random thoughts

Our house is a mess right now – literally and figuratively.  There is laundry – so much laundry – to be put away. In the meantime my neat little piles that I folded last night aren’t so neat after a morning of play.  It was at the top of my to-do list… but it’s 2:11 now and with the bedrooms full of napping children, it’s still not away.

The little bodies in this house are a mess too.  We have enjoyed 3 days of laying low at home (except for an exciting trip to the pediatritian on Monday morning) with Noa, and now Martha, with pretty bad coughs. It’s nice having these days, though.  And I can’t complain.

This is what Noa is wearing today:

Yes, those are baby legs, my shirt (from the clean laundry pile) half tucked into princess panties, a blue beaded necklace, and sparkly red hairband.  See what I mean? A MESS.

To be completely honest, though, I’m a mess today too, only my mess isn’t quite as adorable and you won’t be seeing any photos of it.

In other random news:

I won some starters from Cultures for Health back in the fall and have just gotten around to starting them this week.  Right now I have some yogurt culturing on my dresser (the warmest part of our house), and I am rehydrating some water kefir grains.  I am going to start my sourdough starter soon, too.  I don’t have any success stories yet but I am excited about the possibility of cheaper, healthier, and more probiotocs in our diet.

Bath time is becoming a favorite way to pass the time, especially on these days we are home and not hanging out with friends.  Yesterday Noa decided she needed some glasses to wear in the bath to “help her see underwater.”

Eric will finish Hebrew 1 this Friday and then have a week before the new full semester starts.  Since last Monday he has learned the Hebrew alphabet, learned how to read it, learned a ton of vocabulary, and can translate several verses from the Old Testament. Wow.  I can’t help but wonder what it will be like next semester when he will have both a Greek and Hebrew classes going… crazy!

It’s 7:42 now.  Gloria cried a lot this afternoon.  I am thinking she may be teething.  She wouldn’t be the first of my children to teeth at 3 months…

I needed to ask my parents a question this afternoon and so I called at 4:00pm, which is 6:00am there. I love it that I know 6:00am is a great time to call because they will both be up and they will be together, reading their Bibles.  Afterwards, Eric said, “wouldn’t it be great if our kids knew that if they called that early, that’s where we’d be?”  It reminded me of my marriage-long goal to get up with him when he does and have those quiet times side by side. I’ve gone through seasons where we have, but in these months of tiny babies and sometimes wakeful nights, I find myself giving into the laziness and desire for another hour (or two) of sleep.  I miss it, though, and Eric’s words have echoed in my mind the past few hours to make me want to get back into the habit – and make it true, lifelong habit.

I mentioned before that Sachiko leaves soon.  Actually, we only have one week left with her.  And, actually, we will need to share her a lot this week as there are so many people who have come to love her and are vying for final moments with her.  Please pray she has a great last week and knows how much she is loved and will be missed.

Tim, a former teammate from Japan comes into town tomorrow.  We’re excited to have him and pray this will be a refreshing time for him.  He’ll be here till Tuesday.  We’ll hang out with other Japan friends who are in the area while he’s here.  It should be great fun.

Alright, enough randomness.  I’m off to finally put those piles of clean laundry away.