Daddy's Train.

For me, this bright-colored vintage Fisher-Price train brings back fond memories of my childhood. My siblings and I had a train like this growing up. We spent countless hours upon hours playing with Little People--setting up worlds and enacting scenarios. In the house, outside in the sandbox, in leaf piles, those Little People were very special companions to us and entertained us for hours as we developed and explored our imaginative powers. This train is actually the same train that my husband and his eight siblings played with. It is definitely my son's toy of choice when he goes to Grandma's house. As I watch him play with it, I often envision my husband as a little boy, rolling it along the floor, making train sounds, and filling the cars with people and animals. This is a connection to a piece of my husband's past that bridges the past to our kids in the present. The power of play to connect people and generations never ceases to amaze me. Maybe one day my kids' kids--my grandkids--will also play with this little train. I would love to obtain a full collection of the vintage Little People sets--the house, school, zoo train, and school bus--to share with my grandchildren some day. While I love the new Little People, too, and have several sets for our children, there is just nothing like the classics. So, which toys bring back fond childhood memories for you? Maybe it's the Easy-Bake oven? Or the banana-set bicycle? Or the sit-n-spin? Or the Lincoln Logs? Or Tinker Toys? Whatever your special memories, I urge you to try to share some of the joys of these classic toys with your own kids. This past Christmas, we bought our kids Tinker Toys and Lincoln Logs. I vividly recall evenings spent upstairs in my Grandpa and Grandma's attic building houses with the Lincoln Logs. And, sure enough, I still love building with Lincoln Logs and even moreso now that I can share this simple joy with my own children.

What Your Medicine Cabinet Says About You.

Here is a creative challenge for you. Take a photo of your medicine cabinet. NO, you may not clean and straighten first. Just open the door and snap a few photos. For those of you who don't have a camera or don't get into picture taking, just open the door and take a mental snapshot. Then answer the question: What does your medicine cabinet say about you and your family?























My husband thought I had really fallen off the deep end of the scrapbooker's land when he caught me taking these photos, but I really thought that the medicine cabinet could say a lot about a family. So, as I looked at this photo of our very packed medicine cabinet, these are just a few of my observations:

1) We obviously have young children.....how else can you explain the fact that we have four different types of Band-Aids including Superman (these are actually for my husband), Backyardigans, Barbie, and Scooby Doo.
2) Excedrine Migraine--a great fix-it for those head-pounding-by-the-end of the day kind of days.
3) Multiple Bottles of Tums--As my husband has aged, his tummy has become less tolerant of tomato-based and spicy foods, so we go through the Tums. This also explains the large bottles of Mylanta and Pepto. Hey, I remember that my grandma used to give us Tums as candy when we visited her house. Strange, very strange. So, in a somewhat morbid way, these add some sentimentality to our medicine cabinet.
4) A large box of rubber gloves--OK, these have come in handy in many different ways. We filled them with beans for a fun game at Sunday school. When Hayden went through his "anal retentive" phase during potty training (very "backed up"), these also were put to use in, shall we say, "aided pooping." OK, enough said. The things that mothers do for their children.
5) A random bottle of glove oil--used to oil our kids' first ballgloves last summer. OK, so I guess we are anxious to share our love of ball with our kids.
6) Suncreen--we have bottles in almost every closet/cabinet on all floors of our house. Makes for easy access for summer swimming and other outings.
7) An assortment of colored drinking straws--I'm not sure why these are in the medicine cabinet, but they make every drink--even ice water--taste better!
8) Children's vitamins--I wish I was better about remembering to give one to each of my kids EVERY day. But, I figure on the days that I do remember, it is better than never remembering!
9) My multi-vitamin--See above.
10) Dimatap--I have vivid memories of this grape-flavored medicine from my childhood. While I have a pretty sensitive gag-reflex and tended to resist most medicines, I never really minded this one. Both of my kids are OK with this one, too.

