Two Hanky Sunday

I hope you are all sitting down. I have big news that will be a shock those of you who know me well. Hold on to your hats.

I cried in church today. Twice.

OK, I'll give you a sec to catch your breath. I am not a crier. Ever. Most especially in public. I don't even know if I cried at my mom's funeral in front of anyone. It's just not in me but I did it TWICE this morning. For the purpose of bringing a lot of folks up to date and to try to explain the spiritual journey that our family has been on for the past few years, we'll talk about why I cried in church.

We have decided to switch churches. This was not an easy or quick decision though because it was not something we talked about much it may seem that way. For 11 years we have been at Crossroads and it has been home to us. Crossroads is a seeker-driven church that has a heavy emphasis on outreach into the community. They do a great job of bring the news of God's grace to many people who would never set foot in a church. While we loved that part of Crossroads, many other things just didn't seem to be a good fit with our family. Tim and I both grew up in Christian Reformed churches with a heavy (sometimes too heavy!) emphasis on knowledge and "book learning" part of the Christian life. We also spent our jr high and high school years in smaller youth groups where we were able to have relationship with our leaders. Even thought I haven't talked to them in years, I still Greg and Mary Beth among the most influential people in my teen years. We also had the opportunity to participate in such denominational events as the YCF Convention, SWIM, and SERVE. While Crossroads has a great youth program, it does not provide these things that we want for our kids. While we are looking for these things in a kids/youth program, we saw a young man make Profession of Faith this morning. He is currently serving in the US Army and will be deployed to Afghanistan next spring. When he stood up there with the pastor and youth pastor and answered those questions, I cried. More than anything, I want my kids to stand up there and answer those questions and we have decided FOR US a different church is the best way to assist us as parents to lead our kids to that point. Just so you know, this is a personal decision for us, we are not making any statements that Crossroads is wrong or ineffective in their ministry to kids.

So after Profession of Faith we are moving at a rapid clip through the service until we get to the Celebration of Communion. We recited the Apostles Creed. If you need a reminder about how much I love creeds and such, you can read this old post. As we said the creed, I got all sniffly again. Not just because I missed it and love to say it but it was at that moment that I had confirmation from the Holy Spirit that we were doing the right thing. I jsut had that feeling that yes, we made the right decision. It's hard to move on. We have lots of friends at Crossroads and I am afraid we'll lose them. That fear~and a big dose of laziness~kept us at Crossroads for probably longer than we should have stayed. Things are starting to fall into place. The new church is starting a MOPS program and I have already been invited to be involved. We'll see if I'm ready to jump into MOPS again! So we are now where we belong for this time and we're happy.

It's Dangerous to Count Other People's Money

My friend Leenie has an interesting discussion going on her blog about spoiled kids. This started out as a comment there but got a little long winded so I moved it here.

Often in our suburban culture we see who has what and we are all quick to make judgments based on that. While I do not know the pain of being stereotyped based on my race or appearance, people often make judgments about me based on my family. My family owns a profitable and publicly recognized business that bears the family name so I spent a lot of time growing up saying, "Yes, I am related to them." I realized this sounds a little like a "poor little rich girl" pity party but hang with me here! I am forever grateful that my parents were able to provide for my sister, brother and I. We all got the gift of a Christian education all the way through college. We got to travel and experience lots great things. My parents were able to assist my grandparents as they aged.

There is an assumption that if parents spend money on their kids they do not spend time with them or teach them anything valuable. Why is it one or the other? It is possible to be a good parent and have money. People make assumptions about me all the time based on my family's income level and sometimes that is really painful. I did not have things handed to me~with the exception of my college education I worked for things (my Guess jeans, my first car, ect.) just like everyone else. My parents were great parents and taught me all the same things that parents who weren't as well-off taught their kids. Spoiled is a mind set, not a dollar amount. Spoiling kids is teaching them the universe revolves around them. You can do that in lots of ways that do not involve money.

Yes, my kids wear name brand clothes. They have American Girl Dolls. They also do not own a gaming system or battery powered vehicles. They have never been to WDW. It's all relative. There will always be someone who spends $1 less on their kids and will call your kids spoiled. Holding a ruler up to a family and making judgments on how they spend their money is stereotyping. They are lots of well-off parents who are teaching their kids unconditional love and respect just as they are lots of parents who struggle financially and don't teach their kids these things. Judging people based on income or possessions is just as wrong as judging people on any other outside criteria.

