Daniel's First Birthday

As of December 4, we have a one-year-old in our house.  It's hard to believe Daniel James is now 1.  He's grown so fast this year, and he's looking less like a baby, and more like a little boy.  Don't grow up too soon, Daniel!

Any celebration for a first birthday is a surprise party.  A one-year-old's never had a birthday.  He had no idea what to expect.  Everything was a surprise for him.  Fortunately, they were all delightful surprises.

He gave us a great smile when we sang "Happy "Birthday."  He was also pretty impressed with the cake.  He had no problem figuring out how to eat it- even tried to eat the plate!  The highlight of the evening was definitely the bath that immediately followed.  He couldn't stop giggling, "swimming" laps around the tub, and splashing in the water still pouring from the faucet!

Chapter 6- Christmas on Main Street

Mommy, Daddy, Daniel, and me- Alyssa we went to St. Charles to visit Main Street.  They had a Christmas celebration party.  It was fun.  Cami and Becky came with us. 

The road that the cars drive on is made out of bricks.  The buildings were old and had Christmas decorations on them. We walked around a lot.

We got caramel corn and cookies.  Some of the cookies had chocolate chips.  Some had Christmas sprinkles.  Some were “doodle” cookies (snickerdoodles).

I wore a blue dress with white fluffies at the bottom and on my sleeves.  My hat jingled because it had bells on it.  It also had red flowers and ribbons that touched the bottom of our hair. 

The Russian lady was pretty.  She had eye shadow.  It was blue.  She’s got a long white dress. 

We saw lots of different Santa’s!  They all gave us cards with pictures on them.  I got lots of cards.

I jumped in some leaves!  I don’t know why Mommy took a picture of that, but she did.

Chapter 5- Thanksgiving

There were lots and lots of people that came over today to Aunt Marilyn's house.  I think we're all family, but I didn't really know them.  Aunt Marilyn and Doris spent lots of time cooking in the kitchen.  It smelled really good.

There was so much food to eat.  It was just like the pilgrim feast!  I ate turkey and cranberry sauce and rolls.  I also ate green beans.  I had to wait a long, long time to eat pie.

 

There were almost too many people, but I had some kids to play with so it was fun.

Chapter 4- Cami Arrives

Cami is my cousin.  I love her.  She’s 4-years-old.  She likes me.  Cami’s nice.  I like that she is fun.   

We played ping pong and on the pool table  We played foosball.  We played with bolts and a magnet at Kim’s house.  We put the bolts where we want it.  Then it slides to where it wants to be and makes a cracking noise when it goes to its place.  We colored with Regan.  

We went for a walk with Risa, Regan, and Steven and the dogs.  We went up hills and down hills.  We ran down the hills.  We went all over Aunt Marilyn’s neighborhood.  

Mommy and Becky (Cami’s mom) made hats for us to wear in St. Charles.  

Cami and I both have glasses and straight hair.  Cami’s is black and mine is brown.  I think mine has a little bit of curl at the ends.

We played video game hula hoop and ran around a track.  We played soccer on the video game. 

We played and played and played together!

Chapter 3- The Magic House

We drove to the Magic House in St. Louis on Tuesday morning.  We played in the red side of the house, and then on the purple side.  (Colors came from the map they gave us).  

I climbed on the leaves and clouds on Jack’s beanstalk.  My mommy and brother went up the elevator.  It was like climbing a real beanstalk because they had decorated leaves that were strong enough to hold you.  A lot of kids were on the beanstalk.  That made it harder to get around, but I couldn’t push.  I had to wait my turn.  There was a little girl with boots on.  The back of her heal hit me in the head.  I got angry, so I climbed down and found Mommy.  I got back on later when the girl left because I wanted to climb to the top.

We played with musical instruments that I hadn’t played before.  Two of them had strings on them to strum with straws.  Another had a ball that you dropped on a ramp.  As it goes down it went “ding, dong, ding, dong” as it hit the bells.  My brother tried to eat the balls when he played with it.

I went to a set of doors with letters.  You lifted the cover and said the letter and then the toy that was inside.  “A- apple, b- baseball, c- cupcake…”

Then we went to the Magic Tree House area.  They had a prairie area, a Civil War area, and a pilgrim area.  I put a dress on and “cooked” a salad for Thanksgiving in the pilgrim area.  I rang the bell and blew the whistle on the train out west on the prairie.  I played I was the teacher and everyone else was the kids.  I drew all over the chalk board and then I erased it so no one else had to clean it up.   In the Civil War area, I bandaged up my brother.  He screamed because he didn’t like it.

We went inside a colder room (outside area) and mom asked what I wanted to do.  I said measure.  I wore a hard hat, an orange vest thingy and a tool belt, and goggles.  I measured walls.  I measured a light switch.  I measured a sink drain.  I think that’s all that I measured.  I went up the black stairs and pulled the red bricks up and down (pulley).  I sat in a digger. 

