Tag: gift

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Ready, Aim, Fire!

Nolan and I gave our new slippers a trial run this afternoon.

After bathtime tonight, Lincoln came into his room wearing his towel.  Standing several feet away from me, he stayed very still, like he was in a trance.  Before I knew it, there was a small puddle next to him on the floor.  He looked at me and said, “I wen pee pee.”  (And no, I didn’t forget the “t” on “went.”  He just can’t quite say ths whole word yet.)  All I could do was smile.  The little guy has actually started expressing interest in potty training, but I think he’s just facinated with the toilet at this point.  However, I am encouraged by his excitement…and hopeful!

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Christmas 2009 – take 3 & take 4

We woke up Christmas morning to snow and rain…yes, rain on December 25.  Jake  started a fire in the porch so we could open presents without freezing around the tree.  We gave the boys sleeping bags & cots this year.  It was pretty funny watching them practice taking naps.  It’s the first Christmas morning in several years that we didn’t have to load ourselves into a car to travel to a morning or out of town gathering.  What a gift that was!  We spent time as a family, the kids napped in the afternoon, and in the evening, we headed to Jake’s grandparents’ house for the Settergren family Christmas celebration.  35+ of us were able to make it this year.  Believe it or not, we were missing a few due to the weather.  I forgot to pack the camera for the big family shindig.  Maybe that was a good thing though – I didn’t worry about capturing all that I could, digitally.  Instead, I just enjoyed the evening as it unfolded.

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Christmas 2009 – take 2

Christmas Eve was a snowy one.  We woke up to a driveway full of light, fluffy flakes.  After breakfast, Jake and I traded our “normal” jobs – I went out to snow blow the driveway and he stayed in and watched the kids and cleaned up the kitchen.  After he was done, he dressed the kids in their snowpants, etc. and brought them outside.  We dug out the sled and tried to make a path down the hill in the front yard.  Several attempts were made to blaze a trail, some successful, some not so much.  But fun was definitely had by all – except for the one time that Lincoln got white-washed.  He called it quits after that episode.  But Nolan, our neighbor D, and I continued to play for a while.  If lunch time hadn’t closed in on us, we would have stayed out longer.

After lunch & naps, we went to 4pm Christmas Eve mass.  Thankfully, my parents beat us to church and reserved half of a pew – they saved us from standing.  From church, we headed to my parents’ house for dinner, presents and a birthday cake for Jesus.  (This is one of the kids’ favorite things about Christmas.  Ok, and mine too :))  Part of dinner consisted of turkey drummers for the boys to eat.  Nolan first had one when he was about 9 months old.  This go-around he made much more progress.  Lincoln did quite well with his first drummer.  Actually, he looked like a natural.

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OTW – nature, family, scrapbooks & cake

We met friends of ours at Springbrook Nature Center on Friday morning.  There is a visitor center with live and formerly live animals that the kids enjoyed looking at.  I’m not much for snakes, but they had some pretty cool ones that were native to MN.  Maybe I didn’t mind them so much because they were contained in their aquariums.  Once we were done with the inside part of the visit, we ventured outside to walk one of the trails.  The older boys had fun running ahead of us while my friend Brooke & I pushed the little ones in strollers.  It was a beautiful morning to be outside.  We ended up finding a grassy clearing and hung out there for a while so the kids could explore, play & eat a snack.  They had so many animal crackers I don’t think any of them needed lunch.

Side note…Nolan has a book called Help’s on the Way! It’s about rescue vehicles.

Firehouse Tales

In one part of the book, Red, the firetruck helps rescue Milky, the ice cream truck.  Milky is a big, white, boxy, truck.  On our way to the nature center, Nolan said from the back seat, “Look at all those Milkys!”  I paused for a moment, wondering what in the world he was talking about.  When I looked in my mirrors, I noticed that we had just passed the RV sales lot with all of the big, white, boxy, RVs.  I couldn’t contain my laughter 🙂  To his credit, the RVs DID in fact resemble Milky.

