Birthday

Can you believe a mother who would mortify her 15-yr-old by getting a bunch of her friends to sing Happy Birthday to her in the choir room after church?

Then off for Chinese food --

Picture didn't turn out too well, but we stuck a candle in a cream puff and sang Happy Birthday at the restaurant. Hey, the folks at the other tables quieted and listened and then applauded Maggie. That only happened once before.Maggie was, once again, mortified.


Illini girl -- (Was this from Mom or Karen?)

Intuitive Learning Company

One of the popular Christmas presents was something I stumbled onto at Goodwill and snapped up the second I laid eyes on it. Intuitive Learning Company also sells shower curtains with French and Spanish vocabulary. The only puzzle is whether to put it with the writing facing into the shower so we can read it while we're bathing, or words out to the room to look more attractive overall. Gary noticed this evening while he was brushing his teeth that we can read the vocabulary left-to-right in the mirror, so for now we have to read backwards only while we're on the toilet.

Matt was asking today what homeschooling is like. It's like ... uh ... buying vocabulary-laden shower curtains ....

Sunless

Ten days straight without sun. (Well, there were a couple of minutes on Sunday morning during church when a beam peeked through the stained glass.) The 10-day forecast calls for "partly cloudy" next Tuesday. And only Tuesday: the rest is overcast and snow.

If somebody had not eaten for 4-5 days, a person who said, "Gee, you look hungry!" would not be disapproving of the person's discomfort for being hungry.

But what if somebody looks sad and droopy because she has not seen the sun for 10 days? Is she supposed to just chipper-up? Should a person be able to control her body's response to light-deprivation more than she can control her body's reaction to food-deprivation?


I think it's high time to start goofing off with regard to work, and time to start playing the piano more, watching funny movies more, and reading something fun to Maggie.


♫ Oh, Mr Sun, Sun, Mr Golden Sun,
please shine down on me! ♫

♫ Sunshine on my shoulders
makes me happy. ♫

A Visit

Today's Laugh

A Christmas Tradition

The liquor companies give GOOD rebates around Christmas and New Year's. So if you're going to buy vodka-for-vanilla or whiskey-for-medicine or schnapps-for-granola or Southern Comfort [-for-yummies], now is the time of the year to do it. You may get a bottle of schnapps for $2, or a year's worth of vanilla for $4.

But the GLUE! Oh, the glue!

For a rebate, you have to turn in the UPC code. You have to soak it off the liquor bottle. Now, the labels will fall off my syrup jars in about 20 seconds. The labels will fall off my bouillon jars in 5-10 minutes. But soaking a bottle of vodka? The front label will fall off the bottle in half an hour. But the part of the label where the UPC code is? After four hours, the UPC code can be pried off only with lots of tearing and ripping of soaked paper.

Can the ladies processing the rebates even read the shreds I send them from the UPC code?

Maybe it's a conspiracy to not pay the rebates?

Or maybe the company is trying to protect itself from people who scam businesses out of rebate money? Maybe if you send in a decent-looking UPC code, they will know you faked it ... because you didn't have to fight the Superglue-strong-enough-to-hold-a-spaceship-together!




Whatever it is, I discovered this is one of the dumbest Christmas traditions we have. But a tradition it is, nonetheless.

The Lion Shall Lie Down with the Lamb

I've lived in Wisconsin a long time. No dangerous snakes. No scorpions. Virtually no deadly spiders. There are certain times of year where your outdoorsy preschooler may be covered with welts from mosquito bites. But overall, it's a pretty safe place.

Katie has told me about the fire-ant hills and the snakes and scorpions and the other nasty critters in Texas. She has to watch out for Alia when they go outside to play.

So when we hear during Lessons & Carols that the baby will be playing outdoors by the snake holes, and the toddlers will be stickin' their little hands into the den of venomous snakes, it sure sounds different this year. That's something that was just words to me before; I could intellectually assent to the coming of peace and safety Isaiah describes. But wow, those words probably sound completely different to mommies who have to keep their kids away from rattlesnakes and fire ants.

Faking Confidence

At the Christmas party for Gary's job, one of the guys we were chatting with mentioned how it's important to sound like you know what you're talking about. Even if you don't.

I've heard the same thing from other salesmen: sound confident. It will instill confidence in your prospective buyer. If you sound confident, the sucker will do what you want him to do.

Grrrrrrr.

Gary and I did a little Christmas shopping on Tuesday night. We were trying to figure out exactly how the sizing on a particular item worked. When the label says it's thus-and-so big, exactly where on the item is it measured? Because it made a difference. I was digging in my purse for my trusty tape measure (a necessary item for those who shop at Goodwill and Salvation Army) when a saleslady came by. We asked; she told us the answer; we bought the gift. Came home and found out she was just talkin'. She didn't know. She was wrong. So I had to go back to the store and return the gift. The exchange was easy and there were no complaints from the store. But I had to go back.

Really, now, would our whole economy collapse if salesmen told the truth? Would it destroy their careers if they said, "I don't know; I'll have to find out for you"? (Who knows? Maybe it would!)

These incidents make me think I should trust no one's word, no matter how inconsequential the situation is. [sigh]

Today's Laugh

California Trip

You disembark from the plane for your lay-over, walk into the Las Vegas airport, and face a whole bank of slot machines. Around the corner we found the wheel. Boy, you know it's Las Vegas!

