"Mom, why don't we go trick-or-treating?"

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." Philippians 4:8

"The Lord is my light and my salvation -- whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life -- of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1-2

"So do not fear, for I am with you." Isaiah 41:10a

"I will set before my eyes no vile thing." Psalm 101:3

"Candy is bad for you!" my dentist

We have a "tradition" of not trick-or-treating. This is the first year Sam asked about it. For the first time, I was really struck by the command not to fear. Here we are, trying to show our kids that there is nothing to fear in the dark, nothing to fear when they have bad dreams. God is with them. And we (the Christian culture) then choose to expose our children to sights on halloween that we would never allow them to view in a movie! Yes, even if you dress your child up in a cute little puppy costume, guess what? Not all parents do that! I'M even disturbed when I see the gruesome graveyard display one of our neighbors has out, or when I walk into the party store this time of year. The blood and gore and focus on DEATH!! We stand for LIFE!! Remember? Jesus is THE TRUTH. Jesus is THE LIFE! Everything about halloween - hey, let's not play dumb here and pretend it's all about the candy - glorifies things that stand for death. Just look at the "spooky" halloween decorations.
And what are we trying to do when we decorate our homes with those things (again, I'm speaking to the Christian culture here)? We're trying to give the kids a delicious scare and make them feel spooky. And yet the Bible says, "DO NOT FEAR!"
I will never understand a believers' ability to gloss over these facts. Yes, a child may see only loads of candy, but a parent's responsibility calls for a higher plane of thought.
Now, contrary to some "halloween extremists", we do answer the door and hand out candy, along with a little story sharing the gospel. I'm not about to pass up a witnessing opportunity when they're flocking to my door!

Where everything's $1!!!

Things I couldn't bring myself to buy at the dollar store, as much as I love it:

10. A pack of gum. Well, tried it once. "Gum"="Rock"

9. A bra. But that's just me.

8. Halloween candy. So from how many years ago is this?

7. Pacifier, sippy cup, bottle. All the "bad" plastic has to go somewhere.

6. A pillow. Where's the number for the chiropractor?

5. Any kind of medicine. I don't want to die.

4. Nylons. Maybe if viewed as "disposable".

3. Perfume. If you want, you can label me a perfume snob for refusing to pay as little as $1 for this product.

2. Tacky knick-knacks of kitties, angels, or dutch people. Why is this a trademark of every dollar store?

1. A pregnancy test. Yes, they have them.

I Don't Understand

(this is my inaugural post on this blog which should say something about my feelings on this topic)

I was listening to Minnesota Public Radio yesterday on my drive to work and heard a report on the abortion referendum in South Dakota that's coming up next week. As is to be expected, this ballot issue is very controversial with many strong feelings on both sides.

I understand that some people honestly don't believe life exists until birth and even though I think that's not True, I can understand why they don't see abortion as reprehensible as those of us who know life begins when our Creator attaches a soul to a zygote. Beyond your standard, run-of-the-mill, "lets-pretend-we're-libertarians-because-this-thing-inside-me-isn't-a-baby"- type pro-choice citizen, there's another segment of the population that is an order of magnitude more liberal. MPR had the privilege of interviewing one of these individuals.

This individual was a director of the local Planned Parenthood office (I don't recall the city in SD). She expressed her deep concern over the possible outcome of passing such a ban which, by the way, still allows for rape, incest and life of the mother exceptions as a compromise with those that believe it's OK to kill a baby if your reason is good enough (don't get me started). I can't find the quote on mpr.org but she said something to the effect that she was concerned that not enough abortions would be performed in South Dakota if this referendum passes.

Not enough abortions!?!

Think about that for a moment. That's like saying you wished that people ate less healthily and loaded up on a lot more artery-cloggers so that we could have the opportunity to perform more triple bypass surgeries. Or, maybe you wish that people got in more head-on-collisions so that we would have more opportunities to use the Jaws of Life as a demonstration of our ability to help people in need.

I would hope that even the most staunchly pro-abortion activist would see abortion as truly a last-resort option, not as something that they would want as many people as possible to experience. Every time an abortion is performed it is a sign that society has failed that woman (and the man that's partially responsible) by,

A) not giving them the moral fiber to say "no", and

B) not giving her the support she needs to feel like there are other viable choices (and yes, we pro-lifers are pro-choice as well, just with a different set of choices)

What I meant to say was...

