Going Green whether I like it or not

I'm from Texas. We don't recycle, we don't buy in small quantities, we don't worry about trees or air pollution. We just consume as we please, and if we're believers, we think to ourselves (if we think about it all), nothin's gonna last anyway...Jesus is coming back before any of this really matters.

However, I have found that moving to a blue state (IA) necessitated a change in our habits. I mean, if we didn't recycle, what would our neighbors think? So, we did the bare minimum, and I still avoided anything too inconvenient or buying organic food. That word (organic) just irritated me.

Then, we moved across the pond. This is my last week of having a dishwasher, we had a working clothes dryer for 1 month last year, we have never had a garbage disposal, which means nothing but water can go down the sink. So, almost every day, I hand-wash a good number of dishes and definitely do laundry b/c the washer is the size of a thimble. As for recycling and trash...Good grief- there's no getting away with bare minimum. Here we are, with one trash can that gets emptied on a fortnightly basis (translated, once every 2 weeks)...what the what???? So, we find ourselves recycling every bit and bob possible and scraping any food morsel into a container that we then transfer to a composting trash can...that's right...we are composters...and not because I enjoy giving my smelly trash back to the environment, but because I simply cannot waste the valuable trash can space on something that can feasibly go somewhere else.

As I lamented the amount of space dedicated to dirty diapers, I realized I could do cloth diapers...what is the world coming to???? I AM NOT GREEN!!!! Not gonna happen....this all led me to ponder all the things people are convicted of that have little to do with Christ (including myself) and how we force this onto others. If I were not a believer in Christ, I would hate Christians...seriously. I HATE being forced into things or people insisting their way is better. I just want to be left alone, to make my own choices, and if I need/want help, I'll ask...:) Not very charitable, but I'm being honest.

Now, as for being green, I actually do think that as believers in the Creator, we should be the best stewards of His creation as possible. Things are not the way they're supposed to be. God did not create this world to be evil or bad. As Christians, we often become gnostics and treat the material things as bad in and of themselves. This is a shame, because I believe we end up disrespecting what God created as good and what He ultimately will restore to goodness. So, in this area, I am happy to have been enlightened...I will still buy disposable diapers, though, thank you very much...one step at a time.

However, after becoming a mother, I was exposed to (and partook in) a whole new world of convictions. I have had 2 children. I nursed one and bottle-fed the other. In general, I will tell you that I am opposed to attachment parenting and very much believe in establishing (appropriate) independence at an early age. I am contemplating public school at 3 years old. I was a teacher, and I value the school environment for a number of reasons, not the least of which is having our children be lights for Christ and our prayers are for them to be influencers, which overrides any fears of them being tarnished or influenced badly or me thinking I could do a better job.

So, as you can see, we all have our "things," don't we? We feel so strongly about them that they feel important enough for others to embrace them. I find myself getting tired, though...tired of people judging each other for not breastfeeding, or for demand-demanding, for always letting your kid cry, for never letting him cry, for homeschooling, for not homeschooling, for working while a mom, for not working as a mom...we can find fault with anything, can't we? Anyway, I am finally in a place where I can appreciate that Jesus is just about the only thing I can stand firmly on as "the one way." As Rebekah says, "I want to say what Jesus says (which is)...'I am the way, the truth, and the life.'"

Life after company

So, in general, life after company is always...well, lonely. When you're an extreme extrovert like me, you require very little time to yourself (maybe more away from kids though :)), so having family leave would not be your favorite thing. However, to make matters worse, I got very (read totally) lost at 4am on the way to take Mike and Phyllis to the airport. It felt like a movie- in the UK, nothing but tiny villages around you, no one to ask, no signs...lots of driver error, but praise the Lord, out of nowhere, a taxi pulled up behind me- I rolled down my window and asked if by chance he was headed to the airport. He was. That was you, Lord. We followed him and my in-laws made their flight- barely!! I came home caught 2 more hours of sleep, then we packed up and headed back into Aberdeen to help throw a farewell party for our dear friends, the Greens. The party was great, if I say so myself (and I do), but signaled my last time to see the Greens. Sigh. I don't really want to talk about it. Suffice it to say I feel much of my married life has been saying goodbye in one form or another.

