Happy 8th Birthday, Ian...

Ian traditionally has amazing birthdays, and today was no exception, although it was a little understated.  He chose Little Caesar's pizza for his dinner and got his own Italian Cheese Bread, which was a really big deal!
 

Of course, there was orange cake and Blue Moon ice cream.  I mean, what else could he possibly want?

 Oh...  presents...

And it was a beautiful December day for pictures, which is always a blessing.  Those outdoor b-day pics. are hit and miss.

I love you, Ian!  You are so amazing and creative and fun!  Happy Birthday!

Love,

Mama

The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies, A Review...

I have been a huge fan of the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series'.  I have to admit that I am not a die-hard lifer, and I have actually never read the LOTR trilogy (although I have read The Hobbit).  This is not within my usual MO, as I am generally first a reader and then a movie watcher (if at all), but it's just the way it goes.

Late last night, I sat down with much anticipation, mixed with a great deal of caution, to watch the "defining moment," as it had been advertised, and I found it, perhaps, less than defining.  I was disappointed that two of the lines/scenes from the trailer that were particularly compelling were apparently cut from the film.  I am left to assume that they will be a part of an extended version release, but why do that?  Shouldn't the trailer showcase the best of what is to come?  I feel like I watched a trailer for a different movie!

Within a few minutes of the opening scene, I found myself saying, "This should have been Rated R".  Not that that makes much of a difference.  Even if that was the case, a lot of parents would have marched their six year olds in to see it, and I suppose that is their prerogative, as parents.  However, I feel that it is worth reporting that I found "Battle of the Five Armies" to be ratcheted up a notch from the other five films in regard to violence.  There were several close up, sustained camera views of the faces of people as they died, and I guess I always find it a little disturbing to watch the light of life snuffed out of someone's eyes.  I wouldn't say that they crossed the line to "gore," but this was, almost in its entirety, a war film.  This is the part of the review where I have to caution you: know your children.  And, if you have any doubt as to whether this intensity is appropriate for them, please go see the movie first, on your own.  The worst case scenario is that you watch it, think I'm crazy, and feel as if you've spent a few dollars too many when you go back with the kids.  But I will tell you this.  My thirteen year old daughter, who is within the age range for which this film was found "appropriate," would not have made it to the title screen.

In regard to language issues, I am left shaking my head.  I cannot fathom why, in over 20 hours of squeaky clean material, they felt the need to throw in one profanity in the middle of this movie.  Of interest is the fact that the reviewer at plugged in has it wrong, as well.  In the plugged in review, it is stated that, "Dáin calls the orcs "b--tards".  Somehow, I thought that maybe, just maybe, there would be something contextual about this statement that would make it make sense.  This is not the case.  Dáin actually uses this profanity to refer to the elves, simply out of spite.

Content issues aside, there is a lot to like about this story (always is).  Specifically, the idea that people who should be fighting for the same things make a real mess of things when they turn on one another and Bard's dedication to protect his children and his people, at any cost.  And, ya know, you have to appreciate Legolas, his story of unrequited love, and his amazing skills in battle.

Over all, I would say that the film adaptation of The Hobbit served as less of a prequel and more of a back story than was originally intended in the literary works.  This particular film didn't offer any stand alone value (which is to be expected), and, realistically, I think it might have been a better move to make only two movies (the first 15 minutes or so of this one felt like it was intended to be the end of "The Desolation of Smaug").  But there's no going back now.  Not for us...  Not for this franchise... and definitely not for Bilbo Baggins...

L.

Date Day...

... with Miah.

It's been a long time coming, but Miah and I finally got out to the Frozen Ice Palace today!  There were a lot of fun activities, including making a frozen hand print, measuring up with Olaf and Sven, dancing in the snow, and sitting on the Frozen ice throne.

Miah also built a bear (Elsa bear, of course, who else):

And enjoyed some tasty treats:

Love this girl...  It's all about making memories:

L.

Christmas Letter, 2014...

