Tiny Toes

We all have our stories, some mamas are better than others at writing them down. I'm one of those who was quite faithful about scribbling down every little thing Lyssa said or did for about a year and a half. Since then, I have found the spaces between scribbles growing infinitely larger until now I honestly can't remember where my scribbles are. Rather than dig around for my little notebook of Lyssa "isms", I prefer today to start sharing them with those of you who may also enjoy hearing them.
Our bedtime routine has morphed into this regimen: P.J.s on, teeth brushed, stories (read or told), and some singing followed by a prayer. Lately we've been singing songs out of "My Sing-Along Bible" and sometimes read the passage that goes with the song. I am forever underestimating my precious two year old, wise beyond her years! One night after singing "Jesus Loves Me", Lyssa looked up at me and said, "Mama, can we talk about Jesus?". I asked her what she would like to talk about, and she replied, "How he died". First of all, I love this new way she has discovered to ask us questions. We know if she wants to "talk" about something, she is really wanting a deeper understanding of it. I smiled and explained how Jesus was an amazing teacher and taught people how to love and share and help each other. Then I told her how some bad people wanted him to only help them and give them everything they wanted. When Jesus showed them he was not going to do what they wanted, they killed him on a cross. (You have to know how wide her eyes were, in utter fascination at this point.) I went on to say that the most amazing thing about how Jesus died, is that he didn't stay dead! God raised him from the dead to show us that death isn't the end! Jesus is alive and with us every day! (Her eyes huge and her smile wider...) "Mama, will you sing the 'Bird Song'?" "Flee as a Bird..." I sing over her, thinking she'll blissfully fall asleep. When the song is over she asks once more, "Mama can you talk about Jesus?" I think to myself, "Man is she stalling tonight..." but out of her lips come, " 'bout that song." I'm paralyzed with the lump in my throat. She knows this song is about HIM... I tell her how we are like the bird. We can fly to him, our home, our nest in the safe mountain where he will protect US, shelter US from scary dreams, feelings of regret and hurt. (Could her face be any brighter?!) "Okay, you can go now." she states as she rolls over on her side, eyes closed, smile lingering... I am dismissed.

We were all so blessed to meet Little Seth Jeremy Tyson and fall madly in love with him. I couldn't get enough of his small warm weight on my chest.

We see the evidence of your existence
Curled, cuddled in Mama's belly
Though we do not yet see you.
But we wait eagerly, expectant,
Ready to smell newborn skin
Wrapped in angel's wings.
Mama dreams of counting fingers and toes,
Kissing each while whispering
"I love YOU through and through TOO!"
Daddy imagines stealing into your room
For a peek at your precious sleeping face.
As we remember how soon you will be here,
Our tummies tickle with excitement,
To feel your soft warm weight on our chests.
Little One, do you know how much
You are already loved?

This book was a surprise for me. The cover looked adorable so I picked it up and threw it on my library stack. That night Elyssa handed it to my best friend to read to her. So we all cuddled up on the couch for a "cute" story; me, my friend, and our daughters. She finished the book and glanced my direction, both our eyes held the sparkle of a captive tear. The girls, two and six, were ecstatic, "read it again!". Of course as mothers the idea of someday is a little double-sided. We obviously want the best for our children but at the same time why is so hard to see them grow up?

"One day I counted your fingers and kissed each one..." Oh the memories of her birth..., "Then you were my baby, and now you are my child." Is she really almost three?, "Sometimes, when you sleep, I watch you dream, and I dream too..." What will her future hold?

Daddy: "Time to get your jammies on Lyssa!"
"Why I get my jammies on Daddy?"
"Because it's time to go to bed."
"Why I haf to go to bed, Daddy?"
"Because it's time to go to bed."
"Why it time go to bed, Daddy?"
"Because it's getting dark outside."
"Why it getting dark a'side, Daddy?"
"Because the sunlight is on the other
side of the Earth now."
"Why it 'side of Erf, Daddy?"
"Because the Earth rotates around the sun."
"Why it Erf on sun, Daddy?"
"Because... that's the way God made it."
"Oohhh..."

Ahh...and a sweet smile of confidence in both her Daddies!

By that I mean, what's that special thing you do with that special someone that is meaningful AND fun?

My story begins about nine years ago when I was brought home to live with my parents from York, Nebraska where I had been attending York College. The last couple of years I was there, I had begun a gradual downhill slope of depression that resulted in a pretty good sized "break-down". My sweet Mama came and picked me up and my DEAR friends in Nebraska stuck all my belongings in a storage unit. (Obviously I'm giving you the quick version since my point is not about the depression but the healing from it.) When I got home I had a renewed sense of purpose and discovered how close God had been through everything. I made up my mind to take control of my self-esteem instead of giving it up to the definition the world had assigned me! Part of that control was the decision to take on a project. Projects are the most wonderful healers because when you use your hands to mend and build, your eyes see the process and your heart feels the pride of accomplishment! What better way to be reminded of our lives in the Maker's own hands?


