… unless your feet are killing you; then put on cute, comfy flats.
For friends and family/Farm Day/(the motherload)/part 2
Hi again!
I hope you enjoyed seeing the first half of the pictures from our fun day at the farm. If you missed it, here’s a link:
Remember, (the motherload) is in the title for a reason; this is a lot of pictures! If you don’t know us, I won’t be offended at all if you go read somewhere else. This might be a little much. = )
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Here again, you see the girls in another long line…
But this was the attraction this time!
There were smaller lines for smaller tractors, but no-siree, they’d wanted the biggest one. (And I did, too, but the line was really long. Think small children who don’t want to get out of the tractor once they get in, and parents who are trying to reason with them that other boys and girls wanted to go, too.)
Once we got to the front wheel, we took fun pictures of the girls. The wind was blowing so I think most of them are trying to hold their hair back.
And we finally made it!
Sophia was the first to the top, no surprise there.
Hope looked the most like she knew how to drive.
And Gracie tried to buckle her seat belt as soon as she got in the seat. I love when kids do things that totally surprise you!
Then we took more pictures in the much larger back wheel. So fun!
Just when you thought the day couldn’t get any better… they gave away free ice cream to everybody! We had so much fun sitting on hay bales and eating ice cream.
This picture represents a nostalgic mommy moment. Hope asked if she could go throw her own ice cream carton away. I said that that would be fine, but watching her go away and stand and move around the other kids made me realize how big she is. She looked so sweet, and happy, and grown up! It made my heart happy and sad at the same time.
What a lovely day!
Believe it or not, Mckayla was perfectly content the whole time in the stroller. I was very thankful for that. That stroller was not made to push through tall grass and barn shavings; I definitely got my workout that day! Sometimes I just picked the stroller up with her in it to get over a hump or something.
Also, there are a few pictures that I can’t find to stick in here… Sophia milking the cow, Gracie eating her ice cream, and one of all of us together. If I find them, I’ll stick them in and let you know that I did.
Hope everyone is doing well!
Thanks for reading…
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For family and friends/Farm Day/(the motherload)/part 1
Hello to all!
First I have to say that it feels like forever since anything has been posted around here! But thanks to all who have been reading the last few days anyways, I really appreciate it!
If you’re wondering what (the motherload) was doing in the title, here is the scoop: this post has a ton of pictures.
If you are a grandmother, aunt, close friend, or angelic babysitter… prepare to be very, very happy. If you cannot claim any of the above-mentioned titles or anything close to any of the above-mentioned titles, prepare to be very, very bored. You will not hurt my feelings at all by clicking away. Just so we’re clear. = )
We happen to live in a really, really cool place with lots of things for families to do. A nearby university hosts a “farm day” every year and we finally made it this time!
You know it’s a good activity when you hear your kids saying frequently and without solicitation, “This is a really fun thing to do.” “I’m having so much fun.” “This is so cool!” “Thanks for bringing us here to do this, Mom.”
It was tiring! But rewarding! A really good, fun day.
So without further ado, I present you with part 1 of our Farm Day pictures.
The first thing the girls did was hold baby chicks. Gracie was not interested.
Here are all the girls… excited about all the things they’re going to see.
Next we went outside to see a horse demonstration which was actually just someone on a horse talking. But the girls did have the chance then to stand in line to pet the horse. When I asked them if they wanted to do that, they answered, “Yes!” Gracie was not interested in petting the horse, but the friendly helper picked her up and touched the horse with her hand anyway.
Back inside we got to see a one month old foal and his mom. Needless to say, the girls loved that. We saw some cows and saw a line to milk a… fake cow? I didn’t think they’d be interested; but apparently my mind doesn’t work like a preschoolers because they definitely were interested! Interested enough to stand happily in line for a long time!
Mckayla wasn’t quite sure what all the hullaballoo was about.
Hope made good use of her time by practicing her photography skills.
And finally, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! I mean, the pail of milk under the white and black painted box! I have to admit, it was worth the wait. The girls thought it was so cool (except for Gracie, who wanted to do it until it was her turn).
Back outside again, we saw a “REAL BABY DAIRY COW THAT WAS GOING TO GROW UP AND GIVE MILK!” Yes, a baby cow reclining in some bark really was that exciting after the milking experience! (Did you know that a milk cow can produce 80-100 pounds of milk per day? I’m pretty sure I need one.)
And did you know, that there are such things as “hair” sheep? As opposed to “wool” sheep. Here’s proof. (Gracie again, not interested. {by not interested I mean content to look, but terrified to touch})
Inside again, they caught sight of another fake cow! Hope made sure to tell me that it wasn’t really real because she could see inside and it was a person. Shocking.
