Clean Floors

I just finished making one shoe! The other is all cut out and just has to be sewn together. I think I've got a really great technique now, so that the bottom only has one thread footprint! And Mom, it's much easier to sew the elastic by hand!

I'm kind of picky about how clean my floors are since my baby is crawling around on them and picking stuff off of them and putting it in his mouth. Since I've been home, I haven't had the nerve to tackle the job of mopping the floors (although I've swept several times). And then Wednesday night I went to this Norwex party and they talked about how using Swiffer has been directly linked to liver failure in dogs...because it contains formaldehyde. I use Swiffer! Well, now I didn't WANT to clean my grungy floors.

But finally yesterday, while Luke was taking a wonderful two-hour nap, I got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed that floor with soap and water. It was beautiful! I moved furniture and washed the baseboards too. My floor hasn't been this clean since before Luke was born. And then, yesterday evening, for the first time in several weeks, Sookie peed in the house. And this wasn't just a puddle. She peed through the kitchen and all the way down the hallway. I think she knew she wasn't supposed to and was coming to look for someone to let her out. But my beautiful, non-poisonous floors! When will I get the nerve up again to scrub my floor by hand with soap and water?

Stepping Naked

I mentioned the dust on my TV yesterday, so I thought I'd include the picture I got yesterday of Luke dusting the TV screen.

Yesterday Luke took two steps! He walked from my knees (on the couch) to Derek's knees (on the love seat), because he saw Derek eating chips and wanted in on the greasy goodness. He's been standing on his own more and more, but up until yesterday his attempts to move his feet without holding onto anything have ended with him on his face on the floor. These days if you offer your hands to Luke, he will pull himself right up and start stepping around. He loves to be up! It's starting to get pesky. Having him stand next to me, holding onto my leg while I try to make dinner is a little nerve-wracking. When I start to get annoyed I try to remember how sweet it is that my son is holding onto my leg with all his strength.

It is pretty much impossible to change a diaper these days. This little man rolls away, arches his back, shouts and screams and swats his hands around. I've moved the changing pad to the floor because I'm scared he's going to fly off the table one of these days. Most of the time I just leave his pants off after a diaper change because he is so worked up by the time I've got the diaper on, the idea of trying to wrangle jeans onto him is truly frightening. I thought that he would cry to the point where he would lie still and rub his eyes, but not so. This kid has stamina. And he has decided diaper changing is not for him. So, Luke goes half-naked.

Manitoba's Sinking

I was Moses yesterday as I drove into Winnipeg with the water lapping at my car tires. The Red River has become the Red Sea, and in some places is 16 miles wide!

While I was growing up, people (my sixth grade teacher) talked about how there was going to be this big earthquake and California would fall into the ocean. His predictions are being proven wrong as we witness first-hand Manitoba, not California, sinking into the sea.

Last night Luke discovered how to turn the TV off and on. The rest of the evening was spent hearing the electronic ping that is our TV powering down and shutting off. See his cute shoes, Mom? Luke has to wear whale shoes now that we live underwater.

I Don't Appreciate Your Cleaning

A few more pictures from California and a story of coming home. Read this story understanding it is from MY perspective, and cut Derek a little slack.

When we pulled into the garage, Derek made a point of telling me that even though I’d been gone a week, “The house is clean. I cleaned it today. I actually did a lot of cleaning.” I wasn’t expecting a mess though, because I had cleaned very thoroughly before I left. I had scrubbed the bathroom top to bottom, mopped and vacuumed all the floors, cleaned windows, washed dishes, cleared the counters and table of books and newspapers, put away movies, watered the plants, dusted windowsills and end tables, put clean sheets on the bed, and washed and folded all the laundry. There was no way one man could ruin all that in one week, all by himself!

The house was totally dark as we walked in. Derek and I have always disagreed on whether or not to leave a light on when we leave the house empty at night. Since it was two in the morning, I hurried the baby to his crib in the darkness, not bothering to turn on lights that might wake him up. I was so tired after a long day of travelling alone with a nine-month-old baby that all I wanted to do was pass out in my own bed.

But at least I could brush my teeth. I shuffled back out to the dark living room to retrieve my toothbrush from my suitcase, and then down the hall to the bathroom. I flicked on the light in the bathroom and stood in an exhausted stupor. Was this the bathroom I scrubbed to shining just one week ago? The toilet looked as though it had been used by a team of lumberjacks in the backwoods, the sink was covered in hair and toothpaste, the mirror was smudged and speckled, the shower curtain hung open to reveal a scummy tub that had lost all its sparkle. The only neat thing in the room was a single towel, folded perfectly in half, hanging in the exact center of the towel bar. I sighed and attempted to brush my teeth without touching the sink, or anything else for that matter.

