Cousin Jonathan Turns 1!

 Cousin Jonathan turned 1 last Saturday, March 24th and Laura had a little party for him down in their soon to be occupied apartment.  She made a yummy berry pie and angel food cake.  Jonathan did not know what to think about the candle and fire at first but then once he had the cake on his tray, he went to town.

 Jonathan loved his birthday hat- it was a little big on him but he loved it just the same.

 It was quite the party!  Jeremiah was a little jealous of all the new toys Jonathan got.  I tried to hold him back to Jonathan could have some time in the spot light, but soon he broke through and there was no holding him back- oh my!  Ben and Laura and Jonathan are getting ready to make their final move into the apartment below us tomorrow (Sat.).  I know Laura is so excited to be finally moving in to her own place.  And we are looking forward to having them as neighbors.

Let Us Not Grow Weary...

 
Now I know it is hard to imagine how a cute little munchkin like this could leave me tired and frustrated some days, but it is true.  This past week, Jeremiah has been pushing my buttons.  He has repeatedly decided to go for all kinds of things I have told him not to touch.  For a while I thought he was making progress, but this last week, as soon as I would run into the kitchen he immediately goes for something in the living room he KNOWS I do not want him to touch.  On top of that, he just has been having these little fits of temper that definitely are NOT cute or pretty.  What happened to my sweet little smiling, cooing baby?  I guess he has become a toddler. 

The past few Sundays, I have been going to a parenting Sunday School class called, "Getting to the Heart of your Parenting," using DVDs by Paul Tripp.  It has given me some excellent reminders.  This past Sunday was on Parenting ages 0-5.  I was reminded that during this age our main goal is to exercise our God given authority over children so that we might mirror God's divine authority over us.  The child's main goal, recognize and submit to this authority.  Paul Tripp was saying that if you are exhausted at the end of the day and ready to throw in the towel, that means it has been a successful day at this age.  Oh boy!  Those temper tantrums we see in a 3 year old will not be "cute- are they ever cute?" in a 17 year old down the road.  He was saying how we do not realize that that 3 year old, through his anger and tears, is saying- "I don't need you God.  I will do it my OWN way."  And even as we begin to see sin in our own child's heart become more blatant and ugly, I am reminded of my sin in my own heart that, though secret, looks just like that child's temper tantrum. 

My prayer for this week: "And let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."  (Gal. 6:9) 

Sharon Woods

 This past weekend, we went to Sharon Woods for a "date night."  I thought this was one of the best parks we have been to yet!  It was so fun to take the long 3 mile (I think) walk around the lake and it was a beautiful evening!  We even stopped at Chick-fil-A for dinner and ran in to Goodwill quickly to see if there were any deals for summer baby clothes as it has been so warm here!

 And last night, who could resist running to the "Gold Top Dairy Bar" for some yummy ice cream!  We got three spoons so we could all share!  I must say, the "Gold Top Dairy" right down the road from us is a hopping place- a lot of youth doing all their "biking" tricks- quite the entertainment! 

Outside Adventures...

These past few days have been gorgeous!  We have enjoyed being outside!  I am realizing that as Jeremiah gets bigger, he just seems to get bored in our apartment- and then of course the boy touches everything he is NOT supposed to touch and I am constantly running after him.  My solution on days that are frustrating- go OUTSIDE or for a walk!  Last week, we went for a walk with Amy S. and Jack!  We had so much fun being together!  And I think the boys had fun too on the Winton Woods playground!  We also went to the zoo in the pouring rain with Becky V.- I am so thankful for the mentor Becky has been and is in my life.  Even though it was pouring and hailing (hence why we did not get photos), we still had fun in the indoor exhibits and Jeremiah loved running after all the other little kids stuck indoors.

Yesterday, we watched Jonathan during the day- fed him his dinner and the two boys even took a bath together.  Today, we were able to get out and go to Winton Woods walking again with Sarah Brown!  Jeremiah loves the Winton Woods playground- perfect for little ones.  Then, after naptime, we went outside to plant some seeds and, yup, you guessed it- play in the dirt!  He was covered with dirt and even ate some dirt and loved putting sticks and rocks in his little cup outside while I tried to plant some more seeds in pots. :)  He wasn't too much help but I think he had fun.  We are really looking forward to exploring Cincinnati this summer- esp. continuing our search for all the parks in Cincinnati!  :) 

This Weekend...

 This past weekend, Ben & Laura, Beka & Michael and I went to see the Little Matchgirl down at the Arnoff presented by Cincinnati Christian Schools.  They actually wrote the musical and did an excellent job.  Saturday, Beka took us to Ambar India- a restaurant in Clifton that we love!  Jeremiah ate his first Indian food and he loved it!  Then, Saturday I hosted a 30th birthday party for my sister-in-law Laura Lyons.  We all turn 30 this year, Laura in March, me in April and Michael in May.  It is quite a year!  So I made her favorite fruit pizza and even her sister and husband came for the occasion.  We had a little Mexican fiesta complete with Fiddler on the Roof soundtrack music.  :) 

 Today and tomorrow are beautiful days, in the 70s, and so we went to the park today and took a walk.  Jeremiah loves to swing- it was fun until this little boy and his grandma thought Jeremiah was a girl-  I guess my haircut I did last night did not make him look to manly.  We even attempted to have a picnic out in the back but I was too busy to take a picture as Jeremiah had PB & J all over him and was trying to eat the stones in the backyard- oh my! 

