Mother's Day and Other Shenanigans

Since it's been a week, I feel like I'm coming close to the statute of limitations for writing a post about Mother's Day so here we go. Mother's Day was really great! It was an all-church (aka mega church) day so we had church in the evening, which translates to not having to get up in the morning and rush about. YAY! Then Justin took the boys on a guy trip so that I could have some actual alone time (as opposed to alone-but-they-may-wake-up-at-anytime-from-their-nap time). Then the boys and Justin gave me one of those adult coloring books with some fun skinny markers and some candy. Let me tell you, the adult coloring thing is addictive and awesome. I love it!!

I tell you what, there aren't many things cuter than watching your two little boys carry their presents to you. Levi brought me the candy and said, "Happy birthday Mommy! I want some!" Haha! He was so caught up in wanting some sugar that he got his special days mixed up. What a cutie!

For church that night, I was assigned to read a scripture during worship time. Having never actually done this I was actually really nervous! Ha! But it was so great to be able to really participate in the service in a meaningful way like that. Lincoln didn't want me to put him down, so he sat on my hip while I read. I thought of him as my little moral support.

As far as other shenanigans go...

I put a flower bed around the base of our mailbox and planted my Zinnia sprouts there. Since I took this picture the sprouts have obviously grown and I've spread them out a little bit via some risky transplantation. Levi was very excited about the flower bed.

Also, this was in our garage when I went to go work on the flower bed. It was a GIANT garter snake. I had to call animal control to come pick it up for me. 

In the world of Lincoln, I think he's starting to say "Done" because he always says what sounds like that word whenever he's finished eating and sometimes when I go in to pick him up from his nap. He also says "Kiss," which he pronounces "Tiss," and which is usually accompanied by lots of open-mouth kisses. Sweet thing! He's also rockin' it in the solid food arena and, if you'll notice, I gave him what I usually call a "Nazi haircut." You know...those 40s-style pompadour haircuts. They remind me of the Hitler Youth, but I have to say, it looks rather dapper on our littlest one.

This is one of his favorite new toys. One of our neighbors gave it to us. 

Levi's being the same old goofball, but he really is getting particularly sassy. The other day he asked me to fix his milk cup because "it squirted" (??) so I did what I always do, which is take off the lid, look at the bottom of it, and then screw it back on. This time though, he didn't buy it. He gave me his first ever tight-forehead look...think Resting B Face...(below on the right). Sassy Pants McGee.

Sleep hair!

I love that Lincoln's sneaking away a green circle in this picture. Haha!

The three of us played with water in the backyard this week and it was quite a hit. We had a good time scooping and pouring and making waves. Levi started to "wash" his slide by carrying cups of water over to it and pouring them on top. He also filled up a cup with water and brought it to me saying that he got me a cup of cold water to drink. He then tried to get me to drink it by putting it right up in my face...There are many things I will do for my son, but drinking dirty hand water out of a dirty cup is not one of them. Sorry bud.

I showed Levi how to blow bubbles with crazy straws. He thought it was super cool, which it totally is.

There was also some brother time in the hamper yesterday that was just too sweet not to document...

And finally, I'll leave you with this little nugget from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which I just finished (it's so good every time!!):

"We're all human aren't we? Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving."

Truth. (And whoever says fiction is pointless isn't reading it enough.)

It Can't Happen Here

I just finished reading It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis. This book was amazing, partly because it was published in 1935 before many of the atrocities of World War II were known and yet it mirrored them pretty accurately as a possibility, but also because it rang disturbingly close to home today. I'm not the only one who thinks so by the way...here and here. (I realize some may find these articles uncomfortable or slightly offensive...sorry...sort of...) This quote sums up what I believe to be the main point to be taken away from the book - that many Americans are so comfortable in our privilege that we are unwilling to challenge the status quo when it ought to be challenged:

"'The tyranny of this dictatorship isn't primarily the fault of Big Business, nor of the demagogues who do their dirty work. It's the fault of Doremus Jessup! [Main character, normal middle-class white guy who owns a local newspaper.] Of all the conscientious, respectable, lazy-minded Doremus Jessups who have let the demagogues wriggle in, without fierce enough protest. A few months ago I thought the slaughter of the Civil War, and the agitation of the violent Abolitionists who helped bring it on, were evil. But possibly they had to be violent, because easy-going citizens like me couldn't be stirred up otherwise. If our grandfathers had had the alertness and courage to see the evils of slavery and of a government conducted by gentlemen for gentlemen only, there wouldn't have been any need of agitators and war and blood. It's my sort, the Responsible Citizens who've felt ourselves superior because we've been well-to-do and what we thought was 'educated,' who brought on the Civil War, the French Revolution, and now the Facist Dictatorship. It's I who murdered Rabbi de Verez. It's I who persecuted the Jews and the Negroes. I can blame no Aras Dilley, no Shad Ledue (both of these men are poor, uneducated men who become part of the president's national police force after the dictatorship is formed), no Buzz Windrip (the president/facist dictator), but only my own timid should and drowsy mind. Forgive, O Lord!"

