Moriah in Action

I completely used up my computer/blogging time tonight working on my new header and background for November--a very fun job, but one that left me without a shred of time to use on my intended post tonight.  So, a couple of tidbits about Moriah will have to suffice!  :)

A number of times recently, I've gone into her room to get her up from a nap and have discovered that she's taken off her shirt.  I'm not sure how she does it (because, of course, she never does it when I'm looking!), but somehow she manages to get it off.  She hardly says any words, but at least she's learning to undress herself!  :)

One of the adorable things she does at this stage is to come to me, take my hand, and lead me to where she wants me to go.  Sometimes she does this if she wants to go upstairs, and most of the time I go along with her desire; but once in a while, I have to tell her that no, I'm not ready to go wherever she happens to want me to go at that particular moment!  Again, she doesn't say many words, but she manages to communicate her thoughts pretty well without them.  :)  And I'm confident her verbal skills will develop in her own unique timing.  :)

Speaking of verbal skills...

She loves to watch what her big brothers do, and you can see in this next video how much she tries to imitate what David does.  She can't quite do a somersault yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time.  :)

And lastly for this final night of October, a picture of the dear girl when I took her outside to play this afternoon and set her down in a pile of leaves.

She was not amused.  :)

After a while, she warmed up to the idea of being surrounded by funny, dry, noisy, crackling, poky things; and then she started to have some fun with them.  And those pictures will be posted at a later date.

Maybe.

If I ever get around to it.

:)

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday {I Believe They Call This a Selfie}

Too bad I can never actually take a decent one...  ;-)

She Looks up to Her Daddy

 Especially when he's got chocolate in his hand.  ;-)

When My Brothers Play with Me {A Guest Post by Moriah}

Howdy, y'all!  It's sure been a long time since my mom let me do a post on her blog, but tonight she doesn't have enough time to finish the post she started about my grandma's birthday, so she's letting me have a turn.  Sometimes I feel like I have so much to say; and if she doesn't let me do more posts soon, I might have to up and get my own blog, just like my big brother David!  :)

Speaking of him...  One of my favorite times of day is after lunch before my nap.  Wanna know why?  It's because it's PLAYTIME!!!  Usually I can convince one (or two or more!) of my brothers to play with little ol' adorable me.  

Sometimes we play hide and seek.  Wanna know where I always hide?

 Right here!  It doesn't take 'em long to find me, but that's OK: I like to be found.  :)

 And then I go looking for them.

 I found one of my brothers!

 Well, if you consider Batman to be my brother.  :)

Sometimes we take a break from hide and seek...

 ...to play "Give Me Five."

 Whatever "five" is.  I think it should be called "Slap My Hand," but oh well.  They didn't listen to me.

 Sometimes right in the middle of our game, David gives me kisses.  Can you imagine?  Focus, brother, focus!!  :)

 My mommy keeps a basket of colorful eggs in my closet, just because she knows I like to play with them.  I kind of make a mess when I scatter them all around, but I'm good at helping to clean up.  All it takes is for her to start singing "Clean up, clean up..." and I look around for the nearest egg to pick up and put in the basket.  My mom thinks that's AWESOME!

 This duck game is pretty fun.

 The ducks go around in a circle and quack as they move.

 I'm getting pretty good at setting the ducks up on it, if I do say so myself!

When it's almost time for my nap to start, David likes to climb up on the side of my crib and wind up my musical mobile.

On this day, Tobin even climbed into my bed!  Silly boy!  He doesn't belong there!  :)

 At first, I thought I wanted to play a little longer, but then I realized I was ready.  I tried to climb into my crib by myself, but my leg just wasn't long enough.

I don't have any pictures to prove it, but I bet you can guess what happened next.  Mommy picked me up, held me close, sang me my lullaby, kissed me a bunch of times, and put me in my crib.

Oh, and Tobin got out of my crib!  :)

I sure do love my family...  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Hey!  Just poppin' up again to ask if you wanna see me in action!  Wanna?  OK, here you go!

