Mothers of the Wise and Good

Baron Cuvier and his Mother

Born August 23, 1769, Baron Georges Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert Cuvier eventually grew to become one of the world's foremost naturalists and zoologists.

Although at birth a sickly child who might not survive, Baron Cuvier thrived under his young mother's care as she recognized his "uncommon powers of mind." She taught him to read by the time he was four, and taught herself Latin so that she could instruct him. While he was at home, learning from his mother, he also displayed an early giftedness in drawing. Eventually he became well enough to attend school, where he continued his passion for great literature.

It was his father's intention that Cuvier should enter the military; however, by the age of fourteen, Cuvier was already being recognized by those beyond his social circle as a formidable mind in the area of science. The Duke of Wirtemberg sent him to the University of Stuttgard free of charge after having heard of his abilities.

Upon his emergence from the University, he began research in the field of natural science and began lecturing. He was made a member of the French Institute in the year of its inception, 1795, and was made an officer in 1803.

It should be noted that while he was chancellor of the Imperial University (he was appointed by Napoleon), he also presided over the department of Protestant theology. He remained a Lutheran his entire life...the faith in which his mother had instructed him when he was a young child.

Despite his immersion in the field of science and his working relationships with noted evolutionists, Cuvier never ascribed to the theory. He was an outspoken critic of evolution and was so influential that the argument virtually died until the publication of Darwin's Origin of the Species, two decades after Cuvier's death.

More on Overdressed

I was reading through the lyrics of Overdressed this afternoon and came across this gem, inspired by Danielle Young's experience as a mom of young kids...

I'd comment but I think that would be gilding the lily.

Sacred

Written by: Andrew Osenga and Randall Goodgame

Lyrics:

This house is a good mess it’s the proof of life
No way would I trade jobs but I don’t pay overtime
I’ll get to the laundry I don’t know when
I’m saying a prayer tonight cause tomorrow it starts again

Could it be that everything is sacred
And all this time
Everything I’ve dreamed of has been right before my eyes

The children are sleeping but they’re running through my mind
The sun makes them happy and the music makes them unwind
My cup runneth over, I worry about the stain
Teach me to run to you like they run to me for every little thing

Cause everything is sacred
And all this time
Everything I’ve dreamed of has been right before my eyes

When I forget to drink from you I can feel the banks harden
Lord make me like a stream to feed the garden

Wake up little sleeper
The Lord God Almighty
Made your mama keeper
So rise and shine, rise and shine, rise and shine

Cause everything is sacred
And all this time
Everything I’ve dreamed of has been right before my eyes

It's nice when your favorite artists grow up along with you...

Overdressed

Caedmon's Call's latest album was released yesterday. David's buddy Bryan is down in Houston liveblogging the release events.

For those of you who, like me, just couldn't grasp the idea of Caedmon's without a 5-foot-tall bald man onstage, the return of Derek to the band is a happy event!!

A Modest Proposal

NPR sports commentator Frank Deford proposes "Taking the Foot out of Football."

at long last...

I made it to Trader Joe's today. It was so nice to wander around the aisles, seeing familiar packages and products, like old friends waiting to greet me after a long absence. It also made me incredibly homesick for Southern California. :-(

It was crowded, but not unmanageable, when I was there. What made it a bit inconvenient was the number of people there who had not shopped at TJ's before, and so they were reading every package, every shelf, and every sign. And I don't begrudge them this...it takes some getting used to shopping there, because there are so many products unique to the chain. It's not the typical shopping experience where you recognize that thing you always buy and mindlessly throw it in your cart. So read on, people, read on. Most likely it'll be well worth your time. But could you please move your cart over while you do it? I've got four little kids here. Thanks.

The South Charlotte location is maybe the biggest TJ's I have ever been in. The aisles are wide, the produce section is pretty roomy, and there's a HUGE sampling area. I couldn't believe the room I had, even with all those people. Another nice thing is that they have small, but normal-wheeled, shopping carts. I just never got used to those ones with the four moveable wheels. I was always out of control, chronically listing (and sometimes careening) sideways.

