The motto of very many Christians, in the west, as we huddle together with our cups of coffee worrying about how many people signed up for the jumble sale and if Father so and so is going to get his garden in order, is, Preach the Gospel to everyone, and if necessary, use words.I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard this quote, attributed, I don’t know whether correctly or not, to St. Francis. The assumption of the quote is... Read more
One Is this true? Southwest Airlines allows you to take luggage on the plane for free? I’m stunned. And a car seat or stroller extra? Has anyone told them what all the other airlines are doing? DON’T though, before I travel. Two Even with luggage, I’m nervous about flying with all these kids. I mean, I did fly home from California gravely pregnant with four kids by myself. So, with two of us, and the lung capacity to do a... Read more
Romulus hates having to eat anything that isn’t made out of sausage, ramen noodles or rice. As you can imagine, he is unhappy a lot of the time because we don’t eat sausage that often, although we tell him that almost everything is made out of it, nor ramen noodles, nor rice. We eat a nice array of healthy and unhealthy foods, sometimes including ramen, sometimes including sausage, but not Every Time. Two days ago I caught Alouicious trying to... Read more
I appear to have invented a breadish sort of thing that is so delicious I’m not sure we’ll be able to leave it there until morning–and it has to be left there till morning because of its being breakfast. So, um I’m pretty sure it needs a name, but I’ll write it out and see if I have one by the end. Buy or be given a large amount of rhubarb.Cut it up as if you’re making Nigella’s Rhubarb Custard... Read more
Of what shall I blog? It being almost 10 in the morning and rain clouds rolling slowly in to cover the already gray sky with storm and tempest. Matt is reading through all the endless websites about CJ Mahaney (!!! so weird) to the gentle background noise of children squabbling and biting each other. Well maybe only one of them is biting. I’m trying to decide whether to get up and do something useful, or just ignore reality and do... Read more
Alouicious’ favorite hymn. We love watching this, but we sing the Vaughan Williams setting. And Elphine’s favorite. Read more
One It sounds like everyone is awake in their beds just hanging out instead of getting up. WONDERFUL! I have no idea why. Usually the children rise up from their beds as one to fling themselves on me whining and complaining about how bad the day is going to be and about how no good thing ever comes to them. Its possible they aren’t getting enough sleep. Two Wish I had had the presence of mind to take before and... Read more
We’re going to Texas in August.So we should probably plan to go to Moscow in January. Although staying in Binghamton in January will be pretty much the same thing. The children will be so whiny. They’re so northern and cold oriented. I, on the other hand, will be more relaxed than ever, when I can get out of the air conditioning for a few minutes. My favorite moment of going to Mali is always stepping off the plane onto the... Read more
My oldest child turns nine tomorrow. It’s sort of crept up on me. The last nine years that is. How did this happen? How can she already be this old? Mercifully, she is ridiculously short and will probably remain so for some time, so I can preserve some something. If and when she is ever taller than me I don’t know what I’ll do. On the whole I feel bad for her, being the first child. We seem to figure... Read more
This morning as I was vaguely waking from a crummy night of trying not to feed the fat baby who doesn’t need to eat every two hours through the night any more but appears, from the kind of shouting and crying she indulged in, to think of herself as entitled, I was startled to see my husband knock the ironing board over, leap through the window onto the roof and shout ‘I’m calling the police!’. And then he lept back... Read more
Preventing Grace
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