To be expected

If more of life was as predictable as a State Fair I would be in good shape. My parents graciously took and paid for our entire family to go on a 2-day excursion to the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson (about a 2 1/2 hr drive). This is something I had done with all of the men a few times before and I knew what to expect. And we got all that we anticipated.

Two fairiswheels, a 1000 ft slipper slide, a magic show, a giant butter sculpture, hundreds of enormous rabbits and chickens, a 648 lb pumpkin, a hypnotist, a train ride, a display of baked goods, canned goods, and quilts that made me wish all over again that I had some kind of domestic capabilities, an amazing petting zoo, a 100 year old water ride that was condemned and then reopened (without any repairs being made) because of public outcry (it’s Kansas –safety comes LAST), pig races (in the rain of course), Lucy blowing out a diaper through three layers of clothes and me not having a change of clothes for her (of course), fried cheese, a frozen banana on a stick dipped in chocolate, funnel cake, fried catfish, fried chicken strips, outrageous prices, and ice cream frozen with liquid nitrogen. Hmmmm, take that back, if life were more like the state fair I wouldn’t be in great shape… I’d way 1000 lbs.

But never mind, because we knew what to expect… because we knew that a state fair with 2 small children (one who ended up naked and one on a 3 day sugar high) and 4 mentally handicapped men (one with a broken arm and one who prefers nothing more than to ride rides and eat until he pukes) was going to be… well - exactly what it was… it was fun.

PIG RACES IN THE RAIN



MONKEY TAIL: FROZEN CHOCOLATE COVERED BANANA ON A STICK



FRIED CHEESE CURDS STRAIGHT FROM WISCONSIN



HEY - WASN'T SHE IN THIS POSE LAST WEEK?

Becoming a woman

So Lucy went on her first women’s retreat this weekend. My mom was there too… three generations of the very strong-willed female persuasion. And I thought a lot about having a little girl.

I don’t know how to do hair… and I will never be capable of it. I hate shopping and it gets more intense each year. How is that gonna work as this little girl grows up? Will she be like me in this regard or will she run to every other woman she knows to get some help with her hair and some good old “mall time”. How do I let her be “her” and respect our differences when I am morally opposed to the woman who is obsessed with her looks over her brain and who shops despite an over abundance at home? And how will she learn to let me be "me" when even my best friends think I am a prime candidate for "What Not to Wear." ?

But even worse than, “what if we are different?” is… “what if we are alike?”

Oh Lord, may she only mirror my good characteristics and may she please sleep through all of her teen years. I am not strong enough to survive otherwise…


The troop



Lucy: after 32 hours with the troop and 10 hours in a car seat... you would make that face too!


Speaking of shopping - someone gave her this little "American Girl" onesie (That was OF COURSE made in THAILAND) and I thought about not letting her wear it, and then I thought... well she is an American girl and so am I... our closets prove it - and the first step to recovery is admittance :).


And speaking of 3 generations... yesterday we took our last lake run so I could ski YEAH!! and it was freezing - but worth it... maybe just so I could take this picture because my body is HATING me for skiing.

The End of summer

Here’s a recap of our summer.

We had a baby......Yep. That’s pretty much it for me.

No seriously, it has been great – if you will notice by these photos.




Jude started skiing on dad’s back (I just haven’t gotten to see it yet.) I lost my tan months ago but our mosquito bites keep increasing as we tend to go out in the morning and evenings when it is cooler and more buggy. Here's some super recent shots of our church potluck yesterday (so much food out of everyone's gardens... I think it was the best ever.)




We don’t live our life based on semesters and school holidays (at least for one more year) but it is starting to feel a little fallish –so let’s call it a season and move on. Here’s what’s on tap for Autumn:

1. Jude is NOT attending school. Much to his chagrin and my mother’s elation: head start was full. With tears in his eyes he said, “Why don’t they want me?”, “I have an idea maybe if we move to a new town they’ll have room for me.” And while something like a move may be in the works for us the beginning of next year – this fall … he’s still all mine. Actually, I’m letting one of the youth group take him to the high school once a week for an hour for a child development class… so much for safety.

2. Our schedule is back to normal.I’ve found the key to getting around with 2 kids is just to put Lucy down for her naps in something movable like a sling or car seat. Is that bad? (And I am healthy and am hoping to get in one ski run before it turns freezing.)

