Trust

Please excuse this silence once again. We are in the process of moving, and I am in the process of processing that we are moving. Does that make sense?

We have moved out of our apartment, our little home for these past two years, and myself and the children are staying with my family for the next three weeks. We had an offer in on a beautiful little three bedroom home that we were supposed to move into last weekend. Long story short, the deal fell through and we are going to be moving to a new apartment.

I find myself now, struggling with trust and trying to lay my heart open to what God wants to teach me during this time. It is so difficult to feel so displaced with your children. I want so much to make a home for them. I continue to feel twinges of sadness as I think about what my plans had been and trying to make new, hopeful and happy plans.

I had wanted a garden. I had picked out paint colors for the children's rooms. I had imagined a special area set aside for Samuel, with a mobile and a mirror. A place where he could quietly make new discoveries in this special stage of his little life. There was a place in my kitchen to set up Rose Marie's kitchen and work table, so we could work side by side. There was a yard for endless hours of outdoor play and even greater discoveries.

I am so struggling with handing over these dreams! I am tired of living out of a suitcase (it will be over a month by the time we move into the apartment!) I miss my husband more than anything in the world, and so do his children. We all feel lost and not ourselves. And many days, I just don't know how to make it better.

But, I know we will be together and this is only temporary. My dreams will change and mold to suit the needs of my family. And I will learn to let go of the past and rejoice in our new beginning. For now, I am wading through sadness and a bit of disappointment. Please be patient with me while I work my way through this.

A Little Laughter

Okay, for whatever reason, this commerical makes me laugh EVERYTIME. I will not even try to explain myself on this one. It just does.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iKIllCs5LE

Himself

1) He thought the guy in the mirror was pretty funny looking. :)

2) Sporting an amazing mohawk. (The balding on the sides of his head really makes the tuft on top a little more prominent.)

3) Mommy throwing off his groove.

4) The traditional after-dinner-cuddle.

Experimenting with works

Below freezing temperatures have been the norm here lately, so we have been on the look out for works and activities to keep us occupied in the comfort of our cozy house. I am not as schooled in Montessori as I would like to be, I am still learning and reading about it, however Rose Marie does have a few works that she truly enjoys.

A current favorite is her sponging work. She transfers water from one shallow bowl to another using the sponge.

She has been doing this one for awhile and has become very good at making sure all of the water stays and goes where it should. She is always so proud of herself.

The other work is similar, except that she uses a medicine dropper. This one is a little more challenging, but she loves it. I love how she quietly perfects the action of squeezing the dropper and then letting it go. This one takes more concentration and I think she enjoys it a little more because of that reason.

A few of her other favorite works include:

1) Matching pictures of animal mothers to pictures of their babies

2) Baking (cookies, breads, cakes)

3) Peeling and eating clementine oranges. These are easy to peel and the perfect size for little hands, so they make a great first fruit work, next to the banana of course! :)

4) Washing dishes

5) Button works (hopefully I will have pictures of these soon)

6) Rice Pouring

7) Stamping

8) Work with Play-doh

9) She loves to set the table for meal time

10) Coloring is still a fun one as well

I will post later about some of our other indoor activities, but this is all I have time for right now. What are some of your favorite indoor activities for toddlers? What keeps them busy and happy to be inside?

Mommy needs a walk...

Yes, this was our first trip, where Samuel took Bud-Bud's place. Rose Marie was thrilled! Sam is much more animated than Bud-Bud and she loved pointing out her favorite parts along the walk.

Confession 101

Standing in Confession line, last weekend raised several questions from my inquisitive little girl.

"Why are we standing here?" she asks.

"Because I need to talk to Jesus," I explain.

She looks back to the tabernacle, "But Jesus is over there Momma," she explains to me, while pointing towards the altar.

I sigh and try my best to explain to her that I am going into the little room to talk to the priest. I try to explain to her that I am going to tell the priest that I am sorry for hurting Jesus' feelings because I was unkind, or that I forgot to tell Jesus that I loved Him before I went to sleep at night. I told her that the priest would tell me that Jesus forgives me and that He loves me very much and he will ask me to try to be a nice girl from now on. Rose Marie listens intently and then seems very pleased with this explanation. She asked me if I am excited to go in there. I said yes, although I think excited is not the word I would choose.

Upon coming out of the confessional, Rose Marie stands up in the pew, throws her arms open wide, smiles and practically yells, "Momma, I forgive you and I love you VERY much!!! Hug me!" Yes, the whole church muffled laughter...but I guess she understood, in a way what I had gone to do. And I am glad that she thinks confession is exciting because you are reminded of how much Jesus loves you. I have to remember to wear my excited face next time I am in line and not my somber face. :)