The Chapbook Cafe Beginning the Chilly Months

Winter is coming and that means hours of lounging in book stores sipping lattes. It also means reading magazines for free and parousing children's books that we will not purchase at the bookstore, but order off of ebay. So is the ways of a free economy. Owen enjoyed a mocha-steamer, also known as hot chocolate.
Anna also enjoyed some hot chocolate, she only drank about half of hers though. She is a tiny thing and is not able to drink 12 ounces of yummy delicious hot chocolate. (Owen, of course, was able to drink all of his!)
Here Owen is reading Parson Avery's tales of Thomas on the Island of Sodor. At one time, Rev. Avery wrote the Thomas stories as a way to promote Christian virtues.
Anna and Owen also played at the Thomas Table. It is the first time that we have been to Schuler in a couple of months. The Thomas display had 3 8x11 signs warning of all the recalls because of lead based paint. I thought that they should stop doing recalls and just set up the Thomas section under the headings of 'regular' and 'leaded'.
We enjoyed a good cookie with our drinks as well. Chapbook has GREAT chocolate chip cookies, but the cakes are never too great. The atmosphere is very nice there though- big pained windows, stone fireplace, chess players, good art on the walls. It is one of our favorite hybrid bookstores/cafe's in town (not that there are too many to choose from!)
Lydia always looks through a pile of books. She usually leaves with a list of ISBNs that she will look on Amazon and Ebay for over the next couple of days. A week from now we will begin receiving packages from the letter carrier. The residual effects of a nice mocha have lasting implications!
In the winter I get a double mocha. In the summer I usually get a mocha smoothie. Today was the usual. It was quite tasty and gives enough energy to write into the night!
Watson was quite the darling. He slept the whole time. I am sure that if he was awake, he would have been offered a mocha too!
In time son, in time.

It has finally reached us here in west Michigan. Last week was 89 degrees. Today is roughly 50 degrees. The leaves are falling- soon we will have a blanket of snow. Home bound is close at hand.

Today when Lydia was making lunch I heard the camera being used. I looked around and told Owen to put the camera back. He obeyed cheerfully and this picture was what he took: it is kind of funny seeing his view on our lives.
Watson is finally smiling at ME. Me...Nathan....Nate....ME... I have been the one that Anna and Owen smiled at when they were teeny-tinys- but this kid seems to like Lydia WAY better than me! She looks at him and he smiles brightly. I look at him and he grimaces and requires a hand off to mama.

Notice the good cheeks. Where would a kid get such chubby cheeks? Must be some new flaw in the gene pool? Any rate, Anna thinks they are more than kissable!

Owen is the nap master these days. Lydia and I were just discussing how Anna quit taking naps one day and has only taken a handful since. This little guy is told to lay on the couch and within 5 minutes he is sawing logs.
Here is another one of Anna with Watson. What a sweet helper.
One more of the cheeks and a cheeky grin for mama!
Aunt Heidi is coming today and we will have more pictures from this weekend soon. We are not sure if we are going to German Fest or that Klackel Farms? Any suggestions? (And yes, we have lederhosen for the kinder.)

Church Picnics

Today we had a church picnic. It was at the Bonner's house and was a ton of fun. Almost everyone was there, including our most elder members.
We got a game of good ol' whiffle-ball together and I was talked into playing (with the assurance that there were 2 nurses present and others who know CPR). Mrs. Brandt played too which was awesome seeing her hit the ball and run the plates.

Long and short- I hit. I ran. I know.... its funny to me too.

Happy Anniversary

Yesterday marked 10 years that Lydia and I came to Grand Rapids to attend Calvin College.

Lydia came from Chicago with her reasons; I came from Pennsylvania with my reasons. We met over some Ramen Noodles... and the rest, as they say, is history!

September 4, 1997. We are so old!

Big Weekend Ahead

This weekend is going to be quite busy. Our congregation has the "Grand Rapids Commission" of the RPCNA coming for a congregational visit. This means that there are going to be events Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for me (Lydia is exempt from much of the busyness for obvious reasons).

