A little color on a rainy afternoon

 Kitchen window, day 79

This afternoon, I was busy working while trying to keep one eye partially on Cael, who was exploring the toy boxes, and partially on Kieran, who was watching Elmo's Potty Time for the hundredth time.

Apparently, the partial eye I was keeping on Cael wasn't enough because when he came crawling over to me, I noticed that he'd somehow added some color to his face.

I went in search of the item that had donated its pigments and found this little box. It had been in his mouth (like pretty much everything else he finds) and the colors has smeared.

The box was a gift from my friend Katia, handmade by some people she knows in a country south of the border (I don't remember if it came from Guatemala or Mexico). Here's hoping the Guatemalans don't use lead in their ink like the Chinese do.

Meatless Monday

 Kitchen window, day 78

In an attempt to better plan our meals for supper, I've recently decided (like, last week) to make Monday meals meatless and Friday food pizza. (Tuesday through Thursday (and the weekend) are still up for grabs.)

When I informed Seth of my decision, he was less than thrilled, mainly about Meatless Mondays.

"But, I need meat," said he.

"I'm not eliminating protein," said I. "I'm eliminating meat. And just on Mondays. I think you can survive one day without meat. We had rice and beans last Monday and you survived."

"Yes, but I wasn't very happy about it," said he.

Despite Seth's reluctance, I've determined to press on with my Meatless Mondays plan and today decided upon making a spinach quiche.

The above was the view when Kieran and I took a little trip out to the chicken coop to see if there were any more eggs in the nest for us to use for the quiche.

There were. But only two. The red hen and the yellow hen have been faithfully fulfilling their egg-laying duties while the three Easter Eggers have been laying (ahem) down on the job.

And then we brought the eggs inside, added them to the few from the days before, and proceeded to make our spinach quiche. It turned out rather well, if I do say so myself, although it wasn't completely meatless--I added some bacon. Which made Seth happy.

Q

 Kitchen window, day 77

This week's letter at school was Q. What would you send with your child to show-and-tell for Q week?

It was actually a no-brainer for us. As a ramification of Williams syndrome, Kieran gets to deal with excessive ear wax (or rather, Seth, who in charge of grooming the boys, gets to deal with the ear wax). I know -- just what you wanted to read about. Ear wax. There, I said it again.

So he's well aquainted with Q-tips, which happen to begin with q. Thusly, his show-and-tell item for this week was a Q-tip.

Why I'm pro-life

Kitchen window, day 76

It was cold and rainy outside when we returned from lunching with our friend Georgia. I always enjoy having scintillating, adult conversation in the middle of a day filled with diaper changes, Sesame Street, and choo-choo trains.

One of the topics that came up in our conversation was an argument she'd recently heard by someone advocating for the right to life of unborn babies with disabilities. It's an argument I've heard, as well.

A few months ago, a fellow mom of a child with WS was shocked and appalled when she learned another lady had aborted (or, more accurately, killed) her unborn child after finding out the baby had Williams syndrome. Our children are such blessings, she argued, they give so much to the world, so why should they be denied a chance at life? If only this mother had known how special and sweet children with Williams syndrome were, she wouldn't have taken the life of her baby.

It's true that Kieran is a blessing to our family. His quick smile, deep belly laugh, enjoyment in pronouncing words like liposuction and avocado, desire to say "hi" to anyone he meets, and saying "I love you. Hug" after a discipline session make my heart happy. I can't imagine life without him.

But Kieran isn't why I'm pro-life. And, although I agree that it's important for people see the positives when raising a child with disabilities, this isn't the line of reasoning I would use when arguing against abortion.

Because what happens when someone like Hitler comes along and decides that children with disabilities aren't blessings but are instead a drain on society and should be eliminated? Or what happens when some takes a look at the life of this little boy and says, "Sure, Tripp was a blessing to his family, but I couldn't stand watching my child go through so much pain and suffering so why should I bring him into the world in the first place"?

