Jackson

I wonder what he's trying to say!

Elisabeth Elliot on Motherhood:

When women--sometimes well-meaning, earnest, truth seeking ones say "Get out of the house and do something creative, find something meaningful, something with more direct access to reality," it is a dead giveaway that they have missed the deepest definition of creation, of meaning, of reality. And when you start seeing the world as opaque, that is, as an end in itself instead of as transparent, when you ignore the Other World where this one ultimately finds its meaning, of course housekeeping (and any other kind of work if you do it long enough) becomes tedious and empty.

But what have buying groceries, changing diapers and peeling vegetables got to do with creativity? Aren't those the very things that keep us from it? Isn't it that kind of drudgery that keeps us in bondage? It's insipid and confining, it's what one conspicuous feminist called "a life of idiotic ritual, full of forebodings and failure." To her I would answer ritual, yes. Idiotic, no, not to the Christian--for although we do the same things anybody else does, and we do them over and over in the same way,

But this is what we so easily forget. Men as well as women have listened to those quasi-rational claims, have failed to see the fatal fallacy, and have capitulated. Words like personhood, liberation, fulfillment and equality have had a convincing ring and we have not questioned their popular definitions or turned on them the searchlight of Scripture or even of our common sense. We have meekly agreed that the kitchen sink is an obstacle instead of an altar, and we have obediently carried on our shoulders the chips these reductionists have told us to carry.

Those who focus only on the drabness of the supermarket, or on the onions or the diapers themselves, haven't an inkling of the mystery that is at stake here, the mystery revealed in the birth of that Baby and consummated on the Cross: my life for yours.

The routines of housework and of mothering may be seen as a kind of death, and it is appropriate that they should be, for they offer the chance, day after day, to lay down one's life for others. Then they are no longer routines. By being done with love and offered up to God with praise, they are thereby hallowed as the vessels of the tabernacle were hallowed--not because they were different from other vessels in quality or function, but because they were offered to God. A mother's part in sustaining the life of her children and making it pleasant and comfortable is no triviality. It calls for self-sacrifice and humility, but it is the route, as was the humiliation of Jesus, to glory.

To modern mothers I would say "Let Christ himself be your example as to what your attitude should be. For he, who had always been God by nature, did not cling to his prerogatives as God's equal, but stripped himself of all privilege by consenting to be a slave by nature and being born as a mortal man. And, having become man, he humbled himself by living a life of utter obedience, even to the extent of dying, and the death he died was the death of a common criminal. That is why God has now lifted him so high. . ." (Phil. 2:5-11 Phillips).

It is a spiritual principle as far removed from what the world tells us as heaven is removed from hell: If you are willing to lose your life, you'll find it. It is the principle expressed by John Keble in 1822:

If on our daily course our mind
Be set to hallow all we find,
New treasures still, of countless price,
God will provide for sacrifice.

Such encouragement in realizing that the routine of daily life is important, the small and seemingly insignificant tasks of our day have purpose- "The ordinary transactions of everyday life are the very means of transfiguration. It is the common stuff of this world which, because of the Word's having been "made flesh," is shot through with meaning, with charity, with the glory of God."

Summer Days

Visiting the neighbor's horse- he usually comes right to the fence when he sees the kiddos.

Visiting the donkey, too.

Everything has been so green and lush since our winter and spring have been so full of moisture ( wet and soggy!).

The neighbor's field of wildflowers

Growing Up

Hope worked hard at wiggling her loose tooth all day. When I walked by the bathroom in the afternoon, this is what I saw.

Around 5 pm, success!

Victoria Magazine is Coming Back!

One of the most beautiful, inspiring magazines ended around ten years ago and is now coming back! I purchased several old magazines on ebay and have savored their wonderful pictures. How thrilled I was to learn that the powers that be are going to be publishing it again, starting this fall.

Here is the link to the magazine's website. It has subscription information, in case you are interested. I signed up right away so I won't miss out!
http://www.victoriamag.com/

Poor Lucy

Lucy endures so much! Hope put her dress-up wedding veil on the dog and Lucy didn't even get upset. Good thing she has such a mellow disposition and is used to being sat on, dressed up, etc.

Old Fashioned Chocolate Soda

From the Tasha Tudor Cookbook

2 Tablespoons Hershey's chocolate syrup
Club soda, chilled (we don't usually chill it, but that would probably be even better- we can never wait that long)
2 scoops chocolate ice cream (we use Breyer's)

In a tall glass combine the chocolate syrup with a bit of the club soda. Add the ice cream. Then fill the rest of the glass with the club soda and stir gently. Drink!

One of the best parts of summer is a chocolate soda on a warm day...

Thank Goodness for Google!

Jacob asked today, "Do cats have belly buttons?"

I assumed so, but it never hurts to look things up in a time of uncertainty.