And then, a breeze began to blow. The clouds began to part. Soft music began to play.
Why?
Because we headed to the bunnies.
And at the bunny cages… Gracie fell in love.
I thought my heart was going to melt all over the ground. She was completely taken, transfixed. She would pet them as long as I would let her. Hope and Sophia were so excited for her; it was quite the sweet, sweet, very sweet moment. She told many people afterwards, “The bwack one didn’t let me pet him. He just (sound effect) “ooped” away. But the bwown one and da white one let me pet them. Yeah, I like the bunnies.”
We went back a second time and this time Mckayla got to look, too. She was very excited with it all, but not quite as gentle as Gracie. = )
And so with this, I close part 1 of our Farm Day picture post.
Hope you enjoyed it! I will try to post the other one either later today or tomorrow.
Love to all,
Christie
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What the fly on the wall heard
Welcome to “What the fly on the wall heard”! This is where I keep track of all the silly things said around here as we go through our life with four girls five and under.
Sophia quickly shoved a bunch of newly picked grass in my hand so she could run down the sidewalk as we were on our way home from playing outside, “Mom, can you hold these for me? It’s my fresh garlic!”
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This afternoon at lunch, Paul and I were conversing about ranching life, how it’s dusk to dawn, day in and day out; how there’s so much work to be done; how it must help people to avoid the pitfalls of idleness to be so busy…
Sophia chimed in (with very excited tones), “And because they live on a farm, they don’t even have to stop to eat breakfast if they’re really busy; they can just go to work, grab one of the animals, kill it and eat it!!”
Gracie had a little something to add, “And they probably get a kitty-cat, and they’d kill it and eat it, and then put it inside the fence. And that makes perfect sense.”
I’m not lying! That’s what she said!
So just to review, they’d kill a cat, eat it, and put it inside a fence. All that would make perfect sense.
Got that?
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Teaching piano lessons to your own child: Bloopers!
Well, I do believe that I will end this series for now. Maybe in a year or so, I’ll revisit the topic with some more thoughts.
Haven’t read the other posts yet? Here are the links:
4 practice tips for during the week
Looking like a teacher on lesson day
To close, I’d thought I’d share a few funny comments from… ahem… my student.
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It’s come to my attention that Hope is not unlike other students at all; she frequently blames her mom for the fact that she hasn’t practiced.
Unfortunately for her (and me!), I am her mom.
This week it was, “Yeah, we didn’t practice that too much, because I kept asking my mom if we could do it and she kept saying, “Not right now,” but then we never did do it.
Wha?
Okay, partly true, but definitely blame-shifting!
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“I didn’t do my theory because my mom never remembered to help me with it.”
Have I mentioned I have four kids five and under?
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“So, I didn’t practice very much this week, but it wasn’t my fault. We were really busy.”
We.
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Oh, but I take it all in stride. Mrs. _____ knows the truth. One, that Hope is a perfectly typical little girl who loves to practice, but also doesn’t always quite do it the way she should, regardless of me; two, that I’m a just a mom with all the imperfections, busyness, and priority struggles of every other mom.
All this means that our weeks of practice follow a very normal pattern for beginning piano students, and I think that’s probably a good thing.
Thank you so much for reading! If any of this has been helpful or interesting, I’d love to hear your feedback. I know there are other moms out there doing the same thing, so I’d love to hear what has worked for you. Hope you’re having a lovely week!
Christie
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Gracie’s plan for the day
A couple mornings ago, Paul was holding Gracie on his lap talking with her before he went to work.
“Gracie, what are you going to do today?” he asked.
“Eat breakthast.”
“Then what are you going to do?”
“Eat lunch.”
“What are you going to do after that?”
“Eat dinnuh.”
Well, sounds like a plan.
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Pictures from our life, Mckayla loves shoes!
The night she discovered Hope’s sparkly pink Toms.
A few explanations: the girls LOVE when Paul comes in and sticks his feet in the tub during their bathtime. They splash him and wash his feet. (he does his share of splashing them!)
Mckayla took advantage of the opportunity to try out some new kicks.
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The Date I’ve Been Waiting For!! (A very happy anniversary)
Paul and I got to go away the week before our anniversary on a big date!
By ourselves.
Amazing.
Here are the pictures I took!
First of all (by my request, believe it or not), we went and played golf. (which basically means he plays golf and I follow him around and pretend like I’m keeping score. I don’t play golf.) We used to do this when we were first married, but by the time our second child came, it just didn’t work anymore. I dearly love being outside, and it is so pretty on golf courses!
