May, How I Have Loved You!

This month has been wonderful--truly wonderful in so many ways.  I think I love May more and more every year.  :)

Before I say my last goodbye to it, here's one final look back at it, in the form of my Facebook posts.

May 1 - It doesn't seem right at all that the food that is prepared for a young man's wedding reception should instead be served at his funeral, but that's exactly what's happening for a young man in our area who died suddenly this morning. He's the nephew of Wilma, my next-door neighbor; and he's been married less than a month (I don't happen to know the answer as to why the Old Order Mennonites wait a while between the wedding and the reception...I'll have to ask Wilma sometime...). He had a seizure this morning; and by the time his bride found him, he was already gone. And she--only 20 years old and married a few weeks--now a widow. The heart breaks for the pain she--as well as the rest of the family--must be feeling. And yet, the spirit soars at the thought of strong faith that comforts, even in such unthinkable times.

May 1 - I nursed Moriah yesterday morning for the last time; and when Jeff got home from work, he walked into the kitchen with a smile on his face and said, "Here's a weaning-Moriah gift for you." In his hand was a can of Vanilla Coke.  Just a small demonstration of love, right? But I smile every time I think about it. 

May 2 - This morning Tobin was sitting on my lap while I watched a news clip from our local station about calling 911 from cell phones--specifically, the necessity of giving your location to the dispatcher since it doesn't automatically pop up when you call from a cell phone like it does from a landline. The reporter was interviewing a little boy and asking him, "What do you need to say to the dispatcher when you call 911?" Before the boy could even get a word out of his mouth, Tobin piped up and answered, "Please?" Well, yes, Tobin, I suppose it would be lovely to tell the dispatcher "please," but that's not really the answer they were looking for. But kudos to you for being so polite!

May 4 - Tonight while I was helping Tobin and Shav get ready for bed, Tobin announced that when he gets to heaven, he wants to wear a costume that looks like Hiccup (from the movie How to Train Your Dragon) and ride on a dragon that looks like Toothless. "Or," he said, "maybe on a lion."
"I'd like to ride on a lion," I told him.
"But what if the lion SNIFFS you?" Shav asked. 

Then our conversation turned to the subject of bites and how in heaven, no animal will bite us. Shav informed us that God won't bite us either.  Then Tobin explained the reason why we won't be bitten: "I think we'll be made out of some kind of metal," he explained with a shrug of the shoulders and a wrinkled nose. 

It never ceases to amaze me how a little time spent really paying attention to my boys and listening intently to them can change my mood from frustrated to peaceful. They are continual reminders of what is important in life!

May 7 - We do this silly little thing with Shav and Tobin: we say, for example, "Shav, do you know what?" And when he says, "What?" we say, "You're a treasure!!" to which he either responds with arms thrown wide and a loud "THANK YOU!" or a sly smile and a "No, I'm not." And then we reassure him that yes, he is...until he finally accepts the compliment by saying thank you.
Right now the boys are having "quiet" time; and a little bit ago, I heard Tobin in the upstairs bathroom, yelling through the wall to Shav in their bedroom, "SHAV, DO YOU KNOW WHAT?" Shav yelled back, "WHAT?" Tobin again: "YOU'RE A TREASURE!" I could almost see Shav's little grin as he said, "NO, I'M NOT." Then Tobin responded with a hearty, "YES, YOU ARE!" And they both laughed.
It reminded me of a quote I once read; and although I can't remember the author or the exact words (if you know that info, please let me know!), the point of it was that we don't show love to our kids just so they'll love us back when they're older, but so that they will show such love to THEIR children someday. And, I might add, to their siblings right now.

