In my spirit:
- I finished 2 Thessalonians and am on to Titus – thinking about how sound doctrine enables us to devote ourselves to good works (versus foolish controversies)
- Learning that “loving my husband and child” doesn’t always mean being touchy-feely. It’s hard work – and can go against the grain.
- Grieving and rejoicing over the death of a man from church, the father of a friend, who welcomed us warmly into their extended clan when we first started attending at First Free. 62 years is such a short time to live, but Stu lived it for God’s glory – and is now standing beholding God’s glory.
In the living room:
- Daniel had arranged for us to have lunch with family friends yesterday – so I spent the morning cleaning the house like a crazy woman. Half hour after the arranged time they texted us to ask if we were still on – come to find out they’d never actually specified whose house we were having lunch at and both sides had assumed they’d be hosting. My meal was cold dishes, so I put my stuff in the fridge and we had dinner at their house. But at least my house is clean. (*Looking around… er, at least my house WAS clean :-P)
- We had some excitement this week when a domestic dispute in the neighborhood turned ugly and police were searching the area for a runaway shooter. Tirzah Mae and I had lots of little talks about what police officers do and about the different units we saw – patrol cars, canine units, CSI.
In the kitchen:
- A gal from church gave us zucchini, so I improvised a one-pot pasta dish with zucchini, tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, peppers, and sausage seasoned with Italian herbs. It was quite good – I’m glad I wrote down what I put into it as I went along :-)
- If you’re like me, you grew up eating grilled cheese made with American cheese (and I loved it, so long as it was accompanied by from-scratch tomato soup). These Caprese Grilled Cheese Sandwiches are a grown-up and oh-so-delicious variation on the theme (no soup required!)
- We have tons of grape juice concentrate left over from past Seders, so I mixed up a can to use for my Jello salad. Have you ever made “homemade” jello with Knox gelatin and fruit juice? You should. All you’ve got to do is sprinkle 1 packet Knox gelatin over 1 cup cold grape juice. Let it sit for a minute to hydrate before adding 1 cup boiling grape juice (I boil it in the microwave in my Pyrex liquid measure). Mix until gelatin is dissolved, then add blueberries, sliced strawberries, and sliced bananas. Refrigerate overnight and you’ve got a delicious treat with lots of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber – and no added sugars.
In the nursery:
- Tirzah Mae has learned to bang. She loves to stand up against the footstool in our living room and bang on it with her hands. It’s great fun!
- We spent an hour or so on the front porch in a tub of water one day this week, and Tirzah Mae just adored splashing and watching the wind blow through the leaves on our trees.
- Sleep has been improving this week overall, thanks to aggressive management
- Tirzah Mae had her first Sunday in the nursery this week (I had to get her used to it since her mama will be teaching Sunday School soon) – and the workers said she did great. Unfortunately, she’s been ridiculously fussy and clingy all afternoon – and only mama (preferably nursing) will do. I’m hoping the clinginess is due to overtiredness or teething and NOT to some sort of after-the-fact separation anxiety.
In the craft room:
- I got nothin’
In the library:
aka “Books added to TBR list”
- The Damerosehay novels by Elizabeth Goudge (added based on Sherry’s Review)
- The Rumpelstiltskin Problem by Vivian Vande Velde (added based on Jaina’s recommendation in response to a comment at her blog)
In the garden:
- We’re eating cucumbers – they’ve been coming one or two at a time until now, but there’s a whole rash of little ones set on now, so I suspect I’ll be ready to make some fresh pickles soon here (instead of just having cucumbers as a part of salads.)
On the land:
- We applied for our construction loan – and now the waiting game is on (*twiddling thumbs*)
On the web:
- 8 Things You Can Do With Your Kids That Don’t Suck – I’ve been enjoying PJ media’s parenting column for the past few weeks – and this list of ideas for playing with your kids seems like a great one to me. (I’m not a huge fan of directed play or of parents inserting themselves into kids’ imaginative play – these ideas let kids’ free play stay as free play, while giving parents special things to do with their kids.)
- He Has to Be Tall – A witty little poem about unreasonable and reasonable items on a single girl’s list of qualifications for a husband.
- Theological Heroes and Villains – “The problem, I am convinced, is that we expect a kind of consistency that is just not realistic for people so deeply stained by sin. We want our heroes and our villains to be monolithic, to play their roles perfectly. But this world is rarely so clean and neat.” Great thoughts.
- Waiting to Pick Your Baby’s Name Raises the Risk for Medical Mistakes – This was an interesting article (catching up from last week) – but I wonder if the headline is misleading. Nobody asked us if we’d had a name picked out for our baby before she was born – and we announced it the moment we knew she was a girl. Even so, Tirzah Mae’s chart read “Garcia, Babygirl” for all 26 days of her hospitalization. (And let me tell you, I’m guessing the chances of there being another baby girl with a last name of Garcia are pretty high!)
I can identify with your comments about love not always being touchy-feely and being hard work. Often it goes directly against the grain of my will at the moment.
Timothy loves banging and anything involving water.