Binkie Buddies

Looking For a Good Read?

I bought this book for myself for Christmas and am about a third of the way through. It's a fascinating read and I can't say enough wonderful things about it. If I had to be specific, there are 3 main reasons I am loving it so much.

• When I was younger, say high school, I honestly thought I was capable of doing just about anything with my life. Huge, amazing, world-changing things. Of course it was all pretty vague about what exactly those things were, but nonetheless I was sure I'd do them. My experience, and I think it's a common one, has been that as I've gotten older, year by year, my expectations about what is possible and what my capabilities are, along with a more acute view of reality, have whittled down 'huge and amazing' to 'getting by' and feeling 'pigeon-holed.' This book brought such a fresh perspective, both in terms of what one is truly capable of accomplishing and redefining what true accomplishment can be.
• Oftentimes I forget what is gospel and what is church culture, and confuse "the ideal"with what it really means to be Christian. The women in this book live in such diverse circumstances and have such varied experiences, yet those true gospel themes come through in each life story despite less than "ideal" or stereotypical situations. I feel so much less pressure when I remember the gospel is true in every circumstance, in every culture, and for everyone regardless of their situation. I am reminded to focus on what it means to follow Christ and put my efforts there rather than trying to adhere to assumed cultural expectations that are distracting, unimportant, and energy-sapping.
• The stories and wisdom these women share are beautiful and inspiring.

Anyway I think you should read it.

Laguna

Afternoon Art

Title: "No Mom!"

Medium: Crayon

Price: "Mine!" or NFS

As you can see, she takes her artwork seriously.

Safety First

Zoe loves books, a girl after my own heart. I can't wait to introduce her to Ramona Quimbey or Nancy Drew or the Babysitters Club, most of which I read behind my text books during class. Throughout the day there are little pockets of quiet, and when I stop and listen, I hear her 'reading' to herself, her baby, no one in particular, with an impressive range of tones and even feigned laughter and 'oh no's!' She even asks to sleep with her books at night when it's too dark to see the pages. When I go in to check on her, she's sleeping with her arms wrapped around them like she used to snuggle her bear. When I get her out of bed in the morning, there are all sorts of strange marks from where the edges have pressed into her skin after rolling over in her sleep. Here she is this morning 'reading' to her cars while they take a much needed break from racing.

Today we went to check out the Beaumont Library because I heard they had a lot of neat programs for kids (they do) and we got our library card and some new books. I'm so excited for some fresh stories. If she didn't grow out of clothes and shoes so fast, I'd spend all that money on a private library of children's books. But she does, and the library is exciting and it was a fun way to spend the morning. These pictures marked the only time she was either still or quiet the entire time we were there, I'm sure they can't wait for us to come back.

We spent the rest of the morning in the breezey shade in front of the library while Zoe had fun collecting acorns. She took it rather seriously.

I will miss these toddler hands!

Then we went home and netflix played interference while I put away groceries. I figured an hour at the library would offset 15min of cartoons....

Modern Art

When we were little my sisters and I loved doing all kinds of crafts and art projects, especially ones that included lots of glue and glitter. I remember sitting at our kitchen table for long stretches of time perfecting our "masterpieces" together. So it's been fun to start introcing Zoe to one of my favorite childhood pasttimes, making a huge mess with art supplies, while, of secondary importance, creating a work of art. Here she is finger-painting for the first time-it was a big hit after she embraced the idea of actually sticking her hands in the paint. (Floyd finds the whole thing anxiety-inducing and has requested that she not be allowed to do this while he is home).At first she was concerned about her hands getting dirty, but got over it after some reassurance. We may need to reconsider our inordinate emphasis on having clean hands and face before our OCD rubs off too much. She already obsessively washes her face. Anyway we're on to watercolors, oil pastels, chalk, stickers and playdough while holding off on all glitter products as long as possible!