A mama's thoughts as her children play...

I walked in their room the other night before story time and prayers to find Sammy, once again, heaping blankets and toys and dolls on top of Amelia while she quietly accepted his offerings. I can tell it is his way of saying that he loves her...giving her every good thing in the room--even his favorite blankets. As I sat in the rocker and watched them, it brought to my mind so many things. When Amelia would snub one of his gifts or snuggles, I thought of how heartbreaking it will be to see him snubbed in the future by girls or friends who he gives his heart to. I thought of Amelia and how she will probably get used to having an adoring brother who heaps praise on her (I know there will also be valleys where affection is not so apparent...we have them daily:) and how she will expect the winner of her affections to follow suit. I thought of Sammy's big, giving, sensitive heart and asked God to give Joel and I wisdom on how to guard and encourage that in him and yet also help him to be assertive when he needs to be (ahem, when Amelia falls to the floor in rejection b/c she wants something of his and he gives in immediately) . So many thoughts and hopes and prayers for these little ones are lifted up as I watch them play, as I rock them to sleep, as I cry tears of frustration when the days are long and my patience has faded. Grow us up Lord, together. Give us grace and wisdom each day.





All for now,
Jen

Halloween/Harvest Day 2009

For us it looked like a long afternoon walk with their daddy, then home to dress up as a beagle and a lion and wait for kids to come so we could give them treats! We did walk over to our next door neighbors to let them say "Trick or Treat please!" (that is what came out of Sammy's mouth--so cute!) . Seriously, they ate two pieces of candy from that house, a bag of fruit snacks from our loot and they were still wired! Ugggg, still not a big fan of Halloween, but they did look pretty cute:)

All for now, Jen

"They must be let alone, left to themselves a great deal, to take in what they can of the beauty of earth and heavens."

*Quote by Charlotte Mason

If you have read about Charlotte Mason and her philosophy, you know she is not advocating neglecting your kids, or even ignoring them. No, she advocates for giving them the freedom to explore, to observe, to learn, without a parent or teacher constantly butting in with our knowledge, our questions, etc. It's hard sometimes to be near them, but to be quiet. Dads seem to be more eqipped at this:) In fact, these pictures were taken by Joel on the babes afternoon walk. I asked him to take the camera with him to get some pictures of the new neighborhood (to share with you, of course:). He took the best photos, I can't wait to share them bit by bit. This one reminded me that though I fret sometimes that we can no longer reasonably walk to parks with ponds and geese and beautiful scenery, the babes find beauty to observe everywhere. They will stay like this on the sidewalk forever watching a little bug pass by, if I give them the time and space and freedom and don't try to rush them along to see what I think is a better view right up the way. That, I think, is a good lesson for us all:)

The first big snow...

Yesterday it snowed and snowed all morning long. It really was beautiful, and despite my ever-present dread of a long winter, we had a great first winter weather day. One thing that I think is going to make our days much, much easier is getting the babes snowsuits/coats/hats/gloves on. It was a breeze yesterday compared to last season! Amelia actually said, "Thank you mama" as I put on her coat. I almost fainted. I guess they can reason a bit more and know how cold it is without their gear on--thank you Lord and please let this continue!

Once we were outside Amelia was immediately trying to make snowmen, tracks in the snow, and snow angels.... everything the character in our book "Peter's snowy day" did:) She didn't whine or complain about the cold once. I think she is going to be a girl after her daddy's own heart. Sam was a trooper too, but did mind that his mittens kept falling off and that his face was cold. I know buddy, I know.

I am determined to take our morning and afternoon walks though, no matter the weather!! So, watch out winter--we will not be intimidated by you and your blustery ways!

All for now, Jen

Fall goodness...

I better hurry up and post my Fall recipes as it is quickly turning into winter here:)
I am going to be lazy and post a picture of the recipes out of my Simply in Season cookbook--hope you can read them okay.
This soup was super tasty, even though I accidently dumped like a gallon of pepper in it! The babes even like it!



We ate the soup with cornbread and then Shari made these pumpkin/squash bars for desert. She used about half pumpkin, half squash and they were soooooo delicious.


And a post wouldn't be complete without a picture of our little kitchen helpers:) This is from today when they helped made cookies. They were very proud.

Garden after dark...

I really am a girl after my mama's own heart. Halloween just is not a favorite holiday of mine. Ewwww. It all just gets so gory and gross. So, I wasn't sure about taking the babes to a Halloween celebration at Red Butte Garden, but the flyer said old fashioned and kid friendly and so we gave it a try. For the most part, it was sweet and fun though next year we will have to shield some eyes if we go again. Or maybe I'll have our own Harvest Party in the back yard with neighborhood kids. Whatever happened to bobbing for apples and making scarecrows? I did get a little teary at one point, holding hands with our little lion and seeing our little puppy holding hands with Joel. We have children! We get to make fun memories with them! I am so thankful.
I couldn't figure out how to work my camera w/ all of the lights, but here are a few shots that worked okay.





All for now. More Autumn recipes coming soon! Jen

Sammy's special day.

Trains are a big part of the babes life here at the new house. Both commuter and freight trains run along tracks just east of our house. Jim and Shari have been taking them to sit and watch the trains go by on most every morning walk. I think Sammy could sit there the whole day long. They both wave and wave at all the people as the commuter train passes and the conductor of the freight trains usually give them a big toooot tooot and wave now, it really is fun! When they hear the whistles blow during the day one of them will usually say, "What's that?! I heard a choo choo train!"
So, today was the big day. We told them that we were going to ride a choo choo train! I let Sammy watch Thomas the Train this morning (yawn--Amelia and I lost interest quickly:) and we talked about it during our morning walk. Joel came home from a conference and off we went. At first Sammy was stoic and quiet, soaking it all in I think...then we started to hear his "OHHHHH! and BIG CHOO CHOO TRAIN!!!!" and a quiet, "I love trains." Melt my heart little guy.
We stopped about 45 minutes later and walked through a new town, stopping in a train shop, letting them sit on statue horses (Sammy was cracking us up with this far off, happy look he got when he would sit on those big horses. He is such a dreamy guy:), and then playing at a park. Though I think he enjoyed the train thoroughly and Amelia was amused, they both screamed and squealed and giggled the most while running through the leaves and going down the slides together. Oh, the simple things:) It was a very special day for us all.