Keeping Up

Hannah has had a busy summer keeping up with her older brothers and sisters. As an almost 16 month old, she has quickly transitioned from "I'm the infant" to "I'm one of the pack". There are examples of this in each part of her life right now. For instance, Hannah has decided she should sit at the table like her siblings during meals. She is offended when we try to place her in her high chair. She will carry her booster seat from another part of the house to a kitchen chair herself in order to communicate her wishes clearly. These are some recent pictures showing Hannah's firm desire to be part of the group.

This is us on a recent Lowe's trip. Everyone insisted on riding in the cart somehow. I know one day I will really miss this. It does add a dimension of exercise to your trip however.

Hannah has watched enough swim practice this summer to know that she needs her own pair of goggles. She loves to carry goggles around and is quite good at attempting to "wear" the goggles as well.

This is a recent river day we shared with our cousins. It was so much fun and they were all so busy with the sand for hours. Hannah was just as busy. She kept up with the buckets, shoveling and water just like the big kids.

The "bench" in our kitchen is a favorite place for everyone to sit. Hannah has figured out how to climb up and sit there as well. Everyone has a place at the bench now.

Trapped

I tried to be a good Mommy today and take John Mac and Hannah to the indoor play area at Chick-fil-a. Henry and Caroline were finishing their last morning of camp at Jamestown Settlement, and I thought John Mac needed a special morning after lots of watching swim team and then dropping off siblings for camp. We bought some orange juice and headed to the play area. I will have to admit that I was talking on the phone briefly when it happened. Hannah was toddling around the bottom area and John Mac, because he is not tall enough to climb up the large triangle "steps" in the play area decided to climb up the slide. I didn't think he would get very far, but he quickly made it to the very top of the slide, and then the very top of the play area. That is when he started to cry. I got off the phone (this is after judging lots of young moms in the past for talking on their cell phones because they cannot handle the boredom of watching their kids enjoy the play area). I used my calm voice to explain how if you climbed up to the top by yourself, you can certainly climb down. This rationalization only made him cry more loudly. Hannah was now trying to climb up the bottom of the slide, a rescue attempt of her own. I am dialing my husband over and over; maybe he is in the area, maybe he is driving from the office to get coffee. No answer for three calls in a row. John Mac is louder now. I look around; there is no helpful old lady to hold Hannah, no helpful young man to climb up the play area, no helpful young Mom who has children to coax John Mac down. So I am trapped. I put down my purse and leave Hannah still joyfully attempting to climb up the slide. Five months pregnant I climb those germ-infested blue triangles to the tip top. (Did I mention I do not like heights?). Free entertainment at the Chick-fil-a today: pregnant woman climbing to top of play area to rescue crying three year old. Do you think he knows I love him? I sure hope so.

Fear and Laughter

Fear and Laughter are two very powerful motivators. I've been watching this up close lately in our children and thinking about it for myself. One child has been struggling so much with real and rational fears in learning to swim, to be in the water. It is so tough to watch. You know that he has all the components of swimming down, all the pieces to put together....But he's afraid. He asks good questions; he is thinking it through. But overall, he's afraid of swallowing water and sputtering helplessly. That fear keeps him clutching the kickboard, watching from the shallow end...missing out on lots of what will eventually be so much fun. When he gets over his fear and gives it a try.

Our youngest child has been busy with laughter lately. She tries different things just to make herself laugh. She throws herself on a pillow on the floor and giggles. She wiggles on her back in a big chair, taking up all the space of one big cushion. She quickly turns things upside down to empty them and laugh as the contents fall on the floor. It's not a malicious laugh. It's a "wow, it's so amazing and fun all the things I can do" laugh. She is delightful and it is so fascinating to see all that she will do to make herself smile. And it keeps me smiling while I pick up the pillows, put the shoes back in the basket, place the bottles back in the big bin...again. Laughter is powerful.

I want to help the fearful laugh. I realize though as I seek to bring that freedom to my fearful child that I am just as easily stopped by the power of fear. Maybe it's not in the swimming pool anymore, but I sure hope Hannah's contagious laughter will slowly help to melt away my fears as well. Her laughter hides a truth about the ephemeral nature of life down here, the joy of so many created things, the power of love far deeper than ourselves....May Jesus' love make me laugh and be my real motivator today.