Next, we drove to our hotel.
Paul had already gone and looked at it that day, just to make sure it was what he wanted. Isn’t that sweet? I had never heard of it before, but it was amazing. The interiors were so beautiful, colorful and thoughtful. I love looking at interiors and design stuff; so this place was a feast for the eyes. Not too stuffy, or ritzy-we’re making you pay a whole lot of money so you can feel cool that you stayed here- just really, really fresh and creative. Again, I wish I could take better pictures so you could see how fun it was.
After cleaning up from golf, we went to dinner: P.F. Chang’s. I had never been before, and it was delicious. I’m determined to recreate their candied ginger for sweet sour and chicken. I’m pretty sure it was the key. = )
Dinner was great, but conversation was even better. I love spending time with Paul.
After that it was sleep. sleep. and more sleep.
And then I woke up, and went back to sleep.
And then I woke up again, and just stayed in bed because I could. ***Wonderful***
Finally, we got up; got ready; realized we had missed breakfast by an hour and half, and headed to a fun mall nearby.
First order of business: have soft pretzels and strawberry lemonade for breakfast. = )
Next up, Anthropologie!
This store is arranged so beautifully, smells so good, and everything you see is creative and interesting.
This picture totally cracked me up; I couldn’t pass it up.
After we left the mall, we made our way to an amazing barbecue restaurant downtown. Mm-mmm.
We had a lovely drive around downtown after lunch, looking at old houses, shops, and parks.
When we got home, we were greeted by four very excited little girls and two tired, but cheery babysitters. (Let me just say, these girls were like the queens of babysitting! They did laundry, took the girls to the park, played the Big Bad Wolf {a current favorite activity of the girls}, cleaned up a middle-of-the-night accident, made omelettes for breakfast, taught the girls how to make paper snowflakes…) I was impressed! They even made us…
an anniversary cake! Complete with two mini cakes for the girls. How fun!
All in all, it was a lovely getaway. So thankful for time to just hang out with my Bud.
So for all of you who wished us a Happy Anniversary…
… it was. (and thanks!)
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It’s all about love! what I just finished reading
Since I care a great deal about accuracy, I feel inclined to tell you that I didn’t just finish reading these. But both of them were completed in the last several months ; John Donne first, Uneclipsing the Son last. But as a young mother of four little kids five and under, I’m still basking in the accomplishment of finishing two books.
Also, it’s been a great while since I did an actual book review. I didn’t enjoy it then, and I don’t plan on enduring it now. So I will try to tell you why I read these books and point out some things that were especially enjoyable or valuable to me. That sounds a lot better then going through my old Composition text and writing point for point a good book review.
Ready?
Poetry first.
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I dearly love poetry, but have only come to realize this since being married. One of our favorite hangouts as a couple is Barnes and Noble; I remember the first time I decided to browse the poetry section. Hmm… Dylan Johnson, there was a poem of his I loved in high school. Egh, but not right now. Tennyson? Longfellow? John Donne. Oh yes, this is what I want.
“Batter my heart three-personed God!” rang in my ears. I wanted to read more of this guy.
These poems were definitely a stretch for me. Sometimes I would have to read it two or three times to really understand. There are a lot of references to ancient mythology? history? I didn’t get all those, but it didn’t hamper my understanding too much. In his introduction, Charles Fowkes relays how reading Donne’s love poems connects with the feelings of your own heart. His writing truly captures the universal emotions associated with romantic love: jealousy, discontentment, peace, adversity, desire, worry, infatuation, joy, loneliness… you know you’ve felt them all; and he will put verse to your feelings, my friend. = )
Warning: I wouldn’t suggest these if you’re a dreamy teenage girl. It’s perfectly cool if you’re married, but maybe a little too intense otherwise.
One of my favorites was entitled “His Picture.” It tells of a young man going off to sea who gives his picture to the girl he loves. He hopes that when he comes back, “weather-beaten… a sack of bones… with care’s rash,” that she will remember what he was, and maybe even appreciate him more for what he has become…
That which in him was fair and delicate,
Was but the milk, which in love’s childish state
Did nurse it: who now is grown strong enough
To feed on that, which to disused tastes seems tough.
Ah… I love it.
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Switching topics completely. I’ve written before here about my desire to simply grow in my love for Jesus this year. Some messages we heard at our church and seminary convocation last year really helped me formulate how this could happen. They were preached by Rick Holland, pastor of Mission Road Bible Church. (Here is his blog, approachingdamascus.com).
