Category Archives: Around Town

Minimizing distractions, maximizing Jesus

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This year, I think I’ve really mastered simplifying the holiday season. But as every American knows, there are many distractions from the religious aspects of Christmas, most notably the obsessive desire for possessions.

“Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious & adding the meaningful.” ― John Maeda, graphic designer & computer scientist

In ” A Charlie Brown Christmas,” ol’ Chuck opines, “Even my own dog has gone commercial.” The consumer-crazed spending of the season was already occurring back when this classic hit TV in 1965. My how far we’ve come since then.

To counter this irreverent frenzy, Stephen and I are intentional about minimizing the materialism. We do participate in gift-giving to the kids and a few other family members. After all, this is one of the strictly Christian aspects of the holiday.

The dudes & I cozy up high on the mountaintop @ Sugar Plum during our annual outing to the choose-and-cut tree farm.

As our lead pastor explains it, Jesus is the incarnation of God as man, and He’s humanity’s second chance at a redemptive world. Jesus is the gift for healing our brokenness and sealing our salvation. It’s God’s love through a divine man.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one & only Son, who came from the father, full of grace & truth.” ― John 1:14

Of course, gift-giving in our consumption-obsessed culture should be done lovingly, but also carefully and in a financially sound way (i.e., not spending more money than you have in the bank).

Hence, Stephen and I capped the amount at about $100 for each boy. Plus, I avoided toys (with walkie talkies being the exception), instead buying more useful things, like clothes, books, gardening tools, a baseball glove, a watch, etc.

Santa has been a (semi) point of contention between Stephen and me. If it were up to him, St. Nick wouldn’t visit our house. He just thinks it’s all a bit too excessive.

Zeke looks like an adorable little elf in a Christmas-tree forest during our hunt for Myrtle (our Frasier fir for 2013).

But I pushed for utilizing gift-giving as an exercise in being appreciative and grateful, and to learn to give to others willingly. And, despite their youth, the 3 Amigos have already nailed the latter vital lesson!

For their Lottie Moon donation at Awana, the dudes gave $10 each from their piggy banks. Counting all those coins served as a great math activity, but more importantly, helped solidify the importance of charity and selflessness.

The boys were surprisingly mature about handing over what is a large amount of cash to a kid. Their ungrudging giving also included another $5 each to our church’s Generous December offering, which goes 100% to supporting missionaries.

“Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.” ― Henry David Thoreau

Moreover, we’ve done Santa in year’s past, so I figured we should just let it all unfold naturally. I mean, most of the kids’ CC friends know the truth about the man in the red suite and are quite vocal about it.

Plus, I don’t really push the mythology too much. I try to answer their pressing queries in vague, open-ended ways that let them ponder the possibilities on their own, while still keeping in tune with some of the fun Santa-centric traditions.

Despite their inquiries @ the farm, like “Is that the real Santa? … He looked different than last year … How can he be here and other places at the same time? … Maybe this guy’s just an elf,” the 3 Amigos still believe!

Interestingly, despite their skeptical questions and all the mounting evidence against the existence of a real Santa and his flying reindeer, the 3 Amigos are still avid devotees of the  jolly old elf. And I think it’s simply because they want to believe.

When the dudes sent letters to Mr. Claus, Houston requested the Lego Death Star, which runs about $300! “That’s very expensive. I don’t think Santa will be leaving that under the tree,” I said. “But the elves will just make it,” he commented.

“Even Santa has to pay his elves,” I explained. “He does?” Houston asked with an air of shock. “Of course, they’re not slaves,” I continued.

After some deep thought, he finally replied, “Well, I think he pays them in candy.” Hmmm, not the economic response I was hoping for, but it shows that the anything-is-possible wonderment of childhood is alive and well for Houston.

Steady-hand Houston snaps this nice shot of Stephen, Gabriel & me heading back to Granny’s from Sugar Plum.

Then the boys received postcards from Mr. Claus and were awestruck that the return address actually said The North Pole. Houston immediately declared that he was going to show this special mail to Asher to “make him believe in Santa.”

“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.” ― E.F. Schumacher, economist

I cherish this time so. Innocence is a rare thing and it will be gone soon enough as the kids grow up in this jaded, corrupt world of ours. But man, is it a cool thing to behold when you’re lucky enough to catch it!

Most importantly this holiday is putting into action the wise words of Tammy Wynette: “Let’s Put the Christ back in Christmas.” Her 1970 country classic called for folks to remember Jesus, despite the the increasing secularization of the season already happening some 40 years ago.

