Growth in Grace

The other night, I wrote about Elisa's sixth birthday and tried to share a bit about who our oldest daughter is...
I want to always speak kindly of my little ones and be careful not to present them negatively. But I also want to be honest, to show you who they are -- successes and sweetness, struggles and sin. And I want anyone who reads my blog to know that our family is not perfect. :) I don't want you to feel the way I do after I read a stack of Christmas letters... that our family is lacking, that we are the only ones with sinful children, that we are under-achievers in every way. :) So hopefully, you get my uncensored but loving portrayal of our family's life and learning.

One of the things I have prayed through often in the last year is that both our older daughters have "asked Jesus into their hearts." Erik and I have been cautious about this -- not assuming their salvation because of that. We know that saving faith requires genuine repentance, and that true faith manifests itself in a desire to please God. To be honest, we haven't seen that heart change in our sweet little girls. So they take communion as believers, and we speak to them about the Holy Spirit living in their hearts. But, we are careful to also teach them the Gospel over and over and to wait for fruit in their lives.

I feel like lately I am seeing fruit in the heart of my oldest. Last night, we ice skated together as a family, and Elisa grinned happily, twirling around with an old skating dress of mama's OVER the top of her bulging snow pants and coat. She had a terrific attitude. She dropped something on the way inside the house and called over her shoulder, "Mom, can you get that?" Seeing my hands were full, she said, "Oh, I'll get it. Your hands are already too full!" She then hung up all her snow clothes unprompted, and went to change clothes. This morning, Raina-bean was snuggling in our bed (all three girls were) when Raina gagged on snot and threw up all over Erik. (I know, gross!) Elisa went to get her clean jammies, a doll, and a blanket. She entertained her in the steam shower I gave her to help with the mucous, and then made a nest for her on the floor so that Raina could lay comfortably while Elisa made a brown bag puppet for her to play with.

Little things, but I am beginning to see kindness, mercy, and compassion more often. A willingness to serve and help without reward or nagging. Sometimes we see the opposite, too... stomping around while emptying the dishwasher, or complaining about a small task. Yesterday I made her copy Ephesians 6:1 twice in her copybook. She needed the reminder. :)

But I am thankful to see growth in grace in my little ones. That's precious!

And Six!

I realized the "six" on my previous post could also have been the title for this one. :)
Our family of five is soon to become a family of six, as we welcome a new little one at the end of July. We are thrilled.

The girls found out on Christmas morning when Elisa unwrapped a note that read, "New baby brother or sister coming in July!" The announcement got a bit lost in the shuffle of gifts, but once it sank in, they were so excited. Someone is always hugging my belly, kissing the barely notice-able 14-week bump, or talking about "when the new baby comes." I am only worried that they won't share with me once he or she arrives -- and I like holding my own babies. :)

Six!

Last week, Elisa turned six! As cliche as it is, it is certainly true that "they grow up fast!"

We celebrated by playing hooky from school (you can do that when you homeschool) and spending the morning playing in new-fallen snow, eating apple fritters for breakfast, skiing with Grandma, getting her very own library card, and eating ice cream sundaes. On Friday, the day after her "real" birthday, we had a small tea party. She loved being princess for the day and reminding her younger guests to use their proper manners and not slurp or snort like dragons. :)

I love Elisa. She is my wild child, my shy child, my tender and compassionate child, and my sometimes mean child. She is a mix of bright leadership and zest for life combined with her mama's reserve and and hints of quiet thoughtfulness. She is insightful and smart and she can be stubborn and selfish. (I think all children have those traits to some degree, don't they?)

She can be so very grown up at times in her mannerisms and speech that it boggles my mind. She can also run around yelling her head off with her sisters and jabber nonsense, or occasionally throw a tantrum that leaves me wondering if she ever grew out of the twos?

Elisa is physically very strong and capable. She skis so well, and we are trying to make sure that it is still fun and invigorating for her, not just hard exercise and work. :) It's easy for Erik and I to pull the other two behind us and let Elisa just keep up - because she CAN.

She is doing well in school. I think every homeschool mom will tell you that school times magnify all of the behavior challenges and discipline issues you encounter in daily life. There are definite challenges, and I am so thankful to be at home, shepherding her through challenges we might not face if I sent her off to school every day. That said, she really is learning! She can read nearly anything now; we are learning some of the more complicated phonics
rules (like all the many sounds of ough!) and multi-syllable words can be hard, but there is a confident fluency to much of her reading now and it so wonderful! She finished K-level math and spelling, so I had to adjust the budget and purchase the next level up. Thanks, Wachob grandparents, for helping with some of those purchases!

