Summer Celebrations

Toby’s birthday celebration at the end of July kicked off a crazy couple weeks of celebrating in the Willson household. Just 4 days after his birthday, Mark and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary with a delectable dinner at the Cashtown Inn followed by the gorgeous views at Hauser Estate Winery topped off with a hot fudge sundae. We rejoice for the gift of our union and our Creator and Redeemer who is our guide, strength, and inspiration.


In celebration of the completion of Mark’s summer grad class we hit the road – 5 hours, non-stop to VA Beach where we joined most of my extended family for 3 lovely days of sun, sand, and surf.




(oh yeah, and ice cream. :)

At our annual Chinese extravaganza at the Imperial Palace, I was treated to song (you really should hear the Gotwald’s sing by they way – they do harmony and everything) and cake. Can you tell I LOVE my birthday? ;)

The town of VA Beach even joined me in the celebration by setting off fireworks from a boat right outside our hotel window.

Unfortunately, my big birthday beach plans were somewhat thwarted by my hubby waking up with a vomiting migraine which left the kids and I on our own for the morning. I took them for a bike ride to the end of the boardwalk where we stumbled upon this awesome playground on the beach.




After packing and loading we joined my family for lunch, shopping, pool time,


naps,

and dinner before heading home, another non-stop trip.

I returned to a mailbox full of cards, gorgeous 2 dozen roses on my doorstep (from my dear sister-in-law Meredith),

and multiple serenades on my answering machine. What blessings are my family and friends who shower me with love and help me to be who God created me to be!

The other side of my extended family enjoyed a picnic at Cowan’s Gap for my cousin’s and my bdays. We played spirited games of bean bag corn-hole (and Mark and I actually won 2 games!)


took a little walk to the lake,

and had a scrumptious dinner with loving fellowship. Yes, and sadly it was the final celebration of my birthday month.

We’ve just been “taking in” these final days of summer: playing outside, taking walks, eating lots of ice cream…

Lydia declares that she is ready to go back to school (but NOT with the big kids!) and we are getting prepared for that transition after Labor Day. Another huge transition around here is the children moving to bunk beds. Tobias was climbing out of his crib with increasing frequency and proficiency so we decided to move him to a “big boy” bed and them into the bunk beds Aunt Leslie had in her basement (Lydia has been begging for bunk beds ever since she experienced my cousins over Christmas). It has been a trial with lots of frustration but guarded success. We went from having to have one parent in the room with them as they fell asleep for every nap and night time (to remind them it was time to put their heads on their pillows, quiet themselves, and FALL ASLEEP), to reminders and a few repeated “checks” which are decreasing in necessity. I have to say, it’s awful cute having them cuddled up in one room.
Reading to the kids before bed. (Tobias insisted on wearing those goggles. :)


Here are a couple developments of the kiddos…
• Lydia is drawing with purpose, creating scenes from her mind that actually resemble something.
This is 2 suns, 2 kids, and 2 beach balls.

• Tobias developed the response to the question, “Why did you do that, Toby?”, “Beeeeeeecause… I want to.”
• Lydie develops elaborate plans such as going to Disney World, and a “Party for Jesus” complete with a menu that she created, and delegated who is doing decorations, cooking, making dessert, etc.
• One of Toby’s silly phrases: “What’s going on, guys?”

Well, our celebrations don't cease when August does, we have lots of birthdays to celebrate in September (2 close friends, a new baby, and 5 immediate family members). Let the celebrations continue! :)

"Where's your...?"

Yesterday morning, Mark was attempting to keep Tobias engaged and quiet during the beginning of the church service. Mark initiated the name-the-body-part game. He'd quietly ask, "Tobias, where is your... head?" "Where is your...ear?". It seemed to be working: Tobias was smiling and silent. Until daddy completed the typical list of body parts and Tobias stopped, looked daddy in the eyes, and at the top of his voice (which, anyone who knows Tobias knows is QUITE loud) inquired, "Daddy, where is my penis?!?!"

Birthday Boy

Look who's TWO!


We had a lovely family birthday celebration a few days prior to his big day – all of our immediate family were present to rejoice in Tobias’ sweet life. What a blessing to be surrounded by such love, affection, smiles, and, of course, presents. True to form,Toby was so comical opening his presents – completely in awe and enthusiastic beyond measure. When he opened a shirt, he exclaimed, “Oh, Look! A new dress!” You can tell he spends time around his dress-obsessed sister. ;)

Here’s a clip of his reaction (to practically every present):

And here is Toby's amazing "dump truck" cake created by daddy and Grammy with lots of time, energy, creativity, and love.


