Bliss

Bliss for Tukes... lollipop licks before seven o'clock this morning.

Bliss for me... a surprise trip to New York. {More on that coming soon}.

Bliss for one mod family... reunited at home once again, despite the kitchen being infested with ants!

I've been out of pocket for a few days. {Sorry comment moderation has been so slow}.

I'm busy picking up the pieces on the home front now... and killing ants.

I'll be back soon... after unpacking and laundry, assembling teacher gift baskets, and beating the ants.

See you soon!

Manifest in Flesh

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.

John 1:14

"Behold here a sacred riddle or paradox -- ‘God manifest in the flesh.’ That man should be made in God’s image was a wonder, but that God should be made in man’s image is a greater wonder. That the Ancient of Days should be born, that He who thunders in the heavens should cry in the cradle; that He who rules the stars should suck the breast; that a virgin should conceive; that Christ should be made of a woman, and of that woman which He Himself made; that the branch should bear the vine; that the mother should be younger than the child she bare, and the child in the womb bigger than the mother; that the human nature should not be God, yet one with God."

~Thomas Watson, 1600's

Live Humbly and Appreciatively

"I believe if I were charged with having a goal, it would be to live without fretting -- to live more fully in the moment, not always huffing about as I’ve done in recent years…to live humbly -- and appreciatively -- with whatever God furnishes."

~ Jan Karon, Light From Heaven

God of Heaven and Earth

...for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.
Joshua 2:11

My Crew Chief

Aaron, Susie, Amanda, and Mary Jo,

does this remind you of anyone in particular...

What is it with little boys and wheels?

Have a wonderfully cozy weekend, my friends.

Ours is sure to be full of cars and trucks and things that go!

Jelly Jars Dry in the Sun

Meanwhile, I have gifts to wrap.

Simply Doing Christmas

He spent the morning carefully building four Lego gifts.

There was one for each member of our family, including himself.

He supervised {and helped} as I wrapped and ribboned them according to his directions.

Then, he happily placed them under the Christmas tree.

He did all of this with

such creativity...

such delight...

such simplicity...

and such love.

I admire the way he does Christmas.

This advent season I'll try to follow the example set by my three year old.

Painted Christmas Cookies

After last year's Christmas cookie {and kitchen} besprinkling extravaganza I decided that this year we'd try painting our cookies. Sprinkles, I have decided, make me tired. Perhaps you recall the the scene of disaster fun from last December. If not, here is a reminder...

Oh, it was fun, but there was way to much scooping, shoveling, and vigorous shaking of sprinkles going on. I'm not kidding, I literally swept up dyed sugar crystals for months after that memorable baking day. This year it was sugary paint instead and it was a huge success. We had so. much. fun!

Start with your favorite cut-out cookie recipe and prepare as directed. After the cookies have baked and cooled, mix your paint, err, glaze.


For the glaze:

Stir together 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon corn syrup, 2 tablespoons water, and a splash {1/2 teaspoon, maybe} of almond extract, or whatever flavoring you desire. Divide the mixture into smaller containers and stir in 2-3 drops of food coloring per container making each a different color.

If you have trouble locating some of the gazillion cheap watercolor paintbrushes that you know you own just use clean cotton swabs to apply the glaze, they'll work just as well. Apply the paint glaze to the cool cookies and set aside to dry... you may also add sprinkles to the wet glaze if you desire. {Seeing as I was trying to avoid sprinkles we didn't go there!} Periodically stir the glazes while you work to ensure that the color stays well mixed. After the glazed cookies are dry store them in an airtight container between layers of parchment paper.

I asked the boys if cookie painting or cookie sprinkling is more fun and the unanimous response was cookie painting. I agree! Cookie painting it is; I doubt we'll ever sprinkle again.

Lord of Lords

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords,

the great God, mighty and awesome,

who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.

Deuteronomy 10:17

Give thanks to the Lord of lords:

His love endures forever.

Psalm 136:3

On His robe and on His thigh He has this name written:

King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Revelation 19:16

Dinner and a Movie

Baby, it's cold outside! We expect our first freeze tonight. It was the perfect evening to stay home.

For dinner we tucked into stromboli stuffed with ham, provolone, and spinach. With a name like stromboli there were some among us convinced they wouldn't like it... they ate every crumb. It paired nicely with potato soup and salad greens.

For dessert we polished off the first half dozen of cinnamon rolls intended for tomorrow's breakfast. They were fresh and gooey, who could resist?!

After our supper the professor pulled out the old Bell and Howell Filmosound 16mm projector.


He screened the boys' first showing of...

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss on our living room wall.

Oh the excitement! The boys loved the show...

And the mechanics of the projector!

Yes, cold Friday nights are best for staying home.

The Chaotic Truth

If this photo doesn't hide the truth I don't know what does! Beyond this quiet corner in our living room life has been rather chaotic at our mod'ish house over the past two weeks.

Five days before Thanksgiving we made an impulsive, yet wise, decision to hire Jorge and Jose to gut both of our bathrooms {at the same time} as well as lay new tile in the showers and on the floors. We realized that the extra cost of labor was well worth the time saved considering both bathrooms had two layers of ceramic tile and an obscene amount of concrete to be removed {not to mention the rotten walls}. Our team did not disappoint... they gutted both bathrooms in record time and within a week we had beautifully tiled showers and floors.

But... when you gut two bathrooms at the same time dust and bathroom junk take over the entire house, along with renovation supplies, tools, and Christmas decorations. Even scarier, when you gut two bathrooms at the same time and you only have two bathrooms... well, you end up driving .7 miles down the road to the in-laws' house quite often {especially if you're pregnant}. And, when you gut two bathrooms at the same time just go ahead and anticipate that you'll have some plumbing issues that will undoubtedly prolong the unpleasant situation to, oh say, about thirteen days to be exact because Mike-the-plumber doesn't work as quickly as Jorge and Jose and he will surely have a hard time getting his act together.

Yes, thirteen days with no working bathroom plumbing. Yes, the past two weeks have been crazy. Yes, I reached the point of mini-meltdown... the professor can attest to that. But, I can joyfully report that our bathrooms are quite beautifully {albeit slowly} on the mend and tonight, my friends, I'm thankful for plumbing that functions once again in our little mod'ish house.

Tinkering

It was Saturday morning. The seven year old clearly needed something, anything on which to focus. The professor gave him an old broken vacuum cleaner and told him to take it apart. It took some time but he did it. Every little boy should tinker from time to time.

Bookworms

Short, chilly December days mean bigger stacks of library books.

So far there have been no complaints.

Tukes Makes A Plan

I don't want a Chwismas twee... I want a fur twee {as opposed to the more traditional fir tree}. We can put gumdwops on it and 'den we can bake da Chwismas pudding.

And so we shall!

God, Who Allots My Portion

Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;
You have made my lot secure.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
Psalm 16:5-6