Suburban Thief

Suburban life has reduced Brian to crime. We came home last night from an outing with the kids to find miniature American flags positioned perfectly at each mailbox entering our subdivision. Other neighborhoods get amazing pools, playgrounds or walking trails to show for their association fees - evidently we get small flags. Well, actually, WE did not. We were one of only two homes in the entire subdivision that did not get a tiny flag. WHATHEHECK?!?!

Have we already broken some unspoken suburban rule? Was it the patch of weeds in our front flowerbeds? Or, the growing oil spots usually hidden under our van - our van that has seen better days...way, way better days? Could it be that Brian upset someone while joyriding the kids around the yard on the lawn tractor - the tractor that happens to sound like a small aircraft about to take to flight? Or have we offended the gardeners that surround our home by allowing our backyard to be the single haven for bunnies in the neighborhood? Yes, our neighbors shoot the bunnies -with arrows, with guns, with all the various weapons of choice people in suburbia turn to when the bunnies come out to attack. Perhaps the bass boat that remains parked in our drive ready for any and all emergency fishing trips is what caused hard feelings among our new community. Ooor, was it the mulch the kids spread evenly over the span of the cul-de-sac, the dandelion patch in our front yard that appears to be growing as if we were doing absolutely nothing to stop its expanse into neighboring yards (gasp!), or our trash can that remains curbside until late evening, the toys littering the backyard, the blow-up pool forming dead grass patches in our yard, or lastly, the garage door that is still dented from my minor parking miscalculation this past winter? Why the heck did we not get a flag?!?!?!

To bring this tangent back to Brian - the suburban thief...Rather than looking like the anti-American neighbors on the block, Brian pulled one of the four flags that were put up along the bushes at the center of our circle and proudly, (and very discreetly) stuck the very small American flag that more than likely won't last through the Fourth into the bed mix of pretty flowers and unidentified weeds at the base of our mailbox. Yes, we are American. Yes, we live in suburbia. And, yes, Brian is willing to steal in a very vain attempt to blend in with the natives. This is what suburbia has reduced us to - American flag theft! The horror!!!

Sad, but true - all the cheap American flags in the world cannot blend our little family into suburbia. The song from Sesame Street comes to mind - "One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just isn't the same..." We stand out with our oil spots, lame landscaping and our obvious disregard for the unspoken rules of suburban life including but not limited to my personal love of small, furry animals and Brian's interest in loud motor engines. BUT - we have a flag waving at the base of our mailbox just like our surrounding suburbanites. And, that's all that really matters in life, isn't it???

Family Update

It's been a bit since I bragged on the kids and since it is finally Friday my brain doesn't want anything "deep" to process - so on with the bragging...

Every age with our three continues to be my favorite age. They are continually doing amazing things - some that make B and I laugh, some that make us want to pull out our hair, but amazing still.

Isaac has always been our talker. At eighteen months old he was having actual conversations with the five year old that lived next to us in our Jersey apartment complex. This didn't fully amaze us until Jack became eighteen months old and we realized how advanced Isaac was as a baby. He's brilliant and oh, so confident. He knows no stranger and has been known to strike up conversations with people in the aisles of Target...repeatedly. He loves to greet the neighbors when they arrive home in our cul-de-sac and is quick to share all with anyone and everyone. This week he's been flashing everyone the poison ivy spots across his chest - his latest and greatest information to share. In addition to freely telling all of what happens in our home to absolute strangers, he has also gained a new found love for knock-knock jokes. "Knock-knock? Who's there? Orange. Orange who? Orange you glad to see me?!?"...and then he laughs all the way to the floor. He also likes creating his own jokes that are usually a stream of words that make no sense whatsoever..."Was that funny, Mama?!?"

Sophia is our princess. She's all about the color pink, dresses, and twirling in the middle of the family room..."I a princess!!!". She loves to sing - making up her own songs and her own dance movements. Though Soph will be turning three at the end of this summer when asked, "Sophie, how old are you?" she will respond "I four!". This drives Isaac nuts - since he is the big four year old. I think in part she has put her claim on four just to see Isaac's passionate reaction, "But, she's TWO!!!". She LOVES to torment the boy. This morning he ran from her bedroom in tears because "she kept saying the same words to me over and over!!!" I entered the room where she maintained the "Who, me?" facial expression. With the same intensity that she picks on Isaac, she is gentle and loving to Jack. She walks around the house holding his hand when he allows it and she often sits with Jack making him laugh over the silliest sounds she can conjure up. Sophie isn't always loving and gentle with her baby brother - thuds are heard periodically when she pushes Jack down with her hand square on his chest. She's strong so the slightest shove in this manner sends Jack right down on his diaper butt. Usually, the battle ensues over a baby doll or stuffed animal as Jack loves to carry babies and stuffed animals around the house. Sophia has claimed all babies and all plush animals in our house belong to her and her alone, after all, she's the "greel". And, a final note on Sophia - she is Dada's girl, melting Brian's heart with ease. Sophia still wakes up each morning in her singsong manner "Oh, Daaaaaaadaaaaa, I is awake...Daaaaaadaaaaa, come get meeeeeee!!!" What Dada could ignore such a request from his "baby girl"?