I went where the balls were flying out.  You put them in a tube and they went this way and that way and they flew out the top and bottom.

I had yogurt for lunch.  I didn’t like it and I fed it to Daniel.  I ate cheez-its and chocolate milk.  It came in a picnic basket.  We cleaned up ourselves and put the basket in a pile on top of the trash can.

Then we went to the purple side of the map.  We went to the Bubble room.  We blew bubbles.  We made bubble shapes.   We popped a bubble. 

In the attic we found a hair-standing-up thing.  When the girl told me to shake my head and touch the ball, I did, and my hair stood up from my head.  There was ball that floated when the air was coming on it.  It was spinning.  I switched the balls around.  Heres the funny part-  I put my face up to one hole and it blew my bangs up!  There was something that you put a bottle on and hold it and it flew up.

My favorite part was the play house.  There were lots books upstairs.  There was even a kitchen.  A little boy was taking the pizza without asking.  That made me mad.  Mom called me downstairs then.  I looked out the window to see the snowman and it was cold. 

Then I went into the baby area.  Only babies and parents could go there, but the lady there said I could go in and as my mommy something. 

At the end mommy took me home and I ate McDonald’s.  I had chicken nuggets and apples.

Chapter 2- Visiting the Zoo

Today we went to the St. Louis Zoo. 

I like the pictures of me that we took at the zoo.  We saw lots of bears and penguins.  The room where the penguins swam around smelled stinky.  It was cold. 

We saw some gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans that were eating broccoli and lettuce.  It was very warm in their house.  I wanted to take my hat off.

We heard a lion roar outside.  My brother tried to roar, too, and made me laugh.  The tigers and leopards were there.

We sat down and ate a snack in front of the giraffe and ostriches.  We saw some zebras there.

My Daddy and I rode a train around the zoo.  We looked at hippos, rhinoceroses, and elephants.  I liked the big animals. 

We saw some candy canes and Christmas bows next to the sidewalk in the zoo.

We ate at Fitz’s.  I colored a picture.  They made root beer in frosty mugs.  I ate pizza and drank root beer.

Chapter 1- The Long Road Trip

We went on a road trip from Arlington, Texas to St. Louis, Missouri on Saturday.

We were on the road too long.  I liked that we got to stop at restaurants to eat.  I got to drink lots of chocolate milk. 

Daniel kept sleeping when I wanted to play with him.  I did not like him screaming on the trip. 

I went to Aunt Marilyn’s house.  I love Aunt Marilyn and Uncle John. 

Aunt Marilyn is very nice and I like her.  I like her breakfast because it tastes good.  We had syrup on waffles made out of cornmeal.  I liked them.  It was the first time I tried them. 

Aunt Marilyn is fun to play with because she’s funny and makes me laugh.  She knew my Daddy when he was a baby.  She showed me some pictures.  When Daddy was a baby, his face looked just like my brother Daniel’s face.

There is a lot of stuff to do at Aunt Marilyn’s house.  She took me into the basement to get out the kitchen set to play with.  I love to play in the kitchen set.  It has cutting food.  Don’t worry, it’s just a toy.  It has a plastic knife that cuts corn, strawberries, apples, bananas, and onions into halves.  They are held together by Velcro until you cut them apart. 

There is a bird feeder on the back porch.  There were blue jays that came from the trees.  They flew over to the feeder and ate.  There will little round, brown sparrows, too.  They were flying fast around the feeder. 

Daniel is silly.  He tries to make me laugh.  Daniel crawls around everywhere and plays with the kitchen set.  He’s not supposed to play with the bookshelf, but he keeps getting in trouble for doing it anyway.  He tries to play with the TV remote control.  Uncle John says to Daniel, “Are you trying to change the channel on me?”

Uncle John is funny.  He doesn’t hear well.  Uncle John showed me how to build a fire in the fireplace.  He used a poker to move the wood.  He put paper in the fire to start it.  When it was warm enough the log caught fire.  There’s a shovel to move the ashes.  He uses pullers (tongs).  Daniel played with them.  He’s not supposed to so he got in trouble with Uncle John, Aunt Marilyn, and my parents.  

Alyssa's Thanksgiving Break

Actually, this is about the whole family, but told by my 5-year-old daughter, Alyssa.  Her Kindergarten teacher invited her to share her experiences (as she was missing two days of school).  I've also been reading "Little House in the Big Woods" to her, so she's got it in her mind that she needs to write her own chapter book.  Here it is...
Chapter 1- The Long Road Trip
Chapter 2- Visiting the Zoo
Chapter 3- The Magic House
Chapter 4- Cami Arrives
Chapter 5- Thanksgiving
Chapter 6- Christmas on Main Street

Celebrating Anyway

Sometimes life isn't easy.  Sometimes it's just plain tough, and you have no idea how to get through the next hurdle that comes your way.  Can we still celebrate in the hard times, when our heart's just not in it?

