A Wonderful Weekend in the Back Yard

It has been so nice to enjoy great weather this past week. The rain that cancelled Monday's soccer game was no big deal since she was away at camp with her class and missed it anyway, and everything is so green and lush now.

This was at our soccer game on Wednesday - Nolan had fun letting the grass tickle his hands.

This was Friday night while M was at youth group - we took a walk around a neighborhood lake and stopped to watch the ducks (and change a diaper...)

These were from Saturday, when we spent lots of our time out in the back yard.  Sean set up his golf net and did some practicing, and I pulled out some juggling clubs...

Sunday, after a church picnic and a trip for Slush Shakes, was more of the same.  Playing outdoors, loving the weather and time spent with family.

Wishing the same for you all!

And He Eats!

The latest in the "What's Nolan Up To Now" saga is this:  Food.  In the high chair.  With a spoon.

At his four month appointment last week, the doctor said he was ready for it, and we thought so too. 

Look what Mom got me!

She said I could eat it.

This is a fun spot!

This was on Saturday.  I'm 4 months and 1 week old.

Ummm... Not sure what to think of this.

I made some funny faces, but kept asking for more.

Today - my third day eating and I finished the whole bowl!

Dear Salesman

Dear Mr Door-to-Door Alarm System Salesman,

If I had an extra $40 a month I was looking to spend, I would much rather sponsor a child and have that money go to releasing someone and their family from poverty through providing clean water, food, an education and health care, than spend it to look after my own safety and security.

Sincerely,
The lady who wishes she came up with this reply while you were still on the doorstep.

PS - The one I already have works fine, thanks.

Teething Stories

Four Months Old!

This past Saturday, Nolan turned 4 months old.

Also this past Saturday, Nolan broke out his first tooth.

Then on Tuesday, his second.

Other than chewing and drooling, they seemed to not bother him too much.  No diaper rash, no pain that we could tell.  No keeping us up at night...  Whew.  For the last few weeks he has been wearing a necklace made of hazelwood: 
 

Benefits of Hazelwood

Hazelwood has the medicinal property of neutralizing the body's acidity, which by doing so, relieves or prevents ailments such as ulcers, acid reflux, heartburn, teething, skin problems (psoriasis, eczema, acne), arthritis and arthrosis, constipation, migraines, and dental cavities. Therefore, necklaces made from Hazelwood are as effective for adults as they are for babies and children. (Info found here.)

I don't know if that has a little or a lot to do with the relative ease he had, but I won't be taking it off to check!  Do you have any teething stories to share?

Yesterday we went to the doctor for Nolan's four month checkup, and he is 17 lbs, and up there in the 99th percentile.  Doc says he's advanced.  :)   No surprise that he got his first teeth early, I guess.  He also said we could start him on solids whenever we want, since he has strong neck muscles and sits well (not on his own yet), and because he's showing interest in what we eat.  I don't know if I'm ready for that yet, though!  Once you start, there's no going back.  I'll have to read up on the what to feed, when & how often...

Brushing those new chicklets!

We went to Winnipeg for the long weekend & had a great time with family.  Nolan slept most of the way home, but woke with an hour to go.  I was in the back with him (to help him sleep after our break in Brandon), and was able to keep him entertained with his toys and books - and his stomach full with water.  So great that he would take a bottle - we've tried a couple times before with it, but never when it mattered.  And no, that's a sunspot in the photo, not an earring.

Happy Mother of Children

Yesterday I wrote about my mom; today I thought I'd share my thoughts on being the mom.

I posted this this morning on the prayer blog:

My prayer for my children this morning is one of gratitude and thanksgiving for them.

Psalm 113 is a Psalm of praise, and one that I read not long after Nolan was born.  It has a phrase at the end that has stuck with me - "He settles the childless woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the Lord."  A happy mother of children.  I was not childless before, but with Nolan's arrival, this plural - children - is now my status. I am happy with my role as their mom and am grateful to the one who has given me these two gifts to enjoy and to mother.

To celebrate Mother's Day here this weekend, I got a beautiful orchid (and a carnation at church), homemade cards from Madeline, and we went on a picnic at the park.  A very nice way to spend the day with my family, and Nolan seemed to enjoy his first picnic.