The site I checked when I Googled "Do cats have belly buttons?" assured me that ALL mammals have belly buttons, but on some dogs and cats they have healed so well and are covered with hair so they may be difficult to find.

Now that that problem is taken care of, we can go back to our regular scheduled programming!

Jackson at Three Weeks

World's cutest newborn nephew is now three weeks old!

The strawberries from the grocery store have been wonderful lately. The past two nights we have enjoyed them with homemade yogurt and whipped cream (and possibly a little chocolate sauce). Yum!

April showers bring...

May flowers!

A Quilt for Hope

Pressing the applique pieces over the freezer paper

Fabric starched and ready for the iron

Quilt laid out and ready for sewing. The green "melon" pieces are just placed on the quilt for now- hopefully I can start sewing them on tomorrow and have the quilt top ready for quilting next week. I have never done applique before and when I saw this quilt on display at the quilt store, I thought, "That doesn't look too hard." 150 applique pieces later, I am regretting those hasty (and naive) thoughts! But really, what is life without a challenge?

Teach me your way, O Lord,
and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify your name forever.
Psalm 86:11-12

Jon, Christy, Jackson and Dad on Mother's Day. Jackson was dedicated during the morning church service.

Abby in her Easter dress. These pictures are here so I can upload them to a sewing forum. Feel free to ignore them! :)

You Know It's Time To Dust When...

Your children use your furniture to practice their penmanship.

Five Weeks Old

This "batch" of bunnies has been a lot of fun- very sweet and playful. They are socializing well and should make wonderful class pets!

Summer Projects

Trims bought at the fabric store on Friday. The rick rack and yellow and white trims are all cotton from Wright's new "vintage" line. I was thrilled to find it since most rick rack is all poly and the cotton felt so nice. I just hope the color stays true after it's been washed! The ribbons at the top are for hair ribbons. They looked too pretty to pass up.

I bought some white pima cotton to make up this blouse for myself. I'm thinking of making the slim skirt later, but I haven't looked for fabric yet.

I found some nice blue shirting fabric to make the sleeveless blouse for Abby. I hope to make the white skirt and pink cumberbund, but didn't get fabric for it this week. Abby wants the red and white checked outfit, but we'll start with the blue and see how it goes.

I found this flannel for $1 a yard, so I bought 4 1/2 yards for jammies in the fall. The buttons- some I need for projects right now, the red ones on the end just because they are so cute and I know I'll use them!

Tea Party Ideas

This site looks like a fun place to spend some time on. They have wonderful looking cakes and ideas for an English tea. I think I'll download a few recipes for future use!

English Tea Party Recepies

As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God.
Psalm 42:1

Family Celebrates End of School Year!

Our family tradition is to start and end the school year with a visit to a favorite restaurant.
The grounds are so beautiful and we love to walk around and appreciate the scenery.

We stopped by to see the beautiful peacocks.

I'm not sure what kind of bird this is but he sure is impressive!

Local farmyard animals...

We enjoyed listening to bluegrass music. They even played a Johnny Cash song.

A quiet moment.

Sliding down the "pig chute".

Most of us ordered the turkey, but Jacob had the fried chicken. Coleslaw, beets, cottage cheese and corn fritters come standard with every meal.

The goats would initially come over to you but once they assessed that you didn't have food, they wanted nothing more to do with you! So we gave in and bought two handfulls of overpriced animal feed from the nearby dispenser. The things we do to make our children happy...

In the restaurant there is a display of old sleighs and buggies. It looks like a romantic way to travel, but I'm sure that wasn't the case most of the time!

All Jackson, All the Time...

Another picture of the cutest newborn nephew in the world.
Jackson at home gazing at his mother with love.

As an aside, Dad, Linda thinks Jackson looks like YOU! (poor child!)

Isn't this just the sweetest picture?

In the Classroom

We finished "Across Five Aprils" last week and that has led to a review of the Civil War. We have several wonderful children's books on the subject and we have rented again a video from the library that was informative. With Hannah and Jacob being avid readers and Abby being an auditory (and often visual) learner, it is important to cover all the bases when teaching this subject!

Hannah felt that "Across Five Aprils" started out slow and the first two chapters did not seem to be sparking any interest. However, by the middle of the book things were off and running and we were all sad to come to the end of the book. I think our study of the Civil War will be more meaningful now that we have "met" the Creighton family and read through their experience of the war.

This is our last week of school, with testing coming on Friday. We pick up again in earnest in late July/early August, with various projects throughout the summer months. We've had a great school year and we are looking forward to the summer break!

Psalm 127

Unless the Lord builds the house,
its builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchmen stand guard in vain.
In vain you rise early and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat-
for he grants sleep to those he loves.

Sons are a heritage from the Lord,
children a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are the sons born in one's youth.
Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

It's a Boy!

Beautiful baby Jackson! Welcome to the world! Congratulations Jon and Christy!