Twenty thoughts for Tuesday

I keep starting posts and then not having time to finish them, but here are some blurbs to record...

1. My whole family gathered in Eastern Iowa at the end of January to celebrate my brother-in-law's installation as Senior Pastor of his church. My sister leads worship at the contemporary service and their band played music that they had composed for the service. One was a song my sister wrote with her testimony. It was incredibly cool and it worked in a bird-of-prey, which made this sister laugh in the midst of tears. They are a couple who is truly gifted by God and I'm excited to see what God will do with them there in this new position.

2. We celebrated Daniel's 3rd birthday on Feb. 7. It was a good day. I was particularly excited by the cake which was completely my own design and incorporated construction vehicles. He loved it.

3. I have MONTHS worth of pictures to post. But I've misplaced the camera cable again. Someday there will be a place for that thing and it will be in its place. Someday.

4. Dennis has been working like crazy on our house. He is so amazing. My dad has also been putting in a ton of time redoing the walls. They look SO good. Or they will one day, I guess. It's just awesome to see the fruits of their hard work.

5. I gave up facebook for Lent and I started with this sacrifice a week early. It's amazing how much that cut down on my email.

6. If I weren't in the midst of working on a big event for my alma mater and sorority at the end of April, I would just completely unplug for Lent and maybe beyond. But, unfortunately, I need to be available for some communication. Alas. I am seriously thinking that someday, we'll just get rid of the internet.

7. We went to a Valentine's Day dinner at church on Sat. It was put on by the youth group to raise money for a mission trip and they offered free childcare. Dennis and I got to sit by each other at a card table in candlelight with lovely music, great food and truly sweet, attentive servers. It was delightful.

8. Annalivia got sick that night. We thought perhaps it was just a fluke, since she was up and running the next day, but Daniel got sick last night. So we are quarantined and the house is a mess, but the kids are relatively happy.

9. I wonder -- why don't children begin throwing up during the day? Why always in the middle of the night?

10. I'm reading some really good books right now. Three of them are kicking my rear-end in three different, but related ways. It is uncomfortable, but the process of spiritual growth is such a rich process. It's neat to experience.

11. Annalivia has, I think, arrived at the age where she wants to wear three or four different outfits. In a morning. I suppose I should be thankful this didn't come earlier.

12. Emmeliese is getting ready to walk. We got her a walker for Christmas and she LOVES to push it, but can't turn it. This means she's thrilled for about 10 seconds as she heads across a room and then dissolves into tears and dramatic fussing until someone (usually a sibling) rescues her and turns her walker around. This process then repeats itself until someone (usually a parent) gets tired of listening to all the crying and puts the walker away for a bit.

13. She also learned how to climb up the stairs this weekend. ALL the way up the stairs. I have no idea how, but the kids broke the junky wooden gate we had, which didn't really fit the stairs anyway. Since this is a rental, we can't afix anything to the wall permanently and the gates simply don't fit. So yesterday, I resorted to the age-old solution of turning a heavy chair on its side. And today she figured out how to move it. *sigh*

14. We have become Olympic junkies again. I love the Olympics, especially the winter games. I don't love the way we stay up too late every. single. stinkin'. day. But the games are among the best argument for tv, I think.

15. Since I'm watching the Olympics, I see commercials for products that I didn't know existed. Annalivia, who usually watches mostly PBS, sees them, too, and is constantly telling me about "this really great cleaner that you can buy and it makes things sparkle" and "this really great medicine that takes care of headaches and can help you be happy" and other "really great" stuff.

16. I have also been seeing commercials for shows I didn't know existed and I think it's interesting that Spike Lee is doing a show on the lineage of famous people a few weeks after PBS began airing their version. In difficult times, are we, as a nation, yearning for examples of those who have come before us and persevered? I wonder.

17. Speaking of non-commercial television and such -- I think it hilarious that when my children play super-heroes, Annalivia is Word Girl and Daniel is Super Why or they are from the Electric Company and use dryer lint to create word balls. They're already PBS nerds.

18. And speaking of Daniel, one of the new developments around here is that he has a new imaginary friend. His name is Cutter-Man. I think Cutter-Man gets to use scissors freely, unlike his oppressed creator.

19. I'm working on a new background for my blog for Lent. Did you know that there is a DEARTH of good Christian digital scrapbooking resources? Seriously -- if anyone out there is into design of digi-scrapping materials, there is an unaddressed market.

20. I'm excited for Lent tomorrow. I LOVE Lent and though we now attend a fairly non-liturgical church that does not celebrate Lent, we are going to be observing it here at home. I hope I can share more about that tonight because I KNOW everyone will want to go to bed super-early after being up half the night with the vomiting brother. That will happen, right?

Getting ready for Candlemas

One of the things I truly love about the church is the long, rich history of celebrations that stretch back to far before the time of Christ. I love that God created in us a desire to remember and that in remembering, we are given hope for the future. I love that centuries, nay, millenia, of people before us have remembered His goodness and that rituals and rites have been passed down from generation to generation using stories from the Bible to illumine our human condition. And I love that celebrating these rituals and rites in my own family and life connects me to that cloud of witnesses who have gone before.

Candlemas is among the best of these, I think, because it gives Christians an opportunity to look at an oft passed-over story from Jesus' life (i.e. The presentation of Jesus and Mary's purification in the temple and Simeon and Anna's blessing) which then causes us to look back at Jewish tradition (i.e. Levitical commands that the first-born be offered and that women be purified, and the anticipation surrounding the long-awaited Messiah) while looking forward in the Jesus story (i.e. reflecting on Simeon's prophecy was/ is/ will be played out) which can give us hope in our current circumstances (i.e. floundering about in a dark, sun-less, half-frozen tundra-esque environment in the middle of winter. Or is that just me?).

A brief history of Candlemas

Candlemas is celebrated 40 days after the birth of Jesus on Feb. 2. This is the day that Mary would have come to the temple for the ritual of purification. This event is recorded in the Bible in Luke 2: 22-38 when Mary and Joseph and the infant Jesus encounter the prophet Simeon and the prophetess Anna.

Candlemas evolved into a full-blown celebration when Roman Christians encountered pagans who celebrated the mid-point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox on Feb. 2 with a festival of light honoring the goddess, Ceres. Christians realized that the words of Simeon's prophecy, "For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel" spoke to the yearning of all for a true Light to come into the world. Hence the festival became connected with light to reflect the coming of Light. And to this day, Catholics have candles blessed on Candlemas.

Celebrating Candlemas at Home

There are many ways to celebrate Candlemas at home and one can probably make it as simple or complex as one wishes (unless, of course, your tradition dictates that you celebrate in a certain manner.)

Our celebration in the past has been as simple as lighting a candle at dinner and thanking God for sending His Light into the world. Last year, I was tired and pregnant and I thought the older children were sort of limited in understanding at ages 3 and 1, so we managed to have a meal of round foods (to remind us of the sun/ Son with candlelight and say prayers thanking God for His Light.

This year, I'm planning a bit more of a celebration because we've been doing more school-type things, projects, etc. and I've changed my thoughts about whether limited understanding really matters all that much, and, frankly, I'm actually prepared, so the plan is this...

:: Have pancakes for breakfast (a traditional Candlemas food). (Edited to add: We decided to have pancakes for dinner and strawberry cream cheese crepes for breakfast -- another traditional candlemas food and, really, when else can one have pancakes twice in a day?) During breakfast, I'll read the Luke story and we'll talk about the tradition of purification and sacrifice.

