A Fun F Project

I haven't posted on my love of the "-Wise" series in awhile, but I do continue to love these books. I've read Babywise, Pre-Toddlerwise, and Toddlerwise and continue to find numerous things I can implement into raising Zooey. One thing I've really started doing in the last two months is learning time. You can read about learning time in Todderwise. Zooey really likes crafts, so I work this into our day when she wakes up from nap. Using Val's ideas for learning time over at http://www.babywisemom.com/, I do a letter, number, color and shape of the week. This week I've been teaching Zooey the letter F, the number 5, the color orange and star shapes. This activity kind of incorporates all the things except the shape. Zooey had a lot of fun using the glue stick, which is great for her fine motor skills and teaching her cause and effect, and this is a cute craft! While we worked we talked about the orange paper, counted the flowers, talked about the different shapes and paid attention to the letter F.

What you'll need:
green card stock
scissors
card stock for color of flowers
card stock for background
green marker
glue stick
Marker or crayon of different color

If you're using a Cricut:
cut out 5 flowers on the George & Basic Shapes cartridge (I used varying sizes, so I could teach Zooey about contrasting shapes)

cut out 5 circles in different colors (I used 1")

cut 1" letters (FLOWERS) & numbers (12345)

Step one:
Prep supplies. Cut out flowers (or draw and let older children cut out). Cut green paper to fit bottom of background page; cut "grass" strips.

Step two:
Cut grass to bottom of background page.

Step three:
Draw stems for flowers.

Step four:
Glue flowers to stems:

Step five:
Glue circles to flower centers:

Step six:
Glue numbers 1-5 on flowers, or write 1-5 on flowers if you did not use the Cricut. Glue the word Flowers on the "grass" at the bottom of the page. You're finished! Display artwork for all to see. :)

An Eternal Perspective

I've never been falsely imprisoned. I've never been severely flogged with 40 lashes minus one, let alone been flogged five times. I've never been beaten with a rod, stoned, shipwrecked or spent the night tossed about in the sea. I've always had a home, have never been constantly on the move because of the threat of danger of people or land or sea. I've never gone naked or hungry or severely thirsty. I've never had to narrowly escape death through a hole in my city's wall.

2 Corinthians 11:23-12:12 reads:

"23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea,26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers.27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.


29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?


30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying.32 In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascus guarded in order to arrest me.


33 But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.


2 Corinthians 12


1 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord.2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know–God knows.3 And I know that this man–whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows–4 was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses.

6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say.


7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.


10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

11 I have made a fool of myself, but you drove me to it. I ought to have been commended by you, for I am not in the least inferior to the “super‑apostles,” even though I am nothing.12 The things that mark an apostle–signs, wonders and miracles–were done among you with great perseverance."

Wow, right?!

I've been praying for an eternal perspective. God gave me a glimpse of that this morning as I studied this. I've never suffered like Paul has for the Gospel. I cannot even imagine that type of suffering, let alone being able to say I rejoice over it! I find myself instead complaining and questioning the things that I face that are not comfortable. My "thorn," which is my anxiety, is something I have questioned God about enduring many time over the last seven years, pleading Him to take it time and again and being upset over why He can't do just that. I've finally accepted that, but what amazing obedience Paul shows here - he says he pleaded with God three times to take his thorn from him. After Jesus told him that HIS grace is sufficient, Paul doesn't ask about it again, yet chooses instead to boast in his weakness. I continue to ask God for understanding about my mom's death. Even though I have many wonderful memories right up to the hour she died of my mom, I sometimes find myself focusing on the hard memories, like her illness and the moment she died. Like I heard someone say last week about Stephen & James being persecuted to death for the sake of Christ (Acts 7, Acts 12), God may not have delivered Stephen & James the way Peter was delivered in Acts 12 from prison (freed by an angel to continue doing God's work), but they were still delivered. And you know what? These men were delivered in a far better way that Peter or Paul from his sufferings he lists above - Stephen & James were delivered right into the arms of Jesus, just as my mom was. It is important that I keep an eternal perspective. God's got my mom now, and I can trust that I'll see her someday. Jesus will strengthen my faith and my ministry through the emotional and physical sufferings that I am now and inevitably will endure on this planet. In my weakness, however, He is strong. He is mighty. He is unstoppable. I want to be a part of His purpose. I want to look to Him, not everything around me. I want my mantra to be, "God use me, use this circumstance," rather than, "why God, why?." God is so good to answer our prayers in a mighty way; I've seen it time and again in His Word, the lives of others I know and in my own life. Although I may not ever see the answers to some of my prayers for understanding this side of heaven,  I know that (if I still even care when I get there) He will answer abundantly someday. God, will you please use me until then?

Zooey is 2 years old!

Two years ago today (Oct. 7), we brought our precious baby girl home. Looking at her now, it is hard to imagine she was ever this small.

Zooey on her first day home

Zooey is truly no longer a baby. She's a little "big" girl now. Her birthday party was so much fun, and I'll do a separate post on it later, with pictures. For now, and update on miss Z and all the things going on with her. At her two year well-check, she weighed 25 pounds and is now 32 inches tall. She's currently wearing a 24 month in most brands of clothing, but sometimes can fit into a 2T. She wears a size 5 shoe and size 4 diaper. She's losing all those delicious baby rolls she had and is definitely leaning out. Her hair comes down to almost the middle of her back when it's wet, but it's very curly, so when it dries it looks about shoulder length.

Zooey is very busy and very active! She loves to play outside. In particular, she loves the park. I don't know if I mentioned she was afraid of slides for awhile, but she overcame her fear in the last month and now enjoys even the tall, fast slides.

