Mem Fox - Lovely writing & blasphemous speaking

Mem Fox spoke last night at Skilled Stadium in Geelong. Mem Fox is one of the most famous children's book writers in Australia. Some of her well known titles are Koala Lou, The Magic Hat, Where is the Green Sheep?, and Possum Magic.

Koala Lou and Where is the Green Sheep? are two of my personal favourites.

Last night Mrs. Fox gave us the pleasure of listening to her read a few of her own books, followed by her thoughts on reading to children.

I enjoyed listening to her read, it was as if she was singing as times. You can see her past studies in drama come out in how she reads aloud.

The enjoyment of being read to aloud was overshadowed by her flagrant taking of the Lord's name in vain. It was so frequent that I was quite uncomfortable. It wasn't just slipping out, she was using it to create drama in her speech. I found that to be very disgusting.

I thought about raising my hand and asking her to stop but then wondered if that would be respectful and loving. In the end I didn't, maybe I was just to scared and using the "respect/love" argument as an excuse. Anyway, I have decided I will write her and tell her how wrong that was.

After the readings were finished she began to tell us stories about her experiences with people and their children reading, her world view, and how reading out loud to children is so very important.

I agree with her in that reading out loud to children is important, very important, but that is where I stop. Mrs. Fox seems to think that reading will change human nature. I am not so surprised by this. I have heard several people say how education/teaching people to read is the key. Mrs. Fox said last night that people in prison have not been read enough fairy tales. If they had been read fairy tales they would know right and wrong.

She gave an example of a young person breaking into a car to steal a five dollar note. That child did not know it was wrong. They had obviously not been read to enough., especially fairy tales.

As a Christian I know this does not match up with what the Bible says.

Psalm 51:5 "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me."

Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"

Psalm 119:11 "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."

Fairy tales/stories/myths are not what society needs. It is God's word, the truth, that will show people what is right and wrong. Knowing right from wrong is not enough. We need to acknowledge that we have sinned and then turn to Christ seeking repentance and forgiveness. Christ dying on the cross is our hope not books, education, reading, or fairy tales.

Challenge update and a long Saturday

Well I don't think I did very well on Saturday or Sunday.

Saturday was packed full, enough so that I barely took the time to eat breakfast and lunch.

Jolene had a birthday party to go to that morning. We had to leave early from that so I could get her to the ballet photo session. Each year the ballet group gets photos taken before the end of the year concert.

After that I went home and Brandon left to go shopping for a surfboard. His company gives each employee $500/year to spend on health and well being. For the second half of this year B decided to buy a board.

After he got back, I went grocery shopping. I was interrupted by a call from Brandon letting me know Adele had been hit by our swing in the middle of the forehead. She was bleeding profusely and needed to be taken to the doctor. I ran home, dumped the groceries, and took Adele to the doctor. The doctor put some glue in the gash and squeezed it shut until it began to dry. Put a few steri-strips on it and all better. Adele screamed while this was going on but held very still. She was a brave little girl.

After we got back from the doctor we fed the kids, put pajamas on, and then headed to McEwen's. They were watching our kids while Brandon and I went to my soccer club's end of the year dinner.

I was awarded best and fairest of 2009 for the Women's team. A very cool thing for me to get. I really like how they did the voting. The ref, for each game, rates the top three players. The first ranked player from each team gets three points, second gets two points, and third gets one point. At the end of the year they are tallied up and each club announces their B&F. It is kind of like MVP of the team.

I won with 21 points, second place got 17.

All in all a long day.

Sunday we were in McKinnon.

This week Brandon heads to Brisbane Tuesday - Thursday

By the end of this week it will be less than two weeks before I and the kids leave for the States.

Listening - The Francis Shaeffer Institute

I am listening to podcasts from the Francis Shaeffer Institute (Resources for Life).

I tend to download them onto my phone and then listen while I am doing my chores at night.

So far I have listened to...

1. Truly Educating the Whole Person by Susan Shaeffer Macualay.

This is one of four in a series entitled For the Children's Sake.

2. The second one is a series entitled Justice at Home, Justice Abroad by Prof. Jerrum Barrs.

Number two sticks out in my head as especially good to listen to - When is it Right to Fight? The Just War and Modern War

3. The next one up on the phone is a series called Two Worlds Under One Roof: Bridging the Generation Gap by William Romanoski.