Uneclipsing the Son, was the basis for those messages. Rick Holland sets out to prove that the answer to the problems Christians face is answered in one word, Jesus. Amazing stuff, I know. Here are a few excerpts from his beginning statements:
You’ve spent hours in church, listened to countless sermons, compiled enough notes to sink a battleship. You’ve had enough good intentions to compete with Mother Teresa and enough failures to compete with Peter’s denials and Thomas’s doubts. Still, something is woefully missing. There is a shadow, a pall over your very, very “normal” Christian life.
I am not so arrogant as to think that the book you are holding is the answer to all your questions and the cure for all your soul’s ills. But I am convinced that Jesus Himself is that Answer and Cure. I have experienced dry times in my faith and tried everything I could to quench my heart’s thirst. But nothing has made a lasting difference, except Jesus.
The entirety of the New Testament is devoted to getting Jesus right. These biblical books are not a mere directive for a new way to live, but a manifesto of the amazing greatness of Jesus. Get Jesus wrong and you lose everything that matters; get Him right and you gain everything that matters.
Every single chapter in this book was valuable and helpful. You are slowly brought along, disabused of misconceptions, and inspired to follow Christ in a way that is real and doable. Here are highlights from a few chapters that were especially helpful to me.
Chapter 3, Eternal Life Is Not What You Think. Yes! We are not talking about a mere fire escape from hell and ticket to forever happiness in heaven. Eternal life is knowing Jesus Christ, John 17:3.
Chapter 6, The Word And Words, is a faith-strengthening call to rely on the Bible for your knowledge of Jesus.
Chapter 7, Satan’s Associates. If we are to love Jesus and to pursue knowing Him above all else, it will require making war on the idolatrous passions of our heart. A great chapter on sin in the Christian life; it takes away our excuses.
Chapter 9, The Lost Supper. This was my favorite chapter of all. I plan to reread it often. Did you know that there is a God-given way to “accelerate your spiritual growth and rekindle your love for Christ”? It’s not a gimmick, not a formula, not an incentive, not anything man-made, but it works every time. And I’m not going to tell you what it is! You have to read the book! How valuable just this one chapter of truth was to me!
This book did not impact me on an intellectual level. It was aimed at my heart; that place that every day experiences the warfare between loving God or loving myself.
On the note of writing style, I found Rick Holland’s blend of theological proposition and conversational informality to be evenly balanced, giving the reader equal opportunity to think hard and then mentally breathe.
This book could be read by anyone.
I would strongly recommend it for someone who knows and cares nothing about Jesus, what have you got to lose? There’s always something to be said for expanding your horizons.
I would recommend it for someone who might be struggling with their own salvation or finding the Christian life more difficult than expected.
I would recommend it for someone who has loved Jesus for a long time; there’s nothing sweeter than rehearsing our Saviour’s greatness.
I would recommend it for someone who is coming alongside a younger believer; it’s full of practical and compelling truth regarding living the Christian life.
Here is the Amazon link again for Uneclipsing the Son, by Rick Holland.
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Thanks so much for reading about what I’ve been reading! I love to hear about books. What have you been reading and why…
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Gracie’s stages: I don’t like bugths!
Gracie is, or can be… a little contrary. Let’s just say she seems to enjoy not liking things more than she does liking things. Bubble bath? The other girls can’t get enough of it. But Gracie shakes her head and says, “I don’t like bubblths.”
Perhaps if you’ve read much here, you’ve caught on that Gracie and I have a special time of mother/daughter conversation while she uses the restroom before her nap. Strange as it might sound, it’s one of the most entertaining, (dare I say, favorite?) times of my day. This conversation basically consists of her monologue-ing and me just saying something every now and then to keep her going. One day, early on in the two year old stage, she began to tell about things she didn’t like.
“Mommy…”
“Yes, Gracie?”
“I don’t like bugths!”
“I don’t like bugs either, Gracie.”
“Yeah, them gwoss!”
But it was cuter than that. Imagine her scrunching up her nose and shaking her head when she says, “Bugths.” It continued.
“I don’t like beeths.”
“I don’t like waspths. ”
“I don’t like anths.”
“I don’t like ca-ta-pil-wa-ths.”
“I don’t like butterflieths.”
I had to disagree here. “You don’t like butterflies? I like butterflies.”
“Mm…no, I don’t like butterflieths.” And the nose scrunches and the head shakes.
It was too much.
I don’t know how long we would ask her, “Gracie, do you like bugs?”
And she would tell us.
I’m trying to keep track of the funny stages Gracie goes through as a two year old. Last time I wrote about “Birthday Woo!” and “Boy run!”
small steps, big picture 