Christmas 2011

To our friends and family near and far, Merry Christmas!

Here is how we spent most of our morning...and tonight we are exhausted from all the play! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9GRbQNRWSg&feature=youtu.be

Why God Doesn't Appear to Answer Prayer

Parenthood is chock full of God lessons.

Tonight, my five year old gave me a glimpse of what it must be like for God to hear me when I'm at my worst. My husband summarized the incident well on his latest Facebook post. He writes:

I'm sitting at the computer writing this...all of the following is being said by my defiant 5 year old son to me as I'm sitting 10 ft away with my arms open wide(literally) ready to receive him...

"Help me I'm hurting!"

"Ow!"

"I want you to come here!"

"Why isn't my daddy helping me?"

"Dad you are breaking my heart"

"Dad would you come here please?"

" Why isn't anyone helping me?"

" I'm tired!"

"I want daddy to come over here"

"Help myself!"

"This is the bad day ever!

"I never get my way!"

"What is wrong with my father...I want him to come here...I wish he could!"

"This is the worst day!"

"Do what I say!"

"I wish dad did what  I said!"

At no time did he direct his comments to me, but always to some "generic" dad...remember, I'm 10 ft away inviting him to come to me.

You see he didn't want me...my son wanted to feel better about himself and go on with his life...without asking for my forgiveness.  Before you say..."what an awful dad"...here's the back story.  10 minutes earlier Ethan had been very rude and disrespecful to me disobeying what I had asked him to do.  I told him he needed to say he was sorry to me for speaking to me like that...he refused.  I told him when he was ready, I would be waiting for his apology...then the above rant began.

There's a spiritual lesson here for all of us I think. We so often are unwilling to come to our Holy father for help because we really aren't willing to admit we need his help and his forgiveness. BTW, the more I invited him to come to me...the more defiant he became.  He who has ears to hear...

And the lesson for me, his mom? It's not enough that I cry out to God to change something in my life. God wants us to COME to him, SUBMIT to him, and in the brokenness of our lives admit that we are wrong. So The next time I become frustrated by God's seeming lack of response to my prayers, I'll stop and examine my heart. Chances are I will see some defiance and pride holding me back from my Father's arms.

My idea of comfort

I've been thinking about comfort lately. With the holiday season approaching and the upcoming preparation of a Thanksgiving meal, all my favorite comfort foods come to mind...mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, savory meats and appetizers. The comforting crackle of a fire...

But this past week, comfort came to me in another form...the sound of my baby's heartbeat.

I'm in my 17th week of pregnancy. Despite reaching the second trimester, there is still a bit of fear, worry and uncertainty. At every doctor's visit, as the nurse moves the doppler device over my tummy, those ten seconds seem like an eternity before I hear the reassuring rhythm of baby's heart. But then I always hear it...it beats strong, almost like baby is saying, "I'm here!" and I nearly cry with relief.

Thanksgiving is next week. I have much to be thankful for...

Bragging Rights

David and I got a neat email today from Ethan's kindergarten teacher. I just had to post it here for all of you to read for yourselves...check it out : 

I wanted to just share a fun Ethan story.  Yesterday, I had a website up on the smartboard and Ethan told the kids, “It says, Welcome to Your Library” and he was right!  Every day he is amazing me with the new things he can read.  I also assessed him again yesterday on the 61 kindergarten words.  He got 57/61!  When he finishes up the kindergarten list (which I am sure will be soon) I am going to start him on the first grade list.   I’ll send a copy to you when we get to that point.  I am so proud of him!

And we are proud, too! Amazed at far he's come along. We always knew he was good with words, knowing his letters and numbers at a very early age, but to see it all come together in a just a few months has got David and me beaming with pride!!!

Happy Halloween

Can you guess who Ethan and Kate are for Halloween this year?

I found Ethan's Anakin Skywalker costume at Goodwill and fashioned a leather-like vest to complete the look. I couldn't find anything for Kate, so I decided to try making her entire Princess Leia costume. I'm not completely proficient in garment making, and I hadn't really worked with knit fabrics, so this was a stretch for me (no pun intended)! Her hair was another issue. After several experiments I decided on a cap with "buns" attached to them. I am pretty happy with how it turned out!

We had a great evening of trick or treating in the neighborhood! And yesterday, we spent the afternoon carving pumpkins...

I think they came out great!

Ethan's Kindergarten class also had a Halloween parade and party at the end of school today. His goody bag contained vampire teeth, funny eye glasses and other trinkets. He had fun with the teeth :)

Here are the kids in his class!

