“Where a kid can be a kid.”

I remember the Chuck E. Cheese commercials from when I was a kid.  I don’t see TV anymore, so I don’t know if they use the same slogan.
My kids don’t lack much in the kid-being-time… but they do like the place.  So do I.  This year we headed there to celebrate Tabitha’s 7th birthday with her family, grandparents, aunt, and a friend.  We didn’t tell her we were bringing the friend until she got in the car and noticed I had C in the back seat!  I love fun stuff. 

My sister brought the crowns.  I loved them!

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The place was mobbed, but while official parties were taking place we were able to get around and enjoy the attractions.

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We partied after the masses started back into the play area.

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Tabitha has been in to dogs lately – hence the dog themed cake. 
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The bonus – those beautiful dogs are toys for later!  YAY.

Empty Nest

While I am pretty sure it will be a long time until I experience an empty nest of my own (Thank you, Jesus, for these great kids) my girls were excited about the empty nest they found under the deck.

Ahem – the story goes… that Tabitha SAW it on Easter Sunday, but didn’t touch it.  So when Marie found it on Thursday it wasn’t REALLY her discovery…

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Or something like that. 

Duck… or monkey…

We have a sweet little baby… who delights us tremendously.  She came home from the hospital quickly demonstrating her ability to sleep long chunks of time.  Then, the week leading up to Easter, she stopped.  Sleeping that is.  She woke with alarming frequency through the night.  She’d fall asleep quickly when nursing and I quickly determined she was not hungry.  She just needed help staying asleep.

A quick checklist down the five S’s and I realized that at night we’d been missing a few items.
Swaddled?  check
Suck?  check
Side?  check

Okay – but
Shhhh?  – I’d forgotten that one!  – out came the white noise machine.

That helped a tad, but still, something was missing.

Ah –
Swing?  Hmm – might she need SWING at night?  She certainly loved SWING during the day…

So – one sleep deprived Friday I carried the swing into her room…

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And she immediately resumed her 7 hour stretches.

I vaguely remember Stewart demonstrating a similar night time pattern.  But, in those days I was afraid to start “bad habits” and would never have given in to the swing. 

These days – I went and borrowed another one for daytime use on the first floor.

 

 

What’s in a name? Part 2

In February I posted an entry titled, “What’s in a name?” highlighting the MANY rules John and I abide by in our quests for the perfect baby name for our children.

The most important rule, however, is this one…

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“Pray about the name. God has given us the name for each of the other children either in the form of confirmation, or breathing the entire thing to us in spite of our initial dislike or shock. These are His children and we desire to ask Him what He would have us call the child. Amazingly… God has followed all of the above rules as He has directed us. 😉 “

Well, it turns out that the name God led us to for Katriel Summer doesn’t exactly follow all of OUR rules…

We missed Rule #7: Despite rule #6, we will not invent any name or use a name that can’t be found in average baby books.

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Katriel does NOT appear in average baby books, just the bigger, more expanded ones. It means, “God is my crown,” which to us means that all praise and honor goes to GOD.  HE is the one exalted.  Our praises are not to go to man, ourselves, our doctors, our finances, our abilities.  Honor and praise are His alone.

Her middle name, Summer, however, TOTALLY jives with Rule #9: Middle names are fun. Do not worry about what the world thinks about the middle name!

Summer is just plain pretty – AND – it is our favorite season.

Hmmm – Season… that would be a good middle name someday, too.  🙂

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Easter 2013

These are going to be my memories of Easter 2013.

~ the climax of sleep deprivation
~ pink eye (me)
~ no hosiery so I had to wear sandals to church
~ 35 degrees Fahrenheit

I did manage to hide baskets around 6AM.  John wondered if I was not planning on them ever finding them.  Yes, I was that good.  Winking smile
Johanna’s was “easy” – it was in the dryer.
Tabitha’s was in a cereal box fortress in the pantry.
Marie’s was inside a pull-over coat on a hanger in the center of the front closet.
Nigel’s was in a box of baby clothes in Katriel’s room.  (I left the lid ajar.)
Stewart’s was in the linen closet behind a wall of linen.

The funny thing is Marie’s and Stewart’s locations were assessed at least 15 times before we finally insisted they look more carefully in those spots. 

Nigel’s picture says it all.

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Baskets were slim.  A shirt for each of the big four, a bathing suit for Johanna, pencils for everyone and Seabreeze passes for the summer.

We cleaned up as best we could… kids need haircuts… parents need sleep… And went to church.  My eyes were watering SO MUCH and I couldn’t figure it out.  The worship and the message were so good.  I’m glad I got to go.

