Lovin' the Fam

This weekend I got to see my little sister in the leading role in a musical at her school. I love hearing her sing. She has all the vocal abilities I wish I had and all the confidence on stage I never thought to wish for because that wish seemed too far-fetched. I wanted to post a video of one of her songs from the musical. I think I might be infringing on copyright laws to do that, but my sisterly pride is just too great.



One of the most entertaining parts of Abby being Cinderella for a weekend was all the adoring little girls who toddled over to her in awestruck wonder after the performances.

Little girl in awe at meeting Cinderella

Even in church the next morning, the family sitting in front of us had brought their little four-year-old girl to the performances. When she first realized that Cinderella was sitting directly behind her in church, the little girl's eyes widened and she burst into hysterical giggles. Then throughout every song we sang the girl was turned around in her pew, gazing at Abby. 

Mark and I also got to celebrate this weekend with our sister-in-law and niece, who both have had birthdays in May.

Amy and Shirley, the birthday girls

And, of course, at any family function I take every opportunity to spend time with and endear myself to my little niece and nephews.

Creedence, learning from a young age that I am a very fun aunt

Million, also learning that I am a very fun aunt

Pheromone Hypothesis

As I was laying in bed the other night, I was hit with an epiphany. I've wondered, ever since Million came home from Ethiopia why God blessed me with the most adorable boy for a nephew on the face of the earth. Then Shirley came along and I thought, "Wow! The two most adorable children on the face of the earth are related to me!" Then Creedence joined the family, and after meeting him this weekend, I decided it had to be more than mere coincidence that the three most adorable children in the world are my niece and nephews.

Cue the epiphany. 

As I was laying in bed, I began thinking about pheromones. I decided that children must secrete specialized pheromones. I looked up the definition of pheromone the next morning just to make sure I had it right: "A pheromone is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species."

I'm pretty sure children secrete love-me pheromones. These love-me pheromones trigger a love and loyalty response in nearby adults. The pheromones act most powerfully on the parents of that child, a little less powerfully on grandparents and aunts and uncles and less powerfully on friends of the parents, and so forth. According to my observations, blood relation plays no part in the effectiveness of these pheromones. Neither my niece nor my nephews have any blood relation to me. 

So, the more closely we as adults are related to a child, the more powerfully their pheromones act on us. We love them more and are more loyal to them because of these pheromones.

You can take the quiz below to see if my pheromone hypothesis is correct.

Pheromone Hypothesis Test

1. In the picture below, you would describe the little boy as:

   a. Kind of cute.

   b. Really cute.

   c. So adorable that you would give your left arm to spend an afternoon with him.

2. In the picture below, you would describe the little girl pictured as:

   a. A little peanut.

   b. An adorable little peanut.

   c. Such an adorable peanut that peanuts are now your favorite food.

 

3. In the picture below, the infant pictured is:

   a. Your typical one-month-old.

   b. Your typical one-month-old but a little sweeter than average.

   c. Such a delightfully sweet one-month-old that you want to adopt eight one-month-olds in the next week.

To score your pheromone hypothesis quiz:
Give yourself one point for every letter (a) you circled.
Give yourself two points for every letter (b) you circled.
Give yourself three points for every letter (c) you circled.

If your score was:
7-9 - You are probably a close relation of the three children pictured.
5-6 - You probably have some connection to the children pictured but not a close connection.
3-4 - You are probably not related to the children pictured even though you do think they're pretty cute.


And here are just a few more pictures of these three little sweethearts. You'll have to forgive the overload of pictures. It's the pheromones at work:

Belated Christmas Celebration

Mark and I had a wonderful Christmas celebration with family this past week. God has been so good to us in allowing us to take enough time off to spend considerable time with both of our families in one weekend. And both families were extremely supportive of our strange no-sugar, no-fruit diet. Don't worry-- another post will be coming soon to update on this dietary adventure.

Here are just a couple of pictures from the week, minus niece and nephews for the most part... more pictures coming soon!

I love Shirley's halo.

We can finally show pictures of the snowflake ornaments
Mark and I made for family this year for Christmas!

Helen and our soon-to-be brother-in-law, Robert.

Dad with baby Creedence.

Mom with baby Creedence.

Enjoying some latte foam (not whipped cream).

