Look Who's Walking Now!

Check out this video of some of Cora's first steps! I took this video this morning. The quality isn't great since I took it on our camera, but it'll have to do!




Here's the story:

Sunday night, Mommy was sitting on the couch and Daddy was sitting on the floor about 5 feet away, leaning against the loveseat. Cora has a tiny stuffed Pooh bear and a tiny stuffed turtle, and she was chewing on the turtle, then crawled to Mommy and handed it off to her. On a whim, I handed her Pooh and turtle, and said "go hand those to Daddy!"

Who would have guessed it, she teetered off, a toy in each hand, and walked all the way to Matt! She did this several times, going back and forth, bringing those toys, first to daddy, then to mommy. :-) Little, tiny baby steps, but our little girl can walk now!

How exciting! It's a little sad, because I was holding on to her being my little baby as long as she wasn't walking, but I am very happy to see how she's growing up! She's so special to us, and soon she'll be walking EVERYWHERE! For now though, it is still faster for her to crawl :-)

Sorry for holding out so long to tell you all, but I really wanted to make sure I got video footage of her doing this for "proof" Hope you can view it! It took a really, really, really long time to upload!

Helper

One of my goals lately has been to make a conscious effort to have Cora (my 1 year old daughter) help me around the house.

How can a 1 year old help her mother?? Well, it's not so much that she is ACTUALLY helping, but by her doing the things that I know she can do, that I have asked her to do, perhaps she believes she is.

• When I am carrying her when I leave a room, I ask her to please turn out the light (then I quickly walk away so she doesn't get a chance to flip the lights on and off a whole bunch!). This actually takes a very long time, because she hasn't quite figured out the "physics" of the way a light switch works 100%. But Mommy asks her to please turn out the light, eventually she does, and I thank her for doing it
• When I sweep the floor in the dining room, I have her help by moving the chairs out of the way. She loves doing this. She doesn't always (ever!) put them where I would have put them, and she needs guidance to put them back where they belong, but Mommy asked her to move them, and when she complied she got an enthusiastic thank you.
• Over the weekend, Matt and I treated ourselves to a cup of ice cream, and I had dropped my spoon. I asked her, "Please hand Mommy the spoon, so you can have some Ice cream with us" And she VERY QUICKLY did just that! So she proved that she is able to follow simple instructions (especially for a little ice cream!)

Cora really enjoys picking things up and handing them to people, or emptying containers (or drawers!) On rare instances, she will re-fill the containers that she just emptied, but generally not fully. I will try asking her to please put all the kitchen towels back in the drawer she just totally emptied. oh, and to fold them back up first! Do you think it will work?! :-)

Anyway, this may seem all silly, and it may in time prove not to work. I am hoping that by really fostering her will to help me, that she will continue to want to do so after she actually CAN help me. Soon she will have the ability to empty the dishwasher, sweep the floor, and so on, but will she still desire to help me if I prevent her from "helping" me now?

My hope is that while it is taking me longer to do things now by having Cora "help" that I will foster in her a desire to serve that her mother didn't have. I clearly remember being a stubborn, ungrateful child who REFUSED to help on cleaning Saturdays (sorry mom and dad!) I am really hoping to be able to avoid at least some of that kind of selfish attitude in my daughter. It may or may not work, but it can't hurt to try, right?

Does anyone have any other ideas for how I can have Cora help me around the house?? I'd love to hear your suggestions!

Three Blogs?!?

Am I nuts?

well, probably, but the reason behind me writing three blogs is because I just have too much variation. I don't want to bore people with stuff they don't want to read about, so I will need to be more specific in each blog.

This one, A Day in the Life http://adayinthelifeofnicoleblog.blogspot.com/, will mostly focus on family and home-related stuff.

Then there's Adventures on Arabee http://www.adventuresonarabee.blogspot.com/ which covers all things horse-related. Read about my venture into Endurance Riding, my dream for driving carriage, training, riding bitless and barefoot, and other horse things.

My newest venture into blogland is My Indiana Home http://www.formyindianahome.blogspot.com/ No "real" posts yet, but I plan to use it to talk about farm-related things. Raising livestock, why I think it is totally moral thing to eat meat, and why farmers (in my opinion) both crop and livestock are some of the more misunderstood people in our country, and probably worldwide.

Of course, each blog will likely include things from the other two, because really it is all so intrinsically related in my life that I won't be able to help but have some drift.

Just FYI

Getting Brave-r!

Check out Cora the cutie! She's GREAT at standing up by herself, but just hasn't *quite* got the guts to take more than 2 or so leaning/reaching steps of walking. I love this picture - doesn't she look like she just is seriously considering walking to her daddy?



But, I was there. Right after the picture was taken, she dropped to her knees, and CRAWLED.


She's still my little baby for a little while longer...

Camping Stuff

I posted previously about how my family went camping for the first time over Labor day weekend in 2008. We enjoyed that, and being as Matt's hobby (jeeping) is easier to do on a camping weekend, as well as my hobby (endurance riding?) also requires camping (but with the horse!), we figured we'll be doing lots more of it.

