There's no place like....HOME!!

This is a little late, but between moving and Christmas, and trying to un-bury my house enough to even FIND a computer, I just have to say that we're finally

HOME!!!

We moved back 2 days before Christmas (no I DON'T want to talk about that part!!) and we are very, very slowly getting settled back into a normal life, routine, finding all our stuff....etc. If I ever unbury enough to make it look nice, I will post some pictures of what our new house looks like. It practically IS new, so much has changed. And I love it!

I LOVE my new showers and tubs (which both actually work, thank you very much!)

I LOVE the boys and girls rooms, which are painted pretty colors (blue and yellow, respectively).

and most of all, I LOVE LOVE LOVE my gorgeous new maple hardwood floors!! It was worth dealing with mold, 4 1/2 months of moving out, and $$$$$ just for these floors. They are so much easier to clean, deal with, mop up spills, and oh how I do not miss you one iota, ugly stained carpets.

There is always a downside, of course. We all miss seeing Grandma, Grandpa, aunts and uncle everyday!

Charity Craft Fair THIS Saturday!

You are invited to a

Charity Craft Fair

to benefit Breanna’s House of Joy orphanage

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Open house 10-4pm

Located at 11011 Anaheim Dr.

From Tramway, take Paseo del Norte West. Turn right onto Browning. Turn left on the 3rd street, Anaheim. 11011 is the 2^nd house on the right.

Custom scarves, artwork, jewelry, Christmas cards, ornaments and more!

Complimentary hot beverages

Free tastings of delicious goodies

Child play area provided

Enter our raffle! - win authentic prizes from Thailand

Come browse our custom merchandise, find some great Christmas presents, and learn more about how to help the girls from Breanna’s House.

Breanna’s House of Joy is an orphanage for impoverished and endangered girls in Chiang Mai, Thailand. They currently have 42 girls who are being fed, clothed, loved, and educated, but they have no indoor plumbing facilities. Our goal is to raise enough money to help them build some decent bathrooms! All proceeds go toward this project – donations welcome.

Visit www.breannashouseofjoy.com for more information

Homesick

I know I haven't posted in forever...it seems harder to get on the computer when you're not living in your own house. Which brings me to my point: yes, we are still not moved back home. The bathroom project seems to be dragging out ad infinitum thanks to plumbers who don't show up and more plumbers who only work 1 hour every 3 days...but the good news is that at least we have finally made some forward progress. I think.

(Obviously this is not a picture of my house...I just thought it was awesome though)

And I have to admit that as great as my parents have been, I am really starting to get kind of homesick. (Mom, if you read this post, please don't get hurt feelings, because I SO appreciate everything you've done for me, and love getting to see you more...) It's just that no matter how nice the place you're staying is, it's not your own home. When I first got married, I was really quite homesick for my old room and the house that I grew up in. It took a long time for me to not say "I'm going home" when I was talking about coming over to visit my parents... The first night we got back from our honeymoon and drove past the exit that went to my parents' house, I had to fight hard not to cry. But it's funny how things change in 5 years. Now my house, even with all its horrible faults and tribulations, is what I think of as "home." When it's not rotting or falling down or killing us, I actually do love my little house. It's comfortable, I know

where everything is, and I can find my children within 30 seconds of realizing they're missing... I know the carpets are stained and the walls are all colored on, and my furniture doesn't stay nice because I have little kids...but at least I don't have to worry about it because its all mine. And if they destroy stuff, well, it wasn't that nice to begin with, so it really doesn't matter so much! ;-)

It's a funny feeling, living here again, because everything is the same yet different. My parents remodeled everything a few years ago, and the basic structure of the house is all the same ,but its all updated and nicer. We're staying in my old room - the room I spent every night in up until the day I was married - but its not the same. All my stuff is gone, the walls are a different color, the furniture's all changed- even the ceiling fan isn't the same. And it really made me realize that, as much as I love it here, this is not my home anymore.

Thinking about how homesick I get has also made me think a lot about my "permanent" home - you know, the one that's waiting for me in heaven. It's funny to be homesick for a place you've never been...but that's kind of what our lives here on earth are like. We live here, but it's not really where we belong. (Mom, your house is lovely and I am not comparing it to the world! It's an imperfect metaphor...) Everything the world has to offer is incongruous with everything we believe and value. I guess that's comforting, because there is so much evil and terrible stuff here in the world that I will never understand and don't want to. I look forward to going to my "real home" someday where everything finally makes sense. Jesus said "I go to prepare a place for you..." It's so exciting to think He's got my house all picked out and is getting it ready for me to come live there. Sometimes I get impatient, wanting to go live there now and cease being a "stranger in a strange land." But then I realize that I need to live this life so I can get myself ready to live there. I have a feeling I wouldn't fit in very well yet, which is why I'm still here. And, just like the most important part of a home is the people who live in it, the best part of my home in heaven will be getting to live there with Him: "for now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face-to-face!"

(Obviously this is not an actual picture of heaven...I just thought it was beautiful though)

But until then, there are lots of good things about life here. And even more good things about living here with my parents until our house is ready. I enjoy not cooking dinner every night, for sure! ;-)

And the crazy just keeps on coming...

Last week was a crazy week. For many reasons, not the least of which is that we had to move out of our house... And this week has only begun, but looks to be even crazier. Basically, the story starts like this:

We have been planning on remodeling our bathrooms since, like, the day after we moved in. It's a pretty old house, and the bathrooms really weren't in good shape, and we had some changes we wanted to make, so it's always been a project we were planning on doing - eventually. Well, eventually got stepped up to a whole lot sooner recently!

We had finally gotten around to starting the remodel (after about 8 months of thinking about it) last week, so my husband goes in to tear up the master bathroom (which hasn't worked since the week we moved in anyway, thanks to James flushing a seashell down the potty...). And we all immediately start getting sick. Enter our evil nemesis, MOLD!

Due to some other circumstances which I can't really go into right now, it became imperative that we move out. My parents graciously let us move in with them, for what we thought would be a couple of weeks...just until everything could get fixed...or so we thought. Poor Robert has been working double-shifts trying to keep up with his customers, and demolish the bathroom on the side. Oh yes, and then he had to go out of town unexpectedly last weekend, too! I don't know how he is still sane...

Soo, yesterday he was dedicating some more time to tearing out the bathroom, and discovered that it had flooded once upon a time, long before we ever moved in, and never really got cleaned up or fixed. The mold was growing exactly up to the flood line, but it has rotted out at least one entire wall, and we're hoping NOT more than that!! There is no end yet in sight. Did I say end?? We haven't even been able to start the project yet! The plumber was supposed to come out today to fix the leaks (did I mention all our pipes are leaking, thus contributing to the mold...), but he just called and said he can't come until he gets approval to work in a moldy environment... Hello, Square One. Nice to see you again.

