An Update

We are in the process of moving away from using this specific platform to stay connected.  We're still praying, talking and researching what it will look like to switch over to something new but for now we're going to let things get a little quiet on this corner of the internet for the time being.  

Thank you for faithfully keeping up with us as we have learned and grown as Christians and as a family.  We value each and every one of you and we hope to stay in touch in the coming months.  

God bless you! 

Erica 

Loving Road Trips

I love road trips. I always have and in fact, its something I had always hoped that we would do as a family. When we moved to Texas, one small bright spot is that I knew we would have a least one family road trip per year - maybe more. 

At the beginning of our Texas residency, the thought of driving from TX to MN or WI and back was a bit daunting. Over time, we have mastered the art of packing the van and managing the trip where it actually seems doable and should I say, normal.

We recently wrapped up another summer road trip to Minnesota. It was 948 miles each way, took about three tanks of gas to cross the country each time, I drank a total of five caffeinated beverages, and we did it in a total of three legs - two on the way up, straight through on the way back.

During this lengthy road trip Erica and I made some observations about how our family has adapted to road-tripping. The first is that road tripping in the summer is much easier than in the winter. While it's always nice when we leave Dallas, it gets colder as we get closer to home. And, since we usually stay overnight on the way up, we have to navigate getting into a freezing cold car on one of the mornings. 

The second thing that we observed is that things go a whole lot smoother when we bring Nicole’s old potty training toilet and keep it in the back of the van. She has had challenges peeing in loud public restrooms with toilets automatically flushing on her. This time we kept the small potty in the back of the van and when we stopped, she hopped over the seat, did her thing, and then we were ready to go. With Jonah still in diapers, it made for a much smoother ride.

Third, we discovered last trip (and confirmed it this trip) is that the kids actually do better with NO SCREENS. Yes, you read that right. We did not load up any iPads, iPhones, or laptops with downloaded cartoons or movies. I’m sure there is research behind why this makes for a better ride (in fact, I know there is because Erica read a book on it) but we don’t care. It works and the kids do way better.

Checking out the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis

Fourth, Erica packs clean, healthy food for us to eat in the van from the get-go. She makes healthy sandwiches, stocks up on fruits and vegetables, and makes sure that we have lots of water to drink. We save the fast-food and junk food for the very last part of our trip. We all feel better and that contributes to everyone’s great attitude.

Finally, it seems that we have made it a tradition to stay at a hotel on the first night so that we don’t burn ourselves out in the car before we even arrive at our destination. It gives the kids something to look forward to on the drive up and it lets us get a decent night’s rest before finishing the last leg. We usually find a hotel with a great pool and some awesome food options nearby.

Jonah and Nicole looking at a creek on our stop to Living History Farm in Des Moines

Erica still spends some time in the middle seat between Nicole and Jonah reading books but even this time she spent far less time back there than normal. I think it's because they have become content on these long journeys. In fact, I don’t know that they even know that it's a long drive simply because to us, its normal. Its what we do as a family and we’ve learned to embrace it. Some of us even love it. 

Nicole and Jonah enjoying popsicles on the steps of a friend's house

Mornings with Jonah

One of the things that has always been true about our Jonah buddy is his early-to-rise tendencies.  Like his dad, it doesn't matter what time he falls asleep, he'll be up at the first signs of dawn no matter what.  He is unmistakably a morning person.  I love seeing innate character traits like that emerge in my children, but I have to admit that this one in particular has been hard for me. 

I love my morning sleep best of all and when I choose to wake up early, it's usually for the sake of spending those first quiet moments of my day with the Lord, not with Jonah.  But, I have been asking God for a new attitude about the quiet, uninterrupted time I so often spend with Jonah in the very beginning of the day.  God has been reminding me that even though I'm not spending my mornings the way I thought I would, I still have an opportunity to give God my best by loving Jonah well in the morning. 

Shawn has been able to retrieve Jonah from his crib on many occasions thanks to the handful of days he still works from home, but on the days when I'm on deck to receive our boy, our time together is pretty predictable. 

We usually pass our time by sitting side by side on the couch together.  Jonah brings his favorite blanket and asks me to tuck him in "toasty tight".  We gather up his favorite books and talk about the same things we always do as we flip through the familiar pages.  Sometimes he's ready to get up and start playing after only a few books, but most of the time we are still cozied up on the couch with a growing stack of books perched beside us when Nicole wakes up. 

Jonah listens for Nicole's door to open all morning long and when it finally does, he lets out an excited gasp, and waits with his eyebrows raised until he sees Nicole's face peek into the living room.  Face beaming and voice booming, Jonah immediately starts singing:

Good Morning, Good Morning, I'm so glad that you're awake! 

Good Morning, Good Morning, I'm so glad that you're awake! 