:: Our first project will be to roll beeswax candles. I bought a kit from Amazon (that should be here in time) and I think the kids will love this.

:: Our second project will be to line up stuff for our play-acting time later. I have two white doves that we're going to put in a basket or something which we'll use later. We'll find our sacrifice and talk about how Joseph and Mary were very poor and how God chose to be born as a poor child and a little of what that means for us.

:: Our third project will be something of an outreach project, though, honestly, I don't know what it will be yet. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd LOVE to hear them...

:: I found some coloring pages of Anna and Simeon on the internet (here, here and here). Those will be part of our day, too.

:: Our supper will be round foods -- probably our menu from last year (we're having pancakes) and we're hoping to have our beeswax candles lit.

:: After dinner, we are going to stand by our creche (yes, we STILL have it out) and pray and then we're going to light a candle and have Mary (Annalivia) and Joseph (Daniel) travel from the manger scene (in the living room) to the temple (in the dining room) where Simeon (Daddy) and Anna (Mommy) will be waiting to bless the baby Jesus (a doll in Annalivia's arms). Joseph will be holding the sacrifice to present. They will probably be accompanied by their faithful donkey/ dog/ cat (Emmeliese) which Anna may have to hold if said animal gets too rowdy/ distracting.

:: After our play, we'll put away our manger scene.

I love Candlemas. But, all lovely symbolism aside -- I think, if for no other reason, that I would love it because it reminds me that generations of people have stood in solidarity with me in the midst of the bleak midwinter, hoping and praying for some sign that we really ARE, indeed, moving towards the New Life of spring. I don't know if it's as powerful for people who have regularly seen temps above freezing on their themometers. But, for me, it is an opportunity to re-focus on Christ's promise to come into the world again. New life WILL come...

Moving on...

I talked with my friend whose sister I have referenced in the past few posts about adopting children from Haiti (both are college friends). In our discussion, we talked about how she and her family are dealing with things -- the aftermath of the earthquake, if they've found Wendy and Josiana, how her mother who was in Haiti at the time is coping with things, what the latest news is on the adoption front for the two children who are in Pittsburgh...

During the conversation, my friend said something like, "You know, it's odd. No matter how much you want to stay in the apex of emotion when something like this happens, at some point, your body and mind and spirit simply won't let you. You start to move on, if even involuntarily."

She's right, of course. We move on. The challenge is whether, in our moving on, we hold some wisdom in our hearts from that which we've experienced and thereby move a little closer to where God wants us to be.

I pray my heart is much wiser. I'll share more in the coming days, I think. In the meantime, we are moving on...

A family united at last

Tonya's sister-in-law Catrina has FINALLY been united with her Haitian adopted daughter in Pittsburgh. See the very cool video here!

My friends' new children

My friends who have been looking for their Haitian adoptees, are headed to O'Hare tonight to fly to Pittsburgh where they will meet a 12 year old girl and a 9 year old boy sibling pair from Haiti's BRESMA orphanage. These children will be theirs in the near future -- a permanent part of their family that includes my friends' birth children, a 10 year old boy and 7 year old girl.

If Wendy and Josiana are found, they, too, will join my friend's family. I know that even though she never thought of herself as a mother-of-many, she is PRAYING, PRAYING, PRAYING that will be the case.

I am, too.

Not back to normal

We had dinner at my parent's tonight. I thought about children with no food, incomplete families in mourning, people without shelter. I just do not understand going about business as normal right now. Seriously. If you are someone who has managed to be largely unaffected by this crisis in Haiti, can you please tell me how you've managed that?

In the meantime I want to share some links I've encountered and I'm going to apologize to the Deputy Headmistress for largely plagiarizing her post. Go there if you want to see the links with her eloquent verbage.

First, a blog by a Global Ministries (Disciples of Christ-related) missionaries.

Blog entries from a World Vision employee on the ground.

More info from The Haiti Rescue Center.

A story on Haiti rescues, including the rescue of a three-year old boy.

A missionary family living and serving in Haiti whose home has become a hospital.

A blog by a nutritionist who works with a foundation promoting health in Haiti.

Contact those representatives again PLEASE!!

From the For His Glory website...

We need you all to act again on behalf of all our children. Currently, we have two families from Argentina and one from Canada adopting. Our governments are not cooperating and working together to get all our kids out, they are dragging their feet. We are going to start losing babies due to dehydration if we do not evacuate these children quickly to the U.S. and then process them here. We do not have time for a one by one assessment of the state of their adoption process and issuance of visas prior to evacuation.

Please, begin contacting your governors and continue to pressure your senators and congressmen to get a plan in place, quickly, to evacuate the children to the U.S. The Argentinean and Canadian Governments could then work with the U.S. to bring their children home from the U.S. Time is of the essence. This is not going to look good for the U.S. , the State Department, the other world governments or the United Nations if our children, who survived the earthquake, begin to perish because the governments and agencies would not work together to quickly evacuate all the children in the orphanages.

This needs to be a united effort. PLEASE CALL YOUR GOVERNORS, SENATORS AND CONGRESSMEN AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THIS MESSAGE.

We have confirmed reports that Governor Ed Rendell form Pennsylvania went to Haiti and has brought back 54 children to Pennsylvania from an orphanage. If this can happen for them, it needs to happen for all the orphans that are suffering in orphanages with little supplies, starting to experience diarrhea and sicknesses due to the conditions.

PLEASE ACT NOW ON BEHALF OF OUR BABIES AND CHILDREN.

Thank you,

Kim Harmon,President

____________________

If you feel like you can't come up with a letter, here's the one I composed and sent in about a minute and a half. Feel free to use it. PLEASE take the brief amount of time required to do this.

Dear Representative ______,

I am writing to you concerning the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti and the humanitarian crisis developing there.
As you probably know, thousands of Haitians are orphans housed in various orphanages throughout the country. Many of these children are in the process of being adopted by families in the US and other countries.
Sir, these children need visas NOW in order to come to the US. The situation is such that the children cannot wait to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. They need medical assistance.
I ask you now to do what you can to grant children temporary visas and bring them to the US, even if it is possible that they will be sent to families in other countries later. Here, they can receive medical treatment and have basic needs met. In Haiti, they simply will not have that chance.
Please act quickly and urgently on behalf of these children.
Thank you,

Joy and heartbreak at the same time

The kids from the BRESMA orphanage have gotten out. God bless the Pennsylvania governor who went and got them. My friends received word that 54 children were on the plane -- everyone but their two.

I continue to pray...

More on Haiti... and perspective

A friend from college is adopting a sibling set, Wendy and Josiana, from Haiti from the BRESMA orphanage featured on CNN, etc. When the earthquake occurred, the birth parents of Wendy and Josiana, came to the orphanage and took their children because they feared for their lives. These parents are loving parents who gave up their children only when they were certain adoption by others was possible; they love them very, very much. They thought they were helping but they didn't know that help was on the way. Now those parents, with no money, resources, etc. are trying to provide for their children while the orphanage DOES have resources, food, water...

It's a heartbreaking situation.

I've been thinking about Haiti a lot in the last week. Yesterday, at church, I felt the weight of the tragedy throughout the entire service. When I got home, Dennis and I had a very frank discussion about where we are, where we've been, and where we are going as a family.

I have always been one of those people who is fascinated by trends, to a certain extent. I'm going to blame it on growing up during the Coca-cola sweatshirts/ jeans-with-a-triangle-on-the-rear late 80's/ early 90's, but my desire to keep-up-with-the-Jones' is deeper than that. I have found myself too fascinated by Pottery Barn and Anthropologie stores, too enthralled with decorating shows, too taken with the idea of making more visually perfect that which we have...

