a library favorite

Ivar and I try to walk up to the library each week and I have another favorite I'd like to pass along. This is a sweet book told by a little girl explaining Alzheimers disease with the simplicity of a kid. It's a sweet story, talking about what is different about her grandma and also what is still the same.There is no more cruel disease than Alzheimers. I remember when my grandpa harrington was losing his memory and how terrible the year was when he was aware that he was losing his memory. It was actually a relief once he lost enough of his remembrances so that he didn't realize he was forgetting so much. In that terrible year I remember sitting in his room with him and having him speak some really powerful words over me, telling me that God would surely use my gifts in mighty ways. He wasn't really a tender man, so this conversation was stunning and precious to me. But in the blink of an eye he looked right at me and started shouting, "call the sheriff!" He was very agitated and kept repeating that there was someone in his room who needed to leave. And just as present as he was moments earlier, he was just as impassioned that I was no longer welcome.

This book put a lump in my throat. If you know of someone (and sadly, I think we all do) who is dealing with the sorrow of Alzheimer's in their family, this might be a good book to pick up. I used to work on the Memory Loss floor at the nursing home and thought they should get a copy of this book for that floor so that parents might have some way to discuss with their kids how grandpa's body is still alive, but why the person inside who made that body "grandpa" seems to have gone missing.

You can purchase and see more of the story of Still My Grandma, here.

beautiful baby food

I remember seeing Jennifer Garner on The Martha Stewart Show. It was probably half a dozen years ago and she was very pregnant, as was everyone in the audience. The show was geared towards expecting mama’s and all that they should know before having that baby. Martha was interviewing Jennifer and asked if she planned on making her own baby food. “No,” she said sweetly “you know, I sort of think it would be one of those things that I’d try at first and then tucker out along the way.” Martha was aghast, “oh it’s so, so easy. You must make your own baby food!” Martha’s tone was a little much for me, but Jennifer just laughed back, “No. I feel no pressure. I figure if Gerber has been making it for this long, I’ll let my baby eat what they’re making.” Or something like that.

It is so weird how much I remember about that episode. Maybe because I never watched Martha all that often, but I think it had more to do with Jennifer’s likable honesty. She felt no pressure to pretend she was going to puree her own cooked squash. And not only was she this honest about her baby food plans, but she was basically making Martha look like an overbearing mother-in-law. (I can write that because I don’t have that mother-in-law!)

I swear to you, in that moment I made a mental note that I, too, would let Gerber do their pureeing for me. I would purchase those cute little jars and enjoy the fun readymade combinations like cherry-apple and blueberry banana. So this is how we started.

But then I got a voicemail from my friend Meta asking me if I had any tips on making baby food because she was “sure I was the type of mom who must have tried this before her.” And it dawned on me. I am totally the type to try making my own baby food. Not because of anything against gerber, not even really for the financial reasons. But because I might actually enjoy it. I like cooking and baking. I like creating. I’ve heard it involves lots of ice cube trays…why wouldn’t I give it a try?

And then Meta posted these pictures. Had I known rainbows of beautiful color would be involved I might have jumped on the wagon a bit sooner. I think I might have to go and make Martha Stewart proud…

9 months

Dear Ivar,
Today you turn 9-months. And you just get more fun.

You delight us every day. Like the day I came back from walking around Lake Harriet with you and while giving you a bath found that you had tan lines in the rolls of your thighs. You are a very healthy eater and love all foods so far, though you give us a good gag show with avocado (but you still eat it!)

You are not crawling yet, but still get to where you want to go by barrel rolling side to side, all the while kersplatting on the hardwood floors. In the early mornings I set you up in the living room with all of your favorite toys and then head back to bed, and just this week I found you had almost made it to the kitchen! You also can scootch yourself backwards but tend to get stuck under the couch a lot because of this maneuver. And that is very frustrating for you.

You have acquired a scream that would rival any middle school girl sitting in the front of a roller coaster. It is high pitched, abrasive and terribly unnerving. Unfortunately, you have learned that it is effective. So we’re trying to ignore the pterodactyl that has moved into our quiet little home, but it’s harder to do than you’d think. Hopefully the scream is just a stage.

The flip side of the scream is that you have an opinion and are really starting to show us some personality. You’re still fantastically social. Today your dad and I took you for a walk around Lake Harriet and you stuck your arms straight out and waved your wrists and smiled at the runners as they ran by. You gave sweet smiles and we got lots of quick remarks of “cute baby” “he’s waving at me” or “hi buddy.” It tuckered you out and after a while you fell asleep in the stroller.

