Look! Watch!

"Watch this mom!  Look at our silly faces!!"

(This being said after they discovered my make-up bag!)

Look and Watch. Those are probably the two words I hear most often throughout my day right now.  I don't know if it's a 3.5 almost 4 year old thing or if it's just my girls, but they want me to look and watch everything.  I really don't mind watching most of what they want to show me.  They will carefully build a castle with their blocks and want me to, "Come see!" So I'll gladly oblige.  Of if they eat every last bite of food on their plate, they proudly hold it up and want me to, "Look Mommy!"  I'll always smile and make a bit deal about it.  They want me to watch them ride their tricycles, draw a picture, put on their clothes correctly, or help me fold the laundry (they are getting very skilled at hand towels and washcloths I might add).  I know that it is normal for them to want my approval, and I'll happily give it at these moments.

And then there are the times like when I'm driving down the road and they want me to turn around and watch them make their stuffed Simba toy dance to the song on the radio--the whole song.  I've tried to explain that I cannot turn around to watch them and continue to drive forward.  This fact just doesn't satisfy them I'm afraid, and their pleas become more frantic and high pitched, "LOOOOK!!! MOMMY!!!"  Or there are the times when we are running ten minutes late and are trying to get out the door when someone will call out, "Watch Mom!" And when I turn around all my little child wants to show me is: make a silly face, twirl around and bend over and kiss our cat lying on the floor. Then a few minutes later when I'm trying to get her to brush her teeth she wants me to watch her make her toothbrush pretend to burp. These are the not so thrilling things that end up irritating me and make me want to scream sometimes!  

But I thought about it and realized that the girls are not the only ones in my life calling out for me to Look! and Watch! I just started up my women's Bible study last week after the summer break, and I'm so excited to dive back into God's Word on a more regular basis.  How often He is calling out for me to Look! at His word so he can speak to me in a new and fresh way.  Many times I ignore that call because I'm just "too busy" or "too tired."  Just like with my girls, I need to devote quality time to look at scripture and to meditate on it.  Watching for what speaks to my heart.  Truly looking for Him.

But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you LOOK for Him with all your heart and with all your soul.  Deuteronomy 4:29

The Lunch Slump

Lunch.  It's a meal that for 8 years I packed for myself every single day because I refused to eat in the middle school cafeteria (have you seen what they are feeding those kids??).  It's a meal that I didn't have to really think about for my own children during the first 2.5 years of their lives because A) they were babies and eating from a bottle or B) they were babies and eating baby food from a jar or C) they went to daycare where lunch was always provided for them.  

But now that I am a stay at home mom, the issue of what to make for lunch? looms over my morning like a dark cloud. You see, it is incredibly difficult to find a food that both my children will eat.  There are only three foods that are happily consumed by both of my girls.  Chicken nuggets, fish sticks, and cheese pizza.  That's it.  Oh what about a good old PB&J you ask? Hannah likes those, but not Leah.  Macaroni and cheese?  Leah will delightfully eat a bowl full while Hannah turns her nose up.  Spaghetti?  Just Hannah.  Hot dogs?  Just Leah.  Grilled cheese?  Just Hannah.  And the list goes on and on.  Now I will say that when it comes to the "sides" for a quick lunch there are more options-- apple slices, grapes, yogurt, and various crackers are equally enjoyed by both.  And for that I an grateful.  I think I've just been in a lunch slump lately.  Uninspired and frustrated with the task of finding something that will be a crowd pleaser-- myself included!

So, if you have any go-to, kid friendly, on the healthy side, lunch ideas-- send them my way.  Let's make lunch a peaceful meal again shall we?  No more weeping and gnashing of teeth (from me or my girls!)  =).

Baby A

This is my sweet Baby A.  My firstborn (by one minute).  My Leah Rae.  My little Bee.

 

Once a week my mom keeps one of my girls overnight so that she can spend some special time with one while I spend special time with the other.  We've been doing this for about a month now and I so enjoy these one on one dates with my girls.  This week it was Leah's turn to have Mommy all to herself.  We started our morning together eating her favorite breakfast of frozen waffles and vanilla yogurt.  My Baby A is a simple kind of girl who knows what she likes. We then went to the library at her request because she loves to read.  We had a great time picking out books.  In fact, we had a few tears because we couldn't check out the stack of 20 books that she pulled out to read, but my Baby A can quickly pull it together and happily settled on 7 books to take home and "show Daddy and Hannah."  When we left the library hand in hand, she looked up at me and said, "I love reading with you Mama."  Oh it's mutual, my dear.  

After the library trip we went across the street to the playground.  I pushed her in the swing for awhile, then she wanted out so she could explore some of the equipment on her own.  I watched from a park bench as she tested her independence a bit. My Baby A is not afraid to try new things.  I love this about her.  Probably because I never seemed to have her sense of adventure until I was older.  