I'm breaking free from that thinking. We don't have cable tv, so I never watch decorating shows anymore, but I replaced some of that with some blogs that tend to focus on making things more and more pretty. I get that; I do. But when a tragedy like an earthquake that, for all intents and purposes, has debilitated an entire nation occurs and one is reminded that a thousand tragedies, perhaps not of this scope, but of real importance occur every day, well, making a pretty tassel for one's lamp seems so... unimportant.

I am trying not to judge others, though I confess I don't understand how this loss of life cannot be affecting everyone in some significant way. I am judging myself primarily. I think Dennis and I have been realizing over the past few months that we have choices to make in this life, and deliberations to process, and how act on those deliberations will determine how we and our children see this gift of life. We want them to know that while God blesses us with resources that allow us to live a beautiful life, we also have a profound responsibility to His kingdom. The fact is, the resources He's given us can also allow others to live a more beautiful life, sometimes just by the fact that they HAVE life.

I'm curious if others are feeling or have felt a similar nudge in the past few days? Or perhaps at another time?

Can you tell someone is learning about the Golden Rule at our house?

Today, I asked Annalivia to clean something up repeatedly. Finally, she did her job and which involved bumping into the chair where I was sitting. I started defending my territory by poking her with her brother's foam sword while making sound effects. She told me to stop a couple of times, then finally turned to me and said, "Hey! That's not how I want to be treated; how do you want to be treated?"
I stopped. :)

Something you CAN do NOW for Haiti

I am reposting an email I received from a friend today. This is something YOU can do that would make a difference for Haiti. Please consider reposting this on your blog or facebook (you can create a note with the info and direct your facebook friends to it in your status update). We really CAN make a difference! Thanks! ~April

---------------------

A quick recap: My wife Cathy was in Haiti when the earthquake hit. Traveling with a mission group from the Carmelite Community of the Word from the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese, they were in a small village about 50 miles north of Port-au-Prince. No one the group was hurt and they are now in the Dominican Republic awaiting a flight this afternoon to Miami. In addition, our daughter and her husband are in the process of adopting two children (Wendy & Josiana--brother and sister) from Haiti. The two children are in an orphanage in Port-au-Prince. Fortunately, no one in the orphanage was hurt in the earthquake, but now they are threatened with a severe lack of drinking water and food.

Beyond for sending money to one of the relief agencies, there is little we can do as individuals to help. EXCEPT...

Like Wendy and Josiana, there are hundreds of Haitian orphans who are awaiting final approval for adoptions to families in the U.S. The building in Haiti where the adoptions are processed was destroyed in the earthquake. It may be years before the processing can resume.

However, the U.S. can grant temporary visas to all orphans whose adoptions were pending before the earthquake. With the grant of visas the oprhans could then come to the U.S. to live with their adoptive families, but be classified as "foster care" children until the final paperwork is completed. In granting the visas, the evacuation of the hundreds of orphans stuck in this limbo will free space in Haitian orphanages for the thousands of new orphans that have been created by this emergency. Please note that under U.S. rules, any family that applies to adopt a foreign child must first be certified as a foster care family, so there is a safe-guard system in place to insure that these oprhans who would come here under this plan will be safe.

PLEASE, PLEASE. Contact your U.S. Senators asking that they put pressure on the United States Citizenship and Immigrantion Service (USCIS) to grant "temporary visas" to all Haitian orphans now in orphanges awaiting the completion of their adoption process.

This is a real way to help and it will cost nothing. You can send Emails by going to the website for the United States Senate (http://www.senate.gov/) and finding the links to your two senators' websites.

If you have contacts or friends in any agency of the U.S. government who could push this idea with USCIS, please reach out to them to help, too.

Thank all of you for your concerns, good thoughts and most of all prayers for my family these past few days. ~Ed

On Haiti

Amidst a baby crawling happily after her brother and his crane truck and a big sister still in her nightgown because it's "more like a princess" and a warm, steady house and more food, clothing, water, resources than we really, ever need, my thoughts are consumed by Haiti and the magnitude of need there following the earthquake.

From an article at World's site...
"about 1.2 million of Haiti’s 8.5 million residents are orphans. Only 200,000 of those live in orphanages. The rest live in the streets, and may not be accounted for weeks, or ever."

Here's the list World compiled of organizations who have resources on the ground now and are able to get immediate assistance to Haitians.

American Bible Society
American Red Cross (or text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10)
Children’s Hunger Fund
Christian Aid
Christian Reformed World Relief Committee
Food for the Hungry
Mennonite Central Committee
Operation Blessing International
Samaritan's Purse
World Relief
World Vision

And my lovely friend, Holly, referred readers to Real Hope for Haiti. The blog for their rescue center is here.

Praying, praying, praying...

My long-time companion bites the dust

Remember this beautiful mug?

It has been with me for a long time, my companion since before I was married, before kids, before old houses with drafty windows. In the winter, it is my daily companion, used literally all day, every day for tea and water and sometimes soup. It fits my hand perfectly, makes exactly enough tea or coffee i.e. some to drink now, some to heat up again...and again...and again to drink later, and it never gets too hot in the microwave or too cold in the fridge.

Now it looks like this.

*waaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!*

:( :(:(

I knocked it off the plant stand I'm using as an end table today. It fell and broke with great drama. "Noooooooo! Not my mug!" I said in the most bereft voice I could summon. I almost cried.

Annalivia immediately said, "I know what will make you feel better."

And she sat right down and drew me this.

It did make me feel a little better.

But I still miss my mug. :(

Sunday triumph

For the first time in a looooooonnnnnng time, we managed to have a very nice Sunday here at our house. I've known that the key to a peaceful a.m. of any day, really, but especially Sunday, is the preparation the night before. But we just kept missing the mark, for some reason. This week was different.
We figured out what all of us were wearing on Saturday night. I had breakfast in mind, and a back-up plan in case I didn't get to Plan A and the table was cleaned off and ready to go. I had also browned a pork roast on Sat. night and stuck it in the fridge ready to be put in the oven. We went to bed late, because we forgot we were supposed to do homework for our Sunday School class, but other than that, our Saturday prep was good.
This morning, we woke up early thanks to our 10-month-old alarm clock. I showered and determined that Plan B (Oatmeal and dried fruit) was going to be breakfast. We prayed and ate together, which was very nice. Then I cut up some potatoes and put them, covered with water and on high heat, in the crockpot, and put the roast in the oven. As we walked out the door, I turned on the crockpot and the oven.
We actually got to Sunday School on time. Emmeliese was ready for a nap during church and so after I took the kids to Children's Church, I took her into an empty classroom and hummed to her and rocked back and forth, and she was out. She slept through the rest of church.
Afterwards, we came home to a house that smelled AMAZING! I drained and mashed the potatoes, skins and all, and took the roast out of the oven, heated up some vegetables in the microwave and we were ready for Sunday lunch less than 15 minutes after we came home. It was so cool.
Now, there's a lot of cleanup to do. Dennis is working on the new house and I'm going to get to work here. Hopefully I can get it all done in the next half-hour in time for Quiet Time. If I can manage to work in a little nap, too, it will be a downright perfect day.

Swagbucks

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Snowman Soup

We had a very snowy day here on Thursday. The schools were closed in town and all was quiet. Main Street, which is usually very busy, was empty save for a lone car just occasionally.
To mark the occasion, Annalivia, Daniel and I made Snowman Soup during Emmeliese's nap.

