Thanksgiving Celebrations

On the last day of school before Thanksgiving break, I helped out in my daughter's class.  I just love her teacher and enjoyed the opportunity to get to know the other students better.  They made Thankful pumpkins and did a Thanksgiving related research project.

Our son's class made Thanksgiving place mats, place cards, cute turkeys, thankful mobiles and other little crafts.

The school held a fabulous Thanksgiving feast that day followed by a praise and worship assembly.

Our Thanksgiving tradition is to travel to my aunt and uncle's house on Thanksgiving Day to share a fabulous meal with my family.  My aunt and uncle just adopted two new cats so the kids had a blast chasing the cats and playing on the cats' equipment in the basement. 

Our son salivated over the ham but at a hefty portion of most of the meal options.  It was a delicious meal and sweet time together.

The day before Thanksgiving

When school is out the day before Thanksgiving at your kids' school and at their favorite neighborhood friend's school, what should you do?  Why plan an all day play date, of course.

They started their day at Pottery Camp.  Then they played outside at T's house and had lunch.  Next, they came to our house where they played games with all my P.E. equipment and came inside for crafts.  The boys built a gingerbread house out of styrofoam while my daughter helped me bake brownie houses.  Then everyone decorated the brownie houses.  I suggested that they cover the houses with white icing to make them look like snowy cabins, but they went with more of a haunted house theme.

 

A rare (for me) political rant

While I have always enjoyed listening to political discussions, never before have I let an election excite and trouble me as much as the 2012 presidential election did.  Rarely have I spoken out myself on issues, preferring to quietly voice my opinion through my ballot.  This year, however, something inside of me just snapped.


Here are some interesting voter stats I heard on the radio shortly after the election:

• 8 out of 10 of the wealthiest counties voted for the candidate who who wants to tax the rich 70% or more.

• Only 30% of Jewish voters voted for the pro-Israel candidate.

• Over 50% of Catholics voted for the candidate whose nationalized health care plan specifically violates their religious freedoms.

• Between 93-97% of African American voters voted for the candidate who worked with Planned Parenthood to draft his health care plan even though Planned Parenthood was founded by someone hoping to wipe out the African American race via eugenics.

I know how divisive politics can be.  I know that nothing I say can change someone's opinions nor can listening to others change mine.  Yet, I certainly felt better reading this political rant at a time when I felt like only a small minority felt as strongly about certain issues as I did.  I also found a talk by Bill Whittle (found here) regarding the election results to be encouraging between minutes 2:00 and 7:00.  Watch it as it is well worth your time.

I have found it helpful, however, to engage in thoughtful discussions with those who share my Christian beliefs yet somehow disagree with me politically when so many heated political issues of the day are moral in nature.  I can almost understand why thy voted as they did given their influences and circumstances, but we just have to agree to disagree when so much is at stake for America instead of becoming mockers.

"Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults;
whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse.
Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you;
rebuke the wise and they will love you." (Proverbs 8:7-8)

We've been studying Proverbs in my ladies' Bible study this year with an emphasis on pursuing wisdom, which begins with a holy fear of God.  This past week's emphasis has been on taming the tongue, the strongest muscle in the human body both physically and spiritually.  So, I prayed for wisdom and discernment regarding what I should say regarding politics, but I'm sure my mouth jumped ahead without hearing first from the Spirit of God on many occasions. When I wrote articles on political issues, some who lean in the opposite direction as I do politically and religiously, gave respectful feedback expressing appreciation for my attempts to articulate my viewpoint and even said they felt like they could understand why I hold the opinions that I do, even if they personally disagree.  I strongly respect their effort to stand in my shoes.  Others rebuked me for mentioning topics that could turn off unbelievers and thus remove any possibility of them being receptive to Christ in the future.  That rebuke struck me to the core, for it is infinitely more important to me that people fall in love with Christ than it is that they be converted to conservatism.  There is just no comparison there, for Christ is the hope of the world, not any human government system, and my heart's greatest desire is to see the lost come to faith in Christ.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. (Psalm 20:7)

Yet, as I see the secular world indoctrinating Americans of all ages, particularly our faithless youth through the media and educational system, I see hearts growing colder and more calloused toward the truth of Christ such that any belief system is tolerated except that which exalts Christ as Lord and Savior.  As I see harmful United Nations policies, like the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which have been largely rejected by American government leaders until now, working to overreach to the point of robbing parents of their right to train their children according to Biblical precepts and possibly even mandating what is taught not only in public schools, but also in both private and home schools, my heart is shouting, "Enough is enough!  Don't take it anymore! Stand up for truth!  Protect the freedoms upon which our nation was founded and countless servicemen died to protect.  Speak the truth in love but with boldness!"


