Tag - Family

A Celebration of Seuss

March 1, 2016

March 2 marks the birthday of author and illustrator Theodore Seuss Geisel, better known as “Dr. Seuss.” His books, full of whimsical and wacky characters, silly, made-up words, and fun, quotable rhymes have introduced generations of children to the joy of reading and inspired their imaginations.

While I grew up reading and loving his books (I even used The Cat in the Hat as the basis for an essay on contentment in high school), having children means that I’m getting to enjoy them all over again. From the time Elijah was just a few months old, we have been reading Dr. Seuss books to him, and now to him, Josiah, and even Isaiah, at nap time, bed time, and random times throughout our days.

(This post contains affiliate links, which means that at no additional cost to you, I may receive a small commission when you purchase through the links. See my full disclosure for details.)

We started out with a couple of Bright and Early Board Books, which are abridged versions of Dr. Seuss classics and perfect for toddlers. I’m pretty sure one of the reasons that Elijah knew his alphabet before he was two was due to how many times we’d read Dr. Seuss’s ABC. In fact, I could quote the entire book from “Big A, little a, what begins with A?” all the way to “A Zizzer-Zazzer- Zuzz, as you can plainly see.”

We slowly added to our collection of Seuss, mostly by searching through the children’s books at thrift stores. I don’t know who is giving away these treasures, but when I can snag books like The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, and The Foot Book for 50-cents or a dollar, I get really excited! We’ve also bought some brand new for birthdays or Christmas.

The Seuss influence soon began showing up beyond Elijah’s alphabet. Around three-years-old, he created a sort of game, where he would randomly call out rhyming words. For example, we’d be in the car, and he’d say a word, such as “bee,” then he’d follow it with “me” and “tree,” and when Brad and I joined in with words, he’d giggle and keep going.

Elijah LOVED the rhyming in a Seuss book. His favorite book for a while (and one of my all-time favorites still) was One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. His favorite sentence was one that I would rattle off very quickly, causing him to laugh and ask me to repeat that page over and over (thus why I could rattle it off!),

“You never yet

met a pet, I bet,

as wet as they let

this wet pet get.”

With all this affinity for words and reading, Elijah’s done very well in school with his reading (he’s consistently reading beyond his grade level), and he loves reading to us in the evenings.

One of the first “big” books that he wanted to tackle is the trickiest Dr. Seuss book I’ve ever read (and I’ve read pretty much all of them): Fox in Socks. It’s the only book that I have a love-hate relationship with because it’s a frustrating, tongue-twisting challenge every single time I read it.

However, Elijah, who literally cut his teeth on a Dr. Seuss board book, read it like a champ. I was so proud and impressed.

In case you’ve never read this one, which you totally should, here is just a sampling of the tongue-tangling rhymes in the book:

“Luke Luck likes lakes.

Luke’s duck likes lakes.

Luke Luck licks lakes.

Luke’s duck licks lakes.

Duck takes licks

in lakes Luke Luck likes.

Luke Luck takes licks

in lakes duck likes.”

(And if you’re thinking, “That one’s not too bad,” you’re right. I didn’t pick the hardest parts to share. I want you to actually WANT to read the book to your children.)

Not only is Elijah reading these books for himself, but he loves reading them to his brothers, which is sweet to see. They like to giggle together over the crazy words and silly stories.

When I told Elijah today about Dr. Seuss’s birthday, and how old he would have been, Elijah said, “I wish he hadn’t died yet. He probably would have had more ideas for different stories.”

As imaginative and creative as the man was, I’m certain he would have.

After all, he’s the one who wrote,

“Think left and think right

and think low and think high.

Oh, the thinks you can think up

if only you try!”

In honor of Dr. Seuss, March 2 has also been designated as Read Across America Day by the National Education Association. You can find activities and ideas on how to celebrate with your children here.

You can also find lots of whimsical fun at Seussville.com, the official site for all things Seuss, including games, crafts, and ways to bring the joy of reading to your children!