First I had them draw the recipe. Annalivia did all the drawing, save for a lone potato by Daniel, and Daniel did all the coloring. We got things a little out of order, but their drawing is pretty close to the order of the recipe. Then we did all the steps -- peeling, boiling, draining, and mashing potatoes, adding butter and milk, making croutons -- I had the children do it all. It took FOREVER (I had to hold their hands and peel the potatoes for them), but they were so excited to make the soup and try their creation!
While we waited for the potatoes to boil, we made up a story about a snowman named Henry whose mother made him Snowman Soup. We liked it so much, we decided to make a book. Annalivia drew all the pictures.I especially like this one that occurs after Henry has followed several woodland creatures far from home and realizes he is hungry. Can you see his expression and his tummy growling? (Click on the pic to enlarge). She did all of that herself; I just read her the words that were written.

It was a very nice morning together. And we had a yummy lunch as a bonus! I hope this will become a first-big-snow (or in our case, first-big-snow-unless-that-happens-on-Christmas) tradition for the McStews.

Snowman Soup

5-6 potatoes

1/4 stick butter

3-4 cups milk

2 thick slices wheat or pumpernickel bread

salt and pepper to taste

baby carrots

Peel potatoes and put in pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil, turn down a bit and simmer until potatoes are soft.

While potatoes cook, cut bread into thick cubes. If desired, toss with olive oil and a bit of garlic salt. Then spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes or until nicely toasted, turn each crouton over, and then bake other side until toasted.

When potatoes are soft, drain and return to pot. Add butter and milk and mash potatoes to desired consistency (I used a stick blender after the kids mashed the potatoes up.) Add salt and pepper to taste.

Place baby carrots and croutons in serving dishes. Serve the soup in bowls, then let kids add baby carrots (the snowman noses) and croutons (eyes and buttons*). Enjoy the warm soup and be glad that you aren't out in the snow like a snowman!:)

*Crumbled bacon can also be used as eyes and buttons, but a parent should probably do the cooking.

I'm linking to Kimba at A Soft Place to Land's DIY Day.

On safari

Tonight, after dinner, Annalivia and Daniel climbed onto Daddy's back and he gave them an elephant ride around "the circle" "(the path created by the doorways between the living room, dining room and foyer). Emmeliese followed, crawling right behind them. Dennis kept saying things like, "We're being tracked by some sort of wild animal!" while Annalivia and Daniel laughed hysterically. It was one of the sweetest moments of the day so far.

Some resolutions

I like the New Year. It's a good time to pause, reflect, and challenge. I also like new year's resolutions. It's nice to think about the new year ahead in positive, sometimes audacious, terms.
So here are some of my thoughts on 1o things I'd like to accomplish during 2010:

1. Read the Bible every day.
2. Read through the Bible this year.
3. Discipline my speech.
4. Be intentional about teaching the kids.
5. Get rid of 75% of our stuff. Literally.
6. Eat better and move more.
7. Be more fiscally proactive.
8. Move into the new house.
9. Make time for creativity.
10. Sing more.

I think everything here is doable. We'll see.

Dec. 23: The wishlist

My grandmother had an address book with a picture of Santa on the front of it, onto which she glued a cotton ball. That was her Christmas wishlist book. Every year, her children, then eventually the grandkids, would write our Christmas lists in the book. As an adult, it was so neat to go back and see our childish handwriting evolve and the phases of our hearts' desires formed into Christmas lists, as well as Grammy's eternal list (Chantilly Lace and gloves). It was one of my favorite Christmas traditions.
This year I made a book for myself and the two sisters who have children. I decoupaged a picture of Santa (Grammy's was much more modern, but I couldn't find it) onto blank sketchbooks and then glued the requisite cotton ball to the front.

The kids made their lists immediately. Annalivia wrote hers and Daniel dictated his. Then we put it right in front of the tree where Santa can easily find it.

Dec. 22: The manger

We went to see a living nativity last night. Truthfully, it was not the greatest. But, the kids got something from it. Afterwards, they made beeline for the manger to see what was inside.

Dec. 21: Shovelers

The snow prompted me to head outside to see if I could take any good kids-in-the-snow pics. The answer? No. No, you can't. Not when there is shoveling to be done.

Dec. 20: Snowberries

It's snowing here! It's just in time for a few days of white before Christmas.

This project would be easier...

...if I could find my flipping cable for my camera. I'm still taking photos for the December photo project, I just can't upload them yet. When I find it (at the bottom of my yarn bin? in the kids' room? next to the toaster?) I will make a bunch of back posts.

Dec. 14: Going to work

Dennis brought home safety glasses from work for the kids the other day. Daniel wore his all evening and later came in with this get-up and told us he was "going to work." He's terribly busy and important there.

Dec. 13: Mommy/ daughter day

Today, Annalivia and I went to church together after deeming the others too sick to participate. After church, I decided that today was a good day to spend with just her, so we came home and got the truck (which allows her to sit in the front by me) and when on a special Girls' Day. We went out to eat for lunch and had an AMAZING sandwich at a pub. Then we went to Goodwill and did Christmas shopping for her brother and sister. Then we went to WalMart and bought some new Christmas shoes for her. Finally, we ended up at the Messiah sing at the Episcopal cathedral in Peoria. The soprano and tenor soloists were wonderful, the orchestra was superb, the choruses were...fun, at least. We stayed for the first half, had some great thumbprint cookies, and came home. It was a lovely day. We were even wearing matching gold sparkly sweaters! :)

Anyone need a last minute Christmas photo card?

Last year, I thought I'd get into the Christmas photo card business, but I never got around to designing my own papers, etc. I do, however, have about five or six or so templates using free materials. If you'd like a free photo card you can take and have printed, I'd be honored to have my blog friends use one of these templates lest they sit around unused. Just send me a photo by next Wed, Dec. 16 and whether you'd like the card to be religious or secular, and any other verbage, along with whether you'd prefer a 4x6 or 5x7 and I'll get it to you asap. My email is mcclurestewart and it's a gmail dot com address.

Dec. 12: 40 years old

Dennis turned 40 today. He spent this milestone day running errands, wiping noses, and dealing with fussy, sicky children. He only got a chocolate cake at the end of the day after bathing little ones. He didn't even get 40 candles. He did get 40 kisses, though. I won't say from whom...

Dec. 11: Wrestlers

This child #3 had a challenge her older sister never had -- a big brother who likes to rassle. Little E is constantly being tugged, butted, jumped over, and prodded, etc. by this brother-of-hers. So far, he's being gentle and she is loving every moment, which is a good thing because she barely gets a moment's peace. Even when she's sitting on momma's lap.

Dec. 9: O Antiphon

We've been lighting our Advent wreath at breakfast, then I read parts of Isaiah 9 and then we sing the first verse of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. We were eating Cheerios on our first morning of lighting the wreath and I was teaching the kiddos the words to the hymn and Annalivia grabbed a Cheerio and said, "It's an 'O'! Like 'O Come, O Come!'" I, in my naivete, having not realized that anything can become TRADITION in the blink of an eye to a child, told the kids they could hold a Cheerio while we sang. So now, each and every time we sing, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" there must be a Cheerio in hand. 'O' has taken on a new meaning this Advent.

Dec. 7: First snow

We had our first snow last night. It was a light dusting that was gone from the pavement by noon.

