naomi in spain

Naomi is not in Spain anymore

2010-09-09T21:18:00.004+01:00

life goes on for us.
in a different place
and in different ways.
but all five of us are here,
and God keeps being faithful.
keep following along with us here . . . if you want!

2010-08-18T23:04:00.003+01:00

oh dear! it's been so long since I've written . . . does anybody still check?

I am getting the itch to blog again, though. it won't be long now . . . .

almost done

2010-04-27T01:06:00.005+01:00

We leave Pamplona on Thursday.
Our stuff is packed away into 11 suitcases;
what hasn't been packed has been spread throughout our friends' and neighbors' homes
or set by the trash bin for an unknown neighbor to pick up (when no one is looking)

we're feeling tired
and pretty good.

we told the kids we'd only stay five minutes . . .

2010-04-22T23:32:00.005+01:00

we went to the park yesterday afternoon;
we almost didn't go.

we ran into so many people
and had so many conversations

I can't believe we almost didn't go

that's what I say every time

Selma snagged Carlos' moto and went for a spin. That's why all the 2-year-olds go to the park - - to check out each other's rides.

if you want to find out more about the toddler moto culture in Spain, read this

flowers for my friend

2010-04-18T09:12:00.004+01:00

My friend Gabriela is in the hospital this week;
I went by to visit her yesterday; I scrounged in Rachel's give-away pile right before I left home and found a cute little yellow pitcher and a shiny pink ribbon; and then ran by the shop to pick up some flowers
to stick in the yellow pitcher
to wrap up with a pink ribbon
(flower arranging is cheap and easy when other people give away pretty things!)

We had a fun visit.
I like Gabriela - - a lot.
I like that I can give her my old Martha Stewart baby magazines and she gasps and holds them to her chest and starts flipping through them right away.
I like that she loves her baby boy so much and that she speaks kindly about her husband.
I like that yesterday, when I sheepishly gave her my half used Burt's bees creams in her hospital care package, she didn't even bat an eye; she only gushed thanks - - acting as if I was doing her a huge favor by leaving them with her.

and I like that she told me that the flowers I brought her made her think of something her grandmother would have given her; isn't that a sweet, thoughtful compliment?

pack everything away . . . but not the coffee pot

2010-04-14T15:11:00.005+01:00

today I washed my coffee pot. As I scrubbed, I thought that maybe I should pack it away today;
I really need to be putting the final suitcases together.

I remembered, though, that we still have some chocolate cake in the fridge;
and when Trini brings her sister over to pick up the bookshelves today, I really want to invite them for some cake.
and coffee.

and we wanted to invite Mikel over while his wife is in the Hospital this week;
I was going to feed him some cake
(he's a professional baker, with a dream to open up his own shop in Chile)
and make him give me tips on how to make it better.
He'll need coffee with that cake to give a fair evaluation.

and, when we said goodbye to Txutxin and Marian on Sunday, Marian gave us all hugs but told us they weren't her last hugs - - and that she was going to find a way to hug us again before we left.
She says that my coffee pot makes really good coffee, so I might need to make coffee for them sometime before I leave.

right.
I can't possibly pack my coffee pot yet.
what was I thinking?

the lamb was amazing . . .

2010-04-11T22:07:00.004+01:00

Pablo's mom has been trying for months now to get us out to their pueblo (it's where their family retreats to on the weekends). We finally made plans to visit last week.
"it will be a special Easter get-together" she told me
"we'll roast a lamb in Vicente's brick oven!"
it was beautiful.
God gave us a gorgeous day;
Pablo, Malachai, Josu and Selma spent hours in the warm sun - - with futbols and wooden swords and Pablo's fake bull head mounted on a bicycle wheel that can be pushed around to simulate a bull run or a bull fight (they start'em young, I tell you!)

Trini and I spent the morning making cinnamon rolls in the kitchen (I promised her three months ago that I would) and putting the finishing touches on the dress I'm making for Selma (Trini used to own a little sewing shop)

Joshua and Vicente spent the day roaming around Vicente's little country acre - - looking at Vicente's garden, checking the suckling lamb in the brick oven, sitting at the porch table - - all the while talking about things like:
Vicente's role in heading up that Catholic charity ministry in Pamplona
and his methods for making home made wine,
but mostly they talked about the resurrection of Jesus.
Vicente insisted that Christ's resurrection was not a physical resurrection
Joshua insisted that it had to be physical
back and forth they argued - - with Trini in the background calling over her shoulder every now and then - - reminding Vicente to lower his voice and to stop swearing so much.

we had said we would leave by 7 pm - - at the latest.
at 8:30 we started packing up into to car, saying our final goodbye's

The following day Trini called us from the pueblo. she wanted to say sorry to Joshua for the way that Vicente kept trying to provoke him
("oh no" Joshua told her "don't worry about it; plus, I can push pretty hard myself!")

and she said that Vicente had one of the best days he's had in a really long time
("us too" he told her "us too")

raising children with good grooming habits

2010-04-09T23:50:00.003+01:00

We caught Josu cleaning out the dirt from underneath his nails with his dinner fork yesterday.
I'm super proud of him;
clean - - and resourceful too.

made for each other . . .

2010-04-01T17:32:00.011+01:00

In his sovereignty, God knew that mankind would one day grind up chickpeas to make hummus. In his kindness, he created arugula for us to eat with that hummus.

p.s. don't think too hard about the theological accuracy of this statement. Instead, try hummus and arugula yourself and thank God for it!

Josu wears short shorts

2010-03-28T22:15:00.005+01:00

There is little in Josu's four year old life that makes him so happy as wearing his (size 2) football set.

There is little in his life that makes him so sad as having to take it off

p.s. thank you, Nathaniel Jackson, husband of my sister, for gifting this set to Josu, and for the way it is helping him to read - - we caught him outside of a bar, spelling out the word "football" all by himself! - - C-A-R-L-S-B-E-R-G

puzzles and other happy things

2010-03-25T10:27:00.004Z

my heart is happy today:
my little girl is doing puzzles,
and I'm doing laundry; it's windy and sunny - - just the right sort of day to hang laundry;
and laundry time is good because it facilitates thinking time, and I can't stop thinking about the wonderful conversation I had with my sweet friend last night . . . she called me late at night and I took a cab over to her place (taking the bus would have been all wrong last night; we had important things to talk about!); she made me the world's hottest cup of mint tea (it was perfect!) and I gave her my bible. giving away your bible to someone who wants it is one of the nicest feelings ever, I think.

and I'm happy because I have a call date with another friend, Carol, this afternoon. we are going to talk about things like:
is it right for a mature, spiritual person to enjoy beautiful things?
and
what exactly is the gospel? what does it mean to share it?
I can't wait to hear what Carol has to say about these things, and I can't wait to hear her interact with my thoughts.

and I'm happy because Joshua comes home from England today,
and it's his birthday,
and I'm going to make him chicken coconut red curry soup, except I can't find red curry paste here in Pamplona, so it will have to make it with green curry paste, I guess.

(hey look! no chairs!)

downtown and back again

2010-03-24T21:37:00.004Z

dear Joshua,

I took the kids downtown to buy you a birthday gift this afternoon. I know you said no birthday gifts this year . . .but I think you're really going to like it! please don't check the credit card statement within the next 24 hours, ok? you like surprises, I like you to be surprised. . . so don't look!

also, a nice thing happened as it began to rain and we ran to catch the bus back home - - we bumped into our downstairs neighbor! She asked us to wait just ten minutes for her as she did one last errand, so that we could ride back together . . . and we had the nicest bus ride home with her; we talked a bit about last summer when our church tried to find ways to love the city of Pamplona during the festivals (you remember, of course, that she was the one who actually offered some really good suggestions when we did that, right?)
let's invite her for a coffee some time this month; I think I would really enjoy that!

how has England treated you this week? not to much rain, I hope! and not too many stuffy, hot tubes - - because I am remembering that I sent you off with only two dress shirts and a couple of t-shirts (you are a good traveler, my love)

good night!
Naomi

stickers on my window, and goodness! my house is a mess!

2010-03-24T14:35:00.006Z

We had a rich few days together as a church this past weekend. We spend some concentrated time reflecting on some of our strengths and weaknesses as individuals and as a church community. on Friday night, after a rousing game of neon bowling, we came back home and spent half of an hour writing out important events in the little history of our church on post-it notes. we then arranged them as a time line on our window wall - - putting the highlights up high, and the struggles down low (perhaps you have done this before? it was very fun and enlightening!)
Joshua had to leave for a trip to London before he was able to record this fantastic documentation, so we left up the 107 little yellow squares for him to record it all when he returns later on this week.
While Joshua is away, I am trying my best to prepare for our move.
My friend Trini (remember Pablo? we love Pablo. Trini is Pablo's mom) came by yesterday to pick up some stuff I had set aside for her.

Trini's husband heads up Pamplona's catholic charity group, which means her house is furnished with bits and pieces of furniture that her good husband has brought home from the donation shop over the course of their marriage.

So when Trini came by yesterday, she took away my tables and chairs (and benches and fans and my lavender plant and my extremely hearty mystery plant). I warned her that my table has wine glass rings and globs of glitter glue in random places, but she insisted a hundred times that she wanted it anyways and that she would actually pay me for it. (yeah! into the camera fund that goes!)

while Trini was here, she asked my stickered window; she said that she had looked up at my apartment from the street level, and could see lots of little black dots and wondered what I had done to my windows.
I explained it to her, and she laughed at us . . . .
but I think she liked it . . . .

Rachel: being intentional, and looking all cute while she's at it

2010-03-13T23:05:00.005Z

This is Rachel at her post graduation mingle time, texting her friends about where they are going to meet for pinchos . they will stay out late, roaming the streets of Pamplona, eating teeny tiny tasty foods (that's what pinchos are) and hanging out:
Rachel has lots to do this week.
she has a project to turn in,
and lesson plans to write.
She doesn't really enjoy staying up late
and her shoes are uncomfortable.
I suspect that she doesn't want to go out tonight,
but she will
because she loves people,
and she's shaping her life patterns in light of of that.
I think she's awesome.

babies kissing mirrors

2010-03-11T12:56:00.006Z

babies everywhere, I think, kiss themselves in mirrors.
when Selma kisses herself in the mirror, she kisses herself two times - - one kiss for each cheek. I wonder if this phenomena is common among all Spanish babies? I think I'm going to have to ask around.
(are you a Spanish mom? does your baby do this?)

a gentle nudge

2010-03-08T21:57:00.003Z

there's nothing quite like hearing your baby girl call out
"go-way mama! go-way!"
in her sleep at night,
to encourage extra snuggling with your baby girl
throughout all your waking hours the next day

(Selma and Malachai - - doing bull horns)

preparing for departure

2010-03-03T13:23:00.004Z

We had a beautiful, sunny, sunny day today. I abandoned all household chores and headed out to the porch with Selma to sort through my pots and plants;
Selma spooned dirt from one pot to another;
I swept up the dirt that Selma kept spilling;
it kept the nuns across the street amused for a while.
I did eventually clean out most of my pots; I left the plants that looked the best - - a couple of geraniums, the lavender, and the olive tree; I'm hoping that I can find a friend or neighbor to take these when we move.

