Spring It On!

I don’t even want to look to see how long it’s been since I’ve posted on this blog. I know it’s been too long, that’s all. And when it’s been too long, all I know to do is post recent pictures of the kids, hoping that will make anyone who reads this blog happy to see their grandchildren. Plus there’s some catching up on life to do.

Shear Fun
We had been letting the boys grow their hair long this winter. It hadn’t been on purpose; we just didn’t get around to cutting it. But then they began to enjoy the feel of the wind blowing their hair. I even overheard them one day on the swings commenting about how their hair moves when they swing really high, and they liked it. I thought it was cute. I don’t expect boys to think much about their hair.

In between those days when their hair looked hideous and wild, they had a few days when it looked fine. I’m a sucker when it comes to curly hair (I married a curly-head), and I was enjoying the “character” developing in their long locks as well.

But alas, sensibility and spring got the better of us. We decided that the first day of spring would be the cut off date, literally. So last night was the end of winter, and time to shear the long locks, at least the back and around the ears. We’re keeping the tops long for a little while, and calling this our “spring look.” Once the weather gets a lot warmer, we’ll go super short in anticipation of summer, but we get to enjoy the best of both for a little while longer.

Rosalind was enjoying the excitement of haircut season, and wanted to have a turn under the clippers as well. Maybe someday she’ll get a cute haircut that will accentuate her wonderful curls. (I’ll probably have to pay a professional for that.) But for now, I will only trim the bangs when they need it. Even though her hair falls just past her shoulders, when it’s wet and pulled straight, it’s nearly to the middle of her back. (Sigh.) Did I mention that I love curls? I’m even toying with the idea of getting my hair permed—something I haven’t done in years. I have more gray hairs than ever before, and they want to curl naturally anyway, so it might improve my look. At this point, it’s just an idea. I always seem to regret getting perms after I’ve had them, mainly because of the damage it does to perfectly good, healthy hair. I try to avoid being a slave to fashion (unfortunately it probably shows!).

Pet Smart
In other news, our number of mouths to feed has increased by two. Before you fall out of your chair—no, we are not expecting twins (that I know of)! Julien used some of his birthday money to purchase a fish tank and two goldfish, along with accessories. So we have finally entered the world of family pets. (The crowd cheers.)

Julien picked them out and named them. Peppermint is dark orange and white, and Tangerine is—well, citrus-colored. The tank has a filter, although it doesn’t seem to do a bang-up job. It takes less than a week for the water to get murky and gross-looking. We’re still learning the ropes about proper fish care and tank maintenance and ph-balancing and such. The instructions say to change 10-25% of the water weekly, and clean the whole tank once a month, but it seems like it needs it much more frequently. I guess I don’t enjoy looking at cloudy dirty water, especially since the tank graces the side table in our dining room. Looking at gross water can be un-appetizing. So if any readers out there know the deep dark secrets of successful fish-keeping strategy, please share with me your wisdom!

And So On
Finally, just for the sake of equal opportunity camera time, here are some shots of Rosalind enjoying my favorite little blanket from Kenya. It’s a multi-purpose cloth that can be used as a scarf, a skirt, a nursing blanket, or a baby-carrying wrap. I regret not buying a hundred of these when I went to Kenya years ago; I wish I had at least that many.

And, as in life, not everything is exactly equal. I don't have any recent photos of Brendan. But stay tuned. I may post cute baby video clips soon.

The Other Side of the Wall

Well, we're finally getting over this head cold. Thankfully it was short-lived, and my husband (who is only a few days ahead of me in recovering from it also) has been instrumental in keeping things from coming to a grinding halt. And things have been happening left and right. Today, for instance, I locked myself out of the house. Thankfully we have a friend who is a bus driver at the school where Enoch teaches, and he was able to bring me a key during his mid-morning break. While waiting, I had a nice visit with one of our neighbors who is around 87 years old, and she gave us tea and juice and the use of her potty.