Elisa loves playing dolls, doing craft projects (today she made a centerpiece for the table with flowers from construction paper), reading together, dancing, playing games (as long as Raina is far away! :)) and having elegant tea parties with real black tea (decaf. only). She likes helping make cookies, and she likes planning the next day... she always wants to know what is on the agenda for tomorrow before she falls asleep.

She loves AWANA - especially the games, and she takes pride in memorizing verses and earning her jewels. Last week she memorized the 27 books of the NT. It was not easy -- but she did it!

Happy Birthday little girl!
Ice cream sundae!


The snow fall on her birthday.


Skiing with a smile.
The Princess at her party. She decorated the crown cake with half a bottle of princess sprinkles.

Two Quilts

Both Erik's mother and mine recently gifted us with a beautiful quilt.
My mom sewed a beautiful memory quilt for each Forbes child this Christmas, cutting my dad's shirts into quilt pieces and creating one-of-a-kind, priceless works of heart-warming art. I bawled when I opened it on Christmas morning and it is a treasure to wrap myself in sweet memories of my daddy.




Becky's quilt is sure to be an award winner next summer when we strip it off the bed and enter it in the county fair. She worked on it for about a year, and the pieces that make up the design were so tiny! It was definitely a long labor of love and it is beautiful!

Thank you, Moms!

Clutter

If you know me very well... or even a little bit... you know that I don't do well with clutter. :) I like things tidy. Neat. Simple. I always have. As a little girl, I dreamed of having a house that looked a bit like Marilla Cuthbert's or maybe the Ingalls family. You know, plain and bare with maybe just a few knick-knacks on a shelf and a pitcher of water in a bowl on a side table for washing up in. A trunk in the corner and blankets neatly folded on the bed. I can be ruthless about throwing or giving away things around the house. Clothes that haven't been worn recently, toys that haven't been played with (or that are plastic, and use batteries :)), little bits of junk. I have one manila envelope filled with favorite drawings the kids have made, but I usually toss their projects, too, after a week or so. This is a horrible thing to admit, but I have even thought at times that it wouldn't be so bad if all our belongings burned in a fire. I mean, we would have no clutter! And I would buy everyone three nice sturdy outfits, and a stack of good books, and a cast iron skillet, and we would be fine!

Now, that is not to say that there aren't pockets of clutter in our big old house. We have a closet filled with things I don't know what to do with, and drawers in the kitchen that have all kinds of unidentifiable junk. And I am horrible at keeping dresser drawers tidy, so my clothes are in a wrinkled mess within my neatly shut drawers. (The same is true for the kitchen cabinets. Just can't keep them straightened!) Under the sinks isn't terribly organized, either. But -- I always have a plan for when I am going to declutter the next thing.

I was thinking about that today -- about my passion for simplicity and organization in my home. And it made me wonder if I have that same passion for decluttering the hidden messes of my heart. Or if maybe I should. Messes in my house are tangible - and I can be driven to eradicate them. But what pockets of hidden sin clutter are lurking in my heart? Am I driven to clear those? Do I deal with sin like I deal with clutter, or do I stuff it further into the "junk drawer?" There are so many areas where I know I need to allow the Lord to work in me. Kindness. Patience. Forebearance. Fearing Him, instead of fearing man. Loving. Not judging. Being centered on bringing Him glory instead of being self-centered in my motives. Being slow to anger - especially with my kids. And you know what? Especially when it comes to my kids' messes! :) Hungering for God's Word. Longing to share His Gospel with others (that is so hard for me!). Caring about people the way He does.

It was a good reminder to me today as I surveyed one physical pocket of clutter. Some "cleaning out" is more important than others.

Sadie

The week of Thanksgiving Sadie Pearl turned 4. We were in Oregon to celebrate Thanksgiving Day with the Forbes clan, and Sadie was thrilled that her birthday celebration was included in the trip.

We were able to tour the Tillamook Cheese Factory and enjoy some samples - as well as sandwiches and ice cream from the restaurant, and then drive to the beach in a sort of wild and windy rainstorm. The Oregonians weren't keen on exploring the beach in the cold storm, but those of us from Wyoming decided we had to seize our shell-collecting and ocean-touching opportunity. We don't get to the coast very often. :) We were soaked - but happy! Sadie chose pizza for her birthday dinner, and I made gingerbread cupcakes -- which were Ephraim approved (no dairy) and quite tasty! Sadie had a wonderful fourth birthday and we enjoyed celebrating her precious life with our extended family.

What can I tell you about Sadie?

