Last weekend was Confirmation Sunday at church. An important spiritual milestone in the Lutheran church, my parents and grandparents made the trip by car from Wisconsin to witness Will's confirmation. As my grandma so eloquently put, "This is my only chance to see a great - grandchild get confirmed since the others are too little and I'm not going to last forever." Only a die-hard Lutheran would have on her bucket list to witness a great-grandchild get confirmed. That's awesome!
Proud Parents!
Will was confirmed with his best friend Nick. They've been friends since we moved here and they were two!
Young men!
Weren't they adorable?!!!
They did a great job memorizing their Scripture answers in front of the church and it was a special moment to be able to commune with Will for the first time. It was also special to have my parents and grandparents share in the Lord's Supper. To have 4 generations of family share in the body and blood of Christ is a true spiritual legacy, one that will continue on for eternity!
Will with his great grandparents
As a gift, a friend of mine had made the cake for both church and our open house later that day. They were so beautiful! She artistically captured Luther's Rose in fondant 3-dimensional. And to sweeten the deal, the icing was buttercream and so stinken good!
After all that stress, the boys loosen up and serve the cake.
That morning I was informed by my son that he had no shirt to wear under his suit that fit him. Well now's a good time to share that information, boy. So in a pinch he wore a shirt of his Dad's which was on the big side but in the end he wore one way too small. Please don't judge me. I had a lot going on (like ballet recitals all weekend!) It was a very special day and we are so proud of him! This isn't the end of his study of Scripture but only the beginning. So exciting! My Mom and Grandma were so super helpful in preparing for the open house! While I was with Zanna at the ballet recitals, Grandma was making potato salad and Mom was chopping up ingredients for a recipe and cleaning. I could not have pulled the weekend off without them! Wayne's sermon was excellent! You can listen to it here. I listened to an Issues, etc podcast the other day about Faith Formation in the Family. Loved the many points that were made in this podcast. I would be interested in Christian families sharing the ways they pass the faith on to the next generation. And finally, one more blast from the past …
Hosanna is taking ballet lessons and it is that time of year. One word. Recital. Several months back, I was informed through email that parents were to take careful measurements of their little ballerinas for the upcoming recital. Although in the past measurements were taken there, this method was to keep distractions from the classroom. So I whipped out my dusty trusty measuring thingy from my sewing kit (once I found it) and followed the directions given. Fast forward and the boxes of costumes have arrived at the dance school. We take Zanna's home and ooh and aah at the adorableness of it and promptly hang it up in her closet to forget about this $75 custom outfit until …. last Friday. Friday was picture day! Yay! Picture day! I had higher expectations this year than I did last year because last year's picture was adorable. Adorable.
The kids had soccer on Friday afternoon and we made our usual rush home for a very efficiently made and eaten meal so the guys could make it to confirmation class at church on time. We wrapped up dinner in record time and Zanna and I headed upstairs to get her all dolled up for this momentous occasion. I decided at the last minute to have her take a quick shower and wash her hair. I knew in my head at the moment I should let it go. The pictures are sure not to pick up the particles of food in her hair left from that mornings waffles. But I couldn't let it go. In the shower she went. At this point she's dripping wet and time is ticking. Now I have to dry her hair and then get her little wisps all tucked into a neat bun on top of her head. This should be no big deal for a professional like me, right? Wrong. I struggle every time with getting her hair up and taming the fly away pieces. Now she's got clean, slippery hair and I would have been better off with the bits of maple syrup from before that at least would have helped the stray hairs from popping up. I have to take out her earrings now. Bad news. One of them seems infected and she hyperventilates as I take it out and she sees blood. I see blood and the room starts to sway. Now she brings up the makeup she said her teacher instructed them to wear. Lipstick, blush and something else she couldn't remember. "Mascara?" I suggest. "Yes!" I can barely get mascara on myself so I'm sure as heck not going to attempt to quickly apply it to my 8 year old. Maybe for the recital. Tights are on. Button down shirt so as not to mess up hair. (this is the most impressing part of my role and forethought in this) At this point I also take a closer look at her costume and items included with it. Headband for the hair. Not sure how to put that on but I'll wait until we see the other little girls. Mysterious bag of clear plastic clips. I have no idea. It is now time for us to be there and we are just leaving the house. I start to sweat. We are LATE. The building is packed like sardines inside and anyone who knows me knows that I start hyperventilating in crowded spaces. We push through people to make our way to the