Artwork

You may have noticed that I’ve changed my profile picture once again. This newest picture is a portrait that Lily drew of me on a Magna-Doodle.
Notice how my hair is standing straight up and the slightly frazzled expression on my face. Except for the fact that I have no mid-section to speak of and my arms are growing out of my ears I think she captured my essence rather well.

Happy Birthday, Christen!

Today is my dear sister-in-law’s birthday. We didn’t get to be with Christen to celebrate her birthday today because of distance and my own fatigue, but we are still celebrating her birth even as we’re apart. Today I celebrate the birth of not just an “in-law,” but my friend.

When I met Joshua I had no idea that besides getting a wonderful husband I’d also be gaining two terrific sisters. That’s a bonus I didn’t foresee, but I’m so very grateful for it. I’ve become friends with both Christen and Jennifer, but for now I’ll just write about Christen (seeing as it’s her birthday and all). I have especially been appreciating having Christen as my sister-friend lately as we’ve been able to discuss and sympathize with each other through all the various ups and downs of motherhood. We can talk spit-up and poopy diapers, nursing, those wonderful cuddle times and the roller coaster emotions that go with all of that. It means so much to me to have someone my own age to talk to who listens and cares.

Christen, I had no idea when I first met you almost five years ago that we’d be friends like we are now. You are a blessing to me. I pray that God would give you His joy and hope and that He would bless you with His presence in this next year of your life.

Happy Birthday!

A Glimpse of What I See

the girl with golden curls dances
her daddy smiles
and gently strums his guitar

Ooh, the Pretties!

Tonight we ate dinner at our dining room table for the first time in over a week. Why, you ask? You see, my talented husband has replaced our old, duct-taped dining room flooring with a very pretty handmade wood floor. Joshua cut out “tiles” from thin sheets of wood and then stained them, sanded them and coated them with Polyurethane. He scraped up the old vinyl tiles and then glued (and nailed in some places) the new wood tiles in place. He then coated the whole floor with three more coats of Polyurethane (a very stinky job for which the kids and I escaped the house.) He is still working on cutting and staining the molding for the edges of the floor but at least the room was finished enough so that we could enjoy a somewhat normal dinner instead of picnicking in the living room.

The beginning stages of cutting and measuring. Notice Joshua’s cute assistant.


He had quite the weights system going on to keep pressure on the tiles while the glue dried.

Now ain’t that a pretty sight? I’m so proud of our new floor. Malachi had graciously accepted the responsibility of breaking it in by throwing one of his larger trucks smack dab in the middle of the room and then spitting on it as well. (Boys!)

Next project: the kitchen floor (cue ominous music.) I’m so glad that I married such a handy man.

Happy Birthday, Gabrielle!

Today, December 27th, is my baby sister’s birthday. Even though I can hardly remember back to a time when I was actually taller than she was, Gaby will never cease to be my “baby sister.”

I wish I could wax eloquent and say wonderful sentimental things about how great Gaby is and how much she means to me, but to do that I would need many more brain cells than are currently functioning for me at this moment. So I will content myself with saying simply that I’m glad that I get to be Gaby’s sister and I’m ever grateful that I got to grow up along side her and be a part of the same family with her. I’m glad she is who she is and I’m glad that she had a part in making me who I am.

Thank you, Gaby for being my friend. I pray that Yahweh would bless you with a waterfall of His blessings and an ever increasing love for Him.
I love you, Baby Sister.

Happy Birthday!

My Baby Got Belly

I’m at that point in this pregnancy where I’m afraid to venture out into public for fear of offending people with my largeness. I can’t imagine why I’m feeling this way since everyone has been so kind in their comments to me:

“You’re looking very pregnant!” “Maybe you’re having twins.” “When are you due? You look ready!” “Are you sure you’re not having twins?”

I fully realize that I’m roughly the size of a well-built water buffalo, but I really think I could do without the constant reminders. Thankfully, my husband is enraptured with my growing belly and can’t tell me enough how cute he thinks I am. And I don’t mind remarks made by those women who are still in their childbearing years. I know they understand what it’s like to be at this stage where as the older folks seem to have forgotten what it feels like to grow a belly deserving of its own area code.

Well, I guess I’ll just have to get used to the various comments I’ll be receiving for the next month and a half or so because after this baby is born I’ll have to get used to hearing “What a big boy/girl you have! He/she must be such a good eater!”

Sigh.

More Mouse Head, Please

Recently Barb had written about how when she was growing up her family would sometimes have Pancakes for Dinner. We had one such dinner last night. Payday was two days away and I hadn’t a clue what to fix for dinner. I remembered that we had been given a Mickey Mouse waffle iron that we hadn’t used yet and I thought the kids would enjoy having mouse head-shaped waffles. And boy, did they! Both kids got such a kick out of eating “mouse heads” for dinner and they scarfed them right down. It was rather amusing to hear them say in their cute toddler voices, “More mouse head, please?”

And so another great memory was made, not because I planned some elaborate family-bonding scheme, but simply because it was the end of the pay period and I had to scramble to get something for dinner. Isn’t that just the way life goes?

The Winners of the Name Game

For those of you who care, these are the names we have picked for our baby.

And the winners are...

If Baby Buddy is a boy then his name will be... Lucius Adoniram
Lucius means “light” and Adoniram means “my lord is exalted.”

If Baby Buddy is a girl then her name will be... Evangeline Felicity
Evangeline means “good news” and Felicity means “happiness.”

