Picnic Time!

What do you do when you are craving for a sunny picnic, but it's 38 degrees outside and raining? You play picnic inside!

Complete with baseball caps to protect your eyes from the "sun," and yummy plastic fruit to satisfy the gnarling hunger. ;)

A Disclaimer

I thought it might be informative to use this Monday's post to share a few truths about us and therefore, about the blog. You might find it helpful as you continue on this journey with us:

1. We are sisters
2. We are Christians
3. We grew up in the same house, with the same set of parents
4. Neither item (1), (2), or (3) automatically mean that we agree about everything, in fact

Sisters Chat About Household Duties

Lizzi: As I was vacuuming today, the idea came to me... We should chat about CHORES!! :)
Esther: That is a great idea!
Lizzi: We all have to do 'em, right? Do you all have any chores that you do on a daily basis?

Maude: Besides diapering, cooking...
Esther: Dishes, dishes, dishes!! SO many dishes
Lizzi: Oh yeah, didn't think of diapering and cooking! Yeah, dishes are so endless
Esther: And making the bed...
Lizzi: Sweeping the floor...
Maude: I only do the dishes half the time. My husband and I split evening chores pretty evenly. I cook most of the time, though.
Esther: I am slightly psychotic about making my bed. I cannot start my day (hardly!) without that being done
Lizzi: That's a good habit! I wish I was more that way
Maude: Every single day my kids pull my bed apart for a cave
Lizzi: Haha!
Esther: Kinda. I get a little too hooked up on it
Maude: So it is NEVER made anymore!
Esther: It can make me late etc.
Lizzi: That's funny, Maude!
Maude: Wow, Es. That is crazy
Esther: That's fun Maude! yeah... I have problems
Maude: Yep. It is fun
Lizzi: What are some chores that you hate do? Or are totally defunct at your house?
Esther: LAUNDRY! I would rather burn my clothes then fold them. True story.

GOP Primaries - Who's Your Pick?

Well, I am afraid I cannot let the GOP primaries go by without at least one (but don't hold me to that!) political post. 

Mostly I want to hear from you about your views regarding the viability of the four remaining candidates.  Here is the line-up (alphabetical by last name):

Kids & coffee shops

I am  a coffee shop girl, always have been. Is it sad to say that has been one of the hardest things about being a Mom?  I MISS my coffee shops! (and yes that is plural... I have a few favorites.)  I cannot just "up and go" anymore... to anywhere.  So, I came up with this idea (scared yet?)

The Beauty Declares

I think that all of God's creation is amazing and beautiful. There are areas where the beauty is more subtle, and places where the landscape is almost alien-like in its uniqueness. I live in a region where God's creation is absolutely majestic (These were even taken without a fancy camera. It declares its beauty all on its own):

It seems to scream of His power and righteousness. Whenever I glimpse the mountains, I think of Psalm 104, "He established the earth upon its foundations, so that it will not totter forever and ever. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters were standing above the mountains. At Your rebuke they fled,
at the sound of Your thunder they hurried away. The mountains rose; the valleys sank down to the place which You established for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass over, so that they will not return to cover the earth....

Are All the Children In?

Our Mom loves poems and she would often quote this poem when we were growing up. She especially used the title line when we were driving off somewhere in our big 15-passenger van. She had to make sure we were all accounted for! :) It was so special for me to find this poem and made me reminiscent for those days in the "old house on the hill." Also, as a mother now, I can certainly relate to a mom's yearning for her children's presence, and most of all yearning for their hearts to be at home with the Father.


Are All The Children In?
By Florence Jones Hadley

I think oft-times, as the night draws nigh,
Of an old house on the hill,
Of a yard all wide and blossom-starred,
Where the children played at will.
And when the night at last came down,
Hushing the merry din,
Mother would look around and ask,"
Are all the children in?"

The years have come and gone since then,
And the old house on the hill
No longer echoes to childish shout,
And the spacious yard is still.
But I see it all, as the shadows creep
Where old memories merge and blend,
And I seem to hear her ask again,
"Are all the children in?"

I wonder if when the nightshades fall
On the last short earthly day,
When we say good-bye to the world outside
All tired with our childish play,
When we reach the shore of that other land
Where the folks so long have been;
Will mother ask, as she did of old,
"Are all the children in?"

Sisters Chat About Being Army Wives

Maude: Since Lizzi isn't able to make it and it is just going to be the two of us I thought it would be fun to talk about being Army wives. Sound good?

Esther: that sounds good

Maude: This is mostly to do with deployments since that is definitely the worst/most life-affecting part of being a military wife.

How long has your husband been gone for?

Esther: the longest at one time?

Maude: My husband was away half of the first seven years of marriage but most of that was training

Esther: 7 1/2 months (since we have been married that is)

Maude: He deployed twice in our marriage

The first time (when we were without kids) was only 2 months

The second time was for around 5 months with a newborn baby

Esther: no fun!

Maude: You know!

Esther: I hate getting to have a sweet baby and he is not around

Maude: How old was Jude when your husband deployed?

Esther: 5 months old

Maude: My son was 1 month old when he left.

