Activities for the active

As much as it makes me cringe to admit this, Cadence really does better with structure. I hate planning and structuring my day, preferring instead to be a free spirit and go wherever the wind blows. But leave Cadence, just for a few minutes, to find her own entertainment and she will end up here:

or here...or worse!

So my ears are open if you have any ideas of how to entertain a one year old! I've already discovered that any activity Cadence enjoys is going to need to be done outside or in the bath tub with out clothes to make the clean up process easier. Here are a few successful activities we have found recently:

This is a mixture of 2 c cornstarch and 1 c water with a few added drops of food color. Cadence loved the texture...solid like silly putty until you relax your hand and then it drips like slime back into the bowl. I found the recipe online called "Goop" or "Obeleg".

It is really hot where we live, so I froze some of Cadence's toys in a bread pan with water (dyed blue from food color) and set her in the yard with a spoon to break it up.

This actually set a record in holding her attention longer than any activity to date: 17 minutes!

Bathtub paint is probably Cadence's favorite pass time at the moment. She asks for it at every bath time lately, which is about 4 times per day!

This is so easy: 1 T corn starch, a few drops of food color and a large squirt of baby shampoo/wash. The baby wash makes it easy to remove. Cadence always ends up dumping the whole solution into the tub water to see the bath change color.

Better go make jello so that she will have something to play with tomorrow!

Epic Vacation

So while I spent the weeek lounging by the pool,

and enjoying the sunset from the beach,

notice the mighty volcano in the distance...that's the island where we live...

Who am I kidding? I was running around like mad trying to keep up with this little monkey who doesn't do anything in slow motion!

Jody set off with friends to climb a mountain...

but we suspect he spent most of the week goofing around.

Now this wasn't just any mountain, it was the second largest volcano in our country,

and, at over 12,000 feet,

a gruelling 4 day trek.

They slept like this,

began their days at the break of dawn,

cooked and ate like this,

and beheld undiscovered beauty like this.

This is Jody at the top of the world!

Thankfully he made it back down to sea level.

New Places and friends

This month our adventure took us to another island for a few days. They are famous for their pottery.

We enjoyed making new friends.

Notice Cadence leaning back, trying to keep her distance from this suspicious new friend!

Cadence took her turn at the potter's wheel,

She also enjoyed playing in the water.

We visited a fun water park

Cadence had so much fun.

We enjoyed watching the sun set over the beach.

Leaping from the furniture

I have found that it is far more delightful to photograph my child than to actually discipline her. So when Jody called out from the kitchen, "Jordan, come quick. You'll never guess what she's doing now!", I grabbed my camera. How does a one year old think this stuff up?

At least she thought to throw the cushion down before she jumped. She has instinctive landing skills: feet first, drop to her bottom, giggle and climb back on the sofa for another jump.

All our eggs in one basket

Saving egg shells for Easter cupcakes inspired me to continue saving the egg shells that we use each week. I am always on the hunt for an activity that Cadence can do. When we had a whole basket of egg shells, I made a batch of finger paint (1/4c cornstarch + 2c water and boil until thick. Add a few drops of dishwashing liquid and food color) and filled the eggs, gluing tissue paper over the holes.

Cadence had the best time throwing them and stomping on them

And she wasn't the only one who enjoyed it...who doesn't want to throw an egg just for fun?

The only problem now is that she thinks all eggs are meant to be thrown!

The neighbors gathered to peek around the corner and watch us...being the only foreigners pretty much makes us a freak show and they couldn't believe we were wasting so many good eggs. Jody had to explain that these were just the shells, but I know that they must have gone home and told their families how bizarre we are to let our 1 year old crush all those eggs! Secretly, they probably were hoping we would offer them an egg to throw!

The day without pictures

It should have been a different kind of day entirely. It should have been a bright, happy day. Instead it rained, stormed, all day, which was fine with me. It should have been a memorable day marked with photographs from every angle. Instead, I spent the day at home in my pajamas on a day that will be forgotten. There should have been gifts. There should have been flowers. There should have been introductions and smiles and joy. There should have been a new baby to cuddle and welcome into our family. Instead, there was the long stretch of a day that wouldn't end and was eerily ordinary, the same as every other day. Today was my due date...the day that "Asia" was expected to arrive and meet her big sister, Cadence. But she didn't come today. We lost her after only 12 short weeks back in the fall. On days like this, I can almost feel the putrid breath of our enemy on my face...the "thief who comes only to steal, kill and destroy"(John 10:10 NIV). I am reminded of how broken and fallen this world is...a world where babies die without even a birthday and where mother's arms ache with emptiness for the child who was loved and wanted and never held or kissed. Perhaps somewhere down the road, I will look back, with clarity, and see God in all of this. Perhaps when I look back, I will see God's back like Moses did. "When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back" (Exodus 33:22-23 NIV). Is that how it works? When life gets dark, is it only because God has tucked me in a cleft of the rock and covered me, protected, with His hand? Do we not feel Him in the darkest times because that is when the evil of this world smothers us, threatens to extinguish our joy? When it seems like the dark is creeping up to swallow us, is it really just that He has put us in a cleft and covered us with His hand for protection? How long do we have to wait until we can see His backside glory? Until we get to Heaven? How I long for Heaven-where I can comfort and celebrate my children who live there...where I can look back on this journey with clarity. "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part but then I shall know just as I also am known"(1 Corinthians 13:12). Until then, life is hard.