Beach bound...

If you're reading this, then I'm probably looking at this... =) This will be my view for the next week. Mom and Dad have sponsored a family trip to the beach, and that means 6 adults and 2 children under the age of 2, 2 minivans packed to the hilt, and 7 days of fun and sun. We will be staying in a 4 bedroom house with an ocean view this week. What decadence!!! This is literally what we can see from one of the two porches. I pulled this off the website for the rental we have. I'm practically rubbing my hands together with glee right now. There is nothing I love more than a beach vacation. Some people like to hike; I like to lie on the warm sand and snooze. I like long, lazy, sunny days with afternoon naps, good books, and long walks on the beach. Sounds like a personal ad...but don't come knocking, fellas, I'm happily married. I just hope that Seth doesn't decide that he'd like to try the taste of sand. I hear he's not really the age for beachy vacations. But his big cousin certainly is. It'll be nice to look at Isaac and see what Seth will be like at the beach next year. I see a lot of activity in my future. Makes me want to cuddle and cuddle and never stop cuddling my baby while he's in the baby stage. =) Pretty soon I'll put him down and he'll start running and never stop. So, until next week at this time, don't be looking for me around here. (Libby, this means you.) I will not have internet access. I'm going to be down on the sand, a novel in one hand, and an ice cold Dr. Pepper in the other.

Favoritism...

"My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, 'Here's a good seat for you,' but say to the poor man, 'You stand there' or 'Sit on the floor by my feet,' have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have insulted the poor. "- James 2: 1-6

I think that the Lord is trying to get my attention lately on a particular issue, and it's been uncomfortable for me. But I want to share what I think He wants me to learn with you. Remember, I'm preaching to myself here. Take from this what you will, but I'm not trying to point fingers at anyone in particular but myself. =)

David and I have visited some large churches in the past weeks. (I hate visiting churches, because I feel like I'm evaluating instead of worshipping, but that's another story.) Anyway, some have had interesting ministry focuses that I haven't really experienced much before. Specifically, one of them had ministries that involved drug addiction recovery, serving single parents, extending a hand to unchurched teens, and reaching out to those with disabilities and their families. They also had a mentoring program outreach to a couple of local housing projects.

When we visited on Sunday morning, the first thing that I noticed was that the church didn't look much like a traditional church. It looked more like a hotel lobby, with soft seats against the walls, multiple coffee and donut stations, and large screens on the walls. The second thing that I noticed was that I wasn't mainly surrounded with people who look just like me. This church looked like the world at large, not the small microcosm of it that I'm slowly realizing that I'm used to seeing on Sunday mornings. There were African families in full traditional garb. There were multiple people in wheelchairs, and I nearly knocked over a blind man whose dog was being a bit unruly. The teens were a bit more scantily clad and pierced than I usually see in church, but hey, they were in church. And I'm pretty sure that I was in the nursing mother's room with a single, teenage mother. This church was a rainbow of young, old, black, white, Asian, Hispanic, dressed up, dressed down, etc.

And when I went home, I realized, to my own discomfort, that I hadn't been comfortable at church that morning. And that, quite frankly, was a puzzle to me. I started thinking about why I had been uncomfortable, trying to flesh out the reasons. Did I hear any faulty theology being preached? No, the sermon had been meaty and doctrinally sound. Did anyone do or say anything ugly to me? No, everyone had been very friendly and kind. So why was I uncomfortable? I finally had to admit to myself that I was uncomfortable because several of the people I worshipped with that morning had their problems and sufferings on display for me to see, and I wanted to hide from that. I realized that I've gotten used to common middle class sins and sufferings, and any that are outside of those are apparently outside of my current comfort zone.

Here's a partial list of things that I'm comfortable hearing about from fellow believers:
a. difficulty overcoming road rage
b. spiritual pride
c. inconsistency with a morning quiet time
d. difficulty disciplining toddlers
e. problems with in-laws

And here's a partial list of things that make me want to hide because I feel incapable of helping/don't want to be reminded that there's such hardship in the world:
a. relapse in drug addiction
b. grief over a spouse who has committed adultery
c. coping with a child's severe physical disability
d. new believer who doesn't even know yet that much in his/her lifestyle is sin

I have learned, to my shame, that I am more comfortable with certain problems and sins than others. I, without realizing it consciously, have wanted others to show me a shiny, squeaky clean exterior when I see them at church. I, without realizing it, have wanted to be surrounded mainly by people who come from my background and have my same education level.

