Preparing for baby...the home stretch

Well, we are still here awaiting some baby action. I realize my official due date is still almost two weeks off (8/12), but when every child has been early so far, it's hard for me to not get a little impatient at this stage. The boys have been very patient, but starting tomorrow that may change. They know that the baby is coming in August, so this week I've been answering a lot of "HOW long until August?!" questions.

The official stats are...as of Tuesday morning, 80% effaced, 2 cm dilated. Sorry if that's TMI for some of you. I have friends who want to know :-) My weight is holding steady, which is a happy thing in my mind, because the baby is picking up weight and I'm losing it. Blood pressure is golden.

I have a feeling this may be a large baby...I am bigger than I was with Jonathan, and my RIBS! OH, MY RIBS! Can I have them back, please??!! I forgot to ask for a guess on the weight at my appointment yesterday. Suffice it to say I can't wait to take that first deep breath after the baby's born.

I am trying to stay busy but I don't really feel like doing anything. So I'm looking around the house, trying to find things to do. This means I'm doing exciting things like washing random household items (throw rugs, duvet covers, and the like) and making a ton of basil pesto (both green and purple!).

We are also taking full advantage of the fact that our church has dinner for all the families before their evening VBS begins. I haven't cooked dinner all week! What a unique provision...thank you Lord!

Baseball Without Steroids

This month's Reader's Digest has an article about Sal Fasano, who went to the University of Evansville with David. They knew each other in school and we've kept tabs on Sal's (long!) career ever since. They were dorm-mates first, and then after school they became brothers in the faith. Last month, when Sal was in Charlotte with the Richmond Braves, David had a chance to sit down and talk with him for a while.

The article highlights Sal's decision to refrain from steroid use when it was suggested to him by his brother, a former power lifter. It also seems to cast an embittered pall on his personality, something that David didn't see in their conversation. Yes, it has been a long, hard road for him. Since the article was written, he was once again picked up by a big league club, this time the Cleveland Indians. Here he is in a game last weekend.

Read the article! It may just restore your faith in baseball players again...or make you wish more guys were like Sal.

Family Man

These last days of pregnancy are those when David bears the brunt of responsibility in our home...his needs and wants are virtually ignored while the kids continue to need love and direction and I am essentially worthless at the end of the day. And on the other side of birth, he will be the one to take up the slack and play Mom and Dad while I put up my feet and feed the baby one more time.

Yet he bears it beautifully! Thank you, David.

"Family Man" from Trevor Little on Vimeo.

HT: The Rabbit Room

Thoughts on "The Dark Knight"

Well, I do love a good superhero movie, and a Batman movie in particular. I think this is a result of being a child of the late eighties/early nineties, when the Keaton/Nicholson version of "Batman" came out and it was all the rage.

I also really loved "Batman Begins," when I didn't expect to. But I thought the way in which they explored the roots and genesis of Batman was a great story, well told. Although I was mildly annoyed by the choice of Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes, I like Christian Bale in the role of Bruce Wayne, and anytime Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are in a movie together, I will be there.

So I was excited to see "The Dark Knight," so much so that I was willing to sit in a theatre while great with child for almost three hours. Here are some thoughts:

Warning: SPOILERS ABOUND. PROCEED WITH CAUTION. But apparently, if you listen to the press, there are only twelve people left in America who haven't seen this movie, and the fact that they are reading my blog is highly unlikely.

First, it is very hard to concentrate on a movie when you're having contractions every 15 minutes on the quarter hour. I felt every moment of the two and a half hours, because I was checking my watch so much. I couldn't really get "swept up" the way people kept talking about it.

Second, the babysitter should probably think twice about calling in the middle of the movie to tell you that the kids had too many brownies. This is not an emergency situation. But that's neither here nor there.

Third, my experience with the hype machine has been similar to Jon's:

I haven't seen the new Batman movie yet, but unless I weep during the entire time at its brilliance, am served a bottomless bag of cotton candy and get to take home my own live bat, I am not sure it can live up to my expectations. I know I will like it, there's just been so much hype that I think it will be difficult for it to be as good as I think it should.

Fourth, I liked the movie, and I think I'd like to see it again on the small screen sometime in the future. I just want to get that out there, because most of what follows is not super positive.

