Finding Comfort in Daddy's Arms

Grace and Audrey both came down with really high fevers this week. And since Grace has some other stuff going on (and will most likely have to have surgery to repair an inguinal hernia), Daddy stayed home from work one morning to take her to a doctor's appointment. When they got home, they settled in on the couch for a few moments to rest and I just couldn't resist snapping this photo. Gracie and Daddy have always had a very strong and special bond, and just seeing them together like this warms my heart.

Making Music

We bought our very first piano! Robert and I both love music - as children he studied piano and I played the violin. We always have music playing in our home, and no car ride is complete without world music (usually with a latin or african beat) blaring in our van with three kids waving their hands above their heads in the backseat. At church, the first things the kids do is run to the piano, and whenever the kids hear drums, they get so excited and start bouncing up and down. So we decided to look on Craigslist to see if there were any affordable pianos out there (I've always dreamed of having one in my home!) and to our surprise...there were - many! One of the very first ones that I called on and went to see ended up winning my heart, and Robert was willing to make my dream come true, so we bought it! Our good friend Trevor happens to have a moving truck and dollies, so he met Robert and our other good friend Neal at the piano's former home yesterday to pick it up and bring it home! A piano is probably the heaviest thing 3 guys should ever try to move, but they were troopers and got it here without a scratch and still mostly in tune:) And before the guys were even out the door to head home, the triplets had already found it and were slamming away on the keys making beautiful music. I'm actually thinking about taking lessons myself - maybe you really can teach an old dog (I'll be 28 tomorrow!) new tricks. We'll see!

Sandboxes and Flower Patches

I decided to start a new blog dedicated to documenting the kids' time playing outside! It's called Sandboxes and Flower Patches, and you can view it at: http://sandboxesandflowerpatches.blogspot.com/

I will still be posting on this blog as well - but this one seems to be a more eclectic site with posts on the kids, our travels, cooking, life at home, and all other random things. The new blog will be all kids (outside), all the time:)

Life Interrupted

I'm attending a women's Bible Study right now on the book of Jonah, and I have to admit that when I found out this was to be the topic of the study, my first thought was "Jonah? That seems kind of boring. Isn't it just about a guy who gets caught in a storm and then stuck in the belly of a whale (ahem, big fish) for 3 days? Why would they choose THAT for a 6 week women's Bible study?" But from the very first video we watched (hosted by the vivacious and comically direct Priscilla Shirer) I was hooked. Jonah is about so much more. It's about a man - a prophet nonetheless - who decides that God's plan for his life is an interruption that he'd just rather avoid. And not just avoid - but actively run away from to the farthest place a boat would take him. And then a storm hits (another interruption), and he's found guilty and thrown overboard (interruption), swallowed by a sea creature (minor interruption), and maybe most interestingly of all, deposited right back on the shore of Joppa, not Ninevah where God had wanted to send him, but the very place this whole mess he'd made had started. All that for nothing? Just a big huge interruption? I think not, my friends. As blind as Jonah was to God's reasons for sending him to Ninevah "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, declares the Lord" (Isa 55:8), the very details of his story led to a crew of sailors being saved, the nation of Ninevah being saved, the restoration of Jonah from rebellion into obedience, and a story that made it into the very word of God for millions of people to read, relate to, and be encouraged by! Jonah never could have guessed that his story, full of his own personal disobedience and God's continual "interruptions", could have had an outcome so far-reaching!

What the story keeps asking us to consider is how we view the "interruptions" God puts in our lives. From the big life-changing ones down to the daily irritations. We love to plan, we love to control, and sometimes we just don't do so well when we lose our grip on either one. But look where Jonah's many "interruptions" eventually brought him! I can think of several huge and painful "interruptions" that happened in my life that, at the time, seemed to make no sense. Some of these things are still painful, but I've realized that they have brought me where I am today. Because of these interruptions I have been forced to grow and change and I've definitely had to lean on God. Had I not been so rudely "interrupted" I may have grown stagnant in my own contentment with life. Had I received everything I wanted in the time and place that I had wanted it, I may have missed a true understanding of my need for God and been thoroughly self-satisfied.

