i think my wife's a calvinist.mov

Just a little song to bring a smile and maybe a laugh either because you are a calvinist or because you know someone who is!  

Convictions and Children: The Search For Good Tunes

I recently updated my tunes on my sidebar.  That was long overdue!  I have a hard time keeping up with music now days.  Partly, because I am so darn picky!  I am super careful about what plays for little ears to hear and little hearts to memorize.  

I have always liked music, but over time my tastes have become more discerning.  That has meant giving up some artists that I really enjoyed musically, but lyrically wasn't able to reconcile with the Bible.  Now, I strive to listen to and play a variety of music.  I don't want my kids to only listen to "Christian" music.  In fact there is some "Christian" music that it either isn't good musically or isn't good lyrically.  And there is plenty of non-Christian music that is really good musically and lyrically. Music that reflects life in a Biblically-compatible way.  

Finding such "good" music can be cumbersome and time-consuming.  I have spent a good deal of time browsing itunes or listening to Pandora and simultaneously checking lyrics on-line.  Then there are the songs that "pass" and some go onto non-kid playlists and some go in to kid-friendly playlists.  The non-kid play list is for songs that sing about themes that are more grown up or for songs that may be good, but toss in a word I don't want the kids to pick up on.

Music is much more complicated now that I have convictions and children.  What I hope to pass on to my kids is a love of a variety of musical styles balanced with discernment.  Right now I seek to serve a balanced diet that includes classical music, seasonal music that reflects both Christ and American culture, pop/rock, country, a tiny bit of "kid music,"instrumental, lots of worship, hymns, alternative and a tiny bit of jazz. 

Here are some songs that I am currently enjoying~

Unwritten, These Words, Freckles, Happy all by Natasha Bedingfield.   

I'd Rather Be With You, Brand New Day, We Are Okay, No Envy No Fear all by Joshua Radin

Loving A Person by Sara Groves

Kind and Generous by Natalie Merchant

Come Thou Fount by Mark Schultz

Amazing Grace by Chris Tomlin

Enough by Jeremy Camp

Come Ye Sinners by Robbie Seay Band 

Boomin' by Toby Mac

Come Away With Me by Norah Jones

Just The Way You Are by Diana Krall

Find Out Who Your Friends Are by Tracy Lawrence

Journeying On

This prayer is from The Valley of Vision:

Lord of the cloud and fire:

I am a stranger, with a stranger's indifference;

My hands hold a pilgrims staff,

My march is Zionward,

My eyes are toward the coming of the Lord,

My heart is in thy hands without reserve.

Thou hast created it,

redeemed it,

renewed it,

captured it,

conquered it.

Keep from it every opposing foe,

crush in it every rebel lust,

mortify every treacherous passion,

annihilate every earthborn desire.

All faculties of my being vibrate to thy touch;

I love thee with soul, mind, body, strength, might, spirit, affection, will, desire, intellect, understanding.

Thou art the very perfection of all perfections;

All intellect is derived from thee;

My scanty rivulets flow from thy unfathomable fountain.

Compared with thee the sun is darkness,

all beauty deformity,

all wisdom folly,

the best goodness faulty.

Thou art worthy of an adoration greater than my dull heart can yield;

Invigorate my love that it may rise worthily to thee,

tightly entwine itself round thee,

be allured by thee.

Then shall my walk be endless praise.

Scenes from the past week and a half...

Snow, sugar cookies, sledding, sisters bonding...precious things!

Gingerbread Nativity Scenes With Friends

Last week we gathered with friends to make gingerbread Nativity scenes.  What fun times!  There were lots of kids licking fingers, eating dough and cookies and candies...The mangers seemed reluctant to stay standing upright.  The memories last longer than the baked goodies and we are thankful for such times.

Greenleaf Academy and Christmas Fun

School merged into the holidays about midway through December.  C has kept right on track with her work, but A has had quite a bit of time off from school that requires sitting at a desk.  Mostly because he still needs more assistance from me and I have been doing Christmas stuff!  

