Wonderous Insight

During each gathering in my women's Bible study, we each share what wonderous thing we have learned from our study. It's interesting to see how God has spoken to our hearts during each of our individual studies.

You may have noticed I have been reading David: 90 Days to a Heart Like His. I am 80 days into the 90 days of study, and one of the earliest days of study is still one of my favorite.

In 1 Samuel 1:19-28, Hannah conceived and gave birth to Samuel. Hannah had been childless, and had prayed for a child with the promise that she would give the child back to the Lord. When Samuel was weaned (~3) she took him and presented him to the Lord. Verse 28 tells us "He worshipped the Lord."

We learn that the Herbrew word for worship used here is "shachah." Bible commentaries tell us this word isn't used in the general sense of worship, but specifically to bow down, to prostrate oneself as an act of respect before a superior being." In other words, little 3 year old Samuel bent down and bowed before the God of all creation.

Wow! Samuel learned his faith from his mother, Hannah. As a mother, I want to have faith like Hannah to share as she does in 1 Samuel 2:2 "There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no rock like our God."

And we know the rest of the story: Samuel becomes the divinely ordained leader of Israel and later anoints God's chosen leader for his people. Wow! What a blessing to Hannah for her faithfulness.

Mug shot

My photo to travel the world.

New shoes? Already?

Seven weeks ago we went shoe shopping and got Colin his first pair of real tennis shoes. $30 later after a trip to the outlet, and we had a pair of nice extra wide shoes. Needless to say, with the need for extra wide, this now rules out shoe shopping at places like Target.

Today we go in for some brown shoes for fall, and we measure just to check. New shoe size, please. He's a half size bigger (and almost pushing a whole size) in just 7 weeks. Man, I need to take stock in Stride Rite. Will I be buying new shoes every 7 weeks for the next year? All that ravioli I mentioned in my last posting is going right into his feet! The sales clerk gave me the advice to scotch guard the shoes for longer wear. I laughed to myself thinking, "We'll outgrow them before he could POSSIBLY wear them out!"

Not Movin' Fast Enough

Quick funny story from this evening...I was milling around in the kitchen picking things up off the counter so I could get dinner ready for Colin. I guess I wasn't moving fast enough, as he grabbed an avocado off the counter and tried biting through the outer skin. I put the not-yet-ripe avocado back and finished at the sink to turn around and find that he had grabbed a huge peach off the counter and was sitting on the floor of the kitchen just chowing down...he was hungry and figured it was "fend for yourself night" at the Sturms.

He must be on a growth spurt. He ate 2 pieces of pizza at dinner on Sunday -- as much as I did -- and tonight he ate a huge portion of ravioli, along with some veggies, and of course, the peach!

Sunday: Play Day with Dad

We went for an afternoon hike on an urban trail. It's one of our favorites for a good, quick workout (beautiful, too, with all of the surrounding forest.)

Colin then enjoyed a visit to feed the ducks at the pond at the downtown park, followed by some playtime at the playground. He loves anything that bounces!

Past Week In Review

Kathy's Shower at Azteca

Here's a recap from this past week:

Colin continued to enjoy his visit with Grandma Walker -- it was great to have her here during her break between classes. School starts back this week, so "Happy first day of class, Grandma!" During her visit, we enjoyed outings to parks, The Seattle Aquarium (Otters are SO fun to watch), and several yummy dinners (Colin liked sharing Grandma's Chicken Phad Thai from Thai Ginger)

At the end of last week, we went and visited Dad at work in downtown Seattle. A visit from a cute youngster always guarantees a drop in productivity throughout the office. Since I (mom) worked there as well, there are many people to visit around the office. We then joined the mounds of tourists at Pike Place Market and got the most gorgeous flower bouquet for $15!

Then on Friday night I threw a shower for a friend, Kathy, who is expecting her 2nd. Second baby showers are fun -- it's kind of like a girls' night out dinner. We ate at Azteca, rather than sitting around and playing little "baby bootie" games. Great conversation and lots of fun! This will be my first of MANY baby showers this fall. Did I mention I'm about the only one in my group of friends that isn't expecting? Whew!

