Jam and Jelly Progress

I spent a lot of Saturday chopping strawberries and slicing peaches (but not so much that I didn't have time to spend with a friend and attend another friend's birthday party).  The fruit has been sitting in jars in the fridge for the last couple days, macerating in xylitol and vanilla (split beans with the strawberries, homemade extract with the peaches).

I also saved my peach peelings; I boiled them for about a half hour yesterday and then let them steep all night to prepare to make peach jelly.  This morning, I strained out the juice and then squeezed all the peelings in a cloth to get every bit of juice.  I have over a gallon (I think - it's in a big mixing bowl, not in a measuring cup or a pitcher).

After school today, I'll be working on my first few batches of jam.  I'm using small-batch recipes so that I don't feel overwhelmed my first time jam- and jelly-making.  I've never canned before, either, but after seeing some of the pictures on other blogs, I realized that it's not as completely complicated as I thought it would be and that I already have the big equipment.  I did invest in a six-utensil canning set, but that was only about $10.

On my radar:

1. how to make vanilla bean paste
2. how to make cola syrup with xylitol to mix with club soda for a low-cost, sugar-free soda
3. learning about aromatherapy (I'm thinking about studying chemistry with my high schoolers when they start next month as a beginning point)
4. perfecting my sugar-free (almost), grain-free chocolate chip cookie recipe (improved from Alton Brown's recipe and, really, almost there)
5. experimenting more with almond flour, coconut flour, and whey powder as a substitute for wheat flour (trying to adjust Paula Deen's peach cobbler recipe for dessert tonight; also want to work on sandwich wraps, crépes, pancakes and waffles, and English muffins to go with all this jam!)

SDG!

Food Frustrations

One of the big changes that's taken place since I was posting more regularly is that we've gone low-carb. I've eliminated grains, and cut way down on starches and sugar. (A couple of book reviews coming up! And, no, this won't become a low-carb blog.)

I'm feeling so much better than I have in a long, long time. The volcanic acid reflux that was waking me up three or four nights each week disappeared with the grains. My wrist soreness is gone (I had a couple of weird lumps on the insides of my wrists that doctors had no ideas about and was experiencing severe pain when I typed - not so good when one has a deadline and lots of computer work to do to meet said deadline!), and my digestion is greatly improved. I have more energy and it's much easier to stop eating when I'm full (something that was nearly impossible when I was eating grains, wheat to be specific). I haven't had any incidents of hypoglycemia at all. If it's 'time to eat' and there's nothing appropriate around, it's no problem to simply wait until a more opportune moment. I've also found that my previously-thought-untameable sweet tooth has learned to heel - no more cravings for sweets. Even dark chocolates haven't been as appealing as of late.

For the most part, we're eating meat, a good amount of healthy fats, eggs (our newest batch of chickens is beginning to lay!), lots of veggies and salads with feta and olive oil and balsamic vinegar as dressing. Snacks consist of fruit (mostly berries, so far) and almonds (yum!). I'm drinking raw milk, just a little at a time a few times each week, some tea and cold-brewed coffee with a little turbinado and heavy cream, and lots of water. I also splurge every once in awhile with hard cranberry lemonade, hard cider (there's a wonderful, light, hard cider served at our local Irish Pub), or a glass of wine. I'm working to keep fresh bone broth (chicken or beef) on hand, especially when the weather cools down and I'd like something that isn't sweet to warm me up. I wish we could afford more pasture-raised meats, but with the size family we have, that's just not in the cards right now. So we focus on pastured butter

I've started trying to experiment with coconut and almond flours, but I'm not doing too well with them! I've come to the conclusion that it's better not to try to eat low-carb versions of high-carb foods for a couple of reasons. First, low-carb versions of high-carb foods that are processed foods include lots of starches to work toward the same textures. The starches, however, raise blood sugar levels too high for me with my weight-loss goals. Second, the low-carb varieties never taste as good as the real thing and they remind me how much I miss the real thing. This sets up psychological cravings, mostly for bread. (I love bread, but it doesn't love me back!)

But, my family (also doing better with no grains) does appreciate my efforts at the variety, so I'll keep trying. The problem is that I know how wheat flour behaves and how to make it do what I want. I need to find a way to learn how coconut flour and almond meal (and other nut flours and meals) work so I can not only follow others' recipes, but play around with them myself.

More on this as time goes on!

SDG!

Furniture Arranging Philosophy

Since my dear daughter asked, here it is.

I'd rather that my livingroom furniture be arranged to promote conversation and intimacy than to have everything focused on the television set.  I like things somewhat balanced, too.  And I appreciate being able to see my baseboards occasionally (otherwise the room feels cluttered - can you hear my daughter laughing as she reads this?).  