A quote from the study guide that helps us see how we define "interruption" is:

"Interruptions only become positive when we consider the person or the circumstance interrupting to be more significant than that which currently occupies our attention"(Shirer 13). An illustration she made that makes this so obvious is the following: if you're just about to sit down to dinner and the phone rings with a pesky telemarketer on the other end, well, that's an interruption. But had the caller on the other end of the line been Publisher's Clearing House telling you that you'd just won a few million dollars, well, suddenly that call isn't so much an "interruption" now, is it? It all depends on what we view as important. If God is truly the most important thing in our life, then any plans he has for us, no matter how different they may be from our own, shouldn't be viewed as an "interruption" of our life, but should be welcomed and celebrated! Granted, this is easier said than done - especially when "interruptions" seem to be cropping up all over the place (like today when Oliver woke up with huge swollen welts on the back of his legs (an eczema flare-up) and I had to get last-minute help with the girls so I could get him to the doctor, or when I got a phone call this evening that our "nanny" who helps twice a week so we can go on a date and to a couples Bible Study was offered a full-time job elsewhere and would no longer be able to help us) but at least with this knowledge we can try to see them for what they really are, not mere interruptions, but invitations to align our wills to God's will and shift our focus from our own very narrow (and, ahem, usually selfish) plan to a plan that is so much bigger, and greater than anything we could ever imagine. Who knows where these "interruptions" will lead us, or what they may set in motion that may have great effect on the lives around us!

"The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and kind in all his deeds" Psalm 145:17

"In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." I Thessalonians 5:18

"I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart." Psalm 40:8

"So Jonah arose and went to Ninevah according to the word of the Lord." Jonah 3:3

Baking Fun and Goodness

Today there was sun, snow, rain, hail, more snow, more hail, and then just cold, damp skies. It felt like the world needed a little bit of homemade bread...or at least I did. I Googled "best easy bread recipes" and found one on Allrecipes.com called Simple Whole Wheat Bread that looked and sounded delicious (how can you go wrong with a recipe that calls for lots of butter and honey?) So right after the kids woke up from their nap we decided to have an afternoon of baking fun! I didn't know if they would be interested or not, but as you'll see...they got quite involved:)

After I mixed the warm water, yeast, honey, and flour together, I let the babies try some honey. Let's just say Oliver licked every spot of honey off of his sticky little hands, and Audrey licked the spoon and somehow got her hands on the measuring cup I had used for the honey and licked that clean too. I think they liked it. Meanwhile, Gracie was eating her chicken and green beans like a good girl:)

As I was mixing the whole wheat flour into my bubbly, gooey dough I realized that making bread is messy business. I forgot to flour my hands before pulling the dough out to knead which made my hands a sticky mess, the countertops were well-floured, and I had a tower of dirty dishes (a tribute to my baking endeavor) in my sink. I secretly hoped it would be phenomenal bread that would take my breath away and make me never want to purchase store-bought bread again as to somehow justify the effort and mess.

While I baked, the little ones decided to pull all of my bakeware out of the drawer beneath the oven and slide them around the hardwood floors running as fast as they could and randomly crashing into things. I wonder if they thought that was what I was doing? Do they equate the word "baking" with loud crashing tin and a huge mess in the kitchen? I guess that's not too far off...

Since the whole process took over 3 hours, I had to put the babies to bed before the loaves came out of the oven. I brushed the tops with butter and was absolutely amazed at how beautiful they all looked! I let them cool for about 7 minutes (I couldn't wait a second longer), turned them out of their pans, cut a slice, and you know what? They were phenomenal. And the first thought that crossed my mind just happened to be how utterly scrumptious my homemade bread was and how I've never tasted anything so warm, chewy, and delicious in my entire life. I won't rule out stale, prepackaged, store-bought bread completely - :) - but I think I just may make bread making a monthly tradition in our home.

Simple Whole Wheat Bread

Time: About 3 hours

Yield: 3 beautiful loaves

Ingredients

• 3 cups warm water
• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup honey
• 5 cups bread flour
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix warm water, yeast, and 1/3 cup honey. Add 5 cups white bread flour, and stir to combine. Let set for 30 minutes, or until big and bubbly.
2. Mix in 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1/3 cup honey, and salt. Stir in 2 cups whole wheat flour. Flour a flat surface and knead with whole wheat flour until not real sticky - just pulling away from the counter, but still sticky to touch. This may take an additional 2 to 4 cups of whole wheat flour. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat the surface of the dough. Cover with a dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled.
3. Punch down, and divide into 3 loaves. Place in greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, and allow to rise until dough has topped the pans by one inch.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes; do not overbake. Lightly brush the tops of loaves with 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine when done to prevent crust from getting hard. Cool completely