Science Mayhem and Bookfair Humor

So this week I've spent volunteering at Matthews school book fair. Kid's are so funny. They will spend an hour trying to pick out a 45 cent pencil, get 5 cent's in change and want to know whhhyyy they can't buy the 10 dollar comic book. And if they have two dollars in change they will buy 1 bookmark at a time until every last spendable penny is spent. I love these kids. :)

Me to a first grader: Hi Calvin!
Calvin: Hi Matthews mom!
Me:Calvin, do you like super-heroes?
Calvin: No Ma'am
Me: Do you like animals?
Calvin: no ma'am
Me: How about a book on ScoobyDoo?
Calvin: No Ma'am
Me: Calvin, what do you like?
Calvin: Mushrooms...
Me: Calvin, buy Scooby Doo.
Calvin: Thanks Matthew's mom.

Then there's the one about the little girl and monopoly money....

Overheard
Librarian to blond haired student returning a book: Honey did you enjoy this book?
Student: Yes ma'am, I did!
Librarian: Did you notice that it was is in Spanish?
Student: It was?!?

5 year old angel girl: My mommy want's me to buy a ms Patsy book
Me: Ms Patsy book, sweetheart? I don't think we have one. Did your mom want Ms Massy to help you maybe?
angel girl: My mommy says it's on the top shelf.
Me: Honey, your mommy will be in to work with me this afternoon. Maybe you should come back then and we'll ask her.
angel girl 5 minutes later: I remembered! My mommy want's me to buy Fancy Nancy!
Me: Yea! Here you go, Angel girl. You did so well remembering. :)

Meanwhile during the week, I did a science project for Matt's class. ( I'm a nerd) We put a raw egg in vinegar overnight in the teachers lounge. The next day, we examined the egg and the shell was completely dissolved, the egg being held together by the rubbery membrane. When you shook it, you could see the yolk move! Those of you who have been to my house at easter have seen this done. Anyway, the kids loved it. As I was leaving the classroom, I overheard all the kids telling Matthew that he had the Coolest Mom Ever. Now that, is better than a Nobel prize. Afterward, we put the egg into water and set it on the counter overnight. By the next day, the egg had expanded to at least twice the original size due to water absorbing into the membrane. Awesome. I just hope it doesn't explode until tomorrow, so they can see it. After all, you have to have an explosion to be a real scientist, or so the boys tell me. By the way, the teachers were not to crazy about the science experiment in their refrigerator.

After school, we took the boys to see Bolt. Funny, funny.
Bolt: Shh, there's the guard!
Hamster: I'll snap his neck.

I love being a mom.

P.S. Tomorrow is the Fallin for family festival from 10 to 2 at Matt's school. I think it's open to everyone and the book fair will be open if you're looking for Christmas presents. Come by.... Erin, this means you. :)

YHVH - Behold the Name. Behold the Nail

Stress seems to be my middle name these days. My dad is in the hospital following another heart attack. Joe calls this afternoon stranded after his work van broke down. Turns out the fuel pump is out, which means two days of downtime and cost for repairs. Christmas is around the corner with taxes nipping at it's heels. School needs, party plans, it all seems unending. As I began hyperventilating this afternoon, I began to pray for God to show me His plans. For Him to tell me that He would handle it IF I just let it all go into His heart for a while. I believe this, I truly do. I have seen it happen many times, and yet it is never easy to pass on the burden.

With all this, I have been having a Crisis of Faith, not so much a crisis of faith exactly, but a need to explore Jesus as a Jew. A want to know that side of Him and to respect it fully, without disparage. I feel as if, without that, my faith isn't complete.

Anyway, in the moments before sheer panic set in, I sat down at my computer and looked up my favorite author of all time - Athol Dickson, for no other reason than a desire to do so. I found the following article on the meaning of GOD's true name. It startled me. Please bear with the author to the very end paying close attention to the last three paragraphs.
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""I am still amazed by something a friend emailed to me yesterday, a quote from a devotional called Behold and Be Held, the Memorial Name of God, by Aaron Rabin. I can't find this devotional on the web, or I would link to it. I won't quote the whole thing here, lest I infringe on Mr. Rabin's copyright. So I'll just get to the bottom line.


