How we love nice weather. And Kyle on summer break. And exploring new places.
Shotgun Creek, 4th of July:
Wendell Bridge in Sweet Home, with Aunt Rosa:
And our recent trip to the Oregon Coast, beautiful weather, kids had a blast:
So here is what everybody is up to…we’ll go from shortest to tallest.
Baby bean Baker boy…is squirmy, getting bigger, and making Mommy’s life uncomfortable. But hooray for healthy, uneventful pregnancies. I am planning for the birth and hoping to do it all-natural like Viv’s birth, and write in a lot on the birth plan to prevent medical ‘protocols’ that are routine but not necessary, like fetal monitoring, routine pitocin after delivery, etc. Right now I am at 28 weeks gestation, baby will arrive late July or early August. Bring it on!
Viv is our little two year old-who is not quite two yet. She’s got plenty of attitude and will tell you exactly what she thinks. She is still our most affectionate child, loves hugs, cuddles, and kisses. Lately she is obsessed with putting her babies in her little stroller, and bringing them to Mommy to wrap up in blankets. It’s all rather adorable. She’s got a bit of stranger anxiety going on and will randomly hide her head against Mommy when we are out with people. She loves her family. When Kyle comes home from work, she yells “Papi! Papi!” and will run to him and demand to be picked up for a hug pronto. It’s just an adorable age, if you ignore the fit-throwing in Walmart because Mommy won’t let her sit in the grocery portion of the cart.
Peter is coming out with a rather fun personality. He is still our goofy guy, with a huge grin and quiet demeanor around non-family members. He’s proven to be mini-Kyle, looking and acting much like Kyle did when he was a toddler, according to our sources. Most of the time Peter has a hard time paying attention to things going on around him and is rather uncoordinated, so he is our accident-prone child. He loves singing and will sing along in the car with Dave Matthews. We’re getting close to potty training, I just need some undivided attention time for a few days, which doesn’t really happen, so we’re waiting for summer when we’ll have more staff on hand.
Todd has exploded as a preschooler with what he is learning. He has gone from being able to count to ten at the beginning of the school year to being able to count to over 115. He recognizes and knows the sounds of all the letters and guesses at words he sees ‘reading’ the first letter and judging the context. His motor skills have also skyrocketed. He will be doing one more year of preschool due to the age cutoff and needing to work on more social skills.
I have been knitting a lot. I am trying out all sorts of patterns and learning a ton. At the end of Mary I have an art bazaar I am sharing a table with another knitter at, and have been working on doing little projects to see what will sell. It’s a ton of fun, and very addicting. I have a feeling I’m a knitter for life. Still pregnant, but we covered that already.
Kyle is about to wrap up another school year. This year he’s been teaching Spanish 1, 2, and 3, Algebra 2, Physics, ESL Christianity, and doing ALL the computer work for two campuses. He is frequently exhausted, especially now that allergy season is upon us. We’re praying for a much lighter load for him for next year. Kyle’s big spring project has been planting trees to grow a hedge in front of the house. Now that is done and hopefully all the little guys live and thrive.
We have a few other projects on the drawing board for this summer. Kyle needs to take some classes to keep certified, and we’re having the baby, and between all that I’ll probably take the kids to Vacation Bible School and we’ll finish the garage and have a yard sale and get bunk beds and a play set for the kids and solve world pollution and other incredible things. We’ll just have to see what we have time and energy for. 
Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said, “Wait.”
“Wait? you say wait?” my indignant reply.
“Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I’m claiming your Word.
“My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?
I’m needing a ‘yes’, a go-ahead sign,
Or even a ‘no’ to which I can resign.
“You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord I’ve been asking, and this is my cry:
I’m weary of asking! I need a reply.”
Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, “Wait.”
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, “So, I’m waiting for what?”
He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .
and He tenderly said, “I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.
“I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You’d have what you want, but you wouldn’t know Me.
You’d not know the depth of my love for each saint.
You’d not know the power that I give to the faint.
“You’d not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You’d not learn to trust just by knowing I’m there.
You’d not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.
“You’d never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you’d not know the depth of the beat of My heart.
“The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that’s beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.
“You’d never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I’m doing in you.
“So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait.”
So let’s see…Grandma came to visit! ohhh happy day!
We found a T-ball set to be great fun. Especially chasing after the ball in knee-high grass! Our mower has been broken. We’re mowing it this weekend, I promise, I don’t want to lose the kids in the grass.
Yet another fun Salem trip!
I’ll lend you for a little while
A child of mine, God said
For you to love the while she lives
And mourn for when she’s dead.
It may be six or seven years,
Or forty-two or three.
But will you, till I call her back
Take care of her for me?
She’ll bring her charms to gladden you
And – should her stay be brief -
You’ll have her lovely memories
As a solace for your grief.
