Jodilightful!

Growing up, I really only knew two types of holiday (let’s say vacation from now on, for the sake of the American-speaking vast majority of my readership): shore vacations with my mom, which consisted of days at the beach and evenings at the arcade, and Pocono vacations with my dad, which consisted of days swimming in the pond in my aunt’s backyard and evenings looking at tractors.  The first time I ever did any real sight-seeing was in my senior year of high school when I got to go to Paris with the marching band (piccolo, in case you were wondering.)  I guess those three more or less represent the three main genres of vacation, and to be perfectly honest, I have no favorite among the three.  I love them all.

On any type of vacation, be it lounging in the sun, roughing it in the mountains, or getting to know a foreign land, these are my priorities:

• Being with people I enjoy.  Nowadays, Trevor fits the bill very nicely, but I remember one of my favorite things about Pocono trips being game time with Aunt Janie after dinner.  She taught me to play Spit, and we used to laugh so hard my stomach would ache.
• Not having (as much) responsibility.  This has been a tricky one lately, since we usually opt for self-catering places where we still have to pack lunches and cook dinner at least some nights, and anywhere that the girls come with me diapers and discipline follow along.  But having Trevor home from work is always a blessing, and being somewhere where the girls are entertained and we get a chance to chat is a huge bonus.
• Not having too many things on the agenda.  I like a leisurely pace when I’m on vacation.  Trevor, not so much.  See next point.
• Having some things on the agenda.  I’m not a planner, and if it were up to me, I’m pretty sure I would squander my whole vacation sleeping in and enjoying our accommodation and not actually seeing or doing anything. This is one of the areas in which Trevor really makes up for my weakness (and maybe, a little bit, I keep him from trying to make us visit seven or eight different tourist attractions in the same day – it’s in his blood, he can’t help it.)

I’ll leave you with some photos of what was easily my favorite vacation ever: our trip to Kyle of Lochalsh in the Highlands of Scotland, overlooking the Isle of Skye.  I was 20 weeks pregnant with Pippa at the time, and it was there, in front of the fire in our little cottage, that Trevor first felt her kick.  What a precious, precious time.

Thanks to Lindsay for this topic suggestion, and don’t forget to click on over to read what he says about it.

I’ve been needing to share these beauties with you for over a week now, but it’s been a super busy over-a-week, so I know you understand. One of my favorites blogs, Oh Amanda, co-hosted a baby present swap for anyone who is expecting or has a baby under one (I fall into the *second* category. Only.) I ummed and ahed about whether to join or not, and finally jumped in at the last minute when they ended up with an odd number. I was awfully glad I did, because, as Providence would have it, I got Amanda herself in the random partner draw. So fun!

Then, while Lindsay and Sarah were visiting, this adorable package arrived in the mail, containing these scrumptious presents. I almost didn’t want to open them. Almost.

The rules of the swap required three gifts: a wearable, a keepsake-y and a must-have. This is what Amanda sent us.

The wearable. A whole “Bee” theme set of Burt’s Bees Baby supplies: toothpaste, lotion, shampoo and more plus the cutest little comb with a bee on it. Love it. Pippa enjoyed cutting play-do with the comb, too (oops!) but it cleaned up nicely and she knows now that that’s not what combs are for. (They do add a nice textured effect to it… but, no.)

The keepsake-y. A wooden “B” for her room. It’s so sweet and sunny and I can’t wait to hang it get Trevor to hang it above her crib. Love it, too.

The must-have. The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones. This book is amazing. Although we have probably a half a dozen different children’s Bible story books, this is the one Trevor consistently reads the girls at bedtime. But. We already had it. This would kind of have been a bummer, had Linz not just asked me the night before the package arrived if we could go to a Christian book store sometime while they were here to try to find herself a copy of it. Providence again! With Amanda’s permission, Linz took the spare book home with her, and we ordered this DVD instead at her recommendation.  It was like our own little mini-swap!

