This Is How We Do It

 "And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers." Acts 2:42

We had a really marvelous weekend. It all started with a day trip to Washington, D.C., with Craig - just the two of us! - for a meeting. I was privileged to tag along. Having eight hours alone in the car with him (aside from the calls he had to take) was dreamy!

We wrapped things up with a hike on Saturday (more on that later, if I get around to it), and a visit with my parents after church on Sunday.

In between - on Friday - "the guys" came to bless our family by making homemade pizza for us. Our friend, Jon, has been promising to do this with another friend, and the promise was delivered this weekend - and well worth the wait!

The girls and I thoroughly enjoyed our big break from the kitchen. We didn't even have to shop for ingredients - the guys did that, too! I'll admit, though, that it was hard to stay away. I wanted to make sure that they were able to find all of my gadgets and doo-dads that make meal prep snappier.

Even my dad stopped by briefly and added some kitchen-genius input. He's so good to have around!

We jammed a bit to some oldies music, as well as some biblically-sound, Christ-honoring rap, and played with the dogs outside while the men-folk were hard at work in the kitchen.

I'm so proud of these guys! They even prepared their mise en place!

I had to break my own rule and steal a piece of this chicken that was designated for two of the pizzas.

Penelope (we changed her name) had fun playing with Rhodes on the patio and stealing his bone.

Never mind that it's almost the size of her!

Brandon has "mad" dough-making skills! We were so honored that he agreed to join Jon in fixing us this fantastic meal, despite the fact that his pregnant wife was at home not feeling well.

Jon serenaded anyone who was listening as he worked.

What a blessing that our boys have strong examples of "Hazakim" to follow! 

"Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise"

Proverbs 13:20a

I found some great dog treats at Marshall's recently.
(Having Penelope is softening my heart even more toward Rhodes. I'm sure he must feel a bit displaced - especially seeing that Penelope is allowed privileges that are denied him. I'm trying to be purposeful about being nice to him.)
Anyway, I bought him some chicken-flavored treats that contain glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health, and some carob-flavored dog "cookies", since dogs can't have chocolate. (Poor things.)

Kait looks like she's modeling for a doggie ad.
(Who would resist such a cute puppy, especially when displayed with such a radiantly beautiful young lady?)
She's such a lovely example of biblical womanhood. We adore her and cherish her friendship!

OK, back to the matter at hand:

The anticipation was driving us all a bit crazy. Or maybe Zach was preaching about leaven?

This seems random, but Morgan was also taking photos of things outside - anything to distract us from our hunger and the tempting aroma of pizza prep wafting through the air!

At last!

Five delectable pizzas.

Eleven hungry people.

This was my favorite - buffalo chicken/ranch.

This was my second favorite. It was like an open-faced steak hoagie.
I could never be a vegetarian.

We wrapped up the meal with some Bible teaching from Craig. I'm grateful for my wise husband who is passionate about the Word of God and takes time to disciple young men through hospitality.

This is fellowship.

This is how we do it.

Stranger Things Have Happened

Stranger things, indeed - like the fact that I was wearing a blouse AND a sweater yesterday, & it's the middle of May.

But is anything, anywhere, quite as unusual as a woman who has long been diametrically opposed to dog ownership, now owning TWO dogs? And loving it?

Rhodes is completely enthralled with Menina ("little girl" in Portuguese).
We are, too.

As we had a Bible study in our living room last night with our wonderful friends, Kaitlyn, Zach, and Jon, Menina snuggled up next to Rhodes for a nap. He was fine until she assumed a position he didn't approve. He growled at her, so we rescued her. Normally, he's super friendly. The two of them had a fun time playing in the foyer, where I had Menina on paper. 

In a single night, I was repaid for all of the sleepless nights I've had nursing babies. My sweet family members -- including one son who was the WORST of all my nighttime-crying babies -- came in shifts to check on the fussy puppy. For that, I am grateful. The men in our house may be big and tough, but they certainly have a soft spot for cute little puppies.

Blessed Day

One of the perks of homeschooling is that we have the option of taking our work outside whenever the beautiful weather calls to us.

We've had intermittent storms rolling through here lately, as has much of the country; but in calm moments, the sun has shone gloriously.

