On Sunday afternoon our family attended the annual Christmas party sponsored by my husband's company. While there we enjoyed a performance by Royal Sorrell, a terrific balloon artist who holds a world record and does all sorts of crazy stuff.
Standing over on the sidelines, I was chatting with the fellow supervising the kid's sand art table. He claimed that Mr. Sorrell was also a talented actor who majored in mime in college. He wondered what school you could find that would support such a degree.
Which led to this thought: Even if there were a school of mime, how would anyone ever tell you about it?
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Carnival of Kids Comedy
This is my first attempt at hosting this - and at linking, for that matter - so if it doesn't work, laugh at me instead of the kids! (And then post a comment so I can fix it!)
Here are this week's hilarious offspring:
Local Girl partakes in the dilemma common to all parents of toddlers in The Not-So-Perfect Holiday Photo
The children of ZenKitty thoughtfully provided a Holiday Feast for any squirrels who may have procrastinated on their winter cache of nuts this year.
Rebecca over at About Absolutely Nothing shares an original joke from a Pretty Colorful little girl!
Kate gives her Recipe for Success on a longer-than-expected outing with small people. We've all been there, Kate.
A minor misunderstanding between Michael and his daughter led to this conversation about Gender Appropriate Clothing. Hope she doesn't find his pink bunny slippers! (Just kidding LOL)
And finally, Charmin shares the unique joys of little boys in PB4UGO. 'Nuff said.
Here are this week's hilarious offspring:
Local Girl partakes in the dilemma common to all parents of toddlers in The Not-So-Perfect Holiday Photo
The children of ZenKitty thoughtfully provided a Holiday Feast for any squirrels who may have procrastinated on their winter cache of nuts this year.
Rebecca over at About Absolutely Nothing shares an original joke from a Pretty Colorful little girl!
Kate gives her Recipe for Success on a longer-than-expected outing with small people. We've all been there, Kate.
A minor misunderstanding between Michael and his daughter led to this conversation about Gender Appropriate Clothing. Hope she doesn't find his pink bunny slippers! (Just kidding LOL)
And finally, Charmin shares the unique joys of little boys in PB4UGO. 'Nuff said.
Thursday, December 7, 2006
I'm Four and One. :-( The Odds are not improving.
Well, it's official. A couple of days ago, my sweet, darling 5 month old baby boy, Timothy, who is almost always happy, and definitely always wiggly, took sides. Yep, he said his first word, and it was, depressingly, "Dada."
I have five children (so far) and love each one dearly. Our first daughter babbled "Dada" at about 6 months of age, breaking my heart. Her brother followed suit when he was 5 or six months old. By the time our second daughter was born, I was determined. "Mama, Mama," I would chant with her, yet she still gigglingly declared "Dada" quite early, around 4 months (and hasn't stopped talking since!)
Then, a ray of hope! Out of the blue, when I was past all wistful thinking, our 3rd (and did I mention wonderfully intelligent) daughter decidedly stated "MAMA!" before a "Dada" ever escaped her lips! I was exultant, as only one whose gajillions of rewarded sleepless nights and diaper changes can be.
However, the tide of baby babble has again turned against me. Ah well, I suppose I can afford some small victories to my dashingly handsome spouse. After all, I do have the ultimate leverage in baby love. I'm the one who makes the milk.
I have five children (so far) and love each one dearly. Our first daughter babbled "Dada" at about 6 months of age, breaking my heart. Her brother followed suit when he was 5 or six months old. By the time our second daughter was born, I was determined. "Mama, Mama," I would chant with her, yet she still gigglingly declared "Dada" quite early, around 4 months (and hasn't stopped talking since!)
Then, a ray of hope! Out of the blue, when I was past all wistful thinking, our 3rd (and did I mention wonderfully intelligent) daughter decidedly stated "MAMA!" before a "Dada" ever escaped her lips! I was exultant, as only one whose gajillions of rewarded sleepless nights and diaper changes can be.
However, the tide of baby babble has again turned against me. Ah well, I suppose I can afford some small victories to my dashingly handsome spouse. After all, I do have the ultimate leverage in baby love. I'm the one who makes the milk.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Trembling, built-in field trips, and other misc. musings
They're widening the road that runs up the hill past our house. Friday they broke up the pavement and flattened the dirt, and deposited a gigantic cement section of....drainage pipe? I'm really not sure....at the base of our yard. Today there's all sorts of heavy equipment digging the road down deeper and widening it out. The "roller truck" that flattens the dirt makes our whole house vibrate! I'm sure we'll have to move the mailbox.
