Yes, I know it’s been awhile. I guess you could say I’m officially taking a leave of absence from the blogging world! Things are really moving along with the house project, and I have been busybusy lately not only with that, but since we just passed the Thanksgiving holiday, I’ve busy with friends and family! Since Wednesday, I feel like I’ve only been home at night to sleep!

It’s been good though. I LOVE the holidays, and we had a full house at Thanksgiving. After dinner, a bunch of us played Four on a Couch. I love playing games,  (games usually right now consist of Chutes and Ladders or Memory! It was so fun to play with adults. ) I made pumpkin pies (from my own fresh pumpkin!) and a corn & wild rice dish that turned out great. Today at nap time a bunch of us are going out quadding. Yay! And… in 24 (I think!) days, the kids and I leave for St. Louis, whee we will get to see all the friends and family we miss so much, for nine days!

Tidbits:
I have ditched knitting for the faster (and thus more satisfying and do-able) crocheting. I’m almost finished with a baby blanket, and then I’ll be starting a scarf, my first project with an actual pattern. (ha!) We will see if it goes anywhere. Like I said before, if I’m not done by spring, it’ll have to wait till next fall when I get the handwork itch again.

Tristan is talking more! This morning I called him a cheeseball and he turned and said, “chee… baw”! I was shocked! That was his first attempt at mimicking, though he does say stuff like “oo–me” (for excuse me) and “bye daddy” etc. He still uses his sign language, which is equally adorable. And he is also turning two in less than a month. (!!!!!!!!!!) Since when has my baby been a two year old??? This is craziness!

I’ve been out walking a lot lately, which has been wonderful. It is so nice to get out in the cold, crisp, fresh air (and burn a few calories as well!)

Welll…. that’s about it. I need to go vacuum real quick. And… I’ll probably check back in in a month or so!

 Today is my 27th birthday. So far, this is what it’s looked like:
6:30 – Wake up and go downstairs with Tristan. Poke at the fire; realize it’s dead and not worth poking at. Do my devotions while T plays with the train set.
7:00 – Will comes downstairs and is “starrrving“, so I start breakfast. Hallie starts wailing from her bed, and I call for her to come downstairs.
7:30 – Round two of breakfast is in full swing. I am supervising this while checking my inbox, feed reader, and scrabble games on facebook.
8:00 – The kids unload the dishwasher while I put things away and reload it… Clean up the kitchen and turn off the lights.
8:30 – I announce a twist on our usual morning playtime– Bath Time!! (We have family pictures scheduled later this morning.)
9:00 – The kids are clean and I decide to let them play for awhile while I neaten up the bedrooms. Everyone gets dressed in their pre-planned outfits.
9:30 – Coats, socks, shoes, etc. Out the door to the car. I am always amazed at how long it takes to get three kids’ coats and shoes on. It’s like 10 or 15 minutes! Seriously! (It’s also    pouring rain, so have a long wet, trek to the car, avoiding the puddles.  The newly-dried kids’ hair is now damp again.)
9:45 – I stop at my parents’ to print a coupon for the pictures, and to pick up Abby, who asked to come along.
10:20 – After stopping for gas, we arrive at Penney’s just in time.
11:45 – After a long [somewhat difficult!] picture session, we are headed home for lunch and naps. I think we got two pictures total where Tristan is actually smiling. Anyway…
12:15 – Lunch of leftover quiche/ pb&j, apple slices and baby carrots. We practice our Bible verses over lunch. They both have Psalm 23 nailed, and have about half of Psalm 103 down pretty well. I am really happy with how easy it’s been to memorize this stuff with them! Will has requested that Psalm 24 be our next choice. I was thinking about doing something from the NT, and I like Colossians 3. When I checked it, out though, I ran into the whole “put away lust, greed, sexual immorality” etc. verse, and decided…. naah… I just really don’t feel like explaining all that right now.
1:30 – Everyone is in bed, and Will and I read a chapter of Charlotte’s Web. (We just finished The Trumpet of the Swan, which he loved; I started that one to give myself a break from Stuart Little, which I think we were on our third way through.) Anyway, after that my plan was to mop the kitchen, but I thought… “IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!! I will take a nap instead.” So I slept till three when Tristan got up, and we’ve been having a nice quiet afternoon. I got the fire going again, and we’re going to my parents’ tonight for my birthday dinner. My plan is to get up early tomorrow to mop. We shall see.

