An Itsy Bitsy Ebb and Flow

My life has many areas that experience an "ebb and flow."
My prayer life.
Housekeeping.
Gardening.
Personal endeavors such as reading.

And blogging.

I guess I've just been really busy--busy with the everyday things of life and with catching-up on the everyday things. I've also been thoroughly enjoying the beautiful springlike temperatures in our part of the country this week.

I've noticed, too, that when I fail to take pictures, I tend not to blog. I like pictures. They are my "story starters."

I "received" some story starters last night.

Carrie had just given Matty a faux-hawk and was wanting me to take some pictures of it after supper.







The photo shoot ended with a rousing rendition of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," one of Matty's new favorite songs.
Until this moment, we had no idea that he could do "Down came the rain..." hand motions.


Please pardon the absolutely angelic singing of Matthew's mother. :) I was "got" by Matty's enthusiasm and was having trouble singing the song for him.

But please do enjoy the antics of an almost 11-month old little boy.

Croup d'eMatthew

Isn't it something how everything "important" can suddenly come to a screeching halt as the really important things in life come to light?



Sunday evening, Matthew developed a really awful sounding form of croup.

Even though I still remembered what we had done at home for Carrie when she was little and had croup, we decided to call the on-call nurse.

Thankfully, she sent us to the emergency room.
And thankfully, Carrie went with me to help out.
We left Paul, William, and a teary Joshua at home.

I thought that Matty would receive a breathing treatment and some medicine and then be sent home.
He did receive the breathing treatment and the medicine...along with chest x-rays (which looked good) and an RSV test (which was negative), but his breathing was still very labored.

Thankfully, the ER doctor spoke with our pediatrician and sent us by ambulance to the nearest Children's Hospital.

And thankfully, Paul's mom and dad drove to our house in the middle of the night to be with William and Joshua so that Paul could be with us. He met us just as Matthew was being poked and prodded to find a good vein for the IV.

After spending some time in the ER, the doctors realized that he still wasn't improving like they wanted, so they sent him to the hospital's Intensive Care Unit.

What an experience.
Our baby was, by far, the healthiest in the ICU. It's heartbreaking to think of all the very sick little children that those doctors and nurses take care of everyday.

Thankfully, we had a great team of doctors and nurses who took care of Matthew. His stay in the ICU was short. By late Monday afternoon, he was being moved to the Infant Unit.

Another humbling experience.
Once again, the nurses commented on what a big, healthy baby we have, and how much we have to be thankful for.



By Monday evening, Matthew was beginning to feel better.
He was very wiggly when I held him...he had a hard time staying hooked up to the heart monitor, the oxygen monitor, and the IV. I'm sure the nurses got tired of hearing our beeping machines.
He was also frustrated with not being able to get down and crawl around...a fairly new skill of his.
He had to be content in my arms or sitting and playing in his crib.

Thankfully, he slept as well as he could in the hospital that night.
We began Tuesday morning with the hope that if he could begin eating and drinking without the help of the IV, we might be able to go home that evening.

Tuesday evening, the respiratory doctors gave the O.K. to release Matthew.

We arrived home to find a relieved Grandma and two very happy brothers...and also to a big pot of chili, clean laundry, and a tidy home.

I am very thankful for Judy.




As you can see, I am one thankful Momma.

Thankful first of all to God for his control in everything this week...and for the great Love He has for my babies and for us.

I am thankful for Paul who kept asking me what I needed. He managed not only being with us at the hospital when we most needed him, but he also managed being at home with William and Joshua when they most needed him.

I am thankful for Ron, Judy and Paul's brother Brian, who were willing to drop what they were doing to help us out in order to keep things as "normal" as possible for William and Joshua.

I am thankful for Carrie, who not only kept me company in the hospital, but who was also my runner, baby-holder and buddy.

I am thankful for William. I know that he would have liked to have been with us at the hospital, but he was such a great big brother at home. Joshua needed him there, and he helped to keep Joshua from being too sad.

I am thankful for each and every nurse, doctor, and registration person that we came in contact with. Their jobs are obviously not just jobs.

And I am thankful that I have been reminded, once again, to be thankful.


And thankful I am.

Tot School--"Animals in the Winter"

**Joshua is 41 months old**



Last week's Tot School began with some calendar-changing.

Exit January...enter February! Can you even believe it?!