Next morning I woke up and the morning sun streamed in beautifully and warmly on the dining room floor. The sun was beautiful. The floor was another matter. Dust bunnies roamed the wilds of my once pristine floor. Dog slobber and footprints tracked across the herds of bunnies, and in the corners migrated swirling piles of dust, fur, hair, food particles, and several unrecognizable blobs and speckles. I grabbed the broom before I could even think about breakfast and I asked Derek, “did you sweep at all while I was gone?” “Yes,” he said, “Yesterday!” It must have something to do with his technique.

All of the cleaning and cooking I did before I left was to make Derek feel less lonely. I thought that if I could still make his meals, and be sure the house was clean, that he wouldn’t miss me so much because those are my major contributions to the household. Those, and taking care of Luke. That same night when Derek told me he had missed me, I asked him, “What did you miss? I left you food and a clean house, clean clothes, and peace and quiet to do your reading and play guitar! That should have been heaven!” He said, “I missed YOU. I missed hanging out with you. You know you weren’t doing me any favors by leaving. You keep acting as though I should be thanking you for leaving, but I missed you! I didn’t miss your cleaning!”

Obviously not.

He's One of Us

Look who's helping Mommy unpack!



Last night Derek and I were talking about our prayer life, and how Luke should be involved in that and I said, "He's one of us". It sounded like a line straight out of Star Trek, but in this case it's as true as it gets. This kid is ONE from the two of US, and now he's one of us. Strange.

Well, as you can see we are home. While Luke and I were in California his big words were, "Awbin Dawbin", and this video is to show you his favorite new sound: Bmmmm.

Our plane trip home was excellent. We had two seats to ourselves the entire way (LA to Vancouver, Vancouver to Winnipeg), and thankfully, Luke slept a bit on BOTH flights. He was kind of cranky at the end of the first flight, but by the end of the second flight he was too tired to be cranky and just lay limp in my lap staring at the stewardess call button on the ceiling. We saw some beautiful sights at thirty thousand feet. The sunset was spectacular from above the clouds. The layer of quilt filling we were flying above turned bright pink, and about three rainbows appeared unfinished across this endless expanse of cloud. Amazing.

It was sad to come home to the cold, grey snow. As I walked out of the airport I thought, "This isn't too bad", and then I realized I was standing under the warm air blower above the door and hadn't actually experienced the outdoor temperature yet. But honestly, even that wasn't as bad as I expected. Saturday we went for a walk with the baby and the dog and it was so warm my bare fingers didn't even get chilled, and the dog ran through the water in the ditch and didn't freeze her fur off! It was sunny and encouraging on Saturday. I could actually imagine Spring coming as I watched the water in the ditch sweep over hunks of ice still stuck underwater.

Luke's been having a tough time adjusting to Manitoba time. And he may be teething. We haven't had a lot of good sleep since we got home. He's gone to bed around quarter to ten both nights, and then wakes up between eleven and 2 several times. Then the dog wakes us up around six. Luke sleeps until 8:30 still, but it's hard for me to not get a long uninterrupted stretch of sleep. And speaking of Luke, I hear him waking up now!

California Vacation

This is our post from Shafter. I'm not sure if I'll get around to posting again until after Easter but this is what we've done so far. It's Monday, and the last four days have been hectic, full, warm, wonderful. This morning Luke and I are sitting around trying to recover.

Thursday we travelled, and Luke was a wonderful travel companion. If I had to choose somebody to sit on my lap in a very small space for a very long time, it would, hands down, be Luke. We were both very tired of one another by the end of the day, but somehow we both really needed one another to get through the day too. It was especially helpful to have a baby that isn't shy, because several women on the plane offered to hold him for me and he was happily passed around. Every now and then he would look over one of the women's shoulder and smile at me before going back to reading a book, or playing with a cup, or playing peek-a-boo. I was able to get myself a cup of coffee and sit and drink it in peace! It's amazing what you CAN'T do with a baby in your lap. Especially when the guy in front of you tilts his seat back and shortens your range of motion even more.

