Ruthie

It's been a little while and I haven't even had a chance to post the pictures from Ruthie's birthday! Here she is, our big THREE year old!
With her big sis and her new doll from Nona that never gets put down (no name for the doll yet):

Opening her very own Bilum bag from Grandma Jo in Papua New Guinea that I think she has yet to put down yet either (often the baby rides inside the bilum):

Josie REALLY wanted to give Ruthie her own tea set for her birthday. We had fun shopping for it together and finding a box to put it in (actually a sewing box, but it works great for a tea set). She and Josie spent the morning having tea parties, dressed in their best:

Finger painting with James, Isaac and her sisters outside at her birthday party. We actually had a beautiful warm day for it! Haven't had one since then, but we enjoyed the end of Fall while it lasted.

Dance party!

Playing charades, kid style. All the kids ran back to the bathroom, decided what they wanted to be, ran out together and acted it out with no sounds (usually an animal), and the adults had to guess what they were. Caterpillars:

Chocolate- chocolate chip heart cake for my chocolate loving girl:

Her gift from Anna was her very own stool which gets dragged all over the house for her to reach everything. Anna was always in the kitchen with me at Ruthie's age, but with two older sisters to play with Ruthie is usually playing with them. This stool has been great because it has drawn her back to the kitchen and given the two of us a renewed love of spending time together cooking and washing dishes. Mama's little helper:

After eating chocolate cake and having such an exciting day, this little girl didn't want to go to bed. It was her birthday so why not?! She stayed up until after midnight, first helping me finish the dishes, reading stories with me, and then just playing quietly by herself while Daddy'O worked at the computer (I went to bed myself). I guess she didn't want her birthday to end.

We love you, Ruthie! We love your caring spirit and constant smiles around our house. You are the third child with your tough spirit, dishing it back to your sisters when they try to boss you around, always ready to wrestle and play games with anyone, constantly on the go, with a compassionate heart that even at 3 is always watching out for those around you making sure no one gets left behind. Thank you for being you, my sweet little girl.

Anna turned 6

Another milestone marked, a pause to celebrate my special little girl. A whole day dedicated to making Anna feel special and know how much she is loved. A day to pause and reflect on the fact that another whole year has passed in our lives since Anna first joined our little family. The time really does pass so fast, and marking the passage of time helps me to pause and reflect and remember to live present and take advantage of every moment we have of childhood in this house. This is my big girl who goes off away from our family on her own everyday to kindergarten confident and secure in who she is, exploring the world around her, kindhearted and compassionate, delighting in all the little daily wonders of life, who still snuggles into my lap and grins up at me, who truly has two best friends in her younger sisters, a bond that warms this mama's heart.

We sure do love you a lot Anna.

The whole family, even Grandpa and Nona who were visiting for the day, got to come with Anna to Kindergarten for a special birthday celebration. Josie and Ruthie joined Anna for circle time and tried the motions to their songs:

Anna got to bring in one of her favorite stories, Lighthouse, for me to read and share with the class during the birthday celebration:

Her sisters picked out some special gifts for their special sister and enjoyed giving them to her. Even Ruthie kept the secret!

We gave Anna the choice of having a big party with lots of friends at home or choosing two friends and doing a fun activity for her birthday. She chose to bring her two friends, Adisyn and Olivia, and go to the local paint-your-own-pottery studio. Each of the girls decorated their own plate, which was later fired and we picked them up today. Beautiful works of original art!

After pottery time we had a fun playtime in the courtyard.

All three Clement girls playing with bubbles with Adisyn and Olivia:

More of our courtyard friends joined us for cake and ice cream. White strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting in the shape of a heart with sprinkles on top, per the birthday girls request:)

The day was made complete with dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Sombrero girl! Walking home after dinner at the end of a full day with three tired, content girls the consensus among the three of them was that "this was the best day ever!" I love those precious grins!

Weekend Afternoons

Weekends always seem full around here, in a good way.

In the summer heat lots of time is spent at parks or in the creek as a family.

Anna and I went tubing down the creek past our house for the first time the other day.

Yesterday after church we headed to the park for a picnic with friends and spent most of the time jumping in and out of the creek.

But then those late afternoon thunderstorms come through and we duck back inside while the outside air cools off, the garden gets watered, and the thunder claps loud enough to wake the girls from a nap if they are sleeping.

