Shannon Yee

The weather has been so nice the last few days and we have been enjoying the sunshine immensely. I did come to the realization that my two little red-heads must wear hats and be fully covered at all times; they already have a decent sunburn and we aren’t even outside during peak hours.

I love the warm weather and outdoor play and nightly baths and fresh air and lots of exercise! It is all so good for me and for my kids and I am enjoying every minute of it. Thank God for sunshine!

There are have been lots of times recently that I’ve wanted to capture and know that if I don’t write them down somewhere, they will be forgotten and gone forever, so here they are.

I have lent out my slings to those in need and have only one left that I don’t really like, but someone else is in need so I was trying it out to decide if it would be okay. My little NINO (Nine In Nine Out) wanted up and so I tested it out with him and he snuggled up just like he had never had a break from being carried. Well, big sis couldn’t be left out of the cuddling and being carried, so she had a turn as well and of course little Joe wanted to do what Eila was doing, so I somehow managed to fit both kids in the sling and we sat on the couch (because who can carry 55lbs in a sling and walk around!?) and read books for a bit – all cuddled very close.

On a rare (hopefully soon to be more common) beautiful spring day recently, Josiah was playing outside while I made dinner. I was watching through the window and he saw me and started to play peekaboo. He kept ducking behind the window in his little outside house and I ducked down below the window in my big house and we were cracking up.

Shortly after peekaboo, Eila and Josiah were actually sharing and playing together in the sandbox. Eila was giving Joe sand and he was saying “Tatoo (Thank you).” Then they were dumping it out and throwing it in the air and all kinds of other hilarious and messy things.

Watching my husband interact with his children is something that tugs at my heart strings like few other things can. Last week, Brian and Eila were dancing, but rather than dancing near each other this time they were dancing together. Eila was standing on Brian’s feet and occasionally he would spin her around. I almost cried.

We pray often in our house and usually Eila likes to pray for things too, like Cora’s mommy to feel better and for Agathe to sleep well and for Nathan to not fall down the stairs anymore, etc. Recently though, she has been asking for things in her prayers. Now, Eila is not content to just pray for herself, but is asking me to pray for her. And, what does she need prayer for (in her words)? “Hannah Montana stuff!”

Josiah loves little babies and will hover near any small child. This is sweet enough, but he not only likes to look at them, he likes to hold them. Anytime he sees babies, he goes up to them, whispers gently, and then tries to hug them, or so you might think at first, but his persistence makes it clear that he doesn’t just want a hug, but would like to take those babies and rock them or hold them and hug them all by himself! He also realizes that pacifiers are for babies and that if they have one near them, they probably want it – even if they don’t. So, unsuspecting babies are forcefully given pacifiers by a little boy who means well, but really scares (and sometimes entertains) them.

That’s enough for now, but there are lots others and maybe I’ll add more another day.

Of all the things that I do, like taking care of my children, cooking, cleaning, exercising, reading, attending meetings, hanging out with my husband, etc. The thing that takes the most time and is the least productive must be anything related to the computer.

No matter how quickly I plan to check something, it invariably leads to something else and I spend 20 minutes looking at random things that were not at all related to what I intended to do on the computer, which I may or may not have actually done.

Facebook, reading blogs, and checking email are my serious down falls. It is easy to waste away hours just looking at what other people are doing and then reading about what people they know might be up to… Oh well. I’m allowed several guilty pleasures, right? As long as they don’t get in the way of my responsibilities… Does the bathroom really need to be clean?

You know you’re getting old (and have young kids) when:

Your husband’s co-worker thinks his iPod is an antique collectible.
You go to a kid’s play cafe to get out on your birthday, and you enjoy it.
Shoveling the snow makes you huff and puff.
It’s 10am and you are ready for bed.
The only birthday gift you request is a quiet night out.
You forget all the birthday gifts you get at the party.
And, finally, your father jokes that you are only an acquaintance now because he doesn’t have kids THAT old!

I’m now 30 and proud of it.

There are some parts of my life that I wouldn’t trade with anyone – no matter what. Several moments like that occur everyday and I want to treasure and remember them! Here are few examples of precious events over the past two weeks… being the apple of my husband’s eye, vacuuming the rug with Eila and Josiah each using a toy vacuum to help, reading books in Eila’s bed while nursing Josiah, Brian taking care of everything so I could sleep for two days, waving to Josiah and that being the funniest thing he has ever seen, sharing zerberts with the kids and them spitting on me in return, ribbing Brian for wanting another computer, saying to Brian “what can I do to keep Josiah from falling out of the stroller?” as Joe slams his head into the cement at Zoo Boo, and hearing Eila say “I love you, Mommy!” and Josiah shake his head furiously and laugh “Nnno!”

