Multitude Mondays

Sometimes, things don't quite go to plan. Sometimes, I stay up late and get up early. The kids bicker, chores are ignored and I miss the garbage men. Sometimes, I need to say "thank you" for the simple things:

• amazing stories of international adoption
• sweet and sour meatballs
• tortilla chips
• another birthday
• yummy cupcakes
• a marvellous babysitter
• movie night with my husband
• bacon
• getting a little nervous around the praying mantis visiting the deck
• knowing that He is good, in all things - great and small

More Stripes

For the same lady at swim school, another grandbaby sweater.

 This time I used KnitPicks Swish instead of the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino. Yarn was almost as nice and half the price. I couldn't pass up such a deal, and it was really nice to work with.

It would seem I have a thing about wooden buttons, too. I can live with that.

Vacation Options

Last year, we were looking to go on vacation, but didn't know the best way to go about it. A hotel would be too expensive and we didn't want to camp with Dan being so little (about 6 months old). Friends told us about this website called HomeAway, where you can rent anything from a little studio apartment to a large multi-family chalet. We tried this place in West Virginia and had a great time. Great little house, a little off the beaten path, which was fine with us. We were able to pay for the rental by paypal and the owners were very helpful both before and after our stay.

So, having had such a good experience the first time, we went through HomeAway again for this year's vacation. This year,we stayed here. The funny part was realizing that the owners live in Newcastle. As it happens, Scousers have great taste in holiday homes, because this was another great place - plenty big enough for us and having everything we needed. Unfortunately, we had to leave early due to Eleanor coming down with some sort of tummy bug - we didn't want to risk the rest of us getting it and having to cope with an 8-hour drive at the same time!

The HomeAway website is very well set up. Plug in some of the features you'd like (bed, bath, etc), the area you'd like to go to, and the price you'd like to spend - then you can start shopping! It's got reviews, which are very helpful, mapped locations, and all sorts of other helpful details that can help you make your choice. 

I think 2 years of good experiences warrants a recommendation, so if you're looking for holiday options, HomeAway is worth a look.

Multitude Mondays

Our much-looked-forward-to vacation wasn't quite to plan - it rained, pretty much everyday. By Wednesday, Eleanor was throwing up. We were then concerned with a stomach bug making its way through the family while we were 8+ hours from home. And yet we had...

• a lovely, large vacation home in a beautiful area
• several evenings of log fires
• kids who were happy to walk in the rain
• plenty of premade dinners that made dinnertime easy
• great audio books like The Penderwicks and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane to make the journey fun
• long evening readings of The Hobbit
• the trip home being more than 2 hours shorter than the trip out - those potty breaks add up!
• though Ellie was being sick and Dan came down with a fever, no one threw up in the car or a public place (big thanks for that one!)
• no one else got sick
• the continued vacation at home has been comfortable and relaxing

And now we are home, refreshed, healthy and ready for activity that daily life brings!

Radio Silence

Any minute the kids will wake, dress and eat breakfast. Then it's into the car (via a trip to the loo) for a week in the Adirondacks. We're so excited! So, I'll see you next week. If I forgot to do/send/tell you anything - I'll catch up with you then!

Scrappy

 Inspired by a trip to the Harford County Fair a couple months ago, I made a quilt.

Using left over scraps, I sewed three layers of raw edges, backed with baby fleece, criss-crossed it together and bound with some polka-dot cotton. I really like the way all the colors came together. Girly, but not frouffy.

It was an experiment and has it's share of mistakes, but I'm happy with the result. More than likely, it will be making it's way to some little girl at Birthright Pregnancy Center. Hopefully, it'll meet a need for a new mama and her girl.

Let me show you, child...

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger...

James 1:19

I have long read this verse, reread it, meditated on it, prayed over it and sought to make it a part of me. It's so good, so simple, so practical.

And So. Very. Hard.

I don't listen well - I do that think where I try to be quiet long enough for someone to finish (sometimes), all the while planning what I'll say while I'm waiting to make my point. I'm not slow to speak - I'm impulsive, blurting things out. It would seem the my mouth is large enough to accommodate my foot. Slow to anger...are you kidding? I often feel like it's one of my defining characteristics.

So, how?? How do I do these things? I want God to change me, to fix this part of my nature and take it from me. As yet, not so much, but He did show me this:

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger

Proverbs 15:1

I've always read this and thought it's a tool of peacemaking and handling conflict. It is that, but I think that more immediately, it's a means of responding to my own conflict and bringing peace to my own soul. When I am mindful of the need to speak a "soft word" every time I open my mouth, I am slower to respond in anger. Likewise, my own harsh words or tones stir up irritability and anger within me.

I'm starting to see the fruit of this - it's amazing. I am beginning to recognize triggers that would often lead to my losing my temper and can pray in the moment that God would give me words that would honor Him. I am more able to think carefully about my words and avoid sarcastic or impatient replies. It's wonderful!

How kind of God to, answer my prayer, to remind me that I need His help to accomplish the task He has given, and to provide that help by showing me how to apply His Word. Beautiful.

The Man Preaches

To hear Toby preach on oaths from the Sermon on the Mount: go here, click on "Tools for Growth" and download the message "Hold to Your Word, Hold to the Gospel".

I may be biased (and I should be), but it's good.

Have you seen these?

Classical Kids CDs - an intro into classical music that is so fun! Each CD tells a story about the composer set to his own music. They can be expensive to buy as a set, but that's what birthdays and libraries are for! This link will take you to my favorite to date - Handel.

MilkShare - for those nursing mothers who have an abundant supply, you can now share your milk directly with a family who needs it. For the moms that are struggling with supply or other nursing issues and don't want formula, you can get the good stuff direct from another nursing mom.

The cough is moving around our house at the moment, which means the kids are getting the Vicks' Treatment: smear Vicks' Vapor Rub on the soles of their feet and cover with socks. Do this as they head to bed and I'm tellin' ya, they sleep much better. This doesn't seem to work for adults, I've found. For men, they seem to need the Man Cold Treatment. Women...well, we just take a Sudafed and get on with things, don't we?

Multitude Mondays

Like most people on the East Coast, Sunday was clean up day, following the visit we had from Irene. Though things didn't go as planned, we still have much to be thankful for...

• a night and a day in Baltimore on Friday to celebrate our anniversary, complete with great food and an almost complete visit to the Walters. The wing I most wanted to see was closed, but we will just have to visit again!
• my mom being able to look after the kids, even when it seemed like traffic wasn't going to let her through. She made it home safe, too.
• No trees down or any structural damage to the house.
• Though the basement flooded, it wasn't because the sump pump broke, but because it was working so hard that a joint popped. Quickly mended, the pump continues to work, as does all of our electricity.
• Getting the last air dryer rental to dry out carpets.
• Other than wet floors, nothing was damaged. Amazing. The only thing we'll have to throw out was some computer paper that got wet.
• All the little branches in the yard that will make great kindling.
• All the policemen patiently directing traffic with so many traffic lights out.
• The loan of a dehumidifier, and the kind friend that brought it over to us.
• The knowledge that He is sovereign, and He is good. I need not fear anything that ultimately comes under the control of a good and mighty God.