CHEEEEEESE!!!!!

You all know the drill: aim the camera and inform everyone in the shot to chime in "cheeeeeese", right? Well, I'm not sure when things changed for Samuel but this is the current pose for the trite command. Thing is, right after the flash he smiles the big "cheeeeese smile". Ha ha!

Watch Out Sandra Lee!!

Here's the fruits of watching the Food Network! My boys know what a "table-scape" is all thanks to Sandra Lee of Semi-Homemade. These are very elegant name place setting cards. Emery, Asa and Jack all ran to the office and snatched some sticky notes and Emery wrote the names and Asa and Jack decorated them with stickers. All this was a surprise by the boys for Kurt and me. They were so excited with Kurt's return from California that they wanted to do something special. This was so sweet. Jack, being three, is just now learning to read and his writing is limited to some specific letters - one of which being "E". So, he asks me to write his name J-a-c-k and then he takes the paper and finishes it off with the letter "E" on the end - hence, Jack-E.  All his figuring out and he is so proud! 

I know y'all are wanting to know what the menu was that is displayed on the table?? It was sliced chicken breast, glazed sweet potatoes, rice, broccoli, homemade wheat bread and tomato wasabi sauce. Sandra Lee would be proud... maybe not as "semi" as she demonstrates though!

The Love of God

Could we with ink the ocean fill

And were the skies of parchment made,

Were every stalk on earth a quill

And every man a scribe by trade,

To write the love of God above

Would drain the ocean dry;

Nor could the scroll contain the whole,

Tho' stretched from sky to sky.

O love of God, how rich and pure!

How measureless and strong!

It shall forevermore endure -

The saints' and angels' song!

Frederick M. Lehman

Meir Ben Isaac Nehorai

#156 in The Celebration Hymnal

Backwards In Time

Yesterday the whole crew took a bike ride together. Our little mile loop safely tucked in our not-so-developed development got a little practical use from our family. Jay and Rachel left their bikes (since we sold ours at our monstrous garage sale back in BG) and so we loaded all up... Sam and Jack in the trailer towed by Kurt, Asa on his Hotwheels bike with training wheels, Emery "Armstrong" Settles runnin' circles around us all and not to forget Lucy tucked inside the basket attached to Kurt's handle bars. 

First, not even 50 feet from the driveway, Kurt lost his balance on the side of the road and went on an unplanned/unexpected 4x4 adventure in the woods. Upon his getting control, Lucy was still safely tucked in the basket (no doubt totally confused as to what that was all about) and Jack and Sam were SQUEALING with delight at the bouncing, crazy ride! The rest of the ride just paled in comparison. Asa is still getting those leg muscles developed so I tagged back with him for encouragement and the occasional push. It would be nice to get one of those Alley Cats to help the little boys learn the coordination and still be able to ride at a pace faster than, say, a turtle. Kurt and I dropped the boys off at the house and went for a quick run around the loop together to enjoy some speed and about 10 minutes of a "date". Heh heh.

All this, by the way, is following some recoveries... Asa, Jack and Samuel got an eye virus that oozed greenish gook and water from their sweet little swollen eyes. They had red bags under their eyes that almost looked like someone socked 'em! We determined it wasn't pink-eye and were told to just keep them clean and so after a few days they cleared up. Emery and Kurt got a slight sore throat and  general cold symptoms but has seemed to escape anything extreme. Me? you ask? I got strep-throat. I went to the doctor and got a "poke in the butt" as the (female) doctor described it, and after a couple days I started feeling better. 

I seem to be going backwards... while we were all in the midst of being at our sickest my dear, dear friend, Tammy, and her children Allyson and Andrew came to visit on their way home from OKC to GA. They stayed for a couple of days - oh, what a joy it was to spend time with my friend from our Fort Hood, TX days. Please pray for her husband Glen who is in Iraq right now. He is anticipated to be home in August or so. He is a true soldier in our Army as well as for Christ. If you ever get the opportunity to meet the Clubb's you will be blessed.

Ta-ta for now and perhaps I can get Kurt to liven things up around here.

"On the first day of the new year, my true love gave to me..."

..greens and beans!

For reasons I do not fully understand, "greens and beans" are a traditional food on the first day of the year for many people. It wasn't until I married Anji that I became acquainted with this rather superstitious meal, but tonight our house smells of bacon cooked with onion, ham, and a hint of spinach. It's a comforting way to welcome 2008. 

The weather has turned bitter cold, but the promise of snow has not come to fruition. It is no wonder meteorologists are a derided bunch, is it? Nonetheless we are joyful today in our warm abode, still anticipating a blanket of cool white outside when we awake in the morning as if we were children praying for a day off from school. Seeing snow covering the imperfections of the ground and gently rounding the hard edges of man-made things brings to mind the perfect covering of Christ's sacrifice for our sins and the attainable purity through His love.

We spent last evening eating pizza and playing games with some new friends here and stayed at their home until midnight had passed (and our children's mental functions began to disintegrate). We laughed as we drove towards home while thinking that we had, for the first time in a long while, entered the new year prior to many of our family and friends. Nothing like being a bit ahead of the game, eh? Anji and the boys were well throughout the evening, but all (especially Anji and Sam) are particularly tired today. Funny that we choose to enter the year tired and red-eyed rather than bright-eyed and bushy-tailed! Perhaps that's a resolution for the 2008 list...

There is much to prepare for this year and the Lord will work in a mighty way for those who are willing to step through the rent veil and enter into His presence, leaving self behind. As we leave the holidays and the prior year, may we take nothing with us into the new year except trust, hope, and delight in our Father!

May the Lord our Father richly bless you in 2008.