We’re pretty sure we’re going to love it, since Linz already introduced the girls to one of the songs on it, called Rainbow. Take a look: (Can you tell she’s in children’s ministry???)

(Oh, and do you see the Just-for-fun? Bubbles for the big girls. They love them!)

All things told, this package was wonderfully fun and thoughtful.  Thank you so much, Amanda and Lydia, for being our swap buddies!

You can check out what I sent for Amanda’s little man (arriving in a few months) here at her blog.

Shanna, we’re still in if you’re still in!

For more Wordless Wednesday, click here.

Normal. I guess it must be a bad word to some parents, but it was music to my ears today at Pippa’s speech therapy evaluation.

We’ve been on a waiting list since her three-year check-up when she confidently pointed to a square on the floor and said, “Look, Mommy, a ‘ga’!”. The pediatrician had been trying to get her to come out of her shell and talk a little to decide if she should be evaluated, and that word sealed the deal. Last Thursday, after six months of waiting, we finally got a call that they had a slot for her today if we still wanted it.

My concerns about her speech were nothing compared to what they were when she was 17 months old, not saying mama, and using her ubiquitous ‘ga’ to mean about 5 different words (clearly it’s still a favorite); but I was still just concerned enough to go through with the evaluation.

Pippa loved the whole process. Miss Nora (who was wonderful) had her say words from picture cards (she didn’t know the word vacuum. I was mortified) and describe what was happening in various pictures. They did funny things with their tongues together in a mirror and role-played with a little teddy bear. I watched her make a little note every time Pippa made one of her little shortcuts, and I braced myself for the worst. Then she gave Pippa some toys to play with and turned her attention to me.

She asked me what my concerns were about her speech and I told her. Then Miss Nora pulled out a little flow chart of what sounds children are expected to be able to make by certain ages. She had a very concerned look on her face, and I was sure I was about to get the news that she would need therapy three times a week (can you even imagine? With all my little ones???). Then she explained that while Pippa does still say t for tr and d for gr, that this “consonant cluster reduction” is considered normal until about age five, and she is easily pronouncing all the letters that a 3 1/2-year-old should be able to say. She continued to explain in the same sad sort of voice that insurance won’t cover therapy unless she’s failing to meet these milestones for her age, but that she understands how hard it is for good parents to hear their children not speaking as clearly as their peers.

Me: You mean she’s fine?

Miss Nora: Yes, she’s fine.

Me: She’s normal and doesn’t need speech therapy?

Miss Nora: Yes, perfectly normal.

Me: Oh, that’s wonderful news, thank you! (I could’ve hugged her after two and a half years of worrying about Pippa’s speech, but instead I was a perfect model of self-restraint.)

Miss Nora: Oh, you’re happy about that? It’s a tough sell with some parents. Well… good. It was nice to meet you, Pippa. Have a nice day!

(Then when we got out in the hall.)

Me: Pippa, isn’t that good news? Miss Nora said you talk very well, and we don’t need to come back to practice with her.

Pippa: But I want to come back and play some more.

Me: (Oops, didn’t see that one coming.) I’m sorry sweetie, but she needs to help kids that can’t talk as well as you.

Pippa: Okay. Do I get a lollipop?

Me: (Man, poor kid would’ve done better if she hadn’t talked so well.) No, honey, I’m sorry, not today. But we’ll get a snack to take home and have with Grandmom.

She was happy enough with that solution, and I was very happy indeed with the news that her speech is just fine for her age. (Who are these parents that are not happy to hear this news? What am I missing?) As for people being able to understand her, I guess we’re back to ‘ga’ one on that front.

What could be sweeter than a weekend with dear friends…

…eight kids aged four and under (two napping during this cozy sofa time, and not all belonging to the above three friends)…

…and a moonbounce that knows no age limits?

