My husband has a theory. He suspects that a large percentage of "women" who participate on women's message boards are actually 40+ year old, extemely hairy, smelly, unemployed men who live in caves somewhere.  He likes to tease me with this "theory" when I speak about an online friend as though I was speaking about a friend down the street.  If I mention that "so and so" has met "what's her name" in real life, and they took pictures and shared them with the rest of the board, he'll smirk and tell me it's all a set-up and the pictures are probably from a search on Google Images.  You can see how this can be quite a source of entertainment in our home.

Well this weekend, I get to prove his theory wrong, at least on a small scale.  A dear online friend's daughter (who is also a dear online friend) is getting married this Saturday.  I'm travelling to the wedding, as are several other ladies from the same message board.  I've never met any of them in real life, but I'm looking forward to it as a "reunion" of good friends.

I'll take lots of pictures, and show them to my husband...I wonder if that will cause him to alter his theory? Or maybe, it will cause him to suspect my age, gender and personal hygiene...

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Andy: (watching Mom brown sausage) Mom, you're so pretty when you're cooking.

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Sean wants a dog.

No. Let me rephrase that.  Sean (my 6'2" mountain of a husband) wants a dog that looks more like a bear.  He wants a dog whose bark will make the windows rattle.  He wants a dog who will guard and protect his family and make a nice (huge) hot water bottle on chilly evenings.  He wants a dog strong enough to bear Ellie on its back for the next 2 years.  Behemoth...that's what he's going for.

He likes the looks of Great Pyrenees.  He likes German Shepherds.  I have a hard time not thinking of the latter as "Nazi dogs"...don't ask me why.  I didn't claim it was rational. ;)

So where are we going to find a pup of one of these breeds that is not going to cost $1000?  Yikes!  Seriously, that's the price I saw on some of these pups.  I'm not saying they're not worth it...but isn't there another route to take?

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We experienced the unique joy and anticipation of a FedEx delivery today from Amazon.  It was one of the really good packages...one with a little something for everyone in the family.  I got 2 crochet pattern books full of amazing patterns I simply must try.  I'm already looking forward to digging through the yarn stash and setting to work. 

Sounds like a good night to have pizza delivered, right?

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And the girlies loved their dresses. 

We had a lovely weekend, including a Sabbath Feast with Sean's folks and grandmother on Saturday night, worship with God's people Sunday morning, and another feast with family on Sunday.

Today we also played this amazing game called "Where in the World". It's a geography game, very cleverly designed to be fun and challenging for ages 8ish on up. (Seriously, if you're looking for an OUTSTANDING enrichment game for geography, check it out!) We played the easiest version, and my 8yo Andy skunked us all.  We knew he was a little odd this way...he loves checking out geography books from the library, he's decorated the walls around his bed with maps of all varieties, and he loves poring over this tome called Geographica during his rest/reading times.  We even gave him a world map shower curtain for his last birthday.  We knew he loved it, but we had no idea how much he'd absorbed until we played this game.  The kid is scary.

I heard a wonderful anecdote in the sermon this morning.  Apparently some communist bigwig had travelled from somewhere in Russia all the way to Kiev to speak at a large gathering.  His purpose was to disprove Christianity using reason, science and rhetoric.  He spoke for an hour and seemed to feel he had demolished the case for faith.  He asked if anyone had any questions, and one man came up to the platform.  He surveyed the crowd and raised his voice to confess: HE IS RISEN!  To which the entire crowd with one voice responded: HE IS RISEN INDEED!

All glory to our resurrected King!

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If you watch sports, you know the player commonly referred to as the "Choke artist".  That athlete can be on top of his game anytime EXCEPT when it's down to the line and the whole team is counting on him.  It's a head thing.  For some reason, this poor athlete can't do the most fundamental things when the game is on the line.

I've decided I must be a sewing choke artist.  I can sew garment after garment with few to no errors, all year long...except Easter.  Three years ago, I was picking out the seams of 14 tucks at 1 a.m. Easter morning, after realizing that I'd "tucked" unevenly.  Two years ago I forgot to measure my oldest girl's arm curcumference and GUESSED at it Easter Eve, rather than wake the girl up to measure.  The poor child's fingers had poor circulation that Easter due to some very very snug cuffs on her puffy short sleeves.  Last year I bought fabric that looked lovely, but turned into the most horrendous wrinkled mass in the dryer.  I went and bought different fabric, which was also lovely, but I didn't manage to buy enough.  That year I justified the existence of my fabric stash by finding enough "scraps" to put together a coordinating bodice.

This year I really wanted to be ahead of the game and actually finish the dresses before Saturday night. I took my daughters fabric shopping and we found a lovely fabric.  I promptly got that fabric washed, went to skim the pattern, and it hit me like a freight train...I didn't have NEAR enough fabric to make 2 dresses.  WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH ME?!?  I can read the back of a pattern envelope.  REALLY.  I CAN. I do it all year long.  Except, apparently, at Easter.

