Category: General Family News

“Coming Up To Be Good Sisters!”

Posted on by Becky

One of my favorite pictures Mara has drawn was of the girls’ room:

I love it because despite its primitive nature in the design sense, it truly captures “their” room. Mara’s bed with her pink kasey quilt. The bars of Carissa’s crib, where every morning she stands and calls to her big sister, waking her up. The dollhouse where Mara spends hours and hours setting up the rooms and playing “princesses.” The magic wands–seems like either she or Micah is always playing with the magnetic magic wands!

Mara often writes on the back of her pictures. She can’t spell very many words yet, so she will tell me what she wants to say and I will spell it for her while she writes.

On back she wrote these beautiful words:

I hope and pray that this is only the beginning of a beautiful friendship. That Mara and Carissa would always be “good sisters.”

I love my girls!!!!

Beginner’s Artwork

Posted on by Becky

At certain stages of life, children produce art en masse.

Mara’s at that stage. Micah is still dabbling in it.

A friend once suggested that rather than saving every piece of paper your child colors, you could instead take a photo of those you want to remember and keep a computer file of pictures of each child’s art.

What a great suggestion! (Especially for someone like me, who really struggles to keep clutter under control!)

Every day Mara colors and draws and cuts and tapes . . .  She has discovered art! And she loves it.

I love the stories behind her pictures! So often, like any artist, she draws what she loves, what excites her, what makes her happy. . . Usually that includes siblings, family, and beauty (like flowers or princess dresses), occasionally fun activities.

Here are a few of her recent pictures. (You may have to click or double-click to see the explanations I’ve added with Picasa.)

They don’t always make complete sense. For instance, in the first picture, Grandmom S. is pushing the kids on the swing, but Mara told me that Grandpa B. is taking the picture!

I liked how she drew my ponytail blowing in the wind! 🙂

She narrated this one:

You never know what you will see on the blackboard. Here she copied “Nestle” off the back of the baby cereal box.

And both kids love to paint with watercolor! Here are two of their recent watercolors. Note the contrast.

Mara’s watercolor:

Micah’s watercolor:

They both had a great time painting! But unlike his sister, Micah needed a bath afterwards!

A Big Boy Bed

Posted on by Becky

Micah’s crib days are now over.

It was definitely time to make the switch to a big boy bed! We just didn’t have one. But some friends loaned us theirs since they aren’t currently using it (Thanks so much, Melissa!), and if I understand correctly, this used to be the “big boy bed” of another friend (right, Kristy?). So this bed has served several little boys now!

For quite a few months now, Micah has been able to climb in and out of his crib. Since we didn’t have a toddler bed to move him up to, we decided to lower the crib’s side rail in order to minimize falls. We still fought the “stay-in-bed-during-naps-and-at-nighttime” battles. I figured that it would actually be easier to fight those battles in the familiar crib than to fight them in a brand-new setting, like a toddler bed.

Well, he loves his new bed! For some reason, he feels the need to “climb” into his bed every night–he climbs over the footboard and falls into the bed! (Silly boy!)

And what is it that compels every child to jump on their bed?!?!

I had it all neatly made–of course, that didn’t last! Micah took the quilt and began running wildly around the room with it on his head.

So now that he has a “big boy bed,” he got a lesson in “bed-making” too. . .

Two kids out of cribs now! (Hooray!!!!)

Where does the time go?

Decorating the tree

Posted on by Becky

I have severe “tree” allergies, so much to Daniel’s sadness, we have an artificial tree. I wish I could change it–real trees are beautiful!–but I’m just allergic. I remember spending a week with someone who had a tree, and having terrible migraines much of the week and waking up with rashes all over my entire legs throughout the night, unable to sleep. I’ve had allergy shots since then, so my reactions are milder now. But in deference to my health, we have an artificial tree!

