Eight Tidbits

A week or so ago, during a rather dreary morning, I took it upon myself to sort through my magazines and get rid of a bunch of them.  Decluttering is a good antidote to gloomy weather!  I "happened" to glance through a No Greater Joy magazine, and my eye fell upon an article about having fun with your children--really delighting in them and enjoying your time with them.  Inspired by this, I suddenly thought, "What if I set up a cave in the living room?  All I have to do is move the couch out from the wall, bring in some chairs from the kitchen, and drape a cloth over all of it.  Maybe the boys would have fun with that?  And we could even do school in the cave!"  I quickly sprang into action while none of the boys were around (I forget where they all were, but I think Josiah and David were up in their room) and got the cave set up.  Now I was excited about the day--and all because of such a simple idea!  It really was fun to watch them as they came into the room, started short in surprise, and then exclaimed over the cave that had suddenly materialized.  They didn't think it looked like a cave though; instead, they called it a tunnel.  :)  I wish I had a video of Josiah and David's faces when they caught their first glimpse, but I don't.  Instead here's a short video of Tobin and Shav enjoying the tunnel (and unfortunately, the video is darker than I would like, but it gives the idea of their delight, at least...especially Shav's laughter).  :)

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Yesterday I scratched my underarm (just keepin' it real, folks; don't we all get itchy armpits from time to time?...and anyway, I did it when I was alone in the privacy of my home) :)...and I discovered a hole in my sweater.  And then another one. Yes, this is the same sweater I wore while dropping off Josiah at SVCC rehearsal and while shopping with Josiah and David for gifts to fill a shoebox for our sponsored boy in Haiti.  Think anyone noticed the holes?  Think maybe our boy in Haiti would be grateful even for a shirt with small holes under the arm?

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Yesterday we donated a grocery bag full of food to a local food pantry through SVCC and we bought gifts for our sponsored child.  This evening after I finished packing the shoebox full of gifts, I mentally patted myself on the back and felt good about reaching out to help someone.  And then I looked at the mail from today.  Three requests for money:  one from my high school, one from our public library, and one from our regional food bank.  There are so many needs!  Truly, "the poor you will always have with you."  Yes, but how much should we give?

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Recently as I wiped food debris from the tray of Shav's high chair for the umpteenth time, I thought, "How monotonous!  My life consists of doing the same dull things over and over."  That looks really grumpy and ungrateful as I write it down, but I wasn't feeling too down-in-the-dumps--just acknowledging a fact about how my life is right now.

Then it dawned on me that practically everybody's life is monotonous!  Think about a world-class violinist; he or she practices the same scales over and over, the same difficult passages over and over, the same C#s and quarter rests, etc.  Routine.  Monotony.

Think about Michael W. Smith--or any other touring musician--what do they do?  Perform the same songs on tour.  Night after night, the same songs.  Routine.  Monotony.

What about a doctor?  Is it so terribly exciting to use a stethoscope to listen to yet another set of raspy lungs and hear yet another complaint about a sore throat and write yet another prescription for Amoxicillin?  Routine.  Monotony.

Jeff has told me how monotonous not just the haircuts, but even the conversations in the barbershop can be.  How many times a day do you think he wants to talk about the weather or whatever news item is breaking?  Once with every customer who sits down in his chair?  Eighteen times a day?  Routine.  Monotony.

I guess motherhood isn't the only occupation that feels monotonous.  I guess maybe I'd better just enjoy my work!  :)

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He always finds underwear.

Shav loves to scoot around our laundry room and library while I am doing laundry, and I'm glad to have him with me.  It's easy to keep an eye on him while I'm working, and it's fun to exchange smiles with him every so often when our eyes meet.  Why do I smile?  Well, because I love him, of course; but even more, because he always find some underwear in the pile of clothes and carries it around with him.  Why underwear?  Why not a sock, or shirt, or hand towel, or pillowcase, or anything besides underwear?  I have no idea.  Today my grin was extra wide when I glanced down and found him holding a pair of David's underwear in one hand and a pair of Tobin's in the other; if one pair is good, two must be even better.  Maybe Shav wants some of his own?

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This excellent post from bekahcubed spoke volumes to my soul yesterday.  Rebekah is a skilled writer.  I glean wisdom and encouragement (not to mention delight) from many of her posts, but that one ranks at (or very near) the top, in my opinion.

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One of my dearest friends from college (pictured in this post) just recently had her first child, and yesterday she sent me a link to his pictures on the blog of Sarah, a Lancaster County photographer.  Utter sweetness.  If I ever get the chance to photograph a newborn again, I'd like to try some of these poses.  Not that I could come close to the results that Sarah achieved!

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Indifference looks for an excuse, but love finds a way.

~ spotted in a blog post by Tom Jones