Artisans Road Trip

We had a fun weekend with Matt's family, as we headed to the Morrison farm south of Hartley, IA, to try to be a help for them while they were a stopping point on the Artisans' Road Trip. It was a lot of fun to be together with Matt's sister's family, as Lexi and Xander are practically inseperable, and Cassie loves to babysit Maia.

Here's some pictures of the farm and the fun we had:
The kitchen entrance to the house. There is a beautiful rose garden just to the left of this picture, and beautiful flowers and stepping stones all around. The red screen door is a new addition this fall.
The barn quilt. I guess this is a common thing in some parts of Iowa. They painted a piece of solid PVC with this star quilt pattern, and call it the barn quilt. As far as I know, that's all they use their barn for...

The chicken coop, now the cat house. Our cats, Maja and Morpheus, live here year 'round. They pretty much just lay around and look out the window all day long, climb in a little hay fort that Bruce made for them when it gets cold. Not too much different from when they lived in our house, but I think the chicken coop smells less like cat urine. Must be the good ventilation!

Here's Cassie with her cracked pot. She found a pottery shard in the ground out by the storm cellar, and now she thinks she's quite the archeologist. Cassie is Matt's sister, Rena's daughter. She is 13 years old this month!

Maia, what a little cheeser. You can see that her plate is full of food. Not even Grandma Georgie's cooking is good enough for her...

This is the "Crib Gallery." Bruce & George have made their old corn crib into an art gallery. Bet that doesn't happen very often! You can see that they installed some overhead lighting, and used old farm implements and stuff to dress it up a bit. It was just out of the wind that day, so it was a relatively comfortable place to view Bruce's work. You can see his actual artwork on his website.
Here's Matt holding Mud, the farm cat. She eats gophers and rabbits, but she gets in big trouble if she eats birds. They're cared for well at the Morrison farm.
Rena got to play the role of cashier all day, she would debate whether it was a warm, cozy place to be. Even the space heater at her feet didn't keep the chill away. She had her share of hot apple cider from the goody table!

Some of the bountiful harvest of gourds and pumpkins from this year's crop. If you look closely, you can see that George has made a cornucopia in the middle covered in prarie sage and wildflowers. We got to take a lot of gourds home for decorating. Pretty!
Xander came home from school on Friday with pinkeye, but we didn't let that stop us from infecting the rest of the family. I haven't heard about Rena's family, but Bruce and George were both sick on Tuesday after we left (the same day Matt got sick here). We like to share.

This is the outside and inside of the Potting Shed, or as Lexi calls it, The Pooh House. Outside, the siding is pressed tin, and inside is a cozy work shelf and seating area with handmade birch furniture from Lake Superior's north shore.
No Grandpa & Grandma's farm is complete without a tire swing. Cassie LOVES to swing, whether it's here or on the bench swing in the lean-to, which functions as a car port.



Another fun part of the weekend, was that we got to help lead worship at my friend, Amy Lu's church. Amy Lu (Verdoorn) Scheaffer has been a good friend of mine since I moved to Sheldon in the second grade. We used to sing together all the time in high school, we were a part of an All-State girls' quartet and and All-State girls' sextet (we always called it a "six-tet." Sounded more proper to us!). We were in tons of musicals together, in which Amy Lu was always the sweetheart and I was always the dingbat. It fit us well!

Anyway, Amy and her husband, Abe, live on a farm outside of Sheldon, and are a part of a Evangelical Free Church plant that has been in existance for a couple of years. They are meeting in the cafeteria of one of the buidlings owned by Village Northwest Unlimited, Sheldon's huge facility for care, education, rehab, etc. of handicapped individuals. I was surprised at how much physical manifestation the spiritual battle took on as we approached the weekend. I lost my voice completely the Sunday and Monday before we left, and had a terrible headache that only lasted through the rehearsal on Saturday... hmmmm... Weird.

Matt & I stole away from the art show on Saturday morning for a while, and went and rehearsed with their band. We had the challenge of working with a 7th-grade drummer on an electronic drum set. And we did a song in 3/4, which turned out to be a bit of a challenge for him, but he really did a great job, and was very consistent.

We had a great time leading their church in worship, and enjoyed singing with Amy Lu again for the first time in over 15 years!

Goofy Maia

Here's Maia pretending to be asleep after eating raspberries from Grandma Georgie's.















This is what she looked like coming out of the bedroom one morning last week. Pretty cool cat.

Ahoy Matey!

Xander attended his second class birthday party of the year for Cole. His family is supposed to be our mentor family at ACE. We haven't really gotten to know each other all that well yet, though.

The theme was a pirate party, and the kids were encouraged to dress as pirates, so I got Xander all dressed up- 'cause dressing up is a favorite thing of mine. Then Maia didn't want to miss out on all the fun, so she got to be a girl pirate. Xander let me put the shirt and vest, bandana, hook and eye patch on him, but he drew the line at jewelry... sigh. I guess that's OK.

