Weekly Roundup: Gospel and Glitz

This was one of those weeks that might as easily be recorded according to what we didn't get done, as to what we did accomplish.

We didn't get around to scraping the popcorn texture off the ceilings.

We didn't get around to finishing our flower sketches.

We didn't get around to making our cuneiform tablet.

But, there was a long-awaited bike ride around the block for 5-year-old Cuddlebug and Husband last Saturday. 7-year-old Dumpling, meanwhile, hid out in the back yard with 12-year-old Fifi--afraid that she might be commanded to come along. That child still won't mount a bike by herself, but to her credit, has learned to stop without the aid of the nearest hedge.

I might mention that Husband left on the bike ride with one little daughter, but came back with two little children. Cuddlebug was accompanied by a little tow-headed boy who was visiting his Grandpa down the street. They drove around the yard in Cuddlebug's birthday jeep and didn't say two words to one another.

It just may have been a match made in heaven; time will tell.

Later, Husband grilled steak and baked potatoes. Because that's what he does. And it was gloooooorious!

Sunday, we came home after church and it was so hot, and we had nothing to do, so we girls decided it was a good day to lounge around in our pajamas. Wouldn't you know it, no sooner had we put them on than who should appear at the foot of our drive? Friends? Foes? Neighbors?

It only took a second to register, and I was bounding up the stairs faster than I'd moved in years decades! I threw on a pair of sweat pants to go under my house dress and threw myself back down the stairs in time to hear Fifi's calling to her father across the house, "The Mormons are coming! The Mormons are here!"

He beat me to the front door and was already engaging one of the young men in small talk because his nametag bore the family moniker of a popular chain of ice cream stores in Salt Lake City. At least it was popular when we lived there; they've since sold out to Dreyers--but that's of no consequence, it was just a good ice breaker.

Usually, we would politely send such missionaries away with a bite of doctrine to chew on...like that the Bible says God is Spirit and must be worshiped in Spirit and in Truth, or...that Jesus the Son is eternal and not created and is one with the Father. But inexplicably, this time we felt compelled to invite them inside. We did not break bread with them as the Bible commands us not to, but we did seat them in our library and had a wonderfully frank question-and-answer with them for nearly an hour. I think they wanted to cut their losses and leave at about the halfway mark, but we took a liking to them, so we just kept talking to them--silently praying and planting and trusting Him for a harvest someday later after they have stopped circling Mecca, so to speak. We did learn some things about their beliefs that we didn't know, and that will help us better prepare for sharing Jesus with the LDS, because the Lord has put a lot of LDS upon our path since we moved from Utah over the New Year's holiday in 1998.

Anyway...early in the week, while Husband, Fifi and Dumpling were at their Bible study, Cuddlebug had me all to herself, and had our evening all planned out.

First, a little voice practice.

Here is the view over my music; is it any wonder that I sang a little longer than I'd planned? Wouldn't you?

Then there was time for a story. What did we read that evening without Dumpling to cast a vote? Oh yes! A Pair of Red Clogs from our Five in a Row curriculum. This was my 20th time reading reciting it, if only her 8th time hearing it. Fifi liked it too, when she was 5. *sigh* When she was five. *snap*

Next, time for a white-knuckle game of Jenga. Cuddlebug defies all kinds of natural law in the playing of that game. I guess it pays not to know all kinds of natural law!

And then our favorite together--Mancala. She beat me there too. I think. It's sometimes hard to know. It seems to me that the beads were multiplying as we played. I think she must have had a stash. (I'm kidding.)

Past bedtime now, but no way is this little girl going to sleep alone in a room that she usually shares with two sisters! So, she fights sleep with Winnie the Pooh, which never finds its way out of the DVD drawer when her sisters have something to say about it. If I didn't know better, I'd say she was having an out-of-body experience.

And then there were the everyday things...

A time to eat. Breakfast is better if you make it yourself.

A time to brush. Grooming time is more fun with plastic animals made in China. Ugh. Hey, wait! Let me see that toothbrush! Is that made in China too? Is there lead in them thar' brissles?

A time to sing. Fifi, ever helpful, took it upon herself this morning to gather everyone into the library for our morning devotions because she knows just getting started is often the most difficult moment of Mommy's day. She is such a blessing to me!

In our overview study of God's magnificent creation, we touched on pollination this week, and are preparing to assemble cut-and-paste pieces, or sketch the parts of a flower in our science notebooks.

In history, we read about the Sumerians who inhabited the Fertile Crescent, aka Mesopotamia, aka the "Cradle of Civilization," aka Iraq. That led to a short explanation of why we're fighting over there, who is with us, who is against us, and ultimately, a reminder of the Scripture that assures us that the heart of the king (President) is in the hand of the Lord. We rest in that He will navigate his motivations and movements as serves His great, good purpose.

I was struck after reading about this advanced civilization and its dedication to the gods of its own making--that this is what Abram was called to walk away from when the Lord said He must follow Him to a place that he did not yet know. It added a new dimension to Abram's sacrifice in my sight.

Mostly though, the little ones were intrigued by the idea that the Sumerians had flushing toilets. Because when you're 5 or 7, it's all about the body functions.

We listened online to some Sumerian music. The girls and I found the music very lovely and relaxing. We noticed that while the musicians built upon the instrumentation, they continued to play in unison. We also noticed that stringed instruments were sometimes used instead of drums to keep the beat.

Here's the ziggurat they built with their MathUSee blocks. It's pretty small compared to the structures they usually build. I'm hoping the exercise taught these prolific architects something about the importance of engineering integrity instead of just leaving them to think, "What's all the hubbub, Bub?"


There was the requisite trip to the library to pick up the on-line shopping Fifi spends her computer time doing. I think this is a book of knitting patterns--though it could as easily be a book on crocheting or tatting. I wonder what she'll make from it?

There was our monthly playgroup with these friends: good food, good friends, good conversation ended all too soon when someone had to be somewhere to do something.

Finally, we ended the week with a birthday party. It required our stepping out of our quiet, beautiful world filled with gentle strings and relatively slow pace, and into the world of "Type A Personality" recreation: a loud, dark, flashy pizza buffet arcade. It was a nice enough place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there. The girls, though, were glad to have been invited and had a lot of fun on the bumper cars and playing games that spit out tickets for prizes. But they also learned a little more about how the other half lives and it made my otherwise stoic Dumpling shed a tear or two in the name of human compassion. I love that girl.

When we arrived home, Husband and Fifi had dashed out to grab a bite to eat. I am told that a profound gesture of trust and obedience was offered by our 12-year old during their time together. I think it has a lot to the book she and I have been reading through, Before You Meet Prince Charming, by Sarah Mally. Husband is humbled. Fifi is happy. I am grateful. The Lord is good.

Having excitedly anticipated her return, here is Cuddlebug showing and telling Fifi about the prizes she picked out at the pizza arcade: three little bouncy balls. She had almost decided upon a terrycloth wrist band, but couldn't decide if it would be, "pretty." I told her they really aren't meant to be pretty, but could be useful--which color did she want?

No sale.

*Oh please! Can we please be done here? !Quiero vamos a mi casa! ?!Por favor?!*


And finally, the quote of the week goes to Fifi and actually happened last week, but I still remember it so it must have been...well...good!

As we were using our globe and Atlas to try and plot where the Rivers Euphrates and Tigris crossed through Turkey and into Iraq, I reminded Fifi, "This is called 'map work.'"

And she politely added, "...or cartography."