feliz something

Is it too much to ask? Seriously... is it too much?

I got in the car today and heard "Feliz Navidad" playing over my favorite station. Thinking it was a little fluke or promo, I kept it on... right through Elvis' "Blue Christmas" and Nat's "Christmas Song." Somewhere in the middle of an orchestral "Joy to the World," I turned off the radio.

I love Christmas music - ask Mr. Kenobi, who thinks there's entirely too much around this house after Thanksgiving. :) I also understand the concept of celebrating Jesus' birth all year long, but seriously - Elvis? Nat? Is it too much to ask that we wait on this music until - I dunno - NOVEMBER?!?

It's Halloween. Playing Christmas music is just a bit creepy.

wordless wednesday

boo has spread

Boo!

This is just an update to say that our little "Boo" project has spread throughout the 'hood. Almost every house on our block (both sides!) has a "Boo" sign. Can you imagine? This is a long city block, and there are a lot of houses. We've had a lot of boo-ing.

Our neighbors have been making copies, thinking up clever treats, and blessing each other with sweet surprises. I'm thankful to be here, and when the neighbors come knocking on my door tomorrow, I'll be happy to see them. When it rains again & I'm homesick for my friends or old neighborhood, remind me of this. God is good, all the time.

Oh, and if you're looking for a fun spin on celebrating this holiday, we read "The Pumpkin Patch Parable" this week. You might enjoy it as well.

technology, smechnology

You may be wondering why I've posted so little here lately. Or, maybe you're not wondering. After all, there's only a handful of people who read this, and you're all busy folks. Anyway, in case you were wondering (or now you are wondering), here's why the posts have dropped off:

I am having technical difficulties.

Our computer is aging. It's a bit over 7 years old, which is about 112 in computer years. This sweet little Dell has been good to us. However, it seems time to let our friend retire. It is no longer keeping up with the technical demands of the Kenobi family.

The problem is that, for me, a new computer rides along that fine line between need and want. We do nearly all of our accounting, bill paying, communication with family & friends, and much of our shopping via computer. We store nearly all of our photos, music, and important files on here. I routinely use the computer to find or store recipes, calendars, medical notes, write the nursery curriculum & schedules, and do my "consulting" work. I could say we really do need a good computer.

(And yes, we back things up. Because it would be a major inconvenience (scary!) to lose it all.)

But truthfully, this computer does everything we need... just not everything I want. It is trying - really trying - to keep up with the demands of blogger, Explorer, itunes, outlook, excel, picasa, facebook, sitebuilder, frontpage, etc. As these programs get more sophisticated and I start to use them more, the computer processes ever more slowly. Do I need this? Do I want it? In thinking through good stewardship & personal relationships - is a new computer warranted?

I've had to start removing things from my "to do" list for the truly essential things. As much as I like this bloggety-thing, it rightfully falls behind making dinner, paying bills or writing my brother in Iraq. It is an outlet for my creative juices, thoughts (rarely profound), and desire to keep connected. So, it could be valuable time - if it weren't so often wasted while I wait for my computer to process or crash.

This is all to say we'd like to purchase a new computer, and I'm telling you for two reasons:

1. Solicit your advice: mac or PC?
2. Preface my upcoming blog series about Advent. As you will (hopefully) soon read here, we're doing some things this year to draw attention to spending & celebrating. It would seem a little hypocritical to approach that without sharing this decision.

Thanks for the patience & thoughts!

love,
MamaToo

a good day

We had a tea party.

Who said only girls will enjoy this? The Obi's were thrilled with our afternoon tea - completed by English muffins with preserves and egg salad sandwiches. They even invited their friends (sitting comfortably on the window seat).

It is these moments - these good days - that make me thankful I get to spend my days with these boys.

civic duty

I was summoned for jury duty. It was the first time I've received jury notice, so I was kind of excited about the prospect of "Law & Order" in my life. As I read the summons, I thought back to civics classes... the right to a trial by jury of one's peers... the responsibility to serve impartially... the call to participate in ensuring justice for somebody else, because someday you might need them to decide your fate. Truthfully, I sort of wanted to serve, mostly for that last reason. Mothers can be pretty good at sorting through conflicting information.