Heath Ledger's performance...great, as everyone says. Many people in our showing were laughing here and there at his Joker, but I found him completely disturbing and not funny at all (with one exception...when he was sanitizing his hands in the hospital, his mannerisms were funny). In that way, it was a great performance. But in general I have a hard time rooting for someone to get an Oscar for a performance that freaked me out. I know it's about excellence in your craft, and Ledger was great in this role, but I can't stand up and cheer for it. Just a hangup I have. Maybe I should get over it.

Rachel Dawes...I was frankly quite ANNOYED that she died. I LOVE Maggie Gyllenhal, and I thought she brought so much more to the table for this role than did her predecessor. I couldn't believe they killed her off...in fact, I spent the rest of the movie looking for a possible loophole where she'd come back unharmed and say, "Look boys, I figured out a way to get out!". It was slightly distracting.

Race relations...I whispered to David early on in the movie that it was interesting to see an African-American in the role of mob boss. He was an interesting and powerful minor villain to me. Usually those roles are left to Latin Americans or Italians. But he was the first to die by the Joker's hand, and we were left with the Italian and Mexican guys, so bye-bye originality in casting. I know it seems strange to wish for a "better villain" role for a black man, but the role that the mob bosses play in the plot is important, and they wind up helping the good guys in the end. The heroic role on the ferry was played by an African-American man, but he was a convict. Good but bad. Could have been much better.
I was whining about this after the movie was over, and David reminded me that Morgan Freeman is black. Oh yeah. Duh. He's definitely a hero in this one, even though he compromises his principles to help Batman "just this once." He also gets the funniest scene in the movie (with the accountant set on blackmailing Bruce Wayne).

Plot features...I like that the Joker uses cheap gunpowder, gasoline, and blades. It's fitting for him. Batman's tools are much cleaner, and oh yeah, he doesn't kill people. I loved the climax with the ferry boats...really creative to explore the good and bad instincts in everyone. The tractor-trailer upending was breathtaking, even though my engineering-physics genius husband says that it could never have happened that way (*sigh*). I thought Two-Face would evolve into a full-fledged villain, instead of only appearing for about a half-hour before his death, but this was more confusing than upsetting to me. I guess I thought he would be the bad guy in the next film.

Conclusion: I liked it, but it didn't live up to the hype for me. But that could be entirely my own fault.

Yeah, But You Should See the Other Guy

When I was growing up, we had our share of bumps and bruises, like any children. Whenever we had an obvious injury, my Dad would try to make us feel better by saying, "yeah, but you should see the other guy." It was as though we had gotten in a fight every time we got hurt, and the role of the "other guy" was filled by the offending party, be it the rocking chair (my sister) or the stairs (me), or our gravel driveway (both of us). And "the other guy" was always reputed to be in worse shape than we were.

Well, there was a fight here last night...here's one guy:


And here's the other guy:



And here's the accessory to the crime:



Jonathan came inside in the arms of his daddy with blood streaming down his face after dinner last night. Off they went to the ER, and within a few hours, he had five old-school stitches right in the middle of his forehead. I was kind of hoping for the glue they sometimes use on face injuries, but apparently the wound was too wide open for that to work. Fortunately, he showed no signs of a concussion.

According to David, the nurses lauded Jonathan's performance during the stitching as the bravest they had ever seen from a two-year-old. This was no small thing, since apparently they put a young child in a restraint for stitches that sounds similar to a straitjacket. :-\

They came in the door around 10:15, and Jonathan was as happy as ever, wanting to show me what the nurses gave him: stickers, crayons, and a "math book" (this is what he calls coloring books, poor homeschool sibling that he is). Daddy had also taken him to Target on the way home to get a little prize for bravery; he picked out a knight on a horse. :-)


We are thankful this morning, as all parents are in the wake of a potential tragedy. All the worst-case scenarios flash through your mind: what if it had been a concussion? A fractured skull? What if he had taken a blow to his eye or nose or mouth? A scar on his forehead seems minor compared to the alternatives.

And for now, the "other guy" is going in the golf bag until the next trip to the driving range. Learning in context is never a bad thing.

Leftovers

I am not sure where my brain was when I bought the fabric for the nursery bedding, because I had a TON left over. I guess I'd rather have some left than have to trek back out to the fabric store, though!

