Praise the Lord!

Tricia has a lung donor! This isn't the happily-ever-after ending yet, but getting closer! Check out the updates here.

A new Soficism

"Daddy, I don't want to go to bed yet."

"What time do you think you should go to bed?"

"Well, I want to go to bed when you go to bed."

"That won't work. Don't you think you need to get some rest? So you're ready for all the things you want to do tomorrow? "

"Well, what you don't know is that I play in my bed all night long! I'm up and down and get up and go back to sleep..."

Daddy laughs. "You shouldn't do that. When Mommy and Daddy put you to bed, you must go to sleep."

"Well, I pray to Jesus every night that you won't find out and hear that I'm playing in bed."

"Sweetie, I don't think Jesus answers those kinds of prayers."

"Well, He must! 'Cause you haven't been peeking in on me!"

P.S. This is the child that sleeps like a log through Judah's crying to be nursed at 4 am and is sound asleep by 8:30 almost every night of the week.

Funny stuff

So what do you think of this idea? Have to give creds to Ellen on pointing me to this one.

Funny stuff

My beautiful sisters, episode #3 (or "The perfect shoes")

Since I don't have a current picture of my third sister, I will post instead a shot of the shoes she went out and found and bought for me, after all my complaining about not being able to find the shoes I want for this wedding we're in next month. Isn't she great?? Thanks, Sue, you're the best. The shoes are exactly what I was looking for!

My beautiful sisters, episode #2

My beautiful sisters, episode #1

Bleh

I was very tempted not to blog at all tonight. But I do like the feeling of having something new up every day and up until we left for Mom's, I was really on a roll. The reason I am feeling so reticent is that my day has been.. bleh.... I have something along the lines of chicken pox (calling it that officially, for lack of any other diagnosis), so I itch from head to toe. In addition, I have been given the impossible task of finding "vintage-looking" shoes to wear to H's wedding next month. "Vintage-looking" Huh. What the heck is that??? I have looked in every shoe store in town-- spent all day at it. Nothing. Argh argh argh argh argh!

So my day has basically consisted of scratching and wandering around town trying on myriads of shoes...

Bleh

It's a Woman thing

So, in case you haven't noticed, I've joined the mad rush to change my blog to something "cooler". However, unlike others of my fellow bloggers, I do not even pretend to be on a quest for the perfect 'look". I am simply exercising my womanly prerogative to regularly change my appearance. This blog is my on-line appearance, hence I shall be indulging in my gender privilege on a regular basis. A virtual haircut or makeover, if you will. A cyber-based re-arrangement of the living room furniture. A digital full mani/pedi. Therefore, you can expect to see something new here about once or twice a month, or so-- depending on how hard I find it to implement the changes ;)

And don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about... Confess! How long have you, gentle reader, had that hairstyle? More than a year? How often do you buy new sheets or towels before the old ones are really worn out, just to have something new and fresh? Be truthful now...

My sweet boy

The boys...

Fun at the table

This is reminiscent of lunchtime in my own childhood. My poor mother.... The chaos she must have put up with. Multiply this by about ten! I love the way Judah thinks Sofi is simply hilarious, regardless of what she's actually doing.

Judah takes a tumble

He was sitting on his playmat on the floor and took a header into the bookshelf. Poor baby... But he took it like the little man he is!

For Tricia, and my other "new mom" friends

Laura, Laurie, Lauren, Susi and others who might not want to be mentioned on here... I love watching your journeys and I get almost excited about the things your kids are doing and how they're growing as I do about my own. Trisha, for you in particular! The tough times you've gone through to bring Gwenyth into the world will all be worth it-- I promise you! As women, we are given the gift of being able to participate in an amazing and unique in the process of God's creation of new life. It's so wonderful!

Things I can't wait for you to experience:

Her first "date" with Daddy

Realizing that she laughs just like you

Hearing your husband say "You look just like your mommy!"

Watching her ride a bike for the first time

Hearing your husband say "my son!" What a thrill!

Super frilly dresses

having all the furniture in your living room pushed to the edges to make room for a "stage" so she can "practice" ballet.

Looking up videos of Swan Lake on Youtube

Reading together-- and then, wonder of wonders, being read to!

Rocking a sleeping toddler in the middle of the night

Watching child number one play with child number two

the realization that poop on your hands and clothes no longer makes you feel ill

noticing that boys really ARE different from girls and the "snakes and snails" analogy has some validity

kissing boo-boos and having them really get better!

