Humming Boys

We're obsessed with hummingbirds! What started simply with Keegan picking a library book about hummingbirds has snowballed. They now want to pretend that they are baby hummingbirds when getting their morning vitamins and Xander regularly tries to fly as fast as a hummingbird for Dad!

I love seeing what things interest them! Indulging obsessions like this is so much fun!

New Territory

Growing up, I was a bit of a tomboy. Because of this (despite having no brothers), I felt VERY well prepared for marriage and hoped I'd be blessed with some little boys!

I caught snakes, bugs, gutted fish, played sports, enjoyed getting dirty, blah, blah, blah. Oh and I can out eat many boys, so I understood the priority of FOOD!! I understood being tough and food. Yup, I was ready.

What I didn't realize was that even though I did these tomboyish type things, boys are still VERY different from girls, at least my man certainly was! A good friend of mine, lent me the book, Bringing Up Boys, when I was talking to her about this perplexing person I had married. It was an eye opener.

Boys are different.

This is proved to me daily...

I'm not a big fan of killing bugs. I'll do it and you would never find me acting scared to kill a bug, but it's not high on my list of enjoyable activities. (Playing with live bugs or already dead bugs is one thing, but I'm not into the killing aspect.)

For my boys, though, it's all about the kill. Killing bugs is big entertainment in these parts - especially if you can manage to do it with your bare hands!

Their combined skills netted two dead flies.

...which they proudly brought to show mommy!

What a Gift!

As a gift to me, my wonderful hubby released me early this morning to a mini-retreat! I woke up and made my way to the Riparian Park and arrived in time watch the sun make its debut for the day.

I definitely needed the time away. I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve. Every couple of hours I would awaken and check the time and ended up bounding out of bed at 4:50, excited to make my getaway!

With my Bible, journal and camera, I embarked.

There is something so powerful about getting out in nature. I always have my most intimate conversations with God when I'm outside. There's just something about the quiet, fresh air and space, especially at the opening or close of a day...

Although spring definitely feels like it's gone, there were still quite a few blooms out there.

Reading about God's creative power takes on a whole new meaning, when I'm outside enjoying his beautiful creation.

I'm reminded of what Billy Graham once said:

"Mothers should cultivate their souls, that in turn they may cultivate the souls of their children."

I came back refreshed. The rest of my day certainly didn't go perfectly, but God gave me the strength and grace to navigate thru it. Perspective changes everything!

What a gift! Thanks Rich! (can i go again next week?)

On to Sparks

My little Cubbie is a Cubbie no more... This last Sunday marked the end of Cubbies for the year. Xander loved his year and it has been such a blessing to see the fruit in his life. His sweet surrender to Jesus has been beautiful to behold. It just blows me away!

Celebrating with a feast of hotdogs and snowcones afterwards!

Next year it's on to Sparkies!
As I look back at my own childhood, I'm so thankful for the strong foundation this program provided for me. I'm still reaping the benefits daily! I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to help my children in the same way! I'm the type of person who needs accountability, otherwise good intentions remain just that. Awana's equips me to teach, train and intentionally point their attention to the One who provides hope and unconditional love!

New Mercies

Thankful, so very thankful that:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is his faithfulness.

(Lamentations 3:22-23)

As I stumble along, God is so gracious to remind me that even when I feel completely empty, his mercies never end.

Tomorrow is a new day, a fresh start.

I don't know why I worry that I won't have the energy or grace for tomorrow. I forget that I am not to "worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself." But instead to "seek first the kingdom of God and his rightousness and all these things will be added to you."

Isn't God so amazing? I am unbelievable blessed.

...off to bed, so I can get up early in order to snatch some quiet moments with God before the beautiful craziness of a a new day gets into full swing.

Cooking with Kids!

It's no secret, that this family loves to eat. I'm already realizing that we are going to have to set aside some serious budget money as these boys of ours grow.

Since a fair bit of my time is spent in the kitchen preparing the food we love to eat, it has been fun to include the kids in the preparation! They have fun and learn so much too. Counting, adding, subtracting, fractions (not yet for us, but eventually...), chemistry and of course a healthy appreciation, hopefully, for what kind of work it takes to get food on the table and into hungry tummies.

Here are some tips that I've found helpful when including the kids as I bake:

1. Allow more time for preparation. If I'm short on time, having helpers just isn't, well, helpful. Allowing for longer prep time helps keep the atmosphere relaxed and goes a long way to increasing mommy's patience! What goes along with this is realizing when I am short on time and/or patience and redirecting the boys attention elsewhere...


2. Letting them pour pre-measured ingredients into the bowls. Since I don't want to waste ingredients, I typically measure out and then allow them the opportunity to take turns pouring. If you are feeling brave, you can give them a little more leeway with this.


3. Let them 'man' the mixer. This is the most prized privilege. I'm not quite sure if it is a boy thing, but they LOVE to take turns lifting the bowl and turning the mixer on and off.


4. Anything related to rolling out dough or brushing on stuff is a good 'kid' job!


5. Avoid giving them the 'hot' jobs. I'm just not comfortable with them near the open oven or in this case with dropping pretzels into boiling water... Those are "take a step back and just watch" parts.

Of course, most of this goes for baking. I haven't really included them much with general cooking, except for letting them stir sauces and such. The thought of them at my side while I'm wielding a big knife scares me... Any ideas on this or other fun kid-friendly baking ideas would be much appreciated.

Our latest project was pretzels! I love a good soft pretzel, but certainly not the price that goes with it. There are more steps than the average recipe, which intimidated me at first. But really, if you take it one step at a time, it wasn't too bad. The boys really loved helping out with this one. Although there is room for improvement, the first try was a hit! The only change I made was to add 1 cup of whole wheat flour. I think I'll experiment with upping the whole wheat content and see if I can still get the light chewy texture!

Xander loved painting the pretzels with egg yolk wash! My precise little painter enjoyed getting egg into every little nook and cranny. (I ended up helping him out because he was getting a little too methodical and I was HUNGRY!)

Our finished product!

YUM!

My Favorite

"My favorite" has been a favorite phrase around these parts lately. Xander randomly announced a couple of months ago, "Frank is my favorite." We were a bit confused as we have a friend, Frank, whom Xander is supposed to be calling by his last name... But no, he meant FRANK.

Today he was announcing that Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang was his favorite and then it was watermelon... When we asked which he liked the best of the two, he announced that they were both his favorites.

Well, I have a new favorite! Favorite place, that is. It is this grove of cottonwoods. Due to it's secluded nature, there are very few people here and the only thing you here is the wind rustling thru the tree's. It's hard to believe that we are in the middle of the city.

We met friends there yesterday for an enchanting morning!

The boys explored and got muddy.

Rode noble steeds.

Fought fierce dragons

Enjoyed their freedom.

And napped very well that afternoon!

Oh yes, we'll be back to our new favorite place!