Sigh. I'm trying hard to re-capture some sense of calm right now, but my whole life pretty much feels like chaos. I keep reminding myself that it's just a house. Just a thing. My children and my husband are all well and safe. We have a very nice place to live right now with exceedingly gracious and pleasant company (thank you, Mom, Dad, brother and sisters!) and God is still in control. Not that He ever wasn't! I just forget that a lot of the time. Plus I can see how He can work a big blessing out of this whole situation. We will be forced to deal with the bathrooms, thus (eventually) resulting in nice clean new remodeled bathrooms! ;-) And we were always getting sick before, and there's a good chance the mold was directly responsible for that. So when we move back in...someday...we could be moving into a lovely remodeled house and actually getting to stay healthy! I guess that's worth a little - or lot of - crazy...right?

Mmmm...fudge....

Sooo, I've discovered that this gluten-free thing has its perks. I found a recipe in this magazine called Living Without for Coconut Fudge...no gluten, no dairy, just 10,000 calories of pure chocolately coconutty goodness. (Ok I exaggerated the calorie count - I hope) My husband, who in my opinion is crazy, didn't like it. This works out very well for me...or very badly, depending on whether you're talking to my mouth or my waistline. Did I mention it only took 5 minutes to make? You're killing me...

In case you want to indulge along with me, here's the recipe:

Grease an 8x8 glass pan.

In a large mixing bowl, mix:

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (Ghiridelli brand has no milkfat)

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder (Dutch process cocoa is milk free, I believe)

In a small saucepan, melt 2 Tablespoons butter or margerine (or possibly coconut oil - haven't tried it but it might be good) and 1/2 cup coconut milk (be sure to shake the can up good first, to mix the milk with the cream, cause they tend to separate). Once the margerine is melted and small bubbles start to form on the surface, remove from heat and pour over the mixture over the other ingredients in the bowl. Wait a few minutes for the chocolate chips to melt, then stir until smooth. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla, stir, and then pour into greased pan. Sprinkle 1 cup of shredded unsweetened coconut over the top and press down with a spatula. Let cool, then cut into squares. And (this is the hardest part) try not to eat it until your stomach hurts!

Excuse me, I have to go brush my teeth about 6 times now.

To be clean or not to be clean...that is the question

Life, they say, is a series of choices. You have to chose between different things, according to your priorities. Nothing makes this more abundantly clear than motherhood.

Children force your hand on a lot of choices. Sleep, or getting up with the baby? Piercing wails generally make that decision for you. Finish your conversation, or take the knife away from the 2-year old? well, evidemment, as the French would say! (I think that's their fancy word for "duh.") And, the most common, everyday choice that I have to make: what - or who- gets to be clean?

Personally, I like being clean. Personal-hygiene wise. I feel icky if I don't have a shower. (I think my husband also likes for me to bathe...) However, those 10-15 minutes every day come at a very high cost. The children see this unsupervised time as a personal challenge to destroy as much of the house as they possibly can in the allotted time, before Mama can emerge and stop them. Essentially, either I can be clean, or my house can.

This morning, for example, I emerged from my shower to find my son, his blanket, and the couch all coated with a thick layer of peanut butter. Believe it or not, this was actually one of the most tame cleanups I've experienced lately. There was none on the carpet, thank goodness! Son to the shower, blanket to the washing machine, and wet rag applied to the couch...fairly easy, relatively speaking! Unlike the day when I had to steam clean the entire house...

So the decision remains, each day: do I want to be clean, or to have a clean house? Clearly both is not an option. Maybe someday. For now, I usually chose personal hygiene, for the sake of my own dignity and to save the senses of those around me. ;-)

The fascination of diversity

Our little family includes two boys and a girl, and I love how incredibly different they all are. I wouldn't have thought their personalities would have emerged so distinctly, so soon, but anyone who knows them will agree that they have!

I have Joseph, 3 1/2, highly intelligent, an intellectual (he begs to do schoolwork every day), extremely talkative and articulate, and very artistic - he loves to draw.

Then we have James, 2 1/2, very physical (he walked at 8 months), strong, silent type, loves outside, nature, his favorite toys are sticks, rocks, bugs, and of course dirt! He is also fascinated by mechanical things, and is constantly trying to use Daddy's tools.

And finally, Gabriella, the baby, 11 months, the people lover and people pleaser, very interactive, always smiling, and happy as long as she has someone around to adore her; also very "chatty" in her baby babble.

Don't believe me? Here is an example from the other day to illustrate:

It had just rained the day before, and all 3 kids were playing outside, with me observing and sometimes interacting. Each child had picked an activity that perfectly displayed his/her personality:

Joseph had an old paintbrush and was dipping into the puddles of water and painting pictures on the outside wall, commentating about his artwork the entire time: "look, it's Thomas the steam engine! Thomas has the number 1. Now I draw Percy...."

James had overturned his wagon, which was full of water, thus making a lovely mud puddle in the dirt. He was spinning the wheels of the wagon around and around, trying to figure out the mechanism that made them spin.

Gabriella was picking up the soccer ball and then rolling it toward me so I would kick it softly back to her, smiling and babbling at me the whole time.

And I just smiled and watched the whole thing, amazed at how different and wonderful my three children are - and even more amazed at the God Who created them that way.

Popularity Contest

I was not in the "popular crowd" when I was in high school. And I'll admit it - for a while, I cared alot about that. I wanted to be popular, and agonized over the fact that I wasn't - and couldn't seem to figure out what it was that made people "popular." All I knew was that I didn't have "IT," whatever "IT" was! And then, my senior year, some things changed. I changed - or rather, God changed me. My walk with Him got a lot better - and suddenly being popular didn't matter so much. I had some real, good friends, and I didn't care about everyone else's opinion. After high school, popularity seemed to matter less and less, until I never really thought about it anymore.

And suddenly today I thought about it again. Because I left the room for a moment and all three of my kids - my very articulate 3-year-old, my stubbornly reticent 2-year-old, and my just started talking 11-month-old, all starting calling "Mama! Mama!" after me, in panic that I had left them. I just starting laughing because it struck me that finally, after all these years, I am popular! I am sooo popular...that I can't leave my adoring fans for even one minute! (they're less clingy when they're not sick). I am the most popular person in our house...pretty much all the time. This is not to say anything again Daddy. He is a wonderful Daddy, and gives lots of time and love and attention to the kids. But I am the one they want when they're hurt or sick or fussy or tired or....just about anything. I spank them and they will run right back to me to be comforted. They would probably do that even if Daddy were standing there holding cookies!

And, unlike high school, this kind of popularity matters! And will (hopefully) last. I know MY mom is still the most popular person in our household. The house just doesn't feel the same without her. Everyone wants to be around her, like bees hovering around their queen. The rest of the world doesn't have much appreciation for women who are "just" wives and mothers...but trying asking their own kids what they think.

