Bad Choices

I'm posting a conversation that Eric wanted to post, but couldn't as he has forgotten his password. You will need a little background knowledge for this post. 1) Anna (not her real name) is a girl in Gabe's class. She and Gabe talk together a lot. Gabe likes her because she lets him read to her (a bonus fact that you don't need to know for this story). 2) Gabe had heard about the peanuts and salmonella scandal and had heard that one of the culprits was King Nut peanut butter.

Gabe: Anna has to live sometimes with her mom & sometimes with her dad, but she wants to live with her dad because her mom is making bad choices.

Eric: Did Anna say she was making bad choices? What kinds of bad choices?

Gabe: Maybe like smoking.

Eric: What else?

Gabe: Maybe like eating King Nut butter.

Eric: Why is eating King Nut peanut butter a bad choice?

Gabe: It's the peanut butter with diarrhea in it.

Scenes From a Winter

It's been a long, cold winter, and here are pictures of some random memories of the '08-'09 winter. Gabe was not willing to let a snowstorm stop him from swinging in our backyard, and lighting sparklers on the driveway seemed a perfect way to end our family Christmas celebration. Since sunshine is rare during our winters, Tobin gets his exposure from the inflatable toy (actually left at our house when Eric and Ang went to sunnier places a few years ago).

The last picture needs a bit of explanation. Eric and Ang hosted a Chinese New Year celebration on January 26 and decided that it would be interesting to have a Jello Party. Everyone was to bring a jello "creation" to go along with Chinese take-out food. I was happy to share recipes from my "Joys of Jello" book, which everyone found "so '70's" (or maybe '60's). We had a great time sampling all the dishes, including the "Crown Jewel Dessert" (on the right) which Ang made.

It was fun reminiscing about the glory days of jello, remembering that it was served even at our wedding reception back in the '60's. Maybe we've started a revival--although it was a lot of sugar at one meal.

20th folder

I didn't follow the rules exactly since I have a complicated system of filing photos and by following the rules exactly I ended up with a picture that someone else took. It's very dark, but I think it's a worker unloading boxes at Grace. Not very interesting. So I chose to do the 20th folder by age of picture and got this one. It's of Gabe at the hotel where our church met. This was the day he was dedicated.

The Care of the Soul

Some of you know how intense our life has been lately. I wouldn't trade the learning and growing for anything, but we hit the wall this week.

Brian and I are learning about taking care of self and boundaries. In the past, this has always sounded like a nice excuse to NOT sacrifice, be available, give, etc. We have balked at boundary books and such. While I still think some of us use this excuse more than we should, this has been our personal season to learn where some of those lines are for us.

I am realizing that when we don't take proper care of ourselves, we aren't much help to those around us either. In fact, we can leave a trail of rubble if we are running on empty and don't attend to our own needs. Put simply: It is actually in your best interest for me to take care of myself.

I recently read in one of my Charlotte Mason books that every mom should be reading three books for herself and put time into her own interests and hobbies. I have had the tendency to think of things like this as "selfish" and "frivolous." Again, it can be a slippery slope, but I am realizing how being engrossed in a good book and being creative makes me a much happier and interesting person.

This week I started taking better care of myself: I made a small flock of these adorable birds. I think they will hang in the bathroom I want to re-paint. I made my killer sweet potato pie. The girls and I picked out fabric to make quilts for their beds. I dove into Memoirs of a Geisha. I've noticed our kitchen curtains really need replacing. I bought new bath towels that gave me a soft, plushy, hug after my shower this morning.

Here's to balance!