Before Christmas, I came home from our history/humanities discussion group to find the furniture had been rearranged to make room for the Christmas tree {shock!}.  The chairs, couch, and settle were arranged in a way that made conversation difficult and uncomfortable.  One had to strain to see others' faces and seating was pretty spread out.  I felt unsettled when we'd try to have any kind of conversation, but the television and the tree were visible from every seat.

We recently rearranged things and I like it so much better.  Every seat looks at another seat and faces are easy to see.  We're having much better economics and logic discussions and I'm getting the urge to read another book out loud to the kidlings.  We shift the settle when we watch a movie, but that means we must be more intentional about switching the television on, so that's a benefit.  (Not that we watch a lot of broadcast television (hardly any actually), but we were tending to turn on the Roku box too often.)

SDG!

Socialized Medicine: Disaster or Opportunity?

The recently-passed pork package 'Stimulus bill' contained several provisions to start us on the road toward socialized medicine. As wrong as I think this is on a philosophical and Constitutional level, our family still has to deal with the fall-out of this decision.

Caring for the sick is a mandate from Christ to his people. Up until the 20th Century, life spans were short and hard, filled with pain and suffering.

As the church matured, caring for the sick became an important focus of ministry. According to Wikipedia:

The adoption of Christianity as the state religion of the [Roman] empire drove an expansion of the provision of care. The First Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. urged the Church to provide for the poor, sick, widows, and strangers. It ordered the construction of a hospital in every cathedral town. Among the earliest were those built by the physician Saint Sampson in Constantinople and by Basil, bishop of Caesarea. The latter was attached to a monastery and provided lodgings for poor and travelers, as well as treating the sick and infirm. There was a separate section for lepers.

Health care, in the context of the Christian church, was viewed as an opportunity for ministry.  Just as we will always have the poor with us, so we will always have the sick with us, simply because we live in a fallen world.  This attitude, that caring for the sick is a ministry, continued on for most of history.  Think about the country doctor who would deliver a baby in exchange for a couple of chickens.  He lived among those he ministered to and, even if he didn't become rich, was held in high esteem by the community.  His care wasn't just technical; it was ministry, based on love and compassion.  (edit: A friend told me Sunday evening that he knew doctors who worked like this up to the 1980's.)

Then someone, somewhere, suggested that, if we wanted more doctors of better quality, we should pay them more and medical care became a business. This lead to people entering the medical profession for the money, not for the sake of ministry and compassion.  Doctors became businessmen more than ministers.  (Do I have to say it?  Okay.  Not all doctors are in it for the money - I know those who aren't - I'm speaking in general terms.)

This new attitude brings us to our current situation.  Health care is big business.  But it's not really a free market.  Because of tax laws that don't tax health insurance benefits, to save money and attract high-quality employees, employers began offering health insurance as an extra benefit.  However, those who were covered forgot that their health benefits were part of their pay, earned just as their paychecks are earned.  Because costs of health-care weren't coming directly from their own pockets, they stopped comparison shopping and considering if certain tests and procedures were truly necessary and beneficial.  We haven't had a free market in health care.  (There are exceptions in certain specialties that aren't covered by insurance, such as cosmetic surgery, and the free market has worked well, encouraging competition, comparison shopping, dropping prices, and higher quality.  No, I'm not planning on cosmetic surgery - it's simply an interesting microcosm of what the free market could do for medicine in general, if it were given a chance, although it wouldn't solve every problem (more below).)

With the nationalization of health care, rationing will be the order of the day.  The first thing done was to create a national committee to oversee health care (signed into law today in Denver).  You may pay for a procedure or a medicine (either out of your own pocket or through your insurance company), but this committee can and will call your doctor and tell him not to do the procedure or to stop the medication, all in the name of cutting costs.  Doctors who try to buck the system will be fined and fined heavily.  They won't be able to do what you and the doctor together think is best, but will have to abide by decisions of an unelected (and thus unaccountable) bureaucrat in Washington.

Nationalized medicine is a very bad thing, but it could turn out to be a golden opportunity for the church.  The church must step back in and care for the sick as a ministry.  Families should be prepared to care for their own.  When there is no family available, or if the family is unable to care fully for their own, then the church should step in to help.  At this point, we won't be able to offer medications (there's even a drive to make medicinal herbs available by prescription only), but we can offer comfort, compassion, nourishment for body and soul, a human touch, and love.  These are vital components of caring for the sick that have been largely lost in the rush to make it a business instead of a ministry, components that the family and the church can and must offer.

We will be learning how to care well for someone who is sick: how to change bedsheets while someone is in the bed, how to avoid bed sores, how to feed the sick so as to help and comfort them, possibly light massage to help ease aching muscles.  I'm going to work more on my kids' ability to read aloud well, in preparation for caring for someone who needs human companionship, to hear a human voice, yet who might not be up to conversing.