My mommy says that that little "ehn-ehn" sound I made about 20 seconds into the video is the sound I make for EVERYTHING these days.  I'm pretty proud of myself for inventing that word.  The rest of y'all sure use a lot of different words, but I can communicate almost everything I need to say by just saying that!

I used to say "Dada" a whole bunch.  I especially thought it was HILARIOUS to say it when my mommy said, "Moriah, can you say 'Mama'?"  Of course, I COULD say "Mama," but it was so much funnier to say "Dada" and hear Mommy laugh and say, "No, no, no!"  And then she'd ask again, "Can you say 'Mama'?"   And I'd say "Dada!"  And she'd laugh again.  Then she'd say, "Can you say 'Dada'?"  And I would say "Dada," and she would clap and cheer for me.

I think she kind of wanted to get a video of me doing that, but I was too distracted by that shoe I wanted my big brother David to help me put on.  All I could say was "ehn-ehn."

One of these days I'll surprise 'em with a whole string of words.  Won't they cheer then??  :)

OK, time for another hide-and-seek video.  David's pretty easy to find.  He ALWAYS hides behind that door, but he laughs every time I find him.  I think he really likes playing with me.  :)

For real this time, I'm outta here.

Sleep tight, y'all!

Hugs and kisses,
Moriah

Wouldn't Be Her Birthday Without It!

Once in the year, we're guaranteed to have an angel food cake for dinner.  I just know that, when the afternoon of October 24 rolls around, I'll be busy in the kitchen, usually flanked by a little helper or two, with my trusty Esther Shank Mennonite cookbook open on the counter, mixing up an angel food cake.

Why?  Because it's my mother's birthday, and we always have angel food cake on her birthday.  :)

Besides this cake, we also had chicken alfredo, candied carrots, and fruit salad (I was going to also have salad, but I ran out of time--oops!).  Why am I writing this down here?  Well, not only will it be interesting (at least to me) to look back on the details of our dinner in years to come; but also (and this is the most important reason) Jeff told me, as he pushed back from the dinner table tonight, that when his birthday comes, he'd be happy with an exact repeat of tonight's meal.  So, lest I forget and find myself scratching my head on December 10, trying to figure out what to make for Jeff's birthday the next day, I'm recording it here.  :)

I have more to say about this special day for this very special lady, but it will have to wait until (Lord willing) tomorrow!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday {Jed Yesterday Evening}

A year and a day after we brought him home...  :)

My Favorite Place to Shop

When Moriah was younger, we were blessed with an abundance of hand-me-downs from various friends, and we hardly had to buy anything for Moriah for the longest time.  But now that she's outgrown many of those clothes that were given to us, it's time to start doing a little shopping ourselves for her.  I can't say that I mind too much.  ;-)

It's easy to choose my favorite place to shop for her (and for myself and for everyone else in our family!): thrift stores!!  You can't beat the feeling of getting beautiful clothes in perfect condition for just a few bucks.  :)

On our date last week, Jeff and I had a VERY romantic time.  ;-)  We went to one of the little taco carts, the kind that is popping up everywhere around here, and ate a bunch of Tijuana-style tacos.  They were delicious as always, but they left us longing for the tacos we would eat when we crossed the border to Tijuana, back in our San Diego days - especially the price (was it 3 or 4 for a dollar when we lived there?).  ;-)

After we ate, we headed to the local Goodwill store.  :)

For something like $36.07, we got two skirts and a shirt for me, four (fairly dressy) shirts for Jeff, a sleeper for Moriah, as well as the following items...(I hope I didn't forget anything!)...

This sweater, which I thought was so cute...

This dress, which is made from a soft, cozy knit...

And this dress that caught my eye with its cheerful, colorful polka dots.

 When I saw the "3," I thought it would be perfect for Moriah to wear on April 9, 2015 (and on other days, too, during the spring and summer of 2015, as she enjoys being 3!)  :)

 But what really got me was when I looked inside the dress and found this tag.

