Summertime! In Janurary…?

These videos were taken on January 30th.  This is what my children do when there is any amount of sun out.  Obviously that means it is swimming/get wet kind of weather!

Baking and Housewifery

It finally clicked this week that I have been a complete lazy bum when it comes to baking.  I know how to bake.  I have been baking for years.  My mom taught me faithfully while I was living at home.  Yet why do I not bake often in my own home?  Is it because I like to be healthy and avoid all those carbs?  Hahahahaha…no.  It comes down to the fact that I am lazy.

Yes, yes, I am saying that all mothers who don’t bake are lazy.  That is exactly what I am saying, so shame on all of you who don’t bake.

Wait, I take that back… that’s not what I’m saying.  I just had this realization that I was being lazy.  Me.  Myself.  And here are the reasons why:

1. As stated above, I know how to bake.  Bread for instance.  I used to sell homemade bread.  So yeah, it’s not like it’s a struggle and takes me a long time.
2. We are tight with money right now.  So why am I going out to the store and buying bread, cookies, etc. when I know it is cheaper to make them?
3. I have time.  I stay at home.  I only work 7 hours a week.  From home.  Bread in the oven while tutoring?  Not a problem.
4. My kids like it when I bake.  They let me bake.  I know this isn’t the case with a lot of moms, it just makes things more chaotic and disastrous if they try and add baking to the mix of the day.  But not here.  Elijah likes to help.  Elena likes to eat.  It all works out well.
5. I don’t have a car.  So, really, going to the store is more complicated right now then just baking what I need.

So you see my friends, I have no excuse.  I was being a lazy housewife.  The good news is, I have resolved to change all that.  I baked some bread this week, and made my family some cookies.  They love me for it.  (And the cookies are already gone).  It feels good to know I am being productive, saving my family money, and serving them carbs that are healthier than some of that store bought crap I was buying.

Let’s see how long this lasts.  Hopefully I can keep it up for a while.

Magnets

Here is another Christmas craft I did- homemade magnets.  I did this bug set for Erin (minus a couple that I need to redo because Peyton tried to suck them apart).  It is such a simple, fun craft!  Just get those glass half-marbles usually used for the bottom of a vase, get some cool paper, and some magnets.  Cut the paper to fit the glass, glue it on, and then glue the magnets on!  It was also suggested you can make them with real photographs, but I am not sure how this would look as the glass magnifies the picture in sometimes disproportionate ways.  I made 3 large with 3 small, and they fit perfectly into an empty Altoids tin.

Fun in the Mud

Both kids were anxious to go outside, so when there was a break in the rain we ran outside fully prepared to get dirty.

Elijah, however, was skeptical:

So he claimed safety on his scooter:

Elena, on the other hand, was very excited about getting dirty:

Yum!

Elijah finally bought the idea that mud is fun, and squished around in it:

Then slid around in it:

This was about where the mud flinging began:

And pretty much just putting mud everywhere it could possibly go:

When they both joined in on the mud flinging, the nice camera had to be put away:

And so I refer you to my camera phone for the final pictures:

Assumptions

Yesterday I had an interesting conversation with a couple ladies who I had never met before.  The unique thing about meeting people at a conference is you often times get into deep discussions with people who you would normally just be exchanging pleasantries with.  I really cannot get this conversation out of my head, it surprised me, but also reminded me of my default way of thinking.  The way of thinking most people have, but have to work very hard to overcome it.  Here is the skelton of the conversation:

Lady #1: You should never ever go to an Orthodox Church, because they only teach works.  It’s all works, works, works.  You never hear the Gospel.

Me: How do you know this?

Lady #1: I know someone who goes to an Orthodox Church.

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Lady #2: You also would never want to go to a Roman Catholic Church, because they believe in baby baptism, and they believe that is saves you.  That’s all you need!  Plus, it’s baby baptism, which is just wrong!

Me: I don’t think they believe it saves you…

Lady #2: Oh, yes they do! My mom was rasied Roman Catholic, so I know.

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How often do we assume something negative about another branch of Christianity because “we know someone who told us”?  I am not trying to negate that particular person’s experience, on the contrary.  I am trying to point out that there are such varying degrees of experience/knowledge with every person, in every church, that you cannot make judgments about that particular church as a whole solely based off of what someone you know knows.

The thing is, every denomination has doctrines, a catechism, creeds, etc that they believe and are supposed to follow.  But who makes up the church?  Fallible sinners.  The Pastors and Priests are fallible sinners.  Which means, they don’t always do justice to the doctrines of the church.  Not only that, but sometimes you get a Pastor/Priest who actually teaches against the doctrine.

But that doesn’t mean that the whole denomination believes that way.  That doesn’t mean that every church/parish you go to in that denomination would teach the same way.  Maybe the friend who you are getting your information from has been under aberrant teaching.  Maybe they are receiving good teaching, but have done some studying on their own and come up with their own ideas.  Maybe they have been sitting in church for years and years, faithfully attending every week, but their ears are closed to what is being taught from the pulpit.  There are many reasons why their beliefs may not track with their church’s doctrines/catechisms.