I took him over to the park (just blocks from our house) and started to get a little nervous because none of the other kids that were there had costumes on... including the birthday boy! But it didn't take long for the pirates to start invading.

Tommy

Xander & Jaxon

And the kids that didn't come with costumes got some representative pieces like clip-on gold earrings (see, jewelry IS a part of a pirate costume!), and eye patches.
















Leo

Brody

Somehow, some kids got ahold of swords, so we got to have some epic sword-fighting going on.




































It was a drop-off party, but they played with water balloons, bobbed for apples, did a treasure (scavenger) hunt and knocked down a pinata. Maia & I went home, she took a nap and I cleaned the house because we had company come over after supper. When we went back, they were just finishing presents and cake & ice cream.



















Mason
































Cole (birthday boy)

By the time Maia had taken her nap, she was no longer in the mood to be a pirate, so we got her in the stroller and walked back to pick up Xander, play on the slides and stuff, then come home. A fun time was had by all, matey!

Day off...

Ah! I have a day off today. It was a little unexpected. I kind of scheduled Fridays to be my day off, though I wound up at Xander's school last Friday because I switched commitment times with another parent.

I have a few things to do, make some phone calls, get the brakes on the car looked at, etc. But otherwise, I don't have a whole lot on the schedule. Plus I can't find the cell phone, so it's kind of hard to make the phone calls I need to make. So I'm finally catching up on my blogging.

I'll attend my first USF departmental this afternoon, though I'll have to take the kids. I don't have any students singing on this one, so it will be a good chance for me to just observe and learn the proper protocol. A departmental is a department-wide recital for students taking any kind of private lessons. They usually are treated formally, the students have to dress up, have an accompanist, perform from memory (piano and voice only, I don't know why instrumentalists rarely have to memorize, but they don't) take a bow, etc. The students have to do one per semester, so the departmentals in the first few weeks are usually pretty slim in numbers, because nobody's ready to perform yet.

I only have 2 lessons today, but they're not until this evening.

Matt's out for a bike ride, he's worried about getting more than 75 miles in this month, and the weather last week was so rainy and cold, he didn't get out at all. Today is beautiful, however, and we're supposed to get into the 60's, so he'll take that opportunity to get out.

Maia's already watched 2 movies, and I'm still not completely done with getting myself ready for the day (haven't dried my hair or put on any makeup), so I suppose I need to get moving.

Preacher Matt

Matt got another chance to preach at the Church of the Brethren in Sheldon yesterday. He did a great job, and it's always fun to go back there and see several people that were a part of my formative years (this is the church that my family and I attended while I was in middle school through high school).

Matt spoke on the Yoke of Jesus, and relied heavily on Rob Bell's book Velvet Elvis. It was well done, and he even stirred up some conversation afterward. I did the music, of course, and because it's a very traditional church, and due to the topic being discussed, I decided to sing, "He Shall Feed His Flock" from Handel's Messiah (later text includes, "Take His yoke upon you and learn of Him..."). Then, because I was on a classical vein anyway, I decided to do a Chopin piece for a prelude. Got to flex a few muscles that I don't usually use.

In other ministry news, Matt emailed the pastor of the church here in Sioux Falls that we're still in contact with about a possible worship leader job. The process is going very slowly (he applied in June). They've been very busy the last 2 months with their one-year anniversary, and will try to get us in to lead worship sometime soon (kind of an interview). I'd like to know what kind of timeline we're looking at here, because New Hope Family, where we currently attend would like me to do a children's Christmas program again, (and if I don't do it, no one else will), but I don't want to commit myself to something I'm not going to be able to follow through with.

I've also been asked by one of my new USF students about possibly putting together a worship set for her home church in Lester, IA (I'd guess the population of Lester to be around 200). I stressed how important it is to me to be committed to my home church (always an important thing for me with college students), and that I'm going to have to be gone at least 2 times in the next 2 months (last week, and the weekend of the ART) already, so it might have to be after Christmas...

The weekend of the ART (see previous post), we are going to have a chance to lead worship with my best friend from high school, Amy Lu (I was Amy Sue... we did everything together). She lives in Sheldon, and she and her husband, Abe are heavily involved in a new Evangelical Free church there. It's as fraught with difficulties as any church, and we're excited to be able to jump in and add to the complexity! At least for one weekend. More than anything, I'm excited to sing with Amy Lu again. We haven't had a chance to do that since high school --- quite a few years ago. I'm so glad we're still friends!

