Molly Piper

Today I had to make muffins.

You might question that previous statement–”Molly, did you really have to make muffins?”

The answer is yes. Yes I did. And if you ever make these muffins you’ll understand why they’ve become a household necessity. They’re like oxygen to me and mines.

Most mornings I try to work a little stitch of time for Morrow and me–Orison’s at Kindergarten (for only a couple more weeks–eek!) and the babies are taking their morning nap. Sometimes we read books, sometimes we have a dance party, sometimes we play board games or puzzles. It’s not always easy to do, and there are always other tasks, but I’m really trying to be intentional with my second-born. These days are too short (as proven by my first baby almost being done with Kindergarten!!!)

Anyway, today he really wanted to help me make muffins. Every efficiency-craving bone in my body wanted to refuse him and just get it done quickly by myself. I really felt the Lord’s prodding though…

“Will you let him help?”

When I asked him if he wanted to help me, you’d have thought I’d asked him if he wanted to go to Disney World or something. He was so excited.

I’d measure things out while he stood on the step stool giggling with the excitement and anticipation of getting to dump it in the bowl. It was seriously precious.

We were getting to the end of our project and he said to me, “Mom you’re a heartbeat.”

Then he asked me, “What’s a heartbeat?” (LOVE him!)

I said, “Hang on. Let me wash my hands (which were covered in muffin batter) and then I’ll show you.”

“Are the heartbeats in the closet?”

“No, buddy, they’re in your body.” So I put his little hand on his chest and let him feel the flutter. “Do you feel that?”

“Yeah…” he said, concentrating on the sensation.

I gave it my best shot to explain heartbeats to my two and a half year old, but, not surprisingly, he quickly lost interest.

But I loved making muffins with him today. Here’s a silly (low-quality) picture of me and my little heartbeat:

It’s not always practicable to sacrifice efficiency in a mom’s busy world. Today I really felt the trade-off though: efficiency v. life-sharing. Will Morrow remember making muffins when he’s older? Probably not this particular time. But will Morrow remember that I made time for him, despite a busy day’s schedule? I hope so.

I can be too easily owned by efficiency and tasks around my house. Granted, I think that having an orderly home is important; it’s a value that I have. But…when and how can I flex that? I’m very thankful for God’s gentle reminders today to take time to feel the heartbeats. They’re not going to last forever.

And neither are those muffins…

This video will probably be of interest mostly to my parents, who were just here for a visit, but left before Cadence started to crawl. My mom worked and worked with her to get her up on hands and knees and cheer her on, but she just didn’t want to do it then!

So, here you go mom & dad! Cadence is a crawler! She’s really funny, because when she really gets going for a longer stretch, her arms and legs look like they’re moving fast (kind of like a shuffling motion), but then she’s just as slow as ever!

Whit’s been crawling for a month and a half now, so he’s Mister Cruiser. That’s why I (jokingly) told him he was “old news.” He’s going to walk anytime now, I think. SCARY!

(DISCLAIMER: When I made this video I wasn’t thinking I’d put it on my blog, so I talk and talk all the way through it, and I hate hearing my voice on video. Just try to ignore me. :) Thank you.)

Some days I feel so overwhelmed with twins. You know those people who wistfully say, “I’ve always wanted twins…”? Sometimes (most times) I want to just ask them: “Are you drunk?” But yesterday I was feeling so giddy and excited about these two babies. I felt like I was able to just enjoy all the craziness they bring to life. And they played really well on their own yesterday, too–major praise!

Last week Cadence had bad diaper rash (something none of my other kids have ever had), and that just made for such a hectic week. I tell people: “If my life operates at baseline (nothing really happening out of the ordinary), then I’m okay. But throw any kind of wrench into that and I’m sunk (fever, diaper rash, trying to potty train Morrow, making phone calls to doctors/insurance).” The doctor told us, “Just let her go without a diaper as much as possible.” While I understood her rationale, I just felt like screaming, “DON’T YOU KNOW THERE’S TWO OF THEM?!?!?”