Then we came home and dropped Daddy off to hide eggs.  We drove in a straight line (almost) for 12 minutes, then turned around and drove home.  He still had not completely hidden all 75 eggs (15 per kid).  [On a side note • as I got in the driver’s seat of the van I did mumble something to John about him trusting me to drive our precious family around on the fumes I was running on.  I admit we both did hesitate a moment.  The straight line helped.]

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Then, everyone’s favorite part…

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Johanna’s faces remind me of an almost two-year-old I knew one April 16th Easter Sunday…

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After the pictures, I skipped lunch, grabbed a nap, and woke with conjunctivitis. 

BUT – THE BABY HAS SLEPT WELL EVERY NIGHT SINCE!   But that is another post. 

Easter Prep…

We could see on the calendar that Easter was coming.  But, you could not tell from what was going on in our house.  Besides the fact we still have Christmas decorations on the outside of the house that Easter decorations may have clashed with, the truth of the matter is I just did not have it in me to get out the Easter decorations. 

Since the arrival of our wonderful Katriel, we’ve been working to get ourselves back on track.  Those first few weeks and months of New Baby can be hard.  This time was no different.  🙂  She started out as a pretty good sleeper, even offering us one night of seven hours uninterrupted sleep!  Alas, that is not her regular thing (what do you want? she’s a newborn?).  But the week leading up to Easter was particularly difficult.  John and I averaged about 4.5 hours total sleep per night, broken into sections.  By about day 4 I was losing it and by day 5 (Easter) I was ready to crumble. 

But, now, this entry is getting off track.  What I WANT to share is how weird, yet flexible, our family is, and how AMAZING and GENEROUS our good, good God and is.  And how He uses His children to bless His children.

Point A.

Do you see what I see?  I see kids filling their own Easter eggs for an Easter egg hunt.  This is unprecedented.  And – can you believe this?  They loved doing it?  Here I’ve been doing the “good Mommy” thing and filling them on the sly.  Who knew they’d enjoy filling them themselves?  An added layer of fun? 

(Daddy was still expected to hide them.)

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Here’s the GOOD GOOD GOD part!

While our Easter gatherings have been random assemblies or invitations out over the years, one tradition has remained steadfast.  I normally cook some yummy food.  I love to cook; they love to eat.  It works well.

This year, I barely got left over pasta on the table the days leading up to Easter.  So – any plan for a delicious breakfast ran out the window by about Tuesday or Wednesday.  I still held out hope that I might be able to pull off a good dessert to go with whatever dinner we scrounged up.  But, come Saturday morning it was clear we not only didn’t have the time, or physical strength to pull off any extra confection creation… we didn’t even have the groceries! 

I’m being funny now, but really, I was very sad about this.  Now, I’m well aware of the hunger and poverty around the world and I’m not going to make too big a deal out of, “My poor kids don’t get special food this year.”  But, from an American-mom-who-likes-to-do-nice-things-for-her-kids point of view, I did feel badly that I had no yummy tricks up my sleeve.

But – God did!

Early Saturday morning a friend came by to deliver a gift, some items she thought we could use, AND some Panera bread treats that are SAFE for Stewart!  He was so pleased.  Now, I think she meant for them to be used on a weekday to help me out with breakfast, but when the kids saw the raisin bread and Danish ring I knew we’d use them as a special holiday breakfast!

 

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A few hours later other friends delivered the last new-baby-meal we were going to receive.  As I saw them walking to the house I almost cried.  Check THIS out.

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Easter dessert!  (To be enjoyed Easter Eve and Easter Day.)  Also – Stewart safe.

It didn’t matter that I was a sleep-deprived heel.  It turns out that God does care about little things, too.  Our friend G. signed up for the last day on purpose; she likes to help out a few weeks out when the novelty of things has worn off a bit and mom is still at her wit’s end.  AND – this time around it had to be Easter Eve. 

I love this. 

I’m so blessed.

Tab was beyond excited.  As she was born on Easter she considers it sort of her second special day. 

Look what I made not too many years ago…

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"My own room."

“I slept in my own room, in my own crib, last night.
I did really well.
I’m one month and two days old this morning.
I’ve been told I’m really cute.”

“Who Can He Be?” 2013

Once again this year our church did a performance depicting Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. 

Last year the big four and I were in it.

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Because of my expecting and delivering Katriel, it was not possible for me to be part of the production this year.  Instead, John donned costumes and hit the stage.  He first played a townsfolk, then a Roman Solider.

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My sister, Kelly, was also part of the production.

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He was much more intimidating before he held the newborn.  😉

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Or the smiley almost-3-year-old.

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Johanna took to the stage, too.  Albeit, before the production started.  😉
What can I say?  It runs in the family?

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She has a role picked out for the future…?

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