Mommy Brain

Lucinda’s Secret (Spiderwick Chronicles #3) by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
The Ironwood Tree (The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 4) by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi

What are you doing this New Year’s Eve 2007? I am sitting on the couch with my new laptop, watching the kids jump and sing and dance along with their High School Musical game on their new Playstation 2. They are happy, especially since their daddy told them they could stay up until midnight to welcome the New Year. Without asking their mommy. He’s the crazy one - I’ll probably head in to bed, and he’ll be up. And he’s still getting over the flu. He did, however, take a long nap in a quiet house this afternoon while the kids and I were visiting at Michelle’s.

I’m also listening to the song Revival from the CD Revival in Belfast by Robin Marks. We found a new church home this year. It has been nearly two years since we left our old church home. And yet, as soon as this song comes up on my MP3 player, I am fighting back tears. This CD came out when I was worship coordinator at that church, and we did many of these songs on Sunday mornings. Hearing this song brings me right back, and I am sad again. How long until that goes away?

I remember when New Year’s Eve was an occasion to stay up late, party hard and celebrate. I must be getting older, because it is now just fine with me to stay at home with my family, and mentally reminisce about the past year and plan for the new one, while they party around me.

My heart is full tonight, and I want to get these thoughts down before they are gone in the flurry of the rest of the week.

I have many things to be grateful for as I look back on 2007.

We were able to refinance our house and get out of debt. Because of that, and in spite of the fact that Kevin still faces the possibility of unemployment this year, we are better off financially than we were last year at this time. God is good.

I wish you could see what I see right now. Josiah is laying on his back with his ankles crossed, hands under his head. He looks like he should be laying in a hammock. He’s watching his sister and brother sing and compete, and when each song ends, he jumps up and shouts, “You got an A!” (The game grades you on your performance of HSM songs.) And on my MP3 player is playing the song This is a Moment Made for Worshipping by Steven Curtis Chapman. “This is a moment made for worshipping, because this is a moment I’m alive…”

I’m grateful for a husband who believes in my writing to the point that he would buy me a brand new laptop because I need something better for my work. And a husband who bought me a second MP3 player for Christmas, because he remembered that I jokingly said in passing that I needed one for music, one for audiobooks. And he indulges my book obsession.

I’m grateful for friendship. We’ve lived in this town for 10 and a half years now, and during that time I have made many good friends. They have all been exactly what I needed at the time, but each friendship has been for a season. And now, for the first time since I was in college, I feel like I have a true best friend. God ordained that Michelle would move here for me; you’ll never convince me otherwise. Our friendship is still relatively new - although I can hardly believe we just exchanged Christmas gifts for the second time - but I have no doubt that our friendship is for a lifetime. Some things you just know.

All right, answer me this: how can I go from lovingly gazing at my children having fun and thinking about how wonderful it is to be their mother to being completely annoyed that they are interrupting my blogging? My blogging about how grateful I am? For them? (The song on my MP3 player is now Fabulous from High School Musical 2. I’m not as selfish as Sharpay, honest.)

I’m grateful for happy, healthy kids. Other than the occasional cold and flu, my kids are healthy. They are also good kids. Yes, there are days when I want to pull my hair out, but there are also days when the receptionist at the orthodontist’s office tells me how much she enjoys it when we come in, because she knows my kids are well-behaved.

I’m grateful for Natalie. My 11-year-old. Just typing those words makes me sigh. She is changing so fast, from an adorable little girl to a beautiful young lady. She is goofy, feminine, able to break a board with her foot while blushing over the cute boy at Tae Kwon Do, and - most importantly - she has a strong desire to follow Jesus.

I’m grateful for Noah. He’s 9. When Kevin gets the pictures off the camera and onto my computer, I’ll post the picture Kevin snapped while we were opening gifts Christmas Eve. Noah has always been a joy to watch open gifts - he is thrilled with each and every one. And though he loves the Playstation and his camera, the gift that got the biggest smile was Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide of the Fantastical World Around You.

I’m grateful for Jonathan. He’s 8 and his energy is astonishing at times. He is like contained electricity; he buzzes with it. I love the fact that he is now an accomplished reader, and likes to share with me what is happening in his book. It makes me laugh to see how fast he can go from picking on his sister to defending her honor. (Now, I’m listening to Long Train Running’ by The Doobie Brothers: “Without love, where would I be right now?” Yes, my musical taste is varied and odd.)

