one of those days

It happened due to a combination of circumstances... the primary one being that apparently we are a more attractive destination now that we are in California instead of Florida. Well, not so much that, but we had Andy's immediate family visiting for Christmas (since for the first time in forever two members of said family live within half an hour of each other, even accounting for LA traffic) and, as I mentioned before, my uncle is coming out for a New Year's visit. Both of which are fantastic things!

Andy left with his family (more or less) and the kids and I were left with about 36 hours to transition from one visit to the next. Things went south about an hour after he walked out the door. Yes, one hour. We made it through bath time and Bible story time; as I was finishing up our prayer, I heard a sniff, another sniff, followed by a wail, from Michael. "I miss Daddy!" One hour. Caroline and Elanor happily launched right in. One hour. Wailing. Everyone. One hour!

We made it through the first crisis and everyone went to bed more or less peacefully. I thought we were doing well yesterday morning when we got up and had a leisurely breakfast of cereal with a minimal amount of milk (hey, we needed to go run some errands and replenish the depleted stores from visit #1!). My goal was to run quickly through Target and then head to Vons in order to be back in time to feed everyone a real lunch. Target went fine until we hit the toy department. Yes, three days after Christmas, we are in the toy department. This is thanks to a kind grandparent who thought the kids would enjoy some Christmas cash--true, but it was burning a hole in their pockets. This is actually not a great time to shop for toys. The shelves were actually bare--almost completely bare. Apparently they are taking advantage of a lull to revamp the department. I couldn't talk anyone out of spending their Christmas bonus, so we embarked on a truly tedious search of every shelf to examine every toy in order to spend every last cent. I do not even know how long we spent there but it was one of those experiences where every minute drags out to a seeming eternity.

We picked up a loaf of bread and had PB&J at home. Groceries later.

When Michael and Caroline came out from their quiet time, we had a peaceful interlude of Mousetrap, which I picked up during one of those eternal moments. Fond memories of playing that game as a child. They had a blast; me, not so much. The game seemed to need a little too much help going through its paces--the "helping hand" never actually bumped the ball into the bathtub for reasons unknown, but always needed an extra boost. They want to play again with Uncle John. Good sign.

Elanor woke up and we headed for the grocery store. Ouch. We used one of the family carts, which is nice for stowing children, but drives like a semi. Michael took a book into the store (Famous Men of Rome) and therefore needed to sit in the cart itself, making me pile the groceries around him. That was actually the nicest part of the trip. The girls were all over the map and there were just a lot of people there. It really made me reconsider trying their home delivery. There is a reason I shop in the morning. Plus I forgot a bunch of stuff, mainly meatball ingredients for children who specifically requested spaghetti and meatballs.

Thankfully we had leftover Indonesian Ginger Chicken for dinner (thanks, honey!). I know the day doesn't sound all that crazy, but I haven't yet mentioned that I was also cleaning two bathrooms, mopping up a serious bathroom accident, tidying up the apartment (which somehow looked like a tornado hit), and processing five loads of laundry (how can three kids go through so many clothes in six days?). Oh, and I needed to head over to our friend Matt's place to put clean sheets back on his bed since he had graciously loaned us his apartment so Andy's sister and her husband wouldn't have to sleep on our floor! The bright spot was that I did get to use the new vacuum (actually I get to use it every day), but I am starting to have my suspicions about the dirt sensor. However, it is still sucking up an incredible amount of dust, source still unknown.

Thankfully everyone went to bed peacefully and let me collapse with a couple of episodes of Firefly, which I am really enjoying quite a lot. I was actually laughing out loud last night at the Hero of Canton. I also took the time to try some spot remover on the carpet and trim raggedy ends off of the upstairs bath mats. The things I do only because someone is visiting--I just should have done the trimming before my mother in law visited, since she bought them for me. Better luck next time, Mom.

ode to an appliance

I can't believe that I am so excited about an appliance that I want to blog about it. Actually, I can believe it, but I would have expected that the appliance about which I'd blog would be my KitchenAid mixer (!!) or the oven or something like that. Even a new (front loading) washing machine would be interesting enough to blog about, I think, but a vacuum cleaner? Surely not!