I'm not saying that I'm super awesome at being counter-cultural and challenging the systems that need to be challenged, but I do believe that this is a real problem that we all need to work on. (I'm probably about to make some of you uncomfortable again...) As Christians, we are told to be in the world, but not of it, and to me that doesn't mean that we look and act like normal Americans with a few tweaks here and there (maybe not drinking or not cussing or going to church every week), but instead that we live a radically different lifestyle. Politically, it makes me ask some serious questions, specifically, has our socio-economic status and/or our desire to fit into a certain category of being American trumped our ability to see what's most important? Should we really be concerned that our tax money might be going into a welfare recipient's pocket because we earned that money and they didn't? Or should we be disregarding that American "virtue" and instead be focused on loving others until it hurts - by giving even more of what we have to those who need it, regardless of how they got to be in their position of need.

This may seem disconnected from the quote above, but it really isn't. We need to be ok with not being comfortable, to the point that we are willing to work for change. We need to truly follow the example that Jesus set for us and go against the status quo out of love for everyone around us.

I know most of the people I send this blog to do not agree with me politically, and I don't expect you to agree with me necessarily, but maybe think about it...

Some Insights and Maybe Some Ducks

Y'all know reading is my favorite pastime, so when I read something excellent I love to share it with everyone (because I'm the kind of super nerd that is energized by trying to convince others to read the same books as me). I recently re-read The Scarlet Letter, because, unlike most people, I actually really like that book. And just like when you re-read parts of the Bible and God shows you something new, I got some fresh insights from reading this book again (for at least the third time...I know, I know...). Before I share, I just have to put in a plug for the book: If you haven't read it, you should...it's a story with a clear point and the point is excellent.

Ok. First insight: "'Thou little knowest what a relief it is, after the torment of a seven years' cheat, to look into an eye that recognizes me for what I am! Had I one friend, -or were it my worst enemy!- to whom, when sickened with the praises of all other men, I could daily betake myself, and be known as the vilest of all the sinners, methinks my soul might keep itself alive thereby. Even thus much of truth would save me! But, now, it is all falsehood! -all emptiness! -all death!"' - Arthur Dimmesdale

Alright, alright. After typing that out I realize that the dialogue's a little heavy, but hey, you get used to it. 

Anyway, I loved reading this, because if you can wade through the "methinks" and "betakes" you can see that what he's saying is that it would have been such a relief to him to have someone to confide in who knew him for who and what he truly was. Someone that he could share his darkest sins with, even if that person was his enemy. Spoiler alert, he ends up dying because of the spiritual toll that hiding his sin from the world took on his body. The insight? Confess! Outloud! To someone else! It's so important to share your full self with someone else. Hiding your sins eats away at you and presents a false image of yourself to the world. As the venerable Dr. Cloud always says, "Sometimes Christians act an awful lot like people." Pretending to be less of a sinner than you actually are just gives a false image of Christianity to the world and can lead you to implode. Sharing your struggles, on the other hand, not only helps you move on, but also helps non-Christians see that a different lifestyle is attainable. 

Second (and last) insight: "No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true." - Narrator (See! When it's not dialogue it's not so bad. Right?)

This is sort of the less Christian-y version of the first insight. Instead of talking about hiding your sin, it's talking about being someone other than yourself to those around you. You can actually forget who you are, and I can attest to this. As much as I LOVE the HESA program at Baylor and am so very glad that I have my master's in higher ed, I also experienced this forgetting of oneself during my time in the program. In a way I was growing, but after I graduated and started staying home, I had to relearn who I truly am. I spent so much time trying to dress and act a certain way that was counter to myself that I forgot who I was. Not that the clothes or actions were bad, because they weren't, they just weren't me. I mean, let's be real, I don't like having to dress a certain way (hello business casual) and I'm not outgoing really at all, but working with students all day demanded that I fake it. Now I'm back to my slightly weird self, and thanks to the way the program helped me open my mind a bit, I'm now more of a hippie version of myself, which I love. Moral: Be yourself despite the system (or the man...however you want to think of it).