So now it's 11am, and I'm just starting to make my to do list. (Well, as soon as I finish blogging!) Looks like it will be short: laundry, lunch, and dinner, with "pick up kids" in there somewhere, and general "keep it clean" activity. Not very exciting, but I think I've had enough excitement for the day. Maybe we'll take a jaunt to Wal-Mart and make a spare key to keep at the neighbor's house (although I enjoyed the tea and the impromptu visit).

Speaking of excitement, I am EXCITED and downright giddy about the fact that I finally, after these many years, have finished paying off my student loan debt! I wrote the last check yesterday, and was nervous and thrilled at the same time. We are really excited because we finally have a plan, and we are following it, and we are seeing results that are motivating us to keep at it. I'm thinking about writing it all out so someday I can look back and remember all the wonderful things along the way that we've endured. And I'm thrilled at the idea of being completely debt-free some day. Finally, I can begin to dream about plans for the future without the burden of endless debt weighing me down. We have a long ways to go, but the "snowball" is rolling now, and we can't be more excited about it! I hope to post more about this in the future. But in the meantime, check out Dave Ramsey at DaveRamsey.com to find out how we plan to get ourselves out of debt. We're hooked, and I'm claiming this as a domestic victory too!

Hitting the Wall

I have a friend who runs marathons. The farthest I've ever run was 10 kilometers. But there's a term they use when you've reached what you feel is your limit. It's called "hitting the wall." It's when your body begins to shut down and say, "I'm done. We're there." Of course, usually in a race, hitting the wall comes before you reach the finish line, and the challenge is to push your body beyond it's limits in order to accomplish your goal.

Well, I have reached the wall. My body is deciding to not cooperate with my to do list. The head cold has moved in and taken over. Thank you to those who were praying for me on Thursday. I was able to determine exactly which things would not get done (like folding laundry and baking cookies), and moved them out of sight temporarily in order to focus my efforts on dinner and general clean up. It's another well-known tactic called "fake it 'til you make it." And I enjoyed visiting with friends without feeling too stressed out.

But now the head cold is demanding its day. So I'm calling out sick. Taking the day off. Enoch has a few hours at work today, and I told him I will do my best to be sure there are still four children when he returns this afternoon. And I will do my best to stay awake. Thank goodness for all those extra cookies!

Another Day, Another Marathon

above: These peanut butter cookies came out beautifully.

I was tempted to post an update yesterday around 10:30 pm, but I was too tired to prolong the day more than necessary. While I didn't get as much stuff baked yesterday as I was hoping, I did get the bread done and I baked one sheet of each type of cookie, just so I could say I did it. So there. I also managed to wipe out the pile of dirty dishes and mixing bowls, so we're starting off today with a clean kitchen.

below: The bread and the chocolate chip cookies only get a passing grade.

Now I have to keep momentum going: The kids have early dismissal from school and I will have a house full of five children aged 7 years to 6 months to help me get the house straightened up, the cookies baked, and homemade pizza made by 5 pm. If you think of me today, pray for me. (I'm outnumbered!) Along with all of our activities, I think I was just tagged as the next one in the family to get the cold that's being passed around as well.

So here I go.

Baking Marathon

I'll keep this short, as it's already 10:30 in the morning, and I've only just turned the oven on. Today I am having a baking marathon. Enoch wants to bless his beloved students with home-baked goodies on Friday, even though this week has been full of events (snow day on Monday, dentist appointment on Tuesday, parent-teacher conferences on Wednesday, guests for dinner and coffee house on Thursday...) So, today's the day. I thought if I at least post something early, I might be motivated to add photos later with the outcome. Stay tuned!

above: Bread starter sponge (top), peanut butter cookie dough (center), and chocolate chip cookie dough (bottom).

