Thankful: November 14

    

   As the days grow darker I'm thankful for the warmth and brightness of light, both spiritually and physically. Last night we read about St. Martin of Tours and took an evening walk with the lanterns the kids had made. They were so beautiful, the warm glow illuminating the darkness and reflecting off happy little faces. We talked of letting the light of Christ shine through us, about loving one another and caring for the poor, as St. Martin taught us by his example, and of seeing Christ in everyone we meet. 

"O Joyful Light of the holy glory of the immortal, heavenly, holy blessed Father, O Jesus Christ. Having come to the setting of the sun, having beheld the evening light, we hymn the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God." 

(Ancient Christian hymn sung in the evening service of the Orthodox Church.)

"The Light of Christ illumines all!"

(From the Liturgy of the Pre-sanctified Gifts)

"The early Christian ritual of carrying a lamp into the evening service led to the present-day order of Vespers with its entry and the singing of the ancient hymn, O Jesus Christ, the Joyful Light…, which expresses the Christian teaching of spiritual light that illumines man, of Christ the Source of the grace-bestowing light."

(Quote taken from here.)

"And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it"
(John 1:5)

Thankful: November 7

A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.  ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry,Flight to Arras, 1942

    Today I'm thankful for imagination. I love to see how a spark of an idea in the mind of a child can quickly transform a morning. How a couple of kids playing together are suddenly wearing backpacks and needing trail mix because they're setting off on some grand adventure known only to them. How these little minds envision what they need and set about to create it. How pieces of silk cloth in various colors can turn any outfit into something much more than the sum of its parts. Need a hat, a skirt, a turban, a cape? How about a blanket or a belt? Look no further. I love how these children can completely immerse themselves in the world of imagination and be transported into far away places and stories. I wonder why we lose this as adults, this wonderful God-given ability to see something in the mind's eye and go about making it a reality. Here's to imagination! 

Simple Science

    Poppy informed me the other day that she doesn't like Science, which I took with a grain of salt. As you can see here, she doesn't seem to mind it one bit. This is a simple and fun project we did for the first time a couple years ago to help the kids learn their primary colors. I'm not sure that Poppy remembered it, so it was like doing it for the first time with her.

We started with the primary colors, and a little plain water in the other three jars.

I asked her which two colors she thought would make orange, so this was her answer.
She was surprised to learn that blue and yellow make green, not orange!

Aha! Red and yellow make orange!

Uh, I'm not sure this is going to make purple...

I did it! I made a rainbow! 

Thumbs up from Peregrine!

Raphael, aka Superman, got in on the action too. You can see yellow droplets
of water dripping off his face. Might be kryptonite. 

    After the camera was put away, the kids had a blast playing "chemistry lab". There were colorful explosions all over the place, and skin turning all kinds of funky colors.  If you're ever in our neck of the woods, watch out for my mad little scientists and their "Formula 14"!

    

Kidspeak

Peregrine and Poppy looking out at Laguna Yal Ku, Mexico, 2007.
They were so little!

    I came across a fun contest the other day on Ciao Bambino, a website with the goal of inspiring families to travel the world. (Not that I actually need any more inspiration!) To enter the contest, you had to ask your kids for their best travel advice. Here's what Peregrine and Poppy came up with:

    Peregrine (8 years):

• Visit towns that are less of a tourist attraction. You'll find them to be a lot more quiet, peaceful, and convenient.
• Also, never buy cheap souvenirs; they'll last you for not very long. 
• And one more good travel tip: the smaller the restaurant, the better the food!

    Poppy (6 years):

• Don't climb Mount Everest and fall and get killed.
• Do kayak in the river.
• Make sure to not eat poison oak.
• Keep your seat belt on in an airplane.
• Don't jump out of an airplane without a parachute.

    That, my friends, just may be proof enough that my kids are getting a decent education! If nothing else, they won't be buying cheap souvenirs, eating poison oak in fancy restaurants, or falling off of Mount Everest! 

Blessings

A few random picture of the blessings I spend my days with! (Yes, I actually do other things besides baking bread!)

There's an awful lot of reading going on with this boy these days. I think we're going to have to get used to seeing Peregrine with his nose in a book. It's so very fun watching him catch the reading spark. He reads alone, reads to his brother and sister, and reads to Erik and me. I love it!

We got a new batch of 7 laying hens this spring. I can't wait until they start giving us eggs. Here is Poppy holding hers, a Rhode Island Red named Marigold.

You just never know what you may find in the potty!

(And I daresay this is more pleasant than some things one finds.)