When we lived in Alabama, we would often do our school work on the back patio or in the yard. I'd sit on the hammock with my binoculars, nature journal, and bird & insect guides, and the children would surround me with their school books.

I'd read aloud to them from my perch, taking frequent breaks to photograph or observe a particular bird or butterfly.

Each day, one or another of the children would take a turn sitting on the hammock with me, while the others sat on a blanket or at the patio table.

Sweet memories.

Yesterday and today, we've taken advantage of some choice moments to spend on the patio with our school books.

Rhodes has been pleased to join us.

He even afforded us an occasion to meet a neighbor yesterday.

Jill was very calm as Rhodes, ignoring the warnings from the shock collar, rushed to meet her little dog in the street.

It was a pleasant encounter, and no animals were hurt in the process.

Speaking of Rhodes, he has a new friend, sort of. This little guy recently moved next door to us from Slovakia:

Apparently, he's a mixture of Schnauzer and Vizsla. I don't know his name, but he greets me through his new fence when I park in the driveway.

It's been wonderful to see the leaves taking shape little by little.

A special bonus yesterday was having my parents pay us a spontaneous visit. This is a privilege we'll certainly miss when we make our move to Houston. 

Dad and I have an agreement that whenever he visits, he automatically wants coffee.

I'm happy to oblige.

I Guess I'm Just a Push-Over

A while back, I wrote a blog post about this spoiled dog's attempt to really push the boundaries in our house. In it, I declared victory over his presumptuous use of our hall rug, by purchasing a doggie pillow for him to occupy, instead. I had shown him who is boss (well, at least when Craig's not around).

Apparently, though, he's found an "in". One tired young man -- exhausted from lifting weights with the football team -- gave Rhodes his golden opportunity to push the limits.

They're just so cute, I couldn't bear to shoo either of them away. So, I stepped right over them and went on about my laundry duties -- after capturing the moment, of course.

I guess I'll just have to toughen up. Later. Yep. That's what I'll do. But later.

Random

I'm sure you're familiar with the analogy of the frog placed in luke-warm water, who slowly begins to boil as the temperature is gradually increased. Happily desensitized, he's oblivious to the danger and remains in the pot until he succumbs to the inevitable.

Although I hardly believe that having an inside dog will kill me, I am struck by occasional realizations of Rhodes's newly-broadened boundaries. It seems that little by little, he enjoys new privileges that were never intended for him. Entering the living room, where the large window affords him a better view of the squirrels, is among these presumptions. Yesterday, I even discovered that he was lying on the carpet in front of the window... and let him stay. What's happening to me?

*     *     *     *     *     *

One of life's little bonuses is when I'm told by my sixteen-year-old that BLTs are on the lunch menu for the day, only to be served this, instead:

Turkey pastrami, herb Havarti, egg, roasted vegetables, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh wheat bread

*     *     *     *     *     *

In other news, I'm pleased to report that our outside railing was recently fixed. Guests may once again navigate the steps from the street to our house with confidence.

Trees: Friend & Foe

It is amazing that God in His sovereign providence created us the way He did, so that our bodies respond to the environment He so intricately created -- with every perfect detail carefully planned, yet instantly spoken into existence. We breathe oxygen. Trees give off oxygen. Trees require carbon dioxide. We exhale carbon dioxide. What an awesome Creator!

In Moçambique, as I read blog posts from our stateside friends, I began to realize how much I missed the beauty and splendor of the autumn season. In Alabama, fall arrived quite late and lasted only briefly, as a torrential downpour usually stripped the trees of all their colorful foliage in a matter of days. Penn's Woods, on the other hand, offer quite a spectacular display that outlasts our tolerance for yard work.

One thing that I especially love about our neighborhood here is the fact that the large, beautiful, ancient trees give the illusion that we are not a mere six (or so) miles from downtown Pittsburgh. They offer shade, character, and plenty of creatures to tempt and taunt Rhodes as he remains tethered to our outside railing during school hours.

There is a dark side, however, to these botanical monuments, and we are discovering the hazards thereof. Behold this weekend's fiasco:

As we were preparing to take a day trip with my parents on Sunday to Christmas in the Woods, Graham was returning Rhodes to his pen when he discovered a sewage problem in the back of the house. Further investigation revealed a growing puddle in our basement laundry area. Without lengthening the story, I'll say that an entire day's visit from a plumber unveiled a problem from a past architectural era: terra cotta pipes that hadn't yet been replaced by PVC. Apparently, the old pipes finally met their destiny with the large, invasive tree roots, carrying the problem far beyond our property line, into the main road running through town. 