I’m grateful for Josiah. He’s 6 and still comes running up to me to say, “I know what you need, Mommy. You need a snuggle from me.” And he’s right; I do. As he has completed the familiar pages in Abeka’s Letter and Sounds this year, it has been startling to realize that this is the last time I will be leading a child through this phonics program, the last time I will watch a child experience the joy of reading for the first time. I am now the mother of four readers.

I’m grateful for parents who live close enough that we can watch football games and go to the movies together. I’m grateful that we found a church that our kids love. I’m grateful that there is a (however tentative) peace with our neighbors. I’m grateful that my kids have good friends. I am grateful that we are on our sixth year of homeschooling, and I still enjoy it and I am still convinced that it is the best path for our family. I’m grateful for weekly phone conversations with my sister Andrea, chatting online with my other sister Debra, and visits with my sister Marni while she still lives close enough. I’m grateful for quiet evenings with a book, a glass of Pinot Grigio, and dark chocolate. I’m grateful for 24, Numb3rs and Ballykissangel on DVD. I’m grateful for all the blogs on my blogroll - and some I haven’t added yet - for making me think and laugh, for giving me encouragement, and for suggesting some brilliant books.

May your New Year be filled with books that make you think, friends you can be “you” with, and days bright with joy and laughter.

Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends by Sarah, Stephen, and Grace Mally
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Eldest by Christopher Paolini (to Noah)
Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke
The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick (to Natalie)
Jotham’s Journey: A Storybook for Advent by Arnold Ytreeide
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maude Montgomery (to Natalie)

In my follow-the-link rabbit trails from Semicolon’s Saturday Review of Books, I discovered Thoughts of Joy and her A to Z Reading Challenge.

All that’s required is that you align the author’s last name or the title of a book (excluding “the”, “a”, etc.) with its corresponding letter in the alphabet. Each author and title entry must be a different book. I will be working on both the author and title lists at the same time; however, you may complete the alphabet lists anyway that suits your fancy. The challenge lasts throughout the 2008 year.

Joy has a Mr. Linky up where you can sign up if you decide to participate. And she also mentioned that books that have already been designated for other challenges can count toward this one as well, so I’ll be using the same books from my Winter Reading Challenge to fill in some of the letters. I’m going to try to fill in as many of the other letters with books on my shelves that are waiting to be read. I don’t need any excuses to buy more! Completing this challenge this year will not leave a lot of room for outside reading, but I have many of these books sitting on my shelves anyway. It may take more than a year - but it will be fun anyway!

Title list:

A - Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

B - Black Swan Green - David Mitchell

C - The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen

D - Digging to America - Anne Tyler

E - An Equal Music - Vikram Seth

F - Father Melancholy’s Daughter - Gail Godwin

G - The Glass Castle - Jeanette Walls

H - House - Ted Dekker & Frank Peretti

I - The Illuminator - Brenda Rickman Vantrease

J - Jacob Have I Loved - Katherine Paterson

K - Keeping the House - Ellen Baker

L - The Last Witchfinder - James Morrow

M - My Latest Grievance - Elinor Lipman

N - North River - Pete Hamill

O - The Ordering of Love: The New and Collected Poems of Madeleine L’Engle

P - Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce

Q - The Quiet American - Graham Greene

R - Rumspringa: To Be or Not To Be Amish - Tom Schachtman

S - Seven Loves - Valerie Trueblood

T - Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

U - Under the Tuscan Sun - Frances Mayes

V - Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

W - Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

X - Excellent Women - Barbara Pym (I know this is cheating, but you find a book that begins with “X” that looks worth reading! Suggestions would be welcome.)

Y - A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599 - James Shapiro

Z - The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story - Diane Ackerman

Author list:

A - The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood

B - Standing By Words: Essays - Wendell Berry

C - My Antonia - Willa Cather

D - Tipperary - Frank Delaney

E - Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides

F - Something Rotten: A Thursday Next Novel - Jasper Fforde

G - T is for Trespass - Sue Grafton (completed 1/12/08) - review

H - The Observations - Jane Harris

I - A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

J - Dubliners - James Joyce

K - The Dowry: A Novel of Ireland - Walter Keady

L - Women in Love - D. H. Lawrence

M - The Most Wanted - Jacquelyn Mitchard

N - The Last Storyteller - Diane Noble

O - The Gravedigger’s Daughter - Joyce Carol Oates

P - Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War - Nathaniel Philbrick

