The Landii

Glory in the Dance

2012-01-20T15:45:00.001-05:00

Danceclass has been a part of my family’s life for six years. Esther took ballet lessonsfrom kindergarten to second grade and after skipping grade three for a stint inGirl Scouts, she started dancing again (jazz and tap) in fourth grade. The yearEsther was on hiatus was Emma’s first year in dance – she danced two yearsduring preschool.

Therecital every year was a huge ordeal. Lots of dress rehearsal time and lots ofperfect hair and make-up and expensive costumes. Esther’s first recital dance wasto a lovely instrumental rendition of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” Beautifuland very appropriate for little girls.

Esther with her Twinkle Twinkle class.

Esther at a dress rehearsal.

Emma after a show.

Throughthe years the girls had one instructor whom they revered. She was a naturalteacher gifted to work with little kids; she had a soft voice and big smile and wasalways patient with the girls.

But,and you knew this was coming, as we continued with dancing, something shifted.Or I just started noticing things more. The recitals were too focused onperfection – they were almost pageant-like, with their glitter and glam. Don’tget me wrong, I’m all for cute kids dancing around in foofy dresses and glitteryhair. I think I could have continued to put up with the pageantry and the stagemoms if not for our experience last year.

(Manyof you who read this blog send your girls to this studio. Please knowmy issues are ALL about me and my kids and not about the studio or teacher.)

Estherwas in fourth grade and Emma still in preschool. We found out the theme of thespring recital, which consisted of dancers from age three through adult, wasGlee, the show not the emotion. No matter what you think of Glee, come on, deepdown, you have to admit it is not a show for little kids.

So,when I found out Esther’s song was called “Give Up the Funk” and Emma’s “MarryYou,” I immediately looked up the lyrics.

Thisis the beginning of Esther’s:

Tear the roof off, we're gonna tear the roofoff the mother sucker

Tearthe roof off the sucker

It’sa funky, cool song that doesn’t really say much. It’s not BAD in my view, butdo I want my daughter dancing to it? “Mother sucker” isn’t a phrase I wouldallow her to even say.

Hereis Emma’s entire song:

It'sa beautiful night, We're looking for something dumb to do.
Heybaby, I think I wanna marry you.

Isit the look in your eyes, Or is it this dancing juice?

Whocares baby, I think I wanna marry you.

WellI know this little chapel on the boulevard we can go,
Noone will know, Come on girl.

Whocares if we're trashed got a pocket full of cash we can blow,

Shotsof patron, And it's on girl.

Don'tsay no, no, no, no-no; Just say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah;

Andwe'll go, go, go, go-go. If you're ready, like I'm ready.

Causeit's a beautiful night, We're looking for something dumb to do.

Heybaby, I think I wanna marry you.

Isit the look in your eyes, Or is it this dancing juice?

Whocares baby, I think I wanna marry you.

I'llgo get a ring let the choir bells sing like oooh, So whatcha wanna do?
Let'sjust run girl.

Ifwe wake up and you wanna break up that's cool.

No,I won't blame you; It was fun girl.

Don'tsay no, no, no, no-no; Just say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah;

Andwe'll go, go, go, go-go. If you're ready, like I'm ready.

Causeit's a beautiful night, We're looking for something dumb to do.

Heybaby, I think I wanna marry you.

Isit the look in your eyes, Or is it this dancing juice?

Whocares baby, I think I wanna marry you.

Justsay I do, Tell me right now baby,

Tellme right now baby.

Iwas shocked! He’s begging the girl to marry him, telling her to not say no, butyes. Who cares if they’re trashed, they have cash. And if they wake up andwanna break up, who cares? Oh, and patron is alcohol and they are doing shotsof it. And Emma is five and performing to this while wearing a wedding dress.This is okay???

Iwrote at least three letters to the dance director with no reply at all. Iprayed and considered withdrawing the girls from class or not letting themdance in the recital. I tried to stir up a revolt among the other parents, butno one else seemed to care as much as I did about this.

Ourdecision as a family was to let the girls finish off the year and do therecital but figure out something new for the next season of dance. To be fairto Lee here, he never liked the recitals with the costumes and kinds of danceshe saw. He thought it all inappropriate for young girls, but I kept convincinghim we’d try it just one more year…

Italked with the girls at length about the lewd lyrics. They knew if thedirector didn’t make changes, they would not continue at the same studio. Bothgirls were angry with me. I did let them do the recital because I reasoned thatthey would be more traumatized and have deeper memories of the event if theywould have been withdrawn midway through the year. And honestly, lest you thinkI’m a total prude, I do understand that the lyrics probably didn’t even enter their brains, especially not Emma’s. I know one dance numberdoesn’t automatically guarantee their journey down the path of destruction.

Longstory getting longer. We had to find another studio if dance was to continue tobe the girls’ extra-curricular activity. I researchedmany places near us. Some seemed the same as what we were leaving. Some saidthey were “Christian,” but the prices were too high or they were too far awayor otherwise didn’t fit into our family life.

Feeling almost but not totallydefeated, I ran into a fellow dance mom. Iexplained my predicament and she said she’d keep her ears open and let me knowif she heard of any Christian dance studios. Then as an afterthought, sheremembered an acquaintance who teaches dance in her basement. Sounded odd tome, but I got the name and phone number and didn’t give it much thought.

Thevery next day, I asked a friend, who I just happened to run into, where her daughter danced. She gaveme the same name! Five minutes later, I was on the phone with this dear woman, explainingto her all my woes. She explained that she teaches in her basement studio butdoesn’t have a recital. Her prices sounded reasonable and I loved herfriendliness and gentle spirit. She promised to contact me in the fall beforeclasses began.

In October this year, the girls wentto the new dance studio kicking and screaming (figuratively for the elder,literally for the younger). Their main gripe – no recital. Their secondarygripe – they missed their previous teacher. Good reasons to be upset.

Fastforward. My many prayers were heard and honored! They both adore Miss Kristen,their current instructor. Because dance class takes place in her home, we feellike part of her family. The girls dance to all kinds of music, even some Christian songs that we hear on the radio. Kristen is diligent about teaching them theFrench words for all their ballet moves. Both girls attend class on the sameevening so our family is not run so ragged. Esther especially has become goodbuddies with a girl in her class. Blessing. Blessings. Blessing.

AndI feel like God placed us here and now for a bigger reason. Both girls aredancing tomorrow night at Fulton Theatre, our city’s prestigious old opera house thatproduces many musicals and other events. The event is an opera showcase that’s purposeis to raise funds for Mennonite Central Committee (http://www.mcc.org/). They will be dressed as flowers and will dancewhile a singer performs Nannetta’s Aria from Verdi’s Falstaff.

Godis pouring blessings on us with this, showing the girls that although thingsdidn’t go their way, something better has come. There is more to dancing thanrecitals, costumes, makeup. This opportunity to rehearse and perform withworld-renowned opera singers at a fundraiser for a Christian (Mennonite) relieforganization that we support is a gift.

Goddoesn’t always show me so clearly when I make the right decision, but I’m gladthis time he did. The purity of my children is one of my biggest prayers.

Let the Light Shine

2011-12-30T07:42:00.002-05:00

I got up this early morning, as I do several times a week, toexercise at the YMCA. When I backed the van out of the garage, something seemedoff, unusual. It took me a few minutes to notice the darkness of the morning –the sky was black with no moon in sight making the world (neighborhood) feel smalland dense. A block or two and I figured it out – the Christmas lights are off.Most of the decorations and lights that have been shining since the day afterThanksgiving are gone. The occasional house still glimmers but the collective displayis nothing like it was last week at this time.

Understand, I have expressed my share of negativity this Christmas for somereason – scorning the cheesy holiday songs I heard incessantly on the car radioand in stores, criticizing people for caring so much about decorating, shunningshopping by buying every gift on amazon.com, fighting off the urge to shoot bbsat those blow-up snowmen and Santas in front yards – but I am not so grouchy asto complain about Christmas lights. I love them, even though Ifind I’m too lazy to put many up. We have lights on the two Christmas trees in thewindows of the front room of the house (killing two birds with one stone –brightening the inside and the outside at the same time) and on one tiny shrub outside. I enjoy driving on December nights, because the light displays are pretty and because seeing them makes me feel warm and mushy inside to think that we are all the same somehow. My kids asked why people decorate with lights and I didn't have a good answer.

Seventeen or eighteen years ago, I was acquainted with two young women whowere Mormon missionaries in Indiana. One of them told interesting stories abouther sister Jenny who was mentally disabled. One Christmas Jenny was fascinatedwith the outdoor lights on their deck. Each day she would eagerly awaitnightfall so she could turn on the lights; then she would simply sit and stareas they went about their one job of adding light to the dark. Jenny was so captivatedby the Christmas lights that her mom and dad couldn’t bear to take them down atthe end of the season. So, they didn't. The lights stayed up. All year. The family didn't care what theneighbors or passersby thought. Only caring that they were doing their part tobrighten the world by making Jenny happy.

I plan to undecorate today, to stash my two little trees in the attic,then take down the lights and shove them (er, I mean, wrap them neatly so theywon’t get tangled) in a Rubbermaid tub for another year, to place the little Santa,the ceramic Nativity scene, and the three thousand homemade ornaments the kidshave made in boxes where they will stay until next Thanksgiving when I will drag 'em all out again. But Idon’t want to be so quick to undo Christmas or snuff out the light.

The Messiah has come and the celebrations are over. But can I try tolet the light continue to shine?

Library love lost and found

2011-12-27T10:49:00.002-05:00

The past two and a half years of my lifehave been spent studying Library and Information Science at Drexel University. Asof this month, I can proudly say I hold a master’s degree in the field. Yippee,you say. What the #^$* does that mean? Why would you need formal education to scanbarcodes of books and stick them on shelves? Wouldn’t a basic alphabetizingknowledge suffice? This post will try to answer those questions. First though,I will explain how I was drawn to this oh-so-exciting career.

Why libraries? I played “library” when Iwas little. My dad’s house had a room that was called the library, which housedbooks such as The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey and President Nixon’smemoirs. Cards and pockets were lovinglycrafted by me for several books and then I pretended to check them in and out. (Wow,you’re thinking, what a fascinating pastime! Yes, I know.) The Kokomo Public Library was a favorite place to visit as a kid (probably because they wrapped your outgoing books in shrink wrap, but I'd like to think there was more to my adoration than that).

When I eventually moved in with my dad,the library sadly got turned into my bedroom, to be filled with nail polish and perfumebottles, posters of Michael Jackson and Duran Duran, my love poem collection,and my TV, on which I found a way to pirate MTV at its beginning in the early 1980s(oh, Martha Quinn and JJ Jackson, how I loved you).

My library love got shoved way downinside while I went about my pre-teen and teen years of partying, rebelling againstauthority, and avoiding all things academic. One of the saddest things as Ilook back on my preteen years is that I quit the gifted program at my middle school(Project KEY, remember it, Cindy?) to wallow in self-pity and angst after mymom died and pursue my new found hobby of attention-seeking. (I was actuallyreally bad at this hobby, always flying under the radar and never getting anyattention. Incidentally, this is the type of person who grows up to spew his orher heart out on a blog that no one reads, whilst pretending that someone isinterested.) I wish I would have stayed in with the smarties, so I could have learnedhow to be a student, how to learn, how to stimulate brain cells and connect mydendrites (rather than kill them with chemicals).

Never in high school did I use thelibrary. Even in college (which wasn’t really college as in live-in-dorm-and-finish-in-four-years,but rather take-a-class-here-and-there-at-different-campuses-while-flailing-through-life-and-finish-nine-years-after-high-school-graduation),I was too scared to ever approach a librarian. I did use the library but Iwould fake my way through research by making the topics and themes of my papersrevolve around the journals and books I found serendipitously while hiding outon the fourth floor of the library eating my lunch in a corner (I’m notkidding) while making eye contact with no one.

And reading. I read books (Judy Blume,my fave) back when I was an innocent, but that hobby halted along with mostother things about the time I started down the road to Loserville. Nowadays, Ihappily report an obsession with reading. Much of my thought process on anygiven day goes like this: “When can I get back to my book? What corners can becut so I can sit down and read as soon as possible?” But this is a recentdevelopment.

So, how does a nonreader who is afraidof libraries end up a librarian, willingly spending several thousand dollars onan advanced degree in the science of information? Advocating for others to useand appreciate reading/libraries/databases/technology? There are manylife-markers I can point to and see the foreshadowing of this career, but thispost is already getting long, so the short answer (medium answer) is I finallyfound myself.

The jobs I have had that I loathed: waitress,factory worker, accounts payable clerk. And teaching. Even while working my waythrough school to get my elementary education degree, I knew I wouldn’t likeit. Making the lesson plans, reading the teaching literature, designingbulletin boards and seating arrangements - that stuff, I liked. The chaos and fluxthat is a necessary part of teaching kids, I didn’t do so well with. I stayedwith it during college because I wasn’t really sure what else to do withmyself. Teaching seemed the easy way out (I apologize to all teachers out there– it’s a really hard job).

The jobs I’ve liked: editor, secretary, proofreader.I appreciated the nitpickiness of the work and liked the feeling of accomplishmentthat came with organizing details.