Esther: He came back a few weeks after his first birthday.

Maude: What was that time like for you?

The Ill-logic of Jehovah's Witnesses

I've had a visitor once a month since moving into our house.  It is a woman who is always dressed in a nice skirt and blouse giving me a tract or brochure of some kind.

I know she does it as a knotch on her "Get Into Heaven" belt so it doesn't annoy me it just makes me sad.  She hardly lets me talk and, of course, always manages to come at the worst time (last time my son didn't have pants on as he had just come out of the bathroom and couldn't button them himself and my daughter had just bumped her head and it was very cold outside!) so we've not had much chance to converse but this last time she gave me a larger book that explains their beliefs to kids (it is written for pre-teens or so).

My husband and I looked through it and found that they don't think Jesus is God but that He is the son of God.  Like an actual son, who isn't as old or wise as his Father.  Instead they think he was the first and best example of what a Jehovah's Witness should be and that in heaven the really exceptional Jehovah's Witnesses (the 144,000 best) will rule with Jesus over the new earth.

They believe that everyone who dies is asleep and at the very end everyone will be raised up to live in paradise on the new earth regardless of how good or bad they have been.  But, remember, only those best Jehovah's Witnesses will actually rule over everyone else.

Here is the mind-numbing irrationality of their faith:

A year in the life of an Esther

Here is a snippet of what was going down in the year 2011 for me and my little family:

Jan/Feb 2011

• Jude began to sit up and roll from belly to back. He started giving lots of smiles.
• We packed up our little Camry and drove the 24 hrs. to get there.
• We stay in El Paso for 3 months and meet a lot of friends.
• I lived out of one room and a crock pot (learned a lot about how little I can truly live on)
• I turned 22
• It snowed in El Paso! (crazy weird)

The Bonds of Slavery Not yet Loosed

I have been re-reading Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriett Beecher Stowe and as I sit here, a white woman in a pleasant time in a safe country, I am reminded of the devastation poured upon black people at that time, devastation that our free government both ignored and defended. God was so good to cause Ms. Stowe to write this work! I believe it played a great role in realigning a race with the status given to them from creation by God.

There were several characters highlighted in Ms. Stowe's book who showed indifference, or at least, inaction toward the slave trade. The most noteworthy of these was Augustine St. Clare. His inner being was in great turmoil over slavery and he was constantly battling within himself about it. But, he did nothing. In fact, he was a slave owner himself, and while his slaves were treated very well as pampered "servants" (a way to ease his conscience and make himself believe they were better off than free), still they were not their own men and women. Their everything was his and their fate rested solely in his hands. How could that be better than being seen as what they truly were- equal men and women? What could be more damaging to a race than be seen as second-rate and unable to stand as the people they are? St. Clare saw the cases of abuse and tyranny, he saw the forced fractures of families as they were torn from each other for the sake of profit; yet he closed an eye and pushed the topic away. It was too complicated, too controversial to speak up.

As I look at his character, I find myself thinking, "Would I be like that?"

So, I am Suffering with Desynchronosis...

Okay, so the fancy name in the title may have been a bit misleading. That is just the medical term for jet lag! But I am suffering from it, so I wasn't lying! We have been home from our trip to Singapore for five days and the days and nights are still very muddled. (I am writing this post at 4am.) If either my husband or myself is not lying awake during the wee hours, then we are probably downstairs playing with our little ones or giving them snacks when they are suddenly wide awake at 2am, or 4am, or both. I was going to share a picture with this post, but I didn't want anyone scared away by the zombie with the wild hair and puffy-bagged, dark-circled, bloodshot eyes. You have been saved the shock and I have been saved the embarrassment! We both win! ;)

The wear and tear is also starting to show on our poor boys. We have been strictly rationing their naps to try and encourage nighttime sleeping and yesterday got to be pretty rough. Our one-year-old sometimes provides us with a concert of loud, high-pitched shrieks when he is upset (tired, mad or sad) and we were sure serenaded yesterday. We attribute it to his Irish blood because when he screeches like that he sounds to us like a banshee, never mind that banshees are supposed to be female. So far our efforts to dissuade him by telling him he sounds like a banshee (aka girl) haven't worked.

One interesting tidbit I have been told is that I am to assume one day of recovery for every hour in time difference. So that means we only have about 11 more days to go....! In all seriousness, though, it is getting much better. Even though I laid awake for a few hours tonight, our babies slept pretty good until 3:30am and I trust will easily fall back to sleep. I am sure I will feel the strength and peace of the Lord as He answers the prayers you so graciously lift up on our behalf after reading this post. ;)

Fun facts about the O'Brien clan

 

• We grew up in a large old farm house.
• There are 10 children in our family; six girls, four boys.
• 8 out of us 10 children were home schooled  at some point in our education
• Most of us children would consider ourselves "night owls" and often feel more productive in the late night hours than in the early hours of the morning.
• Almost all of us kids can hold a tune fairly well but only one of us plays an instrument. (Not including in-laws in that)
• Some of us have difficulty whistling.
• None of us has a tattoo (that I know of, that is...)
• We all love food and dessert! 
• We all have a strange desire to mix our cake and ice cream till it turns into mush. (Thanks Dad for that!)
• I think all of us would say we love rain and snow (commonly hated by the large population)

Wartburg Castle Part 2

I am finally getting around to putting up the rest of the pictures from my trip to Wartburg Castle in Germany in September.  (The first set of pictures can be found at Wartburg Castle Part 1.) I am not much of a photographer but there are a couple in here that I think are very nicely done (if I do say so myself!).