While an older home that's been refurbished is charming, it can present issues that we hadn't considered at first. Two days later, the men are still working. I'm thankful for our Moçambican experience that conditioned us to adjust in times when we can't run water or flush the toilets. Praise be to God -- there's a light at the end of this tunnel!

While living in Alabama, my one complaint about the new development where we resided was that there were no shade trees. The builders provided a couple of token landscape trees per lot, but we'll never see them reach full maturity. The bright side of this situation was that our yard responsibilities were minimal. Here in our tree-lined suburban Pittsburgh community, quite the opposite is true. Morgan took this photo this morning, after sweeping the patio just yesterday. If this is any foreshadowing of what winter will offer, Craig Grayson and Graham would do well to strengthen their arms for their snow tasks.

Before leaving the subject of the hazards presented by our trees, I can't fail to mention that our damaged railing is yet awaiting repair. We're settled enough now to offer hospitality to friends and family, despite our inhospitable railing. I pray it's fixed before anyone gets hurt.

Call Me "Heroine"

I sew. I cook. I bake. I teach. I love. And... I rescue cats from trees. Especially when it's my dog that treed her. And when I'm one of two in our family who isn't allergic to cats. So, when Rhodes terrorized one of my dad's cats this afternoon, I cast aside my cautious ways and climbed the ladder.

I reeeeeeally trust this man!

Of course, Jill had to pick a tree with NO lower branches to run from Rhodes.

When I almost had her, Rhodes showed up again. When I turned to look at him, I heard from Jill the most unnerving sound I've ever heard from any creature. She meant business! I won't identify the individuals who let Rhodes loose, but my daughters quickly put him in his pen. ;-)

I finally got her down, but she wanted some time alone. So, we gave it to her. I'm pretty sure that I'll forever be her favorite family member. I'm also pretty sure that the next time Rhodes gets any ideas about Jill, he'll have the reminder on his nose that he should keep his distance from her.

Bits of My Weekend -- In Which I Grew a Little

Caution: Long Post

What. A. Weekend! The children and I joined Mindy and two of her three children on a road trip to South Africa to console ourselves while both husbands have been traveling. Since Mindy had to wait for her oldest son's last final exam, we left later in the day on Friday. I was thinking that this would give me the perfect opportunity to surprise everyone with fresh, homemade cinnamon rolls for the trip, but it was not to be.

Craig Grayson had a rough time with asthma last week. After a scary late-night attack a week ago Sunday, he never felt fully relieved all week. In addition to that, Gabriela was agonizing over a spot on the bottom of her foot that she irritated a few weeks ago in an attempt to remedy the problem herself (without consulting us first, of course). So, off I went to the clinic on Friday morning with both of them, which is not the most comfortable scenario on this continent.

Above, CG is getting his nebulizer treatment, and below, he's having a shot of Prednisone. We have enjoyed over a year of milder symptoms, with very infrequent use of his inhaler, comparatively speaking. This is the main thing that helped me get over my longing to return to Alabama, where his attacks were more frequent and severe.

Bless his heart. He hates needles. I comforted him with a rough estimate of all the needles I've endured in my life, having had five babies, and all of the occasions in between.

What's that? You're not interested in seeing what Gabriela's yucky boo-boo looked like before going to the clinic? I'm very sorry. Moving right along...

Because the doctor initially thought this was a parasite that had deposited an egg sac inside her foot, he didn't want to risk rupturing the sac and causing the eggs to spread. Soooooo, my poor dear had to endure having the insides scraped... are you ready for this?... without local anesthesia. Mm. Hmmm. She's tough as nails.

It was quite a sight to watch the aid literally cut away the callous and dig a hole with a relatively thick needle-like instrument. It turns out that it wasn't a parasite.

After our visit to the clinic, we returned home to pack, loaded the van, ran to the cafe for take-away food, and dropped Rhodes with a friend for the weekend.

Saturday morning, we hit the ground running. I loaded all seven children (most of them are too big to be referred to as such) into our van and headed to our favorite breakfast spot in the mall. Mindy joined us after her hair appointment.

