Valentine's Day (I know, it was yesterday)

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite (secular) holidays.  And not because I'm one of those mushy romantic types.  In fact, my husband has spent the last eight years trying to bring out a little romance in me.  Rather, it's because nothing makes me happier than red and pink and hearts and roses.  I don't know what it is about them, but the whole combination just makes me giddy.  So even though my younglings are a bit too young to really appreciate it, they woke up to this table...

 ...and heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast.  Yum.  The tulips were a fortuitously colored gift from a friend this weekend, after we threw a baby-shower for her.  I LOVE tulips. They are my most favorite flower.  I planted some bulbs this past fall, and I'm really really really hoping they bloom, only not while we're on the East Coast, I don't want to miss them.


We had a nice Valentine's Day dinner too, but didn't make it to dessert, so we got to stretch it out by a day, and had yummy chocolate lava cakes with strawberries after dinner tonight.  They were from Trader Joe's, I didn't make them.  I did cut up the strawberries, though. Phew, that was a lot of work!  


At any rate, a belated Happy St. Valentine's Day to you all!

Read To Your Children

Really, really, I don't want this blog to be one of those things I start that fizzles off after a few entries. In that vein, here are some recent thoughts I've been wanting to share (ok, more like bossy instructions, but I've just been itching to get them out there, and what's a blog for if not to offer unasked advice to innocent online passers-by?)


Please, please, if you are a parent, or a grandparent, or an uncle or an aunt or a wonderful friend to some busy parents, READ TO YOUR CHILDREN!!  Read to them when they're little nurslings.  Read to them when they're busy toddlers who turn every page before you finish it.  Read to them when they're in elementary school. Read to them when they're in high school.  Read to them even when they're such accomplished readers you have a hard time prying them away from those books to, you know, eat and bathe.  It's not crazy.  It's wonderful.  And don't worry too much about the reading level of the books you choose, just make sure they're good, worthwhile books. It's amazing what children are capable of gleaning from stories of all levels, at all ages.  


Right now, one of Bluejay's favorite books is James Herriot's Moses the Kitten.  You can see from the reviews on Amazon how many readers struggle with the complexity of the language in this book when sharing it with children.  You know who doesn't have a problem with that vocabulary?  A two-and-a-half year old.  It's no big deal to him.  He's used to words he doesn't fully understand.  He likes it because it's a good story.  I bet you anything he's learning to love language just by being immersed in it.  I know I was.  Here are a couple of excerpts:


"There was a frozen pond just off the path and among the rime-covered rushes which fringed the dead opacity of the surface a small object stood out, shiny black. I went over and looked closer.  It was a tiny kitten, probably about six weeks old, huddled and immobile, eyes tightly closed."


"...I stared unbelievingly down at a large sow stretched comfortably on her side, suckling a litter of about twelve piglets and right in the middle of the long pink row, furry black and incongruous, was Moses. He had a teat in his mouth and was absorbing his nourishment with the same rapt enjoyment as his smooth-skinned fellows on either side."

Moses the Kitten

James Herriot

When I was growing up, I was very blessed to be often read to, even though I was the oldest of five.  I was read to by my mother.  I was read to by my father. I was read to by many other wonderful adults.  My mom read all of the Little House on the Prairie books to us (well, except for The First Four Years, which I would still leave out), and The King of Ireland's Son, and Anne of Green Gables, and lots of others.  My dad read David Copperfield to four of us, ranging in ages from about 5 to 12.  It's my favorite book to this day, and I've read it countless times to myself.  He read Tolkien and CS Lewis and Dickens and many other books to the whole group of us, and it was So. Much. More. Fun. than television or watching a movie.  Don't get me wrong, it was still a treat to watch TV. But there was something about being read to that was the greatest.  Every night before bed, we would beg for just one more chapter, and all of us remember it and grew as readers and thinkers most largely from that one activity of our youth.


Also, to those of you who aren't used to reading aloud, or feel uncomfortable about it, there's no one who is less judgmental or more forgiving than your young ones.  And even listening to great books on tape together counts.  Trust me, you'll love it as much as they do.

End of January Daybook

FOR TODAY

Outside my window... It is dark, and cooling down, but it was another lovely, warm January day.  I wonder if we will be hit by some long wet days in February and March?

I am thinking... About going to my cozy bed, where I should probably already be right now.

I am thankful... For the thorns.  During his sermon several weeks ago Father quoted Alexander Solzhenitsyn as stating, towards the end of his life, that he had thanked God for all the blessings in his life, all of the roses, but he had neglected to thank him for the thorns.  This really struck me.  I have had a lot of what I have taken as "thorns" in my life in the past year.  But, the more I think about them, the more I really am grateful for them.  These unfortunate events have served to set me on a path that I had been searching and searching for, without my even realizing it was happening.  More on that in a future post that's in the works.  In any event, I am grateful for the thorns, and God's unceasing persistance in teaching me humility.

In the kitchen... Roast chicken, carrots with brown sugar, potato casserole that my sister made and delicious salad that my aunt made.  Two of my aunts were visiting so it was a lovely family dinner.

I am wearing... My soft, purple and white Liz Claiborne pajamas, and NOT very old worn out shorts and very large men's V-neck T-shirts.  Those are going to the rag bag.  It's time to not look like a slob at bedtime any more.  They were nice when I was huge and pregnant and didn't want anything elastic touching my skin.  But I haven't been pregnant for almost 11 months!  Moving on...

I am creating... I just framed a picture of Chickadee for my mother in a tiny little wood and stone mosaic frame which belonged to my great-grandmother.  It didn't fit perfectly, but there is gold foil behind the photograph.  I think she will still like it.

I am going... To the opthamologist today.  I've been having a problem with what appears to be some sort of recurring eye infection, which means I cannot wear my contact lenses.  And since I am extremely near sighted, this is fairly debilitating as it's challenging to drive wearing my glasses, and in general I just can't see as well with them.  I'm really hoping they will be able to help me fix this situation!

I am wondering... If Chickadee will sleep a little better with the new sleeping arrangements we've tried to set up.  She's almost 11 months old.  That means, it's been 11 months since I've slept more than 5 hours at a time, and even 5 hours is rare, it's usually 2 or 3.  I need a little more sleep, and the baby does too.

I am reading... Some old Martha Stewart magazines, and some Cooks Illustrated magazines lent me by a friend.

I am hoping... That I will be able to maintain patience with having to wear glasses for several weeks.

I am looking forward to... Our trip to the East Coast in March!

I am learning... How to keep up a blog :-)

Around the house... It's really relatively tidy!  I think taking care of Little Man this  past month has helped me to be better about frequent, small tidy-ups whenever I am not holding a child.  And the husband has been so helpful on his days off, tackling one little area or another to help me keep up with things.  This morning he scrubbed the shower, which was terrible, only I can't tell since I don't have my eyes in when I shower.  That is the language of love to me!

I am pondering... Whether to even post this "Daybook" entry.  It's taken me more than one "day" to finish it.  Somehow I keep getting interrupted.

A favorite quote for today... Trying to find the Solzhenitsyn quote... 

One of my favorite things... Ordering things online.  Now I have a package to look forward to in the mail.

A few plans for the rest of the week: A visit with a friend tomorrow.  Finally taking a crack at setting up the new directory for our church on Saturday.  A Sunday with no other plans (??) I hope!  We're not really big Superbowl fans around here and we don't have TV.

A peek into my day...

This is how the living room typically looks

The Simple Woman's Daybook