Observation

New house rule:
If mom can hear the music in the dining room, it is too loud...

(ps: bedrooms are above and below...)
(pps: only 12 more teenager years to go... :-) )

Art jag

Nobody sees a flower - really - it is so small it takes time - we haven't time - and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time. Georgia O'Keefe

This is one of my favorite Georgia O'Keefe paintings. (can you use "favorite" if there is more than one?)

I don't remember when I was exposed to O'Keefe first, but I remember exactly when I became enamored by her work. When living in Maryland in the fall of 1987, there was an O'Keefe exhibition at the National Gallery in DC and I wandered around by myself for hours. The enormity of some of her work simply awed me. I took a poster of this poppy home, and it has hung in various homes and rooms ever since.

After I left New Mexico, the O'Keefe Museum opened in Santa Fe. I've never visited, but I hope to next summer, because I see they will be doing an exhibition with O'Keefe and another one of my favorites, Ansel Adams.

I'm not an art scholar. But I know what I like... :-)

Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa?

I heard this story the other day, and was fascinated. What amazing technology, that can figure out what was, but is no longer. And, admitedly, I was amused. Because some poor cleaning chap, probably with the most honorable of intentions, might just have erased Miss Lisa's eyebrows. OOPS!

Don't worry- you won't find any kind of destructive cleaning like that around here...

Fall Classic

He's our favorite reason that this household will rooting for the Colorado Rockies in this year's World Series. No relation, that we yet know of... Well, and of course, that they are COLORADO. What sense would it make for this family to cheer for Boston? (though we did live in nearby Connecticut twice...)

Actually, I was hoping that Cleveland would beat Boston, and THEN fall apart against the Rockies. Alas... But, reminder..., the Rockies did outscore the Red Sox 20-5 in three games of interleague play at Boston back in June. Goliath who, we say?

Go Rockies!

Felony Flyers

These are my favorite shoes, well, right now, and I'm not just saying that because they don't hurt my infected toe and they only cost $5 on clearance. A friend, who has experience with such things, calls them my Felony Flyers because, apparently, they are jail issue shoes. Who knew I was so edgy? HA!

When I wear these shoes, I have a sense of being READY. Ready to go, on a moments notice. It's that same feeling of wanting to make "vroom-vroom" noises when I ride my mountain bike and hop the curb. Probably the Proverbs 31 woman did not wear Converse sneakers (only because rubber had not yet been invented, maybe, though I have to concede, that purple and fine linen probably don't go so well with sneakers...), though these shoes give me just a little extra bit of strength, and I smile when I wear them. (Prov. 31:25) These shoes aren't the Gospel of peace, but I am ready to go and speak it, live it, when I wear them. (Eph 6:15)

Watch out world!

Just wanted to share... :-)

"Go Simply Means to Live"

from Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest:

"Go ye therefore..." Go simply means to live. Acts i. 8 is the description of how to go. Jesus did not say- Go into Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, but, "Ye shall be witnesses unto Me" in all these places. He undertakes to establish the goings.

"If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you..."- that is the way to keep going in our personal lives. Where we are placed is a matter of indifference; God engineers the goings."

Fall Break

A day off! Fall Break! The Academy set off south yesterday, bikes in tow, to Indian Cave State Park. Indian Cave is located next to the Missouri River and offers some spectacular views of the Missouri River valley. There really is a cave, with Indian petroglyphs of buffalo and deer, and some more modern work, like "Jordan 1977." We resisted adding to the collection.






We did, however, climb trees. (well, some of us..., not the official photographer, of course...)

We rode our bikes along the Missouri Watershed trail.












Here's a self-portrait, a peek into a one-room schoolroom that's on the property. If you look past the glare, you can see the classroom...
















We saw more fields being harvested than we could count.

We stopped at a family farm pumpkin patch in Nebraska City on the way home, and left with our arms full of pumpkins and gourds. I think the lady liked us... :-)


At any rate, I'm sure glad that my kids enjoy road trips! I guess they can hardly help it, as I've been toting them around the countryside, indeed, around the country, since before they can remember. Wonder where the road will take us next...?