What did I buy? I got the usual staples, plus some extra treats just because we finally have TJ's back in our lives again. Here's a partial list of stuff I recommend:

• granny smith apple rings (dried fruit...kid-friendly and fibrous!)
• "this [fill in your fruit of choice] walks into a bar" fruit bars
• organic fruit wraps (these are always consumed on the way home...it's tradition)
• mushroom tortellini
• avocados (four for just over $3.00, which -- sadly -- is a good price. Oh, for the days when we could call my pastor's wife and "order" some free avocados from the tree in their backyard!)
• hawaiiian-style potato chips (David loves the BBQ ones.)
• two-buck Chuck (Charles Shaw wine. Cheap and good.)
• Joe's Bay Blend coffee
• frozen par-boiled organic brown rice. This, pricewise, is a splurge for me. But it's really nice to have on hand on evenings when I get home too late to cook rice (I always use brown, which takes about 50 minutes) for dinner. Three minutes in the microwave, and voila!!

There's more, but you'll have to come over and look in my pantry to get the whole list.

Thanks to my sister Tracy, I had twenty extra dollars to spend, because she sent me a giftcard for my birthday! :-)

Rise Up, O Men of God

This was a favorite of mine when attending the Shepherds' Conference at Grace Community Church. There is no sound quite like the surge of thousands of men singing at the top of their lungs (accompanied by Clayton Erb's unequaled enthusiasm in conducting):

Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things.
Give heart and mind and soul and strength
To serve the King of kings.

Rise up, O men of God!
The kingdom tarries long.
Bring in the day of brotherhood
And end the night of wrong.

Rise up, O men of God!
The church for you doth wait,
Her strength unequal to her task;
Rise up and make her great!

Lift high the cross of Christ!
Tread where His feet have trod.
As brothers of the Son of Man,
Rise up, O men of God!

You can hear a tinny MIDI file of the tune at Cyberhymnal. :-)

I think I may hang the lyrics of this hymn in our schoolroom. It gives me encouragement to work all the harder to give these little men back to the Lord.

Overheard

Cameron: I feel like a vitamin inside because of all these healthy foods we're eating!

(for those of you who are wondering, he was excited when he said this)

Mothers of the Wise and Good

Rev. Timothy Dwight and his mother

Timothy Dwight was born in Northampton, MA in 1752, to the third daughter of Jonathan Edwards and her husband. He was one of numerous children in the family. His mother -- not surprisingly, considering the family in which she was raised -- "possessed uncommon powers of mind, and great extent and variety of knowledge." His mother believed that many people forfeited time with their children in believing that they were too young to be taught. She made instruction an early priority, and little Timothy reportedly could read the Bible "with ease and correctness" before he was four. Here is my favorite quote regarding the education of her children:

She aimed at a very early period to enlighten his conscience, to make him afraid of sin, and to teach him to hope for pardon only through Christ. The impression thus made upon his mind in infancy were never effaced. A great proportion of the instruction which he received before he arrived at the age of six years was at home with his mother.

That is a description of gospel-centered parenting if I've ever read one!! We do no favor to our children to teach them mere right behaviors...in fact, we make them into little Pharisees, trusting in their right works to gain them favor with God. Change and right behavior must come from a changed heart. When we've had one of those days when everyone has been fighting and the kids are looking at me with an expression of lostness in their own sin (and I feel lost in my own sin!), what good it does my heart to seek God's intervention with them.

Dwight went on to greatly influence life in colonial New England. After completing studies at home, he entered Yale College in his early teens and became a tutor there at the age of nineteen. Soon afterwards, his father died, and he took upon himself the care of his mother and ten siblings who still remained at home. He ran the farm, taught lessons, and preached on the Sabbath. He cared for his own wife and children at the same time, passing on to his sons and daughters the rich education which he had received in infancy.

For two years, he represented the town of Northampton, in the legislature of the State. In 1783, he became the pastor of a church and congregation at Greenfield, in Connecticut, and remained in that situation till 1795, when, to the sorrow and disappointment of an affectionate people, he entered on the important office of President of Yale College.

During his term as president, the college underwent a transformation. Before his arrival at Yale, many of the students had been adhering to the philosophies of man and theories of government inspired by Voltaire, David Hume, and others. Discipline in the student body had been relaxed and the number of students was dwindling. Dwight railed against the movement, all the while encouraging free debate on the subject. One of his addresses during this period, "The Nature and Danger of Infidel Philosophy, Exhibited in Two Discourses, Addressed to the Candidates for the Baccalaureate, In Yale College" was delivered on September 9, 1797 and is frequently referred to as a seed of the second Great Awakening. Under Dwight's care, Yale was returned to its former glory and became the largest learning institution in North America.