And yes, I've got some selfish motivations here.  As cost becomes everything, euthanasia will grow, not all of it voluntary (do a little research on euthanasia in the Netherlands for a peek at where we're headed).  My kids have assured me that I won't be left to the vicissitudes of a bureaucrat's arbitrary decisions regarding whether I live or die if I ever become simply a 'worthless eater'.  They plan to care for me at home out of appreciation for my work in caring for, educating, and raising them.  Now that's a health care system I can believe in.

SDG!

Vigilance

'The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.'  

~Thomas Jefferson

While I don't often write about history, politics, economics, demographics, or current events, I am intensely interested in them.  There are much better-informed and more logically and eloquently-written sources for this type information and philosophy than I could be, so I won't try to fill a niche that's already being well-filled.  However, I will be writing about different policies that will affect us here at home and how we're planning to respond to them. 

As we see by the signs that a storm is coming and prepare accordingly, so we must keep an eye on our world, not so that we become frightened (after all, our trust is in the Lord and his loving sovereignty), but so that we can prepare.  Better to keep watch and prepare ahead of time when possible than to scramble and try to figure out what's happening when the winds blow, lightning strikes, and hail pummels you.

In light of our current president's economic views and his emulation of FDR (whose economic policies caused the depression of the 1930's to become great), our household is preparing for very hard times.  We're watching not only current policies, but demographic trends.  As we move through the next few decades, the Baby Boom will retire and, as is usual during that season of life, will spend less, which will lead to an almost permanent drop in the stock market as consumer markets are significantly reduced.  Life for our children and grandchildren will be very different from what we've know to this point.

So, what changes are we making in the day-to-day running of our household?

• We're cooking more from scratch.  (This includes the yogurt recipe previously posted, and making granola instead of purchasing boxed cereal - recipe coming soon! - baking more bread, making mayonnaise, and I've gotten our sprouts grower out again.) 
  
• We're working to get the garden to produce again.  (We started a compost bin this weekend - Arizona soil isn't so good and we'd rather use our own free scraps and yard waste than purchase compost.)
  
• We're sewing more of our own clothes (with fabric purchased at low prices on sale).  
  
• I'm going to study pattern-making to give us more flexibility in clothing design and save money on expensive patterns.  
  
• We've been using fountain pens for years, but we'll be purchasing more for the whole family (a bottle of ink can last for years and costs less than other pens which don't last as long).  
  
• We're cutting back where we can in order to purchase tools that will make our family more productive and less dependent on public policy (for example: a knitting machine, a clothes line, wood-working tools).
  
• We're learning new skills.  (The girls are learning to crochet; I'm re-learning to knit; I'm teaching the girls to sew; we hope to learn to embroider and draw and even paint; as well as the above-mentioned pattern-drafting, and Drew is teaching the boys wood-working skills.)
  
• We made many of our Christmas presents this year and will continue doing that for birthdays.
  
• Drew and I are going out for dessert for our date night, instead of eating dinner out.  We're also going to the movies less often.

We're not doing these things only for our family, but we hope that our preparation and work will put us into a position to minister to and help others.  Here's one example:

The new administration is planning to put into effect an energy policy called 'Cap and Trade'.  This will require local power companies to produce less electricity.  Our tax dollars will then be given to the electric companies so that they don't see a loss of revenue.  This will give us rolling blackouts and brownouts along with higher taxes.  We are working to save for solar power for our home.  When the rest of the neighborhood is sitting in the dark, we'll have light.  What an opportunity to invite our neighbors in, to share what we have, building relationships with them, and possibly having an opportunity to share the gospel.

The coming times will be challenging, but we hope to rise to the challenge in a joyful and faithful manner.

SDG!

Marley and Me

Drew and I went to the theater Friday evening, the first time in several weeks as getting ready for Christmas and a bad cold on my part kept us away.

There were quite a few films that looked interesting, but the timing worked out for Marley and Me, based on John Grogan's book by the same name.

Of all the ones we were thinking about, this one had the least to attract me. I've never been a big fan of either of the leads and I don't particularly like dogs. (Before I get hate emails, I'll state in my defense that I'm very allergic and therefore I'm not around animals much at all. And, I'm sure because of the allergies, I'm a magnet whenever I am in the presence of an animal; that's made me a bit stand-offish. Okay, onto the film.)

When the movie started, I wasn't really impressed with either 'John' or 'Jenny'. She was the head of the family and he passively followed. He wasn't willing to talk to her about important issues, for example, having a baby. Instead, he bought her a dog (our eponymous hero) to quiet her biological clock for a few years because he wasn't ready for fatherhood. However, as the story spun itself out, they both grew up. By the end, I was cheering for them. This is a true love story, the story of a marriage, the good and the ugly. No glossing over the difficult parts, but no sentimental nonsense, either.