David and I have been members of two very different churches in the past couple of years. One was a very small church with few workers and many needs. The last one was a larger church with many strong believers and few unmet needs. The first church taught me that there needs to be a good balance of strong and weak believers, because you need to have enouch stronger believers to provide for the needs of weaker ones who may need more at that moment. The second church had so many strong believers that I knew of very few people who were in need. Now, maybe that was just because I didn't know enough people in the larger church, but I really doubt that many in the church were struggling with drug addiction or broken marriages, and I also didn't know of many teens whose parents did not come with them to church. It was a church of super Christians and amazing Christian families, and that was inspiring to see.

But I wonder... should a church be composed mainly of super Christians? Our last church is thrilled and happy to disciple new believers; I know they are. But I wonder...is it possible that many newer believers, struggling with obvious sin patterns, come in the door, see the high level of spiritual living, and run for the hills? Do they feel comfortable enough there to stay and be loved on? And would there be a place for them to exercise their gifts there, or would they always feel like there were so many people who were stronger than them, that they weren't needed?

And I wonder if I, in my unconscious desire to have a church where people look whole on the outside, am showing favortism to the "rich." Is today's church equivalent of a "gold ring and fine clothes," a smiling Christian family, wearing clean, neat, modest clothing, each carrying a Bible under their arm? Is today's church equivalent of the "poor man in shabby clothes" a distrustful looking teenage girl, coming in alone, with purple hair and a belly button ring? How do I treat the smiling family? How do I treat the girl? And what does it say about me when I am not as comfortable sitting next to that girl on Sunday morning as I would be sitting next to the family? Nothing good, my friend, nothing good.

Jesus came to die for all of us. All. Of. Us. And I have no right to want my church mainly composed of people who look just like me, who share my same middle class problems, and who I find most easy to relate to. Yes, I know that the middle class have problems. Boy, I sure know I have problems. But I don't get to decide which problems I'm ok with and which problems I'll reject when I serve the body of Christ.

I need to think more about the way I choose a church. I need to be more open to the Holy Spirit leading me to serve other Christians with problems that are foreign and potentially uncomfortable to me. I don't need to pick a church primarily because I feel comfortable there. I need to realize that I'm asking "What's in it for me?" when I visit churches, and I need to start doing less of that. I'm not sure what kind of church that God will call us to, but whatever kind it is, I want to be sure that I'm not joining because it's a place where I won't have to serve people or deal with problems that I'm not used to.

This post is already far too long, but this is a weight that I needed to get off my chest. The church hunt is far from over, but regardless of what church we choose, I know that I'll be looking at things with different eyes now.

Getting some grandparent lovin'...

Can you tell that somebody got spoiled rotten this past week? =) Seth had such a good time with his Mimi and Pop-pop in B'ham. His favorite tummy times are when someone is there to coo and talk to him and help him roll forwards and backwards. Mimi was there to fit the bill. I think if he always had tummy time with her, he'd be crawling by now. She was good at putting things just out of his reach and encouraging him to go for them. Mama's too much of a softy, I guess. I probably need to stretch this little baby more than I do.

Seth and Pop-Pop grilled out together. Bill and Diana always feed us really well when we come to visit. Seth is becoming more and more fascinated with any kind of machinery, and the fiery black thing was no exception. I have no idea what they're looking at. Maybe it went this way. "Pop-pop, I think you dropped the steak on the ground... 5 second rule?" =)

Here's Mimi experiencing the adventure that is feeding Seth. We all get messy when we feed this little guy. He gets covered, and we usually get something on us, too. He loves all the veggies he's tried. I'm holding out on giving him fruit until I know he's happy to eat vegetables, since fruit is like candy to babies this age. I know I wouldn't eat my peas if I knew that bananas existed... I can't say enough about how great Bumbo baby seats are. Seth is still a little too small for a high chair, but this seat is great. He can sit up straight, and we can put the seat on top of tables and counters so he can be near us while we're working on things. We take it with us when we go out to eat, and he loves getting to try to knock over our water glasses from his vantage point, high atop the table.

We all had a wonderful visit with David's parents. We don't get to see them enough these days, since they're so far away, but they always make a point to try and come to see us whenever they can. This trip was more about visiting and relaxing and playing with the baby than about going and doing lots of touristy things, but we did get to introduce Seth to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. It was one of my favorite places to go when we lived there. Even in this drought and heat wave, it's still cool and green in the morning. Diana was also thoughtful enough to plan a Chinese food lunch from my favorite local take out place. I have had dreams about their General chicken. =) But mostly, we hung out and coochy cooed the baby. And this visit, he was up for it. The last time we visited, sad to say, he wasn't a very cuddly baby. He was going through some stranger anxiety, and he'd hardly let anybody hold him besides me. I was thrilled that he was willing to let him grandparents love on him so much this time around. He was drinking it in. I am going to be in soooo much trouble when David goes back to work after two solid weeks of grandparent spoilage...