I was cleaning out the planter that was home to the strawberry plants last summer and found this sweet mysterious little plant: it's probably a weed, but I couldn't resist the spring-time urge to plant something so I snagged the spoon from Selma and transferred it to to an old yogurt jar.
maybe it will live for a bit.
(maybe?)
just until mom comes and goes (please!)

conversation stopper

2010-02-19T20:50:00.006Z

We got back from London on a Wednesday.
Thursday morning I dropped Malachai and Josu off at school, and raced to the pasteleria. I wanted to make sure to catch Sonia and Ana for a coffee

I wanted to see them because I knew they would ask me about our trip to London, and I was excited to tell them about our traveling adventures, and about my little sister Abi's sweet, cozy hospitality in her teeny-tiny home (see Selma licking up uncle Nathaniel's world famous hot coco from the hallway floor - - below).

I was excited (and a little bit nervous, but mostly just excited) to tell them about the four hour meeting that Joshua and I had had with Mike and Richard - - good men who are serving and leading the church in England, and who are looking for help to do this.
I was excited to tell Ana and Sonia about the church that these guys had described for us - - an established, commuter church on the edge of an estate (that's fancy, British talk for a housing project) that has slowly, over the years begun to see the neighborhood change - - fill with immigrants from Asia, India and Pakistan. The church is interested in reaching out to and loving their neighborhood;
but they don't really know how,
and they are kind of afraid,
and they need someone to equip them for ministry, and to give them a vision for action.

And I wanted to tell Ana and Sonia how very much this excites me and Joshua - - we love the church! We believe that the great purpose of the church in this world is to love the world around it; we love joining with the church to do this!
but.
That conversation hardly happened; my sweet friends seemed barely interested, and the topic of conversation was quickly changed.

This didn't necessarily surprise me, I guess, but I've been thinking a lot about it, and there are two things that I keep going back to:

1. My greatest passions are not their greatest passions. I talk about these things because God has changed my heart; it's as simple as that.

2. While my Spanish friends have years of experience conversing about where to find the best butcher in town (and countless other helpful, interesting topics),
they
don't
EVER
talk about God, or the church, or anyone's passion for the church loving the world. And I think that partly, they have a hard time talking about these things with me because they're just not used to it.
they don't know what to say,
they don't know what to ask,
so they don't.

I've come to realize that
I need to get used to talking true to my identity with my friends
and they need to get used to hearing about my true identity

how about you?

culture 101

2010-02-15T22:17:00.008Z

when Jeremiah and Mercy visited this Christmas, we taught them how to sound cultured.
"when you get back to the States" we told them, "don't say 'when we were in Europe' . . . say 'last time we were in Europe . . .'
"and try to fit it into as many conversations as you can" we coached them.

like this:
last time we were in London, Joshua took me to see Wicked at the Apollo theater.

see?
cultured.

when we were in London:

2010-02-14T15:21:00.002Z

Once, not too long ago (last week in fact)
Joshua took me to the British Royal Academy of Music (well, it was Abi and Nathaniel, really, that took the whole family; but Joshua was there)
where we sat on a bench and ate Nigerian goat stew and Brazilian beef sandwiches;
and kissed while an opera singer practiced her scales in the background.
It was spectacular.
Even if your setup can't quite match up (I know, Nigerian goat stew is hard to beat), I highly recommend that you kiss the one you love; every day; several times a day

(and teach your children to cheer for you every time you do)

to London, to London!

2010-02-05T09:42:00.000Z

I was praying with Malachai in bed last night. Malachai's prayer went on a bit longer than normal;

because he loves talking to God? very possibly.

because he loves talking to God and I was scratching his back at the same time? even more possible.

"please, God" he begged "help tonight be long enough for us to rest really well, but short enough for tomorrow to come really fast"

this morning we're off to London to do some business and (most importantly) to visit Abi and Nathaniel.

(and we're all very excited!)

weekend in review: part three

2010-02-01T22:06:00.007Z

Sunday night:
The church had come and gone. there were carrot cake crumbs from the Lord's table still on the floor; Brett had stayed for dinner and the dishes were still in the sink, the floor a sticky mess.
It was late, and I was tired.
but I didn't go to bed. Instead, I stayed up a little bit later
and just cleaned.

weekend in review: part two

2010-02-01T22:05:00.002Z

Saturday morning:
our doorbell rang.
it was our mailman.
the one who we say hi to every day;
the one who pokes his head into the coffee shop to tell us we have (x number of) letters waiting for us in our mail box;
the one we gave Christmas cookies to - - and a beenie on that day when it was snowing and he had no hat.

well, he doesn't normally come up; he usually stays downstairs where the mailboxes are, but on this particular Saturday morning he did - - he came up to tell us that his rout was changing, and that he wanted to say goodbye,
and to assure us that he had briefed the new mailman about how we are an American family that gets all sorts of mail and packages from across the sea, and how we need special looking out for.
I invited him in; of course I invited him in! (and I tried to position him so that he was looking toward the cleanest corner of the kitchen - - kind of like I do with my camera, you know?)
"You are leaving?" we asked him
"We are leaving!" we announced
and then there was a flurry to find paper to exchange addresses and then wishing each other the best, and off he went.
he left and I wrinkled my nose and clenched my fists (it's what I do when I think of something I'm embarrassed about)
and reminded myself of my resolve to keep inviting people in.
every time.
even when it's messy.
every time.

weekend in review: part one

2010-02-01T15:12:00.008Z

Friday night:
Our friend Brett - - architect extraordinaire - -possibly knows more about architect Richard Neutra's life and work than any other living being on the face of this large planet. seriously.

So, this weekend it was Brett who was put together a public talk to share at our local community center (do you remember? Joshua has done this a couple of times , and so has Rachel) He explained some of Neutra's thoughts on spirituality and the modern man, and presented some of the religious architecture (church building) that was fruit of Neutra's perceptions.

And then after Brett's presentation, there was some round table discussion including two other architects and Rachel who is not an architect, but is a Christian who lives and loves church.
It was all fantastically fascinating and relevant; I wish you had all been there . . .Several of us went out afterward to the place across the street for a drink and a bite to eat. It was there, also, that our kids ran around yelling and chasing each other with wooden swords beneath the warm, humored gazes of all the other Spainish men and women out for something to drink and a bite to eat at 11:00 pm. (oh! Spanish night time culture, how I love you and your tolerance for wild children sometimes!)
At my end of the table we talked about travel plans and how sin, left unchecked can lead to greater sin.
I never did ask Joshua what they talked about at his end of the table.
it's now on my to-do list.
We got home late, and I was tired, so I ignored my crazy, messy house and dragged myself to bed promising myself I would clean it all on Saturday morning.
(sometimes it's just better that way)

Thurdays afternoons: at our place

2010-01-28T21:21:00.006Z

Pablo comes over on Thursdays. I've told you that before, I think.
School finishes up at 4:30, and Pablo, who lives just one door down from us, walks home with us.
When we get home we snack together
(I hear out about what happened on the playground);
out comes the playmobile,
or the matchbox cars,
or the armory,
and then Joshua comes home and takes over; he's is a master with these boys
he pulls out the chessboard; sometimes he has them play only with a few select pieces, or sometimes he has them team up together to play against him; he has them fully engaged.
The loveliest thing happened not too long ago during one of Pablo's Thursday visits:
I was washing dishes, and Joshua was with Malachai and Pablo, playing chess at the table behind me.
I heard Joshua explain a move.
"look!" he said "the pawn attacked the bishop - - and won - - just like when David killed Goliath!"

Pablo had no idea what Joshua was talking about.
So in a heartbeat Joshua and Malachai were down from the table;
Malachai as David,
Joshua as Goliath
(and narrator),

and that is how Pablo heard about one of the greatest battles of all time

Barcelona, suddenly

2010-01-14T21:02:00.004Z

The night before we drove Mercy and Miah to the Bilbao airport, we got an email from Barcelona - - inviting us to a conference centered on the topic of house churches in Spain; the conference was that approaching weekend.
(apparently, Victor thought that Miguel had invited us,
and Miguel thought that Victor had invited us,
so we never got the original invite).
I didn't really want to go; I had already penned my mental weekend to-do list; and it was long.

But we couldn't miss it - - we have so few opportunities to engage with Spaniards risking themselves to break away from Spanish Christian tradition as they have always known it;
we knew we had to be there;
we know we had to go.

I spent the next twenty four hours washing all the clothes I had stuffed in my hamper and ignored for the ten days that Mercy and Miah were here (I had more important things to do than wash clothes!)

and so 36 hours after we received that first email, we, and our clean clothes, were packed into the car - - driving down to Barcelona.

and Barcelona? well, we had a good time.
we listened,
we talked,
we questioned,
we tried to get other daring conference members to share meals with our crazy, lovely family.
we took our kids down to the Mediteranian sea one night; Joshua and Malachai ran down in the freezing dark to touch it; Josu prefered to stay back from the roaring, black water and opted for sifting through the sand; he found a baby sea turtle shell (although Joshua thinks it was an apricot pit, but, whatever).
we saw a running club run by and I payed my kids ten cents each to cheer them on (I'm totally into supporting local runners, you know?)
I'm glad we went,
(and now I'm glad to be home)

letters to a mother

2010-01-06T20:48:00.005Z

dear mom,
we dropped Mercy and Jeremiah off at the airport this afternoon, and got news from the London family that they have arrived safely.
Also, I just thought you might like to know that Mercy was in my kitchen every day - - helping with the cooking before the meals and the clean up after;
I didn't even have to ask her to,
and she was always so cheerful about it!
and every time that Selma would call Miah (ven, ven, ven, she would say, and beckon with her whole hand - - just like the Spaniards do) to play ball in the hallway with her, he would go right away . . .
we like your kids!

welcome, 2010!

2010-01-01T23:09:00.003Z

we stayed up late,
we ate 12 grapes - - one on each stroke of the clock,
we drank champagne, poured over lemon sorbet
(and felt very Spanish)

but I left the mess to clean up the morning after
(that's not Spanish at all!)

