Devotion for Dec. 7, 2011

December 7, 2011

Psalm  27; Luke 1: 5-17

“The Lord is our light and our salvation; whom shall we fear?” Psalm 27: 1

            Darkness is a universal human fear.  Imagine what comfort a fire must have been to our early ancestors.  Whether they were on the plains, in the jungle, or in the desert, some light in the darkness would have helped keep away the fear of unknown predators, as well as the predators themselves.

            It’s not a coincidence that Advent and Christmas come at the darkest time of the year.  We are waiting and watching through the darkness of the longest nights of the year.  Even though electric light is now overabundant and we need never be in literal darkness, we are still full of fear, doubt, and loneliness.  There is much to be fearful of in the modern world: financial trouble, relationship trouble, political trouble.  In spite of all the modern ways in which we can connect with one another, in many ways we are more disconnected and lonely than ever.  Even the Advent/Christmas season has been turned into a situation of stress and pressure to buy the right gifts at the lowest prices.

            Into this mess of loneliness, fear, and frenetic shopping comes a tiny baby, a little spark of light in the dark night.  Just as Zechariah and Elizabeth’s son, John, was born to prepare the way for his younger cousin Jesus, it is now our responsibility in 2011 to help prepare the world to hear the good news of Jesus.  The world still needs Jesus.  People that we know and see every day are waiting to have Jesus brought into their lives.  They are lonely, they are scared, and they are searching for meaning and acceptance.  It is our responsibility to reach out to them and show them the light shining in the darkness. 

Devotion for Nov. 17

Devotion

November 17, 2011

Psalm 95: 1-7a, Revelation 14: 1-11

“Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving” Psalm 95: 2a (NRSV)

When I hear the word “thanksgiving,” I immediately think of the American holiday celebrated every November—Thanksgiving with a capital T.  Thanksgiving reminds me of my grandma and the happy holidays spent at her house as a child, eating her delicious homemade meals and playing board games with her and my cousins. 

Although I often give thanks to God, whether on my own, with my family, or during corporate worship, I rarely hear the word “thanksgiving” used without the capital letter.  I try to thank God frequently for my blessings, but this verse from Psalm 95 puts a different emphasis on it.  Usually I am giving thanks wherever I happen to be:  in the car, at school, at home, at church.  In other words, I interrupt what I’m doing, say my prayer of thanks, and then go back to whatever task or conversation I was previously involved in. 

What this verse invites us to do instead, is to slow down, stop the other distractions, and make an obvious entrance into the presence of God.  And not just come-as-you-are into His presence.  Come with an attitude of thanksgiving.  Come with a heart bursting with gratitude for each and every blessing we have received.  God the Father sacrificed his only Son for us.  As we come into His presence this Thanksgiving, let us strive to approach Him with hearts full of thanksgiving.

Devotion for August 5

1 Kings 18:17-19, 30-40; Acts 18:24-28

In these two scripture passages, we find two different types of believers.  There are the people of the Old Testament, as described in the reading from 1 Kings, who require an enormous display of God’s power before they will fall on their faces and declare that God is the Lord.  Elijah prepares an elaborate sacrifice, and God sends fire that consumes not only the offering itself, but also the altar and the surrounding water.

By contrast, the reading from Acts introduces us to Apollos, a New Testament believer.  He is well-versed in scripture, and has been taught about the Lord.  He speaks with “burning enthusiasm” as he teaches others about Jesus.  In this passage, Apollos deepens his faith, not by meeting Jesus or by witnessing a sign from God, but by listening to the teaching of others.  He then continues to boldly proclaim Jesus as the Messiah.

Many of our friends and neighbors in the 21^st century are not Christian believers.  Surely, many would change their ways quickly if they were to observe a large, obvious display of God’s power, such as the fire that consumed Elijah’s altar.  However, that is unlikely to happen.  And so we are called to be New Testament believers.  We must believe without necessarily seeing.  But that’s not where it ends.  As believers, it is our job to act as Apollos, Priscilla, and Aquila did, and share the good news about Jesus with others.  Apollos spoke enthusiastically to anyone who would listen, and he publicly and powerfully argued with those who would try to prove him wrong.  Priscilla and Aquila saw that a fellow believer didn’t quite have all the information, and they took him aside and explained what he needed to know, deepening his faith and his commitment to spreading Jesus’ message.