In the devotional, Mr. Rabin refers to the tetragrammaton, YHVH. This is the most holy name of God, given to Moses at the burning bush, the one that most English translations render as “I AM”. The Hebrew letters sound like "Yud Hey Vav Hey". YHVH is also the "forgotten" name of God, which Jews say has a meaning and a pronunciation that was lost because their ancestors have refused to speak it aloud since about a generation before the Roman destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. (To learn more about this, visit this site, and scroll down to "The Name".) Today YHVH is most often rendered as "Yahweh" when written or spoken by Christians and others. It is still never pronounced aloud by Orthodox Jews. “Jehovah” is an older, less accurate rendition. YHVH is also the name most often printed as the LORD (all caps) in English Bibles. (Sometimes "Adonai" is translated that way as well.)


Anyway, in his devotional Mr. Rabin refers to a conversation he had with an Orthodox rabbi, which drove him to question his Christian faith. Here is a quote:


"As I spoke to the Orthodox rabbi and used the Scriptures to support my faith, I felt like a child in a highchair trying to explain the theory of relativity to Albert Einstein. He called me an apostate Jew, accusing me not of finding Messiah but of embracing a pagan religion. He wielded the Scriptures like a sharp sword, slicing my faith - and my heart - into smaller and smaller pieces.

"My testimony, which had always been to me like a beautiful stained glass window that I could gaze at to see the power of God's saving grace, now seemed like a pile of broken glass. My faith was in crisis. I knelt and pleaded with God to restore the joy of His salvation in me."


This is very like the crisis I felt myself after spending years studying the Torah with several rabbis in my home town. (You can read about it here.) Like me, Mr. Rabin turned to the Lord and to the Bible. In the midst of his search for truth, he says the Holy Spirit led him to the story of the burning bush, and the secret name of God, YHVH.


Mr. Rabin investigated the ideographic meaning of the Hebrew letters Yud Hey Vav Hey. An ideogram is a symbol that represents an idea, like those little male and female shaped signs you see on the outside of public restroom doors. This is similar--but not identical--to the Chinese written system, or ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. Hebrew letters have had ideographic meanings since ancient times. (Learn more here). I knew this, but I never thought to check the tetragrammaton against those meanings as Mr. Rabin did. When I verified his assertion here, here and here, I was amazed. There are several ideographic meanings for each of the letters. Hey, for example can mean both "window", and "look" or "behold". Vav can mean "hook", "peg", or "nail". But in each case the ideas represented by the letters are closely related. With all of this in mind, using the ideographic meanings of Yud Hey Vav Hey most commonly accepted by Jewish scholars throughout the centuries, I found they absolutely match Rabin's translation.


Symbolically speaking, the most holy name of God, YHVH, can indeed be translated as:

 "Behold, the hand. Behold, the nail." ""

He's no Prince Charming...

... and I'm definately not Cinderella!
Our fourteenth anniversary is coming up in a few weeks and I always take the time to reflect on where we are in our relationship. Love ISN'T a fairy tale. I'm not saying this in disrespect of our relationship. Just the opposite, in fact. The truth is, it isn't always perfect. We sometimes take each other for granted. HE doesn't pick up his socks and I am terrible at getting the laundry done (or the dishes, in fact).WE are both too easily frustrated with our kids. (Poor kids) HE can't make a plan to save his life. I can't take out the trash.

That being said, I love him. Like a love song. It is such a give and take thing and sometimes its a love and hate thing. Our lives are wrapped up in each other. Everything we've been through, we've been through together. Its beautiful to step back and see everything woven together, as it was meant to be. The ups and downs and always having someone to look to in those moments of despair. I hope my kids see that their Daddy, dirty socks and all, is THE love of my life.