And this little boy is an absolute delight! I can hardly believe he's fourteen months. He's discovered that walking is a pretty decent way to get around, and get around he does!

One (Three Times)

We're carrying on the fine tradition of allowing our "yearlings" to have all the fun they like with their first birthday cake. While none of them have gotten up and danced in their cake like I did, they've all thoroughly enjoyed it! Here they are, in order of appearance in our lives, the stars of our very own little reality show, part sit-com, part drama:

Peregrine

Poppy

Raphael

Dragonslayers

In honor of the feast day of The Great Martyr Saint George, we made dragon pancakes, read the story of his life, and talked about how we can be good soldiers for Christ too. We may not have any dragons to fight, but there is certainly a battle taking place, and St. George is a wonderful example of endurance, bravery, and great love. While the story of him slaying a dragon is what he's most known for, he endured terrible tortures at the hands of the pagan emperor Diocletian. By God's grace George remained steadfast in his love for Jesus, and witnessing this many others also professed faith in Christ, including Diocletian's wife, who was also martyred. Finally, seeing that George would not renounce his faith, he was beheaded on this day in the year 303 and received a crown of glory. This is one "superhero" that I feel very good about my son wanting to emulate! 

 Since Poppy is not eating wheat at the moment, I used this grain free pancake recipe that uses coconut flour. The verdict? Yummy. Thanks, Carrie. Next year, maybe we'll go all out and make this amazing dragon cake and these fun swords. 

Knights of the Rectangular Crib

When I was pregnant with Raphael, Peregrine was so excited to have a brother so they could sword fight! Well, Raphael is still a ways off from sword fighting, but who says he can't be dressed up? This is what I found yesterday morning when I went into the boys' room: Sir Lancelot (Peregrine), King Arthur (Raphael), and their baby dragon (Stuffed Iguana). They were all dressed up and ready for a great adventure, in spite of the fact that the King can't leave the crib on his own. King Arthur looks like he's about to say something very intelligent to the Dragon, does he not? 

Peregrine, on Fashion

Some days I let Peregrine pick out clothes for his brother. He is sure that, in this outfit, we have the cutest baby in the world! He thought it would be better, though, if he had a real beaver-fur top hat to complete the look. Ummm, I don't personally claim to care much about fashion, but I don't know where he comes up with some of this stuff. Maybe from Erik, who put together this ensemble?

Clap Your Hands....

...if you believe in faeries. (And cowboys.)

The Pop-per-raffi

My siblings and I thought it was quite humorous when our mom had to run through two or three names before her tongue found the one she was looking for. With sisters named Alyssa and Gloria it wasn't terribly uncommon to hear things like“Re-Gloria” or  "Al-Glo-Rebeca." As a kid, of course, I couldn't fathom the numerous things a mother does all day, every day, and often all at once. Now, I understand. As I sat at the table feeding Raphael the other day I struggled to get the right name on my lips and it came out something like "Pop-Per-Raffi". 

And thus a new name for my children, in a collective sense, was born: they are now known as "The Popperaffi". It sounds kind of like Paparazzi. It may not seem like my children have anything in common with these infamous rabid journalists, but it's not as out there as you may think. I really do have my own version going on. Three people who I can't seem to shake; they watch me night and day. They're not yet equipped with cameras, but by their very lives they're recording my words, my actions, even my attitudes. And they really do follow my everywhere. It doesn't matter if I'm on the toilet or in the shower, they seem to find me! I'm reminded (and it's a timely reminder) of one of my favorite quotes from Elizabeth Prentiss.

"My children, my darling precious children....what I want them to become I must become myself."

It's a tall order. I have high hopes for the kind of people I want my children to become. I don't care about how much money they make or what kind of social position they find themselves in, but I do want them, above all, to love God with all their hearts, souls, and minds, and to love their neighbor as themselves. I want them to be kind, compassionate, generous, joyful, unselfish, courageous, loving, humble. It's what I want to become too, but I have a long, long way to grow. I know that Erik and I are the biggest earthly influence in their lives, that they see us at our best and at our worst, that many times our actions don't line up with our words or our expectations of them. But we love, and are abundantly loved by, a big God, a God who is bigger than we are, who loves our kids more than we do, whose plans for them exceed ours, and who is able to bring them to pass. 

So even though the calling is high, so very high, I won't lose heart. I will continue to live with my little Popperaffi and let them see my life, moment by moment, day by day. I will continue to love them, to play with them, teach them, correct them, dance with them. I will humble myself and ask their forgiveness when I have spoken harshly or become impatient with them. I will continue to pray for all of us to become more like our loving and kind-hearted Christ. And I will trust Him to complete the work that He started in us. 