Breakfast at The Good Earth, one of the few restaurants
where we felt we might be able to eat a no-sugar breakfast.

Abby and Zack at my parents' house.

Immersion blender!!

Mark's dad fixed up Mark's hammered dulcimer. Yay!

Heather and Michael with more snowflakes.

Mark, looking studly with his new sweater.

Starting a new tradition-- family picture in front of my parents' Christmas tree.
 Maybe in a year or two the picture will change??

High Ropes, Campfires, and Family

I’ve been busy enough this week and without time to write so that writing about my delightful weekend at camp with family will seem like old news. So, instead, I’d like to share a few pictures that capture our activities of the weekend and a few words that capture my feelings about the weekend:

Mark makes this look sooo easy. I wouldn't try it.

And he doesn't seem too nervous either.

Please do NOT notice my nostrils flaring in fear of jumping.

Family fuseball!

Lovely, growing family.

Delightful.

Restful.

Wildlife.

Ilovefamily.

Mission Trip

'Weeping and gnashing of teeth' would, in my husband's opinion, not be too strong a description to describe the patience with which I waited to be able to share this news with certainty with everyone:

Mark and I are going on a mission trip this fall! Head over to our new blog here to find out more about the trip.

Because of this upcoming trip, my posts on this and my book blog, 'Over a Steaming Cup of Tea,' might be a little sparse. We're praying hard and wanting to put as much energy as possible into preparing for our trip this fall!

Sibling Brag-fest

My two younger siblings have a history of flourishing on stage. When my brother Zack was in high school he participated in a couple of different plays that his school put on. I don't have a picture of him in I Remember Mama, but if you're at all familiar with the play (which I was not), he was Uncle Chris, the eccentric uncle who saved the family.


A picture of Zack and his proud older sister his senior year when he participated in A Midsummer Night's Dream:

He was Puck, the mischievous imp who casts spells to cause confusion and consternation among the fairies and love-struck humans wandering around the forest at night.


My little sister Abby has followed closely in Zack's footsteps, but I think it safe to say her interest in theater has surpassed Zack's.


This is me with Abby last year, when she played Cosette in her school's production of Les Miserables:

We drove up to Minnesota this weekend to see Abby play Babe, a strong-willed, independent woman, in The Pajama Game. She's a sophomore in high school, 15 years old, and I will repeat: she loves being on stage. 

Notice how, in these pictures, I'm always the proud sibling watching performances. I was not talented in that way when I was in high school (nor am I that way now)!


Abby also has a beautiful singing voice (which is partly why she's ended up with one of the lead female roles in school musicals for the past two years). Since I'm bragging her up already, here's a video snippet of her singing "Remember Me" in her high school's Fine Arts night this past school year (so, she's 15):

 I don't think the gene pool was fair, and I'm always jealous when I hear her sing. I feel vicariously blessed by the talent God has given my sister. And brother. 


Brag, brag, brag!

Two Weekends Away

I haven’t been neglecting this blog for the last two weeks because of a disinclination to write, or a lack of subjects on which to write. I’ve just been so busy. Busy with all good things, however.

Two weekends ago, Husband and I drove to Minnesota to celebrate our nephew’s birthday and dedication at church. We thoroughly enjoyed the irony of eating cupcakes decorated with vegetables made from candy, and we played with Million in the back yard for hours.

Million is breaking us in to the concept of parenting gently. Or just giving us a false impression of what parenting is like. We played and played and played, but when Million’s diaper needed changing, Daddy got called in. When lunchtime rolled around, Million went to Mommy and Daddy for his birthday lunch of homemade pretzels with cheese sauce. Husband and I were ready to call in Mommy or Daddy to console when I accidentally kicked a ball into Million’s face (Bad Aunt award, right here), but consolation wasn’t necessary. I thoroughly appreciate having a nephew with an utterly unsinkable spirit.

I don’t even remember the week that was sandwiched in between that trip to Minnesota and my trip across Iowa this weekend. I think I was tired and read when I should have been dealing with other, more pressing, matters.

I just returned home today from the annual Sisters Weekend. Every spring all of the women on my mom’s side of the family get together for a chance to bond and refill our estrogen tanks. Granma, aunts, and female cousins combined, we had eleven women (and one baby girl) in my Aunt Becky’s house yesterday and today. Last night my little sister passed around for our inspection a menstrual cup that she is planning to try, and only in a unique female-only situation such as Sisters Weekend would that menstrual cup be forgotten on a couch cushion.

