Love Letters

Today J was bugging me when I was trying to prepare his lunch. So I grabbed an envelope that was on the kitchen counter, a pencil and a scrap of card that separated the teabags in the latest box. I penned a quick note on the card, shoved it in the envelope and handed it to him. "Look honey, a letter for you!" Once he got the idea of opening the envelope I read him the message. "Dear J..., I love you. From Mummy (heart)." Then I got back to the food. Well, it entertained him for at least 20 minutes and I had to wrestle it off him in the high chair! At one point I was concerned that it was too quiet in his room, so I checked, only to find him whispering to himself as he "wrote" on the envelope himself at his desk. At last, I have dreamed up a use for all those self-addressed reply envelopes that I've saved from my bills! I think some more love letters are in order.

Peaches

Today I was feeling a bit down, but rather than dwell on all the stuff that makes life not so peachy, I thought I should count my blessings. So in their order of appearance, here are my peaches today: 1. J slept through from 11.30pm to 7am; 2. The mechanic didn't charge us for resetting the engine light on the dashboard; 3. Two new medical bills that arrived were both for less than $20; 4. I got a letter from my mum, with a clipping from the Dominion Post featuring my sister and brother-in-law's cafe; 5. Both boys fell asleep for about an hour, so I could rest too; 6. I made ginger crinkle cookies and reminisced about first making them in out Ferguson St flat when newly married; 7. I didn't have to think about dinner because a friend from church brought it to us from EatZi's - delicious! Maybe there are more before I head to bed, but that's plenty for now.

Growing Boys

Our boys are growing up! Last week saw C go for his (late) 2 month check up. I knew this bloke was heavy, but 15 pounds! No wonder my shoulders are getting a workout. The first round of immunizations don't seem to have bothered him a whole lot, thank goodness. More notably, J turned 2 last week. Again he was overwhelmed with the excitement of gifts and a party. The biggest hit was a desk / easel and stool for his room.

We invited his playgroup friends, and a SMU friend to his party. As a bonus, Auntie April and Uncle Grant from our Vancouver community were both in town so they celebrated with us too. It was a fun, chaotic and loud afternoon!

I made J's cake in the form of Thomas the Tank Engine - fun, but a lot of work on the day!

Not quite 'mine', nor a boy either, it was wonderful to see how Grant has grown with our family, too. When he first joined the community he was pretty hesitant around J, but he offered to hold C in the midst of my doing last minute stuff during the party and was an island of calm in the chaos. C was quite content in his arms. I wish I'd thought to take a picture. The following day we visited Grant's folks and had a fabulous meal, fun with the dogs, and J had fun in the hot tub with Dad and Uncle Grant.

Facing my Foolish Fears

...or perhaps that should be, facing my fears of foolishness! So I have recently made a foray into hairdressing. Yup, not my usual thing! I have an incredible fear of making the poor souls look awful, and then having to live with my mistakes until their hair is long enough to get a professional to do it properly. And I would feel foolish every time I looked at these persons in the meantime. Anyway, the first victim was J. After having so little hair for so long, his first haircut was a cause for some celebration. Having said that, my Scottish ancestry meant I wasn't about to fork out for someone else to trim 3 curls that were threatening to become rats-tails from the nape of my son's neck! On the night before my folks left to return home from their extended visit with us we decided the boy should be shorn, and by default, I had the scissors. One high-chair, one dad playing finger games with J, one bribe of new pyjamas in honour of the first haircut, one grandma wielding a camera, and more than one tentative snip with the scissors with great concentration... and J was respectable again. :o)

The second was a willing victim. N eventually managed to convince me to use his clippers to wrangle his wild mane (see above) into tamer pastures. Forty-five minutes in the bathroom, terrifying clumps of hair on the floor, and I had a happy hubby to show for it. He, too, looks respectable. Not sure if this will become a regular jaunt, but I'm not about to attack my own hair just yet. The head massage isn't in my repertoire, and that's really the best bit about getting your hair cut anyway. ;o)

Christmas Story

Before the Christmas season disappears entirely, I thought I'd share a link to a great Christmas poem on Sophie Gray's website. She is NZ's Destitute Gourmet and I love her recipes, and own a fair few of her books. They are also very apt for the PhD budget! Find the poem here.

At the start of a term

For all those who teach, in whatever capacity (school, parent, boss, friend...), here are some inspirational stories to get you dreaming. 1. An offering for teachers from Australian children's author, Morris Gleitzman: Saving Ms Fosdyke 2. A poem about what real Christian education should look like, from my friend Jenn, in the style of Wendell Berry: The Mad Students and Teachers Liberation Front

Overwhelmed

This Christmas I was reminded of the reason for the season - God's unprecedented, undeserved, grace-filled, loving, saving gift of Jesus. It wasn't the carols, or cards, or weather, or advertising, or even church services. It was seeing J overwhelmed at the gifts that kept on being presented to him throughout the day. You see, when we explained in the morning that there was something special for him at the end of the bed, he was delighted to discover the toy car that had fallen out of his Christmas stocking. That would have kept him happy all day! Then we showed him the stocking... and the fun stuff that he could pull out of it. So before breakfast, J had lined up all his stocking presents and went from one end of the small line to the other, picking up each item and playing with it, before putting it down and playing with the next one. When the presents under the tree were delivered to their recipients, J wasn't sure what to do with himself. We helped him hand out a gift to each person and then we took turns opening them. We even had a half-hour break in present opening because he was so flustered with how many gifts he was receiving. Our PhD budget meant our gifts this year were mostly homemade, and we were blessed with lots of gifts (particularly for the boys) from family and friends. Once J opened the dressing gown I had made him, he put it on, twirled like a model, and then continued opening presents. We had to distract him with toys and invent an excuse to get it off him when he got too hot! Our best present was watching his awe and excitement as each new gift was given and opened. My prayer is that I remember God's overwhelming gift of Christ, and that I wear my salvation through Him all day and every day, even if sometimes it makes me feel 'too hot'!