Some randomness and a new name...

It's late, and I'm a bit tired, but I'm signing on tonight for the lovely Libby, who has informed me that she gets to work each day, knowing that I'm just down the street here, and knowing that I'm on vacation, and yet still, becomes annoyed when she checks my blog and discovers that I've written...nothing. =) I love you, Libby, and so I write...

We're having a great time in our old home town. I drive around the streets, and memories, both good and bad, come flooding back over me. It doesn't seem like a little over a year ago that we left B'ham, and it also seems like a hundred years ago. So much has happened in a year. And when we get on that plane tomorrow night, we won't be flying back to Arlington. We'll be flying home to NC, to a place that we've lived for only 3 weeks. No wonder I still feel confused sometimes about where I am. No wonder I give people strange looks when they ask, "When are you going back to North Carolina?" I still feel like I could wake up one morning in my apartment in DC and not be the least bit surprised. I could fall back into that routine without blinking, and yet, that's not my routine anymore.

Actually, one of the hardest parts about these past two months has been not having a routine. I feel like I'm on perpetual vacation. You wouldn't think that would be hard at all, and it's not, for the first couple of weeks. But then, being human, I start itching for the familiarity that comes from routine. And I know I won't find my comfort level until I have those familiar places and familiar faces that I see regularly as I come and go each day. Think about it. Don't you feel off kilter when you change jobs or churches, or even change the time or the route that you take to go to work? Yeah, I thought so... Then maybe you know how I feel about now.

But I also have some important business tonight for you, my random assortment of family, friends, and internet lurkers who have stumbled across this blog and whose names I don't know. I need a new name for my blog. It cannot incorporate the old name in any way. And I'm having a bit of trouble coming up with something that I feel truly reflects me. I don't want something so sentimentally sweet that I want to gag. And I don't want something so sassy that it's obnoxious. I guess I'm looking for something in between. And of course, it can't already be taken by Blogger, so that limits me. So, if you have any ideas, please post them as comments on this blog. I will temporarily take off the requirement that you must sign in to comment so that those who aren't so internet savvy can still weigh in. Thanks, folks.

Off to visit the fam in the 'Ham...

Since I have been informed that I have regular readers that get irritated if I don't update regularly (hello, Diane in NY=), I thought I'd tell you I'm taking a bloggy break in B'ham. We're using some of David's lovely vacation time to see his folks in our old home town. We'll be back just in time to go on vacation to the beach with my family. It's going to be a busy last couple of weeks of August. So I'll be checking in periodically, but it won't be as much as ususal. Enjoy the dog days...

Last of our new home...

This is the guest bedroom/office. My mom finished off the duvet cover I started making several years ago with Mom B. We even have a nice little nightstand with an alarm clock and some light reading, if you ever come to call. I'm glad we finally have someplace besides a sofabed for our guests to rest their weary bones. If you've stayed with us before, and you're planning to stay with us again, I know you're excited about getting to sleep somewhere besides our living room with a door that closes. =)

I think we're finally done with most of my decorating. There are a few blank walls where I plan to put pictures I haven't had printed yet, but it's mostly done, I think. Here's the living room... This is the view from our little hallway.

Here's the view from our front door. I found a creative way to use the pictures that Diana framed for us over the couch. You can tell that the cat's completely at home...

And this was David's big project last night. He hung all those plates you see over the cabinets. He measured and made marks. I really appreciated this because he wanted to get this off the to-do list, even though he doesn't enjoy this kind of thing. Thanks to Mom for all the extras in her blue plate collection... I think it gives the room a really nice touch. Sarah, no snide remarks about my shamelss copycatting. Hey, it's convenient to like the same things your mom does. It means she gives you her leftovers.

And this is something that definitely warms my heart. Seth is starting to enjoy reading. Not that long ago, I couldn't read him more than one board book without him crying to get down and do something else. Now, David will routinely read him 7 board books at one time, and a chapter in the Bible, and he doesn't budge. David got the idea to read him the Bible a few days ago. He thought it'd be nice for Seth to get used to hearing it, and for him to get used to reading it to him, really early on. I enjoy hearing him reading Matthew in the next room while I'm getting up in the morning.

Now, since you've read this long, I'm going to let you in on who David clerked for on the Supreme Court this year. It was.... Justice Clarence Thomas. I cannot adequately convey what a wonderful man he is. It would take too long. If you want to read more about this truly great American, I can recommend a couple of books that are mostly accurate. One is called "Judging Thomas" by Ken Foskett, and the other is called "Supreme Conflict" by Jan Greenburg. Of course, you can also pick up his autobiography that is coming out on Oct. 16 called "My Grandfather's Son."