Sacramento airport was a little more peaceful-looking.

The entrance to the M.I.N.D. Institute. Notice all the sun sun SUN in these pictures.

The side view of the MIND Institute, as we saw it from our room.

The entrance to the Kiwanis Family House.

The side of the Kiwanis House where we stayed, as seen from over at the MIND Institute.

The nearby corner where we could find food: groceries and sit-down restaurants and fast food and an awesome Thai place. It was about two-thirds of a mile.

Our bedroom at the Kiwanis House.

Maggie working in our section's kitchen.

The dining room. (How'd that kombucha bottles get there?)

A shot of Maggie at the Phoenix airport.

Today's Laugh

A man was brought to Mercy Hospital and taken in for coronary surgery.

The operation went well and, as the groggy man regained consciousness, he was reassured by a Sister of Mercy, who was waiting by his bed.

"Mr. Smith, you're going to be just fine," said the nun, gently patting his hand. "We do need to know, however, how you intend to pay for your stay here. Are you covered by insurance?"

"No, I'm not," the man whispered hoarsely.

"Can you pay in cash?" persisted the nun.

"I'm afraid I cannot, Sister."

"Well, do you have any close relatives?" the nun essayed.

"Just my sister in New Mexico," he volunteered. "But she's a humble spinster nun."

"Oh, I must correct you, Mr. Smith. Nuns are not 'spinsters.' They are married to God."

"Wonderful," said Smith. "In that case, please send the bill to my brother-in-law."

Certainly Not by Merit

The story in Sunday School this week was about Jacob and Esau. Jacob was not exactly a pillar of morality in his younger years. Pastor was talking about Jacob being

the son of the promise (this is key) by the free choice of God's grace, not because he was entitled to it. The birthright has certain rights associated with it, but Jacob was not the first-born. Furthermore, Jacob's sin does not nullify God's promise. God certainly does not condone sin, but neither does our sin make God renege on His promise. If His promise is "I will love you, and I will send My Son to die for you and to redeem you with His blood," your sin does not then cause Him to say, "You know, I changed My mind. I do not love you any longer, and I will not send My Son." Understand?

He is faithful for His sake. Before the twins were even born, He chose Jacob to be the son of the promise. His choice was made purely on the basis of His grace. When Jacob proved himself to be unworthy of the blessing, when he schemed, when he coveted and stole, God did not come up with Plan B. God did not ditch Jacob. His word is sure. His promise is certain. And the promise made to me in baptism is just as sure and certain.



Romans 11 -- The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.


Oh, then, rejoice that through His Son
God is with sinners now at one.
Made like yourselves of flesh and blood,
your Brother is the eternal God.

What harm can sin and death then do?
The true God now abides with you.
Let hell and Satan rage and chafe --
Christ is your Brother; you are safe!

Christmas Decorations

Every year the girls had to wear these as earrings. Hey, we only have two left. I wonder if Rachel and Katie have a pair each at their houses?

Katie tried to convince me these were hers. They weren't, and I wouldn't let her take them when she moved away from home. But she looked forward to pulling them out every year. She can see them only when she comes to visit. But the rest of the kids should let her have them after her father and I die.

Gary used to be in the Giraffe Club. This was from Mom to go with the other giraffes in the giraffe collection. The hook broke off his little head, so now he hangs by floss. Not the best, but it works.

Ornaments I made as a kid. I think the craft kits from Montgomery Wards were probably Christmas or birthday presents.





The first year we were married, we realized we had nothing for the top of the tree. No star. No angel. No money to go buy one. No idea what to choose for something that would last for decades.So Gary cut a star shape out of the bottom of a cardboard box and we covered it with foil. If you look closely, you can see the round indentations from the food cans that were shipped in the box. The star was a temporary fix. (Ya laughin' over that??) After about 15 years, somebody suggested we buy something nice for the top of the tree. Well, after that little piece of cardboard has moved with us repeatedly, decorating the top of the tree for nearly 30 years, do you really think I'm going to let go of it now?

Today's Laugh

A little girl climbed onto Santa's lap. Santa asked the usual, "And what would you like for Christmas?"

The child stared at him open-mouthed and horrified for a minute. Then she gasped, "Didn't you get my e-mail?"

Solstice and the Return of the Sun

Rejoice now, all you heavenly choirs of angels!
Rejoice now, all creation!
Sound forth, trumpet of salvation,
and proclaim the triumph of our King!
Rejoice too, all the earth,
in the radiance of the light now poured upon you
and made brilliant by the brightness of the everlasting King!
Know that the ancient darkness has been forever banished.
Rejoice, o Church of Christ,
clothed in the brightness of this light!
Let all this house of God ring out with rejoicing,
with the praises of all God's faithful people.

That is from the Easter Vigil.

Look at it! All that talk about light. And the King. And the angels' rejoicing. You'd almost be tempted to think that it dovetails with Advent's

O come, Thou Dayspring from on high,
and cheer us by Thy drawing nigh.
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
and death's dark shadow put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, o Israel!

Christmas Decorations

Some newer ornaments that are beautiful and theologically spot-on:




Some very old ornaments. I remember these on Nanna & Gramp's tree when I was little. And I don't think they were very new then. We had the glass balls on our tree at home, but Nanna's ornaments had the etched pictures and words. That just seemed so special and beautiful to me as a child. Wait. It still does.