Friday Randomness

 This week, Jeremiah and I tried to plant some seeds, but it was too windy and our pots kept flying away- so we brought it inside and planted some. 

 A sweet friend from college, Linda Gehman, along with her husband Adam and son Sheldon stopped by for an hour to visit on their way home to Michigan.  It was fun to meet Sheldon for the first time and the boys seemed to really enjoy each other.  It was a quick visit but fun to see them. 

 Jeremiah is now 13 months- he looks really happy in this picture doesn't he.  He says, "Mom do I have to take another photo again."

 Ok- now he is happy.  :)

 Random photos of fun in the tub.  He loves to throw all his toys out of the tub now. 

This week, the Lord has also been teaching me a lot about prayer.  I am reading a few books that have challenged me to be dependent on the Lord in prayer and to run to God with everything.  I want to teach Jeremiah that he can always go to the Lord with any concern or need, and so I too must go to the Lord too with all my concerns or needs.  I am praying this week that I would have a mindset of prayer no matter what situation comes up that I would go to Him first in these things.  And another little blessing and reminder of Gods' provision and answer to prayer came in our mailbox today as we have been praying about our trip to Israel and some other just little expenses that keep adding up.  The Lord truly does hear and answer! 

Happy Friday!

This Weekend

 This weekend we had cousin Jonathan with us on Saturday and the two boys loved to play together.  We also hosted on Saturday night a Neighbor Dessert Fellowship.  We have been wanting to do something for some time and it was fun to have some of our neighbors over and get to know them better.  We are hoping that we can do this more often and get to know them better.  We have some pretty neat neighbors- the problem is people are busy and it is hard to be intentional these days.  It was fun to get to together in our little apartment. 

 Meanwhile, Jeremiah and I have been taking walks and enjoying the sunshine- I think he wants to drive and on Monday while doing laundry we had a hangar war- I may regret this in the future but it still was fun.

Dr. Weisberg

One of Michael's professors, Dr. Weisberg died very quickly of pancreatic cancer.  He was a sweet man and came to see Jeremiah in the hospital when he was born and brought his class along.  Michael went to the funeral last Sunday morning and last week went to visit the family with some of these folks.  In Jewish life, the memory of the person is very important.  For 7 days all the family stays in the house together and people come to visit the family for the purpose of sharing memories and recording those memories in a book.  Michael thought it was a neat time of visiting with his children and wife.  Dr. Weisberg taught Michael Akkadian and really cared greatly about his students and taught until he could not teach any more.  

Cleaning & Perspective

This week, Jeremiah and I spent the week cleaning.  Well, mainly I spent the week doing a deep clean of the apartment (Jeremiah spent the week destroying), doing menu plans for the next two weeks, getting groceries and doing budget items at the beginning of the month.  It always seems that the beginning of the month has lots of little tasks to get ready for that flip of the calendar- at least in my mind.  And then of course, I decided to organize some closets and cabinets- I am just a tad obsessed with organization and cleanliness.  I have asked the Lord to help me not be so obsessed especially now with having basically a toddler who can ransack the pace in 0 to 10 seconds.  My sweet friend Laura put this quote on her blog and I just love this perspective.  This lady has written the book- Loving The Little Years.    And so since this challenged me so much, I thought I would share it too!  Sometimes it is easy for us to feel like our tasks are menial or pointless but I pray I would have this perspective and serve with joy my family when I am doing dishes for the 5th time in a day.  :) 

"Imagine you spent the day rearranging and cleaning up the living space in your home. You have flowers and clean curtains and fresh throw pillows and maybe a candle. You are pleased. The right lights are on. Things are good. And then, like the wolf on the fold, the people in your life descend upon your work. They peel off socks and put their feet on the coffee table. They come from afar bringing baskets of craftiness to spread out upon the couch. They pop popcorn and carelessly munch. Someone goes so far as to get out the puzzles. In such a moment, it would be easy (don’t ask me how I know) to become shrill. It is easy to see each chin-glancing popcorn shrapnel as an insult. “Don’t you value the work I do?!” “Don’t you care how long this took me?!” “Why can’t you just not do this??” Even if you don’t say it, you may feel a little despair, a little resentment, and a little “why do I even try?”.

But the truth is, we need a new perspective. It is moments like this that should give us a lot of job satisfaction. These people are enjoying you. They are enjoying your work. But, like a great dinner all laid out on the table, you don’t enjoy it without touching it. A chef would not look at dishes coming back to the kitchen untouched as a sign of success. It would not mean great things about your work. Yet this is what we want from the work we do in our homes.

I’m sure most of you have noticed the magnetic power of what you clean. Clean the bookshelf up, and everyone wants to read. Organize the little toys, and everyone wants to play with the things they have been callously walking on for days. This is a sign that you are succeeding, that your people love your work. Think of it like food, because that is how it is getting used."

by Rachel Jankovic at Femina

Jeremiah runs with glee whenever I vacuum- he actually runs to get his pusher and hits the vacuum- typical boy

So the kid is a walking machine now and loves to babble all sorts of noises- his one this morning- gulla gulla

Michael & Jeremiah brought me some beautiful tulips when they ran to the store this week!

Jeremiah ate his first PB & J sandwich and he LOVES it- just like his daddy!