C-C-C-Cold

OK -- So I know I'm a wimp, but this has sure been a cool summer! I was lamenting yesterday that I need a good, warm summer to thaw my bones in preparation for the long cold days of winter. The trees are "confused," as well -- many are showing beautiful colors of fall. Fall? I barely got to wear my shorts! And when it's at least 60 outside, it's a shorts day for Colin. In Houston you'd be bundling your tyke in a sweatshirt and jeans.

Living in Texas, August guaranteed you heat and humidity so intense that you needed a shower after a quick walk from the house to the car! Dad tells me that Houston has been unseasonably mild, as well, though.

On a related note, our munchkin was wide awake and talking at 3 am. Still talking at 4 am. So I went into his room and it was 63 degrees! I wrapped him back in a few blankets -- poor kiddo was cold!

Remind me of this posting next August when we have 3 straight weeks of 90 degree weather and we can't get the house cooled down : )

Sweet Retreat

Ahhhh! We just returned from a night away from our little munchkin. Long overdue! We drove to the Alderbrook Resort and enjoyed a waterfront view, and did....nothing! OK, so we watched the seals bob in and out of the water, enjoyed a bottle of a Page Cellars Syrah (YUMMY and highly recommended), and just sat by the firepit and visited with other guests.

This resort has been renovated in recent years and is a gorgeous sanctuary off of the Hood Canal. The resort has a dock with rental kayaks and fishing, and the resort is complete with an indoor pool and hot tub, as well as a spa and gourmet restaurant.

Other parents will appreciate what a big deal it was to sleep for 11 hours straight, as well. A little bit of heaven on the Hood Canal.

The "Stuff" Busters

This past weekend we got a "bee in our bonnet" and started clearing out the attic of all of the boxes that were taking up space and had no label as to the contents. With our growing mound of kid stuff, we need more space!

We opened up boxes of "stuff" that moved from Texas, to Indiana. from Indiana to Washington. And from our condo to our house. What is this stuff, anyways? We sorted through a box of college function t-shirts (including the shirt from the Ivory Ball, our first date ever -- shouldn't that be framed, or something silly like that?), green and gold momentos (pom poms, growl towels, and a Baylor line jersey), as well as our college pledge books. I had flashbacks to the days of having to type my the pages for my pledge book for my business fraternity (Type? We actually had to type them on an old fashioned typewriter? Do they still do that now? Bad memory! I suddenly feel 19 and tired all over again, craving a Dr Pepper at 1 am...)

Some of the memories are much more fun to look through -- like the silver charm bracelet from Matt's late grandmother, choc full of unique charms I'm sure I've never seen today (such as a silver lobster in a trap or a functioning German beer stein.)

But most of the boxes were full of just...stuff! And guess what we hauled out to the recycling bin last night? Most of our old college text books! Good bye accounting and biology! May you be recycled into something more beautiful like a nice greeting card or some pretty wrapping paper! The bin was so full that it weighed more than Matt -- we were hoping to see the recycle truck come by so we could get a glimpse of the bin being hauled away.

Our garage is still full of stuff in organized "piles" waiting for a new home, either via Craigslist or by way of Value Village. Good riddance, stuff!

15 Months Old

Happy 15 month birthday, Colin! Today was marked mostly by the trip to the pediatrician and more shots. Always a prelude to a sleepy day for our boy! The opening conversation with the pediatrician was similar to the ones I seem to have with parents of toddlers:

"So, he's really tall."

"Yeah, gets it from his Dad."

"Wow, so how tall's his dad?"

Sometimes I think they wonder if Matt is like Yao Ming.

Colin is definitely showing his adventurous toddler side -- a little too adventurous at times. We were doing nursery duty on Sunday and Colin crawled up on the table during snack time while I was looking away. The children's ministry leader walked by and asked I remove the child from the table..., "Oh, that one's mine...sorry!"

I was reading an article about 4 general types of toddlers -- wallflowers, spitfires, zen lovers, and explorers. He's definitely an explorer, so the pediatrician warned today to do even more childproofing, as this adventurous side will be prone to lead him to more accidents than others his age. Fortunately, other than a few small tumbles at the playground, we haven't yet had any big uh-oh's!

Cleaning Fairy

So we were discussing yesterday how to get organized with household "chores" -- you know, the "fun" things like laundry, dishes, and grocery shopping. You see in the bleary-eyed days when Colin was really young (aka waking lots at night) I would lull myself to sleep with visions of the housecleaning fairy coming while we slept at night, and by the 3 am waking the "fairy" would have left a half dozen clean bottles and parts (love Dr Browns bottles, hate the 4 parts), a clean kitchen, clean baby laundry, and a fresh stack of diapers waiting for a new day.

