Art For Us Both

Meet Ms. Heather:

She’s been our art teacher each Monday the past five weeks for a parent/child art class. 

Drawing, painting, coloring, mashing and smashing are things the little boy loves, so when I saw this class offered I quickly signed up.

Disclaimer: I AM NOT CREATIVE or an artist of any kind. I let the little boy take the lead for each week's project. Here’s what he created:

A family crest: The idea was to find pictures that reflected our interest as a family. If you look closely you'll see dinosaur teeth, a president, a hotel, a baby, some bugs and some sort of equipment (this last one was for the hubby).

Canvas art: OK, I came up with the words to the poem (you probably can’t read them, but that’s alright) after he told me he wanted it to say something about dinosaurs AND sharks. He did the painting.

Clay ornaments: He got to mash and stamp the clay while I smoothed out the edges for the glaze. It was a lot like playing with Play-Doh for him and all the other kids.

Bubble art: This was awesome! Ms. Heather put dish washing liquid in a cup and then added food coloring. We used straws to blow bubbles and then put the paper on top of the bubbles. When we finished, this ended up being a book that unfolds in the form of an accordion.

He also made a sweet card for our babysitter out of the bubble art. She was with little priss in another room each week so that the little boy and I could take the class!

We hate the class ended this week. I'm trying to talk Ms. Heather into doing a parent/child clay class in the spring. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Is It Well With My Soul?

The cool fall morning air greeted me as I walked to my car on a Wednesday morning several weeks ago. I accomplished everything on my to-do list at work. I was going home to see my children. A great song played on the radio. As I drove down the parking garage ramp I had the distinct feeling that all was right with the world and life was good.

I should have known that feeling was an omen. An omen to warn me that no, everything was not all right.

About an hour after getting home my cell phone rang. When I saw my brother’s name on the screen I knew something was wrong. It was too early for him to call to chat on a weekday.

As he told me what was happening I felt the weight of days, weeks and years seeking to crush me. This situation that we had been dealing with for so long desired nothing more than to bring me to the pits of despair. 

The weeks since have been a blur. There’s been anger, tears, pity, disappointment, sadness, embarrassment, shreds of hope and most of all, a strange sense of peace, that peace of God that passes all understanding.

It may seem to some I am writing about death. In a way it is about death, but not a physical one. It’s more about the culmination of a life lived poorly and how the horrible choices some make lead them out of themselves and into the depths of a loneliness so intense that their departure from reality brings the grief of death for those closest to them.

So in my sorrow and struggles these past few weeks, it is only through my surrender to God in the face of what is happening that I seem to be functioning. It is through the release of desiring to have any type of control in this situation, which I do not have any control of at all, that I feel his hand. It is through my desire to seek him that I hear most clearly.  

I hear the words of Brother George who often preaches on the dark-nights-of-the -soul moments as he recites James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”

I hear the words of my mother-in-law ringing in my ears telling me to pray for each day, each hour, as it comes.

I hear the words of the hymn Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee , “Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away.”

I hear the words of Psalm 121:

I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

I hear the words of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “More things are wrought by prayer
than this world dreams of.”

I hear the words of Walt Whitman from the “The Wound Dresser” that we saw exiting the DuPont Circle Metro in Washington DC a few weeks ago:
“Thus in silence in dreams' projections,
Returning, resuming, I thread my way through the hospitals;
The hurt and wounded I pacify with soothing hand,
I sit by the restless all dark night - some are so young;
Some suffer so much - I recall the experience sweet and sad...”

I hear the words of Luke 21:19, “In your patience you will possess your soul.” 

And I hear the words of Solomon as I read them aloud to my children from Proverbs 3:7-8, "Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones."

This is The Day

For when the day is long...




































For when I've yelled too much...


















For when I've found myself overbooked in 10 different ways...



































For when I feel like the day has fallen apart and taken me with it...

For when all my good intentions don't amount to much...

Thank goodness for moments like these that help me remember to celebrate!

This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.
                                                                              Psalm 118:24

What's the Rush?

“I am a believer in achieving understanding through books…”
                                          -Robert Shiller in “Finance and the Good Society”

Reading is a pleasure and a joy.

It leads to education, enlightenment and escape.

A good writer instructs and inspires.

Opening a book, turning to the first page and beginning a new story fills my longing for knowledge, a break from the realities of everyday life and the beauty of a great story.

The problem as of late is I can’t wait to finish one book in order to start the next one.

For a reason I can’t seem to figure out, it’s been my mission these past few months to get through books so fast that I’ve ended up defeating the purpose of reading for anything other than finishing a book.

