My favourite daughter

Today is a very special day for me.  It's the anniversary of the day that I met my daughter, face to face, for the first time.  Nine years ago, around 10:00 in the morning, she arrived in a rush in our bedroom, and has been warming our hearts since then.

As a baby, she already showed an affinity for fashion, demanding that we change her outfits multiple times a day by puking all over everything.  She quickly gained the nickname of "The Puker."  I would nurse her and gently hold her upright to burp her, and she would errupt all over the bed/couch/chair.  Aaron got used to jumping up on the spot and rushing for a towel and some clean sheets and cloths.  She kept us on our toes right from the start.

We named her Riley, but her brother (less than two years her senior) called her Ya-Ya.  He loved her (still does) and enjoyed this new plaything in his domain.

The three of us (Dad, Mom and brother) sang songs to her and read her stories and before we knew it she was talking.  And talking.  And talking!

And singing...  She loves music, much like both her parents.

She loves to play songs on the piano (well, she loves to play when she's not practicing) and she can often be found singing the oddest lyrics in the oddest places at the oddest times.  When she was sick a couple years ago, I knew she was finally starting to feel better when I overheard her singing in the shower, at the top of her lungs, "Frosty the snowman, la la la la la la la..."  Of course we gave her an mp3 player this year so she could listen to all her favourites and sing along.  Jamie-Grace, you'd better release a new CD soon.  Riley's getting antsy for more music.

And her heart...  She has such a sweet, sensitive heart.  She wants to understand how people can be so mean, but it just doesn't make sense to her.  In Riley's mind, people should be kind-hearted and put others first.  It's just the way we're supposed to be.  When she encounters situations where others are being unkind to her or to someone else, she will think about it and process it for hours, trying to figure out a way to make the situation better.

She loves to be silly with her brothers, girl-cousins and her across-the-street best friend. She'll make up a word if there isn't a good one to describe something, but she'd rather just make a scrambled mess out of words she already knows.

She'll often ask us to play "Francesca Bassiltelli" (it's supposed to be Battistelli) and then grin, knowing she got it wrong on purpose.

I think what I love most about Riley is that she takes in and tries to understand everything.  In Sunday School, she is the one who has been listening and can answer any question the teacher might have from the discussion for the day.  This past Sunday, as we were talking about questions we would ask God if we got the chance, Riley put her hand up and said, "I would ask 'How can I know that my name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life?'"

She is such a dear to us.  She adds such joy to our family.  We thank God for giving us our Riley and we wish her a very happy birthday today!

Riley would love to read birthday greetings from the friends and family that she knows and loves...  If she knows you, could you please leave her a birthday greeting in the Comment section?  She is looking forward to reading this post later today and would be very excited to read birthday messages from those she holds dear.

Opposites

We try to inject fun, but educational, conversation into our dinnertime discussions.  Lately the kids have been loving math quizzes.  Several years back though, our kids were still trying to grasp the fundamentals of the English language.  This conversation happened between Daddy and three-year old daughter.

Daddy: Okay girlie, this question is for you. “The bad little dog made another big mess." Which two words are opposites?

Girlie: Open and Shut

Daddy: Those are opposites but which two words are opposites in this sentence. “The bad LITTLE dog made another BIG mess.”

Girlie: Then we have to clean it up.

Well, as the old saying goes, "cleanliness is next to godliness," right?

Egg Psychology

You know, you can tell a lot about a person by how they keep their eggs:

There are those who like to keep the eggs perfectly huddled around the centre of the egg carton.  They like equilibrium.  They want things to to be even all around.  They like the aesthetically symmetrical.  They like knowing where things are going to be.

There are those who take the eggs from anywhere they want.  They are the free spirits who do not put much stock in things like appearance or practicality.  They would rather put their grey cells into something much more interesting.  Do not expect much organization from this crowd.

There are those who take their eggs out from one side.  On the surface, it appears that these folks simply have a routine and like to stick with it, but you'll soon discover that they actually are deep thinkers who think well in advance of most.  They have anticipated every scenario and have decided that they want the weight of the eggs to rest firmly in the fridge door end of the carton.  No one has ever dropped eggs from a carton with this approach.

And finally, there are those whose eggs are sitting on a bed of hay, under a chicken.  These people just totally rock.

Favour for the Financially Frugal

"They" (you know, the people who say things that get quoted by people like me) say that money is the topic most argued about by couples.  I don't get that.

We're not known for throwing money around, and I've chatted with friends before about whether we're thrifty or cheap.  We've decided that Aaron and I are not cheap, because we are not opposed to spending money on something that's worthwhile, but we are thrifty because we don't want to have to pay more for a product than is necessary.

