MaeLyn's Musings

On Wednesday evening, Peter participated in his school spelling bee. He might have told me about it beforehand, but I didn't remember. It was that day as we were walking home from school that he dashed over to talk to a friend and then came back to tell me, "The spelling bee is tonight at 6 in the library." "Six? That's dinner time!" I said. And usually Hannah and John's play rehearsal get out at six. And Wednesdays there is youth activities at the church. I'm not a person who likes having unexpected events thrown on me at the last minute. I was not thrilled. But we went anyway. Hannah and John got out of rehearsal early so that wasn't an issue. I got dinner mostly ready and John agreed to watch it. Peter and I set off for the school. There were only about twelve contestants in all, I don't know how many students qualified, but there were a lot of empty seats. Peter was contestant #17, but was only about 8th in line. There was a pract...

John's haiku for today What is this I hear? Vivaldi's Four Seasons play. Ahhh, Sweet Symphony. What is it about haiku that is so appealing? I'm not sure, but I think it is the simplicity of it. How can you portray a feeling, a mood, a revelation, in just seventeen syllables? We have a white board on our piano that is perfect for writing a message, a thought, a haiku. First, Steven wrote one. Today, John wrote another. Who will write one next?

He stares at me with those penetrating green eyes. Feeling uncomfortable I ask him, "What?" "Meow." he says. "What?" I ask again, not understanding. "Meow!" He repeats. He starts to walk towards the kitchen, then looks back to make sure I'm following. As I follow him, he continues to chastise and complain. "Meow... Meeeow...Miaow... Meow!" He leads me to his food dish, then looks at me again. "Meow!" he demands. "What?!" I ask him again. "I just filled it an hour ago! You can't see the bottom, and even the water is fresh!" Earlier that morning I had filled the food dish, fished out the pipe cleaners that somehow always land in the water dish, dumped the dirty water out, and refilled that dish with fresh, cool water. What more did he want me to do? "Meow!" He insisted. Rolling my eyes, I bent over and shook his food dish a little. The dry food shifted position slightly. ...

This morning as I was waking my younger boys for school, I had a flashback from my childhood: This picture (found on Google) shows how  I remember that alarm clock looking. Andy, Andy, please wake up! It's time to call our friends! Okay, Ann, I'm awake, lets shout it once again. We were sent to wake you, so here we are to say, Please get up, brush your teeth and have a happy day! *ding dong* Andy, Andy, please wake up... This was the talking alarm clock from my youth, featuring Raggedy Ann and Andy. While a little bit annoying when I was trying to get a few minutes extra sleep, I remember repeatedly playing it during the day, just to hear them talk. I imagine it must have driven my family crazy.

All through the month of December, Peter was working on a project. It wasn't assigned by school teachers. It definitely wasn't assigned by a parent. No, he took this on himself, and worked on it industriously throughout the month. It's rare he shows such dedication (if a little misdirected)! I thought about posting it during the holiday season, but then figured I'd try not to ruin any one else's holiday. Hopefully you can forget the words by next Christmas. *Warning*  The following song lyrics may not be appropriate for children under the age of 11, or for children over the age of 11 either for that matter. They may not even be appropriate for adults.  Here Comes Santa Claus Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus, into your driveway. He’s gonna kill your kids and steal your toys on Christmas day, Bells are ringing, children screaming What a terrible sight, So hide your wife and hide your kids, ‘Cause Santa Claus has a knife! Jingle...

Grandma Kathy wanted to watch the kids open the gifts she sent this last Christmas. So, we filmed them opening their gifts (traditionally pajamas) on Christmas Eve and sent it to her.

Yes, I'll admit it. My blogging over the last couple months has been pitiful. I feel like life has picked me up like an ocean wave and has been sweeping me along with it. I'm managing to keep my head above water, but I'm not really in control. We had a great holiday season. We enjoyed a fantastic Thanksgiving in Missouri with my sister Kristy. I even got to see my friend Tabitha and her family while we were out there. The month of December was full of holiday concerts and parties and other activities. On Christmas Eve day we were able to help out with the Salvation Army dinner again. This year instead of handing out gifts, our family helped with the bouncy house: managing crowds, letting so many kids in at a time, and making sure everyone got about 3 minutes of fun - long enough to enjoy it, but not so long that those waiting in line got impatient and left. Christmas Day was enjoyable. We opened gifts, ate breakfast, and opened more gifts later when Grandma Kathy coul...