Elijah: Yes!!! Woooohoooo! Yeah! Woooooooohoooooooo!
Dave: What?! What is it?
Elijah: I found it! I finally found a country with a smaller density than Canada!!! Mongolia has only one person per square kilometre. Yeah! Woooohooo!
Monthly Archives: March 2008
Check "Oot Aboot"*
Hey all, I spent some time updating our “about” page over the weekend. Check it out! I’ll be taking a break from blogging for the next little while. It’s Elijah and Zeke’s spring break this week, and we’ll be traveling to South Dakota to visit Dave’s sister and her fam. Fun fun! Have a great week!
P.S. We’re getting a winter storm today. Yuck!
*An inside joke for any Canadian that has ever spent long enough in the U.S. to be teased about how they say “out” and “about.” I’m proud to say that I’m still often told how Canadian I sound!
Yay! Me Do It!
“Me want ye(ll)ow paper. Me rea(ll)y love ye(ll)ow. That make me rea(ll)y happy, Mummy.”
Oh, Be Careful Little Mouth, What You Say
The Scene: Two groups of people are sitting around two large tables, getting ready to enjoy a meal together. The host announces that it is time to say grace, and one table quiets, while the other keeps talking.
Middle-aged-lady: (jokingly) Hey, shut-up over there.
Six-year-old, with a look of shock and dumbfoundment, points to the middle-aged-lady and says: Uh…did she just say ‘shut-up?’
The two tables laugh uproarously, and the middle-aged-lady apologizes humbly to the six-year-old.
The Lion And The Lamb
Well, I guess I should tear myself away from my new camera (!!!) and super-duper, cool, new lens for a little while to tell you all about our wonderful Easter weekend. It was really wonderful; the most memorable and meaningful Easter we’ve ever had as a family.
We’ve been reading through The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as a family and coincidently (Or maybe not so coincidently? Remember how it was lost for a week or so?), we read the chapter in which Aslan gives his life to save Edmund, the traitor, on Good Friday. It was amazing. I haven’t read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe since fourth grade, and I found this chapter to be incredibly moving. It’s such a clear and explicit picture of Jesus going to the Cross on our behalf. My voice quivered as I read it to the kids, and I could tell by the seriousness on their faces that they got it. We talked after about the similarites between the story of what Aslan did, and the truth of what Jesus did for us. Really good stuff.
But now…for some pictures! I’ll let them tell some more of our Easter fun…
Ukrainian Eggs
Hot cross buns for breakfast on Good Friday.
Easter egg scavenger hunt.
In the snow…
Kabobs. Our traditional Easter meal. This year we did some lamb (good object lesson) and I was surprised at how much I liked it.
Our Easter Tea. Another tradion.
And of course, the “Easter Dress.”
Okay, that’ll be enough for now. 
I want to go play with my new toy some more. I was going to remind you of what all the kids look like with some close-ups, but I’ll save that for another day.
Starring Noah (and Zeke's Leg)
Noah has just discovered our CD of Robert Munsch stories, another CD (by a wonderful Canadian author!) that I think every family needs. I’m sure he’s heard it before, but just lately he’s taken a huge leap forward in cognitive developement, (I think kids must have mental growth spurts as well as physical ones, don’t you?) and it’s fun to watch him really listen to it. During one story, I saw his eyes light up with an idea…
Lost and Found
We found our lost book! Zeke did, actually. It was, if you can believe it, on the bookshelf. Imagine that. I think our very wonderful and helpful babysitter put it there the other night.
We just read chapter 12, the chapter in which the never-ending winter starts to come to an end because of Aslan’s return. I wish he’d come here.
Janet's Fabulous Flapjacks
Top o’ the mornin’ to ye! Happy St. Patty’s Day to you all. I’m proud to say that I have Irish blood coursing through my viens. My dear grandmother Campbell was, as far as we know, about as pure Irish as one could be; her maiden name being Ryan, and her mother’s maiden name being Flannigan. So I guess that makes me 1/4 Irish, and my kids 1/16. I’ve always loved being able to say that I’m part Irish! The Irish, I think, have a wonderful sence of humor and whimsy…and also just the right amount of melancholy. (I like a little melancholy, don’t you?)
Anyway, we had my “fabulous flapjacks” for breakfast on this lovely St. Patrick’s Day morning (with green mashed potatoes, corned beef and cabbage on the menu for supper tonight!) I suppose the name would imply that I’ve concocted this recipe all on my own, but I guess it’d be a bit of a stretch to say that. I just combined and reinvented a couple of my favorite pancake recipes…and came up with a new favorite! These flapjacks are so light and fluffy and yummy and filling. (Are your kids like mine? Are they hungry an hour after a meal?) When consumed, these will keep my kids away from the kitchen for a good two hours. Guaranteed.
Janet’s Fabulous Flapjacks
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups of milk
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp vegetable oil
4 tsp aluminum free baking powder*
1/4 tsp salt
Beat the eggs until light and fluffy. (You can use an electric mixer to do this if you like. I just use a wire whisk and lots of elbow grease. ) Then throw all the other ingrediants in, and mix just until they’re all combined. Cook on a nice hot griddle (like 400 F), a couple of minutes on each side.