On Sunday, Watson is being baptized. This is the quickest that we have had one of our children baptize- 9 days old. Grandma Eshelman will be in from Pennsylvania to witness this blessed event. * * His baptism will be at 10AM if anyone wants to be a witness to this sacrament.

Between the services we are going to have a fellowship meal. Usually this means gross sloppy joes and ham and buns (Dutch staples). We are going to rebel and bring something yummy in lieu of sloppy slop.

Brian has been here this week making cheesecakes for the event. (He also made us a scrumtrelescent Chicken Marsala tonight for dinner!) I thought that I would share two of the three that he has made thus far:

This is a New York Cheesecake with blueberry puree marbled through it. It is sitting on my kitchen counter now. Should I eat some?
This is my favorite Brian cheesecake in the whole world. It is a cafe alaut white chocolate mocha cheesecake. You would not believe how much I want to call over the neighbors and devour this bad guy. I bet we could slip Brian $25 so that he could make another one. It really does not take that long... only a few hours to make it.
I know what Owen wants to do!
(That is Brian's crust mix in his mouth...we do brush his teeth.)

SO MUCH to Talk About!!

So much has happened in a week and I could post 10 different posts about it all. I will try for one. Our little Owen turned 2 a week ago. We were in PA visiting my family and they hosted a party for him. He wanted a "Thomas Train" cake, so my mother had one made for him. It was chocolatey good. It was fun watching him opening presents with his sister's "help".

We ate at a really great restaurant that was minutes from Lake Erie. It was in an old lighthouse and had really good steak. It is one of the best local restaurants that I have eaten at in a long time there. Anna wanted to show off her love for the Desert Fathers who were famous for their hours of meditations while standing on poles. She also said that she could not wait for her friend, Brian, to see the picture! I am not sure if I should worried about having a little female mystic on my hands- how is that a form of devotion? Standing on a pole for hours???
These next three are for my aunt Debbie: We travelled around all week with this juice box on top of the car and kept forgetting to take it off. Aunt Debbie wanted to see if it could make it back to Michigan, so we gave it a try... The first one is the juice in Cleveland, Ohio.
Toledo.
In Indiana, just before the Michigan border.
We lost it within a hundred feet of the Welcome to Michigan sign. Lydia and I gasped as if Sedgwick had jumped from the Mountaineer! We really hoped to get one on Union Avenue, but it just could not make it. Oh well.

Here is Marion, Anna, and Maggie at Paige and Bill's wedding. It will be interesting to see how Anna maintains a relationship with these two women as she grows. With Moey going to the land of Aqua Net and Moon Pies and Maggie living in Motown it changes things for our little girl. She loves these two SO much. Anna already has plans for writing Ms. Moes letters.

Here is Anna with the beautiful bride. Paige looked so lovely. I am very happy for her. She could not have found a greater man than Bill. He exemplifies the Lord Jesus in the way that he lives and interacts with others. He is quite well read too (which gives him extra Nate points). I am sure that the Lord will use them in great ways together.
Anna is not quite sure whether Paige is lawfully married though. I guess that in a 3 1/2 year-old head, a bride without a vale over her face is not really getting married. Anna informed Maggie, Lydia, and I today that she would have one over her hair and her eyes when she gets married!

Wedgits

The Mother of All Jurries told Lydia about Wedgits as something that she uses for homeschooling. Lydia purchased a couple of sets and the children LOVE them! They have been playing with them for a couple of hours straight today. Get some.

On another note: Lydia had a doctor appointment for the baby. When she got home Anna asked her if the doctor took the baby out.

A 4am Rambling Story About Maggie, Stainless Steel, and Calico Brownies.

A few weeks ago (or longer) we had Maggie and B over for dinner. We were sitting in the family room chatting away about the joys of being a Christian and we forgot about the potatoes on the stove-top. They boiled over. They actually boiled the pan dry.

Then our oven did not work. Hmmm. There is a connection. Water fried out our electrical panel in the range. (I know, I know, buy gas- blah, blah, blah. But this oven was in the house when we bought it.)

So as the weeks are passing, Lydia and I continue a discussion about what to do. Do we replace the range? Do we have it fixed? What to do? Now, we have a really nice built in range with stainless top, etc. Very nice. At least $1200 to replace it. We could get a junky thing for about $500, but it would not look as nice. What to do?