2009-12-28T23:11:00.002Z

El Olentzero (the wintertime gift giver in the Basque country) paid his regards last week at Malachai's school. Now, Malachai knows the truth about all the Christmas gift-giving characters - - we tell it like it is from the beginning, but even so, this year's visit made an impression Malachai;He told us all about his encounter with El Olentzero later that afternoon when we picked him up from school.
he told us how he had gone with the rest of his class so that they could put in their gift requests;
he told us how Olentzero had asked him if he had been good this year,
and how he told Olentzero yes, he had been good.
then Malachai told us how he had started to cry, because he knew that he hadn't been only good all year long; so he admitted that he had also been bad, but that he had repented for the bad things that he had done.

"that is very valiant of you to admit" said Olentzero, "you will be getting lots of gifts this year"
apparently Malachai gained confidence from the kind words of praise from Olentzero, because then, it seems that he caved, and he told Olentzero that,
well,
all the other kids that had said that they had been good all year long . . . had actually been lying.
So after Malachai finished telling his story, we had some good dialogue with him,
including encouragement for his honesty,
and reproof for his attitude towards the other kids;

and we turned our heads and plugged our noses and snorted as we appreciated the humor in the account; and I wondered if Malachai would come up in Olentzero's dinner conversation that night.

on December five and twenty

2009-12-25T11:00:00.000Z

Dear Mercy,
please come soon; I know how much you love a pretty Christmas tree, but our pine needles are all falling off already;

p.s. did you know that super mario brothers has an invisible player? that's the one that Selma plays; she's awesome

morning errands

2009-12-23T16:36:00.004Z

Brett was over last night for pizza and a movie; while he was here, we finished wrapping up the (imperfect) Christmas packs and sent a couple home with him to pass out to his local coffee shop and fish shop.
We spent this morning out in our neighborhood going to our hangouts:
to the paper shop (where we were sent on our way with three chocolate kings),
to the pharmacy (where the pharmacist pulled out three suckers for the kids to put in their pockets to save for later),
to the coffee shop across the park - - one of Joshua's study points,
and to the government building to the ladies that always process our paperwork,
and then finally to our own coffee shop, where we got kisses and more kisses from Adrianna
Selma always gets kisses from Adrianna; but she's the only one;
all it took was a packet of homemade sugar love.
nice.

Sunday afternoon

2009-12-23T00:00:00.003Z

Sunday afternoon:
our church family came over a little earlier than normal this week so that the kids could help decorate the cookies that had somehow made it off the baking sheet with all six snowflake arms intact. (seriously, though, is there no way to control a child with sugar sprinkles?)
After the cookies were frosted and (generously) sprinkled, we spent some time singing together. Joshua had asked last week that we all come prepared this Sunday with a song to share with the church; most of us brought a favorite Christmas carol or hymn - - some in English, some in Spanish (I think we even got one it Basque somewhere in there);

little Raquel recited a poem about a tiny ant that made it through a series of obstacles to arrive at Jesus' birth . . .

9 y/o Jhoel, brought his guitar and sang some carols that he has been learning in music class - - the songs he chose had just the right amount of repetition and clapping for us all to jump in and sing with him even though we didn't know the songs.

Malachai chose to sing a carol that he learned this year at school;
and because of a stimulating conversation he had had with Joshua the day before about his carol-of-choice, he gave the sweetest, clearest little explanation about how
even though the carol said that Mary was a baker, that the bible doesn't really tell us that,
and
even though the carol describes Jesus and "fair and blond", that, well . . . he probably wasn't.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16

Sunday morning

2009-12-21T21:05:00.005Z

Sunday morning:
I slept later than I should have, went for a coffee, and then joined Rachel in the kitchen to make Christmas treats to pass out this week to our neighbors and local businesses.
I ruined my second batch of toffee (so I felt discouraged)
then the arms on the snowflake sugar cookies kept falling off (and I felt angry)
then I discovered that the brownies were baking at 500 degrees instead of 350 (and I just wanted to cry)

so I had to stop for a bit in my sticky, messy kitchen, and remind myself that having perfect brownies or snowflakes should not drive my emotional state

and I had to remind myself that the true delight of Christmas is not a perfect cookie package (um, you knew that, right?), but rather, the gift of God becoming flesh in order to carry out the greatest rescue plan in the history of mankind.

the neighbors will get toasty brownies, crumbly toffee and broken snowflakes; that's ok

the bible speaks to me

2009-12-18T14:56:00.008Z

it's getting colder; my clothesline is a permanent fixture in my kitchen; we find ourselves drinking more tea; we dress in multiple layers with scarves draped around our necks all day long; afternoon trips to the park have been replaced with snuggling reading time on the couch - - or in the kitchen if bread is baking in the oven

(here comes my transition sentence)
Today I didn't bake bread, I did, however, have a coffee with Miriam and Rachel. Have I told you about Friday coffees with Miriam and Rachel? I think I've told some of you. This is how it goes:
We commit to reading 30 chapters of the bible every week;
sometimes it's one book, read through once,
or maybe it's a couple of books, read through several times each;
If one of us is unable to complete the reading, we all read the 30 chapters again.
When we get together, we talk about what we learned from our reading, and we go through a series of accountability questions.
It's all as daunting and wonderful as I thought it would be . . .

this week's reading was I & II Timothy, and I noticed this:

As for the rich in this present age . . .They are to do good , to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. - - I Tim. 6: 17a & 18

So today, there I sat - - my cold hands wrapped around my hot coffee;
right next to my sister Miriam
who works all day and rushes home in the evening so she can spend time with her kids,
and who can't pay her mortgage,
and who has worn the same three pairs of jeans the four years that I have known her,
and whose 9 year old son asked her this week why she couldn't bake with him like Naomi bakes with her kids?

and I felt so rich.

we are cheered by Malachai's hobbitish jig

2009-12-11T22:15:00.007Z

Selma and I spent pretty much the entirety of Thursday on the couch like this:
I don't know what was wrong with her, she was fussy and squirrely and delirious. the only thing that could mildly calm her was this fabulous soundtrack that we keep listening to over and over again (that I keep promising myself that we actually will purchase, because we believe in musicians being supported and all that goodness):

and Malachai danced to the music to cheer her up. I may have been more cheered than Selma.

we did tell Malachai yesterday that he was due (long overdue, in fact) for a haircut. he said that - no thanks because he wanted the hair to hang in front of his ears like Joshua's does. sweet; my kid has awesome fly-by-nights.

creating sub-cultures

2009-12-09T22:22:00.004Z

Yesterday was a national holiday in Spain.
Everything was closed;
except for the coffee shops. They always stay open.
those are the best days to go; we run into everybody on those days.
so yesterday, after the morning madness of eating breakfast and getting dressed, we packed up our books and our coloring pencils and took the five minute walk down the street to our pasteleria - - our local coffee shop. We settled down at our table; the man at the table behind us passed us the newspaper when he finished it (it's common coffee shop courtesy). We flipped through that and then passed it on to the person at the table next us, then got out the pencils and colored for a while.Then we read the very last chapter of The Return of the King. (and cried a little bit because, as Malachai said - - it was a very sad ending and now the book is over)
and Maite walked by our table to talk to Selma and Malachai about the dinosaurs they were coloring, and Josu noticed that the abuela came in to buy her bread.
"say hi, Josu " I poked him "you know how that makes the abuela feel loved!" He called out and waved.
then Ana came in;
Malachai was swept off his chair and into Joshua's lap
"sit down , sit down" we insisted (she never takes much convincing)
almost as soon as she did, Gabriella came in with her baby boy to buy bread
Selma was whisked into my lap
"come and join us" we called "come on, come on!" (she's harder to convince)
"ok" she said, "but just for a minute!"
as she slipped into the seat,
Mar walked by . . . .

and it was this magical moment of
being
and belonging,
and of welcoming in those around us,
and I was reminded of how we are capable of actually creating a sub-culture of friendliness and inclusion within the routines of our daily lives. Our pasteleria has really been the the heart of that for us in our neighborhood; I wonder where you guys may be creating those sub-cultures within your communities?

p.s. look at what my clever kid can do:

box-o-love

2009-12-05T20:33:00.008Z

dear Castaic bible study group,
we got your package; thank you!
because it wasn't just a package . . .
it was a package of care . . .
it was:

the joy and of introducing our children to Lucky Charms (and being able to tell them "you won't find these on the shelf of a Spanish grocery store; no sirreee!)

a whole season of Lost (disguised as itune cards)

freedom from the tight marshmallow rationing we've been imposing for the past six months

the exciting mystery of two wrapped red boxes that will miraculously reappear on Christmas day

a chance to talk to our boys about how our church - - far, far away took the time and spent the money to send us fun treats just because they love us

oh! and then the package with the coat came
(I glued it to her body - - the coat that is, not the package)
I think she likes it too.

hey! we found one!

2009-12-04T17:26:00.005Z

I think that hunting for the perfect Christmas tree is a fantastic holiday affair.

Some people go into the rugged wild - - donning snow boots and plaid flannel shirts, with their axes slung over their shoulders, sludging through the forest until they come upon the tree they have always dreamed of . . .

I think that's reeeaaaal niiiice.

Some people don't have a snowy forest in which to hunt for their perfect tree . . . so maybe they load the kids up into the minivan and drive to the local tree lot where, in the midst of cheery Christmas music and bright lights strung all around, they weave in and out of the hundreds of cut trees, spinning them all around to make sure that they pick just the right one.
I think that's nice too.

Our Christmas tree hunt this year included a trip to the local flower store (where we bought our tree four years ago), the grocery store down the road (where we bought our Christmas tree last year), the largest hardware store in the state of Navarra (certainly, they must have one!), and then finally to the Super grocery store across town;
and it was there that we found the trees - -
a collection of 20 of the pokiest variety you could imagine
all wrapped up tight with nets and twine and then tape (just to make sure no one could get a good look at the tree they were purchasing)
so Josu and Malachai and I chose the one with the nicest looking tip
and carried it, wincing and wining, back to the car

We had one entire day to recover from the hunt, and to confess our sins of complaining (Malachai) and of getting angry and impatient (me) and thank God for a thing like being able to actually find a silly tree

and then we decorated it, and it was the loveliest tree decorating event ever.
this may be because Joshua spent his morning off taking care of the kids so that I could sleep late, late, late. (that, my friends, is me being able to enjoy the fruit of a gospel transformed life!)

giving thanks on November twenty-two

2009-11-26T13:39:00.004Z

Words of thanks from Josu this week

"thank you, God for this food
that we have eaten for three days!
that is so crazy!"

we had a very nice Thanksgiving celebration on Sunday. Sitting all around my table there were:
friends,
family,
church family,
friends of friends

(just the way Thanksgiving should be)

Brett shared about some of the history of Thanksgiving,
Joshua asked some provocative questions about the concept of being thankful (he never disappoints!)
and we all shared about what we are thankful for (which is, in my understanding of Thanksgiving dinner, a given. All families, all over the united states of America do that, right?)

also, I think it should be known that I believe that pumpkin pie has never looked quite so good as it did with four candles poking out of the top!