And Mom? I hope you can forgive me for laughing when you called my Al-Glo-Rebeca. I understand now. I really do. 

The Nutrition Corner

We eat fairly healthy food around here, and here are a few recent conversations that have made me laugh:

My sister had both of the kids the other day and I don't recall exactly what happened, but Peregrine was warning Poppy of the dangers of some action. In typical five year old boy fashion, it wasn't simply "you could get hurt" but something along the lines of "and you would get squished, and all of your bones would be crushed and broken". Poppy, being a nutrition savvy girl of almost three replied promptly "then I would need lots of calcium!" 

There has been a bag of small packages of Gummi Savers in our pantry for oh, about five months now. Yesterday I handed one to each of the kids for a special treat, and not getting to eat a lot of candy, they were thrilled. Peregrine asked me the funniest questions about them, such as "Are these bagel shaped things healthy for us?" I loved that he had no context in which to place them, that he doesn't know what LifeSavers are, and that the closest connection he could make was bagels! 

Flashback

It's hard to believe that three years have passed since this photo was taken. Peregrine is a lot bigger, but I look about the same! And of course the baby that was in there then is now a sweet nearly-three-year-old girl. It's about time for another belly photo shoot! 

Moments of Peace

Overheard

I've wondered how our children, especially Peregrine, have been affected by losing two tiny siblings through miscarriage. We gave names to those babies and keep their memories alive by talking of them being in heaven, but it's hard to know how much our kids grasp the reality of that. A few nights ago I asked Peregrine to pray for someone who lives in our home, and this was what he prayed: "Dear Jesus, please don't let our baby go to heaven. Please help him to live a long time, until he's old, and then when he dies please help him to go to heaven then. Amen." Last night he prayed a similar thing, and it's made me realize how losing these babies is a very real part of his experience. He dearly loves this little baby brother of his and is so excited for him to be born. I think his prayer is precious, but I also don't want him to live in fear. 

On a lighter note, Poppy is really enjoying playing with dolls and being a "little mama" to them. Sometimes she pretends that she too has a baby in her tummy. The other night I was asking her about her baby, who was, of course, a girl. I asked what her name was and she answered "Dot!" I don't think she's ever heard the name Dot, but it was explained when she followed that with "She's my Daughter!" Then today we took a walk and she got out of the stroller for a while, stopping sometimes to tend to her imaginary babies. As we walked together she said contentedly to me "We're both mommies!" I love seeing how nurturing she is, and am interested how she'll be with the new baby. 

Kill Your Computer

You may have seen the bumper stickers that say "Kill Your Television" pasted on cars around town. Well, my children have decided to start a new campaign, this one being called "Kill Your Computer." While making dinner a few evenings ago I looked over to see my delicate little girl beating the computer screen with a wooden spoon. The LCD broke and we're left with an 8 inch viewable square in the corner of the screen. When I asked her what she was doing she told me between sobs that she was "killing the computer." Hmmmm, at those words I knew that her big brother must somehow be behind this, because Alethea doesn't generally go around "killing" things without some influence! Peregrine was sitting at the table coloring a picture, and when I interrogated questioned him about it he admitted to telling her to kill the computer.
Now, if we back up a moment, I'll tell you what was happening prior to the murder of our computer. I'd put a movie on for Alethea to watch while Peregrine finished up his coloring for AWANA. (We watch movies on the computer because we, the parents, have chosen not to have a television. No televisions were harmed in the making of this decision.) Peregrine was getting very distracted by the movie and Alethea wasn't paying any attention to it so I'd turned it off. My theory is that he was upset by this and instigated the computercide. To be fair, I don't think he told her to whack it with all her might with a wooden spoon, and I doubt he thought she really had the stuff of killing computers in her, but there you have it. The death of our computer. (We have a Mac that is computer/monitor all in one so it's not as simple as replacing the monitor.)
Thankfully none of our "stuff" was lost, and you can actually do a lot with just one small corner of your screen. Also, we have an archaic laptop that Erik recently revived to take on our upcoming trip to Mexico, so I'm able to use it for now. It's taking some getting used to, and I don't have my pictures and address book and favorites, but I do have something, and for that I'm thankful. I really want to post some pictures from Peregrine's birthday, but don't know how or when that will be able to happen. And I need to write his birthday letter, but that may have to wait .Right now I'm knee deep in packing and preparing for our departure in a few days.
I've been thinking though, this Kill Your Computer thing could maybe catch on. We could sell a little kit that would come with a bumper sticker and a wooden spoon. Our slogan would be "Kill Your Computer: So simple even a two-year old can do it!"

