Kissing it better

One of the best superpowers a mother is endowed with is the ability to kiss just about any "owie" better. It will be a sad day when my children either don't want me to kiss it better, or when it just doesn't have the same effect anymore, but until then, I love every chance I get to magically make it all go away.

Sara has learned to make audible kissing noises. As soon as she hurts you, and hears "ouch!" she immediately kisses it better. The other day I was in a waiting room and she just kept kissing my arm repeatedly. I thought it was cute, but didn't know why the sudden display of affection. Then I realized that she was kissing each of my freckle "owies" better.

My mom told me that yesterday Gary showed her his latest "owie" and when she went to kiss it better, he stopped her and said, "Sara already did!" I guess moms aren't the only ones with magic kisses!

Grandma Honey

As long as I can remember, I have loved to be with my Grandma. Some of my earliest memories are of playing with her under a crib, swinging around a lamp-post, making a tent with a blanket under a piano, racing matchbox cars down cookie sheet ramps, etc. with her. Because I lived close to her most of my life, I can list about a thousand fun memories including a month long trip on which I got engaged. I have always cherished our relationship, and appreciated the way she always made me feel so loved and important. As a parent, I have understood the need for grandparents and great-grandparents on a new level. When my son was just learning to talk, my grandma came to visit. When she went to the bathroom, he would stand at the door and knock incessantly calling, "huh eee!" We realized he was calling her "honey" because that is what she called him, and the name stuck. Those two have such a special bond. He has a real need for her. When he is having a "melt-down" he often calls out "Grandma!" through the tears. Looking back on my life I realized how important it was to me that I had her unconditional love. She is a person who freely expresses her love and I never doubted that she loved me and believed in me.

Earlier this month my feelings were hurt by some comments made about my son's behavior and the way I parent. I get that kind of thing frequently from strangers or others who see tidbits and make judgements, but this one came from someone I love and respect and it hurt. Just like my son, I found myself wanting to escape and run to my Grandma Honey. There I knew I could find the love, acceptance and understanding that I needed--even as an adult.

I learned a few things from the experience: 1) We need to be careful of the judgements we make based on the little bit we see of others--rarely do we know the whole picture. 2) A grandparent's role is important and special because they do not have to discipline, freeing them up to love and support at all times 3) When my son calls out for grandma, he is asking for reassurance that he is loved. 4)Each of us, no matter what age, need love and acceptance & the best source is really our Heavenly Father and Savior. It is only they that know the whole picture, and it is only their opinion that matters in the end.

Phone Fun

We have had some fun experiences with telephone calls in this family. There was the fast sunday when we were getting ready to pray over dinner when the phone rang. Standing right next to the phone I instinctively picked it up and quickly said, "Dear Heavenly Father, we're so thankful for this foo......ahhhhh!!! and then hung up not wanting to know who it was. Moments later the phone rang again and it was handed to me, "Well I'm not the real thing, but I'll pass the word along," came the smug reply from my uncle.

A couple of years ago Gary was playing with the phone and we could tell he had called someone, so we took it away and hung it up. Gary responded by flailing himself back and hitting his head on the headboard. A few seconds later the phone rang---uh oh, it was the 911 operator asking if there was an emergency. Apparently that is who he had called. My mom assured her that it was just the baby playing and that everything was okay--even though there was a baby screaming in the background because we took the phone away. After she hung up I wondered how they know if it just wasn't an abusive parent pretending like everything was ok. About 20 minutes later, I got my answer as a policeman appeared in the bedroom doorway with my husband who had been outside washing the car and knew nothing about the phone call. We both pointed to the little caller, assured everything was okay, he left. Over the next hour or so our phone rang several times more as each curious neighbor called.
We have a business line that rings in the office. On more than one occasion, I have happened to walk by and notice my son chatting away on the office phone, usually to someone who has called for the business. Once I found out that they had chatted for several minutes. He is pretty quick, so anytime I hear the business phone ring and cannot locate my son, there is a race to get there first! Anyone need an answering service?

