Adventures in Reading and the Wii with Cooper

Jeremy and I have long awaited the day that Cooper would be old enough to enjoy books like the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. We thought that perhaps this summer he’d be ready, but then we renigged the idea thinking that he wouldn’t be able to maintain focus.  Well, since coming to St. Louis I have been proven quite wrong! My Mom has a bunch of books out for him that were mine and my sister’s when we were kids. (On a side note, it is SO FUN to see my sister’s snotty notes to me all over the books. I believe one books says “This book belongs to ‘my sister’ DO NOT PUT PENCILS IN THIS BOOK, it breaks the binding”. He he he he he he)

One such book in the box of treasures caught Cooper’s eye, but it is a big chapter book. It’s the sequel to the Wizard of Oz and is called The Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum. It has a few illustrations, maybe one per chapter, but otherwise, it is most certainly a wordy book.  It has 280 pages! I didn’t think he’d be interested, but I started it thinking that we could at least see how long his attention span would last on a book like that. Well, I am proud to say that we are on page 185 and have read roughly 2-3 chapters every night since we got here. Cooper is LOVING the book and I can’t believe how well he listens. I’m not sure if he is quite catching everything (the language is pretty formal and the jokes are WAY over his head), so he isn’t exactly ready for a quiz on the book. However, he asks to read it every night and listens intently each time!

I am having a lot of fun with it and am so surprised he’s interested in this book. I think that when we get home we will most certainly be starting the Chronicles of Narnia.

Additionally to my surprise would be my son’s new found (or maybe always present and unrealized) skills at the Wii. Cooper totally SMOKED me tonight at tennis and I am amazed! I mean, I’m not that good…but he IS pretty good! He was even trash talking me as we kept going round after round. (I do still own him at Mario Cart…which I realize isn’t really bragging considering he is 4….)

Tomorrow we are off to see the Dinosaurs at the St. Louis Science Center! I still haven’t taken pictures, but I DID break out the video camera today just in time to record my BIL’s hand trauma as he bare-hand grabbed the skillet which had just been in the oven at 400 degrees for the past half hour. It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving if someone in the Nevil household wasn’t hurt. 😀

Grateful…

Our trip here in the Lou is going so great! We are having good times all arounnd and enjoying a break from real life. Coop has caught a cold…of course. Can I ever travel without my baby getting sick? I just pray I don’t get it…I am kinda done with being sick after all the fun we had with it in October.

The weather here has been so nice-it is so great to see sunshine! We had a fun open house at my mom’s house this past weekend. Thank you SO much to everyone who came. What happy times! There is so much fun left to be had too.  Cooper gets to go to a Blues game with his Uncle and his Gpa tonight and we are going to the St. Louis Science Center to check out their dinosaur exhibit on Friday. Not to mention all the family and friends we have had the chance to spend time with. I am very grateful for my friends and my family. I feel so encouraged and uplifted and relaxed. It’s the BEST!

I have been terrible about taking pictures, but I will try to get better AND designate someone else as photographer for the times I just can’t get to it.

Oh and we’ve had a chance to talk to Jer recently. He says hold all mail! Unless, that is, you want him to get it/have it when he gets back from R and R. Not too much longer! Happy cluck, cluck everyone.

Man=Hard to Shop for…

My Men Last Christmas

I have Christmas on the brain. Thanksgiving just gets the short end of the stick this year. I’m WAY too excited about Jeremy coming in to town not to think of Christmas. But thinking of Christmas makes me think of presents…

I don’t consider myself the best gift-giver. Every once in a while I get it right, but it usually takes me about 7-8 wrongs before I’m there. Gift giving is so important to me though. I always want to do better than I often end up doing. (Hmm….I’m sensing a trend here…)

Part of the problem is that it is really, REALLY tough to shop for guys. Dude. Seriously. When shopping for a female, there just seem to be SO many more options. I mean even if you totally bomb there are still fall back options like Bath and Body Works for example. What woman doesn’t like SOMETHING from that place? But with guys, it’s never as fun. In fact, it’s really like torture to me. I know of no such place that is as good of a fall back option for guys. (And ok, Best Buy doesn’t count because you need to read my next point…please continue.)