This makes quite a few pancakes, but my brood has no problem polishing them off all at once. If you have leftovers, they’re great kept in the fridge, and toasted for an easy breakfast or afternoon snack.
*Could one of my Canadian readers answer me this? Is there aluminum in Canadian baking powder? I never had this problem till we moved here: if I use normal baking powder, I can actually taste aluminum in my baking – it’s nasty. I never remember that happening in Canada.
A Person's a Person, No Matter How Small!
I’m sure you’ve all heard of the movie opening today, Horton Hears a Who, based on the book of the same name by Dr. Seuss. It is a rare occurance for our family to go see a movie full price at the theatre, but we have a special outing planned for this evening to go see it! Very exciting.
We’ve been talking about the simple theme of the book (which they’ve been listening to on CD a lot) with Elijah and Zeke – “a person’s a person, no matter how small” – for a while now…first in the context of standing up for the weak; those around them whose voices aren’t as loud as their own, but also in relation to abortion. We’ve explained to them, in very simple terms, what abortion is, and they are, of course, appalled and angered at the idea of it (as we all should be!).
This movie, we’re praying as a family, is going to start to bring change in the minds of a world that has decided that the unborn don’t matter. For this is the only way, I believe, that abortion will end…not through loud demonstrations, but through prayer that the Lord will awaken hearts. Awaken hearts to hear the cry of the unborn. And he is going to use The Church to do this; like Horton does for the Whos, we shall speak on their behalf.
I encourage you all to read the words below from Lou Engle, a man with a burning passion for the Lord, and a strong desire to see abortion end in our generation. Dave and I heard him speak once at IHOP in Kansas City, and were very blessed by him. Granted, it is a lot to read in one sitting, but it is very cool!…
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God is communicating His big dream of ending abortion in a most profound way through the dream stream story of Horton Hears A Who by Dr. Seuss. In February 2005, one of our youth, a 15-year-old girl at the Justice House of Prayer, had a dream. In the dream she saw a large, beautiful building with the words “The Who” appearing over it. She and her sisters entered the house and began to look throughout the building until they found the attic where there was a series of old books from the past that they knew would be needed for the future. She shared her dream with the JHOP team. I knew the dream was from God, but I wondered, “What is ‘The Who,’ and what are these old books?”
The next morning while pondering the dream, I received a remarkable email from a man in Kansas City that included a sermon he gave several years ago on what must occur for abortion to end. He felt led to send it to me, even though he thought it was unusual that the analogy the Lord had given him was based on the Dr. Seuss book, Horton Hears a Who. When I read this, I instantly connected “The Who” in the dream with “The Who” in the book. I was immediately interested!
In this children’s book written in 1954, we find an elephant whose name is Horton. He is the prophetic Church with big ears and a large trumpet. He can hear what no one else can hear–the sound of these
little people called, The Whos, who live in the microscopic town of Who-ville.
In the book, we also find a kangaroo who wants to kill all the little Whos, because he cannot see or hear them. He doesn’t believe they exist. Immediately the thought came to me, “The kangaroo is the
kangaroo court!”–it stands for the Supreme Court who issued the death decree of ’73 in Roe v Wade, and legalized abortion. Wow! I realized that what I was reading was a parable from the past that was now going to be used en masse, for the ending of abortion. The theme of the whole book amazingly is, “A person’s a person, no matter how small!” And the remedy for the crisis is that every voice must be raised loudly and urgently to rescue all the little unborn Whos. With the kangaroo’s death decree hanging over Who-ville, Horton implores the mayor “to CALL a big meeting, get everyone out, make every Who holler, make every Who shout!”
Graciously, The ElijahList blasted this story February 16, 2005. Amazingly, the next day I received an email from a woman who said she read The ElijahList article and received three confirmations the following day at her Day Care Center. One child came in with a Horton Hears A Who backpack, a second was carrying a Who-ville doll, but the third–a ten-year-old boy–came to her and said, “Ma’am, I had a dream last night. I dreamt of Horton Hears a Who, and all the little Whos were not saying YOPP; they were crying STOP!!!”
Oh, my God, there is a massive cry being raised up from the young ones of the earth, praying and prophesying, “STOP ABORTION, STOP! STOP! STOP!!!!!!!!!!” What are the chances of this divine confirmation? Those who read this are now held accountable. The whole Church must cry out now–STOP ABORTION!
Soon after, another man connected with me and said, “My ten-year-old daughter was reading Horton Hears A Who to her little brother.” She came to her father and said, “Dad, I think this book is about ending abortion.” That afternoon, he read The Elijah List article on Horton Hears a Who. This man now leads our Bound4LIFE ministry.
Again, amazingly, we found out that Fox Movies is doing a major motion picture in 2008, called, Horton Hears A Who, starring Jim Carrey (update, this movie opens up this Friday, March 14, 2008).
The Lord is SHOUTING to the nation! Will we have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying? Read the rest of this entry »