I took a good bit of the leftover fabric and made a new diaper bag:

Inside. Yep, it's already packed. You can see the brown and white changing pad I made in this shot, too.

Back/side.

This took me a lot longer than I thought it would; it's fully interfaced and lined, so there were a lot of repetetive steps. But I'm very happy with how it turned out.

Raining Buckets

We had a huge thunderstorm yesterday morning. It was wonderful! There were a few claps of thunder that shook the house.





After last summer, I truly LOVE the rain!

Just a thought...

we haven't been to see WALL-E yet, but indulge me here for a moment.

From what I understand, a large part of the plot is tied to the fact that Earth is unlivable because of humanity's consumptive practices...as in, there's trash everywhere.

So why is it that everywhere I go, I see WALL-E trash? Toys, pencils, clothes, action figures, fruit snacks?! Isn't that sort of ironic? Missing the point, maybe?

The Unspectacular Quirk Meme

I have three memes I've been tagged for, so I guess I'd better get started on my homework. Thanks so much to my friend Christina for tagging me for this meme...

Here's the game, I tell you 6 "unspectacular quirks" of mine, then I mention 6 people and they have to list their quirks on their blog.

Trust me, these are very unspectacular.

1. I HATE the movie E.T. HATE. IT. I hated it the first time I saw it, when it came out in theatres when I was little, and I still hate it. I don't get the concept of being friends with a disgusting little rodent-looking alien who makes a sound like fingernails on a chalkboard when he's startled. Even if he does like Reeses Pieces. If it is left up to only me, my children will NEVER see this movie.

2. Usually I am a morning person, but sometimes I get bitten with the nightowl bug. Last week, I stayed up late cutting out pieces for a new diaper bag and watching "The Facts of Life" on Hulu. I think my husband thought he was hallucinating when he heard the theme song drifting upstairs, "you take the good, you take the bad, you take 'em both and there you have...."

3. I'm an Olympics junkie. I love it all. I am very excited about the possibility of vegging out on the couch with my kids, feeding a baby, and watching the Beijing Olympics. I suggested to David last week that we should name the baby "Olympia Beijing." Yes, I was joking. No, we haven't settled on a name yet.

4. My favorite meal is breakfast. I love omelets, waffles, pancakes, eggs, veggies, fruit, muffins, granola, oatmeal, cereal, bacon, fresh coffee, toast.... This is one of the reasons why I LOVE Cracker Barrel restaurants! Breakfast anytime!

5. I can't sleep with socks on. Sweaty feet make me crazy. This was one of those, "really?!" discoveries when we got married. I could maybe make an exception if we're camping and it's cold, but other than that...no dice.

6. I am the perfect height to be stuck awkwardly in between "average" and "tall" in women's clothing stores. I have to try on jeans to make sure they're going to fit. And when does that happen? Almost never. Another reason to love LL Bean...they have a "medium tall" women's option. Apparently they really wanted ME to shop there.

And here are six spectacular women to tell you their unspectacular quirks: Cathy, Laura A., Nicole, Dana, Sarah, and Laura D.

Meet the Fish

I took 35 horrible pictures of fish this morning, and below you see the results. Keep in mind that these are the best ones. Please enjoy.

First, meet Albert. He is our algae eater and this is where he spends most of his days. I am amazed at how much cleaning he has already done, and I'm starting to wonder if they make a similar creature to clean houses.


These are the danios, named Daniel and Danielle (can you tell Mom named these?). I have no idea if they are boys or girls or one of each, and quite frankly I have no interest in finding out. Daniel chased Danielle for the first few days and we were worried that we had a bully on our hands, but now they spend about equal time chasing each other. This is the reason why they are nearly impossible to photograph.





We have three neons, named Casey, Willy, and Freddie. They amuse me. They are surprisingly codependent. I thought I had killed them when I finally netted them into the tank, because they got separated and two of them just sat still with a panicked expression and didn't move for an hour or more. But then they found each other and they haven't left each other since.

It has been fun for us, having pets. When we were leaving the pet store with the fish in hand, Cameron said (loudly), "It's my VERY FIRST PET IN MY WHOLE LIFE!". As soon as the fish arrived at home, the little people were cast aside and there were four live spectators camped out in front of the tank.