Q - A Door Near Here - Heather Quarles

R - Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her - Melanie Rehak

S - Gaudy Night - Dorothy L. Sayers

T - A Slipping Down Life - Anne Tyler

U - Kristin Lavransdatter III: The Cross - Sigrid Undset

V - Letters Never Sent: One Woman’s Journey From Hurt to Wholeness - Ruth E. Van Reken

W - The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton

X - Diary of a Madman - Lu Xun

Y - Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates

Z - I Am the Messenger - Markus Zusak

Guess who’s sick now? Yep, I’ve got the flu. Since all four kids had it, I guess it’s my turn. Good thing we had nothing planned for the rest of the week. Kevin asked me last night if we have any plans for New Year’s Eve. And I groaned. Of course, that’s four days away, I sure hope I feel up to doing something by then. We’ll see.

Just a couple of links for you today:

~ Coversgirl at Between the Covers has a terrific book-lover’s version of The Night Before Christmas.

~ I haven’t read Jan Karon’s Home to Holly Springs yet, so I didn’t read this review yet in case of spoilers, but I’m saving it for later. Anyone else read it yet?

~ Don’t forget to leave a comment on this post to enter my giveaway for a DVD of the Discovery Channel documentary Secrets of Egypt’s Lost Queen.

Have a great weekend everyone. I’m off to take more drugs. (Don’t worry, it’s only ibuprofen. So far.)

Well, here’s the final list for the year. I may finish reading Arthur and George and listening to All She Ever Wanted before the 31st, so I’ll add them if I do. Right now, the count stands at 111. It was a very good year, book-wise. I read a lot of five-star books. I guess that’s not surprising, since I re-read half of the Harry Potter series and completed my goal of reading all of Austen’s works. (Well, all that she finished anyway.) And there was a relatively small number of stinkers. I can give credit to that for very good suggestions from Michelle, my sisters, and my fellow book-bloggers.

As I look over the titles, I noticed a couple of things. I read more classics this year, and I enjoyed most of them. (A Man Called Thursday was a notable exception.) I also noticed that I need to read more non-fiction. I try to read one non-fiction work for every two fiction works, but I don’t think I succeeded. I’ll try for more non-fiction next year.

How did your reading year stack up? Were you pleased? If you compiled a list, either of what you read in 2007 or what you plan to read in 2008, please leave me a link - I love reading other people’s book lists.

Rating system:

1 star - Terrible
2 stars - Just Okay
3 stars - Good
4 stars - Very Good
5 stars - Brilliant, Wonderful, Excellent, Fabulous

5 star books:

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - 5 stars - related post

Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L’Amour - 5 stars - related post

A Girl From Yamhill by Beverly Cleary - 5 stars - related post

An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor - 5 stars - related post

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (audiobook) - 5 stars - related post

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (audiobook) - 5 stars

The Collected Poems of Wendell Berry, 1957-1982 - 5 stars - related post

To America: Personal Reflections of an Historian by Stephen Ambrose - 5 stars - related post

Eragon by Christopher Paolini (read aloud to the kids) - 5 stars - related post

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (audiobook) - 5 stars

That Distant Land: The Collected Stories by Wendell Berry - 5 stars

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling - 5 stars

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling - 5 stars

River Rising by Athol Dickson - 5 stars - related post

Night by Elie Wiesel - 5 stars - related post

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor - 5 stars - related post

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare - 5 stars - related post

Emma by Jane Austen - 5 stars - related post

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - 5 stars - related post

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling - 5 stars - related post

Persuasion by Jane Austen - 5 stars

One True Thing by Anna Quindlen - 5 stars - related post

Summer of Light by W. Dale Cramer (audiobook) - 5 stars - related post

Kristin Lavransdatter I: The Wreath by Sigrid Undset - 5 stars - related post

The Trouble with Poetry: and Other Poems by Billy Collins - 5 stars

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry - 5 stars

Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself by Alan Alda - 5 stars - related post

Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde - 5 stars

The Road by Cormac McCarthy - 5 stars - related post

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah (audiobook) - 5 stars - related post

The Cure by Athol Dickson - 5 stars - related post

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - 5 stars - related post

All She Ever Wanted by Lynn Austin (audiobook) - 5 stars

4 star books:

The Duel by Anton Chekhov (translated by Constance Garnett) - 4 stars

The Children of Men by P. D. James - 4 stars - related post

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (read aloud to the kids) - 4 stars - related post

The Awakening and Selected Short Fiction by Kate Chopin - 4 stars - related post

Great American Women’s Fiction: Ten Unabridged Classics by Willa Cather, Kate Chopin, Edith Wharton, & Charlotte Perkins Gilman (audiobook) - 4 stars

Quaker Summer by Lisa Samson - 4 stars - related post

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (read aloud to Natalie) - 4 stars

Super Mom Saves the World by Melanie Lynne Hauser - 4 stars - related post

My Own Two Feet: A Memoir by Beverly Cleary - 4 stars

Take Joy: A Writer’s Guide to Loving the Craft by Jane Yolen - 4 stars - related post

The Breakdown Lane by Jacquelyn Mitchard (audiobook) - 4 stars

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - 4 stars - related post

The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer (audiobook) - 4 stars

I Went to Vassar For This? by Naomi Neale (audiobook) - 4 stars

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman - 4 stars - related post

Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community: Eight Essays by Wendell Berry - 4 stars

The Living End by Lisa Samson - 4 stars

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards - 4 stars

Return to Me by Robin Lee Hatcher - 4 stars - related post

What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman (audiobook) - 4 stars

Echoes by Maeve Binchy - 4 stars

The Copper Beech by Maeve Binchy - 4 stars

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James - 4 stars

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen - 4 stars - related post

In Search of Eden by Linda Nichols (audiobook) - 4 stars

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde - 4 stars - related post

Sisterchicks in Gondolas by Robin Jones Gunn (audiobook) - 4 stars

Interred With Their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell - 4 stars

Austenland by Shannon Hale - 4 stars - related post

The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton - 4 stars

The Teacher’s Funeral : A Comedy in Three Parts by Richard Peck (read aloud to the kids) - 4 stars - related post

I’ll Watch the Moon by Ann Tatlock (audiobook) - 4 stars

Rules by Cynthia Lord (audiobook) - 4 stars

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (audiobook) - 4 stars

Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout - 4 stars - related
post

Unnatural Causes by P.D. James (audiobook) - 4 stars

Kristin Lavransdatter II: The Wife by Sigrid Undset - 4 stars - related post

The Book Without Words by Avi - 4 stars

The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography by Sidney Poitier (audiobook) - 4 stars

Inkspell by Cornelia Funke - 4 stars

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi - 4 stars

The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde - 4 stars

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A. J. Jacobs - 4 stars - related post

The Warden by Anthony Trollope - 4 stars

The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick (read aloud to Natalie) - 4 stars

Jotham’s Journey: A Storybook for Advent by Arnold Ytreeide (read aloud) - 4 stars

Arthur and George by Julian Barnes - 4 stars

3 star books:

Bibliotopia Or, Mr. Gilbar’s Book of Books & Catch-all of Literary Facts And Curiosities compiled by Steven Gilbar - 3 stars - related post

An Irish Christmas Feast: The Best of John B. Keane - 3 stars

Proverbs and Sayings of Ireland Edited by Sean Gaffney & Seamus Cashman - 3 stars

Skylight Confessions by Alice Hoffman - 3 stars

Redemption by Leon Uris - 3 stars - related post

The Collected Works of Emily Dickinson - 3 stars

Writers on Writing, Volume II: More Collected Essays from The New York Times - 3 stars - related post

The Nanny Diaries by Nicola Krauss & Emma McLaughlin - 3 stars

The Tales of Chekhov, Volume 1 by Anton Chekhov - 3 stars

Immersed in Verse: An Informative, Slightly Irreverent & Totally Tremendous Guide to Living the Poet’s Life by Allan Wolf - 3 stars

The Dragon’s Eye: The Dragonology Chronicles, Volume 1 by Dugald A. Steer (read aloud to Noah) - 3 stars

The Last Girls by Lee Smith (audiobook) - 3 stars

Nerve Damage by Peter Abrahams (audiobook) - 3 stars

Fondling Your Muse: Infallible Advice From a Published Author to the Writerly Aspirant by John Warner - 3 stars

Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence - 3 stars

Love to Eat, Hate to Eat: Breaking the Bondage of Destructive Eating Habits by Elyse Fitzpatrick - 3 stars