“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

Again, simplifying has been essential. For instance, we had planned to trek downtown for the Holiday Parade earlier this month, but opted instead to stay home in order to finish decorating Myrtle. And hoot chocolate and cookies helped enhance the relaxed, cozy mood!

The dudes in front of a “Dillingham Tax Service” advertisement in Avery County. This barn is on property, which served as the set for the 1989 film, “Winter People,” starring Kurt Russell & Kelly McGillis. Cool, huh?!?

I also decided to blow off a homeschool outing to Old Salem one day just so the boys and I could play hooky (a well-deserved treat ’cause we haven’t been slowing down on schooling this month). We watched Christmas shows and stayed in our PJs all day!

Then that evening, Daddy took us out for frozen yogurt to celebrate the kids’ mastering 12-weeks worth of CC memory work. Our slow-paced day enabled us to truly enjoy this chilled-out family outing — lots of nice and no naughty!

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” ― Confucius

Our trimmed-down schedule has also allowed us more time and energy to do some planned Christ-centered things, such as:

  • daily Advent lessons and activities;
  • delving more deeply into the Christmas story, from the prophecy of Jesus’ birth in Isaiah, to the nativity account in Matthew and Luke;
  • the boys’ piecing together a Christmas care package to send to the veterans’  hospital in Durham;
  • me singing in the choir for Mercy Hill’s Downtown Christmas program last weekend;
  • and a five-day Christmas devotional for kids, which the boys started today.

Here I am (just the the right of the foreground singer in green) rocking it out for Jesus during our church’s wonderful Christmas celebration. Man, do I love making a joyful sound for the Lord!

Of course, many cool holiday memories are an impromptu thing, like Houston and I having a frank conversation about some of the season’s pagan traditions, from the tree, ornaments and mistletoe, even to Christmas’ placement on the calendar.

“There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth.” ― Leo Tolstoy

A low-key, less-harried calendar has also given us a greater opportunity just to be better Christians. We’ve allowed ourselves to be more joyful and hopefully spread that famous Christmas cheer.

Like the night night at the grocery store when we heard the beautiful voice of a singing Salvation Army volunteer. So, I gave Zeke a dollar, which he excitedly put into the donation bucket. The cheerful man chatted with us and let boys ring the charity’s famed bell, which is so synonymous with Christmas giving.

To top it off, a kind lady gave me a huge handful of coins to divvy out to the dudes, so they could drop money into the bucket, instead of her. She said she simply wanted to relish the 3 Amigos’ pure joy. Spontaneous happiness was afoot!

Gabriel has fun decorating an Advent box, in which we put notes of encouragement for one another to help teach compassion. This fancy container also doubles as a giving box, in which we drop little gems every time somebody does a good deed. We will put the box under the tree on Christmas Eve as our birthday gift to Jesus!

Take another night when I spotted a talented keyboardist playing Christmas carols outside the Dollar Tree. His festive music could even be heard across a busy six-lane road in another shopping center.

Although not on a huge spending spree or anything, I felt the need (and had the time) to hit multiple stores in two separate shopping centers to locate a retailer that would give me a single dollar cash back in a purchase. So, I returned to the Dollar Tree, thanking the keyboardist and gladly giving him a well-earned buck.

“But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.'” ― Luke 2:10-12

After all that, I ended up crashing my cart into a gnarly pothole in the parking lot. A nice young dad and his daughter helped me up off the pavement. And somehow in spite of my battered shin and utter embarrassment, I still had the holly-jolly holy spirit! Miracles never cease.

The Christmas-countdown chain was a favorite of mine as a kid, & my swash-buckling boys agree that it’s a winning holiday tradition!

A few other things we’ve been up to this December, include:

  • the kids and I attending Miss Christie’s 2nd annual Polar Express Party;
  • Asher spending the night and Houston losing yet another tooth (after an outing to the Children’s Museum with the J-Crew);
  • celebrating Stanley’s 11th birthday;
  • hitting the Science Center, where the dudes got to pet many friendly stingrays, the green moray eels and otters came out of hiding, and we even witnessed a shark feeding;
  • attending Daddy’s holiday work party downtown;
  • and officially wrapping up our fall homeschool semester this past Friday and looking forward to a gleeful Christmas week!

One happening that wasn’t so jolly was that Gabriel went missing at the conclusion of the Mercy Hill concert. Obviously, it was a short-lived scenario, but an extremely scary one nonetheless.

Turns out, Gabe quietly snuck away toward the stage to try to find me, as Stephen was helping brothers with their stuff. Gabriel was MIA for about 5 heart-wrenching minutes, until a sweet gal helped him locate his freaked and frantic mom in the lobby. Thank you, God, for protecting my child!