Josu's almost four day

2009-11-20T14:57:00.004Z

The oven technician came last night- - but didn't have the right piece.
In desperation I called my friend Ana and asked if I could use her oven for an bit
"of course", Ana said, "as long as you don't mind that my house is kind of a mess"
"oh, no, no, no . . ." I promised her "I totally don't mind"
(um, her messy house is cleaner than my just-cleaned house)

so I packed up my sugar cookie dough rounds and hung out at her place for a pleasant hour.

and this morning, (gracias Ana!) I had cookies to take to Josu's class; I actually got to go into the classroom and read Josu's class a book, and join along with the class in singing the happy birthday song, and watch Josu's sweet rosy face beam as he got the birthday crown and passed out the birthday treats.
(I don't think any Spanish mother in the history of the school has ever gotten to do that; I'm blazing trails here.)
To continue the celebration , Josu wore his birthday crown to the dentist office where he got two cavities filled - - without any anesthetic, I might add.
you didn't know that was possible?
neither did I.
the hygienist and dentist told me he behaved perfectly in every way
(I think it's because he's almost four)

the Simpsons are funny and all, but . . .

2009-11-18T20:10:00.008Z

Josu's birthday is coming up.
The day of his birthday we are having a big Thanksgiving to do at our place; our Christian community will eat together and reflect on well . . .giving thanks . . ;we all have friends or family that we are thankful for, and we'll invite them to come and join us.
and there will be little time to focus on celebrating Josu.

Friday, though, I will take some birthday treats to Josu's school for him to share with his class. he asked me to make a cake with Bart Simpson - - "just like Stephanie brought for her birthday"; he showed me - - his tooshie pushed out, making a kissy face.
I said something like "yeah right, kid"

I'm going to make the cutest little sugar cookies with little faces on them. In fact, I was going to make them this afternoon; and then I found out that my oven wasn't working.

So we spent some extra time at the park,
where we played a rousing game of five flies up
(except for Selma who did her own thing)
this is Josu telling us all to go back, back, waaay back:
this is Joshua running in place because he knows Josu can't throw it waaay back:
When we got home from the park we called the oven technician, and he's supposed to come by tomorrow. I'll pay him anything he wants.
I have a turkey to cook on Sunday,
and cookies to bake before Friday.

can't you just see it?

2009-11-14T19:45:00.002Z

remove bicycle.
replace with vespa:

apartment living in Spain

2009-11-12T13:54:00.003Z

I suspect that the neighbors one floor down and one over kept pressing their snooze button between 6am and 7am

and that this resulted in the neighbor below us pounding repeatedly on the wall between 6am and 7am

which is why we couldn't sleep between 6am and 7am
and climbed out of bed tired and a little bit grouchy.

but we can break this chain reaction.
it doesn't have to go any further;
we choose.

2009-11-10T18:45:00.002Z

Selma Rachel Smith
age: 2
race: human, (with suspected traces of elf)
occupation: garlic peeler extraordinaire

who am I? (and do I talk like it?)

2009-11-09T10:00:00.004Z

Jaime, Miriam, Brett and I signed up for a 2 hour Senegalese cooking class this week (Joshua signed up to watch our kids).
Being a christian community in our local community, right?

Jaime and Miriam weren't able to come, but Brett and I went - - and then Rachel got home from her class and took over kid duty so that Joshua could join us.
We met Carlos and his wife Mar; and found out that they are neighbors of our friends Enrique and Marisol, and we met Sonia - - the head of immigrant awareness in our little city. we chatted a bit with them - - asking about who they are and what they do, and what other international food they have tried, where they have traveled. And we talked about who we are and what we do - - about what it is like being an American living in Spain, and about that horrible, horrible time that I forgot to buy bread when some Spanish friends came over for lunch, and of course- - about our passion for Christ and for his church

Brett came over to our place afterwards and we all spent a good while reflecting on our conversations as Christians within an unbelieving world; reflecting on what it means to be authentic Christ-lovers, speaking true to our identity; always,
all
the
time.

I think we need to be purposeful about it
and creative
and bold

It's hard work for me
because I think I have spent a good part of my Christ-loving life training myself to talk true to my identity only when I'm with other people that are also Christ-lovers
(it's so comfortable that way)

It's hard work
but I'm retraining myself
(I think this may take a while)
but I'm convinced.
it
must
be
done.

food, and the people behind the food

2009-11-04T12:43:00.003Z

We sat down for lunch yesterday - - we were eating baguette sandwiches with jamon and sauteed green peppers - - and Malachai announced to us how much he loved Spanish green peppers, and mused abit about how much he had liked the peppers we had eaten when our friends Brian and Sarah visited us from Rome . And when Malachai volunteered to thank God for our lunch, he forgot to mention the food, but he did pray that many people in Rome would enjoy hearing about Jesus, and that "not just that, but that they would also get to enjoy the church with Brian and Sarah"

I layed in bed alone last night, thinking.
Joshua was dropping Brett and Isabel off after movie night, and my mind was racing, thinking about the events and conversations of the day. I remembered the green peppers and the memory trigger that the peppers were for Malachai - - and I realized the tremendous list of recipes that I have in my recipe book that do the exact same thing for me. I can't help but think of Caroline when make pizza dough, Catherine when I roast tomatoes, Whitney when I make green thai curry, mom when I make scones, Luke when the pasta maker comes out, Chris as I skewer the bb-q beef sticks,Ginny when I make those sugar cookies that the Spaniards always request the recipe for . . . (and that's the extremely abbreviated list)

I wonder what recipes you might have that remind you of someone you love?

on the road to San Sebastian

2009-10-30T14:48:00.002Z

once, many, many months ago we took a family trip up to beach-side San Sebastian (the Brits love to holiday up there from what I hear.)

on the way there we stopped for a coffee. good thing Malachai had his trusty 1.3 megapixel sidekick. he got this cute picture of me and Selma:
he also got a picture of the shirtless rockstar that was on the cigarette machine behind me:
but I made him delete it.

he took a picture of my cup of water:
and then we all squeezed in tight for a group shot (minus Malachai, of course)
and then he surprised this neighboring coffee drinker by taking his picture:
I gave Malachai some good basic guidelines for photographing strangers - - especially up close. when the kind gent assured Malachai that it was ok, Malachai suggested a Josu and stranger portrait. they both complied:
what a day!

friendship fusion

2009-10-22T21:28:00.001+01:00

Brett had a birthday recently.
(you know Brett, right? - - part of our Christian community - - doctoral student in a local Spanish university?)
Brett runs in a cool, university crowd - - these architecture students spend their birthdays weaving through the labyrinth of Pamplona's old town streets - - picking out their favorite pinchos at every bar along the way, a different friend taking turns paying for the selection of food and drinks . . .

we run in a different sort of crowd.
we run in the "make a birthday cake and invite some friends over to play some silly games and then relight the candle three times so that we can sing happy birthday in English, Spanish, and Euskera (it keeps the kids happy and refines their language skills, you know?)" sort of crowd

Brett invited us along to his birthday celebration anyways (partying differences be darned!), because we're his church family, and he believes that neither he, nor we, (nor you for that matter) should compartmentalize our friendships and gatherings into "Christian" and "other".
we agree with Brett - - and he's our family; and so, with this kind, purposeful invitation, out we went, at 9pm with our three sweet ones in tow - - toys and snacks packed in the stroller,

and ate good food
and met and re-met some of Brett's friends (some who now, in fact qualify as our friends)
and had some good conversations - - some trivial, some significant
and were glad that Brett had invited us
and glad that we had said yes
We made it home by 2 am - - very early by Spanish standards.
(we're kind of new at this)

well then, try it again, this time in Spanish

2009-10-09T14:27:00.004+01:00

Recently, when Josu and Malachi were in the midst of some swordplay,
Malachai developed an elaborate plan of attack
which he tried to explain to Josu.
When Josu didn't understand,
Malachai explained it again - - but in Spanish

I don't think that Josu understood it that way either,

but it made me smile

2009-10-06T22:25:00.004+01:00

babies everywhere, all over the world, speak the same language.

and on a completely unrelated note . . . .
Imagine that you made a dinner appointment with some terribly important person - - the most important person alive, in fact. And throughout the dinner, you kept popping out for a smoke, and then to check your facebook on your blackberry, and then you text you mom . . . .

sometimes I feel like that when I pray.

but what I want is this:
to continue steadfastly in prayer
being watchful in it
with thanksgiving.
(Colossians 4:2)

throwing the newspaper at Joshua was no accident

2009-10-04T11:03:00.004+01:00

I was enjoying flipping through the newspaper in our local coffee shop yesterday morning; an interesting article caught my eye - - it was titled "other religions in Pamplona" and began with: (loosely translated)
"even though Pamplona is a small city, and primarily Catholic, in the Navarran capital there are seven other religions present . . . . "
after a fairly accurate snippet describing the Evangelical faith, the newspaper article went on to describe the doctrines of the the Jehovah's Witnesses . . .
"the J.W.'s, who arrived in Pamplona about 40 years ago, share the same basic beliefs as the Evangelicals"

the blood drained from my face, my hand went up to my throat, and I threw the newspaper into Joshua's hands gasping "read this!"

thirty minutes later, we were home.
I was in the kitchen making lunch,
the boys had their shirts stripped off and were in a wrestling match on the living room floor,
and Joshua - - the paper strewn beside him on the couch, was writing a letter to the editor.
I knew I could count on him.

2009-10-02T16:03:00.003+01:00

Sometimes people say that Selma looks like Josu.
Every once in a while people say that Selma looks like Malachai.
Mostly, though, people say that Selma looks like her aunt Rachel.
I think that is very nice.