Today, I spent at least 15 minutes just sitting on the couch letting the warmth of the sun wash over me. It was the most wonderful thing. I have been busy like I cannot believe and very tired and stressed with all that I have to do, but I knew I was getting burned out and needed a rest today, so I stayed up late last night to clean up and got up early to do some more things. Resting in God’s love and remembering His strength is what allows me to do all thing, meditating on some much loved Scripture and thanking God for providing and answering my many prayers over the last few weeks… this has been essential and makes me want to sing my Savior’s praises from the top of my lungs. But as my kids are napping, and I am also very much enjoying the peace and quiet this provides, I will suffice to shout His praises through the computer.

GOD IS GOD; THERE IS NO OTHER. HE IS MIGHTY TO SAVE AND REJOICES OVER HIS CHILDREN WITH LOVE. HE BRINGS TIMES OF REFRESHING FOR MY SOUL! WHAT A GREAT AND WONDERFUL GOD. HE ALONE IS WORTHY TO RECEIVE GLORY AND HONOR.

I find myself often up alone at night. This is when I’m able to get all my computer work and emailing and also computer fun done. I am also finding that hours can slip away without my even realizing it.

I enjoy this time to myself and generally feel a little more calm and able to rest better if I get all my ducks in a row before I go to bed. Although, sometimes I check email or read blogs or whatever I do on the computer and I find myself more wound up and stressed about all the other things that I need to or should do. As a perfectionist and introvert this is always the problem – I desire time to myself to regroup, but I want to be as productive and efficient with that time as possible – especially since that time alone is so precious and rare right now.

On the flip side, I love to spend late nights with my husband chatting and reconnecting, and am frustrated or disappointed when the computer gets in the way – even if by my choice. It must be getting late, since I don’t think I’m making sense anymore…

This will be a spoiler, so if you plan to read Book 7 and haven’t yet – fly your broom somewhere else…
For those who aren’t planning to read it, I hope you will; it’s fabulous. I love fiction. It’s been far too long since I’ve read and I have missed it. I love living vicariously through books and I love the relaxation and refreshment that I enjoy while reading. But, I hate the way that I cannot do it all – keep up with everything else I need to do or want to do and spend copious amounts of time reading.

One of the areas of my life that suffered most that week was sleeping, so I may not be very coherent in this posting…

My thoughts in no particular order or sense:

I think my favorite part of this book was the strong biblical symbolism. The most amazing of which is Harry’s resurrection. It seems like all is done; he willingly sacrifices himself and dies to save everyone else. Then, he is resurrected and returns, as Christ will, to end the battle once and for all – to bring the final victory and destroy the enemy completely! There is also the inner battle Harry faces to trust Dumbledore and obey, even when it seems like his way isn’t good and that he didn’t or doesn’t know everything – Harry, like so many of us Christians, is tempted to trust himself and do things his own way. Another example of biblical symbolism is the choice to follow and fight. Each person has a choice to make – will we trust Christ as our Savior and fight with Him or will be join forces with Satan, by default?

There is a strong connection in my own life between bitterness and obsession and I would venture to guess that they are often related. My bitterness was due to lack of forgiveness and anger that consumed me. I wanted justice, vengeance, and I wanted things to be made right, to fix what could not be fixed. In the end, I had to choose to let go of my desires and wishes and forgive this person that hurt me and so many others. It seems like each of the Harry Potter books has a strong element of obsession with the wrong thing leading to evil. It is when we are obsessed with the right thing (God) that we are free to do the right thing (obey Him) – I believe this is true and biblically supported (Phil. 4:8, John 8:32).

The theme of brotherly love is one of the things that makes Harry Potter so successful, IMHO. The rocky, real, but so very deep relationship between Harry, Ron, and Herimone is one that every kid longs for and some even have a taste of. It is a key to lots of other great book series, like The Baby-sitter’s Club. I, of course, could readily relate to Herimone, the smart, but too quick to speak and very proud, strong female. I also had a very good guy friend that I fell in love with and eventually married. He, may or may not, like the comparison to Ron, but I’ll make it anyway. The brainy types often fall for the slightly awkward, talented and intelligent, but not overly so, somewhat lazy (laidback?) sidekick. I feel really priviledged to have had several close knit groups of girlfriends – different girls/women with different places & stages of my life, but I am still really close with almost all of them and count those relationships and all of the experiences that accompanied them – for good or bad – as a true blessing.