Now, I really couldn't care less about my lack of popularity in high school. I have won the most important popularity contest of all....I'm popular with this crowd:

and I wear my crown proudly!

Oh, yes, and I'm quite popular with Daddy too...;-)

...good boy..now shake!

Have you ever been bothered by the whole "awkard hug" thing? You know, where there's this feeling of obligation that you hug the other person (especially if you don't know them well) because everyone else is doing it, but you don't really feel comfortable about it? But rather than hurt their feelings, you give them the really awkward side-hug while trying to analyze if it's "friendly enough" without being too friendly... and how long should it be? Do you count in your head? (probably not out loud...;-) Who moved forward first? Who lets go first? It's all just quite awkward, and as I am not really much of a "touchy" person except for my close family and friends, I feel uncomfortable about the whole process. It's not so bad with other girls but trying to figure out how to properly hug boys or men just makes it worse. It's like being back in high school - ack!

So I've decided in favor of bringing back the good old-fashioned handshake. Last night a young man Robert used to disciple was back in town and came over for dinner, and he gave me a nice firm handshake, not like the "dead fish" handshake that says "if I squeeze your hand I will get germs from you" but not the bone crushing "I am man and will prove my strength by breaking your fingers" handshake either. Just a nice firm handshake that says "hello, good to see you." Simple as that.

Gentlemen, please! A good handshake goes a long way and removes all the awkwardness! From now I will attempt to offer my hand first, along with a smile, and see if I can convey a pleasant and appropriate gesture of welcome without having to analyze everything!

But maybe it's just me. Maybe guys don't like shaking girls' hands, or will be insulted if girls don't hug them. Or do girls want guys to hug them? Would you rather be hugged or offered a handshake by a member of the opposite sex ?

Coffee Traitor

I have always been a strictly black coffee girl; black and strong, nothing in it, thank you very much. (Robert always says he likes his coffee like he likes his women: blond and sweet, and I respond that I like my coffee like I like my men: dark and strong! What will happen when we both go gray, I can't guess. ;-) But this morning I was making coffee for Robert as usual, and we were out of both regular sugar and milk (the last of the milk went bad since no one is drinking milk anymore...) but I had a carton of whipping cream that I had bought for a recipe I never ended up making, so I put some cream in his coffee along with some brown sugar. I tasted the coffee just to make sure it was sweet enough for him (generally what is ghastly sweet in my book) and WOW! It tasted so good. I actually made myself a cup, thus betraying my lifelong devotion to pure and unsullied black coffee. I should feel ashamed. But somehow I don't, because it was soooo good.

I am going to have to get cream out of the house. I don't need the calories! (one advantage to black coffee...)

And for those of you who read my last post and are thinking "cream is NOT on the list of casein-free products" you are right. But Robert and I decided first off that coffee is one of the exceptions, since A) the kids aren't allowed to have it anyway and B) nobody wants to see us try to be parents without caffeine! My usual cup of coffee will have to do for everyday...and banish cream and brown sugar to those special occasions!!

On the other hand...perhaps I should sell this idea to Starbucks and make lots of money...so I can hire a personal trainer...

First week of "freedom"

Our family has been "gluten and casein free" (GFCF, for short) for one week now. Why, you ask, would be embark on such a thing? Well, it's a long and headachy tale, but here's the short version:

Our second son, James, was quite a normal baby, but has had some problems as he's gotten a little older. He doesn't really talk much (as in, ever?), seems to have selective hearing when it comes to being spoken to (well, he is 2), throws huge self-destructive tantrums, and is kind of a loner when it comes to other kids. At first we thought he couldn't hear right; had that tested, turned out to be fine. Recently he's started holding his breath until he turns purple and passes out (talk about scary!) We figured these could just be stubborn 2-year old issues and hoped he'd grow out of them. We talked briefly about Autism but he never really seemed to fit the profile because all of these things were "come and go" rather than consistent. Finally, on our anniversary last week (we have been married for 5 years now, thank you very much!!) we were at a bookstore and saw a book on autsim, read through the checklist, and said "yikes...that's James" to about half the signs. So we bought the book and read through it. The doctor had a lot of good things to say about the gluten and casein (a product found in dairy) free diet, and how it could help children with autism and austistic tendencies. So we figured, ok, try it; it can't make things any worse, right?

Day 1 GFCF: James is suddenly smiling, making eye contact all the time, cheerful, and saying several words. You could have knocked us over with a feather. Not one fit; just minor fussing a few times when he didn't get his way. Can you say sold??

The week continued along the same vein. Continued cheerfulness, no breath-holding or passing out, playing nicely with brother and sister, more affectionate, and more talking every day. We went to the store and stocked up on all kinds of GFCF foods (gritting our teeth at the price! Holy rusted metal, Batman!) We figured never eating anything that tasted good again was a small price to pay for helping our son. There's been a lot of steak and salad nights! And fish (ugh, but hey, its good for all of us, even me). Some friends of my brothers who have been GF for a really long time were incredibly sweet and brought us a whole bunch of GFCF stuff, recomended good brands, and even lent me some magazines with recipes and ideas! They were awesome! And I was amazed to find out how many options they are out there now. The only thing I've had trouble finding a good replacement for is butter; let's face it, there is just no good substitute for real butter!

On to cooking without flour, milk, butter....well, that's been tough. I love to bake, and its hard to bake with no ingredients! But these magazines I was given, called Living Without, have been a huge help. Their recipes use mixtures of tapioca, rice, arrowroot, potato, sorghum, even coconut flour! I made a cherry cobbler one night, and it turned out really good. Pleased with that, I attempted a blueberry cake. It wasn't perfect but it tasted good, so I was feeling quite proud of myself. Since Saturdays were always pancake day, I decided to try to adapt my pancake recipe to the new GFCF ingredients. Oh, boy was that a mistake! A flat failure, in fact. I used the reccomended blend of GF flours, and then I used coconut and almond milk instead of regular milk. At first the batter was ridiculously thick, and the pancakes would not spread out or get done in the middle. I kept adding almond milk and water, trying to thin it out, but they would just never cook right. They tasted AWFUL! Finally in despair (because the ingredients were just too expensive to waste!) I poured all the batter into a large pan, baked it in the oven for 3 HOURS, and still the middle was all gummy. The kids seemed to like it and ate tons of it this morning, but Robert and I thought it was nasty. Sooo....pancakes = failure. Evidently you cannot convert recipes 1:1 like some books say. I might buy a GF pancake mix and try again if my courage ever returns. For now, looks like we are stuck on bacon and eggs.

