Chesterton on white

OK, show of hands. Whose brain hurts when they read Chesterton? Mine certainly does. Maybe that's why I've always preferred CS Lewis; he's eminently more approachable! But I'm determined to work through Chesterton bit by bit until he sits easier in my brain. (It might help if my reading time wasn't relegated to those hours when my children--and husband--are fast asleep. That's not exactly prime brain time. It's more like prime "prime-time" time--you know, better for zoning out than tuning in.) I find I have better ability to focus on his short essays at this stage of my life. It's easier on the brain. If you're struggling with longer works, try easing in with some short essays...

I've been playing along with reading Chesterton since Sarah first challenged us awhile ago, but this is my first time participating in a Weekends linkup... I thought that maybe those of you also living with lots of white outside your windows might find this equally worth mulling over...So, without further ado, Chesterton on the color white:

White is positive and essential. ...White is a colour. It is not a mere absence of colour; it is a shining and affirmative thing, as fierce as red, as definite as black. 

When, so to speak, your pencil grows red-hot, it draws roses; when it grows white-hot, it draws stars. 

...the chief assertion of religious morality is that white is a colour. Virtue is not the absence of vices or the avoidance of moral dangers; virtue is a vivid and separate thing...Chastity does not mean abstention from sexual wrong; it means something flaming, like Joan of Arc.

In a word, God paints in many colors; but he never paints so gorgeously, I had almost said so gaudily, as when He paints in white.

--GK Chesterton, A Piece of Chalk

around the corner

I have to be careful that she doesn't see me, or the game will be up. As long as I watch from around the corner, she'll continue unabashedly, unashamedly. She is holding a pretend conversation on the phone; she is speaking to her daddy, calling him "Chesser." I love listening to the things she says--my own words mirrored back to me. Boy, that's scary, isn't it? How observant she is when I'm least aware of being observed.

She hangs up, grabs some lip balm and smears it on her lips, chin, and cheeks. Then she's back on the phone, calling someone else. She hangs up with "See you later, Alligator!" I laugh from my hiding place. I don't know where she picked that up; I didn't even know she knew that phrase.

I just sit here, around the corner, and watch and listen. Soaking it all in. Because I know--I know because I have a 10-year old who was but a toddler yesterday--I know this time is so short. They really aren't little for very long. That's not a cliche. It's a fact.

Other things await. Fun things, exciting things to be sure. Real phone conversations, real lipstick...And these things? I tremble to know that they are just around the corner.

The Pink Birthday

Somebody turned 3 today. 

For weeks, she talked about her upcoming birthday--her pink birthday. Pink plates, pink presents, pink cake, pink nakkins...

I think we did a fairly good job of delivering a pink birthday to our sweet Tola D. 

But, my dear girl, you've been tickling us pink since the day you were born.

 Your smile delights. You give the best hugs ever. You giggle with Tait and you have your big brother Oles wrapped around your finger and Ziven loves you dearly. You've got a squadron of big boys looking out for you, and you better believe they always will.

Your pink ways and sweet spirit bring a little more softness to our rough-and-tumble boys. Where would we all be without our sweet little pink package?

We are so blessed to have you in our lives. We love you, our little Chickadee. Happy Pink Birthday!

Figuring it all out

Tola was digging through my bathroom drawer this morning while I was doing my weekly Saturday cleaning.

She held up a tube of lip gloss and asked, "Is dis for your wips or for your toes?"

"That's for your lips. Do you want to try some?"

Next, she pulled out a set of nail clippers. "Dis for clicking your toes. And your fingers, too?"

"Yes, for clipping your fingernails and toenails."

A stick of deodorant came next. "I want some of dis. Is for my shoulder."

"That's your armpit, not your shoulder."

"Oh. Okay... Dat tickles!"

Lotion was next. "Dis so I smell good..."


It went on and on with toiletry after toiletry. I think by the end we had it all sorted out. And I never passed such an enjoyable time scrubbing the toilet and wiping the sink... Children have a way of making everything in life a little more enjoyable.

That much I've got figured out.

Slow Cooker PAR-TAY!

Well, this New Year is starting off with a bang, and between all the new activities added to our calendar, I find myself needing to cook dinner while I'm away from home at that all-important pre-dinner hour. Since I can't be in 2 places at once, and haven't figured out how to clone myself, and hiring a housekeeper/cook is out of the question, I naturally turn to my trusty slow cooker. Trouble is, I turn to it for the same things over and over and I'm craving some variety.

That's where you come in.

I want to know what works for you in your home. What does your family love to eat from the slow cooker?

I'll get this party started by sharing some of our faves.

Did you know you could bake potatoes in a slow cooker? I discovered this a couple years ago and boy howdy are they tender and creamy inside! (Except, dear Martha, I need more than 4 potatoes and use a crock larger than 5 qts...) I fry up some bacon and shred some cheese earlier in the day and have some frozen broccoli all thawed out and ready to zap in the micro before serving. It all comes together quite quickly.

Here's an easy chicken burrito filling I did a few years back and posted at my former blog site.

Of course, there's the standby shredded bbq pork on rolls everyone loves. You can find recipes out there all over the place for this one. I just throw a chunk of pork into the slow cooker, salt and pepper it, pour some bbq sauce over, maybe a few dashes of liquid smoke, just to fool everyone into thinking it was done over an actual bbq, and let her go for 8-10 hours on low. Your house will smell like a barbecue joint by the end of the day. My mouth waters just thinking on it.

And then there's chili. No explanation required. Chili is chili.

So much for my repertoire.

Now here's a couple I'd like to try:

Mu-Shu-Ish Chicken wraps

Orange Chicken

(I'm sensing a theme here. Must be craving some Chinese food...)