Lydia calls a service person to come and look at while I am at work. She emails me about it. The whole thing is fried. It will cost way more to fix than to buy a new one. Okay.

So as the weeks are passing, I am not thrilled with replacing what we have (OCD...maybe). I do not want to replace it with lower quality. That is very annoying.

I call Apex on Plainfield. We talk. Then I call again. "Cathy, its Nate again..."

We decide on having one of her service people come and look. That is a $69 fee just for having them come to the house. I am not impressed, but we will see what it can be. They decide that it is one of two parts.

One part- $140

The other part $375

Labor and service call included.. you got yourself the junky range.

I decide to have it fixed. Bob the builder, as Owen calls him comes to the house and decides that is AT LEAST the $140 part. He says we have to replace that one first to decided if we ALSO need the $375 part. Okay Bob.

Murphy's law would tell you that this story is going to end with me paying $42,500 to have a $1200 range fixed; but you would be wrong. We got the old girl back on her feet for $250. I am ecstatic. So happy that Anna and I made Calico brownies before work today.

See, there is such a thing as a happy ending... now I think that the goat cheese pizza party can be hosted by our good ol' oven in honor of Maggie graduating! Any takers?

So, is this the real thing?

There are many signs that Spring is in the air. Today we have our windows open and the smell is so nice. The kids are excited and we are hoping that the season is ready to burst forth. There is always so much gardening to do around here and we are all looking forward to getting things back how they belong. Owen and Anna want to be outside all of the time now. Today I think we may go play at the Gardens and see the butterflies for the first time this season. I hope that they have that blue butterfly that is the size of a hand again this year.
Sunday was the beginning of all of this goodness. Here is Mrs. Lanning stealing some sun before we entered the chapel. When we were there Anna wanted to walk over to Dr. Beeke's house so that she could see him. We walked over (but he was at the MacArthur conference in California). She then wanted to run through the woods behind the seminary. Of course, I would not allow her to do that since that is where all the wild and crazy seminary drop-outs are forced to spend the rest of their existence.
However, the greatest sign that Spring is just around the corner is the fact that the Crocus are coming up all over the place! They are in full bloom. The tulips and other bulbs are coming up, but the Crocus are already singing the praises of Springtime.

They Conspire Against Me...

I must say that today was a long day of classes at the seminary. We are having a special class called "Minister and His Family" in which we go through all the Greek exegesis on how a minister and his family are to behave themselves. Of course, all ministers fall short to some extent, but it is something that we are all called to nonetheless. The guest lecturer is Rev. David Lipsey who is finishing his doctorate in Nouthetic Counseling at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He is also the future father-in-law of Rev. Terry Klaver.

So I get home from class and take Sedgwick out for some afternoon business. I told Anna and Owen that they were not going out with me because I did not want them to get all wet in the midst of the snow storm. Of course I was using authority over my children since I just got back from 9 hours worth of lecture, one of which discussed the obedience of the minister's children.
Thank the Lord, they were obedient. They did not follow me out in the snow as is the normal routine.

Anna believed that I had delegated the authority over Owen in my absence. She thought that it would be wise to lock the door behind me so that Owen would be compelled to obey his father. I turn around, upon Sedgwick's completion, and turn the door handle to find that I am, yet again, locked out of my home! This time I was at the back door which is a beautiful French door with18 panes of glass. Owen waved at me and smiled, not realising that I was stuck outside in 35 mile-per-hour wind and pouring snow.

I knocked.

And knocked.

Anna finally came to the door, 'hi papa!' Anna please go get your mother. She said okay and I watched her go into the family room downstairs to get her.

A few minutes pass and Anna comes back up. I knock and say through the glass, 'Anna did you get your mother?' She said, 'Oh yeah!' She then ran back down stairs to get Lydia.

What an event. Was it last Saturday that Owen locked me out, now Anna? I will have to ask Rev. Lipsey how to deal with this type of problem according to the Scriptures!

Side Note: This is Anna's new favorite hat. It is a $1.00 item from Target's junk section. She insists on wearing it out of the house even. It is not my style. It is a mix of Anne of Green Gables and Southern Fundamentalism.