Josh loves to help change the calendar. He likes to work with the blue sticky tac. Can you blame him?



We display the months on the wall using Velcro.

It's a great way to get the months back onto the wall straight...and it keeps them from falling off of the wall.



Josh also took a little time out of his schedule to scrub some marker off of the table with a Magic Eraser.

The funny thing about this picture is what he was saying as he was scrubbing..."I feel like the Sham Wow dude!"

We love Sham Wow advertisements. :)



For quite awhile now, we've been practicing the alphabet when we wash our hands after using the bathroom. This has worked pretty well...except for the whole "L, M, N, O, P" thing. I'm sure your understand. It all ends up sounding a bit like "MLMOMP."

So, we added a ball. Everytime we would catch the ball, we would say the next letter. It took a little while to get smooth, but once we did, it worked beautifully. Josh was forced to slow down during the middle of the song. "MLMOP" is now beginning to sound more like "L, M, N, O, P."

We even got up to the number 13 before he started skip-counting randomly.

At some point during our game of catch, Joshua decided that he needed to wear some protective gear.

I think it was because he would throw it so hard at me that it would bounce off my head and hit him in the head.




After talking about groundhogs and reading books about other animals that hibernate, Joshua tried hibernating himself.



And so did William!



Have you ever tried M&M counting?
Mmmmmm...




Carrie liked adding a little challenge to her counting.
How many times can I throw an M&M into the air and catch it in my mouth?



Joshua liked the more traditional method of counting and eating M&M's.
Hand to mouth.



Last weekend, Carrie and William did some baking for a church bake sale.
As they were preparing their goodies, Joshua asked me, "What do I get to make, Mommy?"

:( I hadn't thought that he might want to make something too.

So, this week, he decided to make some Rice Krispie Treats for his Wednesday night class. He was excited about making something to share. He said, "I think I will take these to my 'church kids' and they will be so happy!"

I hear that he was pretty proud of his Rice Krispie Treats when it came time to share them in class.



And...you and I both know that one of the best parts of baking a treat is cleaning it up!



My original plan was to have Joshua help me bake Groundhog Day cupcakes and take them to church to share. They're so cute! You decorate Nutter Butters to look like groundhogs and then push them halfway into a frosted cupcake.

I started having second thoughts about this after I bought the Nutter Butters...

Salmonella?
Peanut allergies?
Too messy for 2-4 year-olds?

I decided that we would just decorate some Nutter Butters at home instead.

As you can see, ours are a little more simple than the ones that I linked to above.



I think Joshua had fun decorating his groundhog.
Little squeezy frosting tubes are wonderful!



All right.

Confession.

Weekly themes are not working for me.
I'm switching to monthly themes beginning in March.

The rest of February is hopefully going to be devoted to love and finishing up the projects that are lying around undone.

Hopefully.

Memory-Making in Progress

Where is the heart that does not keep
Within its inmost core
Some fond remembrance hidden deep
Of days that are no more?
--Ellen Clementine Howarth

I love that quote.
I loved it the moment I read it for the first time.
It brings about warm memories from my childhood--especially this past week when I watched my own children playing in the snow.

I stood at the back window, watching them sled down our snowy hill, thinking of the snowy days of my youth.

I lived in an area that received lots of snow every winter. It wasn't surprising at all to wake up in the morning and see my school's name listed as "Closed for the Day." Even better was the mid-morning announcement that would come over the loudspeaker telling us that the buses would soon be there to pick us up and take us home because of "accumulating snow." Those were the days before the "Day Count" became so all-important.

I also remember--very fondly--the homemade ice skating rink that my dad would make for us in the winter. He would lay a big piece of plastic on the ground and then surround it with straw bales. Then, he would fill it with water and wait for it to freeze. It wasn't the smoothest rink--and we didn't have real ice skates, but I felt like Dorothy Hamill in all her glory when I skated on that rink!


And yes, I did sport a very fashionable Dorothy Hamill haircut in the first grade.

And no, I am not posting pictures of it.

Games of "Fox and Goose," setting up the outline of a playhouse in the snow, snowmen and snow forts, ice...I mean snowball fights with my brother, sledding down the barn hill, the icy condensation that gathered on the scarf that was wrapped around my mouth, that strange sensation of being freezing cold and sweaty and red-cheeked all at the same time.