Nicole makes her way to the couch and after a few sleepy snuggles, and a book or two, I usually convince them that it would be a good idea for all of us to eat some breakfast.  We take our places at the table and talk about what we have on the agenda for the day.  There is peace and contentment that comes from being all together but there is also something extra special about those wee hours I share with Jonah.  

If it were up to me, both my kids would sleep in and I'd have the morning all to myself.  But thankfully, God had other plans, and He knew that Jonah would need some quality time with one of his parents before he was off and running for the day.  What I'm learning is that even some of the most inconvenient things about parenting are sacred if we allow God to speak into them.  

I hope all is well! 

Love, 

Erica 

The Half-Price Water Park Pass

Greetings everyone!  If you have read our blog for any length of time you know that one of the highlights of our Texas summer is our local waterpark called the Wet Zone.  Each summer since we have been in Texas we have purchased season passes which give us the freedom to use the park at any time and for any amount of time, even if it is just an hour.  It gives us a great outlet to go cool off for a bit and have some fun without feeling like we have to spend the whole day there to get our money's worth. 

No pass is required for kids under two so the first year we were able to get by with two season passes. Since then we have been fortunate to find deals on passes so we don't have to pay full price for three (last year) or four (this year).

Last fall on Black Friday we scored a deal on our Wet Zone passes.  They were half off! What a deal - especially as we increased our pass count from three to four.  From then until spring we practically counted down the days until the Wet Zone opened.  Word on the street was that there was even a new water feature being installed for this year!

Surprisingly the Wet Zone doesn’t open until late May and it actually closes by the end of August even though the scorching-hot weather extends beyond that window of time.  My guess is that it has more to do with the high-school labor they use to staff the park than the amount of hot weather here in TX.

Well, we watched and waited to see if they would open or stay closed because of COVID.  We diligently watched the Wet Zone social media page for any update that might give us any information on the status of the park this summer.  Finally, they decided to open! As expected, they are open four days a week instead of six and they have shortened their hours from eight hours a day down to five.  On top of that, they are reducing the number of people allowed in the park to 50% of capacity.  It's a good thing we got our passes for half off. 

This past Saturday we took our first trip to the Wet Zone.  It was our first chance to experience it at half capacity.  Let me tell you, it was so nice having so much space to ourselves.  It was well worth the half-price of admission to have so much space to ourselves. 

As I mentioned earlier, they installed a new water feature this year.  Actually, they replaced the giant water feature that was in the middle of the pool. You know, the one with the stairs and the slide and other fun things that spray water.  On this inaugural trip, we got to see and experience the new water feature.  It is half the size of the old one but, it has one of those giant buckets on the top that fills up with water then dumps it out every sixty seconds or so.  It is great fun!  There is even a better slide on it.  The kids are still a little timid when it comes to standing under where the bucket spray lands in the water but they are definitely curious and eventually will love standing under the splash created by the falling water. 

Nicole and Jonah running through the sprinkler in our back yard

In all the kids had a blast, mom got a little sunburned and I was able to take Nicole to new parts of the park because she is taller this year. 

To be honest, we were disappointed when we learned that they were cutting the hours of the park by so much.  We wondered if we would even get our money’s worth this year.  On the surface, it sounds like a bad deal.  We paid half the price yet at the same time there is half the amount of people there, we get access to more pool and the water features are better. 

All in all, I think we actually scored big this year and came out even better than we were anticipating back on that November day when we landed such a good deal on the passes.  God is good like that - He loves to bless His children.

Father's Day

There are a few holidays on the calendar that leave me feeling a little nervous as I plan for and anticipate them.  Fathers Day is one of those holidays because I have such fantastic fathers in my life that no amount of planning or celebrating feels adequate.  

Sometimes it's hard to celebrate the people you love the most but I think many good celebrations start with genuine appreciation.  With that in mind, I wanted to share a little bit about why I appreciate the fathers in my life.  

Fathers Day Breakfast 2020

My dad is faithful, loyal, consistent and involved.  He's hard working and incredibly resilient.  He has impeccable follow-through and is one of the few people I know who can dive deep into details and still keep the big picture in mind.  He raised all of his kids with the goal of launching us into a stable and secure adulthood.  The fact all four of his children are happily married is really a testament to the vision he cast all along about who we would become and the relationships that would matter most.  My dad has always honored Shawn as the most important earthly relationship I have, which has allowed my relationship with my husband and my dad to be as healthy as they possibly can be.  It's a gift that keeps on giving! 

My father-in-law is quick to laugh, down-to-earth and has good boundaries.  I have always appreciated how well he knows himself and how committed he is to the people in his life.  His unconditional acceptance of me blesses me continually.  I know that I get to show up and be exactly who I am, and that who I am is always enough for him.  