“You just believe!”

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November 24, 2013, is a date Houston will always remember, for it marks the day he publicly proclaimed Christ as his Lord and savior. (Click here to see video of this momentous occasion.)

For a boy going on just 6 and a half, Houston is quite serious about his faith. He’s fascinated with Biblical history and delights in learning about the Gospel.

Houston, Gabriel and Zeke can often be found seriously discussing what they learned about in Sunday school or at Awana. Miss Christie recently overheard he and Asher talking about how important it is to get baptized and what it means to have Jesus in your heart.

A shot of Stephen & me during our final visit to Gramsey & Papa’s house — the place where we got married some 13 years ago. Although I’m happy my folks will be moving on to greener pastures, I sure will cherish those Cartersville memories!

How wonderful it is that Houston has friends and brothers who desire a closer relationship with God, as well as share a rhetorical flair for waxing theological. As a parent, it’s a cool thing to behold for sure.

Houston is introspective about what he reads in the Word and how each lesson applies to his life. Always inquisitive, Houston asks probing questions of Stephen and me, inspiring us to reflect on doctrinal complexities and ponder controversial aspects of Christianity.

So, it was no surprise that Houston had been having heart-felt considerations to get baptized for a while now. I won’t say that Stephen and I were apprehensive for him to take the plunge, so to speak, but we were definitely cautious.

Pastor Brian Croft gives five practical suggestions to determine if a child is ready in both head and heart for baptism. Parents and clergy should look for:

  1. A growing affection and need for Jesus and the gospel.
  2. A heightened understanding of the truths of Scripture.
  3. An increased kindness and selflessness towards siblings.
  4. A greater awareness and distaste for sin.
  5. A noticeable desire to obey parents

Speaking of pastures, Gabriel, Kara & Zeke hang out near Gramsey & Papa’s well-kempt pasture for the last time in early November.

We decided that Houston met all criteria, although some day more than others. And isn’t that the same every Christian? We believe, but we are broken, worldly, fallible and often times even downright disobedient and selfish. It’s the human condition after all — a fallen state of which the Bible describes countlessly.

So, Stephen and Houston went out to lunch with an associate pastor from our church to determine Houston’s understanding of this tenet of the Great Commission. And we also talked with him to make sure he grasped the seriousness of baptism — its meaning, its import, its consequence.

Our first clue of Houston’s readiness was that he started the ball rolling in seeking out the sacrament. It wasn’t something Stephen and I were really pushing; rather, Houston felt the desire to get baptized laid upon his heart and was vocal about starting the dialog.

Our next clue was Houston’s persistence. He always kept the topic near the forefront of conversations. Moreover, Houston’s earnestness seemed to convey a longing to want to make a genuine profession of faith, not just do something he thought Christians should do.

The 3 Amigos’ obsession w/ knights, warriors, ninjas & pretty much anything than entails intense fighting & creative dress recently morphed into experimentation w/ war paint. Houston seems pleased w/ the result (jagged teeth & all)!

Also, it seemed to me that Houston was cognizant of our Creator. Like the other day in the car, he said, “Look at those clouds over there, Mommy. Sometimes when the light is shining through, I think God’s talking to me.”

So, after much honest and loving deliberation, we decided that, yes, Houston was prepared to make this “outward expression of an inward reality.” And that he did. As both a parent and a Christian, I see Houston’s introspection and spiritual maturity as an inspiring thing indeed.

Plus, he’s just a sweet dude. “Do you know how much I love you?” I asked Houston after his baptism. “No,” he said. “You don’t?!” I queried. “No, because it’s probably higher that I can imagine,” he replied. Aw, that just melts a mama’s heart!

We’re at Granny’s house right now for Thanksgiving. Tomorrow, we’ll be heading to Sugar Plum Farm to get our Carolina-grown Christmas tree and frolic around on the Appalachian mountaintops! Here are some other fun things we’ve been up to lately …

On 11/6, Houston brought his pal, Alex, to Bring-A-Friend Night at Awana. The 3 Amigos were psyched that their CC buddy got to ride in the van with them across town and participate in one of their favorite times of the week.

Zeke does his best fight-’em-off jig to scare off his tribal enemies!

A couple days later, Sam, another CC friend, came over to our casa for a beautiful fall playdate. The boys ran wild playing knights in the yard, while Miss Maria and I enjoyed some much-deserved adult conversation.

In mid-November, Houston spent the night at Asher’s for his 7th birthday. The next day, Mr. Logan took the two big bros to Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh, where much amusement and adventure were afoot.