Toby learning the finer points of his new Ferrari's from daddy. He quickly learned how to say "Ferrari" particularly in the sentence, "That's MY Ferrari."

We had pizza (Toby’s favorite) and took him out for ice cream on his birth date. Just so happened that, as we were running an errand prior to dessert, we ran into Uncle John, Aunt Leslie, and Rach so they joined us for frozen treats. And, of course, lots of playing and running...


Mark took the day off work Friday to spend as a family so we headed to Fuller Lake for some fun in the sun.



Here are some more things our 2-year-old is up to:
• Uses the words, “delicious” and “humongous” appropriately.
• Frequently reiterates, “I get it MYSELF!”
• Pretends he’s “Cap’n Caillou”
• Uses prepositional phrases in most sentences as descriptors: “This one is in the tunnel.” “My milk is on the table.” “I wanna go under there.”. "My Bryon the bulldoza is in the car."
• Speaking of “tunnels”, Toby has a slight infatuation with tunnels. Loves to manufacture/build/create them and drive his vehicles through them. He also loves to drive under or over them in the real car and loudly announces when this occurs.
• Uses “like” like his sister. (at dinner, from under the table Guinness is heard burping.) Toby: “Guinness is like burping.”
• A couple evenings ago after reading books we gather for prayer time. Toby initiates praying: “Dear God, Thank you play. Thank you toys. Thank you friends. [Giggles spurred on by his sister], Thank you Peek-A-Boo. [more Giggles.] Amen.” His first spontaneous prayer.
• Mimi & Pop-pop taught Tobes a little hand shake that includes a “fist bump”. One morning as I was still relaxing in bed, Mark brought Toby in. He crawled on top of me and said, “Mommy, fist bump!” So if you see him, ask him to “fist bump” – so cute.

Oh, how we love Tobias! Here's to a blessed year ahead, buddy!

Sum-Sum-Summatime

On a very warm Friday, Mimi & Poppop took the cousins to the Washington National Zoo. We had an amazing time together experiencing the wonders of God's creation: the colors, the behaviors, the details, the relationships (lots of babies!)...

Attempting to "chill out" during these unbearably hot summer days. We have spent a good deal of time in the air conditioning the past couple weeks. Really, the kids didn't even WANT to be outside which was A-OK with me!


Here we are less than a week from our Toby-boy’s 2nd birthday. His life is cherished and we love him dearly. His personality has certainly blossomed over the past year, particularly as his vocabulary has expanded. So what is this kid up to?

• Passionately playing with trains and trucks: lining them, connecting them, chugging them around the track, making “tunnels” for them, driving them on various body parts (faces, legs, arms…). He also insists on being read a “train book” in which his favorite parts are the “engine” “brown one” and “cars” (on a car carrier).
So serious...

• Distinguishing and describing. Instead of saying, “oooo, big truck!” It’s now, “It’s a mixer. I see a bulldozer. It’s a scoop. It’s a dump truck. It’s MY backhoe!” And “It’s a blue train. There is an ornange (orange) engine.”

• Developing “pretend” play. The other day I overheard him playing by himself making two trains talk to one another: “Hello Uncle John” “Hello Aunt Leslie” “How are you doing today, Maam?”… He’ll also join his sister in setting a table and filling plates with pretend food. Toby is also game for a good old fashioned dress-up session.


(the redeeming factors in these photos: hard hat and truck-in-hand. ;)

• Becoming a bully. Just last week he started pushing and hitting other children in the church nursery. And his poor cousin, Ally got shoved around on her recent visit too. He’s also throwing toys. Hard. At people. He’s spent quite a bit of time in “time out” – over and over again.
• Counting. “one, two, three, five, six…” Never, ever says “four”. ;)
• Taking his role as “annoying” younger brother. The other night at dinner, as he sat directly across from Lydia, he looked at her and declared in a mocking tone, “My plate is BIGGER.” Of course this started a match of who can say, “no, my plate is bigger!” the loudest.
• Using past tense with surprising accuracy. “I found it.” “I got it.”
• Climbing out of his crib. He has done it a few times, particularly when he's angry (that I put him there for "time out"). I suppose a "big boy bed" is in his future (and ours!)

Lydia has had quite the adventures the past month. Becoming a “big girl” has opened a whole new world of possibilities. She enjoyed two Bible schools. It's awesome to hear her enthusiastically sing the songs that speak God's Word and His Truth.

