Just some more Stuff

This past Sunday Jason preached on Psalm 18. He spoke of how David, in penning the Psalm, understands the context of his own life in the context of the bigger story that God is bringing to completion in the world (you can listen to this sermon or others of Pat and Jason's at www.hopeportland.org). When I think back on the past two and a half years we have been in Portland I am amazed and surprised at the story that God is writing in our lives and the great privilege of being able to serve Him. Today Pat Roach, our friend, pastor, and fellow church planter, came over to talk with Eleanor about taking the Lord's Supper. My eyes teared up in the kitchen watching Jason holding our daughter in his lap and Pat lovingly talking to her about Jesus. I asked Eleanor later if she was scared having Pat come over to which she replied, "Scared? Why would I be scared, mommy? That would be like being scared of Jesus! And I love Jesus!." I feel overwhelmingly thankful today for the blessing of being here, for the experience of church my children are having, and for the story that God is writing in our lives as we live out the mundane routine of making a life in this world.

Part of the joy of watching my children grow up is the privilege of being a part of their communities. While our church community is increasingly becoming more and more dear to us, there are other communities being built in our little corner of Portland. Through the girls' friends and relationships our relationships are expanding. Today Eleanor and I joined her preschool class and many parents for a preschool skate with 'Chipper.'

...where Eleanor did the hokey pokey with some friends...

and we ran into -by surprise -a fellow Hope member Tricia and her little man Seth...

And earlier this week, over the weekend, we enjoyed hosting a potluck for several families from the Japanese Immersion Program who live in our neighborhood. As the months pass, these relationships, brought to us through Rynn and her community, grow deeper and more special. I wish I could have caught a picture of her to post, but she was in constant motion that night...LOVING having people over..for a while anyway. She echoed her mommy's sentiment by saying, as I tucked her into bed, "Mommy, that was a little crazy. That was A LOT of kids."

Some Richmond Elementary parents, Ann and Dexter, flash some smiles.

and Jim gets a bit crazy

while full out mayhem ensues in the basement with 19 children under the age of 2nd grade. Egads. Our basement is worth every penny...concrete walls, concrete floors. Ahhh, an ode to unfinished basements everywhere.

...and relative calm upstairs.

The Shoe Pile- a Portland phenomenon

So, here is another thing I love about living in Portland. People take their shoes off at the front door. I've never lived in a city where it is so natural to take your shoes off. Perhaps it is living in a muddy, wet climate or maybe it is the West Coast Asian influence, but I kind of like it. Check out the pile of children's shoes by our front door. And the amazing thing to me is that they all did it without parental instruction.

...and more mayhem trying to get all those shoes back ON their feet.

Spring's Frontline Battle

Hey Portland readers (all two of you),

Has anyone else noticed the harbingers of spring shouting from hidden garden corners or beside mossy sidewalks? Today, on a very rainy run, I saw Lenten rose and daffodils waging their frontline war on winter. Even the rhododendrons are pregnant with blossoms that seem longing to burst open and sing their merry tune. Spring seems to be poking her head up through the damp, muddy earth a bit sooner this year.

(a photo of Lenten Rose in early spring taken from an online source)

I am reading an abbreviated version of The Secret Garden to my girls. Remember that line when Mary Lennox is asked what she would like most in all the world? She replies, "Please, sir, might I have a bit of earth." I felt that way today as I ran under moss covered tree branches, past puddles reflecting the falling raindrops, through mud that squeeked in my shoes, and by the first yellow daffodils of spring whose trumpeting grace shouts, "The earth is coming ALIVE!."

Saturday Fun

The dog days of winter are here...the "February blahs," as my mom used to call them, are just around the corner. The rain. The temperatures that aren't really cold and aren't really warm. They just are.

Jason was motivated this morning to get outside, and so he and Rynn drove up to Mt. Hood for some snowy adventures. Eleanor and I chose a more laid back day by staying in Portland, eating some processed chemically induced MacDonald's chicken nuggets (the highlight of her day I might add) and catching a movie on the sofas of McMenamin's Kennedy School second run theater. We saw Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs which not only completely ruined the creative children's book but also left both of us dizzy and with a headache for an hour.

After the movie we stopped by New Seasons, our very "local, sustainable, and organic" grocery store, to pick up some lettuce for a church potluck. Eleanor spoke with Jason on my phone from the bulk food isle exclaiming, "Daddy!! Guess where we ate lunch??? MacDonald's!." Needless to say, she turned a few heads. I ignored the shocked expressions on the faces of my fellow New Seasons shoppers. Yes, it is true. I poisoned my daughter this afternoon not only with chicken nuggets but with something probably more damaging to her mind...a bad movie. I don't mean bad in any kind of moral way, but bad in the way more and more children's movies are bad. They don't tell a good story. In fact, this one even took a good story and made it stupid and anemic. There is no mystery, no imagination, no interesting characters that fall outside the standard prototype box. In the place of a good story they throw images at you, colors, swirling action, and really loud noise in the hopes that somehow all this ADHD inducing stimuli will make up for the fact that there is not much of a story. I find it really irritating that the makers of children's movies so often assume that children are not smart enough nor do they have active imaginations enough to be engaged in a good story. Halfway through the film Eleanor leaned over to me and said, "This movie is making me tired. Why aren't the people in it nice to each other? And why do they have to shout so much?." The movie 'daze' took a good hour to wear off. If anyone has some good movie recommendations for some good stories I'd love your suggestions.