Seth and the Justices...

Now that my husband is no longer working for the Supreme Court, it's ok for me to put up my prized photo collection! Here is Seth with the four conservative justices. I LOVE this picture. Seth was only about 7 weeks old, and he looks like he's just curled up against Justice Thomas' chest, completely content. Justice Thomas is really good with children.

This picture was taken the same day. Justice Scalia is a great sport. I got a compliment on how well behaved Seth was, (since he'd just sat through a group talk without making a peep), and then Justice Scalia agreed to have a picture taken. He didn't want to hold such a tiny tyke, but I still got my picture!

We made an appointment with the Chief to get this shot. He was the only one that I didn't have any natural opportunities to photograph with my cute offspring. He was really nice about it, and he's a natural with babies. After all, he has two little ones of his own. We really appreciated him taking a couple of minutes out of his busy day for us. He also expressed concern about David's voice. Very thoughtful man...

And here we have Justice Alito and Seth... This was taken at the Alito clerk's last clerk happy hour. It was a luau, so that is why Justice Alito is wearing a lei. Justice Alito is a really nice guy. He's a genuine, professorial type, and I really enjoy that kind of person, probably because my husband is that type himself. Yes, Seth's mama is completely shameless. One of David's co-clerks called me "the paparazzi." But hey, what other baby in town will have these pics in a 4-photo frame in his baby room? It was worth it...

We're officially a minivan family...

Ta da!!! Ok, I know you people are probably getting sick and tired of our recent acquisitions. Honestly, I'm starting to get sick of it myself. I don't like the extreme focus on stuff when you move that comes because you have to move all your stuff around and arrange it and possibly get some items for the new space. So this is the ultimate in stuffism. It started with the grill, moved on to the porch swing, and ends here with the new car. (Ok, not a new car, actually, a used car.) I promise not to try your patience with this much longer.

When David and I were in DC, we had one car. David took the Metro to work, and he got reimbursed for his transportation costs by Uncle Sam, and it was great. We saved a lot of money on miscellaneous car stuff. I didn't drive every day, certainly, and it was nice not to have all the expenses that go with a second car. Alas, we have moved to American suburbia. The thought of David leaving with the car in the morning, and me trapped in the house with a babbling infant all the day long was too much. And since David will actually need to use the car to drive to different courthouses in the state, it's not like I could take him and drop him off in the morning... We were faced with the car decision.

In my family, the trend was always to buy new and then drive the car until it shudders and falls apart in the middle of the road. But there are other families that do things differently, so this time around, we ventured into the world of used cars. Carmax made this venture a lot easier. Their inspections and warranties make looking at used cars a less scary proposition for me. So we hunted the Eastern seabord (online =) for a used Honda or Toyota minivan without too many miles on it, but that would give us a substantial savings for our dollars. There weren't many to be had with less than 50,000 miles on them, and some with just a few thousand on them were almost as much as something new. We almost went to Winston today to look at one that looked too good to be true. It was, because a smoker had owned it. That's a deal breaker for us.

So, it came down to an '04 Honda minivan at the Raleigh dealership with 39,000 miles on it. We were able to get this car for...$9,000 less than we would've paid for the same car, new, at the dealership. It came with some bells and whistles that we wouldn't have chosen, but if we'd gotten the bottom line model, we still paid $6,000 less than we would've if we'd gotten the same model new. Wow, what a savings! I was blown away. If you're willing to put up with a few little dings here and there, and if you don't mind missing out on that new car smell, a used car is the way to go, man!

And honestly, after the first rush of excitement has worn off, which for me, is in about 5 minutes, the purchase of a new car just isn't worth the extra money to me. Sometimes it amazes me how quickly I can come down from the rush after getting something new. Acquiring stuff just doesn't satisfy for long, and I'm trying to learn that and to make wise decisions based on hard facts because of it. If we get a quality used car that will serve our (hopefully) growing family well for the next 10 years, that is most important. I shouldn't get emotional about it and blow the budget on something that won't satisfy longer than a few minutes. Yeah, I am perfectly aware that I am completely middle class, and many people don't even have one car, much less two, and to them, this car would be complete extravagance. So in that sense, I feel guilty over getting this car, but it seemed like the best choice for the life we hope to be living with up to 3 kids in the next several years...