It is the same artificial tree I have had since my senior year of college. I bought it during the after-Christmas sale, 50% off, knowing I would definitely want a tree when I was living on my own, working at the CPA firm. I had no idea that my kids would be enjoying it someday too. I got my money’s worth, for sure! It has served me well for 12 years now. Daniel calls it my “Charlie Brown Christmas tree” but every year when we don’t have the “extra” money to buy a new one, I put it up again. The kids and I love it! 🙂

We have all been sick the past couple of weeks, so although I started getting out Christmas things the day after Thanksgiving–put the wreath on the door, set up the tree–it is still sitting in the living room, undecorated.

Well, I should say, largely undecorated. Mara never said anything to me, but the other morning, I walked past the tree and saw this:

And I deduced that she found a color-by-number candy cane picture in her Christmas coloring book, and took it upon herself to color the page, cut them out, and decorate the tree–without ever mentioning anything!

And then, suddenly I remembered her saying, “We should decorate the tree with candy canes again like we did last year!” (Thank you Grandma B!) Maybe she was working on decorating it, right at that moment. . .

I had to laugh (and probably only my family will laugh about this), but Mara said, “We really need a star for the top of the [kids’ 3-foot] tree.”

Micah gasped, “OHH!” and went running into the kitchen. He came back with the bright yellow “Rovenstine For Sheriff” magnet (from my Indiana days) and the kids insisted that I attach it to the top of the tree!

“Here’s a starrrr!” he exclaimed.

It was their tree, and I don’t presently have a better option, so much to their delight, I tied it to the top.

(I really want to send this picture to Al and Aaron Rovenstine!)

Don’t worry–we will decorate the tree for real later this week!

Learning About Christmas

Posted on by Becky

“[Christmas] will be SO much fun!” Mara exclaimed the week before Thanksgiving. “We’ll set up the Christmas tree–and God will set the snow–and we’ll go out and throw snowballs!”

Now that Mara and Micah are (almost) four and two-and-a-half, they are old enough to remember last Christmas and look forward to this year.

What do they remember?

  • Decorating the tree
  • Presents
  • Snow
  • Christmas music

As they begin to comprehend more, I want them at a young age to begin to understand the real meaning of Christmas.

From my Time-Life Christmas CDs, the kids already know the “Christmas oldies”: “Jingle Bells,” “Sleigh Ride,” “White Christmas,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”  . . .  Yesterday I decided we would start learning some Christmas carols. So I sang for them and Mara asked lots of questions about what words meant. . .

  • “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” – What amazing life-changing truth is contained in that song! (Peace on earth = God and sinners–me–reconciled! Christ came to earth as a baby to die for me on the cross to pay for my sin and bring peace to my life!) What blessed reminders of God’s grace and goodness to me, as I explained the song to my toddlers!
  • “Silent Night.”
  • “O Come All Ye Faithful.”

At that point, Micah was done singing. Mara wanted to keep going. It was so precious how she tried to sing along, without knowing the words–or the music, just singing a couple beats behind me the whole way through the song!

Earlier this week I told Mara we were going to read the story of Christmas from the Bible in Luke chapter 2:1-21.

She loves to listen–she loves for me to read to her. Apparently, she wasn’t anticipating the birth of Christ, because she seemed so genuinely surprised, when I read, “And this will be a sign for you: you will find the baby, wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

She gasped and exclaimed, “I know about the manger! I know this one!”

And in verse 21, I read, “At the end of eight days. . . he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel. . .” and she exclaimed, “I love Jesus! I wish I could tell God what we’re doing right now!”

“Sure, you can tell Him,” I told her. All the time I tell Mara that God is real, that He hears us, that He cares about everything in our lives. And she believes.

She shouted, “Guess what we’re doing, God?! We’re reading about your Son when he was a little baby!”

I want God to be as real in my life, as He is in hers. That I would thrill to tell Him when I’m reading about His son.

We finished the passage.

Mara loved reading Luke 2. And she asked to read it again when the other kids were napping, so of course we did.

Mara drew a picture of what we read in Luke 2. (You may have to click on the picture to be able to read my explanations of the drawing. The things I wrote in quotes are Mara’s descriptions.) On the back, she wrote something about “God loves you. Run to him.” But she doesn’t know how to actually write words yet, so she had to translate for me, since it was just a bunch of random letters. Still precious. 🙂


I love it!