Seven Quick Takes

On Wednesday morning, Sunshine slept in until 11 am.  Yes, you read that right.  11 am.  I was working on the computer and Lily was happily crawling around the living room, playing with all the toys without anyone telling her, “That’s mine!”  Yesterday morning, Lily was up at 7 am.  This morning, she woke up at 9 am, but of course Sunshine was up at 8.  Really, it’s nice that they can sleep in once in a while, since I hear from my neighbours that their three-year-olds are usually up before 7 am... but really, couldn’t they both sleep in on the same day so that I can too? 

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I finished reading Angela Hunt’s book The Fine Art of Insincerity a few weeks ago.  The ending had me reading as fast as I could and trying not to cry.  Each of the sister’s stories had come alive for me and I really wanted a happy ending for them all.  Of course, Angela is too good an author just to paint a perfect (and unrealistic) happily-ever-after ending—but there is hope in each sister by the end of the novel.

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When we moved out to Victoria, we discovered Groupon—a daily group coupon emailed to you every day.  While I ignore a lot of the coupons, we’ve gotten some good deals on things we would have done even without the coupon.  Our first trip to the Butterfly Garden was courtesy of a Groupon, as was our whale watching experience in Tofino.  We also recently got a cheap oil change, a discount on running shoes for my husband, and a half-price photo book for me—all things we needed and were able to save some money on thanks to Groupon.  If you’re looking for an easy way to save money, check out Groupon.

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Marcia Laycock is a fellow Inscriber, novelist, and columnist who has recently released an ebook of devotionals for writers.  Abundant Rain is available through smashwords and until August 30th you can get it at 25% off.   Just use the coupon code VJ62K.  Marcia has been the regular Sunday devotional writer for Novel Journey for several years and has also published two other books of devotionals, The Spur of the Moments and Focused Reflections.

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Lily is walking!  For the last month, she’s been walking while holding my hand.  The other night, two of the neighbour kids were playing with her, so she was walking around the park with a five-year-old on one side and a three-year-old on the other side (and me telling them “Don’t go so fast! She can’t keep up to you!”).  Last night, she started walking between my husband and I—three or four steps all by herself, but she was so proud of that accomplishment.  She had been practicing standing up by herself all day, so I thought maybe she was ready to try walking.  Soon she’ll really be motoring!

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A few weeks ago, I discovered the Kids of Integrity website.  Written by a mom for families, this website is packed with great ideas for teaching your children values like obedience, generosity, and sharing.  While the website says that the lessons are for 3-10 year-olds, I didn’t find that much that I could do with Sunshine without doing a lot of work to adapt the ideas.  Maybe next year.

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Yesterday, I drove out to Practicing Mammal’s place for a monthly Catholic Mamas meeting.  It was so nice to drive out of the city (we even passed a few big John Deere tractors that got Sunshine telling me a long story about all of Grandpa’s tractors) back into some quiet acreages like the one I grew up on.  Five moms sat around the table talking nonstop (except for breaks to help the kids) for almost four hours.  It was so wonderfully refreshing to hear other moms share their parenting questions and what has worked for them.  There are times when being a mom feels awfully lonely and I wonder, “If I was a better Mom, would Sunshine or Lily not wake up at night/throw temper tantrums/have accidents instead of using the potty/etc.”  So it was lovely to hear that other moms’ kids do the same thing... and that it’s a stage the kids will probably grow out of... and that there are some things I can do to help the girls learn.