If the believers don’t speak out, who will?  People who don’t know Jesus are waiting to hear from us.  We have to be the “sign from God” that they are waiting for. 

Devotion for June 2

Devotion

June 2, 2011

Psalm 47

As a child taking piano lessons, I was very timid.  Some children attack the piano, banging as loudly as they can, and have to be taught to play softly.  Not me.  I always had to be coached to play louder and more confidently.  As I progressed through different piano teachers, choral instructors, and band directors, I began to hear one phrase over and over.  “If you’re going to make a mistake, make a big one.”  In other words, play (or sing) boldly, with confidence, as if everything will be perfect.  Many times, the confidence helps eliminate the mistakes, and even if it doesn’t, the audience would rather hear music performed with passion and emotion (and a few missed notes) than a timid, hesitant, although technically correct, performance. 

God, as the audience for our lives, is no different.  He wants to see lives lived with passion, emotion, and risk-taking for His kingdom.  Psalm 47 tells us:  “Shout to God with loud songs of joy.”  God wants to hear our noise, our mistakes, our wrong notes.  Don’t be timid.  Shout!  Sing loud songs.  Proclaim His name and His love boldly!  Sing and shout with joy.  We have so much to be thankful for!  Let’s put smiles on our faces, and laughter in our voices as we share His good news with others.

And the best part is this:  God doesn’t make mistakes.  Through Him, all our wrong notes are made right.  Our mess-ups can ultimately be used, through Him, for good purposes.  To paraphrase all good music teachers, “When you praise God, praise big!”  Praise Him loudly, boldly, and with confidence.  There will be no mistakes!

Prayer:  (read loudly, with a smile on your face)  Most High God, we praise your name with confidence.  We thank you for the hundreds of blessings you shower upon us each day.  Help us to share our joy and confidence with others who don’t know you yet.  ALLELUIA!  AMEN!

Devotion for June 29

Devotion

June 29, 2011

Jeremiah 18: 1-11

When I was in grade school, a woman from my church congregation had a small pottery studio in her home.  Once a year, all the elementary classes from our small-town grade school took a field trip to Vi’s house to see the pottery wheel and kiln; then we returned to school and made clay creations of our own.  I was always fascinated by the pottery wheel.  Vi made it look so easy:  taking the wet clay, working it between her fingers, shaping it into different size jars on the wheel, then smashing it down and starting all over again.  We learned about the importance of working the clay first, to get out all the air bubbles.  If even one air bubble remained, it could ruin the final piece.  When I received my lump of clay, back at my classroom desk, I discovered it was not nearly as easy as Vi had made it look.  It was hard to work the clay, and impossible for a 10-year-old to know if all the air bubbles were out.  I also lacked vision.  Whereas Vi had an idea of how she wanted each piece to turn out, I could never think of anything unique to make.

As today’s reading from Jeremiah shows, God works in a way that is very similar to a potter creating jars at the wheel.  He molds and shapes us like clay.  We are His creation, His work of art.  He has a vision for us, and each of us is unique.  God might make it look easy, like Vi at her wheel, but we know it is not.  We are stubborn, like the lumps of clay from my childhood, not wanting to be shaped in a particular direction.  We also know that sin, like air bubbles, has a way of entering into our lives.  Even the tiniest sin can ruin the entire creation.  Fortunately, God has the power to smash out those air bubbles, to take away our sins, and return us to that perfect art form someday.  No matter how hard it is, or how many times He has to re-shape us on the wheel, God won’t give up. 

Prayer:  Dear Lord, You are the Potter, we are the clay.  Mold us in your image and help us to be good examples of Your artistry in the world.  Thank you for never giving up on us.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Devotion for July 20

I've been writing devotions for our church publication each month, and it finally occurred to me that I should post them on here too.  So here's the current one, and I'll go back and post the others later.

