The Suffering God

For whatever reason God chose to make man as he is--

limited and suffering and subject to sorrows and death--

God had the honesty and the courage to take his own medicine.

Whatever game he is playing with his creation, he has

kept his own rules and played fair.  He can exact nothing 

from man that he has not exacted from himself.  He has himself

gone through the whole of human experience, from the

trivial irritations of family life and the cramping restrictions

of hard work and lack of money to the worst horrors of

pain and humiliation, defeat, despair, and death.  When he

was a man, he played the man.  He was born in poverty and

died in disgrace and thought it well worthwhile.

- Dorothy Sayers, qtd. in Randy Alcorn's, If God is Good

Backyard Toys = Lots of Noise

Yesterday I made a trip to Wal-Mart and the grocery store.  While in Wal-Mart I stumbled upon two full aisles of backyard toys for hours of summer fun.  It drew me in completely.  Now that I have a little boy whose greatest thrill in life is going outside, I can see a lot of potential in having fun outdoor toys.  Bats, balls, sprinklers, bubbles...there were so many worthy ones to choose from.  But then I remembered the one toy I really wanted James to have.  It's quintessential American toddler-hood.  Truthfully, I always thought Ella would enjoy one, too, but I never bought one, and my babies won't be with me forever.  So this precious item went into the buggy, and it was an instant hit.

James was napping when I came home from the store, but KJ put it together when James woke up, and he pushed it the rest of the night.  The sound effects have greatly improved since KJ and I were kids, making a very realistic lawnmower sound.  I've already had to hide it periodically because my ears can't take the constant noise.  We were outside at 8:30 this morning mowing the backyard.  We haven't even installed the bubbles yet.  For now, pushing that lawnmower is entertainment enough.

And as for Ella, she didn't get left out of the fun.  Don't worry about her.

She's been equipped with sidewalk chalk, crayons, and stencils for her drawing pleasure.

Moments in Mothering

Tonight as we were cleaning up all the toys before bed, Ella and I (along with some loud humming from James) began to sing the "clean-up song."  "Clean up, clean up, everybody clean up...".  We made it to Ella's room, and she said, "I'll just sing, and you do it."

Spring

Yesterday was so beautiful and cool outside after the rain so the kids and I went out to a little playground.  Truthfully, I called KJ as we were driving out of our neighborhood, and when he asked where we were going I replied, "I really don't know."  I just knew we were going out, but I wasn't necessarily sure of our destination.  You stay-at-home mom's know how that is.  Sometimes you just need to leave the house.  Location isn't always important.

Thankfully, James was really content to stay in the swing.

I let him out once, but he ran right back to it.

It was nice to keep him contained because the ground was a bit muddy,

and I'm sure the mud puddles would have whispered his name.

Ella had the hardest time with this dandelion.

It refused to be blown.

It was fairly windy and perfect spinning weather.

It was a very nice afternoon indeed.

Pictures Again

I'm sorry to overwhelm you with more of my pictures, but I am having so much fun with my new camera and Photoshop Elements 7.  :)  I had some fun play time yesterday and this morning.  

When it was all said and done I wasn't sure if I liked the blur effect

 I did on this picture or not, but KJ made the comment that "everything

else becomes blurry when I look at him".  Yes.  Indeed.  

Yesterday evening we went outside in the yard to enjoy the wind as 

the storm was brewing.  Ella is a willing model, and sometimes Hillary consents.

It helps when I let them choose their poses.  This is all them.  Perhaps it is all Ella.

My Boy

We're expecting storms around here by late afternoon so I took James outside for a little playtime this morning.  I love this boy.  Isn't he beautiful?

18 Months

Today James is 18 months old, otherwise known as only 6 months from being two.  Oh, my.  I know that future Lynn will not remember all the little details that make up my reality today, so I've decided to detail a day-in-the life of James Harrison Pugh on this, his 18-month birthday.

• I went in his room and got him out of bed at 8:40 a.m.  He went to bed a little later last night and talked until nearly 9 p.m., so that explains the sleeping in this morning.  I'm assuming that he had been awake since at least 8:30.  He often just lounges in bed in the morning, waking up in a leisurely manner.  This morning I found him with his head on top of his blanket, sucking his thumb.  The room smelled strongly of urine, so I knew we'd had a diaper leak.  (I must be honest.)
• After his diaper change, he ate breakfast.  James has been behaving very badly during diaper changes lately.  I tried distracting him with a Batman action figure, but that only worked for a little while.  Ella had eaten breakfast while watching television this morning, so James got to do the same since the high chair was already in the living room.  He watched In the Night Garden while eating Froot Loops and drinking vanilla almond milk.  
• He then spent some time playing in his closet.  I'm not sure what he was doing, but he spent at least 15 minutes continuously shutting himself up in there.
• He then tore the blanket off of Ella's bed while she tried to make it.  "Little brothers..." was Ella's comment followed by a heavy sigh.
• He pushed the grocery buggy back and forth the length of the house.  
• He spilled the contents of the buggy all over the kitchen floor.
• He tried to take a rock out of the fireplace and got a hand-pop.
• He opened the pantry and got out the box of Froot Loops.  He brought it to me and asked for a snack.  He then ate Froot Loops. 
• Played the keyboard with Ella
• Went for a stroller ride around the block with Mommy and Ella.  James barked back at all the dogs.
• Played in the front yard.  James waved bye-bye to all the passing cars.
• He had a dirty diaper and had it changed.
• 11:40, naptime
• 1:15, woke up
• Ate ravioli for lunch.  He did a pretty good job.  I cut it up in bite sizes for him, and he ate a decent amount before standing up and saying, "All Done."
• Spilled Ella's bread crumbs on the living room carpet
• Ate some bread crumbs
• Got out the grocery buggy again
• Spilled groceries again
• Watched Backyardigans.  He really loves this show.  He dances and stands or sits transfixed for the duration.  It's the music.  But I'm so thankful for something that keeps him in one place for a while.
• Played the keyboard.  He also dumped all my sheet music in the floor.
• Ran around and hollered while I vacuumed
• 3:50, nap
• 5:25, Dad woke him up.
• Played with Dad.  He also played with Ella and her friend for a few minutes while I got supper together.
• Whined and hollered for supper.  He didn't have to wait too long.  He gave me sweet kisses and then Daddy fed him barbecued pork chop and corn.  He even tried broccoli for the first time and made a funny face but kept it down.  He drank all his juice and then said, "All Done."
• "Played" the Wii with Daddy.  He always gets out a controller whenever KJ does and stands in front of the t.v. waving it around.
• Played the keyboard.
• Locked himself in his bedroom.  KJ then joined him back there for some playtime.  It's a pretty nice arrangement for all.  KJ gets to watch the news in peace, James has some focused play with his toys, and it's quiet and accident-free throughout the rest of the house.
• Wanted a snack.  He lounged in my arms while I fed him applesauce.
• Bath time!
• Get out the grocery buggy
• Dumped just a few groceries out this time
• Played
• Took the sheet music off the piano again (Does this list feel repetitive?)
• Locked himself in the living room closet.  It's amazing how content he is to stay in there for several minutes.
• Family time (but only after we forced him to come out of the closet)
• He brushed his teeth with Daddy and Ella.
• Kisses!  Night-night.

I couldn't manage a good shot of James today.

He was far too busy.

But that is probably a good description of him at 18 months:

He is on the move, a man with a purpose.