So, what does YOUR medicine cabinet say about YOU?

New Profile Photo.

Hmmmm....I wanted to update a new profile photo but couldn't find a lot of photos of myself to choose from. Funny how we sometimes leave ourselves out of our own story. So, until I experiment with some self-photos or maybe even get my husband to shoot some, here is one from right around Christmas. That "blondish" curl on my cheek is actually my daughter's hair....but I guess that makes the photo that much more interesting. Until Monday.

Ever Had One of Those Days?

OK, the first thing you can see from this photo is that I haven't quite gotten around to taking my Christmas garland down from the porch. March is just around the corner, and it will be a lot easier to take it down without all the snow and ice and wind. But, the other obvious part of this photo is that large white appliance--yes, appliance--that is currently residing on our front porch. Yes, we have joined the ranks of the Klampetts or the outback Michigan red-neck families who keep broken-down appliances on their porches. This was just one of those days. First, the refrigerator--which has been acting up a bit over the past weeks--decided to die a final, noisy death, leaking water all over our wooden floor and causing some warp damage to several of the wood planks. These will eventually need to be replaced. So, rather than risk further damage, we relocated the refrigerator to the only place it would fit--the front porch. After church, my husband promptly made a trip to Sears and came home with a new refrigerator, stove, and microwave. The good news is: He only came home with a QUOTE for a new large-screen HDTV and not the actual thing! To make matters worse, our toilet exploded and our kitchen faucet is spewing water, making replacement of these two things also inevitable in the next week. You know that expression "When it rains, it pours"? That was the name of our weekend. Those things, coupled with my son deciding to make nice streaks on the off-white carpet with an aqua Sharpie marker, and that is just how the weekend went. Surprisingly, I have been able to maintain a pretty positive attitude despite all the challenges. It's all in the perspective, right? I'm going to be sure to do a scrapbook page about the refrigerator sitting on our front porch and what all the neighbors must be thinking! Ya' just gotta' laugh! Happy Sunday Night.

On Being An Alien.

As of late, I have been spending a lot of time thinking about aliens. No, not the supposed little green men who some claim leave crazy marks on cornfields and abduct some unknowing human captors. Not aliens of the Star Trek or ET or Gremlin nature. No, I mean that I have been pondering the fact that I AM AN ALIEN. Several blogs that I read daily seem to have addressed this topic lately, and it has really sent my mind and heart a-spinnin'. So many times, as people who love Jesus, we talk about the fact that the world is not our home and that we are just passing through this life on our way to eternity with Jesus. But, I'm not sure that I have taken a prolonged look at what this REALLY means. We were not created for this world. We were created for perfection--for the perfect lush Garden--for close and intimate and perfect communion with God. But, due to the Fall and the resulting sin nature that has influenced every human being, we find ourselves living in this sinful world for a time. But, the fact remains: We are aliens. We were created for something much different, much better, and beyond our wildest human imaginations. But, how much time and energy do we spend trying to fit into this world. Trying to be successful by this world's standards. Trying to be cozy and comfortable and without pain. The truth is: As Christians who love Jesus and live with the promise of eternal life, we will always be uncomfortable and in pain and rejected in this world. Even Jesus, who was Perfect Love in the flesh, was clearly despised and rejected by men. Yet, we can live with great joy despite the pain and rejection. We can keep our eyes and hearts on Jesus. So, the next time I am tempted to succumb to this world's lies and allurements, I am going to remember on key truth: I AM AN ALIEN HERE. I want to do all that I can--with God's strength--to reach others for Jesus, but I will never fully fit in here. I will always be different than the world, Praise God. I will never truly fit it, PRAISE GOD! It puts a lot of things into perspective. This will influence how I raise and nurture my children; I know that they, too, will be rejected and despised and hurt for their faith. That is part of the deal. But I also know that the ultimate truth of eternal life, joy, peace, and Jesus' presence awaits them who love Him. It helps me to embrace my trials and pain and hurts and rejection as further evidence of the Perfect Life to come in the world--and with the King--for which I was created.

