Let me tell you 'bout the birds and the bees...

Our baby birds are hatching! The kids are getting to see it all first hand. Yep, it wasn't good enough to just look out the kitchen window, so Phil rigged up the camera, drilled a hole from the front closet to outside & set up a closed circuit, live feed TV right in our coat closet. We got to watch the 3rd egg hatch, the momma bird feed the other 2, and the daddy bird come & feed the momma. My friend said, "That boy has too much time on his hands!" It is true sometimes, and though I'm not often excited about the crazy ideas he comes up with, I am enjoying this one. So if you're looking for something educational to do, stop by the Voth house & we'll let you experience the wonders of nature first hand. Okay, that could be taken totally the WRONG way, but I think you know what I meant!

Mischievous

Manners?

Today I served hot lunch at the kids' school. I was impressed that most of the kids remembered to say, "No, thank you." and "Yes, please." A few came through with grunts & "uh-huhs", but for the most part, everyone was very courteous and one even called me "Mam". I was impressed at how the school is instilling something as simple as manners in the kids. It's really taken for granted in our society anymore. I didn't eat with them at their tables, but I know how my 3rd grade eats at home & her manners...or lack thereof...drive me crazy. Nagging wasn't working, so I had to think of something else. Thankfully, there's always Supernanny to the rescue with great tips & suggestions. Recently she made a flower arrangement with little reminders of what behavior was expected at the dinner table.


I came up with 6 "flowers" - Keep your elbows off the table; Eat with your mouth closed; Use your silverware, not your fingers; Ask to be excused from the table; Don't forget "please" and "thank you"; and Don't reach! Instead ask, "Please pass..." Noah let out a big burp at supper, and when we reminded him it wasn't polite & he needed to say "excuse me", he quickly pointed out it wasn't a manner flower! Of all the kids, our oldest has the worst manners, and it has been helping her to remember on her own without having to be constantly reminded. The only thing I would have done differently is put my flowers in a shorter pot! It's hard to see past it to the kid across the table, so it usually gets displayed on the counter behind us. Oops. But at least it's working, right?

Well, it's been a week. I've been through withdrawal & now I'm in recovery. Last Thursday I took Mom to the airport after having her here for almost 3 weeks. Someone asked me if I would be depressed to see her go..."No, we had a great time together; we always do." So they went the other direction, "Oh, so you're ready for her to leave so you have the house back to yourselves?" Again, it was a definite "No". Mom fits right in with our family & is never a burden or a bother to have around. She blesses us with her service and her wisdom & insight, and she is a great Grammie to the kids. Dad got to be here for a week in January. The girls loved getting to each go on a date with him & even got dressed up for the occasion. It's fun to hear the kids talk about their visits, "Remember when..." and I love that they are making memories with them & shaping the men & women they will become.

Oooooo-klahoma!

When our high school choir sang "Oklahoma", I had no idea I would one day be experiencing "when the wind comes sweeping down the plain" first hand. To say it's windy would be an understatement! But maybe all the wind means that warmer weather is blowing in & Spring is here to stay. I hope so. I'm tired of this going back & forth, trying to decide if long sleeves & jeans or a Tshirt & capris are in order for the day. It doesn't help to be short on drawer space. I keep all our seasonal clothes in our dressers & store the rest in plastic tubs. And since we don't have an attic or basement, and the garage is dedicated to construction related items, I have to make space in our closets for hand-me-downs, bigger sizes, and seasonal clothes. That's why the minute my kids out grow something, it's out-a-here! So during these in-between phases, there is massive clothes chaos & I feel like I'm constantly having to reorganize & resituate. I look forward to the days that are either all hot or all cold & there aren't questions or debates about what to wear.

Despite the wind, today was beautiful. I love spring. After a winter of being cooped up indoors, my kids love to be outside. Noah asked if he & Daniel could "stay outside forever...well, at least until it gets dark, because that would be too scary." I've been sweeping up about a cup full of sand every day that gets transferred from the sandbox to my kitchen floor, but I figure that is a small price to pay for hours of entertainment. And when it gets to be 90 degrees, we break out the water hose. Not only do the kids keep cool, but my garbages, the bikes & all the outside toys get a good washin'.

The warmer weather is making me anxious for summer vacation, sleeping in, going to the library, free movies at the mall, swimming, lazy afternoons, simple suppers, and time with family. We're counting down the weeks to the last day of school...and my last day of work.

Until then, I'll try to appreciate this Oklahoma wind & what it carries my way.

Learnin' somethin' new

You may not know this, but I learned today that manicotti is actually a Jewish dish. At least Noah thinks so. He informed me that manicotti actually comes from manna, what the Israelites ate when they were hungry, and is pretty convinced that the white ricotta cheese filling is essentially manna. Such a smart son I have!

