365? Let's make it 31.

365 photos. One a day for one year. Still not willing to commit.

But 31 photos I can do. One a day for one month. I'm in. I'll re-evaluate at the end of the month and see if I'm willing to tackle more.

I'm calling it 31 THINGS THAT BRING ME JOY. Because sometimes you need to put a spotlight on the positive. You know, count your blessings and all.

Anyone else want to play along?

365 Photo Journey

Have you heard of the 365 photo journey? I've seen people all over blogsville taking on this challenge. Basically you commit to taking at least one photo a day for a full year. I think it was started as a means of documenting your child's life, but the photos don't just have to be of the kiddos. I'm tempted. I think it will stretch my creativity to come up with a photo idea each day. Still not sure I want to commit to it just yet. But I'm contemplating...

Faces that I love - a little camera fun

A little basement cleaning

Confession: I love having a basement. The storage rocks.

Basements were foreign to us when we moved here. Growing up in Texas, neither of us had basements in our parents' homes or in the home we owned. I wasn't sure what I thought about them initially, but over time, I've grown to love having one.

What I haven't loved is the mess ours has been for the last two years. The previous homeowner(s) left some of their own junk down there, and we added lots of our junk right on top of it. Stuff that never got unpacked. Scattered tools. Lots of dirt and spiderwebs. It was in sad shape.

Over the course of the last few months, we've organized a little here and a little there, and this weekend, we tackled the last bit of it. It's finally "presentable." I use that word loosely, but it is in the best shape it's been in since we moved here.

Now I'm going to share some "after" photos. I share these knowing full well that (1) this is likely only exciting to me and (2) that unless you've ever seen our basement, you won't get a full appreciation for what we've done. But since I haven't posted any Mirabelle stories in a while, I thought I'd toss this one out anyway.

Our basement is unfinished and has lots different "rooms" in it. This is our paint/supply storage room. We tossed more than a dozen cans of paint that have been passed down from homeowner to homeowner over the last several decades. The only cans in here now are ours.

And here's the area where we organized all of the stuff that needed to be unpacked. Look at all that floor space! Neatly swept, too. =) And I know that right hand side looks like a big pile of mess, but if you look at it from another angle, it's neatly organized, too, thanks to a new shelf that Jerry hung for me last weekend.

And last, but not least (in fact, it's my favorite part of the basement clean-up) is the laundry area.

I hate having to go down to the drab and dreary basement for laundry. Ugh! So I thought if I could spruce it up a bit, maybe it would be a bit less dreadful. So I asked Jerry to install a rod (steel pipe) so that I could hang an extra canvas drop cloth we had lying around. We put it behind the washer and dryer to hide all of the pipes that run along the wall. And then I plugged in a little lamp. And had Jerry hang an old piece of art that I wasn't using in the main part of the house. There was a red rug (commercial grade) already down in the basement, so I vacuumed it and pulled it over and what do ya know! It's kind of cozy, right? Well, that's relative, I know. But it's much more cozy than what we had before. Right, Mom?

A prayer for my son

My friend Dana posted this prayer on her blog a few months ago. I've continued to think about it, and I am determined to have this printed, framed, and hung in Alex's room. It's a famous prayer by General Douglas McArthur written during a military campaign in the Philippines after watching his son sleep.

"Prayer for Arthur [Alex]"

Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.

Build me a son whose wishes will not take the place of deeds; a son who will know Thee -- and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge.

Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail.

Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be high; a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.

And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, and the weakness of true strength.

Then I, his father [mother], will dare to whisper, "I have not lived in vain." 

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Some of these words are hard to pray - particularly the part about leading him not in the path of ease and comfort but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge.

It was at this point that I realized I needed an accompanying prayer for myself that says, "Lord, let me be the kind of parent who does not jump in and save my son everytime life presents a challenge. Help me be the kind of encourager he needs to help him rise above his circumstances. Give me the wisdom to know when to step in and when to step away so that You can mold him into the kind of man who is strong, courageous and who has the confidence to know that he can face anything in life so long as he looks to You. Amen."

Cool Idea

"Check this out, all you blog readers!"

"A public book exchange at the children's museum. Take a book, leave a book. All on the honor system."

"An idea so cool, it almost blew me away!"

