oops! i did it again...

...I washed my cell phone. Again. Second time in a year. This time, I have no excuse like hastily pulling off barf-covered sweat pants after comforting a sick daughter with the phone still in the cave-like pocket. No, this time, it was sheer inattentiveness. Drying in rice, again, didn't work.

Which leads me to my next question...why am I so forgetful these days?

A few weeks ago, I purchased a bunch of Easter candy for the girls' Easter baskets. Last week, I re-purchased a bunch of Easter candy for the girls' Easter baskets. I discovered my duplication upon smuggling my second purchase into the house to hide in my super secret hiding place.

There are other instances with which I won't bore you. But some days, I feel like I'm losing my mind...

virtual choir

This is AMAZING! As David Murray explains on his wonderful blog, Head Heart Hand:

In this astounding video, American composer and conductor Eric Whitacre spliced together nearly 250 videos of individuals singing individual parts of "Lux Arumque." He sent out the music, auditioned the singers, and then chose 250 of the submitted videos, which he spliced together to form this "virtual choir."

As I watched in wonder, I could not help thinking of how Christ our Mediator gathers His people's praises from every church and every believer in the world every Sunday and presents them, as a perfect choir, to His Father.

Then my mind went further and "I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb."

wordless wednesday - note the shoes

res ipsa loquitor

Look very closely at my friend the "Thai Rhino Beetle". In true homeschooling fashion, another homeschooling Mom from halfway across the country asked me to send the beetle to her. Her son is collecting bugs for a 4H project. I dutifully scooped up the bug along with some rice so as to keep it intact in its final resting place, so I never actually touched the thing.

Well today, this is what I got back today...a picture of the beetle with CHINA stamped on the belly. Yep. I was terrified of a toy plastic beetle. But the question remains: WHY in the world would anyone put this in a bag of rice? Just to scare the crud out of someone halfway around the world? Well, they were successful.

I'm sure I'll laugh about this....someday.

And if you're wondering, res ipsa loquitor is legalese for "the thing speaks for itself" like a bloody knife at a crime scene doesn't need an explanation if it's found in the hand of the perpetrator.

happy spring!

Not sure what else to say this morning other than, "Happy Spring." I'm NOT thrilled about the events in Washington, DC yesterday, but I refuse to be brought down by the passage of nationalized health care. I'm not disengaging myself from politics, but I'm refusing to wallow in anger and frustration. Abortion policy aside (that's a whole other HUGE PROBLEM), my concern lies in the fact that this legislation is a breach of States' rights. Further, money is being spent that DOESN'T exist. Our country is going deeper and deeper into debt. I'm worried that the hands of doctors will be tied. Finally, I don't trust the Executive Order prohibiting federal funding of abortion. I'm no attorney, but there has to be a loophole somewhere. This President is TOO pro-abortion to have not left a window open.

Let's just hope that individual States grow a collective backbone, and challenge the constitutionality of healthcare legislation.

Keep looking up, fix your eyes on Christ. Remember heaven is your home, your citizenship is not here. We have not been promised an easy road. And Happy Spring.

Psalm 42:11

Why are you down cast, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

does she know something we don't?

Just a few days ago, the girls' little neighbor friend shared her Cheez Whiz in a Can with them...Ingrid has been talking about it ever since. While we don't usually buy a ton of processed foods, to prove I am not a complete grocery shrew, today I brought those little Ritz crackers sandwiches with "cheese".

The girls were SOOOOO excited when I opened the box for their afternoon snack. Ingrid exclaimed, "Mommy! MMMMMM! It's the cheese wax like my friend [....] had the other day!"

discipline

A good friend of mine has challenged a group of ladies to do a biblical study on the word "discipline". We are to investigate what the concept means as it pertains to God's discipline of me; how I discipline my children; and how I discipline myself.

I'd love to get some purely Biblical input...not commentary by (even) godly men and women, but simply what the Lord says about it in His Holy Word. It is going to be difficult to ignore the memories in my head of what I have read outside of Scripture, but I am going to pray for discernment and wisdom.

I hope to post some thoughts on the blog while my paper is a work in progress.

molly the barn owl

Have you seen the live webcam on Molly the Barn Owl? She's in San Marcos, CA. Her 5 eggs are about to hatch any time now!