Intercession

...When King Jehosphaphat faced an insurmountable problem, he made no pretense to know the solution. A vast army marched against him, and "he was afraid and set his face to seek the LORD..." He assembled the people together, and he prayed,

O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might... For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. (2 Chronicles 20:6, 12)

Like Jehosphat, we can unapologetically say to a woman facing a vast army, "Our God rules heaven and earth. I don't know the answer to your problem, but I will help you fix your eyes on Him. I will remind you of His sovereign love and power. I will pray for you, and I will encourage you to search out His word to know Him more intimately."

from The Legacy of Biblical Womanhood by Susan Hunt and Barbara Thompson

When pigs fly...

Couldn't get past this week without a special post on one of the all-time greatest fall events, the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, now in its 32nd year, I think. Now, the Balloon Fiesta has it's own park, with grass, which seems completely unbelievable to this New Mexican. (We didn't even have grass on the school playgrounds! We barely had grass in our yard, but I digress...) I think I remember going to the earliest balloon fiestas in the parking lot of the mall, but maybe I only remember that because I read it. My mom would know, and certainly, that would have been something that she would have taken us to.

At any rate, I KNOW I've been counting balloons since I have known how to count. For a full week in October, on each clear and crisp New Mexico morning, as the sun peaks over the mountains, one by one, those colorful globes fill the sky. FILL the sky. They drift, almost silently, to the west and to the south, or wherever the currents take them.

Going to the balloon fiesta means waking up early, before the break of dawn, and dressing in lots of layers, and walking a far way from the parking lot, sometimes over and through arroyos. It means hearing the hum of big fans and the whoosh of gas blowing up. ("blowing up" as in upward into the balloon, NOT "blowing up" as in BOOM!) It means Indian fry bread, and trading pins, and chasing ballons through town.

I grew up across the street from one of the first balloonists to cross the Atlantic Ocean. I was in his kitchen, playing with his daughter, when we were hearing news that they had made it to France. I once watched a balloon attempt to cross the Sandia mountains, and not make it. It went down in an ominous flame, a terrible free-falling plunge, seemingly just over the hill, but really, so much farther than we could possibly get to for help. T & I were married on a fall morning during the balloon fiesta, and I counted balloons on the way to church. I remember a lot about balloons. At any Albuquerque event, it seems there is always a balloon.

And yet, I've never actually ridden in a balloon, well, except for just a few feet off the ground, in one that was firmly tethered to earth. But, I suppose (now, look at the picture really close... see the snout? the pig ears? heehee!) that if pigs fly, someday I might, too...

You Can Learn A Lot...

We rented The Muppet Show, Season 1, for Friday night, and a couple of girls were especially amused by song, led by Kermit and one very special pig...

In Whom or In What?

This week I began a distance learning class, via the Internet, through the Chalmers Center for Economic Development at Covenant College. Foundations and Principles of Holistic Ministry primarily looks at issues surrounding poverty, and what the appropriate response and action of the church should be. The reading is both thought provoking and engaging. What are my thoughts and, yes, biases, on poverty, and the poor, and what is my own response? Does that line up with biblical mandate? So, over the next month, there just might be a bloggy emphasis on such topics...

Consider this bit from the introduction of Walking With the Poor (Myers):

...There is no such thing as not witnessing. Christian development promoters are witnessing all the time. The only question is to whom or to what? Their deeds, both what they do and how they do it, declare in whom or in what they place their faith and also demonstrate the moral content of that faith. The way they live their lives declares whom they love and on whom they depend. And, if they are truly living lives that demonstrate their love of God and their neighbor, then questions will come to which the gospel is the answer and they will witness with the words that provide this answer.

Isn't that truth for all of us, in whatever scope of life we interact? Over and again, it goes back to relationships, living as salt and light such that we are noticed as different.

A glimpse of life with four daughters...