My Leah Rae came into this world first, and during my entire pregnancy the doctor referred to her as "Baby A".  I wondered what kind of little girl Baby A would be, and have discovered that she is a tenderhearted, funny, sensitive, stubborn, helpful, creative, independent, grateful and kind little girl.  I am loving this adventure of discovering who she is and wouldn't trade it for the world.


At the library looking at the fish.


Playing at the park.


Gosh, I love this girl.

Labor Day 1996 Eventually Led to This......

Well, not immediately, but nearly three years later on June 4, 1999 we got married. You see, Mike and I officially met at a Labor Day party when I was a mere 19 years of age and he was only 20. It was the beginning of my sophomore year at OBU and Mike had just transferred in as a junior. A few of my college friends and I (who were always looking for a reason to have a party) decided that Labor Day was as good as any day to have a cookout/swim party at my aunt's house in Oklahoma City. So we invited everyone we knew and those people invited people that they knew and before you knew it about 25 people showed up that day including this tall, dark, mysterious artist from New York. I was intrigued by him and was determined to know more about him. So I spent the day trying to talk to him. He was shy, but polite and we connected right away. After a few more "group dates" in the weeks to come, we finally had our first offical date on September 22, 1996. And, as they say...the rest is history! I'm so glad Mike ended up at that Labor Day party. Every year I'm reminded of that fact!

A Lovely Saturday

Lovely is just the word to describe our Saturday family day.  We all slept in a little followed by some snuggle time with the girls as they crawled into our bed all sleepy eyed, but ready for the day.  While they watched cartoons I made a big breakfast of biscuits, scrambled eggs, and sausage.  After we stuffed ourselves, we cleaned up and took the girls to a noon showing of Kung Fu Panda at the dollar theater.  The girls loved it and so did we.  They always feel like such grown ups getting to sit in the seats all by themselves eating bags of popcorn.  Just wait until we actually pay for them to go to a "real theater!"  Ha!  

As we left the theater we decided to take them to a local park to play and run off some energy after sitting for awhile during the movie.  We had fun, but it was incredibly hot and their little faces were beet red in a matter of minutes. Inspired by our movie we did manage to try out our kung fu moves on each other.  The girls thought it was hilarious, but I'm pretty sure I looked like a moron to anyone looking on from a distance.  

The late afternoon hours were spent at home having a "family reading time" in the living room.  The girls brought in a big pile of books from their room to play "library", a favorite game of theirs, while I settled in on the couch with my book and Mike alternately worked on his laptop and flipped through a magazine.  The girls meanwhile took turns as one "checked out" her book selections and the other (the librarian) stamped the books.  We have a very old fashioned library at our house where we stamp the books instead of scan their barcodes.  I'm currently searching for an old card catalog box and am preparing lessons on the Dewey Decimal system.  

After a dinner of leftover pizza from Friday night, the girls were bathed and put to bed without much fuss.  A storm eventually moved in bringing a beautiful cloudy grey sky and a fantastic lightning display.  Oh and the thunder to go with it was great!  Growing up in Oklahoma I've learned to love the sounds of an approaching storm.  Especially when I know it's not a dangerous one.  The power flickered a few times, so I lit a candle in the kitchen, then settled down in our big comfy chair to finish my book, The Namesake.  I ended up finishing it around 11:00 only breaking to bake a tray of chocolate chip cookies. Yum.  

I love simple days like this.  Just Mike, my girls and the day ahead.  This morning on the way to church, Hannah said, "Mama, we had a fun day yesterday?" her voice lifting at the end as if it was a question instead of a statement.  I replied, "Yep.  We sure did have a fun day."  

The Ninety and Nine

I found this video on youtube and my girls have probably watched it a hundred times now.  The claymation was done by a group of kids at a Christian arts camp, and the song is by Andrew Peterson whose Christmas album I absolutely love. So without further ado, I present to you "The Sheep Song" (as the Banana and Bee like to call it).....

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I swear the girls have all the lyrics memorized by now, but I'm glad that they do. What an awesome little message for them to learn-- that our Shepherd will always search for the one who is lost and "rejoice when he finds his sheep!"  This is definitely our cool find for the week.  

Living for Today

Look at these faces.  So happy, carefree and enjoying the moment.  Not worrying about yesterday or even ten minutes in the future.  They are just enjoying the now.  We took these pictures last week on one of our frequent walks to a nearby park. We had such a good time.  The girls played well together and laughed a lot.  We had nowhere we had to be and it felt so good.  Sometimes I can learn from my kids, and what I've learned lately is to just relish the moment.  Breathe it in. I tend to be in a hurry, always looking ahead to the next thing we have to do or the next chore that needs to get done.  It can put me in frenzied state which is a state I don't like to be in.  So, if the girls want an impromptu dress up session or game of red light/green light, I want to embrace this time and just go with it.  I don't want to waste my time now worrying about tomorrow.  My girls certainly don't worry about tomorrow.  They just live life today.