Dancing in the rain

I'm not sure how it happened, but all three of my boys think that they're going to melt if they go outside in the rain. I had encouraged them to go outside a few times today, but was always met with "no, it is too cold" or "no, it is too wet" or "no, I might get thundered" (that from Josiah). :)

I decided they needed some help seeing the proper potential of a rainy day! So I bundled them up in boots and coats, herded them outdoors against their will, and then surprised them all by running past them, dancing in circles like a crazy person, and splashing them with puddle water. Wheeeee!! That's what you do in the rain, boys!



Of course they forgot all about being "cold, wet, and miserable"*, and we caught raindrops on our tongues, and then had a grand water fight and I got entirely soaked.







Then when we were all tired and cold we came inside for hot chocolate.

Yep. That's what you're supposed to do on a rainy day.



*Jonathan is reading this over my shoulder and insists "I did not forget! Add 'except for Jonathan!' "

Happy Easter, Happy Birthday!

He is Risen!

Jonathan requested pancakes in the shape of crosses for his birthday breakfast. (He also badly wanted to wear "pants with Easter eggs and crosses all over them!" but sadly(?) we didn't have that available.)



My garden yielded our Easter flowers. The arrangement turned out oddly Lenten. Oh well, they're still beautiful!!



We're off to church to celebrate Christ's resurrection! Afterward the children will hunt for eggs and stuff themselves with an unreasonable amount of sugar. :) Then home for naps and an Easter dinner extraordinaire. It is going to be a lovely day.

He is Risen, indeed!

Regarding blogging

Here's the weird thing about blogging. In order to post pictures of the marvelous things that you're doing with your kids -

you have to stop doing said things with your kids and pay attention to the computer instead.

Ironic. And part of why I haven't been posting regularly.

Art and projects

Jonathan has the day off school, so we have spent the morning enjoying art and projects and photography.

Josiah's passion is painting, of course, so those came out first thing after breakfast!




Jonathan received a model airplane for a birthday present, so we started working on that. That is definitely NOT SIMPLE. Trying to read the diagram makes my head spin. But we're making progress! :)

Jonathan took this picture:



And then since the camera was out and Jonathan enjoys taking photos, here are few portraits of the cat:



Jonathan says that this one makes him look like a lion:



It's been a nice start to the day. Who needs chores? ;)

AB 2109 - no "personal belief" vaccine exemptions

There is a bill currently in process in the state legislature, AB 2109, which would take away the "personal belief" vaccine exemption option from parents. Currently, when our children enroll in public school, we either show proof of current vaccines, OR we sign a paper stating that we choose not to vaccinate (or partially, or on a different schedule) due to personal beliefs. This bill would take away that option. Instead, we would be required to get a signed document from a doctor (medical only; naturopaths and chiropractors are specifically excluded) stating that we had been “educated" about vaccines.

I gave birth to three children. As their parent, it is my right to make decisions regarding their care. Part of that is the right (and duty) to decide what medicines, including vaccines, are introduced into their bodies.

I choose to vaccinate. But I do it on an extended schedule and I refuse a select few. I have made this choice based upon significant research – far more than the 10 minutes of “education” that this bill would require me to receive in a doctor’s office.

In theory, this bill would require only a visit to a pediatrician and a request for a signature. In practice, the pediatrician could refuse to sign it. We like to think of our doctors as balanced and impartial, but the fact is that they have opinions just like anyone else, and this bill would give them the power to influence and control parental decisions by simply refusing to sign the paper.

Yes, I could try to find a different doctor. But that is harder than you might think. I have to find someone within my insurance network, someone who will accept a new patient for only one appointment, someone who is willing to sign the paper having no prior experience with me or my child. Even were I able to do so, now I have to find childcare for the little ones, take my child to an extra appointment, and pay an additional co-pay. All this simply in order for my child to enroll in public school?

This bill usurps my rights and responsibilities as a parent, creating an unacceptable roadblock to my efforts to raise my children in accordance with my well-researched and carefully considered beliefs. It is yet another encroachment by the government on the rights of parents to make decisions for their family and children. Please consider adding your voice to the opposition.

Toothless!

Feel like browsing?

The Saturday Evening Blog Post is up over at Elizabeth Esther's. I'm participating this time, and enjoying reading some posts by new-to-me bloggers. Come on over!

Cinnamon Vanilla Waffles

I've been perfecting a waffle recipe for quite a while now, and I think I finally got it. :)

Cinnamon Vanilla Waffles

3 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. coconut oil
5 eggs
1 t. vanilla
cinnamon to taste (we used quite a lot - I let Josiah go at it with the shaker) :)
1 t. salt
2 T. sucanat
2 T. baking powder
1 T. baking soda
3 and 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour

Blend wet ingredients along with cinnamon, salt, and sucanat. I use my vitamix, but any strong (and large) blender would probably work. Mix baking powder and baking soda into flour, then slowly add flour mix to wet ingredients, keeping blender running continuously.