Houston was only gone for about 24 hours, but the twins, especially Gabriel, missed him terribly. So even though they fight, get annoyed with each other and sometimes say very nasty things, I guess their brotherly bond really does run pretty deeply. Too cute!

That weekend, Daddy took the crew to the Science Center and then to see Monsters University at the dollar theater. The dudes enjoyed their first boys-only outing in quite a long time, while I appreciated the well-deserved mommy break.

Gabriel’s battle cry is the fiercest in all the land (Celtic land, that is)!

Houston lost his third baby tooth on 11/17. He hadn’t been visited by the Tooth Fairy in ages and now suddenly has three other teeth barely hanging on by a thread! So, I suppose Houston’s finally entering that snaggletooth stage of childhood, which I find so adorable.

We wrapped up our CC semester on 11/19. Can you believe we survived (er, I mean, successfully accomplished) 12 weeks of CC memory work on top of our other curriculum and studies? Way to go, boys!

The next day, I attended my first Bible study — something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but simply haven’t had the time, until now. However, the group happens to fall on the same day as Awana.

We live pretty far out from town and doing both (with boys in tow for each) was actually quite the exhausting feat. But I do yearn to grow spiritually through community and hope I can stick it out for the long run … well, at least through the holidays.

Fall field trips

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Boys have such wild and wonderful imaginations. Moving on from their intense Wild Kratts adventures and boisterous Angry Birds war games of late summer, the 3 Amigos are now in the midst of medieval mania.

Gabriel gleefully models a knight’s helmet @ the NC Renaissance Faire.

Much of our CC memory work is about Middle Ages. Plus, Story of the World — a history audio-book we’re also enjoying — is on those dark and violent times. So, it’s not shocking that the dudes’ make-believe theatrics often involve a feudalism plot and include many brave, chivalrous characters.

Consequently, we decided to take the boys to their (and my) first Renaissance Faire. It was actually a CC-organized outing for 10/16, which just so happened to be Gabriel and Zeke’s 5th birthday! Stephen even took the day off work, so it was quite the jolly jaunt.

The kids’ favorite part of the festival was the jousting and their least favorite was the dungeon tour. Luckily, there were many other distractions from that latter frightening experience, like rides, lively performances and hardy food. Houston even attempted to eat a giant turkey leg just like Daddy!

Sir Zeke concentrates as he prepares to “joust,” in which the knight rides a wooden horse while attempting to capture a ring w/ his lance.

That evening, the J-Crew and the boys’ new pal, Mason, came to the house for an impromptu birthday celebration of rich chocolate cake and banana-split ice cream. “It twas a great feast,” as is Gabriel’s wont to say about meals these days, since it sounds so medieval-like.

On Friday, I took the dudes to see The Armor of God. Another CC-organized event, this one-man show (along with his volunteer squire) uses history and all the parts of a knight’s armor as the vehicle to teach kids about Ephesians 6 and how to live for Christ.

And then that afternoon, Houston attended Miss Julie’s Halloween piano party dressed up as a knight. If you recall, the dudes had been piecing together creative make-shift warrior costumes during their pretend Middle Ages games.

Houston wields an ax as Zeke checks out another piece of armament.

So, Stephen and I decided to buy each of them a decent-quality knight set, which includes a breast plate, shield, helmet, and sword with sheath. We figured the 3 Amigos could use the gear for Halloween and for lots of imaginative play beyond holiday. No homemade costumes this year will save me some valuable time to boot.

The twins’ birthdays always kind of outweigh Stephen’s and my anniversary, which was 10/14. We commemorated our 13th year of marital bliss by devouring take-out sushi at home with the boys. It was peaceful and eventless: a perfect evening for two tired old folks like us!

We had our second family camping excursion the weekend of 10/18-10/20. We told Gabe and Zeke that the trip was a continuation of their birthday celebration, but I suppose it could’ve just as well been to observe our anniversary. Either way, it surely was an adventure!

Houston snaps this photo of the birthday boys w/ Mommy & Daddy as we bid fare thee well to the festival that commemorates all the glory & ghoulishness of the Middle Ages.

We stayed at a campground along the Dan River. The route to Stoneville from home was all country backroads, but still only took about 35 minutes. It was a sunny, cool day and we were all ready for both excitement and relaxation in the wilderness.

The dudes made insta-friends with a couple other little boys on Friday night. They all wore headlamps and played nighttime hide-and-go-seek. The kids’ parents even treated the 3 Amigos to s’mores.