I realized this while I was reading “Game of Thrones,” the first in the series of books by George R.R. Martin. The story pulled me in quickly, but I found the joy of reading wasn’t there about mid-way through the book because I was forcing myself to try to read a certain number of pages each night (like I was in school again and having to read it for class – good grief!).

Once I stopped pressuring myself to get through the book, I found myself wanting to and having more time to read it.

This first book in the series was intense. It was packed full of characters and details that slow you down. All I can say if you plan to read these books (or if you’ve watched the HBO series) is not to get too attached to anybody because they are likely to die. I was so distraught by one death that I decided to take a break before going on to the next book, “A Clash of Kings.”

Instead, I checked out a copy of “Finance and the Good Society” from our university library yesterday. Robert Shiller, the author, teaches the Financial Markets online course I’ve been taking.

No need to hurry through it. No need to rush. No pressure on myself to finish quickly.

I’m reading for the joy, pleasure, and knowledge a good book brings.

CSA Wednesday

On Wednesday we head to a local farm to pick up produce as part of a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Program. Here's what we got today:

Buttercup Squash - I love cutting these open, stuffing them with apples and cinnamon and baking them in the oven

A whole lot of sweet potatoes

Persimmon

Mixed Greens

More incredible, edible eggs

What I've Learned About Traveling With Children

Traveling has benefits and drawbacks. 

I thought I’d offer some insights on the good, the bad and the ugly of it based on what I’ve learned the past few years. Let's start with the downside before making our way to the good stuff.

1. IT CAN WEAR YOU OUT – THE UGLY
The hubby says he still hasn’t recovered from 12 days in the car heading to and from South Dakota. I often feel like I need a vacation to get over the vacation we just took. The children handle it fine, but then again they are young and resilient. It’s the hubby and I that are worn down after carrying all the bags (and children), getting up earlier than we’d like to get us somewhere on time and staying up later than we’d like packing and planning.

2. THE YOUNGER THE CHILDREN, THE MORE CHALLENGING IT CAN BE – THE BAD
I remember driving back from the beach last October by myself with a 4 year old and 3 month old thinking I’d never leave the house again. What should have been a 4-5 hour drive turned into 10 hours on the road because I couldn’t bear to hear my infant scream from more than 10-15 minutes at a time. I never traveled with the little boy alone until he was about 2, so I didn’t know what I’d gotten myself into. Little priss can ride much longer now, but I still find myself pulling over if she is crying for more than 10 minutes. Another challenge is boredom. In a car you can always pull over to stretch your legs or run around. On a plane, you pray the snack cart makes another round.

3. MOST THINGS DON’T WORK OUT THE WAY YOU PLAN - THE-NOT-SO-BAD
It’s good to have a general idea of what we want to do. It’s not good to try to schedule it. A schedule leaves us all frustrated as we hurry to finish one thing so we can rush to the next. I’m the worst about trying to get started and finished at a set time. There’s no better way to zap the fun right out of a trip than that. I’ve definitely had to learn to go with the flow more on our trips.

4. IT COSTS MONEY – THE GIVEN
It doesn’t have to be expensive to travel though. There are often places close to home we visit for next to nothing. The farther we go, the more it costs. I certainly don't want to come across as an over privileged brat bragging about the places we go because we have so much money. We don't have lots of money. We are blessed to have good jobs and healthy children, and we like to spend our money and time doing something we love. Traveling is important to me, and I make sure to budget accordingly. We also get some help from credit card points that pay for portions of trips we take.

5. WE GO PLACES THAT INTEREST US (BY US I MOSTLY MEAN THE KIDS) – THE GOOD
If we are going to carry our children on trips, then we’ve got to make the trips fun for them. The South Dakota and Washington DC trips were all about the little boy’s interests. The hubby and I had a great time too because we both love history and science. I’m already thinking about getting tickets to a Fresh Beat Band concert for little priss next time they come to a nearby city. I don’t particularly love that show, but I do love how my sweet girl gets so excited to hear the songs and dances along.

6. WE ARE MAKING WONDEFUL MEMORIES – THE BEST
Memories are made in a lot of ways. For us, travel is one of the things we all enjoy, and it creates the kind of memories I desire for us to have as a family. I am always looking for a new place or a way to head back to somewhere we loved or just a reason to get away. The hubby is not going to be the one to plan a trip, but so far, he’s been happy to go along for the ride. I love to hear the little boy talk about what he remembers from a trip. Some of my best travel memories revolve around food. As long as I’m well fed, I won’t complain (much). Get me somewhere for hours without food and it’s a different story – that goes for the little boy as well. What I especially love, though, is the feeling of being somewhere, anywhere really, with my bunch!