She is a personality. She is fun and flamboyant and flighty. She is bright and sweet and generous. She is brave and outgoing and talkative. She loves stories. She is (usually) patient. She is a snuggler. She talks with wide hand gestures and full expressions.

Sadie abruptly dropped her nap right around her birthday. She still takes 2 or so a week, but is generally just "resting" in bed with books for an hour or so now. She has been such an easy napper up until now that I decided not to fight the transition at all -- just let her go to bed early. I have sad memories of naptime battles with her big sister, and I didn't want to go there this time around.

"School" is beginning to click for Sadie. She has always been more interested in dancing and stories and imaginative play than in busywork or memorizing, and that is still the case. She knows many letters by sight and sound -- but not all. And it took her forever to learn shapes! :) She has impressed me lately with her "phonemic awareness," her ability to take apart the sounds that make up a word - even if she doesn't know what letter makes each sound. And she continues to make up stories that sound like adult (and somewhat poetic) narrative.

She is my little ballerina. She has natural grace, poise and rhythm. Didn't come from her mama! :)

She has a sweet tooth - but she will tell you that "this isn't good for you. It's not healthy. Beans are good for you." She will eat everything, for the most part. Current favorites are fried eggs (with squishy yolks), quesadillas with apples, and vegetable stir-fries.

She loves dressing up and being a princess. Most days she wears dresses.

She will follow along with Elisa's games, but she is also beginning to assert her own opinions and invent her own games, too. And she refuses to play Laura and Mary if there is a panther involved. Elisa scared the living daylights out of her one day convincing her the panther was in the downstairs bathroom.

She has a keen memory for songs and lines of poetry. She can belt out any number of Christmas carols with perfect pitch and timing.

She is a big four year old. I'm not sure how tall she is, but she towers over her little friends. :) And she is also solid. She weighs 39 pounds - just a few pounds less than her slender big sister (although only a couple of pounds more than Elisa at 4, so she might slow down and even out).

Sadie is precious. This morning she sat on my lap for a two-hour ballet performance of Snow White - nestling her head in my shoulder whenever the scary queen came on stage. She doesn't like bad guys. :) I loved having her sit with me - even though she's "big" now.

Happy Birthday, my little princess!

Little Miss Raina

It is hard to believe that the baby of our little family is nearing her second birthday (still four months away -- but it goes so quick!). Everyday I am alternately in awe of her growth and her adorable personality - and a bit overwhelmed at the bursts of sometimes sinful determination that she exhibits! Time passes so quickly these days. Our weeks are a flurry of homeschooling, chores, outdoor play and activities. I want to grasp the fleeting moments and hold onto them -- but there also plenty of times when I think eagerly about what the future holds. But - I don't want to forgot all the funny and sweet Raina-isms that delight my mama's heart.

Like - the way she grabs my hand, and says "Come," when she wants my help, or is hoping for a fresh cookie off the baking tray. :)

The way she gives kisses and hugs and says in a way only Erik and I can decipher, "I wuv you!"

The way she will grab my lips and turn my head to ask me to "Ding a dong!"

The way she sits diligently on her little school chair to color (for at least five minutes!).

The way she follows big sisters everywhere and asks for them upon awakening. "Sissy! Sissy!"

The way she sings the ABCs (sort of) while pointing emphatically at the alphabet chart.

The way she says "Running!" and commences to race in circles around the kitchen table.

The way she jumps.

The way she grabs Ziggy the Zebra from the shelf the moment I pull out Sadie's yellow alphabet book.

The way she says 'Here you go," and gives you things.

The way she says "No stink," when I go to check her diaper. Or "Stinky. Change." (Yeah, she wants to be potty trained. Mommy's not ready for that intense endeavor.)

The way she says "Scared," so plaintively and pathetically. (Like when she saw the full body of a dead deer hanging in the garage.)

The way she yells 'Dinna! Weady!" when the older girls and I start setting the table. Or when the oven timer beeps. She likes to eat.

The way she likes to have all three baby dolls in her crib, and they have to have a blanket (a blamie!). And she has to have at least four blankets covering her, too. She's quite demanding about it. Luckily, once everything is properly in place, she goes to sleep within minutes of me closing the door.

The way she loves, loves, loves her Gramma, Grampa and Nana.

The way she always tells her sisters (and even Daddy) that the clothes they have on are "pretty."

The way she will often say "No-no Raina. Spank," and swat her own little hand when I correct her behavior. It makes actual discipline difficult - when your toddler gives her own spankings. :)

I love this stage and all the uprising challenges and gaining of independence. All the new-found vocabulary... all the brave exploration and the wanting to be a part of EVERYTHING.

This third arrow in our quiver of little girls is a charming one, and I love her!