Thanksgiving and a Peanut

Peanut gives her Papi and Gram good lovin' on Thanksgiving Day!

Beer Bug

Indeed, Father, Grandfather, and Uncles are proud of their boy.

Our Girl: Peanut

Our Boy: Bug

Housecleaning for the babysitter

Tonight I needed a babysitter. Once I got her scheduled I remembered her mother saying to me, "I vaccuum twice a day because I just can't stand a messy house. Plus, I clean the bedding every other day because my husband loves the smell of clean sheets." (Their whole home smells like "Downy.")

Now, most people who frequent my home would agree that it's decently clean most days. However, I think that no mother in her right mind would vaccuum twice a day let alone change her bedding every other day. Who has time for that? Does she truly have no life? And who on earth needs clean sheets every other day?

And truly, I love my vacuum. We've bonded and are the best of friends. Cleaning my carpets is my favorite chore. And I do it twice a week. Yes, that was twice a week. Granted, most floors need it daily, but again, who has time?

We just remodeled our laundry room and I love to look at it. Sometimes I walk in it just to see the paint on the walls. But I'm not going to add all kinds of extra work for myself by changing all the bedding in the house every other day. We have 7 beds in our house! Every other week? Absolutely! Even every 8-10 days. But not every other day.

That was when I started to clean for my babysitter. Suddenly all of the dirt and filth in the house glared at me like glow-in-the dark smudge. I couldn't possibly let my 14-year-old babysitter see my house in such atrocious condition lest she tell her mother. Or worse, lest her mother drop by and see the filthy sty for herself. I had to clean. And the really sad part is that all I did was make the beds (not change the linens), clean the kitchen and then the main bathrooms. I didn't even vaccuum.

I love grammar, vowels and punctuation

First I have to tell you that I'm an old school internet user. Email and websites became mainstream when I graduated from high school. (And, for the record, Gore did not invent the internet.) Thus, I learned how to use a mouse in my first year in college. I actively emailed far away friends and searched the internet long before Google was a website, let alone a verb.

As an old schooler we didn't have nifty little acronyms for commonly used phrases (lol, ttfn, etc.). We didn't even have the phrases. In fact, we were very conscience of our emails and strove to use the complex English language properly. Just for a point of reference: txt is not a word, I and all other proper nouns are always capitalized and punctuation marks clear up lots of confusion. I won't even go into proper paragraphing and the total lack of use of the capitalization rules.

I'm curious to know why this apparent shorthand was started because it can't possibly save that much time. Honestly, just learning how to write vowel-less sentences requires higher level thinking and concentration. And let's not forget that we have to decipher what the uneducated cretin was trying to communicate. My guess is that the newest generation (what is is called?) wants to make its mark on society. If that's the case, I would've preferred they stick with strange music.

The Homeschooling Dilemma

First and foremost, I know we've been commanded by God to educate our children in His ways. What I wonder often is what that means exactly. Do I have to homeschool or can I schlep them off on someone else. And it's not that I don't love them but it is that I feel totally incompetent to do the work assigned to me.

The truth is that I love my children and am not willing to throw them like sheep to the slaughter in the public schools. And the Christian schools still have an adverse moral effect on small children.

And then something strangely comforting happened. I spent 2 days at a homeschooling family's home helping them get caught up. It then occurred to me that this home education business isn't so bad after all! I can do it and still be sane. There are many people in my life that can help me with the process and give me great advice. So I don't have to know everything now (my oldest is 3) but I can still do the work God set out for me. Ahhhhhh.

Albert Camus

"For anyone who is alone, without God and without a master, the weight of days is dreadful."

Camus was a French philosopher and, it seems, a staunch athiest but since college I've collected his quotes. And this one seemed to best suit the theme of this weblog.

For our small family, the weight of days is beautiful. We have both God and Master. With the knowledge of Him we watch our children grow and enjoy the duties God brings us. But that isn't to say we don't occasionally dislike the days!

This blog brings you the weight of our days and will likely be similar to the weight of yours. Enjoy

A Boonzaaijer Family Portrait

Once a year we gather together for the painful process of taking a photo. This year we posed at the Garden of the Gods and it was a gorgeous day. Last year I wouldn't even show the family photo but this year's came out rather well. Thank you, Cindy, for your time photographing us!