Praying for Mommy

I admit it, I am a Pinterest Junkie - though, admittedly I have spent less time on it lately than before.  I am happy to say, however, that I do tend to actually use the pins (though not nearly as many as I have re-pinned...not even half as many.)

One of those projects a few months back was a prayer jar.  Pretty simple, really.  A mason jar, some popsicle sticks, some paint and a sharpie marker.  An afternoon of entertainment for Alyssa left us with a completed project with a practical purpose.  I took an evening to write the names of as many friends and family members that I could fit onto all the sticks that would fit in the jar.  Now, each night before bed Alyssa pulls a stick from the jar and says a prayer for the person whose name is on it.

This has been such a fantastic experience.  Each night it has allowed us to focus on different people that we love and think about what is going on in their lives and pray for their difficulties, give praise for their gifts and show gratitude for their love for us.  Alyssa is slowly learning that prayer is personal...it is not just a ritual that we go through at certain times of the day, such as before meals or before bed.  

The focus on prayer has also opened the door for us to pray at random.  When she gets hurt and is beside herself we try to remember to stop and ask Jesus to make the pain go away and heal the boo-boo.  When she is cranky or having a tired or off sort of day (especially if we are going someplace like a friend's or Sunday School) we try to stop and ask God to give extra patience and kindness.  When she is frightened (like when she is getting ready to go down the huge waterslide) we stop and ask Jesus for courage.

It's been good for me too.  Reminding me of the importance of prayer...more than that...reminding me of the importance of conversing with my God.  There is power in prayer, anyone who knows the Lord knows that.

Tonight Alyssa came running out after getting all ready for bed and asked me if I would do prayers and bedtime with her.  "Sure"...though I couldn't help but notice this weird twinkle in her eye that said 'I am up to something'.  Sure enough, we got to her room and I told her to pick out her prayer stick.  She said "I already did" with this crazy grin.  She held up a purple painted popsicle stick that said MOMMY.  With a giggling glee she said "I spent time during quiet time looking for the one that had your name on it because I wanted to pray for you!!".  Heart melt round one.

All snuggled up in her bed together we laid there while she prayed.  "Dear Jesus, please help Mommy have a good sleep and have a good day tomorrow.  Thank you that Mommy loves me no matter what.  Thank you that Mommy takes so good care of me.  Jesus please help Mommy to keep following in your footsteps everyday.  Amen."  

Wow.  She is listening; really listening.  Each night when I put her to bed I pray over her and with her.  I pray for her day and her sleep and I pray that she continues to grow into a wonderful young lady who listens to God and strives to obey Him.  Her prayer for me were all her words, I swear.  Right down to "follow in your footsteps".  I don't even know where she learned that phrase.

God is good.  God is great.  God is doing fantastic things in the heart of my little girl.  Growing her into a phenomenal individual who is loving and compassionate.  An individual who is starting to understand that she can lean fully on God and rely on Him for any strength that she will ever need.  This Mommy couldn't be happier about the good works that the Lord is doing in her baby girl.

"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." ~ Proverbs 22 : 6

A Few "Sun"sational Days

While the calendar may not agree, Mother Nature has certainly declared that summer is here.  Don't believe me?  Check out the bathing beauty in the picture!!  

This past week was one of those "woah, where did THIS heat come from? who invited summer?  what happened to Spring?" kind of weeks.  That's alright, it just meant that we could break out the hose, water table and swimsuits.  Properly coated in sunscreen after donning their suits, the girls went out back and played on their "water slides" (Alyssa kept filling her tea pot at the water table and pouring it down the slides).  They splashed in the water table and played a little catch.  Time for lunch...

First things first.  Before any picnicking can happen, the table must be washed.  Nothing a little bowl of soapy water and a scrub bush can't solve...oh, and the labor of two little cuties!  Now we can have lunch.

Working off a little of their lunch on the swing set was a necessity.

