Thanksgiving, 2010

There are lots of things to be thankful for this year.

One is our lovely preteen, one is our sweet pioneer girl.

Hark! The Grant Angels Sing!

The girls are always singing.  Over the course of the last year or two, they have increasingly begun to experiment with creating harmony.  Today, before I picked up the camera, Belle was at the lunch table practicing a song that will be in the YFVS holiday concert.  As usual, Moo was singing a constantly changing and impromptu harmony part.  Usually when I pick up the camera, they become really inhibited and I'm not able to capture the natural beauty of the moment...but this time I think I was able to capture a glimpse of my dear songbirds on video doing their "thing".

Telling Transcript

Yesterday, I found an old pad of paper. I flipped through it and found some old correspondence between the girls that cracked me up. I frequently will have the girls pack a pad of paper, some pencils and a couple bobble-head toys if we are going to be sitting quietly for a couple hours. I can't remember when this was written, but I think it might have been at a seminar on a Delitzsch Hebrew-English version of the gospels that Vine of David is releasing this year. It was a tremendously interesting night...if you are older that 9 & 11! :)

So for the sake of nostalgia and preserving even the most seemingly insignificant "stuff" of family life, here is that correspondence:

"Question: how-long-is-this?"

"2 hours, maybe. shh." (This is my only appearance in the dialog)

"I wasn't talking!!! *smiley face* I was writing!"

"Having fun?"

"How much time has passed? (I'm not trying to be rude.)"

"Interested...?"

"Yes."

"How are you?"

"Good"

"How are you?"

"Fine"

"Having fun?"

"Kind of my neck hurts"

"Oh poor thing"    *picture of laughing stick figure"

"You stink!" *giant exclamation point*

"LIKE POO!"

"You stink you always stink won't stink more that's not impossible!"

"Ha, ha!"

"Now lets change the subgect...you like chicken?"

"Well I do. Fryed chicken. I hate 100% chocolate. its Bitter."

"I like gronola it's good."

"I want to be like these guys"

"You mean the preaching part?"   *smiley face*

"Yes"

"Ya, think?"   *smiley face*

"That's good!"   *smiley stick figure with arms held out*

"Thanks"

"An eye for a tooth, a nose for a chin, a BUTT for a...Well its an old saying but not a very good one."

"Your super weasle, ultera weasle, deesle weasle! clap (grunt) what he is!"

"I know random. Very very random"

"oh-okay" *smiley face giving the raspberries*

"What time is it?"

 

Food for Thought

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it.  Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.

~Helen Keller

Views Out Our Windows

Sometimes, when the girls ask to borrow the camera, I cringe.  Why?  Because I know that I will later find 247 pictures of a Lego creation or American Girl Doll scene that they have set up. On occasion though, I am pleased to find pictures that really capture something neat.  Something I didn't pause to even notice, let alone seek out a camera to capture the moment in time.  I'm learning that kids are really good at observing and appreciating that to which adults have grown accustomed.  These are some of those pictures (the last couple rainbow pics were taken by me at the girls' prompting):

In fairness, I thought I'd also post the latest typical kid pictures found on my camera: poker chip art.  Sigh.  We can't get too high-minded around here for long.  :)

Sculpting, 2010

 Over the last three weeks at our co-op, we've been working on sculptures.  The finished product will have the appearance of a piece made of bronze.

The first step was to work with an armature made out of wire.  The armature was then built up with aluminum foil, to add "muscle" to the wire skeleton.

First. the head.

Some of the girls really got into beating the head into shape.  I'm not naming names.

"Your head is bigger than my head!"

End of step one: aluminum foil person.  Next step: form into desired pose.

"I'm done!"

Now, we mummify our aluminum sculptures with a gooey-sticky substance & strips of paper towels.

Comparing poses before wrapping.

Mrs. Kennedy explains the procedure.

Posed and mummified.  They are ready for black paint, and a dry-brushing of gold.

The finished products after fabric & hair has been applied.  Moo's piece is on the left, Belle's on the right.

As usual,  Belle has titled her work.  This is called "A Blessing for Mary".

Moo's sculpture is entitled: "Hope in Hard Times"

We continue to have a good time with our friends at co-op, creating art along the way. 

Election Day, 2010

It's election day, and I am once again feeling how I feel in a few areas of my life (hmmm...could it be ME? Nah. That's silly.)...I tend to feel alienated.

Well, maybe that is a harsh term. Maybe it's more fair to use the term "different". I feel different. Not walking lock-step with any one person or party. I, despite the protestations of friends and family, do not think Jesus is a republican. I also don't think he is a democrat. If He chose to speak audibly from the clouds today, I don't think He would speak of the elections at all. He wouldn't speak of taxes, choice or term limits. He wouldn't speak--gasp!--of a "homosexual agenda", illegal immigration or health care. This is very uncomfortable for me to say...because I make it a practice of NOT speaking for God. But I humbly submit to you that these issues are NOT the ones that keep any individual from living an abundant life, nor are the ones that alienate humans from inheriting eternal life.  These issues may be the symptoms--but not the disease.

If each of the above hot-button issues were resolved--somehow supernaturally done away with--then there would be something else. There always will be. It's human nature...at least now it is. There was a garden long ago where this wasn't the case for a brief time. But not now. Now we have the problem of being reconciled to our Creator. THAT is the issue that would be addressed from the clouds, I dare say. To pin one's hopes on a political party to solve issues that, at their core, are deeper...well, that is folly. And to dislike, distrust and vilify those on the other side of issues...that's just a shame.

So, of course, I will vote. But I am staying focused on the fact that my vote will not somehow change the fundamental problems in our country. It may help or hinder the making of some surface changes....but true change that I can believe in?  Nope.