Somebody's grandma, who went by the name of "Gramsie," apparently made this dress for her beloved (I'm sure) granddaughter.

This dress needed a loving home.  I couldn't just go off and leave it there, could I??  ;-)

All the clothes I got for Moriah (except the sleeper, which she happens to be wearing tonight) are too big for her to wear now, but I was happy to get them as I have the opportunity, then lay them aside for her until she grows into them.  That way, when I open the armoire in Moriah's room and see a perky polka dot fabric peeking out or see a vivid black and white pattern, I'll smile as I think of the future when she will, Lord willing, wear those clothes...and think of the past, to the romantic date night when I found those clothes for my girlie at my very favorite place to shop.  :)

Bed-Making

This morning, in my customary Monday morning burst of energy and enthusiasm, I stripped the sheets from my bed, washed and dried them, then replaced them, adding another blanket to ward off the chill of the nights, now that it's really beginning to feel like frosty fall.

This evening, I sat down beside the woodstove, listened to the crackle of the fire, and read for a little while before finishing up the tasks of the day and crawling into my fresh-sheeted bed.  I happened to pick up a little book called Being Home, and there in its pages I read this...

Making the Bed

Plumping the pillow.  Pulling on the sheets.
The bed reminds me that I am creating
my future every moment.

If I leave a mess, I will find what I left
sooner or later.  I will not be exonerated
from any of my actions--
though knowing Your love, I will be forgiven much.

Here is a good place to pray.
I ask that You remind me in making the bed
to care for the future in the present,
being mindful also of my deathbed.

Help me to treasure this moment
which always returns me,
now and at the end, to You.

~ Gunilla Norris, from Being Home

Feeling Sentimental

Maybe it's because I attended my high school reunion today--my 20th high school reunion.  Maybe it's because I read Our Town a few days ago.  But for whatever reason, I've been feeling especially nostalgic tonight. 

I've been thinking back over my life and feeling SO blessed.  How sweet the moments of my life!  How grateful I am!

It was the kind of night to grab an old photo album off the shelf and start looking through it.  I did, and found this:

This was the little Fisher family in April of 2003.  Josiah was 10 months old, and we were living in Israel at the time.

Did I appreciate that moment enough, while I was living it?

Do I appreciate this one enough, right now?

Even Superman Has to Sleep Sometime

Nearly four years ago, I discovered a little Zorro sleeping in my house.

Recently, I discovered that another hero, Superman himself, sleeps in my house, too.  

 Except the spot he chooses is much more cozy than Zorro's.  :)

 And Superman sleeps with a little stuffed dog.

 And sometimes Superman's little sister comes to visit him while he's asleep.

 Since he's not aware of what's going on...

 ...she sees no harm...

 in taking the little stuffed puppy from him.

 She'll give it back, of course...

 ...along with a block...

 ...or two.

And that is what happens when Superman falls asleep at my house.  :)

Moriah Has Two Dolls

This one that I happily and carefully chose for her shortly after we found out she was a girl...

And this one that some dear friends, Cindy and her daughter Maleasa, gave us after Moriah was born.

Which doll do you think Moriah likes better?

I knew what the answer would be; but to test my theory, I set both of the dolls on the floor of Moriah's room this morning, leaning against the wall, right beside each other.  And then I called to Moriah who was walking around in my room.

She came into her room...

 ...went over to the dolls...

 ...and picked one up.

 Moriah's favorite doll is NOT the one we got for her!

In fact, the one we got for her goes largely unnoticed, day after day, night after night, in her crib, as Moriah reaches for the other doll.  When I got her up from her afternoon nap today, the doll from us was actually lying face down on the floor, evidently having been pushed out of the crib by a little girl whose preference is clear.

Moriah has two dolls...

...but she only cares about one.  ;-)

Pictures of other times when Moriah was holding The Favorite Doll can be found in this post and this one.  :)

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday {Who Planted This in Our Gravel Parking Lot?}

Maybe a bird?

Maybe the wind?

Surely God!

Can I bloom even in gravel?