Holy week, revisited

I'm not feeling particularly inspired or spiritual this holy week...I'm not sure why that is--perhaps because I've been too busy wallowing in self-pity because Hubby's out of town, and will be, through Easter and beyond. I feel like I should* be feeling close to God and meditating on holy things, but I'm not...so you're all in for a treat. I'm reposting my holy week musings from last year, hoping that rereading them will inspire me. Maybe they'll inspire you, as well.

*There's that darn "should" again...
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Today is Monday of Holy week, the day that I traditionally think about Jesus going into the temple and overturning tables. I think this actually happened on the same day as the triumphal entry, which we celebrate on Palm Sunday, but today is the day I think about it. I love to think of Jesus that way. So often we view Jesus as kind of a pushover. That's not exactly the right word, but do you understand what I'm trying to say? Jesus was and is perfect. And he was always telling people to love one another and to serve one another, and that the last shall be first, and to turn the other cheek, and you kind of get the idea that he's not going to stick up for himself, and that we shouldn't stick up for ourselves either. But I love that picture of Jesus losing his temper and driving the money changers and dove sellers out of the temple. It reminds me that yes, Jesus is fully divine, and yes, Jesus is perfect, but that Jesus was also fully human. Just like me (except for the part where I'm not anywhere near perfect). Jesus faced the same fears and anxieties and temptations that we all face. If he could triumph over those, that gives me hope that I can, as well.

Oatmeal

I am pleased to report that we've perfected our cinnamon roll oatmeal recipe. In a blind taste test, 2 out of 3 tasters preferred the home made version--the third tester insisted that both were equally good. So here it is, just in case you want to make it yourself.

Place
1/3 c. quick oats
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
2 t. packed brown sugar
2 shakes from the salt shaker and
2/3 c. water
in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 60-90 seconds (we do ours for 75).

That's it. I also add a bit of skim milk (maybe 2 T.) and about 2 T. chopped walnuts to mine.

Enjoy!

Results

Well, I'm sure you've all been holding your breath waiting for the science fair experiment results, so here you go. As you know, Code-man's science fair project is titled, "Does Temperature Affect the Growth of Stalactites and Stalagmites?" Since real stalactites and stalagmites take thousands of years to grow, Code-man decided to grow crystals that form in the same way as cave formations. Cave formations grow as water containing dissolved bits of rock drips into a cave and then evaporates, leaving the rock behind--magnesium sulfate crystals form in much the same way, growing larger as the water it's dissolved in evaporates.

So Code-man made a super saturated magnesium sulfate solution, and placed it into two cups. Between the cups, Code-man draped a piece of string. The idea is that the mag sulf solution will move up the string though capillary action, then down to the dip due to gravity. If the water then evaporates before the drop falls, a stalactite will form. If it drips first, a stalagmite will form. Code-man set up three sets in three different temperature environments: room temp, refrigerator, and crock pot on warm with the lid off. We actually ran the experiment in the different temperatures twice, and didn't note any stalactite growth during our data recording period. I was frustrated by the lack of growth, so I set up another experiment. This time, all of the variables were exactly the same, except one: the string drape. I know they were exactly the same, because I draped two strings in the same set of cups, and even then, the difference in string drape was only about 1/8 of an inch. This time, in one hour we had about 1 inch of growth on one of the strings, and about 1/4 inch on the other (as you can see in the picture above, after 2 days, we have a column (a stalactite and a stalagmite that have grown together). It's about 5 inches tall). This, more than anything, convinced me that we were not going to be able to get meaningful data from our three different environments. Even if we did get something to grow, we wouldn't be able to tell if any differences were due to the temperature, or to the drape.

We did, however, make enough observations to draw a few conclusions. We noticed that in the cold environment, crystals started forming in the solution at about 4 hours in--the mag sulf didn't want to stay dissolved. From this, we conclude that if a cave is too cold, stalactites and stalagmites will either form very slowly or not at all, because there will be less rock dissolved in the water. In the hot environment, crystals started forming on the surface of the solution--meaning they were forming as the water evaporated--at about 10 hours in, and in the room temp environment, crystals didn't start forming on the surface until 24 hours in. From this, we conclude that stalactites and stalagmites are likely to form more quickly in a warmer cave, as the water will evaporate more quickly. Exciting stuff, eh?

Day 4

Only one more day to go. You know, this is one of the most fun spring breaks I've ever had. The only thing that would make it better would be having Hubby along on our adventures. The weather has even been just gorgeous and spring-like. This morning, it was off to MOPS. I just have to say, I love my discussion group. I wish we could all hang together again next year, but I think they'll probably split us up. Good, I guess--that way I'll get to know some more amazing women. Now we've got more friends over (Derek again and Louie), and Bubby is finally napping...

The real test comes tomorrow. It's the perfect storm of bad spring break karma...the weather is supposed to turn colder, with rain and maybe even snow, and we're going to be stuck at home all day with no plans and no friends to distract and entertain us. Tomorrow Code-man needs to start growing his stalactites again, now that we know how to do it, and we (I) decided that we needed two full days of not going anywhere to keep an eye on them. What have I done? Maybe we only need one full day of not going anywhere, followed by twice daily measurements for a week...

Then it's the weekend, and back to school on Monday, followed by Hubby's return very late Monday night :-)

Day 3

Day 3 of our exciting spring break Stay-cation found us making the trek to Club Just Jump, followed by lunch out and cookie hunting (sadly, there were absolutely no cookies in our house, and no chocolate chips with which to make cookies, either, last night when we were craving them).

Club Just Jump was lots of fun. It was hard to get them all to stop bouncing at once, so I settled for two out of three. For those of you who have been to Crazy Bounce, Just Jump is a lot smaller...like maybe 1/3 the size, but still enough fun for all of us. That obstacle course was nuts.

We spent two hours there, and those boys wore me out...up the slide, down the slide, up the slide, down the slide, through the obstacle course, up the slide, down the slide, through the other obstacle course three times, repeat! With about 15 minutes to go, I corralled all three of 'em in the bouncy basketball court, and laid my weary self down in a corner. Each time a ball bounced my way, I attempted a half-hearted basket, but I think I only made one.

Upon our arrival home, we washed the truck, which of course, necessitated getting out the hose.

I'm not really sure if it looks better now than before we started, but at least we made the effort. Then Code-man decided a little archery was in order. I really thought I had more time before I had to come up with family archery guidelines...

Up next, more fun tomorrow!

Spring Break day 2

Day 2 of our Spring Break Stay-cation found us heading off to Nickelodeon Universe at MOA, and just in case you were wondering, no, I was not brave enough to park the Suburban in the ramp.

Sponge-Bob says "Think Happy." Logo was not thinking happy at the time of this photo.That's three kids we don't know, Bubby, Code-man, and Logo.

Judging from number of times ridden, I would say the Log Chute was our family's favorite ride.

They're in there...really.

And, proving, once more, that it is impossible to go to the Mall of America without running into somebody you know, we saw Louie, Alex(andra), and their mom, Andi today.

That's all for now...more fun tomorrow.

Thanks, Hubby

Pink!

