Best of Friends

The children have learned to fight. There is no one who can make Emma madder or push her buttons faster than her little brother. I used to think that if you trained your children properly you wouldn't really have these issues. Some of you might be thinking, "wow isn't she naive?" Naive no, delusional yes! No matter how mad they might make one another, there is no one they would rather play with more, than each other.

My little heartbreaker

Thing One and Thing Two

It seems rather fitting that one of Emma & Nathan's favorite

books is "The Cat in the Hat."

. . . Then he got up on top

With a tip of his hat.

"I call this game FUN-IN-A-BOX,"

Said the cat.

"In this box are two things I will show to you now.

You will like these two things,"

Said the cat with a bow.

"I will pick up the hook.
You will see something new.

Two things. And I call them

Thing One and Thing Two.

These Things will not bite you.

They want to have fun."

Then, out of the box

Came Thing Two and Thing One!

And they ran to us fast.
They said, "How do you do?

Would you like to shake hands

with Thing One and Thing two.

Our little ray of sunshine

Beauty is in the eye of . . . a 3 year old

Emma loves Food Network as much as I do. She loves to watch the cooking shows & then re-enact them in her kitchen. She complimented Everyday Italian chef Giada DeLaurentis recently in a way I'm sure she's never been complimented before. Giada will never know the honor Emma bestowed upon her! Earlier in the day Emma told me that momma kangaroo fromWinnie the Pooh is so pretty. I was tickled to hear her as she has just recently begun to verbalize how things are pretty or cute. Later that same day while I was feeding Maggie she & I watched a few minutes of Everyday Italian where Emma very sweetly pointed out that "she's so pretty . . . like mamma kangaroo." Yes, my daughter compared this beautiful woman to a kangaroo.

The next Food Network star

Look out Rachael Ray!

"I'm peeding mommy"

It is that time. Nathan is ready to be potty trained. He will insist he has to go potty, sit on the potty & proudly proclaim "I am peeding mommy." He hasn't actually used the potty yet but he gets so excited. Part of me isn't ready to tackle this, surely he'll be potty trained by 5, right?! But another part of me is excited to have 2 children out of diapers, so off to the store we will soon go to pick out big boy underwear & special snacks. Where did my baby boy go? Oh that's right, he's peeding.

Daddy's little shadow

Nathan adores his daddy. Charlie can not go anywhere in the house at any given time of day without hearing, "Daddy, where are you going? Can I come too?" or "Wait for me!" And of course Charlie just loves it. Who wouldn't? Nathan has heard Emma at different times say "Jesus loves me all the time." Well yesterday, while he was helping me make lunch Nathan informed me that "Daddy loves me all the time." Talk about a moment for my heart to just melt. He loves his daddy & his daddy loves him.

Spring is here!

Spring is my favorite time of year. I love the warmness, the flowers, the newness that seems to be in the air as we unfold from the cocoon of winter. I took this picture on the first day of spring & thought Spring must be teasing us this year & would be arriving late. (Spring must have small children too!)

But then I saw the beautiful tulips & changed my mind.

Spring is here, it really is here.

A walk on a blustery spring day

Taste like chicken

Love

"If I keep my house immaculately clean, and am envied by all for my interior decoration, but do not show love in my family, I am just another housewife. If I'm always producing lovely things - sewing, art, macrame; if I always look attractive and speak intelligently but am not loving to my family - I am nothing. If I'm busy in community affairs, teach Sunday school, and drive in the carpool, but fail to give adequate love to my family - I gain nothing. Love changes diapers, cleans up messes and ties shoes, over and over again. Love is kind, though tired and frazzled. Love doesn't envy another wife - one whose children are "spaced" better, or in school so she has time to pursue her own interest. Love doesn't try to impress others with my abilities or knowledge as a mother. Love doesn't scream at the kids. Love doesn't feel cheated because I didn't get to do what I wanted to do to day - sew, read, soak in a hot tub. Love doesn't lose my temper easily. Love doesn't assume that my children are being naughty just because their noise level is irritating. Love doesn't rejoice when other people's children misbehave and make mine look good. Love is genuinely happy when others are honored by their children."

From A Mother's Heart written by Jean Fleming

Sprinkle Shoes

These are Emma's sprinkle shoes. In trying to describe the shoes to her, I used the word sparkly, somehow sparkly morphed into sprinkle. So these are her "sprinkle" shoes. They are well worn & well loved. They were a hand me down from her little friend Payton (Thank you Staci!!!). They reside in her box of costumes. She loves that box. For when the mood strikes her she can instantly become Cinderella, Snow White or a dancing ballernia. Emma feels pretty in these shoes. She will randomly tell me "mommy I'm a cute princess." Which of course her daddy & I have known all along. She is definately our cute princess. What is precious are the moments where she will share the title with Maggie. So now Maggie is a cute princess too. Of course, we knew this too all along. I think all women deserve a pair of shoes that make us feel like Emma feels in these shoes. I would like a pair of sprinkle shoes please.

Good Friday, Messy Friday!

