Commercials... and Other Life Altering Events

There's a commercial playing here in South Africa that asks the question, "Where have your dreams gone?" It shows all the typical fire fighter/doctor/ballerina-type dreams of young children and then details that when those dreams die, so does a part of yourself. I've always been so thankful that I grew up where I did and was allowed the freedom to compete in soccer, volleyball, swimming, gymnastics and distanced running. I was given the chance to love whatever I was learning about, which meant that I wanted to be everything from a missionary doctor to a marine biologist to a program director for the save-the-whales campaign. I'm glad no one ever told me those dreams were stupid, or that being a doctor wasn't in my cards since I'm terrible at math... and science... and studying. No coach ever squashed my dreams of becoming Nadia Comaneci, even though I was 5'6" (1.67m) at age 11 and my mother dutifully carted me from one practice to the next.

If you had told my 10 year-old self that I would one day be the mother of three very small children, living in South Africa and editing the regional news for all of Africa (at least for the church), all before 30, I would have laughed at you. No really, in-your-face laughed! I couldn't read properly at 10, let alone write and who wants three kids before 30?!? And when we received the call to move to South Africa, Todd had a clear job with clear passions for said job. My responsibilities were more ambiguous and nondescript. I was rather grateful at the time, because I was the mother of one and that was a huge and often overwhelming task. I wondered, though, if I would ever find something that truly spoke to my soul... you know what I mean? Something that makes you WANT to do whatever it is that you're doing. So I find myself now, living a dream I never knew I had, because I serve a God who knows me better than anyone. He knew, long before I did, that I have a passion for writing and missions and kids AND adult conversation. So, if you want to check out the monthly newsletter for the Africa Region - Church of the Nazarene, great! Email me (blesliesa@gmail.com) and you'll get it when it comes out. If not, please keep reading my random musings... I like company over coffee :)

Story in Pictures

There are days when you feel like being a mom who is with her kids 24/7 is the best job in the world, but unfortunately for me, today wasn't one of them. I was rather excited by the kind lady who timidly approached me in the grocery store parking lot to commend me for taking both my babies shopping with me, but when that's the highlight of the day, things aren't looking too hot! So I grabbed a cup of decaf instant coffee in Todd's "Top Dad" mug and took it outside to watch the kids and catch my breath. It was there, in our backyard, that the following story unfolded and in true Brittany fashion, I grabbed the camera before helping my distressed (but not critically endangered) offspring.

I LOVE playing with these new "boy toys!" Cars are the BEST!!

See, now, the trick is to get the swing moving and then send the cars plummeting to their doom.

Crashing them, one right after the other is also optimal.

But I think I went wrong here, when I decided to take a 'shortcut' to the crashed cars by going the same way they did...

Mommy! Tuck!! T U C K ! ! ! ! ! !

One more try to get out without help, but these exasperating diapers just won't let me get out!

Okay Mommy, time to put the camera down and help a boy out!

Flannel Board

When Marilyn (Todd's mom) was here, she brought with her a flannel board and characters for our kiddie's program at church. Em and Cooper, however, discovered the 'toys' and haven't stopped playing with them. Not sure they'll ever make it to church, but we still hold out hope! Once Em went back to school, Cooper was over the moon that he finally was able to play with everything on his own. Even though he out-weighs Em now, he still hasn't figured out how to throw his weight around, and thus, when I looked up from working at the computer just after Em left for school, I saw an array of flannel pieces blanketing the better half of my living-room floor.

Today's story of choice? Boaz and Ruth with a bit of David and Goliath thrown in for good measure.

As soon as I stopped with my work and pulled out the camera, my ham of a son decided to put on a show...

And then wanted to show me the story. Too bad he didn't have any words. I'll tell you what, though, the story of Ruth and Boaz as told through grunts and gestures is hilarious.

Busy Week

Every week seems full of activities, but this week saw one little girl turning 3 years old, one turning 1 month, a swing/teeth busting through Cooper's lip and a Bible study potluck. So, we were rather busy keeping up with all the fun! Em loved sharing cookies (thanks Auntie Em for the recipe!) with each of her school friends. Todd and I just stood in awe that our baby was offering cookies that she helped make from a plate she was carrying, AND she was offering them POLITELY! Wahoo!!! It's rather deja vu to have Harper, the spitting image of Em at that age, around to remind us of how things change so quickly.

These two are going to be good friends someday.

Harper is now officially a month old, and all wrapped up and ready for her close up!

Twins

I've heard about kids looking or acting very similar to siblings. However, I'm slightly convinced I have two of the same kid. There are many times when Todd or I will look at Harper, and it feels like it's 3 years ago all over again... with an additional two toddlers! In many cases, I feel like I'm cheating because I have the answers. No guessing-games with this kid because she's walking the very same footsteps as her sister. Not sure I'm ready for another Em (version 2.0 her Daddy's legs instead of mine so at least she's got that going for her), but here we go again I suppose!

Can you tell which is which?

(Besides the obvious upgrade in photo-taking and camera abilities?)

3rd Birthday

We held Em's birthday party Saturday. It seemed logical since there has been a string of public holidays, Todd had time off from work (because of all the holidays), and Marilyn (Todd's mom) is in town to help with all the kiddos. I decided to diverge from my normal do-everything-myself routine and we went to our favorite tea garden and have them do the dirty dishes for me. Em decided she wanted "just girls" so moms, grans, and sisters all converged on our little slice of tea garden heaven, and it was a ton of fun! It was so nice to have the kids play, decorate their canvas bags, and then leave!!

The only thing I did was make a very small cake for Em, in the colors of her choosing... when did my little girl become so girlie???

Every other child was sensibly dress, but Em has been insistent for months that she wanted to a tutu... so a while back, I made one for her. Remind me to NEVER agree to work with tulle again! But, I must say, she loved the end result and it will be a great dress-up outfit for both girls!

Resurrection Eggs

Last year, in my MOPS group, we made "Resurrection Eggs." They are 6 plastic eggs to help tell your kiddo the Easter story. We did it with Em last year, but needless to say, the main point of them was utterly lost. This year, however, she's now old enough to comprehend much of the story and so, the eggs were much more enjoyable... once I figured out that I forgot to take out the bread from last year and washed the eggs out (EWWW!!!!)

Em with egg #1, which talks about the Passover meal and how Jesus shared a meal with his friends.

Cooper was more excited to wave the contents around, but I'm sure the concept will grow on him as the years pass.

Todd really appreciated how much attention the kids gave him. He was able to tell the whole story before Em moved on and Cooper lasted halfway through, which for him is amazing.

The last egg is empty, to represent the empty tomb. Em was rather happy to know that Jesus would get "all cleaned up today" as the Easter pageant on Good Friday, where she saw a dirty/bloody (ketchup and mud) Jesus on the cross, which was quite disturbing to her (she kept saying Jesus needed a bath and needed to clean up his mess). She was also pleased to know that Jesus was in Heaven with his Daddy... but then she wanted to know who was God's daddy... hum... maybe next year we'll tackle that one! :)