Dwight died of prostate cancer at the age of sixty-five, leaving behind a wife, children, grandchildren, and as many as three thousand students who had thrived under his watchful care.

• Wikipedia on Timothy Dwight IV
• of interest to my mother, and maybe some other people: Dwight was the first to use the term "Cape Cod style house" in his Travels in New England and New York, published in 1823.

Jonathan's new word

Jonathan learned a new word today.

"SNOW!"

Why, you ask?

Because I finally dusted the ceiling fan after...too long.

Nothing like little children to keep you humble. :-)

Lessons learned the second day of school

1. If your six-year-old is particularly sensitive to the heat, your three-year-old might be, too. He will most likely demonstrate this by vomiting upon your entry to your home after a long, exhausting trip to the grocery store. At least he won't do it in the van.

2. Blue jello jigglers, made for a first-day-of-school-treat, make the contents of your stomach blue, too.

3. The purchase of a carpet steamer, if you have young children and carpeted floors, might be the best money you ever spend.

4. After refilling the handsoap dispensers in your house, be sure to put away the giant gallon jug of soap.

5. If you do not comply with #4, your toddler will find it while you are otherwise occupied -- like when you're steaming the carpets -- and throw it down the stairs, where it will empty about a third of its remaining contents onto the rug.

6. The purchase of a carpet steamer, if you have young children and carpeted floors, might be the best money you ever spend.

7. When attempting to free your carpet of liquid handsoap, it is best to use vinegar to cut down on the sudsing.

8. You can still have a productive school day even if you start lessons at 2:30 in the afternoon.

Local Music News

SHANE & SHANE CD RELEASE (With Bebo Norman)
Tuesday, August 28th, 2007 at Carmel Baptist Church
1145 Pineville-Matthews Road, Matthews, NC 28105
7:00pm
$10 for Students, $12 in advance, $15 at the door


Charles Thomas Rhodes Webb's Mamma and Daddy will be performing at the Neighborhood Theatre in NoDa on Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 the day of the show.

The "BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD" tour will be at
Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte
7:00 PM on December 12, 2007
$12 Reserved / $10 General

You can hear the whole "Behold the Lamb of God" album and read the lyrics at Andrew Peterson's music page. I highly recommend it!

Also, for those who are music geeks like me, Andrew Peterson has a blog that chronicles the recording of his latest album. It's both interesting and hilarious.

Images from Summer

After finding the food supply reestablished, our feathered friends have returned. We've had cardinals, titmice, chickadees, purple finches, goldfinches, mourning doves, robins, and swallows. No sign of fat beast...yet.


Breakfast al fresco. We'll be doing this long into the fall!


I've been practicing my lattice-tops this summer. This one was a quadruple berry.


Our reptile friend who had breakfast with us on Saturday.

First day of School

Yesterday, August 20th, was our first day of school.

Mommy and her kindergartner, first grader, and two prospective students.

Pachelbel Redux

HT: Amy's Humble Musings

*light bulb over my head*

This morning we did the gigantic school shopping trip. This can be torturous since every store is swamped this time of year, but this year I thought of something that made it a great deal easier on myself and the kids.
During the summer as I was reorganizing a notebook, I printed off the literature from Samaritan's Purse about Operation Christmas Child. I remembered this project too late last year and missed out on it all together, and I didn't want that to happen again.
So, as we pulled up outside the store, I informed the kids that the first thing we would be getting was a shoebox, which we would be filling up as we walked around the store. This kept them busy while I completed my list, and best of all, it kept them from thinking of what they wanted the whole time. We picked out soap, toothbrushes, bandaids, crayons, etc. I must say it was pretty cute to see them walking around with their box full of treasures, carefully selected for children across the world.
Also, it was a great time to get a lot of the things on the OCC list for very little money, since school supplies are so inexpensive right now.