Friday night & Saturday I was able to spend time with friends organizing pictures and putting together a scrapbook with pictures from our engagement & wedding.  This has been a project I have been meaning to start for quite a while, but just haven’t gotten to it.  (I wonder why.)  Now that I have things organized and also have a scrapbook to put the finished pages into, I’m hoping to be able to complete the book some time in the next year.  We’ll see…

While I was doing my thing on Saturday, Jake took the boys to Hastings to see Auntie Kari (who was in town for the weekend), Grandma & Grandpa.  From the looks of the pictures, they had a good time playing outside!  They also helped wrap my birthday presents, which was pretty cute to see.  I made sure not to look closely at those pictures until after I opened the gifts.

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Sunday evening, Jake’s parents came over so Jake and I could go out to dinner (a day in advance) for my birthday.  We went to Biaggi’s and had a fantastic meal!  Our server was a friend of my brother’s, so it was fun to catch up with him a little, too.  We ended the evening with pumpkin pie and funfetti cake (made by Larissa).  It was a great birthday-eve!

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The joys of sugar

Nolan got to wear his pumpkin costume to school today and apparently do a little trick-or-treating.  He came home with two little goody bags filled with trinkets and individually wrapped pieces of sugary goodness.

I think kids have a heightened sense of where sweet treats are located and an uncanny ability to figure out packaging that sometimes stumps adults.  Case in point, Lincoln.  It was good that Nolan had two bags of treats because my littlest Sheck was not letting go of the bag he acquired from his older brother until he examined its contents completely.  Once we arrived home, I placed him in his highchair, untwisted the twist-tie from his bag, and let him check out what was inside.  I opened a mini candy bar and he made short work of it.  As I was getting lunch ready (thinking he was just playing with the eraser and kazoo from the bag) I turned around to find he had opened the purple Tootsie Pop and was enjoying it like a kid who has had a sucker before.  (Today was his first.)  And so, like any good mother, I grabbed my camera and took pictures while he loaded up on sugar before nap time.

Green monster teeth were another goody bag item.  Look at those scary smiles 🙂

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Randomness in life

In the car today Nolan asked, “Mom, can we go to Sara’s house again and play Hungry Hippos?”  I would love to spend just a few minutes inside my son’s head to know what triggers random statements like this.  Sara is Jake’s youngest cousin.  She is now getting the chance to play “older cousin” to the great-grandkids in the family.  She is such a delight (I wish we were able to see her more often,) and she loves all of the little boys in the family.  She has the makings of a great babysitter 🙂

It rained again today.  I think the weather encourages creativity in my kids.  Nolan helped unpack the groceries when we got home and proceeded to assemble a tower.  The construction materials of choice were cans of creamed corn & spaghetti.  Oh, and the 2nd attempt contained a random water bottle he was toting around.  (Make sure you click on the picture of the cans to see the tower in all its glory.)

Since random is the theme of the day, I also feel the need to include a link to a speech by the Archbishop of Denver that a college friend of mine posted on Facebook tonight.  Archbishop Cahput recently addressed a group of physicians in Phoenix.  I found what he said to be extremely powerful – specifically, two statements:

“The Nobel Peace Prize winner Albert Schweitzer once wrote that, “A man is truly ethical only when he obeys the compulsion to help all life which he is able to assist, and shrinks from injuring anything that lives.” Every child with Down syndrome, every adult with special needs; in fact, every unwanted unborn child, every person who is poor, weak, abandoned or homeless – each one of these persons is an icon of God’s face and a vessel of his love.  How we treat these persons – whether we revere them and welcome them, or throw them away in distaste – shows what we really believe about human dignity, both as individuals and as a nation.”

“It’s one of God’s ironies that the suffering imperfection brings, can perfect us in the vocation of love.”  (Emphasis Archbishop Chaput)

It seems I’ve just added to my list of things to reflect on during the quiet moments I’m granted during the day.