The four parts are entitled
- Christianity and Culture
- Developing a Christian Approach to Popular Art
- Looking At Hollywood Films
- Putting It All Together

plus the breakout sessions

- Perfect Parenting: Dream On, Parents! (Breakout Session)
- Made in Whose Image? God's or the Medias? (Breakout Session)
- New Family Models (Breakout Session)

I'll see how it goes...

My day in comments, in chronological order

"Sorry kids, the library is closed today. We will go to the pet store now." (Today is Geelong Cup day. I forgot. No storytime.)

"Mom! I have poos...in my undies"

"Mom! I can't find Olive (the guinea pig)"

"Oh, I see a molar poking through (talking to Gids). I should give you some panadol."

"Jolene, do not draw on the table with your cheese!"

"Why is Gideon covered in blue chalk?!"

"Jolene you cannot smear the blue chalk right in front of the door like that. Gideon is covered in it and now it is all over his clothes, the couch, and the carpet."

"I love you mom" "I love you too"

"Jolene, you cannot climb in or out of windows! You are not allowed to take the screens out"

"I will be an hour late getting home tonight."

"Adele you need to go to the toilet." "Mommy, I have poos in my undies"

"you may not make a slide out of the suitcases. They just fell on Gideon"

The end to a long and messy day.


p.s. Too many messes to keep up with the water today. I will be happy if I get 3 in today.

Water

Monday - 4.5 glasses

Tuesday - 5

Wednesday - so far 1.5

It is hard drinking 5 all the time. For useful purposes I might go down to 4 after this week.

Challenge for this week

I have realized that I don't drink enough water. I get too busy feeding the kids that sometimes I end up not eating or drinking, or just not drinking. Seeing as your body needs a lot of water this is not a good habit to be in. So I am going to try to drink 5 of these every day this week. I think it will add up to 2.5 L / day. Not a bad amount.



Someone once told me it takes 6 weeks to set a good habit. I have four weeks until I leave for the States.

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I wonder where they are going?

As I promised

In the last write up I said I would post some pics of my new art. Here you go. The frames cost more than the art and I found them at the $2 shop. They were not $2, should I complain? I found the posters at Delicious Design League, they have awesome posters and art there. Website work comes in handy from time to time. I like free lancing.




Oh, I should mention that the Tokyo Police Club poster is special in that it is advertising for the Metro in Chicago. We have seen a few bands play there. I have a lot of respect for that venue. They are up on incoming bands and usually only charge around $15 ( see bottom right corner of poster) to get in. A far cry from the $100-150 it is here to see bands.

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We bought one of the old pews from church. Here is where it is in our house. I need to get some baskets to put underneath and hooks above it for coats. Sometime in the newt (Brandon just pointed this error out to me, but I think it is funny so it is going to stay) few months that will probably happen.

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One more picture, our cord drawer



Needs help, wouldn't you say?

Malaysia

Brandon was on a business trip to Malaysia this past week (Mon-Fri). He got back to our house around 2:30 this morning. He decided to take the rest of the day off, we were all smiles.

B and two others went over there to check on some suppliers. One does some powder coating for them and the other(or maybe the same company) is a die casting plant. B said the working conditions in the die casting plant were pretty bad. Not much skin protection from the molten metal and safety doors that were not in use. B used to work in a die casting plant back in Kokomo so he knows what it is like to be on the line working with the metal. From all of this he is wondering what responsibility (if any) as a buyer does his company have for the safety of those workers. I think he may talk to his boss about it a bit. There may not be a whole lot they can do seeing as though there is no ownership in that company.

So the first day there was work and then the second was free to walk around. They all forgot cameras so we only have pics from B's phone. B went to the China Town section later that night. I guess those sorts of markets don't really kick into gear until later in the evening. B said the cockroaches were doing well establishing themselves in the community.

Tuesday night I talked to B on the phone and could hear quite clearly the evening prayers from the mosque next door. A strange sound to us Westerners.

The girls were of course excited about the presents they received. We all got pashminas, long scarves that the Muslim women wear around their heads. Gids came away with some pretty funky flashcards with pictures of vehicles. They have the English and Chinese translations on them. I think I might borrow them for decorating. B also gave me some Ray Ban sunglasses, we assume they are knock offs because they only cost $3. I also got a dress and the girls got some cool stickers and origami paper.

We did fairly well while he was away. I am very thankful for all our friends here who took care of us while B was away. One friend babysat the girls so I could go shopping, another family had us over for dinner, another for lunch and a play, and still another for lunch and a play. Blessings from the church family.

