Summer Fun List

Time to get started again. 

I haven't made an entry in a very long time.  Not because I didn't have anything to say.  We've had quite a bit going on between a new baby and new house plans.  But I am going to try my best to get started again.

With summer here, I am so excited to get outside and play.  I love the longer days and sunshine.  But summer is usually packed.  Even though none of us are in school, it just seems like there are more trips to take, more events to go to, and less time to do it in.  So this summer I have a list.  I am determined not to get so bogged down with new house and new baby that Clay doesn't get his own summer fun.  I have tried seasonal activity lists before and not had much success following through.  I usually get so wrapped up in getting all supplies and instructions planned out before I start that it becomes overwhelming.  Hopefully though, between taking things one at a time and the added accountability of blogging, we will make it through our list and try some new things this summer.  Here is the list I have settled on.  The blue items and the ones Clay added:

1.Play with Glow Sticks
2. Have a Photo Shoot
3. Professional Cloud Watching
4. Experiment with Diet Coke/Mentos
5. Become an Author
6. Play Balloon Tennis
7. Ding Dong Ditch a Gift
8. Learn some Cool Shadow Puppets
9. Put on a Puppet Show
10. Invent a Silly Holliday
11. Catch some Creatures
12. Make a Mini Grassland
13. Plant a sunflower seed
14. Ride Bumper Boats
15. Sleep in a Tent
16. Go on a Picnic
17. Outdoor Reading Time
18. Learn About the Planets
19. Complete an Obstacle Course
20. Fly a Kite
21. Pick Flowers
22. Make a Bird Feeder
23. Swim in the Lake
24. Play in the Swimming Pool
25. Paint with Marbles
26. Be a Marshmallow Construction Worker
27. Go Through a Car Wash
28. Go on a Scavenger Hunt
29. Water Dropper Volcanoes
30. Go on a Treasure Hunt
31. Play with Ice
32. Find a New Waterfall
33. Find a New Playground
34. Go to a Bowling Place
35. Play Fighters
36. Play with Anagail
37. Take a Bath Together
38. Make Slushies39. Make Dippin Dots
40. Go on a Vacation
41. Teach Anagail to Sit Up
42. Go DollarStore Shopping43. Eat a Scavenger Hunt
44. Make Family Mailboxes
45. Make Magic Marker Mirror Faces
46. Create with Dyed Pasta
47. Make a Volcano
48. Play Pirates
49. Play in the Rain
50. Have a Sleep Over

A pretty good mix of new things to try and some old favorites (like playing pirates and "fighters")

Wish us luck!!

Cutting Corners

Well, we are officially starting to save for a new house.  Of course, we have a savings, but we are now being more aggressive and specifically saving for a down payment. That means big changes in our house.  Not that we are big spenders by any means.  We are actually more savings/benevolence minded, which makes it that much tougher to drastically increase our savings without going down any on the important things (church, retirement, insurance, etc). 

Here is our plan.
1.The basic--no more eating out.  (Or at least a drastic reduction in eating out.)  Tim eats out every day for lunch and we eat out probably 4-5 times per week.  This month my goal is to eat out 2-3 times the whole month (including Tim's lunches). 
2. Cut our monthly cable bill by a whopping $40. (I'm very proud of that one)
3. Cut cell phone bill by $20/month.
4. Park the truck (let insurance and tags go) and borrow one to take trash off occasionally.
5. Refrain from running the dishwasher every night and washing laundry that could be re-worn.
6. Turn lights off and keep the thermostat low (or high depending on the season). 
7. Cut back on monthly spending money for random toys, clothes, etc. 

WISH US LUCK!

And feel free to give any recipes/cooking tips you want to share!

A Quiet Child

This story starts about three years ago while I was pregnant with Clay.  Lots of people pray for their children before they are born.  We all want them to be healthy and to raise them to love God and be strong Christians.  But lots of people have extra requests, too.  Some want their kiddos to enjoy sports or a certain hobby.  Others want them to posess a certain character trait that is important to them.  I prayed for my baby to be articulate.