Well, throw in three days of absolutely perfect weather, some Chipotle and some ‘Bou, some pretty good viewing, and a bit of craftiness (no photos yet, but I will show you at some point, I promise!), and you have yourself an absolutely perfect weekend. Thank you to Megan and Rob, Willie and Lucy for opening up their home to us, and to Meg for trekking over to hang with us each day. We love you guys! (Also thanks to Nancy and Duncan for sharing their backyard and adorable little ones with us!)

(Note: this is not my recipe.  I wish it were.)

Ingredients:

6 four-year-olds and a few of their siblings for good measure.

One Scooby Mystery tote bag for each child, including a magnifying glass, glow-in-the-dark bracelet and flashlight.

One older child to act as an events coordinator and tour guide.

At least four of the best kids’ party games ever.

One gorgeous 75-degree day.

One grandmother with excellent kitchen skills and a very willing heart.

One grandfather who is easily amused by small children.

One 2-year-old who will sit at the table for 15 minutes after everyone has left their cake and finish everyone else’s.  (This should keep above grandfather entertained.)

Scooby snacks (cocktail sausages, bone-shaped jell-o and bone-shaped bread sticks.

Cheese steaks and salad for any parents who happen to stay around.

One homemade pinata.

One homemade chocolate cake.

***

This Mommy was absolutely in awe.  Thank you Kenna, for sharing your special day with us!

I’ve been tagged, and tagged, and tagged again by Amy, Gina, and Shanna. (It was an exciting week for me: it felt like I won something, even though almost every blog I read has done this Meme already.) Now, blogtag is a fairly new sport to me, but I gather the polite thing to do is to answer all these questions and then try to get some other people to play, too, right? Okay. Here we go.

Favorite person (outside family)? I can pick Trevor, right? We’re only related by marriage…

Favorite food? Oh, it’s decadent! Are you ready? A battered, deep-fried pair of cheeseburgers with some sort of cheesewhiz in between that comes with an enormous portion of big fat fries. This was rather understated as a “cheeseburger supper” at the chip shop by our flat in Scotland, and was our standard Friday night cuisine. Ahhh, those were the days…

Quirks about you? What, all of them?

How would the person who loves you most describe you in ten words or less? He couldn’t possibly.  It took him a whole post!

Any regrets in life? Only those moments when I’ve missed opportunities to share Christ with someone.

Favorite Charity/ Cause? The Agnew family’s work with street kids in Mexico City.  I almost said Susan G. Komen (breast Cancer) even though it wouldn’t quite be true.  It is definitely the one I most want people to give to right now, in the form of sponsoring me for my walk in October.  I have 5% of my funds raised so far, and my grandmother’s poor lonely name just keeps scrolling away all by itself on my support wall of fame.  Oh, dear!  If you read me in bloglines, please hop over to my blog if you’d like to contribute.  There’s a hard-to-miss hot pink button at the side.

Favorite Blog recently? I’m loving Swistle: Baby Names.

Something you can’t get enough of? Babies Uh, wait… that is to say… The baby smell (the nice one, that is).

Worst job you’ve ever had? Typing pages upon pages of zip codes into a database.  I’m sure they only created this job to help weed out the dud temps.  Slowest two weeks of my life!

What job would you pay NOT to have? Phlebotomist.  Eww.

If you could be a fly on the wall, where? In an Amish household.  (Random, I know, but we were just in Lancaster, and they fascinate me.)

Favorite Bible verse right now? 1 Corinthians 1:18.

Guilty Pleasure? Messageboards.

Got any confessions? I put everything that I can physically fit in into my dishwasher.

If you HAD to spend $1,000 on YOURSELF, how would you spend it? I’d give myself 1/5 of the What Not to Wear Treatment, definitely including the hair styling part.

Favorite thing about your house? The people who live in it.  The fireplace is nice, too.

Least favorite thing about your house? I’d love a bigger dining area.

One thing you are bad at? All things domestic.

One thing you’re good at? Wriggling out of awkward questions.