change room when I notice her class is already lined up to go in for the pictures. I panic. Big time. I am now that mother. You know - the one that starts to overreact about everything and yells at her kid to hurry up and starts throwing things and talking very loudly. I whip out that mysterious bag mentioned previously only to realize that they are two clear bra straps. Sure. For my 8 year old. Why didn't I see that coming?! Still not sure what to do with them. Her outfit is now on. Guess what? Too small. Boy, didn't see that coming! But it'll work. All $75 of it. We swim upstream through the crowd into the room where her group is lined up and ready to go. I ask in my very loud voice to no one in particular "How does this go into her hair?" At which point one nice mom instructs me on what to do and since I'm sweating and not thinking straight and this lady seems to know all there is to know about hair bands with flowers I suggest, "Can you just do it? Because I have no idea what you're saying." And she looks at me like I'm insane. Because I am. Zanna starts noticing the makeup of the other little girls. Let's just say the pink lipstick and light blush on my little girl compared to the stage makeup of the others made her look Amish in comparison. (No offence against the Amish. I just don't think they're heavy on the makeup and I couldn't think of anything else.) One girl was sporting cat eyes. I am not kidding. The line of girls starts to move forward and I remember the mysterious bag of bra straps and make the mistake of asking, "What are these for?" The mom who seems to know everything about everything (at least somebody does!) tells me that their teacher doesn't care if they wear the natural strap that the outfit comes with or change them out for the clear straps. I frantically look to see what all the other girls are wearing (because I've never outgrown peer pressure) and make the mistake of deciding in a split second that my little girl must have the clear strap on for her pictures as all but one of the other girls are wearing. Taking the natural strap off is no biggie. But the clear strap must be put on and tightened properly. The material that the clear strap is made of is stretchy and awkward but I am determined through sheer will and stubbornness that it will work. Until I realize that I have somehow managed to mangle said clear strap. I then understood why the outfit came with two straps. For idiots like me. The pictures were taken while I breathed into my paper bag to calm down. We moved back into the change room to remove her costume and noticed we were parked next to cat eyes and her mom who had a fishing tackle box full of makeup. This was serious, people. I was under the impression going into this that this was a beginner ballet program of innocent, adorable 2nd graders. Now I realized this was the big leagues and I am out.of.my.league.
And now we enter the week of technical rehearsal, dress rehearsal and two recital shows. May the force be with us.
Lest you think my only thoughts are theologically related and always deep and thoughtful (yeah, right) - this post is an example of how far from the truth that is!
Remember when I was complaining commenting on how long and miserable this winter has been? Check out the short video below that's taken Canada by storm (get it - by storm?) because it's SO TRUE. Sad to say, couples all over this great country have had similar conversations this winter.
I've traded in my black and brown snow boots for some colourful rain boots. Happy days are here again …
As the snow melts and the smell of spring is in the air, people are bringing out their outdoor furniture in anticipation of days spent lounging on their porch. In reality, I hardly ever see anyone around here lounging on their front porch so maybe it's more for aesthetic purposes than function. Which leads me to one of my biggest pet peeves: any home over say, $300,000 that uses a camping chair or chipped plastic chairs for their front seating. Is my shallowness showing through yet? I mean, come on! You've splurged on the house so do you think you can shoot for some nice wrought iron, wicker or wood? Zanna has established a routine to delay bedtime by a few minutes - depending on her creativity. She does this by asking her Dad (and sometimes me) a question before he leaves the room at night. She's been cut off at one question because she'd go on if we let her. Funniest question yet! Z: Daddy, will Mommy have another baby? W: Well, I seriously doubt it. It would have to be a miracle. Z: Well, Elizabeth had a child in her old age. Why can't Mama? Thanks, Zanna. I'm not even 40 and she's comparing me to Elizabeth? Nice. Have I ever mentioned how much I love mason jars?
Total randomness continues, I know. You don't have to keep reading. Really.
I love these antique blue Ball mason jars found at flea markets. I use them in the bathroom and as vases, etc. Last year Ball came out with an anniversary edition of the blue, but it's a different, brighter blue. I used it at Zanna's birthday party. I purchased lids a few years back that screw on the top and you can put a straw through the hole in the middle. It really doesn't take much to get me excited, apparently.
I use my mason drinking jars with the handles on them for everyday use. I also have two large serving jars with spouts on them that's great for a crowd. I may only use them once or twice a year but when I do - watch out! Especially if it's full of sangria...