Devotion for St. John's Lutheran Church

July 20, 2011

Matthew 12:15-21, Psalm 75

My father-in-law was diagnosed at age 26 with Type II diabetes.  Over the years he has learned to test his blood sugar, watch his diet, count calories, give himself insulin injections, and generally manage his disease.  He is now in his 70s.  Diabetes is a central part of his life, yet he never complains about it.  He has accepted it and learned to live with it.  At the same time, everyone who knows him, knows about his condition.  We’ve all seen him disappear before a meal to take insulin, or refuse a dessert because his blood sugar is too high. 

Now imagine if he (or anyone else who lives with a chronic illness) went to a religious gathering, and the speaker healed him.  The diabetes is gone.  He is completely healthy again.  Although my father-in-law never complains about his disease, I’m pretty sure the first thing he’d want to do if he were healed is to tell someone!  And then tell everyone!  And then send his friends and family to see this miraculous healer.

This is essentially the situation described in Matthew 12:  “Many crowds followed [Jesus], and he cured all of them, and he ordered them not to make him known” (Matthew 12:15b-16).  There were many crowds, he cured all of their ills, and then he said, “But don’t tell anyone.”  What a difficult order from Jesus!  You are healed, but don’t tell anyone that I was involved. 

Fortunately, we are no longer operating under that order.  We are free to tell anyone and everyone about the amazing love and healing power of Jesus.  And really, what is more wonderful than the Son of God giving up his life for us, so that we can be healed from sin?  Go and tell of God’s wondrous deeds!

Prayer:  Dear Lord, we thank you for the gift of your love.  Help us to remember that your works are no longer secret.  Give us courage to share your love and good news with others.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

New Project--For Vickie

I'm getting more scrapbooking business now that I don't actually have a scrapbooking business . . .

The newest project, for Vickie, has been in the works for several years, and her youngest daughter's upcoming wedding is the incentive for finally getting it done.  Vickie is the mother of one of my lifelong best friends.  In high school, I was in and out of their home almost daily.  I was fascinated by their large family and grew to love them all like my own siblings and parents.

This project is to make four identical albums, one for Vickie, and one for each of her siblings.  The albums contain photos and memorabilia from Vickie's parents' childhood, courtship, WWII, family history, and a few photos of Vickie and her siblings as young children.

Vickie's husband scanned and made copies of all the old photos, so there would be four of everything.  So far, I have cut and trimmed all the photos.  Fortunately, Vickie had put everything in order and labeled it, so my next step is to lay everything out.  Then I get to go shopping for supplies!

Marge's Books--THE END

In case anyone is wondering...

I finished up my scrapbook project for Marge shortly before we moved.  That was the deadline I set for myself, and I made it!

I enjoyed getting to "know" her family through each album.  She seemed very pleased with my work, and gave me an extra cash bonus at the end, which was a nice surprise and much appreciated.

At the time, it was making me kind of sad to think that her children only had enough photos to fill one album apiece, but now that I have recently moved to a new home and must face the daunting task of finding space for my 25+ albums...maybe the one-album-plan isn't such a bad idea!

New House Milestones

After one week in the new house, we've already marked several milestone events:

• have already run both the heat and the air conditioning
• first party
• first out-of-town guests (D, M, A, P)
• first birthday (Carl)
• first long weekend without Daddy
• first person to puke (also Carl)

There are also some other noteworthy occurrences:

• all of our dishes are in the kitchen
• all of my clothes are in the same closet
• heck, all of my clothes are in the same room
• the children are sleeping more than 10 feet away from me
• I don't have to get wet when bringing in groceries in the rain
• every load of laundry does not involve two flights of stairs
• I have a view!

Done with Book 3 for Marge

I finished the 3rd of 4 books I am making for Marge and delivered it to her yesterday.  She is always so happy to see the finished product.  This book was the most fun so far because this daughter is only a year older than I am, so all the fashions and hairstyles in the school pictures looked very similar to my own!  When I told Marge that, she was surprised and said she didn't think I was that old, which, of course, totally made my day :-)

One more book to go, and I need to hurry up and do it before we move!!