And a week of evening “Princess Dance Camp.” She enjoyed dressing up, hearing stories, doing crafts, and flitting around. Her little show at the conclusion of the week was so cute. As one of the youngest, she hung right in there.

I’ve also been waking her from her nap around 3pm so we can have some quiet “lesson” time. We read books, do activities or crafts, and practice writing. She has really flourished during these times, taking them quite seriously with unprecedented focus. I’m so thankful she’s finally willing to and excited about learning with me!


Speaking of learning, Mark is trudging through his summer course. We're (I say "we" because it does impact our whole family...) more than 1/2 way there - wooo hoooo!


Here's to keeping cool!

Motivation

Yes, I’ve been absent from the blog world over the past few weeks. Ok, so it has been a month. No excuses. Or maybe I do have some, like this…

And this…

And this…

Certainly loving warm weather, sunshine, water, sand, and even bugs!


We’ve found, at times, (or maybe most of the time), Lydia needs a little bit of motivation to try and complete tasks that are tough for her. For example, this girl has been asking for a Tinkerbell Polly Pocket every single time we go to Target. When I found out how much they are (WHOA!) I quickly headed to eBay and found a whole lot (that included Tinkerbell, of course) for less than $10 – SCORE! We told Lydia that in order for her to get a Polly Pocket she must learn to write her name (which she has been refusing to do for months). After only 2 practice sessions, she did it! Today she sat down with me and wrote her name of every different colored construction paper we have. She is now a proud owner of 6 Polly pockets. And we are proud of our little girl for FINALLY writing her name!



Tobias continues to “ooze character” – his newest development is whispering for dramatic effect. He’s also amazingly effective at bossing adults around (Sit down and read a book, mommy. Toby picks it out. I want… trucks!) but, upon our insistence, uses “Please” and “Thank you” and "Sorry". He is passionate about trucks and trains, particularly stacking them. He also takes them for rides in the stroller. Not sure how many almost-two-year-old boys ask for “tinkabell” and “Preensess”, but our Toby-boy does especially when his sister is parading around with hers. His use of adult names cracks me up too. As soon as his Mimi calls Pop-pop, “Tim”, he’ll say, “Hi, Teeeam”. And Toby no longer walks, he runs. Everywhere.

And what do mommy and daddy do with their spare time?

I had the blessing and opportunity to sing and play my flute at a friend’s wedding - my first solo gig. It was a beautiful celebration of God’s gift of love and awesome to praise Him through music there with my dad and Patti. Here are Mark and I fooling around at the reception.


I also just completed a Portrait Photography course through Hagerstown Community College. 3 words describe my exprience: Challenged. Inspired. Encouraged. Here are a couple photos that I took for my “assignment” which got rave reviews from my professor.


Mark couldn’t be happier to be on break from his MBA courses. Through a “God-thing”, he was introduced to an adult swimming course at the YMCA which he has been attending faithfully at 6am three times a week. I’d say through this he is also challenged, inspired, and encouraged. He’s delving into his bike-riding hobby weekly through the Summit Health Bike Club which rides from all over Franklin County. Mowing the lawn, attempting to sell his motorcycle, and working on the front porch are a few of his time-consuming, yet not quite as enjoyable “summer break” tasks. And yes, it will come to an end in a few short weeks when he starts his “Information Systems” course…


So we're loving summer. Even though it's not "officially" here yet, it sure is for us! Hope all who read this are being blessed by the summer change-of-pace and outdoor opportunities. Enjoy! :)

The daily-ness

It has been quite a process but, alas, Lydia has finally filled up her sticker chart for staying dry at night: “Wakin’ up with a Dry Pull-up.” Her reward was setting up her fish tank again and, of course, getting fishies. Unfortunately, 3 of the 4 met their demise within a couple days. Lydia’s response, “I’m ok if they die, mom.” “Can we just go get more?” So much for my fear of her being traumatized! By the way, she named them, “Shirley Temple, Eliza, and Nemo”. Daddy named the fourth, “Pica” (because he was the first to eat and “pica” is a disorder in which individuals eat dirt and random other non-typical foods).

The themes “Fish died” and “Tree fall down” are repeated by Tobias as he notices the fish tank or the sticks in our front yard. Yes, our pear tree that broke from the ice a couple years ago has also met its demise, this time due to the high winds. As you can see it fell in a manner in which it did NOT touch our home. God is awesome! He certainly protected us and our house. Now we’re working on getting rid of it…


Lydia is into making up stories. Last weekend she declared, “Mommy, I want to write a book.” So we created one entitled “The Little Mermaid” – the storyline is quite close to “Jonah and the Whale”. She even added illustrations but quickly tired of that after a couple pages.

