BSF

This past year I've been attending Bible Study Fellowship. I take the kids too, and they have a program for them while I'm in the adult study. One of the genius things about BSF is that they teach the kids the same thing as what the adults are going through. At first, we were going through Acts and each week I would tell Elisa what my "story" was about. She would look at me with wide eyes and say, "We had that story too!" Lately the adult study has been going through different epistles, so it's a little harder to know what they are talking about with the kids.

It's been funny to see some of the things they are picking up on in their classes. Last night Jonathan took a little notebook out of Grammy's purse. He told me, "It's the Bible." Then he held it facing out, like an adult doing story time would hold a book so that the kids could see it. And he repeated over and over, "The Bible is a treasure book, it has true words." He has also taken to hopping around the house like a frog, which looks extremely tiring. I'm pretty sure it's a BSF strategy to get 2-year-old energy out.

Sometimes the things they pick up on come out in unexpected ways. A few months back Elisa and I were playing a game with a couple of wands from her dress up stuff. We were taking turns waving our wands and then pointing them while saying magic words. We started with old favorites like, "Bippity, boppity, boo" and "Abracadabra" and then progressed to silly nonsense phrases like, "Ella McStella" etc. We had been going at this game for quite some time, and all of our magic words had been used and reused many times, when all of a sudden Leesi pointed her wand and exclaimed, "In the name of Jesus Christ!" It was so surprising, it was all I could do not to burst out laughing. Later I was thinking about this, wondering where she could have gotten this phrase. I decided it must be from BSF. After all, we were going through Acts, and there were probably a few times where people did things in the name of Jesus Christ.

It's been awhile.

Okay, so I've been terribly absent from blogging lately. And here's the reason...

I've been busy growing a baby in my belly.

We are expecting a little girl, due August 27th!

So far my pregnancy has been much like the last two. To sum it up in a word: hard. To use three words: fatigue, nausea, vomiting. But I am so thankful for the wonder drug Zofran which recently went generic, which means that insurance companies will now pay for it for pregnancy. It has made a huge difference this time around. We still had what we refer to as "survival mode" for a couple months... but it was bearable. I am now officially at the halfway point. And now I am expecting and hoping for my pregnancy to continue to be like the last two. I've had very easy last halves of pregnancy, and very easy labor and deliveries.

We are all very excited around here to welcome another little one!

Easter Festivities

We had a great Easter weekend. Couldn't have asked for any nicer weather. We had a lot of fun with friends at our church's annual Easter egg hunt. Then went to church on Sunday and then headed out to Grammy's house for the afternoon.

I taught the 3-5 year old class during church. Which, honestly, I wasn't really looking forward to. I was envisioning a lot of extra kids in class... and it can already be a little crazy in there. But there ended up being fewer kids than normal, and it was a complete pleasure to spend the morning with them. It was such a privilege to tell them the Easter story. Of course, most of them have heard it by now, but they're still young enough that it's somewhat new. We talked about how we all do wrong things that make it so we can't be with God, but Jesus took our consequence, so that now we can know God. One little girl adamantly refused to admit that she had ever done anything wrong. When I asked if she'd ever gotten a time out she said that once a really really long time ago she had gotten a time out. One little girl was looking more and more serious as the story went on. Then when Jesus raised from the dead she looked relieved, and broke into a little smile. For some reason, being with the kids made Easter fresh and real to me in a way that sitting through the service wouldn't have. It ended up being a total blessing.

After I had told them the story, we broke out a small set of resurrection eggs that I had made up. I just did 6 eggs (bread, cross, cloth, rock, angel, empty) and had a child volunteer to open one and show it around. Then had the kids tell me about that part of the story. It's such a great activity for kids this age. They loved it, and we ended up going through them twice. Today, I had Leesi go through them with Jonathan and tell him the story while showing him the eggs. They did it quite a few times, and then Leesi said that she wanted to do it with Arthur (a baby I watch), so she did it with him too. Arthur did his part by happily chewing on an egg.

At Grammy's house we had a wonderful lunch with the family. Then relaxed (I even napped!) for awhile. Leesi and I made resurrection rolls in the afternoon. When Jonathan opened his up we explained that it was empty just like Jesus' tomb. Jesus isn't there anymore, he's risen! Jonathan kept on looking in his roll and then saying, "It's empty! He's not there. He went away." I don't think he had the slightest clue what we were talking about, but it made some sort of impression on him nonetheless.

Here are some pictures from our weekend:

Chocolate face after the church Easter Egg hunt.

Dying eggs.