Pour into hot waffle iron and cook as usual for your iron.

(I have to admit that usually I blend 2-3 cups of spinach into the buttermilk at the beginning, but if you prefer your waffles brown instead of green, you can skip that part.) :)

Autometrix vs. the Hummer

My dad and brother created an awesome video for their company, in response to their competitors' claims that their machines are "lightweight". The best part is the very end. Enjoy. :)

Happy Valentine's Day

h/t Dy

Play Time

Playing with big-little boys is very different from playing with little-little boys or babies. With little ones, my days were full of small interactions. Read "Goodnight Moon" or "The Big Red Barn". Stack a tower of blocks for him to knock over. Build a train track out of Brio. Round up the cars and trucks and turn on the water for "car wash" time. Little boys have short attention spans, and my interactions with them were often comparably short.

It isn't that way anymore. Now we're reading chapter books with Jonathan, and Thomas asked to start his own chapter book this morning as well. "Mommy, will you help me build this lego set?" means nearly an hour spent hunched over an instruction manual, searching for miniscule pieces that (I'm assured) will eventually become something "really awesome!" Games are also longer: Josiah will play Candyland for 30+ minutes; Jonathan and Thomas will play Sorry for twice that long. I put my foot down when they wanted to start playing Risk - no five hour games for this mama, no thank you!

(Board games - even short ones - are a cross that I have to regularly offer to Jesus. I can't stand them.)

There are wonderful things that come with these growing-up playtimes. Snuggling while reading together can be one of the best parts of the day. And I love seeing the focus and the creativity that abounds during lego play. Yet there is difficulty for me in this change of daily pacing. It can be hard to turn away from whatever I'm doing (laundry, dishes, my own book!) when I know that it won't be a short interaction, but rather an hour devoted to something that probably wasn't on my mental agenda. Setting my plans aside to be really present with my boys for extended play is a new kind of sacrifice of self, and I'm not very good at it yet. But it feels like the kind of thing that God is using to grow me up, too.

Happy Birthday, Thomas!

Look who is FIVE years old today!



He requested Mickey Mouse pancakes for breakfast.




And apparently this present was "just exactly the set that I always wanted!"



Lego is Thomas' favorite thing right now. He enjoys building with them, and he loves setting up little worlds for his people and imagining adventures for them.





Actually, once the first part of the set was built, he handed the rest of the building off to Jonathan and happily played with the people and coach!



Thomas is growing up so much right now. Until recently, my middle boy has been extremely worried about going anywhere without me, refused to be left in his class during church, and preferred to play alone rather than interact with people. Yet in the past month or so he has started asking for play dates with friends and is comfortable running down to visit neighbor kids without me coming with him. I'm glad he's finding his comfort zone with people, and I'm glad we let him arrive there in his own time and on his own terms.

Happy Birthday, my dear little introvert. We love you so very much.

A blah sort of day

Jonathan is home from school with a fever and drippy nose. I woke up with a headache, even after going to bed early last night (doesn't bode well, does it?) Thomas and Josiah, oddly, still seem to want meals and parental interaction. I'm still in my pajamas.

All four of us are having too much screen time. I know this, but don't have the energy to do anything about it. I think I might have enough energy to crawl back into bed. Siah and Thomas don't seem to think that is a good idea. I can't imagine why not.

(I'm glad we made it to the library yesterday. At least we all have good books!)

Heaven

Josiah: "Last Sunday, a bad guy killed me. And then I went to heaven."
Emily: "What was heaven like?"
Josiah: "Heaven is Jesus!"

Guess who I met today?

Auntie Leila! And Bridget, and Rosie, and Pippo, too!



Some years ago, I think in early 2010, I stumbled across Like Mother Like Daughter. I don't remember who directed me there, although she deserves my very great thanks. Perhaps it was Jessica? And I don't remember precisely which post I read first. What I do remember is that I spent the next couple of days reading my way through Leila's archives, drinking in her wisdom and encouragement, and getting my butt kicked (nicely!) to go and do homemaking well!

So this morning, knowing that I was about to actually meet this dear woman, I cleaned my bathroom. Reasonably. (Somehow it seemed the thing to do!) And cleaned my kitchen, reasonably. Josiah and Thomas and I did school together, and then we planted flowers to beautify our front entrance. And then, feeling quite gloriously on top of my homemaking and mothering life, we drove down to Carlsbad.

It was fascinating to meet Leila and Rosie and Bridget; I've followed their blog long enough to feel like I know them...but of course in many ways they are complete strangers. Such nice strangers, though! Bridget is quiet and reserved, with a sweet smile and a way with small children.



Rosie is an amazingly composed new mother. Pippo is just one, and her husband just deployed with the military, and yet Rosie exudes a calm happiness that is a pleasure to be around.


(Of course there was much taking of pictures.)

