Shannon Yee

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I love the idea of neighbors helping each other and people coming alongside to support one another. I just hate to be the one to need the help. More accurately, I hate to have to ask for that help. I don’t like to inconvenience people, but mostly I don’t like to talk to people that I don’t know really well. I especially don’t like to ask acquaintances for favors.

Today, though, I did it. TJ was sleeping and I really didn’t want to wake him up to take Eila to school. So, I ran over to my neighbors house and asked her to come over and stay at my house while I took Eila to school. She was more than happy to oblige and it was a huge blessing to me. Maybe she’ll be more inclined to ask a favor of me now… for some reason that would make me feel better.

1. Family. I love them all. It’s just not right that there would have so many awesome people in one family and that I am apart of that family. I think I have something like 75 people in the extended family and they are all so much fun!
2. Faith. Who and where would I be without the saving grace that is constantly at work changing me and has given me life?
3. Friends. It boggles my mind to think of all the people that I have called friend and have returned that over the years. I am most thankful for those who still call me friend when I am not a friend.
4. Food. Honestly, I love to eat and create things with food. I cannot think of anything more fun that sharing a delicious meal with friends or family.
5. Games. Playing games is really fun and helps me to be at ease in a group of people when I wouldn’t normally.
6. Home. It’s where the heart is (and also the messy kids and hubby that I love so much!)
7. Computer. I really like to have all sorts of information available for me to learn and get organized, etc. It’s so convenient.
8. Health.
9. Books. So many to read, so little time.
10. Bed. I’m really tired and it’s so comfy…

Thaddeus is starting to talk and all his words end with glottal stop or vowels. He uses several different initial consonant sounds. The linguistics nerd in me cannot help but wonder why and if this is typical for early language acquisition. I know that English, especially my particular brand of English has many glottal stops. I also recognize that perhaps these sounds are slightly easier for my little guy to make when compared with the fricatives and lateral sounds of English.

Eila and Josiah both were exposed to a great deal of English and French as infants and had a some words from each language in the early stages of speech acquisition, but I don’t remember or didn’t notice if they followed this pattern as well. Maybe I’ll research it further, but for now Thad is up from his nap and wants down. “Mama, I wa duh. Bah! Mama!!!”

Our garden is finally really taking off. We enjoyed a fair bit a swiss chard, spinach and lettuce early on, but really didn’t have anything to show for all the labors of planting this spring until this week. We now have a red pepper, several peppers growing and lots and lots of carrots along with some beets. Hopefully, the first frost will be late in the fall so that our peppers will be able to grow and ripen a bit more.

I must admit that with the produce we are producing, I’m feeling pretty proud of our pathetic garden. It’s really too bad that Josiah doesn’t like carrots, because they are going to be in every meal for a few weeks.

Sunday we opened up our home to host a Bible study for the first time in a very long time. It’s fun to be able to do this again, but with kids we don’t always get to all the details of cleaning up. I forgot to put the toilet paper back on the holder when Thaddeus left, but I’m sure everyone was able to locate it and they might have noticed something else strange in the bathroom as well.

That’s just how things work when you have curious and fearless little ones. There are very few places that are out of reach of children as the bingo markers near the bathroom ceiling clearly indicate they need to be kept. For now we have three places where we store all kinds of interesting things. You’ll find the scissors and batteries above the kitchen counter, the stapler along with random screws or nails on the top of the book shelf and the bingo markers above the toilet.

Today was one of those rainy days where I just wanted to stay in bed all day, reading a good book, neglecting all the things that I had planned. The boys had been fighting a bit of a cold and I had been prepared to miss BSF this morning if they weren’t better. So, after finally rolling out of bed, everyone ate and was determined to be in good health. We had about 2 minutes to get dressed and drive to the hosting church about 15- 20 minutes away.
Needless to say, I was hesitant to go as it was raining hard and we were going to be pretty late. But, I felt like there wasn’t really a good reason not to, so we went. Of course, we got stopped by a train and at every red light on the way. Eventually, we pulled into the lot and I felt a little better as there were lots of other people still walking and driving in. The parking situation is a little crazy each week, but I decided to try an aisle right by the door and you wouldn’t believe it, but there was one spot right there – with a sign saying “Reserved for Moms with Young Children.” Well, we fit the bill and pulled right in, unloaded and started traipsing in through the rain. A woman in the parking lot came up and asked me if I was the one who had gotten out of the minivan. It seems that people had been driving all over looking for spots and no one had seen that one. It was saved for me. I couldn’t argue at all. God was indeed raining down his goodness on me today and I thank Him that he cares enough to save me “a parking spot right in front. That’s a good omen.” (LOL – that’s a line from one of my favorite movies of yore…)

We are now two and a half weeks into the school year. I am struggling to adjust to all the changes in our family life. The amount of homework for parents of Kindergartens is astounding. I had no idea that teachers and schools needed so much documentation from parents. I am glad that Eila’s teacher keeps us informed, but really can’t believe all the things that need to be acted on and sent back by the deadline.

One of those things is fundraisers. I am drowning in fundraisers between the PTA and LGA, there is no end in sight and this week there are four separate fundraisers going on. I know that I don’t have to participate in them all, but I feel the pressure just knowing about them.

Eila, of course, loves school and gymnastics. Josiah, of course, loves being a big four year old. Thaddeus, of course, is only napping during lunch, but he is happy and doing well on his new schedule. I, of course, am working hard on being the calm, loving mom who has it all together – at least some of the time.

So, this morning we started the traditional family Saturday kids’ sports day. It was on the way home from Josiah’s soccer practice, which I left early to put TJ down for nap and get something to eat since I missed breakfast to take Eila to gymnastics… Well, Thaddeus found it very entertaining to drop things out of the wagon periodically. He would then say, “Mama. Mama.” When I looked stopped, I’d look back where he was pointing and see his jacket or bowl or some other item chucked overboard. Then, I’d run back to get it and he’d giggle and repeat. I got a decent workout, so I didn’t really mind and he was entertained.

Fast forward several hours back at home, everyone is now home, fed and playing quietly or sleeping. I needed something from my wallet and was looking around unable to locate it. I spent about 15 minutes searching and figured that it had to have been dropped on our walk home.

So, I set out for a walk, half praying for it to be intact on the sidewalk somewhere, half mumbling to myself about how dumb I was to leave my wallet in the wagon with a kid who was emptying it onto the sidewalk.

Well, the funny thing is that at the house for sale where I was going to turn around, where several people were standing around, I found my wallet – full of money and receipts and credit cards. God answered my prayer and I’ve learned my lesson, I hope.

It’s the day we’ve been counting down to for weeks in our house. It’s all we’ve talked about. We’ve been planning all kinds of festivities and even strangers have been talking about it with my kids. And, finally the day is upon me. Zero days left. Can you believe it!?!?

Tomorrow is Josiah’s 4th birthday and Eila’s 1st day of school. So exciting!

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Also, sorry that I forgot to update with Eila’s status for school… We got our letter in the mail last Saturday. She will be going to afternoon Kindergarten and her bus stop is a good distance from the house, but she’ll ride it home most days. And once she learns how to get home from there, she’ll walk on her own – I hope. The boys and I will drive her to school after lunch and Thaddeus will return to a life of two naps or a morning nap and a very early bedtime. All will work out wonderfully!