See that circle in the ground? Annalivia drew a bunch of these in our yard today. She said, "This is where we're going to build our igloo tomorrow!"

Here's hoping we get more snow tonight!

Dec. 6: Angelic...ish

The kids were in a program Sunday night at church. Considering that it started about an hour before their bedtimes and they had no naps and had arisen VERY early in the morning, I thought my children were...not terrible. I was thankful that there were about 25 other kids in the same situation. The directors of the program deserve some sort of saint status.

This one DID NOT want to get pigtails in her hair; she wanted to have curly hair. The child's hair is slippery, thick and straight. It does not curl. After explaining this to her approximately 5000 times, she reluctantly agreed to pigtails, then changed her mind about three minutes before we walked out the door. She kept saying, "I look RIDICULOUS!" She didn't. But she took her pigtails out sometime between her entrance and the appearance of the children's choir at the end of the second act.

This boy only wore his halo for the first four minutes of the program. And he was so tired that he ended up sitting on the floor behind a cloud during the last song and doing the motions to Away in the Manger, though the choir wasn't singing that particular song at the time.

And this child squawked through the play, bounced around and banged her mouth on the pew several times and sobbed, and was generally disruptive. I took her to the back of the church with the other mothers with little ones and she tried to crawl out of my arms to grab the 7-month old beside us. She sure looks cute here, though.

After the program we had cake in the all-purpose room of the church and Daniel and Annalivia and the other 25 kids who had not had naps ran approximately 3 miles in laps around the outside of the room. I think there was a tacet agreement among the parents to not enforce the no-running-in-church thing because all of us seemed pretty grateful that our children, who were now past their bedtimes were, at least, not at our tables, sobbing.

When we got home, the kiddos went straight to bed, and, not surprisingly, the older two were asleep almost immediately. And when I went to check on them later, they sure looked angelic.

Dec.5: Soundtrack to these days

My absolute favorite Christmas album ever. If nothing else would do it for me, Kiri Te Kanawa singing Mozart's Laudate Dominum puts me in a grateful, thankful, oh-my-goodness-the-mystery-of-it-all! Christmas mood every. single. time.

Dec. 4: Playdough

Annalivia received some playdough for Christmas from one of her teachers at church. She was excited to use it and split it with Daniel so they could both play, which they did for about two hours non-stop. They absolutely loved it.

It was the first time I've ever let them use playdough. And it may be the last. Little bits of dried yellow stuff were everywhere. I swear I vacuumed the floor five times one day.

December 3: Tea

One of the delights of living in a big drafty house is that one always has an excuse to drink a cup of tea. I really enjoy different kinds of tea, but I admit that I am loyal to my first love -- Constant Comment. I discovered it in junior high. Back then I used a lot of honey in it. Now I use a little teeny bit of agave nectar. I love the fragrance and the way the hint of sweetness brings out the orange and spices. Lovely.

The children like my tea-drinking habits and not only because hot tea means that there is usually warm water available for hot chocolate. Sometimes they take breaks from playing to come over and bury their noses in my cup of Constant Comment. And they like to carry my tea bags to the garbage and squish them between their fingers so that the scent is released again. Yesterday, Daniel kept coming over to me to smell my tea so often that I asked if he wanted the rest of it. He enjoyed every last drop.

My other favorite tea is one I never have on hand -- peppermint with honey. My grandmother sometimes grew peppermint behind the garage when I was a child and occasionally she'd make some into tea for us. Or when we'd go for a hike with my father in the local woods, we'd find wild peppermint and bring it back to her. And I remember my friend, Becky, bringing one of those bladder canteens full of hot peppermint tea to a church outing when we were in 7th grade. I think we felt very grown-up and it had something to do with the tea.

I keep thinking I need to branch out and try different kinds of tea. Hence, my cupboard is full of tea boxes with one or two bags missing as I attempt to love them. But I always return to my default. Do you have a favorite tea you'd recommend?

December 2: Breakfast

A candle lit...O Come, O Come Emmanuel...Isaiah 9... hot oatmeal in bowls...cheerios in hand and on the floor...

December 1: Gifting

As I think I've mentioned before, one of the things I truly love and appreciate about my family is that handmade gifts are encouraged and treasured. Christmas is not really about The Getting for us. We've realized along the way that The Giving is the real joy and it really is so much fun to think about what to give to loved ones, especially when creating presents from scratch. I think about the things that have been made for us -- baby blankets and ornaments and clothing and jewelry -- all of these handmade treasures always top items that are purchased. So I'm working hard today on handmade gifts. It's such fun work!

If you'd like to see more photos in the December photo project, start here.

Mac and Cheese and grandmas

This weekend, I overheard my daughter telling my mother that she is "not a fan" of my macaroni and cheese. My macaroni and cheese usually comes from a box. So does my mom's, but she has a complicated method of slightly overcooking it and adding extra cheese that results in macaroni and cheese the grandkids love.

I was thinking about this because my husband's favorite macaroni and cheese was his grandmother's recipe. She made it every year for Thanksgiving. Her recipe died with her because it didn't occur to anyone that Grandma Lyda's mac and cheese was going to be conspicuously absent at every Thanksgiving thereafter.

When we were first married, I, having heard of Dennis' "love" for macaroni and cheese got my grandmother's recipe. I remember cooking it for him and being very excited. He liked it, but did not love it. It wasn't his grandma's, after all.

For several years of our marriage, I tried to replicate his grandmother's mac and cheese. I had a lead when he discovered that the mac and cheese made by one of our church ladies was similar to his grandmother's recipe. But the recipe was in approximates and it did not involve a white sauce and I just could never get it to work.

I no longer try to make Lyda's macaroni and cheese and I've stopped making it for my daughter's lunch, too. I've realized that it is a special purveyance of grandmothers to create macaroni and cheese beloved by their grandchildren. This mother is not going to tread on that territory.

But I'm going to keep Grammy's recipe on hand. Someday I'll make it for my grandchildren. I'll tell them about how my grandmother made the best macaroni and cheese in the world.

Emmanuel shall come to thee

Happy Advent 1.

At the close of Ordinary Time...

In these last few minutes of Ordinary Time, a few things to remember about this November...

:: Little Emmeliese learned how to crawl and Mama finally let her eat her first real food. She's also doing some dancing (shaking her head, moving her body up and down, waving arms and legs) whenever she hears any music. The other day, I walked in the dining room and my baby girl was standing by her highchair which she had used to pull herself up. And she's sleeping better -- usually waking up only once a night since we moved her into her own room (thank the Lord!) She's growing up so fast!

:: Daniel has started drawing faces and the other day he colored orange in the middle of the flame of a candle picture. I thought that was cool. He and Annalivia are sharing a room right now and he likes that. He was glad to give his room to Emmeliese. He always takes such good care of her. And he and Annalivia have been playing really well together.

:: Annalivia has been very good about sharing her room, though she'd prefer that she and Daniel have the bunk beds we'll eventually borrow from my aunt instead of beds on the floor. We took her out of preschool at the beginning of the month and she has adjusted well to being home. I like it. She's an incredible big sister most of the time to both Daniel and Emmeliese. I'm trying to be more intentional about having special time alone with her. One day this month, we got home from our church's Kids Club and decided to have an adventure. We went and got ice cream and then I showed her the Big Dipper and the Milky Way. It was really neat.

:: Dennis has been making some progress on the house and we've experienced a renewed enthusiasm for it since we became members of the Old House Society in Bloomington. They operate an architectural salvage warehouse that made both of our hearts beat faster.

