Slugs & Bugs & Lullabies

Lily received from some some of her Illinois relatives (Thanks ya'll!) a CD of children's music by Andrew Peterson and Randall Goodgame entitled "Slugs & Bugs & Lullabies." It seems that these men have slightly Ben-Ezra-like senses of humor. Here's one of my favorite songs:

"Burp, burp, Chicken Wiggle, don't spit up. Don't spit up.
Come on, burp, burp, Chicken Wiggle don't spit up.

You've got bubbles down in your tummy,
And they'll be trouble if they don't rise
Well I know that milk is yummy,
But the doctor says no matter how that baby cries you've got to...

Burp, burp, Chicken Wiggle, don't spit up. Don't spit up...

You've got your bed, you've got your jammies,
You've been fed and pacified.
Got new Huggies down on your fanny
But there's only one more reason that a baby cries...

You've got to burp, burp, Chicken Wiggle, don't spit up. Don't spit up..."


More from this CD later! ;o)

Lily's Princess Party

We had Lily's birthday party on Saturday. It was a Princess party (of course) and we all had lots of fun. All the girls were princesses and got pretty wands and Malachi was a warrior prince so he got a sword.
Lily's princess cake.

Lily modeling some of her gifts from us- a new apron and a cute hat.

She got pretty Princess shoes from Gramma and Grampa Gardner (with lights!) and also a princess blanket and bed sheets.

And Grandpa B. gave her this spiffy bike.

A Sabbath Quote

"When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake."

Excerpt from "How Firm a Foundation"

Daddy and Evangeline

Our Trip to the Zoo

Yesterday was Lily's birthday so Joshua took the day off work and we went to the zoo. We had a great time and I got some spiffy pictures. Here's just a sample:


This is a particularly cute species of Four-Year-Old. Females of this species are often attracted to the color pink.




Poor guy, he's stuck with two tired and cranky women.

Yes, there is glass separating Malachi from that Cheetah. He wasn't scared a bit. Malachi was pretty brave, too.

A Sabbath Quote

"O quickly come, great King of all;
Reign all around us, and within;
Let sin no more our souls enthrall,
let pain and sorrow die with sin.
O quickly come, for Thou alone
Canst make Thy scattered people one.

O quickly come, true Life of all;
For death is mighty all around;
On every home his shadows fall,
On every heart his mark is found.
O quickly come, for grief and pain
Can never cloud Thy glorious reign."


----Hymn by Lawrence Tuttiett

An Important Discovery

I have discovered an important truth: There is a limited amount of Cleanness in the world and each household is allotted a certain amount (some are given more than others.) I’ve found that I have just enough Cleanness for one room in my house to be Clean at a time- two if I spread it out pretty thinly. It doesn’t matter how hard I try to get my entire house clean, I will never succeed because I simply haven’t been allotted enough Cleanness.

Discovering this truth has made my life a lot easier. I now know that I’m not a failure at housekeeping- I’m just a victim of poor Cleanness distribution. I can relax now because really, who am I to try to defy the laws of Clean?

Someday It Will All Be Over

After the last tear falls
After the last secret's told
After the last bullet tears through flesh and bone
After the last child starves
And the last girl walks the boulevard
After the last year that's just too hard

There is love
Love, love, love

And in the end, the end is
Oceans and oceans
Of love and love again
We'll see how the tears that have fallen
Were caught in the palms
Of the Giver of love and the Lover of all
And we'll look back on these tears as old tales

Excerpt from "After the Last Tear Falls" by Andrew Peterson


Someday there really will be a final gunshot and then only peace will reign. When Jesus comes back.

Snapshots

Some cute moments in our family:

Lily showing her daddy the proper way to set the table.

Walking into Wal-Mart behind a balding man Lily comments loudly, "He doesn't have hair on top of his head!"

Evangeline smiling her toothless smile at her brother and him smiling back.

Eating something spicy, Lily opens her eyes as wide as she can, opens her mouth and sticks her tongue waaay out. "Aaaahhh!"

Lily and Malachi dubbing their picture books "Psalters" and singing Psalm 100 while their daddy plays guitar.

Lily nursing her baby doll and burping it. Malachi burping Chewy. ( He didn't even try to nurse him.)

Happy Birthday, Crystal!

Due to a recurring case of RLS (Real Life Syndrome) this birthday post is a few days late. My apologies to the birthday girl.

Saturday was my sister-in-law Crystal's birthday. I'd really like to write something to let her know how much I appreciate her, but my brain is a little muddled (as usual) so bear with me.

I think one of the main things I appreciate about Crystal is the work she does in her family. My brother is a happy man being married to her and he is flourishing because of her being a good helper to him. I love seeing my niece and nephews growing into beautiful (albeit slightly strange) little disciples of Christ. The S. Ben-Ezra family is creative and loving and a big reason for that is Crystal.

You're doing a good job, Crystal. I pray that you would see the fruit of your labors more and more with each passing year.

Happy Birthday!

Rules For Housekeeping with Little Kids

Here are just a few ways that having little kids can actually help give you that sparkling clean home you've always dreamed of. Just follow these simple steps and get ready to enjoy your clean home!

For a spotless dining room floor:

Step 1- Serve lunch to Toddler complete with cup of milk
Step 2- Watch as Toddler spills entire contents of cup on floor
Step 3- Wipe up milk that has somehow covered three quarters of the floor
Repeat daily.