Reason # 10,000

What did you do all day today, honey?

Sometimes, when Joe gets home from work, he likes to ask me how my day was. Not in the form of "Did you survive?",but in the form of "Honey, what did you do today?"

For some reason, I always take this to be a negative statement.

What I hear is " They are only two little boys,

Why isn't dinner ready?,

Are those really your pajamas?

I realize as he asks this question, that I can't really answer,yet I am exhausted from something.

What did I do today?

Joes out fishing today, so I've decided to play a little game.

Instead of mindlessly picking up all the little messes that occur during my day, I am going to let them accumulate and then

I am going to take pictures of them when normally I would pick up, mop up, or vacuum said mess.

I will also try to avoid the word NO unless there is impending danger. I intend to do this until right after lunch and Daniel's down for a nap.

It all started with a box of Trix that Matthew helped Daniel obtain by standing on the counter-top

They then proceeded to carry them to the living room, whereupon, Daniel decides that they are better eaten straight off the floor, thereby turning the full box of said cereal over, spilling all of it's contents onto my carpet.

Daniel looks up at me and says "mess"

 OK, this is going to be easier than I thought, harder too, because I have to somehow

manage to keep the boys from smashing cereal into the carpet without saying NO.

Not that That ever works anyway...

So I decide I will begin lunch quickly. Walking into the living room, I notice that Daniel has once again pulled everything out of the TV cabinet.  

I direct Daniel into the kitchen as I cook. Daniel steps into the refrigerator (yes, I said into) and retrieves two puddings and a holey serving spoon from the drawer. He never manages to grab a normal spoon. (Last week, I found him sitting in the middle of a dozen eggs. He looks up at me and says "mess")

Lunch (raviolis with red sauce anyone?) is served. Mess is made, coke is spilled and yea, I made it!

I have to draw the line at putting Daniel in his bed covered in red sauce, so I hose him down, give him a kiss and carry him into his bedroom, stepping over a million toys (and don't forget the Trix) on the way.

I change his diaper Again (don't ask) and put him to bed.

I know, you're thinking there seems to be a whole lot of Daniel and very little Matthew. That's true, however, the Halloween costume and toys laying on the floor was from Matt just last night right before bed (I didn't even bother). The shoes right in front of the couch, Joe's.

Mind you, I make my own messes, but that isn't the topic today, is it?

Ok, well, I have a living room to clean.

Oh, and all this reminds me that I really, really love my boys.

My dirty, smelly, messy, silly, sweet, little boys.

So thats what I do all day, honey.

The living room is clean, just as daniel wakes up,

but the kitchen...

This election season, I am tired of hearing...

.. it's a womans body, she should have the right to do as she wishes about her reproductive organs. I am not talking about your reproductive organs when I say I am Pro-life (anti-choice, as planned parenthood refers to it). Remove them if you wish, That's your right, take a birth CONTROL pill, that's your right, abstain, that's your right. I will stand by my belief, however, that what an abortion does is end another life. It isn't your life that's removed after all, but that of another. Do not say it's a part of me, therefore it IS me and I can remove it as an appandage.


¶ Funny thing is, most pro choice abortion programs will try to use the Christian or religious definition of a soul to define when life begins. I don't think any scientist would deny that a human life begins when it has the ability to replicate it's cells, multiplying and growing. After 21 days, it's heart is pumping blood of it's own unique blood type, completely separate than that of the babies mother. All organs are in place soon thereafter. How much more "alive" can you get? Do not use God to define a life, then deny God has the right to create a life.

¶Then there is the standard, "If I were raped..." Less than 2 percent of abortions are done due to rape. Furthermore, there have been studies stating that victims of rape that chose to keep their babies actually fare better mentally because something good came out of a horrible situation. This isn't to say that I would EVER want to make that decision, nor do I think that abortion should be completely taken off the table completely. The problem is, if you only let rape victims have an abortion, then everyone becomes rape victims and innocent men will be sent to prison, therefore everyone should be able to have one.