There is just so much disturbing deception and misinformation in the world today that I could not sit quietly while the media distorts, hides, or denies the truth.  For example, most news agencies failed to report about the Benghazi cover-up until after the election.  The media was also late and/or negligent in reporting other cover-ups such as fast and furious, the GSA financial abuse, the Solyndra scandal, etc.  At other times, politicians, administrators, and the media have twisted the truth just a little to make it sound somewhat appealing when it is actually utterly appalling.  Take this quote for example, which sounds a lot like some of the platitudes currently being advocated by socialist leaning Americans.

"We are socialists. We are enemies of today's capitalistic economic system for the exploitation of the economically weak, with its unfair salaries, with its unseemly evaluation of a human being according to wealth and property instead of responsibility and performance, and we are all determined to destroy this system under all conditions." 

This statement was made by Adolf Hitler as quoted by John Toland in "Adolf Hitler", page 22.  Great social thinker, Alexis de Tocqueville, understood the dangers of socialism, which in my mind is only a step away from communism. 

 These two quotes by Alexis de Toqueville sum up those dangers.

"The American Republic will endure until politicians realize they can bribe the people with their own money." 

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's great civilizations has been 200 years." 

Others will argue that America is much too far from such dire extremes.  I would certainly like to think that Americans are not so eager to give up the sacred freedoms upon which America was founded and has a history of defending. I have friends who grew up in various communist countries in Eastern Europe who immigrated to America as adults.  They have described what life was like in such a political environment. They would wait in long two hours lines for basic food items that were selected and allocated by the government.  Their descriptions of their educational experiences and limited career opportunities are heartbreaking to hear.  And they see the growing demand for government entitlements and the federal government's push to get more people on food stamps instead of enabling the economy to grow, supporting job growth, and empowering people to no longer need food stamps as a clear push toward socialism.  It seems far better to me that a nation prosper exceedingly with everyone enjoying ample provisions even if that means that some are wealthier than others than it is for everyone to be dirt poor with no hope of a brighter future.

Someone once said, "You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred." As parents we often tell our children, "Mind your own business instead of worrying over what your brother has or is doing." Yet, it seems that Americans are often more concerned with hating the rich instead of being personally responsible for caring for the needy themselves.  Just this evening at dinner, I had to ask my children who were bickering over who had the largest serving,  "When will you two become more concerned with charity than equity?" Then my 8-year-old replied, "You were a kid once, you tell us."  And I have to wonder how many adults ever reach that step toward individual maturity. 

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. ² I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. ³ You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? (1 Corinthians 3: 1-3)

I'm not saying that the government should not provide any entitlements, for the needy and elderly do need provision when the faithful community fails to support them as appropriate, but I do believe that a nation will collapse when the government is seen as the answer for every ailment.  Where there is power, there will be corruption, and a secular institution devoid of love will never meet the deepest needs of those who are hurting and in need.  An entitlement mentality that fosters government dependence will destroy an economy and divide the nation.  Welfare should be a temporary entitlement with the recipient given incentives and skills to get back into a good job that enables them to provide for their own needs whenever physically possible. Welfare should never be viewed as a long-term solution. In the case of medicare and social security, it seems only reasonable that those who have retired after contributing to these programs their entire careers and after factoring these benefits into their retirement planning should receive these benefit checks. 

Conversely, when one puts their faith in God instead of the government, the result is more likely to be an honest effort to work diligently whenever possible, give generously, and offer genuine compassion to others in a way that meets needs, provides personal fulfillment, and edifies others.

The Bible foretells of the day when people will be easily deceived by pleasant sounding rhetoric, and I see that happening today.

2 Timothy 4:3
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

With every news source slanted in one direction or the other and deception so rampant it seems to grow on trees, it is challenging to discern the truth in the midst of all the muck.