I apparently am a sucker for romance and found myself aching for Harry and Ginny. I appreciated the maturity of these teenagers to set aside, even deny, their desire for the greater good. I also appreciated Harry’s birthday present from Ginny, as I personally find that a passionate kiss on the mouth is amazing… The whole love story left me remembering my dating years and being so glad that they are over. Desire doesn’t end with marriage. As a fanatic for happy endings and full closure, I loved the hint of passion and joy in the marriage of the grown Potters – or maybe that wasn’t even in the book and I added it between the lines!

Another classic element of a good book (and biblical) is an epic battle between good and evil. There is nothing quite like the good guy beating out the bad guy, especially when the bad guy is really bad and the good guy is a lot like you or me. It feels good for justice to be served!

These themes were things that struck me and reasons that I will probably start over and re-read the entire series: sacrifice, friendship, love, second chances, puzzles, and prejudice. This last theme of prejudice is particularly interesting to me. It seemed like Harry didn’t get it until he finally got it – at the very end, that people and things are not always what others believe them to be. Some people are bad, but others are really good and have had bad experiences, like his cousin, and Snape and even the Malfoys and their house elf. I don’t agree with this 100% because I believe that all people are really bad (by nature, we are sinners), but I believe that God redeems all who call on Him and therefore all can become good. The general lesson in this theme is something that I really do agree with and am becoming more passionate each month, which is that everyone should be treated with kindness and love and given many chances and much forgiveness.

I found a few articles on biblical symbolism in Harry Potter, that I didn’t read until after I wrote this… You may find them interesting, I did.

Harry Potter 7 is Matthew 6

Mugglenet

Sometimes I wonder what I do as a stay at home mom… I’m at home very little, so the title in itself is a bit off, but maybe I should be home more. I’ve been thinking lately that having kids so young is really fun when I take the time to enjoy them and play with them – doing what they want, which is to play with me, while we are at home. Often when we’re at home, I need to cook, clean, or they need to eat or sleep. There could be a lot more time for playing if I looked for it rather than trying to move ahead with my plan for the day.

For instance, this past week was VBS, which was amazing in so many ways, but we were out of the house by 8:45am and gone until 12noon every morning. When we got back, it was lunch, then naps, snacks, and then whatever I had planned – shopping, errands, meeting with various people, but no playtime. As soon as we got back again, it was dinner time and then time to sleep. I know that this week was an exceptionally busy week, but I still can’t help but wonder if I’m just letting good opportunities to have fun and enjoy this time with my kids pass me by.

This fall we’ll have something almost every morning, every week and several afternoon commitments too. I don’t want to miss out on the next year, so I think I need to start really evaluating what fits in with our family priorities and then cutting out things that don’t matter as much or where the timing isn’t right. A few years ago, I made a list of 5 life goals/priorities and they still hold true. The test is if I can really be honest about the opportunities and their value to the goals that I believe God has for my life. One of those goals is to be a loving wife and mother, which for me, can only be done by being at home – really being at home.

I’ve been reading about kids doing chores and wondering what age and what types of chores are good for starting out. It appears that many people (ok, maybe not many, but at least a couple of parents) start their toddlers with simple chores, like “helping” with laundry, emptying the dishwasher, setting the table and cleaning up, dusting, and even making beds.

At our house, we don’t make beds, but maybe it would be a good thing to start now – Josiah could do his bed as there isn’t much to do and Eila could pull up her blankets, I think she might even like it. For laundry, Eila already occasionally helps me transfer loads from washer to dryer and I heard that some kids really enjoy cleaning out the lint trap. Josiah seems to love the dishwasher, at least as a climbing gym, and Eila knows where the silverware go and helps when she is in the mood. I don’t trust her to help with setting the table and clearing it, but would like her to try to take care of her place at the table. So, I guess it’s time to make a chart or at least a list of chores and remember to include Eila in these activities.

I found a fabulous website for just this sort of thing and I may sign up and keep track online. I’ll probably do rewards, but not allowance at this point. I never got an allowance growing up, but it might be good for older kids in learning to budget and handle money. We’ll see as we get to that point. For now, Eila thinks that stickers are the coolest, and nothing in the world could be ice cream as a reward. One reward I might try is letting her choose books to read or videos or something like that; I don’t want food to be the only reward – something I personally struggle with.