Things I Never Stop Saying

Every once in a while I post some of these to make me feel better. Feel free to comment and add your own. That'll make me feel better, too.

• Sit down.
• You don't take...ask first.
• Shhh!
• It's not a race.
• Are you thinking of yourself or others?
• Sit down.
• Is that a wise or foolish choice?
• Keep looking until you find it.
• Shhh.
• You can do it by yourself.
• Look at your brother...did that make him happy?
• Put your bottom on the chair.
• Wow, look at this room.
• Get back in bed.
• I said, get back in bed.
• We can hear you up there!
• What are you doing? What are you supposed to be doing?
• Don't leave it there...put it away.
• Please ask Mommy to help you empty the poop out of the potty.

And the nice ones...(believe it or not, these do happen)

• I love you.
• Great job, buddy! (I think Maddie will just adjust to being called "buddy" because it's gone too far by now)
• Good obedience!
• Great reading!
• Wow, look at this room!

It Is a Truth Universally Acknowledged

"Which do you mean?" and turning round, he looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly said, "She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; and I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me."

On this day in 1813 Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice was first published.

I found this character map appealing on an altogether nerdy level.

One Week Later...

Guess what I found?

Jonathan was all about making footprints

It was still snowing when we first got outside

Overheard

Scene: General discussion of Jesus' death on a cross for our sins (we're reading John's Gospel at breakfast right now). Andrew says he wishes that we didn't sin so Jesus didn't have to die.

Mommy: Yes, that would be nice, but even if we didn't sin, we would still need a Savior because all of humanity became sinners when Adam and Eve sinned.
Andrew, gravely serious: I am very disappointed that they couldn't stop eating from the tree.

Scene: Mommy reading to Cameron and Ben from Our Island Story, the signing of the Magna Carta, specifically concerning King John (Lackland)'s death.

Mommy (reading): A few days later John died. Some say that he died of anger and grief, others that he was poisoned, others that his death was caused by eating a great many raw peaches and by drinking a quantity of new cider too greedily.

Ben: TOO MANY RAW PEACHES!!! HA HA HA HA!!! (entire couch dissolves into giggles)

Mommy struggles to finish the chapter through giggles and hiccups. Ah, homeschooling, I love thee.

A List! How Thrilling!

1. I cannot find the camera cord to upload the pictures of the kids playing in the snow. This is a tragic development, but I feel we will recover -- both from our devastation and the cord.
2. Today is the day that I've delayed for about ten years. I'm getting my wisdom teeth out at 11:30 this morning. I have only two, both on top, and they've descended quite a bit. Pretty much everyone has assured me that that's the easiest situation if there has to be one. I plan to mimic my mother's example (eating a full meal that evening) rather than my father's (dry sockets, general horror) as much as possible.
3. We are in the midst of minor home improvements here and there...we had a backsplash installed last week (!) and we've painted the kitchen. Tomorrow we will attempt a paint job in the GIANT Master bedroom currently occupied by the boys. I have felt mother's guilt (we're good at that, aren't we?!) about the nicely decorated room Maddie has occupied for months while they live in a plain, seemingly unloved space. They don't seem to notice or care, but I think they'll be excited by the change. I hope to show you all pictures of the finished products (please refer to #1 for a reminder of why these might be delayed).
4. Jonathan took only about four days to be out of diapers when we finally started. Oh happy day.
5. I am still plunging ahead on People are Big, but I haven't taken the time to put some journal entries together into a post. I hope to do so soon!

Have a great weekend!

Whoops! I just wanted to add these videos...I don't usually watch Ellen, but I wanted to see these people interviewed. There was such a feeling of awe surrounding the events, but this interview really drove home that these were just normal people like me...I love the guy who was in the exit row!

I Don't Watch LOST

...but in case you do...

Leader of the Free World

Yesterday's events moved Thabiti to poetry.

I'm Thankful

Things I'm thankful for today:

1. We live in a country where the transition of power is a peaceful one. Most kings and presidents (past and present) do not have coffee in the presidential mansion with their successor.
2. I have the freedom to educate my children at home, where we will spend a day playing in the snow, learning about our country, and watching the Inauguration.
3. In essentially a single generation in the United States, we have gone from African-Americans being less than full citizens to an African-American man being Citizen Number One.
4. The Lord rises up rulers for His purposes, so we need not fear. (Proverbs 21)
5. I have the freedom to differ with my president on moral issues without fear of arrest or imprisonment.
6. Our president and his wife are dedicated to one another and to their children...a wonderful example of the importance of family.
7. SNOW (this has nothing to do with the Inauguration, but it snowed here last night, which is huge news).
8. Inauguration Day is full of the pomp and show that I love, even if by this time tomorrow the glitz and polish has worn off.
9. The Oath of Office does not officially contain the words, "so help me God," but every single incoming president has followed George Washington's good example in completing the vow with those words.
10. God sustained George W. Bush through perhaps the most trying eight years of this country's history. I am thankful he will get some rest.