Who would you like to meet someday? Elisabeth Elliot.

What makes you feel sexy? Shhh!  My mother-in-law reads this!

Who is your real life hero? I think I try not to have them, actually.

What is the hardest part of your job? Seizing each moment instead of letting a whole day go by when we don’t really do anything.

When are you most relaxed? When the girls are asleep for the night and my eBay board is already nice and full.

What stresses you out? Cleaning to a deadline.

What can you not live without? God. But that’s really a Who rather than a what.  Sorry.

Do you agree or disagree with the recent article that reported that blogs are authored by narcissists? Eh, fair enough.  Probably a good bit of truth in it for a lot of blogs (mine reluctantly included). Non-bloggers are narcissists too, though, they just have different outlets.

Why do you blog? See here.  (And why do I HSSSS?  So that it doesn’t take me quite so long to answer all these questions.)

Who are you tagging? I’ll just do one from each category, since this has well and truly done the rounds of just about every blog I read.

New/ newer bloggers: Name Nazi
Bloggy friends: Sara
Bloggers you’d like to get to know better: Dawn @ A Single Mom’s Life (Yeah, okay, I know you pretty well already, but I want you to do this, and I don’t have anyone else for this category.
Bloggers you don’t think will respond, but you hope will: Dawn @ Because I Said So

You’re all it!

Okay – rules:
1. Answer the questions (Did I really have to include this as a rule? Duh!)
2. Link back to whoever tagged you
3. Tag eight bloggers to do the same, 2 from each category.
New/ newer bloggers (since we want to share the love and send them traffic)
Bloggy friends
Bloggers you’d like to get to know better
Bloggers you don’t think will respond, but you hope will.

Well, sort of.  This cheeky girl is one of the newest faces on TopMomma.com!  It’s a fun little site to help get your blog noticed, and we applied for it so long ago (months, I think?) that I had no idea which folder to find this photo in to post it again here.  (By the way, Megan took it, and there might be more of her lovely photos of our kids to show you after this weekend, I hope!)

Anyway, here’s how it works: if you click to there from here, or click Ro’s picture to come back here from there, it helps us “stay on top”.  (Yeah, it really makes more sense if you go and see the site.)  The bottom line is, feel free to click the little button at the side of my blog every time you visit.  A couple times if you like, I have no idea how it all works.

If anyone happens to be visiting here from TopMomma, welcome!  I hope you’ll stay and poke around a while.  Please leave me a comment to let me know you were here and so that I can check out your blog, too.  Lovely to meet you!

***

Well, here I am less than 12 hours after I posted this looking at a big old e-mail telling me that we are, sadly, no longer on TopMomma.  I guess we won’t be making any new friends.  I probably needed to sit around all day yesterday clicking my own links to stay on top (or to at least have told all of you about it before 10:30 PM), but instead we were out enjoying our last day with Lindsay and Sarah in Princeton.  It was totally worth it, of course.  Fame is so fleeting, and so unkind!

On Sunday morning, our overview of the Old Testament in church brought us to Exodus 20: the Ten Commandments, and I have been desperate to blog about it ever since!

“1 And God spake all these words, saying, 2 I am Jehovah thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

4 Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any likeness [of any thing] that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them, for I Jehovah thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate me, 6 and showing lovingkindness unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

7 Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath unto Jehovah thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore Jehovah blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.12 Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee.

13 Thou shalt not kill.

14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

15 Thou shalt not steal.

16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.”

Our pastor took a little tangent from his sermon to address the current debate surrounding removing the Ten Commandments from classrooms and courtrooms. I wasn’t taking notes, so you’ll just have to settle for a healthy mixture of paraphrased sermon and my thoughts on the matter.

