Eucharisteo

After hearing about One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp from several people, I decided it was time to finally read it for myself. After months of waiting for it from the library (one copy with many, many holds!), I finally got it and finished it only a few days ago. It's one I can't get out of my head. And it's one I can't recommend highly enough.

The entire premise of the book focuses on eucharisteo. One simple word so rich in meaning. Thanksgiving. Joy. Grace. Living a life of gratitude. And not just gratitude for the big things of life. Embracing joy every day, in every day moments. We often become so busy, so wrapped up in just doing life that we neglect to see the good gifts showered on us by our Heavenly Father all day, every day. As the author's eyes opened to this idea of eucharisteo, she began to realize that incorporating gratitude in her life required intentionality. She began keeping a gratitude journal to record those gift-moments. Thus began her list of 1000 gifts (and it's still going!). Writing the gift list helped her develop the spiritual discipline of gratitude, which in turn spilled over to create a heart of worship for the everyday love poured out by God Almighty.

I am still digesting this book, but already the intentionality to see gift-moments is growing stronger. My own gift list will soon be started. And I can't wait.

Garden Harvest

We definitely enjoy heading out to the backyard and picking produce that we've grown to supplement our dinner or create John's lunch. So far, we've enjoyed lettuce, green beans, and a few tomatoes. Our tomato plants are heavy with fruit; we're just waiting for them all to turn red before harvesting them. I pulled a few carrots this morning in an attempt to thin the plants. They are small, but they should do well in John's lunch salads.

This, though, is the prize of our garden. And it grows bigger by the day. I can't wait until it's ready to pick and enjoy. We have a few other small watermelons coming on, but nothing like this one. A few that were really small have shriveled in the heat. Hopefully diligent watering will help the other fledgling melons stay strong and not succumb to this brutal heat.

Crib Fun

Water Play

In an effort to conquer the heat, rather than lay down in defeat, we headed to the Children's Museum backyard for some water play fun. We've been there many, many times, but this was Owen's initial introduction to the water play. After a few minutes of looking on, he jumped right in. The best part was it was completely not crowded, so the experience was much more enjoyable for the boys.

Belle Isle

Eight years ago, I first experienced Belle Isle here in Richmond. John and I were engaged and he wanted to show me the island. We haven't been back until today. We took advantage of the (relatively) cooler temperatures and headed out there this morning. Belle Isle used to house a Confederate prison during the Civil War. Now, it's a popular spot for rock-hopping, hiking, running, and biking. We got to see rafters take on the rapids while we were out on the rocks. Owen didn't really care about getting wet, but he really wanted to wander all over the rocks by himself. As John put it, his spirit was willing, but his legs were a little weak. Maybe when he's a bit more steady he'll get to do more exploring on his own. We capped the morning off with a picnic lunch on one of the rocks and then an impulse stop at Sweet Frog for the best frozen yogurt Richmond has to offer. Definitely a day we'd like to repeat sometime soon!

Mommy Date

Even though I'm with both boys pretty much all day every day, I don't really get the luxury of much one-on-one time with either of them, so I have to be intentional about finding ways to get more time with each boy. Our local library hosted a "Superhero Night" last night with all kinds of fun activities for kids, so I decided it was time for a Mommy Date with Brennan. He and I headed off for our date and he had a blast. He colored a mask and made a cape, completed a scavenger hunt, did a Superhero obstacle training course, and scooped up kryptonite. Now, Brennan is not much for doing anything dress-up, so I was pretty impressed when he asked me if he could wear his mask and cape. I was even more impressed by the fact that he loved wearing them both and has been wearing them around the house today. He's our little Super-Brennan!

Bean Play

With the heat wave gripping the East Coast, it was time to find some fun indoor activities for the boys yesterday. We spent some time outside in the morning, but I just couldn't bring myself to go outside with them in the afternoon when it was nearly 100 degrees and humid. Yuck! So...it was time for beans. Brennan has played in them before, but this was Owen's initiation into the bin of beans. My fears that he would try to eat them (since everything, everything goes in his mouth) were unjustified. The novelty and joy of grabbing handfuls and dumping them outside the bin trumped any desire to sneak a taste. It was totally worth the localized mess they made since they both had a blast. They're already looking forward to another round with the beans!

Making "waterfalls" with the beans was most entertaining!

Dumping and pouring were great fun as well.

Crayon Tree

With the completion of one roll of paper towels today, I found a fun activity to do with the empty roll courtesy of a toddler activity blog. Brennan and I made a crayon tree. Boy, did his eyes light up when he saw the finished product! And it gave him renewed enthusiasm for coloring...and material for a new song called "The Crayon Tree Song". He loves to sing and makes up all kinds of songs using whatever comes to mind. Pretty cute stuff!

Crayon Magic

While Brennan was coloring today, I purged his crayons of broken pieces. Rather than throwing them out, we turned it into a fun activity--recycled crayons! After peeling off the remaining paper, we baked them in a muffin tin to create a conglomeration of color. He's looking forward to testing them out after his naptime today!

July 4th at Lewis Ginter

We took advantage of the free admission to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens today and enjoyed a morning stroll through the gardens, splashing around in the water play area and exploring a house made out of branches and twigs. This has become a favorite Richmond destination, and as long as we're here we'll take advantage of the annual free day on July 4th. Here are some highlights from the day:


I can think of few pictures that so succinctly capture what life is like with Owen. He's our daredevil, our wild man -- the reason small children wear life jackets and why the tether harness was invented. This was supposed to be a "stand still and look at the camera" shot, but it turned into a "let's dive into the water" attempt.

We like taking picture of Owen sitting in trees. Soon all the pictures will be of Owen climbing trees.


Fun in the water play area. Owen's rocking the "board shorts" or swim capris, if you prefer.



Brennan's grin is due to the fact that he's standing on two of the water squirters. That's one way to clean between the toes.


After this picture was taken Naomi thought it'd be a good idea to sit down in the grass with the boys for another nice shot. Then a spider crawled on her as soon as she sat down and that put an end to that idea. The screams attracted quite a lot of attention, I must say.



Something new this year ... and pretty darn cool.



Owen on the butterfly bench. As you'll see below, we have a similar shot of Brennan, age 1 1/2 wearing the same shirt, July 4, 2009. He's growing up fast.

PandaMania!

The boys and I spent this past week at Third Presbyterian Church, me helping out with VBS and the boys attending. I preferred a little more "behind the scenes" type of job, so I got to help prep and serve snacks for all the kids. I loved getting to know some new people and really enjoyed the opportunity to serve in this way. It was made even sweeter by the fact that both boys got to attend. Owen was able to participate in some of the activities on a very limited scale, but Brennan got to experience all that PandaMania had to offer. He even asked during the week if he could go back to VBS! It was a great environment for them and I'm already looking forward to helping out next year!