2009-09-30T15:37:00.004+01:00

We were a small group this Sunday - - well, we're always kind of a small group; yesterday we were smaller than normal; Jaime and Miriam were out of town on a business trip this weekend, so they were missing
Brett showed up at five o'clock with the lettuce we needed for the salad - -well, it was escarole not lettuce, but it did the job just fine. Rachel and I finished up prepping the food plates in the kitchen as Joshua and Brett transferred the plates from the kitchen into the dining/living room.
The melon went out
and the jamon
and the the leftover roasted red peppers that Brett had brought over the day before when he came over made Joshua and the kids some pork loin and red pepper bocadillos while Rachel and I were downtown having the time of our lives at the (recently discovered by us) Pamplona antique/junk fair.
and the wine went out, of course, and the baguette - - which, as Malachai likes to remind us, is uncut because "Paul says that eating from one bread makes us one body!"
We loaded up our plates and sat around the coffee table with our bibles and our food and discussed our need as the church to speak God's truth into each others lives. we talked about how it seems that, for some reason, all Christians tend to have areas in their lives that are not gospel shaped. Perhaps because we have never really thought about how the gospel could shape that corner of our words or relationships or attitudes, or maybe because we willingly choose to overlook it.
so I'm thinking this week about what those untouched (or even just mildly touched) corners might be in my life, and I'm encouraged as I remember that I'm not in this alone; my church family is there to help me too.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16

Roman visitors (kind of)

2009-09-26T16:47:00.003+01:00

we met Brian and Sarah Bennetch about seven years ago in France at our first ever missionary conference; they were, at that time, church planting in Belgium. Over the course of the past seven years, we have had continued sporadic interaction with them- - through emails, at conferences, women's retreats, or the West Europe city team leader meetings.
This week Brian and Sarah actually came to us in Pamplona, and we had two whole personal Bennetch days! They arrived on Wednesday morning so we towed them right along with us to our local coffee shop,
and introduced them to everyone along the way;
They are Americans living in Rome? my friend Ana asked.
"you know what we're doing here in Pamplona?" I told her - - "trying to rethink religion and tradition and the church according to the bible? Well, that's what they are doing, but in Rome"
"ahaaaa" Ana said. she kind of gets us (we talk a lot)

and we took them downtown, past the bull stadium, through the narrow cobblestone streets of downtown, into Pamplona's central plaza, and then up to the Caballo Blanco - - a cafe on the top of one of Pamplona's ancient citadel walls that overlooks the northern part of the city. We ordered some good Spanish basics and talked, and watched the boys play futbol and dance the robot, and then watched Selma convince a complete stranger to read a storybook to her
It was so good to spend time with Brian and Sara . . . they so clearly love the Lord, his church and his world. They have hurt and been blessed and grown over the course of life and ministry. . . so we listened attentively as they shared stories about their marriage and family and 16 years of ministry in Brussels and about their recent transition to Rome, and we enjoyed as they probed into our lives and ministry and asked us lots of good questions like:
what would you say has been your most fruitful time of ministry in Pamplona and why?
and
what were the biggest lessons that you guys learned through that "year of pain" that you went through a couple of years ago?

they listened to our answers. . . and shared wise input, and asked more questions
you know . . . the church being the church!
I think next time we should plan for three days instead of two . . .

1. 2. 3.

2009-09-21T13:49:00.002+01:00

last week we went down to the Plaza behind our place to spend a crazy, noisy hour outside (keeping things friendly with the downstairs neighbor, you know?)
Selma loaded her cart up with three important items:
1. the baby
2. the picnic basket
3. the flyswatter
way to go sweet girl; always prepared!

a little bit sad about something happy

2009-09-19T15:59:00.005+01:00

My sister in law, Gabrielle, is due to give birth to her baby boy soon; my boys and I have been talking about this pretty much every day this past week:
I'll grab Malachai as he's walking by me and we'll snuggle for a minute and pray for the mama and baby
or
"our first baby boy cousin ever! I remind them over and over again
or
"you know, having a little boy cousin means that you, the bigger boy cousins need to teach him good stuff; what are you going to teach him?" (Josu says he's going to teach him how to wrestle)
or
"good morning guys! . . . do you think your baby cousin was born last night?"
this will be Gabrielle's third delivery. When Amaleah, Luke and Gabrielle's first girl, was born I wished I could be with her, and with Julia's delivery too . . . but I knew I couldn't, because I was where I needed to be, and they were where they needed to be, and that (divinely) happened to be across the the ocean; and that was that.
I don't know what it is about this third baby . . .but lately I have this lingering, deeper ache in knowing that I can't be there - - waiting for the girls to be dropped off in the frenzied trip the hospital, or coming into the hospital room and seeing baby cousin for the very first time, or dropping by Taco Cabana on the way to the hospital to bring Gabrielle the food I know she's really craving after so many hours of hard labor.

well, the previously stated facts are still there; and that is that,
we are looking forward to the phone call,
and the outrageous number of pictures that with be posted online,
and to seeing our baby boy cousin en vivo for the first time next summer

will someone please promise me that they will take a special food order for Gabrielle (according to actual craving) when she is in the hospital and take it to her in my name? I would really, really like that!
thanks!

these pictures were taken in May of this year, when Luke and cute pregnant Gabrielle and family came out to visit us. it was awesome.

when I used to be a bad guy: the gospel for my Josu

2009-09-14T15:14:00.005+01:00

I just tucked my Josu into his bed, and prayed for "all his sickness" as requested . . .
and as I snuggled close to him and worked hard at patiently listening to him share his pre-nap thoughts and concerns, I remembered that trip on the train home from Madrid . . .

(first, though, you need to know . . . ) I wonder sometimes how to speak to Josu's heart; I have a hard time captivating his attention with biblical stories; I have a hard time engaging him in meaningful give and take; and sometimes I'm just like - - "what in tarnations did that kid just say? Was he speaking English or Spanish?"
so a couple of weeks ago, at the end of that really fantastic, tiring day in Madrid, I found myself paired with Josu on our train ride home to Pamplona; we were drawing together - - I drew a castle and he drew a knight, then I drew the dragon, and then, inevitably, he drew the bad guy.
bother. he's infatuated with that bad guy.
I tend to gently steer him away from that bad guy.
but not this time.
"you know, Josu, mama used to be a bad guy too", I told him.
Never-ever in my life have I seen my Josu perk up so quickly - - his back went straight - - I could literally see his eyes spark with interest. Seriously - - sparks flying. he dropped his pencil.
"you tell me about when you a bad guy, Mama?" he begged.
And so I told him how I had been an enemy of the the great King - - about how the great King had created me and loved me, but I hated him, and because I disobeyed the great King, I disobeyed my parents and I argued with my brothers and sisters, and I was sneaky and lied to my Mama and Papa about the chocolate that I stole. . .
And Josu listened.
captivated.
and then I told him the extra good bit - - about not being a bad guy anymore because the great King - - God the Father, sent his son Jesus to be punished for all the bad things I had done, and that I trusted Jesus, and that the great King forgave me and gave me the life of a good guy.

and that was that.
we kept drawing.
and late, late that night, in the parking lot at the train station, as Joshua strapped Josu into his carseat, Josu said to Joshua, "Papa . . . Mama used-to be a bad guy . . . "

in Madrid for a day

2009-09-06T15:59:00.004+01:00

on our way home from Poland, we stayed a night in Madrid so that Joshua could do an important manly missionary job (a meeting with another church planter). Remember what I said earlier about Joshua's mad, mad internet skills? he did it again, he not only kept us within budget, he also put us right across the street from the Reina Sofia - - one of Madrid's nicest museums . . .

I really had the nicest sort of day . . . Joshua left me snoozing in the posh hotel bed, took the crying baby out, and brought me back the largest cappuccino known to mankind (ok, not really, it was just a Starbucks venti, but that seems really, really huge to me when I'm used to a Spanish sized coffee) and a box of doughnuts. I love doughnuts. especially in Spain where they aren't so readily available.
and then we all bathed and lounged around in huge hotel towels (except for Josu, who lounged around in nothin)
once we were all clean and dressed all cultured-like, we headed out to the tourist trap Starbucks in the museum plaza (for the meeting, of course), where the kind Starbucks employees entertained my children with balloons and straws and Joshua and I had interesting, stimulating conversation about the church in Madrid and in Spain. when that was done we headed across the plaza to the Reina Sofia and hung out there until we had to catch our 7pm train to Pamplona.
see? we're so cultured.
so, the point of all that was really to tell you that the best part of my day happened on the train ride home; but now I need to stop writing because the church comes over in an hour for our study and dinner (the Lord's table) and I need to (want to) get ready for them.

I'll try to get to the fantastic train part tomorrow.

faux journal, day three

2009-08-29T17:27:00.004+01:00

dear faux journal,
after we went down to the market for another pint of blueberries this morning, we caught the bus to get to the hotel in Wisla.
As we were riding in the bus I saw apple trees everywhere - - in backyards, in public parks, next to bus stops . . . why did no one ever tell me that lovely little detail about Poland before? who would have guessed?
N
p.s my kids sure are cheerful travelers; I'm thankful for that!

faux journal, day two

2009-08-28T09:51:00.006+01:00

dear faux journal
Krakow in Spanish is Krakovia; I think that's much nicer than Krakow, don't you? Joshua used his mad, mad internet skills to find a three bedroom apartment in the heart Krakovia where we will stay for two nights before we head to the conference; there was the sweetest little market that set up every day in a little plaza just down the street from our Polish summer home (the way I like to think of it). they had blueberries! BLUEBERRIES! Eating blueberries wasn't the only exciting thing we did in the city today; we also:

managed to find and buy cooking oil using only hand motions and sound effects to communicate.
took a ride in a huge hot air balloon
took a boat tour down the river that runs through the city, and mooch food and drink off of some unsuspecting locals (Selma)
saw about five men that looked my Papi
bought an umbrella and survived a downpour

I need to go and spend a couple of hours ironing all of our wet clothes so that they dry before our 3 hour bus ride to the conference tomorrow.
XOXOXO
Naomi

an American, still getting used to summer life in Spain

2009-08-26T23:07:00.006+01:00

Wednesday, past midnight

dear parents of the neighborhood 10 year olds,
if you are looking for your kids, they are in the plaza behind our bedroom window.
hope this helps,
your friendly Neighbor,
Noemi

faux journal, day one

2009-08-25T13:57:00.004+01:00

Dear faux journal,
day one - - travel day. we met an Italian man in the airport today. cheeky Selma kept running over to him and patting him on the leg and then running away. When Malachai came back from the bathroom, he apparently thought the man could be trusted too and sat next to him - - and asked him the scoop on European football - - which team's stats had just been posted on the TV? and who did the man root for? and, guess what! we are going to Poland. . . but just for a week because we live in Spain . . .

sometimes I feel freaked out about how quickly my kids warm up to total strangers; but mostly I think it's nice.
the Italian man (who spoke excellent Spanish) eventually came over to where the rest of us were sitting and sorted out the details of his conversation with Malachai. I gave him the general outline about who we are and what we do, and why were were headed to Poland.
"so what do you think?" I asked.
I was surprised at how humbly and candidly this man expressed dissatisfaction with religion as he knew it, but also a tremendous disquiet about the afterlife. I wanted to hear more about him; I wanted to ask him more questions, but we were called to board our flight.

