Baby in a Box

For siblings, wanting what the other has goes both ways. Yesterday I wrote about how KW wants to do things the way Lee does... and Lee wants to do things the way KW does, too. Take, for example, an impromptu game of baby-in-a-box:

"I'm so happy to be in this box."

"Please, please, pick me up in the box!"

Happy boy-in-a-box

Eating Together

Eating meals together is a priority for our family. Since Lee was eight months old, I have made a point to sit down and eat my meal at the same time he eats his. It gives us time to practice dinner conversation and manners, model utensil and napkin use, and build our relationship. Since I am usually doing things around the house while the kids play, this is a special time of talking (and singing) for us.

KW is old enough now that I have been letting them sit at the little table to eat their snacks, so she can practice being out of her booster seat. She loves doing anything like Lee does it, and - most of all - she loves Lee!

Winter Birdhouse

Over the last month, we have been talking about winter and the way nature looks in the winter. On one of our afternoon walks, we took Lee's beach wagon and filled it with things we find on the ground in winter.

Then we decorated a little birdhouse.

Lee decided it looked best on our bathroom vanity. Each morning it reminds me of what fun we will have homeschooling. What memories.

Which One?

The topic of fostering first came up for us early in my pregnancy with KW. I was reading a book that awakened my heart to the emotions and struggles of foster children. We were sitting on the beach, and the conversation went something like this:

                         me: "Would you ever be interested in fostering or adopting another child?"

                         b: "Yes. That would be something I would consider."

                         me: "Okay. Just curious. Let's have this baby first."

Around the same time, we also saw the movie The Blindside. If you haven't seen it, do. It is the true story of a family that takes in a young man from the projects and helps him go to college on a football scholarship. He later joins the NFL. At the end of the movie, his "mother" mentions that she saw in the paper where some of his old friends were involved in a shooting, and one was killed. She thinks to herself something along the lines of, "That could have been my Michael, but it wasn't." She couldn't change the lives of all of the boys, but she could do it for one.

Soon after KW was born, we heard a sermon about the difficulty of wondering if you are making a real difference in this world. Poverty, abuse, injustice - fighting these is a losing battle. The enemy has been given power in this world, and sometimes we become overwhelmed as we attempt to spread Light in this darkness.

How can we be sure to make a lasting impact? Do for one what you wish you could do for everyone.

How do you do for one what you wish you could do for everyone? Go deep. Go long. Go money.

What could be deeper, longer, or - frankly - more money than bringing a child into your home who has lost their own? The question is, which one?

A Glimpse

Look at that little look she is giving me! I think I'm gonna have my hands full!

But she is SO sweet, I could eat her up!

Family Days 2012

Finally, I have accepted that I can have great intentions for time well-spent, but unless I put it on the calendar, then the calendar will overrun my intentions. Case in point: family days. We have been saying we were going to set aside one Saturday a month for family time since Lee was born, but we only do it about three or four times a year. Not in 2012. They are on the calendar, and we will be busy!

Our first trip was to see the model trains exhibit at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History. I have to be honest to all of you whose boys (and girls) love trains - this is not much of an exhibit. But we had some favorite parts, for sure:

 Lee wasn't even sure we were still there, he had been so engrossed in the train table.

 KW listened intently to the bluegrass band.

 

 Deconstructing the train in the playroom and building tunnels.

In the Works

Paintbrushes in the fridge =
stuff gettin' done

Before we moved, Lee and KW were sharing a room. Even though I had changed up the furniture to prepare for her arrival, most if it went straight into Lee's room the day of the move. One awkward bookshelf found its way into KW's room, but I wanted to change it up - and add some of the "bun feet" that have become a trademark for the nursery furniture in our house.






Last weekend, we unveiled the finished product after naptime, and she loved it - I almost think she would like it better if I left it empty! I am going to need to add some more shelves, but I know at least one section will be left open for you-can't-do-that-on-tv antics between KW and her brother.