Goodbye, My Love

Today, I had to say goodbye to something that was very close to me.  Something that cuddled with my husband and I during late night movies.  She has heard our laughter and felt our tears.  She has endured baby spit-up and poop, dog and cat puke, and an occasional food splatter.  But, unfortunately, her presence in our bedroom has come to an end.  I can no longer suffer through mending holes and attempting to take out stains and vacuuming up feathers.  Our 10 year relationship has, regretfully, come to an abrupt end. 

And so today, I say good bye to a loving friend- my beautiful, light green, down blanket. She has laid on our bed with grace.  Countless forts have been made using her.  She has been drug through out the house, stepped on, slid down the stairs on, and been washed at least once a week for the last 10 years.  Many memories are attached to her, so it is difficult to say goodbye.  She has served us well, but unfortunately, can no longer be repaired. 

Takin' a Snooze with My Blanket

My husband was very sceptical about her new microfiber, down, ivory replacement (by the way- it was on sale at Herbergers.) 

"It feels too light," he tells me with a scowl. 

"Oh, honey, just sleep with it for the night and let me know what you think in the morning," I say with a smile. 

The next morning, he was up hours before daylight and out hunting with his friends.  I made the bed with care, as I do every other morning.  But, today was different.  I did not have my green blanket counterpart to place on the bed.

Instead, her replacement was staring at me, longing to be folded.   So, I gingerly worked with her, folding and re-folding her.  But she never quite fit, not like her predecessor.  "Hmmm..." After several attempts at folding, I finally figured out the way she fits perfectly at the end of our bed.  And, she was elegant and beautiful.

Once again, Thank you to my boys for taking a pic of me barely awake, with no make up on...

I know better than to call my husband (even though my fingers were itching) to see how he liked the new blanket, so I impatiently patiently waited for him to call me- even though I was dyeing to know.  Finally, mid-morning my cell phone rang.  I did not care about who shot what, tracking blood trails, or the mondo buck that so-and-so missed.  All I wanted to know was how he liked our new bed partner.  "Ummm...I think I like this one better..." was all he could say with his macho-man-hunting-friends so near.  But I knew he loved her just as much as I did!

So, I say good bye to my old down blanket as I throw her into the dumpster.  SO many memories are attached to her.  But, I am excited to curl up with my husband tonight with our new blanket and make new memories;)

Do or Die

A couple of weeks ago, there were several days that were very cold, very windy, and very rainy.  Well, to any mom that has children, these days are do or die.  You either are constantly doing activities and reading and painting and what every else you can pull out of thin air, or your home is a sinking ship.  And you, as a mom, may be the first one to drown.

So, what does a mom do when her crew cries mutany?  What does she do when her authority is being questioned and her ship is being taken over by a four year old and an eight year old?  What does she do when she is doing the back float and sinking fast?

Well, this mom was gasping for air and as a last resort decided to turn her camera over to her children (hopefully they would break it and we could buy a nicer one- wishful thinking...)  And this is what her children (or Abram) came up with:



Abram loves taking pics of himself and then looking at them.



He took many pics like this.  And, unfortunately, my camera is still intact and in working order.  It gave the boys something fun (and grown up) to do for long enough for me to mend our ship and get us back on track.

"It's not only children who grow.  Parents do too.  As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours.  I can't tell my children to reach for the sun.  All I can do is reach for it, myself."  ~Joyce Maynard

Today

Today, as I sit in a balcony at a church that is very foreign to me, I look around at all of the people dressed in black and gray.  The never ending streams of questions from my boys continues on and on "...is David still sick...why is he in that bed...why do we bury people in the ground...what is heaven...where is God"...and on and on... 

Today, I watched as young mothers struggled to sooth their fussy babies, as their other children pulled relentlessly at their skirts. Meanwhile, their husbands stared mindlessly at the elder preaching at the front of the church. 

Today, as the minister droned on and on about "...repent if you want to join God in the Kingdom of Heaven...be baptized if you want to go to Heaven..." I watched my good friend, a new widow, wrap her arms around her two daughters, fruitlessly trying to comfort their grief.  As their father lay in a casket adorned with flowers at the front of the church, tears flooded the sanctuary.  Sobs could be heard in the back of the balcony.  This is only the beginning of my friends sorrow. She has been trying, with no avail, to find meaning behind her husband being taken from this world so suddenly and leaving her with nothing. 

