And Then There Were Three

Well, I drove home from church with only three children today. We dropped Gretchen off for her first youth camp. She was absolutely beside herself with excitement. I had always thought we would wait for our children to do away-from-home camps. But this was something Gretchen wanted to do SOOO badly. It was very, very important to her. So I invoked my parenting rule #1: Always be ready to re-evaluate your decisions.

I pray for my sweet girl, that the Lord would speak to her heart this weekend. I pray that she would know Him. And I pray that she would be safe and protected by Him while she is away.

And yes, there is that part of me that hopes she will miss us. At least a little.

So, "the Shoe" is so very quiet. ("The Shoe" is the nickname of our home. Gustav thought it up...think "There was an Old Woman..." I thought it was brilliant!!) Currently, I have 2 of the three left napping away. It is so, so very quiet. So, I've been doing a little Christmas shopping online. A little laundry. A little school planning. A little sorting through outgrown clothes.

And a little reflecting on how in the world my children got to be so big.

Oh, and a little wishing they were here.

And Then There Were Four

We returned from our Thanksgiving in Tucson minus one child. Nicholas returned to CO with his Pa for a week of Camp Pa. "What is Camp Pa?" you ask. Well, it is all about things that make little boys tick (at least mine)...shooting guns, riding ATV's, playing with dogs, staying up late, and watching lots of The History Channel.

Nicholas will spend one week away and then return by airplane all by himself. (GULP) I know he can do it. He is showing such maturity, but, the mommy in me really can't wait for him to be home.

It's kind of an amazing thing watching this young boy-man as he gropes along on the road to manhood. There are times he startles me with his maturity. When he empties the vacuum cleaner canister "because it's full, Mom." Or when he gives away his last piece of gum "because she wanted it more than me." Or going back to open the door for someone at the library who has an arm-full of books.

Then, of course, there are the times when both sneaker-clod feet are planted firmly in childhood, and I wonder if that maturity I thought I saw was merely a mirage on my road to senility. When I look at my life in action and wonder when it was that I signed up to be a zookeeper. When I honestly question if God will give me the grace to do this one more day. If they will ever grow up.

But He does. And they will.

Having Nicholas away has been a great time of reflection for me. What do I want for him? What does he need? Fenelon puts it so succinctly:

The principle object, that we ought incessantly to keep before the eyes of children, is Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of our faith, the center of all, and our only hope.

Well, there it is. So simple. Incessantly keep Jesus Christ before his eyes. And the eyes of all of my sweet, precious children. But how? By living my life quietly in the shadow of the cross. By continuously keeping before my own eyes this same Jesus. The Author and Finisher of MY faith. The center of MY all. MY only hope. I need to delight in the things of the Lord. I need to KNOW His Word and meditate upon it day and night. I need to have His joy and contentment. I need to know that He is GOD.

So we grope together, Nicholas and I. Together, meaning at the same time, but down two very different roads. His is the path set out for him by God. As is mine. May the Lord grant us the grace to make it to the end. To finish the race. To reach the finish line in the presence of God who speaks these words, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

For that, truly, is all I want for Him.

Wordless Wednesday

Chubby Baby in the Bathtub Pics, Anyone?

I always find a cute, chubby, happy baby in the bathtub hard to resist!

What I Learned Yesterday...

I learned some very important things yesterday. I thought maybe they could benefit some of you out there!

(1) When a child decides to color his face with washable markers so that he looks like an alien, certain colors wash off better than others. A word of advice: Steer your children toward green and red and away from purple and yellow.

(2) Ingesting dog food won't hurt a 9 month old, but it just might make him gag.

(3) When a mama of five doesn't exercise in the morning, she is considerable more irritable for the whole day.

(4) Ditto on said mama going to bed at midnight and waking up at 5:30AM.

(5) Children can have more fun with a digital camera that records sound than they should.

(6) When one offers a seminary student coffee at 7:30PM, and he has been up since 4:00AM, you don't have to be be up front with the information that it's decaf. unless he asks. Let the psychological effect do its thing.

(7) Parsing Latin sentences causes one of my children to weep like a baby.

(8) It is very difficult, nigh impossible, to write a novel when there is a nine year old standing over your left shoulder asking incessant questions. All day.

(9) Kids will eat artichokes, if you cut them up small enough.

(10) You may have a 52-in. wide screen T.V., but watching a movie on Daddy's laptop, now THAT's exciting!!

(11) God is so good...something that is TRUE every day, yet I must be reminded of constantly.


So, what did you learn today?

Updates

They're pretty cute, huh?

Kurt was in yesterday for his 9 month check up. He is 22.6lbs. 75th% all around. The nurse stuck his finger to do an iron check and then put a Band-Aid on it. So I am watching her do this and thinking to myself...he's never going to leave that alone. He proceeded to bite and chew at it until he got it off. Then Mama had to go in with the finger sweep so he wouldn't swallow it. Of course, his little finger was still bleeding. It wouldn't stop. I tried to hold a tissue on it, but of course he hated that. Finally I started going through all of the cabinets to find a Band-Aid. By the time I got it on (and I cranked it down tight this time) I had little drops and smears of blood all over my shirt and pants!

Gustav has had some small film opportunities recently. Little things here and there. It's all so interesting...the whole film business. We have teamed up, you could say, in an effort to get his career off the ground. I research all the movies that are in production, find ones that have local production companies and would be a good fit for Gustav, and compile all of the info. into a spreadsheet. He takes the list with him while he drives to work and calls to see if they have selected a composer, and to sell himself if they have not. Last week he was actually able to speak to 2 actual decision-makers, which is amazing! Then I follow up with CD's and emails. We pray that the Lord would prosper our efforts.

Thanks to those of you who have reviewed Gustav's CD on Amazon! Anyone else who might have some dripping words of praise, please feel free to leave them there as well. :-) Some time after the New Year we will find out how his sales have been. He will get a commission on his sales, so hopefully they will be decent.

On a completely different note: we have decided to have some pictures done of the whole family, as it has been so long since we did this. I am really excited about it! Our dear friend Jini, who is a very talented artist, has agreed to take a bunch of shots of us at a park over in Pasadena. I will be sure to post some when they are available.

Lastly, I may be a bit scarce here on the blog this month. You see, November is National Novel Writing Month. I'll bet you didn't know that! Well, I have decided to join NaNoWriMo, because I don't have enough to do already!! Check out the link...it's a challenge to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. My numbers are not up to par...I've only got 2000 words or so, but I am determined to finish it. I have a great idea. (Don't we all?) So, I will be in to update periodically, but my creative juices need to be reserved for my novel :-)

Thanks so much for all of the calls and updates. It is just wonderful to hear from everyone. Thanks to my great friend who sent me cookies from Pasticceria Italia Pastry!! Yummy! A little taste of home!!

The Lord has blessed me with such wonderful friends and family! Praise Him!