My Bad A$$ Baby Boy

Seriously, Wyatt. You are going to need to do better than that for anyone to be afraid of you!

No Veep

Complete bummer. Dick Cheney had an irregular heart rhythm so he couldn't come to Marty's today. We still had a nice lunch and I got to meet a lot of people. VP Cheney called in and did a brief talk about the election on the phone so we did get to hear him. He really has a great sense of humor which kinda a surprised me. He's got such a dry old guy persona.

Thanks for all the advice on what to wear. I did figure it out on my own and did know not to wear jeans even though my dad called early this morning to make sure I didn't wear jeans. I think he was channeling my mother for a minute. I wore a brown skirt, ivory turtleneck sweater, and a tailored denim jacket none of which had baby stains of any sort on them.

Where Are Stacey and Clinton?

I am so geeked! I am going to meet and greet VP Dick Cheney on Wednesday at my cousin's house. Marty Ozinga is running for US Congress and the Veep is coming to support and encourage the troops working to get Marty elected.

What on earth does a SAHM mom wear to this?! Someone told me "business casual". Great. My business casual is a pair of Old Navy yoga pants from 2002 and a pink T shirt with a baby food stain on it. Dressy would be a pair of jeans with a J Crew hoodie. Help.

I Love This Harbor

I love Hilton Head. Seriously. It's my favorite place to go. It's probably genetic because my parents love Hilton Head. They went on their honeymoon there and have been back at least a zillion times since. It's one of those places that has that indescribable "thing" that makes you love it but I will try to tell you a bit about it. If you have ever been there, you know what I mean! Though for me, a lot of the love is nostalgia for my mom. She loved it there and it's the only place that I can still picture her.

This past summer we made our third trip to Hilton Head with Doug and Christine + Kiddos. What a trip! The last time we made this joint family vacation I was pregnant with Greta and Christine was pregnant with Wesley so we were at a bit of a disadvantage! This year was easier and harder. We had bigger kids which meant a trip to the park or the kiddie pool was not going to make them giddy but they were almost all old enough to fend for themselves a lot of the time. We did more splitting up this year than in the past but I think that worked out for the best. Tim and I are more "lay around and do nothing" vacationers and Doug and Christine are more "get out and do stuff" kinda folks. Well, maybe not exactly. Some of that is more a function of how old our kids are and how work-busy our lives back home are. Anyhoo, it worked nice to be able to split up or do things together based on schedules or lack of schedules~particularly Wyatt's naps. The big treat this tiem around was grown-up dinner! We went out for dinner twice without the kids and that was the highlight of the trip for me! We had a great time and love the tradition of doing HHI every summer.

Here's Amelia, Caroline, Emily B, and Greta waiting to Gregg to start singing. One of the best parts of Hilton Head is the fun family things to do. A long-time favorite of the my family is Gregg Russell AKA the Jerk Under the Tree. He's been playing under the Liberty Oak Tree in Harbor Town since 1976. Gregg is another Linda thing. She loved him so much. I remember her sitting at his show singing along with him. He's definitely heavy on the cheese but the more fruity grown up drinks you have, the more fun he is!After the show last summer, me and the kiddos with Gregg Russell.

Here's a shot of Doug and Tim getting ready for another fantabulous part of Hilton Head. A little family tradition we call Happy Hour. We start prepping at about 4:30 with the official start of HH on the screened in upper deck at 5:00. In addition to your choice of cocktail, there is always fresh local shrimp and oysters, cheese and crackers, veggies, and all kinds of other goodies. You could make a full meal out of Happy Hour and we often do!

Just one last shot of me and the girls last Christmas in Harbor Town. We love to go down to Carolina for Christmas. It's warmer than the Midwest and has great shopping!

What to Blog About

I want to blog about the presidential campaigns. But I won't. I want to blog about my family's spiritual journey. But I won't. I want to celebrate a Sox division win. But I can't. I want to blog about how cute my kids are. But that's annoying to everyone except me. I want to blog about how difficult one of kids is right now. But I won't.

I got nothin.

The Recipe Box

I have a shoe box FULL of sauce-stained 3x5 cards dating back to the 80's when I first started my recipe collection. I have tried lots and lots and lots of different ways to store them and they just end up in a box under my desk. Since I have beccome blog-savvy, I have started a recipe blog to store them and add my own comments/memories to each one. My problem is that I totally forget about it and forget to add them. So my goal is to add one recipe per day til Halloween and I need you all to keep me accountable.

