Unto you is born this day...

Take it away, Linus! We love you!

Lo, How a Strawb' e'er Blooming

Remember my awesome birthday present? Welp, I've been eagerly anticipating the arrival of this wondrous sight. Just in time for Christmas! Please don't be jealous, my Iowa friends. Just come and visit me. :)

What would Handel Say?

I think he'd like it. It gets really crazy toward the end. Enjoy!

"Unique"

We've been thinking for a long time about whether or not to homeschool. We're still on the fence. In the meantime, I like to make fun of homeschool families (in the jealous, admirous way). Check this out. Very funny.

No White Christmases in Texas

Today felt like the middle of May in Iowa. It reminded me of recess in elementary school: wearing shorts for the first time that year, basking in the sun, playing tether ball and chasing boys. The warmth of the sun on your arms and legs. Feeling summer around the corner. Smelling the sweet warm breeze and knowing that school is about to yield to slip n' slides and popsicles on the back deck. Yes, that was the way it was today. A beautiful 77. Too bad I'm pining for a White Christmas.

Today the weather man said, "..it's warm today but watch out, it won't be warm on Christmas...it'll be in the low 60's! brr!"....At which point I imagined my friend AK from Iowa being violent against a person for the first time in her life. (Let's just say she's not a big fan of freezing toes, car scrapers, slipping on the ice on the way to work, etc.). It's a good thing she didn't see that or we might have a very injured weatherman on our hands. I heard this song for the first time today on the radio. He almost makes the case for enjoying a warm Christmas, but I'd trade it for a real one anyday...

My Brother's Breakfast

My brother made this a few years ago. He visited this week and I asked if I could have a copy of this. I found out it's on Youtube! Love it!

He's Baaaaaaaack!

Angels We Have Heard On High...Broccoli Style

He's Baaaaaaaack!

Angels We Have Heard On High...Broccoli Style

Photo Booth Rowley Style

Back to square one...

No more Huckabee for me. He's no good on immigration, even by his own admission. Too bad. I'm sorry to say I don't really care for any of these blokes (and let's don't even talk about the blokette). No, thanks. Next!..........??

My kind of humour

So this is it, guys. This is the kind of thing I laugh at...a lot. Does that make me a nerd?

Had to share

This is so cute!

CVS Paid Me to Take This Stuff Home

I busted out the CVS ad, some coupons, and some strategic shopping and I came home with this stuff, plus $7. For reals.

Turkey Day

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I'm In That Place Once Again...

Wow, that was easy!

Claesen's Thanksgiving meal was a breeze to prepare this year! If only all meal preparation were this easy!!!




As for the rest of us, our menu is as follows-

Cranberry-Glazed Cornish Game Hens
Grandma's Family Recipe (macaroni, sharp cheddar, saltines, butter, milk, and bacon! This is one I can remember having at Grandma's since the beginning of time...the ultimate comfort food. yum!)
Green Beans
Tyler's Cheesy Potatoes (he'll join us and bring that....sounds great!)
Homemade Bread
Artichoke Parmesan Spread (on clearance at Randalls today, what can I say? I loves me some artichokes :)
Almond Crunch Pumpkin Pie (baking right now...it smells heavenly!)
Ice Cream
Coffee

Whooo! And then a nice long walk to clear the conscience.

Family and friends, we really wish we could be with you tomorrow. We're thinking of you and hoping your holiday is warm and wonderful, full of good food, great conversion, and much thanksgiving to our great God who has bestowed so very many blessing upon us all.

Love!

Agritainment...

To infinity and beyond...

Tomorrow is Gregory's second birthday! I can hardly believe that he's already 2 years old. And simultaneously, I can hardly believe that he's only been on the earth for 2 years, because frankly, life b.g. is a real blur. We often ask each other, "what did we do with ourselves?" I know we were busy and doing important things, but I just can't even remember, say, a typical evening, sans small people.

Back to my little man. He's growing up, y'all. And I'm pretty in love with the little person he's becoming. He's smart, brave, obedient (usually!), cheerful, has a good sense of humor, is deeply curious, is kind to his little bro', loves books, singing, food (a man after my own heart), Elmo, Bob the Builder, Thomas the Train, and jumping on the trampoline....oh, and bubbles. Many, many bubbles.