Jonathan kept asking, "Can I eat it now Mommy?" I finally gave in, and he spent most of the time peeling and eating the eggs while the rest of us dyed them. (By the way, he's wearing an apron, not a sundress... at first he didn't want an apron, so we took his shirt off. Then he decided he did want one, so we put one on... made for quite the fashion statement.)

Doing a fun cross craft from my friend Christa's blog. As we were doing it Leesi told me, "This is going to be the most beautiful craft I ever made." So sweet.

Easter morning and on our way to church.

Leesi proudly showing off the eggs she found in Grammy's yard.

Jonathan playing "I Spy"

Jonathan: I pie wi ma w'il eye some tin... fan! (clearly looking at the white ceiling fan)

Me: Something fan? Do you mean something white?

Jonathan: Some tin white.

Elisa: Is it the fan?

Jonathan: nooo

Elisa: Is it the door?

Jonathan: nooo ... It da boo bag!

Us: Oh, the blue bag!

My big four-year-old

So, I realized that it has been almost a month since Leesi's birthday and I still haven't written about her at age four.

My sweet girl is still Mommy's big helper. She loves helping me cook, and is at the point where she can actually be helpful. She often makes sandwiches for her and Jonathan's lunch (mostly pb&j, but sometimes tuna). She loves pouring her own cereal and milk in the morning. The other day she started to get upset because Jonathan got to help with the dishes and I told her that she couldn't. She settled down when I told her that she could help me later. And then she relished the opportunity to wash the mirrors and dust with me. I know this helpfulness will probably end all to soon, but for now it's nice... most of the time.

She loves to read books (which I also love, so we're a good combo). Some of her favorites are Berenstain Bears, and Little Critter.

She is quite good at riding her tricycle, and is just now moving up to a big girl bike with training wheels (she got it for her birthday). She likes riding the big bike, but she's fallen off of it a couple of times, which has made her a little leery of it too. So sometimes she switches back to the trike.

She is still quite shy and mostly won't talk to people that she doesn't know well, and often won't talk to people that she does know well. Someone in our care group described her as "cold" and I have to agree, she has a look that can wither even the friendliest of adults. I've started doing role-playing to help her get used to the idea of talking to people she knows. I'll say, "You be so-and-so and I'll be Leesi, and you say hi to me." etc. I think it may be helping a little. It's definitely something we're going to be working on this year. Mainly I just want her to at least acknowledge people she knows with a "hi" or even just a smile.

But of course she is not cold all the time (or even most of the time). She loves her little friends, and can be quite loud with them. She plays and giggles with Jonathan all the time. They are the best of little buddies, and I'm hopeful that their friendship will continue as they grow up. She loves her daddy. The other day, after Daddy was being particularly silly, she announced, "Boys are funny, girls aren't funny." Which of course, is a statement about our family and made me laugh so hard, it still makes me smile to myself when I think about it. Even still, she is a Mommy's girl and often demands, "I want Mommy to do it!"

She LOVES doing art projects. If I had to pick one activity that she chooses to do more than anything else, it would be this... art projects. She is quite prolific and when she runs out of room in designated art displaying areas, she'll take it upon herself to find the scotch tape and begin taping them up in random places around the house. Some of her artwork is quite... how shall I call it... original. Art can be pieces of crumpled up tinfoil, dirt and water smeared onto paper and then folded and folded again, pieces of paper cut apart and then taped back together in different configurations, or scraps of paper with one or two lines drawn on them. No one could accuse her of being stuck in a box when it comes to her artwork. She is a master of "mixed media."

She knows her own mind and has her own opinions. She still chooses her own outfits everyday, but I feel like the outfits are getting a little less outlandish. Or maybe I'm just getting used to them. I don't know.

She can be a little bossy with her family, "Now Mommy you go there, and Jonathan you sit here." But she acquiesses fairly quickly to her friends.

She regularly asks, "Why?" and the other day told me, "Mommy, don't ask why so much!"

She also has a keen ear for information. You can't get much past this girl anymore. When she hears some little tidbit that she finds of interest, it's like her little ears perk up. "What?" she asks.

She still has a rest time each day, though she never sleeps anymore. But she needs the alone time (and I do too - we're both introverts). During her rest time I'll hear little conversations she makes up between her dolls or stuffed animals. My favorite is when I hear the calm Mommy voice saying, "You need to share." or the chipper Mommy voice saying, "Can you clean up your toys? Time to clean up!"

She is usually fairly obedient, and has now finally gotten past the frequent meltdowns and tantrums (thank the Lord!). For the most part she is cooperative, and easy and fun to be around. Of course, she still has her meltdowns, but they are fewer and farther between these days. I had so many people tell me that age three is harder than two... which I think is true in some ways, but not completely. And I am hoping that these past few months are a herald of what is coming at age four.

