Wordless Wednesday: Never has the Easter Bunny been so cool!

Do-over

Not long ago I posted about a couple of my "Mom-isms".  This was a corny little term I came up with off the top of my head with Very Little Thought, to describe some of the fun things I do as a mom to invest in relationship with my kids. I came up with two.

You see, around that time I had come to notice that Dad was more often the Fun One than I. In fact, I was noticing that I was spending a whole lot of time keeping track of homework assignments and enforcing the "work before play" standard, and Lee was in complete and total support. Meaning that, when the kids were done working for Mom, they got to play with Dad. I finally told him one day, "You are their reward for me!" Thankfully at that moment I could laugh about it.

Now this is no criticism whatsoever of my husband. He has a lot of "Dad-isms", and he has fabulous relationships with our kids.  He just doesn't always know what the kids need to do, and I usually just start taking care of it instead of taking the time to fill him in. When I do, he pitches right in.

So anyway, I wrote my Mom-isms post to make myself feel better, because I do fun things too.  And so do all my blog friends.  I wanted to know what they are, because maybe if I had a couple new ones to try, it would help me get out of the slave-driver mom mode.  READ: I was not feeling too good about myself.  

Well here's the funny thing.  Or sad.  I had several sweet commenters tell me they loved my ideas, but could never do the napkin cutouts.  (I bet if you had as much practice as I do, you could!)  And no one came back with any ideas of their own.  I think there was an epidemic of Low Mom Self-Esteem that day or something! 

And I got to thinking, there really should be a remedy.  Then I had an idea. Read on...

You're a Hero

I'm going to make a virtual "Wall of Fame" and hang your work in it. That's right! I want you to get thinking about what you do or have done that is special for the kids in your life. The things they will remember when they grow up and have their own kids. The silly, the simple, the seasonal, the everyday. Whatever. For your kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, siblings.  

HINT: It may very well NOT be something crafty!!!  It could be... 

a game,

an outing, 

a food, 

an event, 

a bedtime routine, 

a family night tradition, 

stuff I can't think of because it's not MY thing.

I'm giving you a week, because if you are having one of those days, you might need that long! I want you to post about it, take pictures of it (if that's your thing) or do whatever you want to share about it. Then, next Monday, April 6, I will post a Mr. Linky so you can either link to your own post or just share in the comments.

Let's face it. If you've got kids in your life, it takes a little effort to connect with them. But it's the sweetest effort ever made. We could all use a little help. AND a little recognition. So get going. Monday, April 6 is the day. Go ahead, give yourself a pat on the back--you'll be my hero! Invite your friends to play along.

Wordless Wednesday: Spring on the lake

What goes around comes around!

The kids are on break this week, and they woke up bright and early, eager to plan the day's festivities for Dad. They knew there was a cake to be made, presents to be wrapped, and cards to be created. They all but dragged me out of bed. (Lee had them give him a birthday back rub to buy me a few extra minutes.) So we spent much of the day getting everything all ready.

The kids did almost everything themselves--they did an amazing job! But wait! What is that wrapping paper? Isn't it...

...why yes! Yes it is! Christmas paper. In fact, the very paper that Lee rescued out of a dumpster while helping clean out the church storage garage last weekend. Lucky me! Bethany noticed it in our bedroom where he left it, and thought it would be perfect. So did I.  ;-)

This Dad...

...is one fun dude!  

Happy Birthday, Lee!

You're our favorite!

For the birds

I was trying to go wordless with the experience of our latest morning ritual. But that was really for the birds. 

Every morning since their arrival, these beautiful creatures have been gathering at daybreak like a crowd of worshipers in joyous anticipation. No need for an alarm clock here. Their songs are an equally reliable and far more pleasant proclamation of the gift of a brand new day.

Some seem to wait in the trees with the highest branches, wanting to be the first to see the sun. Others come to the crabapple tree outside our window, too hungry to wait.  