When our pastor began talking about the ‘Commandments Debate’, I have to admit I began to fidget in my seat a little.  The truth is, it’s not an issue I’ve ever really felt was worth fighting for, and I was a little afraid I was going to be told that I ought to feel that it is.  Instead, he articulated (*way* better than I could have) exactly how I’ve always felt about this issue (and so many others like it that many Christians take up arms about in the political arena), and went on to put these amazing commandments into their proper context for a redeemed person.

God never intended the Ten Commandments to fix society, or even to fix individuals.  No one can cure their own sin problem by obeying these commandments or any list of rules, and God certainly knew that when He gave them to Moses.  These rules would do two things: show the people the extent of their own sin, and give an already redeemed people (freed, in the Israelites’ case, from slavery to the Egyptians, and in the Christian’s, from slavery to sin) a picture of God’s holiness to model their lives against.  In either case, these rules are not for society; they are for God’s people.

There is undeniably some value in people being aware of the Ten Commandments – I am certainly not suggesting Christians should grab their picket signs to have them removed from public display.  But there is also a very real danger that those who do not know of God’s incredible grace in sending Christ might get the impression that if they are keeping these rules, they can earn God’s favor.  If we want to display this list of rules for the outside world to see, wouldn’t we do better to also display Christ’s own words regarding these commandments right next to them?

From Matthew 5:

“21 Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22 but I say unto you, that every one who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire.

27 Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28 but I say unto you, that every one that looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”

In fact, as difficult as it is to keep the Ten Commandments, they are only the tiniest tip of the iceberg that is God’s standard of holiness.  We are doing Him and those around us a huge disservice if we present these commandments as some sort of divine self-help guide.  The fact is, we cannot help ourselves.  We can only be right with God because Jesus lived the perfect life that we could not, and died to pay the penalty that we could not pay.  Christ earned our salvation, because we could not.  We cannot restore our broken relationship with a holy God by following rules.  The relationship can only be restored by complete faith and trust in the One who never broke any of the ‘rules’.  No exceptions.

So where does that leave the Ten Commandments?  Is the believer in Christ off the hook for trying to live these commandments because He already did?  If you’ve ever been tempted by this thought, check out Paul’s reiteration of the Ten Commandments to the church woven through this passage.  I was once again blown away by the consistency of God’s Word when I heard these verses with fresh ears.  God’s standards have never changed, although on this side of eternity, they seem to get higher all the time as we grow in the knowledge of His holiness.  How amazing that His grace is big enough to cover all of my failings!

On Friday, the girls and I had the extreme pleasure of meeting our dear friends Lindsay and Sarah from Scotland at the airport (well, the drive itself was not such an extreme pleasure, but that’s another story.) Since then, the days have flown by at an alarming rate, and I have scarcely had time to check my e-mail much less write a post. It’s been the most wonderful sort of busy, and we still have three more days of their lovely company before we have to return them to their husbands (thanks, Nigel and Ian for lending them to us!)

On Saturday we went to center city for the day. We wandered around historic Philly and had lunch (cheesesteaks – yum!) at Reading Terminal Market. The weather was very cooperative.
(Bea didn’t enjoy this giant game board as much as the big girls, apparently.)

Then on Sunday we drove out to Lancaster to explore Amish country a bit. Not much of Amish country is open on a Sunday, but we did manage to get Sonic for lunch (Trev’s real reason for wanting to go), and take a covered buggy ride in the rain before getting caught in a thunderstorm in Lascaster town center. The rain was nothing a stop at Barnes & Noble on the way home couldn’t fix.

Today was a little more low key, and included a trip to the mall and my mom’s store, among other things. We all needed a rest after a busy weekend. I had every intention last night and today of telling you about the sermon we heard on Sunday, fulfilling my ‘tagged’ responsibilities (so excited!), sharing my presents from Amanda, and even pontificating on a great HSSSS topic compliments of Lindsay, but sometimes blogging just has to take a back seat to real life for a little while. We are enjoying every minute of having these dear friends staying with us, and I’d best get to bed if I want to enjoy tomorrow, too!