For Christmas I had requested some camping stuff - dishes, utensils, some Lodge cast iron cookware, and got it, and was scratching my head as to how in the world to store and transport it.

Then, I remembered one of the wedding gifts we had received (july 2005). It's a "picnic cooler/caddy" and it came with 4 plates, cups, spoons, forks, knives, a cutting board, a "cheese" knife, salt and pepper shakers, and a wine bottle opener. All the utensils have special straps to secure them with, and there is a nice-sized insulated zipper pocket. Would all the new camping stuff we got fit inside???

Yes! It does, it is perfect :-)

**This is the picnic caddy filled up, with enough plates, cups, and silverware for 8 people! Plus some handy utensils for dinner prep! The thing on the left side is an insulated wine bottle holder! What a fancy picnic that would be :-) hehe. I'm guessing we won't be using it for the purpose it was intended for!


**This picture shows it mostly zipped, with a view of the insulated cooler section, which is holding 4 bowls and 4 cups. There is still room for more, if needed. Another view of the wine holder, and the back shows that it's intended for use as a backpack, but I have stuck a tablecloth in the straps instead. There's another carrying strap on the top I can use.
Not bad for a once-forgotton wedding present, hey? :-)

customization in progress...

You can expect to see some aesthetic changes in my blog in the next while.

I've already changed a bit, but it isn't "perfect" yet.

More changes to come!

2009

Happy New Year everyone!

Well, my family certainly didn't stay up to see the new year in....we were all in bed by 9! Between Cora's teeth coming in (all of them at once, it seems...she is miserable) and me just coming up from being sick, and Matt running around taking care of the both of us, we were all so tired!

I don't usually make New Year's resolutions, but I think this year calls for at least one.

A little background first: There's a place called Stream Cliff Farm nearby our home, that I love to visit with friends and family (mostly women....it's almost too girly for the guys, but not quite). Everyone always says it's so relaxing to come there and dine in the tea room, and wander through the gardens, check out the gift shops, and it IS lovely place. I try to go as often as I can, they are only open in the gardening months, and I usually make it three or four times per year. A visit to Stream Cliff leaves a refreshing feeling.

My little family lives on the farm that was built by my husband's great-great-grandparents, on top of a hill, with a beautiful view all around of pastures with the charolais/angus beef herd, the goats and horses, the pond, and the river. There's a creek that runs through one of the pastures at the bottom of the hill, and when it's not too dry you can hear the water running peacefully into it. Since I started staying at home (and after we had done quite a bit of landscaping work around the house) my Dad began marveling each time my parents would come for a visit how nice it is to be at our home, that it's a peaceful place. (below is a photo Matt's uncle took from his paraplane of our homeplace)

Anyway, at a recent visit to Stream Cliff, a friend of mine remarked that she'd love to be able to come there all the time, it was so relaxing, and what was it about the place that made it that way? It got me thinking, and I can't really think of a good reason why our homes can't be that place. Can't we make our homes peaceful havens of rest from a busy and hectic world? I think we can, and that is part of my New Year's Resolution for 2009.

This has been a goal of mine for quite some time, but I think that now with things in our world being so crazy it seems, that 2009 is a great time to pounce on that opportunity. I actually wrote out a list of 6 goals I had (on january 31, 2007) and it's posted on my bulletin board by the computer, it's full of good stuff, and I may share the entirety of it some day, but here is #3 and 4 on that list:

• Make our home a pleasant place to be. Keep it clean and tidy, decorate it so that our surroundings are pleasing to the eye, all without spending too much money.
• Grow a flower garden around our home and landscape it in a pleasing way, so that we can enjoy our yard and feel proud of it, and eat produce from our vegetable garden.

I've already got a good start on some of these things, but there is always more that could be done. I think this is something that really starts in the heart. Somewhere in Proverbs it says that it is better to live on the corner of the rooftop than to live in a house with a quarrelsome wife. (imo the same is true of the rest of the family members, but I know it seems women can be more.....irritable, and mouthy!) So, I will start with attitudes, then work from the inside of the home out.

What ideas do you have for creating a "homey" "peaceful" "resting" feeling at home?

What New Year's Resolutions are you working on in 2009?

looking forward to your comments :-)

Parent's Study

At my church, we have just begun a new Bible study for parents, based on the Bible and also using the book Leaving a Godly Legacy by Charles Stanley.

It is not at all too late to join in!! Plenty of room for more parents to come! At the first study, we had three couples, and went over the introduction and first chapter of the book. It talked about the goals of the book, we discussed personal parenting goals and hopes for the study, and it outlined some of the guidelines for keeping it a Godly study (confidentiality, stay focused on Bible, etc.). Chapter 2 is going to begin digging into the Bible and seeing how we can use what God is teaching us to teach our children.

The next study is going to be on Thursday, January 8th, 2009 at 6:30pm. If you know me and are interested in this study, email me, we can get it worked out!