Shawn has exceeded every expectation I had for him as a father.  I loved him before we became parents, but my love for him grew in countless ways when I experienced him as a father.  He is patient, and loving.  He is consistent and clear.  He is playful and fun.  I smile every time I think about his example to our children in faith, in marriage, in work and in life.  He is a man of incredible character and he never hesitates to be involved in the nitty gritty details of our daily lives.  He changes diapers without being asked, he is excellent at cleaning sticky fingers and he has an unmatched ability to pick up the living room in lightening speed.  While he is completely capable of handling things without me, it's his choice to continually parent with me that strengthens us both.  Shawn is a great dad, but he's also a phenomenal teammate and I am thankful everyday that we are on the same team.   

Happy belated Fathers Day! 

Love, 

Erica 

Sprinkler Day

One aspect of our shelter-in-place experience was that, for the most part, we had great weather.  We navigated almost that entire period of being at home by spending hours upon hours playing in our driveway.   The kids enthusiastically greeted every single vehicle and pedestrian who walked by and "seeing" other people made all of us feel more content with our stay-at-home orders. 

As days turned into weeks, we had countless opportunities to exchange pleasantries and small talk with the neighbors who walked by.  As a result, we developed a few new relationships with some of the people in our neighborhood.  We call them our "COVID friends" because we may never have met or gotten to know them without our extended time in the driveway.

Since so many precautions are still in place here, the majority of families with young kids continue to have a parent at home with their kids most of the time.  We decided as a family to take advantage of the hot weather and invite some neighbors over once a week for sprinkler day. 

Jonah and Nicole playing out front together

We plan a day, invite neighbors and then open our backyard up for the kids to run through the sprinkler during the steamy afternoon heat.  We've chosen different pockets of neighbors in each week, in hopes of eventually introducing them all to each other.   Regardless of who comes, it has been an absolute blast.  Jonah is always the first one to be soaking wet and grinning from ear to ear and often, Nicole is too busy talking to her friends to run through the sprinkler at all.

We have loved being able to turn our sprinkler on and enjoy the sunshine and our neighbors at the same time.  Sometimes I find myself wishing that our public pools would open, but then I remind myself that if the pools were open, we wouldn't have a need for sprinkler day.  And, I'm pretty sure sprinkler day is already shaping up to be one of our favorite memories of the year.

I hope all is well!
Love,
Erica

Sibling Conflict

On most early afternoons you can find me redeeming the quiet moments of nap time in the kitchen.   Nicole plays in her room, Jonah sleeps, and I do chores.  Not only do I relish this (usually) uninterrupted hour of productivity, I also really enjoy listening to audiobooks or tuning into various podcasts on motherhood while I chip away at my tasks.  A few months ago, everyone had just settled into their various nap time occupations when I found myself eagerly tuning into a podcast on managing sibling conflict. 

Visiting a statue while on an adventure walk 

Things had just started to occasionally erupt between Jonah and Nicole so I was leaning in extra close in hopes of gaining any slice of wisdom from a few seasoned moms on the topic.  I distinctly remember one point in the conversation when one of the moms said, "I often find myself standing in the middle of living room, redirecting the same fight for the umpteenth time and so I finally just say, 'everyone outside!' and then, something amazing happens - the conflict disappears.  The same kids who couldn't stop going at it with each other are suddenly playing catch in the backyard. They just needed to go outside all along."

I paused the podcast long enough to think through countless times when this moms observation had been right in my home as well.  My own experiences quickly confirmed that there was something about being indoors that triggered conflict and something about being outside that diffused it.  Sometimes fights happen outside too, so it's certainly not a cure-all, but for the most part, the call to head outdoors does diffuse pretty much any mounting frustration between the kids.

Conflict still pops up intermittently throughout our days but having a tool that usually diffuses it has given me greater opportunities to speak calmly to my kids about the issue we just left behind.  For Nicole, I am able to ask questions like, "what was the problem?" or "how could you have handled that differently?"  and for Jonah I get to teach key phrases like, next time say, "turn, please!" or "may I have that back?" or "can we trade?" Each time I hear Jonah speak one of these phrases or see Nicole choosing to do things differently than she did before, I know we're getting somewhere. 

I expect conflict to follow Jonah and Nicole for their entire relationship, but my hope is that from a young age they learn how to resolve it peacefully.   Somedays involve a lot more spontaneous outside breaks than others, but I remind myself often that it's always worth it.  I pray that Jonah and Nicole's ability to navigate conflict with one another gives them the tools they need to peacefully navigate conflict with future friends, classmates, coworkers and neighbors.  Even when the issues feel temporary or foolish, I know that striving to live at peace with each other, apologizing for wrongdoing and regularly extending forgiveness are all vital parts to them thriving as adults. 

Like most aspects of parenting, having a long view helps me to handle the immediate issues with more patience and perspective.  And, when all else fails we put on love because love covers a multitude of sins. 

How do you handle sibling conflict?
Love,
Erica