December 12, 2014

Dear Friends and Family,

Well, here we are again.  Another year has gone by, seemingly faster than the last one.  For our family, 2014 has been blessed and busy.

I (Lisa) graduated from Northwest Nazarene University in May with my Master's Degree in Theology/Spiritual Formation.  I am currently spending most of my time homeschooling the kids, working with a youth worship band, leading our local quiz program, and trying my hand at writing fiction. 

Phil is the Associate Pastor at Durand Church of the Nazarene.  He has been busy working on curriculum development and upcoming small groups, preaching, and being actively involved in the spiritual formation of youth and young adults.  In his spare time, he fixes our vehicles, which break down at the most inopportune times, and plays life sized Tetris and Jenga, with our possessions, in the garage of our "temporary" rental house, which has less than 1,000 square feet of living space!  

     

We didn't take a vacation this year, but Phil, Lisa, Seth, and Grace spent a week in Nashville, this summer, for Q2014, and we've done plenty of traveling for other quiz related events, as well.  This fall, Caleb joined us in his first year of teen Bible quizzing, and, as a family, we took first place at the Tennessee Decades Quiz in September, which was amazingly fun!  We also traveled to Ferguson, MO, for the all star quiz in early December and are just enjoying the time we have with our many friends from all over the country, whenever we have a chance to spend the weekend with them! 

Seth turned 14 in September, which is a little surreal.  He is becoming such an incredible person, often putting the needs and wants of others ahead of his own and definitely focusing on serving others whenever possible.  He continues to excel at Bible quizzing and art, and he is happy as long as there is a steady supply of video games, pizza, and donuts!  We're not sure how much longer we will be able to afford to feed him! 

 

Grace released her first EP, "This is Grace," in October.  The whole process was incredible, and it's pretty amazing to have a professional recording under her belt at age 13.  Yes, 13.  That propels us into the "household with multiple teenagers" category.  I can remember when the kids were little and people would offer sympathy, knowing that the teenage years were coming.  I didn't understand it then, and I don't understand it now.  We wouldn't trade our teenagers for anything in the world.  They are a joy to us.  Grace also continues to excel at Bible quizzing and spends much of her time composing music and enhancing her piano and vocal skills.  And she checks her Facebook account... a lot...

Caleb continues to keep us all in line.  He turned 10 this year.  He is still playing piano and also began taking guitar lessons this fall.  Caleb has had a couple of top 10 finishes at district Bible quizzes, and he is a very valuable part of the team when he travels with us to invitationals!  It can be a little tricky to be "in between," not a teenager, like his older siblings, and not a little kid, like his younger siblings, but he actually says that he likes being in the middle!  We think it's because he gets to enjoy the best of both worlds! 

Ian will turn 8 the day after Christmas.  He continues to be the spice of life at our house, reminding us that not everyone in the world is an introvert, and there are some people who simply need to talk to others all day long, every day!  Ian is remarkably creative and is always coming up with new games and ideas.  He is invaluable when it comes to keeping Miah entertained with his natural rhythm and comedy.  Ian loves animals, and especially dinosaurs, and is likely to share random facts, regardless of the context.  This is sometimes awkward (does everyone really need to know about how to determine whether a mosquito is male or female), but mostly endearing.
      

Princess Miah is 4 1/2 now.  How time flies!  She is so sweet and loveable, and she really brings our family together, particularly since she is practically royalty in this house.  Miah spends her time reading stories, drawing, and planning spectacular, fancy balls (which really means we all show up in her bedroom and eat plastic food and dance).  She dreams of going to Disney World, since that's where Sofia the First and Doc McStuffins live.  She makes us smile, a lot.

We hope that as Christmas approaches you will all have some time to share with family and friends and to reflect on the reason we celebrate, and may the coming year be one of the best ones yet!

Much Love,

Phil, Lisa, Seth, Grace, Caleb, Ian, and Miah

Romans 12: 9-13

"Love must be sincere.
Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

Be devoted to one another in love.
Honor one another above yourselves.