The pictures that the boys colored of King Tut are some of my favorites.  I encouraged them to color the pictures as realistically as they could.  B took it so seriously!  He colored his picture while looking at the picture in the Encyclopedia.  A did the same but was more detailed, as would be expected since he is a bit older.  

The rest of the pictures are of us getting and decorating our Christmas tree, the kids doing crafts (at home and at our community Christmas celebration weekend), and miscellaneous other activities.  

Our Christmas E-card

Some of you received this via email (and for those who received this by email, yes, the only thing worst than an e-card is one with misspelled words-I apologize, I forgot to spellcheck it before i sent it), for those who didn't recieve by email:

        Well, the white flag of surrender has been raised with this email.  I have long resisted sending a Christmas e-card.  I much prefer actual mailed cards.  But, this year, it came down to e-card or no card, so I surrendered to the e-card.  There is still some part of me that resists this, but we are also thankful that we have email and can have some contact this Christmas season, even though it is not mailed. 

 

For those of you who are interested, below is my wordy account of our past year, grab a cup of coffee, hot chocolate, tea, whatever makes you feel comfortable and follow my reminiscing through the past year.   

 

Some happenings from the year in random order:

·        M and I were blessed with the opportunity to go to Maryland and D.C. to celebrate 10 years of marriage!  M blessed the socks off of me by suggesting I go out early, since he would already be there on business, and stay with some friends.  It was great!  Then M and I hit the streets of D.C. and took in the sights, just the two of us.  And you know what?  After ten years, four kids and all, we still love to hang out together!  Although we already knew that.  But it was sure fun to explore the city, eat amazing food and take in the historical sights together.

·        M graduated from the Officer Candidate Program!  He had a delay in getting all of this finalized, but after lots of hard work, it happened.  The photo is from this last Fall when he received his bars.

·        Greenleaf Academy, our homeschool, is going strong.  For those who follow my blog, you see plenty of updates on that.  We enjoy the family closeness, flexibility and shared love of learning that our homeschool brings.  This year we are focusing on biology and ancient history as well as the basics of reading, writing and math.  Teaching while having a two year old keeps me hopping!  Sometimes I wonder how on earth we will accomplish what needs to be accomplished, but it all seems to get sorted out.  The unimportant stuff falls away and the important stuff gets done or has to be adjusted so it can be done in a more manageable way.  Having a little one around offers good lessons in itself.  It is good to remember that life brings lots of interruptions and often those come in the form of people made in God’s image that need to be loved and included right at the level they happen to be at.

·        My grandma is aging and the kids and I have been helping out my mom with her care.  We don’t do much, my parent’s do a huge amount.  But, the time we have with her is precious.  Again, a lesson to the kids that all people are valuable, no matter how young or old.  One day I was tired and struggling with my attitude as I went to pick up my grandma for a drive.  When she walked out to the van, her face lit up as she saw the kids and they were so excited to see her.  I was humbled and reminded of what is truly important.  It is hard to watch my grandma loose memories, get confused and need so much care.  As I help buckle my kids in to go see her and then buckle grandma in once we pick her up, I am struck with the cycle of life.  It serves as a reminder to use the days given well!  They are short.

·        We made the difficult decision to leave the church that we had attended for over 10 years.  Change of that sort is never easy, but for us we came to a point where it was necessary.  We hold such gratitude in our hearts for the friendships and teaching we received at our former church.  We aren’t ones to just go from church to church so it was a painful decision.  In the midst of the difficulty, we came to a new church body that welcomed us with open arms and healing acceptance.  After watching the lives of people we knew at this church, reviewing their doctrine and experiencing church with the group of believers there, we made it our church home.  We are thankful for the opportunity to be there.

