View from the Prairie Box

What a glorious feeling’, I’m happy again (to quote Gene Kelly).

I am so lovin’ this warm weather. I love the sunshine. I love the wind blowing through open doors and windows. I love going for walks and sitting for long chats on the front porch. I love feeling the warm rays of the sun on my shoulders. I love the early blooms of crocuses, our own small sentinels that pronounce the change in seasons. I love the way the dogwood and viburnum are producing small buds on their branches. I love the red-tinged green of the first leaves on the rose bushes. I love working outside in the garden with my husband. I love watching my daughter hold worms from the compost for the first time. I love the sounds of mischievous laughter coming from the porch next door.

Spring is finally here. Hallelujah.

Livia: [pointing to Daddy] You’re the king.

Jeremy: Who is Mommy?

Liv: The king.

Jeremy: No, she’s the queen. Who are you?

Liv: Jeff.

Jeremy: You’re Jeff?

Liv: No, I pirate. Arrrrgh!

My friend Lorin is incredibly faithful to me. Despite the fact I moved 500 miles away, I tend to be tardy on returning phone calls, and my birthday cards are always belated (it’s on it’s way, I promise!), Lorin is a rock-solid friend. Therefore, she deserves a bloggy mention from the Tredways, with many wishes of joy, love and happiness for this next year of her life. Happy 29th, Lorin! May God richly bless you and sustain you in 2007.

There are some moments, and many phrases, that awaken one to the startling reality: I am a parent! Gasp! It’s not that you don’t feel like a parent in the moments before uttering those phrases but there’s something powerful about the moment that startles you. You recognize you are no longer the hip, cool individual you believed yourself to be; you are now the authority figure of the household, a decidedly unhip, uncool position by its very nature.

The phrases are easy to think of:
– If you [fill in the blank] ONE MORE TIME, I’ll [insert threat].
– What were you THINKING?
– Don’t put that up your nose.
– If you eat one more bite of peas you can have ice cream for dessert.
Etc, etc, etc.

The moments are a bit tougher to remember, but we experienced one, a very sitcomish one in fact, last night.

Scene: A small backyard at dusk. Father holds a shovel. Mother walks slowly outside, a small parcel in her hands. A young child stands beside a hole in the garden soil, dark dirt forms a small pile next to her. The parcel contains the Departed.

Father: It’s time to bury Goldfish.

Child: Goldfish got died. He sick.

Father: Yes, Goldfish died and it’s time to bury him.

Mother: He was a good fish. [Pulls out a phrase she never thought she’d say…] Rest in peace, Goldfish.

The newspaper-wrapped pet is then lowered into the hole, dirt shoveled on top. The sun sets as the family walks indoors.

RIP, Goldfish. Welcome, Betta. [cue Circle of Life music]

Pray for Amelia.

**I’m going to keep this link at the top of my blog for a bit as a reminder to pray for Steve & Jen’s little girl.

Beautiful, warm spring-like weather = lots of time at the park = lots of children frolicking happily = lots of contented mamas soaking in the sunshine.

I’ve always wanted to learn how to decorate cakes, so Mom and I are taking a Wilton cake class through Michael’s. Since I’m posting this photo publicly, I need to point out that Mom and I finished our cakes very quickly in order to not have any homework. The crappy “2” and the hot pink rainbow streak are the repercussions of haste. (“Well,” says Tim Gunn with a sigh, “make it work.”) This cake has taught me two things completely unrelated to decorating. 1) White cake in this particular Tredway household is a complete waste of time; no one will touch it. 2) Cheap, plain label cake mixes are not good, not good at all.

Friends, please be in serious prayer for the 4 month old daughter of our friends, Steve & Jen Allen. Steve & Jen are friends from Zion; now they attend Covenant Seminary in St. Louis. A blog has been set up to offer ways to help and encourage the Allens as Amelia undergoes medical treatment. Even as I feel incredibly helpless at this time, I am reminded that our God is powerful, sovereign and merciful:

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. (Zeph 3:17)

I must say I’m kind of jealous of Angelina Jolie’s ability to just go and adopt. If we had limitless funds we’d adopt more babies in a heartbeat. We’ve got the love, the home, the desire… No chunk o’ dinero. Perhaps Bill Gates or Warren Buffet would like to finance future Tredway babies. Hmm…

*********

This post is a great example of why I sometimes feel like quitting blogging altogether. It comes off as petty (as jealousy usually does!) and revealing of an underlying lust for money that certainly exists in my mind. Also, I did a terrible job of explaining my real thoughts on Angelina Jolie. I think it’s wonderful that she’s adopting a lot of children into her family. How amazing is it that a celebrity uses her significant influence to bless children in impoverished nations? The whole uproar over Madonna’s adoption a while back? Utterly ridiculous in my mind. Trust me, people do not “just go and adopt” as I said above. It takes a lot of time, resources and determination to create a family through adoption.

More photos on Flickr.

According to my two year old, I look like Jeremy and Jeremy looks like Lavar Burton.

This morning Livia kept asking me, “What that?” as she pointed furiously at my torso. (It’s something she does often and I confess it drives me nuts. “That” could be very nearly ANYTHING.) After I made a few wrong guesses Liv said, “You wearing Daddy’s shirt!” Apparently I need to ditch the t-shirts and try something new because this button-down, collared, purple-striped shirt is too mine, little girl.

And the Lavar Burton thing? Well, praise the Lord my child is color-blind. Lavar sports a lovely goatee, as does Jeremy. They do kind of look alike with their charmingly handsome mugs… LOL.