(**I must confess that part of the joy of blogging comes in sharing photos!! Can't help it!**)

My Christmas List

Every year I am asked for a Christmas list - you know, a list of things for my loved ones to choose from to buy gifts for me. That's what Christmas is all about, right? Ha. I've been struggling with Christmas this year, for the first time.

It started with an invitation to take our daughter to a "Santa Party." She is one. Santa is NOT REAL. Already we are being pressured into teaching our daughter about good ole' santa who delivers presents to all the good little girls and boys in one night in a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer. Cashiers at stores ask her (she's one!!) if Santa is going to come at christmas. Well, we are going to the santa party, but folks, we are going to tell her that santa is made-up.

If we teach her the line about this fat guy in a red suit that can fit through chimneys, how in the world should we expect her to REALLY believe us about Jesus, who was born to a virgin (ha!) did a bunch of miracles, never did anything wrong (ha!), was killed, and rose from the dead (ha!) to save believers' souls. I mean, really - without the Holy Spirit who can convict us that God created the universe and can do anything, this whole Christianity thing is almost as unbelievable as Santa Claus. So we fill our children's heads with stories about Santa, and the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy, and the real Christmas Story. If the first three turn out to be false, why would they believe the last????

Especially when we're running around, baking food, putting up decorations, lights, trees, writing christmas cards, buying more, more, more for people who don't really need it. We know the truth about real christmas. We know it's about the special gift of our newborn king and savior, but we sure don't act like it. We're ignoring the real reason for the season and we don't care. We like getting presents!!

I hope next year when I am asked for my "christmas list" I will ask for my family members to use their money to give to those much less fortunate than I. Then Christmas will begin to get back some of it's real meaning. If Jesus as the newborn saviour of the whole world allowed himself to be born in a barn and worshiped by shepherds, can't I give up my list of "wants" when there are so many truly IN NEED of the basics - food, water, clothing, shelter?? We are called to be like Jesus, who came to serve, lets start honoring Him on His birthday, rather than honoring ourselves in indulgence, when so many don't even have a meal a day.

Check out this video - it's awesome.

untimely death........

.........was the title in the subject line in a forwarded email sent to me from Jacke at http://endurancegranny.blogspot.com/ Pretty interesting facts, so I wanted to share it here! Can anyone really say that God doesn't have a sense of humor, or that He doesn't care about us, or listen to what we say? You bet He does!

DID YOU KNOW THESE FACTS?
I SURE DIDNT TILL NOW


Death is certain but the Bible speaks about untimely death!


Make a personal reflection about this......


Very interesting, read until the end.....
It is written in the Bible (Galatians 6:7):


'Be not deceived; God is not mocked:
for whatsoever a man sow,




Here are some men and women
who mocked God:


John Lennon(Singer):

Some years before, during his interview with an American Magazine, he said:

'Christianity will end, it will disappear.
I do not have to argue about
that. I am certain.

Jesus was ok,

but his subjects were too simple,

today we are more famous than Him' (1966).


Lennon, after saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, was shot six times.



Tancredo Neves(President of Brazil ):
During the Presidential campaign, he said if he got 500,000 votes from his party, not even God would remove him from Presidency.

Sure he got the votes, but he got sick a day before being made President, then he died.


Cazuza(Brazilian composer, singer and poet):
During A show in Canecio ( Rio de Janeiro ),

while smoking his cigarette, he puffed out some smoke into the air and said:'God, that's for you.'


He died at the age of 32 of LUNG CANCER in a horrible manner.


The man who built the Titanic:

After the construction of Titanic, a reporter asked him how safe the Titanic would be.

With an ironic tone he said:
'Not even God can sink it'


The result:I think you all know what happened to the Titanic



Marilyn Monroe(Actress)
She was visited by Billy Graham during a presentation of a show.
He said the Spirit of God had sent him to preach to her.
After hearing what the Preacher had to say, she said:
I don't need your Jesus'.

A week later, she was found dead in her apartment

Bon Scott(Singer)
The ex-vocalist of the AC/DC. On one of his 1979 songs he sang:
'Don't stop me; I'm going down all the way, down the highway to hell'.

On the 19th of February 1980, Bon Scott was found dead, he had been choked by his own vomit.

Campinas(IN 2005)
In Campinas , Brazil a group of friends, drunk, went to pick up a friend.....

The mother accompanied her to the car and was so worried about the drunkenness of her friends and she said to the daughter holding her hand, who was already seated in the car:

'My Daughter, Go With God And May He Protect You.'
She responded: 'Only If He (God) Travels In The Trunk, Cause Inside Here.....It's Already Full '


Hours later, news came by that they had been involved in a fatal accident, everyone had died,
the car could not be recognized what type of car it had been, but surprisingly, the trunk was intact.

The police said there was no way the trunk could have remained intact. To their surprise, inside the trunk was a crate of eggs, none was broken

Christine Hewitt(Jamaican Journalist and entertainer)said the Bible (Word of God) was the worst book ever written.

In June 2006 she was found burnt beyond recognition in her motor vehicle.

Many more important people have forgotten that there is no other name that was given so much authority as the name of Jesus.


Many have died, but only Jesus died and rose again, and he is still alive.