·        M lost his job in December.  That was another painful situation for us.  I don’t think one ever expects to face something like that.  God, once again, has shown Himself to be faithful.  We were blessed with a temporary job soon after and M ended up only missing 2 work days.  Truly a blessing, especially given the difficult economic times.  He will soon have some military training and a possible deployment to Iraq, so that will provide work.  In all that we are striving to wait and see how God opens and shuts doors for our our family. 

·        In the midst of the biggie events, there were many delightfully ordinary moments: the boys played Fall soccer, we celebrated birthdays, C had her braces removed, we enjoyed times with friends, tried new recipes, dissected owl pellets, painted our living room and office, M made homebrew root beer, the three older kids took swimming lessons, oh and lest I forget, we appeared in the May 19, 2008 issue of Time magazine in an article on families who strive to live “green”-how random is that?, I temporarily died my hair brown-M didn’t like it, in fact it is the only time he has ever had an opinion on how I shouldn’t wear my hair, C went to summer camp for the first time...

 

This coming year looks to bring new adventures as we anticipate a temporary move so we can be with M while he finishes up some military training, prepare for a possible deployment for M and whatever else 2009 may bring. 

 

Peace to you in this coming year!

Heard Around My House

"Look, that guy is shuffling the snow!" Said by B.

The boys were watching a Roy Rogers movie and there was a fancy lady on the screen when I walked by.  I commented, "She looks pretty."  To which A responded, "Yeah, but she's not so pleasant.  She's sorta sour."

A was on the phone with a friend (a new and still rare thing for him) and he wanted his friend to come over and play.  I am guessing his friend asked when he could come over, but what I heard A say was, "I don't know the time too well yet, so you decide."  Followed by, "You can come whenever, yesterday or in awhile, any of that will work for us."

Random Bits

Heather is...typing an e-Christmas card because we decided that it wouldn't be wise to spend on postage this year.  Oh, wait, this is my blog, not facebook. ;-)

My e-card, will likely be posted on my blog in the coming days and emailed out those in my address book.

I really enjoy Bob's Red Mill.  Great products.  Great recipes.  Great atmosphere in the store.  I recently wanted to make their "Hull-less Barley Soup" and couldn't find my copy of the recipe.  It is on the back of the hull-less barley bag, but I had emptied my barley into a different container.  I googled the recipe and discovered a wonderful thing!  All the recipes are on-line!  If you like to cook, like whole grains and that sort of thing, go here!  It is a treasure chest of recipes-all free!  Seriously, 1277 recipes, all with a click of your mouse!  

I am thinking that this could help make a cool Christmas gift-get some fun recipe cards, or plain old 3x5 cards and a cute little box to hold them or tie them with a ribbon and what a fun gift that would be!  You could even give some ingredients along with it-such as dried beans or grains.  Or one could find a recipe on there and give all the dry ingredients in a recycled jar along with the recipe on a cute card!  It almost makes me wish my gifts weren't already bought or made!  Hmmm...maybe next year!

Egg Casserole

Lately, I have been making egg casserole on occasion.  It is quick and easy to assemble the ingredients the night before, put in the fridge and bake in the morning.  And I have noticed that it seems to fill my kids up more than scrambled eggs and toast.  Typically, to fill up my family takes almost a dozen eggs plus toast.  This casserole uses half the amount of eggs and less toast and still fills them up!  

I have found a number of variations on the egg casserole recipe.  A neighbor makes this every Christmas and, before we had kids, we would go to her house, with my parents each Christmas.  Her egg casserole is the BEST!  And I'd like to recreate it.  It is her secret recipe, so I am somewhat on my own in this.  I am wondering if anyone has a recipe or ideas on what could make hers so uniquely tasty!  I am not good at eating something somewhere and recreating it at home and it has been several years since I have had hers, so I am not sure what she does to it or adds to it to make it so yummy.  Is it the bread she uses?  Does she add sour cream or something like that?  Is there an herb or spice that would add that extra something? 

Here is the recipe I have come up with so far, and it is good, but not as good as I'd like it to be.

