Saturday, June 16, 2007

Caleb and the Big Bear

We packed away the Big Bear today, but not without getting one last picture. . . by the next time Caleb has a photo shoot with the Big Bear, he'll probably be the bigger of the two!


Caleb (3 months old) and the Big Bear



Caleb (8 months) and the Big Bear

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Holy Moly Green Guacamole!!

Does your guacamole turn brown overnight? Mine does! Or rather. . . DID. This weekend I was over at my dad's house for dinner and learned a kitchen secret that my gourmet granny taught my dad years ago. Somehow the knowledge didn't make it to me until just a few days ago.

The secret to keeping your guacamole green is in the pits! Prepare your guacamole as usual but instead of tossing those avocado pits, save them. When you're done making the guacamole, drop the pits into the dish. I'm not sure what the exact science of it is, but I guess the pits release some sort of chemical that keeps the avocado from turning brown.

On Sunday, I brought home some of my dad's delicious guacamole (pits included) and served the leftovers to guests last night. It was still as green as the day it was made. . .four days later!

Maybe this is one of those commonly known things and I was just out of the loop, but I thought I'd share it just in case!

Crawling!

Caleb has mastered crawling. He started off about 3 weeks ago with this crazy one-legged army crawl. He has progressed to the more traditional hands-and-knees variety. I am amazed at 1) how quickly he can get around and 2) how quickly he can get in trouble. It seems that out of the 1000 things he touches every day, 999 are "no-nos." However, there are a few things, like the one in this video, that I do let him touch. This "toy" is located right by the bathroom and keeps him entertained long enough for me to get ready in the morning, which means it is my favorite toy, too!

Monday, June 11, 2007

Big Day for Little Sis

My not-so-little-anymore little sister, Elizabeth, graduated from High School this weekend. It's hard to believe since I still remember her first day of kindergarten like it was just a few weeks ago.



CONGRATULATIONS ELIZABETH!

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Clean Sheets

Last night Josh and I enjoyed our favorite treat: clean sheets! In the winter, we put on our warm flannel. In the summer, our white-on-white cotton ones. It is so relaxing to lay down and breathe in the dryer sheet smell. And, call me weird, every time there are new sheets on the bed, I love to wiggle my legs back and forth to enjoy the crisp, smooth way they feel.

What I DON'T love about clean sheets is how quickly my wiggling, teething, sleepy-eyed 9-month-old son can get them dirty. This morning, in a span of less than a minute, Caleb had managed to spill milk all over, throw-up, and pee on our fresh, clean sheets. How is that even possible!? He slept all night in his crib without getting his sheets dirty and yet he decimated ours in a matter of seconds.

This morning's fiasco set me to thinking. How many times have I done the same thing to God!? I go to Him in prayer and confession, asking Him to make me clean and fresh. And, He does! He patiently cleans up my sinful mess, forgives me my transgressions and puts me on the right track. Then, within two breaths of saying "amen" I wiggle and squirm and soil my freshly-cleaned-up soul with sin again. But, unlike me, God doesn't tire of changing the sheets. His mercies are new EVERY morning! What a tender, loving Father He is!

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

The upside of Caleb's mess is that I am now forced to changed the sheets AGAIN, which means we will have fresh, crisp, Bounce-scented sheets two nights in a row. I'll try not to grumble too much as I am wrestling with the fitted sheet. Instead, I think I'll use those few minutes to ask God to change the sheets of my soul.

When was the last time you had clean sheets?

Thursday, May 31, 2007

New Profile Picture


I did something to mess up my profile picture, so I'm posting a new one.

Friday, May 25, 2007

Friday Favorite: Naptime

There is no hour of the day so peaceful as the afternoon hours when Caleb takes a nap. It seems that my morning hours are usually filled with laundry and other get-the-day-going activities. But the 1 1/2 hours of quietness in the afternoon have become a real favorite of mine. I have been able to read my Bible, finish a few books on my lengthy list, do a little baking, and every now and then sneak in a little nap myself.

For a mother, nearly every hour of the day (and sometimes the night, too) is filled with care for the perpetually curious, ever-hungry little children God has given to her care. But, He was gracious enough to cause those little wigglers to need an afternoon nap so that their dear mothers could retain a semblance of sanity! Isn't He gracious!?

Very Cherry!

Yesterday, we were invited by our friend, Paul, to his family's cherry farm to pick cherries. We made out like bandits! We came home with about 5-10 pounds of the ripest, sweetest, freshest cherries you've ever seen. Forget the grocery-store, if you want to know what real cherries taste like, you've got to make a trip to California's central valley and taste some Bings, Black Tarts, Rainiers, and Brooks cherries, fresh off the trees.