Raspberry Haven

We got to spend the weekend at Gramma Georgie's and Grandpa Bruce's in Iowa. Maia discovered her love of raspberries. Bruce & George have (estimation here) probably 3 rows, 2-sided, about 20 feet long of prolific raspberry bushes. They have been eating raspberries breakfast, lunch and dinner (and desserts, don't forget those!) for several weeks now. George sent us home with 18 cups of frozen berries, 2 jars of jam, a bottle of raspberry syrup and a bottle of raspberry vinegar (plus a jar of dill pickles and a bucket of tomatoes). So I guess it's my chance to get creative with raspberry food preparation. Just this morning, I added a little raspberry syrup to my cup of coffee... not bad!

Maia loved to follow grandma and eat the berries right off the bush as fast as she could pick them. George said that Maia should just stay and follow her around while she picks berries, then she wouldn't have to try and figure out what to do with them all!

Bruce & George are preparing for the Artisan's Road Trip coming up in 3 weeks. Their corn crib becomes an art gallery, showcasing Bruce's photographs, drawings, painting and silkscreens, as well as George's beautiful decorations, most of which have been grown on their farm: dried flowers, gourds, pumpkins, pinecones, etc. Fall is a beautiful time for this event, and if you live anywhere near NW Iowa, you should check it out.

Maja & Morpheus, our cats who live on the Morrison farm, will get a front row seat to all the activity. They reside in the chicken coop and spend most of their days looking out the window at anything that happens. We got to visit our kitties, which was very exciting to Maia. "Oh kitties!!! Hi kitties!!!" They have a pretty comfortable set-up there, though Morpheus has made several escape attempts over the last few weeks... I suppose I'd be a little stir crazy after having to stay inside the barn for a year and a half too...

Xander got to play baseball, his favorite activity at Grandma Georgie's. He also got to demonstrate his fierce temper, which is starting to assert itself. That's so fun. He says things like, "this is the worst day of my LIFE!!!!!" when you won't let him run in church. Or, "I'm going to pretend you're not my mom for 1 hour." Whatever. You can pretend, but I got news for ya'...

We've discovered a direct correlation between the amount of sleep he gets and how crabby he is. Other contributing factors may include: feeling gross from having a cold this week, more aggressive friends rubbing off on his behavior, and the ever-dreaded... Hormones! Xander has already started getting zits on his face! NO!!! It's too soon for that! He's got a big bump in the middle of his forehead, but we determined it's probably a bug bite from all the time outside in the yard yesterday (we don't do that very often...). Unfortunately, Thursday is picture day at school, so I hope it's gone down by then.

Beth Moore in Sioux Falls

OK. so how cool is this? Beth Moore! Only the best Bible teacher in women's ministry of our time and she was right here in Sioux Falls!

My mom and I went together, along with a group of about 8 women from my church (though others went who did not sit with our group). Several women from Mom's church in Yankton were there too. We saw a surprising number of women from Sheldon, including Katie Shelp, which was a fun -very brief- reunion. (Katie is the mom of my brother's best friend, John. And she was my high school Spanish teacher). The venue was sold out at 6,500 seats.

This was really fun. Of course, there was phenomenal teaching, but I also love the element that is added to corporate worship when everyone there really WANTS to be there. Travis Cottrell and his worship team did a great job of ushering us into the presence of the Lord and opening our hearts to His word.

Beth's topic this weekend was "Come to the Table" and there was a beautiful table set on the stage, which was used as a visual. One of the local stories that she told was that whenever she arrives at a location for one of these things, she's always starving when she gets off the plane. She asked her staff where they were going to go eat when she got to Sioux Falls, and they informed her that one restaurant had an invitation to her in their front window. Apparently a manager or owner of Casa del Rey put up a huge sign in their front window that said, "WELCOME BETH MOORE" so she went there. She's a huge fan of Mexican food anyway, and she said she had the best enchiladas ever, right here in South Dakota of all places! But the cool tie-in was that she was talking about "Come to the Table" of the Lord. She was invited (that's never happened to her before, by the way) to dine at a table in the Casa del Rey which translates to "House of the King." Pretty cool.

We had so much fun, and got some great solid Biblical teaching, and I understand that Living Proof Live is never the same twice. I highly recommend the weekend if it comes anywhere near you. The ticket price is totally worth it. Guys, it's not an exclusive club, but she really does talk to women, so it's really girly. 2 or 3 men were among the 6,500 this weekend.

Double Gap

Xander lost his other front tooth today. It's a good thing, because Matt was threatening all kinds of creative ways to pull it out. It had migrated to the center of his top row of teeth, where it hung kind of crooked. Very hillbilly. We all agreed that it was disgusting.

Hopefully, the tooth fairy will have an easier time finding his tooth pillow in his bunk bed this time. Maybe we'll leave it on his dresser for her.

