With These Hands

I meet with a couple of friends once a month to pray for our kids. We share about our triumphs and trials as mothers, support each other in prayer and work through the prayers offered in Stormie Omartian's book "The Power of a Praying Parent." We met last Monday, and since I was feeling quite discouraged in my role as a mom, I spent a good portion of the night unloading onto my unsuspecting friends! It was good to talk to other mothers who I quickly realized have gone through the same things I've been experiencing. And it was great to be able to pray about it with others. I'm a verbal processor, so it's amazing how much smaller my problems seem as soon as I talk about them and feel validated.

On my way home, however, I was listening to praise 106.5. A Family Life program was on, discussing preparing your teen for post-graduation life. I'm really good at tuning out talk radio, especially when it has nothing to do with my own life. But they began to read a poem that caught my attention. It made me realize just how fleeting my moments are with my kids here at home. I know in the blink of an eye I'll be at Nate's graduation, or sending Cody off to college and my heart will ache, wanting to hold them on my lap for bedtime snuggles just one last time. While my days seem long and mundane as a stay at home mom right now, it's only for a brief time and I know I'll never be able to get this time back. So here's that poem that brought tears to my eyes. I'd give credit to whoever wrote it, but they didn't say... It was the youth pastor at their church, at a service centered around sending off their high school grads.

WITH THESE HANDS

With these hands, I gently cradled this child;
Held him close to my heart,
Nursed his wounds and calmed her fears,
Held the books that I would read
And rock this child fast asleep.

With these hands, I made his lunches
And drove the car that carried her to school;
Snapped endless pictures, wrapped countless gifts,
Then did my best to assemble those gifts.

Combed his hair and wiped her tear,
Let her know that I was near
To nurse his wounds and heal her heart
When it would break.

With these hands, I made mistakes,
And with these hands I prayed and prayed and prayed.

These hands are feeble, these hands are worn,
These hands can no longer calm the storms;
These hands have done all they can do;
These hands now release this child, my child
To You.

For Your hands are able,
Your hands are strong,
Your hands alone can calm the storms.
Your hands will continue to do
What they are so gifted to do,

To shape his life and make her new,
Into Your hand receive this child,
For my child I now give back to You.

In the strong name of Jesus,
And with all my heart I pray,
Amen.

Paska

Nope, it's not a typo. I'm not blogging about pasta. It's paska - one of our family's favourite Easter treats! I waited ever so patiently until April to whip out my recipe, and now I've got a batch whirring in my bread machine. It's an Easter tradition that you don't often hear about until you become familiar with the mennonite community. I'm mennonite only by marriage, so this tradition is fairly new to me. But sweet bread with icing and sprinkles? Sign me up! Here's the recipe I use every spring to celebrate one of the best holidays of the year. Beware: it's for a bread machine and the first time I tried it as a loaf baked right in the machine, it overflowed - big time. It didn't wreck my bread-maker, but the loaf was not pretty! So now I just make it on the dough setting and bake it up however I want in the oven, as directed by my bread machine manual. I've done one giant french-bread-looking loaf, several mini-loaves, and today I'm going to try making paska buns (more icing per square inch of bread!).

Bread Machine Paska
1 c warm water
2 large eggs
3 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp butter or margarine
2 tbsp grated lemon rind
4 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp bread machine yeast
Put ingredients into the bread machine in the order listed above; follow your bread machine's directions for making bread, or set the machine on the dough setting and bake the bread the oven. Makes a 2 pound loaf.

ICING: Cream 3 tbsp butter/margarine, then add 2 cups icing sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and 2-3 tbsp milk and mix well. Spread over loaf and top with holiday sprinkles!

Vintage Love

It all started with a rocking chair - one my parents had from before I can remember. It had seen better days and was being stored in their garage. With Nate brewing in my belly, I figured it would be a great addition to his room. Monte sanded down the chair and painted it white, while I put my finishing touches on it with a little sandpaper around the edges to give it a distressed look. And I was hooked. I loved the look of something that appeared "gently loved" and one of a kind. It adds to our home that country/shabby-chic look that I seem to be drawn to. So whenever the need came up for a piece of furniture, I'd spend weeks scouring local thrift stores in search of the perfect piece. I've refinished a dresser, a desk and a stand for our TV, and I've got a beautiful 1920's hutch waiting for a facelift in my garage, as well as our "new" kitchen table with four mismatched wooden chairs I'm in the middle of painting. I love shopping for vintage furniture, looking for a great deal and visualizing the potential in various pieces. I have to exercise some restraint to only pick up the pieces I actually need! Now if only I remembered to take before and after pictures... Maybe for my next project.