For those of you who don't know, Hubby is currently away in North Carolina, drinking beer (he says he's coordinating the start-up of a newly installed filter, but I know he's just there to drink beer), for an extended stay. We, of course, miss him terribly, and he says he misses us, too. The flowers are sitting at Daddy's place at the table...not a very good substitute. Love you, Sawblock.

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Spring Break Stay-cation Day 1: Grocery shopping followed by having friends over (and more fun planned for tomorrow!)

That's Derek, Code-man, Logo, and Blake.

Working man

Code-man is earning some money by taking care of the neighbors' dog while they're on vacation. Here's Code-man and Bailey this afternoon.

Science Fair Season

Yes, here it is again, Science Fair Season. At this point, I've managed to release my anxiety over the effort that will be required for a repeat of last years' success, and the anxiety caused by my 2nd grade nephew's awesome science fair project earlier this year, so I'm doing well. Yes, I know it's not about me...at least it's not supposed to be about me, but the competition is intense, and since I have a degree in biology, I feel like there's no excuse for my kid turning in an inferior project. Everyone knows that parents are judged by the success, or failure, of their children, whether that's fair or not (you know you've done it, too). But I've told myself in no uncertain terms (and continue to tell myself, as needed), that it's Code-man's project, and I will support him in its completion, but he is ultimately responsible.

Anyway, the title for Code-man's science fair project this year is, "Does temperature affect stalactite and stalagmite growth?" Really. He's going to grow cave formations. I would say, "where does he come up with these things," but I know where he came up with this particular idea. I'm impressed. So now my corollary to Code-man's project has been, "Creating a warm microclimate." Code-man wants to grow speleothems in three different temperatures. We've got cold (the garage) and medium (the house), but warm is a challenge. We decided to try the crock pot on warm, and we're attempting to keep the temp between 95 and 105 degrees by turning it on and off throughout the experiment.

My "real" experiment these days is "Replicating cinnamon roll oatmeal." Code-man really likes Quaker's cinnamon roll flavor instant oatmeal, and we're almost out. I have a coupon, so I'm just waiting for it to go on sale, but then I thought, we could probably make this ourselves for much less. If you use the microwave, quick oats are just as fast as instant, and much less expensive. This could have broad reaching implications for the boys' future Boundary Waters trips.

So each morning this week I've been experimenting with my oatmeal. We're almost there--Cody told me that the cinnamon was right, but it just needs more sugar. Once I think I have it we're going to do a blind taste test. The other day I changed both the amount of cinnamon and the amount of sugar, and then as I was standing in the kitchen waiting for the microwave to ding, I mused, "oops, I probably shouldn't have changed more than one variable at a time," to which my helpful 4th grade scientist replied, "yeah, mom, you should only change one variable, because then if it works, you don't know what did it." Thanks, bud.

Sometimes I think I'm such a nerd for approaching problem solving from a scientific perspective, but I realized that I'm showing my children that science is relevant to their lives, and that the scientific method is a great way to solve problems and find answers. Score one for the nerdy science mom!

As a funny side note, this morning as Code-man was attempting to set up his experiment, Bubby had has hands everywhere. He really has talent for messing things up when it counts the most. Fed up, I decided to go get the exersaucer and plunk him down in it until Code-man had everything set. I brought Bubby down with me to retrieve it, and when he saw what I was getting he said, "oh, thanks mom!" in that cute little boy voice of his. He was actually excited to sit confined in the saucer, and, when we took him out to eat breakfast, he promptly left the table without eating and climbed back in!

Absorbent, revisited

Ha! I think someone at P&G must read my blog (by the way, P&G person, please leave a comment :) In January, I blogged about one of their absorbent products, and then yesterday I was in the store and I noticed that the packaging had changed. Now it's "Adaptive Absorbency & Fit TM". I'm not quite sure what that's supposed to mean, but it sounds good. There's nothing on the package about this lightweight material absorbing 10x its weight; now it says "[this material] absorbs 4x more than you may need, yet feels amazingly light." Hmm. Why do I need something that absorbs more than I need to be absorbed? Not sure. I'm also not sure if that makes more sense than saying that something that's very light absorbs 10x its weight. They've also lowered the price--now it's only about 25% more expensive than the regular non-"improved" kind.

And just in case you're wondering, yes, I bought the product again. Once again, with coupons, and a gift card deal, the new product was less than the older style. P&G, I still love your products, even if I think your packaging slogans need a little tweaking. I'm probably the only nerd who notices these things, anyway.

So I just wanted to share that with you all so that you could bask in my all-powerful bloggy-ness. When I'm famous, you can say you knew me when...

Mosaic

I'm an artsy craftsy kind of person. I love taking something ordinary or plain and making it into something beautiful. It really doesn't even have to be beautiful, as long as it's something I've made. Lately I've been drawn to mosaics, wanting to look at them, wanting to learn how to make them. I'm a thinker: I always want to know the why of everything, so I've been considering my recent fascination with mosaic. I think I'm so drawn to mosaic because it uses broken pieces to create something beautiful. It reminds me of the way God works in my life, taking all of the ugly, broken parts of me, parts that I would just as soon throw in the trash, sharp edges and all, and arranges them into a beautiful masterpiece.

It is interesting to me that sometimes mosaic artists take pieces that are, by themselves, beautiful, and break them on purpose, to put them back together in another way. Sometimes I wonder if that's what God does in my life, too. I wonder if God breaks me, through circumstance or hardship, for the purpose of putting me back together in a way that brings glory to God, and brings me into closer relationship with God. I wonder if I am God's beautiful masterpiece.

It's Ty-Guy's 8th birthday today! Happy Birthday, Ty-Guy (not to be confused with Fly-Guy, of course).

Why have I not thought of this before?

I think you all know me well enough to realize that I don't splurge* on a whole lot of things. One convenience item that I do like to use is sanitizing wipes. They're kind of expensive, but for some reason they just seem to clean better than a sponge or rag + cleaning solution. The kids like them, too, and since they've been doing more chores, we've been going through them a lot faster. We ran out last week. My brain being too full to remember much anymore, I forgot to add wipes to my list, and of course I didn't remember, when I was in the store, that we were out.

This morning, as I was lying in bed, listening to the sounds of little people emerging from sleep, I remembered that we didn't have any sanitizing wipes, and that the children were going to want to do their Saturday morning jobs soon. I thought about what we might have on hand that they could use instead (I mean besides the obvious sponge or rag + cleaning solution), and I thought about our home made baby wipes. I would never, ever let the kids use store-bought baby wipes to clean--they cost way too much per wipe--but the ones I make, for less than one cent each, would be fine.

And that's when it occurred to me: I can make my own sanitizing wipes. Yes I can. It's so obvious, why did I not think of this before? So, I went to the internet to get ideas for what to soak the wipes in, and once again, the choices are obvious: rubbing alcohol, bleach solution, or any cleaning solution. Really. It's that simple. I think I'll use pine-sol, because 1. I don't want to use bleach, 2. we don't have very much rubbing alcohol on hand (and Hubby is probably using up the last of it while I type, trying to take old state park stickers of the 'burban's windshield), and 3. I like the smell of pine-sol (interesting note, I never liked the pine pine-sol scent until we lived in a home made of pine logs--for some reason it just smelled "right" there. Now that we no longer live in a log home, I don't like it quite as much--but I still do like that scent). I'm not quite sure how much I will dilute it at this point.