In high school, when I was a slacker/druggie/head-banger,I somehow stumbled into the National Honor Society. Didn't know how I got there or what it really meant. Still not sure. And at graduation, whenthey invited the top ten of my class to stand up, they called my name. (I stoodstunned, having no idea that was coming. As I look back now, I have concernsabout the state of the guidance counseling system at my school. Never did I getany feedback that I was doing so well with grades or even consider filling outcollege applications.)

So recently, as my life has balanced outsomewhat and I have thought about how I was once actually smart without eventrying or realizing it, I decided I would finally stake my claim on themountain of Smartdom and go back to school.

Lee encouraged my venture into library schoolfor seven or eight years before I went. He knew it would be the right fit forme (bless that man, and bless his money that paid my way).

Now, to explain what everyone wants toknow - why librarians need master’s degrees – here are two explanations of thejob:

From: http://lockedinthelibrary.wordpress.com/2006/10/12/why-does-a-librarian-need-a-masters-degree/

The job of a librarian includes not onlyfinding information, but organizing it, locating it, synthesizing it andevaluating it. Also, it involves collection development, cataloging, educatingmembers of the library, listening and providing information – often there is aneed for authoritative information, even in a public library. Some librariansare expected to have a general knowledge of all fields and others specialize ina specific field. Still, no matter what area a librarian specializes in, s/hemust have knowledge of the field of librarianship as well. In order to do this,a librarian must have background knowledge, which comes from both experienceand education and combined these help librarians to look at issues from severalangles and this helps us to locate information for library users and directthem to information from various points of view so those library users makeeducated decisions.

From: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos068.htm
The traditional concept of a library isbeing redefined from a place to access paper records or books to one that alsohouses the most advanced electronic resources, including the Internet, digitallibraries, and remote access to a wide range of information sources.Consequently, librarians, often called information professionals, combinetraditional duties with tasks involving quickly changing technology. Librarianshelp people find information and use it effectively for personal andprofessional purposes. They must have knowledge of a wide variety of scholarlyand public information sources and must follow trends related to publishing,computers, and the media to oversee the selection and organization of librarymaterials. Librarians manage staff and develop and direct information programsand systems for the public and ensure that information is organized in a mannerthat meets users' needs.

Christmas

2011-12-25T17:40:00.000-05:00

Awaiting our Christmas Eve Waffle House dinner.

Did someone say syrup??

Sure, I'll take your family's picture while you eat waffles and bacon. That's a perfectly normal request.

Emma threw up all morning. She pulled herself together enough to open her gifts.

And here is where it gets weird. Lee's gift to Alex was a deer skull. Yes, a deer skull. Thanks to our friend Dana Good (who is losing friend status in my book by the minute) who found said skull on his farm and notified Lee of the treasure. Alex likes his new telescope just fine, but the animal head was the clear winner today.

My gift from Lee.

Another fave. Everyone finally got their own umbrella to ease the embarrassment at the bus stop where on wet days we all four huddle under one broken brella.

Daffodil.

Our Christmas wish is for you to find peace and contentment wherever you may be in life.
Immanuel, God With Us.

Why me?

2011-12-22T15:51:00.001-05:00

This is the present under the tree from Lee to me.

The Christmas Lie

2011-12-20T21:38:00.001-05:00

“Without adoubt, the greatest inheritance we can pass on to the kids we know and love isthe truth about the lie. Not only that the ‘lie of Christmas’ is a lie, butthat the ‘truth of Christmas’ is the truth.” Walt Mueller

My friend’s recentblog post http://www.pursuit7.blogspot.com/2011/12/navigating-traffic-at-mall-bumpy-camel.html coincided with and fueled my thinking of late.

Many of us wouldbenefit from reflecting on the overabundance of wealth we face here in NorthAmerica. Before you think I’m going to rant about our society at large whileexcluding myself, please understand thatjust last week I spent some of Lee’s hard-earned money to remodel our kitchenisland, with a new countertop and barstools, just to open up some legroom inorder for people to be able to actually sit at the counter. A want, not a need. An unnecessaryexpense. Something I wanted to make my life more complete. When I have company,they can now sit and chat over a glass of wine while I cook. This will happenwhenever I have company, which is once every fifteen years, so it should payoff soon.

How often I tellmyself: “As soon as I get that new counter (finish my degree, buy new shoes,organize the house, make it through the winter, whatever) my life will be one ofease and bliss?" Why do we think possessions and circumstances will changeanything? Why don’t we learn that tomorrow brings more disappointment and moredesires, if we’re focused on worldly pleasures?

We need notneglect day-to-day life, but should that be all we focus on? Upgrading ourlives? What a horrible and empty existence.

I talked to astranger at the library last week who said she is scaling down her Christmas shoppingthis year. Last year she spent $1,000 per child (she has three) on gifts! I am sure she wasembarrassed by my shocked reaction – which came out in the form of a gasp, morelike a snort (embarrassed myself with that one). But then I wonder, what would someonefrom Cambodia (or your third-world country of choice) think about the hundredbucks I spend per kid?

My kids do not need one more material possession. I workedthe past two mornings cleaning the dears’ bedrooms to make way for theirChristmas gifts. (Also because, of course, I figured my life would be perfectonce their rooms were free of clutter. Whaa whaa whaa. Another letdown.). So, Ithrew away five (FIVE!) trash bags full of Happy Meal toys, pieces from games, Legomagazines, filled notebooks, smashed shells, broken silly bands, Japaneseeraser pieces, empty nail polish bottles, dirty stuffed animals, dried-upmarkers, untouched coloring books, and on and on. Despicable on so many levels.

Don’t misjudgemy Scrooge-ish heart. I find great joy in giving gifts. Emma is getting a dognamed Cookie that she has been asking for since Thanksgiving when she first sawone of these cute little pups. (A toy, not a real dog.) She’s also getting slippers that match herunicorn pillow pet. These gifts have invaded my dreams, I’m so excited forthem. (I also dream about walking through a desert while wearing a fur coat andswimming with sharks, so we won’t put too much weight on my dreams.) Is thereanything in life quite as special as making our children smile?

But will Cookieand unicorn slippers get Emma through life? No. She may forget by next yearwhat her gifts were this year. (Although with Emma, I doubt it. She rememberssuch things. Complicates my life.)

Do you have anyrecollection of a gift you received under the tree as a child? Most of us, ifwe’re lucky, can recall one or two. (I happen to not be one of those lucky people. Honestly, I cannot remember onesingle Christmas gift, though I got plenty. I do remember one birthday gift, butthat’s because my sister got the same thing one year even though it wasn’t herbirthday. I, being a horrid and selfish little monster, was mad at theinjustice of sharing my attention with her. And since I know you’re wondering –a blue satin jacket. We were Very Cool. But I digress.)

One of my all-timefavorite Christmas articles is "The Lie of Christmas" by WaltMueller. I first saw it in the Lancaster newspaper in 2002ish. Then the nextyear I sought out permission to reprint it in Highway News and Good News when Iwas editor. Then one year, I emailed it to my pastor. Here I am, sharing it yetagain.

Walt Mueller isthe founder and president of CPYU (Center for Parent/Youth Understanding). Ifyou made it through reading through this post, I apologize. I should have justlet you read what Walt has to say. http://www.cpyu.org/Page.aspx?id=76876

Keep your eyes on Jesus. Merry Christmas.

Cookie Mayhem

2011-12-18T12:56:00.004-05:00

Baked cookies with some friends last night. We were all covered with flour and sugar and a few unknown things by the end of the night, and we were all sick from sugar and the pizza that followed the cookies, BUT it was great fun nonetheless. Bacon truffles were the main attraction. Yes, I said bacon truffles, that means bacon covered in chocolate.

What lurks beyond the surface

2011-12-16T06:51:00.000-05:00

So Emma goes into the kitchen to get agiant plastic bowl for her five animal crackers because she is obsessed witheating every snack out of a bowl. Pretty sure this is my fault for instilling fearin my kids of ever dropping a crumb on the floor. Their usual snack-eatingposition is to meekly crouch in the corner with their Doritos and granola bars andeat them over their green plastic, crumb-catching bowls while rocking back andforth, eyes darting, hoping Mommy is not watching. Okay, not really, but Iwish.

Emma pulls open the cabinet door and theavalanche of Rubbermaid nearly kills her. Oops. Comfort crying child and gether a larger, more delicious snack. Shove all the mess back into the cabinetand slam door so it is cocked and ready for next innocent bowl-getter.

Here it is. I am a freak about the kids droppingfood and tarnishing the perfection of the home, which is a showplace, a castle.I’m lying; it’s kind of a worn, lived in, dirty and dull dwelling, but for thisstory, imagine a Better Homes and Gardens feature home. But all the whilelurking behind a thin door is a mess, containers of all shapes and sizes withvarious lids that don’t fit any of them. Nothing is organized. Nothing fits. (Whohas the time to organize their Tupperware anyway?)

Pick a door, any door. A drawer orcloset. Even my bedroom or bathroom. Look inside if you dare and you will find dust,stinkbugs, dirty clothes, old homework, animal crackers, mess, chaos, ick.

My life consists of shoving all thedetails inside and slamming the door. On the days when I have to leave thehouse, I can get out of the sweats and put on a good show. The smile getsplastered on and the charm oozes (slight exaggeration as charming wouldprobably not be a word people would use to describe me). Like my crumb-freehome. But lurking just behind the surface is a mess. I question God on a daily basis. I question myself on a daily basis. I wonder if it's worth getting dressed and leaving the house. I judge and criticize. I rip things apart. I fall again and again. Open a doorif you dare...

Am I the only one like this, I wonder.

Flashback Friday - Socks

2011-12-09T07:05:00.001-05:00

Flashback Friday is back! At least for this week. Here is my favorite video, and I'll probably post it every year.

From Christmas Eve 2009: Oh, Socks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fucyq0jXNgk

2009's Waffle House Christmas Eve meal.

Letter from a student

2011-12-04T06:35:00.001-05:00

Rockin the facial hair in Mexico. This is minutes after he proposed to me.

Again, I am combing through the old journals. I found this letter from a former high school student of Lee's. It was written in 2003, which was a few years after the student graduated. I am so glad I copied and saved it. How encouraging. My husband hears how amazing he is from me, but it's nice to have his greatness acknowledged by others.

HiLee,

1. You are one of the people on this earth I respect the most. You workhard and always complete the task at hand without making people aroundyou feel ashamed that they are not like you. If it wasn't for you 6years ago I would be a very different person today.

2. I knew you for three years and I know first hand that you love Jesusand he loves you. I love you. He'sbrought you this far. Read Phil1:3-7.

I wanted beef jerky but got fish sausage

2011-12-03T21:28:00.001-05:00

Lee on the subway with Baby Esther

I am working on a writing project and reading through some old journals. Here is an interesting list I found, written soon after we moved to Asia.

United States / Hong Kong

mustard / garlic bean curd

chocolate milk / malted soy bean milk

beef jerky / fish sausage

twinkies / red bean buns

jello pudding / grass jelly

a yard with grass / cement cement cement

a simple mouse / rats rats rats

a simple housefly / cockroaches

strawberry ice cream / green bean ice cream

meat balls / fish balls

taco bell burrito / ramen noodles

steak / soyed squid

a car / buses, trains, taxis

Here are some pictures that were already scanned and saved on my computer. Oh, to have had a digital camera and a blog while we were there. I wish we had more than two small photo albums documenting three years, five or six countries, one baby, five classes of students, five churches, etc. Oh well. Those were the old days.

A kiss on top of Hong Kong

Bike parking

Fruit

This is on a trip we took to Hainan Island, China. I could barely walk anywhere with my white baby without getting mobbed. Imagine when I tried to nurse her... Most Chinese bottle feed so a white woman with a baby on her boob was a site to behold. And it's not like there were any private restrooms. Or any restrooms at all, come to think of it.

Drinking tea in China somewhere. Not sure why I dressed Esther like a boy. I did love that green striped shirt though.

Rice for sale in the supermarket

Soy milk. Yummers

The Annual Thanksgiving Post

2011-11-19T20:18:00.007-05:00

Thankful for my husband who gives me the front page of the newspaper even when he wants to read it first.

Thankful for my husband who never, ever (ever ever ever) criticizes or nags me even when I am not the most pleasant person to live with (um, which seems to be a lot of the time).

Thankful for my kids. I have to say that, but I don’t.

Thankful for Alex who gives away his last cookie to his mamma.

Thankful for Alex’s brain, that, as exhausting as it is for the other members of the family, never shuts down.

Thankful for Emma, who still snuggles with her mommy.

Thankful for Esther, who was deemed by her teacher to be an “exceptional person.”

Thankful for L-S School District.

Thankful for my book club. Oh, so thankful.

Thankful for my furnace and many, many comforters and sweatshirts. Warmth is good.

Thankful for my job at the library.

Thankful for those who write and create - memoirs, stories, poetry – especially those who are a little crazy, but still choose to record what’s in their minds.

Thankful for the pastor who delivers an encouraging message, with candy, every Thursday.

Thankful for neighbors who have become friends.

Thankful for the neighbor kids who feel welcome enough to forego using the doorbell.

