Oktubafest

Yes, I spelled that right. Last night was a momentous occasion. Since Philip and I are still in school as music majors, we have to meet a requirement of so many recital attendances each semester. This can be quite a feat, not so much while you're living the typical college lifestyle, but when you've got a kid to find a babysitter for a couple of times a week... that's a lot.

So last night there was a recital composed of 4 tubas and 2 euphonium- a tuba ensemble. The recital was appropriately named "Oktubafest". Nice. Anyway, I thought with this surely not being a long recital, and since the music was sure to be entertaining, maybe we should just try to bring Deron along. Hopefully he'd enjoy it and sit still and quiet.

Long story short, it was a success!! I can't believe my 2 1/2 year old sit still (sitting on daddy's lap) and stayed absolutely quiet for what ended up being over and hour! And the thing started at his bedtime. There was, thankfully an intermission that allowed all of us to stretch our legs a little bit. I was so proud, Philip had to wake me up in the middle of the night because I was sleeping really "restlessly". All I can remember is that I was still thinking... "I can't believe he sat through that whole recital!! That was awesome! Sweet! Yeah! etc, etc."

one part lasagna...

sorry if this is gross. you know that day when you have to clean out the refrigerator. maybe you need room for other food, maybe the stuff in there has just been in there... a little too long. well, yesterday was that day. our procedure for this event is to get a large ziploc bag, throw everything in it -moldy or not- and then throw it away. this prevents having open, nasty smelling food sitting in the kitchen trash before it gets taken to the dumpster. this week's entree looked especially appetizing, so i decided to take pictures. i'll give you the recipe...

1 slice leftover spinach lasagna
3 servings beef stew
1 cup jambalaya
1/2 cup tuna salad
1 helping caesar salad

Yumm...

thoughts on halloween

I grew up trick-or-treating, dressing up as all kinds of princesses, pumpkins, hippees, etc. Never thinking twice about the meaning of this holiday in October. I never liked anything scary, I thought it was really strange that people- even kids wanted to dress up as mutilated bodies, zombies, or anything else gory or frightening. When I went to college, I had friends whose families never celebrated halloween. Weird, I thought. Those parents must have been tight-wad overprotective parents. Now that I am a parent and I am caring for not only the physical, but the spiritual well-being of my son, and now that I have a desire to honor God with everything I am, my views on halloween have changed drastically. Now, I am proclaiming Eph. 5:11 that says "have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them." Isn't is interesting that Satan uses candy to lure even the youngest of hearts? Be careful what you expose your children (and yourself) to. Satan has no respect for age or tenderness... the younger the better.

the History of Halloween

“Mom, can I dress up like Casper this year?” | “Dad, can we carve a jack-o’-lantern and put it on
the porch?” | Halloween...costume-clad children happily skipping from door to door shouting “trick ortreat!” expecting to fill their bags with candy, gum and other goodies...houses decorated with jack-o’-lanterns, pumpkins, witches with broomsticks and black cats. These are the most common sights of the celebration of Halloween. They are all make-believe and harmless... or are they?

Each year during Halloween, parents are faced with the dilemma of letting their children participate in what the world calls “harmless fun” and their own concerns about the spiritual significance of this holiday. While we all have to hear God for ourselves concerning these
decisions, we thought the following history of Halloween might be helpful to you and your family.
Halloween, which directly stems from Irish, Scottish and British folk customs, was celebrated as the Druids’ autumn festival. The Druids were an order of priests who worshiped nature. This holiday was originally celebrated to honor Samhain, lord of the dead, on October 31 (the end of the summer).

The Druids believed that on this date, Samhain called all the wicked souls which had been condemned within the last year to live in animal bodies. He was believed to have released them in the form of spirits, ghosts, fairies, witches and elves. According to druidic tradition, these souls of the dead roamed the city on Halloween night and returned to haunt the homes where they once lived. The only way the current occupants of the house could free themselves from being haunted was to lay out food and give shelter to the spirit during the night. If they did not, the spirit would cast a spell on them. That is where the phrase “trick or treat!” comes from: They would be tricked if they did not lay out a treat. The jack-o’-lantern was also a part of this belief system. The carved pumpkin symbolized a damned soul named Jack. According to the tale, Jack was not allowed into heaven or hell. So he wandered around in the darkness with his lantern until Judgment Day. Fearful people hollowed out turnips (and later pumpkins in the United States), carved an evil face on them, and a lit candle inside to scare him and other evil spirits away.

The Druids had other outlandish beliefs which have since turned into tradition. For example, they were afraid of black cats because they believed that when a person committed evil, he would be turned into a cat. Cats were thus considered to be evil. To scare them away, the Druids decorated their homes with witches, ghosts and the like. They also decorated with cornstalks, pumpkins and other goods in offering of thanks and praise to their false gods. In addition to being Halloween, October 31 was also the New Year’s Eve of the Celts and Anglo-Saxons. To celebrate, they built huge bonfires on hilltops to frighten away evil spirits, and often offered their crops and animals to the evil ones as a sacrifice—sometimes they even offered themselves. Some people believe that the only significance of Halloween was as All Hallows’ Eve, the evening before All Saints’ Day. But All Saints’ Day was originally celebrated by the Catholic Church in May. About A.D. 43 the Romans conquered the Celts and changed All Saints’ Day to November 1. The celebration remained the same with minor additions. The Roman Harvest Festival was then held in honor of Pamona, the goddess of fruit and trees (the practice of bobbing for apples is derived from this). And the Romans also wanted to honor the newly overpowered descendants of the Druids in Germany and Scandinavia, so All Saints’ Day and Halloween became unified with the same focus of reverencing the dead. The combination of these customs has developed into the traditional celebration we call Halloween.