3. Jarod will be back to his motorcycle rebuild after a disastrous Saturday in which all of his previous work was foiled by a leaky gas tank. But it was looking real good there for 10 minutes...So much for family time...

4. Jarod’s brother headed down to Louisiana this morning with the reserves… to help out with Gustav… who knows how long he’ll be gone. And speaking of politics, I am completely boycotting the news during this election year… it’s driving me nuts. (But I did finish Jesus for President and would love to discuss it with someone… anyone… I have no idea who the targeted readership for this book is –unless there are way more new monastics and neo-Amish out there than I thought.)

Ok... and blogger isn't working so I can't upload the awesome footage from our holiday... maybe I'll try later this week.

Fruit flies and a funeral (in no order of importance)

I cannot for the life of me form a coherent stream of thought this afternoon. All I can think is, “these fruit flies are so annoying,” “I really should say something profound about Melissa’s funeral.” And, “Man, senior pictures and video projects sure have taken over Lucy’s spot in I-photo.” (…Sorry Andrea, not much quality of the kids these days)

So here we go – a perfect specimen of stream-of-conscious writing:

Last week, an avid gardener (who shall remain nameless – but you know who you are) brought me 5 squash. Now, I had asked for one small zucchini – but you know how it goes with squash – and the gardener came baring an assortment of “had-seen-better-days-but-I-need-to-get-them-out-of-my-house-before-they-go-bad” produce. And this is why I need to put this into print – we gardeners need to establish a “go-bad” criteria. If there is mold – it is bad – if it is split and ozzing something – bad. More bruises than firm flesh – bad. Larger then life or turning an inappropriate color – do not give it away. It is not a gift – it is a blight. If the fruit flies have taken over your kitchen like moths swarming around bright lights – your harvesting methods are inappropriate. I give this little pep-talk as much to myself as others. But after the fruit-fly infestation of 2008 brought on by 5 “had-seen-better-days” squash I am taking a pledge to raise my standards and COMPOST if QUESTIONABLE. People, it is so bad that a bat tried to get into my kitchen and have at the fruit flies! Last night a bat was stuck in our stairwell just banging against my kitchen door… and we don’t have bats in KS!

But, you see, I got to experience the whole bat fiasco because late into the night I was peeling and chopping produce for a salad for a funeral dinner this afternoon. It’s like the only positive thing that could come out of a funeral… the funeral dinner cleaned out my kitchen enough that I should be able to starve out the fruit flies. There was so much food at the funeral dinner we could have done without my salad + 1/2 of the food there. But here is the deal – when someone you love dies… or I guess, when someone you love has someone they love die – you want to “DO” something to “help” - “to make things OK”. And well, you can’t – so you just make food. Maybe you can measure how much a family is loved by how much homemade food is at their funeral. You can quantify the value of a person’s life in how many of the “best” recipes and intricate time-consuming dishes are brought to that final dinner. And you know, today the over-supplied funeral dinner was for a woman who had been in a persistent vegetative state for 14 years. So I don’t need anyone to tell me that every life is valuable… it was proven today in the food. So thank you Melissa, for one last time showing me the value of life… and for helping me to eradicate my kitchen plague….

To continue you this random post….

here's a photos Jude took with his little camera right after Lucy was born... look at how good he is getting at including heads!


Here's 3 shots from Cousin Maysyn's b-day party




My mom captured this quaint photo of us making pies... from fresh peaches and blackberries....mmmm... even worth the fruit flies


Here is Lu w/ Grandma Stafford... one of the few times she would actually hold her!