Then it becomes a matter of opinion--my opinion that children are a blessing and a differing opinion that says the opposite. Which opinion is right?

No, the argument for giving children with disabilities the right to live is--must be--much broader and bigger than the joy Kieran brings to us and the world.

I am pro-life because this is what God teaches in His Word, the Bible.
I am pro-life because God is the Creator (Genesis 1) and the Giver of life and I am not. I have no right to decide which children live and which die.

I am pro-life because God has created all humans in His image (Genesis 1; Psalm 139:13-14). I have no right to decide which humans have more of that image and are therefore more entitled to live the life God has given them.

I am pro-life because God has decreed that murder (the intentional taking of an "innocent" human life) is wrong (Genesis 9:5-6; Exodus 20:13). Because human life begins at the moment of conception, I have no right to murder a baby--either one growing in the womb or one that continues to grow outside of it--no matter if the child is healthy or has numerous physical and mental problems.

(Photo courtesy of Kevin Drake Wright)

This little boy has it right. All people are image-bearers of God and deserve the right to live the life God created them to live. And that is why I'm pro-life.

Wednesday is Garbage Day

 Kitchen window, day 75

I think I used this view in the previous 365 Days series. Is that cheating?

Kieran still likes to watch the garbage truck when it comes on Wednesdays to take away our trash.

We heart Nutella

 Kitchen window, day 74

Can you tell-a? (Ba dum bum.)

P week

 Kitchen window, day 73

This week at preschool, Kieran learned about the letter P.

We found a little pig for him to take for show-and-tell. And he's in his pajamas because they also had a pajama party to celebrate P week, while eating pretzels and other foods that start with p. It made me happy when he was able to tell me about the picture he colored of the pig in the mud. "Don't eat it," he said.

And this is just another one of those gratuitous photos of Cael, who got into my sock drawer this morning.

Resolved, part 2

 Kitchen window, day 72

This was the view when Kieran was in an affectionate mood and decided, on his own and without any prompting from me, to give Cael a nice little kiss on his head.

And now on to my second resolution of the year.

I've been wanting to give some structure to my Bible-reading time. I haven't been dedicating the time to it that I need to and I haven't had a good plan to follow. Just yesterday, I read this post by my friend Beth about taking up the challenge of reading through the Bible in 90 days. And I decided that was what I needed to get back into the Bible-reading action -- more specifically, I'll be following this plan. I'm only on the second day, but I've already appreciated how reading this much at one time provides good context, and I'm not just hopping from one chapter to the next. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. And if you're looking for a little challenge, I invite you to join me!

Resolved

 Kitchen window, day 71

I don't generally make New Year's resolutions. After all, it's just another day, and if I'm not doing what I want to do the day before, why would I start just because the calendar changed from one year to the next?

However, this year, I have two things in particular that I want to resolve to do better.

The first is that I want to become more purposeful in teaching Kieran (and Cael) about the Lord. We sing simple Christian songs with him, and Seth reads a page from this Bible to him each night before bed, and we pray before meals, and we've been listening to the first volume of the Westminster Shorter Catechism songs, along with the VeggieTales Worship CD (Kieran has picked up several of these songs already), in the car to and from preschool. But I want to start teaching him more systematically about who God is and what He's done for us through Jesus.

My friend Georgia had mentioned that she uses the devotional Long Story Short with her daughter and so the other day, I ordered it. The above was the view when the mail lady delivered it to us. I've looked through it and it looks like it will be good to use . . . in a few years. I think it's a bit too advanced for him right now, but I'm sure we'll use it down the road. My next plan is to get the Answers for Preschoolers curriculum to use with him.

So, tell me please, what devotional book or Bible curriculum do you use with your children?

(I'll post more on my second resolution tomorrow.)

Two

 Kitchen window, day 70

We have a lot of toys.

A lot. This isn't even all of them.

I ask myself, "Do two boys really need this many toys?" Surely not. And then I think about going through their toys and getting rid of some of them.

