Tradition of No Gifts {Moira Kicking It Off}

Leading up to Moira’s birthday, I thought a lot about presents.

What should we get her?

I kept coming back to one thing – nothing.

No birthday gift.

Scott & I talked about it.

We decided to start a new tradition in our family.

No birthday gifts.

We’ve been trying to lessen the amount of stuff we have around the house.

If we keep getting gifts at every birthday,

even when there is nothing needed or particularly special,

than we are our own worst enemy in the decluttering department.

It takes a lot of stress & pressure off, to eliminate most of the gift giving days.

I like gift giving.  A lot.

But, as our family grows, 

it gets hard for me to keep gift giving what I think it should be.

I feel like my mom did well in teaching us to give thoughtfully.

To plan & be purposed.

To give within your ability, & yet to be generous.

I never felt like gift giving, in my childhood, was a materialistic thing.

Gift giving can be great.

Or not so great.

It can just be motions.

It can be an expectation that puts pressure on the giver.

It can be a waste of money.

Now it seems, as life gets busy

& there are a lot of birthdays & a lot of gifts to give,

gift giving is becoming what I don’t want it to be.

So we are cutting back.

(We will focus on Christmas for the tradition of gift giving.

That’ll give me a whole year to plan for the one day!)

We still celebrate.

We still try to make the birthday person feel special.

We make it their day.

Just not with a new thing to open.

Ways to celebrate without gifts?

·         Birthday person choosing meals

·         Special  cake or treats

·         An outing

·         A celebration place setting for the honored person

(We haven’t done this one yet, but I want to.)

·         Balloons &/or other decorations

·         Party Hats or a birthday crown

How about you?  
How do you make the birthday person feel special & honored?

My Little Helper

While Daddy was away, my big girl rose to the challenge of being momma's little helper.
(Imperfectly, of course.  Come on!  She's 4! 
Plus, we're all imperfect at our calling, no matter what our age. 
She gave it a good effort, though.  I am proud of her.)

Gillian helped me out with bedtime on a couple evenings.
The first time was a night Kendall was super fussy &
needed bedtime rocking right in the middle of bedtime for the big kids.
So, I asked her to read them a story.
I came back after Kendall was down to Gillian "reading" them one of our bug books.
"Okay kids, what kind is this one?"  She was asking as she pointed to each one.
Then she would give them the answer.  She can identify way more bugs than I can.
I thanked her for doing such a good job reading & taking care of the kids.
She told me, "It wasn't because of me, Mom.  They were just really good."
(What?!!?  Where did she learned to be so gracious & generous?!)

The next time I asked her to help, things had been going fine with all 4 of them,
until Kendall pooped upward out of her diaper, onto her back &
also onto my pants upon which she was resting...
I asked Gillian if she would read to the kids while I cleaned up myself & the baby.
She said, "Oh yes.  I love helping out with the kids mom!"  Okay!
As I walked out of the room she was directing them to the bookcase to pick out their stories.
I could hear her "reading" while I changed the baby.  It was SO cute.
I tried to then capture it on video camera but my disc was full &
I couldn't find another.  So typical of me & video cameras...

Here's some photos though, of the proud big sister, with her siblings.

Together

This is going to be brief.
We have a poor computer/internet situation.
Computer seems to be on the fritz.
Internet connection is extremely spotty.
But, both are working at the moment.

So, last week, I was solo with the kids for over 8 days.
That was a tough one for me.
I am so used to having Scott here & fully present.
It was a huge challenge to have him away that long.
Plus, he had been in Europe. 
So, he is just now coming back into our local time zone.

It's so nice to be together again!
What a gift!
Happy Mother's Day to me!

I have no ability to upload photos or spend much time on the WWW. 
I do miss the online stuff.
But, I am reading Julia Child's My Life in France instead of blogs.
That's not a bad thing, I think.

Little Mo - My Crazy

Our Moira turns two on Sunday.

(Rats.  I've never been good at sharing special days.  
You & me, baby!  Mother's Day & MoMo's Day.)

She is a crazy little fireball.
She cracks us up with her silliness.
And, at times, concerns us with her fieriness.

The words she has now are fabulous.
She will often shout, "I did it!!"jumping up with her hands to the sky.
If will tell her not to do something, she will reply, "okay, I won't."
If we ask her to do something, she says, "okay, I will."
(The respectful replies are heartwarming.
Whether or not she follows through in action is another story to be told.)

She loves to run & jump & & skip & tease.
She's rough & tumble,
but loves pretty things,
and she loves the baby.
"Ooooooooo  BABY!" (giggle, giggle squeal)

I have noticed that a newborn baby crying seems to bother most little kids.
They get sad about it.
Not Moira.  She gets excited.
She seems to think it is funny.
It makes her laugh.

She loves a good lap cuddle.
But, when she is done she'll give you a head butt on her way off of your lap.

She has such a brightness in her little eyes.
People take notice of her almost immediately.