Okay, now back to the candy....

Kindergarten

It's been over two months since Ethan started kindergarten and the transition has been a wonderful one! He's made new friends, learned new skills, LOTS of vocabulary from his peers (yikes! Nothing lewd yet), and he's learned to read.

Most mornings dad takes him to school (we live too close for the bus route), but on those mornings when I take him I am often overwhelmed by the same feeling. It's not sadness, not pain (though it's a kind of pain), not regret...

It always happens when I say goodbye to him and he trots off to join his classmates in line. Something about this image of him walking--no running--away from me, fills my eyes with tears and pulls at my heart strings like nothing else.

These are the bittersweet things about growing up. He's only five, but already he does not reach for my hand when we walk across the street. He packs his own bag, gets himself dressed and makes his own bed. I am thrilled at his independence, but these little moments are also a practice in letting him go...because one day he will indeed leave me for good.

Ok...enough of the sob stories...I'm hormonal, and have good reason to be. But that is another post...

These are photos from the first half day of school...

And his first full day...

He is a happy boy in his school...eager to learn new things. And I always anticipate 3:30 when he comes home and tells me about his day :)

3 Years Old

She's a bit of a tomboy, yet picky about her clothes. Outgoing, almost aggressive, yet cries at the slightest reprimand. Kate's personality is really starting to show! She stands 39 inches tall, weighs a solid 35 pounds and loves to sing and dance (jeez, I wonder where that comes from ;)

For her third birthday we invited some close friends and their families to Sugar Grove Nature Center in McLean, IL for some outdoor fun in their Imagination Grove. It's an outdoor play area that encourages kids to explore, get dirty and just be kids. Happy Birthday, Kate!

Here is a video clip of us singing to the birthday girl. Or, you may click here to see it

Ethan's First Day of Kindergarten--a father's perspective

From my husband's Facebok post today:

Excuse the reflective note…I just dropped Ethan off for his first day of Kindergarten…

I was born in 1961 and started school in the mid-sixtys so some of this may be unkown to you. Do you remember the old TV show “Father Knows Best”?  Well, I have inadvertently become Robert Young’s character all the way down to the names of our children…Let me explain…  I realized two days ago that I usually call Ethan by the name “Bud” and Kate by the name Kit Kat.  If you ever watched the show, you know that the boys name is Bud and the youngest girl is Kathy or Kit Kat.  Now, Robert Young also often referred to the oldest girl as “Princess” and I often call Kate that as well….so here I am in a sitcom re-run living the life.  So as a “super” father  to be, here are some things I learned as I watched Ethan stand in line with the other boys and girls today before they went into class …

1. Ethan is NOT the tallest child in his class( a little disappointed about this).  Though he is tall, there are some GIANT kindergartners out there!  Maybe they’re 6 and not 5?
2. You must have a back pack now and most of them are larger than the child who is wearing them.  When we were kids , there were no backpacks, right?  I don’t remember any.  In fact, I remember always having to carry my books wrapped in paper book covers and my lunch in a brown paper bag (you can’t do that anymore either, it has to be a Star Wars lunch box).
3. Kids don’t tie their shoes anymore (all Velcro) and their teachers don’t teach them to tie shoes anymore.
4. Parents are MUCH more involved in their kids day to day life than when we were kids…there were moms AND dads there to see off their kids off and parents are allowed to eat with their children at lunch every day (and do).

We must have done something right…Ethan has been excited about school for weeks.  He stood in line today happily and even knew several of the boys and girls from other activities in town.  I vividly remember my first day in Kindergarten in New Jersey (we had just moved there in the middle of the year).  I cried the entire time!  I don’t think I talked or interacted with another child until the end of the year (the beginning of my shy period).  Fortunately, I eventually got over it, but I’m so glad that Ethan wont have to deal with all of that…one small victory in parenthood…

Hot Air Balloon Festival

Coinciding with a visit from Grandma Cuesta this week was the Chillicothe Hot Air Balloon Festival. These are so neat to see in person! We went last year, but due to weather issues we never saw any take off. We were so glad that THIS year we got to see them launch. Here are some highlights!
 

Fathers' Day in Minneapolis

We have several friends who in the past few years have relocated to Minneapolis, so we decided to spend a long weekend up there visiting with them!

Highlights included, of course, the Mall of America. However, instead of shopping we visited the aquarium and Nickelodeon Universe and the Lego store. Then on Sunday, we visited the Minneapolis Zoo for Father's Day.

The shark exhibit!

Several underwater walkways...