For those of you who don't know, here's my recipe for home-made baby wipes:

1. Cut a roll of Bounty or Viva paper towels in half and remove the cardboard core from one of the halves (we've used a bread knife, electric knife, table saw, and mitre saw to cut--I think Hubby prefers the electric knife).
2. Mix 1 T. baby oil, 1 T. baby wash, 1 T. white vinegar (to inhibit mold growth--I think we only have to add this because we use well water), and 1 c. water in a lidded container large enough to hold the half roll of paper towels ( I use Rubbermaid 1.5 qt containers from Wal-mart).
3. Put the paper towels into the container, cut side down, replace the lid, and turn upside down until all the liquid absorbs into the towels.
4. To dispense the wipes, pull up from the center.

So for my sanitizing wipes, I'll use pine-sol and water instead of baby oil, wash, and vinegar.

So simple!

*Rereading this, I realized that many people wouldn't consider pre-made sanitizing wipes to be a splurge or luxury item...just so you know, I do.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Suess!

In honor of Dr. Suess' birthday tomorrow, the boys made their own Suess-creatures. I wish we had had feathers or even better, a feather boa, in our craft box, but the creatures turned out well despite our limitations.Here's a closer look at Bubby's--it sort of blends in with his PJs in the above picture, doesn't it? I couldn't get him to hold it up so you could see its eye...I would say, "hold it up," and he would hold it up over his head, and then I would say, "down a little bit," and he'd put it way down by his knees, all the while looking at me like he thought I was losing it. Finally, I said, "hold it just like this. Don't move," but he moved--you get the idea, though--it's sort of a one-eyed chick with a bell on a curlicue on its head. I personally think this one is the most Suess-like.

I probably should mention, before you start thinking I'm a super-mom or something, that this project was not completed without a fair share of whining, throwing things, a little yelling, and a bit of deep breathing and counting to 10. The children just don't seem to understand that there are three of them and I only have two hands.

Look at this big fish! Yowza. Code-man and Logo fishing in the comfort of the ice house.

Portside Bait and Liquor: Home of the Big Mean Fish

Do you do windows?

I washed windows on Saturday night. I feel the need to tell you this because number one, I don't think you'll notice if I don't tell you (especially since most of you won't see them again until...well, I don't know when), and number two, they were only clean for 10 hours. That's right--within minutes of Bubby waking up on Sunday morning, his hand print had reappeared on the living room's picture window. "Mommy, there's a bird," he exclaimed excitedly. Yes, honey, but do you have to touch the glass? I'll be able to see the birds much more clearly if you resist that particular urge. This is exactly why I rarely wash our windows (it's been at least 2 years), and I only wash them at night. A clean piece of glass acts as some sort of mystical siren to grimy little hands, and quite honestly, if I'm going to put the effort in, I want the results to last longer than that.
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Speaking of wild birds, today Bubby was outside shoveling as I was plodding back and forth between the truck and the house, bringing the groceries in. All of a sudden, I heard a shriek and Bubby ran into the kitchen, yelling that the turkey was chasing him. He told me, "the turkey went faster." He told me I had to come outside to see the turkey, but it was gone by the time I got there. I wonder if it was a pheasant, since we've been seeing a lot more pheasants than turkeys lately. Anyway, up until that bird chased him, Bubby was refusing to eat turkey because, "the turkey comes back outside and I see him," (excuses don't have to make sense when you're 2) but after this little episode, he insisted that a turkey sandwich would be best.

My husband and I have been camping together for a long time. At some point along the way, we agreed upon the following division of labor: Sawblock packs the equipment, I pack the food, and we each pack our own clothes. As our family has grown, my packing responsibility has grown as well--I am now responsible for packing clothes and personal items for four* people, toys and books, as well as all of the food for the five of us. At times, it is too much for me. It's a lot to keep in my head, and even with my myriad lists, the responsibility is crushing. What if it rains all weekend and I forgot to pack the rain coats? What if it's in the 100s and I only packed one pair of shorts for each boy? I pack with the constant, nagging fear that I'm forgetting something essential.

My husband, his Dad, and our two oldest boys are ice fishing this weekend. Hubby was responsible for packing clothes and equipment for three and half of the food for five. I noticed this morning that he forgot a few things, like eggs for the French toast, condiments for the brats, and carrots (but that could have been an intentional omission--Sawblock doesn't seem to be quite as concerned as I am about our children eating vegetables every day). My first thought was, "oh no!" But then, optimist that I am (always looking at the silver lining), I thought, well maybe now Hubby will have a little more compassion when I'm whining and complaining about how difficult it is to pack for camping! See, Hubby, it's not as easy as it looks.

*Yes, it's true, Code-man and Logo are old enough to pack their own clothes, but left to their own devices, they would forget such essentials as underwear or toothbrushes, and so, even with a list to work from, they still require close packing supervision, which falls to me.
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Speaking of "oh no," I was watching some short track speed skating last night (can you see where this is going?), and who was skating, but Apolo Anton Ohno, in the 500M final. Apolo was in fourth place, and then he scooted up into third and I was cheering for him (go Ohno!), but then he dropped back into fourth. As the skater in fourth was making his move I was moaning, "Oh no, oh no, OHNO!" He couldn't hear my warning and the other skater accomplished his pass. Ohno finished in second, but got disqualified for shoving another skater out of the way. One of the Canadians, who finished first, also shoved someone out of the way but was not disqualified.

Code-man's 7 layer bars

Press about 2/3 of a tube of refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough into the bottom of a greased 8 or 9 inch square pan. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until half-baked. Remove from oven and sprinkle with ~ 1/2 c. slivered almonds (toast them first, if you prefer), ~ 1/2 c. shredded coconut, 15-20 caramels cut in 1/4s, ~1 c. mini-marshmallows, and ~ 1 c. mini-chocolate chips. Crumble remaining cookie dough on top. Place back in 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until the cookie dough looks done and the marshmallows are melty and lightly toasted. Yummy.

Construction

I think Bubby was born to be a construction worker--he has natural talent. This morning, when we were playing outside, Bubby was moving snow using his loader, just like they move dirt at construction sites. He would move 3 loads from here over to there, and then move a load from here to somewhere else, then go back to there and spread the snow around, and then take a load from there to here, then take a load from here and move it 2 inches to the right...the only thing we were missing was 2 other guys to stand around drinking coffee with me (we were missing the coffee, too). That, and Bubby wasn't taking breaks every couple of minutes.