Maybe it was my mommy brain just hoping for magic, but I can clearly even remember thinking, "And if this magical "fairy" could also get up with Colin at 5 am so I could just sleep until 7 am that would be fabulous, too." OK, so I'm not really crazy, but don't you other moms think this is a great concept? We keep telling the cat, Elliot, that he needs to pull his weight around here -- maybe learn to balance the checkbook or at least clean his own litter box. Not happening.

And then on the Today Show this morning, this woman that had her 17th baby is sitting in her living room with 16 other perfectly groomed children just days after giving birth to #17, and she sounds like the most organized woman I have ever met. I can barely recall what I looked like a few days post pardum (thanks to a few pictures), but I couldn't have gotten myself ready for a media interview, let alone one that included that many other little people. Eeeks! she must be like my Grandad Harold and have a fierce ability to delegate. OK, Elliot, you're up in the middle of the night. I expect a clean kitchen by morning. Something tells me I better keep hoping for that magical cleaning fairy.

Berries Out the Wazoo

Remember the superbowl commercial during the height of the dotcom boom where the guy had a medical condition the doctor diagnosed as money out the wazoo? Well, we have BERRIES out the wazoo! On Saturday we journeyed down the street to the row of blackberry bushes and loaded up on yummy blackberries (~3 lbs). This is generally a dangerous activity, as these crazy, weed growing shrubs have the prickliest thorns that will get you when you tug on their fruit. The best ones will literally just fall right into your hand.

These grow like crazy around here -- Matt even cut them out of our backyard last year and they returned -- very resilient! They're everywhere, so I can hardly imagine paying for them at the store!

Then on Sunday we went Blueberry picking, again at the farm located just a mile from our house. Colin LOVES blueberries and was rather proficient at picking them and eating them right away...he ate so many he wasn't too hungry for dinner! He did manage to pick a few and toss them in our bucket, which yielded 3 lbs.

Colin also learned if you grab the bush and shake, the ripest berries will fall down, making it easier to pick up from the ground. And thus so clearly illustrating the business jargon of "shaking the bushes"....Anywhooo, yes, we have berries out the wazoo!

Day in a Bottle

"Future Blue Angel in Practice"

Gorgeous Day? Check. Blue Angels screaming at our treeline? check. Navy ships in the sound? Check. Traffic tied up on the floating bridge? check.

If I could bottle this day, I would save it and open it up on a dreary, winter, cold, and rainy day about 5 months from now (perhaps on a day when a wind storm blows out the electricity.) It's just a perfect day! I would also want to bottle the excitement of Seafair. People around town all seems so excited, and with good reason. The Blue Angels started practice today, and they zipped overhead so close to the ground that it literally sends chills through your whole body! Especially when you're in your own driveway! Colin was so super excited this morning to point out the "big blue birds." Just wait until he can see them closer! We had lunch in the yard, hoping for a closer flyover, but I'm sure tomorrow will be fantastic, as well.

For those of you non-PNW folks, this is the time of year that we wait for the 11 other months of the year. It's as exciting (almost) as Christmas. I was visiting a friend here in August of 2000, and I had heard about the hydroplane races and even saw a few practicing. Little did I know I would get pulled into the excitement many years later.

As a tradition in Matt's office, Friday is Pagliocci Pizza and Blue Angels day. Everyone gathers for lunch in the panoramic conference room and watches the Angels. Rumor and old office lore have it that in years past they would come screaming between the buildings downtown so that you could see the expression on the pilot's face. Maybe. But the thought of that close glimpse is indeed exciting.

Another exciting thing we have never done, but we hope to do someday, is go out on the water for Seafair. The big question around here seems to be, "What are you doing for Seafair?" Even my hair stylist was considering going out with friends on a boat and tying up to the logboom.

I'm going to go get that bottle ready just in case...

Designer's Challenge

"We took an outdated, 1980's powder bath, and decided to give it a bit of zip. Out with the terra cotta red tiles that extended over the toilet, and in with a gray/green granite counter. The mirror and lighting got a much needed bit of punch, as well. Matt worked all weekend long while the rest of of were off playing in Boulder."
~ Good job, Dad!