This afternoon was Josie's date with Daddy. He takes either Anna or Josie on a date once a week and today was Josie's day. The other two always feel a little lost at first with their constant playmate gone. But they quickly find their feet and dive into play.

Today their request was for finger painting. Ruthie's first time.

Quite a tactile, gooey experience.

She ended up with paint everywhere-face, arms, hands, legs, belly, bottoms of feet, knees... Then back inside they came, found their dollies and curled up in their billum hammock rocking them to sleep. Bunk beds have many uses.

Then Daddy and Josie were back, stomping through the summer shower bearing treats for the rest of us. Josie is one who constantly thinks about and looks out for those around her. She can't go on a date with her Daddy and get to choose her own treat without wanting to also choose something for each of the other members of her family. Sweet spirit, sweet girl.

Special times with Daddy'O.

Courtyard Fun

Living in Family Housing with a courtyard full of kids creates quite the communal living experience for us. There are always people around to play with, talk with, fight with, eat with, share all the ups and downs of life with. No one is perfect. We are all faced with our differences and similarities daily and learn to give each other and ourselves a lot of grace.

I love that our girls are growing up in this environment. They have friends from Chile, Vietnam, Belarus, Korea, China, Canada, Libya, Mexico, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and of course, the US. They learn to share, they learn to problem solve, they are color blind and oblivious to many of the differences in the people around them. They just love their friends and love all the fun they get to have with them. They are inclusive and accepting, kind, generous and full of laughter. What an example to all of us adults who often have such a hard time with the differences between us.

Yesterday we had a spontaneous painting party on our front porch:

So much joyful creativity, sharing of paints and brushes and personal space, complimenting each others pictures, enjoying each others company. I think there was as much paint on most of their bodies by the end as there was on their papers. Especially as they were reaching around each other to dip their brushes in the paint and then carrying a dripping paintbrush back to their spot, or trying to walk and stepping on each other's pictures. We dipped most of them in the laundry room sink before heading them home!



Today the impromptu fun was a pool party:

When pool space got a little tight they got creative with their real estate.

Fun times on hot days. Community living at its best.

Baked Playdough Creations

Our neighbors invited us over for a playdate yesterday and the mom, Mariah, made a playdough that you can make creations out of and then bake it and paint it. We used rolling pins, cookie cutters, butter knives and toothpicks to shape and form the dough. Lots of fun for creative kiddos!

Anna, rolling out dough:

The recipe? Super easy.

5 cups of flour, 2 cups of salt, add enough water to make it a good playdough consistency!

Bake your creations at 300 degrees for ~1 hr, depending on how thick they are.

Then have fun painting!

Pumpkin Carving and Painting

Not one that we grew in our garden, actually. We went to a pumpkin patch with a group from our church. We got to go out in the field and find our pumpkin and then we met up with our group to carve them. My criteria for a good pumpkin was one that had a good stem handle and that was small enough that the girls could carry it.

Here are Anna and Josie carving the pumpkin:

After we carved it I noticed that they had a bunch of paint at the next table over, so then we painted the pumpkin:
Very serious business: They kept painting for a long time. In the end most of the colors were all painted over with another color, too. He was a very colorful pumpkin.
As we were painting a storm was blowing in. It got quite blustery by the end and I rushed to get the girls in the car out of the flying debris and rain. The pumpkin had to wait until I could get back for him after the girls were safely in their seats in the van, so on top of the paint he got a good coating of dirt and straw that was flying around in the wind:

I thought he looked pretty fun, quite unique to our family and the interests of the girls.

All in a Days Work

Our day included lots of jumping by Josie:Crafting:Bike riding in the warm sun:Rocking in the rocking chair, (Ruthie's discovered what rocking chairs are for besides climbing on to reach other things):

Painting:Head stands:Baby dolls had to be cared for: More bike riding by Mitch (notice the new size 51 biking shoes!):

And me? What did I do? I was definitely a participant in every one of the above activities, but I also got to make Pot Roast for dinner, Apple Crisp for dessert, had my own bike ride with the three girls to go pick up our milk, and I even had time to just sit on the warm porch before dinner. Just sit? When was the last time that happened? I couldn't tell you, but I sure enjoyed it.

Little Girl Fun

Here's some pictures of fun the girls had in the last day or so.