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Speaking of construction zones, I feel like I need to be wearing a hard hat lately when I walk the older boys to their bus stop. Our driveway, on the uphill side, is shaded all the time, so it doesn't melt the way the rest of the driveway does. Even worse, the run-off from the house heads down the hill, gets to this shaded portion, and freezes. So right now, we've got a slanted patch of ice, the width of the driveway, and about 15 feet long. Getting down without falling is challenging, but fun; going back up toward the house is pretty close to impossible. The other night when Logo and I were bringing the garbage and recycling bins back up to the house, I thought I was going to have to send Logo in to get Sawblock to come and get me in the truck. I just could not manage to navigate up that icy patch with a 96 gallon cart in tow. Eventually, I made it, with help from Logo standing above me on a dry patch. I'm sure it would have been quite comical to watch, as from a kneeling position, I attempted to shove the cart toward Logo, demonstrating Newton's third law of motion* quite graphically. This morning I told the boys they were going to have to go to the bus stop on their own until the driveway melts--I was only half kidding!

*For those of you not "in the know", Newton's third law states: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Swarm v Mammoth

Final Score:

Swarm 15

Mammoth 5

Yes, we really were that close. And by the way, what's with all the Gajics on the Colorado team?

Chores

Whoops! I don't know what I did, but that last post published without my permission. must have been a slip of the fingers...but I don't know which ones.

Last October or so, I was feeling frustrated by the lack of help I was receiving from certain children around supper time. I would ask, "who wants to set the table," and they would groan in response. You would have thought I was asking them to clean their rooms or something. So I set up a supper-time chore rotation. One child is responsible for setting the table, one clears the table, including putting away any leftovers, and the third takes the garbage and recycling from the kitchen to the bins in the garage. I was expecting resistance from these children of mine, just based on their past reactions to being asked to help with any of these activities, but it's worked extremely well. No complaints--they just do their jobs. I think the difference is that the expectations are clear, consistent, and applied equally. Now the only one groaning is me (internally, of course), because it's a little difficult to keep Bubby on task sometimes, and it's frustrating to try to get him to do something that I can do so much faster by myself.

Buoyed by the success of the supper-time chore rotation, I recently implemented Saturday morning jobs, as well. It took me a long time to actually put this into practice, because I was concerned that they wouldn't do a very good job. But then I realized that even if they don't do a very good job, something is better than nothing, and these particular chores are ones that I haven't been able to get a handle on consistently since Bubby started taking one nap a day instead of two. I also had a hard time coming up with an acceptable division of labor.

So now each of them needs to clean their room, which consists of picking everything up off the floor and putting it where it belongs, and clearing off their desk and dresser (Bubby doesn't have a desk or dresser, so his job is easier). Then one kid is responsible for cleaning the downstairs bathroom, one cleans the upstairs hallway bathroom, and the other cleans up the family room and vacuums the basement and the stairs.

The kids are doing really well with these jobs. Yes, there's some grumbling, and they need lots of guidance (which means more work for me at the front end), but I'm sure they'll get better at each of their tasks as they gain more experience. But beyond that, my boys are experiencing what it means to be a family--we share in the fun and good times, and we also share in the hard work of keeping everything running. They now have the opportunity to experience the pride of a job well done, with the accompanying self-esteem boost. And they're learning that if they make just a little bit of effort to keep things neat during the week, the Saturday jobs are much easier--all great life lessons for my little ones to learn.

Lettuce

This Thursday, our family is responsible for providing lettuce, tomato, and onion for a taco dinner for 120 people. Anybody know how much lettuce that is? I think my perception is probably skewed because I like lots and lots of lettuce on my tacos. I think I probably put more lettuce than meat on my tacos. We always end up needing more lettuce for our family taco nights than we have prepared for the meal. I just don't know. I'm trying not to have anxiety about this, but I am, in general, an anxious person. I tell myself, we can buy extra--iceberg lettuce is on sale this week for just $1 per head. I hate to waste it, though, and I don't think we can return unused lettuce, even if it's unopened.
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Warning: This post contains graphic content

Speaking of graphic warnings....the other night Sawblock and I were watching the Olympic games, and Apollo and that RJ (or is it CJ?) kid had just won gold and bronze in the mens' 1500 M short track speed skating event, when Mr. Costas said, "we must warn you, the video we are about to show may be disturbing to some people," and then less than a second later, there's poor RJ (or CJ) bleeding out all over the ice in August--he cut himself on his skate during a race, knicking his femeral artery, and almost died. Bob! That was not enough time for me to cover my eyes, let alone get myself out of the room. I'm disturbed, all right! That was really not something I wanted to see.

Anyway...my graphic content is not quite that graphic. We're having poop issues in our house (yes, I said it: poop), so I've been looking at the labels of a variety of stool softeners, fiber supliments, and laxatives lately. I've noticed that they pretty much fall into two categories: those which produce a "result" within 6 to 12 hours, and those which produce results within 1/2 to 6 hours. But all of them, all of them, say to take them (or give them, in our case) at bedtime. Are they crazy? I am not going to give my kid, who normally sleeps for 11 hours at night, something that's going to make him want to go poop in 1/2 to six hours, right at bedtime. Seriously, what's up with that? They say to stop use and contact your doctor if there's no bowel movement in the prescribed amount of time!

Pictures

Some pictures taken in the past couple of weeks:

Working on Pinewood Derby cars.

Ice fishing.

The Winter Pokey at Logo's concert, "Seasons Greetings." Logo was "put your warm hat in..." Hot Air Affair.

They actually launched!

Night sledding

Facing the demons

Some months ago, I admitted, in this space, to being the victim of parking anxiety. While I have not yet taken on the parking challenges presented by THE MALL, I am thrilled to report that on Thursday, I successfully parked the Suburban in a straight-in/non-pull-through spot (I only had to back out once to get myself satisfactorily centered in the spot). And later that afternoon (you're not going to believe this) I parallel parked! At the school. Yes I did! It was easy--much easier than the straight in spot was.

40, continued

A few weeks ago, I asked my husband what we could give 40 of to my brother in honor of his 40th birthday. We brainstormed, tossing out a few inferior ideas, and then Hubby said we could give him 40 personalized bottle caps. Brilliant! My brother enjoys brewing and bottling (and drinking) his own beer. OK "enjoys" is perhaps a bit of an understatement. Anyway, I thought he'd like the idea. So I did some research and confirmed that, yes, you can get anything on the internet.

So we gave him 40 bottle caps that look like this:

And one magnet (to grow on). Isn't that just the niftiest gift ever?

40

It's my brother's birthday today. Happy Birthday, brother.

I am so geeked about the gift Sawblock and I got for him. I've been restraining myself for weeks (yes, weeks) wanting to brag to y'all about this gift we came up with--actually, it was Sawblock's idea. One more day! I'll tell 'ya tomorrow, 'cause I don't think he's opened it yet.
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It was MOPS day again today. One thing I can be sure of, MOPS meetings always make me think. Today our subject was "Finding the Hero in your Husband," so, of course, after the speakers were through, talk at our table turned to husbands, and I found myself, once again, reflecting on what a great husband I have. It's true he's not perfect, but neither am I. I don't think I would want a perfect husband, because that would make me feel that much more inferior. He loves me unconditionally (even though sometimes I don't see how he could), and he does his best to make me feel valued and cherished and protected. Every day. I don't know if it was luck, skill, or destiny, but my hubby most definitely ranks at least in the top 95th percentile for husbands. Love you, hunny. Thanks for being my hero.

