Currently...

...

Reading: final pages of Already Gone. Starting Hospitality Commands next.

Cooking: baked eggs in bread bowls

Listening to: Jake read aloud from Pagan Christianity?

Preparing: a Thanksgiving Day menu

Watching: the weather forecast... there is a chance that we'll have a "white" Thanksgiving!

Attending: Plymouth Plantation Day 2009

the children in their colonial attire

life of Squanto lapbook~ lovingly prepared by our hosts

Julia tries her hand at a loom

Her turn

My favorite eight year old

The first of the November birthdays

These two handsome men each have a November birthday. Today we celebrate the birth of our husband and father, Jake. He was born thirty-four years ago in Massachusetts. A couple of years later, his family relocated to Southern California. This is where I would eventually meet him, a few months before he turned twenty-one.

It's hard to believe that this is now the fourteenth birthday that I will have the privilege of sharing with him. Each year we spend together has only strengthened our blessed union as husband and wife. It has been my true joy to walk alongside this man as he leads our family according to his convictions. My husband is a "steady", a "visionary", and a "command man" and he keeps these all in balance (see Created to be His Help Meet if you don't know what I'm talking about!).

He is a true family man and we are so grateful for his love and devotion toward us. Today, with adoration, we will celebrate the gift that he is in our lives.

Remember the men

It is a good thing for all Americans, and it is an especially good thing for all young Americans, to remember the men who have given their lives in war and peace to the service of their fellow countrymen, and to keep in mind the feats of daring and personal prowess done in time past by some of the many champions of the nation in the various crises of her history. - Theodore Roosevelt

Night out with our Marine

In this house, you had better not forget that November 10th is the Marine Corps Birthday (this year is the 234th). A couple of months ago, Jake announced that he would like the family to go to this year's birthday ball together, to be held on November 7th. This would be the sixth ball for me, but a first for the children. It would be a first time for all of us to attend a ball in Indianapolis.

You can imagine how Justin and Julia were looking forward to dressing up and going to this special event. They were equally excited about going to dinner in the big city. Our plan was to eat at P.F. Chang's before going to the ceremony at the hotel. However, when we arrived shortly after 5 p.m., we were told that it would be an hour- long wait. We did not have that much time to spare, so we walked down a couple of doors to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Jake determined that this was a special occasion and we were all dressed up, so we might as well splurge on some filet mignon.

Dinner at Ruth's Chris was really something. You get the "star treatment" in this fine dining atmosphere. Throughout the evening, the waiter repeatedly referred to Jake as "Mr. Phillips." When any of us left the table for the restroom, we would return to find that our napkins had been refolded in creative fashion. The service and the food are remarkable.

Before the bill came, Jake and I started guessing how much we though the total meal cost would be. I really did not want to think about how this evening out would negatively impact our bank account! Instead, I just kept telling myself that it was important to Jake to treat us to a nice evening. Imagine our surprise when the waiter informed us that an anonymous restaurant patron was paying for our $170 meal! We we were utterly speechless and humbled.

At the ceremony, the children enjoyed seeing the large birthday cake. A highlight for them was watching a Marine cut the cake with a sword and then seeing the first couple of slices served to the oldest Marine and to the youngest Marine in attendance- a long standing tradition.

Here are some photos from our night to remember:

a friend took this photo of us

A charming sight: carriage rides in the city on a Saturday night
Justin at Ruth's Chris

Julia enjoying the upscale fare

Currently...

...

Reading: The Home School Court Report and thanking the Lord for the freedom to homeschool.

Watching: Food, Inc.

Baking: sugared pumpkin seeds

Reminiscing: about my own childhood as I watch Julia ride her bike.

Preparing for: a week of important dates- 11.10 Marine Corps birthday, 11.11 Veteran's Day, 11.12 Jake's birthday!

Dressing Up: for a night at the Marine Corps Ball

more photos coming soon!

Free Download- Today Only

I posted about this CD over a year ago. BlueBehemoth.com is offering it as a free download today.

The Glorious Disarray

Legos were strewn about the floor when the doorbell rang on a recent afternoon. A friend was making an unexpected delivery of freshly roasted coffee beans. Before I could even greet her, I had to swiftly start kicking Lego pieces out of the way in order to clear a path to swing the door open.

I blushed a little when I said "hello", for there was no hiding the mess. We chatted briefly and then, after she was gone, I was reminded of a poem that a friend pointed me to a few years ago. Yes, there will come a day when the house will no longer be "littered with toys", everything will be in it's place...and then my heart will yearn for the days when children were laughing, playing, and making a mess all over the floor.

"The Toy-Strewn Home" by Edgar Guest

Give me the house where the toys are strewn,
Where the dolls are asleep in the chairs,
Where the building blocks and the toy balloon
And the soldiers guard the stairs.
Let me step in a house where the tiny cart
With the horses rules the floor,
And rest comes into my weary heart,
For I am at home once more.
Give me the house with the toys about,
With the battered old train of cars,
The box of paints and the books left out,
And the ship with her broken spars.
Let me step in a house at the close of day
That is littered with children’s toys,
And dwell once more in the haunts of play,
With the echoes of by-gone noise.
Give me the house where the toys are seen,
The house where the children romp,
And I’ll happier be than man has been
‘Neath the gilded dome of pomp.
Let me see the litter of bright-eyed play
Strewn over the parlor floor,
And the joys I knew in a far-off day
Will gladden my heart once more.
Whoever has lived in a toy-strewn home.
Though feeble he be and gray,
Will yearn, no matter how far he roam,
For the glorious disarray
Of the little home with its littered floor
That was his in the by-gone days ;
And his heart will throb as it throbbed before,
When he rests where a baby plays.

Recommended Reading

On the subject of young adults in today's culture:

See the Doodle Blog for their insightful post titled, "Is it time to kick the kids out of the house?"

See the SpunkyHomeschool blog for her post on dating in this modern technological age.