I left for Sisters Weekend nervous because in my mom’s family teasing is the common tongue, and I hadn’t told most of the ladies who would be present about Husband’s and my infertility frustrations.

My fears proved to be unfounded, however. The subject did come up, but not as a joke. Instead of feeling like I was defending myself against ribbing, I felt supported and encouraged. I was reminded again how important mutual support is. Husband and I are not an island, and women can give the encouragement that is sometimes hard for Husband to give.

I was sorry to leave the haven of aunts’ wisdom and an ever-percolating coffee pot, but I feel refreshed and ready to start a new week.

Weekend With Family (Mostly Spent Outside)

This weekend our little house was happily invaded by Husband's sister, her husband, and their little boy. Here are a few snapshots from our fun weekend:

On the swings!

Uncle gaining some parenting skills

Getting ready to fly kites!

Flying my faithful Yoda kite

Watching kites in Mommy's stellar shades

!!!!!

Not having any fun. At all.

Another Unexpected Blessing

My nephew Million came home from Ethiopia last August. He’s intelligent, a reader, and incredibly loving. Yet another blessing I never thought to ask for!

He even loves to read like I do (a love that I know is encouraged by his wonderful mommy and daddy):

Here we are reading Where's Walrus, which I will promptly request to have added to our library collection. Please do not take note of the crease appearing between my eyebrows at the ripe old age of 25.

Blessings Asked for and Blessings Unexpected

I drove up to Minnesota this weekend for a baby shower. Overall, baby showers are not my favorite pastime right now, but this shower was for my dear sister-in-law, and for her sake (and my new niece’s!) I didn’t want to miss it.

Throughout the day on Saturday, both during the baby shower and after, my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law quietly asked me how I was feeling, whether being at a shower was difficult for me. I felt so very loved and cared for. And after the shower, when we sat at a coffee shop for an hour, chatting about everything from books, to the future, to the pains and frustrations of natural hair care, I was blessed again, both by compassion and by lots of laughter.

This is us:

I’m the short one on the far left. Then next to me is Helen, Amy (who’s expecting a little girl in two months), Heather, and Mom.

As I was brushing my teeth later that evening, I reflected on how much I love my in-law family. I feel right at home among them and am developing friendships with my sisters-in-law and mother-in-law that are precious to me.

I realized that though I’ve been blessed over and over again by my husband’s family, I never asked for them. I asked for a godly compassionate husband, but I didn’t ask for godly compassionate in-laws.

Now, though I’m asking for a child and not receiving, I am conscious of the fact that God has given me many blessings I never thought to ask for. I may not always be able to believe this, but right now I can believe with certainty that God knows better than I do what gifts I need and when I need them. 

Hosting is Tricky on a Sugar Detox

 I don't mean the hosting itself is tricky on our sugar detox, but deciding what to feed our guests is tricky. Do we stick rigidly to our detox rules and force our guests to participate? Or do we fudge our detox guidelines and give our guests a more enjoyable dining experience? 


Main and side dishes haven't been too hard, but desserts have been. I'm new enough to cooking on a sugar-restrictive diet that I can't stick to our rules and feed our guests delicious desserts at the same time.


I think we came close with a black bean grain-free brownie recipe that I found a few weeks ago, but the texture still gives the recipe away as healthier than your average brownie.


Ah, well. Either way, we have enjoyed spending the weekend with Husband's parents at our house! Husband and his dad fixed a few pesky problems around our house (a door that didn't latch well, a finicky light switch, and a sticking drawer). We enjoyed introducing them to the joys of playing Dominion and Alhambra, and they treated me to Chinese food for my birthday. Crab rangoon. Mmmm. 


I was reminded yet again that there is abundant joy to be found in the little things.


Wonderful weekend!

A New Love for Husband

My husband has a new love.

Thankfully, it’s not the kind of love I feel that I need to (or am able to) compete with.

My husband loves the card game, Dominion.

When he got it from a friend for Christmas, I had never heard of it before, and to be honest, it looked a little like a Pokemon trading card game or something of the sort. He said that he was sure I’d like it, but I was a little skeptical.

Since then I have come to discover that I do enjoy the game, though not as much as Husband. I don’t think I’ll ever enjoy it as much as he does.

