Molly Piper

Orison finished up a unit on weather for school a couple weeks ago. Since then, he’s developed a kind of hyper-focus (obsession?) with tornadoes. And last week’s devastation hasn’t alleviated any of his fears, as you might well suppose, though I don’t think he saw any images from the storms.

To help quell his fears, I informed him about Minneapolis’s tornado siren, and told him that they do a practice every month to make sure it’s working properly. Naturally he wanted to know what day they do the practicing, so I absently told him, “The first Wednesday of the month.”

As he was coming in from school today he could hear the siren of an emergency vehicle nearby. He worriedly asked me, “What’s that? Is that a tornado siren?”

“No,” I told him. “It’s a police car or ambulance or something.”

“But when are they doing the tornado siren?” he asked.

“What?!?!” I thought to myself. “Is it the first Wednesday of the month?” as I tried to remember the current month and day. I realized that, yes indeed, it is the first Wednesday of the month.

“Who told you it’s the first Wednesday of the month?” I asked.

“Well…the month started on Sunday, and there hasn’t been a Wednesday yet since the month started, so this is the first Wednesday of the month.”

Right on.

“Well, they do it at 1pm.”

And lo and behold, at 1pm I had him run outside to listen to what it sounds like. I think he thought it would be louder.

I just found it funny that he’s tracking it so closely and privately. It’s interesting to realize that your children have their own thoughts running through their heads, their own events they’re keeping track of, their own little obsessions.

He also licked his finger today and felt for the wind direction. (It’s not a windy day here whatsoever, but whenever a slight breeze blows, he says it’s too windy.)

The kid cracks me up.

I just have to keep posting pictures, because I love them so much!

We lovingly call this face “Bulldog.” Whenever she does it, we get the biggest kick out of it! I was so excited to catch it on camera!

Me with my blue-eyed-boy! I don’t think I’ve told you all, but while I was in Hawaii, Whit became an all-out crawler. The kid goes everywhere! He’s unstoppable. And he has the softest, most nuzzleable (is that a word? It is now.) head ever to top a baby.

The twins will be 9 months old next week! I can hardly believe it.

Once upon a time, an overwhelmed, frazzled mother of four small children went to a magical land…

A magical land of

sun

sand

scenery

and…

sickness.

Wait…what?

Yes, yes that’s right. But that’s only a small part of the story. We’ll not discuss that now. Let’s imagine instead the magical sun.

And the sand.

And the breathtaking scenery.

The magical land had breezes that blew straight out of heaven–no edge, no chill. They were brisk, but somehow soft. The sun warm, but never too hot. The winds blew the cares of her other life away. And then sun shone through the frazzle, making it melt away.

The sickness part seemed a small price to pay to be able to take in such beauty. Not even tonsillitis could dull her enjoyment. There were these magical things there (perhaps you’ve heard of them here in your land?) called antibiotics and ibuprofen and they made even her sickness feel manageable.

The no-longer-frazzled mother drank in every drop of her time in the magical land.

But like all good things down here, it ended. She had to fly away from the magical land, her flower-laden neck the reminder of the magical land in the midst of metal tubes and uncomfortable seats.

When she came back to her land, where the winds blew cold and the snow fell and fell (even though it was springtime), she had only to close her eyes and imagine the place she visited, where all the cares and frazzle were no match for the ocean and Vitamin D.

The End.

[from Watari Goro on Flickr]

I’m all nervous about hitting the publish button on this post, but…

In a few short days, I’ll be traveling to sunny HAWAII!

I’m so insanely excited, but so self-conscious about receiving such a lavish gift.

So who’s giving such a gift?

• My dear friend, Kate, who’s an incredible doctor, presenting a case presentation poster at the American Academy of Neurology conference (the reason we’re going). Her generosity is stunning. She showed up at our house a couple months ago and told me she’d had her case presentation accepted by the neurology academy, and that she’d be presenting in Hawaii, but…she didn’t want to go by herself. So…would I want to come with her??? Kate and I have been friends for almost 15 years, so this is certainly a way to celebrate the Lord’s faithfulness to us in friendship!

