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Showing posts from October, 2008
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"All the very nice people leave their porch lights on." -Norah Norah dressed up as a butterfly this Halloween. But, her butterfly costume looked suspiciously like a house fly to us, so Dwayne thought about making and carrying around a huge flyswatter as a prop. But, we didn't have time to make it and we weren't sure whether our neighbors would think it was as funny as we would. We've taken a lap around our block the past three years now, visiting our neighbors, some of whom are elderly, but still manage to be generous and get up as often as the door bell rings. We always save our closest neighbors for the end of the route. The fireman next door just pours candy into Norah's canvas bag and the couple across the street, Norah's "grandneighbors" as they call themselves, made a paper bag with Norah's name on it and stocked it with special things for her this year. After we gather what we can on that one block, we come home, turn on our porch
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I painted this while I was in college studying to be a teacher, dreaming about being a mother. It hung in Norah's room for years and will hang in our new nursery for Avril. Lord, let mine be a common place while here. His was a common one; He seems so near when I am working at some ordinary task. Lord, let mine be a common one, I ask. Give me the things to do that others shun, I am not so gifted and so poised, Lord, as some. I am best fitted for the common things, and I am happy so. It always brings a sense of fellowship with Him who learned to do lowly things that others spurned: to wear the simple clothes, the common dress, to gather in his arms and gently bless (and He was busy, too) a little child, to lay his hand upon the one defiled, to walk with sinners down some narrow street, to kneel Himself and wash men's dusty feet. To ride a common foal, to work with wood, to dwell with common folk, eat common food; and then upon the city dump to die for me Lord, common things ar
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Dwayne let me sleep in yesterday and while he was watching Norah, she drew this picture of me on the dry erase side of her easel. Notice my round belly and the other little person inside it. She can't wait to be a big sister.
I put a block of cheddar cheese in the bottom kitchen drawer a few days ago. I found it there around lunch time the next day when I was going to get some crackers. You know what makes this worse? The night before, when I was cleaning up after dinner, I remember catching myself as I was putting that same block of cheese into the kitchen cabinet. I laughed at my near-mistake and rolled my eyes. But, I think I must have just turned around only to put the cheese into the drawer instead of the fridge. I thought that was an isolated incident. But, Dwayne decided to meet us for lunch today. We were out separately to do different errands. We were supposed to meet at Nardelli's, a popular sandwich place here in Waterbury. I got there, parked the car, got out, got Norah out, walked all the way to the door. This is when, through the glass, I notice a man looking at me funny from the other side of the counter. (The look on his face was only my first clue that something may be wrong). I go a
Everything I need to know about life, I learned from Jane Austin. After seeing a movie based on the novel, I was inspired to read Persuasion . I read it several years ago, but had forgotten most of the details. I finished it today and a few of the quotes struck me, got me to thinking and even laughing. There is hardly any personal defect which an agreeable manner might not eventually reconcile one to. This makes me chuckle. My translation: If you don't want to marry a guy with bad teeth, don't date a guy with bad teeth. You are bound to find plenty of things that you like about him and begin overlooking the teeth. No. Really. If we like someone enough, physical "defects" don't matter a bit. And, if someone else is offensive enough, their good looks don't amount to a thing. How often have women dated jerks to end up surprised to find themselves married to a jerk? In our culture, at least, it is very unlikely that any woman would have to marry a man she doesn
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This activity in today's lesson was a real hit. I prepared a large construction paper page of dotted numbers using a black sharpie, poured a bowl of finger paints and helped Norah put on her plastic smock. Norah followed along with her teacher on the DVD to practice the formation of each number 1-10 using her paints. Of course, what preceded this "review" were at least nine other individual lessons on how to form each number. I recommend this activity highly, once your little ones have had a basic introduction on how to form their numbers.
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A good friend of mine gave me a tip for dealing with kids and the natural law that moves them to need you as soon as you get on the telephone. She trains her three children to squeeze her free hand or to squeeze the arm she's not using while she's on the telephone. This is a silent signal between the two of them that they need her. They continue to stand next to her quietly until she has a chance to ask the person she is talking to for a break. I've been on the phone with this lady several times and I rarely ever hear her kids in the background. But, without fail, she will have to ask me, "Will you hold on for a second?" and I am always surprised to hear one of her children standing right by the phone who I didn't even know was in the same room with her.