WHAT’S YOUR FAMILY’S FAVORITE DR. SEUSS BOOK?

Choosing the Good Part

February 18, 2016

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Life in Lape Haven: Choosing the Good Part - Embracing the extra time with my children that comes with a snow day, and remembering that I can choose to be distracted like Martha or I can choose the good part like Mary did. I'll take time with my boys over my to-do list.

Here in Ohio, our winter has been incredibly mild this year, and we were all really happy with that, minus not having a white Christmas. However, the last few weeks have brought the cold, snowy weather that we are more familiar with for this time of year.

Only this year, we’ve got a little boy in school. Once the real winter weather arrived, Elijah quickly figured out that snowy weather could not only potentially mean fun outside, but if you’re lucky, it might mean a day off school, too!

He began looking forward to a snowy forecast in hopes of a snow day, and in all honesty, so did I. Not only because I like having Elijah at home, but also because a snow day MIGHT mean we all get to sleep in a little bit. 🙂

Then came last week’s winter storm, a stomach bug, and another winter storm this past weekend. Elijah had three snow days in a row, followed by a sick day, and then two more snow days the beginning of this week. Wednesday was his first day back to school since last Monday!

Normally, Josiah and I have a pretty good routine during the day while Elijah is at school. He helps me do things around the house, we play, he naps, we go get Elijah.

So, what did I do when two little boys were begging for my attention all day?

Either I could let the boys entertain each other while I got some housework done, or I could embrace the extra time with my big boy at home and set aside some time to enjoy my children.

While I did my best to maintain our home, do some laundry, and load the dishwasher, for the most part, I spent time with Elijah and Josiah. Just looking at how quickly they have both grown and changed in the past year, I know it’s important not to miss any opportunities to be with them.

It can be hard for me, though, to step away from my to-do lists. I want an orderly home with clean floors and tidy rooms for my boys to play in. (Of course, once my boys have played in them, they’ll need to be cleaned up again)

There are so many things that I could be doing FOR my family that I sometimes have to remind myself to let it go so that I can be WITH my family.

It’s kind of like Mary and Martha in the Bible, where Martha spends so much time making everything nice for Jesus while Mary spends that same time enjoying Jesus.

Luke 10: 38-42 tells us, “Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.’

And Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.’”

It says that Martha was “distracted” – that means she wasn’t focused on the right thing. She was missing out. I know there have been days where I’ve been distracted from interacting with my boys, focusing instead on the housework (there’s never an end to it), working on my blog (writing, planning, sharing on social media), or something else that can wait.

My boys are growing up every day. If I spend my days with them distracted by other things, I’ll miss out, and there’s no getting those days back.

Jesus tells Martha that Mary has chosen the good part, the one thing that is needed. In the New Living Translation, verse 42 says, “There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it…”

Of all the things in my home, what’s the ONE thing worth being concerned about over anything else? My family.

Now, this doesn’t mean that I should neglect our home and never take care of it. Nor does it mean that I need to be at my children’s beck and call every minute of the day as their constant source of entertainment and diversion. They NEED to be able to play on their own.

However, I don’t want to be so distracted with my to-dos that I’m missing the good part. I want to spend time with my boys, making memories that “will not be taken away from” me or them.

So with these snow days, that’s what I did.

With the first storm, the wind chills were in the single digits at points, so our outdoor time was limited to a very short adventure in some very fine, powdery snow. Stuck inside, Elijah and I taught Josiah how to play “Go Fish,” we did paint with water projects, and Elijah practiced his reading by doing story time for us each morning. One day we spent several hours making rocket ships out of cardboard boxes, wrapping paper, foil, bubble wrap, lots of tape, and tons of imagination.

: Mommy & Elijah out in the cold!

: The boys’ cardboard box rocket ships complete with bubble wrap windows.

: Elijah’s water color painting. He said it’s a “Christmas praying robot.”