1:30 PM Update: Nothing has actually been baked (yet). But, I've mixed double batches of peanut butter cookies and chocolate chip cookies, made a bread starter sponge, and fed two little ones lunch. I have to pick up the big kiddos from school in 1/2 hour, so I guess the real baking will begin after they get here. I'll be throwing in a couple of potatoes so we'll have something healthy to eat before parent/teacher conferences tonight. I also hope to mix up a couple batches of muffins (pear and/or lemon), even if it's just the dry ingredients so I can bake more tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'm taking the next 15 minutes to fold a little laundry before waking up the little ones.

9:30 PM Update: Boy, did I have some lofty goals today! But alas, my children were in need of much discipline and attention, and since Daddy was working late tonight, it was all me on the battle front. Sometimes I even plan for those rather predictable interruptions, and in fact, the reason I promptly put the cookie dough in storage containers after mixing them up was my foreknowledge of the possibility that they wouldn't get done. I don't know whether I should count that as a victory or a pre-determined defeat. But we did have some tasty baked potatoes for dinner, and we did have two very good parent/teacher conferences, and the kids are all in bed now, and I have a lot of dishes to wash and two loaves of bread to pop in the oven before calling it a day. I guess my idea of a baking marathon and the reality of a baking marathon were not exactly the same. But thank the Lord that tomorrow is a whole new day!

...When You're Having Fun

Time sure does fly when you're having fun. And we have been having so much fun in February, I wish is could do it over! Aunt Becky and Uncle Kevin came to visit for a long weekend that seems like the blink of an eye. We visited local sights and celebrated Julien's 7th birthday with them. (I hardly got any photos! I'll have to get some from Aunt Becky to share.)

Then various kinds of fun things pertaining to doctors, dentists, and insurance plans, as well as tax-filing have all been highlights of the last 3 weeks. My "Living Organized" book is still here on my desk, underneath a bunch of dental insurance papers, and my dining room could almost pass for a laundry room because of the many baskets of laundry waiting to be folded. So why am I sitting at my computer right now instead of doing housework? Because dishes and laundry can be tended to when the little people are awake, but time on the computer can really only happen when they're sleeping.

You see, I'm trying to find the best time for me to do some writing, without neglecting my responsibilities as a wife and mother. As I see it, I have only 3 time slots "available." First, early morning, like 5:30-6:30. Second, afternoon nap time, and third, after the kids are in bed. My biggest challenge with mornings is that Rosalind has been an early riser since before she was born. She usually wakes up about 5:30, and is not naturally quiet or sluggish in the mornings. She wants to help make the coffee and then help wake everyone up and get dressed. Some mornings she will sleep later, but it's more consistent that she's awake and in need of my attention. Afternoon nap time is good, when I know what's for dinner and my kitchen is mostly clean. But I tend to be distracted by housework or by reading other blogs or Facebook, and the time slips through my fingers. Sometimes Brendan is also awake and needing me during this time. After the kids are in bed, the same as above applies, as well as the fact that it is the time for Enoch and me to catch up on our days and communicate with one another. Plus, he often needs the computer during that time. So its just been one of those months!

I have a hunch that a few photos of the grandchildren will help us all get beyond it and move on to the month of March. March! It comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, and apparently we are anticipating a winter storm that could bring between 6-14 inches of snow starting Sunday night and into Monday. It will be another good reason to take photos and to update my blog, as long as life allows me to.

below: Dinosaur bones buried in the birthday cake.

above: The birthday boy about to dig into his cake, as soon as he blows out seven candles.
below: Just a wild and wacky photo of one of his most outstanding features (a very loud one.)

above: Tristan after taking an unsupervised shower. He didn't quite rinse off completely.
below: Tristan after eating chocolate birthday cake frosting.





above: Side view of Rosalind's precious braids with ringlet pigtails. She's admiring Daddy's homemade bread on the counter.
below: A pretty girl showing off her twirl.






above: Brendan's reaction to baby food the first time.
below: He enjoys helping bang pots and pans in the kitchen