Another thing Zooey loves to do is any kind of crafts. She loves to color, glue, paint and use stickers to make art. Once she's done with a project, she takes it proudly to the kitchen and hangs it up on the fridge. She's been learning her alphabet and can pick out the letters we've learned from her letter magnets.

Zooey is very affectionate. She gives her friends and family lots of hugs and snuggles. When we're in the grocery store, she likes to hold my hand as I push the cart and sometimes leans into me to give me a quick snuggle. She's also affectionate with the animals, and while the cats are not really too fond of the way she shows love, Tiny eats it up. Tiny gets so excited to see Zooey in the morning that he runs down the hall, body shaking, and attacks Zooey with kisses. Sometimes she doesn't really like being jumped on, but she laughs and pets him all the same. One of her little friends is named Bella, and she gets very excited when we talk about her, and she will exclaim, "Beba!" She also loves her friend Payton, whom she calls "PayPay." Adorable! I love this age and how she's starting to form bonds with people and remember them when they're not around. While I know she did this before, it's really special to hear her talk about her little friends.

Zooey has begun to mimic us quite a bit. She will copy both our words and our actions. She likes to clean, for example, when I'm wiping something off or she'll hold her play phone up to her ear when I'm on the phone. She also uses her imagination and playacts quite a bit. She will put the dolls in her little doll house on the potty and say "potty." She pushes her little dolls or animals around in the stroller and likes to cover them up or feed their bottle.

Just like it's sometimes hard to remember how small she was, it's also sometimes hard to remember my life before her. This girl has brought so much joy to our hearts and our lives, and I am so incredibly thankful to know her. It has been my joy to watch her grow from someone so small and helpless into this little person over the last two years with her own personality, likes & dislikes and independence. It's amazing to watch her learn and to see how she processes everything that's new to her everyday. I love her so much, and so does her daddy, whom she continues to be the biggest fan of.

The Party

Zooey had her party last weekend, and it was a lot of fun. She had family & most of her little friends over, and they enjoyed playing in the back yard, coloring at her little table and running around. We did a Blue's Clues theme, because that's the character Zooey seems to enjoy the most right now. We had hamburgers & hot dogs for the adults and chicken nuggets for the kids. My friend Melissa made two gorgeous cakes - she has SERIOUS talent - and my friend Carmelita took all the pictures, which was such a huge help to me & Ryan. There were a ton more pictures, but I chose these ones to show. She got lots of fun stuff (as you can see), and I think she really got the concept that the day was to celebrate her. And she got to open presents and eat cake. :)

Something just doesn't feel right. That's how I feel a lot of the time, just that sense that something is off. Then I'll realize it's because my mom isn't here anymore. I can't explain it other than that...I wonder, sometimes, is there something wrong with me, because I don't cry as much as I thought I would be - as I think I should be? I think it's just that things hurt, and it never seems like a good time to let it all pour out. Sometimes it's a random beautiful, joyful moment that makes me almost pick up the phone, and I don't want to let the sadness overcome the joy, so I let it go for that time. Sometimes it's just that I'm too busy, or I'm driving...or something...and I can't cry right then. Other times, it's because I'm in the middle of a prayer, and oh, I still ask God "Why?" a lot, but I just want to go to sleep. Sounds a lot like denial now that I'm typing it out. I'm told by my counselor that I'll go through grief and think I'm done, then I'll probably have a big bout of depression, then I'll reach final acceptance. Tomorrow at 10:31am, my sweet girl turns 2. Wow, I don't think I even realized until right this moment how much it hurts that my mom isn't here. I mean, there were some moments at her birthday party, and of course I've been thinking about it, but it just hit me how much it hurts. When Zooey was born, my mom left the room to let me and Ryan have some time with her, but before she did, she leaned down and gave me a hug and a kiss and said, "You did so good. I'm so proud of you!" I miss her. I missed talking with her about what I was planning for the party and how when I asked Zooey how old she was going to be, she holds up her hand saying "4," because she can't quite do "2." I'm dreading the holidays this year, because I know Zooey's birthday is just the first of many firsts that I have to go through, and they are all going to hurt. How can it be almost 2 months? How is that possible? It's so weird, because it seems like yesterday and forever at the same time.

Maybe I'm just feeling nostalgic, because my baby is almost TWO, but today's one of those days I have taken many mental snapshots and hope to remember until I'm old and gray. I ran to the park with Zooey and watched her climb the steps and go down the slide. I watched as she held hands with a little five-ish year old girl and gave her and several other kiddos a hug with a giant smile. She's such a loving girl. On the way home, I pointed out the leaves turning yellow and the fresh fall air, and she kept pointing at the "ree's" on our walk. She kept looking up at me through the mesh on the stroller, smiling and yawning, and I realized how beautiful she is for about the millionth time. At home, I watched and listened as she ate her lunch with intense concentration, "Mmmmm"-ing with each bite, especially her raspberries, because my girl loves her fruit. As we did a small craft after lunch, I smiled at her uncontrollable joy over using the glue stick and sticking feathers and tissue paper on a paper plate. She bounced up and down and squealed when she got to pick out new feathers. She walked around in her little art smock that no longer goes down past her knees, and I saw how much she's growing up. We snuggled on the couch, and I got to hear her say starfish as we read one of her favorite books, "Have You Ever Tickled a Tiger?," which was a gift from my mom. And, when the timer went off, she gleefully squealed again, looked at the timer and went to her room for some more pre-nap snuggles. My Zooey is such a joy to me; I pray I cherish days like today and get a whole lot more of them. The joy in her little smile over something like a glue stick is so contagious...I'm incredibly thankful she's my daughter. She inspires me to find more joy in the little things. It's been such a wonderful day - what a sweet blessing!