My Favorite Griswold Memories

I have way more Griswold pictures than I have time to post. So I thought I'd wrap up our adventures with some of my favorite memories - the things I don't want to forget.

I loved our trip to Rock City.

I had no idea what Rock City even was until we got there and started walking around, but I had heard it was a "must see." "Ok," I thought. "I'm game if everyone else is."

It's really hard to describe exactly what Rock City is if you've never been. The best I can come up with is it's a garden/path of natural rock formations and a waterfall at the top of Lookout Mountain. On a clear day, you can see seven states from the top.

This was one of my favorite memories because it was interesting, beautiful, unique, fun, and it was one of the few excursions where the whole Griswold clan was there (except Zack who wasn't able to make the trip altogether).

Interestingly enough, when the gardens opened in the 1930s, the founder advertised by painting "See Rock City" on the sides of barns all around the area and in other states, including Texas (just like in the photo of the birdhouse above).

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I loved how much fun Alex had playing in the "creek" that ran in between the Ocean and the River buildings of the aquarium. This man-made water feature was designed for kiddos to come and cool off, and every kid there was having a blast - including Little Man. It was a nice place to spend some time because it was H-O-T!

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I loved watching Alex climb in and out of this little cabinet. He would climb in all by himself and close the doors. We would say, "Where's Alex?" and he would open the doors and just smile at you. It was precious.

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I loved that he gave kisses freely. And abundantly. With no prompting, he would just look at you, open his mouth and lean forward for kisses.

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I loved how excited he got about eating his ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery. He would eat a little of Noni's chocolate. Then some of Pop Pop's blueberry. And then some of Momma and Daddy's sweet cream with fresh berries and the waffle cone. Look at that face. Need I say more?

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I loved Noni's excitement watching Little Man walk. The Griswold trip is where he started consistently taking several steps at a time. It was priceless. We cheered and cheered and cheered.

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And I will never forget our trip to the Mellow Mushroom. For those of you who've never heard of it, Mellow Mushroom is an amazing pizza joint. I first found this place when I traveled to North Carolina for meetings with my Thomasville clients. I haven't had it since then, so I was very excited to come across one in downtown Chattanooga.

But my excitement paled in comparison to Alex's. We ordered the Kosmic Karma pizza (sundried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, feta, spinach and pesto drizzle). I wasn't sure if he'd like it or not, but he ate a TON. We kept asking him, "Are you all done?", and he would just look at us and sign "more." We must have asked him "all done?" a dozen times, and every single time he said "more." We laughed until we almost cried. He was a bottomless pit, and he was lovin' him some Mellow Mushroom.

This picture was made on their bench outside the restaurant. There's a logo imprinted on it, but I couldn't quite capture both Alex and the logo at the same time. So you'll just have to take my word for it. But this is his after-dinner glow.

Lots of other memories, too, but these were my favorites. Noni and Pop Pop, thank you for treating us to a wonderful trip. I hope we have many more of these in the future. Love you!

These shoes were made for walking

A family of Crocs wearers. Mmmmm comfy.

Little Man's Big Adventures - Griswold Vacation Part 3

Most of the week has involved sight-seeing and excursions that required Little Man to be carried, pushed, held. Not much opportunity for him to roam freely. So one day, we loaded him up and took him to the local mall so that he could explore, crawl, walk until his little heart was content.

 He practiced his walking with Noni.

 And then set off on his own for a while.

And after all that was said and done, Noni paid 75¢ for Little Man to drive the Fun Bus.

This was just what the doctor ordered!

Little Man's Big Adventures - Griswold Vacation Part 2

People. We have been having some serious adventures. One of those adventures included a trip to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga. Now, "they" say that this aquarium is the best aquarium in the U.S. - better than Chicago and Atlanta. I ask, "Does this look like the face of someone who thinks that is a true statement?"

I kid. I kid. He actually loved it. At least the first 15 minutes of it. After that, if he could talk, I am convinced he would have said, "A fish is a fish is a fish. Let's move on already."

They did have some pretty cool marine life. I mean, this Tiger Ray is a beauty.

We even got to pet some of the rays (very slimy), and Pop Pop got to feed them. I hope Noni has a photo of that because I didn't get one since my hand was wet from petting.

They did have some interesting perspectives from which you could view the fish. Or make funny faces for onlookers, whichever you prefer.

