It is not summer. I know this. It’s spring, and spring is often cold and disappointing in Washington. I remember the first year we moved here. Everything was green and blooming furiously, but it was COLD and GRAY. Day after day. It was well into June, and I finally turned to Tim and asked him when summer was going to arrive.

These children are ready and willing to hunt down the sunshine.

Nearly every day the children and I would bundle (yes, bundle) up and set off in search of some sunshine. There were streaks of golden light off in the distance and I was determined to find them. It was our own treasure hunt, however, instead of searching for the pot at the end of the rainbow, we were looking for a sunny day.

Today was mild and overcast in the morning. By mid-afternoon summer had peaked around the corner and blown its warm kiss. Cheeks and shoulders gained a rosy cast. Sunscreen resurfaced from its long winter sleep and popsicles were cheerfully passed around, dripping over little fingers. Windows were pried open and flip flops dragged out from under winter boots.

Really, it’s a comfortable fit. Three rascals in a tub.

It’s not summer. Not yet. This weekend, however, like a beautiful flower unfolding in the light, we humble Washingtonians were treated to a rare sliver of summer in the midst of a dreary spring. It was truly glorious.

Nothing like some chocolate to celebrate the end of a lovely day.

Decadent Chocolate Bundt Cake (from Cake Mix Magic)

1 pkg devil’s food cake mix
1 pkg (4 oz) chocolate instant pudding mix
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Cake - combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, sour cream and water. Beat on medium for 2 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread batter evenly in greased, floured bundt pan. Bake 50 to 60 minutes @ 350. Cool in pan on wire rack then remove cake.

Frost with prepared frosting.

Note: We used vanilla pudding mix (out of chocolate) and semi-sweet chocolate chips. Topping was gently heated canned frosting. Served with old fashioned vanilla ice cream. Rave reviews!

Tomorrow summer promises to come again. What a tease! I intend to savor its warmth and drink up any bit of sunshine that trickles by.

Kathy
Project 366 - Day 137

One of the only things I enjoy about getting up early in the morning is savoring the peace and quiet that lies over our neighborhood like a warm blanket. Although we live on a cul-de-sac, our house backs up to a much busier street, and is positioned cheek-by-jowl with houses on either side. Not far away a major thoroughfare connects our town with the neighboring community, and the railroad tracks snake around behind our development. The noise of all the people around us (to which we contribute no small amount of shrieking) is often considerable, especially on Friday and Saturday nights when local ruffians drive around, windows rattling from the bass of blasting sound systems. Sometimes I really miss living in the Duckabush valley, with our house nestled down in the forest, far from the things of man.

Or maybe I’m just jealous that my car stereo doesn’t make the windows rattle.

David steadies the kayak for his brother …

Some days (I keep a rather erratic schedule) when I wake up, nobody is stirring, not even (as in the famous Christmas poem) a mouse. Other times I find Kathy asleep on Doughboy (our couch), if she’s stayed up reading blogs or posting an entry on our blog. I turn on her mattress pad heater and usher her off to bed, hoping that the kids will sleep in and let her rest. During allergy season I often start sneezing while I dress in our bedroom, and wake Kathy up with a dozen or two of my explosive sneezes.

This morning, I stepped out onto the front porch and found it already light outside, as the summer equinox solstice approaches. A low cloud cover and absence of breeze enhanced the hush that was disturbed only by a single bird, chirping his heart out from the top of my neighbor’s roof. I wondered if my neighbor, who works odd hours as a fireman, appreciated that little bird.