If you know my father you know he rode in Motocross races when he was younger and at the time was still trail riding pretty often. I also have an uncle that raced with my dad who is a master mechanic. Uncle Joe has a motorcycle graveyard in his possession from years of collecting anything he can get his hands on to use for parts. So, with plenty of abandoned motorcycle skeletons and parts at our disposal we went to work on rebuilding a 1970 Hodaka during the winter of 2001. It just so happened that very spring was the first time the Supercross came to Salt Lake City. Seeing my excitement about our project my dad asked me to go with him. Uncle Joe and my cousin Philana came down from Rupert and it turned into a father/daughter tradition. The Supercross didn't make it back to Utah again until last year, but we were there and went again this year for the third time.


I can't begin to tell you what this tradition means to me! This year when my dad asked if I would be escorting him, I replied that I didn't really need to go. After all, I wasn't nearly as fascinated with the details of the race as he and my uncle were. They like to spend the entire day roaming the pits, watching practices, and getting autographs. Do you know what my sweet daddy said to me? You guessed it! He told me he wanted me to come because he enjoyed sharing the experience with me.


So, THANKS Dad!!! I know it's sometimes hard for fathers to communicate love to their daughters, and this is definitely one of the many ways you have spoken it to me!


There you have it folks! Enjoy the pictures, some from the first Supercross (bet you can't guess which ones, yikes!) and others from the last two years.

I've never been one to wrestle with hard core grudges. Most likely due to my short memory, I haven't had to struggle much with forgiving others. Just give me a couple of days to forget the humiliation and I'm over it. Though, I've also never been in a situation critical enough to warrant more than the reluctant pardon given after a bruised ego or broken heart. I've often wondered if I would know how to forgive someone if they really hurt me or someone I loved; more than that, actually pray for them as Christ asked me. I came across a prayer in the "Oxford Book of Prayer" that gave me new insight into the practice of not only forgiveness, but praying for my enemies. I felt moved to share it with you, in case any of you can glean some small bit of wisdom from it as I did.

"O Lord, remember not only the men and women of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not remember all the suffering they have inflicted on us; remember the fruits we have bought, thanks to this suffering - our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility, our courage, our generosity, the greatness of heart which has grown out of all of this, and when they come to judgment let all the fruits which we have borne be their forgiveness."

*The prayer written by an unknown prisoner in Ravensbrück concentration camp and left by the body of a dead child

Okay, thanks to my sweet friend's gentle insistence, I am writing my first children's book review. Before I do that, though, I must tell you of our decision to attend the weekly story times for toddlers at our local library. It is called "Wiggle Worms" and at the utterance of those two words, my two squiggly toddlers fly to the door with enough speed to send the dust flying! The promise of that precious 20 minutes can calm the worst tantrums and motivate the most sluggish tasks to completion. After they sing, dance, and thoroughly "shake their sillies out"; we grab some books, a couple of videos, and head for home. It is when we started making these sessions a priority every week that the real joy of library books came to reside with us. Each week we leave with our arms overflowing and Elyssa can't get enough! Her favorite thing in the world is to cuddle up with one of her favorite people and READ. She will take her turn and read to us as well. (Coincidently, I've noticed her imagination soaring!) We'll keep our favorites till they won't let us renew them anymore and keep the new ones coming. I've started going in online and reserving any books I know I want ahead of time due to recommendations or favorite authors. That makes the trip MUCH easier with the two little giggle worms I attempt to herd through the laden shelves and tables. I can't tell you enough how valuable this is to us. If any of you are not currently taking advantage of your libraries, I implore you to start!

Now for the promised review... Last week as I was sweeping through the shelves looking for books we haven't seen yet, I came across a treasure!