Eleanor looking not too phased by the movie and practicing her Swan Lake moves...

while Rynn and Roscoe guard the snow cave...

THree pipes

Tonight at dinner Eleanor asks, "Mommy, did God make us with three pipes at the top of our body and one pipe at the bottom? Like, we have one pipe for water, one for air, and one for my food? And then it all comes out at the bottom through one big pipe?."

To which I replied, "Eleanor, I think you have a better grasp on Anatomy & Physiology than I have after a term and a half." I'm starting to think we should trade places, and they should put me back with the playdough and circle time.

And perhaps our dog is also beginning to pass me by on the IQ scale. He has not only discovered the butter dish for a handy evening snack, but it seems that tonight he discovered the fruit bowl to satisfy his desire for the nighttime munchies. I walked out of the girls' room after story time only to find my very handsome, regal Weimeraner sitting proudly with a fresh apple in his mouth to which he had helped himself from the freshly stocked fruit bowl that was on the kitchen counter (at the BACK of the counter I might add). I'd say he is feeling at home with us. Good thing we are quite smitten with him.

And for you granmas and aunties out there that are thinking, "Caroline, we appreciate your little anecdotes, but really, can you just post some pictures of the kids?." Well, I'll get on that as soon as I can. This new fangled technology takes some figurin' you know.

technological difficulties

Technology is supposed to make things easier, faster, more convenient...right??? I'm beginning to wonder. The time Jason has spent this week on failed and crashed technology might have equaled sowing a small farm with seed and watching it grow. Alas...without computers in the Little household this week we have

a) read books by the fire

b) talked to one another at bedtime

c) been a bit behind on email,blogging, and such...oh well

Some shocking turning of events have occurred this week. I mean, who'd have thought we'd see Bush sitting on a sofa next to Clinton on national television? And who'd have thought Jason would have broken down and switched to an Apple laptop!!! Egads! Maybe it is the end of the world.

Haiti

I can't stop thinking about Haiti. I've wanted to sit and write for a few days, but I don't have any eloquent or insightful words about the tragedy. Today, at the checkout in the grocery store, the clerk asked, "Would you like to donate $5 to the relief mission in Haiti? Paper or plastic?." And all could think of was the photo I saw on CNN of a dump truck dumping precious bodies, bodies made in the image of God, in a mass grave...while I buy a loaf of organic bread and ponder tossing an extra charge on my debit card. How bitterly ironic life can feel sometimes. Living in a time of constant news feeds, of global images through Google earth, of instant messages from distant lands, I feel a strange disconnect between the life I'm living in the comfortable city of Portland and of those suffering RIGHT NOW even as I write. Part of me wishes I were already a nurse and could board a plane to go help with real help while another part of me is glad I have plenty of excuses to just turn my head and wonder if I'll make a yoga class this weekend. I'm sure everyone has read stories and individual accounts as they begin to arrive in the news. One that was in our paper was about a 22 year old recent grad of the University of Portland. She was taking a year after graduating and before going to graduate school to work with orphans in Port Au Prince. She kept an active blog at http://www.mollyinhaiti.blogspot.com/ . She is not living anymore. I don't know this girl or her family, but she could have been someone I knew or someone in my family. Somehow this particular story really hit me. These kind of events leave us helpless, scared, frustrated, and wondering why life seems so dangerous and unfair to some. As I pray for the people of Haiti I am glad that this is not where life ends, that this is not all there is, that our hope is higher and greater than this world.

Risotto with Beef, Rosemary, & Sage

Here are three things I love about Portland:
1. Today I saw a ten year old riding a unicycle on her way to school.
2. Our church. Hope is growing, people are coming, and my heart is encouraged.
3. Friends. One of the great things about having growing children is their growing friendships. Last year Rynn really hit it off with a little girl in her class named Frances. Their friendship has continued and with it I, too, have gained a new friend in Frances' mom, Heidi. Heidi is amazing. She is a naturopath physcian, teaches at the National College of Natural Medicine here in Portland, loves people, and is an amazing cook. Today she offered to cook with me and let me take home half of what we (well, really she) made. I learned a new recipe and some tips...all while our four girls played.

RISOTTO WITH BEEF, ROSEMARY, & SAGE
5 cups Beef Broth
3 Tbs butter
1/2 package of bacon chopped
1 1/2 tsp garlic chopped very fine
lots of fresh rosemary and sage chopped ("the more the merrier")
1 1lb ground beef
salt and pepper
1 1/3 cups red wine
2 cups Arborio or other good italian risotto
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Bring the broth to a slow simmer.
2. On med/med low heat brown the bacon.
3. Brown the meat.
4. Add garlic, herbs, s & p
5. Add wine, cooking it at a simmer until the wine bubbles away.
6. Add risotto, stirring quickly and thoroughly until the grains are coated well.
7. Slowly add 1/2 cup of broth at a time stirring continually (this is the tedious part...have to stir and add broth for about 25 minutes)....a good time to drink a glass of that cheap wine you put in the risotto.
8. Add grated Parm cheese....serve! Heidi said her kids loved to mix in frozen peas with the risotto for some kid friendly texture and color. yum. yum. kid friendly yumminess.