 

A new day dawns and more sun means more heat.  Emma showed up in pigtails, so Alyssa wanted to be "pigtail sisters".  But she added bows to hers which meant we had to find bows to coordinate with Emma's outfit.  And to make things even more fun - Alyssa says "Mommy - you should have pigtails and bows today too!!".  Oh, the things we do for the love of our kids....Here are the "Bow Babes" and the "Pigtail Sisters".

Pigtail Sisters

Bow Babes

 The morning was spent playing with cousins and friends...their favorite spot to stay cool while we were outside?  The hideout inside the trees, of course!!  A little sword-play with sticks between rides on the swings made for great fun.

And why not top off the night with some cowgirl pj fun?!?!

Center Stage

Alyssa and her teacher Miss Suzannah - it's been a great 2 years!!

On the heels of our return from a fantastic week in Vermont, Alyssa and I were on the run getting ready for her dance recital.  This year her Creative Movement dance class performed to "Jesus Bids Us Shine" sung by Veggie Tales.  So cute!!  We were especially excited that GG and Poppy were able to make the trip down from Vermont to see it...only 3 days after leaving them!!  Aunt Ange and Gram and Grandpop came too!

Getting Made Up

My Angel Showing off the beautiful Flower!

Backstage with the Class

A few action shots

After a great show, we went back to the house and continued the "this-weekend-is-all-about-Alyssa" theme by getting to work on her much anticipated swing set.  Lumber, screws, nails, saws, measuring tapes and a couple of hard working men over the afternoon made good work for the first day.  Meanwhile, Alyssa and GG decorated the sidewalk.

Thank goodness GG is so artistic, because the extent of my chalk-art drawings tend to be hopscotch and letters and basic stick figures.  Alyssa colored in hearts, drew penguins and something that I think looked like an elephant.  GG started with a sun and it took on a life of it's own.  There was so much chalk that the drawing actually survived 3 days and 2 rain storms!!

Alyssa requested that the picture be special to Uncle Malachi...she said that she just misses him so much with him living so far away in Italy.  Then she decided she wanted to list essentially everyone she knows and we compromised with adding "to everyone".  She even took a minute to put herself in the picture and record a special message.

What happened to the swing set, you ask??  Well, it took one more day with the help of friends and Poppy, but it got finished and Alyssa is in heaven!  Swings, glider, slide...what kid wouldn't be thrilled?

May in Motion...

So, the name of this blog is "Life in Motion" and there has been so much MOTION in May that I haven't had time to think about posting - ironic, huh?

We've had several big moments in May, including our week-long trip to stay with GG and Poppy in Vermont.  The car ride was long, as always and made even longer by the torrential rain that we traveled through for 7 out of the 8 hours.  Alyssa did fantastic, as she usually does.  Toy Story 1, a nap, lunch, Toy Story 2, some books and a doll and she was entertained for the trip.  I focused on seeing out the front window while listening to an audio book - best invention ever for long car rides!

As always, our time in Vermont went by too quickly.  This time seemed especially so as we managed to fit in 2 parties, plus Poppy's birthday and Mother's Day!  Not to mention the requisite baking and cooking to be done by Alyssa and GG.

Alyssa picked out a project to make Poppy for his birthday.  We didn't have time to make it before leaving for Vermont and I thought that it would be a fantastic little project to keep her busy when we didn't want her underfoot.  She was thrilled.  Paints, Glue, Candy...what more could a kid want??

Not only was Friday Poppy's Birthday, but it was also Party #1 - at a place called The Carving Studio.  This is a place that GG worked at over the last year as a chef.  It is a studio for artists from all over to come and work.  They have people come to teach and to learn - primarily the art of carving beautiful Vermont marble.  The resident artist from the past year, Leonidis, is from Greece and the party was to wish him well as he leaves to embark upon his next adventure.  Alyssa loved walking around and looking at the sculptures and telling us what they were (and she's pretty good even with some of the more abstract ones).  Her favorite was the coral.  She knew what it was right away and said that she wanted to stand in front to have her picture taken pretending she was like a mermaid!  Thanks Ariel!

