Almost Two

Look at this boy. Are you in love? I am. He is going to be two in just a few short months. Where did my baby go?

a miracle

They are both looking at the camera! It's a miracle. I might have bribed them. Maybe.

more on Story

Okay, so you saw my Halloween post. You already know that Thanksgiving is in a few weeks, and then Christmas is coming right after that! I love holidays. I love entering into the celebration, and having kids gives me an excuse to REALLY enter in. It can be a lot of fun.

I've been thinking a lot about the idea of story as I've thought about the holidays this year. D. and I try to find small ways we can be intentional about helping our boys enter into God's story. It's kind of like making new habits if that makes sense.

So I've been thinking about Halloween, first of all. My all-time favorite Halloween costumes as a kid: Laura Ingalls Wilder and Anne of Green Gables. (Dorky? Yes. What did you expect?) I remember those costumes well. My mom sewed them for me. They were elaborate dresses with bonnets, ruffles, and puffed sleeves. (If you've ever read Anne of Green Gables, you know what I'm talking about.) I was in love with these books, and dressing up in costume was a way for me to enter into the stories that I loved.

I realize that on Halloween, a lot of the celebration centers around entering into the wrong story. The story of Halloween can be a story of violence, fear, and darkness. I don't want my kids to enter into that. Isaiah and I talked about that a little bit this year. We talked about how some people think it's fun to be scary, or to wear scary costumes, but that our costumes are celebrating something different.

I think that helping our children to love stories and helping them celebrate them is a step toward helping them enter into God's story.

So to sum up, I think these guys entered into some awesome stories this year:

The Dog (DAWG): an animal sometimes known as man's best friend is always loyal, compassionate, and helpful. AND it says "woof woof." 

The superhero: an ordinary guy or girl who is blessed with special powers decides to use them to help others, even if this means that he or she must make a great personal sacrifice. AND he wears a cape.

Halloween

halloween collage
Originally uploaded by correna79

So I'm a little late, but I think these pictures will still make you smile. For Halloween, Isaiah was a superhero, and Ezra was a dog. (Pronounced "dawg.") I have to confess that I had a lot of fun helping them come up with their costumes. (Well, Ezra likes dogs, and that was the input he gave me, but Isaiah had a lot to say.) I made Isaiah's cape a few years ago. The mask was a free download, and the rest... blue long underwear, yoda underwear and boots from the salvation army. Ezra's "Dawg" costume started as a hoodie that I found on the clearance rack at Wal-Mart last May. I added some felt pieces and he's a Dawg. You can't see it, but there are spots all over his back and his pants. Now, you might have noticed that Isaiah was Clifford the Big Red Dog for his fall festival on the Friday before Halloween. That is a story for another day, but what you need to know is that he is three years old, and he likes to change his mind a lot. So I told him that if he didn't want to be Clifford, he had to be something we already had, and a superhero he was.

loving this guy

I am crazy about this little guy. Here are a few reasons:

• When he wants to say "fish" he says "shoe." I think it's the "sh" sound. Seriously, how cute is that? 
• He does a crazy/hilarious dance to the song "Don't Stop Believing." Even while wearing a cast. 
• We took the front rail off his crib today and he laid down and went to sleep. Only three silent returns to bed. 
• He likes to talk on the phone. He says things like "Hey, Pop." "Doin' Pop?" "Bye, Pop." 
• He is crazy about trains. Loves them. Tonight, he took one of his train cars to bed. He calls them "deet deet." 
• He is still crazy about dogs. Dogs, trains, and balls. These are his top three exciting things in life. Doesn't that just make you smile? 
• He likes to flirt with the ladies. He has a special flirting relationship with the children's librarian at our local library. They're tight. 
• Speaking of the library, it has an elevator. He LOVES elevators. So. much. fun. 
• He is a hugger. He just loves to hold me tight before going to sleep at night. And sometimes in the middle of the night when he's a little sick, like right now. It's hard to be mad about waking up in the night when someone gives you such a big hug. 

new word of the day

"Ezra."

Yes! He said his name for the first time this morning. It sounded more like "E-ra," but we take what we can get!

We just took Ezra to the pediatric orthopedist, and it turns out that his leg is fractured! He has a cast and everything- pictures to come.

general silliness

DAWGS

These are my "dawgs" all dressed up and ready to go to the party at their school today.

P.S. This was super easy--take a hoodie (preferably one you got for a dollar on clearance at Wal-Mart) and get creative with felt!

thoughts on sprained ankles

Ezra wearing "shoe" pajamas

• 29 pounds is really very heavy. It doesn't matter how much you switch from arm to arm. Still heavy. 
• Taking toddlers to get x-rays is among the top five things I recommend avoiding if at all possible. 
• When you meet a parent carrying a child with a sprained ankle, something NOT to say: "I've heard that a sprain is worse than a break." Also: "I've heard that sprains can take three weeks or more to heal." 
• "Put ice on the ankle and elevate it for 20 minutes five or six times a day."--not so easy to do with a toddler 
• If you're 31 years old and you call your mom crying and narrate the horrible x-ray experience, she might be awesome enough to get your dad on board and drive six hours to help you out. 
• Slides can be dangerous. It might be best just to stay home and keep your child wrapped in bubble wrap. 