Almost immediately upon returning from our Christmas festivities with family, he used some of his ‘personal spending’ money (part of our monthly budget—I won’t start that topic now) that he had been saving up for a few months to purchase an expansion pack for his Dominion game. Now we have not only Dominion, but also Dominion: Intrigue. Ooooh.

Last night I kindly and graciously agreed to forego an evening spent with a Masterpiece Theater’s version of Jane Austen’s Emma so that we could break in his new Dominion: Intrigue game.

I have never seen my husband quite so taken. Other than with me. Of course. Twice, when his attention was on the cards laid out on the table, he shuffled his own deck of cards right onto the floor.

And, even more amazingly, at the beginning of the game I asked him if he wanted popcorn with the game. He said that sounded good. But that was, apparently, the last he thought of the popcorn. I ended up eating almost the whole bowl, despite repeated reminders that he could, and should, eat some of the popcorn.

All in all, I am quite enjoying how much he is enjoying his new game. It’s not often that I get a whole bowl of popcorn to myself.

More family time, please

I love my family.

I also love my husband's family, which makes me feel very blessed, considering the stigma attached with the 'in-laws' in the U.S.

Growing up, I almost always went to my mom and dad first, before any friends with concerns and questions I had. I'm sure my consistent transparency saved them a lot of worry. (Can I say, without sounding egocentric, that I want all of our children to be just like me in that respect?) I loved extended family gatherings. And I still do. I realize that I am a very family-oriented person.

And for that reason, living away from all our immediate family is a little hard. Especially right after the holidays are done and work is resuming. Big sigh.

Oh dear. I did not mean to make the mood of this post one of despondence. In fact, all I had really wanted to do was share some pictures of my beautiful families.

Enjoy!

Husband's beautiful family

My beautiful family

Christmas in a Dirty Shed

Merry Christmas, everyone!


Oh, is it already December 26? 


Husband and I took a few days off of work and have been making merry in Minnesota with first his family and then my family.We're still at my family's house, but things are quiet this morning. My little brother and sister are still asleep (Both of them have the night owl genes that I did not inherit. I was gasping for energy already at 8:45 last night.), my dad is reading a book with some tea at the table, Husband is doing the newspaper crossword puzzle at the table, my mom is reading the rest of the newspaper in a cushy chair in the living room, and I am using my mom's computer to read up on the connection between polycystic ovary syndrome and sugar and contemplate the possibility of starting a sugar detox for Husband and myself.


Husband and I have had a wonderful Christmas with both of our families, but something that we did with his family has firmly anchored itself in my mind and is whispering promises to stay there for a while. 


On Christmas Eve, all of Husband's family was invited to the house of his younger sister, Younger H. She lives and works at a camp right now. When we arrived at her house, apple cider and other goodies in tow, we were greeted at the front door by a sign that read "No Room in the Inn" and Husband's brother-in-law M, who took our dishes and pointed us with a smile toward the little shed to the side of the house. 


Candles flickered around the inside of the shed as Younger H ushered us inside. She invited us to take a blanket if we thought we might be cold and then take a seat in one of the chairs crammed around the focal point: a small square wooden bin resting on a milk crate. Inside the wooden bin was a towel wrapped up into a baby-shaped form. 


I must admit, I was hoping we wouldn't be out in the shed long. It was cold. I thought the bench I was sitting on might be dirty. There were seeds or bird poop on the floor of the shed.


Younger H led us through a reading of the Christmas story via Luke 2, as well as some hymns. When we were done with the reading and singing, Younger H said (and this is not a direct quote),


"I just have a few things I wanted to say... I hope that being in the shed makes you think about how there was no room in the inn for Jesus. I'm so thankful that everyone in our family here has made room in their hearts for Jesus. It's easy to celebrate on Christmas with our family and forget that not everyone has made room in their hearts for Jesus. Take time now to think of someone you know who doesn't have room in his or her heart for Jesus this Christmas."


Younger H was in tears as she said this, and it was her tears as much as her words that convicted me and made the moment stick. It's true: I usually don't spend much time on Christmas contemplating those who don't know Christ and the joy and hope this season does not hold for them because of that. But what is also true is that I do not usually feel the anguish that Younger H obviously feels for those who don't know Christ.


