Double Digits

Dante's birthday was yesterday. Amazing to think that he's been in our family now for 10 whole years. What joy he's brought to us. We had a fun day, and he was very cheerful too. His gifts were perfect and he loved them all, from the umbrella (it collapses super small for in his backpack!) to the bible ("It's got my name on it!") to the legos (he's already completed one good sized creation and is on to another) to the wii game. And he got to show off for Daddy at the pool and relax and play and chill and eat on the deck and help make his own cupcakes and so on.

Happy 10th birthday my dear "Happy Boy!"

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When to Pull the Trigger

Those who know us, know we like to get a certain bang for our buck. We also like to be patient about our purchases and confident in what we purchase and why. Well, I (Shiloh) am not a big TV fan in general, though I obviously watch it some and enjoy movies with the family. It also helps to have one for videos and playing wii. But to sink a ton of money into a TV is not my thing. We still own the TV we got with our wedding money 16 years ago this month. It's still good for videos and wii so that's what we've used it for and we're very happy with the bang we got for that buck! The one we replaced it with has had issues the past few months (maybe longer - I don't know). This past week the issues got a lot worse and weren't resolving, though it was still watchable. Anyway... Papa Bear is very good at knowing what we're looking for, and how to make a good decision now that will last us a long time. So he'd been researching and slowly and patiently visiting stores and reading online reviews to see what's out there, what fits us etc and thinking through the timing of when to pull the trigger. We were discussing it, and waiting 'til Christmas or after was definitely something we were considering . . . . and then yesterday morning, the newest symptom almost didn't resolve or recover at all. We began thinking that now might be the time to pull the trigger, so we spoke a little more earnestly about it, and discovered a TV Papa Bear had looked at just the day before had dropped in price $50 . . . . putting it in the "I think this is the TV we want" category (it hadn't been the day before).

Long story short, we bought it, yesterday. Don't ask how much it cost because TV prices are ridiculous, but it was a good deal given what we got and all that. It's worth more than our wedding bands and engagement ring combined. Yikes. If the kids play wii with it and send the nunchuck flying into it and break it I think I'll have a heart attack, but assuming that doesn't happen, it's very nice. So we're rearranging furniture, thinking through our options including location, what we can live without (downsizing outgrown or little used stuff), what furniture (think "TV stand") we might need to purchase, etc. It's fun. The house is cleaner in some ways and messier in others in this transition time, especially given the unexpected timing of it. We are taking the TV with the issues to the dump for certain, maybe even tomorrow. The train table might find a new home, but probably not the trains, and definitely not the cars (they lived under the train table just to clarify). We are thankful for the timing of it all, and we all agree that this is the right TV for us at this point, but there are definite collateral decisions that we will need to work through over the next few weeks. In the meantime, we have a beautiful new TV, so if you want to come over and watch some very nice crisp action with us, come on by!

She can swim!

Constance officially can swim. Our hours of fun at the pool with cousins and siblings over the past two weeks have had wonderful effects on her. This week in particular, as a "cooling off" measure, we've hung out at the local pool each evening for almost two hours, and the kiddie pool is great. It's laps up to the edge on one side like when you enter the water at the beach, and gradually deepens to a true 4-5 feet "pool" at the other end. There are sprinkler-type contraptions (the mushroom is my favorite) and it's big and easy to sit in and crawl around in etc. No swimming paraphernalia (e.g. floaties) or toys (noodles, inflatable rings...) are allowed but the gradual nature of the pool makes up for it.

Constance has lots of fears, and encouraging her to put her face in the water has been a challenge. She also fought, as recently as two days ago, trying to float even with my support. So it surprised me to no end when yesterday, soon after we arrived at the pool, she began dunking, first her whole head, then her whole body into the water, over and over again. She then started trying to swim to me (in a foot and a half of water?!) and experimenting with floating on her own and even some submerged efforts with eyes open (but that stung...). Needless to say, we were very excited. Today she surprised me again - swimming right off the bat when we arrived for several yards at a time, floating easily on her front, using her arms and legs to manoeuver, and mostly with her head in the water, not above. Wow. She was even practicing floating on her back. It's official - she can swim!

Even the squirrels look hot

We're officially in a heat wave. No question there. Today is the third day in a row of 90+ degrees... and boy is it hot. Still, we keep on keepin' on. Around the house we have lots of tasks to do like clothes sorting and the like. Patience and I did some of that yesterday, and the two younger kids and I did some of that this morning. We also watched TV, played Wii, and went to the pool. The doctors appts. were an escape from the heat as their offices are air-conditioned. Yippee. I successfully cleaned out the shed early this afternoon. Slowly. It's in the shade or I never would have. The boys sorted laundry in front of a fan this morning. All the kids rooms are more cleaned up and the gardens are well-watered and reasonably well-weeded over the past two days. We also watched Barbie as the Island Princess (a full length movie!) after Vivace clunked his head hard going up the stairs. Ouch. We've managed to keep the house in the low 80's and the fans are working fine, so it's at least a relief to come inside, and the shade in the back yard is a blessing. Fruit smoothies (yesterday) and frozen lemonade (today) help too. Yum. Looking forward to the pool soon.

