfulness.

So if you ever find yourself in our neck of the wood, please stop in to enjoy some of our house blend coffee…I (of course humbly) believe that it is the best in town!

I feel so honored and celebrated…both of my knights…especially the older one whisked in and made my birthday (and mornings) so special and I am so grateful!

Happy Thursday!

Be blessed.

Just Because…

  

I can hardly resist this smile and the plaid…so grown up, though I am still trying to figure out how I can press pause to slow all this growing up down!!!!

Still happy it’s Tuesday.

Be blessed.