And then I look at all of them and I get overwhelmed. And I think, "But, I can't get rid of this toy--it's really good for fine motor skills." Or, "This one helps with developing visual-spatial awareness--surely it would be an injustice to Kieran to get rid of it." Or, "This one helps with imaginary play [something all Kieran's therapists insist we need to work on with him and something I've never been good at so something Kieran doesn't really get a lot of]."

And then I think, "I'll think about this tomorrow." And then, somewhere between today and tomorrow, the toys go to the Toy Breeding Ground and multiply, and I'm left with even more toys to look at and be overwhelmed with.

So today I came up with a plan. My plan consists of getting rid of (read: moving toys from the living room to the top shelf of the closet until I can decide what else to do with them) two toys per day. Two. I'll just find two toys that aren't really played with or are good for nothing more than taking up space, and I will remove them from the toy haven. Two.

And so I did. Two toys gone from the living room.

In fact, I went a little overboard and got rid of a third toy (I actually tossed that one in the trash -- it was that useless).

I figure by the time Cael is ten, I should have a good handle on the Toy Factory that resides somewhere in our house.

Gum and trampoline fun

Kitchen window, day 69

This was the view when Kieran tried a piece of gum for the first time. By the time I turned around from taking this photo, the gum was out of his mouth and on the counter. And I didn't think you would appreciate a photo of ABC gum, so none was taken. Aren't I thoughtful?

Since no Holler blog post is really complete without a picture of one of the Holler boys, here's a photo of Cael trying out Kieran's trampoline this evening. He had fun.

Winter warm-up

 Kitchen window, day 68

Despite the cold and chill in the Holler, Kieran and I spent some time this afternoon checking on the chickens (they're still alive) and running around outside.

Then we came inside to get warmed up.

This was the view out my kitchen window when, once Cael was up from his nap, Seth spent some time warming both boys by reading a few books with them.

Train time

Kitchen window, day 67

When we were in Florida, we were able to visit a railroad museum that had some old train cars.

Kieran got to explore several of the cars, which  he really enjoyed.

A few days ago, we were looking in the closet for something and Kieran saw a box with a train in it -- a Christmas present from my dad (a train enthusiast) several years ago. It's a Christmas train and since we're not usually around for Christmas, we don't have a chance to get it out. Although we didn't let Kieran play with it at the time, he remembered it was there and went back into the closet on Thursday to find it.

So, I pulled it out, put together the track, and we've been playing with it ever since.

Eight months

 Kitchen window, day 66

Some days, like today, it's just nice to wear pjs all day.

And so we did.

My problem

 Kitchen window, day 65

This was the view when I decided to admit a problem I have. After all, admission is the first step to recovery, right?

My problem is this: I don't know how to open boxes. Well, maybe it's not so much that I don't know how to open them as it is that I don't bother to pay attention to what I'm doing when I open them.

I pulled this box from the shelf to give Kieran some crackers and realized that I'd opened it at the wrong end.

And then, I looked at the box next to it on the shelf and realized I'd opened that one the wrong way, too.

Sadly, these aren't the first examples of my problem. Seth routinely says, "Why is this cereal box opened upside down?" (And, just now he said, "And don't forget to write about how, when you make me a sandwich, you don't put the pieces of bread facing the same way." To which I replied, "You should be happy I'm making you sandwiches in the first place.")

Apparently I can pay attention to whether a sentence in a document requires an em-dash or an en-dash or a serial comma or a closed parens, but I can't pay attention to how I open food boxes. I think I need help.

Doctor and Park day

 Kitchen window, day 64

This was the view out my kitchen window when I remembered to take a picture out my kitchen window.
We had a busy day.

It began with a trip to the doctor so Cael could begin to catch up on his vaccinations (I haven't had him in since he was two months old) and so I could ask the doctor about something I've noticed lately with Kieran. Every so often, sometimes several times during a day, he'll space out for a few seconds--he stares blankly and I can't get his attention. And then, after the few seconds pass, he's back to normal, as if nothing happened. So, I asked the doctor if he thought Kieran may be having absence seizures. And the doctor said the only way to tell was to have an EEG done, so he referred us to the neurology clinic at our local children's hospital.