Book Review: Living Organized by Sandra Felton

Last night I finished my first book of the new year, Living Organized, by Sandra Felton. Felton is the founder of Messies Anonymous (MA), and has written numerous books about the subject of overcoming clutter in our lives. I had read her book Neat Mom, Messy Kids, from the library (and I would love to own my own copy), and I've heard bits and pieces of her story. This book, Living Organized, deals a lot with the psychological issues that a Messie has to overcome, and has some great questions and exercises at the end of each chapter that would be useful to do with an accountability group or a partner. I'm tempted to join MA myself because I at least know I am a Messie, but I feel that at the moment my plate is too full. (However, this may be something I could start in my neck of the woods as a way to connect with more of my neighbors and moms from my kids' school.)

Reading this book made me realize that I'm not quite ready for this book, yet. Before I can begin to live organized, I need to gut my house and rid myself of a lot of stuff (Felton refers to this as the Mt. Vernon method of dealing with clutter, which I think is explained in the Messies Manuel--another book by Felton that I probably should read first).

Felton is honest, funny, and honest. Yes, I said it twice. It's nice to be able to laugh at our shortcomings, but to look hard at them and tackle them is even better. For example, she writes,

When my house was in a dither, I could hardly figure out where the problem was either. I thought I needed an interior decorator, but I didn't know what I would say to one. Messies' houses are unpleasant, but the problem is not with the decorations. Until the clutter that dams up the house is removed, beauty cannot flow in, no matter how many sofas you replace.
Having said this, there is another side to the story. When I finally began to clear away the clutter in my house and mind, I noticed a remarkable thing--my house really was ugly.

I'm right there. I can see myself in her. For example, my "style." I really don't know what my style is. I like to be practical. Pretty is nice, but froo-froo is not for me. And I have a lot of stuff that was given to me (or discovered on the curb!) that, collectively, does not exactly coordinate well. I could go on about this, but I don't want my readers to think that all I do is sit around and loathe myself all day. Finally, I'll share part of "The Messie Manifesto; A Messie Is a Person of Dignity."

A person of dignity

• Does not keep a drawer full of hose with runs in them because sifting through them each day is demenaing. In addition, I deserve better.
• Does not wear undies with loose elastic. Nobody will know, but the person of dignity will. That's why it's important.
• Doesn't sleep on faded sheets even if they are still good.
• Doesn't allow straggly hair.

And that's a good place for me to stop. Let's just say that I have a better understanding of myself after reading this book, and I laughed and Hmmm'd a lot while reading it. Perhaps you can relate. And perhaps you should read Living Organized as well.

(I got the book for free through PaperBack Swap. If you read a lot and you haven't heard of it, check it out.) If you have read a book recently, write a review on your blog and leave a comment here for others to read. If you have no blog but wish to share, leave your comment here anyway! Happy reading!

Snow Day

Last night we got a good four inches of snow and today the kids were off from school because of it. I got up while it was mostly dark and let Enoch get the kids up (he had a two-hour delay), and I had about 45 minutes of shoveling bliss. First, I shoveled a path from our back door up to the top of the driveway. And I shoveled over to the top of the driveway of our neighbor, who would be bringing her daughter over for the day. Then I walked down the alley to the front of our row of homes, and began to push a pathway all the way to the end of our block. I got sidetracked when I stopped to help a neighbor who was digging her van out, and I was glad to get to visit with her a little bit while we pushed around the snow. I continued to the end of the sidewalk at the corner of our street before I returned to our front steps where I cleared my way to the front door. I would have shoveled every inch if I could have. But since the baby was up and needed me, and Enoch was ready for a chance to dig out our van, we switched places.



The next time I got out to shovel, I had the baby bundled in his car seat in the stroller (napping), and the rest of the gang bundled as best as possible out playing in the stuff. This time I cleared off the entire back driveway and my neighbor's driveway. Then we broke for lunch and quiet time.







