The tomato planting continues.

I’m not sure Tim and the children are actually going to sell any of their precious plants. As the days go by, and each plant grows stronger and taller, Tim’s attachment increases.

Good morning happy plants! he choruses each day to the green jungle growing in my bedroom.

Honey, I think I’ll build some shelves in here and then I’ll have a place to grow tomatoes all year long, he told me last weekend.

Shelves, over my window seat, for tomato plants? Now isn’t that an interesting decorating approach.

Um, wasn’t the point to sell some of these plants? I asked him recently.

It’s an investment, he mumbled as he went down the row watering each of his “babies.”

Frankly, I’m just glad someone is teaching the children about gardening as it’s not likely to be me. Unless of course a class in Black Thumb becomes popular.

Hey Mom, do you think you can teach me to kill plants this week?
No fair! Mom said she was going to teach ME how to over water and neglect house plants next.
It’s my turn.
No, my turn.
MOM!!!

Sigh. Until then I let Tim and the children do the planting, weeding, watering and tending.

Look how they even pull random neighbor children into the planting work.

My goal is to sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labor. And with prices as high as they are, a garden looks better and better. I wonder what else I can get them to plant?

Kathy
Project 366 - Day 135

Dear Beloved Mothers,

I love you both!

Dear Mom,

You are an amazing mother. In so many ways you are truly my hero and inspiration. Any bit of patient, sweet, loving mothering that flows from me comes from your example. You modeled for me a vibrant, living walk with the Lord - leaning on Him for joy in your marriage, wisdom in your parenting, and strength in your struggles. You showed me mothers and daughters can enjoy a sweet friendship. Thank you for supporting and encouraging me through all the different stages of my life. If ever I am lonely or sad or feel unloved and unlovable, I need only hear your voice to feel comforted. I have never doubted your love for me or your faith in me. You have steadfastly communicated to me acceptance and belief. You told me I was beautiful, smart, godly, strong. And you meant it.

My greatest hope is that I can share the same love with my own children. Happy Mother’s Day!

Dear Mom/Robbie,

Thank you for raising such a godly man. I am incredibly blessed to be his wife and a part of your family. From the very beginning of our relationship, I have felt welcomed and loved as a daughter. You have a gift of making people feel special and accepted. You inspire me with your passion and energy. I see your love for the Lord deepen every year and I praise Him for giving me such a godly mother-in-law. Thank you for constantly turning the ordinary into something special - a family dinner into an event, a cup of tea into a tea party, a casual gesture into a meaningful present.

You have shown me it is possible to love a daughter-in-law as a true daughter. As a mother of three sons, your example gives me hope of a joyful friendship in the future with my own daughters-in-law.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Kathy

After living in ‘the city’ for more than three years, we have finally arrived at an important milestone: we made our first visit to the local Urgent Care. You’d think with five children (some of whom view gravity as more of a guideline than a law), we’d be racking up “frequent-wounder” miles.

Don’t get me wrong — we have not neglected our responsibility to patronize the local health-care establishments. Both Joshua and Daniel have spent time in the hospital for appendicitis; indeed, Daniel spent 7 full days in the hospital, racking up huge medical bills (hooray for medical insurance!). Even little Sarah started us off in this community with a scary emergency and hospital stay. For some reason, though, we’ve never brought our custom to the local Urgent Care branch.

Daniel was very brave, and hardly said more than ‘ouch’ during the whole process.

“We’ve had a bit of an injury,” Kathy told me. Her voice was guarded as she called me from the van, sounding as though she was pretty worried but didn’t want to scare me.

“Really? How bad? Who was hurt?” For some reason I live in fear of dental injuries — I imagined some child with broken teeth, gushing blood from the mouth.

“It is Daniel. He was crawling through the bushes and poked himself with some kind of stick; there’s something weird sticking out of the wound.”

It is nice to have our boy all patched up.

We agreed that she should finish driving home from the play date, and that I would take Daniel to Urgent Care if the wound merited such attention. Looking at it in the driveway, my heart sank — although not a large wound, it seemed to stretch open rather stubbornly. I didn’t think I could get it to close with a butterfly bandaid (assuming we could find one). Besides, what was that yellowish stuff poking out of the wound? Our insurance copay is $100 for an emergency room visit, but only $30 for an Urgent Care visit. Now that we’re on the budget, there’s no point in being all snooty — off to Urgent Care we went.

David came along for the fun, which turned out to be a bit of a mistake. Two hours later, they finally looked at Daniel’s leg.

“It’ll need stitches,” opined the nurse. She got out some supplies and we waited for the doctor to make his appearance. I must admit, I was worried. What kind of doctor works at this kind of clinic?