And like every good tourist attraction, they dumped you out right into the gift shop so that you could spend four times the amount for this stuff that you would in a toy store. Thank goodness Little Man isn't at the age where he can ask for anything. Oh, how I dread the day...

The aquarium was nice. But if I were a "they," I'm not sure I would have ranked it higher than the other two aquariums. I'm just sayin'. More adventures to come...

Little Man's Big Adventures - Griswold Vacation

Little Man has been having a grand time on our Griswold Vacation. We thought he might do better on the drive down if we faced his car seat forward.

 Um, that would be a negative. He wasn't so interested in the six and a half hour car ride regardless of which way he was facing. Which is why we had several stops along the way. And which is why that six and a half hours turned into something closer to ten.

There were two stops at McDonald's to take full advantage of their play areas.

And there was the dinner stop where he pretended to drive the car.

Needless to say, we were all relieved once we finally arrived!

Little Man has been spending time telling Pop Pop things.

He's also been drinking water like a bird from Noni's water bottle cap. It's his new favorite thing.

We turned him loose with all the other kiddos in the cool-down river near the aquarium.

He was in heaven splish-splashing around.

We went to Rock City and saw a bald eagle at the birds of prey show. This bald eagle lost his left wing when someone shot him at a young age. The wing had to be amputated to save his life.

Little Man is definitely having lots of fun on his Griswold Adventures.

More to come...

Storytime and learning

There's no substitute for the bedtime-bottle snuggle. It was haaaaaaard to let go of that, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss it. But we do still get an occasional snuggle at night when Little Man sits in our laps to read his favorite book of the moment, Time for Bed. He will sit quietly while we read, and he likes to help turn the page when we prompt him that it's time. He's gotten to where he can point out the "little calf" or "little goose" or the other "little animals" when you ask him where they are. Time for Bed is the only book we own that he will sit through beginning to end. And anytime we are in his room, he points right to that book for us to read it to him.

I do hope he's like his Noni when it comes to reading books. She's an avid reader. Me, on the other hand, not so much. But I am trying to read books to him all throughout the day as we play together - even if we do only make it through a page or two before he moves on to the next thing - because I think it's sooooo important for his development.

Speaking of development, I've started looking at some preschool curriculum that helps children learn letters, numbers, colors, and shapes. A girl's got to be prepared when the time comes. I've talked with one of the ladies in my women's group about developing our own curriculum that we can share and use to teach our children because the stuff I've found online is expensive. Really expensive. We've decided we need to develop a framework of content that each lesson would have. For example, each lesson (letters, numbers, colors, or shapes) would have a story, a song, a craft or a game, a snack idea, and a bible verse. So if we were learning about the letter "F," maybe the story would be about Jesus and the Fishes and loaves. The snack could be goldfish. A craft could be making Footprint Fish. A bible verse would come from the story. You get the idea.

What I'd love to hear from you is - what age did your kids start learning colors, shapes, numbers and letters. And what kinds of things did you do to help them learn? Or, if they were in school, did you learn any tricks from their teachers? Do you have any good resources you can recommend? Any good stories for preschoolers? I'm trying to get a head start in the organization of some of this stuff so that when Alex is ready, I've got some things together to start teaching him with a bit more structure.

Another birthday boy

I love this photo of Jerry. His laugh is one of the things I love most about him. It is infectious. I hope Alex grows up to have a laugh this good. I hope he grows up to have his dad's sense of humor. I never realized how important that characteristic was in someone until Jerry and I were married. It has brought much joy to our home over the years.

Here's one of Jerry's favorites - ice cream cake. Jerry doesn't have a sweet tooth like mine. He'd much prefer salty over sweet. The one exception may be ice cream. He could eat a whole gallon of cookies and cream all by himself. And so that's the birthday cake I got him - cookies and cream ice cream. Yum!

We had dinner at Jerry's favorite wing place in town. It was a nice, cool evening so we ate outside. Jerry was happy. Alex was happy. It was a great day.

Nightime Routine

In my photography class, the teacher encouraged us to take photos throughout the day of our regular routines. I haven't managed to capture too many of those, but here's one I did get that I just love. Little Man is just out of the bath and wearing his Woody hooded towel he got for his birthday while Daddy helps him brush his teeth.