Speaking of hippies, I was reading about Nathaniel Hawthorne and it turns out he spent a lot of time with the transcendentalists and actually lived in one of the utopian communities that was around during that time called Brook Farm. Man, how cool would that be? I know there aren't many people that would agree with me, so I'm not sure why I asked that, but I think it would be so awesome to be part of such a bold and different social experiment. I know none of the utopian communities survived, and they definitely all had their weird quirks and flaws, but I would totally be on board with something like that. Sign me up. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I totally would have been a hippie.

On a somewhat different note, I think I mentioned in a previous post that Justin and I were planning on getting chickens (if not, then hey...we were planning on getting chickens!). Well, the other day, Justin was flipping through The Backyard Homestead and started reading about ducks. After a little discussion and research, we've decided to get ducks instead of chickens. They are quieter, smarter, less skittish, and they eat grubs, snails, slugs, flies, and mosquitoes (!!). They poop more than chickens, but it's excellent fertilizer and they don't scratch up the yard so it can be put to good use. They also lay eggs which apparently don't differ in flavor from chicken eggs really at all, and are considered a delicacy. Oh, and did I mention that they're even lower maintenance than chickens? They don't even need a coop, just a little shack with three walls and a roof will do. That plus a kiddie pool and you're good to go. Needless to say, we're excited! I think we're going to order them and get some ducklings in the mail. How fun is that?? Yay for ducks! 

I will leave you with this thought that Justin shared with me from some of his homework: "Jesus, unlike most responsible American citizens, appears to do no work, and is accused of being a glutton and a drunkard. He is presented as homeless, propertyless, celibate, peripatetic, socially marginal, disdainful of kinsfolk, without a trade, a friend of outcasts and pariahs, averse to material possessions, without fear for his own safety, careless about purity regulations, critical of traditional authority, a thorn in the side of the establishment, and a scourge of the rich and powerful. . . . The morality Jesus preaches is reckless, extravagant, improvident, over-the-top, a scandal to actuaries and a stumbling block to real estate agents; forgive your enemies, give away your cloak as well as your coat, turn the other cheek, love those who insult you, walk the extra mile, take no thought for tomorrow." -Terry Eagleton 

SO.GOOD.

Levi Sassafras Hardegree

It's time for another Hardegree update, this time about Levi. You guys are all up to date on his health issues, so this will just be the fun stuff. Just like his momma, Levi is getting pretty sassy, but usually it's so funny that it's nothing to worry about. From what I've gathered, he's a lot more laid back than other 2-year-olds so his terrible twos really just aren't. But let's be real, most of y'all know this already, so let's get to the fun stuff.

Hobbies: collecting rocks (he has several "rock collections" scattered throughout both our front and back yards), singing songs (sometimes changing the words to popular tunes just like his daddy), reading books, helping mommy cook, jumping in place (he can get some air now!), jumping on the bed (ugh...), helping with chores, bonking his head on things, and making sticker pictures.

Interests: Lincoln, cars, construction vehicles, big trucks, bugs, dirt clods, food, animals, selfies, music, the digestive system (he likes me to tell him where food goes...from beginning to end), and why questions (a lot of why questions). 

Levi can now give rockin' high fives, draw a mad circle, make play-doh waffles, and play original songs on the piano. He likes to pick out his own clothes, and I took a picture of a classic Levi outfit for y'all below. He also loves to dance, and to facilitate these dance parties, he makes several song requests (usually for the same song over and over again). Here's are some of the songs Levi has been requesting lately:

• Headstrong - Trapt (I know, I know...)
• Cells - They Might be Giants
• Thank You Very Much - Scrooge Soundtrack
• Inside Out - Eve6
• Y'all Ready for This - Space Jam Soundtrack
• Watching Over Me - On the Rocks (definitely his favorite song!)
• On My Way Home - Pentatonix
• Miss You - Blink 182
• Black Hole Sun - Sound Garden
• Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles
• Happy Little Ditty - Shirley Temple
• I Know What You Did Last Summer - Shawn Mendes
• Rockin' Robin - The Jackson 5
• Jump in the Line - Harry Belafonte
• Anything by Pentatonix (He'll just say that he wants to listen to Pentatonix)

As far as developmental stuff goes, he is starting to be able to take his own shorts off, he can use his own napkin to wipe off his hands and face, he can pour cereal into a bowl, he can drink out of normal people cups without too much spilling, and he's really interested in using the big boy potty now. We're planning on doing the 3-day potty training method, so until Justin can have some time off for us to do that, we've started having him go potty in his froggy potty as part of his bedtime routine. 