The rest of the family is good. Here's Maia, not to be outdone by her brother... (although he tried, as you can see)














I colored my hair on Friday, and fried it! I double-processed it, highlighting light colored streaks in it, then dying the whole thing "Hibiscus." I was going for the streaky purply look (which you can't see here), but the texture of my hair is going to take some serious TLC. I've got it really smooth today with lots of conditioning agents in it, so it looks healthier than it is.

Matt is thrilled that the NFL season opened today, and he's making disparaging remarks at the TV like, "I hope Brett Favre goes 0-16!" He was highly disappointed in the Broncos this afternoon, but we got to hang out at church after services and watch the game on the big screen with carry-in food. So there were some bright spots in his day. Here's his position: (he's talking to his folks here)

Aunt Rene'

Our Labor Day weekend took an unexpected turn on when my Aunt Rene' was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday night and passed away on Friday evening.

Rene' was my mom's youngest sister and had Down's Syndrome. She was 47 years old. Today was her funeral and it was an honor to be able to play and sing for it. We had a nice celebration of her personality and Jesus was very much the center of the activities. I was so proud of my mom, she gave a beautiful eulogy, outlining things we learned from Rene'. She talked about how we often saw how different Rene' was from the rest of us, but that she really was no different from us, she just didn't hide her feelings. She was always very exuberant, was never afraid to show her love for anyone. She loved music and loved to sing really loud and out of tune, and she loved to dance. When she was angry, everyone knew it. Her temper actually got her kicked out of more than one care facility! But she was not that much different from you and me.

Rene's death was actually a very peaceful event, and I was privileged to be there along with my mom, step-dad, my grandma, another aunt and uncle, two cousins, and my kids. She went into the hospital on Wednesday evening after an night of Keno at her care facility in Yankton, she got agitated, and started having trouble breathing, so they took her to the hospital (the same hospital where my mom works). She had congestive heart failure, double pneumonia, and sepsis, and after 24 hours of antibiotics and no change, it became evident that it was time to call the family in.

She communicated with mom early on Friday morning ("I can't breathe with this thing on!"), then spent the rest of the day asleep. Her oxygen levels were extremely low, even after putting her on 100% oxygen, though we discovered that once we started playing music, her levels got markedly better. Leigh Anne (grandma- Rene's step-mother) got there mid-morning, I got there with Xander & Maia by about 2:30, Aunt Jeanne (another of my mom's sisters) and Uncle John arrived around 5:30, followed shortly after by their daughters, Laurie & Leslie. They'd all been planning to spend the weekend together in the Twin Cities, where the girls live, but changed their plans and headed back to SD.

Once everyone was there, we had Mom's pastoral care pastor come in and read a Psalm with us, we prayed together, then mom took the oxygen off. She said later that she's never had such a strong sense of someone flying right into the arms of Jesus. It was like releasing a bird from a cage. The nurses came in and shut off all the monitors, while Leigh Anne climbed into bed with Rene' and held her tight and whispered in her ear, and Mom and Jeanne held her hand and stroked her hair and she was gone within a couple of minutes. I held Xander and explained what was going on to him and he was curious about what it would be like. After she died, we sang "Jesus Loves Me" and left.

My Aunt Sandi & Uncle Dick drove in from Virginia. They couldn't get a flight out because of the mess that Hurricane Whatever was leaving on the East coast. Ironically, my Uncle Tom, Aunt Shirley and cousin, Jocelyn were able to fly out of Florida just fine. So we've got family here for a few days, I guess Sandi & Dick are going to stick around until next weekend, but Tom & gang are flying home tomorrow morning.

I was so blessed to watch my mom in action and hear others' comments about her. She was really the reason that Jesus was at the center of not only the funeral, but Rene's actual death too. As an added benefit to her spiritual growth, my dad and step-mom were able to attend the funeral and Dad was even a pall-bearer, which Rene' would have liked (no, EXPECTED! As Leigh Anne put it).

I played the prelude, hymns and special music for the service. I made my brother, Casey sing Chris Rice's "Untitled Hymn" because it just fit the situation so perfectly. And also it's one of those songs that I can't sing without sobbing through. He did a great job. I sang "I Can Only Imagine." My mom requested that one, and it was also fitting. Rene's preference would have probably been country music, but I draw the line there, so she got what we preferred instead! We did finish the service with "I'll Fly Away" and "Do Lord" as they were favorites of hers.

In all, it was an emotionally exhausting weekend. I didn't expect this death to hit me as hard as it did, but I kept crying because I was so blessed by it. I really believe that Jesus takes care of his little ones. Even if they weigh over 300 lbs!

Gap-toothed boy

Xander lost a tooth last night. He's really starting to look like a first-grader!

Our first week of school has been good. Maia got to go to daycare for the first time ever in her whole life last week on Thursday afternoon. I took her to a big commercial daycare just down the street from us because of where they're located, their reputation, and the fact that they'll take kids as drop-ins for an hourly rate.