¶The truth is, 90 percent of abortions are done as a lifestyle choice, meaning that the mom had sex, got pregnant, but did not want to BE pregnant. 1 in 4 pregnancy's end in abortion. That is 1.5 million abortions in the united states annually, only 20% of which are under 20, So stop blaming it on the teenagers. 47% are repeat abortions. Why, when birth control is so easy to obtain, are there so many women having lifestyle choice abortions?

¶ I know that abortion may have a place in our society, just don't try to define away what it is. Maybe it should be left of the table for those extreme and horrible situations. I wouldn't wish that decision on anyone and I do not condemn any woman who has made that decision. However it should, never, ever be of no consequence.

¶ What some pro choice advocates want in regards to expanding abortion: Abortions available to ANY age without parental consent. Is (or was) legal in 14 states Late term abortions as far as into the early 3rd trimester.

¶This is a good article link on the subject if you're interested. www.prolifephysicians.org

For a long time, I always assumed that it was a small problem, within a womans rights to make a responsible decision. When I started learning what the procedure involves, how many are being done, and the lengths that planned parenthood and similar organizations go to in order to continue the expansion, I became ashamed of not knowing what I thought I knew.

What upsets me the most is the attempt to devalue the mother and child bond during pregnancy. I knew within days, that I was pregnant both times. It drove my doctor crazy that I came in so quickly. They were people and my job was to grow them until they were ready to come into the world. To say they were not of value until they breathed their first breath is an insult to them, to me and to God. Planned parenthood gets infuriated when people bring up Scott and Lacey Peterson. They did not want to see him convicted of two murders because it undermined their claim that it was a fetus and not a baby. I could go on and on...

They are also adamant that a girl as young as thirteen should have an abortion without parental consent. What kind of world do we live in that a girl cannot get her ears pierced without consent, but abortion is ok? The important thing is to keep an open dialog and to understand the issue.

Our Lucky Number 13 Anniversary

It will be thirteen years since we promised to Love, Honor and Cherish (Obey, Hah). There has been sickness and health, richer and poorer , but through it all, I love him more now than ever.

Just this week, with my moms memorial, I realize how much Joe does for our little family. He has been my rock through the years and this week was no exception. He arranged my moms roses when I didn't have the strength to face the task. They were perfection, honoring mom and in turn honoring the relationship that she had with Joe. There was so much that he has done to help me get through her passing that I can't begin to write them all.

I have been flipping through all the letters that he has written over the years, to me, to our boys, and I am amazed at the depth of my feeling for him as I see the love he has for us. How is it that he can be so forgiving when I'm not on my best behavior? How can he look past my many flaws as if I were flawless?

He is also an amazing daddy to our two little men, teaching them all that they need to know as they grow in his image. Teaching them love , respect, and the importance of hard work, yet the value of family time.

I am quite lucky to have him as my partner. Walking beside me through all that life may throw at us.

I have what is known as Mommy Brain

I've discovered something about being a mom. There have been studies that make what I'm about to say fact. The official terminology is "Mommy Brain"

My I.Q. has always been a respectable 135-140. I know because, every few years, I've taken one, starting when I was in School. After having Matthew, I took one online and discovered it had dropped to 132. Disapponting, but I could live with it. I don't know why it's always been so important to me, but it has.

Daniel is now one and I've been feeling a bit out of sorts lately. Slower and more confused. The back of a cereal box has become quantum physics. I decided to get back online and take another I.Q. test. Three I.Q tests later and my suspicions were confirmed! It is now 110! That is 22 points, shocking isn't it! I've read that "Mommy Brain" is caused by learning all the new skills needed for raising a child. Changing them, feeding them, keeping them from sticking a cheerio up their nose. Is there really not enough room in my brain for this without thowing out what's already in there? I've realized that if I continue having children, before long, I will be "The Missing Link"

So Joe and I decided to go to Matagorda Bay this weekend to try a new park out and because we haven't been camping in weeks. We left on Friday knowing that storms were rolling into the Houston area, but we weren't too concerned because Radar the Weather Dog, said that the storms would stay well north of Matagorda. We do check these things out before we just drive off onto the sunset. We get there and set up camp, having a lovely Friday afternoon.

