This Is It. And It Ain't Much.

Looking for order and logic?  Then leave now and forever hold your peace.

I have not had a soda for a week.  Not one.  Not a sip.  This is a big deal; I had been drinking 2-4 cans a day.  I don't know exactly when this started but it had been a long time, and I drank the last one in our fridge last week and determined not to buy more.  Mike brought some D.P. in (be still my heart), but I left them out of the refrigerator.  I won't touch a warm soft drink.  Except to put it in the back of the fridge.  He put one in the fridge (what's he trying to do to me?) and it sits there still.  I don't have a lot of self-control, so I'm feeling pretty good about this.  That was a lot of extra calories in a given day!

I discovered the blog of a young couple, Ben and Katie, (in their twenties) who went to Port-au-Prince, Haiti to be missionaries December 29, 2009.  That's right-about two weeks before the earthquake.  They had no idea just how much their lives were about to change.  I have been reading their updates since the middle of the month; they are nothing less than inspiring.  They went to be teachers at a school there, and their school is the only one that remained standing in Port-au-Prince.  They both write on the blog, and their stories are touching, humorous, amazing, sad.  It's reality and surreality all rolled into one existence.  I can't imagine their life right now.  They, along with the entire nation, need prayer.  It is worth your time to visit their blog.

While I have cut out the soda (for now!), I have not cut out the cake.  Well, I actually have cut out the cake, a very large piece of it, in fact, and I eat such a piece each night after my children are sleeping.  Once Christian's birthday cake is gone I will slow down with the chocolate, for my pants are no longer fitting.  One of the kids at Christian's party asked for more cake and I told him that we were sticking with one piece for everyone.  He pointed out that there was plenty, as we hadn't even touched the Brontosaurus' body.  I said to him,"I need something to eat later."  He looked at me with eyes that were a little wider than usual.  I was kidding!  I didn't eat it all at once.  I even gave some to Mike.

I have a pile of laundry to fold that is bigger than my piece of cake.  It is bigger than me, to tell you the truth.  Why do I have this putting-away-clean-laundry problem?! 

I am running our dishwasher tonight even though it doesn't seem to be working 100% properly.  I am hoping that this time the dishes will come out looking clean, without a weird residue on them.  Do you know what it means when a person does the same thing over and over, but expects a different outcome each time?  Once someone asked me that question because I continued to try to put an entire handful of popcorn in my mouth again and again, but dropped several pieces every time.  I kept thinking I would get the next handful in my mouth, but no, I kept dropping the popcorn.  When asked the above question, I suggested that it meant one was optimistic...but no, the answer was quite different.  It actually means a person is insane.  Encouraging!

Do you ever find weird things around your house?  Like binoculars behind your pots and pans?  What?  Are they spying on me?

I was thinking of starting a separate section on the blog just for things like this...just for weirdness.  It would get filled up pretty quickly.

I...

love...

them...

24 gives me nightmares.  But it's too late now.  I have to see it through to the resolution.  Blast that show!

Bagpipers played in the traditional services this morning.  I actually missed the services, but heard the pipers afterward as they left the sanctuary.  They stood in front of the church playing, on this cold, gray January morning, and as I moved through the small crowd that remained to hear them it was all I could do not to let the tears stream down my cheeks.  Why were there tears?  Who knows.  It's a good thing I don't live in Scotland; I would be a blubbering mess all of the time.  Or at least whenever someone played the bagpipes. 

I'm done.  Good night.

Christian's Teacher Must Have Magical Powers

Our house was full of noise this afternoon.  And a lot of loud children.  And kids who yelled and hollered.  And they were noisy, too.

They had fun.  It was a party after all.

I basically took care of the cake, and Mike did everything else, including clean the toilet.  He is a better man than you all can know.  I am not saying this to be charmingly self-deprecating...I was really not that, um, enthusiastic about a houseful of children right after school on a Friday afternoon.  Mike did everything that needed to be done so that Christian could have a good time at his party.

I want to share my cake experience quickly.  At first things were going well.  I had the bottom cake made, which was just a 9 x 13 that I transformed into a body of water with some colored frosting.  I had the body of the dinosaur placed on the 9 x 13 and frosted.  I just needed to add the neck and head of my brontosaurus and place it so that it was eating leaves off of my foliagey cupcakes.

This did not look good.  I was worried that I was going to end up with what looked like the tail end of the dinosaur and a dino poop.  A very big dino poop.

I tried and tried to make the first neck/head work, but I ended up dropping (no pun intended) it down the disposal.  I had a tiny bit of Rice Krispie treats left and made a much shorter neck and head.  Then I put a skewer through the long part and was able to stick in down into my cake.  It worked!  I was so relieved.  It didn't end up like the one in my imagination, but it was all right.

Now, since this blog isn't ALL about me (it isn't, is it?) I'll get back to Christian's party.

The first thing we did was serve hot chocolate.  Smart, right?  No wonder they were such maniacs.  Actually, half of them didn't even drink it.  But it did get them to sit at the table for a few minutes before the mayhem officially began.

Mike showed them a book that he found, which has life-size parts of dinosaurs in it.  (Pictures, I mean.  Not actual dino parts.  Just to clarify.)  It was pretty neat.

There are things like life-size teeth in the book (and claws, and heads of smaller dinos, and poo-poo, too)...

Mike had set up a game of bowling (soda cans with construction paper, and a home-made boulder/bowling ball, which they enjoyed. 