However, here I am, all excited to tell you about my new vacuum cleaner. Wow oh wow. We didn't bring out vacuum out here because there was simply no place to put it in the trailer. None. Seriously, no cubic inches were spared in the packing of the trailer (5'x8', thanks for asking) and the vacuum couldn't possibly make the cut. After all, we had to make sure there was room for my KitchenAid. Unfortunately, we arrived and discovered that we had nice off white apartment carpet instead of dingy brown or gray industrial dorm carpet. So a vacuum seemed like an important thing. Especially with three small children. Initially we thought we'd make do with a small, cheap, stick vacuum, with the option to borrow a neighbor's real vacuum once every few months. Bad idea. Honestly, we should have just gotten the real deal straight away. I think the carpet now needs some TLC after this experiment.

A kind relative sent us a check for a Christmas present and I put my foot down and told Andy it was time to give in and buy a real vacuum. I found a great deal on a bagless one online, ordered it, and received it a few days later. Enter the heavenly choir. Not only is this baby bagless, but it has three different filters, all of which are washable. Not: pull the filter out and knock it on the side of the trash can, choking on the dust wafting upward and digging chunks of dirt out of crevices. Instead: pull canister out, dump dust and dirt into the trash, then pull out filters from anywhere and rinse in the kitchen sink, wash with dish soap, dry, and reassemble vacuum. It is actually easy to take apart and put back together. Easy!

And does it ever pick up a ton of dirt. I don't even have the dog out here to add in her puppy fur. This delightful machine has a dirt sensor--red for dirt being actively sucked up, green for no more dirt (i.e., clean). Pasadena is a very very dusty place, which I knew because I had to take apart the computer six weeks ago to clean all kinds of dust out of it, but I shudder now that I know how much of that same dust had settled into my carpet. We have been breathing dust like mad! In the initial pass through the apartment, the new vacuum had to be emptied once (not a small canister either) and I had to wash out filter #1. Absolutely amazing. I am in love. I am just left brained enough to consider this a modern miracle.

Which is my favorite feature? The dirt sensor? The washable filters? The canister which is oh-so-each to empty? The motor which is about half as loud as the teeny little Dirt Devil it's replacing? I can't decide. But I am concerned that the fact that this may be almost my favorite Christmas present this year just goes to show that I really am a grownup now.

some christmas irony

Let me preface this by saying that we all really love our Pasadena church. The services are worshipful and energetic; our small group is friendly and supportive; the preaching is scriptural and challenging; the kids' Sunday School programs are exciting and loving. We had a great sermon today and I won't give you a blow by blow description, but I did want to share some of it with you because I thought it was really profound.

Erwin has been aiming for nontraditional Scriptures to use this year and he has done a pretty good job of it. However, since the Incarnation (etc.) is key to our faith and beliefs, I might point out that probably any Scripture might somehow point to it. I say might, not does. So it's probably fun to look for verses that aren't related and then find the threads that connect. But I digress. This week's verse was about Herod's murder of the innocents, a story guaranteed to wring any parent's heart. If you're not familiar with the story, here's a synopsis: the wise men come to Herod (under Roman rule, king of the Jews) saying that they want to worship the child who has been born the King of the Jews. Herod is naturally threatened, but plays cunning and asks them to return to him to tell him where the baby is so that he, too, can go and worship. The wise men see Jesus and worship, but are warned by God not to go back to Herod, so they take the long road home. When Herod realizes that he's been outwitted, he orders the death of every Jewish baby boy under the age of two. Every single one. Jesus escapes because Joseph runs to Egypt with him and Mary.

So part of the point today was that so often, we treat Christmas as this beautiful, tender, lovely story. Sweet pregnant Mary, loving husband Joseph, happy animals sharing what they have with the newborn Lord (oh wait, did you not read that picture book??), and of course, the little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes. Yeah, right. Let's skip that part lest I digress again and I will stick with what Erwin was talking about. What we fail to remember is that behind Christmas lurks this angry red dragon (Revelation 12), aching to murder Jesus as a helpless infant: although this attempt on Jesus' life fails, the Jewish parents of the day are left desolate ("Rachel weeping for her children"). Jesus was born into peril from the very beginning. Christmas is beautiful--remember, we have been invaded by God himself--but any enemy will retaliate against an invasion, especially one intended to strike at his very heart. The light of that star at Bethlehem shines in the shadow of a darkness of evil.