My precious Elisa Marie, I love you to pieces. You bring so much joy to our family, and I can't wait to see all that you are going to be!

Happy Birthday!

To my wonderful husband, Greg...

who makes me laugh when I need to lighten up,

who folds countless baskets of laundry without complaint,

who is an expert bath-giver and tummy tickler,

who is always up for an adventure,

who works tirelessly to build relationships with and mentor students,

who loves me well, even when I'm not so easy to love.

I love you Babe.

Happy Birthday!

Hello Kitty Birthday

Elisa will turn four tomorrow. On Friday we had her birthday party. She wanted a Hello Kitty party. Which was super easy to do, since Hello Kitty is absolutely everywhere right now.

At Jonathan's birthday party back in October. I felt like I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Every time Jonathan saw me he said, "Momma! Momma!" In this heartbreaking way. Like, "It's been sooo long since I've seen you, where have you been?" I learned some things the hard way from his birthday party:

1) Do easy food.

2) Don't try to decorate the cake the day of.

3) If possible, delegate! And talk about any expectations you have of your husband.

4) If you aren't throwing the party in your own home, but need to do set-up and decorations in the party location, give yourself adequate time.

5) Remember that the point is to make a fun and memorable day for the birthday boy/girl... not to impress others or outdo yourself in some way. It will be more fun for them (and you) if you are not stressed out!

This time around, the party preparations went much more smoothly. We ordered pizza; and I assembled fruit, veggie, and cracker/dip trays. So the food was easy. I did the cake the night before. I had Greg make the balloon flower decorations while I was doing the cake (I'm so glad I did this, since these ended up being a little more complicated than one would think). I started decorating the lounge where we had the party the morning of, instead of waiting until the hour before. And I paused to refocus myself and pray the afternoon before the party instead of frantically working all day. The fruit kebabs turned into a fruit plate because I ran out of time, but I was in a much better frame of mind by the time the party rolled around. I had a great time at the party. I was able to talk to my guests, and enjoy watching the kids play. I think Leesi had a great time too.

We had the party in the lounge which is separated from our apartment by a small hallway. Both doors were open, and so at one point the older kids disappeared into our apartment. All of a sudden the parents looked around and thought, "Where did all the kids go?" We found them in our downstairs, pushing the button on our Skiing Santa, who sings a little song. (He used to also actually ski across the room, but this year when I pulled him out, I found that he no longer does that.) They had this whole routine worked out of freezing in one place while Santa talked, and then starting to dance when Santa started singing. It was so cute, and it just goes to show you that sometimes the funnest party games and activities are not the ones you thought up.

Here are some pictures of the festivities:

Hello Kitty cake and kisses.

The food table (pre-food).

Greg made balloon flowers and animals for the kids

Pin the bow on Hello Kitty. Mysteriously all bows ended up perfectly placed.

Party favors and prizes

(Prizes never were given out. Prizes are a bad idea for this age, unless everyone gets one.)

What was I thinking?

The big birthday girl and Momma.

Christmas tree time

Most years that we've lived in Portland we have gotten our Christmas tree from this great u-cut place called Sandy Farms. It's cheap (this year it was $15-$20 per tree, in years past we've gotten trees for as little as $5), it's fun, and it's tradition. Every year we wonder, is it worth the drive? Couldn't we just pay five dollars more and get a tree down the street. But each year we go, and each year we love it. There's something about it, the whole experience, that we love... the drive, the search, the cold, the sawing, the hauling, the hot chocolate at the end. This year was no different. We had a great morning on Saturday finding our tree.

It was quite cold. Right around freezing. All the shady places were still covered in frost. Leesi kept saying, "I'm freezin!" and "I'm getting really icy!" So after we found our tree, and while Greg was still trying to figure out the big tree, the kids and I went back to the barn for hot cocoa. I think this was their favorite part.

We found a tree for us, as well as a tree for outside at the school's Christmas party. After some discussion about whether or not it would fit on top of our car Greg chose the largest doug fir he could find. When the workers were trying to put it through the baler, it got stuck and it took a little time and ingenuity to get it unstuck. We cheered when it finally made it through the baler. It took 4 men to load it onto the top of our car and I think it bent our roof rack a little. It was quite the adventure. But now the Christmas party will have a beautiful large tree. And we have a beautiful tree too. It's only half way decorated so far. We're looking forward to finishing it up tomorrow!

Jonathan's jacket flip

Jonathan learned how to do this about a week ago. And I think it may be just about the cutest thing ever.

Leesi and the zipper