Plainsong by Kent Haruf (audiobook) - 3 stars

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen - 3 stars - related post

The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler - 3 stars

The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks - 3 stars

To My Dearest Friends by Patricia Volk - 3 stars

Pen on Fire: A Busy Woman’s Guide to Igniting the Writer Within by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett - 3 stars

Playing for Pizza by John Grisham - 3 stars - related post

Enzymes and Your Health by Howard W. Fisher - 3 stars - related post

A Cold Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow (audiobook) - 3 stars

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan - 3 stars

2 star books:

Happiness Sold Separately by Lolly Winston - 2 stars - related post

Famous Writers School by Steven Carter - 2 stars

Break No Bones by Kathy Reichs - 2 stars

The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare by G. K. Chesterton - 2 stars - related post

The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta (audiobook) - 2 stars

Books I Started but Didn’t Finish:

Black Girl, White Girl by Joyce Carol Oates

God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It by Jim Wallis - related post (comment section)

A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon

(Secrets of Egypt’s Lost Queen was provided to me by Special Ops Media for the purpose of this giveaway.)

Heads up, homeschoolers! I’ve got one copy of Discovery Channel’s Secrets of Egypt’s Lost Queen on DVD to give away.

Deep beneath the sands of Egypt ’s fabled Valley of the Kings lay the anonymous remains of one of ancient history’s greatest - and least known - rulers, Queen Hatshepsut. More powerful than Cleopatra or Nefertiti, Queen Hatshepsut not only died mysteriously but every sign of her existence was systematically erased. Now for the first time ever, top archaeologists use cutting-edge forensic techniques to unravel the mystery of Hatshepsut’s life and death, unearthing her fascinating story that has remained buried for 3,000 years.

From the official site:

In what is being called the most important find in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings since the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb, Discovery Channel’s Secrets of Egypt’s Lost Queen exclusively reveals archaeological, forensic and scientific evidence identifying a 3,000-year-old mummy as Hatshepsut, Egypt’s greatest female Pharaoh.

More powerful than Cleopatra or Nefertiti, Hatshepsut stole the throne from her young stepson, dressed herself as a man, and in an unprecedented move, declared herself Pharaoh. Though her power stretched across Egypt and her reign was prosperous, Hatshepsut’s legacy was systematically erased from Egyptian history — historical records were destroyed, monuments torn down and her corpse removed from her tomb.

The film follows a team of top forensic experts and archaeologists led by Dr. Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, as they use the full range of forensic technology to identify Hatshepsut.

The investigative journey of Dr. Hawass and his team led them through the massive crypts beneath Egypt and into the depths of the Cairo Museum. Using knowledge of royal Egyptian mummification and clues from two known tombs linked to Hatshepsut, the team narrowed their search for Hatshepsut to just four mummies from thousands of unidentified corpses.

Computed tomography (CT) scans allowed the scientists to link distinct physical traits of the Hatshepsut mummy to that of her ancestors. The search was further narrowed to two possibilities — both from the tomb of Hatshepsut’s nanny — but the final clue lay within a canopic box inscribed with the female Pharaoh’s name. A scan of the box found a tooth that, when measured, perfectly matched a missing upper molar in one of the two mummies.

“The discovery of the Hatshepsut mummy is one of the most important finds in the history of Egypt,” said Dr. Hawass. “Her reign during the 18th Dynasty of ancient Egypt was a prosperous one, yet mysteriously she was erased from Egyptian history. Our hope is that this mummy will help shed light on this mystery and on the mysterious nature of her death.”

Applied Biosystems and Discovery Quest, part of Discovery Channel’s initiative to support the scientific community’s work, funded the construction and equipment for the first-ever DNA testing facility located outside the Cairo Museum in Egypt for the program. The DNA testing facility will not only be used to extract and compare the mitochondrial DNA of the Hatshepsut mummy and mummies from her family, but will also be used by scientists to examine future finds in Egypt.”

If you’re interested in winning this DVD, please leave a comment on this post by 12:00 am Pacific Time, Tuesday, January 1, 2008. I will use a random number generator to draw a winner - and you’ll receive it quickly, since I already have the DVD in my possession. Oh, and this contest is open to everyone - not just homeschoolers. I just thought it would be a perfect addition to a resource library for Ancient History studies.