It was odd to have you lying back in the stroller, because your normal posture is very upright. Especially in your umbrella stroller, you rarely sit back. You’re very interested and eager to see what is up ahead In fact, when I see you playing with your toys on the floor I am often reminded to roll my shoulders back and sit up straighter myself..

You sing our names as a sweet background to our days. Mamamamamama and Dadadadadada are babbled lovingly all day long and you often times will make us stand quiet for a bit as we listen to you talk to your toys.

We love you more and more Ivar. I’ve stopped lamenting your changing and growing because your new tricks, ever-growing thighs and new sounds just give us that much more to love. And we love and adore you like crazies.
Love, Ma mama ma ma mamama

you know what the world needs more of?

Hula Hoop contests! Mara entered the Shamrock Days competition in Rosemount yesterday. She was amazing and made us all so, so proud. She makes it look easy, just moving her hips a tiny bit.
There were a lot of kids in the competition and so the woman running the program had the kids do special tricks to find a winner. Mara was able to clap, hoola on one foot, then the other, kneel on each knee and finally they were asked to sit! That's when Mara's hoola hoop hit the bricks :)
Well done, Mara. You make life more fun.

how does your garden grow?

We have had so much fun with our garden. The strategy for this year was to plant a little of everything, learning what we like to eat, what we wish we had more of, and what just didn't turn out. If that was the goal, then we have completely succeeded. The only serious issue we have had was with the zuccini and squash that were both enjoyed by some sort of gross worm. Unfortunately, the days they started to wilt were those horribly hot days last week and we just assumed it was the heat that was making them look so sickly. But it was the worms. Bummer.

Other than that though, we have been enjoying this garden with our whole hearts. We eat salads from the lettuce, used the peppers in taco meat, roasted the broccoli, picked the raspberries for our cereal, and eat the sugar peas like they're candy.
You can read more about the building of this garden by clicking here.

the sweetness of summer

We were treated to a great dinner at our friends house the other night and I was asked to bring dessert. I had a hankerin' for chocolate chip cookies and thought I'd dress them up a bit for the occasion and stuffed them with vanilla ice cream. Yum and yum. I highly recommend making sure the summer doesn't slip by before you have a chance to make your own ice cream sandwiches.

And you better do it fast, because this summer is flying by. I hate that feeling. I was trying to figure out why this summer feels so different than other summers. I feel like I'm really taking in each day and appreciating all that this season brings. I realized that this is the first summer in a while that I haven't worked at a camp, and it's also our first summer back in our neighborhood, soaking up Lake Harriet and taking lots of walks with a baby in the stroller. There is lots to appreciate.

But I think the biggest difference in this summer is the fact that I am sharing it with my sister. She's home. And she brought her lovely family with her. :) I love this new normal more than I can say. Recently Annika and I left our kiddos with two former flbc camp counselors who were both St. Olaf grads, nurses and around 25 years old. Could you imagine any greater peace of mind as a new mom leaving her baby with a babysitter?!! Annika and I took off for Target, childless and giddy. We got starbucks when we walked through the doors, and I proceeded to impulse purchase all sorts of stuff I never knew I needed before. Pretty folders, a new journal, invites for Ivar's first birthday party that is still three months away. We stayed for a long, long time, roaming the aisles, laughing hard belly laughs. And the whole time I had this amazing awareness that this time I don't have to brace for goodbye. She's here to stay. It's a dream come true.

Now, if you don't have your sister home with you this summer let me recommend the next best thing: go make yourself a homemade icecream sandwich.

Grandma's Clan 2011

Well folks, that's all from the family reunion! It was a really special week together. Not sure you could have packed one more thing into the week...even had the Grandpa Bredberg Horse Shoe Invitational thrown into the mix (my mom and Rory were a team and made it to the finals!), enjoyed all sorts of crafting all week long and were led in Bible Study by Pastor Jim Bjorge, my favorite storytelling preacher. But honestly, I've got to draw the line somewhere on how many more pictures to post and I think it might just be time to move on.

I did want to mention again that the beauty of this family is not in its perfection but in its foundation. A family who knows Christ knows forgiveness, hope, unconditional love and compassion. We don't have it all together. But we do believe that God holds us all together in his hands. This is what makes all the difference.