I cannot promise she will stay
For all from earth returns,
But there are lessons taught below
I want this child to learn.
I’ve looked the whole world over
In my search for teachers true.
And from all beings that crowd life’s land
I have chosen you.
Now, will you give her all your love?
Nor think the labor vain.
Nor hate me when I come to take
This lent child back again.
I fancied that I heard you say
“Dear Lord, Thy will be done.
For all the joys Thy child will bring
The risk of grief we’ll run.
We will shelter her with tenderness
We’ll love her while we may -
And for the happiness we have known
Forever grateful stay.
But should the angels come for her
Much sooner than we planned.
We’ll brave the bitter grief that comes
And try – to understand.”
Author Unknown
Ohh, this has been my favorite spring season ever. I really feel like we are enjoying the weather in all sorts of ways! Here’s what we’ve been up to:
Planting with Nana:
Easter was delightful. We got to do a special story with the kids called ‘Benjamin’s Box’ about a little boy in Jerusalem telling about Jesus’s death and resurrection. Peter and Todd both got into it. Then to church and family lunch, complete with egg hunt and lots of candy!
Oh, and banjos accompanied by howling Labradors. Compliments of Scott:
Todd got way, way, into the egg hunt.
Vivienne is at that lovely stage where she refuses to hold still and let mommy get a good shot of her Easter dress and hat.
Reading with Kimberly and Olivia:
Todd was so hoppy to wear this:
Peter helping Joshua play Phase 10:
And with Viv, if she’s not avoiding me, I get the ‘cheese’ face:
Out of nowhere, it snowed in April. Of course, nothing left on the ground to play with, but entertaining window watching nonetheless.
Dandelions for Mommy and Auntie:
And with spring comes time to plant trees! So we’ve been planting our new baby Thuja Green Giants, 110 of them. :-O
You know your kids are close when this is their default sitting arrangement when it comes time to watch a movie:
Yeah, Mom, just take the picture already so we can get back to Rocky and Bullwinkle:
Thanks for looking!
I have fallen to the knit addiction. I haven’t been reading or blogging in my spare time, I’ve been knitting. I had learned to knit a few times over the years, but in the fall, I actually finished a couple objects and that fueled the fire for more knitting. I am active on Ravelry as Pookamama, and am enjoying the challenges and triumphs of the art of knittery. Knitting appeals so much to my situation because it is simple materially. In order to work on a knitting project, I only need my yarn, my needles, and my pattern. That means I can knit while just hanging out with my kids. I can’t do that with my other crafts.
In the fall I got some ghetto hats and a baby doll blanket done. That taught me knit and purl, and some heinous sewing up.
Now, some finished objects, in order of completion:
Newborn hat:
This accomplished teaching me increases and decreases. I also learned how to stitch up a seam to make it look seamless on the outside. It also taught me that wool is just wonderful to work with.
Cotton Kercheif:
This taught me yarn overs, slipped stitches, and knit two together. Also my first blocking experience.
action shot:
Ruffle Hat:
This taught me a different increase, make one. It also taught me that making a lot of stitches on a short straight needle is painful.
Kerchief, this time in acrylic sock yarn:
This taught me I really like working with sock weight yarn.
Sleep sack for the baby bean:
This was my first project on circulars. Learning to join in the round was tricky. I first started the sleep sack on double pointed needles but it was too hard to do the k2, p2, join in the round, and keep all the yarn on all the needles. I will try another project later with dpns. In the meantime, knitting with circs is quick and painless!
Bunny Blankey:
This taught me that Lion Brand Homespun sucks to knit. But it does look great in garter stitch. I also learned about how to make a hollow cavity as you knit (in this case, making the bunny’s head). I also had my first experience stitching a face on, which is much harder than it sounds! I redid it many times before I could even get it straight.
So, on my blocking rack right now is a drop stitch scarf that is absolutely beautiful. I am casting on for a skirt for Vivienne. It’s fun to have a girl to knit for. I knit the boys hats for my fall projects, but the hats get ignored. Maybe my next project after the skirty will be sweaters. We’ll see.
And my sister.
Yay for new and exciting playgrounds!
Gaah, my baby girl is twenty months. I can’t believe this.
McDonald’s Apple Pies. True Love, only $.50
the Eco Globe
the carousel:
Peter at least sat through it this time. He didn’t grace us with a smile, however.
I have a post hibernating about mushy love/husband wifey/Valentines day stuff that I did not get out for Valentines day. Maybe it will come out later. But you don’t mind looking at such beautiful, active kiddos, do ya?
Those of you with little girls you like to dress up, here is a fun giveaway for $30 worth of cuteness:
http://tuckerstaketennessee.blogspot.com/2010/02/win-it-wednesday-bebebows.html
Keep calm and carry on!