Trying to explain why she has to share her toys with her friends, but you don't have to share your wine with her

Braids and ponytails

A Valentine Card-making party and the subsequent glitter glue all over your couch and chairs and coffee table

Tea parties, with real tea and "can I pour it myself, Mommy?" and watching her crook her little finger out to the side as she sips-- just like you...

and many more beautiful moments...

Look what happened to US this weekend!

That's the worst hailstorm I've ever seen, but thankfully we didn't have any damage. It really only lasted only about fifteen minutes, so not too bad...

Follow-up to previous post

"Theseis and the Minitar"

See the maze full of skulls?

Soficism of the Week

So what five-year-old do you know of who would use the phrase "some random person" in a sentence? Or have this observation? (need mental insertion of her slight lisp on the s's...)


"I get Theseus and Odyseuss mixed up ALL the time. See they sound just the same; Theseus--Odyseuss. Except Odyseuss is 'oh-oh', an 'O', and Theseus is 'th-th, a 'T H'!"




:D

Minority Report

I discovered something interesting about myself last night during a conversation with my sister and a dear friend. (On a side note; Skype is awesome and you ought to check it out) I'm sure many of you have realized this about yourselves already, but bear with me, I'm a little slow about some things. Here is the grand revelation: I am a Minority. No, I'm not african-american, hispanic, jewish or "other". Actually, I'm about as white as they come :) What makes me a Minority is not the color of my skin, sexual deviancies or my ethnic background. I am a Minority because of my beliefs about certain things. And I'm not talking about my core religious beliefs here. As an Evangelical Christian, I've been trained to think of myself as a Minority because of my faith in Christ, but in America today, the Evangelical Movement is pretty powerful and widespread. We're a Majority going around calling ourselves a Minority. (Well, perhaps I'm over-generalizing here, bear with me again.) I think we've forgotten what it's like to really be the Minority--powerless, persecuted, misunderstood, hated.

So what makes me a Minority in particular, is my position on certain things that within my larger group (Evangelical Christian) class me with a tiny group that tends to be considered weird and extreme by the rest. In particular; child-training, natural childbirth and Biblical submission to my husband. These three things are dearly-held ideas for me-- ideas that define my roles as mother and wife. They aren't things that I consider on a level with undeniable Biblical truths like salvation by grace alone, but they are very important to me. Not the "well, this is what I think, but you're entitled to your own opinion" kind of important. The truth is, if you disagree with me on any of these three topics, I think you're wrong. I don't doubt your salvation, but I think you're wrong.

Because I feel this way about these three topics, and because I'm one of these American Christians who doesn't know how to deal with being a Minority anymore, I often find myself in circumstances where I don't know how to respond to people who disagree with me. I don't know how to say (in a loving way) "I'm sorry, but I firmly believe you're wrong on that". I find myself copping out of the argument, giving up, smoothing things over, selling out. And then later venting to someone who agrees with me about how wrong this or that person is. That's not good at all. It's not the way I want to be! I want to have the boldness to speak my mind. I want to have the Spirit of gentleness to come across in a loving way to my listeners. I don't like the idea of settling comfortably into the position of a Majority, who agrees pretty much with everything the people around me say and think and doesn't spend much time stirring up the waters.

My concern over this is re-inforced by my reading of Hebrews 11-- the record of the great men and women of faith in the Old Testament. The lverse that really stood out to me today as I read was this:

All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

Hmmm, strangers and exiles...

I have the idea that long ago, Christians in this country understood how to stick out like a sore thumb for Christ. How to witness, not just about the Gospel, but about lifestyle and a walk with Christ. I want to learn how to tell someone that I disagree with them, in a kind and courteous way, but without the underlying mutual understanding that we all seem to find so necessary, that it's just a matter of a difference of opinion. It's not just a matter of opinion. I think I'm right. I leave open the possibility that I'm wrong, but this is not just a matter of personal preference, along the same lines as what one eats for breakfast every morning. This is my life we're talking about here and I'd like to share with you why I'm right and you're wrong-- in a nice way, of course....

And now....

..... the Awesomeness is Everywhere!! Check it out!

For you

A smile from the comments on one of my favorite blogs. Have I mentioned before how much I love being a mommy to the two cutest little potatoes in the world?