Ladies’ tea

Today we had 3 neighbors over for afternoon tea. They are all widows, aged about 75 or so.  All of them have lived in their houses (next door and across the street from us) for 50 years.  They arrived here as young brides! Eleanor planned the tea and made the invitations.   We planned on cucumber sandwiches – Eleanor will not eat cucumbers but always wants them when we have tea.   As usual, ran out of time at the end, so we just had sweets.  We cut brownies and shortbread into little pieces, and made mini blueberry muffins, so the ladies could sample everything.

It was a nice afternoon.   The kids helped serve and sat quietly as the ladies talked about their cable tv bills, local restaurant prices (they’ve gone up!) and asked about homeschooling.  They were really fascinated with that topic and kept coming back to it… then they’d veer off again.  I knew James was bored near to death (and had had way too much tea with sugar to keep himself occupied) so finally allowed him to excuse himself to his room.  Eleanor stayed with the ladies.

One lady brought a large bag of M&Ms for each kid, to compensate for the fact that she won’t be home on halloween.   We didn’t tell her we don’t trick or treat anyway.  I have to admit she is our favorite of the three.  She winked at James a lot and tried to veer the conversation toward the kids more.  I’m sure she knew he was bored.  (She also brought the best cookies when we moved in, then brought us the secret ingredient and the recipe so we could make them ourselves.)   Another lady brought some cookies in a little Christmas tin.

They seemed to be delighted with the invitation.  All of them have families but mostly not nearby.   Their daughters work and their grandkids are so busy they don’t have much time to see them.  There was a fair bit of talk about how families don’t eat dinner together anymore.   You can imagine their opinion on that!   I’m sure they have a lot to say and like to have someone to say it too.  We need to have them over more often.

Missing Reformation Day

Well, I guess it’s Reformation Sunday whether there is a celebration to go to or not.  We did get to go to a Reformation service tonight.  It was pretty good, except we’re not sure to hearing  “oh baby” in a sermon.

Hope the EPC folks had a wonderful time today!  We’d love to hear about it!

Rainier than Oregon?

It has been raining nonstop, and hard, for the past 2 days. We just keep marveling at all the rain that’s falling. We’re from Oregon, we know rain, right? Yet I don’t remember such relentless rain for such a long time. Maybe it’s just short memory. Was it last winter it rained for 28 days straight? But did it pour?

James is a little concerned about the flash flood warnings. When he was little he worried a lot about floods. Yes, even up on the hill. Now we’re in the flatlands and it seems more plausible. But we’re far enough away from the nearest creek to be safe. Still, Cris had to dig some channels in the yard to drain some of the low spots.

Last night James had his first Webelos meeting in full regalia. Boy did he look grown up. And big. He tried on Cris’s hat and you know, it’s not all that big on him! He has earned his Bobcat badge and is now working on his “communicator” badge. Some of us who know him well can’t help but smile a little at the thought. He gave a 3-minute talk last night at a den meeting – one of the badge requirements. After much pondering he decided to talk about some of his favorite places in Oregon. He mentioned Mt Hood and sledding. I’m told one of the questions was “what’s it like to sled on a volcano? Is it lava, or snow?”

While the men were at scouts, Eleanor and I worked on a doll dress.

Today we were thinking of going out to John James Audubon’s first home in America (now an Audubon visitor center) but the rain is making us lazy and I think we will stay in. Last week we watched “A Day at the Races” and the kids are now hooked on the Marx Brothers. I picked up a couple more at the library, so I think we’re set for a leisurely day. Cris will join us as time permits. A test Monday, a couple of papers due this week, and a midterm coming up… he’s locked up in his office a good bit of the day.

I’m thinking (hoping) that this hard first semester or year is intentional, to weed out the less serious students. It’s hard on all of us, but we’re learning how to live this new way.

Next week: tea with the three widowed neighbor ladies (James plans to wear his scout uniform to serve), dessert with a family down the street, and a post-homeschool PE lunch with 3 families. Lots of cooking coming up!