So, how do we respond to conversations like this?  Do not deny their experience.  What they went through and learned was probably very real.  Ask them if they know where it is written that their church teaches that.  For a Reformed Protestant, you might ask about the Creeds or the Westminster Confession of Faith, or your Church’s Mission Statement.  Find something solid that both of you can read and discover the answer from.  Don’t assume that just because they believe in, say, Double Predestination, that that is what the denomination is teaching.  “Oh, that’s a bad church.  I know a guy who went there, and he believed witnessing wasn’t necessary because of Double Predestination.  I would never go to that church, and you shouldn’t either.”  But how many times have we said something like this?  How many times have we assumed we know the whole story, because we heard one person’s part of it?  I know I have been guilty of this.  And honestly (but regrettably) will probably be guilty of this in the future.  It is a default way of thinking that takes hard work to overcome.  It is not a passive way of thinking, it is an active one.  Actively give other Christians and their churches the benefit of the doubt.  Do more studying.  Don’t take one person’s word for it and as a result condemn a whole church or a whole denomination.  I don’t think that is how God wants us to treat our fellow Christians.

Addendum:  Please do not take this to mean I think Christians won’t have valid disagreements.  I am trying to address the problem of condemning or writing off a Christian Church because of experiential assumptions.  This, to me, is entirely different than having well thought out, well studied disagreements, and therefore deciding certain churches are not for you or your family.

Already?

This week Elena has been taking off her diaper and wanting to roam free.  Because I am a hippy mom, you know, I just let her and see how it goes.  I have noticed something interesting.  She does pee on the floor (yeah, big surprise there) but first she looks at me and tells me “poo-poo-ie!”  So, I have started whisking her away to the toilet (even though most of it comes out right when she says that word).  Well today, she ripped off her diaper again, and was just chilling with no accidents.  She looked at me and told me she needed to go “poo-poo-ie”, and so I went over to grab her.  Much to my surprise, there was no tinkle on the floor!  So, we went to the toilet which she sat on for 5 seconds concentrating very hard.  She jumped on and off about 5 times before actually peeing in the toilet!  Wow! Okay potty training experts out there, does this mean I should just dive in and train her?  Or should I just be casual about it for a while and see what happens?

Christmas on New Years

I am working through all of the Christmas pictures, and since we had 4 celebrations this year, there are just a few of them!  I am starting with our last celebration, New Years Day at my parents house.  We spent Christmas day there as well, but had a second Christmas with them because Scott and Erin and kids couldn’t be there on Christmas.  We had a delicious brunch, and I mean truly delicious.  I completely forgot to take a picture of the spread, but we had everything.  Eggs, potatoes, sausage, veggies, fruit, scones, pesto rolls, etc etc.  It was so yummy, and really I think every get together should be over brunch food.  It’s my favorite!

Here are a few pictures from the day.

Moira, reading the books we got her:

Elijah, weedwacking with the sweet toy the Adams got him:

Scott and Nick, Scott explaining the gift of 3 pepper plants! Let’s hope I can keep them alive!

Peyton looks overwhelmed, but he loved it of course:

Sisters:

Stephanie doesn’t sit still:

Elena showing Grandpa someone else’s toy:

Jack is the best present-opener. Everything deserves a “GASP! WOW! WHOA!”:

Princess Crowns

This year for Gillian, Elena, and Emma I made some princess crowns.  All the girls liked them, but Gillian loved it.  I think Elena and Emma just aren’t old enough yet to enjoy playing with them for long periods of time, but they do seem to know quite well that it makes them looks “pretty”.  Gillian was happy to pose for me when I asked, she knew exactly what to do!

Peace

Most of you know that Nick has technically been out of work for almost a year now.  While he has been blessed to have some independent contract work, he has not been able to find a “normal” job.  (Whatever normal means right now!)  For any of you who know me well, you would probably be able to guess that not having a set paycheck coming in every month is one of my biggest fears/struggles.  I am a money saver/hoarder.  Everyone likes a safety net, but my ideal is probably ridiculously larger than most people’s ideal.  Needless to say, this year has been a growing experience for me.  I thought I knew what living by faith was, but I don’t know that I did.  This year I actually have had to put into practice what my mouth has been saying.  At one point during the summer, I remember praying fervently that “We couldn’t make it past X date- Please help God!”.  Well, God listened, and only provided the money we needed on the last possible day.  I thought I learned from that that God would always provide at least at the last minute.  But time has gone on, and Nick still does not have a job.  So, I put new requests to God.  “How about a job by Christmas?  That really is as far as we can make it.”  Thinking I was being completely logical, I counted on the fact that God surely wouldn’t let us go past our “due date”.  However, Christmas came and went, and Nick still does not have a job.  After Christmas my stress levels increased exponentially.  Until yesterday.  Yesterday brought a new realization, that strangely, brought peace.  I realized that my “due date” was not God’s “due date”.  Now this might seem like a silly realization, but when you feel like you have truly looked at the situation and know when you can make it to, it is easy to start having “faith” that God will meet your due date.  But when I finally realized and accepted that God has His own timing that does not match up with mine, peace came.  Even though that means that we may have to give up things I thought of as necessities.  God does not view them as necessities.  Which gives me comfort.  Now this does not mean I have stopped praying for a change in situation.  I am still praying fervently (and would ask you would pray with us!).  But, it does mean that I am at peace with where God has us.  God will provide!

Absent-minded

This year for Christmas I actually got around to making some of the gifts.  I have often intended to, but fall short every year.  Thanks to tight money situations, this year I followed through and made a number of gifts that I was quite proud of.  However, I (being absent-minded) completely forgot to take pictures of any of them!  I wanted to show all of you because I am not a crafty person by any means, yet these were easy and fun gifts (plus cheap) to make.

So, be patient with me.  I am going to my family’s house later this week and will track down the presents and snag some pictures.  That is, if I remember to bring my camera.