Alice Liddell: as in Liddell weird

We are watching Alice in Wonderland right now (well, I am 'studying' for an Ecclesiology exam). I did some grade A Google research on Lewis Carroll and I must say that I am quite creeped out.

This picture is Alice Liddell, the namesake of the movie. It seems as though our Opium addicted writer proposed to her when he was in his mid 20's. She was 11. The relationship did not work out because of another relationship that was going on with her mother at the time.

Another strange point is that he became some sort of recluse in his old age and was an Anglo-Catholic priest in a small parish. I have also heard that there may be a connection with 'Jack the Ripper', but who knows? I am still a bit creeped out by him.

Mr. Birn, Could I have your buisness card, please?

Today I get an email at work that Lydia has discovered something that was potentially dangerous:

We know that Owen has been infatuated with the freezer lately and thinks that it is fun to freeze Thomas the Train and to steal Popsicles and eat them in the corner of the family room.

Tonight, it seems that Owen has decided to freeze HIMSELF! Lyd heard the lid (punny) close and went to see what he had taken out of the freezer. Nothing! He placed himself in the freezer!

We have decided to lock it from now on.. yep, probably a good idea! If we were not Christian people, we would sue Costco, General Electric, anyone that owns freezers, the US government for not making the hospital that delivers children give boy-freezer warnings, and whomever reads this post.

But seriously, think if Lydia was not downstairs with him what a horrible event this could have been... a lot like how Walt Disney ended up.

Wendler, My Love, My Friend

We finally finished all of the work that needed to be done at Wendler this week. Actually, Lydia painted while I laid the new floor in the hall and bathroom and then repaired the toilet back to its former throne-status. The above picture is the only one that I really had time to take. I brought my laptop so that I could listen to the Marriage and Family Living Series by Dr. Joel Beeke. Man, that is convicting stuff- if you think that you love your wife enough, listen to it. If you think that you submit enough, listen to it. I have heard that this may be a book at some point. I hope so.

Anyhow, when I packed my laptop, Anna and Owen both had to pack theirs as well. I am not sure what lectures they were listening to though! So, while laying a new floor, I got to be fed by the good doctor. Well worth the time and energy.

We actually ran out of time for painting and we hired Durell Flood to finish it for us. Wow! If you are looking for a painter, call him. Perfection! His Reformed theology comes through in every brush-stroke!

This weekend our new tenant moves in. We are excited to have someone after the few month stint of emptiness at the apartment. It was good though; you really learn how to balance your budget in times like this.

I took a 3 minute video tour of the place so that everyone could see it. It looks really nice and we are so thankful to everyone that helped.

In the comments section please write a few of your favorite memories from Wendler. That apartment has really meant a lot to many people's spiritual growth. Man, we sure had some fun times there!

Da Bears and Western Pennsylvania

Congratulation to my father-in-law on his team going to that Super thing.

We are back now from our trip to western Pennsylvania and we enjoyed ourselves very much. The people at Rose Point are a great community of believers and whomever the Lord sends them as a minister will be blessed to work with such a great congregation. (I hope that they would like to have me back!)

We also got to spend time in Corry with my family. The highlight was making dinner with my father and my brother. I do believe that event would make a great reality TV show! Pictures are sure to follow.

1:30 AM Saturday Morning

We are currently at the Hampton Inn in Richfield, Ohia. We are less than one and a half hours from Rose Point Church but the roads have disappeared under a field of white and heavy eyelids. We shall continue our journey at 9:30 in the morning.

There is a Nintendo here complete with Excitebike, all the Mario's (including Dr. Mario), and a whole slew of Nintendo 64 games. Lydia was filled with excitement, but it is $7.00 per hour to play it. She will have to practice some self-denial.

Anna wants to go home. She does not like this room. Owen could care less.

Pray for us as we continue our journey tomorrow. Pray for me as I bring the Word to Rose Point Church on the Lord's Day.

Maggie's Sense of Humor

Sunday we had our dear friend Maggie over...all day. We really enjoy her company and her fellowship and it stands that she has an open invitation at all times.