Moving Update 1

As you may or may not know, we are planning to move in the near future, to the town where I teach.  Here's an update on our progress.

Last fall, we purchased a beautiful house with a huge yard, small pond, and two outbuildings.  For various reasons, we decided not to move until spring.  Fortunately, we were able to rent the new house back to the previous owners while they built a new house.  Their new house is almost finished, and it's time for us to move!

So far we have successfully unloaded some outgrown items (crib, jogging stroller) at our neighborhood garage sale, and I have big plans to donate some more to my moms' group fundraiser sale.  Over the winter I sold a few items through our local paper, too.  Today I freecycled a huge pile of old National Geographics to a woman who ultimately plans to send them to the troops overseas.

Last week, a giant storage shed was delivered to our driveway, and we promptly commenced filling it with box after box and tub after tub of "essential" items.  It's embarrassing how much is already in the storage unit, when, I bet if you walked through our house right now, you wouldn't even be able to tell that we've cleaned out anything.

We are blessed with a lot of stuff, and even though I'm being ruthless (for me) in my donating, recycling, and tossing, we still have a lot of stuff.

We are hoping to do the big move over Memorial Day weekend.  Does anyone have a truck we can borrow?? ;-)

Just an Ordinary Day

5:45 a.m.   A handsome younger man whispers in my ear.  He wants to get in bed with me.
"Mom....Mom.  It's time to wake up!"  No, Carl, no it isn't.

5:55 a.m.  Realize handsome younger man does not want to be in bed with me.  Get out of bed.

7:20 a.m.   The two boys and I depart for school.  We have our lunches packed, and Curtis has pajamas in his backpack.  More on that later.

7:45 a.m.   Having successfully detached both children from my legs at daycare, I arrive at the high school.  Spend the morning attempting to teach the concept of iambic pentameter to 42 freshmen.  Why did I think this was a good idea to do on a Friday?  After finishing the poetry lesson, we begin reading Act II of Romeo and Juliet.  Why did I think this was a good idea to do on a Friday?

11:20 a.m.   Sneak out of school five minutes early to go retrieve children from daycare.  Both children are starving (since I am picking them up before lunch and they know I have food in the car), and Carl has an enormous red gash along the side of his face where a little girl scratched him!!  Somehow remain calm and do not get angry at teachers.

11:25 a.m.  Arrive back at high school so my children can participate in the child care class's "Toddler Day."  Curtis immediately sits down to draw and color.  Carl will not leave my side.  Finally get him to do some puzzles, while sitting on my lap.  I find it funny how many teenagers are just sitting around staring at the little kids.  Interaction, anyone?

12:00 noon   Depart "Toddler Day," and begin journey to afternoon preschool on the opposite side of town.  All three of us eat "lunch" in van.  Somehow manage to get us all there safely, on time, and with no spills!

12:25 p.m.   Curtis changes from regular clothes into pajamas in the back of the van.  It's "The Week of the Young Child" at preschool, and this is actually his second van-as-dressing-room experience of the week.  Today is pajama day.

12:35 p.m.  Drop Curtis off with instructions to behave for our friend who will pick him up.  He is very excited about Pajama Day.  Today is their Easter egg hunt, too.

12:45 p.m.   Stop at video store on the way home to rent Star Wars for a "family video night."  Also investigate every available children's video.

1:00 p.m.   Arrive home and feed Carl again.

1:30 p.m.   NAPTIME!

2:00 p.m.   Snack for Mommy.  Open mail, check messages, fold laundry, various other drudgery.

2:30 p.m.   Work on 3rd scrapbook project for Marge.  Since someone else is picking up Curtis today, I have time to get going on this album.  Otherwise I'd have to wake Carl up already and head back to preschool.  Really, really thankful for my friends!

3:30 p.m.   Curtis arrives home, screams.  Carl wakes up.