There were some interesting metaphors, but nothing that an intelligent viewer wouldn't catch. I won't say more, because I don't want to spoil it, but I do recommend it and would like to see it again in theaters (unusual for me).

SDG!

The Amazing Race

The Amazing Race is one of those television shows that the actors' unions hate because it uses real people instead of employing actors.  I'm not a big fan of reality television, but we watched this the other day, for the first time, and I found it fascinating to watch the different teams and their greatly different relationships.

One team, 'The Frat Boys', were an object lesson in how not to work toward a goal with someone else.  I wanted to slap one of them upside the head.  All he did was to complain, complain, and complain some more, especially when his partner tried to push him to greater heights.  His self-centeredness blazed out in neon color.  His partner did his best to encourage him to give of himself, but he would have none of it.  He had entered this contest to try to win a million dollars, but viewed the challenges as inconveniences and burdens. He wasn't focused on the goal, but was distracted by how he felt and 'how a team is supposed to work' - meaning how a team is supposed to feel and that he wasn't feeling the right way (obviously his partner's fault).  

Another team stood out in sharp contrast.  A brother and sister team who were single-minded in pursuing their goal.  When one sacrificed, the other was full of encouragement and willingness to sacrifice alongside.  They didn't make excuses, but worked shoulder-to-shoulder to achieve their goal.  They were truly comrades in arms, pushing each other on toward the goal.  Because they weren't fixating on feeling like a team, they achieved the unity and likemindedness that the other team only dreamed of.

The second team 'ran toward the roar' of battle.  Instead of holding back, hesitating, allowing themselves to become distracted by irrelevancies, they pressed on boldly.  

Oh, and by the way, they won that leg of the race.

SDG!

The Bird in the Tree

Finished this and it was wonderful!  It's the story of Lucilla Elliot and her home of Damerosehay, a refuge and sanctuary for her family, especially her grandchildren.  Her grandson David is about to do something that will tear the family apart for good.  Can she do anything about this?  What allies can she draw upon?  Will her efforts to create a lasting family legacy be brought to naught?

In addition to the deeply-written characters (the house is almost a character in its own right), Elizabeth Goudge lays bare the realities of human nature and of redemption, of duty and its close relationship to love.

This is one of those books that inspire me to work harder in my home for the sake of my husband and our children to make our home the kind of sanctuary Damerosehay is to the Elliot clan.  I fail at this far more often than I like to admit, but confession is the first step of repentance.

---

However, if you want to read this (and I highly recommend that you do), look for a used copy.   The new edition I purchased is missing a couple of pages of text.  Since every page in this book is integral to the whole, I missed some important bits.  I'm grateful to the friend who typed out and emailed me the two pages that were missing.  I'm going to format them so I can stick them into my copy to have when I re-read it.  

Three times in the last month, I wrote to the publisher about this problem (and other, serious problems in another of their books that I'll post about soon), but haven't heard back.  This publisher is working to re-publish all of Elizabeth Goudge's books, which is a worthy endeavor, but until it's done well, I can't recommend them.

SDG!

Demographic Winter

Chilling.  Sobering.  Not surprising.

Opportunity for Christians.

God is sovereign.

I'm ordering this DVD today.

SDG.

Pride & Prejudice Ball Photos

Photos from the Pride and Prejudice Ball

Facebook

Since Anna now lives in another state, I decided to join Facebook.  Now I'm completely befuddled and confused.  Can anyone help?

Breakfast and a Wedding Anecdote

For breakfast this morning:

We made a crustless quiche, adapted from our CIA Breakfasts & Brunchescookbook. I added sautéed leeks, breakfast sausage, green peppers, and grated havarti cheese, with a touch each of paprika, parsley, and sage. I also quadrupled the egg/cream mixture and split it into two medium-sized baking stones (one round and one square, both about 8 or 9"). I couldn't have done it without help from the kids - chopping, mixing, measuring, grating. I can't wait until it comes out of the oven in half an hour!

I love this idea, because I can add different fillings, cheeses, herbs, and spices and have some variety to our morning eggs - ooo, I just had a great idea - dollops of ricotta in the next one!
~~~~~
Anna and Drew were playing around with having the ceremony outside on the patio at the Red Mountain Multi-Generational Center, so they moved the wedding from 9:30 to 9:00 to try to avoid the heat of the day. They ended up deciding that it was still too hot, so the wedding was inside. But they left the time at 9:00. Well, we had to arrive for photos outside at the park next door at about 6:00 - yes, that's a.m., Dear Readers! We ended up being about an hour late, but the building wasn't open, yet. Neither were the public restrooms at the park. None of us had worn our dresses because silk wrinkles so badly, and Anna's dress, while polyester, wouldn't have looked its best.

But, how to get dressed? Charissa, our intrepid photographer, was about to lose it. Not only had we lost an hour, but we couldn't get everyone dressed! Mama to the rescue! We put the gown on Anna over her clothes. Once it covered her, she undressed underneath it, we zipped her up, and, voilá, a bride! Those of us who hadn't gotten dressed in one of the cars in the parking lot (I couldn't even think about the contortions that would involve!), did the same. Then, when the rest of my girls arrived, we performed Act II, but with a circle of bridesmaids and other female helpers standing as a wall of protection.

We have one snapshot posted, courtesy of Drew the Greater's boss, who has known Anna since we moved here when she was 8 months old.  Click on the 'My Photos' link in the sidebar.
~~~~~
Oh … breakfast turned out wonderfully!

