Just watch them learn!

I've been thinking a lot about our relationship to our Heavenly Father.  The more I learn about being a parent the more I realize how my relationship with my Heavenly Father is.  For instance, as a parent I see my children learn something new, like taking their first step, and I really rejoice with them, and for them.  I am so happy for their tiny new baby step, and that's how the Lord sees us, isn't it? He rejoices in our tiniest triumphs, and our littlest steps to becoming what he knows we can become. As a parent, I am not disappointed that my child doesn't know how to read now, (she's five and hasn't been to any formal schooling) I'm not even a bit down about it, and I don't expect it of her now, but I do find joy in every new word she learns, and I'm super excited when she tries really hard without me having to ask/tell her to, and I have every reason to believe she'll be reading before long.  I think the Lord sees us that way, he's never disappointed at what we aren't yet, but rejoices in our efforts and each new little step we take, no matter how tiny. Of course the Lord is a perfect parent, and I am far from it, but I feel like being a parent gives me new insight to his parenting.

My girls have really been learning so much, so fast, lately.  Diliana is walking all over the place, and seeing her waddle down the hallway makes my heart giggle.  Leah is learning all sorts of acrobatics and practices constantly.  She makes me feel like dancing when I watch her spinning and twirling and jumping on one foot and then the other.  Victoria is taking off in her reading and numbers and has really taken a liking to abstract video filming. She definitely is one to notice details, and her ability to learn things by watching others is amazing to me. I wish I could have figured out how to upload a few of the better videos she's taken, some of which have definitely made me "laugh out loud," but this will have to do.  Here is "Diliana Playing With Toys," with commentary. :)

 

    Seeing my children learn new skills brings me joy, and a little sadness, because they are growing so fast.

A little more JOY

Remember my post about joy? Well, I originally wrote it with a thought in mind that I would find something everyday that brings me joy, and blog about it. As we all know, I am not very good at posting regularly, and daily seems almost impossible, but I have thought about it so many times since then, I am going to give it a shot.

So...hmmm... I guess I should have thought more about this today. The first thing that pops into my head that brings me joy is having kids, they are so amazing, loving, quick to forgive, happy and delightful, and yet, they can drive me SOOO CRAZY! I must admit, the moment I know they are all asleep (hopefully for the night), is a moment of sweet joy.

Sometimes putting the kids to bed feels nothing short of ...uh, what I imagine hell to be like... dragging on forever in frustration and chaos, wanting to go to bed myself, but unable to. Just when I think I've got everything under control and we are smooth sailing to slumber, they go into hyper-drive and I've missed that perfect moment, you know, the moment when they are just tired enough to fall asleep easily but not overly tired. Hyper-drive is like someone gave them an injection of caffeine and spun them around until they don't know which way is up and let go.  They run around squealing, climbing walls, beds, counters, me, and anything else climbable, giggling all the while like a pack of hyenas.  This behavior is usually only stopped by some sudden unpleasantness (such as plowing into each other, or falling onto a hard object, or mom putting her foot down) and ends in crying and/or tantrums.  After the tears have subsided, and all children are in their beds, there is usually a chorus of  "Mom, can I have...? Mom, will you tell us a story? Mom, will you sing us a song? Will you sing another song? Mom! Mom! Mom! MOM!" At this point... I feel insane, and I let them sing their choruses along with the radio while I do dishes.
 
Thankfully tonight wasn't that bad, we hit that perfect moment almost on the nose, and while there were a few requests, they were not in abundance nor were they irritating in any way. What a relief! These are the most joyous of bedtimes, and I have to say, when they are asleep, they are SOOO CUTE! Who doesn't think a kid in quiet slumber is cute? It is so fun to watch their peaceful faces and my heart just warms inside to almost bursting.  Just seeing them in this state makes me ready for another day of motherhood, and gives me the determination to be a better mom tomorrow than I was today. 

And another thing to be grateful for... they didn't even move a muscle when I took these pictures with the flash on. :)

A New Doll Crib

 I love this website and have a mile-long-list of projects I want to make. But for some reason, I either don't have the materials to get started, or I just never get around to getting started. Then one day I got a little saw for Christmas, from Stoyan, and the previous owner of this house left behind a 1x12 in our basement and we had 1x2's lying around from some other project gone wrong, so I had no excuses and got started on something.  I must admit, I am really lazy when it comes to sanding, and the 1x12 board turned out to be very NOT flat, hence I sanded and sanded to make the boards fit together just right, but didn't sand and sand to make the finished project look as nice as it could have, but at that point, I was done. I spray painted the thing and then brought it into the house too soon, because the spray paint smell keeps finding my nose every once in a while. Oh well, it was good to have at least started and completed a project, and the girls seem to like it well enough to fight over it, even though it is "Diliana's birthday present."  Here is Didi baby with her new doll crib, a runny nose, and hair in her eyes.  (Boy, you would think I would at least do her hair before posting her picture on the web!) :)