The past few days

Dear Fam,

We went to visit our friend Carrie Vickery in South Carolina last weekend. David was so sweet to do that in the middle of the semester. And between learning to "Shag" (official state dance of S.C.) and meeting Mike (Carrie's boyfriend) he was able to study a bit. We had a lovely, lazy day in Greenville Monday before flying home (totally unaware of the economic situation until we changed planes in D.C. that evening). When we landed in Pittsburgh, the security guard had posted the score for the Pittsburgh vs. Ravens game. The Globe Parking shuttle driver gave us a blow-by-blow update as he took us to our car, and, intrigued, we listened to the end of the game as we drove home (Steelers won by 3 points in overtime). As we pulled into the driveway at midnight, we could see the kitchen lights on in our Jewish neighbors' homes. (The Orthodox Jews are not permitted to use anything electrical during Sabbath or feast days, so they leave it on before the feast day starts.) It is Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year, and all today Jewish families were walking about, the women and girls in long-sleeved blouses and skirts, the men and boys in long pants, and yamakas.

Tonight our neighbor knocked on our door and asked if I wouldn't mind printing off her homework, which was online . . .and calling the teacher to have it sent to my email. We of course said yes. But David and I have noticed that it seems impossible to live out Orthodox Judaism and "livability in the real world" seems to be an important measure of the truth of a worldview.

We live inside an "eruv", a demarcated area (literally--with bits of string on telephone posts) in which the observant Jew can move freely on a Sabbath. In working for a Jewish person, and in living surrounded by a congregation of them, we've been given a new appreciation for Paul's discussion of law and grace in Romans. We've also started to see how much we have in common--my young neighbor is waiting still for the Messiah--and we really desire to share the hope of Christ with them (His salvation, and also the abundant life that includes beef stroganoff, lasagne, and tacos!) When you pray for us, will you include that on your list--opportunities and grace and love for our neighbors?

We miss you and love you--

D & L

A Story

Stories are very much a part of our lives right now. Jackson is always asking us to tell him a story, we read stories in books, and he listens to stories on tape during his quiet times. Matthew has an ongoing story about a badger family that he tells the boys before bed. Often, Jackson will ask if I'd like to hear a story, and this last time I decided to grab a pen and paper and frantically try to capture. . .

Mama, I'm going to tell you the story about Daddy and me hunting in the woods. We were trying to dig a big hole. And then we heard something. And then we got our bows and arrows. And then we shoot it. And then there's a deer because we didn't have anything to eat. Mama, did you know that sometimes we need to do that? Shoot bears and deers because we don't have any meat? And then you know what? We maked ice cream. And then we maked chocolate cookies for you and Harry. And then we heard something and we got our bows and arrows and our shield and knives and shoot a lion's leg off because he was going to destroy us. He smelled us and wanted to eat us. And then we watched Curious George. And Clifford. And Transformers and some other shows and we watched Bionicles* and we watched a lot of shows before bed. And then we go to bed. And then when we woke up in the morning we heard a sound and so we took our bows and arrows and we got up and then we got out of our tent where we were sleeping and then there was a wolf and we shoot him. And then we got out of the forest and we came over the mountains. And then we saw our Mom & Dads and then we saw our grandfather.

* Transformers and Bionicles are toys that our 6-yr. old neighbor Charlie has, and Charlie is the man. Not sure if there are shows about these things? But that's not the point - this is his fantasy, and he can make up all the shows he wants and watch as many as he wants!

I love student housing

The Mommy Brigade - Me w/ boys, Kristin w/Eric, Katharine w/Jacob & Seth, Brigid w/Elliot, Natana w/twins Alora & Rowan, Amanda w/Emily.

My friend Katharine and I take regular walks, and lately other neighbors have been joining us. The other day we had record numbers. When we arrived home Katharine and I took turns watching each other's kids outside while we took showers, later I ran to the library to pick up our book club books while she watched Jackson, and now I'm watching Jacob & Grace while she runs to the grocery. Tonight M & I are taking a date while friend/neighbor Betsy stays with our sleeping boys. I am constantly thankful for this provision of the Lord. It can't be beat!

Jackson just presented me with a drawing, with of course nothing that looks even remotely like writing, with this commentary:

It says, "I love you. Giants can pinch."

Good to know.

Buy cheap diapers? Matthew'll take care of it. . .

I am Boy.

Hello from Mississippi

My sister was chastising me for not putting more pictures on the blog, so here are a few from the past couple months.















This was on the hotel bed in Tulsa. Reflective of their personalities--Benjamin with a big smile, William looking tentative, trying to figure things out.
















Another shot of Will's typical face, but this one really displays his chub. He now weighs 17 lbs!
















Benjamin with a special blankie wrapped oh-so-stylishly around his neck. He did this himself, which, to me, strongly suggests his artistic flair.

(video missing)
This video is for Keri. William is in that brief cooing stage of talking. So sweet!