3:45 p.m.   Put away scrapbook supplies and commence playing with children.  Build with blocks, do puzzles, play computer games.

5:00 p.m.   Daddy arrives home and says, "Do you want to go out to eat?"   YES!!!!!

5:20 p.m.   Arrive at an old favorite restaurant, Shepardo's.  We haven't been there since before Carl was born.

5:45 p.m.   Tornado sirens blare.  Daddy orders children under the table, where they are running down the batteries on our smart phones, playing games.  Sure hope we don't need those if there's a tornado....

6:00 p.m.   Decide to throw caution to the wind and go ahead with dinner.  Above the table.

6:45 p.m.   Arrive home, get soaked running through downpour to get inside, begin watching Star Wars.  Should we go to the basement?  Nahhhhh.....

7:15 p.m.   So much for "family movie time."  Daddy falls asleep on the couch.  Curtis talks constantly, asking questions about the movie, which I can't answer because I can't hear the movie.  Decide to begin bedtime routine for Carl who is definitely not watching the movie, and instead is also talking constantly.  He has had his toy dinosaur taken away because it attacked sleeping Daddy.

8:15 p.m.   Both boys are in bed and finally quiet.  Daddy goes out for drinks with a friend.  Computer time for Mommy.

9:30 p.m.  I should go back to work on Marge's scrapbook.  I'd really like to read a book.  Is there a good movie on TV?  There are dishes in the sink.  Do I have everything ready for tomorrow?  I need to practice the piano.  What is there to snack on?  Did anyone "like" my last Facebook post?

11:00 p.m.  Collapse into bed and sleep soundly until that handsome younger man comes back . . .

Update on Marge's books--Halfway done!!

I took the second (of four) books to Marge last week.  It had taken me longer than I wanted it to, because I kept getting interrupted.  Anyway, she seemed very pleased with what I had done.  There were so many more pictures and other memorabilia for this child than for the first, that I felt like I had really crammed the stuff in the album to get it all to fit using only two sets of pages.  It's really the embellishments that make the difference and put the "art" in Scrapbook Artist.  I add them all at the end, and only do one or two simple things per spread, but it really dresses up the book.

Taking a break before I start sorting Child #3's photos.

Scrapbook Update (Marge)

I am almost done with the 2nd of 4 books for Marge.  Book #2 is for her oldest son, her second-oldest child.  He had more photos and memorabilia than her daughter, so I had to squeeze more items onto each page.  I had two packages of pages, and I used them all.  It worked out perfectly.  I got to the last page just as I picked up the last picture.  Up next are the embellishments, and then I will be halfway done with this project.

New Name for the Blog

Please help!

I want to continue blogging, but, fortunately, the original name no longer applies.  What should I call a blog that is going to be about my kids, teaching, reading, scrapbooking, and music?

I welcome your suggestions.

Thanks!

Loverboy Curtis

A recent conversation:

Curtis:  Mom, can the mom sometimes be older than the dad, or is the dad always older?

Me:  (smiling) Sometimes the mom is older, sometimes the dad is older, sometimes they're the same age.

Curtis:  (relieved)  Oh, good, because when I marry Paige she'll be older, and if we were the only ones where the mom is older, I'd be a misfit!  [someone has been watching too much "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"]

[Paige is 7 or 8 years older than Curtis.  We had a conversation about how old she'd be when he's 12, when he's 19, etc.]

Curtis:  Mom, I just don't want to have a job when I grow up.

Me:  Why not?

Curtis:  Because I just love Paige so much, I'll just want to stay home and be with her all the time and not go to work.

So then we planned how he could have an office at home, and his schedule could be work for an hour, go play with his kids and wife for 5 hours, and then go back to work for an hour.

What a sweet little husband and father!

Highlights of the Weekend Alone

1. Two clean cars
2. A whole book read
3. Getting carded at the grocery store
4. Sleeping in!
5. Trivia night with friends (Who shot J.R.?)
6. A trip to the mall
7. Listening to the sermon at early church
8. Three hours of my own music in the car
9. The huge smiles and hugs when I picked up the boys!