John 8:44
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

I am especially alarmed by the waning support for Israel observed across our nation today.  The Bible is filled with imperatives to respect and protect the nation of Israel. (One list can be found here.)  When Katy Perry and Kim Kardashian tweeted that they were praying for Israel, they were attacked with a barrage of nasty remarks. One "fan" told Kardashian to just "kill herself" while others condemned Israel.  Comedian Jon Lovitz received similar backlash.  (Read more here.)  While the Bible does instruct us to love our enemies, it seems strange that Americans would show love to our nation's enemies (radical terrorists who want nothing more than to kill us all) while hating her friends.

The current POTUS is the least pro-Israel president we have had since Jimmy Carter who was openly anti-semitic.  With Israel under attack and Americans divided over what support should be given to Israel, I wonder what judgment awaits America if she turns her back on God's chosen people?

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! “May they be secure who love you!" (Psalm 122:6)

Americans have been taught in our secular society that religion is the source of all the problems in the world.  They think removing all references to God from the public sector will promote peace and unity, but they forget that secularism requires as much or more faith as Christianity and also has dire consequences.  Secularism is the foundation for communism and was a precurser to the atrocities that occurred under Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and Ceausescu.  God, who is rich in mercy, has withheld His judgment on America for so long, but sin has consequences, and He will not allow a nation to go unpunished.  He will not force Himself upon a people who so blatantly reject Him.  I do believe He is turning America over to her own wicked ways until her people come to repentance. 

6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”

10 Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” ( 1 Samuel 8: 6-18)

Uganda's government has been overrun by moral corruption for decades, but the nation's president recently issued a prayer both of personal and national repentance setting the example for Ugandans and other nations.  Read about it here.  Some missionaries we support have shared with us about the outrageous abuses occurring to street children in the poorest cities of Uganda.  Missionaries seeking to provide a safe, nurturing, and loving home to these abused, neglected children are battling in vain to get these boys out of institutions that function more like concentration camps or prisons, but the governing authorities are unwilling to release them.  Other boys on the streets are being prostituted to gay men, and while our friends serving in the slums have followed every legal path available to rescue these boys, the authorities do nothing.  Corruption is rampant in the government, so having the nation's leader repent so humbly is a breath of hope to our friends in the slums.

Hope could be poured out on America if only her people will repent.

2 Chronicles 7:14
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 

With the fiscal cliff* before us and with companies laying off workers in droves, reducing work-hours to part-time, or shutting down altogether because they cannot afford all the new tax increases or union demands, perhaps some will begin to call out to God for the first time.  Other companies, such as Hobby Lobby, may shut down or stop offering health care, because the company's owners' religious convictions will not allow them to cover certain types of mandated birth control (morning after pill, IUD, birth control pills) which may act as abortifacients for those who believe life begins at conception.

*Our current administration has added an additional trillion dollars of debt every 9 months so that our future generations will live enslaved to the consequences of your reckless spending today.  Such spending is immoral, and to raise taxes so significantly when the economy is so weak to pay for all your pet programs places us all on a fiscal cliff indeed.  Our current POTUS has also created more new government agencies during your first term than all previous U.S. presidents combined.

I'm expecting our family's financial burdens next year to increase between $15,000-$30,000 depending upon how my husband's employer responds to Obamacare and whether or not the government decides to extend the tax cuts set to expire at year end.  However, many families will face much worse as jobs are lost or hours are reduced.  Others may face medical rationing with age discrimination.  Should such trying times come, some practical steps for Christians to take as the face the fiscal cliff can be found here. 

Clearly, the world can't give us any meaningful, lasting peace, but God's peace never fails.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27)

Fall Piano Recital 2012

Our kids recently participated in the fall Suzuki piano recital.  They got to play in a lovely little concert hall on a fabulous Bosendorfer grand piano.  Our daughter's attitude toward playing piano has improved tremendously after completing her volume one Suzuki solo recital this past September.  We had heard that getting through the first book is the most challenging emotionally.  One of our kids' piano teacher's former students wrote a letter to her current students encouraging them to press on through the challenges of book one.  He majored in music and composes pieces for musicals and other venues.  He added in his letter that piano playing is a great way for boys to impress girls, too.