Christmas in July

I bought my son-to-come a Christmas stocking today. It felt so good. The first moment I have actually been able to think ahead and anticipate this little one in any real way. It was Caroline's idea actually. We found out yesterday this little one on the way will be a baby boy which made everything more exciting and real for the kids. Today Caroline was asking again when the baby would arrive and I explained that he would come and then we would be busy getting ready for Christmas (since he will be a Thanksgiving baby). Caroline said, "But Mommy, we will need to get him a stocking!". A thought that had not occured to me yet. Not many thoughts have occurred to me yet, honestly. I have been busy trying to catch up with all that God is doing in our family, and feeling quite behind on things really. Of course, July is the best time to buy for Christmas and sure enough, the stockings were 50% off. So I did it. Not in the July budget, but I quickly typed in the numbers anyway. He is worth it.

Sorry for the absence. We have been busy traveling through different states and visiting family. Here are some fun pictures from our times together:

This is Caroline and the boys in the climbing tree. Their cousin Reid introduced them to the climbing tree and they enjoyed it enough to endure the heat several times.

Here is bedtime at Maime and Poppa's house. Maime has a big bed that the kids argue over sleeping in. Unfortunately only one child gets the honor at a time because two children in that bed makes for a very loud sleep-over.
For the child that is not lucky enough to sleep on the high bed, there is still a kind tuck-in from Poppa. He'll even crawl down to the floor with John Mac!
And this is John Mac helping LeeLee make waffles. The kids were able to have the "treat" of waffles several mornings while in the Tennessee m0untains.

I don't have pictures of Henry playing badmitton with Uncle Jack and Aunt Katie, fishing day after day with Daga (the Barbie fishing pool was a consistent winner!), the kids getting introduced up close to a horse while visiting a neighbor's barn, or playing in the pool with Aunt Cindi and Uncle Jack. (Can you tell I would rather experience an event than stop and take pictures?). It was very full and very good despite the hardships of messing with the schedules and environments of little people. And now we are home....

Vacation Bible School

So I didn't have Vacation Bible School (also known as VBS) growing up. Picture your church decorated in bright colors, with upbeat music playing; kids escaping into a world of snacks and ideas that were all tailored to fit their size. My children LOVE it. While it strikes me as strange and "cheesy", my kids feel so loved. They talk about every craft, every snack (blue jello for water and fruit roll ups for a canoe), and every game they play. Each day there is a lesson of course, a verse, a story to teach them about the attributes of God. I don't know how well all the details of that are soaking in....But, I do know that my kids feel special and so appreciate all the work that many adults have done to make this a church week just for them. In that, I hope they see the details of God's amazing love and provision for them. Even if they don't remember the verse this week: 1 John 3:1, Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us, that we should be called sons of God.....

Belly Bugs

I am more afraid of a "belly bug" than an open wound, stitches, rashes, tick bites...the list goes on. Yesterday at 4:45, Henry said he had a headache (a first for him) and he laid down on our bed (also a first in daylight hours since the age of three). At 5pm, he threw up all over our bed. We cancelled the dinner scheduled for 5:30 last night. So began the first gastrointestinal infection in our home for this year. And now I wait. Dreading what could be days of laundry, getting sick myself, helping several children one at a time through illness....The anticipation of it all is really worse than the thing itself and that is what gets me about a belly bug. You don't stop to anticipate ticks or cuts or other tough kid illnesses (or atleast I don't). But the belly bug usually gives you a chance to ponder, to think ahead and wonder how bad it could all become. Henry slept on our floor last night with surrounding towels, a deep pot and his sleeping bag. One down, five to go?

Swim Team

I love to be at the swimming pool, love to swim. I am so glad I know how to swim, that it will be a life long form of exercise for me. One of my favorite things is swimming laps in an outdoor pool on a warm day. For all those reasons, I think fondly of swim team and summers at the pool while growing up. Today I remembered a few other things from those swim team days. I remembered the hard parts: gasping for breath, feeling as if you would never make it to the other side. I remembered clinging to the ropes, wanting so badly to be done.

Yesterday was the first day of swim team, and Caroline, who has never really swam on her own, suddenly jumped in and "swam" across the pool during her evaluation. Henry, on the other hand, did not even bother with the evaluation and just headed promptly to the beginner section. Caroline was placed in a group where everyone has been swimming much longer than her. Today, they started practice by telling her to swim two laps freestyle. She doesn't even know how to kick her legs and move her arms at the same time! She just went right along with it. I watched in amazement and fear. And this was followed by more laps, and more laps. I watched her growing fatigue from the sidelines and remembered the hard parts of struggling to keep up with better swimmers. As a mother, it was painful. Yet I know she would be bored in the beginner group. So hard to watch her learn to swim on her own, make her own way, struggle with her own limits and rise to her own challenges. I saw a little girl with fierce determination and was amazed. No complaints, no whining. 12 laps when prior to this she had never made it out of the shallow end. Swim team is tough.