So I got a couple of snapshots. Now I'm tired and I'm going to bed. A good time was had by all, and I'm looking forward to a normal school day tomorrow.

Out with the Old, in with the New, part 4

It has been a while since I’ve written about New Years Resolutions. I understand that January is almost over, and that subject matter is already old, but still—I’ve been meaning to write about it, and since it’s not February yet, I give myself permission.

A little over a year ago I was too overcome with dismay over having just turned 35 to even think about any new year’s resolutions. All I wanted to do was eat chocolate and have regular pity parties because I was 35 and still not rid of some of my most hated bad habits. And instead of making token new years resolutions that I had no intention of keeping, I just made none. Well not this year. This year I’ve made a couple of resolutions, but I became even more aware of my natural tendencies in the process. You see, recognizing that I have no intention to follow through with my decision is one thing, but hating that about myself and being willing to change that about myself is something entirely different. I have become way too comfortable with my bad habits (even hating them)—and I know that I need to change. James 4:13-17 says,

“Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.' Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.' Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” (italics mine.)

Did you know that this verse was not recently added to the Bible? I didn’t just come across it for the first time in my life, either! It’s been there all along. (Along with other verses that I know are there but I have allowed myself to not pay close attention to at times when it was an inconvenient truth.) I’ve been basically allowing myself to be comfortable with sinning because I was comfortable not doing those things that I know I should do.

I'll give an example: Finances. It has been years since I've actually balanced the checkbook. I don't regularly overdraw our account (although it has happened a couple of times), and I pay all of our bills (mostly on time). We have a good credit score, so it's not that big of a deal, right? Wrong. God says in Psalm 50:10-12,

"For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is Mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains."

And in Haggai 2:8, "'The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,' declares the Lord of hosts."

So it all belongs to God, and I have been given the privilege of taking care of His belongings. Even if no one else really cares whether or not I balance my checkbook, God does. The attitude of my heart is the issue. It doesn't require calculus or even division to be able to balance my checkbook, but I have developed a bad habit that I have become comfortable with. “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”

He commands in Proverbs, "Know well the condition of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds; for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to all generations." (27:23-24)

So the buck stops here. This year, as we work on our financial goals to pay off our debts as quickly as possible, I have as a goal to balance the checkbook every month and carry the balance down as I go. It's a small change that won't be noticed by the people to whom I write checks or who read this blog, but it is an exercise in faithfulness and diligence on my part that will be noticed by the Owner of it all.

How about you? Are there areas of your life that you know need to change, and you have been unwilling to face them? Maybe you balance your checkbook and clean your house regularly, but you watch TV shows or movies that you know you shouldn't. Perhaps its your tendency to feel entitled to your selfish desires, whether it be to eat whatever you want, or to hold a grudge, or to break the posted speed limit. Well...

Out with the old! Let’s not take it lightly any more! Let’s do battle with our sin. Let’s go to war against those bad habits in our lives that drain us and essentially cripple us from truly glorifying God. I, for one, know I need to change in some areas, and this year on this blog I’ll be writing about some of them.

And my hope is that as I become faithful with the things God has entrusted to me, that He would be pleased and that others would glorify Him as a result.

Happy New Year!

Out with the Old, in with the New, part 3

You know, I learned something from my experiences of blogging every day in November: If you have a good working title, why mess with it? So we'll continue in the series, "Out with the Old, in with the New," until it gets old, and then I'll come up with something new.

So, what is new? All kinds of things. Where did I leave off? Let's pick up with the kids.