Now that our daughter has the basic technical skills mastered, she is more free to play pieces she really enjoys in addition to her volume two Suzuki pieces.  She really plays well under pressure and is getting to the point where she has acquired skill she can always enjoy instead of losing that skill had she quit when she first considered it.

I love the top photo and the reflection in the piano lid.

Our son's attitude has consistently been great toward piano playing, and his teacher thinks he's on his way to becoming an excellent pianist some day.  I love watching him practice with such fierce concentration for a little boy.  He really seems to love playing and often wakes me up with his early morning practicing.   When he reaches the more challenging parts of book one, I hope he will persevere.

We initially learned about this piano teacher from some friends we met through our home school co-op.  Their youngest daughter is close in age to our son.  She started taking lessons at age three and has already completed her book one recital.  She's a natural and makes playing piano look so easy.  At each semiannual recital since our daughter began taking lessons, we have taken a photo of their youngest daughter and our son together.  He did not start taking lessons (albeit short 15 minute lessons) until just a few weeks before the fall 2011 recital, but he has attended all of his sister's recitals.  Here are some photos from those recitals over the years.

Spa Day

Sometimes, a girl just needs to escape from the mundane routine of life for a girls day out, preferably at the spa.  One of my daughter's friends requested a spa theme for her birthday party, so my girl and I escaped to the "spa" together.

Lego Party

I had so much fun preparing for our son's birthday party this year.  He chose a LEGO theme, which I thought would be a super easy theme to incorporate, even for an extreme left-brained mother who has arts-and-crafts-a-phobia (we're talking cold sweats and heebie-jeebies during every MOPS craft session level fear).  Primary colors and basic shapes (rectangles and circles) can't be too difficult, can it? 

The LEGO birthday party kit from the LEGO store made the party preparations even easier.  We used old LEGO bricks from around the house to assemble a utensil holder and to make centerpieces.  I ordered five pounds of LEGO shaped candy online to used as prizes.  This candy is awesome.  Kids can eat it or use it to build masterpieces.  Favors included more LEGO candy and small LEGO kits with assembly cards.  Each guest signed a huge pop-up birthday card for our son when they arrived and received cute keepsake plastic name tags.  While I worked on a few birthday banners...

... my kids wanted to help with one of the table cloths.  They used a stamping pad and old LEGO bricks to stamp LEGO prints all over the table cloth.  I spray-painted some bubble wrap green to make the table runner look like a LEGO assembly board.

When my husband bought the LEGO Millennium Falcon kit as our boy's birthday gift, he was eagerly looking forward to helping our boy assemble all 1254 pieces. However, when my husband returned from an overnight camping trip with our daughter the following day, our birthday boy had already completed almost all of it. So, we used it as a centerpiece. (Lower right photo in scrapbook page shown above).



We usually outsource the cake baking and decorating to some extremely talented friends of ours.  However, they have been so busy traveling and working multiple jobs that we did not want to impose upon them for this party, so we attempted to build a Lego brick cake ourselves.  It was a disaster.  I had hoped my mini-loaf pan would make nice even rectangular bricks.  Every brick was a different size despite my precise measuring of batter, and some did not come out of the pan very well.  In a rush, we used standard cake icing instead of fondant or the cake decorating icing found in arts and crafts stores.  The bricks slid all around and fell apart.  My husband tried to build the number six out of my disfigured bricks, and he did the best he could with what I gave him.  At least the cake tasted delicious.  I also offered Lego cupcakes as an alternative.  When I pulled out some waffle cone bowls and ice cream to go with the cake, the boys were thrilled, and all cake aesthetic issues were immediately forgiven.
 

Some of the party games and activities included:

1. LEGO pit free assembly time & building contests
2. Guess how many LEGO bricks are in the jar.  The closest guess was 130.
3. A LEGO robot game my husband spent the week programming using his LEGO Mindstorms NXT kit.
4. Folding balloons into swords and having sword fights (unplanned spontaneous activity)
5. Staring contests (also unplanned)
6. Sticking balloons on each boy's head to see who had the most static electricity (yet another unplanned activity the boys initiated)
7. Outdoor play which included basketball, football, and backyard playground fun (our desperate last minute attempt to help the boys burn off all that energy that could not be contained despite all their running up and down all three staircases and through every room in the house)

He received lots of awesome LEGO kits and even a LEGO planetarium as birthday gifts.  Happy birthday, my little LEGO master.  We love you!

