Happy Half-Birthday Sweet Cora!!!

Cora, you are a joy!  We are enjoying you so, so much!  

You have shown a big interest in toys this month.  You really like to be engaged and have something to play with.  You tolerate being on your tummy but you still don't roll over very much although you can roll both ways.  I mostly find you on your tummy when you wake up!  

Helping Daddy with his work!

You love your Daddy and give him lots of smiles especially when he makes kissing noises at you from across the room.  When you're eating you will sometimes just stop and look across the room at him and wait for him to look up and notice you looking at him.  You definitely like your Daddy's attention.  

You started snuggling more this month too and we both *love* it so, so much!!

Brother likes to turn this musical mat on for you and you like mashing around on it to make sounds.  It is one of the ways you tolerate tummy time the longest.

We squeezed the most we could out of summer and picnicked some more.  You are showing soo much interest in "big people" food!!  Not long, my sweet one!  

I asked your brother what should be the first food we feed you when you get to eat food with us and he thought a minute and said, "tic tacs!!" very enthusiastically!

You're wearing brother's jammies here from when he was a baby.  I just couldn't resist seeing you in these polka dots too and they are soo soft!  

You rarely lay down anymore. You like to sit up and play.  You are such a big girl!!

You got to go on two trips this month.  The first was to NYC with Mama and Daddy to celebrate our fifth anniversary.  Here you are enjoying the big bed in our nice hotel room.  You slept in the crib at night and I don't think you enjoyed that *quite* as much as nighttimes were kind of rough being off our schedule and not in your own bed.  We were very thankful they gave us a corner room away from all the other rooms so we didn't have to worry so much about your crying.  

In the daytime though you were such a trooper.  We went all over and you were just a joy!   

You enjoyed snuggling in the ergo

and sitting on park benches

and getting ahold of Mama's empty water cup! 

I love seeing you in these pretty vintage dresses and you wore the pearls to church that Aunt Terry gave you!  

You have started to really love chewing on socks and washcloths and things or your dress or sleeves if you can get them to your mouth.  It is really cute and funny the faces you make.  You have also learned to "pat, pat, pat" with your left arm usually and your elbow straight and you will beat with that hand on your tray and chew and snarl ferociously!!  It is soo funny!!

You wore your first tights and your cute dress from Great-Granny all the way from England!

Your second trip was to California to visit our family there.  We went while Daddy was out of town for work and Ducca took us with him.  He is a great sport to travel with our craziness!

"Gammy" fixed up a pretty crib for you and you got to wear your swimsuit for the first time!  I couldn't get over how cute you look in it!!

You enjoyed the beach and so did brother and Ducca and Mama!

You enjoyed digging in the sand.  

and being held by Gammy

At Gammy's house you got lots of good swing time with Ducca and Mama and Aunt Carol.  

Back home and you are chewing on EVERYTHING you can get your hands on!

I have already found paper, napkin and sand in your diaper.  :)  

Pretty, pretty girl on your six month birthday!!

We love you soo much!  You are a light in our lives and so much fun to be around.  You continue to delight us every day!  We are so thankful to have you, Cora girl!

And then it was time for a little half birthday celebration.  We are starting solids with you the same as we did with brother, doing Baby-led Weaning and skipping the purees and starting with table food.  

The table is set.  

Your food is ready.  Grilled chicken, breadsick, roast carrot, steamed broccoli and raw carrot.  

We thought you would like it but we were all completely delighted when you *dove* in and didn't stop grabbing things and taking them to your mouth and gnawing on them (and even getting some down the hatch as evidenced by your diaper the next day!) for a good half hour or more.  

We love you so much, Cora Baby!  

Happy Six Months!!

Mama

clothes - day 6

August 15, 2009

I guess I tend to keep clothes for a long time.  

This pair of black capri yoga pants is one of the items of clothing I chose for 7 clothes month around our house.  

This photo is from when I was newly pregnant with David.  They've lasted through two pregnancies and lots of mothering - spit up, crawling on the floor building train set layouts, etc.

I wondered if I would get tired of wearing the same 7 tops and bottoms over and over for a month but for the most part I really didn't.  That was an interesting thing for me to discover.  