Thankful for what is becoming our annual vacation to visit the Stutzman/Minnick/Frain clan in Florida over Thanksgiving (so fitting that beautiful Dannielle Frain died on Thanksgiving Day in 2008, sweet Danni).

Thankful for a one-year old girl in China named Esther who I will soon get to love on.

Thankful for people who can make me laugh. The best.

Thankful for treadmills and zoning out to Christian music (it's a good day that begins with a run with Skillet, Casting Crowns, Kutless, etc. blaring in my head).

Thankful for a church with leaders who do not lead with their ego, but in humility.

Thankful for a friend who brought me a book so many years ago on a lonely birthday.

Thankful for modern medicine.

Thankful that my kids are in the room playing with a plastic Nativity scene and a marshmallow catapult (meteors are raining down on Baby Jesus) while Daddy plays “I’ll Fly Away” on the guitar. Such a normal night in our house.

Thankful for bacon, ice cream, tortilla chips, eggs, rice with beans, chocolate, carrots, and coffee.

Thankful for rock bottom and the chance to climb. (Guess I should say too that I'm thankful rock bttom was many years ago. But I'm still climbing, with God's strength and grace though.)

(And I wrote all this and reread it before realizing I didn't even mention that I'm thankful that I am finished with my masters degree! I am thankful that it's not even at the forefront of my mind. Bacon trumped Library and Information Science. Good going, bacon.)

Halloween - a great American tradition

2011-11-01T09:19:00.002-04:00

Emma at her school party with her friend, Matthew.

All the crazy parents taking pictures of their kids.

A dollar to anyone who knows who/what Esther is...

Esther's, Alex's, Emma's (yes, Alex's has a fork stuck in its eye).

Ready to go hit the streets. (Dressing one kid in all black and one in camouflage and then letting them walk around the neighborhood in the dark was probably not the best parenting decision I've ever made.)

Our lovely neighbors invited us to their party before and after trick-or-treating.

They served "boo-b-q" and "mummy meatloaf" and "witches brew" and many other gross but good things.

Can't say we have ever trick-or-treated in the snow!

Ahhhhhhhh!

My Bro

2011-10-24T09:31:00.001-04:00

I’m reposting (with a few edits) something I wrote on thisblog in 2007 about my big brother (below). I just spent a fabulous (beyondfabulous) weekend with eight of my best girl friends; now that I'm home, I'm feelinga bit emotionally mushy. Vacation recovery is a hard thing! As I analyze my currentfriendships, recent growth, and stable mental health of late, I can’t help butremember where I’ve been, which is why I share. Be encouraged you who may besuffering – holding onto a God you can’t understand is a hard thing to do. Butthe freedom and peace that comes from taking that small but mighty step isworth it.
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This picture of Jeff and my dad skipping rocks was in the newspaper in 1968 or so.

Ten years ago tomorrow my big brother died of either anaccidental overdose or a suicide – not sure. He drank rubbing alcohol and hisgirlfriend found him dead, sitting on a chair by the refrigerator.

His death did not overly shock me. In a way, I knew foryears it would happen. I used to wonder how I would be able to handle losing myonly birth sibling. Once, years prior to this death, I had a sense offoreboding that I should call him lest he take his life that night. I am notsure what my call meant to him, but I wish I would have called on October 30,1997.

Our mom killed herself when Jeff was 19 and I was 12. Hefollowed in her footsteps, leading a destructive life. I followed too foryears, but eventually had half a brain to realize I did not want to live a lifeof depression and misery. I ran to God, throwing off alcohol and drug use alongthe way, and He gave me a reason to live.

The last time I saw my brother was at my wedding in June,almost five months before his death. He gave me a small sewing kit and cheapdrinking glasses for a gift. The glasses have all been broken (I am veryclumsy) and the sewing kit of course is long used up.

I miss having my mother and brother. I am not sure Jeffand I were ever close enough in age to share what some siblings share, but itsure is sad to not have him here living life. His kids will be forever scarredby his life and death, just as Jeff and I were scarred by our mother’s death.

My big brother was a wonderful person. He was the funniestman I ever met (and that’s saying a lot seeing as I’m married to Lee Landis,who is no stranger to humor). He drank milk every morning, stopping on his wayto work to buy a quart from the gas station. He took good care of his children.He cooked like no man I’ve met. He called our unhappy grandma everySunday just to chat. He took lots of pride in his little house. This is atribute to him who was very much loved.

My biggest fear in life is that I will follow the familytradition of self-destruction, which is why I lean heavy and hard on Jesus.People say they lean on Jesus, the solid rock. Sometimes it sounds fake,cliché, insincere. But I mean it. You can lean on a sturdy God or you canstumble through life on your own. I’ve tried both paths and seen results ofboth.

Cotton candy and lasting pleasure

2011-09-21T09:26:00.000-04:00

As I browsed through some of my old files (while creatively avoiding looming schoolwork), I came upon my old life at Transport For Christ (TFC). A ministry for truck drivers, TFC publishes a monthly free magazine called Highway News and Good News. Enter JJ - the editor of said magazine for eight years. I wrote so many essays and articles when I worked there - many editorials were about my children. This one struck my fancy (yes, I just said "struck my fancy") this morning. Since I have given up, for the time being, writing anything at all that is not related to library programming, I will share this seven-year-old morsel with you today. Be encouraged to stay the course.
------------------
My three-year-old daughter recently received a pocketbookfrom her grandmother. Because she wanted to carry it today on our routine tripto the grocery store, I decided to give Esther some of my loose change to carrywith her. Then I gave her the classic speech, “If you are a good girl, you canbuy something.”

Before we were even in the store, she decided her big purchasewould be cotton candy. Yes, they do sell cotton candy at the supermarket. Notfreshly spun cotton on a stick like you eat at carnivals, but a hard, stickymass in an opaque bag. Nonetheless, Esther has had her eye on this cotton candyfor months now.

At the entrance to the store, we passed a play area forchildren with some arcade games and a few fifty-cent rides — a horse, a fireengine, a boat. Esther immediately asked (as she does EVERY time we enter thestore) if she could go on a ride. Normally, my answer is no, but today since itwas theoretically her money to spend, I let her know she could choose either tobuy something or take a ride (if, of course, she behaved herself).

Indeed, she was well-behaved during my shopping trip, if notannoying as she asked every minute about the cotton candy. Before we queued upat the checkout, I asked Esther if she wanted to buy the candy or ride the fireengine. To my surprise, she abandoned her cotton-candy dreams and chose theride.

Fine by me. Either way, I was out less than a buck. She rodethe fire engine. A song played as the truck rocked back and forth. She happilyspun the steering wheel around and even was kind enough to let her one-year-oldbrother sit next to her on the seat. The excitement lasted two minutes at bestand soon the ride ended. I saw heartbreak in her eyes when the rocking and themusic stopped.

Because she looked near tears as she climbed down, I stoopednext to her and asked if she had fun. Yes, she did. I asked her if she wouldrather have had the ride that is now over or a bag of candy that she could makelast all day. She wished she would have chosen the candy.

I don’t know how much of that lesson her young mind couldcomprehend. I wonder what she’ll pick next time. In life we often choose thecheap thrill over the lasting pleasure. How many times do we throw our moneyaway on futile and short-lived ventures? How often do we choose cheapentertainment over something satisfying and long-lasting?

In this day of instant everything, we desire to be gratifiedcompletely and quickly. Why take the time to pray to God when He doesn’timmediately and clearly respond? Why read the Bible when we could watch TV or readmagazines? Sometimes the best choice is the slower choice. Sometimes the fulfillingthing to do takes more time and seems less enjoyable.

When we do jump into the fast, easy way, we come away empty.We are disappointed like my daughter was with her ride. She had fun, but thefun ended too soon, and the pleasure didn’t sustain her and could not beregained.

What choices are you making? The things of the Lord areeternal. You will be satisfied for an eternity if you choose the way of God.Choose to follow Jesus Christ and He will bring you satisfaction and pleasurethat will be longer lasting than a quick ride.

A Neglected Blog Updated

2011-09-16T15:24:00.006-04:00

Alex and Pearce filling water balloons at 8 p.m. during the neighborhood Labor Day Picnic.

Still filling balloons at 8 a.m. the day after the picnic.

Like the good parents we are, we let Alex carry a praying mantis with him during church. Oy!

And while we're on the subject of Alex and critters, here is a resident of our snake pit. Yes, we have a snake pit.

We have hatched/caught/loved many a things this summer!

This picture makes me happy. The turtle is constantly trying to eat the lizard. Love it. By the way, the anole (lizard) came home with us in an empty water bottle in our checked baggage from Florida last November. He is still alive and well and smart enough to outwit a big bully of a turtle.

And one last photo for today. Esther created these lovely hats out of tights.

Okay, THIS will be the last photo of the day. This is Sleezy Cop Lee and Roller Derby Groupie JJ preparing to fight some crime.

On Books and Love

2011-08-31T02:11:00.004-04:00

Oh, the blog. How it’s been neglected. Now that my kids are older and aren’t as willing to be exploited, the blog material is harder to come by. And with facebook being so in our faces all the time, my current cute pics and ever-exciting life happenings may as well show up there. So, what’s the point of my blog? Not sure. It’s floating here without a plan, purpose, goal. I’m still working on this. I hate to let it die.

For today, I have two things to prattle about:
1. Book Titles
2. Love Wins

Topic One – Book Titles

For years, I’ve been threatening to write a book. Well, we all know by now this is not really going to ever happen. Reasons:
1. Writing is a good outlet for me, but I’m no artist.
2. I read enough good books to know I’m not a book writer (good book, anyway).
3. I’m lazy.

I have however come up with some enticing titles over the years for my books-that-will-never-be-written:

The Power of Free
About the joys of frugal living (credit may need to go to Joe and Sharon Lo for this one)

Suicide Sucks and other things you may not have known
About living in the aftermath of suicide

All I Wanted Was a Hamburger
About preaching the gospel (through actions not words) to people in need

I Love You, Now Go Away
About dealing with sensory/anxiety issues and bouts of neurosis while raising kids

E-mails, Bulleted Lists, and Thank-you Notes: Communicating your way to a happy marriage
About the ways Lee and I work well together

Horse Poop
About growing up in Topeka, Indiana (population 1,000, half of which are Amish)

Stop Biting My Butt and other things my kids say
About my hilarious children

Topic Two – Love Wins

This is not a book review. I haven’t finished Rob Bell’s book Love Wins. I am reading it because when it was first published the Christian community was up in arms over Bell’s "heresy." Being a sucker for controversy and drama, I knew I had to read Love Wins.

I have thus far appreciated all I have read and seen of Rob Bell. I also have a special respect for him because when my friend’s fiancé was killed, Rob was her pastor and friend. He rushed in and was by her side during the tragedy’s aftermath. She, as a baby Christian, found deep spirituality and love for Jesus at his church (Mars Hill) and has since gone on to touch many (many) lives. In my eyes, Rob Bell is a good one.

So here I am at Love Wins.

I’m on Chapter 2, so I will take the easy way out and not touch the debate about the existence of hell. (I love observing controversy and drama, not participating.)

After reading the introduction and Chapter 1, I will say this: He is preaching to the choir (or me anyway) – this kind of stuff swarms around in my head all the time and makes me half crazy as I try to fill the shoes of a mainstream, evangelical Christian in middle-class America.

From Chapter 1:
"If our salvation, our future, our destiny is dependent on others bringing the message to us, teaching us, showing us – what happens if they don’t do their part? What if the missionary gets a flat tire? That raises another, far more disturbing question: Is your future in someone else’s hands? What raises another question: Is someone else’s eternity resting in your hands? So is it not only that a person has to respond, pray, accept, believe, trust, confess, and do – but also that someone else has to act, teach, travel, organize, fundraise, and build so that the person can know what to respond, pray, accept, believe, trust, confess, and do?”

I guess I don’t want to say much about the book, BUT if you have read it and have an opinion, I want to hear it!

Stingy Emma

2011-08-14T20:00:00.000-04:00

I can't believe I've had a blog since 2007. I was just looking back through the first few months of it and found this long lost gem! Laughing.

http://jjlandis.blogspot.com/2007/11/stingy-emma.html

ELEVEN by Mark Watson

2011-08-12T09:06:00.010-04:00

I read Eleven simply because Jon, a fellow librarian, pulled it off the new book shelf and said it was a good read. I didn’t ask him what was good about it, but took his recommendation. This is odd, because I don’t always like what he likes. But for some reason, I keep reading his suggestions...

The premise is interesting and I liked right away what I read on the back about the author. He’s a comedian. And one of his other books is called A Light-Hearted Look at Murder – what a great title!

Eleven is about Xavier Ireland, a late-night radio talk show host, who has run away from his old life. He gives advice to the listeners of his call-in advice show, but yet deliberately avoids interfering in the lives of the people around him. Though written by a comedian, the story is not funny. Xavier is a lonely man who tries to avoid dealing with a very tough situation from a few years back (which is why he ran). A romantic interest comes along and calls him out on his selfishness, his inability to get involved with others. As is the case in many books and movies (and life?), the romantic attraction is the impetus for change.