May 8 - Jeff posted: "Uncle Doug was passing through with his truck."  ("Uncle Doug" is my brother, and he drives this big truck ALL across the country.)  :)

May 9 - Just had a neat coincidence...errr...God-incidence happen. I had the radio on while I was catching up on paperwork/bills/etc., and the song "Nothing Is Wasted" by Jason Gray came on. It's a song about how God redeems everything in our lives and brings beauty from ashes, glory from wreckage, and so on. I was looking at my calendar from last year, and my eyes happened to notice that on October 21, I had written "WE GOT JED!" and had added a smiley face. Suddenly I realized that almost exactly a year before that day, our dog Jasper had died--hit in the road after he had escaped one too many times from the pasture. We had had Jasper since he was a puppy, and we mourned his loss. When he was killed, we had no idea, of course, that 362 days later, we would get the dog that would be our first indoor dog. The dog of my dreams. Our Jed. As I saw that note on the calendar tonight and had the words of that song running through my head, I suddenly realized that if Jasper had lived, we would not have gotten Jed. Now I'm not saying that I'm glad Jasper died, but I saw in a fresh way that even in this "minor" circumstance, the sorrow of losing Jasper gave way to the joy of gaining Jed. Even in the little things of life, God redeems. 

May 11 - I've been wanting to get into better shape, so I think I'll try this tomorrow. A great thing to do on Mother's Day, right? ;-)

May 14 - Moriah has been sick the past couple of days. It's nothing too serious - just a little cold - but it's enough to make her feel poorly and not be her normal sunshiny self. We haven't heard many laughs from her recently. However, there is one thing that can always make her laugh: her brothers.  I've spent some time down on the floor playing with her; and while that kept her mildly entertained, she didn't laugh until Shav got down with her and pretended to be a puppy dog and started barking. Laughter rang out from Moriah.  Today after lunch, I took her outside to swing a little since the weather was warm enough to be pleasant with a light jacket on. She smiled, but didn't laugh until David started pushing her on the swing. Then, peals of laughter from the girl.  Thank God for big brothers!! 

May 15 - This evening at 6:00 p.m., I had a dilemma. Tobin and Shav had just burst into the house, exclaiming about Shav's new hide-out and could I please come look at it? Meanwhile, I realized that I had not made one bit of preparation for supper, so I was scrambling to head to the cellar for some potatoes to make my mother's Old Faithful potato soup recipe. Hmmm...what should I do? Go outside with my little guys, or start working on supper? In an instant, I realized that the choice was clear. I set down my pan and walked out the door to admire a pine-tree hide-out. 
After I came in and went to the cellar to get the potatoes, the phone rang. It was Jeff, telling me that he would be getting home late because he needed to pick up something he bought on Craigslist. Then he asked a most wonderful question: "Would you like me to bring home dinner?" :) As I gratefully said yes, I felt like God was smiling on me and rewarding me, in a way, for making the choice to be present with my children and to care about what they care about.
May I learn this lesson well, for it is one of the most important ones of motherhood!

May 15 - I was giving Shav a ride around the house in the wheelbarrow this morning; and when we were behind the house, I stopped to point out a flower. "Do you know what kind of flower this is?" I asked him, then went on because I knew he didn't. "It's an iris!" "Oh," he said, "like a virus!"  Well, yes, dear boy, you're right; "iris" does rhyme with "virus," and I'm proud of the fact that you're only three years old and you know that. But on the other hand, an iris and a virus are really not alike at all! 

May 15 - You know it's been a good day if a photo shoot with Emily Sacra was a part of it. I can hardly wait to see the pictures she took!!  

May 22 - The past two evenings, I've made a big mistake: I've sat down. On the couch. Where it's comfortable. And then I haven't wanted to get up again! Usually after the kids are in bed, I get an energy spurt and either accomplish something household-related or (more often) do something online (like writing a blog post). But these warm days that are full of outdoor activity have sucked the energy right out of me; and if I make the mistake of sitting down on the couch, it's all over for that night! NOTHING gets accomplished! So...no more couch-sitting for me!!

