Welcome

For an introduction to Five Minute Friday, click here.

This week's one-word prompt is: Welcome

Ready?

GO.

We recently WELCOMED a new year.  Something I'd like to do this year is get in touch with my inner handy-man.  There are a few projects I hope to work on to make our home more WELCOMING.

If I write them outloud, maybe I won't forget to do them.

I'd like to reupholster Mike's favorite chair (see below), touch up the chipped paint on our banister, perhaps replace the head of the banister where the wood is splitting, and....that's probably enough.

Happy 2015!

Quick Update

Caroline was sick (just a bad cold) over Christmas break, and I keep telling people that "we" were sick, as in the three of us.  Then I remember it was just one of us.  So, those of you with more than one kid - if you have 3 sick kids, does it feel like there are 9 sick people in your house?

Here is Caroline on Christmas morning.  Not feeling her best, but still on the move, as always.

We went to my parents' house to open presents and have a delicious breakfast casserole.  Then back to our place for Christmas dinner and a long walk afterwards (well, I was waddling, that's why I'm behind everyone in this picture.  SO MUCH GOOD FOOD!!!).

For New Year's Eve, Michael babysat for us (what a good brother!) and we went to Old Town Alexandria to check out the festivities.  We checked out two venues and had dinner, Then we braved the waterfront to wait for the fireworks to start at midnight.  We waited.  And waited.  And then we went home.  It was too cold!!!  So we went home and celebrated with Michael.  For the record, we made it until 11pm!  WAY past our bedtime :)


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

Adore

For an introduction to Five Minute Friday, click here.

This week's one-word prompt is: Adore

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The things that came to mind when I read this prompt were:

"Oh Come Let Us Adore Him"

How much I adore my little girl

How the word adore has come to have a bit of a trite meaning, as in "Adorable!" but I prefer the connotation found in "adoration" that is a bit more reverent.  Adoration, to me, implies respect as well.  Like, I might look up to someone with adoration and admiration.

Also, I had someone ask me today if we had taken Christmas pictures of our baby.  Well, not really.  I guess that must be a thing, but it was so difficult to get any non-blurry pictures at her 6 month photo shoot, and we really like those pictures, so we'll just keep trying to get some mileage out of those.  You can look forward to her 1 year mark in February when I guess we're supposed to feed her copious amounts of cake and get stunningly cute photos at the same time.  

Caroline can now wave, recognizes "hi" and "bye," and mumbles "all done" after I say it (it's happened at least 3 times, so I think it's legit).  She is VERY close to walking - maybe after Christmas we'll finally have one of those baby-taking-first-steps videos.  I kind of think I'll be too excited to hold still to videotape anything, but we'll see if I can't find a third party in the room to capture the moment.

Prepare

For an introduction to Five Minute Friday, click here.

This week's one-word prompt is: Prepare

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This week I studied Luke 1.  In verses 46-55, Mary praises God.  This section of scripture is generally known as the Magnificat, or Song of Mary.  Obviously, this song of praise comes before Christ is born in Luke 2.

I like the idea of songs of praise preparing us for something.  I like the Primary song "I Wonder When He Comes Again," will heaven's angels sing?  I like singing Christmas songs to prepare us to celebrate Christ's birth.

So with that, I am off to play my clarinet as part of a community band - it's our annual Christmas concert at a local rest home!  I have to admit, the absolutely best piece we are playing this year is "The Grinch."  Next time you hear "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" on the radio, listen for the clarinet part.  Awesome.

Dear

Ooops, sorry, this was last Friday's.  Never made it from "draft" to "publish."  

For an introduction to Five Minute Friday, click here.

This week's one-word prompt is: Dear

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GO.

I needed some help getting started today, so I searched for "dear" in my e-mail inbox.  Which of course is an incredible fount of knowledge.  

The search results made me laugh - they were almost entirely from my bank, the airlines, our health insurance company etc etc.  Customer service representatives.  "Dear Ms. Ritchie."

Because "Dear" is the polite, albeit formal, way to start off an e-mail.  Which  most of us don't do anymore.

Politeness and manners are really important to me.  My parents were great in that they gave us the option to respond "Yes" or "Yes Sir/Ma'am," but "Yeah" was off the table.  I thought it was a pain growing up but now I appreciate the fact that saying "Please," "Thank you," "Excuse me," "I'm sorry," come out of my mouth often before I realize.

I want being polite to become second nature to Caroline as well.  We're (as in Mike and I) are working on saying please and thank you to her if she hands us something, or puts something back in the dishwasher instead of throwing it on the floor.  You'd be amazed, but at 9 months, I'm pretty sure she already gets it.  Can't say it, and I'm sure she often thinks "Yeah, I know what you're trying to get me to but I'd rather not."  Still, the few times she's handed something to me and clapped make me clap too :)

Notice

For an introduction to Five Minute Friday, click here.

This week's one-word prompt is: Notice

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My thoughts on the word "Notice" actually blend very well with the theme of giving thanks.  

First of all - who doesn't like being noticed?  I recognize that people differ in the way they prefer to receive recognition.  Some like some fanfare.  Some like a wordless pat on the back.  But we all like to be noticed in one way or another.

I am trying to become more aware of things people do that I am grateful for, and consciously and verbally acknowledge my gratitude toward them.  I especially try to do this with Mike (secret's out, Mike, now you know).  I think about how much I love it when Mike notices something I've done, so I figure if he filled up the car with gas while he was running errands, he would probably love it if I noticed and told him thank you (am I right, Mike?).  

Of course, we all notice when people don't do something.  Like if someone doesn't do the dishes or doesn't take out the trash.  When I was in high school, I remember thinking to myself "[they] Don't notice if you Do, Do notice if you Don't."  This is so true.  Homework.  Cleaning.  Brushing your teeth.  Putting on makeup.  So I want to focus more on "noticing if they Do" and complimenting people for whatever it is they've done.

Unrelated: I want to say thanks as well to those of you who read my blog.  Thanks for noticing me!  

STOP.  

Still

For an introduction to Five Minute Friday, click here.

This week's one-word prompt is: Still

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Yes.  Being still is good.  

But it is also fun not to be still.  My now-9-month-old is NEVER still.  I'm sure every parent says that.  However, if I were a betting woman, AND if I had a fitbit I could strap to her, I would bet GOBS of money that my baby would win any wiggle-worm-fit-bit competition.  Anyone up for the challenge?

I love that Caroline can't hold still.  She is EVERY MOMENT excited to explore and thrilled each time she discovers something new (when you've only been alive 277 days, this happens every 5 minutes, give or take).  Lots of clapping and squealing.

A good friend of mine recently blogged about her son going off to kindergarten and having a hard time sitting still to learn.  He misses his "freeplay" at home.  I can't imagine trying to get Caroline to sit still to learn; I can't even get her to stay put to change her diaper - I have to strap it to her as she's crawling away from me at a speed you wouldn't expect from something on all fours unless it was a cheetah.  

I have to admit, I don't do too well sitting still to learn either.  I remember trying to do my homework at home, and thinking "Oh, I wish Mom would come over and help me focus!"  She usually did.  I'm still not sure how I made it through college, I fell asleep in every class.  I don't mean every class maybe once a semester.  I mean every class, every day, every semester.  That was actually the main factor in me choosing to jump into a career after college instead of pursuing a masters, as most Poli Sci majors do.  Which means I met Mike.

So, not staying still is OK.  Keep moving, Caroline.

This is Caroline with her five month old cousin!  They're buddies!  And both bald.