My book club friends often tell of books making them cry. I don’t remember a book causing tears. This one came very close. When I read, mid-book, exactly what Xavier did that was so awful he felt it necessary to move to a different country and change his name I gasped out loud and then went several hours through the night with no sleep. Shudder. And another part of the story which hit very close to home drew my emotions a bit too close to the edge for my liking.

A blurb on the cover states: “One Moment Eleven Lives Endless Consequences.” One action (or inaction) by Xavier trickled down into drastic effects for others. A good reminder that our actions affect others (a scary thought or an empowering one? Depends upon your perspective, I suppose).

The ending was not what I thought was coming, but it was appropriate and interesting. The story is poignant, for sure. The writing is what I like – to the point, easy to follow, and not too poetic or contrived.

I rate it five stars.

JJ

My rating system:
1 star – Yawn or horrible writing
2 stars – Ick but slightly higher than horrible and boring
3 stars – Respect the author but it’s just not my thing
4 stars – Like the book but didn’t obsess about it
5 stars – Thought about the book day and night during the time I read it, hated for it to end, told anyone who would listen about the book I was reading

Has Anyone Told You

2011-05-03T20:30:00.001-04:00

I don't want to embarrass my children (after a certain age anyway, ha ha, I know I've done plenty-o-embarrassing on this blog) so I pondered the wisdom in posting this drawing. But I think this self-portrait of a ten-year-old says so much. This is how Esther sees herself. She’s ten. She is on the cusp of adolescence. How long will it be until she hates the way she looks? She has all the wrong clothes? The wrong parents? The wrong hair and skin? The wrong life? Thinking of the teen years frightens me. It was just yesterday I was a teenager (yesterday? or was it 22 years? Well, either way…) and I remember the ick all too well.

Esther is all the things she thinks she is (with perhaps the exception of “clean”). And I am glad she sees all that in herself. Had I made a portrait of myself at age ten, I would have said, “Shy, ugly, bad hair, short, flat feet, goofy, lonely, loner, scared of dogs, scared of bugs, scared of the dark, scared of being home alone (I was home alone a lot), can’t sing, dork.”

I guess my parenting philosophy is that I can’t say enough good things to my kids. I don’t give them everything they want and I don’t necessarily want them to be “happy” every minute of every day. I want them to hurt a little with hard work, commitment, chores, and disappointment to build character.

But as they suffer through the pain of life, I want them to hear a million times a day how beautiful they are, how much I like them, how blessed I am to have them, how glad I am that God chose me (and their Daddy) to raise them. I don’t tell them they are brilliant and talented if they are clearly not; my love is static, neither intensified nor diminished by their skills or lack thereof.

My two girls (I’ll leave the son out of this because he is a boy with a whole set of his own issues!) have quite healthy doses of self-esteem and confidence. Something I never had. My one friend tells me it’s all my fault (she says it in love, I think) that Emma (age five) is the way she is (a diva) because of all the doting I did when she was a cute, innocent toddler. That may be true. I may have created a bit of a monsterish, over-assertive, self-reliant child, but I think that kind of “don’t you mess with me” personality will serve her well.

I pray that the confidence and love of self my daughters possess will remain intact throughout the tumult to come. I pray they will be most of all compassionate people full of gratitude who love Jesus and serve God with their whole lovely selves.

We sing this song all the time around here: Every girl young and old has to face her own reflection,
Twirl around, stare it down,
What’s the mirror gonna say?
With some luck, you’ll measure up

But you might not hold a candle to the rest.
“Is that your best?” says the mirror to the mess.
But there’s a whisper in the noise,
Can you hear a little voice? And he says

“Has anybody told you you’re beautiful?
You might agree if you could see what I see.
‘Cuz everything about you is incredible,
You should have seen me smile the day that I made you beautiful for me.”

If it’s true beauty lies in the eye of the beholder
I want my life and what’s inside to give him something to behold.
I want a heart that’s captivating,
I wanna hear my Father say,

“Has anybody told you you’re beautiful?
You might agree if you could see what I see.
‘Cuz everything about you is incredible,
You should have seen me smile the day that I made you beautiful for me.

“Close your eyes,
Look inside,
Let me see the you that you’ve been trying to hide.
Long ago, I made you so very beautiful
So I ought to know you’re beautiful.”

Beautiful For Me by Nicole Nordeman from SweatPea Beauty

Turnips

2011-04-14T12:54:00.001-04:00

In a storytelling class I am taking online through Drexel as part of my Master's in Library and Information Science, the first assignment was, you guessed it, to tell a story! I chose my children as my audience and am posting these photographs for my class to view. I could have taken a video but chickened out.... maybe next time.

Rapt listeners

Can you tell they were VERY impressed?

Oh, and if you were wondering why this post is titled "Turnips"? Because the story I told was “The Tale of the Turnip” from the book by Brian Alderson. The story is a retelling of a tradition English tale.

Daddy Come and Dance With Me

2011-02-14T18:51:00.003-05:00

For those of you who don't see my facebook page, here is a link to Lee's new video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6vcm1-myoU

Enjoy!

THE NAMING OF TISHKIN SILK

2011-01-04T15:29:00.000-05:00

I admit I chose The Naming of Tishkin Silk by Glenda Millard to read to my children based on the book jacket description, which says that Griffin is an uncommon boy who meets a once-in-a-lifetime friend, Princess Layla, and “just like the mythical beast whose name he bears, Griffin discovers that he has uncommon courage and the heart of a lion.” That lead me to believe the book would contain some magic and fairy-tale elements.

In that way, the book was rather disappointing, like it was oversold. BUT once I had digested three or four chapters and figured out it was a book based very much in reality, I began to be drawn in by its charmingly good writing and delicate story.

Griffin Silk is the lone boy in a family of girls. He had believed he was the last of the children until a new baby, another sister, was born. The sister and mother are gone away when the story begins and Griffin has a secret that he holds inside.

He meets a best friend who happens to be a girl named Layla. She is able to draw things out of Griffin that no one else even knows enough to care about. The innocent friendship of children is portrayed beautifully through Griffin and Layla’s frolics in nature and other antics.

Griffin’s secret as you may have guessed is about his mother and sister, but I’ll stop there so the ending won’t be revealed. This sentimental story’s end was enough to make my four-year-old cry. Bittersweet. Sad yet happy. Friendship and family give strength.

Typically, I read one chapter (out of eleven total chapters) a day to my three children. They BEGGED to hear more at each chapter’s finish, which confirms the appeal of this tale.

See more book reviews on our library's blog: http://www.strasburglibrary.blogspot.com/

Quick post before my life spirals

2011-01-02T07:49:00.002-05:00

I neglect the blog feeling it very narcissistic. But then I change my mind, remembering how much I love reading others' blogs (the honest ones, not the susie-homemaker ones). I chatted with someone recently who told me she read my whole blog. We talked for a long time, and I think our openness with one another may have been because she felt she knew me and could trust me. I liked that.

What does this post’s title mean? Well, I feel the pressure to post because it’s been so long, but also because my life, beginning tomorrow, will spiral out of control, because school starts for me again after a very relaxing and reflective month off between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Where a lot of people complained about being too rushed at Christmas, I savored every minute of December because I didn’t have any homework or studying to do! (Getting masters in library and information science from Drexel.)

What is up with this first picture? My son. My sweet son.

My kids have recently become obsessed with a movie called The Spiderwick Chronicles. It’s about the fantastical world of fairies and goblins. Some children fall upon a secret field guide that reveals many secrets of the mysterious world which (like all good stories!) unleashes a battle between good and evil. There are some scary parts in the movie – the goblins are very gross and frightening – but the way this movie has bonded my children outweighs the negative aspects. Alex and Esther have spent hours playing the game of this movie. Alex made a 30-some-page (and growing) field guide of his own, full of fantastical creatures, like a corn fairy and dragonfly fairy. The three kids have their own inside jokes, quoting the movie.

Esther, who just turned ten, could be interested in preteen stuff already – like pop music and dancing, boys and flirting, clothes and hair – but her fascination with fairies has reassured me that she is still a little girl, not growing up too fast. She does care about her hair and clothes (as seen in many other posts) but what I like is she is her own person. She does her hair the way she wants to, with no pressure from the world and her friends. Oh, that she remains this way! Please God.

Okay, how did I get all this from one little picture of Alex with an empty tape roll strung to his face? That is a seeing stone (from the movie) that Esther and Alex crafted. It grants the wearer the power to see fantastical creatures. I laugh every time I see the child wearing this. He ALMOST wore it to the New Year’s Eve party we attended. What a riot! (Nothing says "I am a geek" like wearing scotch tape strapped to your head!!)

And now that you’ve invested your time in reading all that, I’ll spare you any more rambling. Here are few more pictures.

Snuggle bugs in the morning. There is nothing quite so adorable as kids when they first get up in the morning.

Gingerbread houses constructed on Christmas Eve. Emma did surprisingly detailed work.

Two minutes after they were finished, some people! began eating.

Alex thought he was so funny by getting out all the "healthy food" and trying to decide what to eat.

Esther's house. I especially like the animal pooping.

Our annual Christmas Eve dinner at Waffle House. A fun and delish tradition.

Christmas Eve stockings.

Stop the clock!!

2010-12-24T12:41:00.000-05:00

My darling, sweet baby Esther turned 10 this week! I am so proud of the little girl she is and the person she is becoming.

She had a chorus and violin concert at school during the day. She was on top of the world, having a performance on her birthday. Then Grandma and Grandpa came over for a party. Es wanted a lollipop party (see cupcakes) with sushi for dinner. I know, weird! We ended up having Japanese noodles, rice, sushi, Chinese dumplings, and other assorted Asian foods. Delish!

After presents, we played a competitive game of "Pin the Tootsie Roll to the center of the lollipop."

Emma got caught drinking my coke!

One of her gifts was a shirt to match her love of the song "Lollipop" and even more, her fondness of candy. (And the shirt is scratch and sniff. She smells like candy!)

Florida

2010-12-04T15:44:00.000-05:00

We visited my family (mom, dad, sister and family) in Sarasota for Thanksgiving. Before the flight took off, a plastic bag was sucked into the engine, causing the plane to need repaired, causing us to disembark, causing us to be delayed, causing us to miss our connecting flight, causing us to fly hours later into an airport which was not our destination, causing us to lose our rental car reservation and have to rent another costing more money. Our luggage ended up at the original airport. All in all though, it could have been worse, say, if the bag would have caused our plane to crash or something like that.

Sleepy Alex on airplane.

Emma was tuckered.

My seester and her hubby, enjoying their new lives in paradise (aka Sarasota).

Emma and Grandpa Jerry.

Christy stuffing her face with Thanksgiving dinner. Yes, it's true, we ate our turkey and sweet potatoes out by the pool. What a life, eh? We rented a house from friends for the week.

The kids, of course, discovered all the wildlife around our house. This is a gecko or some sort of lizard. You'll be interested to hear too that Alex and Esther, minutes after our arrival, found a frog to pick up. An hour later they were getting tired and wiped their eyes. Both screamed in pain at their burning eyes. We later figured out the cute little frog had been a Cuban tree frog which secretes poisonous mucous that will burn the eyes of predators (my children).

Lee dared Esther to put the gecko on his ear. Don't ever dare Esther to do anything.

My sister's son, Atlee, and Alex got along just fine.

Emma wanted to eat in the dining room but we didn't for the first few meals (because it was Florida and we did have a table on the lanai!!) so she got some crackers and ate them all alone in the dining room.

Esther fed a raisin to a lemur at the Big Cat Habitat. (Sarasota vacationers with kids - this is a really neat tourist attraction.) We also got to meet Ricky the Chimp, who is on the cover of John Stewart's new book.

They would have spent the whole week in the pool.

Two hot forty-year-old mamas.

My niece Jessi had fun playing with the kids (do teenagers have fun playing with kids?).

My brother-in-law Matt played drums in a concert at the beach.

We went on a boat ride from Mote Marine.

On the boat, they dredged the bottom and came up with all sorts of wildlife. Great activity for my kids.

Ice cream. (Yeah, I know that goes without saying, huh?)

The darlings.

My dad had a gig (he's a piano player) at the nursing home. We thought he'd like seeing us pose by this sign advertising his upcoming program. We got to attend the sing-a-long in a room with more wheelchairs than regular chairs. Esther and Emma went up front to sing a few songs with him.

Mom, Christy, Emma, Lee at the seafood restaurant.

Atlee and Alex fishing.

Trying to get a picture of one of the many dolphins that hung around this particular beach all day.

Alex was in his glory finding critters along the jetty.

Aren't they sweet? Esther, Atlee, and Jessi.

Dish Mayhem

2010-11-20T09:32:00.000-05:00

My husband did such a careful and thorough job of loading the dishwasher this morning, don't ya think?!?! Sometimes I wonder if he does things just to make me crazy...

The Morning of the Pants

2010-11-19T15:16:00.002-05:00

It all started when someone made a comment about Alex’s pants being too short and how his appearance is my fault. Scandalously, I tend to be the mom who lets my children generally choose their own clothes. A few mishaps from that decision are pictured here:

The reason for this permissiveness is to some extent laziness on my part, but I do maintain my prediction that the more hands-off I am in raising my kids, the more self-reliant they will turn out to be. When the kids want to do things like make a dessert or an art project or a fort, I ask them: “1. Do I have to help? 2. Do I have to clean up your mess?” If they answer “no” to both questions, I let them have at it.