Sorry for the world's longest post. My life has basically been consumed by food the last week. "Does this have gluten/casein in it?" "What on earth am I going to make for dinner?" and my favorite "I am ALWAYS hungry!!" These are the thoughts running through my head at all hours of the day and night. But so far, I would so it has TOTALLY been worth it. Even if we have to eat this way for the rest of our lives...the changes in my little boy have made all the difference.

More on my weird food adventures to come....

Laundry

I am not one of those people who stays "on top" of laundry. I sort of have the attitude of "wash and wear." As in, I wash our clothes when we have nothing else to wear. Which means the things we wear most often get washed, and the stuff we hardly ever wear (like winter clothes in summer, or vice versa) kind of get piled up and back-burnered. I am pretty good about keeping some things clean, like the kitchen and the front rooms, where we spend most of our time. But our laundry room is always kind of a disaster. And I figure, hey, who's going to see it, right? It's kind of like the inside of my refridgerator. Nobody's going to see it. So it's fallen fairly far behind, ith all our winter stuff piled up and me only washing the top of our laundry baskets. And in my defense, small children get a LOT of stuff dirty!!

from http://imagineannie.wordpress.com/2009/10/19/its-a-wonderful-life/

Yesterday our washing machine broke. Not such good timing, since we are leaving on our trip tomorrow! Ack! Fortunately I have an amazing husband who can fix just about anything, and he bought the part and fixed my machine, and now it works again! But in order to fix it we had to clean out the laundry room completely. Which meant all the dirty laundry got piled up in our room, and that's just been annoying me...so my goal for today has been to get ALL the laundry in our house done before our trip! (well, obviously not ALL the laundry, because we are wearing clothes right now, and unless we spent the rest of the day naked....but you know what I mean)Ambitious, you say? Well, yes. But I am getting close! The giant green hamper is EMPTY! I have one more load of regular clothes to finish, and then a huge pile of sheets and blankets that are dirty. But those are pretty easy. I am excited about the possiblity of having an entirely empty laundry room!

It's not so much the washing that I hate. It's really the folding and putting away part. That always takes forever. But I will try to conquer even that before I leave! Wish me luck!

(And I just realized that when we get back we will have suitcases full of dirty laundry and this will start all over again. Grrr. Now I know why I hate laundry so much....it is never done!)

Mmmmm...pancakes!

Saturday is pancake day in the Voss household. (It used to be "Waffle Saturdays" but since our family has gotten a little bigger now, it takes all morning to make enough waffles, plus our waffle iron is kind of broken now....) We get up, have a leisurely morning, and make a double recipe of pancakes. I added a little sugar to the batter so they are slightly sweet, and don't need any syrup. Then we eat them right off the pan, so no dishes! The double recipe makes enough that after everyone is full, there are plenty left over to put in the freezer. This makes a great breakfast for Sunday morning, which is always busy and short of time as we try to get out the door for church. Just pull a couple of pancakes out of the freezer and pop them in the toaster - they reheat very well!

Here is my pancake recipe, which I have perfected after much trial and error:
(note: this is the double recipe, but you can halve it if you don't need so many or want leftovers)
Ingredients:
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 cups "white" whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour*
4 generous teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup sugar or honey**

4 eggs
3 cups milk
1 cup coconut milk***
3 Tablespoons vanilla

*I also use spelt flour in place of the whole wheat sometimes, or 1 cup of each
**I like to add the sugar so the pancakes are a bit sweet, and you don't need syrup, which cuts down on the mess with little kids, but you can omit it if you want to eat them with syrup
*** coconut milk has a consistancy similar to cream and makes really light, fluffy, and delicious pancakes. You can buy it canned in the Asian foods section at the grocery. If you can't find coconut milk, you can use 1 cup of plain yoghurt instead.

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat with electric beater until smooth. Heat non-stick griddle or pan over medium heat. (make sure the pan is quite hot before cooking). Melt about half a tablespoon of butter on the hot pan until it is thoroughly greased. Using a cup measure, pour batter into small rounds on pan. (I found that 1 not-quite-full measuring cup is perfect for 4 pancakes, which is what fits on my square non-stick pan.) Once bubbles appear on surface and the edges appear slightly dry, flip the pancakes and cook the other side. They should cook fairly quickly - just a minute or two, depending on the heat of your stove and griddle. Remove from heat and repeat with the rest of the batter. You don't need to grease the griddle every day - maybe just once halfway through as all the butter wears off.

Enjoy straight off the griddle or smother in syrup, jam, or honey. Put half in a ziploc bag in the freezer and have quick breakfast whenever you want - just pop in the toaster on a low setting.

Apology and (partial) retraction

Oh, dear. I suppose I should double-check things before I go spouting my mouth - er, fingers off. My last post - or should I call it a tirade? - wasn't quite accurate. I did a little re-checking on the ModCloth website, and turns out I had their sizing system quite wrong. It is weird, not based on normal sizing where you measure yourself all the way around (you know, bust, waist, hips) but where you lay out a piece of clothing that you know fits you well and then measure it across the front ONLY! Oh. Oops.

So yeah. Sorry about that. That makes the sizes a bit more reasonable, rather than half as big as normal sizes, which is what i thought they were.

However, I would like to point out that they still tend to run a good bit smaller than regular sizes. AND most of their items don't come any bigger than a large, which is 15 inches across. So I still say they're designed for skinny people. Hence the "partial" retraction. But still much more reasonable than I thought. Sooo...sorry, ModCloth. I guess I need to learn to read.

Cute dresses for imaginery women

I found this website called ModCloth that sells really pretty vintage-type dresses. As I've gotten older (more "grown up"?) I've put my tomboy phase more and more behind me and embraced my girly side. I like to look feminine, although it can be difficult while chasing toddlers, crawling on the floor with them, being grabbed by all matter of sticky and muddly hands....but still, I like to try. Whenever I am browsing on the computer, I like to go to their site and look at all the pretty dresses and imagine wearing them...they are a bit pricey for my budget, though, so I am generally content to "window-shop."

Well the other day my resistance finally broke down and I was all set to buy a really pretty dress that was under $50. So I started looking at their size charts. That's when I got really mad! I mean, I am not built small. Even in the best shape of my life, when I was playing basketball every day and running and lifting weights, my bones structure is large enough that I would never be accused of being "skinny." I've had 3 babies since then, so you can imagine...but still. Their sizes were ridiculous! On their largest dress, the "extra-large" bust size was a 21. Are you kidding me??? Who makes these dresses?? And who on earth thinks that this is what women - who are not supermodels - actually look like?? Stupid website...now I am just bitter. Because I could have fit their dresses....when I was 7.

But I have a plan to get around their evil sizing charts. I am going to print out my favorites:


this cute checkered dress


this gorgeous pink lacy one



this dainty lemon-yellow frock (I love the word "frock", don't you?)

and this beautiful blue dress.

I will take these pictures to the fabric store, find similar fabrics and patterns, and just make them myself. In my own size! Take that, stupid skinny girl website!!