Which leads me to the next amazing gift:

• My amazing husband, sending me happily on this dream trip. I know I wouldn’t be as happily sacrificial if the tables were turned. As soon as Kate asked me to go, I was all like, “Ummm…uhhh…I don’t know…” and Abraham chimed in, “OF COURSE you’re gonna go!” What a fantastic husband.

Which leads me to the next amazing gift:

• My in-laws, who are willing to take the babies for a couple days so Abraham can still have a little fun with the big boys at our church spring retreat. As soon as I heard the dates for the Hawaii trip, I knew there would be a conflict with our church’s spring retreat (which is a highlight of our church year). Not wanting Abraham to have to miss it, his parents and sister have stepped in to make that possible for Abraham and the big boys. AWESOME!

And the Giver of all these gifts:

• My loving God, who hears little heart-whispers into a long winter and sees my joke flight searches to warm places. Just a few days before Kate showed up and asked me to go with her, I’d been searching flights to Hawaii one afternoon, because of how depressed I was feeling about the endless winter. The price was laughable, and so I just stopped looking. But God saw. God knew. And God gave.

SOOOO…

In a few days, I’ll be somewhere that looks kinda like this:

[from Cody Anker on Flickr]

One thing I learned the other day (reading a kid’s book about Hawaii, because that’s all I had time for), is that Hawaii is technically a subtropical climate. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as subtropical, but apparently it has something to do with the weather being so stable (pretty much always in the 70s & 80s and sunny). I’ve never been anywhere tropical or subtropical so I’m pretty much psyched for whatever!

I hope to post more about it this week, or maybe even while I’m there. Aloha, my friends!

There are still icy snow patches left in the yard, the temperatures haven’t reached 60 degrees, and our grass is more like a mud-wrestling pit than a yard, but I guess that’s spring in Minneapolis!

We had such horrible cabin fever this weekend, that we decided to just hit the front porch and let the big kids play in the yard, mud and all.

Cadence wasn’t feeling particularly photogenic, but Whit was pretty happy with the arrangement!

I thought he looked like a dock worker in his little pea coat and rolled-brim hat. I captured this little gem that really needs a caption:

By the way, the twins turned 8 months old this weekend! Can’t even believe it!

A couple weeks ago, Orison was doing a unit at school on the Presidents of the United States. Since it’s Kindergarten, they just focused on the four presidents of Mount Rushmore. They learned a few facts about each one, and Orison just loved it!

One morning he was getting ready for school, and he started “testing” Morrow. And much to our surprise, Morrow knew the answers!

The funny part is, Morrow doesn’t even know his colors reliably, but he can name the presidents on Mount Rushmore. I guess it’s all about exposure!

Another funny story about Orison and the presidents: one morning Abraham and Orison were talking about the subject of war. Abraham was telling him that wars happen, but they’re really terrible, and they should be avoided if possible, etc., etc. Orison looks up at him and says, “War should never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed.”

Abraham looks at him with mental-jaw dropped and asked, “Where’d you learn that? At school?”

Orison says, “No, I learned it in my presidents book.”

I’d gotten him a book of all the presidents from the library just so he could see the names and pictures of the other presidents, to satisfy his curiosity a bit. Little did I know he was reading their famous quotes (and memorizing them?). He couldn’t remember which president had said that particular quote, but he looked it up for us a little later and announced, “William McKinley said that!”

Ahhh…learning rocks.

Got any funny stories to share about your older kids teaching your younger kids things that seem advanced for their age? Other funny learning stories?

[Image via]

I don’t know about you, but as a mom I have a really hard time winding down during a busy day. Even if I get a chance to sit down (and sometimes that’s a really big if), I still feel like my inner mom-engine is idling faster than my husband’s old ’87 Chevy Cavalier that could accelerate to 40mph by itself.

