around here

• Our fall decorations are up!

• I am trying to catch up on my study of the kings of Israel and Judah. They sure had some crazy names!

• It's time to drag out the holiday planner.

• Reading the story of Jonah and the whale. Over, and over, and over. 

• Working on new photo stuff. I'm really excited about what I have planned.

• Using a hanging plant basket to keep fruits in the kitchen.

• I'm really liking the way the license plates look on our freshly painted yellow wall. 

• 

Second chance day!

     Today we celebrate my husband's "Second Chance Day". One year ago today, my husband was in the emergency room. He had come home from work and asked me if his face looked funny. It did. The left side of it wasn't moving. He proceeded to tell me that he had noticed it the night before when his lips wouldn't close around a straw. I know, right??? He had hoped it would go away and went ahead and went to work. When it didn't go away, he got worried enough to ask me about it, but still not worried enough to do anything about it. After several phone calls, a trip to the Walgreen's clinic, and a few hours of me pleading, he agreed to go to the hospital.

   
     They ran some tests and gave us the news we dreaded, but expected; he'd had a stroke. He was admitted to the hospital for testing and further observation. As you can imagine, we were both scared (terrified). After the horrible blow our family had been dealt over the summer, this was too much. Over the next 24 hours, they ran tests and sent in specialists. His heart was fine and they couldn't find any blockage. The doctors were concerned that they couldn't find an obvious reason for the stroke. When Mike asked if it could have been caused by stress, the neurologist said yes, but it's rare and only under extreme stress. Mike then explained that he had lost his son just three months earlier when he was struck by a train. At that point, both doctors (the neurologist and cardiologist) looked at each other and agreed that was the probable cause. They explained that the stroke had occurred in his brain stem (one of the worst places for a stroke to occur) but because there was no physical cause for it, he could go home.
     We have learned all to well, how fragile life is and how quickly it can be taken from you. My husband was given a second chance that day and we will be forever grateful that God has allowed us more time together. We are jam packed with activities this weekend, but will be very aware through every single one, just how lucky we are.
   

What's that you say?

She sure has a lot to say! In honor of her turning 2 1/2 in a few days, I'd thought I'd share some of her regular "Baylee-isms" with you.

Things she is saying (with translations/explanation):

• "Awww, cuke!" (cute)
• Pooey Pooey (roly poly bugs)
• "Me do it" She is sooo independent and doesn't want help with anything.
• "Mmmm....smells like....apples!" She says this about everything, no matter what it really smells like.
• "Stop following me"
• "I'm sorry mommy, me too" This is said all in one sentence like she is not quite sure which part she is supposed to say.
• "Together Mommy" said when she realizes that she is not going to get to do something by herself.
• "Mommy... Mommy....Mommy" She sounds like Stewie.
• She likes to listen to "Choich muke" (Church music) on the local Christian radio station and "God stories" (stories from her Bible). She is just starting to make the connections between what we hear at church and what we hear and read at home.
• "Can I keep you?" Yes, you can Baylee. (This is my favorite)

Things I am saying:

• "What Baylee?"
• "What Baylee?" 
• "What Baylee?" 

I love you sweet heart! I want to keep you, too!

Cutting the Cable

     Well, we did it. We cancelled our cable. I had gotten to the point where I felt television was taking over our lives. We had gotten bad about having it on ALL. THE. TIME. We would leave it on during dinner, if we quickly ran to the store, sometimes we would even fall asleep with it on and leave it on all night.

     We had many discussions on the pros and cons of cancelling cable. I was hoping that it would keep the t.v. from being on all the time and it would save us around $100 an month. My husband was worried about the availability of sports programming if we just had local channels. In the end, we decided to try it. We figured we could stream Netflix or something similar through our smart t.v. and of course we could always have cable re-installed if we decided we just couldn't live without it.

    It has been five months and we are still here! The world hasn't ended and the sky hasn't fallen. We have spent more time doing things like this:

     I will say it is a pain not having cable. For various reasons we ended up cancelling our internet when we cancelled cable. No internet means no smart t.v., so we went and bought some rabbit ears and have been using those. They aren't very reliable. Sometimes we get six or seven channels, sometimes we get two and we only get reception in the living room. It has taken some getting used to and while I'm glad we did it, there are a few things I'm not happy with:

• The lack of children's programming: we are unable to get the local PBS station with our antenna and there just isn't anything available for Baylee to watch. Saturday morning doesn't even offer cartoons anymore! We have acquired more dvd's since cutting the cable.
• I miss watching the news. I am a NEWS JUNKIE and not being able to watch CNN or FOXNews is very hard for me. I've been getting all of my news (even local) by following various news agencies on twitter. Not quite the same, but it works. 

I know my husband wishes we had cable back. While he still gets most of the football games, he hates having to get up to adjust the rabbit ears when he flips back and forth between channels. I hate having to hear him grumble about having rabbit ears hooked to a $700 television every time he has to adjust them. The Winter Olympics will be on soon, so I'm sure something will have changed by then.

The Table

I've been wanting to update/upgrade our kitchen table for awhile now. I haven't been happy with the one we have but haven't been able to find one that I like to replace it. It's a farmhouse style table with a honey oak top and a white base. Think early '90's ~ that's when I got it. There's not really much wrong with it, it has a few scratches and the legs could use a fresh coat of paint. I really just wanted a new one because I felt like a change. I want a different look in our kitchen and this one doesn't really go with what I have in mind.