With this last snow, it was a bit warmer, so we braved the slushy roads and spent an entire day at a snow day playdate with my nephews, where the boys all worked together to make a snowman.

Since Elijah was so good at rolling snowballs and since the boys hadn’t had time with Daddy out in the snow, on Wednesday when he got home from school, Brad and I took the boys outside, and we created the biggest (and heaviest!) Lape family snowman to date.

: Working on a small snowman with his cousin.

: Admiring their snowman

: Trying to push Elijah’s snowball a bit farther.

: The Lape family snowman

Sure, I could have stayed inside to work on dinner while my hubby supervised the boys, but these last few snow days have been a sweet reminder to me: Just like the snow, my boys’ childhoods will pass quickly.

I want to focus on what’s worth being concerned with, so I chose the good part, put down my to-dos, and put on my boots and gloves.

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Our “Vision Verse” for Our Children

February 8, 2016

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Life in Lape Haven: Our Vision Verse for Our Children. This Bible scripture pretty well sums up everything we want to teach our boys about following God and His will for their lives.

Several years ago, I began leading the children’s ministry at the church where my hubby and I attended at the time. We were in a small church, so I usually only had a handful of students. However, no matter the size of my class, it was important to me to give them all a solid foundation in the Word and a realization that God not only wanted a real and personal relationship with them right now, but He could also use them no matter their age and had great plans for their futures as well.

Part of instilling that message was the “Vision Verse” that God gave me for the children’s ministry, which was Daniel 11:32b: “The people who know their God will be strong and take action.”

For the first month or so after I started teaching them, we learned this verse, complete with motions (kids always learn stuff better with movement), and we talked about what it meant.

Lately I’ve been thinking about that verse again, and how it’s the same vision my husband and I have for our own children now. Over the next few weeks, I plan to introduce this vision verse to our boys and share with them the same things that I taught my students about how it applies to them.

The People who KNOW THEIR GOD

Since we are “the people” who should know our God, Brad and I want our children to understand how we can know God, how we spend time with Him, and how having a relationship with Him and truly knowing Him is different than just knowing ABOUT Him. It’s easy for children who are always in church and surrounded by Christian family members, Christian music, and Bible stories to know a lot ABOUT God.

The crucial point, though, is KNOWING HIM personally. And they can start that NOW, even at very young ages.

We want our boys to love God with all their hearts, to be able to pray and talk to Him on their own (and WANT to), to know His voice and recognize His leading, and to understand the importance of reading their Bibles. We want them to know what the Bible says about God and His character – His love, His goodness, His mercy, His holiness, and His justice.

Will BE STRONG

As children of God who know Him well, we should be strong. We have the Holy Spirit living inside of us, the same Spirit Who raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11). Because of this, we can be bold and courageous in our faith, and we are empowered to face temptation and choose obedience to God.

Both of our boys are strong-willed, like their mommy, and they are all about being strong, like super heroes, so this part shouldn’t be too hard for them to grasp. We want our boys to know that since God is with us, we can be powerful, tenacious, determined, and tough warriors who can live a life of no compromise, one that is holy and different from the world.

And TAKE ACTION

Once we truly know Him Whom we have believed, we are bold and courageous to take action, whatever that might be. It could be as simple (and difficult) as being kind to someone who isn’t nice to us or going wherever God asks us to go to reach the world with His love.

We don’t want our children to be content sitting back and doing nothing for God. We want to encourage them to use their gifts and talents in whatever ways He leads them. Our desire is for them to be active in their church, active in sharing their faith with others, and active in pursuing God and His purpose for their lives.

As parents we have the honor and responsibility of laying the spiritual foundation for our children. And while I have always aimed to give my all in teaching my students in the past and my preschool Sunday school class now, my biggest, most important ministry is to our little boys. Brad and I want to make certain that they truly KNOW their GOD, so they can BE STRONG in Him and TAKE ACTION whenever He calls them to.

DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL VERSE FOR YOUR FAMILY?

I also have a verse that has become my “Mommy Motto.”

*Note: I chose an easier translation of the verse for the children to learn. In the King James, the entire verse is this: “And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” Exploits is a cool word, but a little harder for young children to understand and remember compared to “take action.”

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Why I Capture Our “Everyday”

February 4, 2016

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Life in Lape Haven: Why I Capture Our "Everyday" - Getting pictures of my boys as they play and do ordinary, everyday things allows me to save and savor the moments and hold onto the story of their childhood.

Last week Elijah stayed home from school a couple days because of an ear infection, and I was given an opportunity to do something that I haven’t done nearly enough in recent months. Not only did I get to snuggle a little more with my big boy, but I also got to grab my camera and capture some moments of my two boys just being together.

I love adorable pictures of them dressed handsomely and smiling happily, but those perfectly posed shots rarely tell as much of a story as a simple picture of my children playing on the living room floor.

There is something so precious to my mommy heart about a candid moment between my two little guys as they build a tower or “race” their cars along the lines of the area rug.

It’s grabbing a piece of my “every day” and saving and savoring it.

Most days, by the time Elijah is home from school, I’m working on dinner, finishing up laundry, or some other housekeeping task while the boys are playing, so I usually miss out on just watching them and seeing how they interact (although I can always hear the giggles and little arguments). It’s not often that I get to sit and witness these seconds of their growing up together.

So one day last week, I was able to get belly-down to the floor and listen as Elijah, a typical older brother, directed Josiah on how they were playing with their castle, knights, blocks, and the random character toys they’d pulled from the toy box. I watched Josiah grin in awe and admiration of Elijah’s stair-buildings skills. And even though I didn’t take a picture of it, I saw Elijah’s frustration when Josiah accidentally knocked over parts of that stairway and his patience as they worked to build it back up.

: Building a stairway to the king.

: Pegasus is going up.

Sure I could have spent less time on the floor, just snatched up my phone, and taken a couple of shots, but that’s not what I wanted. Phone shots are almost always more for everybody else, for quickly sharing something, or in a pinch, catching a moment when my real camera isn’t nearby.

Of course, some people only think of taking out a “real” camera for special events – birthdays, weddings, trips to the zoo.

I like my camera for pictures from those things, too, but what I treasure are the pictures of my boys in the seemingly mundane, ordinariness of something they do every day.

Because it’s simply them being them. (And I LOVE them)

Playing together.

Photographs like this require me to slow down a bit and really pay attention to everything going into the picture.

These moments aren’t meant to be “just point, shoot, and post.” It’s about recording the story for them and for me.

Through my camera lens, I get to hold onto to this time when they imagine silly scenarios and create fantastic worlds together. Even though they seem so little now, I know it won’t be long before they are grown.

I want to take every chance that I can to treasure each day with these precious gifts from God, to notice the details of their average day, and capture the moments of their childhood while they are still children.

Of course, once I’ve gotten some pictures, I put my camera down and join their playing.

I don’t just want to capture their memories. I want to be a rather big part of them, too.

If you’d like to get better photos of your family, you can read my 4-part series, How to Take Better Pictures of Your Kids.

The Home Maintenance Idea I Got from a Car Dealership

February 1, 2016

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Life in Lape Haven: The Home Maintenance Idea I Got from a Car Dealership. A quarterly practice of my former employer helped keep his dealership looking great and well-maintained. Now I'm using the same idea to keep up with our home.

A long time ago (about 10 years or so), before I was a wife and mommy, I worked as the Executive Assistant at a northeast Ohio, family-owned Chrysler dealership. I worked closely with the owner and his family, doing everything from tracking salemen’s stats to typing his correspondences, proofing newspaper ads, managing office supplies, planning events, and booking travel for him, his family, or various employees.

I absolutely loved this job, and my boss was great. He was a very good businessman and a generous and kind man. The only reason that I ever left was because I had met this guy named Brad, who lived about 3 hours away, and we wanted to get married.

