Levi lately

I love Levi's language lately (how's that for alliteration?):

• Putting down a toy he didn't want: "I don't want it that."
• Seeing a picture of Nate riding a bike: "Dere's Nate ride biking."
• For a few weeks, he has called me "mummy" in a decidedly British way.
• Hearing Jon say it often, he has now taken to saying, "You un'stan me?" to Lucy and Nate.
• He loves Kix, which he calls either "Glix" or "Klix."
• He calls his blanket his "glanky."
• Balloon is a one-syllable one for him: "bloon!"
• And, as Casey noted in the comments, he is quite adamant when he is being feisty. One morning, I made a soft-boiled egg for him like I usually do. He didn't want it. "No eggs ever GAIN!!!" ("ever 'gain" is definitely an everyday part of his vocabulary)
  

Quilt show inspiration

Colleen and I went to a quilt show in Ontario on Sunday. It was so fun. There were several booths I could have spent lots of time in, including one that had every cute vintage and new ribbon, trim, button, ric rac, and lace you could imagine, sorted and displayed by color on vintage spools and in vintage glass bottles. I also got LOTS of inspiration for my next quilt, which will be a twin size for Lucy's room (when we switch the boys to bunk beds and give the twin bed to Luce).

Here's the only picture I managed to take at the show, since the booth vendors don't want you to take pictures of their stuff:



I liked the scalloped border and think I'll do at least one or two edges of Lucy's quilt scalloped like this.

I also loved a quilt a vendor had in her booth that had several different girl dresses adorned with tiny buttons, ric rac, lace, etc. It was just very sweet. I told her as much, and since it was getting toward the end of the day, she said if I came back at 3:30, she would give me her last piece of fabric that she used for the quilt. I couldn't pass that up! So I came home with about 1/2 a yard of the fabric, with 6 dresses on it. Lucy and I are making it a mini-quilt project. Here are 5 of the dress squares cut, pinned, and ready to be quilted (all of which Lucy helped with):




Then we will adorn the dresses (think fabric belts, mini buttons, ric rac, aprons, etc.). I plan to frame a few for Lucy's walls and use 2 to make a pillow. Lucy is SO excited.

A favorite stage

One of my favorite things about little kids has always been their art. Lucy just started doing the "sticks coming out of the head as arms and legs" thing, and I love it.

Levi counting

Levi counted some cars for me today. He always skips 11, and then all the teens sound the same (sir-teen). :)

A January beach day

It is in the 80s today, so we packed up and went to the beach for a couple of hours. I love where we live!





Lucy posing as she waits for the waves:

Wipeout

The kids love watching Wipeout, the obstacle course show designed basically to cause the most spectacular falls/crashes/wipeouts possible, with Jon. I like watching them watch it. :)

The case of the ruined library book

Last week, I caught Nate drawing with pen in one of his library books. He knew it was wrong, as he tried to hide it when I walked in. I told him it was wrong to do that and asked what he thought we should do when we had to return the book. His first response was, "Don't tell them!" (as in, Mama, please don't tell the library what I did). I said that no, we would have to tell them, but I would talk to Daddy first. Jon and I decided that Nate would have to bring the book to the librarian himself, tell her what he had done, apologize, and ask how he could make it right. We knew we'd probably have to pay for the book, so we told Nate he will do extra chores around the house to pay us back.

Today we went to the library after school to return our books. The person behind the returns desk was a somewhat-gruff-looking older man, and Nate asked if he could please not talk to him. :) So I looked around and saw a woman at the information desk and told Nate he could go to her. He walked up, said "Excuse me," and opened the book. "I'm sorry I wrote with pen in this book. What do I need to do to make it right?" The lady told him he'd have to go tell the children's librarian. As we were leaving to find her, the first lady smiled at Nate and thanked him for being honest. We found the other librarian, and Nate repeated his apology (word for word). She explained that it ruined the book, and we would have to pay for it. But she also said it was good that he was brave and told the truth.

I paid for the book as we checked out our new ones, and now I have to think of some good houseworky things he can do to earn $15. :)

What I've learned

Inspired by this post, I am going to write an actual post!

I should start by saying that the biggest thing I've learned in the past few years is that I know way less than I thought I knew. Thinking I know it all is a sign of blind pride, and nothing has taught me that truth more than motherhood!

But I guess I have learned a few things worth sharing with others, so here I go.

On parenting
Let go of expectations about how your children will turn out--as babies, as young kids, and beyond. Enjoy who they are and try not to compare them to other children.

Give grace to other moms who are trying to do right or who are obviously having a bad day. I had a big list of "I will nevers" before I had kids. (I will never let my children do x in the middle of a store. I will never let my children talk to me in x sort of way. Insert your "I will never" here.) Then I had kids. And I learned that, in those situations where I feel I must give in on something, I certainly don't want to be judged. I appreciate a sympathetic smile, though.

On having a child with autism
Some may consider this a negative trial, but going through it, mourning the loss of what I thought mothering was going to be like the first time around, I learned much about letting go of expectations and embracing the beauty of what the Lord has given me.

But you do mourn the loss of your "blissful mothering experience," and you mourn for your child's lost childhood. It's hard seeing others' neurotypical children who just "get it." Their moms don't have to teach them how to talk or communicate; they just get it. Their moms can go to parks and playdates and fun stuff, all while you're taking your child to therapy.

Doing something to try to help your child is far better than sitting around wallowing. Read. Research. Talk to others. And, please, try the GFCFSF diet.

On marriage
Just as I rest in the security of my husband's love, he rests in the security of my respect. It doesn't make sense to the female brain, but it works. For me, practically, this means never speaking negatively about him to our children or to my friends. It means telling him and showing him how much I respect and appreciate how hard he works to provide for our family. It means remembering that he is not another one of my children, so I should not speak to him as if he were one.

When you want your husband to do something, just ask. Spell it out. None of this passive-aggressive stuff, expecting him to "just know" what you want without having to tell him. Chances are, he wants to please you but just needs some direction, because what you wanted yesterday is different from what you want today.

Dress-up time

Sweater refashion

I enjoy the Grosgrain blog a lot and have made a few of her things. Last month, she did a series on refashioning knit cardigans, and I was inspired to redo this old sweater of mine:



Those pictures are from Nate's baby dedication 5 years ago!

Using this post as inspiration, I added some polka dot chiffon and cording, and now look how fun!

Wreath update

Here are my new and improved front-door wreaths. Don't the flowers and yo-yos look better than that sad bow? :)

A Big Bear New Year

Over the weekend, we drove up to Big Bear and spent the night in a cabin owned by a family at church. Once Jon got the cabin warmed up (it was in the 20s!), we enjoyed hanging out.

The kids got a little stir crazy:



On Saturday, we went sledding in the beautiful snow. Lucy was first to try it, and she liked it until she got snow in her boots. Nate didn't want to sled at first, and he waited around for a bit before deciding to try it. Then he loved it. Levi wanted absolutely nothing to do with the snow or the snow clothes--perhaps because the snow suit was pink (borrowed from a girl cousin)!--so he spent the whole time in the car.








After sledding, we had lunch, took a nap at the cabin, and drove home. It was a quick but fun trip.