Thirteen Reasons to Marry a Mechanical Engineer

1. He teaches you new ways to think about kitchen tasks, such as defrosting meat: If you stand it on its side, more surface area is exposed, and it will thaw faster.
2. He doesn't blink when he thinks about replacing his own brakes.
3. You don't blink when you think about riding in the car with the replaced brakes.
4. He shouts gleefully, "SCIENCE!" at random times.
5. Your children know what a vortex is by the time they are five.
6. If one of his socks gets lost in the laundry process, he won't say, "where's my sock?!" Instead, he will say, "I don't understand it! It's a closed system!"
7. He can say definitively, after disassembling something, if it is time to get a new one.
8. If it isn't time to get a new one, he can easily put whatever it was back together...with no pieces left over.
9. Playing pool takes on a whole new "physics class" feeling.
10. He knows that WD-40 is better described as a "cleaner" instead of a "lubricant."
11. He gives you scientifically-based health tips, like "you burn more calories if you drink ice water instead of tepid water, because your body has to exert energy to warm it up."
12. He will buy you any number of kitchen implements to encourage you to avoid using that same old wooden spoon which he calls "inefficient."
13. He teaches you to look critically at the way things are made, and develop an appreciation (or fierce loathing) for their creator. In the same way, he looks at creation and appreciates the Master Designer.

weak

Lest I be accused of only giving Derek Webb positive press, I will direct you to some negative press he's been getting yesterday and today...

His answer to the question, "What is the gospel?" was less than satisfactory, in my opinion and a lot of others'

Read some critiques at 9marks.org: one, two, three.

ain't that the truth

For those of you who were asking, we did indeed opt for a babysitter and dinner out last night. It was a bit hurried -- David was in California Sunday and Monday and arrived in the driveway shortly after six last night. So we turned around and went out for dinner.

We had Chinese...which is a bit of a tradition for us...and my fortune cookie was a keeper.

"Idleness is the holiday of fools."

I thought it was very much in the spirit of Proverbs 31, so I saved it.

She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Prov. 31:27

Eight Years

Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness. -- C.S. Lewis

There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming relationship, communion, or company than a good marriage. -- Martin Luther

Well I'll never be a stranger and I'll never be alone

wherever we're together that's my home.

Home could be the Pennsylvania turnpike

Indiana's early morning dew

high up in the hills of California

home is just another word for you.

Well I never had a place that I could call my very own

but that's all right my love 'cause you're my home.

(Billy Joel, "You're My Home". This phrase is what is engraved inside David's ring.)

Happy Anniversary to my husband...the man who loves me enough to go beyond mere kindness, who grants me sweet communion and company, and who is my home wherever we are. You have become so much more than just the man for whom I prayed for many years...in Christlikeness, in service, in wisdom. I love you!

My little type A

Cameron made a list a few minutes ago with "what birds like" on it:

1. seed
2. tree
3. sit

He then asked me to make him a list of "what to do today." I put down four things. He brought it back to me and said it wasn't enough, he wanted more.

1. Share toys.
2. Be kind.
3. Play with the castle.
4. Help Mommy with the laundry.
5. Read a book together.
6. Go outside.

When I turned the radio on, he wanted me to add #2a, "listen to music." He also crossed out "be kind" twice, because he saw Andrew being kind to Jonathan.

A New Favorite Field Trip

This weekend we have a visitor, Aunt Marianne (David's younger sister). She flew in from Indianapolis last night and will be with us until Sunday. This morning, since Marianne is a bookstore lover like me, we traveled down to the SouthPark area of Charlotte to visit Joseph-Beth Booksellers. I have wanted to visit this bookstore since we moved here! It's a nice, roomy, eclectic independent store. The children's section is wonderful, with a great mix of classics old and new, and educational toys and games.

We had a great time...I bought some new books for school off the clearance rack. I also "bought" a new candle and candleholder that the kids obviously wanted me to have...they broke it within minutes of our arrival.

Musical Memories

The other night we were resting in our air-conditioned home, trying hard not to move too much for fear that beads of sweat would reemerge. I took out Natalie Merchant's Tigerlily CD and put in it the CD player.

Although we recently listened to Ophelia, this was the first time in a long time that I had brought out Natalie's earlier album, Tigerlily.

There are some CDs that instantly transport me to another place and time, and Tigerlily is one of those.

Last night I heard Natalie's silky smooth voice enter the first notes of "San Andreas Fault," a few hours before that fault rumbled to life.

Go west, Paradise is there
You'll have all that you can eat
Of milk & honey over there

You'll be the brightest star
The world has ever seen
Sun-baked slender heroine
Of film & magazine...

