1. Snuggle Bud: Snuggle Bud has been Lydia’s security item for a very long time. (For Snuggle Bud’s full history, click here.) Lately she has taken to calling it “Cubbie.” Sometimes it’s a boy and sometimes it’s girl. She often makes up a story about Snuggle Bud based on what we are doing. Today I made some bread in the breadmaker. Lydia said, “A long long time ago, when my Snuggle Bud was four years old, she used to make bread, too.” There was also a story where Snuggle Bud had a grandma who died a long long time ago, and that was when the Mickey and Minnie videos started being in color instead of black and white. (See below.)
2. Minnie Mouse: I think this Minnie Mouse toy was a gift from Nana one Halloween. Recently, Minnie Mouse has risen to the top of the favorite toy list, almost knocking down Snuggle Bud from its number one spot, but not quite. She sleeps with Snuggle Bud and Minnie Mouse. She takes them both to Walmart. When she is feeling puny, however, it’s always Snuggle Bud she asks for.
I can’t remember what got us going on Mickey and Minnie, but for some reason Keith started finding vintage Mickey and Minnie videos on YouTube. Our extensive playlist is here. She will say, “I want to watch a video with a mouse.” These videos have been watched, studied, discussed, retold, and acted out at length.
3. My silver watch with a dead battery: This watch lives in a little jewelry box by the side of my bed. Lydia will ask, “May I please go get one phing out of your jewerly box?” (She says th with an f sound.) The one thing is always the silver watch. She is supposed to keep it in my bedroom, but lately she has gotten bolder about taking it other places in the house. She will play with it, and maybe one of her necklaces, along with a book. I think she is pretending the watch is a princess who is interacting with the pictures in the book. She can entertain herself with these items for up to a full hour.
4. Small princess dolls: When Nana and Poppy went to a garage sale about two months ago, they hit the princess jackpot. One thing they bought was a set of small princess dolls with rubbery dresses and hair that can be mixed and matched. These poor princesses usually walk around with no clothes or hair. She plays with the princess dolls the same way she plays with the watch. She always has a princess doll with her during her rest time, but not necessarily bedtime. It doesn’t seem to matter to her which princess doll she has, as long as she has one. They don’t have names, which is surprising considering how much she likes to name things.
Usually a combination of these toys comes with her to go potty. This can get complicated. The toys usually rest on the step stool near her feet and she leans over to play.
Have you noticed I’ve been blogging more lately? You can give credit to the fact that Lydia has “rest time” instead of nap time now. She goes in her room for an hour, starting at 1:00. Some days she goes to sleep, but usually not. As a result, her bedtime is now 8:00 on non-nap days. I was really dreading this change, but I really really like having my evenings back.
Speaking of blogging, there is a special day coming up August 4. Anyone care to guess what it is?
Last summer, when we were still living at our old house, Lydia and I planted some pumpkin seeds. Since we didn’t have much room, I ordered a variety that was small and grew on small plants. It was fun watching the big pumpkin blossoms grow, the tiny green pumpkins emerge, and the round orange pumpkins ripen.
But there was one problem. Worms.
I’m not sure if that thing oozing from the pumpkin is pumpkin flesh or the worm itself. In any case, it was gross and I wasn’t about to consume the pumpkins. Into the compost bin they went. Such is the fate of a laissez faire gardener like myself.
Fast forward to this summer. We are living in our new house, which is sadly void of any garden yet. Our old house has not sold yet, and we go back there occasionally to check on it. Keith told me after one visit that there was some kind of squash growing. He said it looked like a giant cucumber.
I went back a few weeks later and discovered elongated, bumpy pumpkins that looked ripe. They were growing in the bed where I had dumped the last of my compost before moving the compost bin to the new house. I’m guessing the pumpkins I planted last year were a hybrid, and that is why the seeds (from the compost) did not produce the same fruit. We cut the ugly pumpkins off the vine and brought them home.
I was excited that we had so much free orange vegetable for my beta-carotene loving son. However, I was a bit nervous about cutting into them, because there were a few worm holes. I didn’t need to worry. They were hard as a rock. My knife couldn’t begin to cut through. Wow, those worms must have sharp teeth.