For two hours I sat and patiently listened with my little family.  Incredibly, the boys sat and were very patient too.  I searched for some sort of comfort among the minister's words, something that would make sense to me.  Words that I could relate too.  But sadly, I found none. 

Today, I crossed my legs in my gray trousers and found that I was literally the only woman in the church who had pants on. Every one else wore skirts or dresses.  Every one's hair was up and their heads were covered.  As my husband put his arm around me and whispered gently into my ear, "I appreciate you," I found that under his suit, he was the ONLY man in the church who wore a colored dress shirt. Every one else wore black suits with white shirts and black ties.  I guess we missed the memo on the dress code (but he still looked HOT.) 

Today, as Aaron's distant relatives shook our hands and greeted us with never ending kindness to this strange church, I realize that the sense of community this church has is truly what I am looking for.  If only they had a different belief system, I would actually consider being a part of this church.  My husband and I watched how the hundreds of church members rally around their beloved sister, stricken with grief, coming to her aid with anything she needs.  And they will continue to do so in the years to come.  We watched how grown men shed tears for the loss of their brother, and we saw the elder wipe his own tears in front of everyone at the church.

So, today I feel torn.  With a heavy heart we must say good-bye to a good friend.  We must teach our children to also say good-bye (Abram stood on the pew and shouted "Good bye" and waved from the balcony in front of everyone- that was embarrassing.)  Words cannot express the sorrow that we feel for their family or the happiness that we feel for our friend to have such an awesome church community.


Dave and Janet's Ducks, Our boys loved the ducks (Noah took this photo)
David was found dead in their barn, having reached the age of 50.















"Live as if you were to die tomorrow.  Learn as if you were to live forever,"  -Ghandi

Family Night

With my husband working long hours much of the time, several months ago (under the guidance of a friend) we instituted Family Night.  Oh, how the boys LOVE family night. 

On Wednesdays, everyone must be home by 1800 to enjoy supper together.  We reminisce about the days events at school and at home.  Everyone must say something good and something bad about their day.  During supper, we have The Luthi Family Jar.  This jar contains many questions that everyone has to answer.  They range from, "if you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go" (Noah responded, "to Tokyo," and Abram said, "to work on the farm") to "if you had a million dollars, what would you do with it."  It is very interesting to hear what the boys, including dad, have to say to these prodding questions.  The way their minds work is so fascinating.

This has become a sacred night to the boys.  They look fore ward to this night all week.  When I pick them up from school on Wednesdays, the first thing out of their mouths is, "Tonight is family night!"  They chit-chat the whole way home in the back of the car about what we should have for supper and what we should do.  Should we have steak or grilled cheese or cheesy potatoes?  "Abram, would you like to watch a dragon movie?"  Noah asks, gently persuading his little brother.  When we arrive home, they hurry to get their homework done while I begin to make supper.  It is an exhausting night, but completely worth it. 

 

This is a night that the boys will remember for the rest of their lives. And maybe, just maybe, if they have their own families, they will institute a Family Night for their children.

 

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind,"  Dr. Seuss.

A Family Gathering

What is life without family?  I am not just talking about our spouses and children.  I am talking about our family members that live far away, that we rarely ever talk to (but are really only a phone call away.)  These people are also important people in our lives.  Our aunts and uncles, cousins, and grandparents that help to mold us into the people that we are (or show us the people that we do not want to be.)

This weekend we had a large birthday bash, at our house, with Aaron's entire immediate family (and a few extras.)  All in all, there were over thirty people gathered to celebrate "Fall Birthdays."  This is nothing new.  We are used to the noise and chaos that comes with such a large family. 

Amidst all of the disarray, I felt truly blessed to be a part of such a large family.  Even when the phone rang (and all eleven children were running through my home, screaming, with helmets on their noggins and guns in their hands) and I could not hear a single word that the receptionist at Gillette Children's Hospital was saying, I sincerely felt blessed.  Because not everyday do we get to enjoy the company of all of our family members gathered together.  Not everyday do we get to talk and laugh and eat with everyone we love.  Not everyday do we get to see our mother-in-laws dressed up like this:



This is going to haunt her for the rest of her life.