Well now, I know I am a young punk. but I DO have a perfect hope and peace about my life after death; I had to, had to say something before we left . . .
"don't stop looking" I begged him. "don't give up! pick up you bible and scour it!"
and that was that.
and I am thankful that God's work in this man's life goes beyond what I have to offer.

love, N

p.s. we got fed nice little sandwiches both legs of our trip. Luftansa, we think you are super!

2009-08-23T18:58:00.005+01:00

hey, phew.
we've been to Poland and come back again.
the EFCA organizes a missionary summer camp of sorts every year or two, and that's where we've been.
the trip to Poland started with a train to Madrid where took a flight to Frankfurt. In Frankfurt we caught a flight to Krakow. Joshua (good man!) sat next to the boys on this flight, and Rachel and I sat across the aisle from them along side of a pleasant woman from Barcelona; Rachel and I grilled her on all of Barcelona's hot spots - - where to eat, where to shop, where to find Spain's best quirky cute shoes.
We asked her about her trip to Poland and tried to explain why exactly we are living in Spain and why exactly we were traveling to Poland. we told her about how we love Jesus, his world, and his church; we told her about our Christian community in Pamplona - and how we study the bible to better understand what Christ's church should look like, how we are willing to abandon tradition for tradition sake, and how we are trying every day of every week to live out what we see the church to be in the bible.
we told her how we wonder if Europe as a whole is rejecting Christianity partly because they are mistaken about who Christ really was and about what he called his church to be. we told her how excited we were to be going to this conference to engage with other Christians who are taking seriously their responsibility to communicate the true gospel as well as working hard to understand their respective cultures so as to communicate that good gospel in a way that would be heard and understood.

we said our inevitable good-by's at the end of the flight, and told her we wished we would be flying back together so that we could hear her evaluation of Polish food at the end of her three week tour (she suspected it would be fairly bland partly due to the fact that they don't use olive oil)
and for your enjoyment, over this next week, I'll be writing about some of my favorite bits of our Poland trip.
maybe.
if things aren't too crazy around here.
we'll see . . .

a day full of blessings

2009-08-07T22:02:00.005+01:00

Thank you, Malachai for making you and Josu a snack while I was taking a nap this afternoon (raisins on butter was not a bad choice!)
Thank you Josu, for getting down from the dinner table three times to kiss me (you give the sweetest 3 year old kisses, my sweet boy!)
Thank you, Selma for waving and blowing kisses to everyone we passed at the grocery store (it made my shopping trip a lot more enjoyable!)
Thank you, Joshua for dancing thriller through the kitchen window for me today (you are one.hot.dancer!)

2009-07-25T15:58:00.005+01:00

(mullet - - bottom right corner)

Pamplona rocks the mullets.
it's true.
we giggled a lot about it when we first got here, but, quite honestly, over the years we stopped noticing. In fact, I -- the Smith family hairdresser -- have plenty to do around the house and am quite willing to overlook my boy's hair as it starts growing over their collars. ("when in spain . . . . " if you know what I'm saying . . . )

So when my brother Noah came to visit this summer, his fresh eyes reminded us of the startling quantity, quality, and variety of mullets in Pamplona; and we all had a good chuckle at the expense of Pamplona's hair tendencies.

Malachai approached me today - - concerned that he had a mullet (indeed he did)
I snipped that bad boy off in a heartbeat
Thanks, Noah, for keeping us in the know about appropriate fashion across the great blue sea.
p.s. what about temporary tattoos? are those cool or not, because Malachai got one, and he said that he thought that you would say "I liiiiike that"

Sunday, the day after Joshua gets home

2009-06-14T08:27:00.003+01:00

I was up early this morning.
I was pulled out of bed by a yelling Selma. I had hoped to get to her before she woke anyone else up.
Alas, Malachai followed immediately after, desperate for some breakfast
(I knew I should have set her crib up in the kitchen last night!)
eventually Josu appeared, asking for some group snuggling on the couch.
So we've had a bit of a lazy morning . . .
Selma has been happy to follow us from room to room, stacking blocks where she can find them,
Malachai and Josu have been busy about swordplay, taking breaks between the epic battles to sheath their swords down their pants (sounds dangerous, huh? don't worry, all was carefully monitored and reasonably safe)

I have mostly been in the kitchen, cleaning up from last night's dinner; and even though Joshua isn't awake yet, my heart is calm and my heart is glad. he's here.
he'll be up with us soon

excuse me, I'm off to hang up the sheets.

2009-06-12T21:49:00.007+01:00

Joshua comes home tomorrow afternoon.
if I clean the house tonight, then tomorrow morning I won't worry at all about cleaning; I will go to the coffee shop with my boys; we will read the books we checked out of the library this week; Malachai will be captivated - - new books do that to him. and I'll surprise the boys and I'll get them a couple of Kinder eggs; Selma will see the chocolate and beg for some. I will ask Josu to share some with her; he'll give her a piece the size of a grain of sand; I'll remind him to be generous and he'll give her some more. . . . she'll ask for more and I will tell her no, and she will cry until a tenderhearted coffee drinker at a neighboring table will insist, insist on getting her a croissant. that will take us to the end of the book, and then we'll take our soccer balls out to the park and practiced the techniques we read about in the library book. While we're at the park we'll run into all the friends and neighbors who chose not to spend their morning at the local pool. . .
and we'll talk about Joshua. and about how giddy I am to see him after two weeks of him being gone, and maybe someone will ask about what it is exactly that he is studying, and I'll explain about Joshua being a theologian who tries his hardest to put it all in practice, or maybe I'll get to tell them about the project he is doing for one of his classes - - using Spain's civil war propaganda posters as part of a contemporary confession of faith, written in light of the the Spanish way of living and thinking and viewing the world. . .
(I'm very proud of him)

it probably won't work out exactly like that, but it will probably be something similar. that would be a good morning for me.

that is why I am cleaning the house tonight.

loving our neighbor: a family affair

2009-06-02T17:16:00.005+01:00

Joshua is off gallivanting (gallivanting of the scholarly kind) in Philadelphia for a couple of weeks.
he skyped me last night; it had been a long day for me.
"Tuesday movie rentals are half off" he reminded me . . . "put a movie on for the boys tomorrow" he urged. (good man)
on our way to the video store, Malachai had asked if we could invite the neighbor boys over to watch the movie with us.
I said yes.
do you know why I said yes?
I thought that their parents would say no.
sad but true. (the bit about me, I mean)
we've tried before, and it hasn't worked.
letting your kids hang out at someone else's place seems to be a huge, relational trust step around here. (um . . . understandably so, but it's been seven years now!)
well, the neighbors said yes this time.
so we popped some popcorn and made a party of it all.
I'm thankful for Malachai's persistent initiative.

2009-05-31T20:41:00.003+01:00

it's been a week now since we said goodbye to Luke (my brother) and Gabrielle (my sister-in-law - - who is more sister than sister-in-law, but really, it wouldn't do to say that my brother was married to my sister, now would it?). it's been a week now, and we miss them.

The last day that we had together we took a walk beside the river that runs behind our building. There was sun, and there was shade; there were wheat fields to roam through, and cherry trees to climb; and there were flowers. oh yes, there were flowers;
and we picked flowers.
and that evening when we got home, I made dinner and Gabrielle pitted the cherries while Luke arranged the flowers into a vase.
The flowers traveled from the porch table to our coffee table later on that night as we stayed up late drinking coffee, eating Gab's amazing -we-picked-these-cherries-ourselves! cherry crisp, and probing Luke and Gabrielle to give their general impressions of our life and ministry here in Pamplona.

(why did it have to end?)

well, throughout the course of the week the flowers have made their rounds - - onto the dining room table, then on the bookshelf, and then into the kitchen - - ever evolving as the wilting buds were pulled out and the remaining flowers reshuffled.
Today I tossed the last of the bouquet; aaaaahh . . . little bouquet, you've been good to me. thanks for lingering reminder of sweet times with our family.

(why did it have to end?)

six

2009-05-12T22:20:00.004+01:00

We packed up Malachai's birthday cake on a bit of a whim this afternoon and took it along with us to the park. we ran into a couple of friends along the way and invited them to join in on the birthday fun (who can say no to chocolate cake?) we found a nice shaded spot and settled down for some cake and football.
good party.
Happy Birthday my sweet Malachai; thank you for telling me that even though you are now six, you can still sit on my lap; I love you!

2009-05-08T22:41:00.003+01:00

I mopped my porch today.
I suspect that a good Spanish housewife mops her porch several times a week.
my poor porch doesn't get such tender loving care,
except on special occasions
like when family comes to visit.
yeah . .
today I mopped my porch.

Good boy! (I think? . . . )

2009-05-06T14:49:00.004+01:00

I was a little bit appalled
but mostly really proud of Malachai
when he told me that he told his entire Basque class (in Euskera!) the story about how last week,

Selma pooped in the bathtub when they were all having a bath together

letters to a sister

2009-04-29T20:58:00.006+01:00

Dear Rachel,
Thank you, thank you, thank you for watching our three sweets!
I really do believe that they are sweet, but I know that my sweets also come with the crazies; and I do believe that your agreeing to watch them for six days (six beautiful days!) has got to be one of the greatest expressions of loving sacrifice that I could ever, ever receive from you!
and, here we are in Greece! I can't help wondering how you are doing. We think of you often . . .
"our ten year anniversary" we tell people
"and your children?" they ask
"safe with my sister" I assure them
"ooooooh, you are lucky! very, very lucky" they tell me
"I know, I know!" I repeat
over
and over
and over again

So we stepped into this dingy little jewelry store in Athens ("original Greek art!" the woman at the door assured me) and I spent a pleasant hour sifting through the dusty, tarnished jewelry that the woman's father had spent his lifetime making. Meanwhile Joshua chatted it up with the woman's 85 year old mother . .
"1o years? Bravo! Bravo"
out came the picture of the kids
"three? Bravo! Bravo!"
"and the children? with your sister?"
"ooooooh! Bravo! Bravo! . . . very, very lucky!"
Well, I can't wait to show you the gift I chose for you! it's not enough, of course, but I hope you will be pleased, and mostly, I hope that every time you wear it, you think of us, thinking of you, with our hearts
full
full
full to the brim
thank you sister!
we love you,
N
p.s. thanks for the tights. I've pretty much worn them every. single. day.