A new goal

I was with my sis in law on New Year's Eve, and we started talking (as people will do at that time of year) about Goals For The New Year. I used to make goals every year--it was fun. One year, my goal was to make pasta; the next year I vowed to make homemade ravioli. One year, my goal was to make paper; another, to learn one-stroke painting. One year, my goal was to make a pie crust and get it into the pan without breaking it. I finally managed to do it in late October of that year, and promptly vowed never to make a pie crust again. Years later, pie crust no longer intimidates me. As you can tell, my goals were never very elaborate or difficult, but they were something to work toward, and always something I'd never done before.

Sometime between the births of son two and son three, I stopped making annual goals. I stopped because...I was too tired to even think of a goal to accomplish, let alone actually take steps to achieve it. I stopped because...I was too busy. I stopped because...I knew that when push came to shove I would put the kids' needs before my goal, and it's just plain disheartening to set a goal and then not be able to accomplish it. Why bother, I thought. From time to time I would reflect on that time of setting fun goals for myself in my life and mourn its passing, but I never took much time dwelling on it because, well, because life happens, and then I'd be off dealing with the next kid-induced crisis.

The consensus from my conversation with Chip seemed to be: we're too tired, too busy to set goals for ourselves, but even if we did set goals, they would be kid related, because at this point, for better or worse, our children are our lives. I think both of us didn't necessarily like it, but were forced to admit this truth's hold on us.

For some time, I've been trying to streamline my supper planning and preparation process, since I don't have as much time or energy to devote to that anymore, and a few months ago it dawned on me that it would be a lot easier to plan meals if I just used a rotating schedule. My kids' school uses a 5 week rotation for their lunch menus--it works for them, why not for me? I mentioned this to Chip, and she, the supportive and loving sister that she is, jumped on it. She immediately broke through the biggest obstacle that was preventing me from going forward and told me that she would make it her goal to make sure that I accomplished mine (isn't she great?). Unfortunately, back on my own, and out of Chip's enthusiastic circle of influence, I've constructed at least 10 more barriers (or, perhaps more accurately, excuses) as to why a rotating meal plan is not going to work for our family.

Don't worry, though! I have a new goal, but don't tell my husband or my kids :-) My goal is to make at least one vegetarian supper a month this year (not including January, because I didn't think of it in time). This is more than a goal, though. This is a declaration that I am a woman, beyond the demands of motherhood or matrimony. This is an acknowledgement that my wants and needs are at least as important as those of my children and husband. This is me, not defined by my job or status, but by my thoughts and feelings and dreams, breaking free.

Day 10

That's right, folks, it's the big day: day 10--Friendship Bread making day. I'll let you know how it turns out. I was going to bring some starter to my mom's group this morning to see if anyone wanted any, but it's probably a good thing that I have to miss the group today (due to illness)--this way I have time to actually make (and taste) the bread before I subject anyone else to my concoction. It could turn out to be Nodding Acquaintance Bread, or worse, I-Don't-Like-You Bread. Wish me luck!

Absorbent

Some time ago I bought a product that has a new light-weight absorbent material in it. It's much more expensive than the same product made with other materials, about double, but I had some good coupons and it went on sale, so my out of pocket cost was less to buy the new product. It's OK--I actually prefer the older style, not necessarily because of absorbency, but because of other issues, but it struck me as a little funny that it's advertised as being a very light-weight material (it is much lighter than its standard counterpart), but one of its main selling points is that it absorbs 10 times its weight. Well, P&G, 10x not very much is still not very much! For a while I was trying to get Code-man to test diaper absorbency for his science fair project this year--he didn't seem too interested in that idea...

Lasagna Soup

It is rare for us to find a recipe that even 4 out of 5 of us all like, let alone all five. Lately, I've been on a roll, though. I think in the last 3 weeks, I've made 4 or 5 new recipes that everyone likes. Here's one of them--soooo yummy (from FamilyFun magazine, February 2009)!

Lasagna Soup
2 t. olive oil
1.5 pounds Italian sausage
2 onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 t. oregano
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
2 T. tomato paste
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
6 c. chicken broth
2 bay leaves
8 oz fusilli pasta (our grocery store doesn't carry this, so I used rotini)
1/2 c. finely chopped fresh basil (I used about 2 t. dried basil)
8 oz ricotta
1/2 c. grated Parmesan
1/4 t. salt
pinch pepper
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the sausage and saute, breaking it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until the sausage in no longer pink, about 5 to 7 minutes. Drain any excess fat from the pot. Add the onions and saute until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes and saute for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and saute until the paste turns a rusty brown, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juice, the broth, and the bay leaves and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes (I simmered for longer, since it was a school day and I wanted to get it all together before the kids came home).
2. Add the pasta, then increase the heat to medium-high and boil the soup until the pasta is tender to the bite, following the time recommendations on the pasta package. Discard the bay leaves, then stir in the basil. If desired, season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan, 1/4 t salt, and pinch of pepper. To serve, place about 1.5 T of the ricotta mixture in each bowl, sprinkle with some of the mozzarella, and ladle the soup on top. Makes about 13 cups.

FYI--I was a little leery of the ricotta mixture--it sounded a little strange. I ended up making it only because I had some leftover ricotta from something else, but I am so glad I tried it. It makes the soup ooey gooey with cheesy goodness, so I highly recommend it.

You can make the soup a little healthier by using turkey sausage (or leaving out the sausage and substituting legumes or mushrooms, but you won't get quite the same Italian flavor), low or no fat cheeses, and whole wheat pasta. We ate it with garlic bread, and I broke up some of mine and dropping it into the soup, sort of like croutons. It might also taste good with green beans or carrots in the soup.

Reuse

I forgot to mention yesterday (because someone distracted me--I won't tell you who, but I'll give you a hint: her name starts with C :-), that yesterday one of the women at MOPS defined expectation as "opportunity for disappointment." That kind of says it all, doesn't it? And it's not just our relationships with others that unexpressed expectations can mess up--they also interfere with our relationships with ourselves.
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I saw a robin on Wednesday. That must mean that it's spring!
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The friendship bread starter is starting to smell friendship bread starter-y: good sign! I feed it tomorrow.
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Sometime before Christmas, we ran out of paper for our printer. OK, long before Christmas, like maybe in July, we ran out of paper, and by the time school rolled around in September, I still hadn't gotten around to buying any. In the interim, we were using cardstock or speckled paper if we needed to print something. So when school started, I decided that I was going to reuse all of the paper that comes home from school--I may have mentioned in the past that the amount is staggering. I have a little tray in which I put all of the papers that only have printing on one side. I haven't run out of paper yet, and, as a matter of fact, I'd estimate that I currently have around 60 sheets of paper in there waiting to be used. I began this effort as a stop-gap measure to buy me time until I was able to remember when I was in a store that sells paper that we needed more paper, but at this rate, I'll never be able to use it all. It's true that I have gotten a few interesting looks from store clerks who notice my child's spelling test or math homework on the back of a coupon I hand to them, and when I handed out Communion schedules to the servers, they wondered why I was giving them a Pack 168 calendar of events, but I shudder to think of all of that paper just...wasted, and I wonder how I could have ever thought that it wasn't enough to be worth saving for another use. It's interesting to note that the volume of paper coming home from school this year has been reduced by at least 2/3, because the teachers and administrators are now communicating electronically, and they post community events on the school district website rather than sending flyers home. Chip and BuBuh (sorry--I'm not quite sure how to spell that!) reuse envelopes they receive in the mail, which I would like to give a try, but I need to find somewhere to store them that doesn't offend my inner clutter-despiser, but is accessible enough that I won't forget I'm saving them. I'm thinking I'll use them to make my shopping lists and put the coupons I use inside.