They sat in our sun room for about a week. This evening I noticed more worm holes on the pumpkins. I asked Keith if he would like to practice his pitching skills. He was happy to oblige. Maybe some deer or groundhogs can get some use out of them.
Just another fun evening at home with the Tyndalls.
For future gardens, I would love to grow heirloom vegetables, whose seeds always produce the same kind of fruit from which they came. A great local place I have yet to visit is a seed savers’ mecca. Maybe they even sell worm-free pumpkin seeds.
Today we went to a butterfly festival at a local park. We began by touring the butterfly house. Keith got Lydia to smile for a few pictures. She is becoming quite photogenic. I love these shots, because her hair is just a little bit messy, just like it usually is.
Then, we have Luke.
Ha! Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Actually, he is making the sign for flower, which is to sniff. He always does it in dramatic form.
My hubby got some pretty good shots of some butterflies. Since we did not attend the butterfly identification class, I’m not sure what kinds they are. Anyone wish to chime in?
Update: Cindy W, the butterfly festival chair, left a comment with the names of the butterflies. I have updated them with captions. Thanks, Cindy!
Buckeye
Giant Swallowtail
Monarch
Zebra Swallowtail
Luna Moth
When we came out of the butterfly house, there were booths for vendors and kids’ activities. I asked Lydia if she would like to get her face painted, fully expecting her to say no. She has never wanted to have her face painted at carnival-type events in the past. However, she said yes. She carefully looked at the sample pictures on the poster and told me she wanted to get a flower. When it was her turn, the woman doing the face painting asked her what picture she wanted, what color, and if she wanted it on her face or hand. Lydia looked around at me once, but answered the questions herself. It may seem like a small thing, but she has come a long way, even in the last month or so, in being more self-confident.
She looked a little aprehensive while the artwork was being done, but she had a big smile for the mirror and the camera at the end.
There were some butterfly crafts to do, but the best part was the petting zoo. I wish we would have seen it sooner, because everyone was pretty hot and tired. There were a variety of caterpillars and cocoons for touching. (There was also caterpillar poop everwhere!)
I remember when a certain nephew of ours lost his status as “the golden child.” When Lydia was going through the terrible twos and Luke was a smiley baby, I said he was the salve for my wounded soul. I’m afraid that salve has been used up. He’s still a very sweet boy (and no one would dare question my love for him), but biting and fit throwing are happening more often than I would like.
Perhaps these pictures will endear him to my heart once again. When we were in Harrisburg, Luke, my dad, and I took a walk in a nearby cemetery. It was a lovely evening.
Grandpa and Luke, ready to go.
Luke next to his great-grandpa’s grave.
Luke would pull up some grass and say, “Ah, ah, ah, ah….”
…then he would throw it up in the air and say, “Dooooohh!”
Luke’s favorite word is no. This is probably true of many toddlers, but Luke isn’t really saying it to be contrary. He just uses it to answer every question. Sometimes he just says no while he’s playing. It’s just an important word.
I’ve been going through old videos, and I found several from May and June of Luke saying no. As you can tell from the first clip in the video, he used to shake his head and say nothing, but we thought it was so cute we said “no” every time he did it. He caught on quickly.
Now it’s July and Luke says “no” so much that I can tell what he means by the inflection in his voice. I’ll say, “Luke, do you want more peaches?”
Luke will smile and say “No” with a lilt in his voice, and then I will give him the peaches. Poor boy thinks no means yes.
Back in May, we were at the Master Gardeners’ Demonstration Gardens at Nathanael Greene Park. We saw a Bumble Bee on one of the flowers. That initiated a discussion about bees and what they do. Next thing I knew, we had checked out a couple of books from the library about honey bees.
Both of these books were completely fascinating. Honey bees are amazing. After we spent a few days reading these books and talking about them, I scheduled a “bee tour” at a local tea room called Honey Heaven Bee-stro Cafe. Honey Heaven is a local honey producer. The tea room is completely cute, and everything in it is honey or bee themed. In the very back is a real beehive behind glass.
