Rock-a-Bye Baby

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"The Drop Box"

This is a movie I don't want to miss. It will only be in theaters March 3-5.




This article gives a little background.

I will cry all the way through it. But sometimes, tears are good.

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Variety Show

Last Friday was our church's annual Variety Show. Our children begged us (literally for months) to let them participate. And then, days before the event, they fretted and fumed and feigned blindness and frantically tried to find a way out.

But in the end, they performed and loved it.

And so did we.

First up was a surprise to us. Gideon and Salem (3) and the part of their Sunday School class that made it to the show sang songs. We had no idea they were going to do this. Why is it that the only secrets they can keep are from their parents?

(There are several videos embedded in this post. E-mail subscribers may need to click over.) And also, fair warning: all of these videos are of the quality that accompanies a 12-mo. old sharing a lap with a 25-week old baby bump and a Mama trying to hold a camera steady while both babies kick and squirm. 

Gideon is on the left, Salem is in the middle, and their friend Aaron is on the right. Their Sunday School teachers are in front of them.

Abraham and Miriam (7) were the next up. They performed "Don't Suck Your Thumb," a poem.

Benjamin (11), played two selections:

Lily (9) played two selections:

And finally, Eden (6) performed "Cartwheels: A Series of Three."

The surprise performance of Gideon and Salem meant that Jonathan (4) was the only child (excepting Ada, and 4-year olds do. not. count. the baby) who didn't perform. He was duly miffed. So when we got home, he showed Grandpa and Grandma how he can scale the doorways and hang from the top of the door frame.

Next year, we will be sure to include him.

The rest of the show was fantastic. We heard trumpet, saxophone, guitar, accomplished piano, comedy routines, storytelling, memory recitation, singing, yodeling, and more. We sat there and digested the best meal we'd had all week (a BBQ hosted before the show by one of the families...and I mean completely hosted...brisket, rolls, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, two different kinds of cole slaw, cookies, cobbler...).

It was a slice of small valley church life, and it was a scrumptious slice. We're already talking about what to do next year (but not yet inventing the illnesses to get out of it).

{pretty, happy, funny, real}: Apr. 28

This is what I walked into Tuesday afternoon.

Not that it matters that it was Tuesday afternoon. It could have been any afternoon.

Or every afternoon.

Regardless (or irregardless - are you regarding less or not regarding less?), here it is. Warning: it's not pretty.

(Jonathan: "Lot of mess.")

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For more photos of everyday life (that might actually be pretty), visit:

Couch Potatoes

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Polyface Farms

Saturday we headed out to our first adventure with the homeschool group. We followed the GPS ten minutes from our house down back roads until we reached Polyface Farms.


Did you hear (read) me? We went to Polyface Farms!


Do you know that I do not know anybody in Staunton that has been to Polyface? Well, OK, I now know about twenty homeschool families. But other than them?


This boggles my mind. Polyface is one of the coolest, low-key, good-ole-country-boy kinds of farms. The Salatins are the owners. Did that help? Does the name "Joel Salatin" ring any bells?


The first time I had ever heard of Joel Salatin, we were at the State Fair. I passed by the Dairy Booth and asked the giggling college-aged volunteers if they knew of any sources for raw milk. "Raw milk?" they asked, eyes open wide and noses scrunched (which is surprisingly hard to do simultaneously -- you tried, didn't you??). "Ewww!"


Ah, yes. Cows can be surprisingly "ewww"-y.


Anyway, I politely thanked them for their unhelpful ignorance and headed out the door. A lady with a long broomstick skirt, braided hair, and Birkenstocks handed me a pamphlet about petitioning Virginia's lawmakers to change the laws concerning the sale of raw milk. Quoted all throughout the brochure was a "Joel Salatin." I liked him instantly. Aha! Someone who knew where to find a cow!


And Saturday, we found him. He very ably led our group of straggling homeschooling families all throughout his fields and then treated us to hamburgers made from Polyface pork and beef.


We loaded our plates with the other potluck provisions (and our contributions of seafoam salad and Andrea's chocolate cherry cake), watched the boys fight each other with sticks found on the massive wood pile, and welcomed children to our pile as they shyly asked about the babies ("two of them?" "You have TWO sets of two of them??").


It was yummy, the day was cool and delightful, and the farm was perfect. I've already made plans to take visitors there ... they have "an open door policy.  Anyone may come anytime Monday through Saturday to see anything anywhere" (from their website).


And the first visitor we plan to take is Ethan's mom. He just picked her up from the airport, which gives me two hours before they get here.


Ahem. I'd best get back to work. We sure are ready to have her, but the house isn't! (Will it work if I park the vacuum in the middle of the kitchen floor, take a nap on the couch, and pop up to say, "I was just in the middle of cleaning!" when they arrive?)

Gideon and Salem meeting a friend

Joel Salatin describing how different animals graze

Gideon waiting for some munchies

Jon-Jon and the chickens

"Here, chicky-chicky!"

Some of them on the hayride

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Stick Figure Logic:The Truth about Capitalism

I impress myself when I say that I know the guy who put this together. And the woman who drew the face of Bill Gates (and also happens to be married to the guy who put this together)? We change diapers and sway babies in the same church nursery. As our friend (and co-diaper changer/baby swayer) Aimee said, "Bask in the creativity and computer know how."



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Great job, Joel and Melissa! I have no idea how you do it, but you do it well!


Now if only we could convert Glenn Beck...

Our New Theme Song

Hat Tip to Catalog Living, a site that makes me giggle

On Prayer

I refuse to offer a disclaimer with this. That doesn't mean there isn't one; it just means I don't want to give it.

That being (not) said, I include this because sometimes country music gets it right. And sometimes it doesn't. But even David offered up imprecatory prayers!