We generally subscribe to the "Dave Ramsey" financial philosophy, which is that you get out of debt and stay out of debt.  If there's something you want, you save money to buy it.  (Steve Martin and Amy Poehler help us understand the concept with this video, Don't Buy Stuff You Can't Afford)  Sometimes this is annoying, like when I finally decided it would be nice to have a dressy coat to wear out in the winter.  (I found one, brand new, at the Salvation Army, for $25 and got it with my own personal "Blow Money.") 

But last night I appreciated our thrifty lifestyle.  Our kitchen faucet has been giving us troubles for a couple months now.  First it would not rotate between the two sinks very well, then the sprayer nozzle wouldn't come out more than a couple inches.  Finally, it started leaking and I had a lake under my sink.  Aaron headed out to Home Depot and bought a new faucet to replace the leaky one.  It rotates with ease.  The hose can come out about two feet from the faucet.  And it doesn't leak!

But the biggest blessing is that we can buy a new faucet without worrying about paying for it.  Our thrifty spending habits mean that there is money in the bank account right now to pay for a replacement faucet.  I am so glad we paid off any debt we brought into our marriage (student loans, wedding, honeymoon) right from the beginning and stayed debt-free.  I am so glad I have a husband who is responsible with our money and encourages me in that regard.

We are truly blessed.

Fruit Salad

My youngest boy just asked me to make him a fruit salad.  We're out of strawberries and blueberries and the last of our bananas is a nice chocolatey brown shade.  So, I told him we were out of Fruit Salad fruits.  He said, "I think we have kiwi."  I told him we used the last of it in the fruit salad a couple days ago.

Then I remembered that the avocados are sitting where the kiwi usually sits.  I told my boy (who thinks he hates guacamole) that I could make him a fruit salad with mashed avocados and tomatoes and lime juice.  He gave me that, "I'm on to you" look and walked away to find a different snack.

Joy in the mundane

I just found a way to make sorting my laundry a lot more enjoyable and (in my mind productive).  Pray for each person as you sort their laundry...

Girls's sock - Help her speak kind words today.
Boy's pants - Remind him to be bold and brave today, Lord.
Other boy's shirt - Just help him not hit anyone today!

...  and so on.

Maybe you love laundry.  Find something else that you don't enjoy doing and make it a prayerful activity.  Suddenly, it becomes a new, fun way to serve your family (or friends.)

My mom doing double duty

Sense and Sensibility

I've always been amazed by how closely our senses are linked.  There are certain foods and songs and sights that bring back very specific feelings and emotions.

I recently reacquired the Go West Young Man album by Michael W. Smith.  (This is my third time owning it.  I think I'll hold on to it this time.)  As soon as I popped it into my CD player I was brought back to the summer of 1991.  I had graduated from middle school and was entering Grade Nine at a very large high school.  I remember having a crush on a particular boy that summer and thinking that maybe he liked me too.  Once we actually entered high school and he found out I was to be picked on, instead of befriended, he quickly pretended he didn't know me.  Still, every time I listen to this CD I have this youthful feeling of hope.  I love it.

I picked up the Facedown CD by Matt Redman in 2004 or 2005 and listened to it ad nauseam while I was expecting my third child.  No, really...  When I put it into the CD player months later, I was suddenly hit with a feeling very similar to morning sickness!  I eventually had to give the disc away because I just couldn't stand to listen to it.  (And it's a lovely album, so I feel bad saying that.)

Broccoli on my pizza, olive oil, ratatouille...  All foods that I couldn't eat for years after being nauseated by them while pregnant.

And then there are the sights that evoke powerful emotions.  Seeing a pile of sheets and blankets and pillows on the floor gives me such a sense of contentment.  I just want to jump in that pile and take a nap!  (I've shared with many that one of my earliest and favourite childhood memories is lying in a pile of bedding that had been stripped and was ready to be taken to the laundry room.)

My heart skips a beat when I see a bicyclist on certain roads at certain times of the day.  It could be my hubby coming home early, after all.

A baby with a little bit of milky drool.  I nearly lactate at the sight!  So many sweet moments and memories.

The smell of Herbal Essences makes me think of my mom, who doesn't wear any scented perfume, but always has nice, freshly washed hair.  A musty house reminds me of the time my Grandma and I cleaned out her fruit cellar.  A smell that's a mix of sweat and dirt makes me want to find my boys and hug them (and then send them immediately to the shower.)

I love it when those moments find me.