APPLYING TO BE OPRAH

So, I’m naive. I have hinted at it before but today’s post is gonna make that blaringly obvious (I just want you all to know - that I know). Until the last year, my life was (I thought) totally uninfluenced by Oprah Winfrey. I didn’t watch the show, didn’t talk to people who watched the show, and was only vaguely aware of her “book club” and her other influential presence in our culture. Then two things happened:
1. I got pregnant and tired and started doing my laundry at 4:00 on Mondays while Jude napped – So I’d hook up our bunny ears, turn on the TV to our 1 channel and watch Oprah once a week and “veg out.”
2. 2. I started getting these emails and hearing these comments about the church of Oprah and how “evil” all these books were that she was promoting – like “The Secret” and “A New Earth”.
I became fascinated. 22 million viewers, instant success (an extra million copies of a book sold) if an author makes it on Oprah, overwhelming cultural acceptance of countercultural behavior if promoted by her, she has more credibility and influence among the public than any other political or media figure… and I had up until this point thought she was just non-prime-time entertainment for people who were WAY TOO BORED.
Then I thought, well if she is this influential I really should see about these books that “everybody” is reading, ‘cause there is nothing I distaste more than someone mocking or being frightened of my spiritual views when they haven’t read the Bible or any Christian classics, - so I try not to do that to others.
Off to the library I went in search of Eckart Tolle. They had 8 copies – more than usual – but ok, it’s popular. I went down to the stacks where it should have been. But it’s not there. Back upstairs to double check the call number – back downstairs – no book – back upstairs – ask librarians who I know well. They stare at me – stunned – and point to the adjacent wall – the first thing I should have seen as I walk in to the library and say, “That’s an Oprah book club book and they are all right there.”
I can’t believe it – there are so many copies of each book and they are in such a prominent place I had always assumed them to be reference sets or something – like encyclopedias. At that moment the only thing I could think was, “I want to be Oprah.” She has so much more than fame – she has the ability to make other people famous. “How do I apply for that job?”
Since I couldn’t find an Oprah job application I just sat down and read the book. I won’t get into my thoughts on it but just know that if I were Oprah it SO WOULDN’T make my list… nor would anything with such blaring chronological snobbery and self-absorption and inconsistencies. (If you’ve read it and want to talk more about it give me a call – or if you haven’t read it but are interested, it might do you some good to be familiar with some of the key concepts and their usage like “Ego” “I Am” and “Pain body” because in like 10 years they will be incorporated deeply in our culture and we won’t even know where they came from.)
Today, I don’t have a book club and I really don’t want to sit around criticizing someone else’s (because -face it- it would be a really tough job to decide in what direction to totally shift our culture) – and I don’t have a 22 million person following, I just thought I’d be your Oprah for the day. Enjoy.

Journalistic bit on safety: Whatever you do – do not take your child to the county fair and let him ride on something that looks like this – no matter how much he begs… even I know it is a death trap… cause I think it was there and dilapidated when I was his age. And besides – what is it? And where are the children supposed to come out? They just keep going in… and oh never mind it is too scary…


Personal interest story (translation – it would have no personal interest to anyone had Oprah not plugged it):




(3 a.m. photos of me and Meg in high school making donuts at Daylights)

Afterward I think I would turn from the big screen on the wall to the audience with a big tear in my eye and say, “We’ll be right back after this commercial for Krispy Kremes.”


Fashion plug: (One day I watched a whole show on finding the perfect pair of black pants – they ranged from $500 to $50… and she thought they were a steal!!! And then promised a coming show on the perfect jeans. PLEASE!!! NO!!) So here is my tip – call my friend Lori at the community assistance center (785) 625-9110 and make a $50 donation to feeding the poor in our community and I bet she’ll send you 10 different black pants in your size. I mean I am not a seamstress but there can only be so many ways to cut material… and fashions recycle (in case you hadn’t noticed) so you are bound to get a hand-me-down in the right style!

Home and Garden: I don’t have an interior decorator – and although my garden is producing like gang-buster it pretty much looks like a garbage heap – so instead I thought I’d show you some photos from my Aunt and Uncle’s… I think they have got the best home and garden around… mostly cause it is filled with lots of love… oh and ‘cause who else says pumpkins in August?





Poet plug: check out our friend at http://www.knifegunpen.com/ - my personal favorite is “Jesus wants to make you a millionaire.”

Best cook around: So one day she talked with some famous guy (sorry didn’t know him) and his wife who was like 30 years younger than him. Come to find out, the famous singer guy didn’t want to be on the show but his wife had just written a cookbook so she talked all about that. And near as I can tell the most creative thing she had to offer was to sauté your veggies before you put them in your meatloaf. Hmmmm… for some real creative cooking try thepioneerwoman.com (the stuffed Roma tomatoes are to die for!) and she is hilarious.