4 years ago, David and I moved to Birmingham with just my little 1996 Cavalier. We got a Toyota Camry back then. At the time, we'd just started trying to get pregnant, and we had high hopes that it would happen sometime soon. We looked at minivans back then, and we considered getting one. I'm thankful to the Lord that He stopped us. I think I might've sold it in the three years of infertility that followed. It would've been too hard driving it around and getting asked where the kids were. We got that question when we borrowed a minivan for a week. 3 years of questioning looks would've done me in. But now, we have a minivan. And I'm excited about it! I know some people hate minivans. They think they're so uncool. But to me, getting a minivan is a dream come true. I love the thought of hauling baby gear and sports gear around in it. I love thinking about loading it up with all the luggage for a family vacation to the beach. It's a family car, and we're a family! Oh, the places this family will go in our suburban silver chariot! =)

Refreshing weekend...

It's been such a refreshing weekend, in large part due to the man on the ladder with the hedge trimmer and his wonderful wife. This weekend, David decided that we were going to a marriage conference at the church we'd visited the weekend before. They still had slots open, and it was Friday night and Saturday morning. We've never been to a marriage retreat before, and he was excited about the idea. I love this man. It was with Shuanti Feldhahn, the lady who wrote "For Women Only," and it was great. She spoke, and they had breakout sessions on parenting and keeping your marriage fresh, etc. Anyway, I called Mom and Dad and asked if they'd babysit so Seth wouldn't have to get to bed too late on Friday night. So, they dropped everything and came running. Why didn't we move back to this state earlier again? =)

They got in on Friday afternoon, and we grilled out before we headed off to the marriage conference. Seth got put down in his own bed at his regular bedtime, and I could go with a completely relaxed heart, knowing he was at home with them. On Saturday, we left after I fed him breakfast, and we went out for lunch together at Chick-Fil-A to talk about what we learned before coming home.

We got home to a very pleasant scene. We pulled up to see Dad mowing our lawn in the back yard. Mom was sitting on the porch, cooing to a happy and completely spoiled baby. He knows he's got her wrapped around his baby finger. We were thinking about it, and this is what Mom and Dad did for us in the short time they were here this weekend:

1. Dad mowed our yard, trimmed hedges, and chopped down a dead bush we hadn't even noticed. =)

2. Mom babysat on Friday night and Saturday morning, giving Seth all the spoiling that only a grandma who loves your baby almost as much as you do can do.

3. Mom stitched up a rocking chair cushion that was torn.

4. They brought us a watermelon, cantaloupe, homemade chicken salad, fresh corn, and tomatos, all from their garden. We ate on them for lunch and dinner today.

5. Dad got some car hood springs at a junk yard for the porch swing, to give it extra bounce, and he put them up.

We had such a relaxing time, and it was all because of your servant hearts, Mom and Dad. Thank you for all these little acts of service that mean so much to us. They are balm to my unsettled self. It is so good to know that you are just a quick drive away. I'm loving being home again, because you are "home" to me.

The Dreaded DMV...

After a long morning, our car is registered with the state, and we have shiny new driver's licenses, complete with deer in the headlights, bad hair, mugshots. David's license looks nicer than mine because he has a quirky habit of wearing his suit to get his license photo whenever we move. I guess he wants to create a good impression when he gets pulled over... In Maryland, he wore a dress shirt, a tie, a suit coat, and jeans to get his picture made. It was pretty funny. I tease him mercilessly about this little habit, but since it's the weirdest thing about him, we're good to go.

In NC, the DMV process is complicated by the fact that you can't do everything in one place. Ever. If you want to register your car and get plates, you must go to a tiny franchise office that only does that out in Wake Forest. Your first clue that it's not a government agency is the nice assortment of car plates that you can choose from, including, "Work is for people who don't know how to fish," "Redneck Woman," and "Noble Shriner." The state apparently farms out this particular govt. service to private contractors, since I was made aware of that by the gigantic sign that said, "This office is not a government office. These people are just ordinary people who do not represent us, and if you have a problem with them, don't call us" (or something to that effect). So after you get your tags at the little office in one small town, you must turn around and go to a new place 15 minutes away to get your new driver's license.

If you move to NC from out of state, even if you've been driving for 12 years and have never had a ticket, just to pick a completely random example, you still have to take a written driving test. In my opinion, this is a ridiculous waste of my time and the money that the state spent on those cute little computer monitors where you take your test. And the test is not easy. David and I read the little book while we waited, and we were glad we did. Here's an actual question from the test:

What percentage of interstate highway accidents are caused each year by driving while impaired?