Expectations

We had a "life coach" speak to our MOPS group this morning. I didn't get a whole lot out of her talk--it was a little short on substance--but I did take away one nugget, and that is this: expectations get in the way of relationships. She said it a bit more eloquently than I just did, but can you see how that would be the case? Let me give you an example, that has absolutely no basis in reality (I'm being facetious, just in case you thought otherwise). Let's say you're a woman, who has a husband, and you expect him to, oh, I don't know, read your mind regarding your feelings on a certain topic. How many times have you said (oh, I mean how many times do you think this hypothetical woman has said), "he should just know..."? This is the classic example of expectations getting in the way of relationships. Here's another example: let's say I take my children to the swimming pool or the beach and they expect to stay all day, while I expect to go home after lunch. Unless we communicate our expectations to each other, and resolve our different expectations, there are going to be some upset and frustrated people after lunch. This is why I always warn my children before transitions, and try to tell them exactly what I expect when I tell them to do something.

This expectation business can also affect our relationship with God. If we expect God to answer our prayers or respond to a situation in a certain way, we will not be open to receiving God's sometimes creative answers. In effect, we're limiting God, by assuming that our solution to the problem is the only or best solution, and we're limiting ourselves by not giving God the freedom to take our lives in directions we never could imagine. If we're knocking at the door, expecting God to open this door, we won't be looking toward that door, or the other, that God is opening instead.

If you read my blog, you know that sometimes I feel isolated and lonely, having no family nearby, and few friends. When my husband and I had been married for 4 years we moved from Minnesota to West Virginia for his job. I was looking for a job when we discovered that we were expecting our first child, so I stopped looking. At first it was exciting, but then reality set in. Being a mommy is hard, and I didn't have anyone with whom to share the burden. I felt isolated, lonely, and sorry for myself, and I started to pray that God would send me a friend, and that God would lead us to live closer to family someday. I prayed and prayed and prayed, and slowly started forming friendships, but there was no word on the living close to family front.

Ironically, it was as we were on our way to visit family that realization struck. God hadn't ignored my prayer--he had just answered it in a completely unexpected way. You see, God showed me that I was already living close to family, because I am God's daughter, a part of God's family. And I realized that God wants us to rely on our sisters and brothers in Christ in the same way that we would rely on our biological families. I had been letting my expectations get in the way of my relationship with God. I thought God was letting me down, when in reality, God has always and will always continue to provide for all of my needs, even in seemingly impossible situations. I just have to let go of those expectations and be open to experiencing all that God has to offer.

Update: Friendship Bread

So I did a little more searching and decided to try the following Friendship Bread starter recipe:

1 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 c. milk

Mix together with a wooden spoon, then place 1 cup in each of three containers and give to three friends with the following instructions...(I won't bore you with the instructions, but if you want them, let me know).

I don't have three friends geographically close enough to give the starter to, and I wanted to keep some for myself anyway, so I just made 1/3 of the recipe.

This recipe, of course, begs the question: what is in there making it rise? In the other recipe that I posted, it's the yeast, but here, it's something that's already in there, I suspect in the milk. I may have to do a little more research to see what particular microscopic beast is making that bread so yummy (oh, right, it's the sugar! I mean what little microscopic beast's byproduct is leavening the bread). I'm interested to see if this will work. I tried making sourdough starter years ago, but it never worked.

Hmmm. I just remembered my brother talking about wild yeasts contaminating beer--apparently, they're just floating around out there waiting for some wet sugar to consume so they can multiply and take over the world. Maybe that's it, although one cannot really count on the wild yeast finding this particular batch of wet sugar, so the recipe would be terribly inconsistent.

Not to worry--I'll keep you posted on my discoveries.

Speaking of my brother, he's going to be 40 years old this year! Yikes. That means I can't be too far behind (about 3 1/2 years behind, actually).

Friendship Bread

I found this recipe for Amish Friendship Bread starter on Cooks.com (because I forgot to get some from my M-i-L when I was visiting):

1 pkg active dry yeast
1/4 c. warm water
1 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 c warm milk (110 degrees)

Day 1: Soften the dry yeast with 1/4 c. warm water for 10 minutes. Stir with a wooden spoon. In a non-metal bowl, combine 1 c. flour and 1 c. sugar. Mix, slowly adding 1 c. warm milk and the softened yeast. Cover loosely with clean cloth and leave at room temperature until bubbly. When mixture has lots of bubbles, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Days 2, 3 & 4: Stir with a wooden or plastic spoon until mixture is smooth. Do this once each day.

Day 5: At this time, 2 cups of starter can be removed to bake Amish Friendship Bread.
Replenish starter by stirring in 1 c. flour, 1 c. sugar, and 1 c. milk; stir; allow to sit at room temp for 1 hour, then refrigerate.

Days 6, 7, 8, 9: Stir with wooden or plastic spoon until smooth. Do this once each day.

Day 10: Repeat

So I have two problems with this recipe. First, I don't know what "repeat" means...like how much of the process I need to repeat. I'm choosing to believe that day 10 is the same as day 1, so after day 10 I do day 2...it's been a while since I've been given any starter (don't have very many friends), so I can't remember if you usually feed it once or twice during the 10 day cycle. I guess I could look it up. Do any of you know?

The second problem is, it doesn't give me a bread recipe. This is where you all come in. Please send me your favorite recipes using Friendship starter! You have 5 days...go!

This is the first friendship recipe that I've seen that calls for refrigerating the starter...I guess we'll see what happens.

Olympics

My husband filled my love tank last night by hanging 13 pictures on the wall in our entryway for me (thanks for the frames, Beaver-ly :-). I know some of you are shuddering at the thought of 13 new holes in the wall, but I'm very happy with how the grouping looks, and if the next person to live in our house doesn't like it, they can fill in the holes (FYI they look a bit crooked in this picture because I took the picture on a angle to reduce glare on the glass of the frames. And we're painting that top one black sometime--it's a little funny looking being the only wood grain frame). It always impresses me how patient Hubby can be as I'm changing my mind for the 217th time...And by the way, aren't we a terrific looking family? * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
We've got some future Olympic athletes in our midst. Here's a short video of our two-man bobsled team preparing for the upcoming winter games.

And the skeleton/luge rider is so fast, even the camera couldn't keep up with him--all three of the videos I took of him showed up as "unrecognized format." So here's a picture of him after one of his runs.

They've also been experimenting with new events, like bobskeleddington (the skeleton rider holding on behind the bobsled during the run), and freestyle bobsledding: Code-man did a very impressive 360 this morning while we were waiting for the bus.