And now...the pictures:

Check out the outfit...the tank top has a shark on the front. He wouldn't stand up for me to get a picture since we were waiting outside of story time and he was being bashful.

In other news...we have a raised garden in our backyard now!! Justin built it and then we both filled it with soil. Then I transplanted all our plants, added some manure and plant food, and put eggshells around the edges to keep out snails and slugs (because boy do we have a lot of those). Unfortunately, a squirrel dug out one of my rosemary plants, and then when I planted more seeds and refilled the hole, it came back and dug them out again. I don't know what that's about, especially since there's another one on the other end of the bed that he hasn't touched, but it's been a little irritating. Other than that though, we haven't had any pest problems so far, which is awesome. Here are some pics:

I know it's kind of hard to see, but we've got 4 hearty cilantro plants there are the bottom, some basil and thyme in the middle, some parsley running along the top, a sweet pea plant on the far left and a green bean plant on the top right. The rosemary plant is on the far right, but it's tiny still...

I also planted marigolds in the each of the corners to help get rid of bad bugs and attract bug-eating birds, so each corner has a sprinkling of sprouts as well. 

Finally, I've started another batch of seedlings because I'll be thinning out the plants in the garden soon and will have room for more (I mean...I really don't need 4 cilantro plants, so survival of the fittest my friends). The bottom row is Zinnias which I will be planting around the base of our mailbox, and then I have oregano and peppers in the rest. Yay!!

Speaking of mailboxes, Justin put in a new mailbox! Our old one was beige (ewww...) and super tilted. I painted our new one Meringue by Behr. Just picture this with giant Zinnias blooming all around the bottom. Super pretty!

You may be wondering, "But Annelise, why would you paint the mailbox yellow if that's not the color of your house?" Because it will be!! Haha! We've finally got a plan for the exterior of our house and it's gonna be awesome. As we do stuff I'll post it (obviously). 

Our Little 9-Month-Old

Like I said the other night, I'm going to write a little post about each of the Hardegrees so you can see what's going on with each of us without having to read a novel, so...today is Lincoln's day!

First of all, I just want to point out that on Saturday he will officially be nine months old! Whoa! I wish he would stay the soft, squishy, cuddly little muffin that he is now, but alas, time moves on and babies become toddlers. I'm sad to see him getting bigger, but I'm excited to watch him grow more independent and develop that little personality of his.

As with all babies, Lincoln is meeting little milestones all the time, so here's a quick run-through of some of the new stuff he can do, plus a tooth count:

• He now has 6, count 'em, 6 teeth! He's got two full-size teeth on the bottom and then 4 teeth on the top in different states of emerging. He is a vampire baby no more!
• He's not crawling yet, but he's definitely getting closer. He can stay up on all fours and shift his weight back and forth. He can also lift one arm with a toy in it while in the crawl position (think of a one-handed push-up, baby style). Plus, the other day he went from sitting to a crawl(ish) position and then back to sitting, so ya. He's getting close.
• He's really starting to copy sounds. He'll make an S sound with me and little toot sounds with his tongue. He also tried to say Moo when I showed him a cow, so that was pretty much awesome.
• Also, Lincoln turned all the pages in a book all by himself!! He went from no pages to acting like it weren't no thang. Get it boy! 
• He has also started eating little teething wafers (think rice-puff cookies) for a midday snack which means he's ready for other finger foods! I'm still mostly feeding him with a spoon, but his foods are getting a little thicker and I may try to put some soft roasted sweet potato cubes in front of him to see if he eats it. 
• Last, but definitely not least - he can full-on belly laugh now! :-D

Overall, he's getting to be such a big boy!! Here are some pics of the super sweet little sugar booger.

Me in the Kitchen

Ugh! It's been so long since I posted! This past week was INSANE and I just couldn't bring myself to take some time to write anything. Justin's big work event was this past Saturday so things are going to be getting back to normal. There's so much I want to write about but I don't want to have a super long post, so I guess I'll just post an update on one of the Hardegrees at a time. I just hope that I don't get too busy/forgetful to keep this up for the next few days.

I'll start with me since...well...why not? My mom gave me this great book that I think everyone should read/own: Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook by Dana Gunders. Now, I know I'm more of an eco-hippie than your average joe, but this book seriously is a must read. I've mentioned before that I'm starting our veggie patch and that I want to start canning and whatnot, but this book helped me take that to the next level. For example, if I don't think we're going to eat all of the leftovers from a meal before it goes bad, then I'll put it in serving size containers, label them, and stick them in the freezer. Now Justin can just grab a frozen meal if he's in a hurry and take it to work for lunch. I don't know why we didn't think of this before, but it's been working really well, and it's saved us from throwing out a lot of food.