While I remember those days fondly and think of and pray for my coworkers and boss often, there was something I recalled the other day that I always thought was one of the most simple, but wise practices for taking care of his business that my boss had.

And when I pondered it, I thought to myself, “Why have I never done this for our home?”

Every so often, at least once a quarter, my boss would have me add a “Facility Walk” into his schedule. This meant that on an appointed morning, he, the Lot Manager, and I would be literally walking all over the dealership property, looking at everything, inside and out. I took scribbled notes in my own version of abbreviations and shorthand, as my boss pointed out places that needed maintenance, cleaning, reorganized, and generally brought back up to Five-Star standards.

It could be anything from “replenish the brochures in the showroom” to “replace a ceiling tile by the cashier’s booth” to “bathroom needs repainted” or “Pre-Owned showroom needs retiled.” Anything that needed attention was written down and documented.

We visited every department and room on the premises: finance, service, parts, reconditioning, sales, the offices, the waiting rooms, the break rooms, and the restrooms, as well as the outsides of all the buildings, the entire lot, and all the landscaping and signage.

It usually took us a couple of hours. Once we were done, I took my notes to my office and spent some time typing them out, creating a master checklist for that day’s entire walk as well as sorting out the assignments into individualized checklists for different employees or departments who would be responsible for taking care of each task.

Every task also had a deadline for completion, and believe me, my boss followed up.

His attentive stewardship of his company showed, too, and the customers and employees appreciated the clean, well-maintained dealership.

Fast forward about 10 years, and Brad and I are working to declutter and organize our home. Two little boys make keeping up with it all a bit tricky. During the week, my main focus is keeping them fed, clothed, clean(ish), and alive, and I try to stay on top of laundry, dishes, and dirty floors as much as they allow me.

However, maintaining a home well requires more than that every so often.

So, we’re carving out some time, with hubby using some time off, to really go over our house and attend to areas that don’t always get the most attention.

That’s when I thought of the facility walks.

While I have a few major to-do projects written down and a few more in my head, we need to go through our home, room by room, and make notes, prioritize, and plan.

I know that we won’t accomplish all the tasks this week or even this month, but at least we’ll have a goal to work toward.

Maybe after we accomplish these, we can set a new goal that will require me to dust off my “travel-booking” skills. 🙂

WHAT IS ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE HABITS OR TIPS FOR KEEPING YOUR HOME ORGANIZED?

Pausing to Be Grateful

January 28, 2016

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Life in Lape Haven: Pausing to Be Grateful. My recent participation in an Instagram photo challenge reminded me of the importance of daily counting my blessings and being thankful.

This post contains an affiliate link for the book. At no additional cost to you, I may receive a small commission if you use the link.

Over the last couple weeks, as part of the Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World launch team, I have been participating in an Instagram Daily Photo Challenge with the theme of “What are you grateful for?”

The challenge was inspired by the Gratitude Bracelet we received from the book’s author, Kristen Welch (We are THAT Family). The bracelet is made by women at the Mercy House, the maternity home in Kenya that Kristen founded. (For more on Mercy House, check out this short video.)

It’s a white-bead bracelet with three copper beads. Each copper bead is for a different question that will remind you to be grateful every day.

Who do I appreciate today?
Today, what made me smile?
How was God good today?

WHO DO I APPRECIATE TODAY?

So, for the first five days, the challenge was to share “a different person each day who you appreciate.” I’m pretty sure this was the easiest one for all of us. There were pictures of everyone’s husbands, children, best friends, parents, pastors, and so on. However, even though we generally KNOW that we’re thankful for our families and friends, it’s something else entirely to pause in our day and really think about why we are so thankful for them and to truly take time to appreciate them. I could probably have filled all two weeks of the photo challenge on this question alone.

TODAY, WHAT MADE YOU SMILE?

The next five days, though, were devoted to “something that made you smile.”

