Merry Christmas 2013!

Today my family and I outran the impending snow storm to visit Landis Valley Museum. I really wanted to see the Belsnickle, the whip-bearing Pennsylvania German figure that predated Santa and kept Christmas a little too lively for my Quaker ancestors. Pearl giggled, Sapphire kept her distance, and Ruby eyed him warily, unwilling to look away from him even for a photograph. She didn't start talking again for about ten minutes.

Our pursuit of history is so cruel!

We have had an eventful last twelvemonth, as you may know. We celebrated our first anniversary of being a family of five and then Daniel experienced a restless, painful month with undiagnosed Lyme disease before a brain scan also unexpectedly uncovered an unrelated but rather large aneurism.

you can see our cute little yellow belt on the far right

Daniel is well now. The Lyme symptoms are gone and the aneurism is safely plugged with platinum. He's working on regaining his strength after a few months of inactivity from back pain and then restricted activity leading up to the surgery. As he awaited surgery, our church lovingly celebrated his ten year anniversary in this ministry, a huge encouragement during a troubling time. This year has brought our church a new deacon board, a new denomination, and so much good old spiritual growth for us and the people we love.

His karate school is about to celebrate its eleventh year, and the school has grown to forty students in an unexpected growth spurt this year. The medical situation delayed the test for his fifth dan, but that will happen in 2014. The new year will also see him leading his second group tour of Israel in late March.

Pearl, now in second grade, decided to take an American Sign Language course for home schoolers and continue her piano lessons with a talented woman from church. Her studies of the American colonies have taken us on several trips in the last year: Colonial Williamsburg, Old Bedford Village, Revolutionary Philadelphia, and, just today, Landis Valley Museum. She likes all the playtime our homeschooling schedule allows. She continues to be sweet, gentle, sensitive, and nurturing with a fun sense of humor.

At four years old, Sapphire is overflowing with love and orneriness.  Her favorite way to spend a day is to help mix up a batch of chocolate chip cookies and work on princess puzzles. Watching her explore the world is a treat. When she asked to hear about the day she was born, I told her we thought she was so beautiful, and she asked, "What dress did I have on when I was born?" She and Ruby still have many tough moments of sibling rivalry, but fortunately it has deescalated from biting and hitting to antagonistic looks and combative pointing. At other times they form a special club they call Washy Girls, which, as far as I can figure, just means they are getting along perfectly.

Ruby, age three, has a helpful personality. Her squirminess is unparalleled. It has been amazing to watch her learn to love and cuddle. Fortunately, she has also come to appreciate reading stories, a favorite pastime around here. She asks to read her life book almost every night--that's a book parents create to help explain how an adopted child came to join the family. She enjoys Cubbies, the preschool Awana program she and Marilla attend.  Cora now takes speech lessons to help her articulation. Her favorite thing to do is pal around with her big sisters and get in the car to go anywhere.

a Norwegian stave church

I missed them all very much when I took a three week trip with a friend to Iceland and northern Europe in June. There I saw Neuschwanstein and six other impressive castles, hummed Sound of Music tunes through Salzburg, and learned to fully appreciate German bread.  My favorite spot was a museum of rural Norwegian village life in Oslo.

The trip allowed me to employ my high school German for the first time ever and collect images of European gift-bringers like the Norwegian nisse and Icelandic Yule lads for my book on the culture of Christmas.  My editor has delayed the publication date, but it should be published next year in good time for Christmas reading. I use bits of it to teach elements of writing to my students at Penn State York.

I've also had the joy of helping to oversee our church's Sunday School program and this year's vacation Bible school.  I especially enjoy teaching classes for our home school co-op because we can be so hands on and the kids are really sweet.

a Norwegian Christmas greeting

Our family has felt very blessed in this last year. Thank you for the kindnesses and prayers you have offered on our behalf.

He loves whatever is just and good;
    the unfailing love of the Lord fills the earth.

Psalm 33:5 

Halloween 2013

With our big trip to Philly last week I did not include any of the girls' Halloween photos. They went trick or treating with a cute little skunk and dinosaur one night, and the next their daddy took them to the Halloween parade in town. There they collected more candy than seems legal, but I've since shared it with my college students who do not turn down free food, even when it is barely food.

In the last few weeks I have redecorated our family room. We spend so much time there in the winter that I wanted it to be cozy and pretty. This also allowed me to bond with my sewing machine and work on my math skills. Then, when those failed me, I ended up relying on my patience and work-around abilities too.

I love to see the girls reading. Pearl has recently discovered the joy of comic books, but she prefers fairies and princess themes to the typical superhero variety.

And here Sapphire pours over her Cubbie book. On Sunday afternoons she eagerly slips into her cubbie vest and pines for the hour when we can leave for Awana. For the two little girls, Awana means puppet shows, verse memorization, games, toy time, and table work--preschool-type activities.

This week I woke Ruby early one morning for her ear tube surgery. They popped those tiny tubes through her eardrums in five minutes, but she fussed over the effects of the anesthesia for about half an hour. We hope this will drain her ears, which always seem to show water, though not infection, thankfully.

School Days

This week has given us a breather from some very busy days, but we've also had some unique experiences.

Over the weekend Ruby and I spent time at the church yard sale, but I can't say that we helped much. Ruby and I also popped in to celebrate the 100th birthday of a friend, Spin. He is pretty amazing, and probably more clear-minded than I am. Ruby's sisters had a chance to go see Sight and Sound's Noah with their Nana.

Pearl's school has given us daytime hours to spend on enrichment classes.  She's been taking piano lessons since the spring, and this last Sunday she played a much-practiced duet with her piano teacher for the worship service prelude. They gave a very pretty, harmonizing version of "Jesus Loves Me."

Pearl also began American Sign Language lessons this week.  She will happily spell the name of anyone who requests this service.

We spent a family afternoon in a local orchard. We picked nearly a bushel of apples very quickly, so this isn't the all-afternoon event it used to be when Pearl was a toddler.  Sapphire was demanding pie, so I might make that happen later this afternoon.  They all love the long peels my apple peeler makes.

 Next week we'll be traveling eastward on Tuesday to prepare for my husband's surgery early (8am) Wednesday morning. He should be in the hospital for one or two nights. We will remain out east until at least Saturday evening.