We also had a pinata (I'm too lazy to figure out the little symbol over the "n" there...I know it's supposed to be there, though.  Add it in your head, please.)...

It was so funny to watch them try to bust that thing.  They hit it pretty hard, but it was a sturdy little dino.

This guy took his arms way back and then swang with all his might.  He hit the wall, and almost hit Mike. 

Michaela gave it a solid whack, but still no candy.

The kids wanted Mike to have a turn, and they all crowded in the living room so they could watch him swing.  Finally there was success!

And of course, there was cake. 

The kids seemed to have fun and Christian loved having people here.  He also opened his presents just before we ate dinner and was so happy with everything; he has some very generous friends. 

Three guesses what Christian really likes to do these days.

And now I have to decide if I'm going to wash some laundry and then some dishes by hand (our dishwasher, the new one, is being weird in the same way as that other one...sounds fishy to me).  The laundry I don't have to do by hand.  That I have a machine for. 

Sometime tonight I need to figure out a good way to let my husband know how much I appreciate him as well.  He did an amazing job with pre-party stuff and crowd control (also known as yelling-louder-than-the-crowd-in-order-to-get-their-attention-and-move-them-to-the-next-thing), and he accomplished this on a small amount of sleep last night.  If I had an award, I would give him one. 

 Something like this...

Oh, he deserves so much more.

January 28, 2010

Seven years ago we welcomed a little man into our lives and into our hearts.  From the moment I laid my eyes on him I was full of all kinds of love. 

It didn't hurt that he was a particularly good looking little guy.

Michaela was fascinated by him..."It's a baby!" she said.

She was a sweet helper, but who could resist such a face?

I have a feeling that won't be the last time I hear that sentiment.

Do you know what I like about this picture?  You can see his dinner plate; he does not eat vegetables anymore.  There lies his broccoli and carrots as evidence of this fact, in his seventh year, entering his eighth.  (Shut up.  Seriously.  You did not just say that he is going to be eight, did you?)  (Why, yes I did.)  (Thank you for the heart attack.  I'll be fine, don't worry about me.)  Also, note the black object that is sticking up next to him.  It is my potato masher.  He was using it as a gun.  He is very much a boy.  Just an expert documenter here, that's all.

The truth is I can't believe he is seven.  Seven seems much different than six, more than just a year.  Seven seems very big.  But I cannot escape the fact that he will continue to get older.  It is bittersweet. 

He still likes to snuggle, though.

I am in the process of getting ready, along with Mike, for his birthday party tomorrow.  We are picking up his class and bringing them back to our house for a dinosaur party.  I have a fantastic cake planned...and icing that needs to be colored...and fondant that needs to be rolled and cut.  Holy moly.  I've got a lot to do.  That's not even mentioning the mess to clean up. 

It will be fun.  Right?  Mike said so.

The Storm

The storm it rolls in fast before me;
Darkness comes without a warning.
Sometimes darkness brings relief,
But other times the dark brings mourning.
The clouds they cover all that shines,
The rain pours like these tears of mine-
Neverending like my grief;
I wonder at His strange design.
Mysterious love beyond my sight
Promises after darkness light,
But now it is so hard to look for
Morning which will follow night.
Sorrow fills me and I wait.
I trust that He will not forsake
His daughter as those tears do pour
While storm around and in does quake.
I'll watch for clouds to part again,
For surely there will be an end
To darkness, sorrow, tears, and death,
Though we may cry out,"Savior, when?"
One day we'll hear the thunder roll
And the trumpets' noise will call
The One who gives and takes our breath,
In victory o'er His enemies all!
In this I put my hope in full
When downwards I can feel the pull
Of all the loss that weighs me down
Until the senses become dull.
I think of my own Father's Son-
The beautiful and glorious One
Who for me once wore rugged crown,
But now is brighter than the sun.

The clouds begin to fade above
As I remember He is love,
And though I may not understand,
I want to, yes, I'll trust His plan.



(My mom's friend's husband is gone from her now.  They'll see one another again one day.)

Please Read This and Pray for Someone Special To Me

There is a woman I know.  She is one of my mom's best friends.  They've known each other since I was born.  To say that she has had some hard things happen in her life is such an understatement.  And right now, she's facing one more. 

Her husband of a few years had a heart attack.  I'm not going to go into all the details, but it doesn't look good.  He's on a ventilator with no brain activity. 

HOWEVER, the doctor said the Lord heals.  THE DOCTOR said that.  There is a chance.  Our God is a God who has the power to heal.  Sometimes He chooses to heal our bodies on this side of heaven.  I pray that this is one of those times.  He needs a miracle that seems so impossible.

If you read this would you pray?  Would you pray that God would show His power in this situation?  We, in our humanness, see things in a certain way, and our hearts want things to be the way they were.  For things to be the way they were, or at least not to be even worse than having to say good bye, then the Lord would have to move in a way that would be unexplainable outside of HE DID THAT!  You know? 

Please pray for this family.  And for this man.  I am refraining from using their names for their privacy, but God knows each one.  I am not going to carry on, either.  He can do anything. 

Oh, that we may trust His hand, and lean heavily on Him no matter what.

I'm also going to leave this post here for a while, so that if someone happens upon it, there might be one more person to lift up my mom's friend and her family. 

You know, I think she might consider me a friend as well...My dear friend, if you read this, please know that we are praying.  I'll be on my knees.