We were discussing various topics, some that were good Sunday topics such as Scripture and Bible studies. At times our conversation would slip into things like our schedules and school.
Maggie said that she has been riding her bike to school so she does not have to pay the $170 (or some such figure). This has been really working out for her because she has to ride up 'Michigan hill' and that will help build strong muscles in the legs.

In typical Maggie fashion, she shared the humor of this all in that her bike does not have any brakes! She bikes up and down that hill and through downtown Grand Rapids without brakes. She said that her dad told her that they cost only about $3 at Meijer or Walmart or some other such retailer. We laughed with Mags at how carefree she is at times. Lydia said she had better go get them so that she does not kill herself! Maggie laughed and said that she would go get them this week.

Well, she has not purchased them yet.

They may be a good gift to get her when you go visit her this week on the 4th floor of Spectrum Hospital...which happens to be on 'Michigan hill'.

(She hit a car...couldn't stop!)

It's Hot

I am not an electrician, and I do not pretend to be one; but my wife tells me that she smells smoke, I listen. Last night, after a very long day, at 1am, we were ready to crawl into bed and call it a night.
Lydia came up stairs from taking Sedgwick for his late night trip to the outside and tells me that she smells smoke in the bedroom.

Recall a late October night in my college days when I arrived home from Lydia's apartment to find a smokey mess in the kitchen. My house-mates and I preceded to the basement to find some flames shooting up a bathroom wall that could be seen from the ceiling boards. We called 911 and were homeless for a few months as the contractors repaired the damage.

Back to yesterday:

I told her that I did not smell it but a sense of fear and paranoia fills me at the thought of another house fire. I began to sniff around and to my surprise a lightswitch had an added feature. It seems that when you turned this switch on now, a really noncomforting crackling sound would precede from the wall as well as that horrid electrical fire smell that sends terror down my spine.

I took off the plate and looked for flames, which there were none. I then noticed that Owen had decided to join me in the hallway. (For the record here is Owen's complete lexicon- night-night, Anna, and dog.) Owen decided that he would add 'hot' to the lexicon as he pointed up to the lightswitch. Good Owen! Hot.

The long and 'short' is that I replaced the switch and all works fine again. I do need some training on the two-switch to one light though. It seems that you cannot control the switch from either place, only one at a time. I am sure that Gerald, my new electrician will give me some free advice!

Hot!

Faithfulness in the Little Things

Sometimes the people of this world let us down. We live in a world that is tainted by sin and often we find that people that we thought that we could count on harm us in various ways.

As Christians we need to deal with this in an upright manner. Often this can mean that we have to suffer. Suffering is never enjoyable, but we must recall the fact that the Scriptures assure us that suffering is but for a season and that all things work for the good for those who are the called, that love Christ Jesus. This is the hope that we have as Christians. We understand that suffering is purposeful and not without reason. We must be faithful in these times, even if it is in little things. Jesus told us that if we are faithful in that which is least is also faithful in that which is much.

May He find us faithful in much.

Jersey Junction

East Grand Rapids is known for its fabulous shops and great curiosity stores. There are many places to go and many things to experience. 'East', as the locally preferred jargon, is a place of beautiful homes, great city-scape, Reed's Lake, and high taxes- but most importantly, East GR is home to Jersey Junction.
Jersey Juction has been open in East since the 1960s. The original owner was Cris VanAllsburg who is was the mother of the writer of Jumangi as well as Polar Express. There is a great large scale train that runs across the top of the store. It is very fun to watch and makes you want the wait for the ice-cream so that you can watch it longer!

Boys Are Gross

We had to take Owen to the doctor (well, actually we saw a physician's assistant). He began to have some sores on his chin and some different sores in his mouth. Dr. Lydia looked at them and thought that the sores on his chin was impetigo, but I told that was not true because we are clean people and our children are not sucking snot off of the floor of some daycare.
When we got the doctor's office, we found out that the sores were impetigo, and he also has thrush in his mouth.
The thrush may be from the fact that when he had croup he was on an antibiotic, but we are unsure.

For those who have 'good stomachs' I have linked the google image for both problems. Have fun!

Impetigo
Thrush