alien encounters

We love Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head around here. (Except when a bare human foot meets a plastic nose left on the ground, resulting in broken skin. True story. Still limping.) Usually we play with the pieces in conventional ways.

But, if you know our girl at all, you know that she loves the unconventional too. So when she tells me that the dog is an alien, it doesn't surprise me.

Yes, that is a Mrs. Potato Head (Dr. Potato Head?) stethoscope upside down on his head.

She was so proud. And he was such a good sport about it.

And I guess it must have looked like fun to her too!

I love, love, love her imagination!

shock value: high. truth level: sadly high too.

My all-time most popular post was the one I didn't want to write, the one about appalling abortion statistics in NYC. I won't rehash it all here because you can click through the link, but this caught my eye, featured here yesterday.

It's definitely jarring. And shocking.

But if you read my other post, you also know that it's true. In 2009, for every two children born to black mothers in 2009, three were aborted in NYC, where this billboard is. That means that no matter what dangers black babies born in NYC in 2009 will face in their lifetimes, they will have already beaten the odds just by being born.

When it comes to billboards like this one, it takes me a while to process and digest before I know how I feel about it. I agree that the facts in NYC need to be known. I just don't know what the best outlet and messaging should be to make them known in a way that changes hearts and actions. To make them known in a way that saves the lives of babies conceived in 2011 and beyond.

This might be the right way to draw attention to the issue. Or it might not be. I'm just not sure.

What do you think? 

a very important question*

Chopsticks or no chopsticks?

They are obviously pro-chopsticks.

I have no pictures to prove it, but I'm anti-chopsticks. Sure, go ahead and use 'em; that doesn't bother me. For myself, I want my familiar metal utensils.

For my kids, though, I love watching them use chopsticks! (They like to copy Daddy, who is pro-chopstick.)

Actually, Robs is an equal-opportunity fellow. He loves the chopsticks,

But he likes to keep a good hold on his fork too.

And, of course, he opts for utensil/chopstick-free eating from time to time.

What about you? Are you a utensil lover like me, a chopstick lover like Lee and Jocelyn, or a hybrid ambi-eatingmethod-erous fellow like the Robster?

*and, no, I don't suppose this is really a very important question. But I am curious!

where i've been

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
Luke 2:19

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
Psalm 46:10

It's been a long time since I've let my little corner of the blogosphere go quiet for a couple weeks. I have had pictures I wanted to share, books I'm past due in reviewing, and thoughts wanting to spill out. I certainly haven't had writer's (blogger's?) block or anything of the sort.

I've been pondering quietly.
I've been still.

I haven't intentionally not blogged.

I have intentionally taken some time to think through some weighty life and faith issues. And I've intentionally been beautifying my home life, both in the physical sense as I've been busy with house projects and in the relational sense as Lee and I have dated more and gotten on the floor to play more.

It's been lovely. And by "lovely," I mean tears are coming to my eyes right now at how thankful I am for what God has done in my life and my heart in the past couple weeks and the past couple months.

I'll probably have to hold myself back from publishing a gazillion and one posts in the next week or two, because you probably don't want to read 27 posts a day from me, huh? :) To give a glimpse of what's to come, though (and to give myself a list so I don't forget the posts that have been ruminating in my skull), you can most likely expect

•  a post about depression and friendship that I wanted to write for the last six months of 2010 but that I wasn't ready for until I drafted it a week or two ago,
• a health-focused post that I'm more excited about than any in the past (disclaimer required by my age and by the number of round bellies in my circle of friends: no, I'm not pregnant nor presently aspiring to be),
• confessions from a recovering I-can-do-it-all-my-myself gal who is really honestly trying not to shun help from others,
• an update on my lengthy list of resolutions for 2011, 
• a metaphor-focused post about the object that I think best represents healthy special needs ministry, both as it is now and as it could be,
• approximately four trillion book reviews, and
• approximately five trillion and one photo posts.

I might even throw in a couple of Christmas-related posts I drafted on the back of my Bible study outlines in November. (No, of course not during Bible study. *ahem* Or maybe it was. I live a little in ADHDland, so sometimes it's harder for me to focus on one thing - like the teacher - than it is for me to mostly focus on two things - like the teacher and my random notes. What I mean is...squirrel!!!)

And for now, I'll leave you to ponder this.

fun times for rainy days

On a rainy day (which, by the way, isn't in the forecast this week! yay for warm weather and no rain!!!), it's fun to

put on a dancing show for your dog,

put yourself in timeout occasionally (though I still don't know what she thinks she did to deserve it),

jump on the bed (with a shirt that would make any TFAer smile; it says "big goal maker." yes, yes, it's about soccer, but I think of TFA every time he wears it),

spoon with the dog,

and pick your nose while your brother dismantles the humidifier in the background.

(These are also all reasons that I'm glad the weather will be beautiful enough this week to avoid the great indoors!)