Entry to Wartburg Castle.

Curried sweet potato soup and goat cheese biscuits please.

         Sweet potatoes, sweet potatoes, sweet potatoes and more sweet potatoes! How I love you!  Why is it that you can buy normal potatoes in pound bags but not sweet potatoes?  Do you know how many sweet potatoes I go through in a week? A lot.  Especially this week.  This time of year is perfect for sweet potatoes.  We had sweet potato stew last week, and it was amazing (basically normal beef stew with sweet potatoes rather than regular potatoes I added a few different ingredients and spices but it is basically the same).  Right now for lunch I am making curried sweet potato soup with goat cheese biscuits (my mouth is watering just typing those words).

So simple! So delicious! It is a rainy, dreary, type of day. A day that was made for curried sweet potato soup and goat cheese biscuits (I swear these biscuits will change your life).  

What I miss most when I am away

I love traveling and visiting family. I love the time spent with loved ones and the special places you go. I love the food and the change of schedule and scenery. It is uplifting to a mother's heart to witness others enjoying your children almost as much as you do. Vacationing is fun! But, it is also nice to get back home and back to routine.


You know what I think I miss the most when we are away?

Little Joys of Pregnancy

Our Guest Blogger today is our sister, Katharine. We are all very excited and happy for her as she prepares to welcome her first baby in the summer!

 

At fourteen weeks pregnant (14 1/2 to be exact) I would think I would be done with throwing up. Let me start at the beginning. I found out I was pregnant 3 days after my 1st anniversary. My husband and I were so excited! I was driving to visit family the next day and knew it would be so hard to keep it a secret... thankfully, I was able to keep it under wraps. Then, less than a week after getting back home I started experiencing one of the joys of pregnancy - morning sickness (maybe more aptly named "all-day sickness"). On average, I was throwing up every other day, sometimes more. Where was the joy of pregnancy? The glow?

Sisters Chat About New Year's Celebrations

Maude: What did you do for your New Year's celebration this year?

Esther: We were at Mom's. Hanging out at her house.

Lizzi: That is fun!

Watching the ball drop?

Maude: Did she have New Year's dip?

Esther: We ate new years dip and played games

Lizzi: Oh, I guess not since mom diesn't have cable this year.

Esther: We played "boggle" and "pass the pigs"

Maude: What is "boggle?"

Esther: It was just Mom and my two men and our one brother

such a small crowd!

Boggle is a fun word game

I am HORRIBLE at it (though I really enjoy it)

you have a little cube full of letters and you shake it around and form words from what you get

Girls Night Out

Some girls from my new church invited me out to The Melting Pot yesterday.  My first time to experience fondue.  Yes, I know I am ten years behind the rest of the world...  No, I haven't been to a Tapas restaurant yet - I'm sure I'll do that next decade.  Anyway, it was a lot of fun!

Goodbye 2011. Hello 2012!

We started 2011 with packing, mess making, and more packing (I am a very messy packer Andrew is the organizer).

packing

There's Within My Heart A Melody....

As I was singing in the shower on New Year's Eve, two songs brought to mind (providentially, I believe) seemed very fitting as I prepared to hasten in 2012. One is an old praise song that has since become categorized as a hymn: In His Time. Here is an excerpt:

Lord, please show my everyday as You're teaching me Your way, that You do just what You say--In Your time.

I certainly resemble the Israelites! Time after time they whined and complained that they were tired of waiting, tired of wandering. As I approach a new year it is so tempting to look toward big plans, big changes, but I need to remember to rest in the perfect plan of my Father... An unfolding that will only come in HIS omniscient schedule.

The other song is called, Jesus, All For Jesus, by Robin Mark:

All of my ambitions, hopes, and plans, I surrender these into Your hands... For it's only in Your will that I am free...

Memory Monday (A Sister's Reflection)

This picture was taken back in April, 2011. Esther came to visit me (and my family) with her baby Bug and our Mom. It was such a wonderful time! I can't believe it was already nine months ago. Isn't my baby sister beautiful? And guess what? She is also gorgeous inside, too. She has a listening ear and a wise tongue, and she is loads of fun! :) We spent a lot of time talking, and eating, and cooking, and playing with babies. We didn't do much else, but it was very special!

When Esther was here, her husband was serving with the military overseas. She was a single mom in a sense, and missing him every moment. I am so thankful that now, nine months later, he is home and they were able to spend Christmas together as a family. I am thankful that she has grown into a beautiful woman of God and I am so proud of her. I see in Esther the character of her biblical namesake and I praise God for His handiwork. This is my memory post today, thanking God for my sister and His hand in her past, present, and future. May His Name be praised!