Spring Tease

Winter: I am OVER IT. Spring comes and goes by the day. On Monday we were in t-shirts, on Tuesday we were in long sleeves, today, I am inside wearing my fleece coat and slippers. 

The kids had a lot of fun playing outside on the day it was warm. I cleaned up the yard and make it look a little less like I run a daycare, and we are still in debate mode over what to do with our falling apart back deck. A cement patio of some sort is what we have in mind. I just would really love to fall into some warmer weather so the kids aren't so cooped up. John's energy level is growing and he loves to be outside with Ella and Peter. They push him in the swing and Peter pretends John knocks him over all the time since it cracks both of them up. I love watching them play. 

Today was MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers). I look forward to this every month. The kids love it since they play, sing, and make crafts and I enjoy time with other moms. Today we had a panel of our "mentor moms" who answered questions about mothering. I found it so interesting how different moms can be and how personal interests and even obsessions can influence how your kids are raised. They all had great things to say to us and I am thankful for their encouragement and words of wisdom. Here are a few things they said:

*Do not attempt HOUSE BEAUTIFUL, for right now, settle for HOUSE CONTENT

*Praise and encourage the relationships between your children. Show them how to love each other and even pray against sibling rivalry.

*Double batch dinner when you can make it, freeze the extra for busy days.

*Pray with thanksgiving for your children even in the midst of hardship.

*Remember Ephesians 4:29

***You cannot take your children any farther spiritually than YOU are, so keep your heart right with the Lord***

 As you can imagine, I came away from this with lots to think about and implement in my house.

Minutes with Pom Poms

The little boy in this picture is so thrilled at himself right now. He was literally giggling as he did this. My husband thinks I'm nuts, but these little pom poms have given the kids endless minutes of fun. I say minutes because I would be lying if I said hours. The fun lasts less than half and hour before it gets out of hand and I'm saying, "Ok, you're done, let's clean them all up now." That also lasts minutes upon minutes because as soon as they get them close to cleaned, usually Peter tries to be Mr. Funny Man and tosses them all out again. So, he showed John this trick and the little one thinks it's great fun.

I saw this idea of playing with these at the Children's Museum last year. I need to get some containers with slots in them like they had there ( just cut from yogurt or oatmeal containers), but they pretend it's popcorn and put it in pots, or "neat balls" which Ella says (meatballs), ice cream...they have great imaginations. 

I think we are going to try noodle necklaces soon.

Do you have any really fun ideas to keep the kids busy without lots of cost and mess?

Fireman Raincoats and Pretty Umbrellas

It was nice yesterday, we played outside for the afternoon. Today however, it is cold, wet and yucky. The kids woke up and said, "Why is it rainy again? Why is everything tipped over in the yard?" Two very good questions. I would also like to know why. I only know the answer to the second question. The wind. It howled all night long, slapping rain against our windows with a vengeance. It looks like our week may stay wet, but we went out to the library song time and to a friend's house for lunch despite the weather. Peter loves his fire man coat and calls my van the fire truck when he wears it. Ella has fun carrying her flower umbrella when it rains so today I took the camera out in the wet and caught some of their expressions. I love how kids can take a situation that makes us think it's going to be a gloomy day and turn it around for some fun, bright pictures.

Weather is a great metaphor for life - sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and there's nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella.  ~Terri Guillemets

Still going through old pictures...

Every year the Cornelius side of the family has a gathering for whomever can come. In 2005 we were able to drive up from Loma Linda and be with the entire side of his family. I think that was the last time everyone could make it, so I'm thankful we got to go. Andrew's Aunt has access to some great spots on the coast, so we spent a few nights in Morrow Bay. It is so beautiful there, even in the winter. 

5 years later, Andrew's Grandparents are Great Grandparents to 8 little ones!

ENTER...

Enter little boy who is feeding himself (almost all the time)

Enter too much time spent inside this winter.

Enter the 2 cutest brothers (In my personal opinion)

Enter Linus (I mean John Lewis)

Enter the new haircut which makes my baby look like a toddler (oh wait, he's becoming one)

Enter TEETH!! He finally has 7. 

Enter playtime after dinner with Daddy.

Enter creativity.

Enter flying Linus. (His shirt says Ankle Biter. I love it.)

Enter Shaun the Sheep with Daddy before bed.

Exit with couch time turned into nap time before I could get him in his crib. (John I mean) ;)

These 4 people are what fill up my time and my heart. 

Reminiscing...

Back in August 2005, Andrew and I spent our savings and had the most wonderful trip together. A cruise around Europe. The only way to sum it up is...I want to go back. We saw so many different cities in our short few weeks, but each one of them we only got a sampling of and they already call for my return. I want the kids to taste Belgian chocolate from Brugges, climb the stairs of the Colosseum, peer up from the bottom of the Eiffel Tower in awe of it's enormity, walk the Champs Elysses, and see the architecture in Barcelona while tasting Tapas all the way. Someday. I hope to educate them through travel, to have them realize there is more to this world and to God's creation than their surroundings. We hope to do mission trips as well at some point with the kids, showing them the needs of others and our heart's desire to serve. We love traveling, we love serving. What awesome opportunity there could be for both at once! For now, I will just reminisce and scroll through pictures. Life at this point has our ministry at home raising the little ones, but I'm so thankful we took this trip when we did.

At a small cafe in Amserdam

What a sight.

The Louvre

Beautiful door in Lisbon, Portugal

In Rome at the Colosseum

Florence, Italy

Gaudi's most impressive work, Barcelona

Barcelona at night

Have you been to any of these places? 

Kids

Even when freshly washed and relieved of all obvious confections, children tend to be sticky.  

~Fran Lebowitz