My nephew, Peter, has a fever! I know it’s horrible to be happy about that, but my sister said we all might as well be sick together, so we will be going down to Mom and Dad’s tomorow afternoon for Christmas dinner. The whole family - sickies included. And I am glad.

I hope your prayers are answered at this Christmas, too - big ones and little ones. (No, I didn’t pray that Peter would get sick, but I did pray that we could all be together.)

I leave you with the lyrics to the song I sang at the Christmas Eve service this evening.

Precious Promise
Words and music by Steven Curtis Chapman

Oh, what a Precious Promise,
Oh, what a gift of love,
An angel tells a virgin that she’s gonna have a son.
And though it’s a Precious Promise,
She wonders how can this be?
What will the people say and what if Joseph can’t believe?
And her questions and her fears
Are met with an overwhelming joy that God has chosen her.
Oh, what a Precious Promise:
Mary waits as Heaven comes to earth.

Oh, what a Precious Promise,
Oh, what a gift of love,
Joseph makes his choice to do what few men would have done:
To take Mary as his bride, when she’s already carrying a child
That isn’t his own.
Oh, what a Precious Promise,
Mary and the child will have a home.

And shepherds stand on a hillside;
Their hearts are racing with the news the angel told them.
A star’s light fills up the dark sky,
As the night of Precious Promise is unfolding.

Oh, what a Precious Promise,
Oh, what a gift of love,
The waiting now is over and the time has finally come
For the God Who made this world
To roll back the curtain and unveil
His passion for the heart of man.
Oh, what a Precious Promise,
Lying in a manger in Bethlehem.
Oh, what a Precious Promise,
Lying in a manger in Bethlehem.

Jonathan woke up in the wee hours of Friday morning with a fever, sore throat, aches. Natalie came home from her friends’ house Friday afternoon with a fever, sore throat, aches. I thought we were over this - it had been a week since the other two boys had it! But no, it looks like the same exact thing, which was a five-day fever for both Noah and Josiah. So, if I’m counting right, that means that Natalie and Jon will not be fever free until December 26th. Bah humbug.

Yesterday, Kevin took the two healthy ones sledding with my Dad, my sister and brother-in-law, and their two boys. Josiah and Noah headed to Mom and Dad’s with Dad, while Kevin came home to take over the medicine-dispensing, temperature taking duties with the other two. This afternoon, I’ll head down with Josiah and Noah again to watch the Seahawks game with Dad while the kids decorate sugar cookies.

Our original plans involved Christmas Eve service at Mom and Dad’s church - at which Natalie and I were both supposed to sing. Then the kids would sleepover at Grandmama and Papa’s, while Kevin and I would come home to sleep and head back in the morning for the tree and Christmas dinner in the afternoon.

Revised plans are such: I will take whoever (or is it whomever?) is healthy to the Christmas Eve service, where I will sing. Natalie and Grandmama’s duet will be saved for next year. Then I’ll bring home all the presents that we’ve been piling up under Mom and Dad’s tree. We’ll have Christmas morning at home, and then I’ll take the healthy ones to Christmas dinner at 1 pm, and bring home leftovers to the rest of the clan. If it was any other year, I would just forget joining Marni and Hans and their boys and Mom and Dad at their house, and spend the entire day at home with my kids, but this is the last Christmas we’ll be having with Marni and Hans for a long, long time. They’re moving to St. Louis in the early summer for Hans to attend Covenant Theological Seminary. For those of you who don’t know, we’re in northeast Washington State. So basically, they’re moving to the other side of the country. I want my six-year-old, Josiah, to have as much time as possible with their six-year-old, Peter, before the big move.

So our holiday plans are totally messed up, and it makes me sad. And I feel guilty for leaving the two sick ones at home with Kevin. The only thing that has saved the holiday for them is that Kevin gave them an early Christmas gift last week: a Playstation 2. So Natalie and Jonathan know that while the other two are at Grandmama and Papa’s house with me, there is less competition for the game.

I know there is still a possibility that they will be better by Christmas morning, and we are all praying hard for that. And I’m trying not to be too discouraged by the whole thing.

I wrote the links post below before I went to bed last night and set it to publish early this morning. Then at 1:30 a.m. I was awakenedy by a shivering, feverish Jonathan. He and Natalie never caught the five-day fever-inducing bug that Noah and Josiah had last week. So - no ortho appointment, no play date - just extra vitamin C and fluids and prayers that he will be better before Christmas. Sigh.