2c. milk

6 eggs

1t mustard powder, salt, basil, parsley

dried onion -I just sprinkle it on and don't measure

cheddar cheese

about 4-6 slices of bread

I sometimes add meat, if I have some handy

Put butter in the bottom of the pan (a 9x13)-I just slice up a bit-maybe 2-3 tablespoons, tear up the bread, then sprinkle with cheese and dried onion.  Then, I pour the mixture of eggs, milk and spices on top of that, cover with foil, pop it in the fridge for the night and bake at 325 degrees for about an hour.  I bake it covered for about 45 minutes and uncovered for about the last 15 minutes.

Does anyone know of an alternate/possibly tastier version? Or some ingredient I could add to make this even yummier?

Thanks!

Makes Me Smile

A likes to tell jokes.  Here is one from the other day:

"Hey Mom, what do you call a headless elephant?"

"What?"

"A headless elephant!"

Why, of course!  I should have guessed that.

L is into being a lady and pointing out ladies.  She will say things like "I little lady" and "You a lady" and "That a lady."  I still had to smile the other night when, after tucking her in, she said, "Goodnight lady."   

Green Smoothie Boy

I like the idea of green smoothies, but the first couple that I made weren't too tasty to me.  But B loved them.  So, I figured I should experiment a bit to get the smoothies to taste good to me since B was requesting spinach and wheat grass in his smoothies.  How can I say, "no" to such a healthy request?  I added agave nectar and lots of fruit and now I am loving the green smoothies!  And as the photos show, B is loving making smoothies!   

From A Kid's Perspective

"You know what I like about our tree, Mom?  None of the ornaments match!"  Indeed.  That is true, none of the ornaments match. ;-)

Em's Applesauce Ornaments

No-Bake Scented Cinnamon Ornaments

 

1 cup ground cinnamon

3/4 cup applesauce

2 tablespoons white glue

Ribbon

 

Combine cinnamon with applesauce and glue to form a stiff dough. Roll out dough to 1/4 thickness.  Cut with cookie cutters.  Make hole for ribbon. Carefully place on a wire rack to dry.  Let air dry for several days, turning over occasionally.

Occasionally, I am such a sucker for a good buy that I purchase something I don't really need, because, "It was such a good deal!"  Or in this case, I purchased an entire pound of cinnamon because it was on sale.  Having cinnamon is a good thing, but an entire pound?  That is a bit much.  I happened to mention my purchase to a friend and she responded, "You should make those applesauce, cinnamon Christmas tree ornaments!"  I laughed along with her.  Then a couple days later, I emailed and asked her for the recipe.  

These ornaments are great fun!  And so easy!  Plus, they make the house smell quite festive and holiday-ish.  C made some for gifts for her friends.  I made some for the community tree auction that a friend and I decorate a tree for.  These are a great ornament for kids to make as gifts.  The only warning is to not rub ones eyes after handling the dough or the ornaments-that cinnamon stings the eyes!  ;-)    

 

Braces and Then No Braces

Here is C, in the last moments in her braces...

making impressions for the retainers...ick...but she was a trooper...

WOW, look at that braceless smile and all those goodies she was given! How fun! The water bottle was stuffed full of gum and candy that is forbidden when one is wearing braces.

Whew, What A Day

I have this long list of things to blog on and then I had this long day and finally got to sit down to the computer and for some reason it is running s-l-o-w-e-r than s-l-o-w!  So, I am not even going to risk putting a link into this post!  Instead, here are a few random snippets from my day:

• C had her braces removed today-picture to follow another day when the computer is more cooperative.  Her teeth look great!
• My house is in chaos!  I need a day at home to bring it all back under control-well, as much as it ever gets under control in an active household and tomorrow looks to be that day.  Oh wait, I just remembered that we are gone all morning, so maybe the afternoon...  
• Our van just had the brakes fixed-that was much needed!
• Just when I thought I would get to be alone, L found me and wants to sit here on my lap and is repeatedly (did I say repeatedly) asking me, "You done?"  I can't resist hugging on her.  They grow so fast!  
• I am way behind on email and facebook. 
• I asked my grandma today if she was ready to get changed-she needed to change her clothes and she replied in an exasperated tone, "I have my cane!"  I had to hide my chuckle.  That is really normal for our conversations, as her hearing is not so great, but it still cracks me up-every time. =)
• As I type, I am listening to my family wrapping up the evening...M reading a story to the little ones, C doing dishes, bath water running, kids arguing, the patter of little feet, Christmas tunes being hummed by C...beautiful sounds, sounds of blessing...I am going to find my spot in the evening activities...