Today's Laugh

A man is in bed with his wife when there is a rat-a-tat-tat on the door.

He rolls over and looks at his clock, and it's half past three in the morning. "I'm not getting out of bed at this time," he thinks, and rolls over.

Then, a louder knock follows. "Aren't you going to answer that?" says his wife. So he drags himself out of bed, and goes downstairs. He opens the door and there is man standing at the door. It didn't take the homeowner long to realize the man was drunk.

"Hi, there," slurs the stranger. "Can you give me a push??"

"No, get lost, it's half past three. I was in bed," says the man and slams the door.

He goes back up to bed and tells his wife what happened and she says, "Dave, that wasn't very nice of you. Remember that night we broke down in the pouring rain on the way to pick the kids up from the baby-sitter and you had to knock on that man's house to get us started again? What would have happened if he'd told us to get lost??"

"But the guy was drunk," says the husband.

"It doesn't matter," says the wife. "He needs our help and it would be the Christian thing to help him."

So the husband gets out of bed again, gets dressed, and goes downstairs. He opens the door, and not being able to see the stranger anywhere, he shouts, "Hey, do you still want a push??"

He hears a voice cry out, "Yeah, please."

So, still being unable to see the stranger, he shouts, "Where are you?"

And the stranger replies: "I'm over here, on your swing."

Lunch at the Beach

One of the readers at Lessons & Carols today went just a wee bit fast with one phrase. She was reading Genesis 22, the promise to Abraham, and did it completely right. But it sounded a little funny when she read:

Blessing I will bless you,
and multiplying I will multiply your descendants
as the stars of the heaven
and as the sandwiches on the seashore;
and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.

Obstructionists

Another Democrat fell. A purported pro-life "obstructionist" sold out to a big barrel of pork for his state.

Remember the story of the little Dutch boy who held his finger in the dike? He was an obstructionist. He got in the way. He slowed down what was coming.

Look what happened in New Orleans when the levies didn't do the job of obstructing that they were supposed to do during Hurricane Katrina.

Let's applaud some of those obstructionists!

Christmas Decorations

Because the four oldest weren't here to help with tree-decorating this year, and thus unwrapping these tangible memories, I thought they might want to mosey down Memory Lane via photos.


Beeswax ornaments from our honey lady in Clinton. Local honey for a good price. And she had to think of something to do with the wax; she had a variety of beeswax candles and decorations. It was one of our first fieldtrips with our homeschool group, and we returned to Vaenoski's often.(I was amazed to see that these had survived a hot summer in the attic -- something that destroyed our Advent candles.)



From our trip to Sarasota (with much appreciation to Jane's mom and Wicked!). One day we visited Mote Marine Aquarium. Fantastic place!



The lighthouse at Ponce Inlet. From our trip to Daytona (with much appreciation to my parents!).



From our visit to the EAA Museum. All the time we lived up there, we never actually visited the fly-in or museum. But when Gary had a pastors' conference in Oshkosh one year, we went along to enjoy the hotel pool. While there I took the kids to the museum.

Today's Laugh

In the year 2009, the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in the United States, and said, "Once again, the earth has become wicked. I see the end of all flesh before me. Build another ark, and save two of every living thing along with a few good humans." God gave Noah the CAD drawings, saying, "You have 6 months to build the ark before I will start the unending rain for 40 days and 40 nights."

Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah weeping in his yard -- but no ark. "Noah!" He roared, "I'm about to start the rain! Where is the ark?"

"Forgive me, Lord," begged Noah, "but things have changed. I needed Building Regulations Approval. And I've been arguing with the fire department about the need for a sprinkler system.

"My neighbours claim that I should have obtained a planning permit for building the ark in my yard because it is development of the site, even though in my view it is a temporary structure.

"We had to then go to appeal to the Secretary of State for a decision.

"Then the Department of Transportation demanded a bond be posted for the future costs of moving power lines and other overhead obstructions to clear the passage for the ark's move to the sea. I told them that the sea would be coming to us, but they would hear nothing of it.

"Getting the wood was another problem. All the decent trees have Tree Preservation Orders on them, and we live in a Site of Special Scientific Interest set up in order to protect the spotted owl. I tried to convince the environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the owls -- but no go!

"When I started gathering the animals, the SPCA sued me. They insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will. They argued the accommodation was too restrictive, and it was cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in a confined space.

"Then the County Council, the Environment Protection Agency, and the Department of Natural Resources ruled that I couldn't build the ark until they'd conducted an environmental impact study on your proposed flood. I'm still trying to resolve a complaint with the Equal Opportunities Commission on how many disabled carpenters I'm supposed to hire for my building team. The trades unions say I can't use my sons. They insist I have to hire only accredited workers with ark-building experience.

"To make matters worse, Customs and Excise seized all my assets, claiming I'm trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species. So, forgive me, Lord, but it would take at least 10 years for me to finish this ark."

Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow stretched across the sky. Noah looked up in wonder and asked, "You mean you're not going to destroy the world?"

"No," said the Lord. "The government beat me to it."

Practice for tomorrow's Lessons and Carols

Christmas Decorations

Decorating the tree always mean a trip down Memory Lane.

This one's from a missionary family who visited our church in 1995. It shows St Isaac's in St Petersburg.


This is a tiny hand-painted picture of the log cabin that was the first St Louis sem.