2009-04-17T21:45:00.004+01:00

Artichokes were everywhere at the local market this week; they are a local grown favorite here in our region of Spain. I bought a dozen - - that's how they come. I don't know much about preparing artichokes. I should . . . from what I hear from Rachel, the first time that Mom's high class family met Papi, he was camping out in an artichoke field.
Romantic, yeah?
and you would think that there would be more artichoke family recipes in the repituar, right?

but I always just steam them.

I steamed the first six on Tuesday.
and arranged the remaining seven (they must have given me a generous dozen) into a lovely local flora bouquet.
and tonight I tore it apart and tried something new - -
I peeled several layers of leaves off, and cut off the tips,
quartered them,
tossed them with olive oil, course salt, and minced garlic,
roasted them at 425 for 20 minutes
or maybe 30
till they were all toasty.
and squeezed a lemon over them.
I think I liked them better roasted than steamed
aha. now I know how to steam and roast artichokes.
building up the repertoire.

we are hobbit-smitten

2009-04-06T19:56:00.006+01:00

Josu manages to insert a "golem" into every cough

Malachai tells people that he is just like hobbits - - because he likes to eat several breakfasts a day, and has asked about when he can start smoking a pipe

I find that my ddpw (dragon drawings per week) quota has risen significantly

Joshua has taken to ocasional hobbit-isms, and has already ordered the trilogy for Malachai's birthday (any day now; it should come any day!)

and I think that is is quite possible that Selma's ears are a little more Elvish than they were last month

thinking, thinking, thinking, but not alone

2009-04-03T10:07:00.005+01:00

yesterday I went to pick Josu up from school. while there I had some interaction with a student teacher that has been helping out in his class.

what really happened:
the student teacher approached me, holding Josu's hand.
she said "today, during the afternoon session, Josu's class is planning a special goodbye party for me because I am leaving"
I said "oh?"
she said "yes, and I know Josu doesn't normally come back to the afternoon session, but we were wondering if he could come back today because I think it would be fun for him and fun for me"
and I said "well, I think that would be totally fine; I'll check with Joshua and see what he thinks, and if everything works out, we'll bring Josu back for the party"

what I wish had happened:
the student teacher approached me, holding Josu's hand
she said " "today, during the afternoon session, Josu's class is planning a special good bye party for me because I am leaving"
I said "oh really!? I'm sorry, after all this time, I don't even know your name! what's your name?"
she said "Maite"
I said "wow, Maite I really, really appriciate your help with Josu's class; I know it can can be wearing chasing after three year olds all day; I bet they'll miss you"
she said "well, I know Josu doesn't normally come back to the afternoon session, but we were wondering if he could come back today because I think it would be fun for him and fun for me"
and I said "well, I think that would be totally fine; (smiling face, warm eyes) I'll check with Joshua and see what he thinks; Josu is so lovey towards people who spend time with him, and I am certain he would enjoy that time with you; besides, we ALL know how much Josu appreciates a good piece of party cake! (chuckle, chuckel)"

what I feel happened:
the student teacher timidly approached me, clinging to Josu's hand. (she's heard about this mother before - - the American who refuses to ever bring her son to class for the afternoon sessions)
she stumbled over her words and said "today, during the afternoon session, Josu's class is planning a special good bye party for me because, uh, I am leaving"
I snatched Josu's hand out of hers and said "hmph"
she said "uh, mmmmm . . . well, I know Josu doesn't normally come back to the afternoon session, but we were wondering if he could come back today - - just for today, because I think it would be fun for him and fun for me"
and I narrowed my eyes suspicioulsy at her and said "well, maybe; I'll check with his faaaaaaather and see what he thinks, and if every single detail works out, maybe we'll bring Josu back for the party. maybe"

sigh.so I think most of you know that I haven't been feeling so good.
I'm getting some tests done to try and figure out why I have been sleeping so much and why, when I am awake, I feel like I only have energy enough to sit on the couch and read. there are some indications it might be some small thyroid issue. we'll see.
my Spanish friends all ask me "are you depressed? are you depressed?" (depression is, I believe the #1 cause for temporary workplace medical disability here in Spain) and no, I don't feel depressed, but when I am tired I do have a hard time being hopeful, or even just seeing things they way they really are.
I work hard to think about what is good and true
but God didn't ask me to work alone. he put me in community - - he gave me a church family; they help me too. I'm thankful for them.
some of them are here, some of you are there. thank you.

out on the streets (together)

2009-03-28T08:49:00.006Z

Brett is part of our Christian community.
Brett and Francesca study architecture together.
yesterday,Francesca called Brett to see if he wanted to have lunch after the morning conference given by some Portuguese architect.
Brett called us to see if we wanted to join them both for lunch.
Joshua watched the kids so that I could join Rachel
joining Brett
joining Francesca.
So we had lunch together,
and talked about all things relevant to life - - including:

methods and mechanisms for making the best coffee (of course we talked about that - - Francesca is Italian)

racism in Spain, and in Italy, and in the US, and in our own lives.

chandeliers.

what it means to care for the physical world without having that care overwhelm our care for people.

the hideous wallpaper in Francesca's apartment and wallpaper's apparent comeback.

(see? important stuff)
and then, after the post lunch coffee, Brett and Francesca showed us the architecture building on campus,
and we ran into Isabel who comes to our place for movie nights . . . and Raul who we met at Brett's raging housewarming party.

it's good to be together.

The thing about Joshua

2009-03-26T15:59:00.006Z

"the thing about Joshua," I told a friend today,
"is that as he studies modern society, he is overwhelmed with the intellectual complacency that exists; he believes that as a whole we are failing to ask enough questions as well as failing to think critically when questions are asked of us"
"mmmmm . . . " said the friend.
"and Joshua wants to stir up the waters" I told her.
"maybe I'll bring a friend with me" she said.

so he's at it again - - Joshua has been preparing a talk to present this Friday evening at our community's cultural center. This time it's titled:
Catholic without Catholicism?
reflections of a "separated brother"

please pray for Joshua tomorrow! Pray that he will provoke the right questions, that he will be able to share grace and truth as questions are asked of him, and that God will use Joshua in our community to sharpen and woo the minds that God has created to adore Himself.

32 (almost)

2009-03-23T21:09:00.008Z

Yesterday we threw a birthday party for Joshua, and our house was filled with all sorts of people from all different parts of our lives. Jaime and Miriam were here, and Brett and Rachel - - all from our Christian community. and there were Brett's roommates, and Isabel and Lucas who often come for pizza and movie night, and Juan Carlos who we know from our local coffee shop, and Andrea and Franchesca - - Brett's fine Italian friends who we met for the first time last Thanksgiving. Even Jose the priest accepted a last minute invitation.
it was one of those lovely events that lasts longer than expected - - the four-o-clock coffee and dessert turned to a six-o-clock snack turned into a nine-o-clock dinner. . . and it was about 11pm by the time the door closed behind our last guest.
and this morning at about 11, I felt very, very sleepy so I laid down for a nap. and slept.
I woke up just enough to hear Joshua bringing the boys home from school
and to wonder what they would eat for lunch. I had fed all the food to yesterday's guests.
I didn't wonder too long, though. I fell back asleep
and woke up again to Rachel taking Selma and Josu out to pick up Malachai from his afternoon school hours.
it was 4:30
and then Joshua came home
with groceries.
my family takes good care of me

good day

2009-03-20T17:49:00.006Z

today I taught Malachai that rule about never, never licking scissors.
I guess I can check that off of the "what responsible mothers teach their tots" checklist.
nice.

and I helped Rachel make a whole lot of deliciousness for lunch .
to get a look at it go here:
http://www.kayotickitchen.com/
and then look for the roti chicken recipe. (do it!)
the roti chicken was pretty good.
the roti pancakes, however, were amazing. I will, from this day forth, incorporate roti pancakes into my weekly menu. I'm serious.

we also ate out on the porch. this blesses my soul. I love porch dining

p.s. I can't sign into my blogger account in Firefox. I can only access it through Explorer. this is bad news for me since the spell check on Blogger in Explorer does not seem to work. I neeeeed spellcheck. Although . . . it is kind of fun that I can write "deliciousness" without the bother of a red underline, don't you think?

out and about

2009-03-15T13:49:00.006Z

we have been having some interesting dialogue lately with a priest studying at a seminary here in Pamplona. Yesterday he invited our family out on an excursion - - a favorite Spanish activity which usually involves getting into your car and driving for a while, finding a field, or a castle, or an old pueblo (which exist in abundance around these parts), walking around for a few hours, then finding a local family friendly bar in which to drink a cafe con leche or each some pinchos and to talk for a couple more hours before you head back to your car and drive back home.
The way our excursion fate would have it, we ended up at the ancient city of SOS (the birthplace of Spain's famous king Ferdinand) where we were actually delighted to find ourselves in the middle of this pueblo's yearly fiesta (you know the running of the bulls festival that Pamplona is so well known for? well, that is Pamplona's fiesta; pretty much every city or pueblo here in Spain has their own - - not all as ellaborate or as famous as Pamplona's, but crucial to the pueblos' existence nonetheless)and so we were treated to the locals dressed in Renaissance garb, banners hanging from the terraces, a reenactment of the queen giving birth to sweet baby Ferdinand, and, of course - - the pueblo's beloved (and just a little bit creepy) gigantes parading through the narrow, cobblestone streets, stopping in the larger plazas to dance to the music of the musicians playing ancient, typical instruments;and after all the parading we went (along with most of the other paraders, it seemed) in search of an empty table to sit and sip a hot coffee. we did find a table, and had some more good conversation - - when we weren't dragging Selma and Josu away from the glowing lights of the gambling machines.
and then we got in our car and drove home. excursion complete.

2009-03-05T10:49:00.004Z

I was woken up by Joshua last night as he tucked the blankets around me and dragged me to his side of the bed. "what's the matter?" I asked. I knew he was dreaming.
he often does funny things while he sleeps . . . and I wake him up and tell him it was all just a dream.
"the chandelier is going to crash down on top of you!" he warned me.
I wasn't surprised that he was having nightmares about that chandelier. I've been secretly afraid of that chandelier since the day we moved in.
I thought about waking him, but instead I just thanked him. it was nice to be rescued.