(Funny story: While at the doctor's office, a tall, slightly rotund man with frizzy red hair and facial hair was checking in behind us. Kieran pointed to the guy and said, "Mr. Noodle!" Since my back was to the guy, I said, "What? No . . . [turning around and seeing the guy], ohhhhhhh, Mr. Noodle. Shhhhh!" And then I laughed to myself, with my back to the guy. He really did look kind of like Mr. Noodle.)

And then, after our visit to the doctor, we got to visit with my friend Katia and her son.

It was an amazingly warm (relatively speaking) day for January, and we were able to spend some time in the park.

It was an interesting, fun, and busy day.

Another breakthrough

 Kitchen window, day 63

One of the speech goals on Kieran's IEP is "increase vocabulary to enable three- and four-word sentences." He will echo pretty much anything we say or sing and occasionally he'll say things on his own (not necessarily clearly), but today he said what may be the longest and clearest sentence I've ever heard from him -- six words!

Granted, his phrase was, "Wanna watch TV on the computer," but nevermind that part. He actually said what he meant and meant what he said -- and it was understandable.

And so, because he'd done such a good job, we did, in fact, watch TV on the computer, meaning we watched some YouTube videos of, in this case, tricycles and unicycles. Oh, and a few airplanes.

In other news, Cael is now pulling himself up on just about anything and enjoys rifling through the book basket to find which book he'd like to chew on next.

Seth on a hot tin roof

 Kitchen window, day 62

The plant where Seth worked announced early last year that it would be ceasing production in June and that most people would be out of a job by August. Needless to say, we began to pray that the Lord would superintend the situation and provide as He determined was good for us, while Seth updated his resume and began the job search.

Seth was one of about 10 people who were asked to stay beyond the August deadline to help dismantle all the machinery. His time was extended into November . . . and then he and one other guy were asked to stay until December 15.

Seth is one of the hardest and most dedicated workers that I know -- he would go into work, if called, at 2 am to fix whatever needed fixing. And he was usually the only one who knew how to fix whatever needed fixing. (If it had been me, I would have said, "Uh, I'm sleeping. I'll be in around 8. Please don't call here again." And, there were a few times I felt like saying that for him. But I didn't.)

The Lord gave Seth favor in the eyes of the powers-that-be at his company, and they extended a job to him at another of their plants in the same area -- with a promotion. He started as the maintenance supervisor there on December 16.

This is all relevant to today's Kitchen Window picture because as part of his supervisory position, he got a Blackberry. Yes, chuckle along with me at the thought of Seth having a Blackberry. Seth -- who is not really a talk-on-the-phone type of person anyway, and is definitely not the texting type -- is now tethered to a Blackberry.

Little did they realize, however, that the Holler is a cell-phone-free zone. Not because we're against cell phones, but because there is no reception in the Holler. Apparently the little cell phone waves don't want to come down the hill.

So Seth spent the day researching ways to boost a signal. And then (and this is where the kitchen window photo comes in), he went up on the roof to find out if there was actually a signal that could be boosted.

Kieran and I went out to check on him, and Kieran decided he didn't really like having his father on the roof.  

"Daddy, please come down."

Eventually, Seth determined that he couldn't tell if he was getting a signal on his own or if he was getting something from our neighbor's booster (their house sits a bit higher on the hill than ours). And so down he came.

I'm not really sure what the next step is, but it seems to me that the Holler just may be that much closer toward becoming civilized . . . .

N is for . . .

 Kitchen window, day 61

Last year for Christmas, Seth's parents gave Kieran an alphabet train floor puzzle featuring an animal for each letter. He likes to look through the puzzle pieces at the animals (he doesn't necessarily like to put the puzzle together) and especially, for some reason, is attracted to the narwhal and its tail fluke.

So, today, for show-and-tell featuring the letter N, he went to school with his narwhal puzzle piece.