This is from a family at Gary's vicarage congregation. The words painted on the cross are "He gave His only Son," and every year it hangs in a prominent spot near the star on top of the tree.


This is from the organist at Gary's vicarage congregation. My mom loved the pottery cherub face from the first time she saw it, and commented on it nearly every year she visited at Christmastime.


These clowns are also from the organist in Jackson. The poor fellows have rendezvoused with Elmer's Glue more than once, but 24 years later we still have 'em.

Today's Laugh

Christmas Decorations

Hanging above the kitchen sink, with the Revereware --
the Mistletoad.

If I remember correctly, this fellow was a gift from a community Christmas party put on for families of disabled kids. I think we received the mistletoads the same year that Katie and Rachel got their gray stuffed bears.

A Few Short Items

Do you really need to enunciate on the descant? It's high. It should be okay if you hit the note and just approximate the consonants, right? After all, the congregation is supplying the words and sufficient enunciation.

Andrew and I butchered our first animal on Wednesday. I didn't throw up. Good for me. Lesson #1 -- the knife needs to be sharp. Lesson #2 -- intestines are funny. Lesson #3 -- some lessons are learned easier from a teacher than from a book.

It's snowing on a global-warming conference. Psalm 2: God sits in His heaven and laughs.

The nice thing about having two identical DVD players is that losing the DVD remote doesn't mean you can't use the machine. You just hijack the other machine's remote. (What happens when the second remote goes missing??)

An incident with Glenda's grocery receipt makes for a funny joke for Lutherans and other liturgical types.

Today's Laugh

"It's so cold outside," the elf said, "that I just watched a polar bear jump from one iceberg, trying to reach the next iceberg, but he froze in mid air!"

"That's impossible," Father Christmas said. "The law of gravity won't allow that!"

"Oh, I know," the elf replied, "but the law of gravity's frozen too!"

Commstock

The Mankato newspaper had an article last week on a half-hour movie produced by a couple of guys connected with Bethany. Paul said the bit part he played actually made it past the editing cuts, so that he was in 1-2 seconds of the finished film. And one of those scenes turned out to be the poster for the movie. Just thought Mom might like to see the poster.


For those who don't know my kids, Paul is the tallest guy in the picture, the one on the left in the front, next to the main character.

Blessed Virgin Mary

The angel comes to Mary and greets her with "Blessed are you among women!"

Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth. She greets Elizabeth with "My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.... All generations will call me blessed" and tells why they will do so.

At the sound of Mary's song about God's keeping His promise of mercy, baby John leaps in Elizabeth's womb for joy, and Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and responds to Mary's greeting, "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb!"

Elizabeth was the first of "all generations" to call Mary "blessed." And why did she choose those words? Because it was the word of God spoken by the angel, and told her by the one who heard the angel.

And why do we call Mary blessed among women? Because we too heard what Elizabeth said that Mary said that Gabriel said that God said.

Trickle-down theology. Yup.

Today's Laugh

I didn't know if my granddaughter, Rachel, had learned her colours yet, so I decided to test her. I would point out something and ask what colour it was. Rachel would tell me and always was correct. But it was fun for me to revel in how bright she was, so I continued.

At last she headed for the door, saying sagely, "Grandma, I really think you should try to figure out some of these yourself!"

Economic and Social Stability

The property tax bill came recently. We were discussing whether to pay it in December or January, and how that would affect what we pay in federal income taxes. If we pay in January, this year's taxes will be a hundred or so dollars more, but the 2010 taxes would be several hundred dollars less (if the tax law remain the fairly stable).

We came to one conclusion: there is no way to know what to do. We don't know what the government is going to do to the economy, to know how much more trouble we're going to face with regard to Gary's income. We don't know what the government is going to do with regard to tax laws. We don't know what the government is going to do with regard to socialist policies in other areas. IF there were stability, we could make plans that we could reasonably expect to pan out. But there isn't enough stability for us know.

Then we visited the orthodontist today. We don't know what's going to happen with health care. We don't know what's going to happen with prices. How do we make decisions that will worsen Andrew's situation (which is a necessary step to achieve real healing), knowing that it's possible he'll get caught in the middle and not be able to finish the treatment? How do we know if we're going to start something which, with policy changes, may leave us with crippling bills before it's over?

As the bigwigs are playing politics and looking for power, I wonder if they have any idea that nearly every family and every small business in the country is facing decisions like these (be it about college, moving, health care, debt, job changes, etc) because we don't know what to expect from their tinkering two or three years down the road?

Orthodontia

The dentist recommended two orthodontists for Andrew. He told us that he wasn't sure whether Andrew would need palate surgery too, or if the braces would be enough. Today we got our first opinion. Second opinion is in 3 weeks.

Wow. Andrew's bite is misaligned in one direction on the left side, and misaligned in the other direction on the other side. Around the canines, the upper teeth fit inside the bottom teeth. The front teeth cannot touch each other. The roof of his mouth is not wide enough. Oh, and by the way, the wisdom teeth need to be removed too. These are not matters of appearance; this is about the likelihood of teeth becoming worn out at far too young an age, as well as the near-certainty that the problem will cause pain in his jaw, back, neck, and headaches a couple decades down the line.

If the dentist where we used to live had pointed these things out, they could have changed his palate through orthodontia instead of waiting until his bones were harder and the joint fused so that it needs surgery.