Four days ’til Christmas! Even though we had more time between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, what with Thanksgiving being earlier, I still feel like it has taken me by surprise. I will be doing some wrapping this weekend - I’m still waiting on two shipments from Amazon. They’re supposed to arrive tomorrow. (Fingers crossed.)

This morning Natalie has an orthodontist appointment; this afternoon Michelle and the boys are coming over for a play date. Tomorrow, my sister and her family arrive at my parents’ house for the holidays. We will be sledding on Saturday, decorating cookies on Sunday, singing at the Christmas Eve service Monday, and then celebrating at my parents’ house for Christmas. All that to say that I’ll probably be missing from here until after the Big Day.

Here are a few links to keep you busy while I’m gone:

~ Amazon’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard page

~ The trailer for Ben Stein’s new documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.

~ Amazing and beautiful video: The Inner Life of a Cell. Hat tip: Athol Dickson.

~ My brother-in-law Hans is blogging again, and I especially enjoyed this post about some of the adorable things my nephews say to each other.

~ How well do you know your Christmas carols? Take this quiz to find out.

~ Chronicle Books is holding a creativity contest for kids.

~ Remember when I was talking about Roger Whittaker’s Christmas Album, and how every kid should hear Darcy the Dragon? Well, now they can, complete with cute pictures, thanks to this YouTube video.

~ Carol at Magistramater has posted another great list of the things she is grateful for.

~ Brighter Minds is offering 40% off of all products for my readers. The offer is good until February 1, 2008. Just enter the code BLOG at checkout.

If I don’t get back here before the holiday, may all of you have a truly blessed Christmas.

I finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak tonight. It was the last book on my Saturday Review of Books Challenge. It was everything I had read in other reviews - haunting, beautiful, horrifying, brilliant.

Markus Zusak has created a book that, in my opinion, should take its place alongside the other master works of World War II literature: Diary of a Young Girl, Night, The Hiding Place. And the amazing part is that he is only in his early thirties. I can’t wait to read the other books he has inside, waiting to be written.

The Book Thief tells the story of Leisel Meminger, a young German girl. At the age of eleven, she is sent to live with the Hubermanns. Hans, the kind-hearted accordion player-slash-painter, and Rosa, the wardrobe-shaped housewife, become her family. She spends her days in school, attending Hitler Youth meetings, and playing soccer in the street with her best friend, Rudy Steiner, the boy with the lemon-colored hair. She also steals books. The books themselves and the act of stealing them bring her life in the midst of a world full of death. The words give her hope, and she both loves them and hates them for it.

Death is the narrator of The Book Thief. He pauses in the midst of his ever-increasing duties to observe Leisel Meminger, and then to tell her story and the story of the war.

“Summer came.
For the book thief, everything was going nicely.
For me, the sky was the color of Jews.

When their bodies had finished scouring for gaps in the door, their souls rose up. When their fingernails had scratched at the wood and in some cases were nailed into it by the sheer force of desperation, their spirits came toward me, into my arms, and we climbed out of those shower facilities, onto the roof and up, into eternity’s certain breadth. They just kept feeding me. Minute after minute. Shower after shower.

I’ll never forget the first day in Auschwitz, the first time in Mauthausen. At that second place, as time wore on, I also picked them up from the bottom of the great cliff, when their escapes fell awfully awry. There were broken bodies and dead, sweet hearts. Still, it was better than the gas. Some of them I caught when they were only halfway down. Saved you, I’d think, holding their souls in midair as the rest of their being - their physical shells - plummeted to the earth. All of them were light, like the cases of empty walnuts. Smoky sky in those places. The smell like a stove, but still so cold.

I shiver when I remember - as I try to de-realize it.

I blow warm air into my hands, to heat them up.

But it’s hard to keep them warm when the souls still shiver.

God.

I always say that name when I think of it.

God.

Twice, I speak it.

I say His name in a futile attempt to understand. “But it’s not your job, to understand.” That’s me who answers. God never says anything. You think you’re the only one he never answers? “Your job is to…” And I stop listening to me, because to put it bluntly, I tire me. When I start thinking like that, I become so exhausted, and I don’t have the luxury of indulging fatigue. I’m compelled to continue on, because although it’s not true for every person on earth, it’s true for the vast majority - that death waits for no man - and if he does, he doesn’t usually wait very long.