This is all to say I was ready to go. However, I quickly realized that answering the call of jury duty was more complicated than just showing up.

I stay at home with my boys. Blessing as this is, it also means that I don't have alternative childcare for the day(s) I might be on a jury. While it's pretty rare to have a trial last more than a couple days, there are always the possibilities of many weeks or even months. It's extremely rare to be sequestered, but who knows. And then there's the beautiful issue of sleep in our house, which makes it very difficult for me to be at a courthouse by 8 AM.

I scanned the summons for reasons to be excused. Our state law requires that citizens over 70 years old and nursing mothers are excused without question. I'm neither.

So, I called and asked for advice from the jury coordinator. I told her I was willing to serve, but I wasn't sure what to do if they chose me for a multi-day trial. The kind woman on the other end offered complete grace. "I completely understand. If they'd have called me when my children were little, I would have had no options. Don't worry - you're excused from service."

And that was it. I'm released from jury service. Perhaps - hopefully - I'll be called again someday.

boo

We're spending less time outdoors on bikes or in the sprinkler nowadays. It's another reason I don't like the soggy weather here - I miss all the random times with our neighbors that we enjoy in the summer.

So, we're boo-ing the neighbors, and frankly, I'm hoping the sentiment spreads!

I was unfamiliar with this tradition until I stumbled on it in a craft store. It's basically a very sweet way to be neighborly. "Boo-ing" requires secretly delivering treats to 2 neighbors. The packages can be as simple or complicated as you want; the main point is to have fun and be thoughtful.

While I don't consider myself particularly crafty, I can follow directions and enjoy cool, homemade projects. Some people mistake this for creativity. I say, "there's nothing new under heaven" and figure a borrowed good idea is nearly as nice as an original. Plus, I'm happy to share it with anyone who wants to copy it, too!

I share my grandmother's habit of saving and reusing things, so I simply used a couple of gift boxes I had on hand. I did buy a plastic table cover from the dollar store (for $1 - imagine that) and cut it to cover the boxes. Result: cute & somewhat weather-resistant gift packaging!


Inside the boxes, the boys and I put a variety of little sweets, some purchased and some homemade (leaf cookies). I bought little celo bags and filled a couple with candy corn and caramels. I also bought a pair of "goofy glasses" for each box. Finally, I bought some doggy treats, as one of the neighbors we chose to "Boo" has a pet.



Now we'll simply sneak to the neighbors' houses & deposit their gift by the door. Boo instructions are copied or printed on a double-sided page, which is pictured below.

(Hopefully these pictures can be enlarged when you click on them. Feel free to print it out and copy for your own use!)

Instruction side:


Sign side (for them to post on their door):



Here's the text, in case you can't or don't want to click on that photo or you'd rather make your own signs. I found the poem on a website, but when I went to write this for you I couldn't find it again to give proper credit. Feel free to comment if you know the source!

Happy Halloween

This treat is for you, we hope you enjoy.

The idea is simple, one all can employ.

You pass "BOO" along to two other neighbors.

Along with any kind of Halloween favors.

If we all do our part, and spread the good cheer,

By Halloween night it will be very clear,

We're a friendly bunch, we like to share fun

So please do your part to keep "BOO" on the run!

You’ve been BOO’ed! Here’s what to do:
1. Enjoy your treat!
2. Place the “BOO” sign (the back of this sheet) on your front door.
3. Within 2 days, make 2 copies of this note AND 2 “BOO” packages.
4. Secretly deliver the “BOO” treats to 2 neighbors who don’t have a sign on their front door.
5. Keep an eye on nearby doors to see how fast BOO spreads!