But from time to time (and now it’s happening more frequently as the twins have a more normal schedule), all my kids are down for naps/resting time at the same time. And when that happens, in that sweet, magical hour, all I want to do is crash on the couch. (Usually I have to prep dinner if we want to eat, but what I want to do is crash.)

Some afternoons I decide “Hey everyone! It’s pancakes for dinner!” and I hit the couch. But I need help to relax. And since most people would question a glass of wine by myself at 1:30pm (myself included), I’ve had to think of other options. For me, the trick is earplugs!

When I get those precious few moments, earplugs help drown out the noise around me, and somehow that seems to help with the noise inside my head. I tell myself, “Welp, if one of the twins wakes up in the next 15-20 minutes, they’re gonna be just fine. They’re safe in their cribs and will do a little lung exercise for a few minutes.”

I’ve also used earplugs during what I call “The Witching Hour” (you know what I’m talking about, that last hour before your husband comes home?). If the big kids are doing something and are safely occupied, the twins are sleeping or playing safely (in the jumper or exersaucer or crib), I put them in and prep dinner for a few minutes of peace. If something happens to one of the big boys, they make enough commotion for me to hear them despite my earplugs, and one of them will inevitably come find me (those mobile ones are tricky).

Of course, a couple warnings/precautions:

• I do not endorse neglect. The needs of my children are important to me, and earplugs are used when their needs are met.
• I use them for maybe 20 minutes at a time, max. Just enough to feel a little more relaxed and sane and recharged.

But if you’re like me and need help unwinding when you get the time, I think earplugs might help. Give ‘em a try!

PS-I’ve also used earplugs whenever I go to the hospital for a delivery. Especially if you’re being induced and have to go in the night before, and you have to listen to monitors beeping all night (and for me, the fear’s  so intense at times), earplugs have helped me actually get a little bit of sleep. The nurses all laugh at me, because they have to come over and shake me awake to check my vitals, but it’s worth it!

I like gardening and playing in dirt. There are still mounds of icy snow all over the place here in The Frozen North, but Abraham and I are already dreaming of trips to our favorite garden store, even with four children in tow.

And one thing you should know about Abraham, is that he’s now offering t-shirts through his blog. I like this one:

There are a few gardeners out there I’d like to buy this for. Dreams of gardening are dancing in my head.

Buy one for your favorite gardener too!

Last week our church had a little Film Fest. What’s a Film Fest you ask? Well, let me tell you!

• We signed up in teams to make a 3-6 minute film.
• We had two weeks to do it.

These were our parameters:

• We were assigned a genre (the possibilities were action/adventure, comedy, music video, sci-fi, and mockumentary).
• All the teams had to use the same specified prop (this year it was a hula hoop).
• All the teams had to use the same specific line of dialogue somewhere in the film (“It’s like taking a drink from a fire hose.”).

Then, after the deadline, an “academy” of people watches them and decides on winners for awards. There’s an awards ceremony at the church where they show all of the films on the big screen in the sanctuary, with popcorn & pop. People dress in their old prom dresses, bridesmaid dresses, suits, and even their wacky costumes.

Everyone walks the red carpet and gets interviewed by the Hoperazzi (our in-house version of paparazzi). It’s a total blast!

We had so much fun doing this, we might be hooked. Though it took a lot of time, it was a really fun thing to do as a family and group of friends!

Working very diligently for two weeks, this is the action/adventure movie our group came up with! (*NOTE: At 2:09 the audio cuts out for a couple seconds and I can’t figure out why.*)

Our team won for “Best Editing” thanks to the amazing Abraham, and for “Most Dramatic Moment.” Can you guess which one?

Hope you enjoyed watching it! We were pretty proud of how it turned out!

I didn’t post this picture yesterday, but just had to share it today.

My baby’s working on his Blue Steel!

What do you think? How’s he doing?

Perhaps my child has a future as a male model? A mom can only hope.

Or, as Danielle captioned the photo, “”I will call her my squishy and she will be MINE!”