I also recently watched the documentary Cooked on Netflix, which again, everyone should watch, and it inspired me to make even more changes in the kitchen. So last week I made homemade picante sauce (which is delicious!!) and I started making my own chicken broth again. I have also started subbing out processed ingredients in recipes that I already use for homemade ones, and let me tell you, things taste so much better that way! Yes it takes more work and more time, but it's totally worth it to have better tasting food that is 100% food (i.e. no weird chemicals). Plus, Cooked convinced me that it's good for my boys to see me, and help me, in the kitchen. Levi has really gotten into helping me in the kitchen. I made taco melts the other day and he helped me stuff and fold them. Later in the week he stood on a chair and watched me make brown gravy and then helped me roll out the pie crusts for a ground beef pot pie. I don't know, but we may have a little chef on our hands.

As you can see from the first picture, he ate the ingredients while we were making the taco melts. Including plain flour which is just gross, but whatever. He was super proud of the fact that he helped me cook and now he asks to help or watch anytime I'm in the kitchen. 

In other news, my herb sprouts are still going strong! Justin is in the process of building a raised veggie patch in the backyard, so I'll post pictures when we get it all set up. It would have already been done, but it's been raining so we have to wait...whomp whomp. 

Alright, that's all for me right now. I'll post another update tomorrow maybe (?) on one of the boys with lots of pics!

Levi's Echo Adventure and Such

I think I'm going to petition President Obama to officially declare April The Month of Insanity and Bludgeoning Exhaustion because goodness. Justin's wrapping up his semester which means reading, papers, and stress, on top of the fact that this month his job takes a ride on the crazy train with big events, countless student interviews, and rallies. With Justin working long hours and doing homework (or more work-work) at home, I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to keep our house modestly clean and our boys alive with less Justin help than usual. Kudos to single parents. Good grief! On top of all this, Lincoln has entered full-on teething mode, which means sleeping has become an adventure as well. So, in summary, fun times at House Hardegree! (I know you're all jealous!)

So amidst all of the chaos, Levi had a follow-up doctor's appointment with a pediatric cardiologist in Temple on Thursday to see if there have been any changes in the function or structure of his heart. After an EKG, an Echo, and another poke for blood work, Levi's heart looks normal! YAY! His platelet count was back down to normal and his inflammation levels have stabilized, so he's in great shape. We're going to go back for another follow-up in about 3 months, but this was great news!! Also, Levi was super brave the whole time we were there. He was extremely cooperative and he only whimpered a little bit when they stuck him with a needle, after which, he sat quietly and watched his blood fill up the vial. Justin and I were both so proud of him.

Lincoln also decided to practice some gymnastics. He got into this position on his own. Haha!

In the spirit of almost all of my previous posts, there will now follow a quick succession of photographs taken over the last week so you can see what we've been up to.

Play-doh time! Levi has been super into play-doh lately, and of course Lincoln's down to join in because it's something new for him to try and eat. 

Just a little proof that the whole sleeping thing has been a little bumpy lately, here's Lincoln at about 9:45PM being soothed by my dad while I finished baking a cake for my friend Christin's bridal shower the next day (which was really great by the way). 

With all the great weather we've been having, the boys and I have been spending a lot of time outside. Levi usually won't cooperate with me when I try to take pictures of him outside, probably because it interrupts his hunt for colorful rocks for his collection, but here are some sweet pictures of Turkey #2.

The other day we went shopping at Target and Levi got to ride in the big part of the cart! Hey-O! I started out carrying Lincoln in my moby, but it was really hot in the store (??) so I decided to let Levi move to the front of the cart so Lincoln could ride too. Levi's response when I asked him if he wanted to sit there: "Ooo ya!! This is SUPER COOL! Woohoo!" He then continued to cheer throughout the rest of our time at Target, when he wasn't busy pointing out all of the stuff we "needed" to buy of course.

Ok...these are just some fun, cute pics of Lincoln. Haha! 

I mean come on...

Sleep hair!

Finally, Levi has been wanting to take lots of selfies lately, and while I'm mildly ashamed that he knows what that is, they make for some fun pictures. I will end this post with a heartfelt welcome to Selfie City...

This eventually turned into a kiss for Mommy! The best!