Turns out, Saturday was wet and very chilly. It never really poured, but it misted and drizzled the entire day. The precipitation started early in the morning when I awoke to the sound of raindrops, so Stephen and I immediately had to exit the comfort of our toasty sleeping bags in order to attach the rain fly to the tent.

Houston shares his turkey leg (leftover from the Renaissance Faire) with Gabriel during our first night @ Dan River Campground.

Since we had embers from Friday night, our first course of action on Saturday was to get the fire going again to warm our chilled bones. Thus, most of the cold morning was spent searching the woods for extra fuel, since we didn’t want to use our last bought bundle until dinnertime.

This is much like the clean-up we do on Liberty Loop every so often, so the kids and I are accustomed to this kind of fun labor. Plus, burning stuff is one of our favorite things to do, so we delighted in tending to the campfire, while Daddy prepared our breakfast and lunch.

We went on a hike that afternoon. The trail snaked along the banks of the Dan River and circled back around to the pond, swing sets and campground picnic shelter, where we taught the kids how to play ping pong.

The 3 Amigos & Mommy rest @ the Prayer Garden, alongside the Dan River. The mystery baseball cap in the foreground caused the boys concern, since they thought it may have belonged to a dead person or even a ghost.

Even though we felt quite remote, turns out that “civilization” (the town of Mayodan) was just a short drive from the campground. Being that we were damp and muddy from the hike, we cranked the heat in the van and trekked to the store for ice, libation and candy.

Admittedly, we were pretty underprepared for our cold, rainy campout (damn your incorrect forecasts, weather.com!), but everybody had a really good attitude and the clan survived no worse for the wear. Now we feel like we can handle hardcore camping, especially if we’re better equipped for the next adventure.

Although we’ve had lots of field trips lately, don’t think we’re slacking on our studies. Sure, we’re a tad behind on the day-to-day stuff, but that’s one of the joys of homeschooling: we get to make our own schedule. Plus, we like to learn from doing, exploring and being, not just writing and reading.

Zeke tries to stay dry in Daddy’s raincoat, while Gabriel tends to the fire during our recent wet, chilly, but extremely fun camping trip.

Gabriel and Zeke are really coming into their own in their separate CC classes, which I requested for our Tuesday community meet-ups. They seem to enjoy being solo and having a respite from the other. And all the boys thrive on their memory work, which they do for both CC and Awana.

Houston’s reading is flourishing. Not sure if I ever fessed up to this, but last spring I nearly turned my former bookworm pre-reader into a kid that hated to read. I made the mistake of having him tackle books that were way too challenging, instead of giving him easy books in order to build his confidence.

Fortunately, I realized my error early on and worked at remedying the situation all summer long. Now Houston’s back to loving books! Currently, he’s gobbling up a variety of emergent-reader books from the library, and exploring the Bob Books Gabriel and Zeke got for their birthdays.

The dudes take a break on Turkey Neck Trail, where Gabriel was tracking an animal he says was either a fox or a deer. Hmmm.

Last Wednesday, I schooled the 3 Amigos plus Asher. I was a favor to Miss Christie, but I thought of it as good practice for becoming a CC tutor some time down the road. Not only do tutors get a significant discount on their kids’ CC tuition, but it would also be a compelling challenge as a home educator.

Overall, school’s cool. Sure, we have our moments … and sometimes even our days. But when one of the boys chooses school as their “high of the day” during our highs-and-lows discussions at dinner, you know we’re doing something right!

Aunt Dina and cousins Kara and Meredith visited for a night in mid-October. It was a rainy weekend, but we made the most of it, playing Chinese checkers and cooking homemade lasagna (as per the boys’ request, since it’s Garfield’s favorite food).

Granny poses w/ Zeke & his pumpkin named Pooty 2 (since our first pumpkin of the season was also named Pooty); Gabriel & his decorated gourd, Monster; and Houston & his pumpkin, Louis.

Granny came to town this weekend. She took the 3 Amigos to a free fall event at our local grocery store, where they decorated pumpkins, ate cookies and drank apple cider. Thanks for the Halloween fun, Granny!

Stephen and I got a night out to attend the Greensboro Pregnancy Care Center’s annual banquet on 10/7. GPCC is my favorite local non-profit and we love supporting their life-affirming efforts here in our community. Plus, Dr. Gary Chapman — author of the powerful book, The 5 Love Languages – was the featured speaker. What a treat!

Miss Jessie’s availability for babysitting is sparse these day, so we rendered the services of Callie, a kind and responsible tween we know from CC. Everything went well, so I’m sure we’ll be offering her another job in the future … always good thing to have a mature and trust-worthy babysitter on call.