This week had some definite ups and downs.  There were 4 students from the high school my school feeds into that were involved in a car accident a week ago.  Two were killed.  This event has had a major impact on the students in that high school (our former students) and their siblings (some which are currently in our school.)  It hurts to lose them.  It doesn't make sense.  I know we serve a sovereign God, and that all things work together for the good of those that love him, but right now we're hurting.

Daniel has also struggled this week.  A little bit of congestion quickly turned into difficulty breathing, a doctor visit, and breathing treatments at home.  On the way home from the doctor, Cris's truck was damaged in a hit-and-run accident.  Add to that some aches and pains from overexerting myself at camp this week, stress of the impending medical and repair costs, continued monitoring of Daniel, and you get some long, sleepless nights.

This is one of those weekends where the unfairness of life was really getting to me.  I could choose to embrace the misery or celebrate the good.  It's so easy to rely on our life circumstances to dictate our moods.  It's a lot harder to find joy and strength in spite of the storms.  I'm sure glad I don't have to do this on my own- my track record is full of anxiety and depression.  Here's what God has given me...

"So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:34)  I have much to be thankful for this week.  (1) My family IS here, and we aren't promised health, or even a tomorrow.  (2) The truck is drivable, and all the electronics seem to be working.  (3) We had enough money for Daniel's medication.  The doctor visit, nebulizer, and truck repairs will go through insurance and be billed later, to be dealt with later.  There are plenty of things to worry about, but not today.  Although I may not be able to see how our issues will be worked out, I know they will be.

"The joy of the Lord is our strength."  Nehemiah 8:10.  Joy is not the same as happiness.  Happiness is that fleeting emotion that is dependent on our circumstances.  When things are great, we are happy.  When things are not, we aren't.  Joy is that peace we get in the really tough times, being able to smile when we are hurting and grieving, and forgiving someone who has hurt us.  We can do this through God, but it's really tough without him.

This weekend took a deliberate act of surrender- setting aside our burden and relying on the joy of the Lord.  God is bigger than my mess.  He's stronger than all the unfairness happening.

By choice, I took Alyssa to a school celebration she had been looking forward to all week while Cris took care of Daniel at home.  On Saturday, I followed up with pumpkin pancakes (eaten in our pajamas, of course!)   Cris and I took turns with Daniel's breathing treatments and taking naps (we both needed them!)

Later on Alyssa and I played board games, made pumpkin blondies and peanut butter pumpkin cookies to share, and read books together.

Daniel was the recipient of hugs, snuggles, and tickles.  He especially loved the attention from his big sister.

Look out world.  You may have dealt us loss, a tough economy, and unfair circumstances, but you haven't won.  Our family is smiling and celebrating anyway.

The Ordinary Things

I'm going back and forth between grading papers, folding laundry, and guiding the kids to bed- the ordinary evening "stuff."  Daniel and Alyssa seem to feed off each other as peals of laughter come from the other room.

 

Right now, Daniel makes the cutest sight- a baby in a sleeper- the "feet" pajamas that are so adorable.  It's been so hot, we've not had him wearing these for months.  Now the sleepers are back.  This time, Daniel is more snugly and wiggly than ever before!

He's been crawling around on the bed, checking out the empty laundry basket, the mountain of pillows, the blankets, and anything else that catches his eye.  He's always busy, always moving.

Sometimes the ordinary is really quite special!

Pumpkin Carving

This evening, I had a great time carving a pumpkin with Alyssa and Daniel.  I realize many Christians don't celebrate Halloween, but I'm choosing to make it an opportunity to share my faith with my children and our neighbors.  Ephesians 5:15-16 tells us to "be careful, then, how you live- not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil."  I think this season can be a great opportunity to "overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21.)

I first heard this story when I was in elementary school.  I was attending an evening service at North Cheyenne Baptist Church and one of our deacons carved a jack-o-lantern and told this story.  The lights were dimmed, adding to this simple message of being a light in a dark world. 

Being a Christian is a lot like being a carved pumpkin.  God has picked us out and changed us, just like we would pick out a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch.  Sometime we may appear to be good or perfect on the outside, that's just not true.  We all make mistakes and we sin.  "Oh Lord, you have searched me and know me." Psalm 139:1

God scoops out our sin, the yucky pulp from inside us.  This represents all the wrong things we have done, the selfishness, our evil thoughts...  We are changed on the inside.  "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away.  Behold, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

Then he carves a new face for us- smiling to reflect the peace, joy, and hope we have in him.  

He places his light inside us, so that others may seem him in us.  "You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden."  Matthew 5:14