P.S. I read a comment by a girl who bought a dress on their site, and she said she was 5'10, and weighed 132 pounds! See the kind of freakish girls they cater to on this site?? I am 5'11 and weigh *$& pounds (oh, sorry, computer glitch there). And the worst part?? she bought a medium and it didn't even fit!! I ask you: is this reasonable??

P.P.S. My apologies to any freakishly skinny girls who may be reading this. It's nothing personal. My ire is directed at the website, not you. And it's probably just jealousy on my part.

Today I...

- did Bible with the kids, in spite of one of the three yelling/screaming/crying at all times during the reading

- straightened and vaccuumed the front part of the house for one of Robert's customers (who never actually showed up)

- got the kitchen all clean and the dishes all washed and put away

- sorted all the laundry into loads

- put away all the clean laundry

- straightened up my room after the kids wrecked it while I was in the shower

- built the same puzzle with Joseph 6 different times

- kissed, bandaged, and comforted James after he cut his finger

- nursed a grumpy and teething Ellie pretty much perpetually, in spite of the fact that she kept trying to bite me

Wow. I guess I actually was pretty productive. No wonder I feel so tired.

Here are the things I still need to get done (but probably won't because it is SO hot):

-make dinner (ugh, too hot...I don't feel like cooking anything, much less eating it...maybe we'll have a salad...)
- straighten up the toyroom (think I'll save that for tomorrow)

- do 8 more loads of laundry (ummmm, maybe...)

- do my exercise video or take a walk (again, too hoooottttt....)

Hmmm...or maybe I'll sit here under the ceiling fan and help Joseph with his puzzle again. And we can have snow cones for dinner. That sounds good.

But I also:

- got hugs from Joseph

- listened to James and Gabriella giggle together

- had an actual conversation with Robert for the better part of an hour

- realized how much I love being a mom!

I think that makes today (ouch! Gabriella - stop biting me!!!) a success.

Monday, monday, monday...

Monday morning. Always a difficult time. Yes, I don't have to "go" to work, but I always seem to have tons of work that piled up over the weekend waiting for me. And it's so hard to find the motivation necessary to get going. I don't want the weekend to be over!

This morning is especially tough. The winds are crazy, which means allergies have flared up again, making me headachy and generally miserable. Then James broke my glasses last night, which means I have to wear my contacts, which, as any contact-lens-wearer can tell you, is no fun during wind/allergies! Plus my house looks like its been hit by a hurricane...which I guess it has: Hurricane Joseph-James-Gabriella. And while I desperately want it to be clean, I don't want to have to do ALL the work necessary to get it to that state!

I really should get going. I got up and dressed on the early side and I need to start school, cleaning, life... ok, here I go................................

nope. Nice try. I am still sitting here drinking my coffee and eating my scone with French apricot jam that Robert bought me. He must really love me, because he hates apricots. And the French, for that matter. But their jam is delicious!!

Looks like the score is procrastination: 1, productivity: 0. At least for now.

How much $ am I wearing??

Ok, after reading this article, I was kind of interested. So I took inventory of what I'm wearing and decided to figure out how expensive my outfit is today:

jeans: $19.99 - from Cato (one of 2 pairs I own)

tank top: $9.99 (on sale) - ditto

button-up shirt: $9.99 (also on sale) - Cato again (can you tell I love that store?)

belt: $7 - ditto

unmentionables: $1 (Wal-mart) and $17.99 (Target - but again, one I wear every day)

hairclip: $3.99 WalMart

jewelry: earrings $5, WalMart

socks: $1.50 Target

Skechers: $39.99 (sale) and once again, I wear them every day

so far, $116.44 for my clothes (which is actually a little more than I expected...)

if you add in the accessories I always take with me, my cell phone, which I think was about $150, and my purse, which was a $5 find from Savers, and my diaper bag, which was a gift from a friend but let's say it cost $20, which is all I would spend on a diaper bag, I'm up to...

(hang on, crunching numbers....)

(ok, just kidding, I am using the computer's calculator!)

$291.44 to dress me and get me out the door. Wow, I'm expensive! At least that feels bad to me. And yet, it is not quite 1/5 of what they're saying the average woman in the UK wears every day. Yikes!

Of course, if you add in my most important accessories, namely...

Joseph

James

and Gabriella

well, let's see, they cost about $2000 apiece just for hospital/midwife fees while being born, then add in all the diapers, wipes, clothes, food over the last 3 years....

I am probably pushing more like 10K. Yup, I guess I am one expensive woman!

Sorry, honey. ;-)

a whole new meaning to "waxing your eyebrows"

Soooo....this morning we were about to leave for church - a bit on early side, since Robert and I had to sing in the choir today. All was well, we were all ready to go and doing the usual get-everything-in-the-car-and-shut-down-the-house routine when I noticed a candle burning in the bathroom. (unfortunately, not for any romantic reasons...more for odor.) Definitely not a good idea to leave burning, a) while we were gone and b) around small children at all. So I leaned over and blew it out.

Or rather, tried to blow it out. It was a particularly stubborn candle - kind of like those trick birthday candles that won't blow out. I tried again...and again....silly candle would not extinguish! Finally I leaned in really close and pouf! I blew it out - and hot wax splashed up all over my face! Luckily it was only really warm, not hot, so I didn't get burned. But I now had tiny beads of wax all over - my eyebrows , my eyelashes, my forehead. And Robert was yelling from outside the door "Come on we're going to be late let's go!"

I had to scrape/peel all the wax off, which also resulted in most of my makeup coming off. Which meant I had to apply a good bit of it. Unfortunately my eyebrows didn't end up looking any better even after being "waxed." I guess I'll stick to plucking.

Monster Repellent and Fairy Dust

I simply cannot understand my boys' obsessession with smearing deodorant all over the mirrored closet doors in our bedroom. I admit that I've never actually tried smearing deodorant on mirrors, but then, I fail to see the allure.

However, turnabout is fair play. My mom never understood why my sister and I had to sprinkle baby powder all over her room. We tried to explain that it was fairy dust and we had to throw it on ourselves as we jumped off her bed so we could fly like Peter Pan! All she saw was her room covered in a fine white layer that was, I'm sure now, a terrible mess to clean up. (sorry, Mom)

But for us, that hour was magical. We were Wendy and Tinkerbell on our way to Neverland to consort with Indians and pirates and mermaids and, of course, Peter.

Which is why I try not to yell too much at my kids when I discover that, yet again, they've besmeared my nice clean mirrors. Because who knows? They might need to cover those mirrors with monster repellent to keep out whatever scary thing lives behind those closet doors. Who am I to stand in their way?

the Mother's Day dress part 2

Okay, sorry for all the whining yesterday. Especially because of what happened today...
I made it back to JC Penny today. Found a parking space up close. Ran in and exchanged my outfit for the right size - was in and out in under 10 minutes. Super fast, super easy, didn't cost me a thing. Oh yes, and my suit was orignally marked at $70. I paid $26. Score!
Now my only problem is deciding what skirt to wear with my jacket...but I won't bore you with the details...I did enough of that yesterday.

