Media Choices Part I

My husband taught a teen class once with an opening question he believed would be a no-brainer, with an obvious answer, an easy-to-start-with opener for class: "Should the fact that we are Christians affect the choices we make in our movies, music, books, magazines and other media?"

What he was confident would be common ground for all and would certainly garner a "YES" actually became a point of debate and disagreement.

While this happened in a teen class, I don't think this mentality is necessarily isolated to teens.  I believe we as Christians are suffering from a culture immersed in media that has a primarily ungodly mindset.

Should the fact that we belong to Christ affect our choices?  Does the "stuff" we take in mentally actually affect us?  Does it really matter if we partake of impurity in our media choices?  Can't we just decide which parts we agree with and which parts we don't like?  Isn't that enough?  Isn't it enough that we know right from wrong and can discern it in any movie or music?  Or maybe it does matter?  Maybe what I put into my heart and mind, even with the realization that it's wrong, does affect me...does it? 

(Here's my ponderings for now...will write more tomorrow.  Feel free to comment.)

My kids' "toys"

My brother Levi and I are just not quite sure why adults think all these colorful, plastic toys are more exciting for us than their stuff.  I'd take their stuff over mine any day.

And there must be one for each hand!

The untensil drawer is the best.  We unload it for mom nearly every morning after breakfast, waiting until she shows us just the two we wanted.  Then we scatter them around the house and when it's lunch time she has to have everyone gather the spoons and ladles.

#8

Thanks for the well-wishes from all!  We're excited about this baby...I can't imagine having given birth to eight children myself, but I'm excited about welcoming this little one around the middle of August. 

I'm safe to say that this will be the eighth and not the eighth and ninth!  We had to have an ultra-sound at 9 1/2 weeks due to some unexplained bleeding, but we were very relieved and thankful to see that all is well and that there is just one (unlike my husband's co-worker who is first-time pregnant with identical triplet boys and no fertilty drugs...I'm in awe and asking for weekly updates and hoping she blogs....but I'm glad it's not me!)

I haven't felt much like blogging until last week when I felt like I'd turned a corner.  Life suddenly started to feel like more than just survival.  I don't have much to complain about but knew that if I blogged that's what it would sound like.  We were sick a lot and I felt nauseous and lived for a daily nap!

Now to one of my favorite subjects...FOOD!  This is a new dimension to pregnancy.  The last two times it was more about food aversions and just trying to find something that sounded good.  This time I find myself thinking a lot about food and trying to figure out just what it is that I must eat right now!  One night at 11 I was "starving" and trying to decide between sleep or a grilled cheese sandwich with a little extra salt, lots of butter and dipped in some Trader Joe's Greek dressing (that's what it had to be exactly) and the grilled cheese sandwich won.  Kent laughs at me.  Fortunately, I'm enjoying huge leafy green salads, juicy oranges, and lots of frozen fruit too! 

We told DJ yesterday about this new one and his response was, "I can't decide if I want it to be a boy or a girl.  I want a boy because then we'd be even and the girls wouldn't be winning, but I'd like a little sister to find out what that's like!"  Either way he's excited.

The girls were happy too.  I hoped they'd be, but also was concerned they might have a slightly different view on little ones than they'd had with the other two.  I mean, you find out that these little people disrupt life, make messes and take lots of time from mom and dad.  But they were wonderful and happy too.

So here goes another exciting adventure! 

Christmas Past

We did have a wonderful Christmas holiday, we did take lots of pictures, we did have lots of family here, and we did eat lots of good food. I just didn't get around to blogging about it...until almost Valentine's Day! :) So if you're in the mood for hearts and sweet little things to make, you won't find it here...until the 4th of July...maybe! Yes, Alyssa's gift to DJ was this handy apron and chef's hat. DJ does love to help out in the kitchen and can't wait to make pancakes all by himself. that's right,

Malia made a stuffed pig friend for Kade. She picked out the pattern herself and used felt scraps from around the house. It was pretty cute and he loved it! we

