Be a Hero!

*This is a 'sticky' post: it will remain at the top of the page throughout the month of April. Scroll down to see new posts.* April is National Donate Life Month.

Our youngest son is living a happy, healthy life with a wonderful future ahead of him, thanks to the ultimate generosity of a family that lost their own little one.

They are heroes to us.
Please consider organ donation. A donor gives so much more than an organ, they give a life.

To see more stories of kids who are affected by organ donation, please check the comments section. Be sure to leave a comment if someone you love has been given a gift of life, is waiting, or has donated.

For facts about donation, click here.

To learn how you can commit to be a donor, click here.

The Daffodils

by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A Poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Arts & Crafts

Many times on Saturdays Greg keeps the boys and I go over to 'play' with my mom.

Lots of those times we end up creating.

Today Greg asked if I was going to do "arts & crafts" with my mom. Lol.

Not exactly the way I would word it, but he meant well. :)

Anyway.... this is my afternoon's work:


And go HERE to see Mom's!

Life with kids...

...is more
colorful!

Just not quite the same

Yesterday morning the boys finished their breakfast and got down to play. I found myself alone at the table, next to the open window, feeling the cool morning breeze and listening to the birds.

I wished for a cup of coffee to linger over.

But to get up and make it would have spoiled the lingering feeling, so I sat for just a moment and then went on with my day.

As soon as I felt the breeze this morning, I started making the coffee.
Ha! I'd be ready this time!

But this morning, the boys finished their breakfast and hopped down....

..... and ran to the window to watch the action.....

..and instead of the beautiful sound of morning birds....

....all I could hear was the garbage truck thumping and grinding.




Maybe I'll try lingering tomorrow. :)

Multitasking

I am a multi-tasker. I like to see how many things I can successfully do at once. In some ways, I think it must be part of the job requirements of being a mom.

I mentioned recently that Alan luuuvs to write and draw. While I was washing dishes this afternoon, Alan came through the kitchen and found a marker. So I set him up in his booster seat with a big piece of paper and his marker. Pretty soon Dale joined him, and I set out a couple of other markers.

I glanced over once to see Alan with two markers. If one is good, two is better, right?

Well, not quite.

You see, he had one of them upside down. So while he may have felt like he was coloring double-time, he was actually being slowed down by the upside down marker in one hand.

Watching Alan trying to do two things at once made me realize it is the same for multi-tasking sometimes.

Sometimes it is necessary and helpful.

And other times, we can actually get more done and done better if we focus on one thing at a time.

And the real irony of all these ponderings while I was washing dishes and the boys were coloring?

After my eyes and attention had gone back to the kitchen sink for apparently a little too long, Dale interrupted my thoughts:

"OH! He's eating his marker!"

And sure enough, Alan was slurping on Crayola Washable Blue like a lollipop.
Suddenly, my multi-tasking was over. Blueberry Boy had my undivided attention (not to mention a wet paper-towel swabbing his blue tongue).

So, lesson learned. Be careful the tasks you allow to divide your attention!

Now, if you'll excuse me, the phone is ringing, my email is waiting, the dryer is buzzing, the baby is crying, and the cat wants out.

Just kidding.

We don't have a cat. ;)

What about you? Are you a natural multi-tasker or a one-thing-at-a-time type?

Hail, the conquering hero!

"Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father." Matthew 10:29

It doesn't take much for an event to qualify as 'exciting' around here. The smallest things can be worthy of much attention, anticipation, re-telling, and well... blogging. We had such an event Saturday morning.

Greg had gone out to do some work with some men. Dale and I were sitting in the house. We both suddenly became aware of a good little racket going on just behind us, out on the front porch.

My first thought was that a bird must be flying up against the screen, such was the scratching and chirping and wing-beating.

But there were no birds to be seen.

We went outside to further investigate and knew for sure that what we were hearing were definitely bird-sounds. Frantic bird-sounds. But from where?

It didn't take long at all to locate our distressed little bird-friend.

He was at the bottom of one of the columns that hold up the roof of the porch. Each one is open at the top, and apparently birdy had fallen down to the bottom. And since there was nothing to climb and not enough space to spread his wings, he was stuck there.

And he (or she, I suppose) was frantic.

Enter the excitement. And distress. I was so sad for the bird, that I was sure was going to panic itself to death at the bottom of our column. I called Greg, just to let him know. He would still be out for a while. We knew birdy had to come out that day, no matter if he lived or died. If we had waited three or four days and then tried to remove it, well.... you know.... "by this time he stinketh" (John 11:39).

Pretty soon birdy got quiet and quit the flailing and chirping. That made me feel some better, but then I'd be afraid he had expired down there. So every so often I would sneak up to the pole and put my ear to it, relieved to hear the scratching sounds from inside.

And then, finally, mid-afternoon, the Excitement, Part II began.

Greg gathered a jack and various other man-tools and supplies to be able to move the column. After a little trial and error, he found the right combination and eased up the pressure on the column. Not wanting to scoot the bottom of it and possibly break a little birdy leg, he slowly tipped the top of the column toward him.

And almost immediately, as soon as the first sliver of daylight lit up the inside of that column, a flash of dark feathers burst out from under it, singing the whole way. And he (or she) was welcomed with much singing in a tree across the street. Yay!

I got a quick little glimpse of how Jesus must have felt after healing the ten lepers. (Luke 17:11-19)
"YOU'RE WELCOME!!" I shouted after birdy.
Hmph.

Oh well. I'm just glad we didn't have to bury a bird Saturday! I wonder if that is him I hear singing outside now?

Birds of a Feather

A robin in the treetops
With its breast so red and bright
It waits until the wind stops
And then he starts his flight

The blue jay sings so gaily
While it shows its feathers blue
The sun shows the mighty navy
And it shines on every hue

(Excerpt from First Place poem, Middle school division, by 7th grade homeschooler, Allix. Click HERE to read the rest of this poem and the other winners!)