     But then I started thinking about this table and all the memories it holds (cue the music):

• As a single young 20-something this table was the first piece of furniture I bought (financed)for my first apartment.
• I served my first Thanksgiving meal on this table.
• The many meals with friends that have been shared around this table. 
• This table has been the setting of many deep conversations...and many not-so-deep conversations. 
• Birthdays...it has seen it's share of birthday cakes.
• Pumpkin carvings
• Many, many scrapbooking get-togethers around this table.
• Homework: both mine and the boys
• It became our computer table for a while and I still picture Mitchell sitting at it downloading songs to his iTunes list. 

The more I think about it, the more I think I want to keep it. The thought of sitting at this table across from Baylee as she does her homework or talks to me about boy problems makes the idea of keeping the table more meaningful.
     What about you, do you have any pieces of furniture from your past that you don't want to get rid of? 

   

731 days

 Dear Baylee,

Today we celebrate the completion of your second trip around the sun. On one hand, it's hard to believe you have been with us that long. On the other hand, it feels like you have been here forever. You have accomplished many things this past year and your dad and I are very proud of who you are becoming. You continue to astound us with how fast you learn things.
 You right now:

wearing: big girl panties (Tinkerbell, of course) 2t-3t clothes, size 6 shoes, pony tails in your hair

eating: raisin bran crunch cereal, honey on everything, ice cream

doing: 25 piece puzzles, cutting with the big kid scissors, jumping on the trampoline
saying: you have a lot of words, but the words you say the most are mommy, daddy, please, and thank you.

As you turn two, we know there are some days ahead of us that are going to require us to have a lot of patience. Please be gentle with Mommy and Daddy as we help you to figure out this great big world.

We love you, big girl!

Everything is a choice

     That's it. That is the word I have chosen to guide my 2013. It wasn't an easy choice. I didn't have any great revelations about what it should be. It didn't appear in my coffee as I sipping it gingerly. No, ironically, I had a tough time choosing my word. It had come down to two words and after debating between the two, I had chosen the other word (Focus). I thought it was perfect and had been posting it around my house for a few weeks. But whenever it I would remind myself to focus, I would think about the choices I was making when I focus on one thing over another. In the end, I decided to change my word.
     In the past, I haven't done anything grand with my word. No necklaces or scrapbooks (although I would love to-just haven't). This year, though, I'm going to work hard to use it to guide my actions and outcomes. I have a choice. I can choose to say yes, or I can choose to say no. I can choose to walk past the pile of laundry, or I can choose to put it in the washing machine. When I think of how many choices make throughout the day, it is very overwhelming:

• get up or sleep in
• cold breakfast or hot breakfast
• Bible study or check my email
• take a walk or stay in
• let Baylee watch t.v or read her a book
• chicken or beef for dinner

 I want Christ to be at the center of all of my choices, so I need to be very intentional about the choices I make. Because of this, one of the first intentional choices I have made this year, is to join a discipleship study with some ladies at my church. I will let you know how this choice impacts the other choices I make and hope to be able to look back at this blog at the end of the year and see how my year was influenced by the choices I make.

Happy New Ye...oh, wait,...

I spent the month of January preparing for February.
Huh??????
You see, it's all about the resolutions and goals we all tend to set at the beginning of the year. I love the excitement and promise a new year brings. I hate the disappointment and feeling of failure that unmet expectations bring. So, I started something a few years ago that has revolutionized the way I start my year. Well, maybe not revolutionized, but definitely taken the pressure off.  Want to know what it is?

My new year doesn't officially start until February 1st.         Simple.As.That.

 I realized that December is so full of Holiday happenings that I don't have the time to invest in making reasonable goals that are attainable. Plus, I would rather be focusing on the beauty of Christmas than thinking about "the future" that is January. I then spend all of January working on my goals and plans for the new year. By February 1st, everything is ready to put into practice, and I am much more likely to be successful.

Some of the things I worked on during January:

• I chose my One Little Word for the year (hint, hint)
• I designed a layout for my notebook that will be useful in keeping me on track
• I listed 3 goals for each month of the year. I will not get behind, I will not work ahead. 
• Cleaned and purged in order to simplify

I think my plan is doable. Of course, I know I have to be adaptable, but I will not use that as a crutch. 

So, what about you? How are you doing on your resolutions?

Making snow ice cream.

The Child as Protagonist

     Are you familiar with the Reggio Emilia approach to education? I first heard of it while attending a teaching conference in 1994. The idea that children are way more capable than we give them credit for is something I strongly believe in, and is at the heart of what the approach is about. Through the years, I have been eager to learn more about it and adopt it's strategies into my teaching style. The more I learned, the more passionate I became about the approach. In recent years its use has become more widespread in the United States and I was happy to discover that St. Louis has several schools that have embraced this approach.

     I have had the opportunity to visit one of these schools, and can only say that it is the school of my dreams. I would love to work there. I would love for my daughter to attend (it's Pre-k through 8th grade). I wish I would have been able to go there as a young student. Basically, I can't rave about it enough. The problem is that it is 45 minutes from my house and the tuition is way out of my budget ($12,000/ year for Pre-k). Since there is no way I will ever be able to afford that, and there are seldom any job openings, I have to settle for attending their free events and open houses.
     This past weekend, I took Baylee to their Winter Children's Festival. I wish I had more pictures so you could see how they use and adapt the environment in the classrooms to create a sense of wonder and a love of learning, but exploring with a 21 month old doesn't allow me to take many pictures. Here are just a few, and if you are curious about the approach, take some time to Google it or look it up on Pinterest.

Creating in the atelier. I especially like that children are taught how to properly use the materials. 

A collaborative sculpture done by the three year old class.

Playing in the housekeeping area. I love the use of the sheers to divide the areas without blocking your view.

They have a fabulous playground that allows the children to climb and explore.