They need x-rays to see how to remedy this. The orthodontist said that her first look at his mouth indicates that we'd probably need to have him in braces which will actually worsen his situation. It will take a year or so to get the teeth in the right position for where they'll be after they do the surgery to rearrange his palate. After a couple of months to heal from surgery, they will continue with the braces to get all the teeth in the right place as best as they can. I asked about what would happen if, for some reason, we started on this program and it was interrupted. Wouldn't we be leaving Andrew in worse shape than where he is now? The orthodontist said that there isn't much worse than what he's got now.

Oh.

We talked briefly about the benefits and risks of a proper fix, as well as the benefits that might be achieved through a "compromise fix." These are going to be some hard decisions.

History Tidbit

The things you learn as you're teaching your kids...

American soldiers in the first century of the country were excellent marksmen and sharpshooters because the young men had been shooting their suppers. Kids would sometimes take rifles to school so they could shoot something on the way home. Or kids would be told to go out into the woods until they'd shot enough squirrels, crows, rabbits, quail, whatever, to feed the family that night. Their aim was well-practiced before they ever ended up in the military.

Today's Laugh

How do you know Santa is a man?

Because no woman is going to wear the same outfit year after year after year ....

A Highly Favored Lady

It's an amazing and humbling thing to look at your kids sometimes and see their faith and their good works, and realize that you would never have done the good thing that you just witnessed your kid do. When you see holiness in your children that does not manifest itself in your own life, you may have awe, but no pride (since you know you didn't have anything to do with engendering that goodness in them).

Think how often Mary must have seen that. When other kids picked on Jesus, He did the right thing. If Mary was impatient one day, Jesus responded perfectly. He did what He was supposed to, even when she didn't. I don't know about you, but whenever that happens in my house, I need more Jesus, more forgiveness, than ever. For Mary and Joseph to live with a perfect Son, there would've been plenty of opportunities to notice their own shortcomings, and thus be deeply in need of God's favor/grace.

Choir

I get to play chimes with Pam and Kara for Lessons & Carols on Sunday. Oh boy! And I get to play the drum for one of the songs. Oh boy! I like being in choir. Yes, I do!

I never played chimes or handbells before. Kara and I have to share one of the chimes, and pass it off between us. Kathy, the choir director, told me it helps to practice with spoons. So yesterday I had my teaspoon, tablespoon, serving spoon, and mixing spoon lined up on the dining room table, "ringing" them according the music. Andrew laughed at me. But boy, it helped a lot! Reading music isn't enough for chimes or handbells. There has to be some coordination too. Yikes -- for that I need practice! But practice with the real chimes (and the real live children's voices) went much better today. Yippee!

Now the question is whether I can sing and play the drum at the same time.

Today's Laugh

It's not hard to meet expenses;



... they're everywhere.

Where Did Pooh Go?

We came home from choir this afternoon to find a Pooh ornament off the tree, across the living room, under the edge of the back of the couch.

Andrew claimed it was Athena's fault. Being a middle-aged female (like Athena) I disagreed. It was the young 'un.

Proof?

Mentor or Teacher?

If I teach someone how to make kombucha or knead bread, I'm handing over a skill or a certain amount of knowledge. That's teaching, but it's not being a mentor.

When my kids learned to drive, Mr Fischer was the teacher for most of the kids in the class, but for my kids he was, for a brief time, a mentor. He was someone to look up to, someone who taught them much more than driving, someone to remember for the rest of their lives. That's why I bothered to make the 2-hour roundtrip to take Andrew to Trident Driving School after we'd moved.

Most homeschool moms are mentors more than they are teachers. A teacher passes on a skill or a certain bit of knowledge. But a mentor teaches so much more: values and outlook and habits and mannerisms and skills and worldview and social habits and maybe even academic knowledge too. Mentors shape people.

It's a scary to be a mentor. You know your own failings. How can you teach other people? What if they grow up to be like you? Yikes! It would be so much easier to just teach what's in the book, avoid the risk. But then ... which book? Who decides which bits of academic knowledge are the important ones to teach? Who decides which worldview should be passed on? A school board? A government panel? Nah. I don't want them being mentors for my kids either.

It's scary enough to be mentor for your own children, the ones God placed into your care, the ones whom you've loved since birth, the ones who've trusted you all along. But then, to ponder (even briefly) the thought of teaching other kids, the scariness multiplies! You know you can't love those other kids as much your own. You suspect other parents ought not trust you with their child's mind and heart and life. After all, who are you? When it's your own kids, you know you have a call from God to raise them up. But other kids? That would be a daunting responsibility to take on oneself.

Maybe if I could convince myself that teaching was something simple like passing on spelling skills, or fixing a washer, or declining Greek nouns, then teaching wouldn't seem like such a big deal. But when you've spent most of your adult life as a parent, a homeschooler, a mentor, it seems like such a trivial thing to merely "teach," in contrast to investing all your life and energy into the people committed to your care.

Today's Laugh

The only time the world beats a path to your door is if you're in the bathroom.

Christmas Lights

Everybody around here leaves their outdoor Christmas lights on all night. When you drive past houses in the daytime, you can usually see the tree in the front window lit up. The power company warns us every November that next month's bill will be high due to colder weather, more days on the billing cycle, and extra energy use for holiday celebrations and lighting.

When I was little, I remember waiting for dusk and asking Mom and Dad when we could turn on the tree lights or the outdoor lights on the porch. The 25th was the ultra-special day when the Christmas-tree lights could be ON during the daylight hours.