The day of Christmas is past, and we who know Christ have been reminded of the hope that is ours because God deigned to descend to earth as our Savior. 


Encouraged by this reminder, think of someone you know who does not know Christ. Who can you share the Good News with in the coming year?

Delightful Visit with Family

We have a small house.

I may or may not have mentioned this before, but that fact has implications for what I want to share now.

Husband’s older brother, J, and his wife, A, came to visit us this weekend. We were looking forward to this visit because: 1) we do not get many family members visiting us here in Iowa, when most of our family is in Minnesota and 2) because we usually spend time with J and A in the company of the whole family (Husband’s parents, other siblings, their spouses, and our one nephew). Couple-to-couple interaction like this doesn’t occur as frequently.

As I mentioned above, we have a small house. We only have one bedroom in our little house, so hosting guests is a little tricky. Usually we put guests on the floor in the living room. This is exactly what we did with J and A when they came, but I was especially impressed with their adventurous spirits because A is pregnant. Sleeping on the floor (even on a nice air mattress like they brought with them) is comfortable about 5% of the time, and I imagine that percentage shrinks dramatically when you’re pregnant.

So, we had a cozy weekend together. The words and phrases below give an accurate summary of what we did while we were together:

Dominos

Pizza buffet

Gift shops

Wooden shoes

Movie

Scones

Amish Friendship Bread

I loved having A and J here. They blessed us so much with their company, generosity, and prayers.

Hopefully they enjoyed their time in Iowa as well, and I am especially hoping that they will share with the rest of the family how fun it was visiting us and how little it matters that we don’t have a spare bedroom to put guests in.

Bring on the next round of family!

A few Christmas festivities

Husband and I got our Christmas tree set up earlier this week. I was having a little bit of a hard time getting excited about Christmas because we hadn’t seen a hint of snow yet. (If I ever end up spending a Christmas in a tropical climate, my Christmas spirit is going to be really confused.)

However as you can see from this picture…

…we now have snow! And please note how the snow is clinging to the trees in this picture. In Iowa, snow rarely floats softly to the ground. It drives, whips, and lashes, but rarely does it float. Yesterday, it floated.

The snow had perfect timing too, because Husband and I had set aside last night to work on gifts for friends and coworkers. Watching the snow drift slowly down outside made me relish the twinkling lights on our Christmas tree, warm air gushing from the floor vents, and gift-making.

We decided to make hot chocolate for our friends and coworkers this year, and as you can see from the picture below, we are not above mass producing gifts.

I hope the start of your Christmas season has been joyful (as in, I hope you’re taking time to revel in the mystery of Christ’s birth) and delicious (as in, I hope you’re baking lots of yummy cookies and drinking lots of hot chocolate).

Family Road Trip

This past weekend Husband and I took a loooooooong road trip to celebrate Husband’s grandma’s 90^th birthday.

It just so happened that we were all able to travel with Husband’s whole family: parents, siblings and their spouses. This was wonderful because Husband and I don’t get to see family nearly enough for my liking, living hours away from all of them in a small Iowan town.

Right now, Husband and I have one nephew. No nieces. My nephew is absolutely adorable, and even though he is a year and a half old, the first time I met him was three months ago when his new adoptive parents, Husband’s sister and brother-in-law, brought him back from Ethiopia.

This was only my second time seeing him, and if my previous blogs here and here are any indication, I love children. And, apparently, I am especially enamored when they are family.

I begged to be allowed to sit next to this little munchkin, and his mom graciously agreed with something to this effect: “As long as you don’t mind having every car on the interstate pointed out to you and don’t mind finding cheerios in places you didn’t know you had, you can claim a seat by him!”

Because his mommy has called him Li’l Dude on her blog, I will adopt the same name for my blog.

I bought our camera along specifically because I was excited to get to sit next to him, and I was determined to get some fun and adorable pictures. Of course, I know that when Husband and I are blessed with children of our own, we will not just be looking for the happy smiling poses, but when we’re just an Aunt and an Uncle, our relationship with Li’l Dude is a little one-sided.

This is the first picture that Husband was able to snap of Li’l Dude:

He was aiming for a smiling shot.

This is shot number four:

By shot number nine, I felt like we were getting the timing right:

This is my absolutely favorite shot of the whole trip, even though it’s blurry:

Doesn’t this picture just make you want to laugh too?