Also, in case you didn't see Kori's comment from yesterday's post, I think this is very well said:

"I totally agree with this. I haven't read the book. But I think the purpose is 2 main points - to realize and appreciate our blessings (which allows us to automatically share more of those blessings as God commanded us and keeps us from taking things for granted) and also to live purposefully (not allowing things to happen because they happen but to make sure we are living life to God's plan, in His intent and serving Him - not just slipping through our to do list and schedule). I believe to do either of those things we must plan to do them because in our sinful human nature they don't happen automatically!"

I like my to do list and my routine and my normal and taking steps to try to step out of it in different little ways at a time is good for me.  

Right now, my house feels overwhelmed with possessions and I have company coming tomorrow - I'm writing this Saturday night - so I'm off to clean up and maybe, just maybe I'll see a thing or two I don't need and can get rid of along the way.  

We'll see.  

Have a wonderful Lord's Day.  I am looking forward to spending it with family and relaxing.  

Blessings!

Kelly

your questions - day five

Sarah had a good question. 

"Was there some kind of catalyst event that brought this experiment of her's on? Did she have a goal at the beginning - or just do something and see how it changed her?"

As she explains it in the book, taking in victims of Hurricane Katrina and having a child comment on how "rich" her family was when they considered themselves "normal" middle class gave her a jolt to look at the excessive/consumptive lives we tend to live in America.  

I feel like the point is not to necessarily decide to quit media all together or to forever only own 7 outfits or whatever but by taking a limited amount of time to see what life is like when you do alter your "norm" you can begin to let go of things being your status quo.  

For instance, I am far happier with less clothes than I ever thought possible before this challenge.  That doesn't mean that every season of my life will look exactly the same regarding clothes, food, media, possessions, etc. but it is good to know that "how I've always been" doesn't necessarily have to be "how I'll always be".  We all have choices and it is easier to actively decide what choices you want to make when you step out of doing what you do out of habit.  

I also think about what I want these two (in their funny hats) to take away from their time in our home.  

Hope you're having a good weekend!  

Kelly

Five Years!

photo by Rachel Debell Photography

Fasting? - day four

So I told you that my friend in Texas asked me if we were going to do any of the "giving ups" like Jen Hatmaker and her family did as she was writing the book 7.  

So, what would be the point anyway?  

For me the main take away from what Jen was getting at in her book about why experiment with giving things up is to disrupt our routine, to make room in our lives for us to actually think instead of being on automatic pilot, to allow room and headspace for God to speak to us about whatever he wants to.  

Here is a quote from Jen herself:  

“If a fast doesn't include any sacrifices, then it's not a fast. The discomfort is where the magic happens. Life zips along, unchecked and automatic. We default to our lifestyles, enjoying our privileges tra la la, but a fast interrupts that rote trajectory. Jesus gets a fresh platform in the empty space where indulgence resided.” 

― Jen Hatmaker, 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess

So beginning August 20th and continuing through September 19th, our friends in Texas and we had "clothes month".  

We each had our own way of going about it and that was good.  The point is not to follow some sort of regimen prescribed by someone else but the point is to allow yourself to step out of your normal and leave room for God to speak and to just explore change.

For our family 7 clothes month looked like narrowing down Adrian, David's and my wardrobes to 7 outfits.  7 tops, 7 bottoms, the occasional layering piece if it was part of the "outfit".  No accessories or jewelry for me though (the guys plainly don't wear accessories to begin with).  :)  

7 pair of undies, 7 things in the pj drawer, 7 pair of socks.  I narrowed myself down to four pair of shoes.  

I will say here that there is nothing especially magical about 7 of everything.  It is mostly just a number to have a number.  Does that make any sense?  Not too big, not too small . . . 

So here is my sock drawer before I narrowed it down to 7 pair.  Now granted, it was still flip flop weather and I didn't even wear all 7 of my chosen pairs during our clothing month but still there is a big difference between 7 pairs of socks and this!!

I guess I have a thing for socks.  I really like these socks.  But seriously, I didn't count how many pairs I have but there are easily more than 30 meaning even in the winter months when I wear socks daily, I have more socks than I can wear in a month if I wear a different pair every day!  And the truth is if my smartwools are clean I do gravitate toward them.  Oh and of course this is not counting my Christmas socks which get pulled out at the beginning of December.  

hmmmm . . . .