I can’t believe the election is almost here. I heard someone (PA’s former AG, I think) has a lawsuit out against Obama b/c he supposedly was born in Kenya, not Hawaii… and his Hawaii birth certif has fake home birth info on it… I don’t know. It seems plausible enough, but if it was, don’t you think that some media would be all over it? I don’t know. I’m sick of all the election hype. I am really sick of all the mud-slinging political ads. I am also fed up with friends of mine who think their candidate–either one fits here– is God’s gift to the American people. I am, of course, planning to vote, but really, neither candidate is going to change the hearts and minds of the American people. What about personal responsibility? The government cannot change the people. The evil that exists comes from within, and no one, McCain/Palin or otherwise, can root out that evil without the desire of the people to change themselves! Read this, written by Dan’s brother,  who is a member of McCain’s press advance team. He says it better than I can:

“… I disagree with the idea that a McCain administration can turn [America] around.

In my estimation, the winner of the Presidential election doesn’t much matter, and neither does who is on the Supreme Court. The lives and minds of the American people matter, and we’re the ones who consume and export all manner of lascivious media, abort children, overlook the poor and hungry, eat to the point of obesity, and live beyond our means in obscene ways… no, a McCain administration will do little to turn this country around, just as a Bush administration has done little to turn the country around, and just as a conservative court would do little to turn the country around.

In my way of thinking, the only thing that will help put our great country in good standing before the Creator is a citizenry composed of people who believe in making Christ eminent and living by the Gospel, which may cause profound changes in the way we live. It may mean driving an Accord instead of a Tahoe, or not driving at all. It may mean changing the way we eat, to help ensure all God’s children have the food they need, not just those who live in North America and can afford for produce to be shipped in from other countries. It may mean making coffee instead of buying it, and using the money to support kids overseas (this applies to me). It may mean choosing to live in a McCottage instead of a McMansion, so we can afford our mortgage and not rely on a budget busting bailout.

Friends, I am confident that one President is not nearly as important as 300 million citizens. Let’s work and pray for the life-changing Gospel of Christ to be made known to all people in America and elsewhere, and not just that a man named John and a woman named Sarah would be sent to a little white house in a big city called Washington.”

Isn’t that great?? I mean, …seriously! The side of me with less discretion feels like stuffing that in the face of every political blabber who won’t quit yakking about the amazing virtues and horrid vices of the four candidates. God is so much bigger than our political process, and so much bigger than whoever our next president is. I hope McCain wins, and I’ve outlined my reasons for that on here before, but if he doesn’t, then…. life goes on. We can still still change our nation. We the people, with God’s help, can change our nation. God is infinitely powerful, and good can still happen during an adverse administration. You know that oft-quoted Rom. 8:28: All things work together for good, to them that love God and are called according to his purpose.

Even if Obama wins?

Of course. All things.
Even what we see as a bad situation, God can take and use for good.
Of course! He is God, after all.
He can do anything, right??

So even while we’re praying for a McCain victory, let’s not also forget to pray for the hearts and minds of the people of our nation– that the American people would repent and turn back to God, with or without a political win.

—————
oh, and my “otherwise”!

Dan and I are going away this weekend! My mom gave us a gift certif to a lodge about an hour from here, last year for our anniversary. (Along with free babysitting. ) It expires next month, so I figured we’d better get on the ball! We leave Friday afternoon and get home Sunday. I can’t wait to… sleep in. Eat when I want, what I want. Go for walks without a stroller! Talk without interruptions! Take a loooooong shower! And be with Dan–by ourselves– for two whole days! Yep, as much as I love my kids (and you know I do!), right now I am just thinking… yay for getaways!!!