Victory Information for this article was taken from several sources.... all easily found at your local library. Most encyclopedias have information on the origin and history of Halloween.

Kooking with Kids

The title is paying homage to the some of the rediculous names people put on their businesses/ products/etc that have to be alliterated with the same letter... I mean, really.

Deron and I made brownies last night. And everyone knows the best part about making brownies is scraping out the bowl and eating the batter! He got his first taste last night. Yummm.

Glass Cleaner... the all-purpose cleaner

Thanks, guys for your suggestions for getting the oh-so "interesting" smell out of the carpet. I actually used a few treatments of plain 'ol foaming Glass Cleaner. I guess the ammonia in it counteracted the acid or something. I just sprayed it on (still had the windows open for ventilation) and let it dry. The smell has depleted almost completely!


As for Deron, yesterday we stayed home from church as to not risk getting other little kiddos sick in the nursery (and to rest up). After I got out of the shower, I found him covered in hives! So I gave him some benedryl and covered him in calamine lotion to help the itch. They went away, but came back in a few hours. (He's never dealt with this kind of thing before- neither have I for that matter!) Then this morning, I got him out of bed again covered in hives- this time worse. Poor guy, all over his legs, arms and this morning, face! Treated it again, and they completely healed up in an hour or so. I'm thinking maybe it's an allergic reaction to... something. Nothing has changed, nothing is different, really. So begins finding out what is the cause...

Have You Read the Blog Yet?

That is something I hear quite often these days. I admit, I don't rush to read it every day (or every 2-5 days). I DO enjoy it, though! I guess there's just more excitement in the one who writes most of it (Katy). I can understand.

Yes, Honey. I've read the blog (this time, at least). And I think you're doing a wonderful job sharing the joys of our family with the world.

Dittos for Kiddos

I have a new joy in life. Consignment Sales. There's one here in Abilene called Dittos for Kiddos... It's amazing. Some great finds I bought were: a little brown leather bomber jacket for $9, several pairs of pajamas $1.50 each... oh yeah, booster chair for the dinner table $10, 2 pairs of Old Navy jeans $5 each, and several winter vests and button down shirts for the boy $2-$3 each. This sale is so great because nothing is too worn, stained, or broken. Nothing can be under $2 (except at the end when most things go half price). And the consignors get most of the profit of what they sell. So, you could realistically and easily trade out winter/summer clothes. It's a great thing. (I'm sure I'm at the end of the bandwagon as far as getting involved in this sort of thing, but hey, I'm still excited.)

In other news, Deron's sick again. Puked all in the carpet. We've been trying since yesterday to get the smell out. Any ideas? We've continuously had the windows open, airing the room out (even all night), Resolve, other carpet/upholstery cleaner, ammonia, and febreeze. All several times. (whew) Still gettin' whiffs. That'll sell the house.

things I've learned lately

* I am a servant of Christ's. I am a steward of the mysteries of God. -1 cor. 4:1-5

* God listens to faith, not pity.

* God loves to take the yoke off of people, even the ones they put on themselves.

* I have received the Spirit who is from God, not of the world. Just as a man's spirit is the only one who truly knows what is going on inside of him, we have been given the Spirit of God, so that we might know the things that are God and the things freely given to us by Him!
1 cor. 2:11-12

* Faith gives you legal rights in the name of Jesus.

* rebellion is as witchcraft. 1 sam. 15:23

* stubbornness is as idolatry. 1 sam. 15:23

* shut off your past, be satisfied in life, and desire to be fulfilled.

* you have to DO what God says... if you don't practice, you will be in perpetual childhood...

* God wants to you to be happy. :)

Saturday at the ZOO

Lately I've gotten really pumped up about doing more exciting activities as a family. Even though our schedules are crazy and Saturdays are (sometimes) the only day of rest we can come by, I want to make awesome memories with our little family instead of just seeing opportunities go by. I mean, why just spend a Saturday updating my blog, myspace, and facebook when we could be hiking, swimming, or going to the ZOO! Especially now that Deron is old enough to appreciate these kinds of excursions, I want to get our family out and about. So, today's event: the Abilene ZOO and a picnic. For those of you who don't know, the Abilene ZOO is no Fort Worth Zoo, but it was the perfect size, and we got to feed the animals... that is awesome.

this was the closest I've ever been to a lion... we were seriously about 2 1/2 feet away!

parks and family fun

Deron loves going to the park. What kid doesn't?

Parks are serious fun.

This is my cousin Christy and her baby Lily. They joined us last weekend in Irving and we all went to the park to play.

The above picture introduces Parker, my almost 2 year old niece. She's a very independent woman, as you can see. She decided it was time to take a walk alone.

This is Parker's brother, Crockett. He had a fun razor scooter all the kids wanted to ride.

yea, parks! So, this might not be a very deep or terribly meaningful post, but I hope you enjoyed the pictures!