An Every Day Day

My mother said she enjoys the "every day" posts about our lives, so as yesterday was a typical day when we're at home, I thought I'd take a few photos. Due to the Hurricane Ike, Austin had lots of crazy wind (but that's it), which brought everyone in the neighborhood outside, and they played hard. Jackson usually has a "quiet time" in his room from about 1-3, but he was having so much fun w/Jacob I let him play through it while Harry napped. I even took several videos of the neighborhood kids, only to discover that the cover on the lens never opened, which happens a lot. It's getting about time for a new camera. I did housework, cooked, talked to the neighbor moms, and read, while Matthew worked in his office here at home. Typical day.

Then to distract Jackson from his heat headache & all the bruises and scrapes he'd received (which made for bathtime trauma - the water touched him!), we let them watch a movie until bedtime. Okay, so this isn't a "typical" activity, but I thought it captured where they are right now - Jackson zoned in, Harry interacting. . .

(video missing)
How I wish our "every day" lives involved all of you!
With love from a still very hot Austin,
Ruthie

recent deliberations on trees horizontal

With the onset of the hurricane season here in AR, preparations must to made. Some provisions must be hauled in in advance of hordes of LA evacuees. They are much more sophisticated now compared to the 2005 rookies. They now leave N.O. with their cell phones ringing up assistance organizations to find out how leaving your below sea level home in NO for safer climes above sea level can be done for fun and profit. NOTE: these are hedging supplies, not speculative supplies.

In addition to food and gas futures, my attention was drawn to two trees in various states of going horizontal. Namely a large pine in the corner of the hayfield which has died and threatens to come under the influence of the first strong wind that shows it any attention. The possibilities are: 1) it falls in my sand trap, 2) it misses the sand but crushes the fence that backstops the grassy noll short game emporium, 3) in falls in pieces over weeks as a constant danger to all golfers in the area, 4) a strong gust topples it into the ravine. 1-3 are likely and disastrous. Option 4 is a fried snowball.

As Josh look at the problem and signed off as above his pay grade, Matt and I knew it must be easy. On my second hammer throw I but the rope over a high limb and secured it. This was affixed by a propiatory system to ane immovable object. falling notches were cut, tension applied proprietarily, and the back cut to direct the tree into the gully was applied. [truth in reporting requires that i mention that while Josh was tucking his head between his leg he did suggest we remove small tree A so the big tree could fall into the gulley. We did this and no tree A was in the path of the big pine falling into the gulley. Alas and alack!! there still wasn't room even with tree A gone. The big pine wedged into tree B were we set on it with an adaptation of the propritory system. This broke of the top of tree B and flipped the large pine into tree C. Tree C had not been thought to be in any danger.

We hooked up the tractor directly to the large pine and thus indirectly to tree C. This is the position called in textbooks the tire hole configuration. Matt never actually got the tractor stuck, but he was low on diesel fuel.

after Matt tucked tail and ran off, Sarah and I hooked up the truck in 4 wheel drive and pull the tree out of the others and onto the ground.

I haven't started cutting it up yet and Gustaf winds arrived. In addition to a limb over the little house knocking the chemney off and rubbing a hole in the roof that you could see into the atic, the persimmon tree formerly in the sheltered NW corner of the tractor shed was hit by winds circular from the NW and uprooted diagonally over the tractor shed wtih the tractor and the zero turn TANK right under it.

we now have a large pine gone horizontal in the back, a semihorizontal persimmon at the tractor shed, a hole in the roof and 2" of water in the basement. We should be bailing water, patching roofs, and bracing up the tractor shed. What we are doing is filling complaints with LA representatives for federal monies. I AM A VICTIM. BB

Harry Has Two Mommies

Harry is closing in on two years, and he still calls me "Mama." I've tried to work with him, but to no avail. Every now and then he'll throw a "Da-da" out there, and I always seize the opportunity for positive reinforcement: "That's great, Harry! Yes, I'm your Daddy! You know how to say 'Daddy'!" Without fail, he responds to this by smiling and going immediately back to calling me Mama. I've not been too bothered by this, but I can't say that I've not been looking forward to his growing out of it.

Then it occurred to me, this might be the silver bullet I've been looking for. An aspiring academic with the intrinsically conservative nature that I have has to be concerned about preemptively shutting doors to employment and/or tenure--particularly when your dissertation might be described (not altogether inaptly) as neo-Thomist. What I need is some kind of credential to diffuse the impact of a search committee encountering publications on my CV like "A Teleological Defense of Sarah Palin's Acceptance Speech" or "A Natural Lawyer's 5-Step Plan for Eradicating Liberalism and Incarcerating Its Leaders." (I, of course, would publish no such thing, but for many academics, what I do end up publishing might as well be thusly titled.) So what I need to lead off with, as the infantile genius of Master Harry has made clear to me, is "Harry Has Two Mommies: Ambiguous Ethical and Political Identities of the Postmodern Parent." As long as it doesn't appear in The Intercollegiate Studies Review or Focus on the Family Magazine, I think I'm golden.

While Josh & Emily were fighting for the safety of their home yesterday, we were fighting the crowds at Schlitterbahn with our friends and neighbors Chuck & Betsy.


But we were thinking of you guys, I promise. :)