Public Declaration

These are the things I wish to accomplish this holiday season:

• Assign and work through a Thanksgiving history project with the kids
• Assign a Christmas essay to the girls, and a creative writing project for the younger set and help them through those
• Learn and make 3 new crafts that the kids can help with
• Do some sewing and crafting of my own, with friends!
• Mail crafty gifts in the mail with postage and addresses in the mail in the mail in the mail, and not stacked in my car waiting to be mailed
• Make lots of gingerbread dough so the kids can build and create together
• Take long walks outdoors in the not-hot weather
• Start training for the February Color Run in Austin
• Make and keep an advent calendar for once
• Make a toddler-proof nativity (out of felt? wood?)
• Bake treats for all the neighbors we know and a few we don’t
• Visit the Trail of Lights at Zilker

There ya go. Now that I have publicly  stated my (overzealous and probably unrealistic) ambitions, I need to Google Calendar all this stuff so that some of  it actually happens.

 

Young Me Now Me

Death of a Pumpkin

We didn’t mean to hurt you.

Our cuts were meant to open,

to free,

to bare your face to the world.

You were meant to smile.

But you caved to tiny doubts,

little spores,

entertained them in your teeth

let them settle in your eyes,

until the face we gave you

withered.

Why did you give your smile

to the mold?

Spookiness by Jonah

The Sheep Curse

Once upon a time, there was a boy. His name was Jonah. And he had a stuffed sheep, and his name was Sheepy.

Sheepy was his favorite toy. He was his first toy. Jonah had him ever since he was a baby. When Jonah slept, he snuggled Sheepy. In the daytime, Jonah gave him piggy back rides.

One day, Jonah was in the bathroom. But before he got out, he was a sheep. “Oh no! Not a sheep!” Jonah said. Was it Sheepy’s fault?

“No,” Sheepy said.

The End?

Hello. It’s me, the former blogger.

Here is a sadly overdue update:
We started school five weeks ago. Our new schedule is fabulous, thanks to Google Calendar’s ridiculously helpful planning tools. I have the entire year mapped out and now I only have to remember to keep up with it, which sounds easy, but being me, it’s the hardest part of all. Seriously, since college there are days when I simply FORGET there is such a thing as school. I used to have nightmares in which I would wake up on the day of the final and realize that I had forgotten to attend the class at all up to that day. This dream was, in fact, based on reality. Oh, brain. Oh, silly, flighty brain. And now I am in charge of the education of six little humans. May God help us all.

Also, I am still studying Japanese. I love studying Japanese (and history and art and culture). I’m secretly working out ways to make myself useful in Japan and simultaneously get immersed in the language. Well, maybe not secretly, but in a quiet, I-have-no-idea-when-and-so-I-will-be-patient way. I don’t feel itchy about it, but I think it will happen at some point.

My kids are huge. Today on the playground equipment they looked like giants. Yesterday I emailed my mom about next summer and told her the oldest four will be 7, 9, and 11 by then. That’s freaky. I love my crazy little geeks more and more.

Jason is still plugging away at a full time job that bores him to tears. He’s amazing and dedicated and stubborn, in a good way. I love him more, also. He’s started applying to some very cool positions where he could use his head and breathe a little. Be praying about it.

Our little church on the hill is having hard times all around. Lots of losses and changes and storms, but it’s amazing how God makes it beautiful. I love those people.

I’m really happy. Which is weird because this is one of the hardest times we’ve ever had, as far as circumstances go. It feels like what Paul was talking about when he said he’d learned to be content in all conditions– rich, poor, hungry, feasted, sick, healthy… We’ve been provided for and sustained in every situation we’ve met so far, and it has worked out for good.

I’m also continuously, sometimes unexpectedly in the middle of the day, heartbroken over my baby niece, Ruby, and over John and Cristin’s pain and loss and struggle. (If you haven’t been there, they’ve been keeping everyone up to date at http://rarerubyjean.blogspot.com/) But even in that John and Cristin keep coming back to how faithful and how beautiful their God is. It’s amazing. Sometimes these hard times can be miraculously sweet.

Things I’ve been struggling with lately:

• anything related to organizing/ordering/tidying
• managing distractions
• getting to bed on time
• and probably some other things that I’m too dull to notice.

I keep making plans and schedules to get myself in line, but so far nothing sticks. My ultimate FAIL in life so far is my inability to do the same thing twice. Love the creativity and spontanaeity and mobility. Don’t love the ineffectualness in simple, daily living. It’s my nemesis. Probably will be forever. But today I’m not too sad about it, so there you go. It’s getting better slooooooooooowly. Patience, patience, patience. Sigh.

More Judah

Just because I like him and I take too many pictures.

He practices walking all the time now. Even tried running once, too soon. His limit is around ten or eleven steps at a time. Sometimes instead of falling he stops and seems to think, “This is about when I usually hit the ground,” and he sits. Sweet boy.