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Look back and laugh

I think God gives moms a few extra special gifts when it comes to being able to handle disgusting situations with poise, skill & composure.  I know I don’t embody all of those gifts in every situation where they could be used, but I am proud to say I did keep my composure and used a little skill with a tad bit of poise this afternoon.

When I got Shecklet #2 out of his highchair after lunch, I noticed he needed his diaper changed.  I thought I had a few minutes to clear the table and then change him.  WRONG.  Next thing I know, he’s sitting in the hallway whining because he has somehow managed to dislodge the contents of his diaper and make a total mess of the floor and himself.

Forgive me if this is a tad too gross for those of you who are checking in with me, but I am actually sitting here chuckling about it as I replay the conversation I had with myself this afternoon….

“Should I pick him up? Of course I should.  But wait, I can’t just walk off with him…the dogs need to go somewhere. I have to get him upstairs for a bath!  Where is Shecklet #1?  Oh, there he is.  Ok, Shecklet #1 needs to come with me, but manage to walk around the mess.  That’s right Shecklet #1, don’t step there, step here.  Good job!  Mav, Coop – upstairs, now!  Alright, dogs are in our room, where’s the baby gate?  What in the world is that?  Great, something else to clean up.  Ok, Shecklet #2 needs to get scrubbed down.  Shecklet #1, stay where I can see you.  Towel.  Washcloth.  Johnson’s Baby Wash.  Phew!  I think we’re going to be ok now.”

And we were.  Ok, I mean.  We all needed a nap after all that excitement though.  Good thing it was dark and rainy today – I didn’t feel bad snuggling back under the covers and dozing while the boys took their naps.

One final tidbit for today.  This actually happened last night while I was blogging.  Here is what my dogs think of “Where The Wild Things Are.”  Can you believe these two can do this?

This is the 2nd book Mav & Coop have sunk their teeth in to.  Number 1 was a library book.  Not good.  I’m beginning to think they have a preference for pricier books.  They have yet to chew apart the cheapo books from garage sales or the thrift store.  Who knew they could tell the difference?

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Graced & Gifted

Today I had the chance to attend a Catholic Women’s Day at St. John the Baptist Church in Savage.  My friends, Sarah and Michelle accompanied me; we really enjoyed the day.  I can’t say I had an “ah-ha!” moment, but did came away with a lot to process.  I have been given 3 opportunities to think about and discuss “grace” this week – two on this past Wednesday and then throughout the day today.  I’m assuming at this point that God has something He wants to tell/show/teach me involving this subject…

There are several points from today’s talks that I’ll be working through over the next few days & weeks:

From Liz Kelly’s talk:

  • When Jesus entered human history, He extended a dignity to women that had never existed before.
  • Jesus is an intimate friend to us.
  • Loneliness reminds us that our hearts have not become so bitter that they cannot break.

From Ann Osendorf’s talk:
Prayer based on Spiritual Exercises by St. Ignatius:

  • G – Gratitude & Praise: praising God opens our heart for Him.  It enables us to appreciate His gifts for us.  Gifts are sometimes in the gift of what we have not received.
  • R – Request for Light & Strength: part of God’s grace is asking for the willingness to do what is difficult.
  • A – Attention & Awareness: grace builds on nature.  We need to recognize the areas in our life that need fixing so that God can give us more grace.
  • C – Charting the Course to Holiness (Contrition & Confession): God’s divine grace is all about love.  We’re either moving toward God or away from Him.  We need to ask Him to not let go of us.
  • E – Entrustment: surrendering the piece of our heart that needs healing.

From Christina Smith’s talk:

  • For what do you hunger?
  • “Nowhere does the Gospel say: ‘Go away,’ but always ‘come to me.’ ” – Mother Teresa
  • “God is with us.  This is our joy.” – Mother Teresa

From Kimberly Hahn’s keynote talk:

  • We all have a place of service.
  • Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to do it.  – Proverbs 3:27