Jack is enjoying his last few months as our "Baby Jack". Little does he know, another baby boy is well on his way. I'm interested to know how Jack will respond to our new baby since he is such a Mama's boy - to the extreme! All through the day he finds me and runs to hug my legs, or places his head on my lap for a snuggle - then he continues on his way. I LOVE it!!! He's beginning to talk - adding to his running list of "Dada", "Mama", "No" and "Bobo". Jack now can say his own versions of lots of words - yes, "es", drink "gink", grandma "maaaama", Jack "ak", lollipop "popop", ball "baw". And, of course he has mastered "MINE!" - which started as a "Maaa" sound and has recently been perfected. "My baw!!!" is a personal favorite of his. Any form of bouncy ball is his toy of choice - and in the same manner that Sophia claims the babies and plush toys as her own, Jack has staked his claim on the balls. Big or small - they are all "My baw!!!".
Jack has a mainly sweet relationship with Sophie with her questioning his new language skills "What you said...what you said, Jack?!?!". And, with Isaac - it is nothing but boys being boys - running, wrestling, yelling. Jack walks around the house with his hand shoved down the back of his diaper nearly 24/7 - why? Your guess is as good as mine, but Isaac laughs and to my dismay, encourages Jack's hand-in-diaper stance. A bit ago I had all three kids just finished with a bath - all three were standing in the tub, dripping wet as the last of the bath water drained. Jack then discovered what his wewe (yes, we use technical terms in our house) was for as he peed a small stream into the bathtub. Seeing Jack shocked, looking at us with a "Did you see that?!?!?" expression struck Isaac as hilarious. He laughed so hard I had to yell at him to stay out of the pee making its way down the drain. Such young boys and already laughing about body functions. What am I going to do with THREE!

And, as for Brian - not a kid, but deserving of a little spotlight every now and then - is still doing glass work all over the area. The heat has arrived in the Midwest so he comes home looking rather worn, but always with some energy in reserve for the kids. Isaac, Sophia and Jack each run to the door with the slightest jingle of the front doorknob - "Dada's home" "Dada here!" "Dada!". Bri has big plans this summer to be out on his boat and smaller plans of fixing up the main level of the house - it is time to say good-bye to the big, red wall. Yeah!!!

So, that's the update on our little family. I'll add pictures at some point for all you distant family and friends - as the kids change a lot from day to day. Love you all - and Happy Friday!!!...and Happy Father's Day to all you other Dadas.

Frugal or Poverty Mentality?

I've been reading through a book called God's Smuggler. Its about the life and ministry of Brother Andrew - a missionary that labored behind the Iron Curtain, bringing bibles to Christians in Communist countries. The book is amazing and I can't thank Jenny enough for lending it to me! The bulk of what I've received from this read is how supernatural provision was supplied to Brother Andrew - from cars to travel fare. He lived in a zone through faith that could see beyond natural means. He never lacked anything he needed because God would provide for him. God taught Brother Andrew that His servants shouldn't be known as beggars (Hello, American Christianity!!!) and that provisions would come in a "royal" fashion to accomplish the King's work - and the provisions always came to him in such a manner.

At one point in the book God dealt with this man of God about having an "attitude of lack". He lived very frugal with his young family - not buying new clothing, living from a garden in their backyard, eating less meat and more veggies, etc. I would see this as being a very responsible steward of what God would provide for him, yet God addressed this as a poverty mentality. God provided just what they needed to accomplish in their ministry in closed countries, and He also wanted them to learn to enjoy his physical blessings as well - such as a new dress for his wife or fixing up their small home. They continued to live frugal as they both grew up very poor and knew no other way of life - but God had changed their attitude about His provisions from viewing them as rations to stretch as far as they could to a bountiful supply given by the King.

My question is at what point does frugal living cross the line and become an "attitude of lack"? When does our good stewardship change into a lack of faith in God's supply?

And, to address the other extreme - when do we cross the line from being thankful for God's abundant supply in our life into living for ourselves and our own pleasures rather than for the glory of God?

Beginning Homeschooling

Here we go!!! I'm going to attend a homeschooling, excuse me, "home education" fair next week. My neighbor is going, so I am going to tag along in hopes of getting my feet wet. There will be booths for various curriculum styles and, I'm sure, enough information to make my head spin. I was up in the air about going since I have a year or so before I need to pull things together for Isaac, but Georgia came to my door this morning with the pre-registration form in hand. I'm in.

My super nice neighbor gave me lots of names and organizations to look up before I blindly walked into the fair. She said when she first attended this fair she spent the first eight hours walking aimlessly from booth to booth overwhelmed by the volumes of homeschooling information. So, I have homework this week.

The sites she said to look at were:

Math-U-See
Rainbow Resource
Horizons - for math and language arts
Abecka (or Abeka)
Bob Jones BJUP.com
Explode the Code - for phonics
Sonlight
My Father's World
The Charlotte Mason Approach
Tapestry of Grace
Konos

Whew!!!

Okay, so, all you homeschooling moms - where do I begin??? Any suggestions? Are there some sites you'd like to recommend? What approach do you take in your lessons? Text book with teacher guide or more free form? I think I will go for a split between the two, but I do like the idea of having the various subjects related together by theme. This is how I learned to teach ESL and it worked well with my students - and gave me a little creative license as well.

Ah, so much information. I think it will take me a year to wrap my brain around homeschooling - so good thing I'm diving in now!!!

My Blog

I feel the need to warn any and all new viewers to my blog about the usually boring and unedifying information that pops up from time to time on my blog - okay, okay, nearly all the time. I post about the kids for my extended family located across the U.S. and I post about homemade laundry detergent and cloth diapers for my fellow mom friends that are pinching pennies right along with me. Only recently have I posted about True Vine since I just couldn't put the movement to words until Brian grasped it all over the last training weekend. And, you must understand that I am ever-so-slightly sarcastic. I love to write about my daily grind in a way that, I hope, will leave my readers with a smile and a fleeting thought "She's crazy."

Aaaaand, if you've commented here I've added a link to your blog...