in the country

Living in the country has its advantages and disadvantages.  Fortunately, nothing as horrid as the boot incident has happened in a few years (major disadvantage).  Over the summer we had ample opportunity to interact with the nature surrounding us, giving me a greater appreciation for the detailed care that God took as He created the world we live in.  We've stumbled across some of His treasures in our own backyard.

Having a husband who likes to catch creepy-crawlies certainly helps us admire them.  Our daughter thinks lizards are pets...

Orange-bellied salamandar

different type of salamandar

... and hunts for ladybugs in grass taller than she is...

... and loves to chase chickens.

She will probably kiss a toad one day looking for her handsome prince.  Until then, she can be content with simply holding one.

She will eat anything that is grown in our yard.  The garden was full of produce this year - carrots, onions, tomatoes, and the sweetest crop of beets I have ever tasted.  

Oma and Opa helped pick the last of the summer veggies.

Annike devouring a garden fresh tomato.

No current pictures of all the fruit in our orchard, but we are up to our ears in apples.

Sommer is too young to eat from the garden, but we are training her now to love the outdoors.

We have discovered some other treasures of nature like this wasp nest with perfectly hexagonal cells repeated over and over and over.

And this morning as we were exiting the driveway, a magnificent creature flew right in front of the car.  It landed in the road, clearly injured.  Christian rushed to rescue the wounded bird, and THIS is what he captured...

... a Great-Horned Owl with talons like daggers and a beak that made me glad I wasn't a mouse.  The towel was necessary protection.  Have you ever seen such beautiful eyes?  An intelligent creature to be sure.

Notice the relative size of Annike to the owl.  Animal rescue picked up our winged friend this afternoon (now maybe he will stop keeping us up at night!)

How cleverly God created each of his creatures, both great-horned and small.  The care taken as He designed each individual uniquely for survival in their world... down to the color of their eyes.  How much more care has He taken with us?  Surely this testifies to the greatness of His love. 

imagination

Annike saw this flower arrangement and said, "Mama, are you pretending the teapot is a vase?"

Yes, dear.  That is exactly what I am doing.

The imagination of my 3-year-old is in full bloom.  It is hard to imagine her without her imagination.  She reminds me that my sense of imagination has dulled and needs to, perhaps, be resharpened.  

Today, I am pretending that the teapot is a vase.

happy halloween

No homemade costumes this year due to a decrease in the amount of available time I have for being creative... and let's be honest, an overall decrease in creative energy.  Hopefully this energy will be rediscovered as soon as Sommer starts sleeping more consistently.  Instead, I nabbed a green fairy costume a few months ago, much to Annike's delight.

Sommer got to use Annike's old glowworm costume - one advantage of having their birthday 3 days apart!  Until I took these pictures, I thought they looked nothing alike.  Christian gave me a hard time for taking the picture on the same blanket because he couldn't tell them apart!  Any guesses as to who is who??

Did anyone get it right?  The top one is Annike, the middle is Sommer, the bottom one is neither of my children... just a picture of the original for those who might be unfamiliar with glowworms.

Despite the survival mode status of our current household, we managed to find some time for a little festivity.  The baby even got to watch!

Pumpkin carving

Halloween is definitely not my favorite holiday (though I sure love getting to stick my kiddos in silly outfits!) It looks like Annike might share my sentiments because she only lasted about 20 minutes at the church trick-or-treating festival.  She was clearly far more excited about carving a pumpkin with her Papa than she was about the scary crowd of costumed strangers.  I won't fault her for this... perhaps she has her priorities straight.

Until next year, Happy Halloween!

little sommer-sunshine

I. am. in. love.

These were snapped by my amazing friend Jessica (check out her site!)  Little Sommer is changing so much already.  In fact, these shots were taken just before she started to bald and broke out in a terrible case of newborn acne.  These conditions are probably God's way of battling a mother's vanity in her child.

And some priceless family photos...

"But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength."  

Judges 5:31

favorite

Annike often says "the pink one is my favorite, and the purple one is my favorite and the blue one is my favorite too!"  In other words, whatever she is referring to (toy cars, characters in a book, crayon colors... whatever), they are ALL her favorite.