Okay, don’t judge me! The dears are not neglected. I’ve been blamed for being over-involved with some things; usually those are the responsibilities they haven’t yet mastered. Studying for tests, eating balanced meals, saving money – with these things, I can be a bit of an ogre. But I figure when they’re four or five, kids pretty much know how to put on their own clothing.

Alex likes his high-water pants because they are the ones that fit his scrawny waist. He also has shirt and shoe issues – t-shirts with no pictures and crocs with no socks are his preference.

So, having hurt feelings about the comment on Alex’s appearance, this morning I pulled out some brand new jeans that were waiting in his drawer for him to grow. With a bit of tightening of the adjustable waistband, the pants appeared to me to fit quite nicely. Alex on the other hand had a breakdown. Exhibit A: photo above.

He put on a belt and tightened it tourniquet-style to prove the point that the offending pants were too big. A great idea until he sat down and the strangling belt pinched him. He also rolled up the cuffs in a fit of rage and begged me to let him change clothes.

I gave him the good mother speech about how we should be thankful for what we have (new clothes) and that we can’t always be totally comfortable in every piece of clothing.

He greatly appreciated my lecture (and the picture-taking).

When we finally patched things up, I graciously let him eat a second breakfast, which made everything better. Exhibit B: photo below. (And yes, I did let him go to school with his pants rolled up like that.)

Morals of the Story:

Number 1: Don’t be too quick to judge a child or the child’s mother.

Number 2: Find the humor in your kids’ quirks.

Number 3: Be happy if your clothes fit.

Goose

2010-11-17T07:04:00.001-05:00

An adorable picture book for children! In Goose by Molly Bang, a goose egg is swept out of the nest in a storm and comes to rest and hatch in a den of woodchucks. The woodchucks raise the goose as their own and the goose grows up thinking itself a very inadequate woodchuck.

The sad goose eventually goes away to see what she can figure out by herself.

Out in the world, she learns a lot, but in the end, she goes back home to her family, the woodchucks.

I grabbed this book out of the Easy Readers at my library, barely looking inside. The writing looked simple and the pictures cute, so it was a perfect book for me to take home to my kids.

The subject matter is so sweet. I’m considering buying a copy of this book for my friends who are adopting a baby from a culture other than their own.

It’s a good message of the strength of family. For those of you who read endless picture books to your children, this one will touch your heart. For anyone who has an adopted child or has sent a child out into the world, I think you will appreciate this tender tale.

(Written for my library's blog. http://www.strasburglibrary.org/)

More Like Children

2010-11-10T16:39:00.002-05:00

Emma has a best friend named Noah. They chat unlike other four-year-olds. Real conversations transpire between them with give and take, answers and questions, apologies and forgiveness. Cuteness defined.

Yesterday, Emma and Noah wanted to come inside for a snack after some rigorous outdoor play. I told them they had to first find big sister’s Wikki Stix they had taken out. (What? You don’t know about Wikki Stix? Great, easy, cheap little things to keep kids entertained.) They searched but couldn’t find the stix so they trudged inside with their leaf-covered socks (oops, they forgot to put shoes on and I didn’t notice) and muddy hands in search of chocolate milk. “No way! Back out until you find them!” I said.

I feared they were losing focus when I spied them sitting on the picnic table so I marched out ready to remind them of their quest. But Emma shushed me. Normally, being shushed by a four-year-old doesn’t go over well with me, but she wanted me to be quiet because they were praying. They were taking turns praying (his turn her turn his turn her turn, many times this went on - you can see I had time to go get the camera) that God would help them find the Wikki Stix (or as Noah calls them Sticky Wickies).

Darling!

Oh, that I would remember to pray so fervently! I usually search for the answers of life until I’m too exhausted to remember to pray for God’s help and strength and wisdom for my journey. Innocence. Trust. Belief. Faith. I need more.

(Oh, we did find them. Inside the house.)

How Can I Keep From Singing

2010-11-05T07:44:00.001-04:00

I wrote a whole post about my personal struggle with depression and anxiety, but it was too much to expose. So, it’s been deleted (you’re welcome). Instead I will just praise God for his goodness through all things.

Life can get ugly, which is a bad thing if we turn our backs on God in anger or a good thing if we choose to rely more on God. Life can also get very comfortable and abundant, which can either make us rely on ourselves (bad) or bring us to our knees in gratitude for all we’ve been given (good).

I’ve been at all those places. Currently I’m on my knees in fear that I will misuse the gifts and talents and blessings God has graciously given me. I don’t know why I’ve seen what I’ve seen or been where I’ve been or why I have the fragile gifts of a husband who loves me and three children who are healthy. What I know is that I do not deserve any of it. I did nothing to earn my blessings.

But I have the life I have now and will put every morsel of myself and my family in God’s hands. He will keep me in his hands whatever tomorrow may bring. My heart bursts with gratitude, praise, and thanksgiving to God, my King.

Futons, crazy eyes, and homemade clothing

2010-09-07T14:40:00.002-04:00

Alex found a cicada in the process of molting. Being bug-dumb, I have probably used the wrong terminology.

We enjoyed watching a movie under the stars (thanks to Lee Landis, techno-genius) at our annual neighborhood Labor Day picnic.

I was quite impressed with the teenager who had the great idea to haul a futon out for the picnic! I'm sure he was most comfortable all evening while the adults stood or sat on folding chairs, and he probably had a cozy night's sleep!

My favorite picture of the summer (or year, or lifetime). Emma, age four, took this winner! Yes, I do live quite happily with these two menacing men.

Esther made this shirt. Gasp! Hard to believe this is homemade, I know. Seriously though, I was quite proud of her.

Goodbye Summer

2010-08-26T06:46:00.001-04:00

School starts next week. Good-bye summer!

I'll miss the ice cream truck,

playing outside with friends (this is Emma's boyfriend, Noah),

tubing (fact: I did not tube, but the rest of the family did a few times. My role is to drive and pick up, deliver food and water, and then wash all the muddy clothes),

playing in the sand,

partying with friends,

climbing trees (can you see Alex?),

eating ice cream (fact: a certain member of the family will continue to indulge on ice cream all year long - not saying who),

lounging around listening to audio books,

traveling with the youth group.

(Here's how this blog thing works for me. I go throughout my days reading books and thinking thinking thinking. I have so many ideas for blog posts. So much stuff runs through my head that I want to write about. I have had so many mini-miracles recently that I want to discuss. But then I get to the point where I feel I must make a blog entry to keep this thing going, so I find some recent pictures and slap them up. Enjoy the pictures!)

Tips from a Lazy Mom

2010-07-26T15:56:00.002-04:00

Moms of little kids know it's hard to keep the darlings entertained during the summer. I normally am on the side of “let the kids be bored to tears so they will make their own fun,” but it’s hard to live like that with all the soccer camps, swim lessons, video games, television shows, play dates, beach vacations in the world in which we live (that is, the overindulged middle class American lifestyle – don’t get me started). Our family participates in its fair share of organized fun activities (although I think we’re a little too ~~cheap~~ thrifty to do as much as our peers, a fact to which my kids are catching on, but that’s a post for another day) – a YMCA pool membership, trips, and such. But even with all that and “screen time” (limited!) for each child every day, it’s still sort of hard to get through a day without hearing, “Mama, what can I do?” Usually when I hear that, I point them in the direction of their rooms, basement, or backyard – seriously, WHY do you have 50 pounds of Legos if you are still going to be bored?

Occasionally I do organize what I like to call “supermom activities” like our recent craft day, where our neighbors (art teacher!) and some friends came over to make a big fabulous crafty mess in the backyard. There are endless supermom activities out there. Normally, the “easy crafts” “boredom busters” “things to keep your kid busy” ideas you can find in magazines and online are time consuming, expensive, and/or labor intensive. Sometimes fine, but not always. (Like today, I found a list suggesting having a yard sale, making a scavenger hunt, or creating a backyard waterpark. These all sound like a lot of fun for the kids, but involve way too much work for the mom.)

Here is a list of six Lazy Mom Ideas for Summer (we’ve done five of them in the last three days). I promise these things take about twenty seconds to organize, are totally free, and will keep the kids occupied for thirty minutes (actually more than that, but since I’m promising, I will only guarantee a half hour):

1. Get out the winter coats, boots, hats, and gloves. They will find something to do with this stuff. (Do not attempt this activity if you don't have air-conditioning!)

2. Squirt shaving cream on the kitchen table and let them smear it around with their fingers. If you have supermom tendencies, you can direct the children to practice writing words or doing math in the shaving cream, but I suggest leaving them alone and reading a book in the other room.

3. Visit a pet store. I admit this one actually takes a bit of effort because you do have to drive somewhere. But once you are at the store, the kids will look at birds, mice, cats, lizards, fish for a long time. (Just don’t buy anything. Then it won’t be free.)

4. Let them play with rolls of toilet paper or something else that’s normally forbidden like bars of soap, spoons, the candy jar (Emma’s playing school with candy right now as I write; she promised not to eat any), your jewelry, one of the drawers full of junk, etc.

5. Give them as many ice cubes as you have and send them outside.

6. Let them eat lunch or a snack with tongs or pliers or chopsticks or ????
I have found that anything different and slightly strange is enough to stimulate their creativity. You can even carry a box of toys into another part of the house and the kids will think it’s the greatest thing to play with ordinary toys in an unusual place.

Winter in July.

Eating with tongs.

Writing with ice.

Build It and They Will Come

2010-07-24T21:45:00.071-04:00

The first thing I should tell you is there is going to be a picture of a snake in this post. Stop reading now if you have an aversion to snakes! (You know who you are.)

Glowing green thing is a light saber that got in the picture.

Okay, so now you're wondering what is this giant hole in our backyard. Did you guess that is has something to do with snakes? You are correct. It is a reptile habitat (that's what I tell MY friends - sounds trendy, huh?), more commonly known as a snake pit (that's what the kids and husband tell THEIR friends).

What woman would NOT want an 8' x 8' hole in their yard, inhabited by snakes?

My husband isn't obsessed with much in life... he works endlessly to support our lavish (ha ha ha ha ha, just kidding about the lavish part) lifestyle. He doesn't drink. He doesn't travel on business. He doesn't ditch me to watch or play sports. So he's nearly perfect... except that he loves disgusting animals.

Therefore, the kids, who idolize their father, are also obsessed with creepy animals. That leaves me the only one in the family who thinks it odd to house crayfish, snails, toads, tadpoles, etc., and now snakes, so here I sit enduring this habitat in my yard.

Side note: Lee laughs at me because I complain about all the things he does, but then I always use such things as blog material. Hee hee.

But look at the pictures. Do you see how the reptile habitat is drawing kids into our yard? So, in the end, I suppose I like being the crazy family on the block.

This is one of the ponds Lee and the kids built last fall.

Some kids checking out our first resident.

And to not disappoint, here is the first snake living in the pit.

Beat Summertime Blues

2010-07-22T21:42:00.002-04:00

Had a great afternoon making crafts in the backyard with some friends and neighbors!

My awesome art teacher neighbor agreed to come over and teach us how to make flowers out of paper. We got a little carried away doing other things too, but we did learn how to make flowers. (Sorry, didn't get any pictures of them.)

Stevoe!

2010-07-14T14:35:00.001-04:00

We have enjoyed having my nephew Stevie visit us again this summer! He got to visit Charm City Cakes where Ace of Cakes is filmed, but alas, didn't get to meet Duff. They did see the film crew go in the building.

Here is Lee and Stevie with Steve's friend, Eddie. Eddie is our neighbor and they are good buds now!

Clean No More

2010-07-14T07:45:00.000-04:00

Remember how beautifully clean the house was Monday morning (see previous post)? Well, here's how the floor in the living room has looked since Monday afternoon.

Worker Bees

2010-07-12T14:33:00.001-04:00

Dusting

Vacuuming (I'm surprised to see a smile out of this one, who has an aversion to work.)

Cleaning sink and mirror

Here's how we're doing chores this summer. I have a white board on which I write our daily schedule. Also on the white board, I have a spot where I write what each child needs to accomplish that day (for example: Esther is working on memorizing Philippians so that's on there each day; Alex has to find food for his toad, so he gets reminded of that on the white board; etc.).

Our big housecleaning day is Monday. I have a list of everything that needs done (for example: vacuum upstairs, clean all toilets, dust downstairs, clean sinks in all bathrooms, and on and on). I pick a few easy ones for Emma to do (since she’s too young to read the list) and then let Alex and Esther take turns signing up for what they want to do (an idea I got from Bonni Greiner at www.letsmakeadifference09.blogspot.com).

We then all work on getting the list done. It really takes no time at all to clean the house if everyone works on specific jobs. (And I must say I do not hate handing over the job of cleaning three toilets!)

Our tradition is to get slushies when we’re finished ($1.00 at Turkey Hill or $1.25 at Target – yummy!).

The Board

(After all our vigorous cleaning today, I was too lazy to make this look neater for its blog appearance. So here's how it looks for real.)