Seeing my kids enjoying the snow and knowing that they were in the process of creating some sweet childhood memories that they too would carry with them forever was what kept me dressing a 3-year old, wiping wet floors, washing towels, drying clothes, and obeying the cries of "Watch this!"--only to do it all over again a couple of hours later.

And, of course, there's the knowledge that it's these same memories that will one day create a patient calmness in my kids when they have their own little ones creating puddles and laundry at the front door.

So...before the snow melts this weekend with the predicted 50 degree weather, here are just a handful of memories from The Big Snow of 2009...

Here's William, flashing me one of his warm-hearted smiles--even though it's below freezing outside.



And here's my extreme sports girl, Carrie, climbing back up the hill for the hundredth time.

It's amazing how many times you'll climb a hill just to go down it ten times faster than it took to climb it.



Here are two of my sweethearts...one watching the other get the knack of sledding all by himself for the first time.



Ahhh. The extremeness of the sport caught up with the girl. Or was it the hill-climbing?



Maybe next year, Matty.
Or the next.



For now, I'll keep you safe and warm inside with me...while I create a new set of winter memories...the best kind of all.

Mom Memories.

Tot School--Big Machines Week

**Joshua is 41 months old**



I have always loved having a theme to our school days...the educational jargon for this is "thematic units."

Themes keep me organized, focused, and excited.
Themes are fun!

This week, our Tot School theme happened quite by chance--if you believe in chance. I don't, so I guess I should rephrase that. This week, our Tot School theme was God-ordained.

I hadn't really put much thought into having a weekly theme for Tot School since we had only just begun this new venture. Then I visited Carisa's blog and saw her wonderful lapbook on "Big Machines."
I've only dabbled a bit in the lapbook world, but what I have done, I have loved--because Joshua has loved lapbooking.

So, I printed out the pages of Carisa's "Big Machine" lapbook (THANK YOU, Carisa, for making it so easy!), and Josh and I got started. Here's a picture of him coloring his bulldozers. Look how focused he is!



Then, on his very own, he went in search of the Tonka books that we have. He loves these books...and throughout the week, we've read them over and over and over and over... You understand, I'm sure.



Of course, when the kids woke up to the almost 12 inches of snow on Wednesday, we strayed from the "Big Machines" train of thought and made snowy day pictures.

First, Josh drew on black construction paper with a white crayon. He also added some yellow for the sunshine. Then, he painted some glue onto the paper and shook on some silver sprinkles. Lots of silver sprinkles.




Here they are hanging to dry on a stretchy line over the sink.



Back to the "Big Machines!"

Almost a year ago, I decided to pull out the cornmeal and have Joshua draw in it with his finger.
That activity gave way to Josh and William driving their Hot Wheels cars through it...which gave way to a HUGE mess.
We put the cornmeal away for a very long time.

I thought that now might be the time to pull it out again. This time, I put it in Matthew's old bathtub (can it really be called old when he's only 9 months?)and placed it on the vinyl floor where it could be "easily" cleaned up. Josh picked out some construction vehicles from the Hot Wheels box and...ta da!! A construction site complete with hills and valleys.

As you can see, William is having a pretty good time too.



On Thursday, my friend, Tonya, came over to talk lesson plans for big kids.

Josh was just getting ready to go down for his nap when she arrived, but he made sure to ask her if she would play with him when he woke up.

Thank you, Tonya, for playing with Josh. You are such a sweetheart. He is still talking about it!



Next came all the construction vehicles...big and small.

I no longer think that the boys need their own bedrooms. After all, they are always bringing out their toys to play in the middle of the family room where we are.

I wouldn't have it any other way.



Reading some more...



And lapbooking some more...



The funniest quote of the week?
When Joshua was looking through the construction paper box to choose a color, he asked, "Do you go any 'struction trucks in here?"
CONSTRUCTION paper...CONSTRUCTION trucks!
It took me awhile to get that one.

Snowy Day

What a wonderful surprise!




I say "surprise" because, even though the snow was predicted, it seems like we are forever disappointed by wrong forecasts. We just don't dare to hope anymore!

But, as you can see, today was a different story!
We were SNOWED IN!

I think the last report was somewhere around twelve inches of the white, powdery, fun stuff!

This was Joshua's first real memorable experience with snow.