Health: Now, I don’t have my personal Dr. Oz but I am kind of getting sick of how many creative ways people think they need to repeat nutrition information – the truth is people don’t REALLY WANT to be healthy – it’s just not worth it to them… but just in case I’m wrong I’ll give it one last shot.
Smoking is bad for you.
Fat and grease are bad for you.
Nothing good comes of eating an Oreo. Are you surprised?
You should exercise.
You should eat veggies.
And apparently if something comes in a box or can or plastic wrap and is frozen or freeze dried and processed in some way and is REALLY EXPENSIVE – but has an approval sticker by someone in the diet industry it is WAY BETTER FOR YOU than fresh produce.
Got it? Good.

Politics: Sorry, I can’t officially indorse anyone in D.C. or anyone interested in going to D.C. but I am in the process of reading Shane Claiborne’s, Jesus for President – it has me way out of my comfort zone and I am only on ch. 2 (Check back next week to see if it makes it to my book list) Oh and if you want to read it – you will probably have to request your library purchase it for you… at least I had to… since it hadn’t made it to Oprah’s reading list yet.

Philanthropy: Well, I don’t have much money to throw around but if I did I would probably throw it in the direction of these people: www.pettengillmissionaries.org.
P.S. They do medical clinics in poor neighborhoods in Honduras as well as teach the gospel and they are in huge need of a truck right now to haul medical equipment… so if anyone has any ideas or money…

Spirituality: Hmmm… I am really enjoying the book of the 12 right now – also known as the minor prophets. Not only do they use beautiful imagery they are so applicable to today… and so convicting to me… but be careful, they aren’t very “seeker friendly” or “touchy feely” - they pretty much tell it like it is: humanity is messed up – you and me – we are messed up and greedy and yucky and we create some messed up societies– and we need a messiah, we need a new heart… it is the only hope

What do you think? Could I be Oprah? I didn’t think so… but I couldn’t find an application out there anyway. But I'm sure if I did it would ask if I had potential to have really bad hair days... and at least I have that going for me.



(Thanks Meg for the photos from memory lane!)

7 years?

Is it really possible that we have been married 7 years today? I have been more reflective about our life and marriage today than I remember being on any other anniversary (maybe because due to nursing a REALLY slow eater I am sitting around more than ever.) However, this is what I have concluded - our life looks nothing like either of us anticipated and in actuallity we are probably not the people we thought we had married - thankfully for us we got married so young we were expecting to "grow up together" and expecting each other to change a lot over the years. And the only thing that has stayed the same is that we still make each other better people. When I married Jarod it was because I saw things in him that I wanted to be more like. As my friend Steph says, "over the years you pull each other toward the middle." And we have... but each year we realize how far apart we started. But the middle is a real nice place to aim for...


We spent the weekend at the Hett family reunion... and this was the family photo after 3/4 the people left. (Aunt Teresa can you email this to Elden and other people? I don't have their addresses. thanks)

stay-at-home-dad

Well, Jarod is preparing to return to work this week after almost 3 weeks of "vacation" (if that's what people call taking care of a laid up wife, a 3 1/2 year old and a newborn). Anyway, I just thought I should update you all on how that went. Please see photo below:



I love this photo for so many reasons - please notice:
The shoes in the middle of the floor for no particular reason (like he tried to go somewhere but didn't get there)
Sunscreen on the table from the lake trip the boys took the day before
Camera and other electronic gadgets within arms reach
Overflowing trash can
Lucy's blanket on the floor from earlier that morning (swing and bouncer chair just outside of the camera's reach - evidence of other failed attempts to calm baby) (also just outside of the camera's vantage point is a huge stack of dirty dishes, piles of laundry and a car seat that Jude threw up in 2 days ago after choking on a sunflower seed - but had still not been returned to the car)
SOLVED rubik's cube
feet propped up in total relaxation
A kid'konects airplane contraption that the two of them had spent HOURS (no - DAYS) perfecting
My smiling son

You see, Jarod is the perfect stay at home parent from any kid's point of view - he SO prefers playing to chores, outings to errands, one-on-one attention to multi-tasking, and macaroni & cheese and fruit pizza to fresh veggies and whole wheat. So thank you husband for caring for me and putting things back in perspective... now go back to work and let me clean this place up :).


I had to get out of the house on Saturday (maybe because it looked like this) and so we took Lucy, Jude and my parents over to a friend's house and Lucy had her first swimming lesson and Jude "mastered" the diving board.





Maybe Jarod gets his parenting ability from my dad some how... they are just so much alike!!




Oh and Lucy can do tricks now!! Make sure you have the volume up when you play this...

Yeah... she's that smart