Thanks, Papa Rollie and Grandma Sybil!

Family Night at Preschool

Last night was "Family Night" at Curtis' preschool.  The theme was "Dinner and a Movie."  I was excited about dinner, and the kids were excited about the movie.

Dinner was catered by a local company, so I knew what to look forward to.  I ate my 1/2 chicken, green beans, and mashed potatoes, and enjoyed every bite.  Predictably, Curtis ate two pieces of bread and butter, two green beans, and two bites of chicken.  Carl ate a whole chicken leg, a few bites of bread, and two bites of mashed potatoes.  I ate most of Curtis' leftovers, too.

We had hoped some of Curtis' friends from his old class would be there, but unfortunately, they were not.  He handled his disappointment well, though.  We visited with some people we know from Sunday School.

When it was time for the movie, Curtis went right up to the front of the seating area, and chose the center spot.  We watched three Veggie Tales cartoons, including "Dave and the Giant Pickle."  A lot of the other kids were getting restless after the first cartoon, and many were running and jumping around by the time it was over.  Not my boys!  Both sat completely enthralled by the moving pictures on the giant screen.  Only when it was over did they start to run around and get wild.  I don't know whether to be proud of their attention span or embarrassed by how much they love television.

Our little family had a nice evening out.

The Ballet

Saturday night, Curtis and I went to see "Alice in Wonderland" the ballet, performed by a local youth organization.  I had never been to a ballet so didn't really know what to expect.  Curtis said he was excited and scared.  As soon as it started and he saw the dancers in their costumes (especially pretty girl Alice), he turned to me with a huge grin on his face, and kept turning to smile at me for at least the first ten minutes.

It helped that he had seen the Disney movie a couple times, so he knew what was going on, since there was no talking or singing.  He knew who the characters were and was excited to see each new one appear.  I thought it was very well done, considering it was local talent, ages 5-16 (I'm guessing).  I know the moms of two of the little girls.  It was mostly girls, but there were four or five little boys.  The little 6-year-old King of Hearts was so cute next to the big 16-year-old Queen.

After the show, Curtis wanted to go say hi to Alice, and he asked me to take a picture of her.  Then he was pretty excited about his red rose sucker!  We had a great little "date night."

Scrapbook Progress, Marge's books

I finished the first book for Marge!  Her oldest child's book turned into just the right size project.  I matted all of the professional photos, and a few of the personal snapshots.  Every page got a border, and almost every page got an embellishment of some kind (sticker or paper-punched decoration).  I hope to deliver it to her next week.

The next child's book is much more intimidating.  There seems to be a lot more stuff in his pile than there was in hers.  I took a little break and made some cards, and I think I'll need a digital scrapbooking break after I get his stuff organized.  Pretty sure it's going to take more than one book to fit it all in.

The Return of "The Scrapbook Artist"

About a week ago, I got a call from a woman I had previously done some scrapbooking for (Marge).  It was probably close to two years ago, so I was completely surprised to hear from her, and to find out she had more albums for me to make.  The scrapbooking I did last time was pictures of her grandchildren.  We just used their professional pictures, so all I really had to do was mat them and label them.  On the phone she said she now wanted me to make albums of her children's pictures, so I figured it was the same type of thing.

I got quite a surprise when I went to her house and she had 4 separate bags ready for me--one for each child--and they contained not only professional portraits, but also snapshots, diplomas, programs, and more!  I get to tear apart the old albums (oldest child was born in 1969), put everything in order, and scrapbook it.

I've made a pretty good dent in oldest child's pile.  Got the old album torn up and everything into some semblance of chronological order.  It's hard when I don't know these people and nothing has dates on it.  So the chronology won't be perfect, but it will be close.  Some of the pictures weren't very good quality to begin with and are really starting to fade.  I made borders for every page and am adhering all the pictures.  then I will go back and do embellishments.

"The Evolution of My Scrapbooking Style"  will be a good topic for another post.

