(And All My) Work Be Praise

Inspired by many variations on the same theme floating around pinterest and the blogging world, I decided to do a "thankful tree" this year. Most nights (when my husband was home) after dinner, I'd ask everyone what they were thankful for and write it on a leaf. The answers from my 2- and 3-year-old boys were sometimes odd, but I tried not to "lead" their answers too much! To make the tree, I cut up some big paper bags for the trunk and branches (which blend in with the brown wall a little too much, but I felt resourceful in doing it). The leaves started out on full pieces of construction paper, traced from a leaf I printed out as a template, but I soon realized I would run out of construction paper WAY too soon making big leaves and started cutting them free-hand out of smaller pieces instead. As it was, the momentum faltered a good 7-10 days before Thanksgiving, partly because we got busy and partly because I knew I couldn't make any more leaves witho...

I didn't post one "thankful" a day on Facebook like a lot of my friends, mostly because I like to be thoughtful about these things and I don't have time every day to be thoughtful.  (Yeah, I really feel that way.)  So, I've been working on the list -- 22 items, one for every November day through Thanksgiving -- in spurts, and here it is! 1. Levi reading books to Owen "in the corner of the house." [For reasons unbeknownst to me, they think this is super fun.  I suspect that if they knew of such things, they'd hang up a "no girls allowed" sign and declare it their clubhouse.] 2. Perfect November weather.  Cool, crisp, and dry. 3. Burt's Bees cocoa butter chapstick for when the "dry" part of #2 is too much. 4. Brothers who tackle each other in their eagerness to give hugs. [Please not that I am not  thankful for the weird angle of my face in this picture.  5. A stack of jeans growing steadily too big as I slowly...

As you may remember , the radio in my car is broken.  Approximately five years ago, a CD got stuck in the CD player. For a while, I could play the radio and that one CD. Then the CD part stopped working altogether, but the radio still worked. A year or two ago, my husband spent hours upon hours trying various methods to enable us to listen to music in the car. The Nissan dashboard is not kind to those trying to disassemble it, but Isaac attacked it at least three times, getting the stuck CD out, attaching an mp3 player to the satellite input, checking all the cords again when things stopped working. We'll probably never know exactly what happened, but after ages of the radio working sometimes and not others without any obvious reason, it finally quit completely a few months ago. Doesn't turn on at all, and even if it occasionally shows life on the dashboard, no sound comes out of the speakers. Unless we're on a longer trip and all of the boys are asleep, I really don'...

In the interest of keeping myself accountable, I offer up my first weight-loss update. It's good news: I've lost 5 pounds in 4 weeks! After the initial shock of counting calories, it hasn't been all that bad, either. I've gained real awareness of about how much I can eat at any given meal or snack and still have calories left for the rest of the day. Probably the biggest success has been (mostly) eliminating the sugary snacks I used to consume mid-afternoon. I know it's better not to eat the few hours before bedtime, but since I know I'll be nursing at least once and probably twice before breakfast, I really need something to tide me over after dinner. And if I'm going to have an evening treat, I can't spend those calories in the afternoon! For the first time, I've been reaching for cheese sticks or fruit or Triscuits more often than the chocolate chip jar. About two weeks ago, I had a real food crisis. If it had been practical, I would've gi...

I've gotten braver . . . or more in need of activities . . . or the boys have gotten older . . . At any rate, we've painted twice in the past few weeks, with minimal damage to clothing or furniture. I do have one dedicated painting t-shirt, but it's so much easier just to strip them down. With the water colors, it didn't seem necessary. First up: after reading about  Josiah , I cut two rectangles out of a large paper bag. The boys crumpled them up and flattened them back up repeatedly to "age" the paper, and then covered them in brown water color to further the effect. I quickly discovered that the activity went more smoothly if I held a little bowl of water (out of Owen's reach) and only offered it for dipping paintbrushes when necessary. Notice Silas's name has been added to the purple table.  :)  Thanks, Dad! Before painting, I wrote "Book of the Law" on Owen's paper, and then Levi copied it onto his own. He still ...

A Very Hungry Caterpillar by Owen, age 23.5 months light moon little egg lay leaf next day -- POP! next day eat two pears next day -- Wen-day eat one staw-bry next day eat  . . . wowwi-pop . . .  . . . [points to cherry pie] that . . .  . . . CUPCAKE!