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers!! And to those of you who will some day become mothers; you're in for a treat! (Yep, one big messy, sticky, you-can't-get-enough, emotionally satisfying, your-waistline-will-never-be-the-same treat! ;-) haha kids are a lot like chocolate, actually....

the Mother's Day outfit from...well, you know where...

Mother's Day is coming soon - 2 days, in fact - and while this is normally not a "huge" holiday in our house, since our kids are too little to cook breakfast or even realize anything is going on, this year we are doing Gabriella's baby dedication on Mother's Day (which is the only day our church does baby dedications...anyway...) and all our family is coming and we are going out to lunch afterward (and I am trying to rival Charles Dickens in paragraph-long sentences...). Sooo...the point is, I want to look nice, because I have to stand up in front of our whole church and family, and...well, I'm a girl. And a mom, but that's no reason why once in a while I can't look nice. I went through my whole closet and couldn't find any post-baby clothes that look good on me...and Robert said I could get a new dress for Mother's Day (probably just to stop having to listen to the whining), so I've went to the mall today. (at 4:00 on a Friday...yeah, that was a good idea. Bad economy, my foot!! I drove around for 20 minutes trying to find a parking space...)

I had a cupon for JC Penny and thought I'd run in, find a pretty dress or at least a yellow top to go with this skirt I'm making out of a dress with a broken zipper (sorry, different story...) I was having one of those "nothing looks good" days with a side of indecision and low-self-esteem on top...plus it doesn't help that buttoned shirts are in and, thanks to 3 babies in 3 years, nothing buttons across my chest anymore. I spent 2 hours and tried on lots and lots of clothes, to no avail. A pretty pink top, which would have gone with my white skirt and was on sale, was too small in medium and too big in large. A blue dress looked nice on me, but the color was too bright to look good on me and I didn't care for the slinky fabric. A pale pink dress was the perfect color for me and fit pretty well, but was a tad too short and very expensive. I got quite frustrated and fed up and was leaving when I spotted a skirt-and-jacket outfit I had tried on the week before and dismissed because I wanted a dress instead. It looked exactly like this:

except with large yellow flowers on the skirt instead of geometic patterns. I grabbed it, bought it, and brought it home. Perfect, I thought. The yellow jacket will go with 3 other skirts I have, including the one I'm making. I tried it on again. Well, it buttoned. But...it just buttoned. Who knows what will happen if I inhale! Now I remember why I didn't buy it last week when I actually tried it on. Sigh. I think I have to take it back. But I can't face shopping again. I will run in, exchange it for the next size, and run out.

And if that size doesn't fit, I will go naked. Everyone's going to be looking at the baby anyway, right??

choir practice (at last!)

We joined a new church back in December, and even before we joined, people in the congregation kept asking up to join the choir. We go to the "traditional" service, better known by it's unofficial name, the "old people service," so we are the youngest people there by about 30 years! But we both like the old hymns and we like the older people, so we are happy. We have been planning on and trying to go to the Wednesday night rehearsals for months now, but something always came up, or we would get sick or too tired or just forget it was Wednesday.

But last night we finally succeeded! We planned it all out, made dinner early, and actually made it to choir practice. It was really fun. It's been way too long since Robert and I have done any real singing. When we were dating, we were chorus members of Opera Southwest and we always had fun going to rehearsals and performances together, but since we got married, and especially since we had kids, we just couldn't find the time. This is the perfect compromise because reherasal is only 1 hour a week, and the choir only sings during the 2nd service, and not every week.

Everyone was very nice and welcomed us most enthusiastically. Probably because we were the youngest people there...I think it makes them happy that some young people still enjoy traditional music. I think our worship pastor (who is also the choir leader) welcomed us about 4 times. It was funny, because when he was closing in prayer, he said "and thank You for bringing Robert and...and...and...I can't remember her name..." which made me laugh. Story of my life. I told him not to worry cause God remembers my name and knew who he was talking about! (some days I think God is the ONLY person who remembers my name, but hey - He's the only one who matters, right?)

So I am excited about singing in the choir and can't wait for next week. It's nice to finally feel like we have a group we belong to. People who will notice if we're there and miss us if we're gone. Plus we are singing some great patriotic music for Armed Forces Day. I have had "Mine Eyes have seen the Glory of the Coming of the Lord" running through my mind all day.

There is only one drawback. Our choir does not wear choir robes. ;-( Whatever shall we fight about??

The most yummy and (possibly good for you) biscuits ever!

So I was having one of my (rare) health-conscious moments the other day, and I had heard a lot about how breads made with soaked grains were better for you because somehow the soaking breaks down some of the enzymes (?) and makes them easier for your body to digest...something like that. Anyway, I had a recipe and it sounded weird but I decided to try it (plus I was out of eggs...;-)

You take 2 1/2 cups of flour and mix it into a cup of plain yoghurt. Then you leave it out on the counter overnight, "soaking." I don't know about you, but when I hear the word "soak" I think of something immersed in something else - you know, kinda wet, watery, etc. Well, 2 1/2 cups of flour into 1 cup of yoghurt didn't exactly look like it was "soaking" to me. It looked more like a thick gummy sort of paste. Like when my sister and I were kids and we would "bake" by mixing flour and water until it was thick enough to roll out and then baking it in the oven...it was never very good, by the way! But don't let this description deter you - read on. I was skeptical at first too!

So anyway I left the stuff "soaking" on the counter all night, and by morning I was even more skeptical. It looked very odd, and already kind of like dough except the top had gotten a little dried out. (Note - put a wet towel over your bowl when you soak it, and that will keep the top moist.) But I thought, what the heck, I'll try to make biscuits out of it anyway. Otherwise it would be a waste of flour and yoghurt. So I kneaded in the other ingredients - baking powder, salt, then the butter, in small chunks. And I kneeded it some more and it started looking more and more like regular dough. I had to knead in some extra flour because it was too sticky at first, but that worked ok. Finally I rolled it out and cut it with the rim of a cup (because evidently I have no round biscuit cutters, only Christmas shapes and trains...) and baked them in the oven like regular biscuits. They came out, I tasted one, and WOW! They were amazing. They tasted a tiny bit like sourdough, but not really sour, and they were really nice and light and fluffy...yumm. I was so excited. And they were really very easy.