Small Things Done with Great Love.

My college roommate and good friend, Suzie, sent me this precious silver frame for Christmas. As you can see, the bottom of the frame is engraved with the phrase: "Small things done with great love." Since Christmas, I have had the frame sitting on my dresser, just waiting for the perfect photo to house in it. Well, last week, my daughter left me these two precious notes on the table. The first says "I love you, Mom, more than anything. I love Dad, too. Love, Kennedy" So precious. She wrote this note completely on her own and did such a great job with sounding out the words...sometimes I have to remind myself that she is only in kindergarten. The second note is also so precious; she wrote "I love you, you love me, we're family" complete with musical notes (you know, the Barney song!). To me, these little handwritten notes--written straight from our little girl's heart and left for us to find--epitomize the idea of small things done with great love. And so, this frame has become the permanent home for these two precious pieces of my daughter's heart. There is nothing small about that! Don't forget to seek and find the small things in your life, wherever you are and whatever stage of life you find yourself. They are there, Praise God, if only we open the eyes of our hearts and souls to see.

First Roast.

Yes, it has taken me 34 years, but I have done it. Tonight, I made my very first roast. Complete with potatoes and carrots and onions. And, I must say, it was scrumptious. My husband raved about it, that it "melted in his mouth" and even my daughter exclaimed that "This is the best meal ever!" And, I must say that Rachael Ray was right. It was very easy to do, and there was a great sense of satisfaction in preparing this type of meal for my family. Usually, I rely on easy favorites like chicken breasts and soft tacos and soups/sandwiches for our dinners, but it was nice to splurge for once. Last week, our family bought a cow. No, to my daughter's great disappointment, not the kind that needs a pasture and hay and a cowbell on its neck. Our friends are farmers and had an extra part of a cow, so we purchased 1/4 beef to fill our freezer. So, who knows what other wholesome and creative meals I might come up with. And, Tonya, I can't wait to try those DelMonico steaks with your special marinade recipe...Thanks, Sister!

The meal tasted awesome and brought rave reviews from my family, but what was even more enjoyable were the stories shared as we partook in the meal. My husband recalled that his family ate beef roast a lot growing up. Roast with potatoes and carrots always remind me of after-church Sunday dinners growing up, whether at home or at grandma's house. Isn't it funny how certain meals conjure up special memories and images of our formative years? Like the bowls of cereal that were my traditional before-game dinners in high school, or the SPAM (yes, SPAM) and potatoes, or the hamsteak, and tator-tot casseroles. Or my favorite shepherd's pie. Or dad bringing Pizza Hut pizza home on Friday nights. Or mom's special breakfast casseroles. Or dad making waffles on Saturday mornings. Or those special once-in-a-blue-moon trips to Burger King for chicken sandwiches. Or shrimp on New Years' Eve. Or corn-on-the-cob and watermelon for summer suppers. Or hot dogs, cinnamon-n-sugar wraps, campfire pizzas, and s'mores around the campfire on our camping trips. Or mom's chili and cinnamon rolls during the cold winter months. Or bowls of hot, fresh popcorn on movie nights at home. Or the traditional pizza and ice-cream-topped-with-Cap'n Crunch at the college dining hall on Sunday nights. So, as you are reading this, what meals remind you of your childhood? What meals are associated with special memories and relationships and experiences? Tastes of fresh strawberry freezer jam or rhubarb picked fresh from the garden. Or the distinct flavor of fresh-churned homemade ice cream at Grandma's house? While we certainly don't want to over-focus on food, it is clear that food is a central part of many of our life memories, celebrations, and interactions with those we love the most. I wonder, 20 years down the road, what meals my kids will point to as those that were the most meaningful to them? This provides me motivation to try to infuse more creativity into meal preparation in our home. Look out Rachael Ray!