Surfing the Inner N8 » Family

Art “Storage”

Nathan Hyde — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:29:53 +0000

A friend on Facebook recently shared about how her six-year-old son caught her throwing away some of his artwork. Several other parents commented about how their kids had caught them doing the same thing.

So what’s a parent to do?

Since my daughter just turned one last month, right now I can’t imagine ever throwing away any of her artwork. After all, she’s only done two paintings so far: one is front and center on our fridge, and the other is in a frame with a custom-made plaque. So the throwing-away-art days are in the distant future.

But considering how much artwork a kid produces throughout childhood, it’s inevitable that we can’t keep everything without violating fire code and having to rent some storage units.

So here’s my question: When the day comes where a parent must decide that some great masterpiece has to go, how do you chuck it on the sly?

Seriously, I’m looking for some creative ideas. I don’t want to have to post on Facebook some day about how Laura Marie caught me tossing her latest creation. Please hook a brother up with some ideas!

Daddy’s Big Little Baby Girl

Nathan Hyde — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:47:47 +0000

On Friday, we went out to eat and ordered something from the kids menu for Laura Marie for the first time.

On Saturday, she drank baby formula for the last time.

On Sunday, Carolyn turned around the car seats in both of our cars and Laura Marie went for her first car ride facing forward.

Today, Carolyn was at the store and Laura Marie pointed to another baby and said, “Baby.” (Well, more like “ba-ba.”)

And all this just a couple weeks after turning one. It’s all happening too fast! Laura Marie, no more big milestones for a few days, please!

Ailing Hydettes

Nathan Hyde — Mon, 03 May 2010 10:56:02 +0000

My girls are sick.

Whenever Laura Marie gets sick, it’s a pretty sure thing that Carolyn will get sick because the baby likes to sneeze on her. She can be sitting near Carolyn and looking the opposite direction, but when she sneezes she turns toward Carolyn and blasts her. I’ll be in another room and hear a baby sneeze, followed by, “Aaaahhhh!!! She got me again!”

At least Laura Marie thinks it’s funny when she sneezes. Usually it makes her laugh.

I’m praying for my girls to get well soon!

Nickels 4 Neighbors… Dollars 4 Daughters

Nathan Hyde — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:30:10 +0000

Each week at CrossWay we have a children’s offering called Nickels 4 Neighbors. It’s something that our conference does. All 34 churches in the conference collect this offering each week, and every six months we give it to a ministry that benefits children. It’s really cool to see all the kids come up each week to drop in their money. They’re learning to give, and to give as an act of worship. It’s also pretty neat that this offering helps other kids.

The past three weeks, Laura Marie has participated in the Nickels 4 Neighbors collection. Since she can walk now, she’s able to come up (with some… um… direction) and drop money into the container. It’s so cute to watch her walking up there with the other kids!

As I was reflecting on last Sunday’s worship service, a certain irony hit me. Laura Marie came up during Nickels 4 Neighbors, carrying her dollar (apparently this offering was named before inflation), but she didn’t want to let go of it! Here’s her daddy three minutes away from preaching about money, and she won’t let go of her dollar.

Actually, it’s a pretty good illustration of stewardship, but I didn’t think of it at the time. She was given that money specifically for the purpose of giving it to the children’s offering, but she wanted to hold on to it. How often do we do that with what God has entrusted to us for a specific purpose?

When I told Carolyn about all this, she told Laura Marie that she should have stayed in the service for the sermon. Funny mommy. That reminds me: Sunday marked a milestone for Laura Marie. She stayed in the nursery without her mommy for the first time! Of course, it helps that she had four other babies to play with.

Our Upright Baby

Nathan Hyde — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 22:27:41 +0000

Laura Marie walked today! That’s how she celebrated turning 10 months old.

Laura Marie’s Baseball Card Collection

Nathan Hyde — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:58:14 +0000

Laura Marie may be only 9 months old, but she’s already building her baseball card and autograph collection.

Her first baseball card was a 1991 Donruss card of former All-Star Bobby Bonilla. I gave it to her to help her start her collection. She promptly proceeded to bend it and chew it, as you can see below. I sent Mr. Bonilla the card along with a note explaining its condition, and he sent it back signed for her.

With her card collection underway, I wrote to Carl Erskine, a former All-Star pitcher with the Brooklyn Dodgers. I told him about Laura Marie, and he sent this card which he personalized for her:

Then there is Virgil Trucks, another former All-Star pitcher who is 92 years older than Laura Marie. I sent him a picture of his youngest fan. He sent her a baseball card and a postcard, both of them signed to her. Mr. Trucks also wrote a note about how beautiful she is. He suggested I might need a good bat to keep the boys away when they come calling on “this future Miss America.”

She’s off to a good start!

Laura Marie, Age 9 Months

Nathan Hyde — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:36:49 +0000

Laura Marie turned 9 months old yesterday. It’s hard to believe that next month she’ll hit double digits. (Okay, so it’s double digits in months, but still.)

My Sweet Baby

Nathan Hyde — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:22:02 +0000

Laura Marie has been out of the womb longer than she was in the womb. She’s growing up! She’s at a really, really fun age. What a blessing she is!

Popeye’s 90th

Nathan Hyde — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:30:22 +0000

Today my grandfather, Popeye as we called him, would have been 90. Dude.

It’s funny how we give our grandparents odd nicknames when we’re really young, and then they seem strange to everyone else but perfectly normal to us. It wasn’t until I was about 20 that I realized that there aren’t too many other grandmothers out there called NeeNaw.

Just shows how my grandparents are extra unique!

A Christmas Carol Bi-Annual Date

Nathan Hyde — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:30:15 +0000

Carolyn and I had our first date in six months yesterday. The last time we went out was the night before Laura Marie was born. We saw Night at the Museum 2, then went to dinner at Zia’s.

Yesterday afternoon our good friends Josh and Christi, along with their boys, watched the baby while we went to see A Christmas Carol. Man, it was good! Nearly every year we read or watch A Christmas Carol. It’s one of our Christmas traditions. So it was really cool to have a new version of it come out. Not only was it a new version, but it was 3-D in the theater–it was so cool!

We’d never seen a 3-D movie before. Now I’m hooked on it. We saw previews for some upcoming 3-D movies. I want to see them all! Even without the 3-D, it was a great version of the classic story. For the most part they stuck very closely to the book. One of the best parts was their depiction of Victorian London in a snowy December. I loved it. They also made the most of the 3-D effects. Now that I think about it, I’d like to see it again before it leaves theaters!

I figure having one date twice a year is probably a good place to start.

(By the way, if y’all see this, a big THANKS to the Engles for taking care of our baby!!!)