SDG!

Life Continues

The wedding was beautiful!  Anna was a stunning bride.  There were a few stories that made the day charming (not too embarrassing!), which I'll relate later.

I finished my dress at 2:00 on Saturday morning.  Then I had to get up at 4:00 on Saturday morning to get ready.  (Our new family rule: no weddings before 11:00 a.m.)

Drew and Anna are honeymooning at a timeshare at Big Bear Lake in California.  (I can finally let that cat out of the bag!)

We're getting back into a normal routine; or at least, we're trying to figure out what normal is now.  I scaled back the younger kids' school work this week and next week is a planned Sabbath week.  Since we started so early in August, I can take it easy this week and not feel like we'll be working all next summer to catch up.  

I'm still pretty tired, but I don't want to take afternoon naps and then not be able to sleep at night, thereby throwing off my circadian rhythms.  So it's early to bed, not so early to rise for awhile until I regroup.

Catching up on cooking, cleaning, and organizing the house.  And planning my next sewing projects: the Hawaiian shirt Drew wanted for his birthday in June (he's so patient!); a couple of cotton day dresses from Eliza and Melody's wedding dress patterns; a lambswool and cashmere blend, navy blue, winter shawl (beautiful and warm!); a reversible brown with polka dots wool jacket with removable long sleeves; jammies; a regency gown for Judith (which she'll help make - home ec. dontcha know?); and maybe one for me, too!  (The Pride and Prejudice Ball is coming up soon! - ignore the weird dimensions on the website - it's pretty cool even with the weirdness!)

I posted a link in the sidebar to my formerly called .mac, now MobileMe (hate that name! - how narcissistic can I get?) Photo Gallery.  I posted some of my rose and miscellaneous flower photos.  I'll let you know when I've got wedding pictures posted.

I guess that's it for now.  I've got some boxes to sort through.

SDG!

Kitchen Books

'Eating is not merely a material pleasure. Eating well gives a spectacular joy to life and contributes immensely to goodwill and happy companionship It is of great importance to the morale.'
~Elsa Schiaparelli

Drew finished painting the kitchen/dining room this weekend and he installed about 75% of the chair rail. It looks lovely! (pictures coming soon...)

I have a large hutch, which holds my china, nice wine glasses, special plates and trays, a few statues and one of my china tea pots, and lots of those odds and ends that make life beautiful, but that aren't all needed everyday.

I have a smaller hutch that I use for, what else? Books!

We emptied both hutches so we could pull them away from the walls to paint. I've got the big hutch put back together (and rearranged), and am working on the smaller one. I have several categories of books in the kitchen, some of which are about to find a new home, but I thought I'd list some of my favorite books in each.

'Where the guests at a gathering are well-acquainted, they eat 20% more than they otherwise would.'
~Edgar Watson Howe

Cooking

The Professional Chef: This is the text book of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). Ours is the 7th edition from 2002. It covers just about anything you can think of, with detailed instructions and pictures of each step. This is the book for those who want to learn the techniques of great chefs.

Herbs & Spices: The Cook's Reference, a DK book: Like all DK books, the photography in this one is superb - two-page spreads of any and every herb and spice you can think of and many you can't. It includes the history of each spice, recipes, foods it goes well with, buying and storing tips, etc. It inspires me every time I browse through it - a bookish food muse.

Culinary Artistry, by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page: This isn't so much a cookbook, but a book about food. It includes a few recipes, but is really more about the creativity of composing your own recipes and dishes. Much of the book's value comes from the lists of foods that go well together. This is another of my bookish food muses.

The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook: From the folks who bring us 'Cook's Illustrated Magazine'. I love this book not just for the tried and tested recipes, but also for the plentiful tips in each chapter. I must admit that as much as I love the recipes in 'Cook's Illustrated', I am as fascinated by the articles describing how each recipe was developed and the science behind the different techniques and methods.

I'm Just Here For the Food, Version 2.0, by Alton Brown: His down-to-earth style and clear explanations make this a gem! Also includes lots of sciency bits about how food works.