On June 23, 1942, there was a group of French Jews in a German prison, on Polish soil. The first person I took was close to the door, his mind racing, then reduced to pacing, then slowing down, slowing down…

Please believe me when I tell you that I picked up each soul that day as if it were newly born. I even kissed a few weary, poisoned cheeks. I listened to their last, gasping cries. Their vanishing words. I watched their love visions and freed them from their fear.

I took them all away, and if ever there was a time I needed distraction, this was it. In complete desolation, I looked at the world above. I watched the sky as it turned from silver to gray to the color of rain. Even the clouds were trying to get away.

Sometimes I imagined how everything looked above those clouds, knowing without question that the sun was blond, and the endless atmosphere was a giant blue eye.

They were French, they were Jews, and they were you.” p. 349-350

5 out of 5 stars

It snowed today. And snowed. And snowed. A lot of snow. I was planning to run a couple errands and decided instead that it was a good day to stay home. I did housework and laundry, worked on an article, and watched the snow come down. The kids played games pretty much all day - yes, I’m a bad mom. But it’s Christmas break, right?

My wonderful sister, Debra, sent us a package a couple days ago. It contained all the materials we needed to make nine of these cute little snowmen ornaments. Actually, ours are even cuter than the picture, because the have adorable little hats on them. Not only did she send all the materials, she had already cut out all the foam shapes, and put each little kit into its own separate baggy, and tucked in a low temp hot glue gun in case we didn’t have one. Isn’t she awesome? So the kids and I made snowmen after dinner tonight, and they are now hanging on our tree.

What did you do today?

Penelope at The Cafe at the End of the Universe honored me with this award, and I’m passing it on. My choices for the “Your blog is a treasure” award are:

~ Crissy at Soliloquy. I was so glad to discover that Crissy was blogging again. She is a fellow bookaholic and likes to share what she’s reading and thinking. Her posts are thoughtful and heartfelt. Plus, she’s a fellow ‘Hawks fan. She even has an in - her hubby is the team photographer.

~ Jill at The Crib Chick. Jill is another gal who took some time off from blogging, and recently returned. She makes me laugh until I snort. ‘Nough said.

~ Sallie at A Gracious Home. I have enjoyed reading Sallie’s posts in the last year about becoming a mother for the first time. She is very honest about the ups and downs of motherhood, marriage, and faith. I appreciate her openness and willingness to share.

(National Treasure: 2-Disc Collector’s Edition was provided to me by Click Communications for the purpose of review.)

National Treasure is one of my favorite movies, and I am very excited to see the sequel that opens on the 21st. Have you seen the trailer? It looks like it will be just as good as the first one. In case you missed National Treasure the first time around, here’s the synopsis from Amazon:

Like a Hardy Boys mystery on steroids, National Treasure offers popcorn thrills and enough boyish charm to overcome its rampant silliness. Although it was roundly criticized as a poor man’s rip-off of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Da Vinci Code, it’s entertaining on its own ludicrous terms, and Nicolas Cage proves once again that one actor’s infectious enthusiasm can compensate for a multitude of movie sins. The contrived plot involves Cage’s present-day quest for the ancient treasure of the Knights Templar, kept secret through the ages by Freemasons past and present. Finding the treasure requires the theft of the Declaration of Independence (there are crucial treasure clues on the back, of course!), so you can add “caper comedy” to this Jerry Bruckheimer production’s multi-genre appeal. Nobody will ever accuse director Jon Turtletaub of artistic ambition, but you’ve got to admit he serves up an enjoyable dose of PG-rated entertainment, full of musty clues, skeletons, deep tunnels, and harmless adventure in the old-school tradition. It’s a load of hokum, but it’s fun hokum, and that makes all the difference.

National Treasure: The 2-Disc Collector’s Edition is being released today, and it is full of all new special features:

~ A Multi-Level Treasure Hunt! The more bonus material you find and watch, the more you uncover: an alternate ending, deleted scenes, an animated opening scene, and four featurettes: “National Treasure On Location,” “The Knights Templar,” “Treasure Hunters Revealed,” and “Riley’s Decode This” - plus 3 puzzling challenges.

~ Disc Two has additional deleted scenes and additional featurettes: “Ciphers, Codes, & Codebreakers,” “On the Set of American History,” “To Steal a National Treasure,” and “Exploding Charlotte“.

This would make a great stocking stuffer for anyone who loves action movies, treasure hunts, or both.