Linkage

• Jon does a great job exploring what it means to "shine up your scars." David and I are reading through the book Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges with some friends this summer, and this fit in perfectly. Last night we were at a prayer meeting, and after about fifteen minutes of "we need to pray for so-and-so" requests, the pastor said, "let's try to make this more personal. How do you need prayer?" I admire my husband for his humility in these circumstances. His hand shot up and he said, "I'm impatient with my kids. And we have a new baby coming, which means more crying and less sleep, and I'm worried I'm going to get more impatient." And just like that, the tone of the meeting changed. People started confessing their sins and asking for prayer. All it takes is saying it.
• Shannon has been doing a series called "What I'd Like for You to Know." Today's guest is Molly Piper, who lost her daughter at 39 weeks, 4 days pregnant. Don't miss the previous entries by a mom of autistic sons and a wife whose husband is deployed overseas.
• Comment #14 on the "Girl Mommies..." post was worth reading (well, they were ALL worth reading, thank you!), so I didn't want you to miss it: Shawnda directed me to Kendra's blog. She makes bows and uses the money to fund their adoption of two orphans from Kyrgyzstan.

What's Everyone Looking At?

The latest thing to make me laugh every time I walk in the kitchen:

Everyone is sitting so calmly. Clearly they are anticipating something great.

So, when do the fish come out?

(Don't tell the Little People, but they will be arriving this afternoon.)

A Friendly Reminder

Today is the last day to order your ESV Study Bible with the 30% discount.

As far as I can tell, this is the most lauded and anticipated Study Bible in the history of mankind....

Educate Thyself

One of the first things I heard when I told people that we were moving to North Carolina was how Eastern Carolina BBQ is vinegar-based, and Western Carolina BBQ is ketchup-based.

I'm just glad it's not MAYONNAISE-based. *shudder*

Girl Mommies...

OK, lay it on me...

• Where should I buy tights? Which ones are a waste of money?
  
• What kind of hairbows/clips are the best?
• What do you always find yourself lacking for your daughter(s) (besides the obvious choices like more patience, more sleep, etc.)?

Anything else you want to enlighten me with?

Preparing for Baby...the Epic Trip to Target

This morning we headed out to our local Target to plug some money into the economy. After all, we do have a baby coming in around a month. It might be nice if I had, say, diapers for her. Or baby powder. Or some crib sheets that aren't (a) threadbare or (b) BLUE or (c) all of the above (can I just say I think I have EVERY SHADE of blue crib sheet in my linen closet upstairs? They don't exactly go with the new bedding). I received a gift card recently from a friend, so I tucked it into my purse with my rapidly-growing list.

I also had some boys who have recently been bitten by the "Buy Stuff With My Own Money" bug. They've been harassing me lately to take them to that wonderland, the Target toy section. One child brought $10.00. The other three children brought $.50 each. I could see this might pose a problem with contentment down the road, but after having to unscrew their piggy banks to get the money out, I didn't have time to argue.

I think I answered the "what is it this time" question about four times, which didn't feel like very much. One man said, "I hope it's a girl this time." One lady, who was walking behind me, passed me on the left side and said as she passed, "I guess you didn't get your girl, huh?". For a split second I allowed myself the thought that maybe I don't resemble the side of a barn from behind. I answered her, "I did get my girl...she'll be here in a month or so." And she nicely offered her congratulations.

We stopped in household, health and beauty, the pharmacy, the diaper section, the baby section, the office section, and the laundry/organizing section. I must say that the children were very patient awaiting their grand arrival in the toy aisle.

"Speed Racer" intrigues Cameron greatly even though we never took him to see the movie, so after passing over the Star Wars toys and the Transformers, he selected a racecar that -- oh joy -- makes racing sounds and has at least seven different sayings from the movie. AND IT HAS NO ON/OFF SWITCH.

But it's his money, right? So Mom kept her mouth shut. It was actually pretty interesting to me to watch him ponder the right thing to buy.

After I had dragged the boys around a little more (with apologies to my male readers -- LADIES, did you know that TARGET carries nursing bras??!?! This was a very exciting discovery to me since I couldn't bear the thought of going into that maternity store one. more. time.), we approached the place where everyone else was going to spend their fortune on candy. Well, at least two quarters each.