Alright, my day must begin. I feel like those people on the Pyramid game show hoping for “No whammies, no whammies, no whammies!!!”

A couple weeks ago, my husband started a new job. He’s working for a start-up that’s set to launch this summer. I wish I could tell you more about the company, but I’ve gone and signed some legally-binding document and all that…

What I can tell you, though, is that the company’s called Abuyo.

Usually I don’t ask you guys to do a whole lot on this blog, just read and comment if you want. But today I’m asking a favor. They have a short survey you can take to gauge peoples’ interest in what they’re doing.

And maybe you’re not too motivated to click through and do it, but here’s some incentive:

• It took me less than a minute to do.
• I got entered to win an Amazon gift card for $100. (I don’t know if I’m exempt from winning because I’m family of an employee, but hey, I figured I’d go for it.)
• It’s for a good cause. (Not really. Unless you consider helping the Piper clan to be a good cause, in which case my statement stands.)

THANK YOU!!!!

On a more personal note, I’m really proud of Abraham for taking this new job. It’s a really good fit for him, and I think he’s going to be very successful with it. I know he takes his responsibility to care for our family very seriously. He’s dedicated to us, and providing for us financially is something he does that I want to appreciate more and more. I know I wouldn’t want that weight on my shoulders, and I’m so amazed at his desire to serve our family that way. I love that man so much.

THANKS AGAIN!

Yesterday was the twins’ first Easter! It was much like any of their other days in most ways, except that they got to be held pretty much all day by visitors and friends. Pretty good gig for them.

I haven’t told you all very much about our live-in help, Miss Katie. I’m choosing to respect her privacy and our relationship by keeping most details about her out of my blog. But I will say…I love her to pieces. She’s amazing with my children. Seriously, her coming to live with us is an answer to prayers that I hadn’t even thought to pray, but God said, “Hey Molly, I think you need…” and just gave it. So great.

Well, one of the specific things I love about Katie is that she’s a photographer. And she really loves to take pictures of my kids! Double yay for us! She just got a new lens for her camera the other day, so all of us were treated to fun pictures of yesterday’s Easter festivities while she played with her new toy!

She grabbed these ones of the twins:

What I love about the second one is how it really captures who they are right now. Whit is always playing this game when he’s in his highchair, where he lays his head down just like that, and then someone (or everyone) copies him, and then he does it again. It’s so cute!

And Cadence, she pretty much always has her mouth open that wide, smiling or making these funny growling noises. And her arms are always out to the sides like that. Always.

And here’s my big boy on Easter:

And my other big boy:

A couple funny things about this one: 1. it was 60 degrees out and he needed neither the coat or the hat, but had almost no concept for a warm day. That’s the kind of spring it’s been around here. 2. He’s attempting a jail break under the front gate. And he even has a sneaky look on his face!

I hope you all had a lovely day yesterday.

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!

[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!

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!

Awhile back I wrote a post for inCourage about my difficulties with regular Bible-reading.

Many people left comments on that post, confessing as well that Bible reading is difficult for them. Perhaps you’re one of them?

So I guess I’m just feeling a need to check in and ask: How you doin’?

Here’s what I’m not interested in:

• Any type of wow-I’m-so-great nonsense.
• Attempts to earn brownie points with God.

BUT…are we doing the hard thing?

How I’m Doin’

Right now, I’ve found that I’m bad at going to the open Bible on my counter. I won’t lie, there may even be dust settling in that page.

BUT…I’ve decided to keep my little Bible and a small journal in the car.

Each day I go pick up Orison from kindergarten, and I’m usually there with 5-10 minutes to spare. So on my way there (about a 15 minute drive), I’m praying. No formula, no list, just whatever/whoever God brings to mind as I drive.

Then when I get there, I pull my little Bible out from between the seats and crack it open.

Right now I’m reading the Psalms, and in my notebook I write character traits of God, questions I have, or verses I love.

I might not make it through a whole chapter some days, and some days I’m running late and I don’t get to it at all, but at least there’s some time that I’m trying to set aside.

What have been your trials and errors? What’s working? What’s not?