My memories of inaugurations are always tied into Cameron's life...we watched George W take the Oath of Office as we waited outside the hospital nursery for the staff to discharge our firstborn. In those days we walked onto airplanes with limited oversight and the name Osama Bin Laden was known only to intelligence officers. I wonder prayerfully what the next four or eight years will bring.

Imagine the Potential

An ad that will air today in select markets on BET:



H/T: MommyLife

YARGH!

Cam had a birthday on Saturday...he turned eight. Running his birthday party was a good exercise in "controlled chaos." We walked the plank and had a treasure hunt, then had cake. Other than that, it was mostly running around and whacking each other with swords.

Discovering the treasure after following the clues around the house.

Jonathan with five-o'clock-shadow.

Yummy cake!

Miracle on the Hudson

Reports I read this morning said that the plane missed the GW bridge by less than 900 feet.

Is it any doubt that God placed that pilot -- the one with hours controlling a glider, the one with military-trained nerves -- on that plane?

Simply amazing.

The Office Returns Tonight

For my fellow fans...

Question

I fully plan to take Tuesday off from school and watch the inauguration with my "class."

Do you homeschool moms or teachers have any activities or readings planned to prepare for Tuesday?

Update: Michele sent me this free resource, which looks helpful! Thanks, Michele!

Ancora Imparo

"I am still learning" ...Michelangelo

Several of our kids have had eczema in their first year, and it is usually easily managed by being careful about laundry detergents, soaps, and using rich lotions designed for sensitive skin (Lubriderm fragrance-free is my favorite; Aquafor also works very well).

A couple of weeks ago on a Sunday morning I was changing Maddie and noticed that the eczema patches on her front were in need of some attention. Looking around on the changing table, I found that the lotion I usually use was missing, but I found some Burt's Bees lotion that I thought would work just fine. Burt's Bees...all natural, full of organic goodness. I'm sure it'll be fine. Slather it on, finish dressing her, buckle her into the carseat, and out the door to church....

Later that morning I picked Maddie up from the church nursery and the lady who'd been taking care of her mentioned that she had changed the baby and noticed a rash on her torso. I quickly reassured her that it was just eczema.

Well. I got her home and undressed her and WOW! BRIGHT! RED! RASH! EVERYWHERE! I couldn't understand why until I looked at the Burt's Bees lotion that I had been so eager to use earlier that morning. Here's a picture:

Aw, isn't it cute? Look at that little cow!

EXCEPT that Maddie has shown acute sensitivity to dairy thus far in her life. If I have too much dairy in my diet, the eczema flares badly and she gets extremely fussy.

(Earlier in her life, this sensitivity showed itself by turning her poop green instead of the regular newborn yellow...oh, sorry, you weren't eating just then, were you?)

So...this lotion, in which milk is a key ingredient, is probably not the best choice to slather all over her. *headsmack* And I should have my mothering license suspended.

Marvelous Toys

My mom was the oldest sister of three sisters, and her only younger brother is ten years her junior. I remember many conversations with my mom about how her cousins were all boys, and they had the "cool toys," most notably their electric trains. She used to love visiting with them and getting a chance to control the trains. I imagine that by the time her brother got some "cool" boy toys, she was out of the house on dates and waiting tables at the local ski area.

I grew up the youngest of two sisters. Our house was full of all the traditional girl-related toys you'd expect: lots of stuffed animals, dolls, Barbies, and items for playing pretend school or house; however, since most of the neighborhood kids my age were male, I also played a lot of He-Man, football, and pretend camp-out.

I don't remember any trains in the neighborhood. Electric trains were something old-fashioned...something out of a storybook. The only place I regularly saw them was in those "don't-touch-them" stores, suspended on elevated tracks where no children ever interacted with them.

With all this history, it was with great joy and anticipation that I watched our kids receive their dad's electric trains for Christmas this year. We purchased a new engine and track set to go with them, but the bulk of our collection was generously given to us by David's parents and is the same set with which he spent hours as a child.

I watched them pull them out of the box...The Royal Blue. The Norfolk and Western. The Rail King. The Southern Pacific. Excited ooohhs and aaaahhs together with nervous exclamations from Daddy, "now wait--" "don't open it yet--" "wait 'til I get it set up--".

Then, after brief lessons on track construction and electric train safety, each boy had a turn at the controls. They saw the glow of the engine light and turned out the overhead lights. Four boys (five, if you count Daddy, which you should) and one baby girl, all suspended motionless in semi-darkness, mesmerized by the gentle hum and click of the engine.

I don't know who's having more fun in the pictures below, the children or the grown-ups. In the last picture you will see little Maddie's head, and she's living a reality that Mom and I never had. Electric trains in the house...how marvelous.

When People Are Big and God is Small

Regular readers of my blog are probably sick! to! death! of hearing the title of this book. This is the same book that was on my 2008 reading list and never budged from the shelf (whoops).

But it gets worse, because I first read this book in...ummm...2000 when I was a newlywed with no children and I was discipling a high school student in the youth group that my husband and I were leading (hi, Jen, you lurker you!). The book was so life-changing to me at that point that I vowed that I would read it once a year just to check myself.