May 23 - Recently, one of my favorite times of day has occurred after lunch. I take Moriah outside (which she LOVES), and we sit on the swing under the English walnut tree in the front yard. Well, I sit. Moriah spends most of her time standing up by the side of the swing, picking up small sticks and pieces of grass, examining them, throwing them down. We enjoy the cool shade and pleasant breezes, listen to birds, and watch the world go by. Often, there is a boy or two (or three or four) running around the yard, coming over to Moriah, talking to her and tickling her. Sometimes I finish eating my lunch while we're out there...like today when I was eating an apple and giving Moriah tiny pieces of it, too. It's amazing how just a short sit-down-and-relax break refreshes and energizes me!

May 23 - This speaks deeply to my heart, as I "offer the work of my hands..."

May 24 - Meatloaf in the oven and German chocolate cake cooling on the counter can only mean one thing: my dad is having a birthday!!  Let the celebration of 73 begin!

May 25 - Jeff posted this picture (and tagged me in it) along with the caption "Hiking Date! (Mole Hill)"

May 27 - Yesterday's oh-my-goodness-I-have-a-daughter-and-it's-awesome moment: putting those little white socks with the ruffle around the edge on Moriah. They're just socks, I know; but they're girl socks. And seeing them on Moriah's little legs made my heart overflow again with gratitude for her!!

May 27 - My newest favorite expression of love came tonight when I was tucking Tobin and Shav into bed; and as I was nearing the door on my way out of their room, Tobin called out, "I love you bunchels and bunchels!" and was quickly followed by Shav who echoed--as he so often does--his brother's exact words. Bunchels, eh? I'm not sure if that's more similar to "bunches" or "oodles" or "bushels," but whatever it is, I'm guessing it's A LOT of love, and I'm grateful for it. 

May 28 - Tobin likes to punch a bunch of random numbers into a calculator and then ask me what the number is. Just now, he brought me a calculator with 78,891,666 on it and asked me what it was. When I told him "seventy-eight million, eight hundred ninety-one thousand, six hundred sixty-six," he grinned at me and said, "I can't wait until you're that old." What??? Silly boy. 

May 28 - There are a lot of things on my to-do list that I could have been doing tonight but didn't get to, but I will say that I only have 394 emails in my inbox now. If you're thinking that doesn't sound like much of an accomplishment, you might think differently when you hear that yesterday I had 514 emails in my inbox. See? Progress!! 

May 29 - I did a silly thing today: I questioned Josiah's mathematical ability. I had asked him to measure our garden and figure out the square feet; and when he did so and came to report that the answer was 3,840, I scoffed. Not because I didn't think he did the math correctly, but because it was mind-boggling to me that our garden could be that big. After all, when we lived in Israel, our apartment was 736 square feet. Could our current garden actually be more than 5 times as big as that apartment was??? Josiah got a little indignant that I didn't believe him and actually got out the calculator to show me that he had multiplied correctly. Of course he had. I just shook my head and returned to my vacuuming, still pondering the fact that our garden is actually that big--bigger than our current home, in fact! I guess the garden has to be that big to feed this growing family...seems like every time I turn around, one of the boys has shot up another inch! 

May 30 - It's 4:30 p.m., and I'm still not exactly sure what we're having for dinner tonight. But I do know we're having strawberry shortcake, using a wonderful cream cheese pound cake as the shortcake. That will be the most important part of supper, I'm thinking.

May 31 - Oh, the trials and tribulations of a 13-month-old! Recently Moriah has been trying to master the art of holding THREE things at one time. She'll get an object--say, a little plastic duck--in each hand, and then want to pick up a third. But how to do it? She'll try to hold two things in one hand while she picks up another, and invariably one of them drops to the floor. Oh, the outrage! The indignity! The insult! Wailing and gnashing of teeth usually ensues. It really is hard to grow up.

May 31 - "Keeping a neat house is like threading beads on a string with no knot on it." - an Amish proverb, quoted in the book Amish Values for Your Family by Suzanne Woods Fisher. I read this today and boy, can I relate! Off I go, to thread a few more beads onto my knot-less string!!