To quote Buddy the Elf, “I like smiling. Smiling’s my favorite.”

I’m usually a “pretty positive, find the silver-lining, there’s always something to be thankful for, let’s play the Glad game with Pollyanna” kind of girl. Even when I have those tough days in motherhood, I don’t stay in the yucky too long. I’ll soon be looking for the good, the giggles, and the grins.

Therefore, Question Two was, again, another easy way to count my blessings.

This made me smile today…a lot! Elijah has his 2nd loose tooth, and he was trying to pull it before bed. It's not quite as ready as he is, though, so no #toothfairy tonight. #raisinggratefulkids #PhotoChallenge #mademesmiletoday #wigglytooth

A photo posted by Kishona Lape (@lifeinlapehaven) on Jan 16, 2016 at 7:20pm PST

HOW WAS GOD GOOD TODAY?

Then we got to the five days of God’s goodness, and I was stumped.

It was not because God hasn’t been good, but rather because He is SO good that it was hard to narrow it down.

After some pondering, my first photo of “How God was good today,” I took a picture of the Bible I’ve had since 10th grade, opened to a scripture that I’d circled at some point during my youth group years: Psalm 71:17 & 18: “O God, You have taught me from my youth; and to this day I declare Your wondrous works. Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is come.”

Having followed God since early childhood, my life has been full of God proving His goodness and faithfulness to me over and over again.

Loving me, saving me, knowing me, keeping me. That kind of goodness is hard to capture in one little Instagram picture. It would be hard to capture with a million.

The rest of my photos for the challenge were maybe less serious, but they still celebrated God’s goodness with joy:

A side-by-side of a cherry pie bar dessert I made and one of Josiah’s recent selfies. Elijah’s to-do list for Sunday. A glimpse into my preschool Sunday school class. Homemade chicken and dumplings. My Mercy House gratitude bracelet.

: I just couldn’t pick between the two very different ways God was good.

: Elijah’s list says, “Go to church, get my Bible, go and learn.”

While the challenge was for fun and to help promote gratefulness and Kristen’s new book, it also served its most meaningful purpose when it reminded me of how important it is to stop in the busyness of every day and appreciate each little detail and blessing that God has placed in our lives and His wonderful lovingkindness, mercy, and goodness in doing so.

Let me challenge you today to pause, take a minute, and think about what you would share: five people you appreciate, five things that make you smile, and five ways that God has been good to you.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” ~ James 1:17

How has God been good to you this week?

If you’d like, you can purchase your own gratitude bracelet from Mercy House, and you’ll be supporting young mothers and their children. That’s one more thing to be thankful for. 🙂

—

If you haven’t yet entered the giveaway to win a copy of Kristen Welch’s newest book,

Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World,

ENTER TODAY!

Giveaway is open until Friday, January 29, at 11:59p.m. US residents only.

See giveaway terms for more details.

Tag - Family

A Celebration of Seuss

WHAT’S YOUR FAMILY’S FAVORITE DR. SEUSS BOOK?

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

Choosing the Good Part

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

Our “Vision Verse” for Our Children

The People who KNOW THEIR GOD

Will BE STRONG

And TAKE ACTION

DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL VERSE FOR YOUR FAMILY?

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

Why I Capture Our “Everyday”

It’s grabbing a piece of my “every day” and saving and savoring it.

I don’t just want to capture their memories. I want to be a rather big part of them, too.

The Home Maintenance Idea I Got from a Car Dealership

Pausing to Be Grateful

Over the last couple weeks, as part of the Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World launch team, I have been participating in an Instagram Daily Photo Challenge with the theme of “What are you grateful for?”

WHO DO I APPRECIATE TODAY?

TODAY, WHAT MADE YOU SMILE?

HOW WAS GOD GOOD TODAY?

How has God been good to you this week?

If you haven’t yet entered the giveaway to win a copy of Kristen Welch’s newest book,

Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World,

ENTER TODAY!