On A Personal Note

M lost his job today.  Our emotions are varied and deep and there has not been enough time to process it all.  In the midst of uncertainty, challenges and all I just want to share some things I am grateful for, not because this all doesn't hurt, but because it does hurt and because I so desperately need to maintain focus in this time.

I wrote the above, last Thursday, with every intention of finishing it and posting it on Friday.  Well, things got ahead of that and it didn't happen.  In fact, I almost deleted it and just moved on to some other posts I had planned.  But, the words, though incomplete, are raw and real and I didn't want to delete them.  

Yes, our emotions have been varied and deep, and now we are in a very different place.  M starts a job tomorrow and it should take him right up to the point where he (and maybe all of us) leave to go do some military training.  No, the kids and I won't be doing the training, but may be going to live elsewhere, temporarily, with M, while he does training.  It looks like he is on track to deploy in '09 but there are some classes the needs to take first.  

Life can change quickly.  A moment can bring such devastation or such joy.  Sometimes we come to places where we have things turned upside down and we have to readjust to the new normal.  I am not going to delve into all the issues here that are raised in this post, other than to say what I have just said, and to finish by saying what I will now say =) 

God is good in all times.  We have been blessed in innumerable ways by God's goodness as we faced and continue to face a degree of uncertainty in our lives.  In reality, life is always uncertain.  It is just that sometimes circumstances remind us of how uncertain life really is.  Sometimes circumstances bring us face to face with that uncertainty.  That said, God is always certain and some circumstances remind us of that.  Sometimes events arise that cause us to pause and remember in a very personal way how utterly dependant we are on Jesus Christ for our very breath and provision.  

As M begins his job tomorrow and that brings an amount of security back to us, I don't want to forget some things.  I want to remember how impressed I have been in recent months and especially in the recent days, of the need to practice generosity when opportunities arise, of the value of sharing our vulnerability with others who carry us through challenges.  I want to remember the value of family pulling together in scary times.  I want to remember the encouragement from each person that came up to M or I or emailed or called and in their own way said, "I care."  On Thursday we were given a gift, but it came in the disguise of pain.  Isn't that so often the case?  Even as I write this, there are still the shivers of fear and concern that have been so close by in the previous days.  Yet, there is also a reminder of who God is in the midst of a challenge.  There are reminders all around of His love, His goodness, His mercy and His grace.  Through relationship with Jesus Christ we face trials, but we are never truly alone.    

  

Christmas Card Issues or Just When You Think You Have It Together...

Apparently last year, I did a very clever thing.  I purchased Christmas cards for this year, after Christmas last year, when they were dirt cheap.  Then (this is the clever thing), I packed them in with some Fall decorations.  The thought was that I would discover them in good time to get my cards done early.  The cards sat patiently waiting in a box that contained a turkey made out of a paper sack-that C made, a plastic grocery bag full of Indian Corn, a wire basket with Fall-colored leaves on it and a beaded pumpkin decoration.  The not so clever thing, that I failed to factor in, was that the Fall items in the box aren't so great, except the turkey.  They are items I am not so fond of, except for the paper sack turkey-which is not aging so well due to setting out each year, and so when Fall rolled around, I decided not to get those things out this year.  I didn't have a good spot to place them all and I didn't want the turkey ruined...