So we went back to Joann's yesterday, got more fabric, washed it, and I set to work today. Cutting went as well as cutting could go, although I realized hours later that I hadn't bothered to read the pattern piece which would have given me the oh-so-helpful information that I needed 4 sleeve pieces and not just 2.  Nothing like dragging out the fabric scraps after you think you've finished the cutting job.

This afternoon, during nap/quiet time, I finally got a head of steam.  I was cruising along, congratulating myself on a relatively simple pattern choice this year, when I discovered I'd left off the sashes I had wanted to add.  Rip-rip-rip.  Not long after, I sewed a sleeve to the inside of the dress.  Rip-rip-rip.

So, tonight, I'm sitting on the couch enduring a self-mandated time out from the sewing machines.  My choke fest needs a breather.  I still have to gather and attach the skirts, put in the zippers, hem the dresses, and make some fabric roses to put at the waists.  I ought to be able to finish those tasks tomorrow morning.

If I don't choke.

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Did anyone else wake up recently and realize they have less than a week to finish (or, ahem, BEGIN) their Easter sewing?

Sean and I traditionally give the girlies new dresses for Easter, and I've enjoyed making them for several years now.  I'm in a complete rut, and I'm not even ashamed of it...almost every single one of them has been some soft shade of purple.  Reality struck this weekend, and so this morning the girlies and I marched out to shop for some fabric.  We found a beautiful lilac shantung and some pretty trim, so the raw materials are now present. 

Anyone want to join me in some lively last-minute sewing?

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It's been a little slow on the eBay front, but "try, try again!" I say!  The girls are never too disappointed when things don't sell, as they get to keep those items!

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Simplicity is a popular desire these days.  More and more folks, especially, I've noticed, in Christian circles, are expressing the desire to simplify their lives and strive toward more "natural" living.  They want to live in the country instead of the city or the 'burbs. They want to stop eating fast food or prepackaged food in favor of organic, natural, handmade food.  They want to make their own laundry soap, bake their own bread, and wash their own diapers.

I can sympathize with the desire.  In fact, I think there is wisdom in some of these ideas.  Homemade bread tastes best and is arguably best for you, nutritionally.  Cooking from scratch can be more economical than scratching open box after box of prepackaged food.  Skin sensitivities can be avoided by controlling the ingredients of laundry detergent.  I can even feel the appeal of living out in the country, enjoying the fruit of the land and the fruit of my hands.  I completely identify with the desire to be less encumbered by junk.

However, I am convinced that this idea is taken to an extreme by many.  In fact, I'm prepared to suggest that it can lead to idolatry and disobedience to the Lord.

Anything becomes an idol when it starts to be THE answer to life's problems.  If "simple living" is perceived as some cure-all for discontent, financial distress, laziness, child discipline problems or in-law problems, it has become an idol.  When all of life's energies and focus are centered around an idealized lifestyle, we are in danger of turning the idea of simplicity into an idol.

Furthermore, some have taken the idea of "the simple life" and equated it to "pioneer living", or "Laura Ingalls living" or some other chronological throwback.  There is an idea (sometimes even articulated!) that somehow those times were better, holier, or more pleasing to the Lord. Yet I find no support for that Biblically.  Grinding wheat by hand is no holier than buying flour at the store.  Living in a suburb is not forbidden.  Disposable diapers are not inherently "unclean" (at least not while in the package).

When God created man, He gave this command: "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it" (Gen 1:28).  We can handle being fruitful and multiplying, but what about subduing?  I can subdue my garden better with a hoe than with a stick, and even better with a motorized tiller.  I can subdue my pile of laundry better with a washing mashine than with rocks in the nearest brook.  Progress is not an evil to be avoided at all costs!  Technology can be our friend and helper to do what God has called us to do. 

Modern conveniences can free up time to enable us to accomplish more. In the time it would take me to hand wash all our clothing, I can make a lovely meal for a family with a new baby.  I am looking forward to the day when we put a dishwasher in the kitchen, because hand washing dishes for six takes a good chunk of time! That's time I would much rather spend reading to (or playing with!) my children, writing notes of encouragement to friends, and any number of other good things.  I do not believe it is a stretch to say that I can love my family and my brothers and sisters in the Lord better, when I sometimes avail myself of modern conveniences that save me time for service.

Simple living is a noble concept, with much good in it.  Let us not be tantalized into thinking it is something it cannot be, a fix-it for our struggles.  Let us not romanticize it into a substitute for godliness.  Let us be thankful for the tools the Lord has given us to help us love and serve Him and His people better.

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Mine is. 

He said, "Hey Mom!  Wanna see what it looks like when I think too hard?"

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