When I went to pick her up, they said, "She did.... okay." Not the glowing review you hope for when it comes to your kids! They tried to put her down for a nap, but she didn't have her blanket, and also she doesn't usually take a nap until 3:30 or 4:00 (works good with my after-school lesson schedule), so she was not having anything to do with that.

Oh well, she'll start to enjoy her time eventually, right? Hopefully, it's not a permanent solution for us. I'm thinking we should be able to find a college student to help us out a few days a week. We're going to need someone to put the kids to bed on Wednesday nights since worship team practice won't start until 8:00, and we're going to kind of have a small group (we're not going to be an official one until we find out about whether or not we're switching churches... Read Matt's blog) on Sunday nights, so we're going to need some regular help.

Xander, meanwhile, loves school. All City Elementary is a great school, and even though the drive is a bit of an inconvenience, it's so great to get to be a part of his classroom every week. I go on Thursday afternoons (that's why Maia has to go to daycare), so last Thursday was my first day. It's a great way for parents to get to know every kid in the class, and several of the parents, as we volunteer together. We get to do such things as playground duty, lunch duty, grade papers, help with classroom work, make copies, and basically anything the teacher needs. It's a great concept. The school doesn't have to pay teacher's aides, the classroom size can be a lot bigger, there is hardly ever a discipline problem- because your mom or someone else's is always there!- the kids really are respectful, no student gets "left behind" because there's always someone available to help him or her, and we as parents get a realistic view of our kids' performance in the classroom. It's great. I'm so glad we have been given this opportunity!

This week, Xander brought his "Me Bag" to school. The kids were given a small paper bag to put 5 items in that help explain who they are. Xander put a picture of him and Maia, a Bionicle, a Lego robot that he made himself, a green Hot Wheels car and the number 6.

Dancing with Daddy

Aren't these the sweetest pictures?

Fun Weekend

We had a final weekend of fun before starting school on Monday. The kids and I went down to Yankton for Riverboat Days. We spent the night Friday night, the kids stayed over on Saturday night too. We had a great time. A little too much sun, perhaps, but it's a good fun to have as a good-bye to summer.

We went to the parade Saturday morning. Here we are waiting for things to start happening:


Things got kind of interesting once the parade finally got to us. We got to see the Budweiser Clydsedales, (I think I caught the horse on the left mid-whinny!)


Some other interesting parade entries:

...Fat guy in a little truck

You know why bagpipers walk while they play?
To get away from all that noise!

Interestingly, the Wells Fargo Wagon was one of the parade entries that didn't throw candy... I guess kids don't really care if the Wells Fargo Wagon is a comin' down the street anymore.
I love this one. He was in the parade last year too. For those of us not schooled in farm machinery, it's a manure spreader.

Here's a SD style "howdy" to end the parade.

After the parade, we went to the park, where we indulged in fair-style food (Tina, I don't think the Indiana State Fair has anything on the food at Yankton Riverboat Days!) Then Xander enjoyed the teeny ferris wheel
and the inflatable kid zone


Meanwhile, Maia danced with Spider Man. (Inflatable kid?)
After that, it was time for a nap (for everyone except Xander). We went back to Mom & Jim's and rested for a while, had some dinner and then went out on the boat. Xander is quite a water bug. He had a great time.
He and grandma spent quite a bit of time in the water (it wasn't as hot out as it looks in these pictures- there was a lot of teeth-chattering going on all around)

Maia spent more time on the boat. All of it, really.

Xander learned how to go in the tube with Uncle Casey a couple of weeks ago, and wanted to show off his mad skills. He tried it at first with Grandma, but felt like they were tipping over backwards. That's because they were.

Then did it all on his own.

The other thing he learned from Uncle Casey is that it's OK to pee in the lake. He was delighted to demonstrate that ability as well. Off the back of the boat. I didn't take pictures, but I was proud- as you can imagine.

There was some reference to a "Redneck Yacht Club"

First Day of First Grade

Well, today was Xander's first day in a 'real' school setting. He did great. Loved it. Only one little hitch. I got a phone call shortly after noon from the principal at All City Elementary, a public school that has required parental involvment, a reorganized weekly schedule and is really hard to get into. They had a last-minute drop-out, and had a spot for Xander available tomorrow if he wants it.

So I had to go pick up Xander from one school, apologize to his teacher and principal and gather all his stuff and get him re-registered at a different school.

ACE will be a lot farther away, about a 20-minute drive, and I'll have to figure out what to do with Maia on Thursday afternoons when I volunteer in the classroom (with 2 other parents). It's going to be a tight squeeze getting back home in time to teach lessons after school on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, but hopefully we can hook up with a carpool from this neighborhood.