The Romance Never Ends

2010-07-04T12:28:00.000-04:00

When I got home from working 10-2 on Saturday (oh yes, I have a job at the library!!!!! I love it and it is giving me great experience as I am currently getting my master's degree in Library and Information Science. I got my first paycheck yesterday - can't even believe I'm getting paid to have fun!)... as I was saying, when I got home from work, I found these three bowls on the kitchen table.

Living with the people I do, I assumed there were animals under the bowls - ya know, birds or frogs or bugs or something (yeah, it's happened before with a bird and a bucket).

But when I took the bait and peaked, I found this very romantic offering from my husband and kids (but I'm guessing the husband was the brains behind the operation).

Cash, Starbucks, Salad

I live with a smart, smart man.

Our Expanding Family

2010-07-02T14:54:00.002-04:00

Okay, I'm back. I can't stay away. Instead of exploiting my children, I decided to showcase some of our pets in this post. (The bald child above is not a pet.) Some members of our family are enjoying the tadpole-to-frog process over and over again. These frogs did not grow from tadpoles in our home, however.

And what better to go with a frog than a toad. Lee and Alex caught some toads at the Winslows' house during our vacation (I should say - in the Winslows' yard, not in their house). One of these little guys rode the whole 14-hour drive (plus a museum visit, a hotel stay, and a tour of Gettysburg) in a Gladware container on the console in our van. He now resides in Al's bedroom.

This is one of our new additions - Princess Squeaker. She's cute, huh? But not as cute as...

her best friend, Sprout!

After vowing to never let rodents live in my home as pets, this is my life - I am now madly in love with two guinea pigs. The things we do for our families!!

On Hold

2010-06-27T07:17:00.000-04:00

The blog is taking a hiatus. The blogger is trying to decide if she wants to continue blogging. A creepy man in St. Louis who thought my daughter was beautiful scared me and made me think I may want to stop broadcasting my life.

Misc. photos to make up for not blogging lately

2010-06-11T16:34:00.003-04:00

We were so happy to actually grow strawberries this year!

These pictures are not in chronological order. I have trouble getting pictures in any kind of order on the blog.

We put the slip n slide in the front yard where we have a slight decline. The grass is ruined there but it was so worth it.

On Mother's Day, when the others were in bed, Esther and I snuck a bowl of ice cream.

Miss Sherry watched Emma the other day. Emma basked in the Queen-worthy glory bestowed upon her. (See the three cushions to sit on so she could see the TV.)

Lee threw a surprise birthday party for my 40th bday (what a man!). Here are two of the party animals in attendance.

Sometimes Esther likes to dress Emma like her twin.

Emma is holding one of our many pet tadpoles.

Emma was a star at her dance recital.

This is one of my favorite pictures because it captures my son perfectly. He is smashing up our old xbox (video game system) in the rain with a hammer. He spent several days working on this destruction. Turns out all kinds of treasures can be found inside an xbox. I love that Alex has a dad who will let things like this happen. (Oh, and I guess I could mention that before the xbox got to our deck, they had taken it to a farm and shot it with a gun. Yep. These are the kinds of things that wouldn't be happening if I were in charge. But luckily I'm not the only parent here.)

More twinness. Different colors, same styles.

Eating Costco white on white cake (the best ever) at my surprise party.

Some yummy friends took me out for a yummy lunch to celebrate the momentous occasion of me turning 40. Next year is their turn. And not-so-interesting side note: I'm on a BLT streak, eating them every time I'm in a restaurant - because I love bacon but never cook it (ya know, because it's messy and not healthy). This fine dining establishment in Lancaster was serving a BLT with chipotle sauce as their daily special. What luck. A good birthday, indeed!

Thanks for checking my blog. Sorry no Lee pictures!

The Library Poster Contest Award Ceremony

2010-05-20T15:03:00.003-04:00

Esther's award ceremony for designing a poster that won first prize was on May 7 at the downtown Lancaster Library. That's her enlarged drawing behind them.

Wow. Balloons! This is the big time.

One of Esther's Sunday School teachers came for the ceremony - pictured above. And one of my good friends (Sherry - hey I mentioned you on the blog!) came too - and fought off lots of scary abductors in a locked parking garage - but I didn't take her picture (so sad).

They look sweet here, but really they were hyper and couldn't stand or sit still. This is Alex and Es with one of Esther's best friends. It is so sweet that she and her mom came to celebrate with us.

And first place in Division 2 for grades three to five is - - - - - - - Esther!!!

Cylo from the local baseball team was there to congratulate all the winners and to make us all laugh.

At dinner time, the very giggly girls enjoyed their sodas while we ate a meal consisting of Egyptian, Iraqi, and Syrian food. Quite a meal.

Who Needs Toys

2010-05-12T13:07:00.001-04:00

Mommy Tip Number 343: When you buy a huge supply of toilet paper, let the kids play with the rolls for awhile and then later put them away. These were out for two days before I finally couldn't take the mess any longer.

Chores

2010-05-06T15:13:00.012-04:00

Funny but I don't have too many pictures of the kids working. This is Emma last year working hard.

My husband grew up on a farm. When you live on a farm, you learn how to work. He milked cows and did other farm labor. We live in a housing development in a cookie-cutter house with a small yard (don’t get me wrong here – we love our house and yard and neighbors!!). It takes me (or usually my hubby) an hour or so to mow the yard and tend to our flower beds and such each week. We did recently build a little pond in our backyard so that takes some work as well. The inside of the house takes about an hour or two for me to clean from top to bottom each week. Of course there is also laundry and cooking on a daily basis and the deep cleaning that needs done occasionally (organize closets, weed through old toys and books, clean the gunk out of the fridge, etc.). But my point is – I can easily accomplish all the household tasks on my own and still have time to do my grad school work and relax occasionally.

I believe my kids could go their whole childhood without learning how to work. Some do.

But my theory is that if my darlings don’t do chores they will turn out to be lazy and spoiled and self-indulgent. They will expect things to get done without lifting a finger.

I have used various charts and systems over the years to get my kids to help with the daily household tasks. Here is the best system I have come up with. It works great for my kids at this stage of life (ages 4, 7, and 9).

I print out a blank chart with a row for each day of the week from this Web site http://dltk-cards.com/chart/. Actually, it’s usually Esther’s job to make everyone’s chart each week.

The nine-year-old has three columns; the seven-year-old has two columns; the four-year-old has one column (but I vary these from time to time). I found that assigning specific chores ahead of time (like: take out trash every Monday, clean room every Tuesday, etc.) gets stressful for the family. If someone has extra homework (like science fair) or is sick or has a friend over to play, then sometimes the chores don’t get done.

So what I do is write their daily chores each day in their blank charts, and they do the chores after our family devotions after dinner. Usually it’s Alex’s job to sweep the kitchen after we eat. But if it’s nice and we eat outside, he gets another job like windexing the back windows or putting away his laundry. Whenever I see that their rooms need cleaned, then that is one of their chores for that day. This flexibility makes things a lot easier than having room cleaning day every Thursday or whatever.

Their reward for each chore is one penny. Every child has a cup of pennies. Whenever they accumulate twenty pennies, they can cash them in for a prize out of the prize bucket (coloring books, pencils, candy, stickers, etc.). Also in the prize bucket are some dollars, so they could get a dollar each time they earn twenty pennies (this is usually Alex’s choice). I also have gift certificates in the prize bucket. Some examples of the certificates are: “eat dessert for dinner,” “sleep in Mommy and Daddy’s room,” and “stay up late.” (By the way, they also earn pennies for random acts of kindness and they lose pennies for bad behavior.)

We’ve been using this system for over a year now, which is longer than any other method I have used in the past. One of my friends already copied this system and loves it, which is why I am being so bold as to share it here. Maybe someone else will find something in this long post (thanks for reading it to the end, by the way!) they can implement in their own family.

So, we may not be learning as much as our farmer neighbors, but we're doing out best to instill a strong work ethic in these little people!

Some chores they do: dust the stairs, sweep up crumbs, clean the bathroom, swiffer (mop) the floor, clean windows (Emma likes this one), put away laundry, fold the towels, water plants, write a nice note to someone, dust, vacuum their bedroom, clean their bedroom.

Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6

We Love Our Libraries

2010-04-24T07:02:00.004-04:00

This is a not-so-good copy of her entry. "We Love Our Libraries" had to be included on the poster.

I saw an ad in the newspaper for a contest to design a poster for the local library a few months ago. It was open to our whole county for grades K-12. Esther took two weeks and worked very slowly on her entry for her category, grades 3-5. We submitted her poster for the contest but had lost hope in winning when the date the winners would be announced came and went. A week after that, I got a letter in the mail saying that Esther had won FIRST prize in her division!

Click here to see winners: Winners are displayed here on the library's site

We thought the only prize was that the winning posters would be used in library book sale promotional material! BUT she actually won an iPod shuffle, a 25 dollar iTunes gift card, and a ten dollar library book sale certificate. Her poster will also be on the library's book sale promotional material. And she gets to attend an awards ceremony at the library during our city’s next First Friday (where all the art galleries and businesses stay open late and provide a festive atmosphere in the city)!!

I am so proud of her!

The Boy's Birthday (and other things)

2010-04-15T13:57:00.000-04:00

Okay, I'm finally blogging again. I thought it only fair to include pictures of Alex's birthday since I posted about Emma's day. First of all, The Cake! I did not create this oh-so-amazing R2D2 Star Wars cake. I made some carrot cupcakes that tasted bad so the husband decided he could make Al's cake. But of course, he couldn't be content with a few cupcakes - NOoooooo, he HAD to make this! Of course, Alex loved it and it was a hit with all who saw (and ate) it.

We had a combined birthday party (Alex and two cousins) and Easter dinner. It was the first time in many years I'd had Lee's whole family here. We were thankful for the nice day so the kids could eat outside. There are eleven kids, all age nine and under! That made for a great Easter egg hunt.

The boys found a great place to eat, away from the girls.

The party was Saturday but his real birthday was on Easter Sunday. So, Daddy took Alex and Esther fishing at Uncle Ora and Aunt Jen's pond. I love that they took the cat on the paddle boat.

On to other things - my friend Julie and I are both in school right now (though she's almost finished - I'm jealous) so we sat in the sun this weekend and tried to study. We did a bit more chatting that reading, but it sure was nice. My dear husband took this picture out of an upstairs window with no prompting by me. (He's amazing, but you already knew that from seeing the cake.)

And I had to include these pictures of Emma reading to her Care Bear. Our neighbor GAVE us this unused bear last fall and I quickly hid it in my closet and saved it for Christmas. It has become the most played-with Christmas gift in our home. She's reading the bear a Mo Willems book - he writes hilarious, yet very simple and sweet books. He may just be my favorite children's author.

Let Em(ma) Eat Cake*

2010-03-22T06:56:00.001-04:00

The morning Emma turned four, she was surprised her jammies still fit her. She thought she would get big overnight.

Some friends and her siblings sang Happy Birthday before we went to the bus stop.

Emma's little friend came over in the afternoon to celebrate her birthday. Grandma and Grandpa came later to eat pizza and cake.

Emma's life is now complete. She owns her very own copy of Annie!! She already knows all the songs. See her rendition of Dumb Dog here: Dumb Dog

I'm not a cake making mom... I thought I would try this little tier cake with a crown on top. It was cute enough, but it looked so much better in my head before it was made. Emma saved the day when she saw it and said, "Oh! That is a perfect cake for a princess party!"

Daddy was away for the night, so after the festivities the kids slept with me. They, for some reason, love sleeping in our room. I cannot stand how great my life is sometimes. I don't want them to ever grow up.

*Special thanks to Anne Harnish for the title of this post.

Clothing Cleanup

2010-03-15T10:23:00.001-04:00

When Esther puts her laundry away, she shoves the whole pile into one drawer, any drawer. Even though I occasionally sort through and put pants in one drawer, shirts in one drawer, and so on, eventually, things get mushed and messed up. This causes wrinkled garments as well as some clothes being buried on the bottom to never see the light of day. I attribute the mess to three things:

1. Esther has more clothes than what will fit neatly into the allotted space.

2. She doesn’t really know where to put what.

3. She is lazy and just wants to finish her laundry chore as soon as possible.

My solution solves Number 1 and Number 2. Number 3 is sort of how I feel when I do laundry (lazy and unmotivated) so I can’t really fix that one.

Solution:
I dumped out every item from her dresser onto the floor. I took out everything that was too small and assigned it to the Goodwill or little sister pile. Then I folded what was left and placed each thing in its proper place (yes, this is earth shattering, I know). What didn’t fit neatly, I placed into a box. Once a month (and I marked this on my calendar), Esther and I will look through the box and rotate some clothes into her dresser and take some out to put into the box. Finally – and here is what I did differently and can’t believe I didn’t think of before – I labeled her dresser drawers, so she will know exactly what goes where.

Some people have called me uber-organized, which is true in some ways. I like to think I find ways to make life as easy and as smooth as possible so I have more time to do nothing. Because I think organization is one of the only things I’m actually good at, there are a few things that help our household run smoothly that I want to share. Stay tuned for our unique chore chart system next time.

