Beauty Surrounds Us

Has this year been crazy or what???   Last year at the beginning of March, I never could have imagined where our country would be today.  

Quite honestly, I've refrained from mentioning much about the events that have that transpired this past year because it is talked about, heard, and thought about by people so constantly that I figured it might be nice to be able to go somewhere (perhaps Virginia's blog!) where one wouldn't have to be bombarded with more of the same.  

So that's why I don't mention it.  But like everyone, we've been affected by it.  Mostly the church and us.  People who are christians and whom I've known for years as faithful followers of Christ have become bitter and angry at a pastor/leader in their church who either continued having church, or shut down a church.  Who either followed every mandate known to man, or didn't...who followed partial guidelines presented, or who followed all...

My husband, like all pastors in this country, never could have foreseen the impact of a virus with a 98% recovery rate upon God's church and His people.  

Some people will never go back to church because of a virus...  

And the hurts that pastors have had to carry this year with having people mad at them NO MATTER WHAT they ultimately had to decide will be enough to cause many to quit.  Many pastors I know already have quit.  

Dan's personality is one that is high-energy, and constantly moving.  I'm thankful for that, since this past year could have hurt so deeply that he would have quit, if not for the fact that he continued to focus on the future.  A man who loves to sit and think and not be active much would have been much more deeply hurt perhaps.  

Dan looks for things to do with his hands when life gets discouraging.  He rakes gravel, he builds, he fixes vehicles, he trims bushes...and for that I'm very grateful.  

Despite the craziness of this year, have you taken time to notice things like that?  

I have.  

Despite the discouragements and frustrations of this year, have you taken the time to look at the beauty that surrounds you?  We each have something beautiful around us: even if it's something as simple as a potted plant on your kitchen windowsill.  Maybe even a freshly cleaned mirror!  Look for the beauty!

We did this the other day when we took a walk down the road to our favorite local waterfall.  I've posted photos of this place before, but I love it so much, that here it is again.  

Despite the weather being 50-degrees, the area by the water still had about a foot of snow, since the forest is dense and the sun hardly can peek through the trees.

A short video of the falls.  I could listen to that all day.

We even managed to get a family photo!  

So...if you've read this far, go find something beautiful to focus on today!  I just ate a brownie, and while it didn't look beautiful, it tasted very beautiful, so it could be something as simple as that! 

There's too many discouraging things we COULD focus on that would draw our attention away from the giver of beauty- GOD.  Don't focus on those things...focus on the beauty: and ultimately, the Giver of that beauty.  

 

School for toddlers

 

Greetings from thawing-out NY! I was glad to hear from several of you that you take time to read my blog still.  I enjoy writing posts, even though they may not be regular.  But knowing that I'm not just posting for my own benefit is important, so thank you for those of you who reached out and let me know you still read it.  

When I first found out that I was pregnant with my second daughter after only 3 months postpartum after Gwendolyn was born, I was a bit overwhelmed.  Some people were saying things like "Oh wow, you'll have your hands full!" and "Hope you can keep up with two toddlers at once!"  

And others said more encouraging things like "I think it's nice having them close together."  or "My two who are a year apart are still best friends today." 

When Lucie was born, I spent about 2 months being slightly frazzled, but once she was out of the tiny infant stage, things improved.  Looking back now, I'd want it no other way.  

This past year I've particularly loved seeing them grow and learn.  

  Several years back, one of our church's previous pastors had thought of starting a school, and had stored the church attic full of old wooden desks.  Because I love to teach, I brought over 2 small wooden school desks from the church back in October.

I have no desire to push my girls to learn a vast list of things before they are even officially in school, but Gwendolyn showed a desire to learn more, and to have structure.  

We began with one day a week, but they loved school so much that we took to doing it twice a week.  We now do school on days when it fits my schedule.  

The girls love to paint  

We always have a snack time mid-school time.

They each have a preschool workbook they use.  Lucie just colors each picture in hers, and Gwendolyn doing hidden picture puzzles, mazes, tracing, and matching.  They aren't special books...just ones that people have given the girls for birthday presents or Christmas.  

I am by no means an expert in the area of raising children!  But if I've learned anything, I've learned that my girls thrive under a schedule/plan.  If there is ever a day (we had a few of these in my first trimester of this pregnancy) when I am not able to rise from the couch for long enough to do anything, the girls go haywire.  When they know that there is a scheduled play time, they play nicely.  But if I say to them "Go play" without adding something like "for 10 minutes while I make this bread and then we will do...."

I don't know if it's just my children....but they don't do well with open-ended play times.  

The other thing I've begun to implement is helping with folding laundry.  I've had to relax a little bit on having all of the washcloths facing the same way folded exactly into a square.....

But Gwen is able to fold all of the kitchen/bathroom handtowels and washcloths now.  She takes great pride in it.  