For a delightfully fresh scented carpet:

Step 1- Leave Toddler unsupervised long enough for him to get into your tea supplies and scatter dried spearmint leaves all over living room carpet.
Step 2- Vacuum up spearmint leaves.
Now every time you vacuum the room will be filled with the scent of spearmint!
Repeat process after changing vacuum bag.

The Many Faces of Evangeline

A Dream Come True

This may come as a shock to some of you, but a little-known dream of ours has finally come true. We have long desired to quit suburbia and start a farm and now that dream has become a reality. We had heard of some land just outside of Corry for sale from a friend of a friend. The owner of this land is a Christian trying to raise some money to enable him and his family to become a missionaries and is therefore selling much of the land surrounding their current home (which is also for sale.) Since he heard we are Christians, too, he’s selling us this land for a very reasonable price and giving us plenty of time to sell our house.

Even though this is something we’ve been wanting for a while there is still some uncertainty ahead. Joshua will be quitting his job and will work making deliveries for a rental store in Warren while we’re setting up our farm. Money will be tight at first I’m sure, but I feel that it will be worth a little struggle to have our dream farm. As strange as it may sound, I’m actually looking forward to learning how to milk a cow and gather eggs from our own chickens.

Rejoice with us as we start this new adventure!

Fun Learning

This was part of school time today. Can anyone guess what animal we were learning about?

You Say It's Your Birthday- Well It's My Birthday, Too, Yeah

Well, here we are, less than an hour away from March 22, 2007- my 23rd birthday. It's strange to look over my life at the juncture. I am (almost) 23 years old, I'm married (to a wonderful man, by the way) I have three kids, a mortgage and a minivan. Sometimes I feel old beyond my years and sometimes I feel like I'm far too young to be a wife and mommy. It's amazing that the life I lead is exactly the life I wanted. That just goes to show that we don't always know what we're really asking for!

So, Happy Birthday to me! May my life be full of everyday adventures and may I never grow to old to enjoy them.

A Good Music Video- Really!

I've found that most music videos made today are pointless and devoid of any art, but I actually like this music video by Casting Crowns. I've been really impressed with their music since they seem to be writing their lyrics honestly and without the fear of offending a few church folks. Plus, I like that they look like normal people and not flashy super models.

A Story for Malachi

I told this story to Malachi before his nap today. It's been altered only slightly.

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there lived a prince named Malachi. Prince Malachi was a handsome prince who tried to obey his daddy and mommy, the King and Queen, and do what they told him to do.

One day Prince Malachi was walking in the woods when he looked up and saw the most beautiful bird he had ever seen flying high in the sky. The bird was redder than the reddest apple and so shiny that when the sunlight hit it, it looked like its wings were made of thousands of sparkling rubies.

Prince Malachi thought the red bird was so lovely that he wanted to be friends with it. So he watched to see which tree the bird landed in, walked to that tree and looked up into the branches. He couldn’t see the red bird so he called up and asked the bird if they could be friends.

“Yes,” said the bird, “but you must climb up here to my home if you want to be my friend.”

Prince Malachi really wanted to be the red bird’s friend so he got ready to climb the tree. But the tree was too tall! He couldn’t even reach the bottom branch. Prince Malachi jumped and jumped as high as he could, but the branch was still too high. Prince Malachi grabbed hold of the trunk of the tree and hoisted himself up and managed to get his fingers around the branch, but then he slipped and fell down to the ground.

As Prince Malachi lay on the ground he knew that he could never be the red bird’s friend because he couldn’t climb the tree to get to the bird’s home. And he was sad because he so wanted the bird to be his friend. But then he heard a sound like fluttering wings. He looked up and saw the big, shining, red bird sitting on the forest floor next to him.

“I want to be your friend, too, Malachi,” the bird said. And then the red bird gently lifted Prince Malachi in his beak and flew up, up to the top branch of the tree which was his home.

Prince Malachi was so happy! Now he and the bird could be friends! And Prince Malachi knew that if it had been up to him and his own strength then he could never have been friends with the beautiful, red bird. Prince Malachi loved the red bird and the red bird loved Prince Malachi. And they were friends for ever and ever.

The End

A Sabbath Quote

"I’ve found a Friend, O such a friend! All pow’r to Him is given,
To guard me on my onward course, and bring me safe to heaven.
The eternal glories gleam afar, to nerve my faint endeavor;
So now to watch, to work, to war, and then to rest forever."

----Hymn by James G. Small

Happy Birthday, Jonathan!

Have I told you lately how glad I am that you’re my brother? (I haven’t? Well, there’s a good reason for that.)

Seriously, I’m very grateful that you are my big brother. My only problem with you is that you live so far away. I wish we lived closer so I could give you a big hug, sing “Happy Birthday” to you and make little party hats for all your cats (wouldn’t that be so cute?)

Jonathan, even though sometimes it feels funny to say it, I love you very much. I pray that God would bless you greatly in this new year of your life and shower you with His Love and Glory as you live for Him.

Happy Birthday!

My Thoughtful Son

Today Malachi was kind enough to offer to give me a shave. I guess he thought I was getting a little scruffy around the chin area. He used a plastic toy which gave a surprisingly close shave. That was really thoughtful of him because what with having a new baby in the house and all of my other responsibilities piling up sometimes I do forget to shave the ol’ whiskers. I don’t know if any of you other young moms have the same problem, but if you do sometimes forget to shave I certainly hope you have a thoughtful child to offer to do it for you.