Tonight I am trying the same starter to make homemade hamburger buns. I don't know if they are actually better for you, but they sure taste good. Why don't you try soaking your own grains and making some breads? If nothing else, it will make you feel so domestic and proud of yourself! ;-) Here's the condensed version of the recipe:

1. Mix 2 1/2 cups of flour into 1 cup of yoghurt. (I use 1 cup of white whole wheat, 1 cup of spelt, and 1/2 cup of unbleached flour but you can use any combo you want. Plus I use plain, whole milk yoghurt). Cover bowl with a damp towel and leave on the counter for 12-24 hours.

2. Dust the counter with flour and turn the contents of your bowl onto the flour. Knead in 3 teaspoons of baking powder and 1 teaspoon of salt. Add more flour as dough becomes sticky.

3. Cut up 4 Tablespoons of butter into small bits and knead that into the dough. Add flour as necessary.

4. One dough has reached proper consistancy, roll out and cut biscuits. Leave the dough fairly thick, probably about 1/2 inch.

5. Place biscuits on cookie sheets (ungreased) and bake at 425 until golden brown (about 18 minutes). Great with butter and strawberry jam!

Why are girls NEVER satisfied??

I have absolutely no reason to complain. This has been a great day for new stuff. I got a new beautiful hand me down wardrobe/armoir from my in-laws, and am getting our new couch and chair this afternoon. But, being a girl, I have to admit I stumbled on this website while checking my email and found a whole new list of "I wants"...mainly this dress:


It is SO cute...and expensive, and doesn't come in my size. But, silly me, I still want it.

Girls are just NEVER satisfied. What's wrong with us? Honestly!

BUt you should definitely check out the website - especially you, Daniella! It has some really cute dresses.

Now I will go stare at my pretty furniature and be very very grateful.

The Great Sofa Debate

Soooo....two years ago we bought a new sofa. It was a big investment, but we figured, hey, it'll last us 5-10 years at least. We bought the one I really liked, which was double-reclining and covered in microfiber. BIG mistake...on both counts...

Sooo...here we are 2 years later, with a broken sofa that is also incredible stained and ugly, and impossible to clean. Nice. Good choice, Katya. So the long and short is that we need a new sofa - if it were just ugly, we'd live with it, but it is literally falling to pieces. So we decided on a few VERY different things this time around:

1. fixed sofa - no reclining, no mechanical parts to get broken!

2. leather cover - supposedly the most durable and easy to clean surface (although it remains to be child-tested)

So we've been shopping around a lot, and we thought we wanted a La-z-Boy sofa because they have a good 5-year warranty, but I went there twice and never found one I really liked. And then we looked at Sams and found one I really like:

AND it comes with a recliner chair (see above).

I like the lines, how it looks kind of sleek and elegant and not too modern, but still generic enough that it goes with everything. The color isn't exactly right in the picture - it looks more reddish-brown in real life, which I actually like better.

And did I mention that it's about half the price of the La-z-Boy sofas? WITH the chair included. Gotta admit, that's a pretty big selling point.

There are only 2 potential drawbacks. First, it doesn't come with a warranty. And it's made in China, not the USA like the La-z-Boy sofas. Bummer. But for half price, what do you expect? We are hoping that since it has no mechanical parts to fail, it will last for a good while. And even if the leather gets ugly, we can put a slipcover over it if the structure is still intact. I don't know...after the last debacle I am kind of afraid to make a decision. I'm afraid whatever I decide will be wrong. Grrr...I hate being so indecisive. And such a chicken!

The other drawback...which could effectively end the entire debate - is that according to Sam's website, they are all out of stock. In all 3 Sam's. Which is odd because we were there yesterday and we saw at least one set in stock, aside from the display model. Hmmm....hopefully just an incongruity between the store and the website's inventory???

I guess we will go on Sat and if they have it, we shall buy it, and if not, we won't. Simple, right?

I will keep you posted.

Pilates Day #2

OW.

OW OW.

OW OW OW.

OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW!

I am pathetic.

BUT....I did it 2 days in a row.

It can only get better from here.

money burning a hole in my pocket...

We got our tax return on Monday (it's a long story but I won't go into it) and needless to say, we have lots and lots of things we need to do with it: remodel our bathrooms, get a new couch, replace the carpets, fix our car, etc, etc. But that night we went to Sams Club and I found one more thing I really really really want:


This beautiful arbor/archway! We have been talking about planting a rose garden along the side our our house, and what I really really want to do is buy this, plant climbing roses in the two side planters, and then get them to climb up and over the archway. I think that would look SO pretty and we could put it at the entrance to our rose garden, and it would be just beautiful. Like the rose garden at the library on Wyoming, which I love.

So I've pretty much been coveting this since Monday, in spite of the fact that we have more things to use that money for than we have money to spend.

Did I mention it's only $129???

yoghurt!

My children adore yoghurt - it's one of the few things they will always eat, even my picky 2-year old. But I hate to give them most brands of yoghurt you buy in the store, because they are so full of sugar. One 4oz container has as much as 30 grams of sugar! Yikes! Trader Joe's has a kind of Greek yoghurt that's sweetened only with fruit and fruit juices - it's really yummy, but at $1.25 a container, it gets kinda pricey.

And then I discovered a fabulous alternative that's just as good and much cheaper: I bought a large container of plain Greek yoghurt - Smiths sells a brand called Greek Gods that's really good. I then spooned out an individual serving, added slightly-thawed frozen strawberries, a dribble of honey, and a dash of vanilla. Mixed together and chopped strawberries slightly with a spoon; it tasted delicious! And it is so much better for you this way because you get to control the amount of sugar that ends up in your yoghurt. The fruit is so sweet and the yoghurt is so rich and creamy that you hardly need any honey at all - or you can forgo it altogether.

Try any kind of fruit - strawberry, mango, pineapple, blueberries, raspberries, banana, peaches, etc; you could use fresh or frozen. I like mine with chunks of fruit, so I just chop it with a spoon, but if you like it smooth you could put it in the blender. Or, if you don't have any fruit, you could use fruit juices to make it sweet and flavorful. Or you can make just plain vanilla, or honey and almond (add a drop of almond extract).

You could also put the fruit and yoghurt in an ice-cream maker and have frozen yoghurt for a summer treat!

Plus, the Greek Gods website has all kinds of recipes that you can make with yoghurt. They were right: after Greek yoghurt, I can't go back to the regular kind!

crown for a baby princess sequel

Amazingly enough, I actually followed through on something. I did get around to making Ellie's crown for Easter. And she actually wore it. And I got some great pictures of her wearing it. So, as promised, here are the pictures of my version of "Crown fit for a baby princess:"




The tulle was a little whiter than the ivory of her dress (but the ivory tulle I found was too dark), and the roses weren't exactly the right shades of pink as the shades in the roses on her dress, but still, there is only one word these pictures evoke:



AWWWWWWW!

What can I say? With such a model, you can't go wrong.