:: I've been working on some Christmas presents and looking forward to another handmade Christmas with our families. I am very thankful for my family's approach to Christmas -- handmade, edible or inexpensive presents are not only appreciated but encouraged. I love that.

:: We rearranged furniture and stuff in our rental house to allow for room for Emmeliese to move about unhindered. It was getting inconvenient to drag her out from radiators and corners with outlets and from under furniture and such several times an hour. In doing our rearranging, I realized that, though it doesn't look magazine-worthy at all, I really like openness in a room. Furniture anchored to or near walls is ok with me. I know that makes me uncool.

:: We had a great Thanksgiving with the family. We did a progressive dinner throughout the day with pate at my sisters, dinner at my mom's and pie at my grandfather's. It was lovely. The food was wonderful. I keenly missed, missed, missed my Grammy. But, in a way, those emotions made the day much more poignant and meaningful.

:: We are still loving our experiences at our new church and are so thankful that God led us there. Annalivia is having an incredible mid-week experience, the kids are both loving Sunday school and getting ready for a Christmas program this coming month, Dennis has had some really neat experiences with an active, viable, focused men's ministry, and I got to meet some neat people at the Beth Moore event and am looking forward to some women's ministry events this coming month, too. And Dennis and I love, love, LOVE our Sunday School class and the challenging, invigorating discussions we experience there.

:: Phil, our pastor, had a great sermon last week on giving and in it, he said something about giving from our abundance that caught me. He said rather than thinking about what we no longer use or need, we could think about what others could use or need. The latter removes the "I-problem" from the equation. The distinction has stuck with me this week and I'm ready to do some fresh examination of our abundance and see what others could use or need.

:: I'm going to try to post more often during December. I'm ready for Advent and already anticipating Incarnation. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

Happy scrappy quilt giveaway

Marie-Madeleine has a great giveaway for a gorgeous quilt. More info here.

Parenting book realization

I read a lot of parenting books. A LOT. I think I have a tendency towards obsession with self-help type stuff, anyway, and reading parenting books fulfills that in (what I can generally pretend is) a healthy way.

I realized something the other day and that is this... parenting books written by people who have two children three or four or more years apart are a lot different than parenting books written by people who have four or more children two years or less apart. Seriously -- big difference. Furthermore, I realized that the more kids an author has, the less he or she has to say about what a parent can do and more she or he has something to say about what God can do. There's just so much resignation (in a good way) from those people. It's inspiring.

And even farther-furthermore, I realized that the two-kids people often share wisdom that is really inspired and some great insights, techniques, etc, BUT the people I'm going to be referencing are the people with the zillions of kids. Even though I only have three children, there's something about reading the thoughts of people who have been-there-done-that (...and more!) that is so very helpful. It's one of the many reasons I love Holly's blog, and Tonya's blog, and Ann's blog, and Amy's blog, and Molly's blog...among many others. There's a wide range of theology and practices out there, but when graciousness is present, it is inspirational...and motivational...to this mom of three. Thanks to those of you who share.

What a weekend!

This has been such a good weekend, that I feel like I should hit on a few highlights to remember.

-- I went to a Beth Moore Living Proof event this week, fully embracing the evangelical side of myself. Dang, was it good! She is such an energetic speaker and draws very cool connections. The subject of her talk was John the Baptist and it was fascinating. And it was illuminative when applied to my own life. I had heard her on the radio before, but had not seen her. She reminded me of several southern-woman friends. It was lovely. I had such an incredible experience, that I'm going to try to go back next year.

-- At the Beth Moore thing, I sat next to a woman from Chicago. She ended up being a homeschooling mother of 4 whose children have the same exact age range of mine. It was SO cool! She was my partner for a final commissioning thing that was very moving. We exchanged email address and facebook info and I think we will be spiritual friends.

-- I also got to hang out with some women from our new church and had a good time getting to know them better. It was just a lot of fun, though they were very worried about me driving down to the conference by myself, sitting by myself and rooming by myself. I explained that this sort of solitude really WAS a gift. Really. No, REALLY, chicas. Although it was just wonderful to get to know these very cool women, time alone was G-O-O-D!!

-- The weather was incredible this week. We've had so much rain this fall -- flooding and crops waterlogged in the field. This week has been so amazing -- sunny and in the high 50's, low 60's. Then this weekend it was in the mid-70's. This coming week is supposed to be beautiful, too.

-- We had a great church morning. We've been getting up early and going out to breakfast before going to church. I don't know if it's a wise thing to do that long-term, but it sure is a nice treat and a really special way to begin the morning. Lots of people were gone from church this morning, but we had a great conversation in Sunday School and the sermon was really, really good.

-- Today our yard was blitz-raked by a church youth group. We had 15 kids out there with rakes going crazy. They raked the yards of both elderly neighbors, too, and then moved on down the block, accepting no money -- just serving.

-- Since the youth group was such a help at this house, we went to our new house and raked. I tried tossing the kids into a leaf pile, but they did not appreciate the joy of such. Dennis thought my tenacity was rather remarkable since I refused to believe they were not having fun until they were both sobbing. Sometimes, I'm not the greatest mother ever. ;)

-- Tonight after dinner, we watched the end of a football game and Annalivia and Daniel did some swordfighting a la Narnia. Daniel, as King Peter, was hilariously relentless while Annalivia, as the White Witch or as Queen Susan, tried to pose her swords artistically. Emmeliese sat on the floor and bobbed up and down and watched and laughed at them encouragingly.

-- And now we're all going to bed VERY early! The house is messy, but sleep is a more important priority at this point. Hope your weekend was grand!

The morning report

It is 8 in the morning on this Thursday of the first week of Annalivia being out of Preschool. Mom has also been sick all week, so we've all been together all day, everyday. I realized this week how spoiled I've been; the older two kids have been at my mom's house basically four hours of four days of a week since Emmeliese was born. It's been a real gift. Since we decided to take Annalivia out of preschool, the plan is to have the kids go to my mom's one night a week (to play with cousins) and on Friday morning (to give me a break).

I wish I could say that everything just clicked right into place this week with all of us home, but...it hasn't. However, the difficulties strengthen my conviction even more that this all-four-of-us-together-all-the-time should be the default in our home. Now that we are in day 4, it feels better. We are kind of relaxing into the routine of being together, working around and with each other, playing together and by oneself and referee-ing a different energy level than usual. I had thought we'd just jump right in to preschool-at-home this week. Now I realize that we need a bit of time to adjust to each other and the new routine. But I like how being home feels today.

So, right now, Emmeliese is sitting in the middle of the floor, lunging forward to get things in the middle of the floor. Daniel has been running around in a helmet and shield with sword in hand fighting dragons. Annalivia cranked up the cd player so we're listening to English church music while she alternately draws pictures of princesses and tries to get "The Prince" to dance with her. He's not been very cooperative, so she's mainly drawing.

I'm drinking coffee -- a habit I reintroduced with the time change. I found a pound of whole bean coffee a friend had given me over two years ago. It's ... not terrible, surprisingly. Not the best ever, but free. And hot. We have yet to turn on our furnace and the space heaters are nearing the end of the effectiveness, I think.

We have lots on the docket to do today. Daddy took the van to get a bit of a tune-up, so we're forced to be either home or walking to a destination, both of which are good for us. The house is a complete mess and I'm going to a conference with new-church ladies tomorrow so Grandma is coming to visit. She is terribly disturbed by blankets being the wrong direction on a bed so to say, "There's a little work to do" would be vastly understating things.

I best get at it.