Six Years Old

It seems like my baby went from this:

to this in a single blink of the eye!

I know I'm biased, but that little boy has enough charm to win over the coldest heart, and his hugs can turn a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day into sunshine and roses.  He is exceptionally sweet and loving yet also enjoys courageously fighting battles with nerf guns and light sabers like the bravest of knights. I love him to the moon and back. 

His birthday began with birthday pancakes and fruit served on the family's "You are Special" plate (which is actually the size of a charger or enormous platter).  He also wanted pancakes for dinner.  He requested burger pancakes, which are juicy burgers sandwiched between two pancakes instead of inside a hamburger bun, and an artisan lettuce salad with pear, feta, and balsamic dressing. He took Lego cupcakes to school where they had a little party. 

While still in his PJ's, he opened his first gift from his cousins in Oklahoma. 

After dinner he opened the other family gifts.  Legos were the theme for his sixth birthday this year.

As I tucked him into bed that night, he snuggled up with his favorite pink bunny, and I breathed a sigh of relief that my boy was still a boy and not too grown up to sleep with a big, pink, stuffed bunny

Random glimpses of Autumn 2012 and some quotes to inspire laughter or reflection

The trees in our front and back yard normally change to such glorious colors during the fall.  It is by far my favorite season to live where we do.  Unfortunately, the winds from Hurricane Sandy knocked off most of the leaves before they hit their peak which is hardly anything to complain about considering how much the Northeast got hammered by this storm.  Here are pics of the back yard before and after Sandy.

Before Sandy

After Sandy

Now that the golf course club house has begun hosting weddings and receptions, we have enjoyed listening to wedding marches, hymns, and reception dance music over the sound system 1/2 mile away.  One evening I stepped outside on my front porch to see a photographer taking photos of some newlyweds as they were seated in a golf cart along hole #17.

It reminded me of our own wedding reception which was also held at a golf course.  The views were lovely, but the golf course served to be quite a distraction for the single guys at the reception who decided to play a few holes during the reception, so when it came time for me to toss my garter, there weren't enough single guys there to catch it.

Wedding reception pics on the golf course

Our daughter continues to optimize her imaginative energy by writing and acting out plays.  She has grown quite bossy as the director of her plays.  I recently noticed this announcement written on her dry erase board.

"Dad,
Do not forget that we have a REHARSAL today with the scripts! And we have one every day of the following [week]: Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thur, Fri, Sat."

Maybe she misspelled "rehearsal" for dramatic emphasis - or perhaps to sound more southern.

She takes her play rehearsals seriously.  Here are some photos of the kids rehearsing one scene in a play with a rags to riches motif.

Our 8-year-old loves the outdoors as much as she enjoys theater.  She recently told her father, "I want to learn how to hunt, so I can kill my own food."  So, at my parents' 50th anniversary party, we had some interesting conversations with my uncle about his new crossbow.  She sure could save us a lot of money at Trader Joe's if she could turn some of those deer who like to eat our blueberries and flowers into some tasty venizon.

I opened a sample pack of gummy probiotics today and gave one to my son to try and instructed him to give the other one to his sister. When he handed it to her, she asked lots of questions and then said, "I would rather not take any drugs, especially drugs you give me that I don't understand."  Wow, and we haven't even had the "don't do drugs" talk yet.

Not only is our 8-year-old our resident playwright, director, hunter, and UNDOC campaigner, but she has also become our family counselor, encourager, and psychologist.   She wrote this note recently using metaphor to her dad.  If it wasn't so funny, I could have taken offense to being called "the sometimes peaceful mare". Only sometimes?  She tells it like it is, that girl.

After my husband found an employee dead in the restroom at his workplace last month and tried to resuscitate him until EMT arrived (it was too late), my husband was in a bit of a funk for a while as you might imagine.  The cause of the death was especially disturbing for my husband and his employees, so the emotional impacts were heavy. Our 8-year-old sage tried to comfort her daddy with this letter, which was heavily inspired by her awesome school teacher.

After two years of piano lessons, the kids seemed ready for us to pull out my old electric keyboard. They have been composing wild orchestrations ever since. Our son got so excited with his playing that the keyboard rattled right off the stand and fell into the floor.