When my sister-in-law, Natalie, left for Italy, she bestowed upon me a gift. I inherited her front door flower arrangement. I immediately fell in love with it because it was yellow & fun...and a great reminder of Natalie. But this gift came with a warning. Apparently, it was notoriously a prime location for our fine feathered friends. When she or Andrew would discover a nest being build, they would dispose of it before the eggs were laid. Otherwise, they would have to avoid their front door for several weeks & the bird droppings were unpleasant, to say the least. I should have heeded her warning & kept the arrangement indoors. But it was just so cheerful & I decided it had to be on the front porch to welcome visitors & friends into our home. Now I have a psycho momma bird that terrorizes & dive bombs people that try to enter. The kids have had fun climbing Phil's ladder to check the egg count. We're up to four. And I have to admit it was slightly heart-warming to watch the daddy bird regurgitate his breakfast & mouth-feed the momma bird Sunday morning. All in all, it's basically the Animal Kingdom around here. We're experiencing the wonder of the birds & the bees first hand. Lucky us...

Another birthday, another cake

I love birthdays. They were fun when I was little, but now that I'm a mom, they're much more satisfying. The kids look forward to planning their birthday meal menu. We've had pizza, mac & cheese...to chicken curry with rice (Abbie's choice) & baked beans with nothing (Grace's choice). It's fun to let the kids pick what kind of birthday cake they want. My mom gave me a book of kid's cakes a few years ago & it has come in handy. My kids love flipping through the pages & they spend countless hours choosing which cake is the right one for them.

Noah ate so much dirt by the time he turned one, that I felt a dirt cake was appropriate for his 1st birthday. Phil found this old Fisher-Price farm set @ our thrift store ("Just like the one I had") & it was a perfect addition the dirt.

Grace was, and still is our ladybug girl. And she wouldn't be Grace if she didn't like to be different, so this one had to be PURPLE (Grammie's favorite color too) & not red, like the real ones.
When Abbie turned four, she wanted a GREEN cake. So I make her a Junior Asparagus cake. At seven, she decided she was grown up & didn't want cake, but chose strawberry shortcake for her dessert instead. But when she turned eight, she chose a horse cake, because aren't all little girls in love with horses?

Poor Daniel. By the time I get to December, I'm just too pooped to party...or too exhausted to decorate birthday cakes...and definitely too overwhelmed with Christmas baking. So far, he hasn't complained. If I start planning now, I can have something spectacular made by December. Maybe...

The smell of faith?

I have Bible study tomorrow. We are doing a 6 weeks study on strengthening our faith. Our "homework" from last week is to write out our favorite "life verse" about faith. And we're supposed to bring our favorite scent & tell why extravagant faith smells like our favorite scent. Now how am I supposed to choose a favorite scent? I can't even choose a best friend, let alone a smell! I have a "favorite" smell for about every occasion! I love to smell my kids when they're fresh from the tub. I love the homemade rosemary orange candles my friend makes me. On cold, dreary days, my house smells like grilled cheese, soup, and hot coffee. Pizza is by far the best supper smell. The smell of rain is something that stirs memories & soothes my soul. And though this might sound gross to some, my husband's scent is attractive to me. But how do I bottle that up? And surely all these scents wouldn't smell that great all mixed together!?!

And if you think I'm struggling to find a smell...than you can imagine the problem I'm having picking one verse. I pulled out my 20 lb. concordance & started reading through the verses that had "faith, faithful, & faithfulness" in them. There were too many to choose from. In the end, I chose a verse that doesn't even have the word "faith" in it, but it described to me the essence of faith...and it spoke to my weary soul..."Have faith!"

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. Therefore we do not lost heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes on not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
2 Corinthians 7-9, 16-18

When Phil was a youth-pastor, one of the girls in our group got pregnant her junior year of high school. It was a totally new situation for us. We were there for their wedding & I remember praying that God would give them the strength to face the difficulties ahead. After serving in Iraq, her husband was killed in a work related accident last Friday. He was 23. We were at his funeral on Tues. We smiled through tears as we listed to P.O.D. proclaim God's grace & listened to the rap song "Heaven Bound" - a song Pistal had chosen to close his funeral service. Today our town mourned the loss of a hero killed in the line of duty, while serving his country in Iraq. And I am left feeling emotionally drained, grieving with friends, wives, mothers & wondering how they will deal with the loss. Sometimes the pressures of life do feel overwhelming, like they will crush & destroy me, and leave me in despair. But even on the worst days, I still have hope. I still have faith. Faith in a God that is big enough to understand even when I do not. Hope in a future I know is certain, even though I cannot see it today. Hope in a God who is more powerful than I can imagine.