I am very conscious of the words I use and the way I say them.  That is important to me.  A big part of it comes from being misunderstood and going to speech therapy until I was about thirteen.  It still amazes me that (at least according to my husband) everyone else doesn't think about the sounds of words and how to form them as they are talking.  That's just a natural part of speaking to me. 

Anyways, I didn't want my baby to struggle with speech or being understood.  Not that I expected (or wanted) my baby to come out speaking in complete sentences.  But I prayed for him to be able to communicate how he felt and to be clear and to have a good vocabulary so he could choose the best words to express himself.

When Clay turned one we were just starting to get the occasional da-da.  He just had no interest in learning to talk.  At every checkup when the doctor read his little list of questions, "Is he doing this, Can he that," my answers in the vocabulary section were always, "Not yet."  And I felt like the answer to that specific prayer in my life was, "No." 

I wasn't bitter or upset.  I just felt like for some reason God decided to answer that one, "No." 

We bought Baby Signing Time at the suggestion of one of our friends and found it to be a life saver.  In two weeks Clay was signing 5-6 words and in the next few months his signs increased rapidly.  Before long he knew signs for nearly everything he wanted to say and made up signs for the things he didn't.  We felt like we knew what he was thinking most of the time. 

Lots of times I would "warn" Sunday school teachers or babysitters that Clay wouldn't say much, but he signed.  I specifically remember saying to someone, "He doesn't talk much, but he gets his point across."

That's when it hit me.  Wait a minute.  He gets his point across.  Isn't that what I prayed for?  He could communicate with us well.  He had a large vocabulary and we understood him almost all of the time.  So what if he didn't use words?  God hadn't answered my prayer with a "No," but with a "Sure, no problem."  I just hadn't been creative enough to see the way he worked.

Now that he is quickly approach the 2 1/2 mark, he is starting to show interest in saying new words.  And putting words together.  For example, yesterday afternoon when it was time to leave my mom and dad's Clay very clearly said, "No.  Mommy.  Daddy.  Home."  Then pointing at himself and nodding, "Poppy.  G."  Which was great for us because what grandparent is going to say no to that?  And Tim and I got a much needed nap. 

Yep, he gets his point across.

Babysitting Blessings

What a day.  Yesterday was a long day, but in a good way.  It started with some scary news Sunday night.  Some good friends of ours have a baby who was sick and they were taking her to Vanderbuilt.  She is doing much better now and should get to come home in a few days.  What that meant for us was we were going to have company. 

They have three other kiddos who needed a place to stay.  They are about 4, 7, and 10ish.  They camped out on the living room floor Sunday night and then Clay and I got to play with them all day Monday.  (Except for a few crucial hours when their dad came in to get some things done and I was able to run to the grocery store!)  Once we were well stocked, the fun began.  About 6:00 yesterday morning I learned how to play Monopoly while Clay and their youngest slept.  Then we played with Christmas toys, made puppets and had a puppet show, played hide and seek, made our own pizzas, and anything else we could think of.  We even bundled up and went outside for a bit and then warmed up with hot chocolate afterwards. 

By 5:00 I was ready to crash, and we all cuddled up and watched Alvin and the Chipmunks...for about 30 minutes.  Then that was enough of that!  The last of us fell asleep about 10:00 last night and then their dad was able to come in and get them for the night about 11:30. 

I was definitely exhausted, but have a lot to be thankful for with the day.

First and foremost, I am thankful for a beautiful healthy baby!!

Secondly, I am thankful for good friends who feel like they can count on us and who trust us enough with their kids that hopefully that was one less thing they had to worry about yesterday. 

I am thankful that they have good kids!  These are definitely NOT hooligans we're talking about here.  These are the most polite, sweet, loving kids you will meet.  And I don't know how their parents have done it, but they NEVER whine at all!!  Not even if the Wii doesn't work right or Clay tears up their craft they've been working on or their sister spills milk all over them.  NEVER!  They smile and say, "That's okay.  I don't mind."  SO SWEET!!

Finally, I am thankful for a husband who, after working all day on the busiest day they have ever had, comes home and gives me a good 20 minutes to eat my supper in my room in near peace and quiet (the sounds were at least muffled through the closed door :).  And he would have given me more if I had wanted it!

