A Modern Update on a Classic

What Nerds Do On Vacation

On the campus of Wheaton College, at the corner of Washington and Lincoln Streets, sits a little cottage that looks like something out of a storybook. It's called the Marion Wade center, and it is a museum and reading room dedicated to The Inklings.

Inside, you will find a wardrobe. THE wardrobe that inspired CS Lewis' idea of sending Lucy through the wardrobe into Narnia.

There are fur coats inside, but the back is solid.

See that sign behind me? It says that the museum isn't responsible for people who disappear into the wardrobe.





I may or may not have been crying a little here.

Tolkien's desk where he wrote and illustrated The Hobbit, as well as parts of The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. Under the glass is a handwritten note, signed with the familiar beautiful signature of the author.

Lewis' desk from Magdelen College

Reepicheep

Dorothy Sayers' work on Dante's Inferno

After we toured the little museum (really just one large room), we peeked into the reading room and decided to nose around a bit. I chose a collection of letters which included Lewis' entire correspondence with Sheldon VanAuken, the author of A Severe Mercy. David read a few essays. The snow fell gently outside as we sat and drank in the quiet.

It was a perfect morning.

My Dear Lucy,

I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not
realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already
too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again....

--C.S. Lewis, from the dedication to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Merry Christmas!

Goodwill Henceforth From God to Man

"But what does it all mean?" asked Susan when they were somewhat calmer.

"It means," said Aslan, "that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward."

-CS Lewis in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Two weekends ago...

We went to Atlanta to see David's youngest brother get married. It was a jam-packed weekend filled with aunts and uncles and cousins and fun. But first, we went to the Georgia Aquarium.

The process it took to get there on an educator's discount was time-consuming and painful. My recommendation to homeschoolers is to call a month in advance and asked to be transferred directly to the Education Department. There will be MANY other people who tell you they know what they're talking about, but they don't. They might be able to rent you the ballroom or organize a conference or something. But education is not their strong point.

/soapbox

Perhaps we will revisit that soapbox in a later post. But for now, HAPPY PICTURES!

Giant grouper.


Touching a stingray.

And the highlight of the trip for the boys: WHALE SHARKS.

These lovely creatures grow to be as big as a schoolbus, and the Georgia Aquarium houses four of them. Their tank is as big as a football field!

Then there was a wedding. And the camera died. And Ben almost threw up at the reception. We're not really sure why. But Grandma Keller came to the rescue with some Dramamine in her purse and soon he was out on the dancefloor with the rest of his cousins.

We drove home that night, got up the next morning, went to church, and then Ben and I went out on the town for our date to see "The Nutcracker."

Ben's favorite part was the dance of the SugarPlum Fairy as well as seeing the orchestra. We were in the third row!

What I've Been Doing

Well, bloggy December is a bit of a failure, isn't it?

Two out-of-town weddings, husband's birthday, a parental visit, and other general Christmas merriment (concerts, ballets) will do that to a person. Or rather, a blog.

Good news: LOTS OF PICTURES TO SHARE! Including a very nerdy vacation moment that took place in Wheaton, IL last Friday.

Oh, I was so, so happy. It cannot be described. But I will try to describe it anyway.

Once Upon a Time...

there was a girl named Erin.

She was a bright light in her circle of friends, illuminating faces with fun and laughter wherever she went. God blessed her with a special gift for making people smile. She loved children and decided to become a teacher so she could spend her days loving them.

She came to Charlotte, bringing her smiling light and many friends with her. She made new friends while keeping the old. She gave parties, played games, and followed hard after God.

One new friend she made was named Kelly. Kelly and Erin discovered that as well as getting along swimmingly, they had many strange, random things in common, most notably an optimism that borders on total craziness sometimes. This made for many moments of hilarity. Erin showed up on Kelly's blog a few times, like here. Wave hello, Erin. (wave hello, readers)

Another new friend Erin made in Charlotte was named Ben. Ben and Erin liked hanging around together. They, together with a lot of their friends, went camping, visited the mountains, and had lots of fun. They had long, deep conversations. They shared a passion for the Lord and His glory and for missions. They made each other laugh like nobody else could.

They became friends.

They were friends for a long time.

And then they weren't.

And then they fell in love...




And now they'll be best friends for the rest of their lives.

Congratulations, Erin and Ben! We love you!

Brothers

Praise the Lord, We're Better

We're on day 4 of a bland diet for Cam, Jonathan, and Maddie. But...I think...this time it will stick.

Thanks for praying for us. I have felt very encouraged by your comments and inquiries :-)

And I learned something! Want to hear it?

In a pinch, the lampshade to this lamp from IKEA...

makes a handy puke bucket for a child in an upper bunk.

But you might want to throw it out when the stomach flu is over. Fortunately ours was already broken and needed to be pitched.

They Ought to Have a Class in This Stuff

This morning Ben came downstairs in obvious pain, gripping the back of his neck and wailing.

"Mom! MOM! When I was putting my shirt on something went "pop" in my neck and it hurts really badly!!!"

Can he move his limbs? Yes.

Are his eyes dilating? Yes. (not sure why I thought that, but it seemed like a good thing to check)

But if he has to move to look to his left, his whole body tenses up and he starts crying all over again.

What does the panicky mother think? Oh NO! Meningitis! Aneurysm! Possibly Fatal Neck Injury!

Do I call the ambulance? What?! What?! Think. Think.

Call doctor and secure mid-morning appointment. Think more.

Google a little but not too much since we all know THAT isn't helpful.

Start asking more questions about what exactly happened.

Then it comes out. This wasn't an injury that happened when he was putting his shirt on, but instead something that happened as a result of him putting his shirt on really hard.

Like, it got stuck on the top of his head so he gave it a good yank and probably strained a neck muscle in the process.

OK. Guess we don't need that appointment after all.

And Now It's Time For A Word From Our Sponsors

(...or, rather, the musicians we sponsor. Please consider buying these albums at their webstores or at the Rabbit Room store since the Andys will get more of your money than if you buy them elsewhere...unless you plan to buy at the upcoming Christmas shows. Thank you.)

When I asked Shawnda after the concert what she thought of the Andys, she said, "I just didn't expect them to be so entertaining!". She didn't mean their music; she meant that these guys are really funny together onstage.

And, as we see here...on youtube.

Please Pray

Hi friends,
I would ask you to pray for Cameron today and in the coming days, as he is still not recovered from the stomach flu that he and his brothers contracted two weeks ago. He has seen our pediatrician, who felt that he was just taking a long time bouncing back.

This is not unexpected, since Cam is our least "hearty" child. He always hangs onto sickness the longest of anyone in the family. But he is battling discouragement now, and to be honest so am I. I took all the kids to Wal-Mart yesterday to buy him some Pepto for kids, and he threw up in a trash can just outside the door to the store. (it has crossed my mind that I might end up on that "people of walmart" blog now...)

To be clear, he is not vomiting consistently every day, so there is very little risk of dehydration. It's more subtle than that...he will throw up every two days or so. It usually happens as soon as we try to give him something more to eat than saltines and toast.

At the advice of the doctor, we are doing liquids only after 4 p.m. You can imagine the drama that unfolds after that time...family eats, Cameron gets really sad, and on and on it goes.

We are thankful...

• that this is the only illness we are dealing with, as opposed to something far more serious
• that he is not contagious and the other children are well
• that David and I never contracted this virus
• for washing machines and bleach

My apologies for not appearing here of late! Maybe I will post some Thanksgiving pictures later today.