So go check out my recipes and add your own comments. Just click HERE!

Married?

I heard this stat on the radio today.

Among MARRIED women McCain is up 11%

Among SINGLE women Obama is up 14%

Why such a big difference? Discuss.

Selfish Soapboxing

Let me get up and preach for a sec here. I kinda feel bad doing it but hey . . .it's my blog. :-)

Please for the love of Pete, be an informed voter. Don't vote for McCain b/c Dr Dobson told you to. Don't vote for Obama b/c Oprah told you to. Obama is a gifted speaker and has lots of energy to bring to the office. Don't vote for him because of that. McCain is a admirable patriot and war hero. Don't vote for him because of that. Don't pick your candidate based of what your parents or grandparents have always done. Don't cast your vote b/c some mom at your kids' school heard that their neighbor's best friend's cousin's mailman got an email that said Obama doesn't say the pledge of allegience. Don't cast your vote based on the 30 second sound-byte you heard of Whoopi Goldberg on The View talking about going back to slavery if McCain is elected.

Above all, READ. Go to each candidate's website and read. Ask yourself this question. "What is the fundamental role of gov't in our society?"

Off my soapbox now. Go Bears.

One Pitch Away From Jumping

Me and my BFF at our first Sox game together.

As we watch the Sox do their traditional fall fall-apart, we have lots of chances to get our hopes up only to have the come crashing down. I have no illusion that we were going to repeat 05, but it would have been nice to win the division, make the the playoffs and maybe go out in 5 games to LAA. Alas, it shall not be cuz we just suck.

We did have a great time at the game with Ben and Kary last night. Pretty sad night when your Pick To Click is Dewayne Wise AKA at our house as "Dewayne Wayne". . . .and he wasn't even drunk.

Kary and hubby Ben thought we were negative fans. Nope. Just realistic. Well, Paulie DOES hit into a lot of DPs! Speaking of Paulie. . .I was expecting to wake up this morning and hear that he had blown out his ACL and his career was over. The guy rolled around and cried like a little girl. Dude, it's a sprain. Butch up or go to the NL.

With a Rebel Yell. . .

I did something spontaneous and stupid today. I took my baby boy for a haircut. It WAS getting long and girly looking~not cool long but scraggly long. So I took him in to some butcher who made him look like an infant version of Billy Idol. AFTER this was all done, I remember that I have not taken him for his one year pics yet. AAHHH!

Here he is before the massacre~happy and smiling.

And here is my poor shorn baby. He really does have about an inch of hair left but it's so blond you can't even see it.

He's like a smiling sweet baby Billy Idol. I am the worst mommy ever.

Gulp

Do you have ANY idea how many times Caroline wore this set last fall?!?! About a zillion. It was her favorite set. I KNOW I didn't pay any where NEAR that for it new. Gulp. I (heart) Ebay.

Bento Baby!

In addition to sending Amelia off to kindergarten and Greta to preschool, I have embarked on a another new adventure this fall. Bento lunches! What are bento lunches? They are based on Japanese box lunches that are made with yummy things like fish, eggs, seaweed, and rice. They are lunch boxes that divide into little compartments. This blog is a great overview of Bento lunches and I'm getting lots of inspiration from her! The idea is to send your kids with something more nutritious and to cut down on waste. It's GREEN! I know what you are thinking~who kidnapped Jen and replaced her with a tree-hugger?! I'm all about cutting down on waste if it saves me money. Less ziplocs to buy more cash for. . .um. . .the Gap?So here's Amelia's for today~ham chunks and colby-jack chunks, whole grain crackers, grape tomatoes with ranch dressing, one lone baby carrot, 3 organic oreos (do not laugh), and a small bag of pretzels for snack time. They eat one snack outside so it has to be in a disposable container.

Caroline's was a bit funner! She has Granny Smith apple slices, sliced mozzarella cheese, & whole grain crackers. She made these into little sandwiches which are super good! She also has grape tomatoes and organic oreos.

And They Are GONE!

I won't re-write my same post from the past 2 years. You can read them here and here. Nothing new to report this year except we did have our first case of nerves. Amelia melted down during the lay-hands-on-the-teacher-and-pray portion of the Open House last night. There was no stinkin' way she was going to TOUCH some person. Oh well. She'll do well in the CRC.

So here's the pics of the morning.