(I hope this comes out big enough to read, although I know the script by heart already... If you need to see it bigger, click on the comic, I think.)

Thanks to Mark Tatulli and Heart... :-)

A click to save

Here's an easy way to do a good thing. Matthew Smith, from Indelible Grace music, is giving away the title track to his latest hymn CD, All I Owe. For every person that downloads "All I Owe", Matthew will donate to Blood:Water Mission to provide clean water for one person in Africa for one week. Water, something that we take for granted. So, go here, get a good old hymn in a good new style, and help to offer a bit of God's mercy in a place where it is much needed.

Saturday

No moss gathers on our family feet during fall Saturdays. (they might have some dust though- it was a windy day in the Midwest!) Some of what we were doing:

J. took a master's class from pianist Krassimira Jordan. She was in town to perform and teach at OCM. Her students are usually in the college setting, but she was very good with the younger students. I think James enjoyed the experience, and maybe The Little Shepherd will take on new lightness.

Deakin and Dillon were banished to the outdoors while Su, L & S excavated, oops- I meant to say cleaned, their room. Yes, under the bed. Yes, in the closet. Yes, behind the door. Thanks to their dad for supervising this monumental event. They are very happy about it today. They have friends over right now and were just overheard asking them to look under the bed. :-)

J. took the outside duties and mowed. T. says J. did a better job than he would have done himself. There's a compliment!

Team Dynamite took the field again, and finished with a win. YAY! Both girls played goalie and allowed no goals past. L. scored a couple for the good guys. Only downside, one player twisted her ankle. First injury to a Dynamite player in 4 years! (well, besides normal scrapes, bumps and bruises, of course...) Team H. helps out as K. is the team photographer and J. runs the flag on the sideline.

Here's S. on a throw in,

and L., heading towards the goal.

K. and the Warriors took the court for volleyball. No win for the Warriors this day, but count it all as training, right? Man, it's tough to take volleyball photos! The gym lights and the camera just do not like each other. We did get a great shot of K. lunging with her tongue out, though kind of fuzzy and dark. Here's the Warriors setting it up for K. to tip over...

We finished off the day at the Creighton Men's Soccer game. They took on Washington, and won in sudden death overtime. Good game! Very physical. TWO yellow cards which really impressed my young futbol players. There is no bad seat at the Creighton soccer stadium. And besides, you can take your picture with the Jay, roll down the grass hill, play the Big Screen Shell Game, and watch the Human Hamster Race at halftime. (I have a photo if you must see...) We resisted the call of the Mystery Mansion. (Just kidding! I wouldn't go in if they paid me, and the bats circling overhead seal THAT deal!)

On to Sunday. Ahh... the Sabbath. Worship and rest.

Mom's overture

Thanks to my friend Janet in NC for sending along this very clever ditty. It sounds Oh-So-Familiar, and made my entire family laugh, besides. Enjoy!

Some days...

Some days not even this or this is enough. Some days holding on to this is best of all...

Press on.

As long as I'm not chasing rabbit trails...

Found another silly internet quiz. I love these things. Good entertainment while making copies of the circulatory system...
What book are you? :-)

You're Watership Down!

by Richard Adams

Though many think of you as a bit young, even childish, you're
actually incredibly deep and complex. You show people the need to rethink their
assumptions, and confront them on everything from how they think to where they
build their houses. You might be one of the greatest people of all time. You'd
be recognized as such if you weren't always talking about talking rabbits.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Fall!

Hooray! The first day of Fall! My favorite season, even though it makes me sneeze. Thinking about fall, I think about growing up in New Mexico. Fall in Albuquerque is one event after another.

Starts with the State Fair in September. My sister and I would go to the State Fair every year, on School Day, with my grandma. We'd do every inch of the fair, the livestock barns, the exhibits and blue ribbons, and the Fine Arts Gallery. Through the Exhibition Halls to watch the knife demonstrations and get all the free stuff we could carry in our plastic sack. Through Villa Hispana, the mariachis playing, sombreros and leather and blown glass shops. Through the Indian Village, drums beating, with Fry Bread, turquoise and coral and silver jewelry, and beaded and feathered dancers. Through the midway and the fun house and the Tilt-a-Whirl. Later, as I got older, I went with friends- one year biked over which was good because no one likes to park at the fair. I went with T and rode the Zipper for the first, and last, time.

