Hey all! Hope all my Canadian friends had a great Thanksgiving weekend! Ours was pretty good, although there was a bit of a war going on in our home. Let me explain:
The kids were both battling chest colds (it seems we can't shake the sickness factor this fall!) and as a result, both seemed to be plagued with a case of the 'whinies'. Oh man. If you looked in the dictionary under the word "whine", it would say: "The Balfour Children". Josh would cry or whine or yell every time we put him down. Ellie would mope around doing this little whimpery sound over and over again unless she was really distracted or watching a movie.
But Rob and I had pre-determined that this Thanksgiving weekend we were going to be grateful and try not to complain the entire weekend. Our children set out to prove us wrong. It was a war, alright. But I think we won. In fact, we had a downright good time. Family night on Saturday was, in my opinion, one of the best family nights I've ever had with my family. We put the kids to bed there and played a very competitive, ferocious game of "Whoognu?"...my new favorite game. Which, by the way, isn't at all competitive, but my family transforms all game playing into an opportunity to press each other's buttons and laugh ourselves silly. It was absolutely wonderful. Sunday was church and then a slow and gloomy day at home and the battle against the 'whinies' continued...and Monday was also a really gloomy day outside...and the battle continued. Rob and I undertook our first big ham dinner and it was SPECTACULAR. I am a ham LOVER. The kids? Sick and didn't want to eat.
But today at last all our efforts at keeping the joy in the home seemed to begin to pay off. Ellie woke up from her nap, still all congested and quite unhappy. She spent a good amount of time doing her little whimper everywhere she went, and even when Rob came home, she refused to smile (although the twinkle in her eyes gave away the fact that she WANTED to be happy!). So I said, "Ellie! You have two choices. You can stay upstairs and smile, or you can go downstairs and put all your little 'whinies' in your crib, and then come back up."
"Okay!" she agreed enthusiastically. So she went downstairs, did who knows what in her room, and then came upstairs full of joy for the rest of the evening.
I don't know about you, but I find it far too easy to lower myself to my children's unhappy level when it goes on day after day. Or perhaps I'm the only one with grumpy children. But I know that the instant I give into the small nagging negative thoughts (like, "WHAT HAVEN'T I DONE FOR YOU TODAY, CHILD?!?" :), I am on a slippery slope into a pit of self-pity and misery. I so badly want to set a standard of joy in my home. My theme verse these past 'sick' weeks has been, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." (Proverbs 4:23) And when, in Jesus' strength, I am able to do this, Thanksgiving is a thankful day, no matter what kind of "whinies" try to convince me otherwise.
Anyhow, a few random photos for you visually-oriented folk out there. The kids like smiling for photos. Don't let it fool you into believing my story above was a big lie. :)
Joshua after feasting on his new favourite food: PIZZA!
Ellie and Auntie Leila sharing a quiet coloring moment. It was awesome to have her out from Regina for the weekend.
Joshua learned to clap this week! That definitely put some sunshine into the weekend of gloom. How can you not just love a clapping baby? (Elleah, I know you understand!)
An Ellie quote, from a day I went in to get Ellie from her nap and found her taking looong drawn out licks of her crib:
Ellie: "I hab to lick my crib, Mommy."
Mommy: "Why do you have to lick it?"
Ellie: "Because it tastes very YUMMY! And crunchy! I'm SUPPOSED to eat it."
Joshua in his most common position: stuck under a chair.
One day Ellie got up from her nap in an especially talkative mood. So I sat down and just began writing down everything she said. It's almost as strange as her outfit above:
"I have a little ankle on my knee, Mommy. It hurts. I need my 'jamma (pajama) socks. I hab something in my eye, Mommy. I think it's peanut butter and jam."
When I just don't know if I can take the whining any longer, I resort to....
baby cookies.
Hopefully he doesn't end up with an eating disorder.
Ellie's expression when you tell her you're going to pinch her bum. The only draw back is when she sneaks up behind you and pinches your bum in Superstore, making you scream and draw unneeded attention to yourself.
Happy Belated Thanksgiving, Friends!
p.s. I'm going to be blogging on Thursdays from now on - not Wednesdays - as I work every Wednesday night!
Hey Friends! I'd like your help. My dad took some family photos for us the other day and I'm having trouble deciding which one to edit and send out for Christmas photos. So tell me, which pose would you prefer on YOUR fridge?
Or this one?
Can you tell how cold we were? Apparently I waited too long to get them done. Manitoba is usually merciless by this time of year.