Despite my love of retail, I'm not quite the high-calibre shopper that Mindy is. So, after picking up some coffee beans, grabbing a chocolate shot, and buying a couple of accessories, I was ready to leave the mall. My children wanted to see a movie with their friends, so I bought their theater tickets and left with Gabriela to try to run some errands in town. At this point, frustration began to come in waves.

First, the fabric store was closed and wouldn't re-open before we returned home. (Due to high crime, most establishments have very early trading hours.) Then the pet store was closed, so I couldn't get chewies for Rhodes. The last straw came when I decided to take Gabriela to the botanical garden and have a "girl" lunch at the restaurant there. Denied. From there, we went to the bakery at the grocery to have a very naughty snack. We ate in the van before going to the pharmacy for our H&BA needs. Afterward, we returned to our room at the B&B to kill some time until the big kids' movie ended.

We listened to this:

While playing this:

Gabriela was beating me pretty severely when Mindy called to say that she and the older children were ready to meet us at the restaurant for dinner. We had to wait a little while for it to open, so we walked around for a bit. At one point, as we browsed store windows, I realized that I didn't see Gabriela anywhere. I scanned a few times and did a couple of quick head counts, and she wasn't visible anywhere. I ran back to retrace our steps and still didn't see her. Just as I was notifying the security personnel, the rest of the gang came to tell me that she had been walking in front of them, but she had been hidden from view temporarily by a large display. It took several minutes for my heart rate to return to normal. She had no idea of my panic moment, so I made her cry with all of my relief drama. If I were to lose a child in Africa, my parents would never forgive me, nor could I ever show my face in the Mother Land again.

On a lighter note, Nelspruit is not known for its culinary options, but it was nice to have a new place to try. My expectations weren't very high, so we were pleasantly surprised to find that, in celebration of its first night of business, the restaurant was offering all food from the menu completely free! We only had to pay for drinks. Our family only drinks water most of the time, so the children were tickled when I announced that they could order a special beverage. I didn't want to walk away without owing anything. And, of course, I had a coffee.

After dinner, we headed back to the B&B for showers and more games. And snacks. Too many, in fact. But these chips were worth the splurge:

I know. I'm a hypocrite.

The splurge didn't end there. I had to know how these compare:

By the way, it's almost winter in this part of the world. Since we were in slightly higher elevation than where we live, it was a bit cooler at night. In fact, it was downright cold. Despite my warning that they'd need extra layers, the girls left warm clothes behind. Thankfully, their friends are generous young men, and they offered hoodies to soothe goosebumps.

Have you ever played "Set"? If not, you must.

I had a little retail therapy the next morning and bought a blouse and a jacket. It's so rare that I find something that I like and can afford here, that I just couldn't pass them up. It turns out that I don't really have to miss Anthropologie so much, after all. South Africa has its own version of it, on a smaller scale, with better prices.

Last on our South African agenda was a little grocery shopping, then lunch before hitting the road. Crossing the border this time took much longer than normal. I wish that I could take a photo of that experience, but I'd probably have my camera stolen. Besides, the Moçambican government is strange about photos in official places. We're not even allowed to "hoot" when driving near certain buildings.

Once we were back in Moz, we still had over an hour of driving left. We saw a miracle take place on the way. Just at dusk, a large "highway truck" (as our children call them) lost a tire right in front of us. Mindy was driving behind the truck, and I was following closely behind her. Now, when we lived in Alabama, we used to work out at D1. One of our drills -- and my personal favorite -- was flipping tires. These things are not lightweight. If the truck's tire had not taken a trajectory a degree or so to the left of our path, it could have had a fatal effect. It was sent hurling past us just as we were rounding a slight curve and literally a few meters before a guard rail, which may have caused it to bounce into one of us.

I'm sure that there are many dangers from which God shields us, without our ever knowing it. Yesterday's event was amazing evidence of His divine providence. He is sovereign over every molecule of His creation! It is He of Whom it is written:

"...when he gave the sea its boundary
so the waters would not overstep his command,
and when he marked out the foundations of the earth." Proverbs 9:29

And:

"Who shut up the sea behind doors...

... when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,

when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt'?" Job 38:8, 10-11

If you've read this far, I must say, "Thank you!" What a mighty and awesome God we serve! Praise Him for His faithfulness!