Never be lacking in zeal,
but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.
Practice hospitality" (NIV).

So We Spent the Weekend in Ferguson...

Last week, I had a strange phone conversation.  It went something like this.  The person to whom I was talking was going on about the terrible events in Ferguson, MO, and it was obvious to me that the only information available to this person was the sensationalized media.  This wasn't the strange part.  Almost everyone I know had conversations like that last week.  The strange part was when she said, "Now I know why you homeschool your kids," as if, somehow, that was what was "protecting" them from being another statistic in a case like Ferguson, or from being a part of a violent demonstration, or whatever... 

It took absolutely everything I had to refrain from announcing our plans to spend the weekend in Ferguson.

I'm going to be completely honest with you.  When I looked into the sweet face of my four year old, in 2005, I couldn't bring myself to put him on a bus, because I was afraid that something terrible might happen...  like another broken arm or another school shooting.  There was some amount of fear that went into our decision to homeschool (at least from my perspective).  I could hardly drop my kids off in the nursery for an hour without panicking.  If you've ever seen "Finding Nemo," I was Marlin.

But as the years went by, some very fundamental things changed for me.  And, at this point, homeschooling our kids has nothing to do with fear.  It has to do with spending as much time as we can helping them to learn and grow in the understanding of who God has created them to be and then finding ways to send them out into the world, so they can share God's love with other people.  It's spiritual formation.  It's story sharing.  And it works.  As a side note, our kids are also getting a very good education, both in the foundational subjects that everyone needs to understand and in the individualization that can take place, allowing each of them to explore their own talents and abilities to the fullest.  I have the utmost respect for public and private school educators.  I have no idea how they make it work for the large number of students in their care.  

Ironically, this post didn't start out to be about homeschooling.  It just took a little turn due to that conversation I had last week.  

What I really want to share, today, is what happened in Ferguson.  On Friday, we left home early in the morning to meet with around 200 of our best friends from across the country for the 35th annual St. Louis District All Star Quiz.  I don't think there was a team there who didn't arrive feeling something like the passengers who finally make it back to the platform after a high speed, inverted roller coaster ride.  But we're a family, and this is what we do.  And, quite frankly, there is no way that the leadership of this quiz family would have allowed the quiz to go on if there was any imminent danger to the participants.  We take care of one another.

So often, in the midst of competition, we run around spitting numbers out at each another as we duck through another doorway to try our hands at another 20 questions.  These are called statistics.  And they matter.  But not nearly as much as quizzing matters.  Because, you see, quizzing is not really about those questions.  It's not really about the score at the end of the round and who takes home the biggest trophy.  Sometimes I feel like I'm beating a dead horse.

These are the things that mattered most, this weekend:

1.  As mentioned above, we got to be with our friends.  Real friends.  The kind that have seen you at your worst and love you anyway.  The kind you can be yourself around, and, even if they think you're crazy, it's OK.

2.  We were located in a place where there were so many people who love their community that we actually were not able to get into the spaces where food was being prepared for the people of Ferguson.  This was, in many ways, terribly disappointing, because we wanted to help.  However, it also put into perspective the immense ways in which the Church of the Nazarene cares.  How often can you show up to help somewhere only to find that there is no need?  Actually, I have never seen that happen before.

3.  We were there when another team needed help changing a tire, at midnight, in the pouring rain.  And by "we", I mean Phil.

4.  And, we were all there to pray when a friend was taken, by ambulance, to the hospital.  And, prayer matters.  A lot. 

5.  We raised over $300.00 for the community of Ferguson, and we raised over $300.00 for the translation of quiz materials in other world areas, so that others can know the joy of memorizing Scripture for the purpose of spiritual formation and for the purpose of fellowship with their closest friends.  

And after all of that, I'll just bet that there is someone reading this who is still asking, "Did you win?"  I want to cry for you, really.  But the answer is yes.  Yes we did.  We didn't bring home anything that said first place on it, this weekend, but everyone there won at life.  And that's more important.

L.