However, there are some great plusses. My homeschooled children can name the different kinds of construction vehicles better than their "teacher." :) They enjoy congregating outside and watching the action, though I wonder if the neighbors appreciate that part, since the dump truck driver rarely fails to humor them when they signal him to pull his horn every time he drives by!
Actually this at-home field trip started a couple of years ago. There are some grandiose condos being built about a quarter mile up the street, so the first modification we got to watch was the installation of new power poles and lines to carry the extra electricity. A couple of really cool things happened that time. I got some free firewood for our woodstove just by asking, and the fellow who installed the actual lines took both of my oldest two children up for a ride in his cherry picker truck - said he does it for his grandkids all the time. They came back into the house and made him truck-shaped thank you notes.
The kids were also very impressed that if we were to put daddy into one of the 6 foot holes they dug for the new power poles, only 3 inches of him would stick out the top! Mom would be 4 inches under, LOL.
There are so many opportunities to learn new things presenting themselves every day. I am not an "unschooler," we like to hit the books too, but there are some situations that you really shouldn't pass up, especially when they're literally right outside your door!
Speaking of once in a lifetime chances, my precious four year old wants me to read to her, so I'll come back to blog another time, this is an opportunity not to be missed!
However, there are some great plusses. My homeschooled children can name the different kinds of construction vehicles better than their "teacher." :) They enjoy congregating outside and watching the action, though I wonder if the neighbors appreciate that part, since the dump truck driver rarely fails to humor them when they signal him to pull his horn every time he drives by!
Actually this at-home field trip started a couple of years ago. There are some grandiose condos being built about a quarter mile up the street, so the first modification we got to watch was the installation of new power poles and lines to carry the extra electricity. A couple of really cool things happened that time. I got some free firewood for our woodstove just by asking, and the fellow who installed the actual lines took both of my oldest two children up for a ride in his cherry picker truck - said he does it for his grandkids all the time. They came back into the house and made him truck-shaped thank you notes.
The kids were also very impressed that if we were to put daddy into one of the 6 foot holes they dug for the new power poles, only 3 inches of him would stick out the top! Mom would be 4 inches under, LOL.
There are so many opportunities to learn new things presenting themselves every day. I am not an "unschooler," we like to hit the books too, but there are some situations that you really shouldn't pass up, especially when they're literally right outside your door!
Speaking of once in a lifetime chances, my precious four year old wants me to read to her, so I'll come back to blog another time, this is an opportunity not to be missed!
Saturday, November 11, 2006
A Floating Vote
Just had to share what our lovely 4 year old daughter Lydia, thought of last Tuesday's civic duties on election day. We all went as a family to the local elementary school so Daddy & I could cast our ballots. The children were great, very patient as we checked in, filled out the forms, and checked out.
However, when we got back to the car, Lydia asked where we were going next. "We're taking Daddy to work and then going home, honey." "But Mommy, we never got into the BOAT!"
However, when we got back to the car, Lydia asked where we were going next. "We're taking Daddy to work and then going home, honey." "But Mommy, we never got into the BOAT!"
A Time to Blog
"To everything there is a season," and I am thinking of trying out the world of blogging in this one. This is a very busy, wonderful portion of my life, with many higher priorities than this calling out to me; so this blog will only last as long as I can still be honorable in the roles of wife, mom and keeper of my home (a tough one for me).
That said, this sure looks like fun! I've been lurking on several blog sites for the last few days, and plan to put links to some of them soon. Many sites are so well done that it's a bit intimidating to even think of linking to them, but then, the ladies that run them are obviously gracious, by the things they choose to discuss, so I'm sure will be kind to this newbie and allow me to join the circle...
So here is a little bit about moi: I'm Heather, and I have inhabited this earth for 11,135 days (I think I did the quick math on my handy dandy calculator correctly) and hope to stick around enough longer to cuddle my great grandchildren, unless Jesus comes back first! Grandbabies are still a ways off, as my oldest daughter, Rebecca, just turned 9 last month. Next in line is Andrew, our 7 year old son, then Lydia, age 4, Bethany, 2 and finally (so far) Timothy, 4 months and a few weeks.
My first two children are very proud of the fact that they are actually "older" than their father, permanently, as Chris is only 6, and they will be 10 and 8 before he turns 7! By the time he turns 8, Lydia will have passed him and Bethany will be right behind him, but gaining fast... No, I didn't rob the cradle, can you figure it out?