The teacher in me wants to explain that the word "favorite" cannot be used that way.  Favorite means you choose ONE that you like best.  

But instead of explaining my definition to my 3-year-old, I think I am starting to understand the word through her eyes.  Why?

because they are BOTH my favorite.

Different... and both more lovable because of their differences.  

The big one is my favorite and the little one is my favorite.  They are redefining the meaning of the word.

names

Choosing a name for our child felt like a huge responsibility to me.  It is one thing to like a name for someone else's child, and an entirely different thing to bestow a permanent title upon my own child.

And when I think about it, a name really isn't something to be taken lightly.  Historically speaking, many cultures believed that names affected the personality or character of a person.  American Indians received their names after they had accomplished something great.  There are many accounts in the Bible where a name was changed to reflect a new identity.  My favorite example is when Jesus changed Simon's name to Peter, effectively changing his name from "pebble" to "rock".  At the time of the name change, Peter was not really a "rock" yet, but Jesus changed his name in anticipation of what Peter would become... a pillar of the faith.

In our culture, naming a child is typically more about how the sound rolls off of the tongue.  However, Christian and I both felt the meaning of a child's name was too important to overlook.  We also wanted to incorporate our Scandinavian roots.  In the end, we did not actually make our final naming decision until after either of our daughters were born.  And because you might be wondering, here are a few of the specific reasons we chose what we did for our two precious daughters...

Sommer Christiana Negard

• Sommer is the Scandinavian/German spelling of Summer, which means "Summer" of course!  Summer is defined as "the warmest season of the year."  Also, "a period of great happiness, success, or fulfillment."  A blessing we can intentionally bestow upon her.
• Christiana is derived from my husband's name, Christian, and means "follower of Christ".  We figure he may never have a son, so our daughter can carry on his name in feminine form.

Annike May Negard

• Annike means Grace, or favour.  Grace is the name of my prayerful, Christ-following, grandmother.  What a wonderful quality to be named for!  We chose the Danish spelling (as opposed to the more common Swedish spelling of Annika) because Christian's mother (Elke) has a family full of women with names that end in "-ke".
• May is my maiden name.  It is more personally relevant than meaningful.  But I suppose it is also the month of the year when the flowers are blooming, the sun begins to shine, and the hope of new life is evident everywhere.

Someone pointed out to me that names can only work so far to undo genetics... but hey!  It's worth a try!

two little lives

This whole mother-of-two thing has really got my head spinning.  It has been way harder than I ever imagined.

I know it will get easier, I know that what I am doing is no more difficult than what any other mother of two (or three, or five) is doing, and I absolutely know that God will give me the grace and patience to the kind of mom that He would like me to be... but in the meantime, it definitely feels like a stretch.

Needless to say, blog-time is not a priority.  Neither is me-time.  Come to think of it, momentarily, the only thing I have time for is taking care of two children.  The only reason I have time for that is because my husband is taking care of me.

Exhausting?  Yes.  But despite it all, I do recognize that this stage I am in right now is temporary.  And amidst the doubts and anxieties and guilt about all of the other things I should be doing (writing thank you notes, returning phone calls, cleaning the macaroni and cheese off the floor from last week), I see quite clearly that two little lives have been entrusted to me.  And that God will give me all of the strength I need to rise to the occasion and take good care of them.

Maybe that is what scares me the most?  These two little lives are a severely important responsibility, and I sure don't feel like I am capable of doing a good job.  I am sleep-deprived, emotional, impatient and anxious.  I cry a lot.  I feel like giving up once in a while.  And I wish I could take a lot more naps.  But ultimately, way down deep inside of me, I do know that God is not only giving me strength to make it through each day, but also teaching me to be a good mother.  Phase one of that lesson is dying-to-self.

So, while I happen to be here in blog-land, a few pictures of these two little lives...

One way I have learned to multi-task with a child who doesn't want to be put down.

Annike's baby doll needed to use the bouncy seat too.

Tired Momma, and happy girls.

One of Sommer's first smiles!  At 2 weeks old - she must be brilliant :)

One of Annike's many smiles.