About a month ago I was in a store that had these really cute cards, not Christmas cards, but they had a cross on them and I liked them.  I bought them for our Christmas cards for this year.  Umm, yeah, I apparently forgot about buying cards on sale and storing them.

Then, I went on this organizing binge a couple weeks ago and discovered: 1)The boxes of cards I had so cleverly purchased last year after Christmas and placed in the box with my Fall decorating items, so I could be ahead of the game with my Christmas cards. 2)Two more boxes of unopened Christmas cards that I bought, when???

Okay, so I have plenty of cards.  Good deal.  But, wait, another issue arises.  I went on-line to send my family photo in to Costco to have prints made.  So far so good.  Then the next day I ran into Costco to pick up the photos.  The cashier found them and rang them up and I asked to see them.  She wouldn't let go of them!  It didn't seem that she was being malicious, she was just trying to get info off of them.  But, I wanted to peek at them before I paid, in case there was a problem with them. Finally, she told me what I owed and I again asked to see the photos.  M's head was absent from the photo.  There were all were with a headless M.  Not good for a family Christmas photo.  So, I showed the girl and she said, "Well you have to pay because I pushed the button and my till will be messed up if you don't pay.  But, you can go over to returns afterward and get a refund."  Gee, thanks, but alright.  

I came home and figured I should check my photo again just to see what had gone wrong.  It seems that since the photo had to be cropped, there was another person in it who was standing off to the side and isn't a member of our family.  He needed to be removed, but that created a problem.  The photo either looses M's head or B's head.  Not good.  Now, I am thinking that I should just do a short letter and put the photo onto it and just print them out at home.  Great idea, but I have all these cards, and I can put the letter in the card, but then the card is basically useless.  At that point, the card is just a letter holder.  Which, as I think about it, isn't too bad of an idea since I have all these cards to get rid of! 

Christmas Links and Sales

There are some great deals for Christmas presents out this time of year!  I am almost done with my shopping, but I wanted to share these links and items:

The above t-shirt is on sale at David Nasser Outreach, for $10, that is half the regular price!  There is also an "I love my husband" version, a "My mom rocks" and some other not your typical "Jesus shirts."  They are all half off! 

Vision Forum has a collection of items at 50% off and a $5 flat shipping rate.  Cool.  But this good deal is only on until the 5th.

Another company with a $5 flat shipping rate is Prairieland Herbs.  I really enjoy their products!  

Festive Freebie!

The Christmas tunes are playing in our home.  As I type this I am listening to the Supremes sing Christmas music from the Supremes and Temptations Christmas album and the boys are listening to Christmas Carols For A Kid's Heart upstairs-A loves that album.  

M and I started the tradition, our first Christmas, of buying a Christmas CD each year, so now, we have a decent collection.  And just FYI, although it still makes me chuckle to see Christmas With the Brady Bunch on our stack of CD's, it is awful to listen to. =) 

There is so much good Christmas music out there!  Which is one reason I am loving the itunes free music!  Just yesterday I downloaded both Harry Connick Jr.'s "It's Beginning to Look A lot Like Christmas" AND Tony Bennett's "Winter Wonderland!"  Both free!  Yup, I am thrilled!  No, the songs aren't unique, but it is nice to get some Christmas music on my ipod.  And, speaking of my ipod, this album was the one we downloaded last year-it is great!  

Whoo-Hoo! Christmas is on the way!

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  Lights are going up on houses around town and we broke out the Christmas decorations on Thanksgiving morning.  Since Thanksgiving dinner was happening in the early afternoon at the home of relatives, we decided to use the morning to decorate for Christmas!  

I didn't realize how many nativity scenes we have (5)!  Since the last few years have been years of transition (building, moving, continued projects on our house...) a limited number of items have been set out the past few Christmases.  How fun to not have to hold back this year!  We still haven't gotten our tree, maybe this coming weekend...

Yet, in the midst of the joy of the season, our family is remembering this little one and our hearts feel a heaviness.  There is so much cruelty in this world, so much violence, reminders that this is not our true home!