Joie de Vivre: Simple French Style for Everyday Living , par Robert Arbor: Not so much a cookbook as a memoir of Arbor's childhood in France. The recipes are simple, yet elegant. I firmly believe that we Americans eat much too much pre-prepared food, with too many chemicals and additives; I call it 'pseudo-food'. Arbor (another bookish kitchen muse) inspires me to approach food from a different direction and perspective; slower and more thoughtful, yet delicious and family-centered.

'From morning till night, sounds drift from the kitchen, most of them familiar and comforting…On days when warmth is the most important need of the human heart, the kitchen is the place you can find it; it dries the wet sock, it cools the hot little brain.'
~E.B. White

Baking

Dessert Circus at Home: Fun, Fanciful, And Easy To Make Desserts, by Jacques Torres: Yum! I've only made a few of these amazing desserts, but really want to make time to bake more with the kids and this will be one of my sources for the sweet stuff! The only thing is some of his ingredients are a tad hard to find. But that's what online shopping is for!

Williams Sonoma Kids Baking, by Abigail Johnson: I forgot I had this until I pulled it off the shelf last Friday. It's going to be shelved in an easily accessible place for use with the little ones.

The American Boulangerie, by Pascal Rigo: Subtitled French Pastries and Breads for the Home Kitchen, this is one I really knead to get back into. I used to make all our own bread. But the family got too big for me to keep up. I don't know that I want to go back to doing all our baking myself, but I do love to bake bread. Lots of comfort food here.

'In living, and moving and having something of our being in a home culture, even with its all-too-human fuss and bother, if we but smuggle in something of the simple cargo--sturdy, comfortable furniture, fresh food, home cooked meals, good wine, one set of fine china for special meals, paintings and ancestral portraits on the wall, an old upright piano, acoustic guitar, any non-electric instrument, a time set apart to read aloud before prayers and bedtime--if we but make a welcome hearth for the songs of the Muses, we too will know that even on this earth, now and again, a courage will visit among us in those comforting, beautiful reflections of the permanent things, quite surprising yet strangely familiar for us who are passing to and fro in these playful shadows, and we will begin to see as Odysseus recognized, "something very much like perfection.'
~James S. Taylor

SDG!

Wedding Progress

I can't reveal details (they're not mine to reveal), but I can post progress.

Colors have been chosen, as have attendants.

Anna and Drew are still working on a venue and a date. Our church is very busy in September and we're still not sure if they can shoehorn in another wedding. Anna's birthday is in October and she doesn't want her birthday and her anniversary to be that close together. They both think that November is too long to wait.

Anna's friend is going to coordinate the wedding.

Another friend has a business designing invitations, and a friend of Drew's mom is going to print the invitations, the wedding programs, and provide reception favors.

They're setting up an informational website that will also act as their clearing house for R.S.V.P.'s.