That's all from me... now for the ironic part. Two things: the sermon followed right on the heels of a "rousing" rendition of "Away in a Manger" (possibly my least favorite Christmas song--could anything be more sacchariny sweet??); each of my children came home from Sunday School with very cute, happy nativity pictures. Complete with smiling animals.

a little love to covenant

Andy thought you (meaning Covenant) might enjoy this.

legoland

Well, this week was our (somewhat) long anticipated trip to LegoLand, just north of San Diego. We'd originally planned on driving up on Tuesday (the 12th), enjoying the park on Tuesday and Wednesday, and heading for home on Thursday with tired, but happy children.

Enter reality. After church on Sunday, I thought I'd better check on the park's opening hours (there was some question of whether it would be better to go on Tuesday-Wednesday or Wednesday-Thursday). Andy was happily concocting a quick (but heavenly and under appreciated) pasta when I discovered the bad news. Apparently, LegoLand is not open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays unless it's a holiday (busy) week or the summer (busy). This is not a busy week. Ouch.

Thus ensues some hasty mental calendaring (is this a word? Can I make one up to describe the process of feverish thinking out days, calculating when the house must be cleaned for guests, making a cost/benefit analysis on canceling the babysitter--a tough one!?). We rapidly decide that we cannot go for Thursday and Friday. Delaying the trip for a week is possible, but entails disappointing small children and causing pre holiday stress. Plus there will be more people. Andy suggests dropping everything (not the pasta) and leaving right now and just having Monday. Robin wonders if we can get out of town fast enough to have some time there on Sunday. The pasta is, unfortunately, inhaled, and we begin a rapid packing sequence. We made it out of town about 2pm and headed south. We made it to LegoLand in time to enjoy the last hour of the day at the park (hooray!). We had a great time in just that one hour.

Thanks, Amy, for the dinner recommendation: Pizza Port was great! We overate but it was worth it.

Not sure if everyone was just wound up or what, but no one slept well Sunday night. That didn't stop us from having a great day on Monday, though. Attendance was amazingly low at the park, so we rode all the rides we wanted, multiple times, often without even having to get out of the car! Michael and Caroline are just about the perfect age for the park--able to ride all the rides and Michael was able to ride many without an adult (freeing the adult present to ride with Caroline and the other one to hang with Elanor). The models all around the park are really incredible. The only place we didn't get to spend much time was MiniLand, which has models of buildings all over the world, like the new Freedom Tower and the Taj Mahal. The kids were not as thrilled with it as the parents. However, we certainly got our money's worth of enjoyment by going on a slow day. For once, the kids even got to visit the souvenir shop (I am notoriously stingy about buying souvenirs for them): thanks to Uncle John, they got to pick out their own Christmas presents.

The kids were pretty tired on the way home. We even had to wake them up to eat! Although our trip was shorter than we'd planned, it was probably one of the most fun days we've spent as a family. And I love that we went on a weekday when everyone else was doing something productive!

our charlie brown christmas

For those of you who received our Christmas card and were wondering where the annual Christmas letter was, wonder no more. It is here. We are trying a new thing with putting the blog address on the card and expecting that if you want the annual update, you will be curious enough to come here for it. So if you've made it this far, welcome and Merry Christmas! (Yes, we have a Charlie Brown Christmas tree in our little apartment this year).

You already know that it's been an unusual year for us with making a temporary cross country move. I spent a lot of time planning it out, of course, going back many months before we moved. Researched the best and cheapest way to get out here, mapped out schooling options (for first grade), waited for an apartment to become available, and made arrangements to rent out our house. For the most part, everything has gone smoothly. We had to downsize our trailer at the last minute, which entailed leaving behind a few things we'd not planned on, but we came out here with what was important and look forward to seeing some old friends (like our bed) when we get home again. Schooling is going as well as it can, I think--Michael is eager and hungry to learn and Caroline is getting more serious about "doing school" every day (she is learning her phonograms and is adding!); most days I feel like I'm in charge of a three ring circus. A nice apartment was waiting for us (its two nicest features are the dishwasher and the washer/dryer). We found a renter and lost same about two months later; we are now hoping to find someone who is interested in a very short term rental. We have managed to settle in as much as we can, make some great new friends, and establish a routine for ourselves.

