A City Life For Me

Yesterday and today were pretty rough days in Mommyland.  We are training the twins in regular beds.  Some days they get it.  Some days they don’t.  It means no rest for Mommy right now.  But it can be kind of humorous too. Matching “shawls” for Christmas I had two blessed weeks of consistency.  Elaine learned digital numbers in Math, so we gave her an alarm clock.  She wasn’t allowed out of bed until 8:00 a.m., and 4:00 from naptime.  When Elaine got up, the other kids got up.  It did wonders for my schedule, my devotions, my planning.  I knew what to expect.  Even if they woke up early, they wouldn’t come out until a certain time. Cutest fireman ever. But then the second bunk bed arrived, and with it the crib bar’s restraint went away.  Now I have to teach two toddlers – at the same time – to control themselves and obey Mommy’s directives to “stay in bed!” Bath time is the cure-all.  New finger puppets make it even...

We took a little tour of New York City with our friend Jon Buker this weekend.  One of the things on Elaine’s bucket list was to walk the Brooklyn Bridge, so we started at Jane’s Carousel, walked the Bridge, and then went to the 9/11 Memorial.  Nehemiah was apprehensive at first… Liberty was a natural! The serious look… Nehemiah apparently hit his “wall” and took quite the nap on the Bridge.  This is what he looked like… Yes – he is asleep.  Yes – he was bumping people.  Yes – we did lay him down once we figured out he was really asleep! I think the Brooklyn Bridge is my favorite NYC icon.  It never disappoints – I’m always amazed at it’ The Freedom Tower.  It was nice visiting now that the Memorial is an open public square, and we didn’t have to stand in line or go through security!  One of these days I will make it to the Museum!

So… On the the 22nd Ben bought a set of solid maple bunk beds for a great price on Craigslist.  We had been watching for a good set at the right price, and toying with the idea of transitioning the twins to beds before our big deputation stint beginning in February.  We thought this would allow us the possibility of leaving the pack n plays at home, but we also thought we might be crazy for trying. This is from my Instagram post yesterday… “Probably the best explanation is “crazy” when you think that we bought a second set of bunk beds and hope to train the twins to sleep in them before we hit the road in February.  But I’d like to think of it as “blessed”- since we’ve been looking for a little wile but couldn’t afford anything, since they are solid maple bunk beds that were over $1000 new and we got them (in excellent condition) for $150, since we were given $175 in Christmas gifts yesterday, and since we have a friend visiting for Christmas who was able to help Ben p...

If you’ve been reading here long, you may remember that at last year’s Christmas Program , Elaine had a major case of the yawns and pretty much refused to sing.  I kind of breathed a sigh of relief that we weren’t going to be around for practice this year, so my kids probably weren’t going to participate in the Christmas program.  But…the kids weren’t quite ready for performance, so the program was bumped to today.  Elaine and Nolan came home from Sunday School quoting a verse and singing a song the last three weeks.  So we decided that they could participate, and Mrs. Bickel kindly agreed. To prevent a repeat of last year, we tried to practice a lot.  Nolan competes with Elaine a lot these days, so they both knew their parts really well.  We even put them to bed by seven last night so that they couldn’t stand up there and say they were tired! And yet, I was apprehensive.  Were they going to sing???  Libs is getting a cold and Ben nearly stayed ...

Somehow Elaine got it into her head that Christmas means making Gingerbread Houses.  She’s been asking when we are going to make one – repeatedly.  It sounded…sorta fun.  I was in IKEA and they had gingerbread house kits for $4.99, so I picked up two of them.  We put it on the calendar to decorate them tonight. To be sure everything was ready, I opened the kits last night.  Just gingerbread cutouts.  No decorations.  No icing.  And they were shattered.  Broken into many pieces.  I looked up a recipe for icing “glue”.  I picked one from a favorite blogger who makes gingerbread houses as a family tradition since she was a girl.  It was a “no-fail” type recipe, or so she said.  I spent a little too much money on some candy decorations at the store. I was mixing up the Royal Icing when I remembered that my piping bags had both split while frosting Elaine’s birthday cake last month.  (They were only about 15 years old…)....

First Sleepover!   Wearing Grandma’s Shoes My Four Blessings -  we are gradually getting the hang of going for a walk without a stroller.    The twins are getting into creating their own style – including sunglasses, winter hats, picking their own shoes, and sometimes a necklace or purse.  Libs has one boot on and one off…Nehemiah is wearing Elaine’s glasses.

On Monday night I got to have a date with Elaine in the City.  It seems like she’s gone backward in some of her obedience and respect lately, and we thought perhaps she was getting lost in the shuffle of deputation.  Ben was home on Monday so it was the perfect opportunity for us to head into Manhattan. Though I had everything planned, it was a total surprise to Elaine.  She got dressed up and wore her pretty dress coat.  We exited the train at Rockefeller Center and walked up to 5th Avenue.  I kept asking Elaine where she thought we were going.  She didn’t realize it until we were right in front of the window display at…American Girl Place!    Selfies on the train We checked our coats and enjoyed the store for a while.  Elaine got to pick out a couple of dolly purses (the only things in the store I could afford!) and some pictures and a catalog to “dream about.”  Once I showed her that the doll outfits and accessories all say “8+” o...

City kids are definitely different!  We got a good laugh in family devotions today from Elaine.  We were discussing Creation, and reviewing some of the days we had already talked about. Ben: “What did God call the dry land?” Elaine: “Sidewalk!” Here’s another one: Ben: “Who is Daddy’s Helpmeet?” Elaine: “Mommy” Ben: “Who helps more?  Does Daddy help Mommy more, or does Mommy help Daddy more?” Elaine: “Mommy helps Daddy.  You leave all your stuff in the floor and she picks it up!” Happy Friday!