Sadly, I learned that there's not much you can get at the checkout candy shelves for fifty cents. Everything is around a dollar, but of course I don't know this, because the only time I buy candy is when it's been a horrible trip to Target and I reward myself with a snickers I hide behind everything else on the conveyor belt so the kids don't see it. And then my attitude is pretty much, "Candy? What candy? Pleasedon'tdiscussthecandy."

Fortunately, Target seems to be running a "special" on peanut butter M&M's right now, so they were only around fifty cents. At this moment Ben learned an important lesson.

DO NOT OPEN THE BAG OF CANDY BEFORE YOU'VE BOUGHT IT, BECAUSE...

• (a) the M&Ms -- which are not yet yours, by the way -- will fly all over the checkout aisle and
  
• (b) you will have to pay full price for a bag of M&Ms which is only half full and
• (c) Mom will step on one, resulting in peanut butter chocolate mush on the bottom of her sandal.

While I was trying to clean off my shoe, I looked up just in time to see Cameron thrust "SpeedRacer" and two crumpled five-dollar-bills at the cashier lady. He was waiting for no one. That toy was his. The cashier was clever enough to see the slow train of boys-with-candy-and-money, and she hung onto the change from Cameron's purchase, which helped since Andrew's ring pop actually cost $.62.

Is it any wonder that I forgot to use the gift card?

Preparing for Baby...The Freezer Stash

Another way that I've been trying to prepare for the new baby is by stocking up my freezer with finished or almost-done meals. We will no doubt be the recipients of meals from church friends and family, but every new mom can tell you that there's a time when the meals run out and you're still too tired to think about what's for dinner.

Recently, when I make my grocery list, I try to find something that I can double and freeze, and then make sure to buy enough to make two. So far I have frozen:

a couple batches of soup
one lasagna
quite a few cups of cooked brown rice
pork chops with marinade
chicken pieces with marinade

The pre-marinated meat isn't done, obviously, but all I will have to do in my lack-of-sleep coma is remember to take it out of the freezer. Then it will marinate as it's thawing.

"Home-schoolers threaten our cultural comfort"

An interesting opinion piece from a man who doesn't homeschool.

P.S. This came across on one of those yahoo groups I was telling you about.

How the Internet Makes My Life as a Homeschooling Mother Embarassingly Easy: Book Buying, part II

(NOTE: Even if you don't homeschool, if you buy books off the internet at all, READ THIS! It will save you time and money.)

Last year, when we bought our laptop, David and I switched to Firefox as a browser. We were a bit late to the party, I know. All the cool people were already using it. But we jumped on the bandwagon.

The feature that I love most about Firefox is a little tool called "Book Burro." Whenever I need to price a book, I go to the amazon page for that title. As soon as I click on the particular book I'm considering, Firefox puts up a little drop-down menu in the top left-hand corner of my screen.

When I click on that menu, I see prices for that same book at five other internet bookstores, as well as area libraries that have the book in circulation.

Yes, what I just said is true. On one screen, I see all that information. Oh happy, happy day.

The one thing I'd change about book burro is that I'd make it so the buyer can put in the bookstores they frequent (Rainbow Resource doesn't pop up, for example, so I still need to go to their site to check prices). But still, the amount of time this has saved in my life is pretty substantial.

FYI, more often than not, Amazon does not have the best price.

A Savior on Capital Hill

This song was in my head all day yesterday.

Oddly, last night I had to pray publicly about the election. I guessed that some in the room were of the opinion, "Christians must be dyed-in-the-wool Republican." Without going into all the details, I don't believe that. I don't think they must be Democrats, either. Or Libertarians. Or members of the Green Party. Or...anybody else want to weigh in here?

So I did my best to pray Biblically: against fear, for wisdom and compassion for all those affected by the policies of our leaders, and for discernment and energy as we attempt to be involved as citizens of our temporary home. ("Energy" is my need, as it's usually my temptation to say, "NO politician tells the truth...I give up," and wash my hands of the whole thing.)

But wow, I was sweating.

I may or may not have made reference to a lyric from this song. Here's the "official video" as well as a link to the lyrics:


Lyrics

HT: The DotNet

How the Internet Makes My Life as a Homeschooling Mother Embarassingly Easy: Book Buying

Not only do I belong to the Art Prints group I discussed on this post, I also belong to a great many other yahoo groups. Some local, some not-so-local. I've never actually posted on one of these groups, because whenever I have a question, I search first to see if someone else has ever had the same question. More often than not, someone has.