Leila is hospitable and welcoming; she made everyone feel included as we mingled and mixed up and chased after errant children in the middle of conversations.



And of course the other half of the fun was meeting all the other readers - such lovely women! Most of them had multiple children and it was fun to be in such a happy gathering of like-minded people. We're all doing our best to do well for our family.

Before we left, Josiah and Thomas and I took an exploratory detour through the glorious trees



and Thomas climbed a fabulous hill.



Yes, it really was that high. I was surprised that he wanted to tackle it, but he did, and he conquered!

Thank you, Auntie Leila, for organizing the meet-up. It was totally worth the drive.

Mommy Guilt

Glennon's article nails Mommy Guilt. This is exactly what it sounds like.

And so now I’m a stay-at-home mom. And the thing is that Mommy Guilt stays home with me. These days I experience her less as a drive-by-shooter and more as a constant commentator. Now she sounds like this:

“Did you go to all three of those college classes just so you could clean the kitchen and play Candy Land all day? And how is it that you don’t even do those things very well? Can you concentrate on nothing? Look at this mess! A good mom would clean more and play less. Also, a good mom would clean less and play more. Also a good mom would clean more and play more and quit emailing altogether. Additionally, I’ve been meaning to ask if you’re sure you feel comfortable spending so much money when you don’t even make any. Moreover, when was the last time you volunteered at Chase’s school? What kind of stay at home mom doesn’t go to PTA meetings or know how to make lasagna? Furthermore, nobody in this house appreciates you.”

By the way, Momastery is an amazing blog. The past week she's been re-posting some of her best (for the benefit of newcomers like me!) and they're just wonderful. Go check it out!

Expedition!

On Tuesday, Jonathan stayed home from school. He wasn't sick any longer, but his school has a "24 hours without fever" policy (which I really appreciate!) Having spent the previous day lying on the couch, Jonathan was quite ready for an adventure. So we went on an expedition!



They brought nets and shovels and collecting containers and archeological brushes (you know, to dust off the dinosaur bones?)



We shouted "adventure is out there!" (a la UP) and off we went. :)







It was only an hour; a walk down the busy, noisy street to a small "creek" that passes next to the road. But we found a ladybug and a baby earwig, discovered a tiny pine tree growing next to an old pine cone, ran relay races, ate our expedition snack, and collected dozens of rocks. I think it was probably the best hour of the whole day.

DIY salvage bookshelf

Jonathan asked for a bookshelf of his own in his (our) room. To put it mildly, there just isn't much space for one! But we found a small, 12x12x30 bookshelf offered on craigslist for $1, and since that fits the space and the budget (ha!) I went and picked it up today.

I wish I'd thought to take a "before" picture, because it was pretty ugly. Black laminate and quite beat up. I keep reading on DIY blogs that spray paint is the easy way to fix problems like that, so we asked Jonathan to pick a color and gave it a shot.

Initially I thought it was doomed to failure. You can't see very well in this photo, but the paint did NOT want to stick to the laminate. It was uneven and drippy and definitely uglier than it had been while black. :(



We sanded off the drips and tried again. Hmm. Better. But we ran out of paint.



Gabe ran back to the store to get another can, and we kept working on it. I think part of the problem was just that it is hard to adequately cover black with any other color!



But after all that, it turned out pretty nicely, don't you think?



Maybe we're not DIY failures after all. :)

Sewing for the kids

Usually when Jonathan asks me to make something for him, his imagination wildly outpaces my skills. But this morning we were both inspired, and look at the results!

Power Rangers!



Of course, it took all morning. But that's what vacation time is for, right? :)

Hybrid shopping

Shopping has never been something I enjoy, and shopping for clothing is the worst. But Jonathan's shoes have been pinching him, and I've simply worn out most of my pants. Something had to be done.

I noticed two fabulous coupons for JCPenney in the weekend paper. Hmm! So last night, after the kids were in bed, I spent about 30 minutes online looking through their site for options. The beautiful thing about online shopping is the opportunity to sort by size, color, style, price, etc. I found four pairs of pants that looked like they had potential, and two pairs of shoes that looked perfect for Jonathan. But pants and shoes really are the sorts of things that should be tried on before buying them! So I put everything in my cart and then printed it.



This morning I headed off with my printout (and all three boys) to Penneys. Just over an hour later, we walked out with three pairs of pants and a pair of shoes. Did I mention that I had all three kids with me? And no one had a meltdown? Not even me?

I love the fact that the "browsing" stage was vastly simplified online. I hate wandering through aisles and aisles of clothing and never finding quite what I want. Online browsing took that entirely out of the equation. All that was left for the store was finding the right section, trying on four pairs of pants, and buying the three that fit. Jonathan's shoes were even smoother: we walked in, asked for the size and color, put them on his feet, paid and walked out.

Seriously, people, Hybrid Shopping. I don't know why I never thought to do it this way before! :)