I will give you rest...Matthew 11:28

After lunch today, Goldilocks was being a bit cranky so S started to get her ready for her nap.

S: "Time for a nap, Goldilocks."
Goldilocks: "Noooooo."
S: "Fine. I'll go take your nap."
Goldilocks: "Noooo. My nap."

It worked.  She trotted off happily to get ready for bed, satisfied that she was saving her nap for herself. She has no idea who she is dealing with. :) Even though we smile at the antics of a two year old, how often do we fight the rest that is offered to us.

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light -Matthew 11:28-30

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock...Revelation 3:20

Toddler mom tip:

Never leave the house without a house key.  

Never.  Even if children left in the house are capable of unlocking the door. 

Why? Because children old enough to successfully unlock the door may wander out on the porch to watch you put the dogs in their crates.  And just maybe the toddler will want to come outside, too. In her fumbling with the door handle, the door might lock.  

Then there will be a toddler inside, crying to come out.

There will be a boy on the outside, crying because he can't get in.

There will be a mama wishing her cell phone was in its case on her waistband instead of inside the house being charged.

The dogs were confused when I opened the garage door again and climbed over their crates while praying that the door between the house and garage was unlocked.

Whew!

I liked G's version that he shared with S when The Man and the older kids arrived home a bit later.  

I was crying because the door was locked, but then Mommy BURST through the garage door and unlocked the door.

It kind of makes me sound like a superhero or something.

The kids were happy until I told Goldilocks that we were done with outside and we all were staying inside.  She had put both of her shoes on and had one glove and one mitten on her hands.  Mean mama made her take them off and put them away.

I couldn't get too upset with G for leaving the house.  I seem to recall his mother did that once upon a time when her mommy went outside to get the mail.  The neighbor had to break a window in that case so her little brother wouldn't be left alone in the house.

All's well that ends well.  I need to come up with a good place to stash a house key outside.  It's probably just easier to spend some time teaching Goldilocks how to unlock the doors, but that could create a new set of problems.

Harvest...Genesis 8:22

Brrrrr.

The mornings and evenings are starting to get chilly.

I enjoyed my sweater all day today.

I think it is safe to say that summer is over.

I'll miss it

I won't miss riding in my van with no air conditioning in 110 degree heat...but otherwise, I'll miss summer.

I canned some tomatoes on Sunday and I have a few more to put in the dehydrator. 

I don't think there will be many more this year as the frost has already nipped part of our valley.

Last week a patient brought me some gifts.  

Aren't they cute? Too bad they aren't toddler friendly. I'll have to find a place for them other than the dining room table where Goldilocks likes to play.

I do like pumpkins. They are pretty and practical. I found this one tonight.  

I'll enjoy its prettiness for a few weeks then I'll throw it in the oven and bake it. I bake my pumpkins whole.  I just take out the top rack in my oven and poke a few pumpkins with a fork a couple of times. I bake them at 350 for an hour or so until tender. When they are cool enough to handle I cut off the top and scoop out the seeds (season & bake for a treat) then cut and scoop the flesh. I use it right then or freeze for pumpkin soup any time of the year. Yummy and easy. My kind of baking. November 1 I'll start looking for them at a deep discount and spend a day baking pumpkins.

It is really not practical to keep a huge pumpkin on my table, though, so I was excited to see a picture on a local facebook site of a canning ring pumpkin. Cute. Fun. Easy. Cheap (free!). Toddler friendly.

After raiding my canning lid and ring drawer, I collected a few dozen rings.  I specifically looked for ones that were dented or a bit rusty. I chose to just use the golden colored ones and left the silver and white for another time.

A bit of scrap ribbon from the craft box and some cinnamon sticks from the cupboard and the pumpkins were complete.  G and Goldilocks LOVED helping gather up the rings and threading them on the ribbon.

The photos don't do them justice. I really like them and I'm thrilled at how easy and practical they are.  When the season is over they'll go right back in the drawer until next canning season...or until we make apple sauce in a few weeks.  The wonderful thing is that I won't care a bit if I have to take a pumpkin apart to use the rings and then put it back together a week later.  They were that quick and easy to do!

Let his spittle fall down...1 Samuel 21:13

G is turning into a little man.  His maturity and helpfulness are such a blessing compared to the antics of some of his siblings.  The only real challenges with him are his allergies and his speech (which we suspect is allergy-related).  His big brothers are his translators when I can't understand him, but that is beginning to change.  Slowly, he is becoming accustomed to saying words with the correct sounds.  Sometimes I have to have him repeat phrases several times before I can put it together with the context and decipher the meaning.

Today after church we were sitting on my bed and he was telling me something absolutely hilarious.  At least he thought it was funny; I couldn't understand.  After about six tries I finally got it.  My immediate elation at finally understanding him was slightly tempered by the realization of what he said:

I like to slobber on my arm.  It is just like lotion.

I suppose maturity is relative.

Dwell together in unity...Psalm 133:1

Goldilocks turned 2 on Saturday. 

In the few weeks leading up to her birthday she has been gearing up for what many call the "Terrible Twos." She is a wonderful, sweet child, but she does have her moments of testing her independence and limits. Fortunately for her, we won't have any of it. She has tried, without success, to share her obstinate attitude with everyone. She is learning that it is much more fun to sit pleasantly in her highchair and eat than to sit on her bed during suppertime. The consequences for hitting, biting, and (a new one this week) pinching aren't fun either. G was having a hard time with her pinching the other night and I had to explain to him that even when Goldilocks chooses not to be nice to him, he still needs to be nice to her.
 
Home/office schooling is going.  I'm not sure how well, but we're plugging along. Even though The Man wasn't in the office here in town today, the rest of us went in so I could take care of some things. Before lunch a child wandered into the office area quite offended. Someone had not been nice to the child. Poor child. G overheard the lamenting and went over to the child.

"I want to tell you something," said G. "Mommy said when Goldilocks is not nice to me, I can still be nice to her. I think you should be nice to ____________." Offended child and I tried hard to keep our faces straight while offended child nodded and agreed with G.  

G will turn 4 at the end of this month. I am so happy that he was not only listening to me, but he remembered and was able to apply the principle to another situation!