P.S. I do still have other lovely children. I promise to stop doting so lopsidedly soon.

Summering

We are dry and dusty here. I’m actually getting used to the triple digit heat. It’s been so long since we felt anything else that it seems normal. Of course, if I had to actually spend time outside doing anything close to exercising or working, I would feel differently. But I have a cool house (most of the time), so I’m content with my little backyard visits and trips to and from the car, and Wednesday evenings in the breezy shade of the pavilion at church.  That’s the extent of my interaction with the heat this summer.

This guy, however, could live in the dust and sunshine all day, if I let him. He plays outside with the biggest sisters when Mama refuses to stay out any longer.

(Note that the knees no longer touch the ground. He’s like a little bear cub.)

And with this one too, of course. She thinks he’s pretty big now.

Cookie. . .

and Judah. . . Love.

THIS is my 1,000th post.

And it must be epic.

So um…

Yeah, Facebook. Tiny status updates. Kinda stuck in that mode right now… Blogging? Blogging… Um…. Hm.

Let’s start small. Little stories.

Well, it’s summer, so… swimming pool, splash pads (many). RAD 4th of July festivities in our town. No fireworks due to the crispy nature of our grass hereabouts.

And…

Jonah will be baptized soon, Possibly Sunday. It was a lot of asking and talking and hard thinking on his part, for a very long time. He’s reaaally stoked, and so are we. I expected that he would be much older before taking this step, but I was wrong. And that’s just fine.

And…

Transferring from FB:

Jason:  Ella, a little bird told me you’ve been throwing fits today.

Ella:  What bird?!

Jason:  Never mind that– have you been throwing fits?

Ella:  Where’s this bird?!

Just had to record that for posterity, even though everyone saw it already.

And…

Ella’s pretty much potty-trained now. Still gets distracted when she’s playing outside and forgets to come in, but other than that she does well. PHEW. <—- humongous sigh of relief.

And…

The last few weeks she trips all over herself. At the moment she has a black eye. From dancing. Little Miss Agility is getting too big for her feet. Or her feet are too big for her. Or maybe both.

And…

にほんご  が  べんきょう. <—- I’m studying Japanese lately. I can finally read hiragana and I’m slowly learning kanji (those are the imported Chinese symbols). You have to know at least 2,000 kanji to be considered literate in Japanese, so I’ve got a long way to go. In the fall I’m planning to start taking classes at the Japan/America guild. Then I will have a teacher! And she’s Japanese! and has a PhD in teaching languages! That should move things along, I think.

And…

Language makes my brain happy.

And…

Our little church on the hill gets to be more of a blessing all the time. Not sure how much more I can say in detail, but it does. God brought us into an amazing family here.

And…

I think my children ask to play in the sprinklers for the express purpose of creating a mud pit for themselves.

And…

Anna and Sarah have logged 2,400 and 3,600 5,692 (I stand corrected) minutes, respectively, on their summer reading logs since June 1st. Half Price Books better recognize, man. We keep them in business.

And…

Jonah and Naiah started reading in earnest this summer as well. They’ll definitely surpass their 600 minute goal, which is BIG for them. We’re really proud of all our readers.

And…

I’m writing a 100 day journal. It’s kept in a 100 page composition notebook. The nameplate on the front is labeled “ON PURPOSE”, because the point of the 100 day journal is to focus myself on living each day intentionally, prioritizing the things I feel called to do as a person, mom, wife, Christ follower. In the morning I set two or three intentions for the day, which vary from mundane to difficult, depending on the day. I might also set out a few strategies or tools to help me get them done. And at the end of the day I use the back of the page to reflect on how it went and how I felt about it all. So far it has been a help. No huge developments. But for me, simply doing the same thing two days in a row is a miracle.

And…

Jason is getting treated for ADD for the first time ever. I don’t notice it most of the time, but he says it’s a different ballgame at work, and when he preached in our class Sunday it was the most clear and crisp teaching he’s ever done. It was like the meds helped him translate the crazy-squiggly lines in his head into a colorful plaid that normal people could follow. Now, I always liked his crazy-squigglies, but I also like that from now on even more people can benefit from what he studies and learns. He has a lot to explore right now.

And…

Judah is big. Not so much in size (although compared to our other kids, he’s big that way too), more in the way he thinks and acts. He smiles easily and tries to talk and follow the big kids around. He likes to ride on Sarah’s hip wherever she goes. Sibling relationships blow my mind. I’m glad he has so many people to love on him.

Aaaaaaand…

Yeah, not so epic. But there you go. Happy 1,000th post, you poor, neglected blog.

Maybe this’ll help:

Baby in a bath!!!! BAM!

She’s a morning person.

Ella (age 2): Mommy, are you awake?

Me: Yes, I am! Are you awake?

Ella: Yes, I am! Now, let’s sing a song!