My big problem with turning the lights off (to extend the bulb life and to save on electricity) is forgetting to turn them back on again the next evening!

Library Browsing

Some homeschoolers choose which books they want to use for the year, buy them, and proceed to work their way through their chosen curriculum. Other homeschoolers plunder the library on a regular basis, making use of what's available, being flexible with the curriculum so as to make full use of what our tax dollars have purchased.

If you love using the library, now is the time to browse.

December is when people don't borrow as many things from the library. Especially the non-fiction. The shelves are overloaded! A couple of hours in the library in December will give you a great idea of what science and history resources, what educational DVDs, what computer programs, etc, are available to be used the rest of the year.

Today's Laugh

Middle age is when it takes longer to rest than it takes to get tired.

Today's Laugh

Maria went to the post office to buy stamps for her Christmas cards.

"What denomination?" asked the postal clerk.

"Oh, good heavens!" said Maria. "Have we come to that? Oh, well, I guess I'll take 30 Methodist, 20 Lutheran, and 20 Catholic."

Running Out of Bread

I used to make two batches of bread most weeks; that's 8 loaves. But then kids grew up and started moving out. It got to where one 4-loaf batch per week was sufficient.

It used to be that, when Gary was gone for several days at a pastors' conference or district convention, the rest of us didn't eat up a loaf of bread. He was our bread-gobbler, and the rest of us were occasional bread-nibblers.

Recently I've been making bread more than once a week again -- and Gary's hardly eating any. Yikes!

Andrew and I noticed today that it's nice to have groceries in the house. I hit Woodman's yesterday. I hate shopping and had been putting it off for many weeks. Two hours in the store, two carts full, and $400. Now that there's food, we suddenly realized how often we've been eating toast for breakfast. Or PBJ's for lunch. Or grilled cheese. Lots and lots of bread. It's something we actually had available in the house. Then when we didn't have peanut butter, and no flour to make more bread, it became clear that I had to [groan!] make time for a grocery run.

And wow! It's so much less brain-drain to make a meal when there is produce in the fridge, when there is a list of possible meals, and the ingredients necessary are sitting there waiting to be compiled into yumminess!

How 'bout that? I like having groceries!

Instantaneous

We drive. Even if it's a three-day trip to drive to vacation, we drive. We don't fly. Sometimes we are envious of those who can fly. It seems like it takes them no time whatsoever to arrive.

You know what? It's a rude surprise to find out that the plane-trip across the country --the one you thought was nearly instantaneous-- actually takes a pretty hefty chunk of a day.



Similarly, there are a lot of jobs around the house that I've taught myself to keep up on "because they take no time." Brushing teeth? A minute or two. Wiping the counters? Less than a minute each time. Changing a load of laundry? Just a couple of minutes (if you don't fold). It's very disappointing when, at the end of the day, you did 100 of those little jobs which take NO TIME, and that's all you did. All day. Nothing else. Hey, that's not fair! Any mathematician knows that 100x0=0. Therefore, all those jobs which individually "take no time" should cumulatively take no time? Right? You buy that, don't you? (How come it doesn't work that way?)



Similarly, I'm getting very VERY impatient with the time that it takes to think. Thinking? That's supposed to be multi-tasked. That's supposed to be what I do while folding laundry, chopping onions, waiting for El-Kid to answer a spelling question, waiting in line at the store, etc. It seems SO unproductive to sit and just think. But thoughts do not come easily to me any more. I have to work to think; that is, I have to stop other work and focus only on the work of thinking. Yuck -- this takes more effort than I want to invest. Problem is, too many problems remain unsolved when I do not solve the problem of not having time to solve problems. [Okay, stupid sentence. But read it again. I meant it.]

You don't suppose our society's desire for instant gratification has weaseled its way into my psyche, do you?

Today's Laugh

An American farmer was on holiday in Wales. He could not resist exploring the hill farms north of Aberystwyth. At lunch time he dropped into a pub and fell into easy conversation with a Welsh farmer.

"How big is your spread?" asked the American.

"Well, look you, it's about 20 acres," he said.

"Only 20 acres?" the American responded. "Back in Texas, I can get up at sunrise, saddle my horse, and ride all day. When I return at supper time, I'll be lucky to have covered half my farm."

"Dew dew," said the Welshman. "I once had horse like that, but sent him to the knackers yard."

Rice Noodles with Spinach and Peas

This recipe was originally from my friend Sandy. Every time I want to make this lunch again, I have to go on a hunt to find where the recipe lives. So I'm putting it here for my convenience's sake. If you want to try it, I gotta warn you that (the way I make this stuff) it looks kinda like the gloop that Calvin sometimes sees on his dinner plate. But it tastes awesome!

This is way better when made with fresh produce, but this is my out-of-the-pantry version ...


12-oz package of brown rice noodles
(regular rice noodles okay if you can't find brown)

Cover noodles with tepid or warm water and soak for a few minutes while starting the rest of the dish.

Stir-fry
1" piece of ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic, crushed
in 1 Tbsp olive oil
for about 30 seconds.

Add
1.5 cups boiling water
1 Tbsp soy sauce.

(I usually just start with the hot water and Kikkoman, and add powdered garlic and ground ginger from my spice cabinet. Lazy, I know...)

Drain the noodles. Using kitchen shears, snip the noodles into shorter pieces.

