Quote of the Week

My little guy has always been a pretty stellar sleeper. He is simply happier when he is rested and so (much to my great pleasure!) we have continued to do afternoon naps/quiet time. Since napping occurs kind of mid-day, I typically bribe incentivise him with an after-nap activity that I know he will enjoy.

On the way home from church this past Sunday, the X-man was begging to ride his new (trail-along) bike as soon as he arrived home. When I reminded him that naptime was first & THEN we'd get to ride, the X-man exclaimed in an exasperated voice -- "Why do so many things depend on me taking a good nap?"

Football With the 'Big Kids'

A friend, Cindy, emailed me this picture taken at the church cookout X-man and I went to this past weekend. I don't know what I love most about the image captured. Maybe it is the fact that Xander seems to be (slyly) keeping an eye on his opponent while in the huddle. Or quite possibly, it is seeing three junior high/high school kids including my little 4Yr old in their team strategy.

If You Don't Have A Sibling...

...then I guess your imaginary friend is the go-to scapegoat! :)

Based on the amount of books we check out from the library, I am quite pleased we return the majority of them unharmed. But, last week we had an incident. It involved a map of the Oregon Trail printed on the inside cover of a book & a blue ink pen. Once said pen was confiscated, I explained to Alexander that we'd need to make a trip to the library and explain what happened to the book's map. I explained that HE would be providing the details of the bad choice he had made.

Fast forward to this morning after preschool. On the way home, I explained we would be stopping at the library to return the marked-up book & make apologies. X-Man assured me that HE would not be doing any talking. As I pressed him further, he explained. "But, Mom. I was only showing Tommy  the distance from where we live to where Oregon is. I didn't want to but Tommy made me to draw on the book. Tommy told me to; it is not my fault."

I tell you, when I get my hands on that Tommy-kid, we are going to have quite the conversation :)

ECFA LifeAThon

The X-Man ran in his first 'official' race this weekend. He believes he won the race. I am pretty certain it was a tie OR a possible disqualification for cutting off/practicially tripping his main competitor :) 
 
Days before, he was really excited to run. Then the morning of, totally adamant he was NOT going to participate (ever, mom! ever!). And then he made a new friend (Logan) and decided a race sounded like fun.
 
The event was the Evangelical Child and Family Agency (ECFA) LifeAThon at a local forest preserve. Beautiful park/course. Beautiful weather. Xander participated in the toddler trot and then we rode a portion of the 10K bike event together. He was thrilled with earning TWO medals; just like at the Olympics. 

waiting for the race to begin



warming up on the grassy infield



hitting his stride



taking the running-thing VERY seriously

Ozzie ran along with the kids, much to their delight

one of the MANY water breaks we took along the way:)but he rode 5K with those little legs a-spinning so they were deserved

 
 

Book Review: When Hope Blossoms

I recently read Kim Vogel Sawyers latest book, “When Hope Blossoms”, a story of overcoming grief and embracing life again.

 

Being familiar with the Mennonite faith, I thought this book represented the main characters and their unique traditions/beliefs in a realistic & compassionate manner, illustrating their desire to bring glory to God thru a close relationship with His Son and one another.

 

The characters were well developed – a mother wishing for a fresh start after tragedy (Amy), a teenage daughter (Bekah) questioning her personal beliefs, a precious middle son (Parker) who suffered a brain injury during a farming accident, precocious little girl (Adrianna/Adri) full of spunk and sweetness, and their neighbor (Mr Roper) fighting demons of his own.

 As Mr. Roper struggles with past grief/hurts, I liked the trigger point for reconciliation. “You aren’t sure if what you’re remembering is real or merely a figment of your imagination.” Sometimes we believe we see things clearly but until we view them thru the lens of Truth, our vision can be distorted. Life will always have pain but, not only pain. There is always grace/love/goodness intertwined.  

A good read. An easy read.

 

Please note that I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.