Our bee guide was very excited because we got to see one of the worker bees doing a “swag dance.” She was shaking her abdomen around to let the other bees know where to go to find nectar and pollen. We saw the bright yellow pollen she had collected in the little pockets on her hind legs.
I was slightly annoyed that our guide kept referring to the dancing bee as “he.” She had just told us how all the worker bees are girls. I happen to have a daughter who is very enthusiastic about anyone, person or animal, who is a girl. I managed not to correct her.
Luke tried on the beekeeper’s hat.
Lydia explored the smoker, which is used to calm the bees when harvesting honey.
Overall, I enjoyed the bee tour more than my offspring did. They were a bit distracted by all the pretty things in the tea room. I also think Keith and I got more out of the bee books than they did. Maybe we’ll try this topic again in a few years. Doing this type of activity makes me so excited for homeschooling. We saw a real bee, read books about bees, and went to see some more real bees. Seems like a good recipe for learning.
That evening, Lydia had some orange blossom honey on her corn-on-the-cob. Yum.
For quite a while, Lydia’s perception of time has been divided into two halves: when she was in my belly and after she came out of my belly. Things that happened before she was born happened when she was in my belly. Works for me.
A few weeks ago, however, Keith made reference to something that happened several years ago, and he said, “That was before you were even in Mommy’s belly.”
Her response: “Where was I?”
I love the age of innocence. I don’t want it to end.
But it will. Yesterday I had my first taste of “questions kids ask that you would rather not answer.”
“Mommy, who got Luke out of your belly?”
(Easy.) “The doctor.”
“Was it a boy doctor or a girl doctor?”
“My doctor was a boy doctor.”
“Why.” (This word is always spoken like a statement, although an answer is expected.)
“Someone said he was a good doctor, so we decided to make him my doctor.”
“How did, how did, um how did…” She stuttered over her words while beginning her next question. I knew it was coming.
“How did the doctor get Luke out?”
(Okay, how vauge can I be and still satisfy her?) “Well, he knows just how to do it.”
“But how?”
“The doctor knows all about getting babies out.”
“But how?”
(For the first time, I was very thankful Luke was born via C-section. I pointed to where my scar is.) “Well, he just opened up my belly right here and got Luke out.”
She nodded like a grown-up. She understood, for now.
A few posts ago, I mentioned that we were all sick in June. It started with Keith VBS week. My mom was here to help hold down the fort, and Lydia and I were so busy going to VBS (plus we had to get new tires on the car that week), that his illness didn’t slow us down that much. The next week, the rest of us started having symptoms. I wrote this post, making it sound like we just wished away our illness by having fun in the sun. Lest I leave you with the impression that we conquered bacterial infections with a few fun outings, let me give you an update. I had no voice for about five days. I finally went to urgent care on a Sunday morning, where the doctor barely looked at me, but prescribed antibiotics and prednizone (the latter of which I decided not to use). Then I tried going to church after that. Big mistake. I was miserable. Lydia went to the doctor Monday, where we discovered she had a double ear infection. Enter one bottle of pink liquid into our fridge. Luke went on Wednesday. He had a mild ear infection. Enter second bottle of pink liquid. This illness was awful, and it affected our family for an entire month.
It makes me think about what daily life was like before the discovery of penicillin. I guess if you got an infection you just had to hope you got over it. If not, it turned into pnuemonia and you just died. I am so thankful to live in an era when daily survival is not my main concern.
So, back to VBS week. Lydia did great during that week. I can rarely get her to wear anything but a dress, but I did convince her to wear her VBS T-shirt with a skirt a couple of times.
My job was to organize the mission project and mission interviews. Each evening, the kids in grades K-6 would begin by going to the worship rally. I had about 5-10 minutes during each rally to promote the project and to interview different people involved with missions. The interviews were with a group who has ministered to the Huichol Indians of Mexico, the pastor of a local Cowboy Church, a group from our church who traveled the Zambia last summer, and a representative from Convoy of Hope, a local ministry.