We're back from Vegas. I had fun, but missed Norah much more than I expected I would. I was surprised to see more families with kids in our hotel than I imagined, but MGM Grand proved to be one of the classiest hotels among those we walked through. Norah, on the other hand, didn't seem to miss me at all. I called her daily, but she was often too busy to talk. She actually wanted to cry when she had to leave her aunt's house. I hope this says more about her love for her aunt, uncle and cousins and less about her lack of affection for her mom and dad. We saw part of the Grand Canyon and Mississippi River from the plane. During some of the evenings, we walked the strip to see the lights of Vegas, the fountain at Bellagio and Bodies: The Exhibition at the Luxor . We even considered renewing our vows, but couldn't find a sleazy enough chapel to make it fun enough to be worth our while. Most of the hotels had wedding chapels, but none of them had Elvis or Marilyn
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Just one more post today. That's it. I swear. Can you see the marker on Norah's forehead in this picture? She ran into the living room and tackled me on the sofa where I was sitting. When I was finally able to rearrange her on my lap and see her smiling face, I gasped, "Norah! What are you thinking, marking on your face?!" She said in a matter-of- fact tone , "I wanted to decorate my head."
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Norah brought this adorable picture into the kitchen to show me this morning. She'd been playing with her stash of blank drawing paper and crayons before we got started on her lessons. She ran in and yelled, "Mom! I drew an Indian! He's a chief (pointing her finger at his head dress for proof). Do you know what his name is?!" I said, "No. What is it?" "Chief Massasoit," she said, with perfect pronunciation. I'm telling you, basically any monkey could home school their kids. It just works.
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Dwayne made an apple pie after dinner last night and we all enjoyed a slice (or two) with vanilla ice cream while we watched the second presidential debate. The man can bake.
We are using Bob Jones' K4 Distance Learning Program for Norah's homeschool right now. Norah's teacher on the DVD shared the plan of salvation using a wordless book today. The pages had no text, but they were different colors: black, red, white and yellow... Each color represented something Jesus did for us. When the teacher said, "Jesus washes our hearts clean and they become as white as snow," showing the white page, Norah corrected her with some disdain, "No! Our hearts are red!" Of course, the teacher couldn't hear this, but I did and it made me laugh to myself. So, with that, the effect of the story about what Jesus had done for our hearts was totally ruined on her. I admit, I didn't even try to explain. I might have missed a teachable moment, but when Norah turned to give me a look equivalent to rolling her eyes at her teacher (on the TV screen over her shoulder), I just shrugged my shoulders. I think it is important that I try and c
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White Chili in the Crock Pot Drain, rinse and add to crock pot 1 can of cannellini beans, 1 can pinto beans and 1 can black-eyed peas. Chop up and add two cooked chicken breasts, half a large white onion, one seeded green, red, or yellow pepper and one or two seeded jalapeno peppers. Add 2 cloves minced garlic, 2 tsp. cumin, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. oregano. Pour in 2 cans chicken broth. Cook on the crock pot on high for four hours. Serve the chili over white rice. Top with shredded Monterrey Jack cheese, broken tortilla chips and a dollop of sour cream. Salt and pepper to taste.
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After breakfast this morning, we went apple picking in a nearby orchard. It's becoming a fall tradition now that we've settled into New England. We picked a bag full of golden delicious apples to use for baking and another bag of gala apples to eat fresh. I think I've eaten more apples these past three months of my pregnancy than I have in my whole life until now! Norah always likes to sample the produce while we walk around the orchard. Below are some pictures from our trip to the same orchard last year. My parents were staying with us in '07, so Norah's Grandpa Evans came along last year and they walked around together. You can see a little of how Norah has changed in a year. -Check out and read the book An Apple Tree Through the Year by Claudia Schnieper with your kids this time of year. Like the title suggests, this book follows an apple tree through an entire year. The text is simple and the detailed photos and diagrams show how the buds turn into flowers
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I caught Norah lying in a sunbeam this morning and snapped a picture of her.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1 It's usually considered an insult to live in someone else's shadow, but I am not sure I ever want to be far enough away from God to cast my own image onto the earth. The first, if not the only, place Norah goes to when she feels threatened is the back of my legs, wrapping her arms around one or both of my thighs, getting as close to my side as she can, often succeeding in getting nearly underneath me. I imagine that if I ever had to act out on her behalf, fight someone who attacked her or something like that, she would be safest there while I handled the threat. So, this is where we get to stay if we live with God, right up next to Him or at least, always safely within the reach of his mighty, protective, capable hands.
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We are reading Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder aloud to Norah. The book was the base of the popular television series "Little House on the Prairie." One of my best friend's bought the series of books for Norah's fourth birthday. The story starts as the family prepares for a long winter. I am already fascinated with what I've learned about the ways settlers preserved their meat and stored their food. They'd wait to slaughter their pigs, for example, until the ground was cold enough to keep the meat frozen. They'd make a smoker or "smoke house" out of a hollow log with a roof and door, slowly burning wood chips inside to smoke their meats dry. They'd also hang their spiced hams, dried herbs and vegetables in the attic, which happened to fill their homes with all sorts of pleasing scents. I am convinced this is why we still associate the smell of strong spices with Autumn. I'll have to resort to using Glade