The Ballon Fiesta (hmmm... that should be a post by itself, later in the month, I think). The Greek Festival. Soccer. Aspen trees. Green chile roasting. Fall.

Yay for Fall, that all too quick season before winter descends.

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1

"Delight"ful

"Let your father and your mother be glad,
And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.
Give me your heart, my son,
And let your eyes delight in my ways."
Proverbs 23:25-26

One of my favorite columnists is Andree Seu, a regular contributor to World magazine. I hate to admit it, but the back of the magazine, where her page always lies, is the first I turn to when I get my new issue. I wish I could say I read the issue cover to cover and wait for her. I do read it cover to cover, every issue, but I always look to see if there's a new Seu column first.

This week's writing is another gem, another "oh- I need that reminder." Here's just a little bit, and I hope you delight in it as I have. (click here for the full column)

Delight is the most useless of things. It doesn't get the house clean or the bills paid. Useless—like flowers. Like rainbows. Like Beethoven's Ninth.

Delight covers a multitude of parenting shortcomings. You may be too strict or too lenient and still come out all right, if you delight in your children. They will know it, for delight cannot be hidden. It finds excuse to ooze all over the place. It seeks a getaway vacation with the beloved when it's not convenient. It asks different questions than duty. Duty says, "I should." Delight says, "I want to." Duty is efficient. Delight tends to anything but.


What is less efficient than the story of mankind? If it were about efficiency, God would have wiped the plate clean and commenced with more promising subjects. The Bible in entirety is a love story, a tale of unquenchable delight—His for us, finally ours for Him. No sound rule of parenting is modeled in the sprint of an old man down the road to meet his prodigal. Only delight. No royal protocol is modeled in the dance of a half-naked king before his subjects and the Lord with all his might. Only delight. What is more useless than hymns?

"Let the mind for an instant consider the history of the Redeemer's love, and a thousand enchanting acts of affection will suggest themselves. . . . Our souls may well faint for joy . . . for our loving benefactor Jesus Christ our Lord, whose love is wonderful, passing the love of women" (C.H. Spurgeon).

"Field" Trip

This afternoon we made our annual pilgrimage to the meat locker in Hancock, Iowa, to pick up our 1/4 share of a cow. 1/4 cow in beef, that is- all kinds of cuts, burger to steak. Family farm-raised, corn-fed beef. Tasty meat that will last us the year.

Hancock is a nice little town- with what has become one of our favorite parks. This year, we were given a tip to look for buffalo. We snuck over to a fence and spied elk and buffalo in the distance, though we weren't too stealthy, as the butcher we had just picked up the beef from drove by and asked us if we were looking for more meat. HA! Butcher humor! :-). And, my J son was correct in guessing, it was actually bison. Who would think, that right there in Hancock, IA, population 201, we would find Botna Bend Park, a local wildlife refuge of sorts.

The fields are beautiful at this time of year. So many shades of gold and green, as the corn and soy near harvest. We saw some farms with equipment already out. Lots of birds, and plenty of cows, pigs, and horses along the way, as well.

We made a stop to surprise a friend along the way, but she wasn't home- that's what we get for not calling ahead, but I bet she was surprised to see our note! And, I was able to maintain control of the music selections while driving, despite occassional grumbles from the crowd. A good afternoon outing, all in all.

Have to include a few shots of the playground:

Spinning on the merry-go-round, a mighty success with no scraped knees!

HA! Look at K, so tall now that she does a handstand rather than hang off the monkey bars! :-)

A group pic on the teeter-totters. Big victory! L conquers her fear of UP on the teeter-totter! But, she'll still only ride with her trust-worthy twin...

A good day and a good outing in the Heartland. :-)