Happy Birthday Grace!

Unfortunately, I awoke at 2am to Madeleine screaming in her crib. The sweet girl was crying "Dada!! DADA!! Please, get the kitty cat out of my room!" at the top of her lungs as Lucy was meowing annoyingly fierce at the door. Thankfully, Tim was our hero and helped her get settled into bed. The whole ordeal took about 7 minutes, but the surge of murderous anger I had toward the cats enlivened my nervous system enough to leave me sleepless. After trying to fall back asleep for an hour, I figured I would get out of bed and do something useful. And what could be more useful than celebrating the birth of our little daughter Gracie-goo? 

Little Gracie- God knew what a blessed grace you would be in our life when He inspired your name in us. We wanted to honor the Lord's amazing Grace in our lives with your name. True to His loving and kind character, it was us who was blessed beyond our imaginings with you and your wonderful, delightful person. Everyone who has met you knows of your infectious smile, your playful personality and your persistently pleasant temperament and of course, your Dada-endowed dimples!

 You've always had a place in our family, and as we waited to meet you, we wondered what it would be like to add another member to this home. But now that you've been here for a year, gently ingraining yourself into our hearts each passing day- you're hidden so deep there that I can't imagine living without you. I love our mornings when you gleefully greet me and snuggle into my neck as we just enjoy the deliciousness of being Mama and baby with a "mmmm-mmmm-mmm". 

 As you've grown, Dada and I love witnessing the interaction you have with Madeleine and our other extended family. Now you are one! You can wave, smile, point, shriek and giggle. I will always treasure your baby years and the tender memories they hold- singing you to sleep, nuggling, your curious and insightful mind. What an amazing gift you are to us. 

And heavenly days...can you get any cuter?

  

   

Happy Birthday Gracen! Oh, how I love your little squeezy thighs, your soft, bald head and your baby kisses. God looked down and gave us joy in you. I pray that the Lord captures your heart this year. That as we look forward to everything 2012 will bring (walking! talking! hair!) that we submit to Him, learning to show you, in everything we do, the radical and obscene news of the gospel. That I wouldn't ask you to fulfill the Law, but that I would show you that you will never be able to fulfill it. Instead, I want to give you grace...just as My Heavenly Father gave me Grace. No matter how much I love you, I will never be a good enough parent to save you from your sins. Only God is the Good Parent. And, no matter how wonderful you are (because you are!) you will never be a good enough child. Only Jesus was the Good Child- perfectly obedient in order that he might be the propitiation for our sins. Praise God we can be found in him. I pray that you see grace from me and Dada and we are so grateful you have been sent to be our little Grace, a precious gift from our the Lord.

Love, Mama

Up & Coming

I have been intending to blog, but we've been so busy that I can't find the time nor the motivation.
There are some big things happening around the Bergon Bungalow:

1. We went on vacation and I read an entire book (Unbroken) in 5 days! That means lots of relaxing and downtime.(post to come)
2. We did pre-school week 2 (B is for Button) (post to come)
3. We took a break to vacation but kept up the theme with C is for Camping...
4. We are working on week 3 (C is for Costume) (post to come)
5. We listed our house for sale, had one offer fall through and are now in a "soft-escrow" with a cash buyer.
6. Due to the upcoming rental situation, we are looking to re-home all of our animals. My neighbor said she might take over our cats (she lives next door and they hang out there anyways) but her husband may not want them. We're hoping the new owners buying our house will want our dogs (they indicated they LOVED them). If you know of anyone who is dying to care for sweet cats or dogs, please let us know. Everyone says that our animals are great and that they are well-behaved (which we agree), but even with their tender spirits, we are just too taxed to give them the love they need.
7. We are also on the look-out for potential rental sites. If you live in the neighborhoods east of Margarita, west of Anza, south of Murrieta Hot Springs and north of De Portola let us know if you see a rental. We still have our boat, so we could really benefit from RV side parking.
8. I need some help as a future-renter. I have never rented long-term in a home (only an apartment for 2 years) and if you have any words of wisdom to pass my way...please let me know!
9. In moving, Tim and I are excited to purge our house of excess STUFF. Look for postings in the future about nicer items (like I think I am going to try and reduce my silverware down and get rid of my Crate & Barrel "Mix" stainless set or a bunch of superfluos camping stuff) and, if you need something randomly (like old leather couches that have been in my sunroom or garden lounge chairs that just need a sand, prime and paint) let me know and I'll see if we have it around.
10. Next month, we've got 7 birthdays-including Gracen November's 1st!- and our 4 year anniversary. Oh, and then there's Thanksgiving and then we're only a month from Christmas and ringing in the New Year...but wait, Halloween first. Oh my, moving early next year now seems a whole world closer!