This has most recently benefited me with book buying for the upcoming year. Ambleside Online has so many wonderful book choices for their main curriculum as well as extra reading, that I feel like it's Christmas when I start tracking down books. One of the ones I was most excited about buying this year was The Wind in the Willows. Believe it or not, we don't yet have a copy of this book...just the audio CDs...and there are so many different versions! So I went to one of my yahoo groups and searched for recommendations. This is a selection where the quality is really important to me...it's a keepsake type of book, so I wanted one with beautiful illustrations, too.

I came across recommendations for this version, and I liked what I saw enough to order it. I was so excited when it came! I love it.

There are yahoo groups for everything (good and bad)! If you are a current or future homeschool mom, take advantage of the good ones.

I Have a New Phone...

but very few phone numbers. I'll be trying to remedy this situation over the next few days. Please be patient :-)

Overheard

Scene: Mom sitting on the floor in front of the couch, typing on the laptop, which is on the coffee table. Jonathan and Andrew begin curiously exploring Mom's hair.

Jonathan: MOM! There are yours EARS!

(does he think they're not there if my hair is covering them?)

Andrew and Jonathan make their way onto the couch behind Mom and begin a head/hair massage with their (hopefully somewhat clean) feet.

Andrew: Mom! You are washing our feet with your hair, just like in the Bible!

Something tells me it was a little different than Jesus kicking the woman in the head....

A Helpful Announcement

My phone is dead. If you need to reach me, please call David's phone until further notice. If you know my number, his is my number plus one.

It was unfortunately bathed by my water bottle this morning while I was running out to the Independence Day parade. It's had more than its share of water-related mishaps, so I think it may be finally finished.

How the Internet Makes My Life as a Homeschooling Mother Embarassingly Easy: Making Copies at the Copy Machine

(wow, that's a wordy title, isn't it?!)

I've been rolling this post around in my head for a few months now, but yesterday was just one more example of how this lovely technology has made my life very easy.

One of the areas of our study through Ambleside Online is picture study/artist study. The admins of AO choose an artist for each term, and suggest certain prints of special note for students to study. This term's artist is Sandro Botticelli.

I belong to the yahoo group called "AO Art Prints," which is run by a lady who posts pdf files of each chosen print. I receive an email when she posts them. At my convenience, I go to the "files" section of the yahoo group and download the files, which are public domain so there's no tricky copyright stuff happening.

Now, here's where it gets VERY EXCITING. I go to the Fedex/Kinko's website and choose "online services." I pick "print to a FedEx store" and upload the files to them. I pick the kind of paper I want, whether I want it bound (I hang these in our schoolroom, so I keep them loose), and other options. Then I tell them the store where I'd like to pick them up, and when. I enter my educator's code for a discount, pay with my credit card, and get a receipt in my inbox.

So for five to ten minutes' worth of effort on the computer, and about ten dollars, I was able to pick up ten finished high-quality prints on nice paper last night at my local FedEx store.

Pregnancy Update

Not much has been going on in this department that's notable...just growing, growing, growing. The doctor tells me that I am just the right size for a woman of 34 weeks' gestation (1 cm per week, did you know that?), no matter how house-like I feel or how many questioning looks I get when I say I have about six weeks to go. My official due date is August 12th.

Here's a tip: please don't ever, ever say to a pregnant woman, "are you sure you've only got one in there?!". That might have been a funny thing to think about before the days of regular sonography, but nowadays it may get you punched in the face depending on said pregnant woman's mood.

A few women have told me that I've "dropped," which cannot be true. I still can't take a deep breath when I lie down, so I think that means that baby is still pretty high :-)


Next doctor's visit is in two weeks' time...

I Love This Ad Campaign

Sing with me, "you're a feisty rodent...."

...no endorsement of Budweiser intended, just their witty ad execs :-)

Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography

I'm now about halfway through Iain Murray's biography of Edwards, and I just wanted to take a minute here to heartily recommend it. I realize that a recommendation this early in the book might be risky, but I feel fairly certain that the quality will continue to the end.