Emma & Nathan adore their Sunday School teacher at Church, Mrs. Jenny. They love going to church but there is always extra excitement over getting to see Mrs. Jenny. I thought with Easter coming up what a great way to get the kids in the kitchen to make something special for her. Something they would have fun doing & be proud of. I'm quickly learning that baking fun with children is equivalent to messy fun & slowly learning that it's okay. What a mess they made, but more importantly what a good time they had.

Making Almond Bark:
Step 1: Melt almond bark in microwave & simultaneously set up children at table. Explain to kids we may NOT shake the bottles of sugar crystals with the lids off before an accident arises.

Step 2: Stir melted almond bark. Let children add almonds & each stir. Explain to children why we can not lick the salt off of our hands & then touch the food. Sanitize hands.

Step 3: Ask children about the meaning of Easter. Lots of "Easter Carol" by Veggie Tales has been watched recently. Apparently much to the kids confusion because the answer was "eggs." (Despite the fact that we've been talking about the meaning of Easter for a while.) Begin talking about the meaning of Easter. Remind children why we can't lick our hands & then touch the food. Sanitize hands.

Step 4: Pour almond bark & nuts onto waxed paper & let cool.

Step 5: Break into pieces & enjoy. Sanitize hands.

Yummy!

Bake cookies:

I'm so thankful for the ingeniousness of those at Pillsbury. I used to think the precut cookies with the holiday decorations were the easy way out. Then I began baking with my two small children. We've done the "proper" sugar cookies, cookie cutters & sprinkles & my kitchen has never been the same since! So thank you Pillsbury for the adorable bunny & chick Easter cookies Mrs. Jenny will get to enjoy this year. Allow children to put cookies on stonewear & bake. Sanitize hands. Continue to talk about the meaning of Easter (and why we need to stop putting our hands in our mouth).

Now onto the pretzels dipped in almond bark.

Step 1: Sanitize hands. Let each child pick sprinkles & sugar crystals, thankfully without a fight. Emma chooses yellow stars & pink sugar. Nathan chooses green flowers & green sugar.

Step 2: Dip pretzels in almond bark, allow child to add sprinkles & sugar crystals of their choice.

Step 3: Explain to Nathan why he can't dump out tons of sugar crystals on his plate or why it's not sanitary to touch their mouths when working with food. Sanitize hands.

Step 4: Eat majority of sprinkles while mom is working with the other child. Sanitize hands.

Step 5 - 120: Repeat steps 3 & 4.

Step 121: Allow pretzels to harden. Finish eating sprinkles & move on to pretzels (thankfully not the finished ones!)

Step 122: Dump out sprinkles while mom makes the foolish mistake of going into another room to ask dad a question.

Clean children up & send them outside to run off their sugar high. Clean sprinkles off of every inch the breakfast nook. Package goodies in nifty Easter bag.

Smile & thank God that I've been blessed with such an amazing family.

Now Emma will tell you proudly that Easter is about Jesus. He died for us. The King was mean to him & spanked him (the only way I knew to explain a beating to such small children). How Jesus has owies & she would like to share her bandaids with him.

A Trip to Mike's Farm last year to pick strawberries. While Emma & I picked them Nathan ate his way, literally, through the strawberry fields. This is the reason for the fear & delight mentioned in the things I love.

I love . . . !

Okay, so I've had a bit of time to ponder on the things I love. Actually more than just a "bit" of time. If you remember the part about the three children three & under, husband, 2 daily loads of dishes & laundry, house cleaning, grocery shopping and on and on and on . . . Here I am a day later but finally with a rememberance of things I love. First & foremost I love being a wife & a mom. I love the smell of my husband or of my children just after bath. I love Charlie's embrace. I love the smell of fresh brewed coffee (but not the taste), I love cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. I love (and fear) the sight of my children after we've been strawberry picking. I love worshipful songs that bring you to your knees. I love the sound of my children praying or the "squabble" of "No I want mommy to brush my teeth." I love Emma's delight when I've washed her favorite dress or her "thank you mommy, dinner is delicious." I love the way Maggie smiles with her whole body or the moments when Nathan wraps his arms around my legs & says "I wove you mommy." I love Food Network & re-runs of the Gilmore Girls (although I'm pretty sure I"ve seen every episode ever made at least twice.) I love it when my husband is home, which is rare. I love a new coat of paint on the walls. I love moments such as these where I'm overwhelmed at the goodness of God in my life. Where I can just stop & remember what it is that I truly love. For just a moment I can focus on something other than the checkbook that needs to be balanced, laundry that needs to be folded & house to be cleaned.

I love . . . ?

I was just reading my girlfriend Kelli's blog. She's so incredibly talented & creative & has inspired me to start my own blog. One entry that I enjoyed is a bit about the things she loves. I had to stop & think for a moment. As a busy mom I often don't stop to think of things like that. I can tell you many things about what Charlie & the kids like or don't for that matter. But me, what exactly is it that I enjoy or am moved by? So a moment of introspection begins so I can remember what it is that I love too.