 We were lucky enough to attempt to get all of the grandchildren together to try a picture (all nine of them are under 11 years old...)



I think that this picture says a thousand words.

Whatever the occasion and however difficult it may be, it is important to gather the people that we love.  Because our days are numbered (kind of a grim thought, I know) we need to show the important people in our lives that we love them every chance that we get.

 "We love because He first loved us-"   John 4:19



"Other things may change us, but we start and end with family-" Anthony Brandt

Conquering Fears

If there is anything on this beautiful planet that I loath the most (more than world hunger, war, sickness) it is round steak.  UGHHH...oh how I dislike round steak.  I would rather eat leather or maybe that would be comparable.  When I cook round steak, I have to beat it to a pulp because it is SO TOUGH and grissely ( is that the right word?)  You beat it, marinade it, slow cook it, and it is still tough to chew.  Who invented round steak anyways? 

But, I found a solution to this ongoing problem of disliking round steak.  We had to find a solution because when we order A COW we get a never ending supply of round steak (yuck!)  So, anyway, my genius solution (which housewives centuries ago figured out, I am sure) was to cut it up into cubes and pressure cook it.  It sounds so simple (and genius) but there is only one problem, I have a profound fear of pressure cookers.  In the past, my husband has always pressure cooked all of our canned goods that could not be hot water bathed.  But, now that I am a farming widow, I cannot wait for my husband to "get around to pressure cooking."

So, I will conquer my fear and do it myself.  I man handled the pressure cooker out of its cozy cupboard and set it on the counter.  It stared at me everywhere I went.  It was stalking me with its eyes (I know it sounds psycho but that is how afraid I am of pressure cookers.)  But there was more work to be done, the round steak was ready to be butchered again.  I cubed it and stirred up the ingredients.  Then I placed them gingerly into the quart jars.  I reread the pressure cooking manual and followed all of the directions exactly.  It is like carefully building a bomb.  A huge bomb, on my stove, with my little ones snuggled in bed upstairs.

-----Pause for a panic attack----- 

I added the three quarts of water and a dab of white vinegar to the bomb.  Then, carefully placed the quart jars inside the belly of the beast.  Next, the lid slid on without a problem and locked into place- CLICK.  Oh crap, it's time to start.  The bomb is ready to be detonated.  I carefully turned the burner on and the process began.   

I stared at the pressure cooker for 20 minutes with a dishrag in my hand and knots in my belly.  Then the gauge started to gain pressure...5 lbs...7lbs...10 lbs...12 lbs...Perfect.  The cooker was singing its praise.

It worked, it really worked.  Forty five minutes passed and nothing exploded.  Nothing caught fire.  I did not have to call 911.  I conquered my fear.  And with this fear, I actually have something to show for it.  Tender round steak that I can use all winter long in soups and casseroles.  My husband will be proud.

"Fear of failure must never be a reason not to try something"- Frederick Smith

A Fridge Isn't a Fridge Without a Fire Helmet

Abram has always had an obsession with refrigerators.  When he was small, he was kind of a crabby baby (that is a topic for a different post.)  I noticed early on that whenever we were in front of the fridge, he calmed down. So, in a futile effort to keep him calm, I would stand in front of the fridge with him snuggled in my arms.  This sounds weird, I know.  But, when you have a crabby kid that cries A LOT you will do just about anything to help him calm down.  Even, if it means standing in front of the fridge for hours, opening and closing the door to see the light turn on and off.  We would look at the rainbow of different colors and shapes on the shelves.  He would quietly think to himself, "If only I could move...I could crawl into the fridge and help myself."  While, I rocked him in my arms he always felt more peaceful.  And, to this day, he still has an obsession with playing in the fridge.

This is Abram when he was almost 2.  He would "scoot" over to the fridge, crawl in it, and take everything that he could reach out. 



It always seems like Abram is looking for buried treasure or a surprise treat.  He is never disappointed when he is rummaging through the fridge.

So, this morning when I opened the fridge, this is what I found:


Notice the fire helmet



There comes a time in every rightly constructed boy's life that he has a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure.- Mark Twain