Really? Baptism, continued

So I was washing my face this morning...I am God's child, God loves me, I bring God joy...and I found myself praying, "really? Really, God? I bring you joy? You're pleased with me? Really?"

Is it really true that I bring God joy, that God is pleased with me? How can that be? How can that be, when there are days when I don't even like myself? How can that be, when I make so many mistakes? How in the world can the God of the universe, creator of all things, be pleased with imperfect, miserable, human me? Seriously? This isn't some joke?

What an amazing God this is, that even in my imperfections, even at my worst, God is able to find joy in me. No matter what I've done, what I've said, what I've thought, God is pleased with me, just because...I'm me, created just how God created me to be, imperfect on purpose. What a blessing it is to be a daughter of God!

Witness

Bubby loves to sing. He sings a lot of the time, including when he's in bed at night, supposed to be sleeping. He has a limited repertoire, including the alphabet song, "Happy Birthday (cha cha cha)," "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," and his favorite, "Jesus Loves Me." He will also sing bits and pieces of songs he's heard in Worship, but that's pretty rare. So inevitably, when we're in the grocery store or Target, he'll start singing, "the Bible tells me so, the Bible tells me so, the Bible tells me SOOoooO!" We get some interesting looks--most people think he's cute, and those who don't think he's cute have the grace not to tell me about it. I can't help but smile, as my Bubby belts out his favorite lyrics, because that little one has a mighty strong voice, and he's using it to tell the world about Jesus.

Training

At Bubby's last well-child visit with our pediatrician, I asked the doctor if he had any potty training tips. The only advice he had to offer was, "bribes are good." So, last week, armed with those helpful words, and some M&Ms, Bubby and I embarked on the adventure known as potty training. On that second, frustrating day, as we were trying to figure it all out, and failing much more often than we were succeeding, I exclaimed in exasperation, "maybe I should be getting the m&ms," (because, as we all know, potty training is a lot more work for the parents than diapers are). Bubby must have heard me, because now, whenever Bubby goes potty, mommy gets one, too. And I gotta tell you, I do enjoy at least that part of the process :-) I can see how chocolate can be very motivating in learning new behaviors.

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On Sunday we celebrated the Baptism of our Lord, which is traditionally considered the beginning of Jesus' ministry. You remember the story: John (the baptist) says that Jesus ought to baptize him, but Jesus insists that John do the baptizing. Then the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus like a dove and a voice from heaven says, "this is my son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17 NIV). Hubby's Bible (NLT) says, "this is my dearly loved son, who brings me great joy." Pastor Dan suggested that we remember our own baptisms each day when we wash our faces. As we bring the water to our face the first time, we can hear God saying to us, "you are my child," the second time, "you are my beloved," and the third, "I am well pleased with you" or "you bring me great joy." And we can remember, as our faces become physically clean, that through baptism, God has washed our souls clean. We are God's children, God loves us dearly, and we bring God great joy. What an inspiring way to start or end your day.

Our furry friend

Yesterday, Hubby glanced out our bedroom window to see this deer walking past, about 15 feet from us. This morning we discovered that a deer (I think it's the same one) had bedded down behind our deck. Here she is after I scared her from her bed by taking her picture.

I think she may have been eating the leaves off of our poor little rhododendron--now we know who to blame when this one dies, too. We put out some carrots for our furry friend...I hope she finds them. I think she must be hungry or sick to be sleeping so close to our house.

Bloom

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Tantrums

My sister in law, Chip, and I are both mothers of 2 year olds who have been testing our limits lately by throwing some pretty good tantrums. Chip, whose 2 year old is her oldest child, told me yesterday that she finally understands why some people call this age "terrible": it is frustrating, to say the least. Chip also posed an interesting question to me yesterday: do you think that Jesus threw tantrums?

We know that Jesus was 2 at some point in time, right? We decided that Jesus probably did throw tantrums, just like any other child asserting his independence, trying to figure out where the boundaries lie, and not having very sophisticated communication skills. After all, the whole point of Jesus coming to the world as a human, as a baby, was for him to have the complete human experience, the good parts and the not so great parts. And I figure it's impossible to really be fully human until one has thrown at least one tantrum. It's hard to imagine the God of the universe kicking and screaming on the floor, but to tell you the truth, it makes me feel better to think of poor little teen-age new mom Mary dealing with 2 year old Jesus throwing himself down and screaming his head off.

Christmas greetings

Week 4

Yes, I felt the need to add a third ruler. Hubby told me, as I was taping, that he has a yardstick I can borrow...Anyway, you can't really see, but it's now up to the 5 (+12+12=29). Crazy tall. We're interested to see how big it can get before it collapses

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We sent about half of our Christmas cards electronically this year, in an attempt to conserve resources (those of you who read this blog regularly are getting a little extra something with yours, so yours are coming snail mail, that is, if I can ever get to the post office to see if they require additional postage). I've experienced a side benefit that I wasn't really anticipating. Recipients are clicking "reply" and we're hearing from people that we haven't heard from in years :-) And they're actually taking the time to tell us what they've been up to. Fun.

Snuggle

One of our family's Christmas traditions is to count down to Christmas by reading books with winter and Christmas themes. I wrap 23 of our books (in old newspapers, which we'll be recycling anyway), and we open one each day, and read it, until December 23. On the 24th, we unwrap the Bible and read Luke 2. This is a great tradition for a number of reasons: we get to read all of our Christmas books every December (if we just left them on the shelf in general circulation, we'd forget to read some of them), we can see that Christmas is getting closer, as our stack of wrapped books diminishes, and the kids don't go insane with waiting to open a gift--they each get to open one every 3 days.

The other night, as we were all snuggled together on the couch, with Scott reading the Christmas book of the day, I thought to myself, "who does this?" What a joy it is to be in a family, and what joy it is to sit quietly together at the end of the day, reminding ourselves what all the craziness is really about at this time of year. In that moment, I wished for someone to take our picture, so I could remember that feeling forever. I guess I'll just have to tuck that mental picture away in my heart for the future.

Mittens

Bubby will not keep his mittens on. This is not such a big deal when it's warm out, but when it's 5 degrees, you kind of need to have your hands covered if you're going to be outside for any length of time. Poor Bubby. He loves to be outside, but gets so upset (understandably so) when his hands get cold, and they inevitably do, because he refuses to wear mittens. And I've discovered (I know you're going to be shocked by this one), that 2 year olds won't listen to reason, and have little regard for cause and effect. We even tried those mittens with the long sleeves on them--Bubby takes even those off. The issue is lack of independent finger control. Bubby wants to be able to move his fingers individually for a better grasp on the shovel or truck or whatever. The only hand coverings the kid will keep on are those little knit "magic" gloves. Better than nothing, but not much. He now has three pairs of them, so we can switch them out when they're wet. We looked and looked, but surprise! they don't seem to make waterproof gloves that small. I did find some fleece gloves that claim to be wicking to stay dry, but I'm a bit skeptical, and even those are too big for him. *sigh* Anyone in the market for some cheap toddler mittens?

Snow Day!

Week 3

My husband laughed at me when I added the second ruler. Its numbers aren't as easy to see, but the plant is up to the 9 (21" tall).