I have to admit, though- amidst all these joys of seeing him grow and watching his personality unfold-there's that heartache of uncertainty. How will his life unfold? Will he get tripped up by the wrong kind of people? Will he fall into some sort of debilitating addiction? Will he go off to war? Will someone break his heart? Will he be liked at school? Will he find joy in his work? What will the world be like for him as the years pass? Most importantly, will he walk with Christ as his Saviour? These are the questions I ask myself every day. Jaye reminds me that all we can do is all we can do, and we have to trust God with the rest. And pray. And pray some more. I have never prayed more feverishly for anything than for the safety and salvation of my children.

But tomorrow, we're taking a break from the scary questions. Tomorrow, on Gregory's second birthday, only fun questions are allowed...."hey! Do you want another piece of cake? How about another present? You don't want to take your afternoon nap....hmm...ok! Oh, you want to go in the backyard with no shoes? A-ok with me! More trampoline? Sure! More books? You bet! Play-dough? Sure! You can even mix the colors today. More bubbles? I'm on it." It's your day, my little man. I love you so much. Happy Birthday!

Behind the scenes...making a recording

My choir is in the midst of making a recording. We just finished our second night of intense work. 6 hours down, 3 hours to go. It may sound exciting and fun, which it was, for the first 35 seconds... but mostly it's stressful and tedious. For instance, we may start and stop after the first note up to 12 times in a row. Then there are the times we start and then realize the church bells are chiming, or a train is going by. Stop! Do-over! Also, it's just plain unnerving to think that you could make a mistake which would force the entire group to come to a screeching halt...Re-do! Of course, we are insured against that somewhat because we have to do multiple takes of the same song, and sometimes extra takes of especially hard sections. The sound guys will seam the best parts together to make (hopefully!) a glorious and non-tedious sounding masterpiece. Supposedly these guys are really good. They better be.

The sound engineers are in another room, but we can hear them and they us. Not only is our director doing his thing, but the head sound guy is also giving suggestions, even musical ones, which I find interesting. I would find it annoying, except that I have agreed with everything he's said so far, and I wish we had addressed some of these things before now. Then we have the diction coach yelling out corrections, choir members asking questions and making suggestions, and the "perfect-pitch guy" giving a blow-by-blow account of our tuning adventures. Pass the vodka, yo.

Probably the most amusing part is that when you reach the end of the song, you're supposed to stand stock still and not make any noise for a good 20 seconds. That's a loooong time, and I find myself looking around, trying not to laugh at how hilarious everyone looks.

All of this, to bring to you a recording of your favorite secular Russian romantic choral masterpieces. I know it's something you've been pining for, and believe me, I'll do what it takes to get it done. :)

Fright Night!

It was certainly frightly at our house tonight....after 417 Trick-or-Treaters, we had to turn the lights off and call it quits. The neighbors were still going strong long after 600.

Gregory had the best time ever... he was the official candy passer-outer. He was very good at it and didn't quit until we had to. He delighted in the cute costumes and flinched at the scary costumes, but he still mustered up the guts to quickly stick a Hershey's in the bag. We were very proud of him.

Claesen was mesmerized by all that was happening and didn't make a peep the whole night.

PS What's really funny about the last picture is that the girl with the red hair is our neighbor girl, and Gregory's BABYSITTER!!

It was a delightful frightful night.

Russian Madness

The professional choir I sing in is doing an all-Russian program this weekend. It's a difficult language for native English speakers to pick up. For some of the vowels I have to really let myself sound "dumb" on order to get it right. It's been a very difficult concert to prepare, and I still don't feel ready...the performance is 2 days away at this point. It is remotely appealing to give up and let the fire do a number on this notebook. But I'm thinkin' they would just give me a new notebook, and that one won't have my millions of markings in it, which would be quite treacherous and potentially very embarrassing. So I think I'll keep the notebook and keep practicing....oi vey, where's the Vodka?!

New Goal

There are a few things I want to incorporate into my life to become healthier. I'm finally at the point where I want to make real, lifelong changes rather than quick-fixes. I'm ready to nurture good habits as opposed to do this till you lose ten pounds then go back to "normal" actions. I'm still fine-tuning my list, so I won't share it yet. But I will share the first one-

No snacking after __pm.

Will you help me figure out what that hour should be?

This book is amazing.....

No more visions of flying around on a cloud playing a harp and singing incessant hymns. This book unfolds Heaven like never before. Check back for more talk about this book soon. Or, go buy the book and we can read it together!