(Not Quite) Wordless Wednesday

One of these days, or weeks, I may get back to posting a bit more regularly. In the meantime, life is happening and here are a few pictures to prove it:

In spite of the fact the summer already feels like it was too long ago, we're still enjoying the harvest from our garden. This is a frittata I made the other night using fresh eggs (thanks to our lovely hens, Stella, Janie, Marigold, and Penny), onion and bell pepper, tomatoes and basil. The only thing from the store was the cheese. We had it with baked potatoes on the side, also from the garden! It makes the homesteader in me quite happy to serve a meal such as this!

Some kids are bit odd, if you know what I mean. Our dear little Alethea, methinks, is one of these. Erik jokingly asked the kids the other day who wanted to cuddle with a gallon of milk. She did, and as you can see took it very seriously. This is also the girl who takes to bed with her the typical stuffed animal, a sippy cup of water, and a wet washcloth. Yep, a wet washcloth, and she cuddles with it, and sometimes reads stories not only to Bear, but also to Water and Washcloth. Like they're entities or something. Female ones, of course, because all inanimate objects and animals are in her world. Do any of your kids have a security Washcloth?

And this is what happens when you have too many baskets of laundry waiting around to be folded. You find creatures inhabiting your laundry and hope you pulled out the things that tend to wrinkle. (You probably didn't, but the creatures are rather charming, so you don't really mind the wrinkles.)

Someday soon I hope to actually sit down and write a little something. I think about it, but for some reason haven't done it. Soon, perhaps....

At the Zoo

After touring the Oregon Zoo last week I concluded that these were my two favorite animals:

The Trumpeting Elephant, and ...

...the Slightly Smiling Hippo!

Out of the Mouths of my Babes

Here are a few things heard in and around our home the last few days days.

Peregrine, breaking out in what he called a "Psalm" one morning:
Weep not with those who marvel!
(Uh, yeah, make sure you don't weep with those who marvel. Where on earth does this stuff come from!)

Poppy, praying in her special gravelly prayer voice:
Dear Lord, Help us to be good, and pleasant, and kind, and somefing. And thank you for this milk, and thank you for Mama, and thank you for Daddy, and thank you for Mommy, and for somefing.....
(And this went on and on and on, with a lot of "somefings" thrown in when no better word came to mind!)

And Peregrine ended his prayer this way:
And You are the heavenly king who loved us not with half Your love and not with most of Your love but with all Your love, and that makes me want to love You with all my heart too.

A few nights ago, on a walk to the river, after both kids had given up playing on the bank and plunged in fully clothed, I overheard Peregrine saying this:
Some men went out in a boat with way too much cargo; this is the sort of story Jesus might have wanted to tell His people. So this is what happens when you have too much cargo in your boat.
(And at this point, he dropped a stone from his hand and it sunk to the bottom of the river. That is what happens when you have too much cargo. Not good. There just may be some deeper spiritual meaning hidden here.... for him who has ears to hear.)

Goslings, Chicks, and Teddy Bears

Ahh, Spring! It's finally starting to feel like it, and we've been spending more time outside. The kids, and I, are very happy about this. Walks to the pond are lovely on these days; Peregrine and Alethea have been bringing their buckets and wearing rubber boots. They don't seem to mind getting very wet, and all I can think of is a song from when I was a kid that went like this:

Six-inch boots in a nine-inch puddle,
You're really in a muddle in the middle of a puddle
With your six-inch boots in a nine-inch puddle.

Yep, we're bringing home some pond water and the footsteps on the return walk sound awfully squashy to me. The geese have had their babies and we're having so much fun watching the fuzzy yellow goslings follow their parents around. Mama and Daddy geese are very protective and hiss at us if their babies get too near.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our baby chicks are getting big so fast! They are still in the house but hopefully soon we can move them outdoors. They're fun, and we're looking forward to fresh eggs in another several months! The last few days we've let them outside for a while.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peregrine is turning into a thinker. Well, his questions at least are changing. We're hearing less of "What's that?" and more of this sort of thing:
"Mom, if everyone in the world started out as babies, then how could that be? Who would be the mommies?"
Hmmm, that time thing is a bit tricky to explain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Teddy Bear Tea was a great success. We were joined by four Teddy Bears and one dragon, who arrived in style in the back of a Tonka dump truck. The fare was tiny scones, kiwi fruit, strawberries, and cheese cut into big and little T shapes. Oh, and tea, of course. (Which tasted suspiciously like apricot juice and was guzzled by children who usually get their juice in about a 1 to 3 ratio with water.)