"1, 2, 3, JUMP!": Tobias can finally get both feet off of the ground at the same time after months of effort and frequent demonstration by his big sis. She LOVES to jump and now likes to jump off of things. :)

(Sorry, I can't get this pic to go vertical. You'll just have to tilt your head and hope no one sees you ;)

We had our first “Parent-Teacher Conference” on Tuesday. I can say I was a little nervous. Not exactly sure why… I suppose it’s the anticipation that the teacher will indicate that our child is extremely disobedient or that she’s mean or that there is something wrong developmentally. Alas, she is progressing nicely… Whew! We were encouraged by her teacher to set firm limits as Lydia “needs to know who is in charge,” that she doesn’t appreciate when kids take things from her (but does seek adult assistance in resolving the matter), and that she’s still struggling to write her name. On the up-side, she is caring, musical, engaged in the group, and enjoys the other children. I couldn’t be more thankful for her experience at the Apple Place this year and for her more than amazing teachers with hearts of gold and patience beyond measure.

(Lydia running and jumping into her teacher, Mrs. Ross', arms at the last-day picnic)


Yes, there are some days when I am simply emotionally exhausted. These little ones wear me down and out. Yet, in one of my “Proverbs 31 Ministries” devotions it reminds me to “rejoice in the daily-ness of life.” Here is a portion of that devotion by Ariel Allison Lawhon (2010) that speaks to my heart.

“In those moments I force myself to take a deep breath and thank God for this season of life. These children. The privilege of wiping noses and bottoms and countertops. A privilege many women would love to have, but don't. I remind myself that the days are long but the years are short. And one day I will look in the rear-view mirror and see empty seats. The cup that is overflowing right now will slowly drain. The stretch marks will fade. And I will find that a new set of daily struggles has overtaken me. When that day comes I will find the strength to face them as well because God gives the grace, daily.

The daily-ness.

As C.S. Lewis once said, "The thing is to rely on God... Meanwhile, the trouble is that relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing has yet been done."

Your daily-ness is probably different than mine, but it is nonetheless God-ordained. It is exactly what we need to live dependent on His grace instead of our own strength. The One who knows us best, who knit us together in our mother's womb, has allotted these days that are equal parts trial and triumph. And He knows that we will see Him most clearly from a place of dependence.

So today I embrace the normal things. The daily things. Another round of laundry. The ring in my toilet. The dust on my dresser so thick a child could write his name. But even more than that I want to celebrate the important things. A child slowly learning to read. A husband that finds his comfort in my arms. A baby who learns to walk and talk. Because all these are the things of life: some mundane and some holy. And all of them must be received daily.

Dear Lord, sometimes daily life is just hard. And we're tired. And overwhelmed. But You promised to be our strength and our hope and our comfort. So today we look to You for what we need. Would You meet us in this, our daily-ness, and help us receive Your grace? In Jesus' Name, Amen.”

So some day…
• Tobias will not erupt into a piercing scream at the slightest source of frustration and discontent.
• Lydia will not repeat “I want to do it myself!” (with attitude) 500 times a day.
• Toby will not distribute piles of sand all over the lawn (even though “sand stays in the sandbox” is a big rule around here).

• Lydia will not horde food, candy, special toys under her bed. She will not demand to use her pacifiers for sleep. She will not go to the bathroom 5 times after being put to bed…

Yet some day they also will not…
• Enjoy being sung to before they close their little eyes.
• Want to read with us, count everything and anything, fingerpaint with us…

• Enjoy driving trains on the windowsill for 10 minutes

• Make forts out of pillows
• Push strollers (filled with babies or trucks depending on the kid) around and around the “loop” of our downstairs
• Beg for “chok-et, gummies, and chuck chuck woosh! (swinging)”

• Be content watching tv during which they actually learn something
• Collect rocks,put themselves in cardboard boxes, dig in the dirt/mulch (and be ok with getting dirt dumped on them ;)


• Want to “help” daddy do anything and everything, help mommy cook or “keen” (clean)
• Be amazed and excited about any body of water from ponds to puddles.


So I’m sentimental today. Doing so helps me put the daily trials in perspective and embrace this season of life with open arms and a willing heart by the grace of God.


“Thank you, Heavenly Father, for entrusting these precious children, your creations to us. May we embrace this blessing and responsibility with joy, hope, and faithfullness. Amen.”