A. 36 %
B. 67 %
C. 25 %

Anybody have a clue? For one thing, I really don't think that information was in the book I'd just skimmed. And what does that have to do with my ability to operate a motor vehicle? One day, am I going to get pulled over by a cop who says, "Ma'am, I need to know that you know how many accidents are caused each year by driving drunk or on drugs. No...no... ma'am, don't get upset... I'm not accusing you of anything....the state requires me to stop and ask random motorists this....a guess is good enough, and then I can let you go.... "

There were other questions on there like:

If Bobby Sue and Betty Lou get to an intersection in Duplin Co. at the same time, and the smell from Farmer Jimmy's local hog waste lagoon overwhelms Betty Lou so that she passes out, leaning on the horn, should Bobby Sue:

A. Go through the intersection, making sure to gently toot her horn in Betty Lou's direction.
B. Call the Duplin County EMT service, since they have special resuscitation devices for this.
C. Make a right turn going no more than 15 mph while putting on her right blinker, which should be calibrated to be blinking at a speed of no more than 5 blinks per 30 second interval.

Just a little Eastern NC humor, folks. =) But anyway, we're done. And here's a little tip. I've found in my many DMV experiences over the years that, even with overworked, underpaid, state DMV employees, you can catch a lot more flies with honey than with vinegar. Ask them how they're doing. If they say they're hot, express some sympathy. Make their day a little brighter, and they'll give you a little more grace when they're thinking of rejecting your check because your bank is out of state. Just smile a little...it helps a lot. =)

Bedroom...

And here's our new bedroom. I don't know how it happened, but this is by far the girliest room I've had since I was a little girl. Shhh, don't tell David. Maybe he won't notice. I think it started because I needed some very sheer curtains because this house is so dark, and it ended with me deciding that my china would be cute on top of the built in shelves above our windows. Can you tell I really like antiques? It doesn't hurt that we have a lot of family members who've donated antiques to us. The bed and the dresser were hand me downs from my Great Uncle Richard. The Whitaker side of my family has fantastic antique giveaways. Props to my Great Aunt Helen for some of our other decor as well. I should've been born in the mid 19th century...

David and I have spent a lot of time putting up pictures and curtains and mirrors in the past couple of days. I think tomorrow we'll be making a trip to the dreaded DMV. =( Wish us luck. Seth is nursing his first cold, and he's a little snuffly crankypants. I'm glad David is here to help me with him. But... today he decided that he wanted to eat an entire little jar of sweet potatos in one sitting. I tried to go back to rice cereal after a couple of spoonfuls of potatos, and he was having none of that. So he polished off the jar, and then he was willing to eat a little more white goo. It was pretty funny. This was the first time he's expressed a definite preference for a particular food. We're starting the chocolate cake and ice cream baby food from Gerber tomorrow. =)

You may be totally bored with this blog at this point. I want breaks from my to do list, so I blog. Please be patient with me. I'm bound to have the time and inclination to write something a little deeper one of these days...

How to make 11 healthy, homemade meals in 2 hours...

I grew up in a perservative free, junk food free, convenience food free household. My mom is a health nut. The chocolate chip cookies I ate growing up had a LOT of oatmeal in them. This lifestyle was a bit hard on me as a kid, but it did teach me very healthy eating habits. I only learned about packaged convenience foods, and that it was possible to have cream of mushroom soup as the basis for a recipe, after I grew up and got married. =) And my mom also taught me that healthy homemade food doesn't have to take a lot of time to prepare... if you plan ahead. Mom, this post is for you. And so, I unveil the secret of our Whitaker family homemade spaghetti sauce. Above, you can see the fruit of two hours of labor over one large pot. Here's the recipe:

1 green pepper, finely diced in the food processor (I have a little one I got at Walmart, cheap)

2 med. onions, ditto

4 cloves minced garlic

2 T. olive oil

2 (1lb.) cans crushed tomatos

2 15 oz. cans tomato sauce

2 T. parsley flakes

1 T. sugar

1 T. Worchestershire sauce

1 T. each oregano and basil

2 lb. lean ground beef

Heat oil in pot and stir onion, garlic, and pepper until veggies are tender. Pour off some of the water if the pepper makes it seem really watery. Add remaining ingredients, except beef, bring to gentle boil, and then simmer for 30 min., stirring occasionally. In large pan, brown beef and drain. Stir meat into sauce and simmer another 30 minutes longer. The sauce thickens as it stands, so later frozen meals will have thicker sauce than your first fresh meal.

This recipe makes 11 servings for two people. Yes, you heard right. The top picture shows 10 quart freezer bags filled with homemade sauce (we ate the 11th for dinner =). I put the freezer bag into a glass, folded it over the rim, and put two 2/3 c. measures in each one. Then I flattened them as much as I could. The next step is to wrap each bag in one sheet of Saran Wrap. Do not attempt to skip this step. If you do, you will have a lot of frozen bags of sauce stuck tightly together.