Some cool stuff I learned about cherries:
  • In order to grow a healthy, fruitful cherry tree, you must cross pollinate each tree with a cherry tree of another variety. So, if you're planning to plant a cherry tree in your back yard, plant two.
  • In Japan, consumers pay as much as $1 PER CHERRY? Crazy, huh!? No wonder the bulk of the Californian cherry crop is shipped to Asia!
  • Cherries are graded based on sugar content. The more sugar, the higher the quality; the higher the quality, the more money the cherry is worth. So basically, sugar = money.
  • A cherry isn't just a cherry. There are early producers and late producers, sweet and tart, soft and firm, dark and white.

Here are some photos from our field trip (technically, this was an orchard trip, but you know what I mean). . .
Caleb and I were so excited for our outing that we waited
on the front steps for Daddy to pick us up.
As you can see, Caleb could hardly contain his joy.


Paul with Caleb, Josh and Yvette displaying the loot off the first variety of tree.
The dark leafed trees on the left are Bing Cherries.
The light colored trees on the right are Walnut Trees.


I was allowed to climb the ladder, as long as I promised not to fall off!


Josh regretted volunteering to pick Black Tarts for me.
Every time he thought he was done, I kept saying, "MORE!"


Life is like a bowl of cherries!
(the dark cherries are Black Tarts, the bright red are Bings, and the light pink are Rainiers)

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Let's Indoctrinate Our Children!

Here is the promised excerpt mentioned in my previous post. . .

Taken from From My Kitchen Window by Jesse Rice Sandberg:

Let's Indoctrinate Our Children!

Not too many weeks ago a teacher in one of the nearby high schools was suspended on the charge that he had propagated communism in the public schools. The complaint had been made by several parents that their children had come home from school with the news that their teacher had told them the "good" side of communism. In his own defense the teacher said, "I am not a communist and I have never been one. I feel that it is my duty as a teacher to present both sides of every issue."

On the surface, "to present both sides" sounds innocent enough; in fact, it has a rather noble ring to it. Modern society has made broad-mindedness the supreme virtue. We have been so busy being tolerant, unbiased, non-sectarian and ecumenical that we have almost thrown away the God-given-privilege--no, I should say God-given RESPONSIBILITY--of influence over our children. We say, in essence, to the world, "I'll give you the same opportunities for indoctrinating my children for evil as I give myself to indoctrinate them for good. May the best man win!". . .


When we are teaching young children to stay out of the street, we do not describe to them all the advantages of playing in the street in an effort to give "both sides." If it is dangerous to their health and life, then there are no advantages, no "good points" about playing in the street. It is as simple as that. How strange that we are inclined to be more careless with their spiritual welfare than we are with their bodies. . . .


We give our children a slight smattering of spiritual training in the home and in the Sunday School, then we leave it up to the movies, the television, the cheap magazine, the evolution-teaching professor, and the worldly, popular crowd at school to do their worst without ever a a word raised in protest. God forgive us!

From My Kitchen Window

When I was a little girl, I was fascinated with books. I remember, in particular, one small, pink book that my mom kept in a prominent place (at least, prominent from a 3-year-old's perspective) on the bookshelf. Perhaps it was the rosy color, perhaps it was the cozy drawing of a cheerful little home on the cover, perhaps it was the petite size of the book. . . whatever it was, that book sparked my imagination. I can remember wondering what was inside and looking forward to growing up and being a Mommy with a pink book just like that.

In September of 2005, at one of my wedding showers, I received a torn, scribbled-upon, faded pink book whose inscription read, "Dear Rebecca, My heart is filled with joy and love as the Lord has brought you into this glorious season of your life! You have been a blessing to me all your life. The little scribbles on this book were made by YOU as I enjoyed the nuggets of wisdom contained within its pages. May you have many happy years as a wife and mother. . . Love, your own Mother." What a wonderful gift!

As it turns out, the little pink book that caught my fancy as a little girl was entitled From My Kitchen Window: Conversations with Christian Wives and Mothers about Home and Daily Living by Jesse Rice Sandberg. Published in 1963, the short little vignettes reflect a different era, an era not so long ago, but far, far away. Mrs. Sandberg speaks of sewing her own dresses and her children's clothes, of chatting with neighbors over back fences, of hanging clothes out to dry on the line, and of starching the kitchen curtains. But, despite the old-fashioned homemaking curiosities, Mrs. Sandberg's spiritual insights are just as relevant today as they were forty years ago. (One devotional that stood out to me was entitled, "Let's Indoctrinate Our Children!" I will post an excerpt in a subsequent post. )

As you may have guessed, this blog was intentionally named in honor of that tattered old book. Although I am well aware that Mrs. Sandberg's wisdom and insights far surpass my own, I do hope that in forty years, a young wife or new mother will be encouraged and convicted by the posts on this blog, just as I have been by the contents of the little pink book. It is something aim for. It is something to pray for.