Scaling Back

One of the greatest things about being a mom of school-age kids is that you get to do the New Year's Resolution thing 3 times. For me, the start of a new school year is about as blank slate as you can get. So here I sit starting 180 days in the face and trying to re-vamp yet again. What do I want to do this fall? How do I want things to go? What are my goals? Why do I think in Dr Phil's voice? I have literally lost sleep trying to organize my thoughts and plans. I struggled with answering the questions "What do I want our family to be like? How do I get there? What is standing in the way that can be altered?" Here's what Dr Phil's voice said.

1. I want our home to be warm and peaceful. Not necessarily quiet but peaceful.
2. I want our house to be organized and have routines that are well-run.
3. I want our marriage to be strong and to work with our personalities and not try to be the couple we are not.
4. I want our kids to love being at home and want to bring their friends here.
5. I want to parent my kids not just react to them.

So now that I figured out what I want I needed to figure out how to get there and what was blocking it. I have come to this stunning conclusion. I have too much on my plate. Many are great and wonderful things. Church things. Things other moms can easily do without disruption to their families. Things I enjoy. These are things that are keeping me from being the mom I want to be. One example? Feeding these people. I love to cook and nutrition is a passion of mine. (As is double cheeseburgers but that's another post!) I rarely cook a big meal b/c I am so busy doing A, B or C that I'm too tired or we get home just in time to throw a pizza in the oven. Some things can't budge. Tim's work schedule has no flexibility. The kids have to go to school. So what goes? Everything else that I don't love. That leaves Ebay and Bible study. I love doing Ebay. It provides me a "thing" that is all my own and lets me shop! It also covers a big chunk of our tuition so Ebay will continue! My Tuesday Bible study at church is also great. I love the study and time with grown-ups. Everything else? Gone. I need to be at home. Period. I can not accomplish the goals I want by doing 700 other things at once. While driving.

So as we start this new school year I have to be prepared to say "No." "I'm sorry, but now isn't a good time for me." "Thanks for thinking of me, but I really have to pass." While I understand lots of other moms can do 700 things at once and do them well, I can't. I'm done trying.

Jose Cuervo Would Have Stuck His Landing

We are down here in Hilton Head having a swell time! We have swam (or is it swum?) til we're prune-y, eaten copious amount of food, had Happy Hour every day, and gone to see the jerk under the tree. Last night was a first for us. We went on our first Adults Only dinner and followed it up with Adults Only games~not THOSE games. . .get your mind out of the gutter. We had a bottle of tequila and a few limes and Olympic womens gymnastics. What a great combo. When the US women stuck their landings, we drank. When the Chinese women fell, we drank. By the end of the bottle, we drank cuz we liked the Russian girl's leotard and b/c Tim Daggett said "Beautiful body line." too many times. We might try it with swimming tonight.

Dude, She's OLD

Happy birthday to my beloved oldest daughter! Caroline is 10 today. Eek. I am old. 10 is old. I REMEMBER being 10. It involved a lot of back talk and singing of Barbara Mandrell songs. She has spent much of the day complaining about how much her birthday sucks. We are leaving on vacay in a few days so I'm doing laundry, cleaning, packing, ect. She is PO'd that the rules of the house still apply and she is not the queen of the world. All in all, she's a sweet kid who is developing the life skills of shopping and golf. She's also a crazy White Sox fan. . .she actually shed tears last week out of fear that her beloved Nick Swisher might get traded. So happy birthday Caroline Rebekah. You've got 8 more years of free-loading and then you're out on your ear.

Amelia-isms

Our lovely second daughter Amelia is what my grandma would call "full of the dickens." She just spouts off whatever comes to mind. Out loud. At that moment. Here's a few of her most recent gems.

Upon hearing an organ for the first time in a traditional CRC
"MOMMY! WHAT is that NOISE?!?!"

Upon opening her birthday present from Aunt Seana and Uncle Jeff
"I am the luckiest girl in the world."

At our family reunion she got a pin with her name on it and picture of her Great Great Grandma on it. She walks up to the hostess of the reunion and says,
"This is my grandma who is dead."

Is It Just Me?

• who goes to bed thinking about what I get to eat tomorrow?
• who is finally sick of Jon and Kate + Eight?
• who wishes summer was less busy?
• who has a drink after VBS?
• who checks the radar every 20 minutes in case a storm cell develops? Oh wait. That's not me~that's my husband.
• who hates Wal Mart but loves Target?