But my mason jar excitement hit an all time high when I discovered a new type unique to Canada : the Canadian mason jar!
It has English on one side. And get this. French on the other!!!!
Oh my word. I can not even… I discovered this find the sweetest way ever. A homeschool mom friend of mine gave me a gift bag for American Thanksgiving that included a jar of her family's homemade maple syrup. Does it get more Canadian? Yes! Because it was in this jar! I googled it and realized they're antiques and they haven't been sold in years. Boo - hoo! So this gal goes back to her stash of old jars given to her by a relative and finds me 3 more to give me. I was verklempt.
And while I am highly amused by my Canadian mason jars with English on one side and French on the other, I am not amused when a telemarketer calls my home and starts talking to me in French. I show how unimpressed I am by saying (rather snarly),"I have no idea what you just said." To which he has the nerve to reply, "Well. I was just asking if you spoke French." Clearly I don't. So he HUNG UP! Did he not just call me? In my home? Is this not a bilingual country?
And finally, if you're still with me on this (and I totally get it if I lost you at rain boots), this weekend is the homeschool conference! Yeah! There is nothing more exciting than fingering through possible curriculum on vendors tables, dreaming of the things I could learn - er, teach my kids. Or kid, as the case may be since I am graduating my firstborn - the one I've made all my horrible mistakes on. Now Zanna can rest assured knowing that I've got this whole education thing figured out and she's sure to have a happy and meaningful life now. (sarcasm)
Frankly, I'm just happy to be able to show my face at this conference after totally loosing it in an email to the convention committee. Last fall, I accepted the position of RVHEA conference speaker secretary. Why not? Until I got way in over my head and Lent arrived. Let's just say it wasn't my finest hour and after as politely as I could write to leave me alone because I'm on the edge, I was certain that I'd just put all that work in the conference only to be too ashamed to show up. Instead their reply was understanding, supportive and Godly, promising to pray for me (because clearly I needed it) and to not worry about it - they would pick up my slack. Which is to say that here's another example of why I think some of the nicestpeople around are homeschoolers.
Ever since I was young I thought that the prospect of boarding school was really cool. Being with Christian friends, family and teachers and those who I knew would care about me and my education made me think how cool it would be to go to a boarding school. Just the prospect of being around friends who cared about me and my life and loved God just as much as I did fascinated me. It made me want to go to boarding school. It made me want to go to a school where Christ was the foundation, not some Darwin or other men. I wanted to go to a place where I would not only be taught the basic stuff but about Jesus and what he did for us! I don’t know what I’m going to be when I grow up, but I know that whether I grow up to be a pastor, teacher, staff minister of something totally different, that a Christ centered education is invaluable and that it will profit me all the days of my life. What I wish is that I have the chance to learn God’s word and spread it in whatever means or conditions he sees fit. Life is not a video game. There are consequences to what people do good or bad. What I want is to start life off on the right foot and there is no better way than to start with a good Christian education! A education at this school would encourage me to make good choices and in turn receive good consequences. All this and more starts with a good, rock solid education at Luther Prep School!
*Written by Will for the original purpose of an application for grant money for attending LPS.
How is it possible that we are on the fifth Wednesday of Lent? What just happened?!!! I'm starting to hyperventilate as I consider all the things I have to do before and including Easter Sunday. There are flowers to order, a Seder Supper to plan, cinnamon rolls to be made and eggs to be dyed. I am thankful for these daily readings from "God is on the Cross" and my other readings that keep me focused on the real meaning of the season. I know that those other items will eventually get crossed off my list but I'd rather be grounded in the why and for Who I do it all for. Last week we discussed the purpose of suffering. When we look outside of ourselves, we are more empathetic to others that are suffering and that may need our help and prayers. Along with our desire to help others in need, we are more concerned with their spiritual need! We suffer because we are Christians. This is not a punishment but a means to draw us closer to him, to remind us of our need for him and how he has fulfilled all our needs. Suffering produces endurance, character, hope and patience. And only through being built up in the means of grace can we miraculously rejoice in our sufferings! This week, we discuss the theme "The Cross". And I'd also like to discuss - am I missing something that the reading for this upcoming Sunday is for Palm Sunday and going into Holy Week? Because I know the time has flown but I get another week, right? According to the back of the book, there are 40 devotions that "will guide and inspire readers as they move thematically through the weeks of Lent and Easter." Did they forget that Sundays are not included in the 40 days of Lent? That's what I get for reading a liturgical book not published by CPH or NPH...
