Training is in Session

Two days ago Zoe reached up and pulled off my favorite necklace and broke it. Andrew told me this morning that we couldn't play cards because Zoe was with us (she's been going straight for the pile and messing it up!). Yesterday she turned 7 months old. Two days ago she began to cry at dinner when I wouldn't let her suck on a wet paper towel used to wipe off her face. All of these things convinced me that it was time for her first "No" Boot Camp. We just had our first training session:
A pile of the (forbidden!) cards was near some other (allowed) toys. I let her play. She noticed the cards (as I knew that she would). And she immediately began to reach out for them. I squeezed her hand and, calmly, said "no" in a regular tone of voice. We repeated this no less than 30 times. She finally paused and looked for another toy. We played a few minutes together. Then she went back for the cards. I gave her the same squeeze and "no." She burst into tears! Cried and cried for a couple minutes. We repeated this about 6-7 times again. She finally was crying hard enough that I picked her up and comforted her.

I don't care if you're 7 months or 7 years old: we can't play with anything we want to play with just because it's nearby. And we don't get what we want by crying. These truths hold up for a 33 year old mom as well. I think my kids need taught obediance and self-control even at a young age. Our ability to restrain our own (natural) self-centeredness could very well dictate the course of many decisions we make in our lives. And you might think this is too soon or over the top, but I believe it starts NOW.

This matter is not closed. We'll be having training session #2 later. I'll post results.

"Salting the Earth"

I was reading Matthew 5:13 this morning. It's the familiar passage in the Beatitudes where Jesus teaches about his followers being "salt of the earth." Here it is:

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men."

Something hit me strangely about it today...maybe it was a question about how salt could actually lose saltiness or maybe it's the weird reference to being "trampled." But in any case, I got curious. And so I dug and dug until I discovered something I never knew:

Salting-the-earth was an actual practice of the Roman Empire! They would literally salt the earth of enemies after they'd conquered their lands...to ruin the soil for crops (and make them dependent upon Rome for food). Salt ruins the ground for any crops to ever grow there again!

So when Jesus tells us to be "salt of the earth," I don't think he's primarily talking about salt as a flavor or preservative (both helpful analogies for Christ-followers, but I don't think the main point). Instead, He is telling us that WE are to prevent the enemy from EVER growing "crops" in that land again. We're to RID the world of the enemy by salting the land so Satan can no longer grow his crops here! It's war-talk. It's about conquering. It's making sure that no enemy-crops grow up around US.

I also learned that salt loses it's "saltiness" only when mixed with impurities. When we mix ourselves in with worldliness (i.e. enemy territory) than we are ineffective as salt. We lose our saltiness. We cannot conquer enemy lands and prevent his crops from growing if we, ourselves, are mixed together with impurities.

I love learning. And this one really blew my skirt up!!

Pure Joy

A few minutes ago I was folding laundry with Zoe playing right beside me on the floor. I felt that familiar nudge of God...this time saying "do yourself a favor: stop folding this laundry and play with her." So I did. And this little lady squealed, rolled, kissed and giggled for about 10 straight minutes. She was Pure Joy. And I got to have some too. It was impossible not to share in her light and joy.
I picked this picture because it caught a little glimpse of that full squeal, open mouth JOY that is Zoe.

Ahhhh the rhythm of vacation....

Here's a few more fun vacation pictures...
Our boys perfectly depicted below: Andrew wakes up ready to play and Luke wakes up only to be cuddled.

Zoe was a champ, eating dinner out by the lake many nights. At least it was a good view! And our last evening we all had a sugary drink out at the little tiki-bar on the lake.

And no mountain vacation would be complete without a night of s'mores. This is a FAVORITE of mine. But Luke just wants to eat a Hershey bar, and Bill's not crazy about them at all....so the s'more experience wasn't as magical as I wanted it to be. Oh well. At least there was a pretty fire on a cool evening.

Family Vacations are rarely this fun.

I had a great trip to Michigan. I just had to write about what made it so great.

First - Northern Michigan itself. Beautiful. And cool-ish for July. Boyne, specifically, is a beautiful area: mountains, woods, lakes everywhere, ski trails turned jogging trails, ski lifts through the mountains. Deer Lake was small enough to not be daunting in a kayak and had a small, but quaint, perfect swimming beach. And we had a gorgeous house to stay in. So, net: the set up was awesome both inside and outside.

