Fairly Lovely Words

I came across this quote today, and thought that it was fairly lovely :)

"Love is fair when it builds up both the lover and the beloved, when it increases both and diminishes neither, when it brings them close and lets them be separate, when it nourishes both and leaves neither wanting. Fair love respects the boundaries of the other person's selfhood. It postpones our most legitimate desires to meet our loved one's needs. It declines every impulse to take advantage of a weakness. Fair love does not use ancient and forgiven wrongs against us. Our love is fair when we decline any pleasure that comes at the price of another's pain."
Lewis B. Smedes

Our Little Insomniac

Here is a perfect illustration of Madi's sleep issues:
I was just trying to get Madi down for her nap. I was nursing her, and started to sing Lullaby. After hearing only the first few words of the song, Madi started violently shaking her head "no, no, no," stood up, and started hitting me.
Now that's some serious sleep opposition! Not to worry though - her passion is not restricted to escaping sleep. She's equally opposed to baths.

Warning: Do NOT Try This at Home

Well, I thought that I would save money by taking the children's spring photos myself. If anyone is considering this method of frugality, I recommend that you weigh it against the cost of your sanity. I must say that Caleb was quite cooperative despite our mishap with the ant bed. However, the other banshee of a child as well as the incredibly frustrating camera were a bad combination. I got many photos of Madi's back and many more of a blurred floral streak running from the camera. A few of the pictures turned out nicely though, and the one of Caleb sitting in front of the azaleas made the whole maddening endeavor worth my while.

Make a Sunflower House

I thought this was a charming idea. We can't really make a sunflower house in our current yard, but I hope to be able to in a future yard...
http://www.rain.org/~philfear/sunflowerhouse.html

It kind of ties in with a quote I just read. I love this quote because it lifts the pressure of implementing a formal preschool curriculum for the children and reminds me to just let them play.
"Better to be an untutored savage for a while, not to know the names or anatomical detail. Better to spend long stretches of time just searching and dreaming." E.O. Wilson

Caleb's New Wheels

Caleb has a new bike! It's his first real bike, and he is incredibly excited about it. In just the fews days that he's ridden it, he's made great strides, and is now biking very well! The Tour de Papa and GaGa's Driveway provides a nice first course for him. Yes, the wee one is a little jealous, but she'll have to make due with her ride on toys for now. She's still a tad small for the tricycle. Hopefully, we can go on a family bike ride soon!

Camping with the Wild Ones

Would you rather brave a night in the wilderness or a night cooped up with two sleep-resistant children? Tough question. We decided to combine the best of both worlds and accompany the sleep-resistant children on a campout! I had a theory that they would play so hard in the great outdoors that they would wear themselves out and crash early. Not so much. However, we all had a wonderful time! It was a church campout, and we were so very fortunate that some of the teen girls were there. These lovely girls took charge of entertaining the children, giving Matt and me time to sit back, relax, and even take a bike ride together! I'm hoping to set up an internship program in which a nurturing teen girl can move in with us for the summer :) Anyway, it was a great, great time (aside from the lack of sleep), and we hope to take the children camping again soon.