Kalai and Malia were pretty creative in regards to my gift that Kade is holding. This glass jar is full of folded stars (3 dimensional). The outside of the jar said "One Hundred Reasons We Love You." This gift has totally made the last 40 days or so (as I only allow myself to open one a day). I love their sweetness and thoughtfulness...especially because I know I'm not always that lovable! are

The gift of family being with us was the best part of Christmas. My parents, sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew all spent several days/weeks with us. This is my 4 year old niece who was a welcome playmate to all! expecting

We do the whole artificial thing and it's really totally okay with me! We turn on the music, pop some popcorn, and make it a family affair. The color-coded branches are a challenge every year to get in just the right spot. another

DJ made this puppet for Grandpa Stacy and Grandma Carol. He spent quite a bit of time painstakingly cutting out pieces and hot gluing them on. baby

These girls make the holidays especially fun. They're very thoughtful in their gift choosing and giving and they helped make some yummy stuff for Christmas dinner. so

This was DJ's gift to Levi (with some assistance from daddy and sister artists). This little house ended up being in our living room for about a month and was the absolute favorite place to play! that's

One of our family snapshots together one morning. why

Here's my sweet nephew that just loved this sparkly stuff. eight is great

Daily Life

We're just getting the essentials done around here lately. Blogging has taken a backseat, but for some reason, I miss journaling, at the very least. I want to savor these years with my children and husband in the midst of the every day humdrum. Fleeting beautiful moments today include:



-holding a sleeping Kade just a few moments longer and marveling at how little he is (compared to how he will be someday)

-laughing tonight with the girls while eating ice cream

- totally amazed at the appetite of DJ today...3 eggs, 2 pancakes, 2 bananas, and a bowl of yogurt (at breakfast), only to be hungry for a snack an hour and a half later

-watching Levi's HUGE smile while playing in our cardboard box "house"

-seeing Kade change his "hitting" to gentle pats and strokes on Levi's head when I told him "gentle"

-hearing DJ's prayer at breakfast about God's faithfulness

-seeing the girls' eagerness to help put the boys to bed so Kent and I could have a last-minute date tonight





My last blog post I've made some progress:



I've purposefully been reading to Kade, and he loves it (for short bursts)



My friend from Haiti has heard from her family and they are alive (although living on the streets)

Thinking about...

finishing my thank-you notes

helping the boys clean the basement

having company over tomorrow after church meeting

off-loading pictures off my camera

drinking more lemon-honey stirred into hot water

working on memorizing Col 3:1-17 along with the girls

Haiti and the devastation and praying for a Christian sister whose mother and family lives there

writing a note to myself to read books to Kade every day

a lovely/much-needed evening I had at Olive Garden with Kent last week (and wishing I could do it again and again, but then it wouldn't be a treat...or cheap!)

how much I enjoy reading my friend's blogs

It's a new year and...

-I'm just not into blogging right now, but hope to find inspiration soon!
-I'm thankful for the loads of company and holiday get-togethers we had
-I'm enjoying a clean storage room, new shelves in our game closet, a new freezer (this wasn't in the plans!), a working kitchen faucet...thanks to a very busy husband and my dad
-I'm trying to help my two sick boys feel better and hoping for better days (and nights) soon
- Lovin' my new heated mattress cover for our bed on these cold winter nights. Ahhh! (Thanks, honey)
-I was inspired by our recent reading of Psalm 119 (not read in one sitting!) and how much we need to make God's Word a priority in our hearts and lives!
-I enjoyed a beautiful snowfall this morning
-I've rediscovered an old love...Bengal Spice Herbal Tea made by Celestial Seasonings Yum!
-I'm appreciating having my parents here. They've helped out so much and spent lots of time with our children
-I'm glancing at my corner of scrap booking stuff and wondering when I'm going to get a streak going again!
-Feeling challenged to check my heart when the words I say aren't uplifting or kind or necessary rather than just biting my tongue and thinking that's good enough!
-My husband says maybe, just maybe, I'm obsessed with the game Blokus! :) Will someone come play with me?