A Funny Thing

A funny thing happened the other day. Matthew took off his diaper, sat on the toilet and went #2. It was very exciting for me because it will be so nice to be out of diaper mode. He seems to be experimenting with all kinds of things. The other night when I went to check on the little boys before I went to bed, Matt was sound a sleep and naked from the waist down. It was a bit of a surprise for me as he's never done that before...but it was a funny sight.

The Rat Race

Have you ever seen a bunch of rats running around outside a building in the dark? I saw this awhile back in Washington DC and it was really disturbing to see. As I think more about it, I wonder how much we might be like these rats.

I've been thinking a lot about busyness lately. I have been trying to eliminate things from my calendar, but every time I think I have eliminated something...it seems that something else takes it's place. I'm sure most of you know what I mean. I ask myself "Why am I doing this?" and the things I come up with are: "I'm doing it for my kids, I need some personal time, I feel obligated to do this, I don't want to miss this great opportunity"... and on and on and on the list goes. I scamper here and there...and the image of a crazy bunch of rats pops into my mind. Yuck!

But do any of these tasks/activities really amount to much? Sure most of them are good things and are learning experiences, but I wonder if they are really that important. I am beginning to think not. The more I dwell on my own choices of busyness, the more I am seeing other things as being more important.

Over the summer part of a sermon I heard has stuck with me. The pastor talked about how God created us not as humans doing, but as humans being. I have found this to be a huge challenge for me. I want to do but am working more on just being...being with God, my family, my friends and neighbors. The point is that by being, we develop deeper relationships. The practice of presence is hard to do (especially with a full task list), but I've found that the more I do of this, the more I have come to appreciate the reward found in just being ( and I don't think rats just sit around). So even with the busy fall season just around the corner, if you see me sitting on my front porch, be assured that it might not look like I am doing much...but I will be being much.

I love where I live!

We've been home now for two weeks. It's been a busy two weeks with all the normal stuff to do after being gone all summer and re-adjusting to the hood.

Re-adjusting to the hood took a few days. All the noise, lights, people, dogs (mean looking ones-whether they are or not) is very different than where we were staying in CA. It's good though. I don't think it's good to get too comfortable in a certain setting.

Our neighborhood has changed some. I don't know if it's all happened while we were gone or if it happened more slowly over the winter/spring and we just didn't notice because we're in the house more. Anyway, it's changed (new people, more mean-looking dogs). It's exciting to see what's happening and to meet the new people in the neighborhood. There is a very young couple who moved into the once boarded up house next door. I've prayed a long time for whoever was going to buy this house. We are going to get along great! Jen is a runner (Yippee!!) and they have a 2 1/2 year old who likes Pooh and Dora- Willy's going to love her!

While I was walking the other day, I saw:

- a diverse group of young kids playing soccer in the street
- the beautiful stain glass windows of a nearby Catholic church
- a young couple near the river watching the sun set
- a family fishing together
- a huge, fat city squirrel in a large tree (they didn't have large trees where we stayed)
- flowers in bloom everywhere (I missed flowers out west)
- people everywhere

I missed being in my neighborhood. I love here!

Home Sweet Home

We arrived home last night. This ends our nomadic ways. Sophie was very excited to see us. The girls, however, were not quite ready for us. They were still packing and cleaning. I think we will be shifting stuff for a couple more days. Everything looks good though, even my gardens.

Collin and Alex went immediately to their bedroom to build legos. Will was excited about his Bob the Builder blankets. Matt didn't really care as long as he had his Nuk. Josh and I were just glad to be in our own home.

Mall of America and Church

The mall was big. They were selling lots of stuff there. There were lots of people there, spending money. But not us. Kind of like Vegas, we just came to look not spend. The coolest thing was the Lego store which had in stock all of the Star Wars Legos that the boys dream about and a bunch they never new existed.

We went to a church called Solomon's Porch (some of you might have read Doug Pagitt who is the pastor of the church). The building looked like First CRC...of name your town. But once you stepped inside the sanctuary, it was like nothing you have ever seen before. I likened it to a Goodwill furniture store. It was perfect.

There was artwork covering all the walls as well as what looked like a goose sculpture flying from the balcony. The music was very artistic and great to listen too, but hard to sing to as someone new to the church. The sermon was done in a discussion format which didn't work really well. It might have been because the guy who was leading didn't direct it very well, or it might have been just to many people there (maybe 125).

We are attracted to some of the things we see them doing but aren't sure they have it all figured out. It was overall a good learning experience for us as we continue to figure out what church looks like to us.

The Corn Palace (by Josh)

For as long as I have known Amy, whenever anyone mentions Iowa, Nebraska, or anything “out West”, she talks about the trip her family took out West when she was in high school that began with a stop at the Corn Palace. She talks about how they drove hours out of their way to go see something that was, to put it mildly, not that exciting (but free). The outside of the building is decorated in corn, with a different theme each year. The inside is filled with pictures of how the Corn Palace was decorated previous years.

Traveling east on I-90 through South Dakota yesterday, I began to see signs for the Corn Palace. Turns out it was right off the highway you would take to get to the Badlands. Since Amy remembers visiting the Badlands on her previous trip, it might not have been so far out of the way.

Collin and Alex had heard so much about the Corn Palace that they insisted we stop. We did. It was really good. I was impressed with the creativity and ingenuity of the whole thing. It made me proud to be a corn-eater. Amy and her sisters should be ashamed of themselves for the contempt they show for the Corn Palace. Everyone should visit it.

We even got a picture of Amy next to the picture of the Corn Palace the way it was decorated the year she was there when she was in high school. It only seemed right.

Four Heads

After our not so quick trip around Devils Tower, we ate a quick lunch and headed for the four heads. Alex's joke with Josh was "where are the four heads?" To which Josh would respond "right here (pointing to his forehead)." Josh laughed even more when he realized he was saying exactly what his dad would say. The fun never ends:) The walk around Mt. Rushmore was a little faster with much less whining.

We then traveled to the Flintstones Campground with all the amenities: a too-too train for Matthew, a life size Barney for Will, an Arcade for Alex, a pool for Collin, a bathroom in the shape of Bronto-Burger restaurant for Josh and an unlimited free hot shower for me. Ah...Life is good.

Devils Tower National Monument

We camped one night at Devils Tower. The campground was great; there was finally grass and we had a great view.

One of the Indian legends about how the butte came to be goes like this:

There were 8 children playing, 7 sisters and 1 brother. Suddenly the boy became dumb; he trembled and began to run on his hands and feet. He became covered in fur and his fingers were sharp claws. Where their brother once stood, now there was a bear and it began chasing the sisters. They came to the stump of a great tree and the tree spoke to them, telling them to climb up. As they climbed, the stump rose out of the ground just beyond reach of the bear that was trying to kill them. The bear reared against the tree and scored the bark all around with its claws. The 7 sisters were born into the sky and became the stars of the Big Dipper.

I thought that this was great because when you look at the tower, it does look like it was clawed. The whole site is considered sacred to many Indian tribes and we were able to see some of the prayer scarves that they hung on the trees at the base.

What should have been a short 1 mile hike around the base took forever because of stubborn little boys. When one wasn’t whining, the other was screaming and neither wanted to walk. I was really wishing that some stump would take me up and away from them for a while.