[And for those of you who know I’m supposed to be doing a final exam today – I guess that’s what got me to post again – avoiding pain (test) by seeking pleasure (blogging about organizing).]

Happy Monday!

And this pic is so you know I'm not a total control freak. I guess I only care about what the clothes look like when they are in the dresser, not when they are on her body!

Flashback Friday - Oh Canada!

2010-03-05T00:00:00.010-05:00

Flashback Friday this week is from December 2002, back in the days when we had only one child (I was pregnant with No. 2). We went to a wedding in Manitoba (Winkler). Esther was very tired on our very early flight.

My favorite memory is of this dog we met in the airport. His name was PITA, which stood for "Pain In The (insert naughty word here)."

Another great thing about our trip was the airport (somewhere?) had an indoor playground. Brilliant idea!!

We were fascinated by this curling club. Being non-Canadians, we had our doubts about this really being a sport.

Oh, and the wedding... It was fun. But the best part was when the groomsmen all disappeared for awhile (discreetly) only to reappear BALD like the groom. They all shaved their heads in solidarity. I loved it. (Of course, I didn't get a picture. Hm!)

Happy Friday!

A Lot of Love in His Heart

2010-02-28T14:47:00.000-05:00

I was pleased to see that I made it on Alex’s list of “what love is.” I rank right below school but yet still above the President. I can live with that.

Haircuts, football, floor eating, and duct tape creations - watch it all here!

2010-02-24T07:11:00.000-05:00

Youth group mountain retreat 2010

Here's the video of our weekend trip to the mountains with the youth group! So fun!

Duct Tape

2010-02-22T15:09:00.002-05:00

We've been pretty creative with duct tape recently. Alex and I made this shirt for Alex to wear on the 100th day of school. (For those of you who don't have little kids in school, for some reason the 100th day is a big deal. They do all kind of math activities dealing with one hundred. Every first grader was supposed to make a shirt with one hundred something on it, such as safety pins, googly eyes, pom poms, etc.)

I also made this shirt to support Alex, No. 64, in the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. He got first place in his den and fifth place overall, so I can't help but think the shirt helped.

Esther also made some purses with tape. I can't seem to find any pictures of them. Sorry.

And we had the youth group make their own creations with duct tape this weekend on our yearly mountain retreat. Here are the final products. Awesome, huh? Please take note of the green flip-flops. Genius!

What's Going On

2010-01-29T15:29:00.004-05:00

I haven’t written much lately for several reasons, but the two main ones are:

1. Grad school is sucking the life out of me. (Okay, actually I love it, but it does take up a lot of my free time.)

2. I’m trying to resume my writing career (and by “career,” I mean “short hobby I tried a few years ago.” I made less than a hundred dollars freelancing by writing short devotionals.) It’s been several years since I’ve submitted anything, so it’s time to get back on that horse!

This post will not be reflective of my writing ability. I am going to spit this out in ten minutes before Es and Al get home from school.

Here’s what’s going on:

1. Emma’s sick. But here’s what I’ve learned today (just today!) by being stuck at home – I am blessed with friends. One dropped off a dozen cupcakes for no reason. One called to see how we are doing. One brought me a book from the library. Two (seriously!) offered to babysit my sick child so I can go along on a youth group trip tomorrow.

2. Esther was sick for NINE days a few weeks ago. Here’s what I learned from that – I love my daughter more than I thought I did; my mom has great taste in and timing for spontaneous gifts; and sometimes moms have to miss out on fun things to stay home with their kids. (I already knew that, of course. And honestly, I’d rather be home than anywhere.)

3. I have a top secret overnight trip planned for my husband in two weeks. Can’t wait.

4. My dad has been having health problems, concerning cancer he’s battled off and on for several years. He got very, very good test results today.

5. My dear sister turns 40 today! Ha ha. She’s only older than me until June, when I will turn 40. (Step sisters, in case you were doing the math.)

6. I’m reading: “A Complaint-Free World” by Will Bowen, “A Different Kind of Wild” by Debbie Alsdorf, and “30 Ways to in 30 Days to Save Your Family” by Rebecca Hagelin. Just finished “Handle With Care” by Jodi Picoult.

7. That’s all I got. Time for the bus to arrive and my peeps to wander in from a long day at school.

Flahsback Friday

2010-01-15T00:00:00.000-05:00

Flashback Friday this week is from Hainan, China. We went there on a trip (from our home in Hong Kong) when Esther was a few months old. The Chinese women flocked around the white baby! We could not walk anywhere without being mobbed. I dug these pictures out to relive our glory days a bit. I want to live in Asia again, but I'm not sure if that will ever happen.

Here I am drinking tea at a restaurant on the same trip. Not sure why Esther was dressed like a boy. She was so cute though.

Here she is again, just so you can see how deliciously cute she was.

Shark Attack

2010-01-08T07:20:00.004-05:00

The cub scouts went swimming with the sharks last night at our house!

New York City

2010-01-06T06:38:00.002-05:00

We went to New York the weekend after Thanksgiving to see our favorite show, A Prairie Home Companion. Lee's mom and dad went with us. Lee, being Lee, made this video documenting our two days there. Enjoy.

Winners

2010-01-04T18:51:00.002-05:00

My family was thrilled to receive this snowman kit in the mail today from Bonni Greiner. I won it by leaving a comment on her blog Let's Make A Difference. I read her blog every day for bits of her wisdom. I highly recommend her blog to those of you who are moms. We don't currently have snow to make a snowman, so the kids are modeling the carrot, scarf, hat, and pipe. There are also eyes and buttons. When not in use, all the pieces neatly reside in the plastic snowman-shaped container that Esther is holding.

And while I'm at it, I also won a prayer journal a few months ago from my oldest friend (okay, she's not that old, but I've known her longer than any other friend - since 4th grade [Is that correct, Cindy? Fourth grade?]). I didn't mention this prize before because I wanted to write a long, eloquent entry about how I have been using the prayer journal, but alas, that entry is going to stay forever in my brain. Her blog is She Sparkles and she does.

Thanks Bonni http://www.letsmakeadifference09.blogspot.com/

and Cindy! http://cindybultema.blogspot.com/

Cookies, Waffles, Fairies, and other December Things

2009-12-31T16:18:00.002-05:00

For a Christmas gift, Lee sent the three Landis women to the musical Annie at the Fulton Theater in Lancaster. Both girls (and the mommy) know almost all the words to all the songs. I cried through the whole show.

We baked some cookies to share with friends. I don't love cooking (a lot of work for a little reward), but my kids do. Emma and Alex impressed me this year with their ability to roll out the dough and use cookie cutters. I almost didn't have to do any work (hahahahahahahaha - okay, I did a lot of the work).

Esther had an early "party" for her birthday this year (party in our house means one friend and Grandma and Grandpa eat dinner with us and the friend gets to stay all night) because her best friend was going to be in South Africa on Esther's actual birthday.

We painted pottery on Esther's real birthday.

Emma chose a fairy; Esther chose a penguin bank; and Alex (though never having viewed an actual football game) chose a football helmet bank. He keeps calling it his baseball helmet. Poor child needs to be exposed to some sports.

You paint the pottery in the studio and leave it there for them to fire in the kiln. We picked up our finished pieces a week later. I'll show them in another post.

Every Christmas Eve, we eat at Waffle House. Here's our annual picture.

Wow! Socks!

2009-12-27T12:39:00.002-05:00

Wow! Socks!

Click on the link above to see a funny video of Emma on Christmas Eve.

Igloo

2009-12-22T06:38:00.001-05:00

Lee and the kids constructed this igloo over the weekend.

Snow for Sale

2009-12-17T18:25:00.002-05:00

Alex handcrafted some very lovely, yet fragile, snowflakes out of tissues (I neglected to get a photo). He set up shop out in the street to sell them for ten cents each. He had his first customer within minutes and ended up making over a dollar. He started out like he is in this picture, with no coat. Real snow fell while he was out so had to don a coat. The snow was so wet that eventually he had to replace his soaked coat for a dry one. By the end of the venture, all his snowflakes had turned into tissue pulp and he was nearly frozen. The things we do for money!

Flahsback Friday, Let it Snow

2009-12-11T00:00:00.001-05:00

Lee and the kids (Emma wasn't even born yet!) made this snow fort in our backyard a few years ago. We all have fond memories of this day. I think Alex only remembers it because of seeing pictures. And the shot above is my all-time favorite picture of Esther, which is why I've shared it here twice!!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T20:02:00.003-05:00

Thanksgiving dinner at a Manheim diner

My very untraditional Thanksgiving meal (french dip, mashed sweet potatoes, and cole slaw)

We did keep tradition with the dessert, pumpkin pie.

--------------------------------------------

My Thanksgiving List:

So thankful for my husband and children. As I type, the husband is attacking the children while they play “Hide and Scream,” the disturbing distant cousin of the much-loved “Hide and Seek.” Also very thankful for my grandmother-in-law who took us to a restaurant today and entertained us and my husband’s parents at her house all afternoon, on a day we would have otherwise had not much to do. Thankful my sister is doing so well after losing her beautiful daughter a year ago today. Thankful that I knew Danni Frain and so thankful to know she is in heaven, healed and whole. Thankful for my neighborhood. Thankful for my friends. Thankful for the kids’ teachers and that all three kids love school (I would have never predicted it would be so). Thankful that I can attend grad school from the comfort of my home office. Thankful for my church. Thankful for prayer and that so many people trust me to pray for them and also pray for me. I had a gloomy November which got quite gloomier last week (details omitted!!). So, though I’m not in the best mood I’ve ever experienced, I am still overflowing with thanks. I am thankful that even though I’m full of sin and faults, Jesus Christ died for me and loves me. I am His.

Play-doh, Music, and Christmas

2009-11-26T08:28:00.004-05:00

Emma's new hobby is making cookies out of Play-doh.

Esther and her friend couldn't let Emma have all the Play-doh fun.

Listening to Annie songs on the iPod

Last night we went to see "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs." Great movie, though vastly different from the picture book of the same name we've been enjoying for years.

After that, we bought some lights for our trees and came home to finish decorating. I accidentally hit Alex in the eye with the camera, which is why he's giving such a pained look!

Two years ago, I decided to buy two small fake trees to place in our front windows, so the lights could be seen from the outside. We are not house decorator type people so the trees are about all we do to add a festive touch for the holidays.

This, from a Mom who hates clutter

2009-11-18T14:44:00.003-05:00

I hate clutter and dirt. Hate Them. I think I have some sort of OCD because I suffer physical discomfort (my temp rises, my heart races, my eyes blur – not kidding) when my house is not orderly (just ask Lee. No, don’t ask him). Other people’s clutter doesn’t bother me in the least, however. I actually enjoy going to untidy, messy houses – they are relaxing and warm. My crazy issues have something to do with controlling my own environment.

I wasn’t so nuts before I had children. I think something happened in my brain when I had a baby and realized I was losing control of most everything… so I held on to the only thing I could – my neat environment. But – you can see where this is going – I had three children.

And did you know? Children are messy little things. It’s true. But mess is necessary. Healthy children must mix food coloring and vinegar and stir in some baking soda. They must fashion their own rocks out of Daddy’s leftover cement. Healthy children ought to smash (with bats and hammers) all the leftover pumpkins from Mommy’s fall decorating. Healthy children should crack the eggs when they bake. Yes, they need to help bake. Healthy children should find out if they can jump across Daddy’s new pond (so far, no one’s made it, so, um, lots of wet clothes). Healthy children should make fairy houses out of mud. Okay, I know your kids are doing other things and they’re fine. I just have to tell my neurotic self every day when my kids are around that “healthy children should ________ fill in the blank with whatever is happening.”

I have prayed significantly about my issues and have actually had quite a lot of victory. I have relinquished control in many areas of my family life. It’s actually to the point now where I see mud in the sink in the bathroom (the half bath – you know, the bathroom in the house that most people try hard to keep the cleanest because company may drop in anytime) and I feel happy knowing that my kids did something outside in the dirt. I still cringe when I see mud and leaves and sand on our white (oh, why white?) kitchen floor, but I’m getting better. I have visible dust on picture frames and cobwebs in corners and I don’t feel an overwhelming desire to remove them. Maybe I’m getting lazy or tired (grad school and all) but I can guarantee a relaxed (I chose this word over “messy”) house is much better for my kids than a clean and tidy one maintained by a crazy mom.

So, when I saw this arts and crafts session happening the other night, my heart swelled with admiration for my cute kids and with satisfaction at myself that I did not try to organize their fun and keep things tidy. (Okay, they did have to work together Saturday morning to clean this room, but learning to clean up is part of a healthy childhood too!)

What I Learned from Video Games

2009-11-17T07:59:00.012-05:00

Here is Lee's newest creation. Enjoy!!

Mommy Lessons

2009-11-12T15:23:00.011-05:00

Lately, I’ve been asking my kids and hubby during dinner to share something about their day. A few days ago, Alex said the best part of his day was doing his math homework. He had a half day of school and spent the afternoon playing with a friend, yet he still deemed practicing addition facts the highlight.