Teaching PE continues to be a weekly highlight for me. It's so gratifying to watch these students learn new skills and gain confidence to make attempts where fear had previously paralyzed them.  My prayer is that they will experience Philippians 4:13 in a real and powerful way.

¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13, NIV)

Having students truly enjoy my class and care enough to bring me "flower bouquets" is icing on the cake!

A student brought me "flowers".

You Tube has become too much of a distraction for our family.  One evening, my husband decided to introduce the kids to the Bee Gees.  When I heard "Jive Talkin" and "Stayin' Alive" coming through You Tube on his computer, I just had to teach the kids my best disco moves. We've had disco tunes in our heads for much of the past month.

Reviewing spelling words with homophones takes a long time in our house because I usually end up singing a line from an "80's" tune to provide the correct context for the word, and the kids just have to go look up the song on YouTube. We've been dancing to Starship songs a lot this past month, too.  50's music for my parents' anniversary party followed by disco and 80's music....what a month of music it has been!

The kids have been wanting a pet. I like dogs, but my husband prefers cats. For one afternoon in October, at least, God sent us a dog when a perky golden retriever appeared at our door. I made the mistake of giving this dog (whose name ended up being Skylar) several packs of tuna and water, and I even made him a warm bed out of cardboard boxes and old blankets.  After issuing a notice to our neighborhood yahoo group (see below), the owner came and got him. Our daughter was already attached, so it was hard to let him go.

FOUND: Lively golden retriever with a powerful tail who likes to eat tuna by the pound, run through shrubs, jump into my car, and dash into the house. This dog can run faster than a speeding bullet and enjoys licking and jumping on kids. The dog has a collar but no tags or leash. Please help us find the owner....preferably before my husband returns home from work.

I found myself hollering something to the kids last week that I never expected to hear myself say until I was old enough to be living in a nursing home.  I asked, "Who left their teeth on the stairs?" (I guess "carpet" would have been better than "stairs" since at that age, I will likely not be able to climb stairs.)

  

My daughter readily acknowledges that her mother is not artistically inclined.  

Me: So, kids, what design do you want for your pumpkin carvings this year?
8-year-old: But Dad said he wasn't doing carvings this year.
Me: Maybe I'll carve them for you.
8-year-old: We better choose something really EASY then.

Even though our son is growing older, having just turned six this past week, he still says things that have me laughing just like I did with his childish zingers at ages three and four. Here are a few recent quotes/questions from our boy. 

• "I wish we had a rainbow family.  Each person's hair would be a different color in the rainbow." (Joey, age 5)

(Thanks to some keratin processing glitches by an upscale salon, I have the red/orange covered. The  kids think their dad would look nice in blue/indigo.)

• My 5-year-old overheard a conversation I was having one day with a headhunter (he called me out of the blue) who seemed very frustrated with me when I told him that I would not and could not work full time. The recruiter asked me, "What is keeping you so busy then?" My son replied, "Her kids!"  How right he is!

• As I was slowing down to stop at a yellow light about to turn red, my 5-year-old asked, "Why do you always slow down instead of revving it a little to make the light?" That settles it. The kids will be paying for their own car insurance when they reach 16.

• My boy often says things that sound just like my mother.  He even includes her tone and accent.  When I told the kids that their dad had already boarded a plane headed toward NYC for an unexpected business meeting and would therefore not be home that evening, the 5-year old replied with my mother's precise combination of worry and exaggeration, "Oh my! He isn't going to start traveling all over the world, now, is he?"

• The kids usually talk in great detail about the anatomy of a chicken whenever I serve whole rotisserie chicken.  I'm all for teachable moments and I especially love teaching my children about science, but if I have to listen to the kids describe certain chicken parts one more time during mealtimes, then we're all going vegan. 

• As I was trying to explain to my 5-year-old the difference between extroverts and introverts, he said, "Mom, there is NEVER a time when I want to be alone!" He is a true extrovert and the most amazing cuddle bug ever, but I have to wonder if he'll lock the bathroom door for a few moments of solitude when he has kids of his own.