We reminisced, too, because 6 years ago this weekend, in that same park, is when and where Sean & I got engaged.  Good memories.  Madeline was 6 - half her lifetime ago.

Thanks, Mom.

Thanks, Mom.

You raised the three of us to believe that people matter, and that quietly making time for others while you go about your business is the best way to live.  You taught us to use our imaginations and be creative; to be curious and to 'look it up!'  You modeled how to put others first, but at the same time not to back down when it comes to right and wrong.  (Why do I feel like I'm writing a eulogy?)  I appreciate all the adventures you took us on, and that you made everyday stuff into adventures.  Thanks for all the times you said no (Really?  The bathing suit with the zipper down the front wasn't a good idea??  Even if I sewed it shut to avoid accidents?) and for all the times you let me make my own decisions and mistakes.

Thanks for laughing at me when you realized I was in third, not first, and that's why I couldn't get the car started at the stop sign without stalling.  Oh, I mean for being patient when teaching me things.  Even when I was an impatient learner. ("Okay, I get it - I don't want your help any more!")

Your homemade card is in the mail.  You should get it tomorrow. (I learned that remembering people is important, but I didn't learn how to consistently get cards in the mail on time.  Oops.)

Layouts

What a wonderful day it's been. Sean went golfing at a crazy early time this morning, and M got picked up before 9 by her Gramma to go to a worship dance workshop, so I thought it would feel like a normal weekday. It didn't, though.  Nolan went back down for his first sleep just after M left, so I started my day off with a little scrapbooking. It's Saturday - a play day, not a work day! I got two layouts made that I really like, then Nolan woke up and Sean got home, and the rest of the day has been good family time and lots of backyard time. We just came in from the first backyard fire of the year.

Here are the two pages from two weeks ago - some weeks have one page worth of shots, and some have two. I have last week's page (a single) done, too, except for the one picture that's missing... I thought I printed it, but I guess I must have missed that one. It feels good to be keeping up with this project. There are a few other full page layouts that I want to stick in, but they'll come.
 

Top center is the front of one of the many cards we got.  Great space filler!

The little cut out Nolan makes me laugh.

I love this one.

Post 500!

Here is the Geocaching Album, as promised.  I quite like this one, partly because of the memories of the fun times we've had, and partly because I like this 7gypsies kit I'm using...  I made the title page and the last two pages yesterday.

Layouts & Rollovers

National Scrapbook Day was a success, I'd say.

• Nolan did well hanging at the church all day, eating, sleeping, pooping & entertaining.  He rolled over for the first time, which made for some good excitement.  I'm glad I remembered that my little camera has video capabilities!
• Madeline came with me and a friend joined us for the afternoon.  They made a couple of layouts, and did some good shopping at the giveaway table.
• Sean got in 18 holes in the morning and spent all afternoon putting up our new garden shed!
• Success for me was not measured in quantity of layouts... but I did finish up a few pages in my geocaching album and in my pregnancy album, so those are up to date.  That's all I got done, but it was still good to be there.

So here's what we've got to share.  First, the latest two in Nolan's album - I will do a full page of his first swim to go in between these.

The two that Madeline made yesterday:

  
These next ones are the new pages that finish off my "Baby On the Way" album.  You can see the first ones here.  I should do something with the cover, then it will be done.

I think I'll leave it there for now and post the whole geocaching album soon.  

Thanks for looking!

Are you going to camp this summer?

I have M all registered for Junior Teen camp this summer - her first year out of junior camps!  She loves being out at 'our' camp, and is already checking out the age that she can go as an LIT (Leader in Training).  I think being at camp is one of the greatest things in a kid's year, and I'm glad she loves it so much.

I also sent off the registration for family camp - Sean had already booked a golf weekend away on those dates, so I'm going to take the kids solo and hang out in the tent.  Yay for tenting!!  Ha ha - I say that now...!  It should be fun with a 4 1/2 month old.  Everything's a little extra exciting with a little one around.

Family camp at Katepwa Lake Camp is June 29 - July 1.  Will you join us there??

Where is your home camp?  Will you get out there this summer?