At dinner tonight - in our dressed up dining room - to celebrate our 7th anniversary - surrounded by our 3 children - Sam brought up an interesting piece of conversation.
"We're gonna name our baby Daisy."
We are? Apparently he really likes the name. And apparently, according to the boys, the baby IS a girl. No doubt.
Of course, Caleb had to get his two cents in:
"I think we should name our baby xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" (insert very loud, drawn out, gaseous sound, produced perfectly on cue, and apparently totally NOT on purpose.
Needless to say, that was the end of any serious conversation on the subject.
"How about 'Chicken Heater' "?
"How about 'Sweet Flower' "? Well, coming from you, Caleb...

Caleb's theme

Heard from the "naughty chair" the other day as Caleb bided his time:
"Ama--zi-ing grace! How swe-e-et the sound.
That sa-a-aved a-a wretch like meeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
I once was lost, but now am found.
Was bli-i-nd, but no-o-w I seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!"

"Mama!! Can I get up now?"

Hmmm...

"Yes, Caleb."

Bottom's up!

Have you ever had one of those days?

Senseless

Sam and Caleb usually play together in their room while I get ready in the morning. Lately, it's been trains. The majority of the time, it goes really well, but there's about one major issue per day. You know, the things that really make you mad. Someone else's train is in your way and they won't move it. Someone just won't stop SINGING! Someone just TOOK a train and the other had already said they wanted it! (Keep in mind, they're picking from about 20 different train cars) So today, Sam was getting picked on by Caleb and I'm trying to have a teachable moment of, "Put him first." Move to the other side of the giant track where he can't touch you with his foot. He went back and "tried" to reconcile, but it wasn't working. He came back to me with, "Caleb is not making sense! He said I can go, but then he's blocking me!! He's a - he's (face red, tears, anger) - he's a no-maker-senser!!!"
Meanwhile, Caleb's standing in the hall placidly watching to see what my response will be - completely in the buff, by the way - as he'd forgotten to put undies on after removing his pull-up.
So this morning, we finally just had to pack up the track for the day, as the issue just could not get resolved.
Then we all got dressed.

Autumn harvest

The things a boy picks up on a "Fall Walk" field trip with school.

Thumb war update

I just thought I'd update on the thumb/Sam. He's been doing really well, putting a sock on his hand every night, unprompted. Sometimes the sock is off when we go to check on him later, but he's still "in process" and still trying hard!

Thumb war

Sam has come to the end. He told us last night that it would be the final night he would suck his thumb.
Two years ago, when we moved into this house, he was still sleeping with his "rag", a soft cloth diaper. Back then, he told us he just needed one more night and then he'd be done. He stuck with it.
So tonight, we tucked them in and prayed with them. Nothing was said about the thumb. I think I'd forgotten all about the vow. 5 minutes after I left the room, I heard a bit of arguing between Sam and Caleb (nothing extraordinary), and then Sam started crying. Brian and I both went into the bedroom in time to hear him sob, "I have to suck something! It's too hard!" Good grief, I'd thought he was just crying about wanting a drink or something.
We told him to try laying on his tummy with his arms under him or under his pillow. Normally he sleeps on his back. He turned over, still sobbing, but apparently determined. "It's hard!" he said a few more times. We prayed for him, asking God to let him fall asleep quickly.
Well, I always knew he was strong-willed! Praise the Lord, there are benefits to that!

Studied for my exam

So, I went in for my 12-week appointment today. Here's what I came out with:

Things I just don't care to hear at the Dr.'s office:

1. "So, do you think you'll be done after this baby?" Said by the nurse. Why don't we just concentrate on the baby at hand, huh? Next time, I'm going to say, "Actually, we're going for fourteen."

2. "Have you had any animal dreams yet?" Said by my doctor. Apparently she had animal dreams while pregnant with each of her four children that accurately predicted the gender. Okay...

3. "3 boys! Wow, you're busy." Said by the tech who drew my blood. And about everyone else when they first discover how many kids I have. Can we have a more original response, please?

4. "The doctor has a student trailing her today." Great. Come on in!

5. "So, you're right at about 11 weeks, 4 days, right?" WHAT??? By my count it's 12 weeks, 3 days. And I COUNT!!

6. "So how does this gown work, anyway?" Said by my doctor. I won't elaborate.

7. "I know you just had all this done at your last physical, but we need to do it all again today." No elaborating on this either.

8. "Only 3 more vials to go!" Said by the tech as she's drawing the 5 vials of blood she needs. "Because I'm too lazy to separate it for the different places we have to send it." So do I get a transfusion after this? My blood pressure was a bit low...

The good news is it took about a second to find the baby's heartbeat. That's always a comforting milestone to pass.