Reading, Riding and Rithmetic (at least subtraction)

So we are blessed with children who love books.  They love to be read to and are both loving the idea of being able to read, pointing out letters and guessing what the words are.  Today, Joseay read me a book, making up the entire story herself.  Of course the book had nothing to do with her story, but that is where we are hanging out right now.

Joseay has been riding her bike well for a year or so, but just last week week, I went for a run for the first time with her riding her bike.  Me pushing her up some of the bigger hills but her doing everything else. Braking, steering, staying to the side when there was a car.  It was great fun.  It felt like she was about 10 years old which is, I am convinced, how old she thinks she is.

Brown did a great first the other day as well.  We were eating manicotti and he had it all cut into pieces on his plate.  He counted “1,2,3,4,5,6.  Ok, now I take away one,” as he put one in his mouth “and then there are 1,2,3,4,5.  He was so proud of himself.  I think he suddenly got the idea of subtrction.  It was really cool to see it happen.  So then he took another bite.  And said 5 take away one is 1,2,3,4.  Then he took another bite and without even looking said 3.  Took another bite and said 2.  Another then 1.  After taking the last bite, he held up his thumb and first finger in the shape of a zero.  He was so excited, his cheeks were full and we all cheered as he finally began to chew that mass of manicotti in his mouth.

A glimpse of perfection: Easter in the rearview

I didn't know Chris had mentioned the snow globes yet.  But here was my take on them post Easter.

Easter is about perfection and imperfection, God and the world.  And about the invasion of one from the other.  We thought he had died, another disappointment when there seemed such promise.  Yet we were used to imperfection, so we were ready to go on.  But Easter is about that perfection rising again, something we are not used to.  Easter is the promise fulfilled, about making whole what was broken.

broken again

So it was fitting that we had a small picture of this in our house this Easter to remind us of this conjunction.  Have your kids ever had those glass snow globes that you shake up to watch a brief snowfall over some seasonal scene? Have you ever wondered why in the world we would give kids a glass ball where the object was to shake it? Should we be surprised at the outcome?  so several weeks before Easter, we went through the all too predictable scenario of having one for each child, then broken glass and water everywhere, cleaning, finding more glass, telling them to be careful with the remaining one, then repeating - broken, water, glass, clean.  So they were both broken well before Easter and I thought that was the end of it.  Then unannounced, two more showed up at our house on Easter weekend.  Gifts. Thanks.  Did we learn? Not so much.  within hours, here was the result: broken again.

So this has been my picture of our imperfect attempts, over and over to learn to live in Gods kingdom, knowing that grace is our only ticket.  We try, we fail, we remember grace.  Not a bad lesson from some two dollar trinket.

hope for next year

By the way, we did tuck the last unbroken snow globe away until next year.  

It will serve as a symbol of perfection. 

A symbol of Easter.  

A symbol of life where death is expected. 

Then we will try to pull it out and not break it.  

Again.  

Any guesses as to the outcome?

Stunned, pre Easter by Chris

Butter and Papa (Chris's parents) are back in town after a 4 month leave to Baton Rouge. We haven't seen them since before Thanksgiving so the kids were very excited for their reunion a couple of days ago.  One of my mom's loves in life is buying little fun things for the kids to spoil them. It was like Christmas morning over here as she dragged in 4 big bags of loot for them. Two of the presents were a huge hit - rolling suitcases - Minnie Mouse for Joseay and Buzz Lightyear for Brown. They have adored them! Hours and hours of entertainment through the house as they have raced each other and pretended to go on all types of adventures with their new suitcases.

The other huge hits were the two Easter snow globes. Little bunny rabbits in a glass globes of glittery water. I'm not sure how they have gotten so much entertainment out of these things, but they love them! Different strokes...  So this morning, Brown was walking into the kitchen and dropped his snow globe and of course it shattered glass and glitter water all over the floor. Stunned. Sadness. Ugggh. He looked at it and quietly and sadly said, "aahhhh... I broke my snow globe." He wasn't crying or pitching a fit - just obviously bummed about it. We were getting the broom and dustpan out and Joseay yelled, "BROWN!!! YOU CAN HAVE MY SNOWGLOBE!!!"  Again... stunned. But it was ME being stunned. Man! She has done this kind of thing so many times lately. A three year old. One who adores her snow globe. And she is giving it to her brother. And her face lit up when she handed him her snowglobe. She sees the hurt and she wants to make him feel better. She sees a need and she does something about it. I have been so thankful and amazed to see this naturally flowing out of her. It is so cool!