Friday we visited. We visited Amanda and Ezekiel, Dad and Brian, Gramma and Grampa (my Dad's parents), and when we could visit no more, we drove to Fresno. On the way to Fresno we had an "Oops" moment because of the time difference. Luke's body was still on Manitoba time, but I was on California time already. I didn't even think that leaving at 4:30 in the afternoon was leaving right at dinner time! Half-way to Fresno we had to stop. We HAD TO stop. So we stopped at Bravo Farms Cheese, and so far I think this was my favorite part of this trip. Luke ate fruit and cheese and macaroni and smiled at the grandmas and the bikers equally shining smiles. He squawked at the children and flapped his arms excitedly. He made friends with the waiters and the chef, and when he was done with his macaroni they brought him a free ice cream cone! His first ice cream cone! Dinner was fantastic, Luke was ecstatic, it was such a relief to stop, and so much fun.

Friday Luke also sat in the grass for the first time. It is an understatement to say that he didn't like it. He shouted and cried and whimpered in frustration. But I think we figured it out. When I first set him down he grabbed the grass and didn't seem too perturbed. It was only when I took his shoes off that he cried. His feet and legs are extremely ticklish, and he doesn't like the feel of the poky grass! I showed Dad how Luke hated the grass, started lowering Luke to the lawn and Luke pulled his arms and legs in like a little turtle and started shouting immediately. Sunday at Aunt Laurie's birthday party, Luke perfected what Melissa calls his "stink bug" walk, and Sarah calls the "spider monkey" crawl. Luke sticks his bum way up in the air and walks on his toes (he was in shoes and shorts) and finger tips to keep his legs out of the grass!

Saturday was the MCC Sale and once again I was reminded that Luke wasn't on California time yet, and our feeding schedule was all screwed up. Mom and I went to do the Run For Relief at 7am, and took Luke in his stroller. Luke got about 3/4 of a mile into the walk before he decided this getting up early business wasn't for him. Thinking he was hungry we dropped out of the race (we were walking, of course) and went to get pancakes. Pancakes were not what Luke wanted, and he let us know almost immediately. So we headed back to Melissa's house and put him down for a nap. He slept good and we headed back to the Sale for lunch. Fritters, Tri-tip sandwiches, oranges, lemonade, homemade ice cream and some sausage was all that this hungry caterpillar got through. It was sunny and hot, but we didn't have a hat, so Uncle Greg volunteered his bandana for Luke's head and the rest of the day our little ragamuffin went around bandana-ed, and wearing his new "rag" shoes. What a little hippie! We left Fresno around 2:45, went home and I mowed the lawn before dinner: taco salad with John-Mark and Melissa.

Sunday was a gorgeous day. Luke had a 2 1/2 hour nap in the morning and I got to work in the yard with Mom. We set up tables, washed chairs, cleaned off the patio, set up umbrellas, picked boquets, re-potted Mom's ficus, fixed up one of Dad's septic access holes, set four toads free, hollered at the dogs, and started BBQing for a big birthday bash with the Howletts. It was a gorgeous day in the shade with the croquet set up and the BBQ smoking. But all the visiting and the travelling and irregular eating was really starting to wear on Luke. Everyone kept saying "What a happy baby!" but I could tell he was getting tired and overstimulated.

So here we are, just the two of us and two dogs, sitting in the sun trying to calm down after four crazy days. We'll probably have lunch with Dad today, but that's our only planned outing. We are taking it easy, getting our two solid naps in, and eating three solid meals. Luke actually couldn't make it to his ten o'clock nap this morning and went down at nine. The rest of this week is still up in the air, but I think I've decided not to let it get as crazy as the last few days, and try to focus on keeping Luke on his schedule.

We're having a great time here in the sun. Saturday people were wearing jackets at the MCC Sale and I almost laughed at them. To me it was more gorgeous than Summer, it was just like heaven. It was a California Vacation.

Beautiful Days

The sun is shining and it's hot, hot, hot! It's shorts weather around here! Since it's Spring Break all the kids are out in their yards, playing on swing sets, swimming in little plastic pools. Everywhere you look there are people out for a stroll in short sleeves and bare heads. It really feels like Summer. There are even some flowers blooming! I will be so sad to leave tomorrow, when the weather is just right for gardening! But what can you do?

How's that for an April Fool? We got around three inches of snow last night, and it's still snowing. That one tree looks like it's about ready to throw a snowball. Even though it's not the season for snow (in my opinion, obviously God disagrees with me), and even though it frustrates me that just when the driveway was clear we have to shovel again, and even though I'd rather be gardening than shoveling, and even though it may interfere with my travel plans tomorrow (let's hope not! this is my chance to escape this never-ending winter), and even though I realized yesterday that Luke has lived in the snow for five out of his nine months of existence, STILL - I can't help but admire this brave white snow, falling almost entirely unwelcome, and sitting precariously several inches thick on the tree branches.

Picture: Luke asleep in his car seat after grocery shopping this morning. Click on the snow pictures to see up close how thick the snow is!