Top Five Signs Curtis Is Sick

5.  He asks to wear his pajamas all day.

4.  He refuses a cookie.

3.  He picks short books at bedtime.

2.  He asks for and drinks ice water.

1.  He takes a nap in the afternoon!

Snow Day Musings

As we approach our 3rd snow day in a row, let me take this opportunity to observe the following:

Snow days as a "single mom" of two preschoolers are vastly different from snow days as a single person!

When we first found out Andy was going overseas, I made a list of different activities the boys and I could do to keep busy.  It's amazing how only one change (the babysitter quitting) caused two other changes (a new daycare every morning, and a new preschool class every afternoon) that after only one week had us desperate just to stay home.  The list of activities was no longer needed.

And so, after three weeks of the new routine, the possibility of a snow day sounded pretty good.  The chance to stay home for a day, and avoid all the running around without any guilt for "skipping" preschool, was going to be good for us to catch our breath.

I was thinking back to my first year of teaching, when a snow day meant anxiously listening to the radio for the cancellation, calling my mom to see if she had the day off too, relaxing in my p.j.'s in front of the Today Show, drinking hot chocolate, and spending the whole day reading.  We had five such days in the first year of my career, but never three in a row!

Yesterday was my first official snow day as a mother of two.  We watched some TV, ate some junk food, and enjoyed not leaving the house.  Then came the second snow day.  And tomorrow another one!  The kids have really been pretty good; I'm the one who has the problem letting go of my plans to get a lot of cleaning done, or a lot of reading done, or even a lot of grading done.  It's taken two whole days to get two loads of laundry done, the house vacuumed and dusted, and half a book read.

It's all about perspective, and I need to get some.  Tomorrow my goal is to just do some fun things with the boys.  I'm sure I can accomplish it, and it's much more important than a clean house, anyway!

In which I actually discuss scrapbooking!

My blog address is "springfieldscrapbookartist" because my sister actually started this blog for me a year ago when I was still an active CM consultant, doing other people's scrapbooking for them.  I would still happily accept work as someone's scrapbook slave, but I am no longer a CM consultant.

Anyway, CM had a sale this month--20% off a digital scrapbook, including extra pages.  This is a really good deal.  Digital scrapping is cheaper than traditional, but only slightly, and of course any book I make will have more than the minimum number of pages.  I had started a 2010 family scrapbook in January of 2010, and kept up pretty well for . . . the first two months of the year!  Then I had done some off and on, and had completed several other projects in the meantime, but still was nowhere near done with the book.  And along came the sale!

I worked like a dog most evenings in January and got the book to a point I was happy with, but definitely did not cover the whole year.  I only made it to May!  One lesson learned is that I need to be more liberal with the delete button for my photos.  I take a lot of pictures "since they can just be deleted," but then I don't delete them, and even though some are not that great, they end up in a scrapbook.  Silly.

Another lesson is that digital scrapbooking is in a lot of ways easier than traditional, but it can quickly become even more time consuming.  Or maybe that's just me.  If I'd had a stack of pictures, some paper, and a blank album, I probably could have slapped it together a lot faster.  Digital brings out a level of perfectionism in me that traditional doesn't.  Since it's not glued down, I can fiddle with it endlessly, whereas with traditional, I'll apply the glue, turn the page, and move on.  Very rarely do I go back and add to a page.

So I finally got the book done, with a whole day to spare before the sale ended, and then I couldn't get the book to upload to the website!  I waited 10-15 minutes for the preview to load, and then got an error message.  So I tried again, waited another 10-15 minutes for the preview to load, did not get an error message, and started the actual upload.  This took over an hour, and at the last minute--ERROR MESSAGE!  Talk about frustrating!  Fortunately (?) I knew a friend was having a similar problem, so I assumed it was an overload on the company's website, and I had a day to spare.  Tried it the next afternoon, done in 30 minutes!  Ordered the book and saved my 20%!  I can't wait for it to arrive.