After wrapping your bags, lay them flat on top of each other in a large, gallon ziploc freezer bag. You can get about 5 quart bags in one gallon bag.

Now you have 10 meals nicely stacked in your freezer. In the morning, before you go to work, take one out and leave it in the fridge all day. By evening, it will be soft and thawed. Even if you forget to do this, just take it out and run it under hot water for a few minutes, and it'll be fine. You can heat it up in the microwave while you're cooking some yummy whole wheat noodles and cooking up some brocoli and garlic bread. And there you have it, folks, a healthy, home-cooked meal, low in fat, no preservatives, low in sodium, and I think, devoid of high fructose corn syrup. This recipe could easily be doubled for larger families, but you'd need a really large stock pot. I might be investing in one myself when Seth starts eating it with us. =) I hope this helps some of you out there who really want to make more homemade food, but know that you really don't have a lot of time to devote to it. I'm right there with ya.

Ellen's Household Hints...

When you put up your pictures, and like a moron, decide that you hate how you configured them once they're up there, and then decide to completely change it, and then have unsightly nail holes, you can...

Use a Q-Tip and a little bit of white toothpaste to cover them up. =)

Seth's first room...

Here it is! He's been alive 6 months, and he finally has his own room, complete with crib! The part I'm most pleased about is that I didn't buy anything to do up his room, and I think it turned out pretty well. Maybe I've just been collecting things that looked sorta babyish for many years now, really without realizing it. I had a pretty strong nesting instinct when I was pregnant with Seth, but it's definitely faded in all the moves. I want his room to be cute, but I'm not that upset that it isn't the exact vision that I had for it when I was pregnant with him. And I definitely don't want to do any painting when we move out. The rocker is a family one that my brother refinished for us as a wedding present, and it's been in our room for years. The red bookshelf was a hand-me-down from church friends, and I painted it red many years ago. You can see the changing table on the dresser we got free from Craig's List on the left hand side of the picture.
The picture above the red bookshelf is of a Norman Rockwell print called "Land of Enchantment," and it shows two little children reading, and the wonderful pictures that go through their heads as they do. Friends from DC gave that to us a few years ago.

Here's our cute new bed! David put it together today, and it looks great. I dug out the bedding that my mom-in-law had bought for a crib that she used to keep at her house. I think she was going for something unisex, but there's a whole lot of blue in it. With a blue crib sheet, it looks very boyish. So I just put it on, and really, it looks like something I would've chosen. I may put up the matching curtain eventually.

Ok, this was really fun. David and I debated back and forth on what to do with this. I got a set of vintage alphabet flash cards at a thrift store several months ago. I was going to put the whole alphabet on the wall, but David mentioned that Seth's name has no repeated letters in it. He talked me into putting just the name on the wall above the changing table. I added the blue ribbon to tie everything together. It's amazing how just hanging all your wall items with the same blue ribbon can make unrelated items look more like they go together.

Today has been a big, do-chores-at-home, day. I'm hoping we'll get most of our pictures up tonight.... And as a vocal cord update, David did not have his scheduled shot today. He prayed about it all weekend, and he felt like his voice is getting so much better that he should wait longer to see what God does. This is a leap of faith for us. He can get the shot later if his voice doesn't continue to improve, but it will mean that he'd have to take off work from his new job to get it done, since we're traveling so much later this month. We both feel like the Lord is doing something, and we want to be obedient to trust and wait longer.

Teething update... I think I have my happy boy back. He's still drooling up a storm, but he's napping normally again, and last night, he slept all the way through. I'm thinking the bad nights were a combination of growth spurt, teething, having to sleep in our room with us, and too much excitement with big cousins to play with. Thanks for the prayers and advice. I think I decided that tanking him up with Tylenol and attempting not to feed him too often at night seemed like our best option. =)

Love comes to us from overseas...

This past week, we were so excited to be able to see David's cousin, James, and his wife, Shelly, and the girls, Rachel Elizabeth ( age 4 1/2), and Caroline Grace (age 2). They rolled in from Virginia on Monday and left on Saturday morning, so there was 7 people, including 3 under 5, in this little house for a week! =) It was so wonderful to be able to see them. The last time we saw them was right before they left to go overseas, about 3 years ago. Rachel Beth was just a tiny tot, and Caroline wasn't even a gleam in her daddy's eye yet. Despite all the time that's passed, and despite all the amazing changes we've all seen, it felt like we'd just said goodbye to them yesterday. We have the kind of relationship where you can just pick up right where you left off, no matter how much time has passed. That kind of friendship is such a rare gift, and we're so grateful for it. We sat around on the back porch in the evening after the babes were in bed and swapped stories of God's faithfulness to all of us in the intervening years since we were last together. We got to laugh, and talk and talk, and best of all, to pray together.