Two days ago, he spent about an hour on homework. This seemed brutal to me (because I had to sit with him the whole time). I assumed it was painful for him as well. He had to practice spelling, read a book, write five things his likes to do at home, and practice reading some words. It was agonizing getting through it all, believe me. When it was all finished I hooted and hollered (okay, not really) and rewarded him for a job well done. I told him to go play, be loud, act crazy, whatever, because he had endured his homework.

Yesterday consisted of more of the same time-consuming after-school work. After he was finished, guess what he did – dug an old math paper out of our scrap box and started practicing addition. What? “Alex, homework is finished. Go do something fun,” I said.

When I tucked him into bed and prayed with him last night, his prayer went like this, “Dear God, Thank you that I have a lot of homework.” Again I say, WHAT??

And then last night my sweet Esther was in tears about a matter that I did not understand. I hugged her and she melted into all-out sobbing. I kept my mouth closed and let her talk. (Key point here is that I kept my mouth closed!)

My lesson learned this week with these little people in my care is that I should not put my feelings onto them. Just because I think Alex should be tired after school and that his brain needs a rest doesn’t mean that’s what he needs. Alex loves school. He loves doing his homework. I am so thankful for this. I need to learn to keep my grumbling about homework to myself and not poison his mind.

And when my children have a problem like Esther did, I should validate their feelings. If my daughter, at age eight, needs to sob in my arms, then I should let her do this without judging her. Maybe then she’ll feel free to do this when she’s sixteen.

Weird People

2009-11-06T15:18:00.004-05:00

I liked this progression of Emma's moods, all happening in about twenty seconds.

We had fire safety training at our house, partly for Brownies, partly for Alex's school assignment, and mostly for Lee to have fun playing with the fire extinguisher.

I don't know how wise it is to teach kids how to use the extinguisher; rather, the kids should be taught to get away from fire, but what can I do?

Here they are stopping, dropping, and rolling.

Okay, I had to learn too.

Alex can't stand when his Legos aren't separated by color, so I broke down and bought this nifty organizer for him.

Halloween

2009-10-31T07:27:00.009-04:00

Pardon all the pictures in this post, but we really like Halloween around here. We carved our jacks on Wednesday night. The two big kids were totally self-sufficient at this task!

Oh no! Alex's jack-o'-lantern ate a little girl in green Crocs!

Look out, Alex. He's still hungry!

Emma had a little help carving hers, but the drawing is all hers.

Finished product: Cat

Emma, despite all her princess tendencies, chose to be a leopard.

Emma had a party at her preschool on Thursday. I love that her tail is slung over the back of the chair. Esther is the one in the yellow hat - she's a flower. She was banned from her own school that day because she had been out for several days with a fever. If you haven't been fever free for 24 hours, you aren't allowed back at school. Emma's preschool teacher was not so paranoid and let Esther join the preschool party.

Thursday night was the Halloween Parade in Strasburg. We attend every year with friends; but this year, since Alex and Lee have been promoted in life to Cub Scouts, they got to march in the parade.

We watched and cheered from the sidelines.

Emma got a little weary by the end of the parade. Running out into the street collecting candy takes a lot out of a person.

Our pre-trick or treating meal included a big, brown spider. *

Guess who Alex is...

Luke Skywalker. Isn't he awesome? I would like to thank the Paiches for supplying a stand-in light saber at the last minute since Alex left his original costume on the school bus after his class party.

Here they all are. Esther's flower costume sounded better in theory than it looked. But she seemed to love it.

And because I love being cheap, let me break this down: I spent $2.00 on Alex's costume (white shirt from Goodwill), $4.00 on Esther's (yellow hat from Goodwill and purple fabric), and $0 on Emma's (hand-me-down dress and accessories from the Drummonds).

And the best part of night... CANDY TIME! We were home from trick or treating by 7 p.m. and had plenty of time to nosh on our loot! (Um, I mean THEY had plenty of time to nosh on THEIR loot. Not me, no, I didn't eat any of it, huh uh.)

Last year Halloween: http://jjlandis.blogspot.com/2008/11/big-night.html

* pumpernickel bread

Pumpkin Painting Party, third annual

2009-10-21T15:23:00.003-04:00

Our third annual pumpkin painting party was a few weeks ago. It rained during the day and again five minutes after we had everything cleaned up. But during the party, we had fabulous weather. Here is Emma with her peeps.

Lee chatting with the men.

Alex doing some extreme painting.

Lee chatting with the women.

Cutie pies.

Chillin.

Finished products.

Some lovely cupcakes I made. Just kidding. Jodi made them. Aren't they adorable?

Renaissance Faire

2009-10-14T06:47:00.007-04:00

The first thing we saw at the renaissance faire this Sunday was a street circus. Esther could not stand the sound of a whip a man was using to whip, um, the pavement. It was loud.

Queen Elizabeth was happy to pose for a picture with Princess Emma and Sir Lee.

Esther used her own money to purchase this lovely umbrella.

Damien Blade, the (self-proclaimed) most dangerous man in the world, entertained us by swallowing swords and breathing fire.

Esther soon realized Damien Blade was even harder to watch than the man with the whip.

We saw a jousting match. Very cool. At one point a man did a back flip while standing on a moving horse. Did they do flips on horses in the 1500s? If so, it would almost make up for their lack of television.

Princess Emma cheered on the victor.

Esther and Emma got to pose with a fairy, a real one (shhhh)!

The highlight of the day for one of us who will remain nameless (hint: his name has three letters beginning with L) was the turkey leg. The highlight not necessarily being the meat, though the meat was quite savory and delicious, but that his three children (and wife) all ripped into it like barbarians.

And what day is complete without watching pirates drink rum and throw beads (not sure why the beads - it felt like Mardi Gras)? We left after the pirate show, fearing a Mardi Gras-like party was soon to break out.

Our Hobbies

2009-10-08T19:05:00.003-04:00

Esther has joined Brownies this year.

And Alex is a Tiger Cub (which is the first rank of Boy Scouts). We are working on getting him a uniform that actually fits him! This one is a bit big.

Emma is our dance princess. (And she's convinced she is a real princess.)

My extra-curricular activity is book club. We meet once a month and have more fun than you would think a book club could have (insert contented sigh here).

And Lee. Oh, Lee. His hobby is his children and teaching them about all the aspects of life that Mommy and school can't possibly teach them. Here they are by our new pond (built by Lee and the kids) with a giant fish they caught somewhere else and let live in our pond for a few days. (The fish had to be returned to its home in a larger pond so it could survive.) Don't you love Em's face?

Stevoe!

2009-10-05T06:50:00.008-04:00

My nephew Stevie rides a Greyhound bus from Indiana to visit us once a year. He's been coming to see us since he was 16 and he's now 23. He adores Lee and likes to have his arm around him.

Lee put him to work the first day loading rocks into his van.

We visited the Lampeter Fair. Stevie and Alex tried out a few tractors.

We also went to the Philly Zoo. Stevie is feeding a lorakeet.

This is at the zoo. One big happy family having one big happy day (hear sarcastic tone and sighs from JJ).

An annual tradition. Before...

... and after.

Lee took Stevie to Gettysburg where they met some famous people.

This is also at the fair. (Sorry, I can't be bothered to post pictures in chronological order.)

We make him earn his keep.

One of few healthy meals we fed him. Normally, we eat pizza and McDonald's when Stevie comes to town.

I'm sure his mom would love this one. He does NOT have a license.

Boating

2009-09-25T07:05:00.007-04:00

We bought a boat ride at a youth group auction in the spring. We finally cashed in our prize a few weeks ago and spent a glorious Sunday afternoon boating, fishing, tubing, and skiing. Our gracious host, Brent, showed us a great day.

Putting the boat in the Susquehanna River.

This was Esther's first time tubing. She would only go if Daddy went with her.

Yeah. That's me. I hadn't been up on skis in years. I just had to see if I could still do it.

Alex was scared to get on the boat. The pink and purple life jacket didn't do much to help his mood.

Much better! Orange beats pink.

No fear at all in this one. She loved every minute of the day.

She is one beautiful little thing.

Alex caught a catfish!

Esther also caught a catfish!

We got to picnic and play at this beach on an island.

I sure do love seeing kids play in the dirt. It's so healthy and wholesome!

I think we may need to get ourselves a boat!

Emma Goes to School

2009-09-17T14:44:00.001-04:00

Cardboard Testimonies

2009-09-04T14:15:00.003-04:00

I have put this on my facebook twice now. I love the honesty of this and wish we (followers of Christ) would share more about what God has done for us.

Pies, Clothes, and School

2009-09-04T09:58:00.005-04:00

Lee has a strange hobby. He bakes shoo-fly pies. He doesn't just bake them for our own pleasure, but rather makes nine or ten pies at a time (homemade crust and all... go figure... I just don't understand the man) and mails them all over the world to friends and family. We've mailed pies to Cambodia, Hong Kong, Japan, South Africa, as well as British Columbia, Florida, Indiana, and other exotic locales. He also gives them to new neighbors and business clients.

Shoo-fly pies are made with molasses and brown sugar - a winning combination.

The kids usually help to some extent, and then we include a card with a picture of them working on the pies.

"It's all about the journey," Lee says about his homemade pie crust, which to me just seems messy and time-consuming. My uber-efficiency makes me a very bad cook. Why make from scratch what you can buy frozen at the store for 99 cents? But I do appreciate his mindset; and people love his generosity. (And guess who gets to clean the flour paste off the counter, table, sink, floor? Yep, the wife.)

You can see how happy they are all during the baking process.

It's time I posted pictures of Esther working at a thrift store. Once a month on a Saturday afternoon, Esther and I hang clothes and put price tags on clothes and knick-knacks that will be sold at the store. All the proceeds go to the Mennonite relief organization MCC http://mcc.org/. It's a nice day out for us - we eat at McDonald's on the way and usually spend a few dollars at the store before we work. I wanted Esther to learn how to work and learn how to work for others.

I'm proud of her.

And here everyone is on the first day of school! One's in third. One's in first. Cinderella's still home with me.

Oh Wise One

2009-08-31T20:19:00.002-04:00

I would like to thank my husband for pointing out a spelling error that has been on this blog for several months. He is gloating obnoxiously because for once he thinks he is the smart one.

Monarch Butterfly

2009-08-31T15:14:00.005-04:00

Here is our first monarch as it was coming out of its chrysalis.

Emma got to let this one go. Stay tuned - because we have another to release today. It's Alex's turn.

The Release

Dorky Kids

Things are not as they seem

2009-08-25T14:34:00.009-04:00

Two people have commented recently on my perfect life. To them and anyone else who thinks my life is perfect – WHAT???

Let me explain something. I see a blog as a high-tech scrapbook. (And while I’m on that topic: I loathe scrapbooking – too time consuming, too expensive, too little payoff, too much complaining by scrapbookers who never have enough time for their hobby and therefore are three years behind on their photo albums. My system is to order pictures once a month and throw them [or place them gently, perhaps] into shoeboxes labeled for each child and myself. The kids will get boxes of their pictures when they move out of the house. Simple, right? Oh, and sorry – I know many of you adore scrapbooking. I’m probably jealous of your creativity and that is why I have lashed out.)

As I was saying, my blog is a scrapbook of sorts so I choose to publish the dear and charming aspects of my life – basically, my kids. Occasionally I have veered into personal and emotional terrain, but not often. The dirty and ugly parts of my day - me screaming at the kids, me cleaning the toilet, me lounging on the couch in my SpongeBob pajama pants watching mindless TV while shoveling ice cream into my mouth – don’t appear too often on the blog.

Some people, it seems, want to show only the glossy side of life as they pretend to be a perfect wife/mother/Christian/whatever. None of us is perfect, so let’s just move on from that craziness. Every day, I wake up amazed that I have this life. I never thought I would be where I am now – with decent children and a more-than-decent husband. I do not brag about these blessings, but rather fall down in humility for what I have been given. The credit for my life does not go to me. God saved my wretched soul, transformed my twisted mind, and took hold of my life. The blessings that flow, I recognize daily.

My journey through life is written by hand in my journal. Someday I may muster the energy and courage to share it (I need to know it will be used by God and will be a humble act, not a selfish one). My childhood friend Cindy at http://www.cindybultema.blogspot.com/ has inspired me to share the grittiness that was my life before I became a Christian (by sharing her own gritty details). So, we’ll see. Until then, these videos of Emma will help illustrate that not all is as it seems in the world of The Landii. We’re not always smiling and being cute. Sometimes life is just tough and we must throw fits. Unfortunately for Emma, her fits are the easiest to catch on video (also unfortunate for her is that she has a coldhearted mom who would actually film such drama).

Eat Honey - Run Fast (or as in my case, slow!)

2009-08-24T09:28:00.005-04:00

I ran a 5k yesterday to get out of my exercise rut (see "Relinquish Control" post below). The annual run is sponsored by Dutch Gold Honey company, and the race slogan is "Eat Honey - Run Fast." I should have eaten more honey because I did not run fast. I finished in 31 minutes which is great compared to my other 5k times but still really bad in the world of running.

The top picture is BEFORE. The bottom picture is AFTER. It was hot, really hot.

Daffy is so helpful

2009-08-23T07:03:00.001-04:00

Daffodil is always in the middle of whatever the kids happen to be doing.