Moira, may that brightness in your eyes always remain.
May your laughter be a celebration of God's goodness.
May the fire in your heart burn with a passion for Jesus.
May your crazy spirit be ever ready for the adventure God takes you on.

Happy Day sweet daughter.
We love you!!

Working the Land

Last weekend we spent some time hanging out at my parent's house.

It happened to be "work day" at the house.

So, everyone was doing chores.

Except me.

I just sat on the couch & talked.

And, went to a little antique sale down the road with my mom & sis.

I found a find.

They told me this is a Harlequin.

Whatever it is, I like it.

Back to the people doing work.

The kids picked up rocks & sticks, so Grandpa could do tractoring.  

Then, after the tractor work was done, 

they each got to drive the tractor up & down the driveway.

They were so happy!

This week's "embrace" is with Grandpa

Photos by my sister Liz!

A Gift from My Mother - Real Play

I was reading these good posts on "Real Play" over at Having Fun at Home.
I couldn't help but think of my own childhood.
It was filled with real play of which I have very happy memories.
I am so grateful my mom fostered that in us.

Real Play really does seem magical.
I mean, check out this fort my sister found on Pinterest.

Source: 4.bp.blogspot.com via Erin on Pinterest

Magical, no?
That was us.  But our version was better.
We sat above the citrus trees, engulfed in Passion Flower vines.
The vines were strong enough that we actually used it as the rope ladder.
It was amazing.  It was one of the places where magical real play took place.

Until the day our mom had our brother cut down the vine so the citrus tress would live...


I want to learn to foster real play amongst my children.
I want to give them that gift.

How Do You Do It?

Some people ask me that sometimes.
"How do you do it?"
"It" usually being - have a lot of kids close together & staying sane.

I don't know what I usually answer.
Something lame like, "it's not always easy" probably.

The right answer would be, I can't & I don't.
I can't live the life I feel called to live, apart from the One who called me.

This evening was an example to myself.
And to my kids.
We were rather a mess around here, in every sense.
Tear stained faces, muddy hands, filthy floors & cluttered counters.
I can't go to bed until I fold a mountain of laundry that is on it right now.

I am not a rock star mom & I am not superwoman.
Most all of you know that.
But, I'm just sayin'.  I'm not.

But, I am able to accomplish what God has for me,
playing my part with grace & love,
if it is the power of the Holy Spirit in me.
And only then.

I have a challenging week right now, friends.
I don't want to give a list of the dramas.
And, I can't say why it is hard.
But, I know I am able, in Christ, to walk rightly.

Pray for me!
That I would not quench the Spirit.
That I would walk in His power.

How can we do hard things?  In the power of the Spirit.

p.s.  talking of the Spirit reminds me a good conversation Gillian & I in the car last week.

I should write it here before I forget.

She had me a bit stumped in the explaining...

"Mom, when we get to Heaven, will we be able to see Jesus?"

Yes sweetie!  That is when we will get to see Jesus face to face!

"But won't we just see right through Him?"

Um.  No.

"But God is Spirit & we can't see Him."

Well.  That's true.

Jesus is God in person, though.  Jesus has a resurrected body.  

I don't know exactly what it looks like, but He has a body.  And we will see Him.

"Well, but if God is spirit, & He has a body, that doesn't make sense.  

Because Jesus is God & that should be the same."

Um.....

This Sunday the pastor quoted Augustine saying,

"If you deny the trinity you lose your soul, 

if your try to explain the trinity you shall lose your mind."

I laughed at that.  I knew the feeling.

What is Lovely?

Today is Life Made Lovely Monday.
I was thinking this morning about the question,
what is really lovely?

A perfect outfit, or a beautiful home,
a lush garden, gorgeous food,
or adorable crafts, or a fabulous party?

All those things can be lovely.
But, that's not all.
There needs to be more to it than that.
You know, as in Proverbs 11:22
"As a ring of gold in a swine's snout, 
So is a beautiful woman that is without discretion."
(Don't you just love the picture that verse paints in your mind?)

Anyway.  I threw a party this morning.  And it could not be called fabulous.

The company was great.  

The weather was lovely.  

We had some treats.

They are eating rice krispie balls on a stick.  The idea didn't turn out as well as I had hoped.  But, it worked okay.

And we had some fun.

But there was a lot of crazy.

Like I was late for my own party.

Like my kids had some crazy meltdowns.

And just the normal hecticness of having 17 tiny kids running around.

We got worn out today.  

But, you know what is lovely?

Friends coming together for the purpose of blessing someone in need.

Our party at the playground was a Love for Anika party.

With the mom's bringing the $20 for the fundraiser + kids giving their own change,

together we raised $200.64 for Anika's adoption funds.

Gillian wants to make sure that nothing happens to any of the money.

She is sad for Anika & praying for her to find a family.  

Like one of the little boys at the party said, 

it will be great when she gets a mom & dad "so they can say hi to her".

His mommy said, "Yes that.  And SO much more."

Life is lovely when we share the love.

P.S.  do you like my new blog design?  Katy did it!  I love it!

Contact Life Made Lovely Designs for your own!