I had forgotten that Andy is such an avid student. When we came here, a friend listened to Andy's fall class schedule and prophesied woe. I immediately envisioned a mental breakdown on either Andy's part or mine. I may have come close, but this husband of mine has actually thrived on the unbelievable amount of work he's had to do. Learning Greek at an accelerated pace has been the equivalent of a full time job for him; he also took an Old Testament class, which he loved. We've just finished finals week and it appears that his A average is intact. Next quarter is the Hebrew intensive, Exegetical Method (using the Greek that he learned this fall), and another Old Testament class (did I mention that he really loved the Old Testament class this fall?). It is a lot of fun to watch him dig his teeth into studying and learning.

I find myself coming into the Christmas season exploring a heart which is both humbled and thankful. Honestly, we always planned for this year at Fuller to come at the end of Andy's time at Covenant. I was not optimistic when he first came to me back in 2004 and told me that he was feeling called to stay there beyond the time he had available to finish his degree. His words were something like "Do you think they'll let me take a year off and then come back?" I shook my head, said it wouldn't hurt to ask, and started revising my mental moving plans. With Andy's current level of education, there was honestly no reason for the church to let him have the year--no reason except a love for him (and our family) and a faith that his work and education were both important. We have felt bathed in the love and support that Covenant has shown us. Our church has not only kept Andy's job for him, but also hired fantastic part time staff to serve under Krissy while we are gone. Andy is continuing to work long distance for the church for a few hours each week and will be heading home for a whirlwind high school retreat between Christmas and New Year's. We were blessed by so many friends before we left in many ways: everything from financial gifts to friends who are housing our dog Emma until we come home. Our trip out here was both fun and safe, allowing us to visit dear friends along the way and see some amazing countryside (like the Grand Canyon). We have found everything we need out here: a church to rest at for a year, good friends to spend time with, and furniture for our apartment.

We've been having fun out here, too: a trip to Sequoia/Kings Canyon, Joshua Tree, the beach, hiking, the zoo, the Griffith Observatory, and some yummy restaurants. We're planning on visiting Legoland in San Diego before Christmas (courtesy of Discover's cash back bonus and Aunt Jenny's connections) and my uncle and I will go to the Rose Bowl this year (um, Go Blue?). We're expecting Andy's family for Christmas for the first time in several years--we have been too far apart before--and my Dad again in January, as well as my uncle (see the Rose Bowl) and then my cousin Julie. Who knew that moving so far away would mean that people would want to visit us more? We also hope to see some other parts of California while we're out here, like Yosemite and possibly Monterey. The time seems all too short to do all the things we'd like. We are all thrilled with our current situation. We're meeting amazing people and getting to enjoy a lot of fun as a family.

As much as we enjoy it here, none of us love it enough to want to stay or to call it home. Even the children are yearning to go home, to go back to Florida. They have settled in so well--making friends, working hard at schooling, having fun at church--but they miss our church, our dog, our home. To me, this sojourn here parallels our journey on this earth. We may love it, we may enjoy the gifts it brings, we may even count every minute a blessing... but just as our hearts long to be back "home" in Fort Myers, our very souls should long to be truly home with Christ. At times, mine does, but I know I am too comfortable in this skin, this life of mine. I am surrounded by love and blessings and laughter. Christmas is a fun time of gift giving. I need to remember that this world is not my home (you've seen that bumper sticker, too). I need to remember that Christmas is a celebration of the invasion of Light into a dark world, the beginning of God's astounding act of reclaiming us, his beloved. I need to remember that we were so loved--that I was so loved--that God held nothing back in his work of bringing us home.

This year, this Christmas, let's delight in God as he delights in us. Let us seek him and hold fast to his light. Let us long for home even as we enjoy this gift of life here. Merry Christmas to all of you.

cleanliness

Here is a question for you: why is it that, at any given time in my life, I can only have one room in my house clean? I'm serious. For some reason, one room in my house can look like a Martha Stewart magazine spread (OK, never in this life, but it will be tidy and dusted, etc.), but every other room will look like a cyclone came through. If ever I am missing a child, I will just assume they have joined forces with Dorothy and are wrestling her for her silver slippers (yes, they are actually silver for those of you who never read the book).