Anna painting a canteloupe gourd we found out in the garden, dried and hollow from a winter outside. She's painting it dark purple, her favorite color:

Ruthie laughing on the blanket. How many people are in this picture?:

Three! The other two were hiding in their favorite, secret, cozy spot!:

Two girls in Daddy's vest, lots of laughs:

And last but not least, a little video of Anna jumping off the picnic table. She really wanted you to see her jumping from this spot, I think because she saw a picture of her sister jumping off the same table posted a few days ago:). I tried to convince her to show you a picture of her jumping off the playground structure yesterday which was twice as high, but she was insistent that this is what she wanted you to see. You should have seen the jig she was dancing before she jumped most times, I wonder who she learned that from?

I thought Josie might jump for you too, but then she got scared of the mower you can hear in the background and got down in a hurry. My girls do not like loud noises.

Surrounded by Love, Support in the Hard Times

What do you do when you have a sick kid, an intense week filled with caring for kiddos with no built in mom time or down time? Call a friend! I have a friend who is incredibly gifted at creating space for people to worship God. She called me last week and asked if she could come over and tell the story of the Good Shepherd and Psalm 23, using props, and help create a space for me to worship and pray amidst the chaos of our week. It was a wonderful time. The girls got into the story because of how appropriately she told it, connecting it to them and using the props to keep their interest and draw them towards God. With them engaged, I was able to find some space inside my head to turn towards God again, instead of constantly engaging in their care. I was even able to sit in one place long enough to finish an entire cup of tea! Mitch wonders why I ever bother to try and make tea because he finds my cup still sitting on the counter in the evening, a marker of my failed attempt to find some quiet time in my day. So you can see why it meant a lot to me to actually be able to finish an entire cup of tea.
We created a 'feast' on our coffee table as part of our story telling and I was able to use elements of it to pray and sink into the presence of God. A much needed soaking. Here is a picture of the table and my almost empty cup of tea. Thank you, Michelle, for listening to the Spirit and investing in my life, for creating a space for me to pray.

And what do you do when you, the Mom, are sick and your kiddos are healthy, full of life and unquenchable kid energy? Call a friend! Yesterday I was feeling quite under the weather and had a fever. I just needed to sleep and didn't think I could make it until nap time, especially given the unlikely probability of all three girls sleeping at the same time. (Mitch, I'll leave figuring out the exact probability to you). But my friend Gina was wonderful and took the two older girls for 2 hours in the morning while Ruthie and I slept. They came home just in time for their naps, Ruthie stayed asleep, and I got to keep sleeping. Then Gina took the girls to a Family Housing activity in the afternoon for another hour. Blessings on your head Gina, that had to be quite an interesting time trying to guide 3 kiddos in a painting activity. Hats off to you. Our girls loved it and I needed it. Thank you.

I feel so lucky to have this kind of community around me, people who are willing to be family to me when Mitch and I need it. People who can step in when Mitch and I are failing to make ends meet and can hold us up. People who can turn us back to God, who can be a window for us to see Him more clearly. People who in the past couple of months have taken over some of the logistics of life for us so that we have been freed up to focus on the needs of our girls and spending time with them. For all our talk about independence in the USA, I'm not sure that is my value. I'm pretty dependent on those around me. I need them. Hopefully, maybe not until another season of life comes along, but someday hopefully I can be that kind of friend to those around me. Hopefully we can teach our girls by our words and our example of giving and receiving what it means to be true community to those around us.

An Afternoon's Activities

This day was not off to a good start when I was awakened at 2 in the morning by Josie puking all over me, a scenario which was repeated every 30 minutes for the next 8 hours. Poor girl. You feel so bad when your little ones are sick. They look at you with their sad, tired eyes and ask you to make it better and you want to but you can't, and they don't understand why you can't. But then Josie was finally able to get to sleep for a while and when she woke up she was much perkier and wasn't losing all the water she was trying to drink. By the afternoon it felt like there was a little more order and activity to our day. We were able to plant some seeds in seed flats (which, if you haven't figured us out yet, means we were engaged in one of our favorite activities!). Here Anna and Mitch are planting the lupine seeds that she chose at the store in a seed flat made from an egg carton:

Anna and Josie had fun painting with watercolors:

And then by dinner time all Josie's energy from her nap was gone and she just wanted to be held, along with Ruthie who was taking a nap on my back.