Julien is doing well in the first grade. Starting this month, he began attending a Learning Enrichment Program at school, where he gets to do book reports and a research project. Unfortunately (for me) he chose the topic of dinosaurs for his research project. I'm not a huge fan of the large reptiles. Since we accept the truth of the Biblical account of creation and the origin of life, we're faced with some interesting challenges in terms of research, as a majority of the research makes references to evolution and millions of years, which is just plain wrong. I admit that I've managed to avoid this topic pretty much throughout my life as a "student", but I know that's not the place to be. So we're looking for some good and reliable sources that deal with the facts of the evidence, and not with the theory of evolution. It is possible to report on what we know about the T-rex without delving into all the creative speculations that are out there, but this will be a challenge for me to help him with this.

Tristan is doing well in kindergarten. He was on a roll this month with his reading, almost averaging 10 books a night. His favorite part of school is gym class, and he seems to have an affinity for "drumming" constantly when he's at home, and is often found playing "pretend guitar" with his light saber while we listen to music. He loves to laugh, which sometimes gets him in trouble at home when he can't get himself to stop. He just lost his second front tooth, and he is getting taller and leaner by the day. And he's looking forward to hopefully playing soccer again this spring.

Rosalind is growing up so fast. She started trying to dress herself a couple of months ago, and can successfully put on pants about 75% of the time. She discovered a pair of undies in her drawer back before Christmas, and was so thrilled she did the jump-jump dance and tried to put them on herself. So she got a whole pack of undies for Christmas, and after the new year, we decided to give it a try, and I can count on one hand the number of accidents she's had since then. She even has dry nights pretty regularly. So we just significantly reduced our demand for expensive disposable diapers! Yay!

And while Tristan is losing teeth, Brendan finally got his first one this month. (Sigh.) The arrival of the first tooth is always a sad moment for me, as it marks the end of the new baby status in my mind. Plus there are three (almost four) newer babies at church now, and he's big enough for the exer-saucer and jumpy-toys. We've also started on the baby cereal. While Brendan looks a lot like his siblings did at his age, he has distinguished himself as the one who spits up the most. Maybe it has to do with more distractions while he's feeding, or less time for burping. Whatever the reason, even Rosalind knows where to find the wipe rags to clean up Brendan's spit-up quickly. Despite the fact that he smells like sour milk most of the time, I can't keep myself from snuggling and smooching on him whenever I get the chance. As Rosalind likes to say, "He's so pweshuss!" I try to be impartial, but I have to agree with her.

(I'll have to post some photos later)

Out with the Old, in with the New, part 2

Why not pick inauguration day to start again, again? Ahem. It's amazing how much stuff can happen in such a short amount of time! I just wanted to get caught up on a few of the things, and we'll see how much I can write while I have no interruptions.

New Year's: It seems like so long ago, doesn't it? We had quite an interesting one. Back in November, I attended my church's women's conference, and was fortunate to win (just in time for our wedding anniversary) a gift certificate for a free overnight stay for two at America's Keswick for their New Year's Eve celebration. If you've never heard of America's Keswick (pronounced "Kezzick"), you can click on their name to go to their website. It's an 111-year-old Christian conference ground located not far from the Jersey shore, and it's primary ministry is the Colony of Mercy, a residential addiction-recovery program for men. The Keswick also ministers to the spouses and children of the men, and they have great facilities and I could just go on and on. Your best bet is to check out their website. What has impressed me most about this organization is it's commitment to the gospel, and the truth that the only answer for the problem of addiction (or any sin problem) is to surrender one's self to Christ and to be made a new creature in Him. I've also been struck by their apparent humility--as they don't seem to be ambitious about becoming some big and important conference center, but to simply focus on the main reason they began in the first place. If this sounds like a commercial, then good--I think they deserve any endorsement I can give them, and I'm happy to do it.