This whole process reminds me of producing the school yearbook.  You're so anxious to see the finished product, and then once it's in your hands, you realize you've already seen all the pictures, read all the copy, and memorized every inch of every layout.  You're still proud of your creation, but the wonder of it is just not there.  There is no newness, no surprises.  You just have to hope other people appreciate how hard you've worked.

Carl's Prayer

While we were at my parents' house, we were all gathered around the dining room table for a meal.  We had eaten the first few bites, when Carl instructed us all to "fold you hands."  Then he wanted us to repeat after him.

Dear God,
Thank you for this day.  Thank you for our penguin set.  And thank you for the sand.  And thank you for the water.  Thank you for our 'Buela.  And thank you for our Papa.  And thank you for our brother.  And thank you for our Auntie.  And thank you for our Chris.  And thank you for our Mama.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.

Sweetheart!!

Amazing Carl

One of Carl's favorite things to do right now is play "Toy Story" using the many different Lego, Duplo, and other Toy Story toys we have around the house.  He picks up Woody, the cowboy, and says, "Helloooooo, Parn-ter" to Curtis or me.

Last night he was flying all the characters around on the rocket and said, "They're going to the donut shop!"

I rediscovered a Toy Story 2 book on Curtis' shelf and moved it into Carl's room.  When Carl saw it, he got very excited, and said, "Mom!  Look what I found!  This is from the condo!"  He was pretty amazed to see the book, but I was even more amazed that he remembered reading it 6 months ago on vacation.

Children's Discovery Museum

The boys and I took a road trip to Normal, IL today, to the Children's Discovery Museum.  I thought it might not be crowded because most people were back in school . . . Wrong!  Everyone else in central Illinois had the same idea.  The kids still had a great time, though.  Their two favorites seemed to be the water table and the train table.  Last time we went, there was a Lego table, and Curtis was anxious to return to it, but when we finally got to the 3rd floor . . . the Legos were GONE!!  It was a near-tragedy, but he did very well at controlling his disappointment.  We had lunch at a pizza place next door, and Curtis used some of his Christmas money to purchase some shiny, colored rocks.

When we got home, someone from church brought us dinner.  Great day!!

Christmas Stories

To start off the season, we got an artificial tree.  Yuck to the artificial, but much better than no tree at all!  Curtis was so excited to put up the tree that he actually got most of it out of the box and put it together.  Then he made several ornaments out of pipe cleaners, feathers, cardboard, etc. and put them on the tree, since I wasn't ready to decorate yet.  When I was finally ready to put the ornaments on, he helped me, grouping them all together on the lower branches.  I couldn't get them unwrapped fast enough!

During the season, Curtis was also very into gingerbread men.  They made a decoration at school, and he kept running around the house talking about "Gingy."

Both boys prepared for the Sunday School Christmas program, and Curtis also had a preschool program.  They sang their songs repeatedly, and of course made up alternate words.  "Mary Rode a Donkey" was the Sunday School song.  It most often gets changed to "Mary Rode a Cow," but other words appear in there too.  For the preschool program the song was "The Friendly Beasts," and Curtis likes to change the words to that song too.

Carl really enjoyed the songs and of course the videos of the season.  Rudolph was his favorite, and he worked very hard to learn most of the words.  He was a cute accomplice in the word-changing of the other songs.

Both boys, but Carl especially, liked looking at the Toys R Us ads that came in the mail.  Carl would pore over it for extended periods of time, squealing each time he saw Lightning McQueen, Buzz, Woody, or any of his other favorite characters.  He called it "Toys fo' us" and would fight with Curtis over it.  As it got closer to Christmas, Carl started pointing at several items in a row, saying, "Santa Claus gonna bring me this, and this, and this, and this!"  He also picked out gifts for everyone else.  Santa was going to bring me a "movie Cars video."

On Christmas morning, Curtis tore through his pile of gifts quickly, and by the end of the morning, Carl had also figured out how to open one gift after another without stopping to play.

Curtis' favorite gift was his Lego castle from Aunt Lori, and Carl's was his Handy Manny play set from Mommy/Daddy/Santa.