Love, Lauren

Me: "Where does the time go Madeleine?" MJ: "Maybe to the playground!"

Mother, O' Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth.
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due,
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek - peekaboo.

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew,
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo.
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't [her] eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow,
But children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

~ Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

Servant's Heart Academy: Week 1: Sept. 19-23

When a friend at church sent me a link to a preschool co-op she was starting, my first thought was, "Is Madeleine preschool age?" I wasn't really sure when you might send a child to preschool. Then I started thinking that if I waited until next year, she would be 3.2 years old. I still didn't know if that would be a good age to start, so I just figured...she's able to start now with directed activities and focused play. And, the wonder of homeschooling means that we can start in late September, because I was not ready to tackle preschool any sooner- it just still felt like summer. It was the week when the weather cooled down that I felt the coming on of playful doing.

Roughly, we're doing 26 weeks focusing on a letter. The activities are simple and fun and we do our school Monday through Friday during Grace's nap. 

We started with the basic skill of using a glue stick to make an A that also looked like an Alligator.

Thankfully, we started school on the first day of Tim's four day off, so he took pictures, was a super-cheerleader in getting Madeleine excited, and helped do the activities with us. 

Here is Madeleine showing Tim her "excited for school" face:

 Placing alligator teeth, we talked about shapes (she knows the basics) and counted the teeth (easy-peasy stuff).

 Dada read the Berenstein Bears' "A" book while I prepped the next task:

 After the book, we made two little people from toliet paper rolls. We made our cousin Abigail and our uncle Alex. She colored them and we talked about what they should wear and why. The next day we started with American flag. We went outside and looked at our flag counting the stripes and asking her to identify the colors. Tim and I led her in the pledge and she repeated the whole thing. In order to make our flag, we had to see which color was on top and how the flags lined up in the field, so we made sure to replicate it as best we could.

 I thought I had foil stars somewhere, but I did not, so we put that assignment aside and focused on making a stenciled Ape.

 Since the paints were out, we decided to try stamping apples on to a tree, but it didn't work out as well as I'd hoped. Oh well, she still had fun.

 The next day, we packed up everyone and headed to Los Rios Ranchos for the Little Seedlings tour. We had a great time tasting apples and hearing all about hybrids and planting and even got a visit from Johnny Appleseed:

 We got to roam the animal area for a long time (which my kids LOVE!). Miss Tanya introduced us to a bunny named Oreo, two week old and younger chicks, goats, sheep and a llama. Madeleine has only really done goats and deer and chickens, so the llama and sheep were new.

 G-money fell in love with the goats. Should have known since she regularly smothers the cats and dogs at our house.

 Madeleine loved Ranger, a sweet billy who loved to be scratched:

 After our tasting and animal tour, we had a big picnic lunch on the lawn and then enjoyed some apple cider and apple-raisin bread in the general store. It was a great trip. Thank you to everyone who came and helped make it a success; I appreciate it. The next day was Thursday, and I allowed CBS to be pre-school. I just used the coloring sheet and the bible verse to talk over dinner and ask her how the day went. She's one of the older kids in the class and I'm thankful that she is helpful, polite and loving toward her sister. On Friday, we decided to FINALLY use a gift that I had been saving for just the right time. We had received animal cracker cookie cut-outs and Williams-Sonoma animal cookie dough from my friend at Bird in the Hand. We whipped up some Animal cookies.

 First, we combined the ingredients, then we talked about separating the dough in half. We talked about 100% and 50%. Madeleine said that half was for her and half was for Gracie. Then, we had to let the dough chill for 2 hours, so we finished our flag.

 Later that afternoon, we rolled out the dough and started cutting the shapes. These cutters are adorable. I don't have a picture of one, but there is a giraffe shape in addition to the elephant, tiger, seal, and lion featured below.