I know Halloween gets a bit of controversy, but we think it's a great opportunity to have fun and bless our neighbors. After all, how often to people show up at your house unannounced, except for this one night every year? So, perhaps you'll enjoy starting this tradition as much as we have today. I can't wait to hear if it spreads in your neighborhood, too!

leaf cookies

We just did the sweetest autumn project. Delicious and fun, messy but a teeny bit educational... we made leaf cookies! I found the idea in BHG magazine, and made some changes so it worked for us. Here's the project:

1. Make sugar cookies, cut into leaf shapes. I found cookie cutters on sale (the Thanksgiving stuff is on clearance because Christmas stuff is in the stores already!). (I used ATK's "Christmas Cookie" recipe, but you could use any plain cookie. I was tempted to make a chocolate one, and I still might... but today's batch was pretty simple. I suppose store-bought dough would probably work, too.) :)

2. Make icing. Here's my recipe:
3 Tblsp whole milk, plus more to adjust consistency
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 Tblsp cream cheese, softened
2 C confectioners' sugar
Whisk together milk & vanilla. With a hand mixer or by hand, mix in cream cheese. Once liquid is thoroughly combined, add sugar a bit at a time, whisking vigorously. Continue to mix it until it reaches a smooth consistency. (For this project, you want the icing a bit runny, which is why I use a bit extra milk.)

3. Color the icing. We used red, yellow, and green. We also ended up making orange, to demonstrate red + yellow = orange. (See? I said it was educational.) Divide the colored icing in separate spaces of muffin tins or juice glasses.

4. While sugar cookies bake & cool, spread out wax paper on a table or counter. Put smocks or aprons on everyone - this is going to be sticky! Distribute clean (best if never-used) paint brushes, and place the "paint" (icing) within reach.

5. Paint leaves cookies with icing. We tried several methods:
a) Brushing icing directly onto the cookie. (This leaves a very thin glaze of color and blends the colors together.)
b) Dropping blobs of icing onto the cookie, then swirling them together with a brush.
c) Dropping blobs of icing onto the cookie with a brush or finger, and finger paint the cookie.
d) Dip the cookie into the icing, then let the colors drip down the rest of the cookie.

Beautiful, tasty results:

So, this project worked for me this week... accomplished many fun things, some necessary things (a friend asked me to bake cookies! Seriously - what a friend!!), and some kind of I-didn't-think-I-was-that-cool sorts of things. Lots of other very smart, quite cool women do things that work, too. Check them out in this list...

boys will be boys

A few years back, a single friend was expecting her first child. She stopped by the day she found out (via ultrasound) that her baby was a boy. I was one of the few people in her circle with kids, and she confided over tea that she was pretty nervous about babies in general. She hadn't spent any time around little ones, especially boys. She wasn't sure she'd relate to boy-stuff.

In perfect timing, Obi-1 (less than 2 years old) roused sleepily from his afternoon nap. He came into the room, climbed into this stranger's lap, and promptly let go of a noisy bit of gas.

"I toot on you!" he giggled.

Of course, I was a bit horrified at the way my son had introduced himself. Under my surprise, though, I was amused. It was the first of many times I've learned that boys really do have a fascination with bodily function. Up until motherhood, I assumed those boys in sixth grade had just seen too much Bart Simpson.

On a recent evening, I snuggled up on a sofa and Obi-1 asked to join me. What started as a serene, Norman Rockwell-esque situation quickly turned stinky. Before long, we had a full-on Kenobi wrestling match, complete with boys and dad finding much humor in their own hot air. I had to draw the line when Obi-1 tried to climb on my face to "toot on you!" That is just gross. Seriously. Gross.

So, now I find out that another friend is expecting a boy. She is a bonafide girly-girl. She even has a pink mixer (although I think her husband is drawing the line at the pink vacuum. Good for you, Brent!) I started to write her a note of congratulations, and realized it was getting too sappy and serious. The card read, "Sons are a heritage from the Lord." (Psalm 127:3) . My note commented, "Soon you'll have your own baby to hold, and all the wonderful sounds, smells, and experiences he brings will be yours..."

Also true: their sounds, smells, and experiences will be yours, whether you want them or not. Laugh with them, hold your breath through them, and enjoy the adventure.

love,
MamaToo