Time for Chai

My current favorite recipe for chai:

1. A good mug, having a smallish surface area so the drink doesn’t cool off too fast.
2. Celestial Seasonings India Spice Chai, 1 bag.
3. boiling water
4. powdered milk, 4 heaping teaspoons (Fat free, yet creamy! Woot!)
5. granulated sugar, 2 heaping teaspoons (Dude, if it’s not sweet, it’s not chai)
6. a timer set for 4 minutes

Steep the tea for 4 minutes or a few seconds longer.  DO NOT SQUEEZE THE BAG.  Remove the bag.  Add milk and sugar, stirring.  Drink and relax.  If you’re really fortunate, you will enjoy the entire cup before it cools.  If your kids interrupt you with things like, “Gannon rode my bike and the chain came off,” or “Will you please call the national guard now,” do not despair.  This is yummy iced as well.

By the way, those are examples of two actual interruptions I have had during this very cup of chai, which I am now sipping.

Five Year Olds in Conversation

Some things I heard just now as Acadia did some stamp art with a neighborhood boy:

J: You are my very best friend in the whole wide world.

A: Wow, thanks!  Now I have two best friends in the whole wide world!  You AND Jayda!

and

A: Party favors are so fabulous that I could just cry out for joy!

and

J: Yours is fabulous.  Mine is gonna be fabulous too.

A: Yours already IS fabulous!

Kindergarteners are fun to have around.  Every household should have at least one.

It Is Not Death to Die

Any Christian touched by sadness, grief, depression, fatigue, unbelief, illness, or any other type of suffering should listen to the CD by Sovereign Grace Music, Come Weary Saints.  With my walk with depression, the ideas in these songs have sustained me.  Having these songs together like this…wow.  And I love the way they have been arranged on the CD.  It’s very emotionally satisfying, if that makes sense.  As I listened to it for the first time, I felt myself moving through that familiar series of feelings, starting out being tired and worn out, too tired to think.  By the end, I could see the overlay of God’s plan over the outline of my life.

Here are the lyrics to one of the songs.  This was altered by Bob Kauflin and based on an 1832 hymn.

It is not Death to die, to leave this weary road,
and join the saints who dwell on high,
who’ve found their home with God.
It is not death to close the eyes long dimmed by tears,
and wake in joy before your throne,
delivered from our fears.

O Jesus, conquering the grave,
your precious blood has power to save.
Those who trust in you will in your mercy find
that it is not death to die.

It is not death to fling aside this earthly dust,
and rise with strong and noble wing
to live among the just.
It is not death to hear the key unlock the door
that sets us free from mortal years
to praise forever more.

O Jesus, conquering the grave,
your precious blood has power to save.
Those who trust in you will in your mercy find
that it is not death to die.

Someone’s Special Day

My beautiful niece Iris turns 7 today.  This first picture is from when she was 2.

And here she is a couple years later.

Iris has a fun-loving attitude, a friendly demeanor, an artistic flair, and show-stopping eyes.

Very Happy Birthday wishes to you, Iris!  Have fun being 7!

Loving the Waves!

Brian took this series of shots of Cadie in the water at Fort Foster, Maine. He was able to get these great facial expressions because he is daring enough to take our obscenely expensive camera into the water with him while he stands knee-deep in surf. I am not. So all I get is the backs of heads. Or kids running away gleefully, which is also nice, but still, these are fun pictures.

Sweet Dreams

I know her grandparents are going to have a conniption when they see this picture, it’s so sweet. 

Give a Kid a Camera…

And look what you get. My apologies to those of you on a slow connection. My blog is image-heavy these days because it hurts to type. And because I like images.

Anthills in the driveway. Important and interesting stuff if you’re a kid. Or me.

Enchiladas. We all need to remember this meal, so we took this picture. Yeah.

The view under Gannon’s bed. Those are his swim trunks. That he couldn’t find. Not sure what the other stuff is. Let’s not think about it.

Breakfast.

Bling.

Here’s Daddy, from an Acadia’s Eye View.

Not to be left out, here’s Mommy. And James, Jared, and Brian. But you really have to look hard to see them.

Metal waiting for the trash guy’s metal day. Glad we have this moment preserved.

We have a sword on the garage roof. What? Don’t you?

This is a radish we are growing. Gannon needed a photo.

Here’s the neighbor kid, Noah. This is usually the first view of him we see each day, when someone from our house bangs on his door, or vice versa. “Can you come out and play?”

I do not know this man. He appears at periodic intervals to mow a neighbor’s lawn. He cheesed for Gannon’s camera. We digitally captured his photons.

And my favorite so far, taken by one or both of the kids, is this picture. They love each other.

Things Are Looking Mighty Nice.

Some pictures showing the evidence of growth around here:

My first attempt at a perennial garden starts with these blooms.

Impatiens sit in the barrel in the front in the middle of the hostas.

I moved part of the hostas to a spot under the maple tree. I have no idea how it will fare.

Plants. The front yard.

The neighbors’ lilacs are beautiful.

This will be open before we know it. Isn’t it a cute little bud?

Hanging geraniums are awesome. And, see that greeny-shimmery pattern in the background? I learned that it’s called bokeh (boe-kay). I had fun today with the camera, looking for cool bokeh.

This picture: no bokeh, but the promise of green things to come. Even though the green sprig in question is only a weed, sucking the nutrients away from our herbs.

I took all these photos in and around the yard right before the downpour started this afternoon.

Why I Should Use My Tripod

I took these photos an hour or so ago just before we went on a walk.  It’s a rainy day, giving us low, but photographically fun, light.  I didn’t get my tripod out (because of two factors: I am lazy and I am not sure where it is), so these came out less than tack sharp.  I still like them though.  I added a “gauzy glow” with Picasa.  Yes, okay, I use Picasa instead of Photoshop!  I don’t have time to learn these things!  I am too busy living my life, okay?  Get off my back already!

I Got a New Drug

My Nikon D80 arrived yesterday. As soon as I opened the box, the camera jumped up and snapped this shot.

Then I took a few [hundred] photos, just to get the feel of it. How does it feel?

It feels good.

Except now you can really see how messy I let my kids’ faces get.

And their skinned knees.

My buddy Lisa and I are just giggling over this new toy.