I'm having some issues...

...making things harder than they should be lately.

Some Halloween photos

For those who are interested, a couple photos of the kiddos dressed up at Gramps' house can be seen at this link. A report on the weekend coming later, I think.

A place to cook

Dennis and I spent some time discussing the house tonight. Basically, we've run out of money to spend hiring other people to work on it and we still have a whole heck of a lot that needs to be done before whenever it is that we'll move in (hopefully before summer heat next year). It's stuff like running electricity into the main floor, sanding floors, redoing walls, fixing plaster where we can, putting in some bathrooms (because right now there's only half a toilet in the house) and a kitchen, because, um...well, this family's gotta eat. It was a very energizing discussion.

Tonight's discussion was about the kitchen and we figured out some solutions to annoyances. The kitchen is small, but will still be the largest kitchen we've ever used. Because of our cash crunch, and because he's always wanted to do it, Dennis is going to build the cabinetry. Another advantage to him building the cabinets is that whatever he comes up with will actually fit the 10-foot ceilings. And because he's going to build the cabinetry, and because I've always wanted it, he's going to make it very primitive -- but not in the way that involves red paint and star and moon cutouts and prematurely rusted wires. :) (It may involve beadboard and prematurely worn corners. We'll see...)

The door to the dining room had been moved at one time in the house's past. It made sense to leave it, but that meant the other entry door to the room was not symmetrical. I've realized that symmetry is a big thing for me in buildings, rooms, etc. I like a sense of order into which I can bring my messiness, I guess. :)

My brilliant husband's brilliant solution involves moving both doors a bit (and moving a brand new duct which he assures me is not a big deal) to make the doors symmetrical and thereby make room for an entire wall of shelves which will be concealed behind beadboard doors. That means we don't necessarily need upper cabinets, but can instead use open shelves for the dishes and mixing bowls and such which, I think, will make the room look a lot bigger. But the coolest thing about the wall o' doors is that our door to the second back stairs will be concealed giving us a "hidden" staircase. That's just the sort of thing that makes Dennis and I grin.

Now -- the question is just this -- when is he/ when are we going to find time to do all of this?

Sweet things today

Daniel and Annalivia played together this morning really well. It was a very complicated game wherein Daniel was Annalivia's daddy. She'd cry out, "Daddy, Daddy!" and then run over to him as he sat in the rocking chair. He'd say, "Do you want me to rock-a-bye you?" and then she'd climb up in his lap and he would stroke her hair and say, "Shhh...it's ok..." Then he'd get tired of her sitting on his lap and shove her off the chair.

Later in the morning, I sent them outside to play. They had another elaborate game going involving their bikes/ trikes and several stuffed animals in the wagon. They went around to the far side of the house, however, and when I called them back, Annalivia explained that the reason they were over there was because they were discussing their child The Director. What director, I have no idea.

This afternoon, after naps, they were having a snack. I have no idea what they were talking about, but occasionally Daniel would say the word, "butt" and then they would both burst out into uncontrollable laughter. Then they'd get it together again and he'd say it again and they'd laugh hysterically. I pretended like I didn't hear for about 5 times and then came in and told them it we don't say, "butt" as per this post. I may be a hypocrite, but I have good reasons.

And lastly, tonight, after we got home, I worked on Annalivia's Halloween costume a little. I will elaborate more on its providential pieces later. I had to cut some stuff off of a long dress and Annalivia took the pieces and made a gaiter and scarf and headband out of them, told us she was on a "snow skateboard" and then ran around jumping off of things pretending to snowboard. At one point, she was talking about how she wants a snowboard, which she was still calling a "snow skateboard" and Dennis said something about he had a skateboard once. Her eyes grew really big and she looked at him like he was really cool and she said, "You did?" He replied affirmatively. Then she asked, "Is it still in your shed?" Those of you who know about the giant machine shed at his mom's house packed with everything he and his family members have ever owned will know it probably is. I just hope he doesn't have to go looking for it.

A different expectation

One of the prejudices I managed to nurture throughout my previous mainline church experience was the notion that evangelicals have a sub-standard intellectual tradition. I thought that most of them just didn't want to really think about faith. (I mean, why else would they believe in the pesky doctrine of the sovereignty of God?)

I was introduced to the error of my ways about three years ago when I encountered a faith community of women at the now-defunct Choosing Home. For the most part, these were stay-at-home mothers who were...how can I say this correctly... not in the least bit dumb. I don't want to use "intellectual giants" because probably none of them would accept such a description of themselves, but suffice to say, their knowledge of the Bible, theology (both theoretical and applied), and church history just amazed and astounded me. I was brought up short in front of a false picture of evangelicals I had painted and hung off to the side of my faith journey. What I had created was not real. It was a convenient portrayal so I could disregard the hard questions I would inevitably be asked.

Our family has been participating in an evangelical church (Evangelical Mennonite is the best description, or at least the most well-known) for the last five months. Today, our adult Sunday School class, which involved about 25 adults from the ages of 20-40, engaged in a spirited, intellectual discussion about Calvin. I was amazed that laypeople, and not just a few laypeople, but many of those in the room, not only knew who Calvin was, but knew more about theology and the differences in the theology than I did. Their comments revealed an intellectual curiousity about faith that indicated that this discussion was not their first introduction to theological debate. And this was no milquetoast discussion; it was passionate, and complex. There was never a convergence of opinion/ belief -- some of the theology introduced was pretty liberal, some pretty conservative -- but it was an incredibly respectful discussion. It was completely unlike any conversation I've had at church, ever. It was, frankly, exhilarating.

When Dennis and I processed it verbally after church together, we realized two things...

1.) This church expects a certain level of literacy from followers of Christ. The expectation is informal, but it is there. It begins with Biblical literacy, but extends to a basic knowledge of different theologies, Christian traditions and world religions. Dennis mentioned today that he has been incredibly impressed by the knowledge possessed by laypeople in the congregation. I hadn't really thought about it much, but when he mentioned it, I realized how extraordinary this level of knowledge is, particularly in the light of my second realization, which will probably get me into trouble...

2.) I have been confronted again and again with the fact that, in large part, the mainline church is failing its people when it comes to really connecting the mind with the process of faith. I'm not sure where it was that it became a joke that we don't read the Bible. It should be incite a great sense of shame, I think. What mainline illiteracy has produced is a laity that is dependent on ministers to not only illuminate, but also introduce basic Biblical concepts. This allows for only a very narrow thread of theology to be discussed and considered amongst the people. Because hardly anyone, including pastors, are secure in Biblical knowledge, there is almost no ability to produce an intellectual discussion, let alone a classical argument/counter-argument. Debate doesn't exist. And when it does, it generally isn't very respectful. Bottom line -- the conversation I experienced this morning simply couldn't have taken place in the churches of which I've been a part or with which I'm familiar. And that's primarily because of a basic lack of necessary education.

So, I've realized again how ridiculous my former prejudice is. It turns out that picture I painted of someone who did little to move beyond preformed suppositions and did less to challenge one's faith intellectually, was the mainline me. The sub-standard Christian intellectual tradition was mine.

I was schooled again today. At church. It was a wonderful thing.

Saturday update

It's a beautiful COLD day here in central Illinois. Dennis is out mowing the leaves around the house towards the street, Annalivia is "reading" to Daniel, and Emmeliese is bouncing up and down in her exersaucer, which she loves again now that we moved the legs up a notch so she can get some good bouncing action going. I'm trying to figure out how to save money on groceries. Right now all I've come up with is making a list of meals we like and the ingredients therein and trying to buy a lot of those when they are on sale. That's probably Basic Home Ec 101, isn't it?

