(Re)Considering Ballet

As you know, we have the two older girls in a dance class each. Sarah's is ballet, tap, tumbling for an hour and Ella's is ballet for 45 minutes. I have had conflicting feelings about sending the girls to a dance class from the very beginning, often saying things about "poise", "grace" and "discipline" to ease any conscience pricks that may have arisen.

From my reading post, you also know that I have had the intention to read Tedd Tripp's Shepherding a Child's Heart. So, I have been waking up with Del and after he leaves I read my bible and a book until the kids wake up. I am reading Mr. Tripp's book and it is quite a doozy; very conscience pricking.

Here's my issue with ballet.

We are to have a God-oriented, God-glorifying, God-pleasing life.

1) We can get them to ballet on time every week without fail but we can't get them to church? We don't even do a simple Sunday service at home in our house. We don't even do a daily bible study, but we sure can get them to ballet on time.

2) Are we sending them to ballet because of the social pressure of giving your child what makes them happy? The "grace" thing doesn't always resonate with me considering what I see them learning in class. They learn the recital and not the discipline of ballet. The only reason we sent them in the first place is because Sarah asked to go and we like to give them things that make them happy.

3) Does ballet counteract our modesty message? I don't want them in the recital because I don't want them performing in public in tights and a leotard, but does simply sending them to ballet give them mixed messages about beauty and modesty?

4) What is the end purpose of ballet? Does it glorify God? If we are teaching them that everything we do glorifies God, is ballet what they should be doing at this time?

Some things that Tedd brought up that have made me consider these things are:

We homeschool; we "refuse to have them influenced by secular humanism in school, but will expose them to unbiblical ideas of beauty in dance class."

"Many families who always have time for team practice are unable to organize family life around regular times of family Bible reading and prayer. What values are taught?"

From the shorter catechism:
Q: What is the chief end of man?
A: Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.

"You must equip your children to function in a culture that has abandoned the knowledge of God. If you teach them to use their abilities, aptitudes, talents and intelligence to make their lives better, without reference to God, you turn them away from God. If your objectives are anything other than "Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever," you teach your children to function in the culture on its terms."

All these things are making me question ballet, at this time. I feel we as a family need to put more of an emphasis on glorifying God on a daily basis, before we venture out into other activities.

I also think that because I homeschool, I desired to put them into ballet so that I could prove to other people that we are normal; we do normal things, just like everyone else. This is hardly a God-glorifying reason to put them in such an expensive and time consuming activity.

Catching Up

It has been a long time since I really posted anything of value here...Can I pull the, "I have been really busy - feeling overwhelmed, actually - and this new little baby is reeking havoc with my stomach!" card? Will you have sympathy on me then?

So, regardless, I have done a few things lately that are somewhat blogworthy. First of all, I got new spring shoes! That's right, shoes. I loved the ones you posted recently, and mine are the same style. I wear these almost all the time now.

I know some people wouldn't like the second pair because it shows the toe cleavage. I never knew that toes could have "cleavage" per say. It is actually kind of nice to know, because for me, it is the only kind of cleavage I will ever have! I had never thought about this apparently horrifying problem until I shopped for shoes at Target.com and read the comments on some of the shoes available. You wouldn't believe how many people are unable to wear a pair of shoes that shows their toe cleavage. Yet, I imagine that these very same people would wear a pair of open sandals...scandalous, isn't it? (Or should I say "sandalous"?)


I also made a baby buggy cake for a joint baby shower for two of my friends who are both in my Sunday School class. They are due just a couple weeks apart, and both are having baby boys. I think the cake turned out well, but I was so disappointed because almost no one showed up to the shower so we had about 4 times as much cake as we needed. I took it to church the next morning to allow the guys in our class to eat some and still most of it was left. We then moved it down to where the youth group meets. They were done and milling around, heading to the service, but some of them ate it and about half of my cake got eaten. The other half got fed to the trash can. How sad. People said it tasted good, but now I am beginning to wonder.

I did make some really cut gifts for these friends, though. And I know they'll get thoroughly used! I went with some onesies and a burp cloth for each. I also made some washcloths for one of them since I had a separate shower to go to for her since she is also in my Bible Study group. I'll post those on Mothers of Invention.

Finally, I broke down and bought one of these:

Yes, I bought a Swiffer Wet Jet. I really cannot believe I did, either, because I have always been fundamentally opposed to paying for something that I have to continue to pay for more and more somethings to continue to use. I think it is a great idea for the manufacturer, but not so great for the consumer. But here's the thing - I am sick of pulling out a disgusting mop that looks like it is full of bacteria to "clean" my floor. Every mop I buy breaks, or gets discontinued right about the time I need a replacement head for it. I know that I could regularly bleach the mop head and all of that, but I am lazy. I thought that especially with children crawling on the floor, it would be nice if it was actually clean. And we have a cat...need I say more? So my mom had already gone to the dark side and bought one of these a while back and last week she brought it over so that I could "just try it out." And what do you know? I really liked it. It is fast, easy, and really gets up stuck on dirt. Not that my floor ever has stuck on dirt, but that is what I have been told. So when I saw a $3 off coupon in the paper this last Sunday, I considered it to be divine revelation that I was supposed to buy it. And :::gasp::: I like it. There, I said it.