So, as a result, Josh has been spending a lot of time with us for several reasons- 1) he is a great husband and knows me well and that being isolated is hard for me, 2) he is a great father and loves hanging with the children, and 3) working from home is not as productive as you might think. We are glad he will have an office somewhat soon to go to so that we are not always distracting him. :)

Anyway, we are doing well- actually we are currently obsessed with LOST- the people we rented our flat from had Seasons 1 and 3, so we put off starting it because you may have noticed the lack of season 2. Well, we gave in and- you guessed it- bought Season 2 on ebay. We will sell it soon. We are in the middle of Season 3. Love it. (This is not an invitation to comment on the happenings- if you tell me something I don't know, I will quit blogging. Pretty severe stakes, I know). We haven't been in bed before 11:30 in I don't know how long- we get in 4-5 episodes a night. Yikes.

Luke is still cutting his first molar and 2 more look imminent. He is doing better, though. I have deiced to start serving his dinner on the floor. Since he will eat any speck off the floor, maybe if I put peas or fruit (he will NOT eat fruit unless pureed) or meat on the floor, he will eat it...? His current obsession is climbing...mainly up the stairs or up a slide- much to my chagrin. :) He is so me and gets frustrated very easily. On the flip side, he is absolutely precious when he achieves his goals because is soooooooooooooo proud of himself- he'll just chuckle to himself as he scales something.

Rebekah is a nut, as always. I think she might be more articulate than I am. She is mini-mom to Luke, and often rebukes me for letting him have things he could choke on (in her opinion). She is his cheerleader and only gets perturbed when he wants soemthing that is hers, but really is such a good sport about it. Bekah is also super-creative and imaginative. She works with her "art supplies" every day and has such an imagination as she draws and pretends. I love it and encourage it all as much as possible. We are also working on Bible verse memory and she is very good with it. I am trying not to force it, though.

This cracked me up- evidently Mickie needed some bandages (made from stickers)-

This was her diaper- an empty package of fruit snacks placed exactly flat and on her bottom.

Last night was a ton of fun- I was putting Luke to bed and I heard a lot of laughter from outside. Josh was teaching Rebekah about "cracking an egg" on the trampoline. You remember- roll yourself up in a ball and clasp your hands around your legs, while the other person bounces you and tries to get you to let go. I was "invited" to join (R's words) and I haven't laughed that hard in a while. It was great fun. Rebekah and I played again today and I was mortified at my lack of trampoline skills- evidently having 2 babies has changed how long I can jump (and laugh) without wetting my pants and definitely the height of my toe touches, which kill now! Such a shame...I guess the kids are worth it. :)

Climbing and Tea

So, Luke is climbing...no more longing glances at the stairs...

Rebekah climbed this all by herself!

Sometimes you're not sure where your baby has crawled...this was not one of those times. Little slug. :)

Phyllis treated me to a very nice afternoon tea. We went to the falls of Feugh Tea Room, which had a lovely ambiance and a view overlooking the falls.

I liked this pine tree with blue-ish pine cones. It was right by our table.

I also liked our scones and sponge. :)

The front.

Sadly, Mike and Phyllis leave us tomorrow at 4am. I am more saddened by them leaving than by the ungodly hour, though both are lamentable.

Storybook Glen, Raemoir Garden Centre, & Drum Castle

We had a girls' date at Storybook Glen the day before yesterday. We managed to hit it at just the right time- meaning in between massive amounts of good ol' Scottish rain.

This is the first Highland cow (pronounced coo) I have actuially seen...sadly it was on fenced-in property...we'll take what we can get.

Nana and Rebekah got croc charms at the gift shop.

Rebekah is checking out the erasers I bought her.

These flowers lined the walkway to the garden centre right by "our" house- the centre is aweseom! Gorgeous flowers, a great gift shop, a restaurant, and a fabulous play area!

This is Drum Castle- about 15 minutes away from the house. Rebekah is already spoiled and asked for "another chance" to see the castle...upon further investigation, we discovered that she really wanted to play at a playground and erroneously assumed that all castles had playgrounds.

Check out the super-cute tea tray I got for 6 pounds!

Look at little man! LOVE how he crosses his ankles...this is a common pose for him as he watches TV.

Not sure when she turned 7...

Dad- this is for you- yesterday, Rebekah pointed to a white-trunked tree and excitedly said, "Papa! Look! It's a birch tree!" Indeed it was.