The intrepid Daniel, setting off on an historic voyage …

In these moments of silence, I find, in spite of my weariness, a contentment that seems to extend all the way down to the core of my soul. For this moment, as I stand on my porch, all the concerns and worries that clamor for my attention are silent and still. I don’t have to worry about being a husband or a father or an employee or a friend or a church leader or even a handy-man. Instead, I find my heart drawn to God, in thankfulness and appreciation of His awesome goodness to me and His worthiness to receive praise and glory and honor. As the Psalmist wrote:

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10)

Sarah takes no chances when it comes to flotation devices …

Whenever I hear or read that verse, I think of a pool of water, shaded by trees, nestled among the rocks, with only the tiniest ripples emphasizing its tranquility. It is in moments like this that I can forget my own self-importance and revel in the abundant sufficiency of my God, far above my loftiest thoughts. Whatever happens today or in the rest of my life, Jesus, all by Himself, faithful and true, is enough for me.

With the fountain on, this pool has more than ripples …

All too soon the spell is broken and the neighborhood begins to wake; already I hear the slamming of car doors and traffic on the road behind our house. My cell phone buzzes with a message from my carpool buddy. I check the time on my phone and realize that I need to get moving if I’m going to catch the train. And so a new day begins; but the memory of that deep, quiet moment is something I treasure tightly, smoothing the bumps and jolts out of my way and calming my spirit, all the way to work and throughout the day.

Tim

Project 366, Day 136

The tomato planting continues.

I’m not sure Tim and the children are actually going to sell any of their precious plants. As the days go by, and each plant grows stronger and taller, Tim’s attachment increases.

Good morning happy plants! he choruses each day to the green jungle growing in my bedroom.

Honey, I think I’ll build some shelves in here and then I’ll have a place to grow tomatoes all year long, he told me last weekend.

Shelves, over my window seat, for tomato plants? Now isn’t that an interesting decorating approach.

Um, wasn’t the point to sell some of these plants? I asked him recently.

It’s an investment, he mumbled as he went down the row watering each of his “babies.”

Frankly, I’m just glad someone is teaching the children about gardening as it’s not likely to be me. Unless of course a class in Black Thumb becomes popular.

Hey Mom, do you think you can teach me to kill plants this week?
No fair! Mom said she was going to teach ME how to over water and neglect house plants next.
It’s my turn.
No, my turn.
MOM!!!

Sigh. Until then I let Tim and the children do the planting, weeding, watering and tending.

Look how they even pull random neighbor children into the planting work.

My goal is to sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labor. And with prices as high as they are, a garden looks better and better. I wonder what else I can get them to plant?

Kathy
Project 366 - Day 135

We spent a portion of our morning with poultry today.

Yep, chickens and turkeys. You didn’t think I was talking about cowards, did you?

Oh, there were some other animals as well. Rabbits, goats and sheep. The pigs were especially entertaining.

Or maybe not.

I think this guy was eye-balling me.

The nearby fair offers educational tours for free. Yes, I said FREE! You know we were there. Of course, by the time you pay for gas and a McDonald’s lunch afterward (that’s what happens when you sleep in and don’t get up early enough to pack lunch) it’s not exactly a free outing.

Still, it was educational and enjoyable. We had our own private tour guide and three exhibits to explore (including the petting area). This year’s theme was poultry and farming.

As always, having friends along turned an ordinary outing into a fun adventure.

Bacon and Eggs, anyone? Maybe it’s time for a good shearing.

Kathy
Project 366 - Day 133

Kathy’s been watching Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace DVD series, trying to see if it is something she could teach to the high school kids in our Homeschool Co-op next Fall. I happened to pass through the kitchen in my never-ending quest for sustenance.

Sarah demonstrates a controversial new swing technique at the park.

“Hey, who’s the bald guy with the scissors and the Visa™ card?” I asked.

“Shush, that’s … Dave Ramsey,” Kathy spoke reverentially.

No husband likes to be shushed, and immediately I bristled. Why is it that I find it irritating, that my wife thinks highly of some random bald guy who gives good financial advice? I don’t think I’m alone in this. I was talking about budgets the other day with one of the guys I know, and Dave Ramsey’s name came up.

“Oh, him,” my friend sneered, loathing in his voice. “I’m so sick of hearing about that guy. It’s ‘Dave Ramsey this’ and ‘Dave Ramsey that’ at my house, 24 x 7.” Maybe we could put together a support group: “Husbands Annoyed by Dave Ramsey”. Obviously the acronym needs some work.