The problem with puncture wounds is that you’re never really sure how deep they are.

I guess I needn’t have worried. The doctor who finally stitched Daniel up was a kindly old gentleman with an excellent bedside manner. “That’s just subcutaneous fat,” he assured me, pointing at the extrusion in Daniel’s wound. He stuffed it all back in and applied 8 or 10 stitches with expert precision. We hobbled out to the car with a roll of surgical tape and some extra dressings, good value for our $30.

Tim
Project 366, Day 123

Hooray - the semester (and year) of our homeschooling co-op has come to a lovely finish!! I love being a part of such an amazing group. The board members are dedicated, passionate women who love the students and believe whole-heartedly in making our co-op excellent. The other families are composed of some of our dearest friends. The kids thrive in their different classes - Rachel and Daniel both scored in the top of their spelling class. I am constantly delighted in the work the students produce for me in my classes.

We had a tea party in our kindergarten class this morning.

All of that said, I am thrilled to shed the responsibility, stress and work of another year at co-op. Whew! In the meantime, I will try hard not to think about the THREE classes I have committed to teaching next semester. There are so many fun ideas I like to explore with the kids, I have a difficult time pacing myself.

Ah, but fall is a long time away and I plan to thoroughly enjoy the spring and summer.

What’s a party without accessories?

Tim took over 300 pictures of our Friends and Family Night where the kindergarteners graduated, the choir performed, the older three took part in a mystery play, and the parents/teachers were honored.

First grade here we come!

Hopefully at least one or two of the pictures turned out.

Kathy
Project 366 - Day 116

I love gifts! My mom is the queen of celebration. When we visit my parents in Michigan they always have little bags of treats and goodies waiting for us. And whenever they come to Washington they bring special gifts for each person (including Tim and me). This February they flew straight here from a vacation with my aunts and uncles. What did they do about the GIFTS? Not to worry. They mailed them ahead of time so they would be here waiting and ready for their arrival.

With all of that said, it’s not surprising that I have inherited some of this joy of celebration and gift-giving. Last week I read something in Gary Chapman’s book, The 5 Love Languages of Teenagers that reminded me of my mom’s creative way with presents. Chapman said that adding a bit of “ceremony” to gift giving can turn the ordinary into a special moment. This is especially true for children who have gifts as their primary love language.

As parents, we often buy needed items for our children (socks, toiletries, school supplies) and then hand them over matter-of-factly. There is nothing wrong with this, but to the child who feels especially loved through gifts, it is possible to transform these casual purchases into small tokens of love.

Since we have been discussing this topic over the week (as Rachel so cheerfully blogged for me), I have been sensitive to the nuances that might reveal my five children’s potential love languages.

I thought I would try Chapman’s suggestion with David, age 7, (whom I suspect has a strong leaning toward gifts as his love language). Tim and I bought some clothes for the children in October when we were in Virginia and stopped by a Children’s Palace outlet. Everything had been distributed except for a few items for David. I told David I had a little surprise for him.

“Nothing big, just a little something.”

He was ecstatic! He couldn’t wait to see what I had. He wanted to open it right then and there. He beamed and told me he was ready for the present.

I rolled up a pair of corduroy pants and put them into a gift bag (topped with some tissue paper). Next I took a pair of jeans and put them in another gift bag (complete with additional tissue paper). I brought the bags downstairs to David.

His eyes were big. “Why are there TWO bags?” he asked. “Just because,” I said.

I’m a mom so I can say inconclusive and vague things like that.

David opened those two gift bags and raved over his two pair of pants as if he had been given a new remote control helicopter or exotic toy. He rushed to try them on. He showed them to his big brother and sister. He hugged and thanked me. It was a little moment of sweet joy.

All over two pair of slacks. With a little bit of ceremony (how hard it is to find a gift bag and some tissue) David felt special and recognized.

Interestingly enough, none of his four siblings fussed that he was getting a present and they weren’t. They oohed and aahed over his things and went on with the evening.

Of course, I am not saying you should try to buy your child’s affections with gifts or neglect any of the other four love languages. Frankly, I believe people need all five of the expressions of love - words of affirmation, quality time, acts of service, physical touch and gift giving.

I do, however, think with just a little bit of extra energy and thought, you can take something mundane, make it special and bless your child.

And that Works for Me! Stop by Rocks in My Dryer for other Works for Me Wednesday blogs.

Kathy

P.S. A few questions - have you read any of the 5 Love Languages book? Do you know your love language? Your spouse’s? Your children’s? Do you think the “Love Language” concept is accurate and helpful? Share!