Second - The help. We had Bonnie and Dan along. This really freed our family. We had 4 adults and 3 kids. We could split up any time we wished or stay together. The boys could go with grandparents. Bill could take Andrew putting. I could take a jog with Zoe. Dan could take Luke fishing. We could go out on a date. Any and all of that could happen because having grandma and grandpa along really makes it work for everyone.

Third - Everyone fought for everyone else's vacation. Bill made sure I got to do the zip lines I wanted to do. Bonnie and Dan made sure we got out to dinner by ourselves. We shoved Dan out the door for a day of fishing. I made sure Bill felt free to go and play golf. The men let the women get pedicures at the lodge spa while they took the kids. I've never once had a vacation that I could honestly say by the end of it that there wasn't even ONE other thing that I'd wanted to do. I did EVERYthing! And so did everyone else. And it's because everyone fought for everyone else's desires. It takes a bunch of selflessness to make that all happen. And, in the end, everyone did everything they desired. (Ok - well maybe Grandpa would have liked to fish all day every day, but that was never going to happen!) And, this picture is PRE pedicure!

Andrew's swimming and golf were highlights for us also - we really watched him go for it with confidence knowing he could swim (well, ALMOST but don't tell him that!). And he fell in love with putting and golf. Bill is in heaven imagining all the amazing father/son times ahead.

The only bummer of the whole trip was Zoe's sleep. This girl just didn't like her room or bed or something. She was up about 3 times/night every single night! It was like having a 3 month old again. We were exhausted but just kind of got over it and had fun anyway. And last night? Slept from 730pm - 630am in her own house and crib. The silver lining is that the milk problem's I'd had are definitely gone -- more nursing really does the trick! Good thing she's so darn cute.

We enjoyed a beautiful week. I have an awesome family.

And Dear Michigan: we'll be back. :-)

6 Months!!!!

Zoe is already 6 months old. I wish I could put into words how much I love this little girl. She is exactly what her name is: LIFE and LIGHT. I wake up every day thinking about how adorable and sweet she is. And when she smiles at me, I'm pretty sure I've got the best daughter in the world. It's like we were made for each other. Uh - oh yeah, we WERE. I can't imagine life in our family without Zoe. We wouldn't trade her for anything in the world.

When she's older, I'll tell her this little story just like I tell my boys: I'll say..."Zoe - if Mommy could pick out ANY little girl in the whole world, out of all the billions and billions of little girls that I could have ever had...do you know which one I would pick?!" And, hopefully, she'll do what Luke does now: he thumps his chest and points at himself because he knows I'm about to say... "I'd pick YOU as my favorite."

Here she is at birth, 3 months and now 6 months!! Happy 1/2 Birthday Zoe Elaine!

Family update 2

I haven't felt much like blogging lately but I did want to do a quick family update before July zooms by! We're getting ready for a family vacation to Lake Erie and then up to Michigan so this month is going to pass quickly.

Summer is going pretty well here: Andrew is in some half-day camps here and there. He really enjoyed his "cooking camp" last week at the Healthplex. Luke and I looked forward to picking him up to see what treats he'd have to share! Luke is getting so big and he even got to go to a play-camp with Andrew today for the first time at Andrew's preschool teacher's home. He did great. Zoe is growing and growing. She rolls over and over, eats a lot and squeals at her brothers. She is content to hang out at home or be on-the-go. She's a good-natured little gal.

Bill and I are finally getting a few dates again. Last night we went out with friends on a double-date. This past weekend we joined our friends for a big July 4th party and parade -- really fun! We love our friends. Big outings are pretty tough with all 3 kids but we just team up and try to keep it all together. If any one of us has even a little fun, we call it a success!

There are also lots of days at home playing in the baby pools and hose, going to the neighbor's to shoot baskets (a current obsession of Andrew's) or digging in the sandbox.

We've also done some house projects lately: a new kitchen backsplash, sprucing up the basement bathroom and having a new concrete sidewalk laid around to the back of our house. Next up: replacing the ceiling fan from 1980 in our living room!

So, we're enjoying each other and the kids. Life is good. Vacation is coming. And even when day-to-day life exhausts us with the kids, we are so very grateful.