So, it was a bit different than I expected, and Xander was slightly put out with me because he made a new friend today and didn't even get to say good-bye.

I guess we'll have a second first day of first grade tomorrow.

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday, Matt & I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary.

14.

I feel really old! Next month will mark 18 years since we started dating!

But we had fun anyway. We had some expert babysitters (my dad and step mom came up for the evening), went to see "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (I think I liked the first one better), then did a little shopping at the mall and went to have sushi at a wonderful little Japanese restaurant downtown.

This was only my second experience in eating sushi, the first was at a little restaurant in Greeley, CO. Because if you want to eat really fresh raw fish, Colorado and South Dakota are the places to do it! We got a sample platter of sushi and a sample platter of deep fried fish. The first fried thing I bit into had long stringy tentacles! I was surprised at how tender the raw fish was, especially the tuna. I guess I expected it to be really rubbery and smell like the Missouri River or something. I did not like the texture of the squid, but the tuna, salmon, scallops, shrimp, and eel were all very good. (We had a map, or I wouldn't have been able to identify the fish except by color- Mmmm, pink). And I feel fine this morning. I'm not sure about Matt, he's still asleep. (Coma?)

In other news, we get to have Xander's Open House carnival at school today. He'll get to meet his teacher, and find out which classroom he'll be in, hopefully meet some classmates, then we get to stay for fun at a carnival sponsored by the PTA, complete with inflatables and games and food and stuff. Lucky for Matt (who just LOVES stuff like that), I get to leave early because I have Bible study tonight. He gets to drag the kids home and put them to bed. I get two nights off!

We only have 5 more days until school starts, so we're going to try to use them as well as we can. Matt's off work again today, two days in a row feels like a holiday or something! (If it was a real holiday he'd have to work, but he'd get paid time and a half.)

Reading Right Now

I've started two new books. Well 3 (to imitate the writer of Proverbs). I am currently reading:

"Divine" by Karen Kingsbury, a contemporary parable of the life of Mary Magdalene
"Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell, and
"Living Beyond Yourself" by Beth Moore.

It's interesting that these 3 books should intersect at this point in my life. I read a lot. Usually I average a novel a week, though last week I read 2 1/2. Of course, those are usually Christian fiction, stories that get me roped in and invested in the lives of the characters. The kind you can't put down. And unless I recognize the cover, I sometimes read them twice and don't realize it until I'm over halfway through.

"Velvet Elvis" is nothing like that. It's one of Matt's favorite non-fiction books. I've only read the introduction so far, but if I were to sum it up in one sentence, I'd say the gist of the book (at least the introductory chapter) is this: Christianity is an ever-evolving faith that must be deconstructed and reconstructed by each generation, building upon the wisdom of ages past and understanding the current culture enough to realize that the truths that former generations built their lives around are as real today as ever, in order to understand that the Word of God is living and active and so is the Christian faith.

That's a really long sentence, but really, do you expect anything different from me? (See former entry: "FOUR things about me." HA!)

So I can see that "Velvet Elvis" is going to be challenging and educational. (I'll have to force myself to read it though)

"Divine" is unlike any other Kingsbury book I've ever read. Karen usually has a way of writing that makes you cry and laugh within paragraphs of each other. Your heart gets very emotionally involved in the story she tells and she's very romantic. Sometimes to the extreme that I wonder if romantic "first love" feelings become a bit of an idol in her stories. But this book is much different. I told Matt last night that it's much more Francine Rivers in nature. It has a lot of the same flavor as Rivers' book, "Redeeming Love" or "The Atonement Child." It's an excellent read for anyone involved in counseling victims of sexual and physical abuse. It's helping me remember that life is a lot harder for people not in my little social circle, and that the devil sinks his talons deep once he gets a foothold (or stronghold as Beth Moore would put it).

"Living Beyond Yourself" is a Beth Moore Bible study, my fourth one since last September. It's an older study of Beth's but her topics are timeless and so God-directed that no matter when you do one of her studies, God speaks to your heart loud and clear. This one is on the fruits of the Spirit. (Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness and Self-Control). I'm doing the study with only 2 other women, Martha and Laura. We are all in serious need of some fresh living water in our lives.

Things I've gleaned so far: God's ways are so much bigger than ours and completely beyond my comprehension. I guess I have to be reminded of this frequently. His purpose for me is beyond what I can accomplish on my own, my current situation is beyond my control and in His hands, and I need His help to shape my character in my daily interactions with my family and others. Women have been given the gift of influence, and we're really good at it. THAT's why we need to be filled with the Spirit. We need to use our power for good! :)

The topic of martyrdom vs. prosperity preaching also came up. A quote that I found particularly interesting was from a missionary to China who was later beheaded for his ministry: "Let us remind ourselves that the Great Commission was never qualified by clauses calling for advance only if funds were plentiful and no hardship or self-denial involved. On the contrary, we are told to expect tribulation and even persecution, but with it victory in Christ."

