Stuff of Life
Precious moments abound in this house. Every day little things that make me smile and think “I have the greatest kids” or “Jim is such a good Daddy” or “I’m glad to be me.” I’ve been watching my boy Finnegan these days. I’ve been forgetting about him a bit – not as in “oops I drove away and left Finny on the sidewalk”, but as in not taking as many pictures or noticing the milestones. Miriam is oldest and with her everything is new. Carmen is a baby and in a different way everything with her is so new too. Finnegan is a middle child, following in his sister’s footsteps but not new enough to be changing so obviously each day.
So Finnegan, this blog’s for you.
If you want to make a boy like Finnegan you have to have quite an assortment of ingredients. Start with a little boy body, about 32 pounds and lightly touched by baby fat. Add beautiful brown eyes framed by long eyelashes and a thick dark mop top cut slightly too short by a scissor happy mother. Pinch the left ear so it has a bit of an indent in it and scribble a tiny mole above it and a birth mark on the back of the neck.
The body is the easy part. What goes on inside is the tricky part of this recipe. Pour in a significant portion of good humour blended with a go with the flow attitude. This little guy likes to giggle, so program a giggle into almost every part of his speech followed by random word like “apook” or “goke” which is designed to trigger even more giggles. Watchful eyes are a must and should be designed to effectively observe and imitate 90% of his big sister’s actions. His speech should be rapid and vocabulary higher than average, but set the discernability to medium so that “I dit in a dar wif Meeum” and “Gan I hab a dink of wada doo?” are translatable to “I sit in a car with Miriam” and “Can I have a drink of water too?” by only familiar family and close friends.
Insatiable curiosity is important as well and occasional obsessions with random items and events is expected – an internal timing mechanism to ask “Is it darbage day doday?” at least twice daily for 3 or more months completes this package. But don’t mistake. This boy is not rough and tumble, so do not under any circumstances toss him in the air, turn him upside down, or chase him up the stairs with teasing crocodile snapping fingers. All three are likely to induce tears and or panic. For best fun provide puzzles, cars, trains, and small collectibles such as buttons, coins and rocks.
Add some cuddles, an affection for Puppy, and an intensity of purpose and determination common in most Harmsma offspring, and you might have a boy something like my boy Finnegan.
That’s my boy. He’s one of a kind and one of the best. The pride and joy of his Mum and Dad and cherished by all who know him. Our adorable Finnegan.
Spiritual Insight of the Day.
God is good. He’s reminding us that he does go before us and prepare the way, that we can rely on him and not ourselves for joy and comfort. My prayer these days has been that He’ll remind us of His omniscience powerfully so that we will depend on Him more readily.
I’ve been praying for my kids at night too these days. Literally getting down on my knees at their bedside while they sleep and talking to God about them and me. It’s good to pray at night – they’re so peaceful at rest and the sound of their breathing and smoothness of their skin reflecting the warmth of the hall light creates a picture of beauty even after sometimes long and trying days. I talk to God about my hopes for them, my worries, my mistakes and theirs and how to reconcile the two. I talk about why I’m thankful that God gave these wonderful kids to such an undeserving mother and ask for the ability to be better towards them than I alone can be and for the ability to reflect even a fragment of His love toward them. Mostly I pray that they would know Him – not just as this religious symbol but as the loving father and caring brother and powerful Spirit He truly is. That’s my biggie. Health. Yeah. Happiness. Sure. Success. Yep. But forget all these things in favour of knowing God.
Sometimes, I even just sit and listen, but that’s harder. Not so good at the listening part of the conversation, even with regular human folk. I like to talk. Listening is a trait I need more practice at.
Scrapbook Idea of the Day
I don’t actually have an idea today, I just want to say how excited I am to be starting 2 scrapbook groups this fall as well as my plan to become a Close to My Heart demonstrator. I have so many fun ideas and grand plans. Watch this spot for more on that later! One hint: Video Blog!
If you want to make a boy like Finnegan you have to have quite an assortment of ingredients. Start with a little boy body, about 32 pounds and lightly touched by baby fat. Add beautiful brown eyes framed by long eyelashes and a thick dark mop top cut slightly too short by a scissor happy mother. Pinch the left ear so it has a bit of an indent in it and scribble a tiny mole above it and a birth mark on the back of the neck.
The body is the easy part. What goes on inside is the tricky part of this recipe. Pour in a significant portion of good humour blended with a go with the flow attitude. This little guy likes to giggle, so program a giggle into almost every part of his speech followed by random word like “apook” or “goke” which is designed to trigger even more giggles. Watchful eyes are a must and should be designed to effectively observe and imitate 90% of his big sister’s actions. His speech should be rapid and vocabulary higher than average, but set the discernability to medium so that “I dit in a dar wif Meeum” and “Gan I hab a dink of wada doo?” are translatable to “I sit in a car with Miriam” and “Can I have a drink of water too?” by only familiar family and close friends.
Insatiable curiosity is important as well and occasional obsessions with random items and events is expected – an internal timing mechanism to ask “Is it darbage day doday?” at least twice daily for 3 or more months completes this package. But don’t mistake. This boy is not rough and tumble, so do not under any circumstances toss him in the air, turn him upside down, or chase him up the stairs with teasing crocodile snapping fingers. All three are likely to induce tears and or panic. For best fun provide puzzles, cars, trains, and small collectibles such as buttons, coins and rocks.
Add some cuddles, an affection for Puppy, and an intensity of purpose and determination common in most Harmsma offspring, and you might have a boy something like my boy Finnegan.
That’s my boy. He’s one of a kind and one of the best. The pride and joy of his Mum and Dad and cherished by all who know him. Our adorable Finnegan.
Spiritual Insight of the Day.
God is good. He’s reminding us that he does go before us and prepare the way, that we can rely on him and not ourselves for joy and comfort. My prayer these days has been that He’ll remind us of His omniscience powerfully so that we will depend on Him more readily.
I’ve been praying for my kids at night too these days. Literally getting down on my knees at their bedside while they sleep and talking to God about them and me. It’s good to pray at night – they’re so peaceful at rest and the sound of their breathing and smoothness of their skin reflecting the warmth of the hall light creates a picture of beauty even after sometimes long and trying days. I talk to God about my hopes for them, my worries, my mistakes and theirs and how to reconcile the two. I talk about why I’m thankful that God gave these wonderful kids to such an undeserving mother and ask for the ability to be better towards them than I alone can be and for the ability to reflect even a fragment of His love toward them. Mostly I pray that they would know Him – not just as this religious symbol but as the loving father and caring brother and powerful Spirit He truly is. That’s my biggie. Health. Yeah. Happiness. Sure. Success. Yep. But forget all these things in favour of knowing God.
Sometimes, I even just sit and listen, but that’s harder. Not so good at the listening part of the conversation, even with regular human folk. I like to talk. Listening is a trait I need more practice at.
Scrapbook Idea of the Day
I don’t actually have an idea today, I just want to say how excited I am to be starting 2 scrapbook groups this fall as well as my plan to become a Close to My Heart demonstrator. I have so many fun ideas and grand plans. Watch this spot for more on that later! One hint: Video Blog! 
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