So the advantages of just having less socks would be:

1. not having to shove the clean ones in and barely shut the drawer when putting away the laundry

2. I can see what I actually have

3.  I could give some of these socks away to people who really could use them

4.  I could have less socks to let pile up and then have to match and fold (probably my least favorite part of doing laundry)

more to come tomorrow . . . 

in the meantime, here are two more bloggers who have linked up to The Nester's 31 day challenge who are writing on topics that I feel kind of go along with what I am pondering here

Check them out:

Life In Grace

and 

The Learner Observer

Processing 7 by Jen Hatmaker - day 3

This picture has nothing to do with this post really but I couldn't help but share a cutie pic of my boy drawing on his face (and the chalkboard) with yellow chalk - his favorite color.

Our library's check out period is three weeks and it took me the three full weeks to make it through Jen Hatmaker's book 7.  

In fact, I was "cramming" the last night that I had it checked out trying to finish. 

One thing I meant to say yesterday is that Jen doesn't "preach" in her book.  

It is definitely her account of what having an "experimental mutiny against excess" meant in her life.  She doesn't tell other people what to do.  She's all nice that way.  :)  

I think it was just a whole lot for me to process and thus slow reading at times even though the writing style makes for a "quick read".  Obviously I'm still processing and choosing to write a 31 day series about my thoughts on the book and it's been since June so it has impacted me a lot.

July was a busy month for us with travel and family in town and although I thought about the book some it took a bit of a backseat in my thoughts which is fine of course.  Then I found that I kind of wanted to stop processing largely on my own and talk to some other people who'd read it.  Two friends, one local and one back in Texas had read it and we chatted over dinner and on the phone.  My friend in Texas asked me if Adrian and I were doing any of the "giving ups".  

Hmmm . . . no.  

It is actually the sort of thing I like to "experiment" in practical ways but talking my husband into it and adding one more thing when I have a little baby . . . hmmm.

I/we decided to join she and her husband though in putting some of these ideas into practice in our lives in some way.  

I will openly admit here that I was glad they were already in the middle of their "food month" when we started talking about this and it was "too late" for us to join in.  Well, more accurately we just skipped that part.  I'm not saying it probably wouldn't be enlightening and a growing experience for us to modify our eating habits for a season to realize the absolute bounty of good food that we have.  It would.  I just didn't want to and that's the honest truth.

So that gave me a good two weeks to contemplate how I wanted to tackle clothes month which was coming up next.

Oh and for those of you who haven't read the book, Jen's 7 areas that she experimentally mutinies against excess in her life and that of her family are food, clothes, possessions, waste, media, spending and stress.  

Okey dokey.

I would really like to dialogue with you guys as we go along so if you have thoughts, questions about anything, etc. please, please share in the comments!

Processing 7 by Jen Hatmaker - day 2

So I told you yesterday that I was WAY down on the library hold list for the book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker.  

I would log on to my account every once in a while and watch the number climb downwards.  

11, 9, 5, 4, 1

Finally I got an e-mail notice that the book was mine!

It was the beginning of June and we would be going near the library that night on the way to VBS at our church so we stopped to pick it up then.  I was so excited to read it that I was cracking it up in the parking lot on my way to my car.  

I joked with Adrian that I might have to smuggle it in with me to read instead of listening to the speaker.  :)  

I didn't but did start reading it that night when we got home.  

Jen is a very funny writer and I would laugh out loud at parts. 

On one hand it is a very easy read and on the other hand, the further I got into it, the more I did feel convicted about things and feel like I needed time to process through what she was saying.  

Here is a quote from the book:

“Sometimes the best way to bring good news to the poor is to bring actual good news to the poor. It appears a good way to bring relief to the oppressed is to bring real relief to the oppressed. It's almost like Jesus meant what He said. When you're desperate, usually the best news you can receive is food, water, shelter. These provisions communicate God's presence infinitely more than a tract or Christian performance in the local park. They convey, "God loves you so dearly, He sent people to your rescue.” 
― Jen Hatmaker, 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess

You see, Jen wasn't just saying "think nice thoughts about this stuff" she is pointing out how much our actions *really* do count!

I really do believe this and so the tricky part is figuring out what actions to spend your time and energy on.  

That is what I am in the middle of processing through and plan to be talking about on the old blog these 31 days.  

If you are coming over from Nesting Place, welcome!  I would love for you to "introduce" yourself.

Thanks!  

Kelly

31 days of Processing the book 7 by Jen Hatmaker

The Nester holds a blog link up each year during the month of October where people choose a topic and write about it every day for 31 days.

I have never before participated but decided to this year as I have been "mulling over" my response to reading the book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker, since June and I would love to have more of a "dialogue" with others about it as various thoughts swirl through my head. 