Tooth Envy

I know this sounds weird, but I think Lily is jealous of my teeth. She has spent the last few days screaming bloody murder if I'm not holding her and when I finally relent and pick her up (STOP BOSSING ME AROUND, LILY), the first thing she does is go for my teeth. She puts her hand in my mouth and strokes my teeth and then just rests her tiny little fingers on them. After she has tired of caressing my teeth she will grab my face and try to eat my teeth. You know how babies put everything in their mouths? It's just like that. She wants to see what my teeth feel like.

I'm sorry, Lily, but if you had decided to grow your own teeth by now you wouldn't be jealous of my teeth. I mean, eight months old! All three of your sisters were four months old when they got teeth.

This is so bizarre, I've never seen anything like it. I've tried to thoroughly inspect her mouth and I think I finally see a tooth in there cutting through her gums. This probably explains the mild fever, the running of the nose, the drooling and the screaming.

Weekend Update

We have an executed contract on the house we're trying to buy; we're just waiting for the bank to approve it. Our realtor and the loan guy are both positive that the bank will just sign the papers and hand over the keys. This is the closest we've ever been to being $250,000 in debt. It's a wee bit scary.

We went to visit my grandma over the weekend. I remember as I was growing up, watching myself get taller than her; at the same time I was getting taller, she was shrinking. I can't wait to be as short and cute and lovable as she is and to be surrounded by my family. We went on a walk and saw two alligators and rescued a huge turtle.

I was thinking about righteousness. When I think about my life I know I've fallen way short of God's expectations. I get nervous about God's judgement; how is that going to go down? Once when I was 13 I asked my (ex)uncle if ,when God was judging me, I'd be embarrassed. He barked basically that I should be more concerned about obeying God than being embarrassed. He was very unsympathetic to a young teen wondering about God. Anyway, sometimes I still think about that. I'm not so worried about being embarrassed as far as what other people will think of me, but what God will think of me. "Not righteous," is what I'm thinking. (This is a lot of thinking, I think.) Anyway, what eases my worry is that God credited Abraham's trust as righteousness (Genesis 15:6). Abraham was not always trusting, or obedient, yet God still called him righteous. This gives me comfort on two levels. 1) God is just and we can trust him to judge us justly, 2) Abraham was just. like. me.

Trying For Perfection

It's the rage these days for SAHMoms to make all sort of claims of trying to be a Proverbs 31 wife. I've had a problem with this for a while. When I read that passage in the bible I feel nothing but guilt and a horrible overwhelming sense of falling far, far, far and did I mention far short of that fine lady. I think she's unattainable and so I rebel at even trying to become her. The fact of the matter is I am not perfect and as far as I can tell, the lady described therein is perfect. I bet she never yells at her kids or gets irritated with her husband.

Anyway, one of the things that sticks with me is verse 15 where the Bible says, "She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls." I mean, why can't I have a servant girl? No, just kidding, that's not what sticks with me.

I noticed several months ago as Del was struggling through his 5:15 a.m. wake up call and then later at 8 a.m. my daughters coming into my room to get me out of bed that I was a lazy wife and mom. I mean, that Proverbs 31 lady gets up while it's still dark and gets stuff done before her family get up and makes them food. My children were having to drag me out of bed and poor Del was left to be miserable and lonely in the dark while I snuggled deeper under the covers.

Starting on Monday I got up at 5:15 with Del. I got dressed, packed his lunch and chatted with him until he left for work. Then I made myself a pot of coffee and folded two baskets of laundry and then started two more loads. The kids were up at 7:15, and I gave them breakfast and we finished school before lunchtime. Can I just tell you how fabulous this is? I know you already wake up that early. For me, just knowing that I was not being a lazy, selfish shell of a mother and wife has been freeing.

The laundry is done every day, school is getting done consistently, breakfast is being had before 8 or 9 every morning and I'm even getting other projects done like sewing all those clothes I've promised to make and CLEANING THE BATHROOMS. The transition hasn't been totally smooth because we've all been very sick this week, but even so it's been better than when I rolled out of bed at or after 8 to the kids all saying, "Mom, can I have breakfast."

Maybe she is attainable. One verse at a time...

Cornbread Issues

Alright, here's my problem. For some reason I feel compelled to like cornbread. This is a problem because, actually, I don't like cornbread. It's an even bigger problem because Del doesn't like cornbread. Being as Del is from a soul-food-cooking background, he's quite experienced in the cornbread arena and whenever I make a new recipe, he puts a bit in his mouth and says, "Nope, this isn't right." Do you know how many recipes for cornbread I've tried? It's ridiculous. Here is today's version. Wish me luck.

We Are the Worst Bloggers Ever!

So we don't post here so much...I am tired of seeing a post about a funeral when this blog pops up! But sadly, I'm too tired to do much about it! We have lifegroup at our house tonight, and I'm sitting here typing this when I need to mop, clean the dishes, and put away the ironing...

I am going to a baby shower Saturday and I am making the cake. I bought all new cake pans for this one. I was tired of doing the same 'ol, same 'ol, so I bought a cute baby buggy pan and a set of square pans. I am going to put the buggy on top of a square, because the buggy alone won't be enough cake. But I haven't started that either. I haven't made the gifts I'm taking either. Hmmm....I think I have some work to do. Good news, though - I'll post the cake and the gifts when I'm done!

On another note, have you seen the post about Ted Turner's view on how we'll all be cannibals in 40 or so years on Granny's? I had to crack up when I read this! Apparently, we're personally assuring that people will eat other people in the near future just because we have more than one or two children! Too funny!