Our backyard was a real blessing to them, and that was so neat for me. Where they live, it's pretty hot and sandy. They don't have much in the way of grass and trees, so they loved our lush, green back yard. Shelly wanted to sleep out on the porch the first night, that is, until allergies started kicking in. Apparently, you can grow allergic to grass and trees if you're away from them long enough.

Shelly and I got to take a girl's outing to Target one afternoon, and we picked up this sprinkler on sale. It was nice to just be able to wander and take our time. We left during nap time, so the guys didn't have to do as much, but James was mumbling about tranquilizer darts if he had trouble with nappers. =) When we got back, Rachel Beth got up from her nap, and the girls put on their snazzy Aussie surfing suits and hit the backyard.

Other highlights of the trip included a visit to CiCi's pizza and an evening trip to ChuckECheese. It was R.B.'s first time experiencing this uniquely American childhood rite of passage. We all had a blast, and I even beat David at air hockey. On the way there, we stopped at Babies R' Us, and they blessed us by buying us a crib for Seth. (Unfortunately, the other bed was missing some parts that the company had stopped manufacturing a couple of years ago.) So now we have a wonderful bed for him, thanks to them.

We also did a lot of swinging, playing, and grilling out. We used our new grill for the first time while they were here. It was so nice and easy; I'm going to love gas, and we got a great deal on it. David and James had to work out a problem with the propane tank, but we're good to go now. Oh, and I also discovered that our slide on the playset is a really fast one. I'm thinking of putting a kiddie pool at the bottom and making a water slide next summer. =)

The lower deck is great for grilling, and I think it'll be great for Seth to push toys on or ride around on next year.

Caroline was so sweet with Seth. Both the girls are adorable and tenderhearted, and Caroline has a special place in her little heart for Seth. She would ask where "baby Set" was when she got up from her nap. She liked giving him kisses and handing him toys. He loved watching her play. She was also hilarious with Aravis. Our cat is not a fan of small people who can grab fur. Caroline was very nice to her, but she has bad memories. She would walk up to the cat and say, pretty loudly, "HELLO, KITTY CAT! HELLO, KITTY CAT!" Kitty would then either hiss or run for the hills. When she hissed, Caroline went and told her mom very excitedly, "Kitty cat said hi to me." This led to a hilarious bout of Caroline telling Kitty hello, Kitty hissing, and Caroline hissing back to say hello herself... We really enjoyed this visit. We're sad that it was so short, and we'll miss our cousins until we see them again, probably another three years from now. But we know that God has led them to live far away. He has called them to make a home out of the U.S., and we know that they will be a light for Him wherever they are. We will work and play and love and raise kids far apart, and I will smile when I think of them, knowing the blessing they are to those around them on the other side of the world.

Help!! Teething monster...

Well, our visit with cousins has come to an end, and I'll post more on that later, but for now, I need help from out there in Blogland. Seth is teething. I'm pretty positive about this. I feel a couple of little teeth coming through up top, he had a slight fever yesterday, and he's drooling up a storm and chewing on his shirt...a lot. The worst part of this is that my perfect little sleeper is long gone. Two nights ago, he woke up 3 times before morning. He normally wakes up once, if at all. I fed him in order to keep him from waking everyone else in the house, including the two sleeping little girls. Last night, he woke up twice, and I fed him one of those times. We gave him some baby Motrin the second time he woke, not realizing we shouldn't, so now he has a few little red spots on his face. Back to the baby Tylenol... Anyway, that did seem to help some. Hyland's Teething Tablets have not done any good so far. Today, he slept for 30 minutes of his afternoon nap before waking up screaming. David's walking him around the block now. His naps for the past few days have definitely been shorter than normal. I'm hoping maybe some of this craziness has to do with the fact that he's been sleeping in our room because there have been 4 adults and 3 kids under 5 in our house for a week. But what do I do when he doesn't nap well or sleep well at night? Should I make him lie there for the normal time like I would do if he wasn't in pain? Do I feed him whenever he wakes up at night? By the way, he also seems a little more hungry than normal the past couple of days. Is that caused by teething, too? Anyway, I need advice... Anybody got any ideas on what to do? How long is this going to last? It's been too long already....

Update on voice...

Well, it is improving some day by day. At this point, he sounds a little bit like Kermit the Frog to me. =) His voice is consistently lower and not as scratchy. It sounds a little more like a cold than like laryngitis. Please keep praying... I'll let you know if something changes, aka, it gets worse or he's completely healed. We're getting lots of extra prayer with the cousins here, so that's been really nice. =)