Tall Tales of the Open Seas

Micah to his cousins as he snuggled beneath a blanket on the couch . . . in our living room . . . on dry land: "I do have a sickness. I very sick."

Me: "Really, Micah? What do you have?"

Micah: "Sea sickness."

He remained quite adamant that he did indeed have sea sickness and would not be persuaded otherwise. He's a stubborn little sailor!

Try A Little Tenderness

It's been one of those "character-building" weeks where I've learned a lot--the hard way. What I learned from a sinus infection:

1) Older sisters (especially older sisters who are nurses in allergy and asthma offices) know a lot. When an older sister tells you to go to the doctor because you probably have a sinus infection, you should go.

2) A sinus infection left festering for three months from the time your sister gave sage advice will most likely go all crazy on your body, resulting in symptoms some of which may not even seem sinus-related--rash, entire body aching, fever, hideous sore throat, and major chest congestion.

3) Doctors can be nice people and are not to be feared; therefore, they are not to be avoided.

4) My husband is amazing! (Okay, I pretty much already knew that.) He picked up all the slack--took care of the boys, made all the meals, kept up the house, ran pharmacy pick-ups, and managed his seminary work--all without complaining. He was extremely compassionate and tenderhearted.

5) Compassion and tenderness are really nice. It's lovely to be the one receiving such graces. I wish I could say that the wonderful treatment I received from Nathanael was simply a mirror of my own tender-loving care of him when he's been ill or injured, but it isn't. (Those of you who know my low tolerance for sports-related injuries in particular are laughing right now.)

6) I am generally not compassionate or tender to my family when they are sick or hurt. I need to change. (But, Lord, please don't test me on this anytime soon!)

A Hodge Podge Halloween

As October days passed quickly, Nathanael and I were faced with the question of Halloween: to do or not to do. Growing up, my family always carved pumpkins, dressed up and trick-or-treated through the neighborhood. I have very fond memories of planning elaborate costumes and parading through the hallways of Howe Elementary on Halloween--even winning the most creative costume award one year as a California grape (remember those?). We were never allowed to dress up as witches or wizards or anything scary. Nathanael never celebrated Halloween in Brazil, and he didn't really feel the need to start celebrating it now. Neither of us was all that determined to fight it out on the subject.

One thing we did agree on was the affect of grotesque or scary images on the boys. We had already dealt with some questions and fears spawned by seeing decorations in stores (thanks a lot, Walgreens) and on houses in the neighborhood. Why run the risk of the boys seeing something disturbing? And so we chose a middle road that was agreeable to both of us--a fun celebration with the cousins that, in the end, may have been more disturbing than Halloween itself:).

I'm not sure any amount of narrative could tie the bizarre events of our celebration together, so here's a very brief summary: Ethan transformed his monk costume into knight attire, and Micah dressed as a cowboy. We went over to the cousins where we ate hot dogs and broccoli, stuffed a Santa Claus pinata with dairy and turmeric-free candy, had a visit from Nacho Libre, roasted marshmallows, "smoked" Hobbit pipes, and listened to Katherine and Nathanael sing Bible camp songs in English and Portuguese. I joined in on "It Only Takes a Spark." Here are the pics:

P.S. The picture at the top of the post is a mysterious pumpkin that showed up at our door late one night. The doorbell rang, and when we opened it, our pumpkin was missing and the spider pumpkin sat all aglow in its place. Halloween hijinks!