We had pepperoni pizza for breakfast this morning. I had made the crust and two loaves of bread yesterday, but our oven smelled terrible when we turned it on. Dennis took it all apart and I put the dough in the freezer and we went out to eat. After tearing it apart and finding nothing but little mouse droppings, we think a mouse may have peed on the insulation around the oven. This morning, we suffered through the smell until I found that lavender/ vanilla Febreeze got rid of it, if sprayed every 10 minutes or so. The kids really wanted pizza and I hadn't been out to the store to get any proper breakfast materials, so we indulged in pizza while the bread baked. But the bread never rose properly from the freezer. I have two rather flat loaves. Still good, especially for meatloaf sandwiches, which is their immediate need, but not quite what I was anticipating.

Our new church is having an open house this afternoon to celebrate the new building, so we are going to head over there sometime after lunch. Dennis' brother is coming into town for the funeral of a beloved coach at the high school and college, so we'll get to see him, if briefly. And inspired by Ann, I think we may take a bit of a walk to soak up some sunshine, which has been in short supply here.

Emmeliese has been teething a lot lately. She has 6 teeth in and the seventh is taking it's sweet time, right below the surface of her gums for about 2 weeks now. She is miserable at night, and, consequently, so is Momma. She also isn't sleeping in big stretches during the day -- just little naps of less than an hour. It's such a vicious circle -- the sleeping less during the night leads to sleeping less during the day which leads to less sleep at night. She has also developed a howl of righteous indignation when something is taken away from her to rival anything her siblings have produced, which is really saying something. You'd think her hand was cut off. Poor, persecuted child has a mother who won't let her chew on paper... It's terrible. :)

Tomorrow, the church is having a dedication Sunday with a potluck afterwards. I'm singing in an ensemble, so I need to take something that can sit for a while or be refrigerated. I was going to take scallopped potatoes in the crockpot, but I let my little sister borrow it to take out of town, so I have to come up with something else. I'm thinking about making pea salad, because I have a whole lotta peas in the freezer, but I should bring something else. Flattened bread?

Well, the kids are trying to "help" by doing dishes without me. This usually involves an argument, followed shortly by a mess, so this is the end of this update! Hope your fall is beautiful!

The artist

One of my favorite pictures by our 4 1/2 year old artist. The picture on the other side of the paper sort of shows through, too, but this one here is of a ballerina dancing. I love the motion in the hair, the 3/4 view of the face with proper orientation of facial features including earrings on the ear, and the pointy feet and ballet shoes...I may be biased, but she's good, isn't she? :)

The sweet squirrel

Tonight, I checked on Dan-o after he was asleep and removed about half of the stuff in with him. I always like to see what he considers important enough to take to bed with him. Tonight's haul included a picture of a semi truck. Drawn for him by Annalivia. Oh, how it warmed this momma's heart. :)

Our little biggie

Yesterday, I took Emmeliese to the doctor. For reasons I'll not detail here, but have mainly to do with insurance changes and errant parenting, she has missed her 4 and 6 month checkups. I knew we had a big girl, but I was surprised when she weighed in at 20.5 lbs yesterday! She had a pretty full diaper, but still...what a big girl! This explains why she fit so well into that 18 month romper yesterday!

Annalivia's growth was completely different -- a 50% percentile baby all the way. Hence, her clothes that fit Emmeliese right now are things like sunsuits and capris. Emmeliese is also taller than Annalivia was, though not by much. So -- it's time to go shopping. Again. I wonder how long she'll wear whatever we find today?

An uncomfortable comparison

Have you ever had someone liken themselves to you and you think, "O dear God, please, don't let that actually be true..."?

This happened to me rather publicly with an individual at one point in my life and I had that reaction. And that person is on the far periphery of my life again and I think about it everytime I encounter them, which, thankfully, is not very often.

Before, I sort of brushed off the comparison, but lately I've been thinking about it a lot. I have always admired certain things about this person, but also realized that the relationship with them was sort of toxic for me. But lately, I've been realizing that, in some fundamental ways, we are a lot alike. And not in the good ways.

It's been a bit of a wake-up call. And then I realized, opening oneself to self-criticism can be a good thing. If a bit uncomfortable.

A glimpse of things to come

So I've hesitated to say it here, "out loud" as it were, but Dennis and I are pretty sure that we are going to be homeschooling our kids. We've not started anything formal, but Annalivia has a little math workbook that she likes to do. It has counting and numbers and she gets to draw things. She always wants to "do math homework" so I let her.

Today, I was sitting at the table helping her and trying to pay bills online with Emmeliese on my lap while Daniel was sitting on the potty hollering about his progress there. Emmeliese was grabbing the computer and fussing, Annalivia was asking questions and Daniel was yelling to be wiped as the microwave alarm reminded me that lunch needed to be removed.

I wish I could link to my blog-friend Tonya's private blog where she took time to write out a journal of her day as a homeschooling mother of six. It was hilarious and totally delightful. I'm actually looking forward to this sort of chaos. :)

Bringing down the volume

If there is one thing I say every day more times than I can count, it's this -- "BRING DOWN THE VOULME!" Sometimes I say it nicely, with a "please" tacked on to it. But most time, it's just the latest add-on to the ever-present din around here.
I only have three children, but I swear they make the noise of 30. Every thing they do is Loud.
They run Loud. They walk Loud. They sing Loud. They yell Loud. They laugh Loud. They cry Loud. Loud, Loud, LOUD!
Luckily, most of the time, Loud does not bug me much. It's when I ask Annalivia to go ask her brother who is upstairs if he wants a muffin and she stands 6 inches from me and hollers, "DANIEL! DO YOU WANT A MUFFIN?" that I get annoyed. Or when I say, "No, Annalivia, please go ask him if he wants a muffin" and she moves approximately 2 feet and yells, "DANIEL!! I SAID, 'DO YOU WANT A MUFFIN?!?'"
This house does not help. This rental is huge, has wood floors and high ceilings and the house we are redoing is huger, has wood floors, and higher ceilings. I've realized that we need to figure out the volume thing, and pronto. I've started not talking to the kids until they are in front of me. When I was in the hospital with Emmeliese, I got to see that show about the Duggars and saw that they have an intercom system in their house. When we bought the new house and started redoing it, I told Dennis that was going to be a necessary expense. We simply MUST figure out how to bring the volume down. Any ideas from you experienced moms out there?

September remember -- ready for something

Daniel in the driveway yesterday drinking his juice box (a rare treat for us) and wearing his backpack. He likes to fill his backpack with various odd items -- the shape sorter box, a wood hammer, several Thomas trains and his baby doll before he goes to Grandma's. Then he leaves it in the van.

On internet access...or not

Recently, we ported our home phone number over to our cell phone company because it saves a bit of money. Consequently, our fomer phone provider automatically cancelled our internet service. We could have it reinstated, of course, or we could find another provider, but it's been so nice to not have the internet that we may just keep it unplugged.

Right now I am at our local coffeeshop enjoying my Mother's Sabbath. They have free wi-fi, as does the library. As do my parents, for that matter. I'm thinking that if I check in at least once a day, I should be able to keep on top of whatever I have to do with email and banking. And next year, I'm going to get out of whatever I have to do with email so that it's no longer necessary and I can just check in once a week or so.

It's nice to be unplugged at home. I forget how much mental energy the internet can suck from me if I let it. It's nice to be free.