Old washing machine/"new" washing machine. All that said, we pick up the story: a couple of days before the big event, our washing machine gave its last performance, in the middle of a valiant attempt to conquer "Mount Laundry." Wile we were planning to use every last minute afforded us to prepare our home for overnight sitters, we had to include a $50 trip to the laundromat. (Sigh!) But we got our house in good enough order, and nearly all the laundry done before we left, and Enoch (and Brendan) and I enjoyed a relaxing time away to rest and to discuss our plans and goals for the new year (I'll hopefully touch on those in the near future). It would be nice to make this a recurring event. We returned from our brief mini-vacation, and by Saturday the 3rd, we had purchased a "new-to-us" washing machine for the price of two visits to the laundromat. I was back in the laundry business, and had no need to delay putting the new machine to good use.

Old water heater/new water heater. The next day, Sunday the 4th, as we were taking the Christmas tree outside, I noticed some water on the basement floor. Just a little. I wished that it was merely a result of the new machine splashing too much, but touching the tiny puddle with my fingertips confirmed otherwise. The water was warm. The 13-year-old water heater had given its last performance. After assessing and confirming the reality, we drained the hot water into the frozen backyard, and thanked God that I discovered the leak when I did, since we were about to go to bed! Since we had just freshly renewed our commitment to not take upon ourselves any more credit card debt, and we had also just freshly drained our emergency fund on the new washing machine, we decided to tough it out for the week, and wait until payday to come up with the funds for the water heater. By our good fortune, we all had taken baths or showers that day or the day before, and I knew we could boil water for any other hot water needs we would have. So we did it. And you know something? It was joy to do it! I think it was a blessing from God, and we actually enjoyed going through that trial, knowing that we were sticking to our commitment, and trusting the Lord to provide for our needs. And we just had a mindset to not complain about it. And we became so much more thankful for a warm house, warm clothes, food to eat, and running water--all those basic things that we sometimes take for granted--realizing how easily God could take it away from us and how important our hearts' attitudes towards Him are though it all.

So life is hard, but God is good. And life is a little crazy at times (for me right now it seems like most of the time), but God is good. And I'm so thankful for my husband and how God continues to use unique ways to draw us closer to one another while drawing us closer to Him. I'd call that a domestic victory!

Out with the old, In with the New

Happy New year to all, and to all a...Happy New Year! I'm glad that Christmas break is over so that we can resume our routine and schedule. Now if only I can get in a better habit of blogging again. November seems like so long ago! I can't believe I went from blogging every day to not even once a week to not at all. So much has happened since November, I can hardly keep up myself! The latest news: we have a new washing machine. Ours decided to expire at the end of the year, just as I was nearing the bottom of Mount Laundry. The good news is that our "new" machine has a bigger tub, so I can cram even more into one load than I could before. The settings crack me up, too. There's "Small," "Medium," and "Super Plus." It reminds me of when Starbucks changed from Short, Tall, and Grande to Short, Tall, and Venti, lo those many years ago. Actually, I only go to Starbucks on special occasions with a gift card anymore. These days it's 8'o clock coffee at home. In the afternoons I mix it with chocolate syrup and milk for an afternoon pick-me-up that beats Starbucks' iced mocha 10 out of 10 times when taste-tested by frugal experts. Okay, I'm ramblin' on now--it's obvious that I'm a little rusty. So I'll just do what I know my most faithful readers really want me to do: post pictures of their cutest little relatives in Pennsylvania. Okay. Here's the most recent photos.

These reindeer antlers came home from school, and didn't last long. But we had fun passing them around and posing. (I re-used the jingle bells on them for homemade ornaments.)

Rosalind sure likes sharing Brendan's new blanket with him. He seems to be enjoying himself--for the most part!

Christmas dinner and French braids. (I am a bit jealous of my daughter's hair.)

(Random cheezy photos.)

What a MESS!

Out with the old, in with the new; it's good to be back.

It Came Upon A Midnight Clear

Well I had to expect that I'd be up past midnight, so the title is appropriate. I had a couple of posts that I wanted to do before Christmas, but time has gotten away from me. So for now, I'll just post a few pictures of the seasonal artwork floating around my house these days.

Above: Tristan's Polar Express

Below: Julien's untitled Christmas artwork

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!