He had lots of fun while he was out, but I think the whole ordeal of getting dressed, plodding through snow that was as tall and taller than his knees, and then getting undressed wore him out.





Not to mention the worrying that takes place when big ol' leaping Jack is around. He did get tied for a little while so that Joshua could sled without the stress of Jack bounding up behind him.

Jack did enjoy mauling William, though, before he was sentenced to the rope and the tree.



In the end, I think Joshua was more impressed with what awaited him inside.
Carrie had prepared a pan of her cinnamony Snickerdoodles that we topped off with a mugful of hot chocolate and marshmellow creme--and coffee with creamer for me.



"I'm all warm now...in my belly!" was Josh's response.




And when Carrie and William were preparing to go outside again while Joshua went down for his nap?
Protests on Joshua's part?
No.
Just a perplexed little guy wondering..."Why are they goin' out again? They've already been outside this day."



Next post...how the big kids spend a snowy day!

Wordless Wednesday..."Crazy, Man!"

Tot School

Something has been bothering me for awhile now.

I am reminded quite often of all the fun things that I used to do with Carrie and William when they were little. They were only 2 years apart, so a lot of the things that I would do with Carrie, I would also do with William.

You know, things like painting, playing games, pulling out special toys and sitting on the floor to play with them. We went places too. We did things that were age-appropriate for little kids.

Now that Carrie and William are older and in the 7th and 5th grade, I have become very intense with their schoolwork. Now they are doing upper elementary and junior high English, math and science.

Serious business.

In my rushing around to make sure that we are doing all that I think we should be doing academically for the big kids, I feel like I'm forgetting to do those fun "little kid" things with Joshua.

I know that he's getting plenty of attention. After all, he not only has Mommy and Daddy, but he also has the attention of a 13-year old sister and an 11-year old brother. And now, he is beginning to enjoy having a younger playmate named Matthew.

But I think you know what I mean.

I'm not being intentional. I'm not thinking about what he might enjoy doing with me. I've been a little hit-and-miss when it comes to activity time with Josh.

After much time of wallowing in the guilt and doing nothing but feeling bad, I remembered that this isn't the way it's supposed to be. I'm supposed to be very careful not to get all covered up with guilt and condemnation (I have to say, though, that after 13 years of being a mom, I am pretty good at it). I'm supposed to be taking everything to God. So, I began praying that He would show me how to do all that He would like me to do as a homeschooling mom.

Enter Tot School.

Through blogging, I've met several wonderful moms. One of those moms writes a blog called The Four Little Penguins. When I would visit her blog, I would read about all of the things that she was doing with her little ones during Tot School. How encouraging to find a mom who was doing so many wonderful things with her children!

One day, I figured out that her Tot School graphic was linked to a another blog...1+1+1=1. It is that blog where I found the origin of Tot School, and I also found lots of other moms who are doing Tot School with their little ones.

I want to thank these moms for sharing their lives with me. I want to thank them for their inspiration and encouragement.

Because of your obedience to God's call, He led me to you.

And now, I am posting about my first week of Tot School with Joshua...and at times Carrie, William, and Matthew.

For us, Tot School this week consisted of one day...Friday.

We finished breakfast and then went right into some play time with the music box.

Here, Josh is playing with his macaroni shaker and "coach's whistle." You can see Carrie practicing piano in the background. I don't think that she was too distracted by her 3-year old metronome.



Matthew also found some things that kept his attention.



And, yes, William did too.



After packing up the music box, Josh and I went to the table to practice some cutting. I found a cutting book at our local bookstore called "My First Book of Cutting: A Kumon Workbook."



It was slow going, but Joshua was pretty proud of his final product.



Next, we did something that is one of Joshua's (and my) favorite things to do. We wrote a story for his storybook.

First we looked back at a few of the other stories that we have written.





Then we got started on his new story idea "Frank the Combine."
The idea for the story and the title all belong to Joshua. I write quite a bit of the story, but Joshua guides the storyline. As we write, we look up images on Google Images and I let him choose his favorite pictures. It's also fun to add family pictures when we can.



We read his stories over and over. He likes to show his stories to other people and giggles as they read them to him.

I know...a very long blog post this time.
Go rest your eyes.
It's Sunday evening, so I'm going to go do some lesson planning.
And maybe even make something besides brownies for supper.
Maybe.