The Baby Says...

Ok, so he's really not a baby anymore, he's three! (But NJH will ALWAYS be my baby.) So the kids just finished lunch and I went over to NJH to wipe his hands and face with a washcloth...he squealed and then frowned and stated, "Ah, that was NOT cool!!!" Hilarious!!! Of course I laughed, to which he replied, "And it's not funny either!"

Soundtrack of Life

I've always intended to write a blog update about music and what my "life soundtrack" would be. For now, I'll just do quick updates here and there, listing the current CD playing in the van, as well as songs that are speaking to me at that moment.

Whenever I hear, "It's Raining Like Magic," I think of driving my now 6-year-old daughter to preschool. She was (and still is) such a joyful, smiling child. I can picture her beautiful smile and hear her voice saying, "I love you, Mama" every time I hear that song!

This week, we've had the Raffi "Singable Songs for the Very Young" CD playing in the van. Here are the kiddos' faves:
Robin in the Rain
Aikendrum
There's a Spider on the Floor
Five Green and Speckled Frogs
And the one that always makes me teary - "I Wonder If I'm Growing"

I still sing to my youngest, now age 3, before tucking him into bed at night. We sing a variety of songs, but last night, we sang "Silent Night." My heart was so touched by his little voice sweetly singing, "Sleep in heavenly peace" and I consciously told myself, "Brain, press record! Never forget this beautiful little voice!"

Non-kid music that is speaking to me:
"Before the Morning" by Josh Wilson
"Our Hope Endures" by Natalie Grant
It's funny, both songs are about holding on, not giving up, leaning on the Lord and putting our faith and hope in Him. I feel like life is wonderful right now, and when I hear those types of songs, I admit to fearing the day when I will really need those songs to lift me and encourage me. I dread the pain or sadness that may be looming, but I am truly thankful for this time of peace in my life.

Growing Up

Here's the story of NCH ("Big N") -

Newborn: mama couldn't put him down.

Age one: he screamed through MOPS, but stopped crying as soon as mama held him.

Age two: the nursery workers at church had to come get us, he cried so much!

Age three: he cried when I dropped him off to preschool two mornings a week.

Age four: he cried at VBS when I wasn't the first mom there at pickup time.

Age five: tentatively started kindergarten.

Age six: eagerly invited us to see his Morning Program at school.

Age seven: he was "ok" with us being at school events.

Age eight: this morning, I went to see his Morning Program...when I went to say hello to him afterwards, he turned beet red and turned around, rolling his eyes as he walked away with his friends!!!

Now it's mama's turn to cry! :(

As Good As It Gets

Today was really a near-perfect day. I try not to use the word "perfect" as I have a few hangups about perfection...but anyway, today -
- hubby got up with the kids, gave them breakfast and got them all ready for church (I had taken allergy medicine and Nyquil and didn't even stir until 9:30am!) I hustled myself to get dressed and out the door for church in five minutes, and we made it!
- all four children went off to Sunday School without a tear (hooray!)
- it was baby dedication Sunday (so wonderful to see so many little ones and their parents) and a friend's two older boys were baptized
- we sang a song I need to hear over and over:
"All is well with my soul,
He is God in control,
I know not all His plans,
but I know I'm in His hands"
- after church, we had fun playing with hubby's phone/internet radio and found a Veggie Tales/kids station (we loved hearing Larry's I Love My Lips song and then we heard a cool mash-up of "Over the Rainbow" and "I'm Yours")
- we took a fun family "hike" (more like a stroll) along the Vischer Ferry trail not far from our house. The kids were ecstatic when we told them we were doing a family hike!! We didn't go for too long (the plentiful rains had made part of the trail impassable), but we saw several kinds of flowers, beautiful leaves, a couple of frogs and even some snakes (yikes!) We do hope to make hiking a regular family activity, as the cost is minimal, it's great exercise and it gets us off the couch/away from hand-held electronics, and bonds us as a family.
- after our walk, the older two BEGGED us "Please can we rake the yard?!!" Hubby and I looked at one another, puzzled, until we realized they wanted to make a big pile of leaves to jump in - "SURE!" we answered.
- a little later, I took the older two to get some groceries. My 8 1/2 year old has become super-helpful in the store, knowing what we need, where to find things, how to figure out best-buys, how to place items in the cart and on the checkout counter, how to bag and returning the cart.
- I was really excited about dinner: hubby had put the crock pot on a timer for me, so our pot roast has started cooking around 4 in the morning...by 6pm, we had a fabulously tender roast, and I had made party potatoes, steamed carrots and applesauce to round out the meal. I had wanted to have an apple pie ready for dessert, but didn't have time to make it earlier in the day.
- after finishing the dinner dishes, hubby and I worked on making the apple pie while the younger two "cleaned" the basement and the older two practiced the piano.

- then it was bath time and bed time!
Here I sit, reflecting on a wonderful day, thankful for my family, the beautiful weather, our yummy dinner, and post-bath scented kiddos. I also treasure two other moments in the day: my four-year-old praying at dinner ("help us to be healthy in the morning, thank you for the fun family hike, thank you for mommy grocery shopping and thank you for this delicious dinner") and my three-year-old singing "The Little Light of Mine" as I tucked him in bed...
Let it shine til Jesus comes, I'm gonna let it shine!!