From one April Fool to another

I think April Fool's Day is really "let's exploit guillable people" day. Which doesn't work out so well for me, since I am guillable. I like to think of it as "trusting." or "honest." But really, that just means I'm credulous and others (namely, my evil husband) can turn that to their advantage. Observe:

This morning, I was awakened from a lovely sleep by my husband tearing into our room and shouting "Katya, get up!" in a panicked sounding voice. Terrified visions of bleeding, injured, and possibly dying children and trips to emergency rooms tore through my foggy brain and I sprang out of bed, only to find my husband rolling on the floor in laughter.


"I was going to say 'the house is on fire,' " he gasped out between chuckles, "but you panicked before I could even get it out. I've never seen you move that fast!"

Needless to say, I murdered him. And buried his body in the backyard. And danced on his grave. And it served him right.

You just do not mess with a mother's head about the safety of her children. Some things are sacred.

Crown fit for a baby princess

After having two boys, I was so excited to have a girl baby! Frilly pink dresses and lace and hair ribbons...well, the first two fantasies have come true. I have one of those girl babies with the hair (or lack thereof) that causes everyone to say "oh he - she? - is so cute!" I have tried all kinds of hair bows and clips, but those stretchy infant headbands are too tight for her head, and the clips won't stay. I had pretty much given up until I saw this picture:

I just about died. This "crown" is SO cute and pretty and dainty, and it would be so easy to make. A little tulle, some baby silk roses...I bet I could get all the materials from JoAnn's or Hobby Lobby for a couple dollars. I am going to make her one for Easter...to match her dress, which is cream satin with little pink roses on it. Sigh. Just saying that fulfills some deep-seated girliness within me!

The only question now is if she'll leave it on long enough for me to take pictures? If I succeed, I'll post them.

This is why I keep everything...

Last summer when I was pregnant with Gabriella, I had a really nice knee-length maternity jean skirt that went with all my tops. After she was born, I wanted a similar skirt that wasn't maternity. And then I saw a really cute jean on sale at Wal-Mart. (This picture is not my skirt, but one that looks fairly similar from this website.) Of course they had every size except mine. I combed through the entire clearence section to no avail. Came back a few days later and presto! There was my skirt, hanging by itself, in my size, for $5! I was so excited; I bought it, rushed home, and tried it on and... :-( well, let's just say I could zip it up, but breathing was optional. (hey, I had just had a baby!) Depressed, I put it in closet and forgot about it, especially since it was soon winter and I was in jeans mode.

Fast forward to yesterday, when both pairs of jeans were dirty and I was rifling through my closet looking for something to wear. I pulled out the jean skirt and figured, "what the heck, I may as well try it." Success! Zippage and breathing and it looks quite good on me, I might add! I now have a cute jean skirt that goes with everything and I can wear all summer.

And that, my friends, is why I never get rid of anything.

Happy displaced-British-shepherd-turned-Irish-bishop's Day!

I love everything to do with Ireland (hmmm....except maybe the drinking) so I couldn't let St. Patrick's Day pass without posting my thoughts about it. (And yes, I attempted to post this yesterday, but technical difficulties both with my computer and my life interfered, so I am posting it today anyway. Take that, punctuality Nazis!)

St. Patrick's Day is a fun day to drink green beer (or green root beer, as your preferences run), wear green clothing to avoid getting pinched, watch parades, and eat corned beef and cabbage (which I did!). But, like most holidays, the original story behind the day and the man for whom we celebrate it are very important - and very unknown to your average St. Paddy's day-er. In fact, I can safely say that without St. Patrick's contributions to the world, we, as in America, western civilization, Christianity, would not be here. Literally.

Long story short: Patrick was a British Celt who was kidnapped and carried off to Ireland as a slave at the age of 16. He worked there as a shepherd for 6 years, and during this time of solitutude and loneliness he became very close to God. Eventually he was able to escape and return to his family, and he decided to enter the church and become a priest. One night he had a dream of an Irish man who said to him "O holy youth, come back to Erin {Ireland} and walk once more among us." Patrick returned to Ireland and began to convert the Irish people to Christianity, combatting the pagan Druids who had long held all the power in Ireland.

Patrick used the shamrock to teach the Irish about the Trinity. "See? The shamrock has 3 leaves, yet they are all part of the same clover. God exists in 3 persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, yet they are all one God."

Patrick died on March 17, 493, having converted the majority of the Irish nation to Christianity and (Daniella will love this) banished all snakes from Ireland! Why is this important? Well, following the fall of the Roman Empire, and the subsequent Dark Ages (early Middle Ages period) when classical learning essentially hit rock bottom, there was one group of people who still kept literature, history, and most importantly, the Bible still intact: the Irish monks. In their monestaries, the Irish monks essentially preserved what we would consider "civilization" in the from of writing. And who founded those monestaries? That would St. Patrick and his converts to Christianity.

So next time you open your Bible, thank St. Patrick and his determination to bring the gospel to the Irish people! It gives a whole new meaning to St. Patrick's Day!

And your title is...?

So there is a church right by our house (which is not where we attend church, and never having been there, I don't know anything about it) but it always has a cutesy, clever saying on its billboard sign, or whatever it's called in churchdom. This week it says "Heaven - don't miss it for the world!" Catchy? check. Clever double-meaning? check. Godly message? check. Sticks in your brain? well, I'm writing a blog about it, aren't I?

Still, it got me wondering about the guy who writes this stuff. Do they have an official position - you know, some guy whose sole job it is to sit around and think up "what do we post on our billboard this week?" And if so, what is his title? "Senior Billboard pastor?" "Head of the billboard sub-committee?" (We go to a Baptist church and I would TOTALLY believe there is a billboard sub-comittee - they have committees for everything! ;-) PS I am not knocking Baptist churches - or any churches. I just think its funny.) Is there some secret cache of church billboard sayings that your church subscribes to and you get to pick whatever fits your topic best this week? "For the low fee of $10 a month, pick from our catalogue of 1,000,000 clever billboard sayings - guaranteed to get 'em in the pews or your money back!" Does the pastor have to spend his time writing one to match his sermon - or is that job delegated to the secretary, or the associate pastor, or the guys who puts together the bulletins? And who approves it? Hmmmm...those pesky details that Sir Christopher Wren never thought about while building St. Paul's. However did those cathedrals exist before the advent of the church billboard?

Of course I don't have a picture of this billboard (that would have required the foresight for me to take a camera as I drove past the church) but he are some other funny ones I've found:

Here's a few examples of the connecting-Christ-to-your-modern-world approach:

This one is just scary (if you know me, you know how I feel about clowns. I will never ever attend this church!):

I'm not entirely sure what this one is getting at but I'm guessing attendence had been low recently:

And finally, the "you really should have proofread that" sign:

What does your church's billboard say? Check it out this week. I'm ashamed to say I have to check mine out too, because I actually have no idea what it says!