After cutting the cookies out, we had to chill them for another 30 minutes and then bake them for 16. Thankfully, Nani was here to help distract from all the waiting, but I think it is good for her to learn that everything has a process and that process can take time. We can't rush through the steps (though we had a little difficulty with it during our "B" bread baking...more later).
 Finally enjoying a cookie:

So, thank you McGaughs for the gift- we really enjoyed it!
Love, Lauren

W3-over it

Well, I'm pretty much over doing W3. All my posts were going to be some vitriolic rant about something that bothers me and in the meantime ostracize and alienate people. So, let me just apologize by saying...if you drive a PT Cruiser, you are not lame. Your car is lame...but you are not. There's lots going on over here, but I just don't have the energy (or will) to post about it. I've been in and out of these little funky "down" times. I could hypothesize many components, but ultimately it comes down to being prideful and selfish and discontent. So, we'll see what gets posted from here. Hope you are all doing well.

W3: driving power

This is a changing weekly post, so I will just tell you that I am thinking about changing the title from Wise, Weird, Whatever to simply Weird. To claim that any of my ideas could be wise seems a little audacious and when I have a post like today's, it doesn't really fall into the titled theme. Therefore, I re-name this W3 to just Weird. It's the idea that in exposing my thoughts to you about this life, you'll feel better about your own weird thoughts because we all have them!

When I grew up and learned to drive, I really enjoyed and still enjoy driving. My parents bought me some excellent driving cars. My first was a little sparkly blue VW bug that was amazing. I reupholstered the interior to a black vinyl and grey velour and that thing was so fun to drive. After the little '70 bug was in a crash, my parents replaced it with a red convertible. Driving around in that car was a blast, I replaced the sound system and the convertible top (due to leaking) and loved being able to let my hair fly-literally. I bought my own car in 2004; it is my 2001 4Runner and I adore this vehicle too. It reflects that outdoorsy, functional SUV type that I morphed into after college. And I suppose that is what is so weird about these thoughts on driving and cars. I think that what you drive says a lot about you. For instance, if you drive a PT Cruiser, you're just lame-those are the silliest cars (except for it's even more class-less cousin, the HHR). I'm sorry, but you just can't come back from buying a Cruiser. If you choose a Toyota or Honda, you're willing put invest in something that is going to hold it's value. Going with a convertible? You've got a little wild streak. If I see you drive by in a Audi you're probably fairly cool. But a red Mercedes just screams LOOK AT MEEEEEE BOYS!!! (Because no man would ever rive a red Mercedes. See a Sion scream by, must be a young, but fairly trendy college kid. Obviously, mini-vans are mom's territory, but if you drive a Sienna or Odyssey, you still crave a little style versus someone who's rollin' in a Voyager or Sedona (sorry sis). Driving a Jeep Wrangler, a Range Rover or an FJ Cruiser that's never seen desert dirt than you might be a poser. Get that thing out on the rocks!!! The point is, I actually assume a lot about a person based on the car they drive. In the past, if I was looking for a cute boy, he was going to be driving a Subaru hatchback. That car just screams pacific northwest wanderlust. So, that is my weirdness...as Tim and I drive around, I am secretly categorizing people by the car they drive. Weird, but true. What do you think, does your choice in car reflect who you are?

August 1-2

Happy August! Not really my favorite Back-to-School month (I think we'll go back in September when we homeschool-if we even take a break like the public school) and definitely a hotter (and muggier) month in Temecula. After linking through a few blogs (iheartorganizing.com to The Nesting Place to beautyandbedlam.com) I found some motivation to get back into exercise. I lost all Gracen's preggo weight and a little more, getting down to my lowest weight since my wedding around July 4th. But since then it's been pretty stressful for me lately and Minto Oreos have been my solace (which I say to my shame for I know Jesus:Phil 4:6 ) Regardless, it's a little too much mac'n cheese and little too less muscle. After reading this post: http://beautyandbedlam.com/the-30-day-shred/ I decided to cash in my coupon for free eggs at Target and pick up the video (under $10). Now, two days down...I'm feeling good about getting up and actually getting a workout in. There is something about doing my exercise that really makes me feel like whatever else I do that day is just icing on the cake (or dressing on the salad for me). Took measurements yesterday, no pics-might ask Tim to do that tomorrow. Anyways, it's muggy, it's yucky, but I'm committing to sweat it off. Oh, and the selling point: the workouts are 20 minutes long. Yup, no 55+minutes of P90X, I just don't have the time. So, we'll see what Jillian and I can do together this next month.

ps. Also at Target, I found these $1 abridged classics and phonics cards & time telling cards. We got almost all of them. So, homeschooling Mama's- have any of you researched tax credits for school related expenses?