The days are just packed.

I am not sure what they are packed with, but it seems that we’re always hopping.

Let’s see… James found a friend who lives just around the corner. We had heard about a homeschool family over there, but had never seen them, even on our frequent walks. We had just about decided it was all a myth when they appeared. Actually, the mom and little sister appeared first; we chatted out on the front lawn for a bit while James did some yard work. A few minutes later a 10 year old boy came by to say hi. The boys have gotten together daily ever since. Well it’s only been 3 days. It is thrilling to him to have a friend he doesn’t have to have a set “playdate” with. Remember in Beaverton we had no neighbors, so no spontaneous play opportunities.

So we’re working on a friend for Eleanor too. There is an 8 year old girl down the street but we haven’t connected well. I finally decided to invite the family over for dessert so the two shy girls will be thrown together. We’re still doing the “get a date down on paper” dance.

I feel really foolish not knowing neighborhood protocol. The last time I lived in a “regular” suburban neighborhood was in 8th grade. The world was safe then and no one worried about roaming for hours, going from one friend’s house to another. Of course most people had lived there forever and knew everyone on the street anyway.

Cris studies and writes. I am not sure we’ve ever listed his classes: Greek, Systematic Theology, Church History, Practical Theology (ministry formation), and Apologetics. He likes them all, but is he ever busy!

Did I mention that James is a Cub Scout now? The first campout was supposed to be last night. But big thunderstorms were predicted so it was postponed. The storms didn’t really happen as promised, but there was some big rain and wind, so it was probably just as well they didn’t go. Next week, maybe.

How many churches can we visit?

Last Sunday we went to one more church. We were invited by a few of Cris’s acquaintances at WTS. We have been a bit half-hearted about the church we attend most frequently, and just couldn’t muster much enthusiasm to go there. So we thought we’d try something new.

We figured right away it might not be a good fit for us. We have come to like (and expect?) a liturgy that includes confession of sin, assurance of pardon, confession of faith… and we could see those elements were missing from the order of service.

But, we all liked it. The preaching was good. The service was good, even without those elements.  There were a lot of kids of all ages. (James is the oldest of the kids at the church we’ve been going to.  This is not reason alone to decide on a church.  But it’s a factor for us.)  Eleanor saw a friend from PE class. Oh, she approved of the music too.

So now we’re not sure, again.

————-

We have been keeping pretty busy. Almost to the point of getting too busy, in fact.  I don’t think the kids feel lonely anymore, though Eleanor is still missing girlfriends to admire her new doll. James is now a Cub Scout; he and Cris have their first campout next week. I’m looking into a 4H group for Eleanor, and we have park days and PE classes, and field trips to look forward to. Last weekend we all enjoyed a reenactment of the Battle of Germantown, and next month we’ll attend a homeschool day at Pennsbury Manor, William Penn’s home in Bucks County.

Tonight we’re enjoying some wild weather! Fall may be here, suddenly! It was 82 today and then the temp suddenly dropped and the downpour began!

E’s library adventure

Tonight the local library had a book discussion group for kids.  Eleanor read the book and was very excited about going.   So after dropping me off at a lecture at Westminster (on irresistible grace), they went off to the library.

When they picked me up  Eleanor was very excited.  She had had a great time.  She was the only kid who showed up!  So she and the librarian spent the time talking about the book, and other books, and about Oregon.  At some point – Eleanor couldn’t remember when or what the context was – the librarian asked “are you homeschooled?”

After  a while they pulled Cris and James into the conversation – and gave them some cookies.  And a bunch of caramel apples…

Eleanor was glowing when she told me about it.   She has a boatload of new books to read, and a new friend at the library.  She also told me “she was the first grownup outside our family that I really felt comfortable talking to for a long time, except [a certain choir director and her husband].”

While at the library, James read some science books and Cris studied Greek.    Then they came to pick me up and ran around the grounds of the seminary.  It was a beautiful night; cool and pleasant at 9 pm.  Fall is coming!