I think our brand of Christianity is pretty tame and doesn't take risks leaning on the strength and provision of Jesus enough.

Matt & I also had a conversation the other day that really boiled down to this: If Jesus is the ONE THING, the thing we truly center our lives around, then we don't need to be concerned about other people's struggles, habits, addictions, or lifestyles. That's Jesus' job to work out in each one of us. We are called to center our lives around him and "The things of the earth will grow strangely dim."

OK, so that was a very outward focus (martyrdom & evangelism) and a very inward focus (Jesus as the center of my life). I suppose that's the paradox for my life today.

Anyway, all this to say that it's not all about macaroni & cheese and potty training at my house. I have thoughts that could fit in with Matt's blog too!

Little Known Facts

In response to being called out on my friend Tina's blog, I am answering some information about myself, though most of my readers are immediate family, so this may not be as revealing as one might think.

Four Things About Me
Things you may not have known about me...

A) Four jobs that I have had:
I can't narrow it down to 4. Here's 4 periods of my life and the various and interesting jobs I held during them. Am I an over-achiever or do I have ADD?:
1. Jr. High/ High School- Sheldon, IA:

• Paper carrier for the Des Moines Register at age 14- one of those 5 am, 7 days a week deals (money which actually paid for our wedding rings only a few years later!)
  
• Lifeguard for the Sheldon Indoor Pool
  
• Pharmacist's Assistant at Family Drug
  
• Checker at Hy-Vee (grocery store), including a summer doing night shift. All the commercials about working night shift at a grocery store are pretty accurate.

2. Undergraduate USD- Vermillion, SD:

• Checker at another Hy-Vee (no night shift this time)
• Housekeeper at the Comfort Inn (cheerleaders have the second worst rooms to clean up. Obscenely overweight guy who used the sheets instead of the toilet was the worst)
• Front desk worker at the same Comfort Inn. Extreme step up in the world of hotel workers.
• Singer/ Dancer at the Red Garter Saloon at Valleyfair! Theme park South of Minneapolis, MN. Perks included free admission to the park (as long as we didn't wear our costumes), and getting to work in any other area of the park for the same elevated pay rate, so I also worked in wardrobe and the IMAX theatre.
  
• Staff and eventually head honcho at Sheldon High School Summer Theatre program (5 summers)
  

3. Graduate School- UNC- Greeley, CO (I did all this while a full-time graduate student):

• Graduate assistant- recruiting, rehearsing & directing my very own collegiate choir.
• Receptionist- MIRROR student newspaper.
• Music Reviews- MIRROR student newspaper.
• Advertising Manager - MIRROR student newspaper (I spent a lot of time there)
• Children's Choir Director- First United Methodist Church, Greeley
• Adult Choir Director- First United Methodist Church, Greeley
• Private Voice and Piano lessons (started in 1994, I'm still at it 12 years later!)
• Model (short lived, unsuccessful career. Photos all destroyed. Don't ask.)
  

4. Life after college:

• Music/ creative arts associate at Hanfield United Methodist Church (nice new webpage!)
• Voice teacher - Indiana Wesleyan University
• Voice & Piano teacher - my home
• Crisis Pregnancy Center peer counselor (volunteer, but I thought of it as a job)
  
• Independent Jewelry consultant- Premier Designs jewelry
• Soon to start: Voice teacher - University of Sioux Falls.
  

B) Four movies I would watch over and over:

1. Far and Away- I know it's old, but I'm sentimental and I love the story.
2. When Harry Met Sally- same reason.
3. Phantom of the Opera-at the risk of ruining theatre attendance, I wish more musicals would make productions like this.
   
4. Pirates of theCaribbeann - mmmm... Johnny Depp. 'Nuf said.
   

C) Four (OK Six) places I have lived

1. On a farm outside Lake Andes, SD
   
2. Sheldon, IA
   
3. Vermillion, SD
   
4. Greeley, CO
5. Marion, IN
6. Sioux Falls, SD
   

D) Four TV shows I love to watch:

1. Lost
2. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
   
3. American Idol
   
4. I'd really rather read than watch TV, so to add to the list,
   

Four Books I've Enjoyed Lately:

1. The O'Malley series by Dee Henderson
2. "Death Match" by Lincoln Child
3. "I Am Not But I Know I AM" by Louie Giglio
4. "A Heart Like His" by Beth Moore (a study on the life of David. Also available as a group study)
   

E) Four places I have been on vacation:

1. Orlando, FL- the whole Disney/ Epcot/ Universal thing with my family when we were all grown. Great memories
   
2. Matt's grandparents' place in Ontario, Canada
   
3. Black Hills, SD (see earlier post from June)
   
4. Vacations have been limited to going home to visit family from IN, and now, going back to IN to visit friends. Next summer is our 15th anniversary. We really need a real vacation, don't you think? (We'll accept donations)
   

F) Four websites I visit daily:
I don't visit much daily. I do try to keep track of my friends' blogs, including Tina's, Kyle & Adela's and Matt's (good to know what he's pondering every once in a while). Mostly, I visit my bank's website, the weather channel, maybe look for recipes online... Not very exciting, I'm afraid.