San Andreas Fault moved its fingers
Through the ground earth divided
Plates collided such an awful sound

San Andreas Fault moved its fingers
Through the ground terra cotta shattered
And the walls came tumbling down

Another song on the album is "Jealousy," which you might recognize...it was a radio hit from the album. That song reminds me of my college roommate, Michaelanne, who bought me a copy of Henry James' The Portrait of a Lady and inscribed the following lyrics inside:

Is she bright so well read are there novels by her bed

Is she the sort
You've always said
Could satisfy
Your head?

I was going through a bad breakup at the time, and that was Michaelanne's poetic way of saying "you're a woman who would make other women jealous of you." Just what a girl needs to hear at a time like that. :-)

There were other times when I would listen to that song and (sinfully) relish the jealous feelings that are embraced in the song. I remember confessing that to David, who was my big brother and honest friend at the time. He said, "If you think that song is bitter, you should listen to 'Seven Years'!" He was right...Natalie had some serious baggage there...my issues didn't even come close to that....

Another favorite, on the death of a spouse:

You were the love
For certain of my life
For fifty years simply my beloved wife
With another love I'll never lie again
It's you I can't deny
It's you I can't defy
A depth so deep into my grief
Without my beloved soul
I renounce my life
As my right
Now alone without my beloved wife

And now another memory to associate with this album...reclining at the table, the house quiet and calm, sipping a lovely white wine and talking about politics, theology, and history with David and our friend Peter. Sweet times.

Meandering Thoughts About Me and the Boys

As I said in my earlier post, I attended a game a week ago Sunday night with eleven individuals with "xy" in their genes. I laughed under my breath as I saw a few people gawking at us. I told David, "they probably think we're some kind of weird polygamist group where the women take multiple husbands and bear children impossibly close together."

For the record, I was there with David and Nathan (ages withheld), Elijah (10), Peter (6), Cameron (6), Ben (5), Alex (5), Noah (5), Andrew (3), Jonathan (22 months), and Joshua (21 months).

Not long ago, we were in the van going...somewhere...I can't remember...and David or Tom...I can't remember which...asked me how music practice had gone (I sing with our church's music team sometimes). I replied, "It was good, just me and the boys: Gary, Albert, Rick, Andy and Fred." Slight pause. "But I guess that's how my life always is...." It was how my life was at that moment, and it's how my life is most days.

There's a story in my family lore that goes something like this: Kelly is in preschool and is friends with Jeffrey Greene. Jeffrey Greene ticks off Kelly by beating her in a front-yard game of whiffleball. Kelly demonstrates her displeasure by whacking Jeffrey Greene upside the head with the whiffleball bat.

I also vividly remember smacking Sam Fairweather over the head with the biggest wooden block in my room. I think that was a result of a much nobler cause; he wasn't sharing with his sister or something like that.

My mother was told by a elementary schoolteacher that I was a very well-rounded child on the playground; I played hopscotch with the girls and football with the boys.

I suppose all these experiences, looking back on them now, should have indicated that I was going to be the mother of boys, or the mother of some pretty fierce girls. God prepared me well for the noise and rough-and-tumbleness of the guys here at home.

"My Fair Lady" has always been a favorite musical of mine, first when I was growing up and now as an adult. In Henry Higgins' first anthem "An Ordinary Man" Higgins expounds upon all the horrible things that happen when men "let a woman in" their lives, and therefore why he is "a confirmed old bachelor and likely to remain so." Later on, when the woman in his life, his student, Eliza Dolittle, leaves him and he is too proud to say he misses her, he berates the entire gender by wondering, "Why Can't a Woman be More Like a Man?".

There have been a few times when I have wished the opposite...why can't a man be more like a woman...it's usually when I see my friends' little girls sit down and quietly amuse themselves with a tea set and some dolls. But for the most part I am grateful for the differences between the genders.

In marriage...I am grateful for my husband's leadership in our family. I am thankful that he has me as his helper. When I step back to consider our marriage, it seems obvious that we should be where we are. On days when I am walking in God's grace for my obedience, I am glad to help David. He is a man worthy of help and esteem.

In the church...When a church is feminized, we hear more women's voices than men's. We hear emotional appeals instead of bold truth proclaimed from Scripture. This is always disappointing to the women in the end. They are no longer protected and loved the way that Christ loved the Church, washing her with the water of the Word (Eph.5).