Cody's First Hospital Stay

The boys and I were playing outside on Friday, taking advantage of the rare lack of rain. I was killing two birds with one stone by throwing the ball around for the dog as well - getting everyone some fresh air and exercise. Bailey got a little too excited and rammed into Cody, knocking him to the ground, the back of his head hitting the pavement first. It was by far the worst accident he'd been in, and I felt horrible for him. We took him to the walk-in clinic just to check things out, and was sent back home with little to worry about. Later that day we were at my parent's place for dinner with my older sister and her family. The kids wanted to play outside and so we all went out to play in the driveway. Cody was keeping busy, chasing balls that were flying around and trying to be a part of the excitement. He tripped over a baseball glove and fell to the ground, hitting his forehead on the pavement. It didn't seem to be that bad of an inury, so we put him to bed and didn't think anything of it. Later on the drive home, he started throwing up and we suddenly felt alarmed, with two injuries to the head in one day. It was 11pm and we had Nate in the car with us, but decided to head straight for the hospital and arranged for Monte's parents to meet us there and take Nate to their place for the night.

After hours of waiting with an overtired, puke-covered toddler, telling the same story over and over and over again to various hospital staff, we were admitted into the pediatric ward around 3am. There was only a single cot in the room shared with another patient, so Monte went home to catch a few hours of sleep while I attempted to get Cody acclimated to his new bed which did not go over well. I got no sleep that night, and Cody slept maybe 6 of the 12-13 hrs he normally gets. We were a miserable pair! Monte relieved me of hospital duty in the morning. After meeting with the pediatrician, who was certain Cody only had a couple minor concussions instead of a skull fracture as diagnosed by the first doctor who saw him, I went home for a much-needed nap and shower. Cody continued to throw up anything he took in, and had a tough time getting any sleep with all the noises around him (whoever thought that room-sharing in peds was a good idea was terribly wrong). We were told that if he continued to get sick to his stomach or if any other symptoms got worse, we would have to proceed with a CT scan which apparently is the radiation equivalent of 250 x-rays - not something we wanted to subject our child to! So we got in touch with many of our friends and family and got praying... and our little guy began to keep down food and water, was able to sleep better and just began to act more like himself. And by the next morning he was downing corn flakes like crazy, feeding me, making faces, and waving to all the cars outside our window. The pediatrician saw him again and gave us the green light to go home, but Cody would have to wear a helmet whenever he's on the go just to be safe, for a month. He's going to hate it!

We felt so supported by our friends and family, especially to those who gave their time to help take care of Nate (who was spoiled the entire time... we were certain the mini-golfing, milkshakes, playground trips and fast food meals would make him wish we stayed at the hospital longer!). We fully felt the affects of those praying for us; I believe Cody got better as fast as he did because of so many people keeping him in their prayers. It was one of the longest weekends of my life, but there were some special moments throughout that made it seem more bearable. My favourite moment was when I was laying on a couch in one of the family rooms, just exhausted, and Cody walked over to me (soother in mouth, blankie in hand) and started rubbing my back. So sweet!

Change... Again

It's Monday morning... ugh. And even more so this week as yet another transition looms around the corner. It's Monte's last week at the Wired Monk. We did not foresee this when we first anticipated this new (and seemingly ideal) job opportunity way back last spring. However, life happens, circumstances dictate certain choices, and what we plan so diligently isn't always what ends up. We're not sure what lies ahead for Monte and his career path, but we're looking forward to him having a little time off to spend time as a family and will wait & listen for what God wants for us. Having gone through this several times in the last few years, I'm far less stressed this time. As a control-freak, it's a strange feeling to not feel overwhelmed with anxiety when things like this happen. Instead it's exciting to know that God will take care of us, as He always has, and that we will embark on a new adventure - hopefully soon! We've got bills to pay, kids to take care of, a home to maintain, and so on, but we trust that He will direct us in looking for the best place for Monte to work and in the meantime will give us peace about our current situation.

If you live in Abbotsford, or visit often, please still stop by the coffee shop. Monte is leaving by his own choice, and we hope for great success for the Wired Monk. Neither Monte's cousins, nor Monte & I feel negatively about this decision; it's just one that had to be made.

He Walks!!!

I was thinking this day would never come! 19 months old, and my baby is finally walking! He's been walking here and there for some time, but would only take steps if he didn't realize he was doing it. As soon as we'd notice and cheer, he'd drop to the floor. Or if we suggested to him that he walk, he'd get mad and insist on crawling (a slight insight into the stubborn nature we'll face in the years to come?). But today after lunch I got him down from his high chair and he proceeded to walk lap after lap through the kitchen and hallway. He'd fall down, and get right back up again to walk. We were excited when Nate started walking at 13 months, but this seems like a totally different milestone now with Cody... 6 extra months of carrying around a 30 lb "baby" took a lot out of me. My tired lower back and I are thrilled with this change!

Birthday Photos

Nate turned four on February 13th, and we spent the entire weekend celebrating with a birthday playdate at home with his Langley playgroup kids, a bowling party with several friends from church, and a family get-together with Monte's family and another with mine. It was a busy weekend, but we had a lot of fun!

We love you, Nathan and we're so proud of the little man you're becoming! We are in awe of your gentle spirit, sensitive nature, your thirst for learning anything and everything, and your love for those around you. You brighten our home with your sweet, genuine smile that hides your eyes and your contagious giggle brings us so much joy. God has great things in store for you and we are excited to see your unique and very special qualities put into action as you grow up!