Last week we had some friends over and their youngest girl, Bella, is 2 or younger. We were all just hanging out in the kitchen and suddenly Joseay yelled, "GUYS!!! I have something for you!" She took off running to her room. When she came back, she had one of her very favorite dress up outfits (Minnie Mouse dress) in her hands and she gave it to Bella and said, "This will fit YOU! It's too little for me! You can have it!!!" She was so excited to give it to Bella. And then she remembered she had the Mouse Ears Headband to go with it and ran back and got it for her. So Bella put it on and wore it around the house and then wore it home.

I am amazed. I believe that God creates us all so differently.  I'm thankful because I feel like when God created her, He gave her a little extra dose of compassion or empathy or generosity. I don't even know what to call it. I'm just really thankful that God placed that in her heart and I hope that she will always use it to bless others and glorify God.  I'm very proud that she is my daughter. And still a little stunned. :)

The mind of a child

Earlier in the fall, after a long summer of light and warmth, as the dark evenings began to grow, Joseay became very concerned one evening.  She asked where the light was going.  Now I have to add that we are fairly regular on our bedtimes, generally by 8 or so.  So when she asked this, I really didn’t know what she meant.  But after talking about it with her for a while, I realized that she has simply no recollection of being awake when it was dark outside.  She thought it was getting ready to storm as that is the only time she saw darkness when she was awake.  Weird.

We have just come through Christmas which has been very fun with the kids, though I have to say that the whole Santa deception thing is a bit much.  I have my doubts as to what it is doing to their concept of the world/God/Jesus.  Especially when Brown asked if God was going to come down the chimney.  There are too many confusing mysteries in the world as it is, it seems almost overwhelming for a kid.  (I just realized that my kids have been jumping on my back and asking for a piggybank ride.  I need to somehow explain that I am not a pig, but they are welcome to ride on my back, and for some strange reason, we put our change in a container shaped like a pig, what can be confused?)  But they seemed to have a blast with Christmas.  We got them kayaks and they have loved them despite the fact that they have not moved beyond the doors of the house yet.  Who knew you could have hours of fun pushing your kayak around the house, pretending it is all manner of things.  And I was worried they would be disappointed that we couldn’t use them for a few months.  I am not even sure they realize that they go in the water!

This might be the last year, but they are so very innocent and have not yet learned to be materialistic like the rest of us.  We went to the Chattanooga market a few weeks ago and they had a Santa roaming around.  They of course first were scared, but after a while, they mustered the courage to approach him.  He gave them a candy cane which they were thoroughly impressed with.  Several days later, someone asked them what they wanted from Santa, and their reply was that they had already gotten a candy cane.  They were done.

We pray for their hearts, that as they grow, they would mature, but keep at least a portion of that childlike innocence.  And we pray that we would relearn this gift during this Christmas season.

Summer of Firsts

Maybe a bit late to record this, but we had lots of firsts this summer.  Both kids learned how to swim, both started school, Joseay is out of diapers and out of her crib, and Brown is riding horses.  Fun times.

Joseay's third birthday

Our kids continue to be a major blessing in our lives, teaching us, frustrating us, and keeping us on our toes. Their journey to adulthood begins to be more evident as we see more of their inner character emerge and assert itself for others to see.  That is perhaps why people light up when Joseay enters a room.  She is this small physical specimen already exuding confidence, joy, showmanship, and above all energy.  It is easy to speculate as to the young woman she may become which is fun for onlookers, perhaps scary for her parents...

One of their favorite songs is Holy, Holy Holy. (little angels...) Anyway, they were both sitting on the hearth singing Holy with the fire going in the background, and I was sitting across from them on the couch.  It was a truly picturesque moment in our house except for one small detail.  As Brown was singing this wonderful word Holy, he had his foot on top of Joseay’s bare foot grinding it into the floor with gusto.  Brotherly love at its finest.  

As I mentioned, they are teaching us everyday.  On this particular day, we saw a reflection of ourselves  In even our best moments of trying to worship, there is that part of us that is so full of self, we are oblivious to others' hurt.  We have the simultaneous desire to sing Holy, Holy, Holy as we are anything but holy.

 

We continue to pray for hearts that are changed.  For all four of us.  And we are most thankful for grace.

Crib be gone...

 Well she is not a baby anymore. I mean she acts like a baby sometimes and she is still close to the size, but she hasn’t been an infant in a long while now. And I, like most parents am slow to realize my child is actually older than she appears in my eyes. I guess that is why I finally got around to converting her crib into a toddler bed this weekend. She has climbed out a time or two, but that has been months ago and she has seemed to be content with just being in the crib and calling for us when she is ready to get up. But we are planning to start potty training soon and she needs to be able to safely get herself from her bed to the bathroom, so we took the front of the crib off. Wow. No more crib, no more baby.