2009-02-27T16:34:00.003Z

we all gathered into the kitchen to bake some cookies
we washed our hands
we wiped our noses with our hands
we were sent away to wash our hands again (about ten times)
we mixed and rolled
we baked
we decided the cookies were lame
we added more flour and chocolate chips
we were satisfied with the final product
we wrapped up the cookies
we tied them to some of our favorite Spanish tunes
we wrote "thank you for being good neighbors" notes
we made original art on the notes
we attached them to the cookies and tunes
we delivered them to our neighbors
we prayed that they would feel the love
you know, the divine love.
it's so good.

teaching truth

2009-02-23T16:10:00.002Z

a good sign that Josu has been spending some good quality time with his Papa:
I hear him walking around the house muttering:
is Josu real? yeeeeeeeeeessssss
is Malachai real? yeeeeeeeeessss
is Mikey Mouse real? nooooooooooo
is Jesus real? yeeeeeeesssss

celebrating cultures (and respective mustaches) from around the world

2009-02-21T08:29:00.009Z

Josu and Malachai (plus classmates, plus teachers, etc . . . ) helped to celebrate cultures around the world in this year's school Carnival festival - - Josu celebrated as a Mexican and Malachai as a China man. In order to get some pictures, I had to push my way through crowds of territorial, excited parents all of whom must have received some sort of recording device from the three kings this holiday season , because they were all taping all the processions - - whether their child was performing or not.
with a few strategically placed warm glances and and gentle requests, however,I was able to situate myself close enough to complete my parental picture taking responsibilities. enjoy:

there he is - - that infamous local legend - - Miel Otxin, in flames. After all the dancing, each class sent its representative to place the totems (the bad things - - attitudes or conduct that the students wrote down on pieces of paper) at his feet, to burn with him.

(yes, that produced some healthy conversation over our lunch table)

and today, the day after the festivities, I am very pleased that both Malachai and Josu have some left-over staches. Josu's is short and sweet and Malachai's is elegantly droopy.
I keep telling Josu to give me some leeto Mexican kisses; and he readily obliges.
Malachai has taken over the guitar. I had to stop a crazy rampage through the house earlier - - in which the sweet Mexican instrument was being swung over Malachai's head as he pretended he was an orc. don't ask me how he knows about orcs; he just does, ok? If you really must know inquire with Joshua.

2009-02-14T20:08:00.002Z

one of the little ways that we are trying to love to our community is by regularly opening up our home (well, our home is always open, but this is more aggressive inviting) to Ana and Pablo - - the children of one of our neighbors.
When Ana comes over, she loves to feed Selma and decorate sugar cookies
When Pablo (one of Malachai's classmates) comes over, he loves to sing Christmas carols at the top of his lungs and and to incite Malachai to a state of excited frenzy (although, who are we kidding? Malachai doesn't really need anyone to do that for him; he gets there on his own)
Pablo doesn't really like to decorate sugar cookies, but sometimes we make him do it anyways. just a little. and then I let them be crazy.I wonder how some of you are showing love to your communities? please share!

speaking of soup . . .

2009-02-13T11:31:00.004Z

so my Spanish friends often make what they call pure' - - where they boil up potatoes and carrots, zucchini, leeks and other vegetables of the sort, and then they blend it all together to make a nice smooth, creamy soup. I have made this, and enjoy it, but to tell you the truth, I like my soup to have chunks. every once in a while when I make my chowder I get it just right, so that the potatoes are soft, but not falling apart
the broth is thin, but it also has some sort of substance.
do you know what I'm saying?
but if I get it right, it's really quite by accident.
do any of you have to perfect formula?

an update on my morning

2009-02-13T09:17:00.005Z

I hear this from the kitchen:
Selma: MA, MA, MA, MA, MA! (her excited, emphatic request for more food)
Rachel: Selma, you can't eat the butter off the bread and then ask for more; it doesn't work like that!
it's good to have a sister around to teach my kids the rules of food; I have a feeling my kids would be seriously messed up without their aunt Rachel around.

and I'm off to the kitchen myself now, to make the largest pot of potato corn chowder known to mankind, so that the next time I take a little nap and end up sleeping through lunch, Joshua doesn't have to feed the family peanut butter and yogurt sandwiches (not that there is anything wrong with pb&y sandwiches, mind you). good man.
and maybe I'll have some buttered bread while I'm at it.
and perhaps I'll put a double batch of butter on my bread now that I know I'm not supposed to eat the butter off and then put more on.

expectations are funny like that

2009-02-08T10:47:00.004Z

There was once a time when I could take my knitting along to the pasteleria and knit idyllically as I sipped my coffee and chatted with Joshua; or sometimes I would just leaf through the newspaper, or journal all the profound thoughts spilling out of my clever mind. I loved that time!
and then one sweet child was born to us
and then another
and then another
what joy!
And I kept trying to take my knitting along, but I found myself frustrated (of the angry variety) as I would have to put my knitting aside again and again and again as one sweet child climbed up onto my lap, or when another fell off a chair and needed to be loved on, or when another stripped a toy out of the hands of a docile child at the neighboring table, and I needed to intervene.
And then I stopped bringing my knitting; I stopped worrying about getting anything accomplished.
and all of a sudden, I didn't mind so much when I had to coddle a crying toddler, or when one of my sweets climbed onto my lap with a huge stack of books, or when another repeatedly asked for help with his puzzle.
in fact, I kind of enjoyed it.

2009-02-01T21:30:00.006Z

Josu, Spanish-ized:
if you ask him for a kiss on your cheek, he insists on kissing the other too.

building immune systems

2009-01-30T16:40:00.001Z

um. I'm pretty sure she pulled that pizza crust out of the trash. I won't ask.

in just five minutes . . .

2009-01-29T10:20:00.004Z

what I made my family for dessert last night:

Sugar, modified food starch, cocoa processed with Alkali, disodium phosphate (for thickening), contains less than 2% of natural flavor, artificial flavor, tetrasodium pyrophosphate (for thickening) mono and diglycerides (prevent foaming) red 40, yellow 5, blue 1, artificial color, BHA (preservative)

but it sure tasted a whole heck of a lot like chocolate pudding.
Joshua kept asking for more. I think he only stopped so that he could save some for a treat later.

2009-01-26T10:55:00.006Z

You too, can be a fun, quirky family that keeps a carton of milk out on the porch! here are five simple steps:
1. have your baby chuck her last pacifier on the sly as you go for a walk. promise her that "that's the last one you'll ever loose, little lady!"
2. hear the baby scream at night (give her extra snuggles, but don't give in)
3. move the baby's crib from the room next to yours, to the kitchen. Assure her that "this is in your best interest, and you'll thank me someday!"
4. live the trauma of having to send your boys to school without breakfast because the baby's sleeping in the kitchen and you don't want to wake her up.
5. learn you lesson and plan ahead. put the cereal and the bowls in the living room. keep the milk cold and accessible by putting it on the porch.

there you have it! (I said the steps would be simple, not easy, ok?)

everyone doing their part

2009-01-24T17:11:00.005Z

Last night, part of our Christian community (some of them are traveling this weekend) spent some time together . . .
Joshua: prepared and taught a really fantastic study on Luke chapter 7, provoked good dialogue
Brett: brought the wine and cheese, asked some really good questions, participated actively in dialogue about Luke 7.
Naomi, Rachel: cleaned the house and prepared the dinner (except for the wine and cheese), answered Brett's really good questions, participated actively in dialogue about Luke 7
Malachai: participated actively in dialogue about Luke 7 (a little too actively, in fact. Joshua had to ask him to stop answering all the questions and to give everyone else a chance), fell asleep on the couch when the dialogue went too long.
Selma: slept. that helped the dialogue.
Josu: flipped through every single page of the five children's bibles that we own.
every
single
page
that's 2,469 pages
(I did the math)

The Picture Bible - - the timeless stories of the Bible, in full color! (it's what the cover says)

2009-01-23T14:07:00.005Z

remember the The Picture Bible? I seriously used to spend hours upon hours pouring over this comic-style bible ("how could Jezebel be sooo beautiful and yet so eeeeeevil?" I would ask myself, "and were those things hanging around her face earrings . . . or part of her headdress?")
Well, fantastic Rachel tracked down a copy of this classic for Malachai and, of course, he loves it.
So I pulled him and the bible up onto my lap last night (one of my unwritten, unspoken, unprocessed resolutions for 2009 is to stop making my kids have to beg me so much for me to sit down with them and read them their bibles), and I read him the account of when Elijah throws his cloak onto Elisha - - calling Elisha to follow him. Well, if you remember, Elisha is willing but asks if he can first say goodbye to his Ma and Pa, . . . and . . . Elijah says yes.

"very interesting", I thought, "doesn't Jesus say the exact opposite to his followers? weird."

At some point later on in the evening, Joshua - - who had, the whole time that I was reading to Malachai, been sitting across the room translating some book into Spanish, said to me,"I wonder if Jesus' call to the disciples was purposefully juxtaposed to Elijah's - - blatantly identifying his person as greater and his call as higher than Elijah's."

Joshua's pretty awesome that way.

he doesn't just wonder about the mystery, he finds an answer.

I think I want to do more of that in 2009 - - So I there's my other resolution for 2009 (and look, I'm writing it down!)

p.s. yes, I know I had to write down my first resolution to tell you that it was unwritten; just gloss over that part.

2009-01-18T19:02:00.003Z

just in case all you've ever wanted was to know how to make a sword and shield out of a cardboard box and duct tape, look here.
you're welcome.

I think our weekend might look like this:

2009-01-16T14:22:00.004Z

the weekend
"I was at home all day long laying down because I was sick"

pulled out of Malchai's school portfolio from last trimester
p.s check out his sweet rendition of the couch. the armrests are almost identical to the originals

fusion. fashion fusion

2009-01-14T21:12:00.003Z

this what we call fashion fusion: Joining the classic styles of yesterday with the modern trends of today:
mary janes and skinny jeans. yeah baby.

enjoy, my boy, enjoy!

2009-01-13T21:08:00.007Z

disfrutar: to enjoy
yo disfruto: I enjoy
el disfruta: he enjoys
ellos disfrutan: they enjoy
vosotros disfruteis: you all enjoy

Malachai lounged on the kitchen bench yesterday and told me:
"mama, I'm just going to sit here and disfruit this snack before I go and do more puzzles"

disfruit, huh? it feels good to raise a bilingual child. it will bring him many advantages in life.

wash day (has to be pretty much every day in Spain)

2009-01-12T19:46:00.006Z

the average load capacity of a Spanish washing machine is (in my humble volume evaluating opinion) about half of the average load capacity of a typical American washing machine.
this used to drive me a bit mad. but really, it all makes sense
this is how I see it all fitting together:
Spanish living spaces are small
the typical installation point for a washing machine is in the kitchen. the kitchens are small.
people just. don't. own. dryers. (I'll reserve my thoughts on that for my exciting "drying clothes in Spain" blog entry - - yer excited, aren't you?)
the most common location for your laundry line is on the teeny tiny porch just off your kitchen
there isn't much space on your tiny line (on your tiny porch) to hang many clothes
so really, it wouldn't make sense to be able to wash a large load anyway.