Saturday brought another party.  A bridal shower for a friend of the family.  Alyssa was all dolled up in her pretty flower dress but, alas, no pics of that.  However, I do have a picture of her "after party dress".  See, it rained during the party.  A lot.  And, while she was told to stay out of the rain when she went out to the porch, she wasn't particularly successful at staying under the tent.  So, her soaking wet little body got draped with a t-shirt from the bride-to-be.  Of course, it was too big but with a little help from a hair tie, all worked out just fine.  

Sunday.  The parties are over...the making of the Lemon Squares and Almond Horns and Strawberry Green Bean Salad was over.  Now, it was Mother's Day.  Again, Alyssa picked out a project to make for GG.  Making it in secret was a bit tougher since GG was ALWAYS around, but we managed.  This was definitely a 2 person project and by the time we were done, both of us have painted fingers!!  Our Alien Q-tip Flowers...

Once Alyssa realized it was Mother's Day and that she didn't have a gift for me, she was so sad.  I told her the giant hug was plenty, but she was super excited when GG gave her money to buy me a present and she picked out new fuzzy slipper socks for me!!

Sunday and Monday were also spent checking out the (hopefully) soon-to-open restaurant, The HarvestMoon, but that is a story for another post.

Nearing the end of our trip, Mr. Woody finally awoke.  Let me take a moment to tell you about Mr. Woody.  I wish that I had a picture, but I don't.  Mr. Woody is a tree in my parents yard.  It has nailed into it these big eyes and a mustache so that it looks like the tree has a face.  Ever since Alyssa could talk (and let's face it, that's been just about since she came out of the womb), Mr. Woody was her friend.  He leaves gifts for her hanging from his "arms" and he talks with her (yes, she has finally figured out that it is GG from inside the house, but she doesn't care) and she picks flowers for him and gives him hugs when we get there and when we leave.  It's endearing, really.  The gift this trip was a fancy glow-stick kit.  It was filled with glow stick and directions to make different things like flowers and glasses and other things.  Along with Poppy's help, she made a few to use as night-lights in our room.

Tuesday came before we knew it and off we were.  Back in the car for the long drive home.  On the up side - it wasn't raining.

Baking for the Boys

Well, last Tuesday was a special day for all us of.  I got to spend the day with some wonderful ladies enjoying a day trip to New York City which meant that Alyssa got to spend the whole day with Daddy who stayed home from work.  Excitement abounds!!

Since it is rare for Daddy to have a weekday off, he thought it would be a great opportunity to visit with a friend he doesn't get to hang with too often since he works nights.  So a plan was made...pack lunches and meet up after their youngest son gets out of kindergarten and spend the afternoon together.  Alyssa was super excited to hear the plan...a morning with Daddy and an afternoon with Evan!! Wahoo!!  Then..."Mommy, can we make cookies for lunch tomorrow for Evan and Daddy and Uncle Lynn and Me??"  "uh...bake for the boys? sure.".

So, dig out a cookbook, rummage through the pantry, pull ingredients and see what we can come up with.  Ooh...that recipe for Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies in the Nestle cookbook looks fantastic, easy and I don't have to run to the store for ingredients! 

 

Start with the flour (don't forget to level it hon'!)

Now, for the cocoa powder

Chocolate Chips and Butter

Once melted...add Condensed Milk

Add egg and vanilla

Bake and Eat

Triple Chocolate Cookies

1 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour

1/2 cup Cocoa Powder

1 t baking soda

2 cups Chocolate Chips

1/3 cup butter or margarine

14oz can of condensed milk

1 large egg

1 t vanilla extract

Combine flour, cocoa and baking soda in medium bowl.  Melt 1 cup of chocolate chips and butter in large, heavy-duty saucepan over the lowest possible heat setting, stirring until smooth.  Remove from heat.  Stir in condensed milk, egg and vanilla extract; mix well.  Stir in flour mixture and remaining chocolate chips.  Drop dough by rounded tablespoon onto lightly greased baking sheets (or parchment lined sheet).

Bake in preheated oven 350°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are set but centers are still slightly soft.  Let stand for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.  Makes about 3 dozen cookies.