We've begun looking at wedding gowns online, just to get ideas.
~~~~~
I was in Barnes and Noble the other night and, on a lark, stopped to look at the wedding planners. Oh, my. The things that our culture thinks are necessary for a wedding are mind-blowing. The lists I looked at included, among other things and with no indication that they might be optional, a professional make-up artist, a professional hair stylist, manicures and pedicures for the entire bridal party, and a professional calligrapher to address the invitations.

However, in the books I browsed through, there was no mention of pre-marital counselling. We as a culture seem to put too much emphasis on making the wedding a big deal, and not nearly enough on making the marriage a big deal. I'm thankful the kids aren't just thinking of the big day, but beyond.

SDG!

Engage…

He's done it! Drew proposed to Anna last night and she joyfully agreed to be his wife!

He spent yesterday setting up a scavenger hunt for her. She started here when she arrived home from work. He had left a package with a new dress, shoes, her favorite scent, a beautiful necklace and earrings that coordinated with the shoes and dress, a letter, and a hint. She was in a bit of shock. She began to suspect what he was up to, but wouldn't let herself go down that path because if he wasn't going to propose last night, she didn't want to disappointed in whatever he was doing.

Then she came to us and we spent some time encouraging her with the evidence of God's grace that we've been seeing in her life and we prayed for her. Then we gave her a yellow rose and another card that contained a clue about where she would be going next.

She had five other stops, where her friends, care group leaders, and pastors encouraged her and spoke about the Lord's work in her and in Drew. They each also gave her a rose and a letter from Drew.

Her last stop was at Tempe Town Lake where Drew was waiting nervously for her. He met her with another six roses to make a dozen and shared with her how thankful he was for what the Lord had done for the two of them. Then he dropped to one knee and asked if she would be willing to be his wife. She dropped to two knees and said, 'Yes, yes, yes!!!'

Then they came to a friend's house where about 40 of us were waiting to celebrate with them. What joy! I was asked a few times how I was feeling, with the expectation that I must be weepy and view this as bittersweet, but I'm not and I don't. We've been working to prepare her for this for over 21 years. How can it be bittersweet when the Lord answers our prayers for her? I feel nothing but joy and gratitude at the blessing that young Drew is to Anna.

So, now we move into wedding planning mode. Since I write about what I'm thinking about and what I'm doing and what the kids are doing, expect to see wedding musings and progress reports.

I think it's time to go watch Father of the Bride again!

SDG!

Sewing!

I've been sewing lately! I gave it up about six years ago - I couldn't make anything fit and my cheap sewing machine had had it. I was able to purchase a new machine recently (Viking's Scandinavia 400, which is the latest incarnation of the belovèd Rose and which soon will no longer be made in Sweden). It sews and embroiders!

I also still have the wonderful black Singer Model 301 my dmil gave me when we moved to Arizona 21 years ago and it still works great! The small Kenmore machine we bought Judith for Christmas isn't working. It would cost as much to fix it as it originally cost, so instead we bought the girls a low-end Singer. It has lots more stitches than the Kenmore, but not as much precision as the Scandinavia in being able to recreate specific combinations of stitch-length and width. Fortunately, all the specialty presser feet that I used with the old Brother machine fit on the new Singer, expanding its capabilities quite a bit. It'll be a good learning machine, along with the 301.

I'll try to load pictures of everything listed, but for now, descriptions will have to do. Here's what I've been able to complete so far:

1. A bathrobe, originally meant for sale on Etsy, but instead given to Melody and Eliza's friend, Rylie, for her 8th birthday. She just loved it - pale pink with darker pink roses and buds, coordinating pink facings (on the outside) that I ran through a couple of the fancy stitches on my machine.

2. A bathrobe for Melody - pink with a musical score printed all over it. Perfect for this little girl.

3. A purse, complete with specially-measured, inside pockets for the items I carry most.

4. A beautiful, small backpack that I'm looking forward to filling with books and journals!

5. I finished my part of Eliza's blue dolphin bathrobe - she sewed a few of the easier seams; we had to put the foot pedal on a thick book so she could reach it! She's been begging me to teach her to hand sew and so she's hemming the sleeves by hand. She's doing an excellent job for an almost 7 yo who hasn't really sewn before. She wore out about 3/4 through the first sleeve and asked me to finish it, but I'm not going to. I'm not so mean as to make her do it all in one sitting, but I am mean enough to make her complete the job she started. Besides, it gets easier with practice.

I'm currently working on a blouse that I hope to get done by Gileskirk on Friday, and a set of Regency short stays from Sensibility Patterns. I'm almost out of muslin, but once I get some more we'll begin working on dresses for everyone for Jared's graduation.

Judith, Rebekah, and Benjamin are also making summer bathrobes (Ben wanted a camo robe and is going to change the pocket style so it's more manly), but haven't been very diligent and so they're not finished yet, but I hope to get on them about it this afternoon.

I've been learning lots and will post a list of the books that have been most helpful.

Well, it's time to go exercise!

SDG!

Catching Up…Nah

Okay, I know it's been six weeks since I've posted. Life has been going by at light speed. I've sat down a few times and tried to write a quick summary, but don't have time to write something short and too much is going on. I'll try to post about things as I have time, but no promises.

So, here's a list of what we've got going on for the rest of the month:

* Jared's high school commencement, complete with out-of-town guests (but not houseguests) and a celebratory dinner the evening after the state homeschool graduation ceremony

* Printing, addressing, and mailing the announcements for said graduate - I'll buy the paper this afternoon

* My mom is moving across the country diagonally, from northeast to southwest, to be closer to us

* My uncle is driving out with her, so I get to spend some time with him

* Anna leaves soon for New Attitude

* Anna's beau (Drew, the Lesser - my Drew is 'the Greater') will be in town the week before and the week after NA

* Still making arrangements for CiRCE in July (waiting for my roommate to make her final arrangements first as she is coming from much farther away and has some issues that need to be taken care of first)

* Finishing up our humanities discussion group for the year with a lunch out to celebrate a great year of learning

* A luncheon for the ladies at church that I'd hoped to finish sewing a new dress for, but alas, it won't even be started until after the luncheon

