a quick sum up

I know that no news is good news and here that is true, but I also know that some news is better than no news.  So, here is some, although probably not as much as you would like.  I will sum up what we have been doing since school started.

Jan:  Jan has been going to school three days a week and although there were some tears the first few days, he likes it quite well now.  He uses the potty for all purposes when he is there.  Unfortunately, this does not occur at home, but we’re still working on that one.  He does seem to be doing well and holding his own.  He has nearly stopped napping (oh sigh), but doesn’t usually seem to be toooooo much worse for wear.  Sometimes.  He has made the big boy switch from Thomas the train which is now for little boys and is now into Spiderman and Star Wars in a big way.  He was Spidey for Halloween.  Here are some photos of him being silly.

He had a great time collecting candy and charming all the neighbours.

David:  David is working his nubby fingers to the bone but it’s all good work.  We have had 4 concerts this semester and that’s it until January.  He has been doing several clever installations at church none of which I can show you because I can’t find pictures of them, but they’re good, I swear.  Also, he has been asked to speak at 2 conferences which, of course, are taking place in the same week (next week), so he has been writing and writing.  Also, the church budget has been a topic of very lengthy debate so he has had to provide a lot of facts and figures that have taken up a chunk of time.  I’m sure he’s been doing many other noble things, but not that I can think of this second.

Sometimes his job as worship “pastor” means we go to events like the youth group pumpkin carving evening.  Here are the creations:

Me:  I have been also working my fingers to the nub, but it’s all good work.  I am overloading which was a surprise.   The class I picked up is not hard, but it’s one more class. so that’s only an hour a day I have to sit down and do anything.  I have been running (as in jogging) a lot lately.  I think part of it has to do with the fact that at 40, I feel I can’t afford to pretend this body is just going to keep on keeping on as it has been unless I start actually taking care of it.  Also, it is some stress reliever from all the work I am doing.  And finally, I got some running gear that actually works so the whole process is not as onerous as it once was.  That’s about all I have been doing other than working at all the concerts.

We did all have the chance to get away to the cottage that we sometimes borrow on Lake Michigan just for a few days.  We were there for about a day and a half and then our friends Lisa, Eric, Ian and Tobin Oglesbee came up too.  Ian and Jan are practically brothers.  It’s a little creepy actually sometimes.  But in any case, it was glorious weather and although some of these photos might have looked better zoomed and cropped, the fall foliage and colours are too great to miss.  So here is what we did:

In that second photo, I’m playing Jan’s new Cat in the Hat, I Can Do That game which involves sliding under the trick-a-ma-stick.  Of course.  I’m not sure what he’s doing other than trying to make me lose.  How about that sunset in the first photo, hey?  Lovely.  And the sand crumbs in the third?  Who knew sand is just a great opportunity to roll and roll and roll.  Oh and run through beach grass too apparently.  I love the photo of the men.  And then there’s the piggy-back.  We took a ridiculously long walk and Jan was just about nearing the end of his tether, but he hung in there.

Well that’s all from us for now.  Hope all is well with you and yours.

PS.  Just received this photo of our installation hot off the press, so to speak, as well as the write-up that accompanies it.  Here is the write-up:

description:

Jeremiah prophesied judgment to a nation compromised and fragmented by its divided political and religious allegiances. But it is not all despair. With Babylonian invasion looming, Jeremiah purchases a plot of land, placing the deed in a clay vessel. His message is clear: though destruction is imminent, there will be restoration.

Our installation reflects the fragmentation of Israel by creating a fractured landscape and ominous sky painted onto newspaper. The headlines visible through the paint highlight the fragmentation of our own society, our own sense of impending doom. However at the center is the clay vessel, a reminder that, whatever awaits in the short-term, we place our hope in the promise of restoration.