A "Wow" Sermon

Was poking around the website of a French college campus ministry with whom we are well-acquainted and decided to listen to the sermon posted on the front page "Shocking youth message". Take a listen esp. to minutes 8-11 or so (for context of the rest anyway - and yes, the site is in French but the message in English). If the link doesn't work, let me know and I'll update it w/a direct link to the sermon if I can find it. The message is definitely "ouch!" but then so is the truth, quite often, is it not? I love truth, even when it hurts, and often results in real and lasting fruit - the best kind!

Iditarod and Trivia

This is my 4th year watching the Iditarod from afar . . . . And this year I have a new word in my vocabulary: Addicatarod. Most definitely. Our favorite is Bruce Linton. He used to live nearby and he's also a type 1 diabetic. Two good reasons we like to root for him. We haven't missed an iditarod race of his yet and are rooting for him to be in the top 25 this year. He made it to the top 30 last year. What fun. He could place even higher of course but he's looking pretty good for the 20-30 range at the moment. So many of the names are now familiar. I hope Dallas Seavey wins outright but he's looking like a long shot at the moment. Still, who knows. They're only just halfway there yet.

I have also learned that Twinkies do not freeze. Ever. Not even at 65 degrees below zero. They are still soft. Wow. Good trail food, so one musher says. :-)

And did you know that the waiting room at the allergist's office is actually a fun place? Dante and I had a blast this morning. We played a great game (and asked an intrigued sophomore also waiting the requisite 30 minutes post shot to join us - he also had fun), read a great book together (You read to me and I'll read to you - Dante LOVED it!) and had a great chat with a lady all decked out in gawdy St. Patty's day regalia. I wonder what she'll wear next week? Also we ran into an old friend who's getting married in 8 days. That too was fun. It was a happening place today.

Tummy Bug

I'm glad this week is all but over. Starting Tuesday AM, the tummy bug visited our home. It started small with Vivace in the morning, but he was pretty happy all day. Didn't know what to make of it. Normal day for the most part after he threw up his breakfast. Ate a nice lunch and snack. Not too hungry for dinner.... and then 5 minutes before the babysitter got here so we could go to home group, that came up. Oh well. When she arrived we said "hello - and goodbye" and Papa Bear went off to study and I stayed home. At least we now knew we were sick.

Then, about an hour later on his way to bed (without his bowl which was downstairs on the living room couch) he stands on the stairway (open bannister) protesting he's not sick all the while throwing up - on the stairs, the piano (into the keys), the loveseat, dripping down the wall.... It took over an hour to clean up. I couldn't believe it. He could NOT have made a bigger mess. Patience was an angel and helped me clean up. I did laugh the next morning after the exhaustion... and the living room has not been so clean in months (maybe years) - polished woodwork, vaccuumed behind the piano... Anyway.

It made its way through the whole family in some form or another and each of the school-aged kids did miss some school. Papa Bear missed two days of work and is still not 100% but the rest of us are over it. Needless to say we're looking forward to a new week! It can only get better!

Peter Pan

Patience's school is doing an "artist in residency" this month. The art is drama, and the entire school of 200+ kids (4th and 5th graces) is putting on a performance of Peter Pan with the help of the Very Merry Theater (fun fun fun). Yes, everyone has a part and the leads are being shared between several kids allowing all to enjoy and profit from the experience. (There are for example four Peter Pans and a gazillion fairies...) She's a "lost boy" with a couple lines, lots of singing and dancing and the whole school is absolutely consumed with it (two weeks start to finish including the set design, parent orchestra, etc!). The production will be on Feb. 17th and it's been fun to watch it come together. If you want to take a small peek, there's a facebook page for all us parents to discuss volunteering needs and how it's all coming along. There are some fun photos and we hope there will be really great stuff posted there next week when it all comes to a happy conclusion with the production.

Send a little our way please

Could someone send us some snow? It's been weeks now that all we have is ice and a dusting. We have plenty of nice cold ice box type weather to keep it if only it would fall out of the sky. Everyone else on the east coast seems to be swimming in it but nope, not us. A flake or two maybe. At least the ground isn't bare brown (I'm trying to look at the bright side). And none in the forecast... sigh.

Note to new readers

We use special names while on the blogosphere for our family members. Basically Dad is Papa Bear, Mom is Shiloh, and the kids from oldest to youngest are Patience, Andante (Dante), Constance, and Vivace. You can read more about the designations in this post. Our reasons are plentiful but mostly because we'd rather not use our full names online, especially our last name and our kids' names. This allows us to maintain some semblance of privacy in a connected world, whilst sharing about ourselves in such a potentially public place.

Feb 3rd 2010

My end of year projects are finally winding down (better late than never). Christmas decorations are put away (weekend before last). 2010 gift calendars to family are in the mail (today). Our first Christmas letter in four years is written, copied, and labels printed. A few are actually in the mail. It feels good to be getting somewhere, finally.

Today the younger two start their official ice skating lessons for the winter. We've loved getting on the ice all fall and several times in January but lessons are a good place to insist on improvement. It'll be nice to get Vivace off the crate. The older two have requested and stood by their request to take a year off from skating lessons. Still they love to skate and I hope to get them to a public skating session soon. We did "Itty Bitty Skate" (a time especially for ages 6 and under) a couple times recently and even took Vivace's closest friend along a couple days ago. It's fun to be on the ice with all these little kids who don't even know that they're learning something when they pick toys up off the ice (balance!). I hope to get back to my own lessons in the next couple weeks (after the Superbowl). And yes, I'm wearing my helmet.

Tomorrow our friends, the Stuarts, will arrive in the Dominican Republic and head overland to Haiti. Please pray for them for a safe journey. We'll keep you posted.