Happy Birthday to Me

Today was a great day. Jaye had to leave really early, so I had the kids in the morning (he usually helps me get them going). Claesen and I took Gregory to school, and when I got home, Jaye was just returning home, too, with a surprise! 8 beautiful strawberry plants and a cool hanging basket to grow them in. I am in heaven, y'all. Strawberries are on my top ten of God's most amazing creations. The color, the shape, the texture, the TASTE!, even the smell. Ahhh, fruitly perfection. I can't wait.

The rest of the day was great as well, and although we didn't get to go out tonite, we're going to bust out tomorrow night, complete with babysitters on the scene, so it should be one amazing birthday bash extravaganza, I'm sure.

Musical Vegetables

Paula Abdul was right....

....it ain't fiction,
just a natural fact:
We come together
'cuz opposites attract.

Mini Harvest

Here is our mini harvest after going to the farmers' market yesterday. I think I'm going to grill the squash and zucchini tomorrow. I'll bake the sweet potatoes, and we'll even get to share those with Claesen. That long green one at the top is an English cucumber.

I'm excited to make our yearly trek to the pumpkin patch; hopefully we'll get to go next weekend. There's one close by that is calling my name. It won't be like going to the one back home, but I think I'll live. Gregory had fun there last year, so I imagine that he'll like it even better and understand more this year. He simply must learn the joys of Fall, which his mother loveth above all other seasons. Yay for picking apples and pumpkins whilst drinking hot cider!

Heaven on Earth

Today was a day for the books. Absolutely gorgeous. On days like this it's easy to believe that one day, heaven will be right here on earth. Earth perfected. I can't wait. In the meantime, I'll try to love every moment, and delight in the small things, like watching little Claesen discover such wonderful things as grass! He was so intrigued by each blade. He did take time to pose for a senior picture, though. Enjoy.

Cat Puke and Kid Junk

Today, as I sat looking at my poor house: cat throw-up in the living room, baby throwup in every room, enough stray cheerios hanging around to make at least two full bowls of cereal, a mixture of clean and dirty clothes hung over every chair, toys and books galore, teethers, sippy cups and pacifiers lurking in every corner....I thought to myself, "Self, what have you gotten yourself into?"

And then I opened my Bible and randomly laid eyes on this funny little Proverb that I'd never seen before:

“Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of oxen.”

Thank you, Lord, for reminding me that some things are worth our home resembling the beaten path of a small tornado. I'll take cat puke and kid junk if I get to keep the cats and the kids.

Ok, this blog is driving me crazy. Which is funny, considering I only have about 2.3 readers. (Thank you, faithful few!) Let's suffice it to say that I am a safety first kind of gal and I will be changing up a few things in order to keep my family safe from the big bad world of internet freakos. Sad, but that's how it is.

My Big Backyard

Remember that magazine from childhood? (My Big Backyard). Man, I LOVED that magazine. It was all about catching bugs in jars (and, of course, letting them go) making outdoor crafts, playing water games, learning about weather, hibernation of animals, etc.

In our own big backyard, we like grilling, playing, jumping on the trampoline, hanging sheets on the clothesline, playing cars, catch, tag, watering flowers, watching the bluejays, squirrels and hummingbirds, and swinging. These are the sweet memories I will cling to when I am old and gray.

Happy Joyful Flower Hat Day

HAPPY JOYFUL FLOWER HAT DAY!!!!!





(JFHD for short). JFHD started in 2001 at the University of Northern Iowa, by myself and co-founder Jessica K. The original hat started its life as a prop in our opera closet. It now holds a place of honor in my bedroom in Iowa, along with pictures from the inaugural festival, which included homemade cake, nametags, pictures, original songs, and a trip to the symphony. As you can see from the pictures, the event has taken hold around the world. It's great to see that people are really getting into the holiday and enjoying it to the fullest. I couldn't be happier, really. JFHD for me is the true beginning to the Fall season, and if you know me very well, you know that Fall rocks my world. (I loved some of your emails about the leaves, etc! Thanks for thinking of me!) Which is why Joyful Flower Hat Day is my very favorite of all the random made-up (but deserving!) holidays.

Uh oh. The pumpkin's hungry.

Wow. Why didn't I think of this?

Seriously, though. Have you seen anything cuter?

Making the official move!

Ok. I am moving my blog over to this site. Sorry for the trouble. Here's a picture from the archives to make it all better.