Add
2 cups peas
rice noodles
to the spicy boiling water.
Cook 3 minutes.

Add 1 pound spinach leaves.
Toss over the heat for a couple more minutes,
until noodles are tender and spinach is wilted.

(This time of year, I start with a 10-oz package of frozen spinach in the boiling water, and add the noodles and a 1# bag of frozen peas once I've gotten the spinach thawed and broken into small pieces.)

Remove noodles from heat.

Make sauce of
2 Tbsp peanut butter
2 Tbsp tahini
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2/3 cup milk
Heat until nearly boiling.

Toss sauce with noodles, peas, and spinach mixture.
Garnish with cubed avocado and roasted peanuts.

Around here, it serves 4. Your mileage may vary, as in, it may serve 8-10 at your house.

Today's Laugh

Mark, a five-year-old, couldn't wait to tell his grandfather about the film he and Grandma had watched on television, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

The scenes with the submarine and the giant octopus had kept him wide-eyed. In the middle of the telling, Grandpa interrupted Mark, "What caused the submarine to sink?"

With a look of incredulity Mark replied, "Grandpa, it was the 20,000 leaks!"

Paul and Stephen

Acts 7:60 -- Then Stephen kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

I'd never noticed until yesterday that the Synagogue of the Freedmen (the ones who rose up against Stephen and turned him in to the Sanhedrin) included men from Cilicia. Paul was from Cilicia. Paul was there at Stephen's stoning. Paul heard Stephen's sermon.

Stephen prayed for his murderers. And for at least one of those men, God abundantly answered the Stephen's prayer, not only forgiving Paul, but even using him as the instrument to bring the Gospel to millions of other people.

Last Night's Dump

You can see on the picnic table how deep it is --(It really doesn't look that deep. Only 10." It's the weight, though...)


And here's the wonderful neighbor with the wonderful tractor who saved us hours and hours of shoveling.His tractor broke, though, so we still have about 1/4 of the driveway to clear. And once the snow is all done later today, we probably should go over with our little shovels and help him with his driveway, unless he manages to fix the tractor posthaste.

Today's Laugh

Santa Claus, like all pilots, gets regular visits from the Federal Aviation Administration, and the FAA examiner arrived last week for the pre-Christmas flight check.

In preparation, Santa had the elves wash the sled and bathe all the reindeer. Santa got his logbook out and made sure all his paperwork was in order. He knew they would examine all his equipment and truly put Santa's flying skills to the test. The examiner walked slowly around the sled. He checked the reindeer harnesses, the landing gear, and even Rudolph's nose. He painstakingly reviewed Santa's weight and balance calculations for the sled's enormous payload. Finally, they were ready for the check ride. Santa got in and fastened his seat belt and shoulder harness and checked the compass. Then the examiner hopped in, carrying, to Santa's surprise, a shotgun. "What's that for!?" asked Santa incredulously. The examiner winked and said, "I'm not supposed to tell you this ahead of time," as he leaned over to whisper in Santa's ear, "but you're gonna lose an engine on takeoff."

Snow Storm

So one week ago I'm in Sacramento, with California people asking me, "So, what is winter like in Wisconsin? Do you have snow? How cold is it?" And there wasn't much to tell.

So two days ago, the weather forecast for Sacramento called for an inch of snow. That was more than we were supposed to get. I was tempted to write to the research team at the hospital and gloat a bit, teasing them about their snow.

So now ...
I have a cat whose bladder is going to explode because she can't "go" outside. The humans in the house have forcibly tossed her outdoors a couple of times, but she won't do her job. She just hunkers down until we open the door 5-10 minutes later, then trots back indoors, wet and cranky. How about the litter box, then? What? Going in the house? How uncouth! She will have none of that nonsense.

Problem is, storm is due to keep up for another 24 hours. Poor kitty.

The Holiday

Coming home from a long and emotionally exhausting trip last week, I was not in the best of moods and needed to laugh. Gary and I spent Thursday evening watching The Holiday, a romantic comedy about two women from very different places in life who share one thing in common: just having broken up with jerks. They trade houses for a couple of weeks so they each can take a break from home. The movie was cute and funny and definitely worth staying up late for!

Seems to me that an R-rating might have been more appropriate, and you have to get past the parts that refer to sleazy activities (but at least they're not showing the sleazy stuff).

The fun parts were watching the British girl revel in the huge house she borrowed from the American girl, the relationships the British girl found while staying in L.A., and the American girl's impatience with the small cottage and loneliness in England ... until she found a fellow who turned out to be a lot nicer than the guys she was accustomed to.

This is one I think I might need to see again.

Today's Laugh

On our flight last week, our landing in Sacramento was ... well ... interesting. Having barely flown in my life, I wasn't sure whether the fast & hard braking and the wobbliness of the plane was normal. It was a tad worrisome, but I thought it was just me. When several passengers around us began to comment, I realized that the pilot had indeed taken it a bit fast. So this joke rang true for me:


The airline had a policy that required the first officer to stand at the door while the passengers exited. He was to smile and give them a "Thanks for flying XYZ airline."

An airline pilot on this particular flight hammered his plane into the runway really hard. In light of his bad landing, he had difficulty looking the passengers in the eye; all the time he thought that a passenger would have a smart comment. However, it seemed that all the passengers were too shell-shocked to say anything.