We got to bed around 10:00 and wake up around 3:00 am to the wind blowing pretty swiftly over the bay. If you have ever slept in a tent during a storm, then you understand what sleeping in our type of camper is like. It seems much bigger than it usually is. We have been through it all before, so we weren't too alarmed. As I'm drifting back into dreamland around 5:30, I hear Joe saying that it must be clearing up. I make some comment about it being the calm before the storm and fall asleep. I wake up around seven to the wind shaking the camper and notice that Joe is gone.

Daniel is awake by this time, so I get up to make his bottle. I look out the window and simultaneously turn on the TV. I notice the funny looking green sky in the horizon and look to the right of it and notice.... A waterspout blowing over the marsh behind us! Then I hear that Stupid Weather Dog on TV talking about the tornado sheer markers that have jut been spotted off of Matagorda Bay. The camper is shaking so badly that the beds are popping up. I try to open the front door, which at a point, is ripped out of my hand and slammed against the camper. Panic mode sets in.

Where is your daddy? I ask Daniel as he looks at me without an answer. I have this picture in my mind, of Joe being blown off the pier (holding his fishing pole of course) and swept out into the Gulf. Nobody is there to save him because nobody else would leave their camper in a storm like this. No sign of Joe anywhere, not on the pier or the beach. I go between daydreaming about how smart my Next Husband will be, to wondering how I'm going to manage to get both boys to the Suburban which has now become the safest place to be during a Tornado. I pick up Daniel to take him and buckle him in, Then I notice Joe walking down the river bank, hunched over from the wind, pulling the.........

....Kayak! Never in all my imaging's did I see him taking the Kayak out in what I remembered as a pretty good storm during our nighttime conversation. By then, I notice that the Tornado filled storm clouds have passed just to the west of us. In the meantime, My kayak has just sailed about 20 feet from its home on the top of the suburban.

Turns out he decided to go kayaking because it looked liked it had all passed over. Now, about this park, It is at the end of the Colorado River where it slams into the Gulf of Mexico. The kayaking in the river is pretty tame, unless there are forty mile an hours winds pushing you into the breaking waves of the Gulf. Joe says he's paddling along, (without a care in the world) when he notices that the air temp drops about 30 degrees cooler from the north wind (mixing with the warm south air=tornadoes!) . He also notices some other fools paddling really quickly (upstream, mind you) back to the shore. Cowards, he thinks, as he turns around and sees the same green, tornado filled sky about the same time I did. Then, and only then, mind you, he decides he should head back in. HMMM. Luckily, it isn't that far back to camp, but he was fighting the current And the wind, so it was quite a paddle. He paddled to the nearest shore and pulled it all the way back to camp. I am sure he was debating on whether to battle it out with the tornadoes when he saw the look on my face.

This, my friends, is why I believe in God. The rest of the weekend turned out beautifully. The mosquitos were really bad, but that is another story. Oh, where is Matt in all of this, you ask? In bed, asleep, the whole time. He wakes up and hears the rain gently pattering on top of the bed and says..... "It sounds like a storm outside."

Camping anyone?

Men

Joe's back hurts. When I was sick, the dishes didn't get done for three days. Now, he can't change a diaper. After Joe helped clean the house a few days ago, (when we were expecting company, his family) when I still wasn't quite well, he says "You're welcome for the cleaning the house, Har, Har." Don't get me wrong, I know what it feels like to want help when you're sick. Thats the point.
The weird thing is, he is usually very helpful, but for some reason, whenever I'm sick, suddenly, he needs to take a load off, have a nap, take a break, play video games. etc.
Now, his back hurts.

K

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