Wanna-be potty trainer

It has only been a few months since we finally got Gary potty trained, but Sara thinks she's got it down, piece of cake! A couple of weeks ago she started the whole routine. She goes into the bathroom, walks up to the toilet, raises her shirt and pinches her tummy. After standing there a couple of seconds she turns around and bends over and touches her toes waiting for assistance.

Then about a week ago, she learned to slide her diaper down and step out of it. (Usually after it was wet). Then a couple of times when I've asked her if she has a stinky diaper she just slips it off and hands it to me.

Oh if only it would be that easy to potty train--and this early!!!

Water babies

Sara has always loved being in the water

But with the Summer weather fully upon us, we are all thankful for water--anywhere, any kind! (I even caught Sara sipping up a puddle on the sidewalk--missed that kodak moment, but here are some others of our summer water activities.

Sara isn't as excited about running in the water as Gary

But she has always loved the pool

More rock throwing water activities Here is that shark & Sea horse game I mentioned--Can you guess which one he's being?Cute face--we are also grateful for wide-brimmed uv protective hats
Doesn't all this water make you thirsty?
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Aim....
Fire!


Don't let her fool you, she's just making her plan of attack!

Sticks and Stones.....and Thunderstorms

With two little ones, recreational use of the nearby lakes is not boating, swimming or fishing, but stone throwing, stick sword fights, and crawdad collecting.

Gary has been asking us to go camping or to the lake for the past week or so. It's the first time he had asked to go to the lake, so I asked, if he wanted to go swimming, on a boat, or fishing, to all he replied, "no." Then I asked what he wanted to do at the lake. Throw rocks in the water--of course! Friday morning I told him if he got dressed, cleaned up his toys and put his shoes on we would go to the lake. About 7 pm we finally got the toys picked up and shoes on and we all set off for the lake.

As we started setting up camp, it got a little cloudy. Rain is so rare that a nice sprinkle to cool us off sounded nice. But, just after the tent was all set up the wind picked up, so I headed to the tent to sprawl out and keep it grounded. The kids quickly joined me, and Ionut finished cooking dinner--(mostly) before running for cover with us in the tent. It was a wild storm with wind in all directions blowing huge raindrops so hard it pushed a mist through the walls of our tent.

The lighting would light up the tent and the thunder had the kids crying and wanting to go home. We said a little prayer that we would be safe and that the kids wouldn't be scared. They calmed down, but the lightning and thunder kept getting closer until it seemed right on top of us. That's when daddy ordered a full retreat into the van; the tent would have to fend for itself. Once safe inside the van we broke out the graham crackers and chocolate icing grandpa had handed us on the way out the door--about the best kind of smores in that situation.The kids loved it and got chocolate all over the car while daddy pulled out seats and spread out some sleeping bags just in case. About an hour later we made it back into the tent, but it continued to rain. At one point during the night Sara got scared and Gary offered to pray. "Hevnly Father," he prayed "Sara not be scared, lake fro rocks, camping, rain, bless Jesus, amen." Sara slept fine--at least until the sun came up. Around 6 am we got the wake-up call from Gary. "It's time to throw rocks in the lake!

We forgot about the frosting, but Sara didn't she made her own breakfast!

It stayed cloudy and cool long enough for us to catch half a water bottle of crawdads, get a bit of wading in, explode a non-swimming diaper, and have fun just being together.

Proof that I was there--just usually behind the camera. I did have fun wading in the water and playing "sharks & sea horses" with Gary while Daddy & Sara took down camp.

On the way home Gary wanted to climb a mountain.

Thank goodness for a Daddy who can be convinced to hike on hot red rock in 100 degree weather--carry you to the top...

and back again!

Happy Feet

One of the greatest things about children is how they cannot contain joy. Sara is especially cute when she gets excited. I call her "happy feet" because she does a little dance just like the little penguin on Happy Feet. She also cannot resist a good beat. She just came with the rock n' roll gene in her blood. A couple of nights ago she fell asleep during a movie, but as the credit music started, from a deep sleep she started her patented wiggle. It doesn't matter how happy or sad or tired she is, she will at least nod her head to the beat. Thank goodness for pure expressions of joy!