...made for GREAT shark viewing!

Kate was pretty tuckered out 

Relaxing with baby William at the Hucks' House

We were lucky enough to have a FANTASTIC road trip with the kids. It couldn't have gotten better! They were happy, easily entertained and even were able to take naps. We made sure, however, to stretch our legs now and then, like here at Mill Bluff State Park.

20 minutes to hike all the way up the bluff. Look at those steep stairs!

But the view was worth all the effort!

Happy Trails for these happy kids :)

Graduation

It's been several weeks now, but much to the chagrin of my no-nonsense hubby, Ethan's preschool had a big "to-do" for his graduation day (May 24). It was an end of the year program complete with a class performance, procession, slide show, receiving diplomas, and REAL cap and gown complete with tassel!

But, hey, it's our son. We were there. And yes, I choked up a bit.

Here he is receiving his diploma (click here to view video). Kindergarten, here we come!

The Popsicle Challenge

I think we might have created a monster.

I was pulling into the garage after picking Ethan up from preschool the other day when he said to me, "Mom, you know what we had for snack at school today? Popsicles."

"Wow," I replied, thinking how yummy that must have been on a hot, sunny day. "Popsicles, huh?"

"Yeah," he said. "But I didn't have one."

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because that's junk food," he replied. My eyes opened up in surprise. After a loaded pause, he ventured, "But I really wanted one."

A brief moment of pride came over me (what five year old could demonstrate such self discipline and self denial?). But I noticed a slight tremble in the words he said. As I looked in the rear view mirror, I soon discovered that my son's eyes had welled up with tears, though he was working hard to fight them back.

Honestly, I was confused and torn. On the one hand I felt proud that our lessons on healthy eating were sinking in, and that my son had learned to say "no" (think peer pressure in high school). On the other hand, I was heartbroken that he had missed out on what must have been a real treat on the playground that morning. I imagined all those happy little faces savoring the icy cool fruit flavors. But Ethan? What was he doing? Did he distract himself with the sand box? Or did he sit amongst his friends, watch them eat, wishing in his heart he could have one too? From the tears in his eyes, I concluded it was the latter. I got out of the car and quickly told Ethan to come to me, and I stood there just embracing him. (Poor Kate was still buckled up, wondering what was going on :) And I promised him popsicles after dinner that night.

This wasn't the first time he refused something sweet. On many days we have the same conversation: "Mom, do you know what we had for snack today?" And he'll tell me it was cookies, or fruit loops, cupcakes or sugared graham crackers, all of which he refuses. But today, for some reason, I wish that he hadn't.

I suppose it's our fault. It began about a year ago when Ethan was then four years old and promoted to move up to the next Sunday school class at church. That first day we picked him up, he had a large tootsie roll in his hand. A "welcome-to-your-new-Sunday-school-class" treat, we assumed. The next week, he received another piece of candy. Since we had worked really hard the first few years of his life to limit sugar and candy, we didn't want all our efforts to be thwarted. Having a terrible sweet tooth myself, I know how hard it can be to keep from over-indulging. While we soon learned that this candy was used as a reward for good (quiet) behavior, we still felt that candy should be reserved for special occasions or special rewards. Church is not a special occasion. It is a way of life for us. After a couple of weeks, we told Ethan that if his Sunday school teacher offers him candy he should politely say "no thank you". Our reasons? Candy is junk food, and junk food isn't good for you (Ha...believe me, we eat our fair share of happy meals and ice cream).

Fast forward a year and he denies himself all sweets unless it comes from us or we say it's okay. I'm mostly glad about this, because I'm really adamant about my kids eating healthy snacks and well balanced meals (don't worry...we DO get our sweets in).. But to see THIS kind of self-denial turn into a sort of blind legalism made me sad. He had denied himself some fun.

We have since told Ethan that if it is snack time at school, and it happens to be a sweet snack, it's okay to have it. After all, there are five hours between when he has breakfast and lunch, and we don't want him to get hungry (don't get me started on what schools feed our children. That's a whole other post). While for now this practical approach works, I wonder how I will teach him the more subtle lesson of seeing the big picture. When do we follow the rules, and when do we make exceptions in order to fulfill the intent of those rules? How do I teach him not only the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law? How do I teach discernment?

Kate and her tricycle

Getting ready for summertime and biking on the trail (or just around the neighborhood). For those of you who get posts emailed to you, you'll need to click here to see the video (or copy and paste this link: http://youtu.be/-qxi50fX23I)

Easter Photos

Click here to view these pictures larger