Here is what I mean: I have a budget to stick to. I can’t spend more than between $30 and $50 on one person (and sometimes not even that much). That’s just the reality of where life has us these days! And guys always like expensive things. Electronics are expensive! Frankly, there isn’t a lot of gift options out there that fit my budget and make the A-A+ grade for guy gifts. To me a gift card is so cold. I relish the response of a much appreciated or well liked gift. I would really prefer not to do gift cards.

Incidentally, at my house growing up, we did Christmas like this: my Dad played Santa. He went around the tree and picked up the presents and brought them to you so that you had a stack o’ presents. Then, when all the gift boxes were handed out, we started around the circle and everyone opened one gift one at a time while everyone else watched and commented etc. Gift cards makes the morning  and this kind of experience so much less fun.

So, men who read this blog, I need some input here. I’ll start off a list so that it will get your brain cranks rolling. If I have something on the list that stinks, do tell me. The men in my life will thank you for it. (For those of you ladies who read this and who ROCK the manly gift-giving or have some sort of other worldly perspective, do share.)

Manly List of Gift Ideas:

• wine (I DO live in Washington)
• movie tickets
• shop vac?
• movies/dvds
• books
• clothing/shoes

Help me finish the list guys!

Availability

Yesterday afternoon I turned on my Christmas music. It was such a fun feeling to listen to it in the back ground as I went about my day. It made me giddy with anticipation of all that is to come very soon. But it also got me thinking about the “holiday season” and how busy we all are.

Ugh…it just makes my lip curl a tad. Isn’t the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over again all the while expecting different results? We do that, right? Every new year we say “it’ll be better next year” for this, that or the other reasons. But it’s always busy and people are always stretched financially, emotionally, spiritually and physically. Sure we head into the season with huge amounts of joy and anticipation. But when it’s all over all we want is a nap!

These days I find myself in full swing in a place like that;  I call it my  “Busy Mom Land”. I knew that this day would come (and I whined about it all summer) as my first born entered school.  I also know that it will get even more busy and chaotic as our boys continue to grow up and as more kids are tentatively added to the picture.

But as I wiggle around in some new responsibilities and try to find my footing, I’m learning a lot.  I’m learning about myself; what I like and dislike, what I can do well and what I really don’t do well, as well as what I need if I am going to do ANYTHING well, i.e. sleep and coffee (in that order).

What it all boils down to for me is availability. I love being available to people! I want to be available too.  Not just emotionally available but physically, spiritually and financially available. I like to have some space in my life and my day to do the unexpected just because I’m available!

Today at church, one of our ministers told us that there is a family whose children go to the school where our church meets on Sundays and they are living out of their car. They have six children and they are homeless. I believe there are something like 48 families in need just that this school is aware of and Renovo (our church) is doing what we can to help. I love this and I don’t say this to toot my church’s proverbial horn, I just say it because I love that we are making ourselves available to others. To me, that is speaking Jesus to people, that is what breathes life into a dark world.

In my “Busy Mom Land” and in the holiday season, I find that what I really need is some space. Some space so that I can be available to have my neighbor over for a cup of coffee just on the fly without notice or prearrangement (or makeup), some space in my wallet to buy a turkey for a family who wouldn’t be able to do that for themselves, some space to take a nap and give myself an emotional breather from all this running around I feel like I do and some time to pray and be at peace and at rest.

I’m learning so much right now in this season of life. I want to be available to others and I want to be available to my kids. I’m the only one who can guard my time and put the necessary space in the places it can go so that I can live in the talents God has given to me. There are a lot of things I stink at (and that stinkin’ list is growing), but there are a lot of things I’m good at too. I hope I can say that one of the things I’m good at is being available. I want Cooper and Chase to say of me and of Jeremy that we always made ourselves available to them for any reason and at any time.