June 2009

Hi Blog-friends,
Hard to believe how time has flown by! We've had some changes in our family--a new addition! My sister's daughter, Bryant Adeleigh, was born on April 18 so we've been falling in love with our baby Addie.

Preschool continues to go well. I'm amazed at how social this daughter of mine is! She comes home singing and dancing, full of stories of what she did at school. She's also been taking 3 hour naps! It's been a good season for her--she seems to be 'in her element' with lots of success (potty training, attitude/character growth, etc.).

In May Cassie had quite a few adventures--cheering Miss Reno (my fellow ICS teacher-friend from way back when) during her marathon run along the Potomac river (an awesome experience for us--as we cheered Miss Reno, Cassie learned what it means to encourage our friends. Now, when I tell her it's time to take a bath, go to sleep, etc. she says, "Great idea, Mom!"). Cassie's favorite part of that experience was seeing the "deer foot." Yes, friends...it was an amputated leg from a deer--bones picked mostly clean by flesh-eating critters. Cassie wanted to take it home with us and hasn't stopped talking about it since! I too learned an important lesson watching my friend run through the pain to accomplish her goal. I was screaming my head off to encourage her--and then I realized how she's been doing the same for me in my spiritual journey. When I'm stumbling and feeling like I want to quit, Miss Reno has been the one cheering me on, reminding me to stay focused on the prize. Our race-tracks are different (she's in Ohio now, still teaching), but she's been a faithful friend to come to my 'races' to cheer me on via phone calls, visits, etc. I also know Miss Reno is my most faithful blog-reader! I love you, Rachel, and am so thankful for you!



I need to wrap things up for now and get the day started. I've become a Facebook junkie so I've neglected my blog! Ah...there's always a distraction, isn't there!?!

Obedience

Hi Blog-friends,

Nothing big to report other than the fact that Cassie is potty trained and is about to finish her 3rd week of preschool! Yipes! Guess that is big news! I've been sick for the LONGEST time ever...Tim and I both have been sharing this cold/flu but Cassie seems to be doing pretty well staying healthy. These past 2 weeks, she's been really precious in how she's been sharing her growing relationship with Jesus. Since potty training began (middle of March), Cassie has had trouble staying in bed after we say good night (reluctance to have a nighttime accident, I imagine). Now we ask Jesus to please help Cassie be obedient and stay in bed, even though SHE wants to get out. Sometimes right after we shut the door, we'll hear Cassie praying by herself in her room, "Dear Jesus, please help me be obedient and stay in bed so I can get some rest. I love you Jesus. Amen." We've talked about how being obedient is when you do what Mommy (or Daddy or which ever adult is in charge) says even though it's not what YOU really want to do. I validate the fact that I understand she wants to get out of bed and play/read/go to the potty (for the zillionth time), but now it's time to sleep. We also have a little dialogue afterwards about how obedience feels so good because you know you obey God when you obey your parents. This has all been in my thoughts because I've begun to see how as a child I became rather addicted to my parents' praise. I obeyed because I wanted them to be proud of me...and lost sight of the fact that obedience is required regardless of whether I get admiration or not. I'm sure I could unpack that further but I doubt anyone reading this (with the exception of Miss Reno) would want me to pontificate regarding my philosophy of obedience. Last night we had a major victory...Cassie stayed in bed after her prayer asking Jesus' help to be obedience. And Mommy learned a good lesson: I need to talk to Jesus the same way I'm teaching Cassie: Invite him into my struggle to obey...tell him I don't want to be obedient but ask him to change my heart and cause me to obey. Then do the next right step toward obedience (don't bolt out of bed and blame Jesus that he didn't help you obey).
I had more to write about, but now I'm running late to meet my mom for a walk around Lake Ackotink. Enjoy the pictures from these early spring days of 2009!

Cassie Learns the "J" Verse with Mimi

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For Valentines', Cassie got some colored conversation hearts. Mimi, ever the Bible teacher, was teaching Cassie her letter "J" verse over the weekend and made a quick lesson about how Jesus is the "same yesterday, today and forever" using the candy hearts. We recreated the lesson at our house when the grandparents brought Cassie home. Later on Sunday night, at bedtime prayers, Cassie prayed to Jesus, "Dear God, thank you for God is our refuge and strength (the G Verse) and Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (J verse). I love you God. Thank you for my family. Amen." Okay...did I blink and my baby grew up overnight? Sigh! How did this 2.5 year old learn how to pray back God's word so beautifully? Yep...I'll be learning a lot from this little girl!

In other news, just to balance out all this spiritual stuff, tonight Cassie was...ahem...not so nice. She fell down while playing and when I went to comfort her, the little tot whacked me with her ginormous magnifying glass (thanks for the weapon of doom, Dollar Store). I think I'll have a black eye for weeks (anyone got a raw steak? There weren't any coupons on meat so we're fresh out--I don't suppose a Toaster Strudel or Tostino Pizza roll would work...they had tons of coupons for those!!) Then, after Tim sternly taught Cass about not hurting Mommy or anyone, for that matter, she went around saying, "Magnifying Glass hurt Mommy..."
"No, Cassie--you hurt Mommy with the glass..."
"Oh, 'dats okay Mommy...you feel better if you get the tears out." And off she went to play.

Gee, I don't think this kid is gonna be a nurse with THAT limited amount of sympathy! :) Yet another area she takes after her Mimi! Ha ha! Growing up, Beka and I always wondered why our mom didn't nurse us tenderly back to health when we were sick...instead she'd set us up in bed with books, snacks, water and--if we were really lucky, clean sheets!--and leave us to sleep and nyquil. Hey, come to think of it...that routine sounds pretty darn good. Why have I been complaining all these years...what more would I want...if she sat at my bedside and stroked my feverish brow, I'd get annoyed after the first 25 seconds...so nevermind--My mom is awesome...but--back to the subject--Cassie still should not be whacking her Mommy with large glass objects and, well, we can all stand to grow in our empathy/sympathy skills! :)

Clearly, I need to grow in my sleep skills because I either have a concussion and that's why this post is so garbled or I need to sleep and I'm delirious already! On that note...adieu!

Someone Misses ME!?!

I got an email from an anonymous someone who said they missed my blog-posts! You mean someone out there actually noticed I stopped blogging?!?! Wow!

I don't have any particular excuse for not blogging...just not feeling like memorializing this past Winter. I've also been spending way too much time on Facebook, so that eats up my free time. I've been running a lot at the gym--logged over 35 miles last week--but then I made up for that with a 5 day break from exercise. :) This week I have had a cold that seems to suck all my energy--Cassie and I seem to be trading the germs back and forth. Plus, we had our first snow of the season so that gave me a nice excuse to stay home and hibernate!

I sure wish I had some great news to publicize, but all we've been doing is living our lives as best we can. Every morning Cassie wakes up and says, "Mommy, Rise and shine and give God glory" which has prompted me to think about what that actually means. I grew up hearing that phrase daily from my mom (thanks, Mimi, for teaching it to Cassie so I can once again be 'reminded'--although as a teen it seemed particularly annoying, it's not so bad now that it's coming from Cass)...but how am I giving glory to God today? I have been thinking about the 3 R's this year (2009)--
Respect for God, myself and others
Relationships
Routine

Well, looks like that's as far as I'm going to get this morning because someone is awake and ready to give God glory. :) Hope your Friday is happy--and thank you for missing me, someone!