Chris and I will celebrate our 10th anniversary this January 4, and look forward to many more fabulous years together, Lord willing. We are transplants to the Northeast corner of the U.S., since he grew up in Georgia and Florida, and I am from Washington state. God brought us together in a wonderful way - more on that another time - and set us in this spot, and here we are, until He tells us to move. I still shiver each fall thinking about the coming winter, but our children can hardly wait; they're already making grandiose plans for all the snow: men/forts/angels/balls/fun they're going to have in a couple of months!
My username, "Happy Mom" is more a reminder to myself than anything. A while back I decided to commit Proverbs 31:10-31 to memory. I was already very familiar with the "Excellent wife" passage, but wanted it to be really in my heart, as something to spur me on to be what God desires of me. Well, I got down to verse 28, where her children and husband are praising her for her care, and the version I was using said "Her children rise up and call her happy." HAPPY! I was expecting to see the word "blessed." I know the words are sometimes translated interchangably, but it really struck a chord with me that time.
"Blessed" is just a little more esoteric to me, anyone can be blessed, whether they are deserving or not, but "happy," now that's a moniker you only get if you are consciously making a decision to be joyful as you go about your day. There are so many days where it is easier to be dutiful, without the joy that should mark my existence as a child of God.
I want to be worthy of my children someday rising up and calling me "blessed, happy, joyful, at peace" whatever comes to mind. I know that will only happen if I choose to trust in my Savior as I go about this incredible privilege of building my home and raising my children. So I post Scripture around my house. I sing with and to my family. I work on my prayer life. I do my best to "light up" when my loved ones enter a room (that's easier to do when they're happy too, but I'm trying!) I choose screen names that remind me where my priorities lie. I'm open to any other wonderful ideas for being "joyful always" that others may have found.
Well, the dishes and laundry are calling, so happily I bound off to bless my family with folded clothes and cereal bowls in the morning! :)
That said, this sure looks like fun! I've been lurking on several blog sites for the last few days, and plan to put links to some of them soon. Many sites are so well done that it's a bit intimidating to even think of linking to them, but then, the ladies that run them are obviously gracious, by the things they choose to discuss, so I'm sure will be kind to this newbie and allow me to join the circle...
So here is a little bit about moi: I'm Heather, and I have inhabited this earth for 11,135 days (I think I did the quick math on my handy dandy calculator correctly) and hope to stick around enough longer to cuddle my great grandchildren, unless Jesus comes back first! Grandbabies are still a ways off, as my oldest daughter, Rebecca, just turned 9 last month. Next in line is Andrew, our 7 year old son, then Lydia, age 4, Bethany, 2 and finally (so far) Timothy, 4 months and a few weeks.
My first two children are very proud of the fact that they are actually "older" than their father, permanently, as Chris is only 6, and they will be 10 and 8 before he turns 7! By the time he turns 8, Lydia will have passed him and Bethany will be right behind him, but gaining fast... No, I didn't rob the cradle, can you figure it out?
Chris and I will celebrate our 10th anniversary this January 4, and look forward to many more fabulous years together, Lord willing. We are transplants to the Northeast corner of the U.S., since he grew up in Georgia and Florida, and I am from Washington state. God brought us together in a wonderful way - more on that another time - and set us in this spot, and here we are, until He tells us to move. I still shiver each fall thinking about the coming winter, but our children can hardly wait; they're already making grandiose plans for all the snow: men/forts/angels/balls/fun they're going to have in a couple of months!
My username, "Happy Mom" is more a reminder to myself than anything. A while back I decided to commit Proverbs 31:10-31 to memory. I was already very familiar with the "Excellent wife" passage, but wanted it to be really in my heart, as something to spur me on to be what God desires of me. Well, I got down to verse 28, where her children and husband are praising her for her care, and the version I was using said "Her children rise up and call her happy." HAPPY! I was expecting to see the word "blessed." I know the words are sometimes translated interchangably, but it really struck a chord with me that time.
"Blessed" is just a little more esoteric to me, anyone can be blessed, whether they are deserving or not, but "happy," now that's a moniker you only get if you are consciously making a decision to be joyful as you go about your day. There are so many days where it is easier to be dutiful, without the joy that should mark my existence as a child of God.
I want to be worthy of my children someday rising up and calling me "blessed, happy, joyful, at peace" whatever comes to mind. I know that will only happen if I choose to trust in my Savior as I go about this incredible privilege of building my home and raising my children. So I post Scripture around my house. I sing with and to my family. I work on my prayer life. I do my best to "light up" when my loved ones enter a room (that's easier to do when they're happy too, but I'm trying!) I choose screen names that remind me where my priorities lie. I'm open to any other wonderful ideas for being "joyful always" that others may have found.
Well, the dishes and laundry are calling, so happily I bound off to bless my family with folded clothes and cereal bowls in the morning! :)
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