Really, Ezra is doing much better. He is starting to stand again and took a few steps tonight. So it's been a week--we're hoping he'll be back to normal in another week. This one must have really hurt because it takes a lot to keep this kid from running at full speed on most days. Thanks for the prayers! Also, thanks to my parents for being heroes! 

Quote Of The Day: "No, pee! No, pee! Don't come out yet!" --Isaiah (spoken while running to the bathroom)

this little guy

This guy sprained his ankle yesterday. Can you believe it? I took him to the doctor and they checked him out and prescribed tylenol, ice, and rest. He is really having a hard time, though. Lots of crying, refusing to stand up, and wanting to be held all the time. Thankfully, he only woke up a few times in the night.

Please say a prayer for quick healing for him! Also, please say a prayer for me as D. will be out of town all weekend. In the Bahamas. Sometimes life isn't fair.

New words this week: "Chase." "Go." "Bike." "Tut tut." (as in "Tut tut. It looks like rain.") I know. He's a prodigy, genius and also incredibly handsome. We are so blessed!

wow.

Read this. Such a thoughtful, insightful post about adoption. The truth is that all of us who are followers of Jesus should already be doing all we can to care for the orphans in this world--whether they are our next-door neighbors or our neighbors in Africa. I think it's important to acknowledge that adoption is complex, but it is also beautiful. Sometimes the hardest things are the most beautiful, right?

Quote of the Day: "Excuse me guys, if it is pink, then it is. Now stop it!" --Isaiah

New Word of the Day: "nake." (Snake.) -- Ezra
P.S. We are at the science museum. Don't worry!

fall shmall

You might have fall, but we still have 87 degrees out. What, you say? You wouldn't like an 87-degree- October? Well, I say that I will be laughing at you when we are playing at the park in January! I hate to be cold, love to play at the park in January, and 87 degrees is relatively cool if you think about it. If you live in South Georgia where July and August are like an inferno. So, in celebration of 87-degree October, please enjoy these photos, which I actually took in September. 

New Feature

I think the Quote of the Day is my most popular feature. Because this blog is well-read enough to justify language like that.

Anyway, I am adding a new feature. It is called "New Word of the Day." Little brother is starting to talk quite a bit himself, and he is coming up with a new word just about every day.

Sunday's New Word of the Day: "poon." (aka "spoon")
Monday's New Word of the Day: "Salsa."

Quote of the day: "Tomorrow I'm gonna be in a band. I'm gonna be the drummer and I'm going to play the drums as loud as possible." --Isaiah

Quote of the day: "When I am a grownup, I want to be the one in charge." ---Isaiah

on Story

I recently read this article on cnn. Basically, author Kenda Creasy Dean, who D. and I heard speak at Asbury Seminary's chapel, says that most teenagers in America today are "fake" Christians. She says that parents are raising kids whose faith is "a watered-down faith that portrays God as a 'divine therapist' whose chief goal is to boost people's self-esteem." 


I have been thinking about this article for weeks, and I've been thinking about one thing Dean mentions. She says that parents must live out a radical faith in front of their kids. Here's a short excerpt: 

"What can a parent do then?

Get 'radical,' Dean says.

She says parents who perform one act of radical faith in front of their children convey more than a multitude of sermons and mission trips.

A parent's radical act of faith could involve something as simple as spending a summer in Bolivia working on an agricultural renewal project or turning down a more lucrative job offer to stay at a struggling church, Dean says.

But it's not enough to be radical -- parents must explain 'this is how Christians live,' she says." 

I have been thinking about this idea of radical faith in terms of my own life, and in terms of the idea of story. I recently read Donald Miller's book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. 

I love the way Miller talks about story, and the way he asks us to live a better story. I want so much to live a life of radical faith out in front of my children and in front of the students D. ministers to and mentors. 

What Dean is saying is basically that when parents live into the story of God and invite their teens into that story, they are giving them the gift of authentic faith. I want this kind of radical faith to be part of my life.

What does that look like? 

Right now, I feel like the moves we're making are small. I have been feeling so convicted lately about my materialism and my desire for material possessions. We are trying to let go of a lot of the possessions that we would like to buy or own and change our habits. And I am asking Jesus to change my heart regarding material possessions. Christmas in our house is going to be small this year. I believe with all my heart that a small Christmas is a good gift for my children. 

I also feel that a radical step (for me) happens every day when I sit down to write my dissertation. Every day this is hard. It is challenging, and I have to push aside feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy. Sometimes even a daily task can be a radical step. 

I have lots of dreams about living out a radical faith for the future as well, and D. and I are prayerfully seeking Jesus to discern how we might fit some of those dreams into our lives. 

I am so grateful to my parents who took my brother and I on missions trips for Christmas several years in a row, and who invited members of our local migrant community into our lives. I think these radical acts had a huge impact on me as a teenager.