I have much more to be thankful for, but I don't have the time right now.  I am getting off because Clay and I have muffins in the oven and are expecting three loving kiddos soon to help us eat them. 

Okay, I know it is December 27th and Christmas is offcially over, but we have had a wonderful Chritmas, and I am now finally going to blog about the things that I have been wanting to blog about, but didn’t have the time. 

First up—the tree.

I like white Christmas lights.  I like the ornaments to coordinate and the wrapping paper to match and the lights to be white.  Not multi-colored, and not blinking. 

This is my tree from last year.

Last year, I knew it would be my last “white light” year.  As much as I love the tree to be decorated just right, this is Clay’s year.  Clay is two and I’m pretty sure he would rather have colored lights any day. 

I’m also pretty sure that an important part of being a mom is letting go of perfection, or at least your idea of perfection, sometimes.

When I was growing up our tree ornaments were mainly bought from fundraisers or we painted them.  We strung popcorn, and made construction paper links—the works.  Tim coated his with huge colored lights and lots and lots of tinsel. 

I want Clay to have fun memories of our Christmas tree.  I want him to show his little boy one day the ornaments he painted with grandma.  (Yes, sometimes I think that way.)  You never know what his first memory will be.  But he’s got a lot to choose from this month!

I did have to take a bit of the excess tinsel off, but I don’t think the tree turned out half bad!! 

So what if it’s not the way I would have done it.  I’m trying to let go of the way I would do things more and let things be done more simply, or done differently, or just plain done.  As long as I get to listen to my Christmas CD copies of the albums we listened to when I was little, I’m a happy camper.  Come on now, there are some things I just can’t give on! J

I Am, Too!

“I am, too!”  What precious, precious words!!  Last night I told Clay (who was insisting on watching t.v.) that I was going back to his room to play in hopes that he would join me.  Tim followed behind with an “I am, too.”  “I am, too,” repeated Clay, as he popped up from the couch and fell in line. 

That might not seem like much, but it stopped me (and Tim) in our tracks.  

Clay is a quiet child (with the exception of the afore blogged screaming fits J ) who turned two a few months ago.  He is very intelligent.  He understands things.  And as far as I’m concerned is advanced when it comes to fine motor skills.  But he is not verbal.  He gets his point across.  He just chooses to do it in as few words as possible.

“Was that his first sentence?!?” I exclaimed.

“Yeah, it was!” said, Tim.

“Clay!,” I practically yelled, “I’m going to do somersaults on the mat.”

“I am, too,” said Tim (with minimal prodding).

“I am, too,” said Clay!

It’s so amazing how the changes sneak up on you and are so gradual they are sometimes hard to notice.  After some calmer thought, we realized this wasn’t really his first sentence at all.  For a while now he has said “got it” pretty consistently and has started saying a slurred together version of “I want” before certain popular nouns such as “juice” or “cake”.  But, this has definitely been his clearest sentence, and was significant enough for us!

Now, I don’t expect Clay to start carrying on long conversations with me just yet, but those were still some precious words!!

A Horse Baby

The one thing I feel like I know about being a mom so far is that everything is a phase.  When it's a good one, I try to enjoy it while it lasts.  When it's not a good one, I try to tell myself it will pass.  Right now we are in a screaming phase.

Clay loves to scream, and is really quite good at it.  He screams when he is excited.  He screams when he is happy.  And he definitely screams when he is mad. 

When he's excited or happy, the screaming is funny.  It's like he just doesn't have enough space within himself for everything he's feeling and he just screams at the top of his lungs.  He will run around the room chasing us or just stand in one spot and absolutely shake with a scream.

When he's not happy, the screaming is almost unbearable.  He is not only loud, but persistent.  Persistent to the point where this morning I have a horse baby. 

You see, last night Tim and I had the audacity to leave church and drive to my grandmothers house without Pa!  Unbelievable that we would do such a thing, I know, especially since Pa was going to be at my grandmother's house for supper also.  Despite many explanations and threats, the screaming continued until we pulled into Grandma's house ten minutes later. 

He has a little more voice this morning than he had last night at least. 

This, too, shall pass.