The last thing I'll mention about this subject of raising two girls who are a year apart is that they love to explore.  Whether that is going on a short hike, walking down the road to see where the pileated woodpecker is pecking holes in a tree, or going to the local library, go EXPLORE!  

For awhile last year, our library was closed, and that made us quite sad.  But when they opened, even though they wouldnt allow any kids in the kids room, and we could come by appointment only, we went.  Each week, the girls would read the books we brought home and they've really grown to love reading since we began our library ventures.  

Our library has a second floor entirely full of taxidermy (a natural history museum).  I take the girls there at least once every other month.  

This last time we went, they had a small childrens table and chairs with a stack of books set up.  

Gwen and Lucie sat right down and read and read and played with the puppets for about 35 minutes.  

So what have I learned in the past year of raising these two?  I've learned to seize every opportunity for learning possible.  When I am writing letters, Gwen and Lucie do as well.  When I am folding laundry, they are helping.  When I am starting the laundry, they are helping me put the detergent and dryer sheets in...

When we go for a walk, we point out all the different types of birds we see and their colors.  We count fence posts.  We read books....constantly.  

We do everything we can to make learning enjoyable, and not a bore.  

So far, it's working, very well!  

It takes discipline and diligence as a parent to constantly be guiding and directing every situation, experience and activity.  But it will pay off.  Soon I know that Gwendolyn will be reading on her own, or reading to her baby sister.  Soon Lucie will be able to get down the crayons on her own and color a lovely picture, AND stay in the lines!  

But everything good comes with time.  And it comes because I'm working with them now.  

So if you're a mom, don't quit working with them, no matter how busy you become.  

March is when Spring begins, right???

 Dear blog readers, 

I have gotten caught up in the frenzy of preparing for spring to come, which means I've had spring fever, and posting here makes me look thru recent photos I could post, which makes me realize that it's still winter, which makes me slightly sad.  So THAT'S my reason for not posting in awhile.  Forgive me.  

I'm feeling excited now however, because although this post will not have many photos, it will be fun to write.  First, we enjoyed two visits from family members in February.  My sister and her family came up for a weekend so that my brother-in-law could go skiing in Vermont.  It was nice to have chats with and spend time with them and show them around the frozen tundra.  

Then Dan's sister and her family came and visited our tundra to do some winter activities.  They stayed for a week and we enjoyed doing a lot of sledding, and Dan did some hiking with them as well.  They came when it was very cold, so the girls and I didn't do any hiking or much exploring beyond the sledding at a nearby hill.  We enjoyed their visit and got to go to the Vermont Country Store again and visit a pottery place where we were given a short tour of the kilnes and got to see the pottery in its different stages of production.  

Since the end of December though, we hadn't seen weather above freezing, so it got sort of depressing needing to be indoors so much.  We went thru all of January and much of Feb without really even seeing the sun much, and having such short daytime hours.  With March though, things have really changed.  This week has been the absolute prettiest week I've seen in awhile.  Each day the weather has been about 40 degrees at least, and yesterday was 56!  We still have some ice and snow on the ground under trees and in shady places, but its mostly gone! 

I took the opportunity yesterday to seriously prune our lilac bushes.  They were beginning to die because its been so long since they had a pruning.  I also cleaned the garage out.  

Yesterday morning I had a midwife appointment in Saratoga Springs in the morning.  I took the girls along with me and afterward, we went to a large playground where the girls had soooo much fun.  Since the weather has started warming up I've started trying to take the girls to at least one playground per week.  It gives them something fun to do, and it gives me a break from trying to figure out something new for them to do. These photos were taken at our local playground before the warm weather really came this week.

I also went for bloodwork this week to find out if I have Gestational diabetes, or am anemic.  I have neither, which is a blessing. 

We've started something new at the church.  I have begun teaching a ladies bible study on Wednesday afternoons.  We have had two lessons so far and I'm enjoying it immensely!  I'm already planning the study we will work on after completing this first 6-week study.      

I am finally in the 3rd trimester of my pregnancy, and couldn't be happier.  You know you've made it this far when the winter coat won't zip or stay buttoned anymore.  

If you've read this far, can you help me with something?  Would you mind leaving a comment and letting me know if you still read/check this blog?  I know I've been sporadic (at best) to updating it and posting, so I've probably lost some readers due to that.  But I kind of want to know if it's something folks still read or if I'm simply posting for nobody to see it.  So please leave a comment and let me know if it's something you still check occasionally or read and that would be soooooo helpful (since I have no clue if anybody even reads posts haha).  

Hope you all are enjoying this same spring-like weather as I am!  I EVEN turned the furnace off and opened windows yesterday....that's big! 

I'm not getting my hopes too high: I'm certain a few more winter storms will show their faces before March is thru, but now that I've seen Spring, I'm thinking about gardens, transplanting raspberries, building a treehouse for the girls, and pruning any and all bushes and hedges.  haha. Until next time!