Actually, he seems like a decent fellow.

I sat down on a kitchen stool and watched a few minutes of the video. Dave’s actually funny and engaging — I can see why people like him. Still, as a husband, I would prefer that my wife seek financial advice from, well, me. After all, I’ve got a receding hair line, and I own a pair of scissors and several Visa™ cards.

Dave spent about 10 minutes talking about how people without an emergency fund get into credit card debt … it was rather chilling to hear the familiar scenario spun out:

You get the credit card offer in the mail, and so you sign up for it and put it in your wallet, assuring yourself that it is ‘just in case of an emergency’. A few weeks later you go out to drive to work, and the car won’t start — turns out it needs a new alternator. Since you don’t have the $322 set aside, you put it on the card — after all, you need the car to get to work — it is an emergency.

At the end of the summer, your kids come in with pants that end just below the knees, and you realize they’ll need new clothes for school. (Dave uses some fun physical humor on this one.) You don’t have money set aside for this — you’re shocked that the kids actually grew over the summer, so you put another $180 on the card for school clothes. After all, it is an emergency.

At the end of November you suddenly realize that Christmas is right around the corner, and (since you don’t have any money set aside) you rush out and buy toys for the kiddies. By this time Dave’s tone is openly mocking: “since it is such a shock that Christmas is on December 25, again. After all … (Dave pauses theatrically) … it is an emergency.”

In January you discover that you owe more than $1000 on the Visa™ card at a high rate of interest, and so the debt slavery begins.

The first thing we did when we started to budget at the beginning of April was to set aside $1000 as an emergency fund. Although we haven’t needed it so far, it has been very freeing to have this fund as a buffer against the ‘need’ to use credit. The emergency fund seems to be at the core of Ramsey’s advice for regaining freedom from debt.

These Norway-bound kids are lucky we bought their tickets last winter, before the budget went into effect.

Now we’re in the happy position of deciding whether to use some extra money to pay down our debts or save for our roof, which may not be as urgent as we feared. As I wrote in this recent post, expenses have tended to be less than we expected, which is one more delightful way that God is taking care of us.

As a husband, I want to be the focus of my wife’s respect. I want her to look to me for leadership and for competence in all things (well, except for things requiring skill as a handyman). I guess my resentment against Ramsey is somewhat misplaced — I need to get my act together in the financial realm, so that my advice could be sought and I would be honored by those who know me well, as one who stewards his wealth in a godly manner.

Daniel, David and Sarah try to stop their siblings from leaving …

I set up the thermometer on the sidebar to show how we’re doing in terms of reducing our credit card debt. We’re determined not to go into debt any further, and to focus on paying the existing debt down as aggressively as we can — watch that sidebar graphic for monthly updates.

Tonight Kathy was scanning airline prices to San Antonio. She had a long talk with her parents this evening, and her Dad was tempting her. “How ’bout using that tax rebate to go to Texas this summer?”, he wheedled. Many summers we have vacationed in West Texas with Kathy’s folks, and it is killing my wife, not to have plans already in motion to go this year.

“$224 per person, that’s a steal,” she chortled. “You should buy those tickets tonight, it’ll save you hundreds of dollars!”

“No, going to Fort Clark this summer will cost me hundreds of dollars, not save me anything,” I countered. “Dave Ramsey would say that we should pay off our debt first, you know.” I thoroughly enjoyed this turnabout in Ramsey name-dropping.

“I don’t want to hear about Dave Ramsey,” Kathy shouted, sticking her fingers in her ears. “La-La-La-La, I’m not listening!” She always is very rational and reasonable when we have these little discussions about finances.

Admittedly, it is less than half of what I thought it would cost … and I’m tempted. Maybe I could earn some extra money in side work, and we could go … ?

Tim
Project 366, Day 131