* Lots of sewing projects, a couple of which are almost finished (I'll try to post pictures when they're done)

* Beginning to teach Judith, Rebekah, Melody, Elizabeth, and Benjamin to sew (Benjamin asked so he could make a camo bathrobe)

* Curriculum research for next year's history, French, and possibly adding in some classes to our humanities co-op

Add to all that dentist appointments (okay, one recent thing is I had a tooth pulled and the dental implant process started - I'll have my smile back, soon!), still pushing through school, and small things like cooking and laundry and maybe you'll understand.

I 'met' one of my readers on an online sewing forum recently. She recognized me and introduced herself. I must admit she was a prompt for this post.

Well, the oral surgeon is waiting. And then to the paper store, and then the fabric store for a couple of buckles I need for a purse/backpack I've almost finished.

SDG!

Baby Love

I went to a baby shower on Saturday and got to see my friend Mrs. Miller and meet baby Evangeline (what a cutie!). While there, I got to spend time with another young married gal from our church, Stephanie. She has been blogging about her baby research and questions as she and her husband prepare to start their family. One of her posts got me thinking.

Her question was:

Does having your first child change the way you view love? Do you feel like you have a greater capacity for love/compassion/self-sacrifice since becoming a parent? Or is all that the stuff of myth?

My initial response (which will show up in the post's comments when Stephanie has time to approve it - her blog has been raided by spammers, so she's having to moderate things more closely) was that the fact of having a baby certainly didn't make me less of a sinner than before I had a baby (any of them), but in the long run, the Lord has certainly used my children in the process of sanctification to mature me and teach me much about his love, which has indeed increased my capacity to love.

However, I've continued to mull this over and don't want to clog up her blog with a comment that's longer than her original post. That's why I have a blog of my own!

I think this thought that having a baby dramatically changes who you are is based on a Romantic (with a capital 'R') view of the world. Not 'romantic' meaning an ooey-gooey love story in which everyone lives happily ever after, but 'Romantic' as in the nineteenth century philosophical movement that was an over-reaction to the rationalism of the Enlightenment. The Romantic philosophers distrusted reason, preferring to rely upon their emotions for guidance and to lead them to truth. This meant that if they felt more loving, they were indeed more capable of love. This idea denies the bad news of the gospel - that we are sinners who cannot choose in our own strength to do right - and denies the good news of the gospel - that the gospel expressed through Christ crucified and raised again for our sins is the power of God at work in us. Looking through the lens of a Christian Romanticism, our emotions become the means of our sanctification and we must manufacture the right emotions so that we'll be changed.

While I don't think anything short of the work of God through the gospel of Jesus Christ can truly change us, the Lord does use earthly means, and one of those means is motherhood. Our children are most definitely ingredients in the slow crucible of our sanctification, but they are not a lightning bolt that changes everything in the blink of an eye (that's still to come!). I am also not saying that a new baby doesn't dramatically change one's life (which should go without saying, but I'm saying it anyway because I don't want to be misunderstood). Of course having a baby changes life in dramatic ways, but these changes don't necessarily equate to instant sanctification.

As Christ changes us into his image, those changes will affect our emotions. Our emotions, feelings, and sentiments will respond to the work of Christ. However, I see those changed emotions merely as a response to rather than a cause of our sanctification.

I have more thoughts jumpled up with this that I'm working to sort out, but they're best saved for another post.

SDG!

Not a Homeschooling Family

I have a confession to make. This may shock those of you who think otherwise, but {drum roll, please} we are not a homeschooling family.

We are a Christian family who homeschools. There is a vast chasm of difference between the two.

A homeschooling family finds their identity in homeschooling. Thus, homeschooling influences and overshadows almost every decision, whom they develop relationships with, whom they invite into their home, which church they join, which businesses they patronize. Not only do they find their identity in homeschooling, but they sort and categorize others into three categories: those who homeschool, those who support it but who never had the opportunity to do so (either because they have no children or because their children were of school age before homeschooling was an option), and those who place their children in an institutional school. Those in this last category are sub-divided yet again between government schools and private schools.

However, a Christian family who homeschools finds their identity in Christ, not in any choice they may make, no matter how important. This family also understands that there are really only two categories of people in the world: sinners and sinners who have been saved by grace. And that those in the first category may move into the second whenever the Lord decides to regenerate their hearts, and that their response to sinners should be modeled on Christ's, which means to love them - for while we were yet sinners Christ showed his love for us in living and dying for us. So Christian families who homeschool open themselves to relationships with whomever the Lord sends into their lives, even non-homeschooling unbelievers {gasp!}.

Homeschooling families view education in fairly narrow terms with mom and dad (mostly mom) doing most of the teaching, or it doesn't count as homeschooling. However, Christian families who homeschool know that it's not about mom and dad doing it all, rather it's about finding the best option for each child in each discipline, subject, or skill, yet staying involved and learning along with their children in the midst of each option. This might mean that a child learns mostly through online classes and tutors, with parents providing guidance and accountability, discussing the material covered in class as well as the events and conversations that take place, helping their students to progress in a mature and godly manner.

And, no, this isn't a prelude to an announcement that we're placing our children in school. Our commitment to and convictions about homeschooling are stronger than ever. It's that I don't think the insularity of some homeschooling families is biblical. We are called to be in the world, even though we aren't to find our identity, virtues, or worldview there.

I'm not sure that I have much more of a point, other than to lay this out for your consideration. This realization has taken me many years to come to, but this realization has given me liberty in our homeschooling and in our relationships.

SDG!