There were two missions projects for the week. The VBS students collected items to make Personal Hygiene Kits for Convoy of Hope. Many of these packets go to Haiti, but Convoy of Hope uses them in other disaster areas as well, even here in the United States. The students surpassed their goal of 150 completed kits.
The adults involved with VBS (teachers, parents, church staff) collected reading glasses to send to missionaries Wes and Laurie Wilcox in Zambia. Laurie shared with me that many Zambians cannot see well enough to read their Bibles, and these glasses will help them do that. VBS adults collected almost 300 pairs of reading glasses to send to Zambia.
Each grade level was in charge of bringing a different item for the hygiene kits.
I had some awesome volunteers that week who helped to assemble hygiene packets each evening.
Our children’s minister Shayla agreed that she would kiss a pig for each goal that was met. The students met their goal for Convoy of Hope, and the adults met their goal for Zambia, so Shayla had to kiss this pig twice!
The pig’s name was J.R. Poor thing was pretty scared.
Shayla had to work up some nerve.
The missions theme verse for the week was Matthew 28:19-20. Jesus told his disciples to GO to where people need to hear about Jesus. That’s what missions is all about, after all.
While in Harrisburg, Keith and I took Luke on a drive to get him started on his afternoon nap. We ended up in Muddy, Illinois, just north of Harrisburg. Muddy had a population 78 at the 2000 census.
Muddy also has its own post office. Here it is.
What? You are not impressed? Maybe you would be more impressed if I showed you the old Muddy Post Office, which is across the street and was open until 2002.
As you can see, it is now a “museum.” I peeked inside the locked door. I probably could have gotten someone at the current post office to let me in, but it was closed for lunch. There were a few photos hanging on the wall and a list of postmasters through the years. These are some shots I got through the glass.
I found a photo on Flickr of the Muddy post office in 1996, when it was still in operation. Muddy’s wikipedia page claims that this was the smallest US post office in its day, but a quick google search shows that distinction goes to Ochopee, Florida, with its 7×8 foot building. Apparently Muddy’s old post office is 7.5×10.5.
Just what you were hoping to read about today, right? I’ll try to resist the urge to write about the largest KFC in the country, which happens to be in the same county. Yes, I’m serious.
Okay, just to end on a more respectable note, please ooo and ahh with me over this lovely house in Harrisburg, which I suspect was built in the heyday of the coal mining era of the region. Poplar Street is lined with old houses like this. Be still my heart.
And before I convince myself I need to buy this house and get a job as postmistress in nearby Muddy, I’ll just imagine myself trimming all those lovely bushes by hand. Maybe I’ll just be content where I am.
For the long weekend, we took a long trip to Harrisburg, Illinois, where my grandma lives. My brother David and his wife Lindsay and their three-month-old baby Caleb were visiting her, along with my parents.
Baby Caleb was the star of the weekend. I couldn’t get over his sweet chubbiness.
Since we had the whole McKinstry family together, which doesn’t happen very often, we did a family photo shoot. Keith brought his tripod and camera remote. We set up in front of Grandma’s blank wall.
After we got everyone arranged, we got a couple of decent pictures. Everyone looks relatively happy here.
Now I’ll train your eye to be savvy. Look at Keith’s left arm. See how it doesn’t look relaxed and see how his sleeve is pushed up? Now look at Luke. He is looking at the place where Keith’s arm was moments ago, when Keith was holding the camera remote up high to tell the camera to click.
So, we move on to the next photo.
Keith’s sleeve looks better, so if you don’t already know about the remote, you might just think Luke is looking at a pesky fly. Oh wait, Dad has his eyes closed! Hmm, we might have to do some creative head swapping between photos.
There were several more, but I will spare you a detailed play-by-play of the whole shoot. At the end, Luke wanted a turn to take a picture, so Keith held the camera down to him and let him press the button.
It’s a telling photo of how Luke views the world, don’t you think?
Next it was Lydia’s turn.
Lydia also “took some pictures” using only the tripod. Here she is taking her grandpa’s picture.
Overall a fun weekend, but I wish we could have stayed longer.
