(And All My) Work Be Praise

About two weeks ago, I was feeling particularly ambitious during nap time and thought we'd seize the not-too-hot day to go outside and finger paint when the boys woke up!  I knew it was risky: Levi hates to have his hands dirty [yep, my 2-year-old is OCD] and Owen tries to eat everything he sees.  Since I saw this recipe for homemade fingerpaint on Pinterest , though, it's been on my "worth a try" list. The recipe is easy enough, though I suspect I may have let mine thicken too much.  (This is a problem for me.  The first time I made this  warm chocolate soother , it was like drinking brownie batter.  Of course, drinking brownie batter is not necessarily a horrible thing, but it was a little intense.) I digress.  Here's what my yet-uncolored fingerpaint looked like in the saucepan: And the finished product (it filled four baby food jars, but we'd been reading Mouse Paint a lot, so I thought I'd stick with the primary colors): As I suspected, Le...

Last week I had the rare opportunity to meet a long-time friend, bringing just Owen with me.  We gabbed non-stop for three hours as we wandered the rows of stores at the Jeffersonville outlet mall, sometimes several times each as we concentrated more on our chatting than on our direction!  It was truly refreshing, all of it: the beautiful day, the few bargains we found, the lack of a toddler around my knees, a friend who's known me longer than nearly anyone else I'm in contact with these days, freedom to discuss everything under the sun. As I mulled over our conversation on the drive home, I realized that several times throughout the morning, I'd made a big deal of the fact that I have sons rather than daughters.  It was always in conjunction with some sort of parenting challenge: potty-training and sitting quietly in church are the two that spring to mind, but I'm sure there were others. My initial reaction to this realization was to panic.   What if I'm using ...

I think the title is pretty self-explanatory.  Let's jump right in. Pros : We all slept in our own beds in our own rooms.  I'm a light sleeper.  I don't enjoy sharing a room with my children.  They wake each other up when they're in the same room.  [Some day, my boys will surely share a room, and I think that's a good thing . . . but not until we're past baby stage.]  Naps are inevitably shorter in pack'n'plays.  Etc. It's exceptionally cost-effective.  We used up gift cards that sit around for months, waiting for that perfect opportunity to go out.  We discovered free things we'd never tried (like the library toddler story time ).  We ate breakfast at home. That said, since we do keep aside money for a "travel budget," we felt free to spend money on things that we wouldn't normally pay full-price for, like the zoo and the aquarium.  It was fun, to be tourists in our own city. I kept up with laundry: only as absolutely nec...

As I mentioned earlier, Isaac took two weeks off this month.  Given the ages of our children, we decided it would be easier on everyone to stay home and go on mini-excursions in the late morning and late afternoon.  I've compiled a list, for those of you who are local and might need reminders (nothing earth-shattering here) of what's available to do with your littles! Some fun things in town we did: Toddler Story Time  at the North Central branch of the Cincinnati-Hamilton County Public Library.  I can't believe I've never taken Levi before; it was  wonderful !  (And free!)  [Okay, I know why: because I've been afraid of managing both boys in a structured environment by myself.  But with Isaac along to help for the first time, it was great, and I think once Levi gets used to being there, it'll be fun for all of us!  It's going on our regular calendar!] Wyoming Farmers' Market : The first time I went to this particular market, there was a...

Sounds like causing strife, doesn't it?  Let me give you the whole verse: let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. It's what struck me as I was doing my Bible reading this morning, in Hebrews 10 (verse 24).  It's a little hard for me to concentrate on reading in the mornings.  Levi and I do it together at the kitchen table after breakfast: he looks at the pictures in his Jesus Storybook Bible  and listens (make that "listens") to a story, and I do a page in a devotional , in Hebrews right now.  There's nothing special about this particular Bible study book, and in fact I can't even say it's all that good.  But since I can barely concentrate anyway, I'm just trying to write down one thought every morning that catches my attention. As the devotional suggested, I took the verse quoted above as a command: consider how to stir up someone to love and good works.  My husband was the first person who popped into mind [that...

This week I planned three activities for Levi's "school time" on the couch, for the three days we'll be home in the morning.  Two days in, I've done one of them.  Better than none, right?  Anyway, I didn't take any pictures, but I essentially followed Jenae's   last "Toddler Time" activity, found here . I brought down several pairs of Levi's socks.  First we played "same or different" with two pairs of white socks and one pair of brown socks.  That was easy, but I wanted to be sure he understood the words "same" and "different."  Then I put one of each pair (5-6 differently-patterned pairs) on the couch, handed him the matches in a pile, and had him match up his pile to the row on the couch.  Finally, I gave him all  the socks and had him hand them to me in pairs.  That was a bit trickier -- or, he just got bored and refused to match up the last four.  I'm not sure which.  :) Oh, and we opened and closed ...

[God's] wisdom is my perfect peace. ~My Heart Is Filled With Thankfulness Keith Getty / Stuart Townend © 2003 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)