There are a few reasons why I think it's a good one to read:

1. Jonathan Edwards is one of the most misunderstood characters in American history, in my opinion. I remember being a junior in high school and being assigned "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" to read for American Literature class and just rolling my eyes and hating it. How many of you have had the same experience?
There is a characterization of Edwards as a heartless, antisocial, stoic Puritan that leaves out the majority of the man's real person. Even the more sympathetic "absent-minded professor"-type evaluation by modern evangelicals is unfair, says Murray. He was a warm friend, someone who yes, studied hard, but also regularly sought people out to come to his home and involve them in his family.
I think I've posted this before, but this is one of my favorite quotes in reference to Edwards and his family, from George Whitefield:

Felt wonderful satisfaction in being at the house of Mr. Edwards. He is a Son himself, and hath also a Daughter of Abraham for his wife. A sweeter couple I have not yet seen. Their children were dressed not in silks and satins, but plain, as becomes the children of those who, in all things ought to be examples of Christian simplicity. She is a woman adorned with a meek and quiet spirit, talked feelingly and solidly of the Things of God, and seemed to be such a help mate for her husband, that she caused me to renew those prayers, which, for many months, I have put up to God, that he would be pleased to send me a daughter of Abraham to be my wife.

2. Murray has an excellent understanding of Edwards' theology and why it was so important. Calvinism is the doctrine that people love to hate in the American church today, but held within these pages (especially those in the chapters entitled "The Green Valley of Humiliation" and " 'Thirteen Hours, Every Day' ") is an excellent explanation of the doctrines of grace and an exploration of the influence it had on Edwards and his ministry.

When [God] decrees diligence and industry, He decrees riches and prosperity; when He decrees prudence, He often decrees success; when He decrees striving, then often He decrees the obtaining of the Kingdom of Heaven; when He decrees the preaching of the Gospel, then He decrees the bringing home of souls to Christ; when He decrees good natural faculties, diligence, and good advantage of them, He decrees learning; when He decrees summer, then He decrees the growing of plants; when He decrees conformity to His Son, He decrees calling; and when He decrees will, He decrees justification; and when He decrees justification, He decrees everlasting glory. Thus all the decrees of God are harmonious.

(from the Miscellanies, #29)

3. Great American history told herein! Did you know that there was a big spat about where Yale University was actually going to set up shop? For a year or two, there were two campuses. Murray also paints a nice picture of early New England and the relative warmth of the people in Northampton compared to areas that lay further out. Since the people of Northampton lived in close proximity to one another, they had better manners (warm New Englanders! who'da thunk it?!).

Anyway, I just wanted to get this plug in here amidst all the baby sewing and kids' activities so you all know that my mind isn't going to mush ;-) ... and in case the baby comes and I don't actually finish this book until sometime next spring.

Finished!

I finished the sewing for the baby's room this morning. What a great feeling! These pictures also show the new wall color, which was thanks to David and my dad! I love it!

Valance -- originally I was going to do a roll-up shade, but then I remembered that I'd need to make a cornice for that, so I punted and opted for the easy valance.

Throw pillow and bumper (try to imagine that there's a crib sheet on that mattress!).

This gives you a little glimpse of the dust ruffle

Closeup of pillow

I really enjoyed this project, which forced me to make time to do something I enjoy. I don't make enough time to sew, so having a set project ( and a deadline!) made it easier to set that time aside.

Preparing for Baby...Craft boxes

Last week, while the kids were at VBS and I only had Jonathan with me every morning (wow! I can't believe how uncomplicated that made my life for those five days!), I took one step towards getting ready for the baby's birth. I went to Hobby Lobby and put together a little gift for each of the boys: a craft box.

I got this idea from a magazine page I'd ripped out a long time ago. Here's the inside (they are all the same):They include beads, string, pom-poms, foam animal shapes, and pipe cleaners (excuse me, I guess they're called "chenille sticks").

I put their names on the outside.

The cost worked out to about $8.00 per child, since beads were half price last week. I am hoping that they buy me a few hours of quiet after the baby comes. :-) I still need to wrap them.

VBS Program

Last week the kids took part in Vacation Bible School at a nearby church. Here are some photos of their closing program.

Andrew was very intent on singing. His class sang "Jesus Loves Me" twice through. He concentrated very hard.

Ben was bored waiting for his part to start.

He had all the motions down, but I don't think he sang a word all night!

Speaking of concentrating hard...

Must...not...miss...a...cue....

It was a lot of fun for everybody!