We just tried (and failed) to get a picture of the most exhausted looking squirrel we've ever seen. He was lying on the railing of our back deck, between two flower boxes, in the shade. He looked more like he was flopped there than lying there. One paw was lackadaisically hanging over the side of the railing and his head was flat on the railing between the paws. When he got up, he moved more slowly than I have ever seen a squirrel move in my life. Usually they're perky and attentive. Not the case here. I think we disturbed his "peace." He was very reluctant to move at all, but he thought the better of his choice of place to plop due to all our attention. Oh well - he could have stayed of course. We were just fascinated.

Doing without

Some time ago I linked to an article entitled Deprivation by Fan. It's still one of my favorites. We too "deprive" ourselves and our children. No A/C here in our old New England home. There are a few days a year I wish we did, but we survive, and we make do. This whole week promises to be one of those kinds of weeks - 90+ degrees, little relief at night, sunny. Summer in a nutshell. So, we'll enjoy lots of frozen lemonade, sprinklers, showers, the pool and other wet fun, and of course, visiting the library (which is air conditioned of course). And we'll learn to be nice to each other even when hot and sweaty - for the 4th day in a row - and we'll build character by doing without. Not an easy lesson - creativity required - but an essential lesson for sure.

Travelling

We have been on the road the past two weekends, first to visit my folks and sister who had flown in from CO with her family, then home for a few days and then off again this time to visit Papa Bear's folks and his siblings and their families, many of whom had also flown in from various points. It is always good to see family, especially those far away, and renew the cousins' acquaintance. During these visits we swam, talked, played, picnicked, and lots more.

We also spent a day at Canobie Lake Park, a family-friendly amusement park in southern NH; it was very fun. Dante loves roller coasters - Patience not so much. The little kids also have lots of stamina and little fear - and they all love to get wet so the water rides are especially fun on hot days. Icees, cotton candy, and fried dough rounded out our well-balanced diet for the day. Yum!

Now we just need a little 'quiet time' at home. Happy Fourth of July!

Famous

Yup - I know someone who's now, as my husband said "a little bit famous." Just after we travelled to Princeton, an article by a friend with whom we visited hit the web on a fairly well read blog. It is a good article, well worth reading. It is entitled Human Flourishing. Let me share a couple brief quotes to whet your appetite . . . .

From the introduction:

This essay proposes that living as a Christian, an alternative to the prevailing culture, leads to flourishing. First, I briefly sketch what the worldly culture of busyness looks like. I then discuss how our modern notions about the nature of work and success create the culture of busyness and keep it going. Finally, I attempt to show how the Christian faith offers an alternative way to understand work and success that, when believed and lived out, results in joy, peace, and genuine flourishing instead of stress, anxiety, and exhaustion.

From the section on work (in particular how we value it):

Another benefit from rightly valuing all types of work connects to the fact that most students will one day become parents. So many people, and especially women, struggle when they finish years of education, work in a particular job for a time, and then leave their jobs to stay home to parent small children and run their households. Many wrestle with a deep sense that when they do this, they are throwing their lives away. They cannot appreciate that the different work of running a household and caring for those who cannot care for themselves is legitimate and valuable work. They cannot grasp the notion that the work for their family, which does not bring in a paycheck, might even be more important than what they were doing before. Our hierarchy of work has destructive implications in many directions, family life included.

And from the section on Depending on God in our Work (relating to taking time off to rest from our work):

I believe we would be greatly aided in living out our actual dependence upon God (which, like the Israelites in the wilderness, we all too easily forget) if the body of Christ today would make Sabbath-keeping a priority....

For students who are preparing for an unknown career in an unknown place, it is such a challenge not to think that you have to work hard to craft your future by working in the present. But with a weekly day of rest, we can take the focus off of ourselves and place it back, rightfully, on God. Marva Dawn writes [p.24 in Keeping the Sabbath Wholly],

In our twentieth-century spirituality we easily lose the notion of God’s provision for us because of our advanced civilization and its distance from the actual processes that provide material goods. A major blessing of Sabbath keeping is that it forces us to rely on God for our future. On that day, we do nothing to create our own way. We abstain from work, from our incessant need to produce and accomplish, from all the anxieties about how we can be successful in all that we have to do to get ahead. The result is that we can let God be God in our lives.

We can train ourselves, like the Israelites feeding on manna, to be confident that God is providing for us today and will surely provide for us tomorrow. . . . Sabbath-keeping does not have to be rigidly observed on Sunday. Rather, the point is to cultivate a weekly time of rest, which includes ceasing from work and worship of God as a pattern of life. . . . It will take courage for a student to observe a weekly Sabbath. Students who choose Sabbath-rest will see other students studying and working hard for the week ahead and will be tempted to work like everyone else. Those ceasing from work will have to remind themselves that God is with them in their studies and is working on their behalf for their future, so they can trust him by not going to the library. Some students will likely fall behind their peers who press ahead every day of the week, and they will have to make peace with this reality. Embracing this weakness and making room for God to show forth his strength in their lives will be hard. So I recommend that students ask for encouragement and accountability from their peers to press on in their Sabbath-observance because it will be much easier to keep a Sabbath if there are other believers to keep a Sabbath with. But I think the tremendous benefits of peace, trust in God, and growth in serving others will be worth the challenges.