nej orden onsdagen–norway

(norway is our featured country this week for geography. we found this beautiful video and thought you might enjoy it too.)

tisdagen undervisande–hey, andrew! teach me some greek!

we’ve been having so much fun learning greek, and much of the credit goes to this wonderful curriculum, published by greek ‘n’ stuff.

 

 

have you ever learned a foreign language?

var helgen–beautiful (albeit unrequested) winter reprise

it has rained most of the weekend here in southern wisconsin. following a winter with record-setting snowfall and several days of temps in the 50’s, this bout of torrnetial rain has created quite a mess. the snow in our yard was all melted, and we had mud everywhere. the car mats were covered in it, the kids were wearing it (clothes, shoes, skin, hair), the back entry was truly a mud room, and even the kitchen floor was ready for a mud wrestling event.

 

yes, there was mud EVERYWHERE!

 

then, sometime late this afternoon, the Lord gave us a beautiful blessing.  

 

 

 

as frustrated as we all feel about having to deal with another late winter snowstorm, it brought to mind the prophet isaiah’s words, “though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…” (isaiah 1:18)

 

aren’t you thankful for God’s gift of grace that covers all of our ugliness?

fredagen–pizzas and practice

tomorrow night is our oldest son’s class fundraiser for the mission trip they hope to take next year.

i spent this afternoon helping some of his classmates make pizzas to sell at the concession stand, then took a peek while they practiced their class song (chris rice’s “go light your world”).

 

have you eveer gone on a mission trip?

nej orden onsdagen–who am i?

(an “old” friend from high school sent this to us this morning.)

var helgen–giggly, gleeful, grinning, growing girls

after postponing twice due to illness and scheduling conflicts, little missy finally got to have her friends over for a belated birthday party.

 

 

do you think she thought it was worth the wait?

fredagen fundarer–the shack

i’ve heard a number of recommendations for this book.

 

a couple of weeks ago they talked about it on the morning news, which really piqued my curiousity.

 

the next day i went to our library’s website to reserve it. they have 60 copies and the waiting list is almost a year long. my curiousity grew. 

 

the next week, a man in church had ”the shack” and i asked him about it. he said he was reading it through for the second time and studying parts of it, along with the Bible, in the ss class he teaches. his class digs deep; they are a group who studies and thinks. another intriguing endorsement.

 

i wanted this book, so i went to amazon.com to read some reviews and check the price. many people spoke of reading it themselves–2 or 3 times–then passing it on. others mentioned buying extra copies to give to their friends and family. some cautioned that it’s all bad theology and shouldn’t be read at all. i ordered a copy.

 

unlike many who have reported not being able to put it down, it took me 4 days to read this book. part of the reason is that as a busy homeschooling mother of 5, i don’t have the luxury of uninterrupted hours for personal reading.  

 

the other, more compelling reason is the emotional energy it took for me to read. yes, the story of a child’s disappearance was heart-wrenching, but so was the author’s way of asking the reader to see another picture of God at “the shack.”

 

the book was incredibly thought-provoking, and i will be reading it again–with my Bible open–to study and ponder the depth of Papa’s love, and His desire to have a relationship with me.

 

if you have trouble with the idea of God as your loving Papa, Who, along with His Son and the Holy Spirit, would do anything to show you Their love, and if you can handle being challenged to dig deeper into God’s Word for answers, then you might want to read this book.

 

for those of you that like to pick things apart and find fault, there’s plenty here for you, too. it’s a novel, the theology may not be 100% accurate, the depictions of God’s character are incomplete, and if you’re a “rule-loving, think you’re pretty good” kind of Christian, you might want to skip it altogether. but you probably shouldn’t. 

 

in my opinion, the author isn’t trying to rewrite the Bible; he seems to be trying to get us to see an aspect of God’s character that so many of us are missing. and he doesn’t use the tired old cliches that we are used to in order to reach his goal.

 

have you read “the shack?” i’d love to hear your opinion.

tisdagen–son vs. mom

i’m the meanest mom that ever lived. really. just ask my middle son.

 

the other day i had a weak moment and bought him one of those silly toys that all boys think they MUST have.

 

 

yes, handcuffs. they’re the dollar store variety. you know, the ones that include gratuitous keys, but can be released by just flicking a little latch on the side. (a friend of his recently got some “real” ones for his birthday from an uncle who’s in law enforcement. fortunately, his mom had the sense to take one of the keys right away, just in case…)

 

even though the set my son got was rather benign, i began giving him a list of restrictions for their use:

• no using them on your younger siblings
• no using them on your older siblings
• no using them on your parents
• no using them on the cat
• no using them to freak out any of your friends
• no using them around mom
• no using them when mom’s not around
• no using them to have fun in any way
• no using them
• just “no”

 

can you tell i was having major regrets about buying them?

 

to give you a little perspective, it might help to know that mr. middle son is an expert at technicalities and pushing me right to the limit without actually disobeying the letter of the law. we hope he grows up to be a lawyer someday, might as well put those qualities to some sort of use.

 

perhaps this story told by steve chapman will illustrate my fears. steve discovered one day that all of their basement windows were broken out. curious about what happened and why, he questioned his young son, who readily admitted to having done the dastardly deed. the young son didn’t seem to see anything wrong with his actions because, after all, he’d never been told that he wasn’t allowed to break the basement windows out. steve said that he spent the rest of the evening trying to think of all the things he needed to tell his son that he wasn’t allowed to do.

 

my middle son is his twin. i swear.

 

the very same day that dear son got  his handcuffs and the lengthy list of restrictions, he found a loophole. i forgot to tell him that he couldn’t handcuff himself to table legs. really, i did forget that one.

 

neverthless, one would think that a child with his (incredibly high) IQ could figure that one out on his own, so i happily confiscated them. did i say happily? yes, happily.

 

he has been asking for them back ever since. he has searched almost everywhere (too bad that same effort can’t be spent on missing socks!) and even resorted to begging and pleading. all to no avail.

 

yesterday afternoon he even tried this:

 

 

 

this morning i once again caved.

 

 

then i noticed what his shirt said.

 

 

 

oh no! i’d better go check on the girls. QUICK!

what have i done?

mål tid måndagen –blueberry tart

we just sort of came up with this recipe by accident, and it turned out to be sooooooo yummy!

 

 

 

Blueberry Tart

Crust:

1 3/4 c. flour

1/3 c. sugar

1 T. baking powder

1 t. salt

Mix dry ingredients, then add:

3/4 c. milk

1/4 c. oil

1 egg, beaten

1 t. vanilla

 

Stir together until moistened. Pour into a greased and floured tart or flan pan. Bake at 400* for 30 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes, then invert onto a plate and allow to cool.

 

Cream Topping:

8 oz. cream cheese

1/4 c. sugar

1 T. lemon juice

Cream together, then stir in:

1 c. whipped cream

 

Spread cream topping on the cooled tart. 

Top with 1-2 c. fresh fruit.

Drizzle 1/4 c. melted peach (or other flavor of your choice)  jam on top.

 

what kind of fruit and jam would you use?

be nice to him, he gave…

our “big guy” came home from school the other day asking if we’d give permission for him to donate blood when the red cross bloodmobile came.

duh, of course!

over 20 years ago my mother was a red cross nurse, and i remember how anxious i was to donate for the first time.

 

 

 

do you give the gift of life?