And in a similar vein, Thai Peanut Chicken

Okay. Your turn.  Leave a link or a quick recipe for your favorite slow cooker meal below in the comments. Feel free to come back and check out what other people have contributed! Happy crock-potting!

2013 In Books

I love reading booklists. They always inspire me to put a few new titles on my To Be Read list. I've read the end-of-year book reviews by several bloggers for several years, and this year I am inspired to do the same. It's nice to look back at what I've read and consider how those books impacted me. So, here we go. My year in books:

Book that made me laugh out loud: Honestly, for the life of me, I cannot remember if I read this at the end of 2012 or the beginning of 2013, but either way, it's the one that stands out for having given me the giggles: The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond. I adore that woman's blog and the book was just like chatting with a funny friend. But I have to admit, I cannot get with her on her TV show. Somehow, her perky personality that shines through on her blog and in her book just fizzles on screen. If you've never visited her cooking blog, well, you are seriously missing out! Go. Now. And read this book. Hilarious.

Best Parenting Book: Toss-up between Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child by Anthony Esolen and--please don't throw stones at me for this--A Love that Multiplies: An Up-Close View of How They Make It Work by Michelle and Jim-Bob Duggar. The first is excellently cerebral and requires much digestion and cultural introspection. It challenges modern American parenting on many levels. Well worth working through. The second provided an interesting glimpse into the Duggar's child-rearing philosophies and house rules. While I don't agree with them on everything, I find them intriguing and admire their ability to maintain such a tight-knit family. This book provided ample discussion opportunities with my husband. (He didn't read it. The Duggars don't interest him like they do me. But I couldn't wait to pick his brain about it every day--just what he wanted to talk about after work, I'm sure :) Love you, honey.)

Book that Surprised me the most: Too Jewish: The Powerful Love Story of a Jewish-American Family by Patty Friedmann. I got a Kindle for Christmas and immediately went looking for a free title from Amazon Prime's lending library. I randomly chose this one. It proved to be a fascinating glimpse into a sector of America that's kind of hidden to most of us. Also, it had an ending that I really was not expecting, so it literally took me by surprise. I kept pulling for this family the whole way through...

Best Spiritual/Religious Book: Strange Gods: Unmasking the Idols in Everyday Life by Elizabeth Scalia. Boy howdy, I didn't realize how many modern-day idols I'd built for myself. This book challenged me to look at many, many aspects of my life. A little uncomfortable at times...

Best old book revisited: I re-read the entire Anne of Green Gables series this summer. Mostly I felt 12 again, which was fun, but the later books in the series--the ones where Anne is married with children of her own-- resonated with me in a whole new way than they did when I was a pre-teen. Imagine that. Anne's House of Dreams actually made me cry this time through.

Best Fiction: I was a little late to the Hunger Games party, but once I started this series, I couldn't put it down. Honestly, I don't know how my children were fed and bathed while I binged on these books, but they seem to have survived the experience... Admittedly, the first in the series was the best, but I still couldn't look away from the other 2.

Best Nonfiction: Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand. You probably saw the movie years ago. It was good. But not as good as the book. Compelling read.

Best YA book: Little Britches: Father and I were Ranchers by Ralph Moody. I previewed this book for the boys, and then handed it to my husband to read aloud with them in the evenings. I enjoyed it. They enjoyed it. If you've never heard of Little Britches, I'd highly recommend, especially for boys and their dads. It was always a treat to eavesdrop on their evening sessions, the questions the boys would ask, the things their dad would say...
*edited to add: A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park. Excellent story weaving together the lives of 2 different children from different times in Sudan. I was previewing for my 10 yr old, but he's a little too sensitive for this book this year. Definitely will have him read it when he's ready.

Best children's book: This was the year our family discovered the Elephant and Piggie series by Mo Willems. We haven't come home from the library since without at least one E&P book in tow. These books make everyone in the family giggle, and my older kids enjoy reading them to the younger ones, so it's great bonding material in our house.

How about you? Any good books that I should add to my TBR list? Leave your suggestions in the comment box. Always looking for good books.

Here's to good reading in 2014!

Mountain Madness

What?!? Another blog post? Somebody must have suddenly found herself with some free time. Some post-holiday, post-moving extra bit of time on her hands...


I have to admit here that I'm still not used to my husband having time off. For the last few years, that hasn't really happened much. This year, he had the entire week of Christmas off and we had big plans to take the kids to the mountains for some sledding. The weather wasn't cooperating well, though, and several days in a row we chickened out of tackling the outing with subzero and single digit temps. I know. Wimps. Our time outside Alaska made us a little soft.


Finally, Saturday warmed up to double digits so we quickly piled the sleds and snow gear into the back of the van, loaded up the thermos with some hot chocolate, threw together a couple pbj sammies, and headed up the mountain.

Apparently, we weren't the only family with such a great idea. That hill was crazy, yo. His first run down, Ziven decided the top of the run looked ever so enticing.

  After hauling himself to the pinnacle, he proceeded down the slope with so much speed, he flipped head over heels in a spectacular crash. Or so I'm told. Thankfully, I didn't see the actual crash--I was still getting Tola dressed back at the car--but the scratches on his face and his wet hair told me enough.

We all agreed that halfway up, or maybe 3/4, was perhaps smarter, and we made it through the rest of the outing without any further crash-and-burn episodes. Hallelujah!

Mostly I stayed at the bottom of the hill calling out "watch out!" like a madwoman every time a kid came careening down from the top of the hill with zero control over his sled and the direction it was heading--usually toward a couple of kids still trying to get their feet under them and stand up after their own wild ride.

It was pure madness on that mountain. And maybe that's why the kids are so eager to return again. After all, we all need a little madness in our lives ;)