Typically they leave just before daybreak, as if to escape the camera's eye.

But today they lingered just a few minutes longer.  Lovely.

By the way, I am guest blogging today over at "The Rewind".  I'm hosting a discussion about William P. Young's novel The Shack.  If you've read it, I bet you have an opinion!  Come check it out, and share your thoughts.  There will be a few different posts dedicated to discussing the book.

Wordless Wednesday: Sunrise Celebration

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?" Matthew 6:26

In the interest of full disclosure...

...you can probably take "the poor people freezing on the tundra" off your prayer list. At least for today. The temperature here has gone up 65º since my weather report last week. Hooray!

So of course we've been outside. Most people under 30 had shorts on today.

Here is Ben demonstrating how THIS happened.

Bethany decided she was camera shy.

Later she took the mound. It was still a little frozen, but she wouldn't let that stop her.

Here she is expressing what everyone around here was thinking today...

HALLELUJAH!!

Mom-isms

Every now and then I stumble upon a fun little idea that becomes a tradition. I know I'm not the only one, because I see creativity oozing all over the blogosphere. I thought I would share a couple of the "mom-isms" at our house, hoping it might prompt some other people to share, too.

Here's one that started when the kids were pretty little. One day I baked some mini-muffins for a snack, and for some reason I cut a paper towel into shaped napkins for them. I suppose they were probably hearts. Easy enough. Next thing I knew it was a car (by request, of course). Then animals. It's pretty much been animals ever since. If I bake, I better have the scissors ready.

This one I borrowed from a friend who displayed her kids school work on the walls of their basement stairway. We call ours the "Wall of Fame". The first couple of years we did it, I had the kids go through their own work and find the pieces that showed their best thinking, biggest efforts, or neatest job. This year they asked if I would choose for them, so I am.

If I may say so, I think this may very well be the best second grade self-portrait EVER.

What are your Mom-isms, or Dad-isms, or Aunt or Uncle-isms, Grandma or Grandpa-isms?

Tenacity...

...our kid got a double dose of it.  Both from his dad, of course.  OK, so maybe he got a triple dose of it. Yes, he is nothing if not tenacious.

So of course, he would never take his eye off the ball.  Goal post-1, Ben-0. Because he hadn't gotten to the ball yet.  

What's a soccer goal doing on a baseball field anyway?

Hold your horses!

You may have read my March Madness post a few days ago, and thought, "How nice! It's warming up there on the tundra." And then perhaps you went and crossed "Those poor people who are freezing on the tundra" off your prayer list. Let's not be hasty.

Yesterday a huge flock of migrating robins and waxwings lit in our crabapple tree.  It was a stunning sight! They were singing away and eating to their hearts' content. 

Today they stopped by again. It was 2ºF. This is what they got.  

Popsicles. Or is that Crabsicles? Let's just say that whatever it was, they were not singing about it.  

We natives know that spring never truly shows up on the tundra before it shows up on the calendar.  And even then, we do not hold our breath.

Wordless Wednesday: Those Eyes

Look at that!

My sweet friend Marlene over at Stitchin' by the Lake had a contest several weeks back, and guess what?  I won!  Look at all the fun treasures that showed up on my doorstep. Marlene knew that I am using a lot of candles these days, and that I'm on a journey. But I love her handiwork the most.

I first found Marlene commenting on another blog I had been visiting, and I noticed that she was such an encourager. I just had to track her down.  Turns out that she was a quilter! I love quilts and used to do a lot of quilting. Now Marlene is sharing another passion of mine on a new blog, A Servant's Journey. I so enjoy following her story.

Thanks, Marlene!  You are one of those "True Friends" I was talking about the other day.

March Madness

So it's no surprise to find Ben and his buddies

This weather makes for some interesting uniforms.

...but they still fly!

Ours isn't the biggest

kid on the court, but...

Not too excited about coming home for dinner.