I know this "button" is all blurry.  I didn't have it in me to try to learn button making as I've been "single parenting" while Adrian's been on a business trip.  

I first began hearing about the book a year or so ago on various blogs I read but will admit that although I was somewhat intrigued I didn't really *want* to read it because I feared it might be too uncomfortable, too convicting, lead to too much *change*.  My husband can tell you that I don't tend to be a big fan of change!

I'm not really sure what finally made me want to read it but once I wanted to, I really did want to read it and I got on the waiting list for a chance at it from my library.  I started out WAY down the list - at least #19 or something like that.  

I'll tell you more about finally getting it and beginning to read it tomorrow.  My goal is to write a little bit about my "processing" through this book and the ideas that it presented to me each day in October.  I will also still hopefully do some non "7" related posts too.  

So regular readers, I hope you are up for this "departure" from "regular programming" and those of you coming over via the link on Nesting Place, welcome!

So, I'm curious, have any of you read the book?  

Be back tomorrow.  

If you're interested, stay tuned over the course of the month for what clothing items were my "cheater" items, what I missed the most, what stressed me out the most (it was different than what I would have thought) and more!

Kelly

when?

When did these boys . . . 

get this big???

love them!

Kelly

ten on ten - September 2013

greeting

seeing

cooking

friends and family

dating

helping

savoring

snacking

sorting

What did you do today?

September 2012

September 2011

September 2010 - my first ten on ten!

communion quiet book

To be honest, I didn't think I was a "quiet book making mom".  I had seen them and they're very cute and all but I just didn't think it was "me" to spend the time making one and I didn't really think that my efforts would turn out very well if I did try.  Paper and I get along much better than fabric and I.  :)  

But as they say "necessity is the mother of invention".  

David has started coming into "big church" with us and I was looking for ways to teach him more about communion.  

As I often do when I am seeking out ideas, I sent an e-mail to several friends asking what they do.  My sweet friend Vanessa encouraged me to make something with felt that he could hold and that would be a tactile way of learning about Jesus on the cross, the empty tomb and Jesus now in Heaven.  

My friend Tamara is great at making quiet books so a trip to Joann's and a phone call to Tamara later, I knew what I was going to do today.  

After having read Ann Voskamp's book One Thousand Gifts this summer I knew I wanted to focus on the Lord's Supper as being a time of thanksgiving.  David is already used to saying things that he is thankful for and praying thanking God for things so I wanted this to tie in for him in that way.  

I didn't want to take the time to cut "thank you" out of felt so I printed it on cardstock and attached it to the cover with brads.  I have no idea how long it will last but it will be simple to repair if it tears. 

The letters for "Jesus" are felt glued to thin cardboard with velcro on each one so he can put them on and take them off. 

I made a page with Jesus on the cross and this Jesus doll is attached via velcro too and can be taken off and attached onto the next two pages as well.  

Here is the tomb.  I really liked this gray textured felt that Joann's had and thought it would be perfect for the tomb.  The flowers are brads that I got at a garage sale once upon a time and I just clipped off the backs with wire cutters and hot glued them on (to avoid the backs of the brads showing on the back of this page).  You can see the spot of velcro to the right of the stone where the Jesus doll can be affixed.  

And the stone can be pulled back to reveal the empty tomb.  

This page depicts Jesus in Heaven.  I wasn't quite sure how to visually represent Heaven but I went with a blue sky, clouds and a street made of gold.  

The pom pom balls are also attached with velcro and can be taken on and off.  

The last page I have so far is the grapes and crackers page.  

The crackers are not yet attached because I want to go and buy some snaps so that he can practice snaps.  The grapes are made of buttons and little round pieces of felt with slits cut in them that can be "buttoned on".  He does not yet know how to button so this will be good practice too I think.  

He is very curious about the book I was making for him today and I plan to only bring it out at church so that it's novelty will not wear off too quickly.  I think it will give him a way to be engaged and also help him learn about communion and it's meaning to us as Christians.  

Oh and I should definitely say that the *only* thing I sewed were the buttons for the grapes.  Everything else I used the glue gun or brads to attach.  There is no way this project ever would have gotten done otherwise.  I have no idea how it will hold up but I am not interested in perfect here but in done!  

Also, I am thankful for other friends also chiming in with ideas of how to talk to kids about communion.  I have really great friends.

Kelly