The only major problem I had was sleeping. I had very fitful sleep every night. You know how you sleep when you bring your baby home from the hospital? Every single noise woke me up. A few weeks ago our car was broken into while parked out front. I think that may have contributed to the unease.

Tomorrow is Saturday. Going to a giant garage sale looking for kids clothes. Oh, I just bought some new art and put it up! I'll take some pics and post those soon.

You have got to be kidding me

First off

Obama getting the peace prize. What a joke.

We've All Won the Nobel Booby Prize

How do you win the Nobel Prize in just 12 days? Well, according to political pundit, columnist, and blogger Tommy De Seno over the last decade, the only discernible requirement has been to be "critical of George W. Bush--see Al Gore, Mohamed El Baradei, and Jimmy Carter."

But, even by that standard, Barack Obama's giddy cheerleaders in Oslo have broken new ground. The deadline for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize nominations was February 1. The president took office just 12 days before that--on January 20.

The heat is on...a few more quotes from The Australian. As Brandon was saying it should be called the Nobel Peace Bribe. Oh so true.

Matti Ahtisasri, former Finish president and last year's Peace Prize winner, said the award should "encourage" Mr. Obama's Middle East peace efforts.

"We do not yet have a peace in the Middle East...this time it was very clear that they wanted to encourage Obama to move on these issues," Mr. Ahtisaari told CNN. "This is a clear encouragement to do something on this issue. I wish him good luck."

Exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer said the honour would raise expectations for the US leader to stand up for human rights around the world.

Ms Kadeer, who has been tipped as a laureate for her fight on behalf of the Chinese minority group, said:

"I am very happy that he got it. Now he has to do something with the award. It raises expectations on him to stand up for oppressed nations."

In parent speak...here is a bribe now you better do what we want you to do. Why not make it a reward instead? Do something and then we will give it to you.


Secondly

An article I just read the 7News-Yahoo website

"A Tasmanian man who told police that murdering his wheelchair-bound former housemate was "better than any drug" has been sentenced to 35 years jail.

Aaron Streets, 24, of George Town, near Launceston, had convictions for rape and arson before fatally bashing and stabbing Dean Gower, 49, in Hobart on April 7.

He will be eligible for parole after serving 22 years of his sentence, handed down on Monday by Supreme Court Justice Shan Tennant for what she described as a brutal and sustained attack."

Great, after a possible 22 years he could be back out. Way to go justice system! Show the country how valuable life is.

Long day today & new playgroup outreach

Today there was a protest against abortion in downtown Melbourne. We as a family plus another family from church went up together for the day.

The event was called March For The Babies. It was a walk from the Fitzroy Gardens to the Parliament House. Once we arrived at the Parliament House there were a few speakers, singing, and so on.



The weather was perfect for such a walk, we were thankful.

After the event (i.e. when all our young children began to loose it) we walked back to the gardens and had lunch. With our bellies full we headed to Fed. Square, then to a playground on the other side, and eventually passed the big Ferris wheel.

Oh, almost forgot. The girls and I stopped by a mock refugee camp put together by an organization somewhat like Doctors Without Borders (I can't actually remember their proper name right now). The setup was well thought out. They started out the tour by saying you had three minutes to leave your home, what are you going to grab? Adele said her blanket and passie. Good thinking 'Del. I'm sure a passie will be very useful in bribing the border patrols. They then walked you around to different refugee camps. We saw the living conditions, food rations (we eat way to much food), and other day to day objects that make up the world of a refugee.

Our tour guide was from Canada and had worked in Sudan. Unfortunately I didn't get a good chance to talk to her, would have been good to.

I think it would be such an eye open for us as a family to go and serve with people like this for a few months. I was wondering if the Barnabas Fund has any volunteer openings?

By the time we got back to the car everyone was dead tired. I drove the girls and B to the train station where they caught a ride back home. Gids and I met them at the station on the other end. The girls love riding the train, they get to see some of the things that their daddy is working on.

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I have been asked by a friend to help her lead a playgroup at another church. This church holds two playgroups a week as an outreach to the community. I and my friend both see it as a good way to meet other moms in the community, an opportunity to share about our Christian lives, and a good way for our kids to socialize.

Oh, I should mention that my other playgroup has ended. All the kids are in day care and kinder for pretty much the entire week now, making it impossible to schedule meeting times.

So this new playgroup will be my take two in all of that. I am looking forward to meeting some new moms.