I’m getting very eager to meet our little one and find out which of these names he/she will bear. Only 53 days (or so) to go!

This One’s For You, Anonymous

Here’s how one of the portraits looks in a sepia tone. Thanks for the tip!

Pregnancy Portraits

Here are some pictures of Mommy and Baby Buddy. I call this series "The Big and the Beautiful."

A Sabbath Thought

Today Joshua and I took the kids on a walk as we usually do on Sabbath afternoons and then we let them run around in the school parking lot behind our house. They were happily running and yelling when Lily came up to us and asked if we could pray for Great-Grandma. We were a little confused, but we certainly didn’t want to say “No” to such a request. So there we were, standing in a parking lot, holding hands and praying. Lily had no idea that her suggestion was a little out of the ordinary and socially strange and that we adults felt just a tiny bit odd doing it. She just knew that it’s good to pray all the time- no matter where you are.

Don’t you wish we could all be more childlike and not worry about what people think of us? How different the world would be if Christians would stop letting the fear of man control our actions!

Sometimes I need a three-year-old to remind me of that.

Oh, God, may we never be ashamed of Your Gospel. May we always be willing fools for You.
Amen.

December 8th is National Brownie Day!

In honor of this special day I thought I’d share two of my favorite brownie recipes for your taste enjoyment (thanks to Barb for the Candy Bar Brownie recipe.)

Happy Brownie Day!


Deep Dish Brownies (Originally from Allrecipes.com)

3/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8 inch square pan.
In a large bowl, blend melted butter, sugar and vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Gradually blend into the egg mixture. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Let brownies cool, then cut into squares.


Candy Bar Brownies

4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup cocoa
4 (2.07 oz size) Snickers Bars, coarsely chopped
3 (1.55 oz size) Hershey Bars, finely chopped

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; stir well.
Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; stir in sugar mixture. Fold in chopped Snickers bars.
Spoon in to a greased and floured 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan; sprinkle with chopped milk chocolate bars. Bake at 350-degrees for 30-35 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack; cut in to squares.
Yield: 2-1/2 dozen

The Mind of a Three-Year-Old

Today Lily and I were looking at my expanding midriff and talking about how big Baby Buddy is getting. I asked Lily if she thought the baby would get even bigger. She looked upset and said adamantly, “The baby won’t get bigger- your belly will break!”



As the kids and I have been reading through Matthew during our morning Bible reading time I’ve been talking to them about Jesus' name Emmanuel and how it means “God with us.” I said that since Jesus came to be with us we don’t need to be afraid of sin or death anymore. Lily, always eager to add her two cents said, “And we don’t have to be afraid of cows anymore, too.”

Public Opinion Poll

Here’s a question for you all: How many kids does it take to make a family “large?”

I don't consider a family big until there are at least five or six kids. Growing up in a family of five kids I never felt like there were that many of us, but I’m guessing that from a mother’s viewpoint five could seem like a lot to keep track of. (Honestly though, two seem like a lot at times!)

So what do you think?

Cheers!

It started out as a spontaneous thing: we were having our bi-monthly group dinner and at this particular dinner were celebrating Barb’s birthday. The dinner had a fiesta theme so we all had margaritas. After all the food was served I suddenly had the urge to toast my friend on this her birthday celebration. I stood and said my toast and we all raised our glasses in a salute to Barb. Since then it has become a tradition in our group to give a toast to whoever’s birthday we are celebrating.

Whenever I know there is a birthday coming up I always make sure that someone will be bringing some sort of special drink. We usually have something alcoholic (like wine) for those who can have fun and something non-alcoholic for the pregnant and under-aged in the group. I’ll then assign someone ahead of time to give the toast so that they have some time to come up with something appropriate to say. We‘ve had a wide range of toast styles, from Barb’s touching toast to Patty: “It’s been a joy to get to know you and watch you grow as a Christian...” to Dad’s humorous toast for Joshua: “May you never become better at golf than I am...” This tradition that started out as a spontaneous thing has turned into a really special time for our little group. It’s one more part of the glue that binds us together.

It’s a strange company of people that meet here to share a meal. We are made up of six separate households of all different ages and stages of life. To an outsider I imagine we look a little odd all bunched together as we are, but that’s what’s so beautiful about our group. The only thing that we all have in common is the same Grace saved us all and that’s what makes us a family. Every other Thursday night we get a glimpse into what eternity will be like- all sorts of people of different ages and races all coming together for the great Wedding Feast.

Maybe sometimes we seem a little weird together. Maybe some people would think it odd that a fifty-something year old pastor could joke with a twenty something young man about the different explosions that can be created using only household objects. Our dinners may sometimes look like a comedy scene straight from a sitcom, but we’re bound together in a wonderful way that I don’t really understand and really don‘t need to.

So whether we’re discussing explosions or honoring someone with a birthday toast, we are encouraging each other with the hope of enjoying this beautiful togetherness for all eternity when we will be toasting our Jesus with the finest wine perfection has to offer.

I’ll drink to that.

Enveloping

The Sky Cried Today

The sky cried today-
I wept at what it had to say.
It grieved for the pain it sees us bear,
For the children groaning with despair,
For the bleeding hearts that daily break
And our moaning from the throbbing ache.

The sun couldn’t bear to shine today
It hid its face and looked away
I tried to comfort the weeping skies,
But couldn’t- for the tears were in my own eyes.