After sharing such a special week together it really does make a girl like me reflect on what it is I want the very most out of this life. Grandma spent our week together celebrating the fruits of her time here on earth and it was so crystal clear when we were together that she has spent her life invested in the very most important things. She can pass from this world and onto eternity knowing that she ran a good race, loved her kids with all of her heart, taught them the ways they should go, prayed with might when things got off track, and prayed with thanksgiving all of the days inbetween.

This party was to celebrate Grandma's 93rd birthday. I want to celebrate my 93rd birthday just like this one day. I've got 63 years to make it happen. And I plan on running this race just as hard, and following her example of what a true Jesus follower's life should look like: full of family, food, faith, fun and most importantly, forgiveness.

For a little more Grandma B goodness, check out this blog post that she wrote for me, sharing her wisdom on motherhood.

fun in the sun

Children of the Heavenly Father

When we were planning this family reunion, Grandma told me that she wanted the great grandkids to learn the words to Children of the Heavenly Father.

So every morning the family gathered for morning devotions. Each day we memorized one of the four verses of this swedish hymn learning a bit about what the lyrics meant, tied it into a Bible story that some mornings the grandkids acted out and then played a memory game to help the family learn the words. In this memory game, we sang the song through a few times, and then I had volunteers come forward to take down one or two of the words from the clothesline and then we'd see if we could sing it through without having all of the words in front of us. We did this until there were no words left.

My dad pulled me aside that night and commented, "maybe we wouldn't have to sing that song quite so many times." Ha! Hysterical.

It was a sweet way to begin our days together. We sang other favorite hymns, and throughout the course of the four days heard the entire gospel. In fact, Christmas morning I focused on the fall story and why Jesus had to come in the first place. That night we celebrated Jesus' birth by acting out the nativity. And then the next day was Easter so we learned why Jesus had to die and were able to connect the sin that had been brought into the world during The Fall and how Jesus' love for us was poured out on the cross, dying for our sins so that we can celebrate new life with our Heavenly Father. Thursday was Thanksgiving and we talked about how the only thing left for us to do is to praise our God and thank him for the life and joy and hope we have because of his great love for us. Seriously, it was a lot of ground to cover in four days!

Here are the words to Children of the Heavenly Father
Children of the Heavenly Father
Safely in his bosom gather
Nestling bird nor star in heaven
Such a refuge e'er was given

God his own doth tend and nourish
In his holy courts they flourish
From all evil things he spares them
In his mighty arms he bears them

Neither life nor death shall ever
From the Lord his children sever
Unto them his grace he showeth
And their sorrows all he knoweth

Though he giveth or he taketh
God his children ne'er forsaketh
His the loving purpose solely
To preserve them pure and holy

family talent show

My sister and I hosted the family talent show. Earlier in the day I had added Annika's name to the sign up sheet: Annika Larson, solo dance performance to "If I could turn back time" and then I told her I was excited to see the act she had signed up for. We laughed hard, and then started thinking about our family and imagining other family fake acts.

So in between the real acts we announced things like, "And now Uncle Wayne will clog to Elvira." or "Next up, Cousin Matt will share with us a collection of his own love poems and sonnets." The beauty is that it was hard to know what was an actual act and what was made up. I mean, who knew Ella could hula hoop and twirl a baton at the same time?
And who knew Mark could play the ukulele?
Or that Ryan and Kristina had memorized the entire "Who's on first" routine?
Or that Kevin had signed Ivar and himself up to perform "How big is Ivar? So big!" in front of the whole family...
Or that the Harrington's would perform the kinder classic Tony Chestnut?

cinco de mayo

Just kidding. We didn't really celebrate Cinco de Mayo. But we did have a bee hive pinata that my cousin Elsa made with some great grands at the beginning of the week. The pinata was adorable...it was hard to watch it get beat up.

Easter Egg Hunt

Wednesday was Easter at the family reunion. We had a huge egg hunt, and each kid was given a bag with their name on it in a color that corresponded to their age. This way "everyone with a yellow bag" got to hunt for the eggs first, then the green bags were sent out and after a while everyone was looking for eggs together. It was a great idea, unless you were Sonna and somehow ended up with a green bag. I can't remember which color she really wanted, but it wasn't green!
Sweet Isaiah shared his treat with great Grandma.

a rocket show

After the 4th of July parade we went down to the big field to blast off rockets. My cousins Steve and Richard have always put on a good show, but this year was bigger and better than ever. Steve supplied the rockets and after each blast off all of the kids would run around the field with the hopes of catching it on its descent.