Finally, everyone had gotten off except for this little old lady walking with a cane. She said, "Sonny, mind if I ask you a question?"

"Why no Ma'am," said the pilot. "What is it?"

The little old lady said, "Did we land, or were we shot down?"

The Power of Snow

Amazing how an inch of snow can finally force you into setting aside the history and math books, and get yourself outdoors -- hauling in the lawn swing, putting away the lawn chairs, picking up the garden hose, and all those other jobs you've been putting off.

My dad would have been mortified to know that my hose was still in the yard in December. At least it was drained of water! Gary did ensure that.

While we were at our October chores today, we also put up some Christmas lights while we were out there. We're no longer the cranky Scrooge-family on the block.

Phonics Test

Many new homeschoolers are rabid phonics advocates. I sure was! Teaching our children to read the right way was one of the biggest motivations for our beginning to homeschool.

It's understandable that we are so insistent on the superiority of phonics. The look-say method of teaching reading will work pretty well in an individualized, print-rich environment, with plenty of one-on-one teaching. But who knows that? Who tests it? For classrooms full of kids, phonics is a better method. And classrooms full of kids is where we get our data. Therefore, conservative mommies are horrified by the abysmal reading abilities of so many young people and determine that they will teach their children a better way!

So what happens when your child can't learn phonics?

Jane has posted various places in the past about Patrick's struggle in learning to read. Jane and I have tried to help mommas chill out when they bemoan the fact that their children aren't learning phonics. It's okay, we say. They will learn to read. Keep plugging away, even if you have to give up on the phonics and try The Evil Insidious Liberal Plot of {gasp!} "Look-Say" reading.

Okay, so Maggie couldn't learn phonics. Our main method of reading instruction was a motley conglomeration of reading comic strips aloud to her (and likewise, answering endless questions about "What's this word?" as she read Garfield to herself in later years) AND a "spiral" of memory work. She didn't have a good enough memory to recite her Learn-By-Heart of the week, and she didn't read well enough to read the verse and the hymn. But she could quasi-read and quasi-recite. So I wrote out the memory work each week in large print, hung it on the dining room wall, and used that. The neophyte reading skills gave a nudge to her memory work, and what she couldn't read was nudged along by the bits she had begun to memorize. That's totally look-say for reading instruction.

And so,
now,
we come to the funniest part of last week's academic testing with the psychiatrist. Maggie scored above her grade level in only one subject area. Phonics! They gave her nonsense words that she had to sound out according to phonics rules, and she scored at late-12th-grade level.

I was stunned. And pleased.

If that ain't proof that we can chill a bit over our rabid love of phonics, I don't know what is.

Today's Laugh

Last Christmas, grandpa was feeling his age, and found that shopping for Christmas gifts had become too difficult. So he decided to send checks to everyone instead.

In each card he wrote, "Buy your own present!" and mailed them early.

He enjoyed the usual flurry of family festivities, and it was only after the holiday that he noticed that he had received very few cards in return. Puzzled over this, he went into his study, intending to write a couple of his relatives and ask what had happened. It was then, as he cleared off his cluttered desk that he got his answer. Under a stack of papers, he was horrified to find the gift checks which he had forgotten to enclose with the cards.

The Children's Bread

This week we had the story of the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15). For some reason, it bothered me tremendously that Jesus said, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."

Yes, it is! Because that's what He did!

It almost seemed to me like Jesus was lying about that.

I fussed with Pastor about it. He finally got it through my head (at least, temporarily...) that according to the law it is not right to give the children's bread to the little dogs. But the gospel trumps the law.

I keep bumping into that again and again. And it trips me up over and over. The law is true. But the gospel is bigger and greater. Even though the demands of the law are valid, the gift of the gospel trumps the truth of the law.

IQ Scores

IQ scores are higher among children who live in richer environments. In fact, a study done in Milwaukee about 40 years ago indicated a 30-point difference in IQ scores between kids in an enriched environment as compared with those in a deprived environment.

So, as part of the testing Maggie underwent early last week, the doctor and psychiatrist evaluated her IQ. She's kind of borderline, so it's iffy as to whether she'd get special-ed services if she were enrolled in public school. It's also clear that we'd be in trouble if we lived in one of those states that requires standardized testing for homeschoolers; she wouldn't even score high enough for the states that have a really really low requirement. Thank God for Wisconsin's homeschool law as it's stood for the last 25 years!

I kept thinking how well Maggie's doing ... but where would she have been without our homeschool law that allows me to fit our program to her needs? What if I'd needed to pass muster for the local school superintendent? What if I'd had to try to keep her up-to-snuff for an annual test? Or worse, what if she'd been in the public school? The programs in the public school are certainly more enriching than what the deprived kids in the Milwaukee Project got. But too often, the special-ed programs at school are stifling and discouraging and not altogether helpful. If we hadn't had the freedom to invent our funky, non-conventional, homeschool program, Maggie's IQ would have been significantly lower.

The Office

People have told us about The Office, but we never watched it. The folks Gary works with have been telling him for over a year that he needs to see this show. So we recently watched the series on Netflix. Oh my goodness, there are places that are SO funny!

I feel kind of guilty for liking it. The hilarious parts are the jerk of a boss and a couple of other horrible people. Why laugh at it? There really are people like that in the world, and it's utterly miserable to be around them. And yet, when we see it on a sitcom, we laugh! Does that mean I'm warped?