National Scrapbook Day

Tomorrow is NSD - National Scrapbook Day.  Did you know there was such a thing??  For the second year, my friends and I will be hanging out all day making stuff.  I don't know how much I'll get done with both Nolan and Madeline there with me, but even a few pages will make it worthwhile... Well, the snack table alone might make it worthwhile!

There's a new little blinkie on the side there -> of a free online event I signed up for.  It runs all day tomorrow with a challenge each hour; you have a day to finish and upload the page / project for each challenge that you do.  Just by signing up for it you're entered for the grand prize, too.  If you want to join in, check it out at Big Picture Classes.

So watch for a post soon with some new layouts, and a few more weeks of the 2012 Album.

Cards...

I've been making cards lately. I think it may be because I don't have to only make thank you cards anymore, and partly because with my album being more pictures than paper, I've had to get my paper fix in another way. Then, too, there are the birthdays, new babies, and funerals I've needed cards for... (I'm still not to the point where I get everyone in my family a card by their birthday, but it's a goal I'm not giving up on! I got my dad and sister-in-law covered this month, but missed three nephews. :S )

I got a new box of colored card bases at Jo-Ann's while we were in the States, and a two pack of Australian card magazines I found on special at Walmart, and a new giraffe stamp at Michaels, and I've been enjoying playing.  These are a few of them - the ones I thought were worth a photo so I could reproduce them later:

I like the flat edged circle on this one.

Michaels also had good background paper on sale.

Bustin' out the pencil crayons!

 

 

The clouds are cut from patterned paper, and I got a new heart punch.  

This last one I saw as a baby shower card, but I changed the colors and it makes a good sympathy one, too.

Thanks for looking!

Nolan Photos

Nolan got to use his swing for the first time.

New tricks - rolling onto his side...

and grabbing toys.  This has been a fun week!

Grabbing with the hands and the feet get in the action, too.

Reaching for and holding Mommy's hand.  {melt}

Hugging the giraffe - so cute! - and showing off his blanket from Portugal.

He played himself right out.  Still holding the dragonfly...

Awesome tummy time - he's so strong.

We had a Chapters date & picked up some books for Nolan.

My favorite shot of the week. Love his cuddles.

He started grabbing things about a week & a half ago.  How fun to see him interacting with all the toys he's been given.  Another big thing from this past week is that we've begun going to a Fit for Two swim class.  It's a drop in class that's offered twice a week; this week we went twice and I think we will again this week.  Not a bad workout, and while it is a big job to get there with him fed and not tired (!), it's worth it, especially when I have a friend going with me.

Madeline had a full weekend; Friday night to Saturday noon was their 30 hour famine with youth group.  She raised $57.50 for that, mostly just in the last week; she had been focusing for the last couple of months on raising money for the MS Walk, which was this morning.  They had a good time, and we're pretty proud that she raised $450 for that. 

Thanks for looking and sharing our joy!

A Year of... what?

For book club this year, we had two selections that were memoirs of year long experiments.  The first was The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, and I just finished The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs.  (I just heard about the third book Jacobs wrote in this style, called Drop Dead Healthy (his first was about reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica).  In a funny twist, I heard about it on twitter, via Gretchen Rubin.)  I also have a request in at the library for A Year of Living Generously by Lawrence Scanlan.

Have you ever thought of doing a year long project??  What ideas interest you?  What could you come up with that would stretch you, take you out of your comfort zone, and make you into a better person?  What would be just plain fun?  For your enjoyment and inspiration, I've compiled up a short list of year long projects...

Write a letter or card a day.
Origami!
Make a Sky Scarf - knit one row a day the color of the sky that day.
Live Generously.
Take a photo a day. (Google Project 365 & you'll find lots of ideas.)
Take a photo of yourself every day...
Crock Pot cooking (Every week for a year?)
Organization - Make a master list and work your way through your home, organizing every corner.
Read a book a week.
Start a blog & write about your project.  Or start a blog as your project.
Draw something every day.
Buy a Daily Journal and write a sentence a day. (I'm doing this for Nolan as his other baby book.)
Write a book; work on it every day.
Sleep 8 hours a night.
Keep all your shopping lists.
Find a geocache every week for a year.

What are other ideas for the list?  Have you done a year of something?