Cheese!

One of the side benefits of Beth's time with her parents yesterday was my chance to substitute teach with Thomas. I must say I was grinning ear to ear as he was singing his even number and odd number counting songs and reciting his Dostoevsky. I made him do his reciting "in front of the class" following my introduction: "Mr. St. Nicholas (an icon on the table), Mr. Coke Zero (my current drink of choice), thank you for coming. Today Thomas Johnson will be reciting a passage by Fyodor Dostoevsky."

He is currently memorizing the Luke 2 Christmas passage. The part we added yesterday was the moment when the angel finishes speaking to the shepherds and an entire army of heavenly soldiers appears with him. I told Thomas that if I had been one of the shepherds, I would have pooped my pants. He laughed pretty hard. (I also heard when I got home tonight that he couldn't wait to share that little factoid with his mother today...)

Thomas' drawing has also gotten quite wonderful. This was not school work, but done in his free time. I immediately not only recognized the characters in this picture, but also the episode. Do you?

Wallace & Gromit is a family favorite and a regular for Friday Family Fun Night. If you're not familiar with Wallace & Gromit, or this particular episode, it's worth taking three minutes to check it out on YouTube. (Honestly, it's worth watching even if you've seen it before.)

Cracking Contraptions - Shopper 13
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuHUS-9laBI

Psalm 145

I am utterly exhausted; physically, emotionally, and spiritually spent after being surrounded by the walls of the mammoth University of Iowa hospital with my parents for over eight hours. I am restless, feeling a bit empty and estranged from my familiar surroundings, more than a wee bit crabby, and void of anything really worthy to say.  And so I defer to the words of the psalmist, whose poetry was even more poignant to me on this day; a day in which hope seemed threatened.

Psalm 145 (146)*

Selected Verses

Praise the Lord, O my soul.

I will praise the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praises to my God while I have being.

Put not your trust in princes, in sons of men,

In whom there is no salvation.

When his breath departs,

He returns to his earth;

On that very day his plans perish.

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

Whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth,

The sea and all that is in them;

Who keeps his faith forever;

Who executes justice for the oppressed;

Who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free;

The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.

The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;

The Lord loves the righteous.

The Lord watches over the sojourners,

He upholds the widow and the fatherless;

But the way of the wicked He will bring to ruin.

The Lord will reign forever,

Thy God, O Zion, to all generations. 

Poetry Wednesday 

*The Orthodox numbering and organizing of the psalms is based on the numbering in the Greek Septuagint rather than the  Hebrew Masoretic text. Thus the difference in numbering above which your typical Bible translation will have marked as 146. 

This Little Light of Mine

Some day, I suspect, my husband and I will awake on a December 13th to our Lucy bride donned in a white dress, red sash, and seven lighted candles on her head, carrying a tray of cross shaped buns and hot, steaming coffee, brothers in tow singing "Santa Lucia." But on this St. Lucia's Day, we were content with delivering Pepparkakar, a traditional Swedish ginger cookie, to my parents and neighbors that have lived by them for all my thirty-eight years; dressing Little Lu in one of her brother's baptismal gowns and a red $2.00 Goodwill scarf; and processing around the house singing to one of our favorite saints. To my precious daughter, a beautiful first namesday to you. May God grant you many years and may you grow to emulate the kindness and courage of the one whose name you bear.

With what wreaths of praise shall we crown Lucia, the namesake of light? What diadem of honor befits the brow of her who willingly gave up her life for her heavenly Bridegroom, bringing Him as dowry, as though they were priceless rubies, the drops of her precious blood, shed by the sword for His sake?

Come, you who love the martyrs, and let us fashion wreaths of praise, glorifying her who in her pure virginity, her blameless life and spotless death glorified above all the Holy Trinity, the one true God, and put to shame the mindlessness of the pagans! For having been faithful to Christ unto the end, she has truly entered into the joy of her Lord, and abides forever in the eternal bliss of His mansions on high.

-Verses from the Aposticha for the Feast of St. Lucia

PS Thomas insisted he wear his serving vestment, carry a cross (an Ethiopian one at that), and design a paper Gospel for Russell to carry. And a happy namesday to our dear friend Carrie!

And finally, if you are looking for an absolutely delightful book about St. Lucia, my family cannot say enough about Katherine Bolger Hyde's work. It even has the Saint Lucia song.

St. Nicholas Days

For our family, preparing our home for Christmas begins in earnest on December 6th, St. Nicholas Day. Following our tradition, we baked some cookies for neighbors on the 5th. And for the first time, we made cut out gingerbread men. Russell (above) and Thomas taking decorating the cookies very seriously.

Elliot with his hot cocoa and miniature marshmallows more interested in devouring the icing. And yes, it is true, the Wonder Twins apparently have an issue with staying completely dressed throughout the day.

As I have mentioned before, Thomas, early on, declared that Lucia was his twin. But on this day, Russell decided to cast off Elliot and claim Lucia as his twin. Mrs. McGoodles playing one of her favorite games and Russell delighting in his little sister.

St. Nicholas Day morning. Finding the presents and gold coins left in the shoes. When I related that St. Nicholas had come, Russell looked out the window and questioned where his car was. That might have been my favorite moment of the day. Russell, especially loved the chocolate coins and we had to practically beg him to open his gift while realizing that he had five chocolates crushed in his hand. We also had a lovely evening with Zach and Tesi and family and Jake and Leslie (who are leaving next week for Ethiopia in order to meet their precious daughter who is only four months younger than LuLu bird) and family. In total there were 17 of us; 11 of which were children. Unfortunately, the pictures of the kids playing were blurry.

Thomas with his new Harry Potter Lego set.

Delivering the cookies.

Jared took Tuesday off and we went to our favorite Christmas tree farm, Mumma's, to purchase our tree. Russell and Elliot were out of the van for mere seconds before they stated, "we're freezing," and rejoined Lucia and me. Russell above.

And Elliot. I promise I bought matching hats and mittens on Saturday but Jared was in charge of getting the boys dressed and our communication skills are obviously lacking.

My men.

And finally on the 8th, Thomas and I decorated the tree. Thomas was very pleased to create a manger scene. Pretty sweet. And though you can't really see it, there are popcorn strings which Jared, Thomas, and I strung together hanging on the tree. Thomas has vowed to string more today.