"If you don't take strong stands, you will feminize the church. But the sad part is, you'll feminize the men and you'll disappoint the women." -- John MacArthur

Much Ado About Nothing contains a great scene that discusses roles of men and women. If you want to know why I love Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh, look here. It's Shakespeare at its sweetest. Turn it off when you get to Keanu Reeves, though, because it will leave you with a bad taste in your mouth :-)

For Dinner tonight...

Skewered Chicken with Lemon-Butter Sauce

ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
6 skinless boneless chicken breast halves, but into 1-inch pieces
3/4 cup dry white breadcrumbs
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 1/2 ounces)
12 8-inch bamboo skewers, soaked in water 30 minutes
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

preparation

Mix first 6 ingredients in large bowl. Add chicken; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour (or more...the longer it marinates, the better it gets). Preheat broiler or grill. Combine breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese in another large bowl. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Add chicken to breadcrumb mixture; toss to coat. Arrange chicken on skewers. Broil/grill chicken until cooked through, turning frequently, about 8 minutes. Transfer to platter. Meanwhile, melt butter in heavy small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and mix in lemon juice. Drizzle butter over chicken.

Bon Appétit, November 1995

Believe it or not, this is so good that it makes standing over a hot grill worthwhile on a day when the temperature is supposed to reach 103.

Heads up

Tomorrow I'm sending in our membership application for the Western North Carolina Nature Center. It's $55.00 for our whole family to join for a year, and it gains us reciprocity at AZA parks (zoos and aquariums) as well as ASTC locations (science/nature centers). For Charlotteans, that means we can get into the North Carolina zoo as well as Discovery place, the Transportation Museum, and the Schiele Museum for free. This is a significant savings for a large family!

Thanks for forwarding that email ooooh so long ago, Beth! I finally did it.

Hello

My name is Mr. Thumb

Mothers of the Wise and Good

Rev. John Belfrage, of Falkirk, and His Mother
So many of these portraits are of men who later entered full-time ministry. Today's subject, Rev. John Belfrage, ministered in the same church for forty years.
His mother was the only daughter of a pastor, his father was a defender of the poor and orphaned in their community. Parents often entrusted their children to the Belfrage family if they could not care for them. Of Belfrage's mother, it is said:

In her, good sense, enlargement of mind, and fervent piety, were associated with all the gentler dispositions. The tuition of such a mother must be the greatest value to the young. The tenderness of her heart gives her peculiar powers of persuasion, and religion never appears so lovely to a child as when its ardor glows on a mother's countenance....

Early in his life, John showed an interest in becoming a minister, and his mother encouraged him in his pursuits by allowing him to accompany his grandfather -- her father, the pastor -- as much as possible. The author states, "Young as he was, he marked with deep interest the piety of his manner, the calmness of his dwelling, his studious habits, his delight in the service of God, and his beneficent care of his parish."
After John completed his studies at the College of Edinburgh, his mother fell gravely ill. She was able to have a last visit with her son during which she was able to comfort him and exhort him one last time.
The most convicting thing about this chapter is the sense of "persuasion" it instills in me. We mothers are capable of persuading our children of many things. This is persuasion not in a covert sense, but an open one. The life we live, the priorities we keep, the way we spend our time, the tone of our voice, and the appearance of our countenances all tell our children something about the Gospel that we preach. Is it true or isn't it?

This Day's Been Crazy, But Everything's Happened on Schedule

"...from the rain and the cold
to the drink that I spilled on my shirt
'Cause You knew how You'd save me before I fell dead in the garden
And You knew this day long before you made me out of dirt...."
(Caedmon's Call, "Table for Two")


The Duty: Boys helped Mom with laundry. Everything went swimmingly. Kids are learning well how to get their own stuff on hangers and get it to the right place in their room.

The Delay: Kids' clothes finished, boys took off for various points in the house while Mom finished her clothes in her room.

The Diversion: Unattended container of cornstarch baby powder on kitchen island and three minutes of unsupervised time.

The Damage: Powder sprinkled all over rugs downstairs, entryway floor, and Mom's rocking chair in the living room.

The Denouement (you didn't think I could do it, did you?!) : All furniture downstairs got a good dusting, floors were mopped, and carpet was vacuumed. Plus, the house now smells as fresh as a (clean) baby's bottom.