Hello, second reading NINE YEARS LATER. Clearly I am the picture of vow-fulfillment and faithfulness.

But guess what? At the end of the year, I completed one book and the circumstances were perfect to use all that beginning-of-the-year-fresh-start energy to dive into People are Big. I knew that this time I wanted to wade through it slowly, journaling along the way, and that's what I've done so far.

The full title of the book is When People Are Big and God Is Small: Overcoming Peer Pressure, Codependency, and the Fear of Man. I think people (maybe you) see the title and think, "Well, obviously that's for someone who has issues. I am not codependent. Look at me! I'm so healthy!".

But Welch's point in the first chapter is that everyone struggles with this issue to varying degrees. We all make decisions based on what others will think of us. We all wonder what our reputation really is. We all wear beautiful masks to try to hide our real selves. We build walls to keep others at bay.

I'm going to be jotting down what I learn along the way and ask the same questions here that I'm asking myself. I hope they will benefit my readers. If you find them boring or annoying or whatever, come back tomorrow for some inane post about potty-training or "The Office." One of my goals for 2009 is to beef up the sorely-lacking spiritual content of my blog, so this serves as my start.

A couple questions to kick it off:

• How do you "need" people? Do you need their approval? How does your desire for a good reputation alter the decisions that you make or the way that you live?
  
• Do you second-guess decisions because of what people might think?
• Do you ever feel that you might be exposed as an impostor?
• Are you jealous of other people?
• Do you avoid people?
• When you compare yourself with other people, do you feel good about yourself?

Though these manifestations vary widely, they are all signs of being controlled by others and the desire for approval.

I'll expand on some of these next time.

Save Handmade

You may have read or heard about the new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. Here's a quick rundown on the most current information on this law that may adversely affect thousands of work-at-home moms as well as your public library. Be sure to read the comments, as they contain the perspective of many Etsy sellers and others who make a living in that fashion.

Then click on the button in my sidebar to make your voice heard. The page where you will land includes late-breaking information.

Congrats, Rachael.

Just wanted to mention that my super-smart, beautiful, and in-all-other-ways-worthy-of-imitation friend Rachael won centuri0n's parable contest with her story, The Parable of the Three Farmers.

It's an excellent story!

Vote Early and Often

I ask very little of you, dear reader.

But now I am asking you to vote for my pathetic haiku.

If I win I promise to share pictures of the prizes with all of you.

Who Needs TV?

We've got an oven! With brownies in it!

(note: the potty was toted along by Andrew, who has been a most helpful "assistant coach" this week)

"Hey, this kid did it the right way"

Sporting America has become too jaded to appreciate Tim Tebow.

Terrifying Children's Songs

Last night, we were driving in the van and a rendition of "Hush, Little Baby" came up on our CD. It sparked a conversation about children's songs and the lyrics thereof. Have you ever noticed that there is a somewhat terrifying theme in some songs for kids?

Examples:

"Hush, Little Baby" = "If You Stop Crying, I Will Buy You Things, Some of Which are Dangerous for Children or Choking Hazards"

"Rock-a-bye, Baby" = "Don't Be Alarmed, But Your Crib is About to Plummet From a Treetop"

"Ring Around the Rosy" = "A Helpful Guide to Identifying Symptoms of the Black Plague"

"It's Raining, It's Pouring" = "Falling Asleep When You Have a Concussion: A Cautionary Tale" (this actually does have a sad story associated with it, read it here)

"Ladybird, Ladybird" (or "Ladybug, Ladybug") = there's really no need for an alternate title here. "Your house is on fire, Your children will burn"?! Really?!

"London Bridge" = "Poor Engineering Means You're Going to Prison"

Any others?

Big Day

I have my hands full today (I mean, more than usual), but it was sort of unavoidable.

First, it's our first day back to school since before Christmas. This makes me feel like I'm pushing water uphill. Stop playing, don't get distracted (mommy, either!), and get back to work.

Second, Cameron greeted me with some big news this morning (two weeks short of his eighth birthday):


Third, Maddie had some delicious food today (organic brown rice cereal...yum!)


...with some help from big brothers.


And here's what Jonathan looks like today.

So, yeah...there's plenty to accomplish around here today. Praise the Lord for the grace to calm down and take one hurdle at a time.

The Difference of Grace

If you don't want to read the entire book The Reason for God, pick the chapter "Religion and the Gospel." An excerpt:

There is, then, a great gulf between the understanding that God accepts us because of our efforts and the understanding that God accepts us because of what Jesus has done. Religion operates on the principle "I obey -- therefore I am accepted by God." But the operating principle of the gospel is "I am accepted by God through what Christ has done -- therefore I obey." Two people living their lives on the basis of these two different principles may sit next to each other in the church pew. They both pray, give money generously, and are loyal and faithful to their family and church, trying to live decent lives. However, they do so out of radically different motivations, in two radically different spiritual identities, and the result is two radically different kinds of lives.

In which camp are you?