• While I was driving the kids to school one day, my 5-year-old asked me, "Which goes faster, time or this car? One friend suggested that I should have answered, "It depends upon how much fun you are having since time flies when you are having fun."  Another friend would have said, "It depends upon who is driving?", while another added, "or how many insurance points you have."  Perhaps the most technical answer suggested by my engineering friends was as follows:  

"Time is governed by the rotation of the earth. The earth is rotating at 1,040 miles per hour at the equator, since the rotational rate is really measured in radians you would have to figure out the diameter of the earth near where you drive to figure out the exact difference between the max speed of your car and the speed of time (or earth) in this case.  Another way to look at it would be if you are driving in the direction of the earths rotation (east) the no matter how slow you are going, if you are moving you are going faster than the earth and therefore faster than time. But if you were only going 1mile /hr. even though you would be going faster than the earth you would basically be going nowhere fast!"

• While driving the kids home from school on my son's birthday, I asked my son, "Did you have fun celebrating your birthday at school today?  He replied, "It was okay, but Suzie Q* kept singing Happy Birthday to me all day until it drove me bonkers."  Chuckling as I reflected on stories I have heard about this daddy's affect on girls over the years, I told him, "She was just being nice...you need to learn to get used to girls giving you attention, my boy!"
  *Not her real name

• While driving home from piano lessons that same day, we passed a former Quiznos restaurant that was empty with lights out. So I pointed it out to the kids and said, "Look! The Quiznos we like to go to must have gone out of business!"  Our informed 6-year-old replied, "That must be Obama's fault. He's bad for small businesses."  I guess those Romney ads on TV are really effective on little people.

• When my son ran out of his Tom's of  Maine all natural mouthwash, he looked at my Listerine bottle and asked, "Mom, can I use some of that?"  Noticing the "not for children under age 12" note on the label, I replied, "No, it's dangerous for kids."  He looked at the label and said, "The label says it kills, so maybe you shouldn't use it either."

• When my husband shared about a funny news story later that evening, I replied,"That's a hoot!"  Then my six-year-old asked, "What's a hoot?" That was yet another question from the birthday boy that day that I wasn't sure how to answer.

• My son is only in the early grammar phase of learning.  Yet, sometimes he asks me questions requiring more of a dialectic stage answer.  Recently, completely out of the blue, he asked me, "Who is lazier, the rich or the poor?" Using the Socratic method proved to be a comical and ineffective way to explain the various ways someone can become rich or poor irrespective of work input.  Most of his answers were, "I don't know why." Duh - he was only five years old at the time.  So, for a general answer to his question for cases outside those exceptions, we read Proverbs 6:6-11 together, and I found verse 7 especially interesting considering the current political debates regarding taxing the rich. The ant doesn't need the government to make him work, and absent a taxing authority, the hard-worker will get rich.

  "6Go to the ant, you sluggard;
  consider its ways and be wise!
  7 It has no commander,
  no overseer or ruler,
  8 yet it stores its provisions in summer
  and gathers its food at harvest. "- Proverbs 6:6-11 

When I haven't been laughing at the kids' quotes, I have been pondering some adult quotes that I have heard before but seemed to take on new meaning this past month, especially with one of the most important national presidential elections ever taking place on Tuesday.

"If you believe there is evil, then you have to believe in good. If you believe in good and evil, then you must believe in moral law. If there is a moral law, then there must be a moral law giver. If you say there is no moral law giver, then you are also saying there is no good or evil." - Paraphrase of comments by Ravi Zacharias.

"The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of the government in the next." - Abraham Lincoln

"There are six things which the Lord hates,
Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:
Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood,
A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that run rapidly to evil,
A false witness who utters lies,
And one who spreads strife among brothers." -P roverbs 6:16-19

 "Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults;
whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse.
Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you;
rebuke the wise and they will love you."  - Proverbs 8:7-8

"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice;
But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.
The king establishes the land by justice,
But he who receives bribes overthrows it."  - Proverbs 29: 2,4

"Government should work to corral sin & press down anarchy so we don't kill each other, and it should protect the dignity and order of God's creation beginning with human life (the only created thing made in God's own image). Let's not, however, rely upon the dollar store water guns of government to extinguish the raging fires of hell. Human laws cannot change a heart forever. Only God and His precious Gospel can do that!" - Rough paraphrase of comments by Brian Frost

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God."  - Psalm 20:7