Example: last week I was caught up on laundry. For all of one day. You wouldn't think that five people actually wore that many clothes, but they do. So laundry was all put away... but you couldn't see my desk upstairs. This week, my desk is like a pristine wilderness (or it was until Michael started cutting snowflakes and left his artwork on it), but I have a huge basket of laundry to fold in the kids' room. Plus my own clothes which need to washed today before they escape the laundry basket and take over my bedroom. That's just two rooms; I haven't even mentioned the bathrooms, which were clean last week (not the same day as the laundry was done), or the kitchen, which was spotless for about two hours until we decided to actually cook a meal in it. I won't even mention the playroom. Well, I'll mention it, but only to say that it is probably a lost cause, unless I can get ahead of it while we are taking our Christmas break from school.

Speaking of which, it's time for parent-teacher conferences around here, so as both the teacher and the parent, I will give you your Christmas update. Michael is doing extremely well in class this year. He consistently aces his spelling tests and really seems to understand how the phonograms work. His math is also excellent: he understands the concept behind multiplication quite well, but needs to practice so that the facts are at his fingertips. Same with addition and subtraction. He is adoring history and reading. Can't pull his nose out of a book, especially if it has anything at all to do with the ancient Greeks, the Trojan War, or Odysseus. He has almost finished his first grade study of animals and will be ready to move on to the human body in January. Did I miss anything? He needs to spend more time running around outside (those books again) and his teacher needs to get a better grip on arts and crafts so he can cut things apart and glue them together again. (Although I am proud to say that I helped him make a Christmas wreath for our door yesterday!)

Wow, that was dry, wasn't it? Suffice it to say that Michael seems to be enjoying this year of homeschooling. He has told me that he wants to continue it next year when we are back in Florida. Will we? I do not know. Since we are missing the school choice lottery, his chances of getting into the school I would like (because it has a full time gifted program and yes, I think he is gifted) are probably not great. It is also possible that this year of first grade may put him ahead of his peers and I'm shooting myself in the foot here anyway. I have to say that I like homeschooling a lot more than I thought I would. I love the idea and the possibilities, but I am not sure I love the idea of doing it for the duration. Michael is a very easy student. So is Caroline, but I have to go educate. More on this later.

static electricity

It is a truly hilarious phenomenon to watch. The kids were in a "Rosebud" parade today and brought home balloons. One, filled with hot air (courtesy of Andy), stuck to the ceiling. The other, filled with helium, stuck to Caroline's head. A little unexpected. I do have to say, however, that I have not missed static while we've been living in Florida! A little humidity goes a long way during the winter.

welcome

Welcome to the new Cornett family blog. The old one is still there; I couldn't seem to manage the transfer of the old posts, etc. to here. But I have been wanting to change the blog's name and address for a while and I was tempted by the beta features of the new blogger. Seems like I could either have the beta with a clean slate or get this name without the beta... so I picked the beta. I'm hanging onto the old address for a while, though, if you feel a need to catch up on back issues.

Why did I want to mess with it? I don't know, maybe it's just that I don't like to keep things the same for too long (yes, I have already rearranged the furniture in the apartment). I also didn't love the address (cream is all of our family initials if you were still wondering, but other than that it has nothing to do with us. Except that we like to cook with it. Not enough to make a relationship.), so I have lackadaisically (ooh, how often do you see that in print?) kept a back channel of my brain pondering a new option. It seems like lately I've been thinking a lot about rejoicing... OK, more often than lately because it's been going on for years. A verse I always associate with my mom is "Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning." And with my grandfather: "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!" Those of you who know, know both how little reason they had to rejoice, and how much. I love the song "Blessed be Your Name" because it runs along the same lines... "Every blessing you pour out/I'll turn back to praise/When the darkness closes in, Lord/still I will say/Blessed be the name of the Lord... etc." I have so very much to celebrate in my life, and even when I don't, I do.

I don't want to claim that my life is marked by rejoicing, but I think it should be. So I would like for this (new) blog to be my own psalm, or hymn, or poem, or altar, or whatever... a testimony about what I can rejoice about in our life, and a call and a reminder to you who read it to also rejoice with me.

And don't worry, I will still be doing pictures and news... I am not going to get all heavy on you.