The Story Blanket by Ferida Wolff and Harriet May Savitz

This beautiful story will fill your hearts as soon as you see the cover. After all, who wouldn't want to be one of those adorable eager children awaiting a story on that vividly colorful blanket?! See how the shoes hang in the tree above them and tiny feet curl in expectation below them? Once I opened it and began to read, I fell in love!
In a small secluded mountain village, Babba Zarrah captivates the children with stories while they sit on her brightly patterned woolen blanket. As tender hearted Babba Zarrah fills the imaginations of the wide eyed boys and girls, she notices a hole in one of the little boy's shoes. She knows he will need new warm socks but the village is SO secluded that although they are out of wool, no one is able to get through the snow to deliver more. "Every question has an answer", Babba Zarrah says to herself, as she considers a solution. Her solution is to unravel a little of her story blanket to knit the socks. But wait, day by day the children begin to feel as though the blanket is shrinking while other villagers discover much-needed anonymous gifts such as baby blankets, shawls, mittens, and aprons. (not to mention a brilliantly illustrated cat-coat!) Who can solve the mystery? It only takes one look at the familiar vivid pattern for the children to "unravel" the storyteller's secret. Those clever villagers don't just thank their anonymous benefactor, they secretly unravel a little wool from each and every blanket to heap on her doorstep! The last page alludes to the village's cycle of generosity and selfless friendship as Babba Zarrah sits knitting a new sweater for Alexandra with a curling string pulled from the NEW story blanket.

Now we're on a roll! Names, names, and more names! Both her favorite babies have names now, only "Bitsie" got bumped to her other baby while her pink baby has been named Lula after the funny little duck Talula in the Maisy books. She has named two of her doggies after her two favorite real life doggies; DeeDee and Cruze.

Today for snack I let the girls share Madeline's strawberry yogurt. Lyssa was so excited to have "mo-get" she was jumping for joy when I gave it to her. I resisted the temptation of picking out soggy strawberries in an attempt to keep my daughter from having the same aversion as myself to chunky yogurt. She happily ate a bite or two before discovering the chunks herself and exclaimed, disappointedly, that she did not actually want the "mo-get". I rescued the soon-to-be wasted snack by offering it strawberry-free. She agreed. Daddy meanwhile was trying to convince her that if she liked strawberries she should also like them in her yogurt. To this she replied, "I don't like fruit in my mo-get!" While secretly smiling, I continued to not offer my opinion. Daddy, on the other hand, laughed and roared, "You're weird!" To which she giggled and replied, "No YOU'RE weird Daddy!" She catches on quick. ;-)

I promise Chris and I haven't brought the subject up once! She is still enamored. "I go to Ryan's house!", "Yes we saw Ryan in Idaho", "Who else did we see?", "I saw Gram-Grams, and Dennis, and Dresia..." The girl has a good memory!
She still talks about him almost daily. I love the sweet innocence of it! She is also showing her affection more and more to those she loves here, hugging friends on a whim, kissing her daddy, climbing into my lap for a cuddle. Today she kept grabbing the end of my braid and rubbing it on her face, even kissing it. I can see why, she has held that hair in Mama's embrace since she was old enough to wrap her tiny fingers around it. It was her "lovee". It is so amazing to watch her learn how to love. And being the recipient of it is beyond words! They say it only gets better but how can it? I'll have to wait and see. ;-)

Well I don't know if anyone will even notice that I have updated this blog or not but the time has come for me to face my fears and POST! I say fears because I guess I never realized the expectations that I had set up for myself to have the perfect blog. Shortly after my last post, my sweet aunt passed away and I was determined to write something clever in honor of her. In my failure to get that put together I just kept putting it off, and off, and off....until... Suddenly here we are almost two years later! I will let that go for now, but perhaps in the future I will tell you about how I miss her gentle spirit and genuine laugh.




The reason I decided to write something now is due to the latest achievement in my ever surprising little daughter's life. Seeing how the last few posts were about her eagerness to jump ahead of the expected developmental milestones, I want to tell you of her latest feats. Just to catch you up on the last year and a half, not only did she crawl at six months but she walked at 8 1/2 months, potty trained herself by 20 months and probably now thinks she's ready for kindergarten! But her latest thing is cracking us up even more! She has her first crush!!! When we went to Boise two weekends ago we visited our friends, the Mahoneys. Their oldest boy is none other than Ryan who I started watching at the age of 2 months old when I lived in Boise. Now he is eight (hard to believe!) Lyssa played with Ryan and his younger brother Michael for an hour or two and apparently that was enough. We got home and several days went by without any of us mentioning a thing... Then one day she said out of the blue, "I love Ryan!". (I'm not talking about a statement of fact, I'm talking about that way you say you love someone with your eyes twinkling, your head tilted, and your voice sighing the last half of their name." I just thought how cute it was that she remembered him, but that was only the beginning. Several times a day she asks to look at the pictures of him we took on our trip, giggling and dancing when she sees them. Not a day has gone by that she hasn't sighed and said, "Mommy, I love Ryan!". We just smile and say who else do you love? Sometimes we're on the list sometimes it's just "Gamma", "Boppa", and Maddo.