If you do go to the site, make sure you DON'T read the live comment crawl. Unfortunately, because the stream is now so popular, here are trolls showing up and posting REALLY foul junk. Just click on the screen expansion icon on the bottom of the video screen, and it will go to full screen view, which is better anyway :)

3/19/10 - Updated:

Here's a nice article about the couple who set up the owl box, and subsequent web-cam in their back yard.

what we found in our bag of rice today

Look what we found in the bottom of our big 20 pound bag of Thai Jasmine Rice? Of course, we have eaten 90% of the rice. It is great comfort to know he was at the bottom of the bag the entire time we were scooping portions into our storage container. (I'm being facetious.) Ingrid cried tears of terror for a solid 10 minutes after she saw it come tumbling out of the burlap bag. To be honest, I kind of felt like crying, too.

losing my cool

This morning, I got, ahem, a little heated over a spilled humidifier tank. I had asked the girls not to touch it. Of course, there was an accident -- truly, just an accident. It spilled and dumped a bunch of water onto the carpet. I didn't react well. I yelled (which I just HATE doing). I immediately felt convicted about it and asked the girls' forgiveness. Ilsa then drew this picture for me. The frowning faces represent me. They are crossed out. The smiley face represents how I SHOULD be.

thanksgiving in march

We love turkey. Well, in "we" I can honestly only include Chad and myself. Ingrid and Ilsa will eat it, but all bets are off for both girls on stuffing, "mash" and gravy (they favour British nomenclature regarding mashed potatoes). Ingrid was not thrilled about the dinner; I'm a bit ashamed to say that this picture makes me giggle. It was nice to pull out all the stops for dinner last night. Note the fancy Sesame Street paper plates. This shows that Chad served the dinner.

there is no perfect obedience

I have been so moved as of late by the horrendous death of little Lydia Schatz. Please take the time to read this article:

3/13 Faith Matters: There is no such thing as perfect obedience - Faith - BradentonHerald.com

If you have come under the influence of the teachings of Michael and Debi Pearl, prayerfully ask the Lord to lead you in the path of truth as His Scripture has laid out.

For further reading, TulipGirl has written extensively on this issue. Here is a link to all of her posts.

4 year old theology of....justification....???

Last Sunday was Communion Sunday at church. Ilsa asked me about it, and I explained the meaning of the bread and the cup. She seemed satisfied. So, to keep the teachable moment alive, I asked her why Jesus died on the cross, and she said, "to save us." I then asked her how Jesus takes away our sin. Her simple answer: "With soap and body wash."

I guess we need to catechize a bit more diligently.

Ingrid has learned to tie her shoes

Ingrid has mastered the art of tying her shoes. It has taken about 9 months of trying (off and on, not every minute, you Silly!), but yesterday, she did it on her own. No, if only we could get her to wear something other than clogs...

what i've been unable to put into words...

Read this and tell me what you think:

I don't want my children to be happy....

(Thanks to Tim Challies for the link to this thought-provoking blog post.)

future gold medalist in figure skating

Last week, Ilsa decided to make her own figure skates out of aluminum foil, and skate through the kitchen (while the Olympics were fresh in her mind). Note her fuzzy, ice rink-appropriate sweatshirt, and too-short nightgown that looks like a skating dress.

curious expeditions

The Curious Expeditions website was linked from Tim Challies's site this morning. For all of you who thought that Suzallo Library at the University of Washington had magical properties to induce the desire to study, check out the the Librophiliac Love Letter link.

MacArthur Study Bible is coming out in ESV!

MacArthur ESV Study Bible Promo from Crossway on Vimeo.

computer issues - shameless plug

I've been down essentially for a week. Our desktop died last week (horrendous virus) and the laptop got a less-serious virus, but we still had to format the hard drive and start from scratch.

The iMac is in the mail. I am so done with PCs. When this laptop bites it, we'll replace with a Macbook.

Now, a shameless plug for the man who fixed our laptop: if you live anywhere in the Almost Mexico, AZ area, please contact David Roberts at D & S Wholesalers for your PC repair, web design or software needs. He got the job done quickly, thoroughly and accurately. I couldn't recommend him higher!