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I was awoken this morning at 5:52 a.m. by my phone ringing (playing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"). I managed to pull it together enough to answer the phone (the phone in our bedroom is not in easy reach to discourage a certain 2 year old from calling who knows who when we're not looking), and was told by a recording that school was cancelled today due to inclement weather. Sure enough, there's about 6 inches on the ground and more coming. It's blowing, too, which I think must be why they decided to cancel.

Here are some pictures of my favorite boys enjoying the snow.The man in black... Bubby's first time in snow pantsCode-man shoveled a race track Bubby's wearing gloves this time :-)
We set up a snack and hot chocolate station in the garage

I should...

I find myself saying, "I should..." a lot. I should wash the dishes. I should vacuum. I should fold the laundry. I should play with Bubby. I should make lunch for Hubby. I should buy a gift for [fill in the blank]. I should stop playing with my kids and make supper. Do you do that? I've realized that all of the "I shoulds" in my life leave me feeling empty, and, at the worst of times, worthless. There are so many things that I should be doing, but only a finite amount of time in which to accomplish them all. I simply cannot do all of the "I shoulds," nor do I want to.

A couple of weeks ago, I discovered a helpful tool for dealing with the "I shoulds"--replace them with I choose, or I choose not. I choose to play with Bubby. I choose not to fold the laundry at this time. "I should" degrades; "I choose" empowers. "I choose" returns control of my actions right back to where it should be--with me, rather than handing control over to some vague sense of guilt-induced duty. "I choose" makes me responsible for my actions and attitude; "I choose" enforces my values, as I choose which activities are most important to me. I doesn't seem like changing one little word in your self-talk would make such a big difference, but it does. Try it--it works.

The MOPS meeting that almost wasn't

I went to my MOPS meeting this morning. I almost didn't. When I looked at the clock and realized that I had to leave right then if I wanted to be 5 minutes late, and Bubby wasn't even dressed yet, I thought, "I should just stay home. I can't do this today." The drive gave me some time to calm down and think about my morning, and I realized that not everything went wrong that could have, but it was definitely not a happy morning.

First of all, I slept until 7:04, when Bubby woke me up. Now this might sound like a good thing, to be able to sleep until 7, but it really isn't, not on a school day. Sleeping until 7 means that I don't get a shower in the morning, and a shower is pretty much essential for me to have a good day. It also wasn't good because Bubby waking me up at 7:04 meant that Logo and Code-man were not yet awake either. Especially on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when they take a shower, L & C need to get up at 7 in order to get everything in and not have to rush out the door to the bus. Then Logo was upset about showering, Bubby decided to knock over my bowl-ful of milky rice chex (which I optimistically poured thinking perhaps I could gobble it down while L & C were in the shower--nope), and then proceeded to throw Code-man's corn and rice chex in various directions to see what would happen (he's quite the scientist).

My goal is to have the kids out the door by 8:05, so I have them brush their teeth at 7:55, then go put their shoes, coats, hats and gloves on. But with the trouble in the shower, that meant Logo had 7 minutes to eat. Logo doesn't do anything fast, most of all, not eating. So at 7:58 I'm screaming at the older boys to brush their teeth, and by 8:02, I'm saying, forget it, just get your shoes on. They rushed out the door at 8:07 and 8:08 (the bus comes at 8:10), and (you knew this was coming) Bubby got his hand slammed in the door. I don't really need to go on here, do I? You're getting the feeling for the kind of morning I was having? I missed the bus (I assume the children made it, because when I finally got out there, I didn't see them), I still wasn't showered, Bubby wasn't dressed, and there were food and dishes strewn about haphazardly in the kitchen and dining room, but I hadn't eaten. It was just one of those days, when you feel like you should just lie low and hope that something good happens eventually.

But you know, in that moment, when I was deciding not to go, I realized that today, of all days, I needed to go. After a morning like I had, I needed to remove myself from that situation and just be. For those of you who don't know, MOPS is an international organization that celebrates and supports Moms of Pre-Schoolers (and before someone says, but you don't have a preschooler, Scarlet, pre-school means they haven't started school yet). Today I really needed that support from other moms who have been there. I needed to not be a mom for a while and just be a grown-up, a woman. I am so thankful for that group of women, who I don't even really know all that well--what I do know is, we're all moms and we're all trying our best and sometimes messing up. I am so glad I decided to go--it is such a blessing to be able to feel that love and acceptance from my peers--it's like a soul re-charge.

Well, I did eventually get a shower, got Bubby dressed, and only ended up being 15 minutes late for the meeting. I ate brunch at the meeting, and there are still food and dished strewn about (in fact, Hubby, don't be surprised if it's all still there when you come home :-P. And my day has gone so much better than I could have imagined.

Week 2

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Hubby and I accomplished a flurry of Christmas shopping on Monday, both in stores, and online. Now I know what they mean by Cyber-Monday. That was us! It got me thinking about gifts again (gifts are never far from my mind, anyway, you know). I know I've said this before, but no one has ever given me a satisfying answer, so I'll say it again: at Christmas, we're celebrating Jesus' birthday, so how come we get all the gifts? I don't believe that I've ever gotten a gift on any of my children's birthdays, even though it probably is more appropriate to give gifts to the mother on those days, don't you think? I've never gotten a gift on Lincoln's birthday, or MLK's birthday. I've never gotten a gift for anyone else's birthday...unless you count Brandi, Karen, and George H.W. Bush, who happen to share my birthday.


So what are you going to give Jesus for His birthday this year?


Well, when I give a gift to someone, I think carefully about what I know about that person--their likes and dislikes, what they've said and done, and then I try to figure out what they might like as a gift, based on that information.


Let's see...

Jesus healed the sick--we can donate to charities like the American Cancer Society, donate vaccines through organizations like Samaritan's Purse, or volunteer at a hospital or for meals on wheels

Jesus fed the hungry--we can donate food or volunteer at a food shelf, or serve a meal in a shelter, or prepare meals to be sent to hungry children elsewhere

Jesus gave sight to the blind--we can donate eyeglasses to the Lions Clubs to be used again

Jesus urged us to care for orphans and widows--we can take care of their children while women who have fled abusive situations take parenting or job skills classes, give clean blankets to people who are homeless, or adopt a child through Compassion International or World Vision

Jesus freed us from our prison of sin--we can live a life of gratitude, so that grace and Christ-love ooze out of our very being into the world


Hmmm. Seems like, what Jesus really wants for His birthday this year, and every year, is for us to be His hands and feet in the world.


Don't get me wrong--I love gifts, both giving and receiving--any occasion will do. But I think that most of us have lost sight of why we're celebrating. It's become, for many of us, all about the gifts. It's tradition. It's expected. Feelings will be hurt if we don't come through with gifts in the way that we always have before. And that is so far from what Christmas should be. True to form, we humans have sinfully distorted yet another beautiful gift that God has given us.


I guess the take-away message here is, in your Christmas celebrations this year, please be deliberate in everything you do--be sure that all of your actions and thoughts are holy and pleasing to the One whom we celebrate. Be sure that everything you do and say in this season is done and said not for man, but for God.