G) Four of my favorite foods: This year, I have developed a new love of cooking. It's interesting that I make most of my favorite foods.

1. Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas (recipe courtesy Grandma Georgie)
   
2. Thai Chicken Pizza (Recipe courtesy Martha Swift)
   
3. Ice cream in the peanut butter/ chocolate category
4. Mediterranean Steak Salad (Recipe courtesy Pampered Chef)
   

H) Four places I would rather be right now:…
This seems like negative thinking. Why would I want to be anywhere but right here in my own living room with Maia in bed (key element to my rest) and Matt & Xander playing cards on the floor a few feet away? I guess if I had to choose...

1. Living in our own house here in Sioux Falls with 3 bedrooms... but I don't see this happening in the near future.
   
2. A real vacation would be nice. See "E" above.
3. I like dressing up to go out and do anything, attend a concert, participate in a concert, go to dinner, go dancing... just getting dressed up for a night on the town is fun. (hint, Matt) :)
4. Worship conferences/ big events are always a lot of fun. Haven't been to one in about 2 1/2 years.
   

Four Interesting Facts About Me
This isn't part of the original list of questions, but this is information that wasn't covered elsewhere.

1. I've had 4 concussions in my life: 1.) hitting head on ice on my birthday at Grandpa Eitemiller's (probably about age 5 or 6- I don't remember, I had a concussion!) 2.) Falling from the top of the ladder of the high dive to the cement, age 8 or so; 3.) Nasty bicycle accident (age 15) in which I ran over a cat (we think) and went head first over the handlebars, went to the hospital, etc.) 4.) Heck if I can remember what the 4th one was... I know it happened though. How did I graduate on the honor roll?
2. I intentionally dyed my hair purple when I was in my 30's.
3. Matt & I started dating 18 years ago. Before most kids that are going to be this year's high school seniors were born. I don't feel that old!
4. Aside from two brief forays into Canada, I have never been outside the continental US. I've never even been more than a few feet over the Continental Divide (we did go up and visit while living in Colorado). Sounds like time for a trip to Europe... :)
   

I am supposed to tag four people. I'm not going to. If you think this is fun, you can send me your answers via email (mattnamy@sio.midco.net) or post it on your own blog.

Maia's Alphabet

(To be sung with as much enthusiasm as possible)
"A B C B E B G! H A B E M ... G!
U M F, G U P,
Double-Y, F, My G!"

I also enjoy her rendition of the Spongebob Squarepants theme song: (also sung with as much enthusiasm as one can muster. Any tune will do.)
"Bushe Bob Pancake,
Bushe Bob Pancake,
Bushe Bob..... PANCAKE!"

Run Away and Join the Circus

As a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), I regularly get audition information for all kinds of national and international opportunities, but today's mailing was by far the most unusual I've ever received. I got an invitation to audition for the Cirque du Soliel. I have to say, the parts they are auditioning for sound very interesting, and I haven't aged out of most of them yet. I'm not sure I'm exactly what they're looking for, however. While I enjoy a great amount of diversity of styles when it comes to singing, I really couldn't tell you what "Ethnic Arpeggiations" are and I have none of the prerequisite Bulgarian singing in my background required for one of the roles.

I told Xander what the letter was about and he thought it sounded like fun until I told him that unless Daddy could get a job with the circus as well (the available male roles really don't suit Matt), then I'd have to be away from our family for 2 years. He didn't think that sounded like a good idea. Though Matt pointed out that it might not be the craziest thing we've done in the last year. I think he might like the change of pace.

Back in the real world, the kids and I went to the local free wading pool for the 3rd day in a row. Matt has the day off and got to join us today and I was surprised to realize that he'd never been to the McKennan park pool with us. We met up with Rena & Lexi this afternoon, so Matt had a chance to catch up with his sister- until I put him on Maia duty and I got a chance to talk with Re for a while. As usual, Xander & Lexi played together really well, and were disappointed to have to part after a couple of hours. I was especially proud of the way Xander handled a situation when a younger boy got mad at him and started hitting him (the boy's mom came and intervened pretty quickly). Xander did not hit back, even though he got pretty upset. Good for him.


So I guess my life isn't exactly as exciting as life in the circus, but there's good fruit coming out of it, and I think I'll stay where I am for now and not run away to join the circus.