World War I Museum

We went with our favorite war hero to the World War I Museum yesterday.  It is an incredible museum with massive amounts of information and artifacts.  Incredible.  Everything shown in the museum is authentic, used in the war, with the exception of the planes.

Did you know the life expectancy of a pilot in WWI was only 6 months?  And a pilot's life was pretty comfortable compared to ground troops.  What a devastating war.

To enter the museum, you must cross over a glass bridge.  Under the bridge are 9,000 poppies, and each poppy represents 1,000 combatant lives lost, for a total of 9 million combatant deaths.

It is a beautiful sight, but the beauty is diminished by the weight of what it represents.

 

On the other side of the bridge is a small theater where a movie is shown.  The movie explains how the war began.

 

 

 

There is a second video later in the museum that explains how the US got involved in the war.

 

Between the movies, the artifacts, the docents, and all the written accounts, there is enough information housed in this one museum that you can visit every day for two weeks and still not learn everything.

 

There are also excellent views from the lookout tower.

I couldn't help thinking of our dear friends who are currently serving a wartime assignment while life goes on as usual for us.  Beau is flying over Afghanistan, offering air support to ground troops while Sandra and the boys are stationed in Utah, thousands of miles from family and friends.  We pray every single day for comfort and strength for all of them, wisdom and guidance for Sandra as she mothers her boys without Beau, and for Beau's protection as he does what is required of him while at war.  What an enormous sacrifice.  We are honored and blessed beyond words by their friendship, as our nation - the world, really - is blessed by their service.

2011 Goals

I have never made a New Year's resolution, but I like goal-setting.  Here are my top to-do's for 2011.

Start running again - this time without injury.  Buy awesome running shoes if I have to.

Clean out every closet, cabinet, drawer and shelf; selling every unused item in a garage sale over spring break.  If we were sick of it 9 years ago, it is definitely out of fashion now!

Repaint the interior of the house.  Make the guys wear latex gloves if that's the only way to keep the walls clean.  Enforce the no-wall-climbing rule.  Spiderman does not live here.

Volunteer in each of the boy's classes regularly.

Show our appreciation to each of the boy's teachers.

Get completely plugged in and excited about ministry again.

Intentionally nourish relationships with friends and family.  Say no only when we absolutely must.

Love my husband and children with purpose and meaning.  Date.

Lead at least one support group for women recovering from sexual abuse.

Make myself available to speak to groups about the impact of sexual abuse on a survivor's life and the hope there is for miraculous healing and restoration.  Pursue youth and young adults.

Meet with trusted friends/associates in counseling, child abuse prevention/response, social work and education in order to figure out what I want to do when I grow up.

Be prayerful.

Go wherever God leads.

Enjoy the journey!

I thought this was supposed to be a break?

We have run around quite a bit this week.  For the first time ever, we had gobs of Christmas gifts that just didn't work for one reason or another.  So, I had seven places to return to this week!  We did four on one day, two on another, and I have one remaining.  We have replaced some of the gifts, and taken store credit for others that we'll replace another time.  We've never returned a single Christmas gift before!

We've played a lot this week, and had a friend over this afternoon.  I think we might hit the World War I museum tomorrow, and possibly do a little ice skating if the weather cooperates.  We have plans with friends on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, and Zach also has an eye exam on Monday.  Then he goes back to school on Wednesday.  His break seems to have flown by.  No one has complained of boredom.  Zachary feels that he needs two more weeks off.

Luke goes back a week after Zach, and I go back the week after Luke.

I'd hoped to read for pleasure and clean my scrapbooking room over break.  Thankfully I still have almost three weeks remaining.  I need to get reading and lounging, but just can't resist the urge to socialize and play.

A great day for the museum

The kids and I are having a really great time, enjoying our Christmas break.  Today we went with friends to the art museum.  I was pleased to discover just how great the kids' museum behavior has gotten - soft voices, no running, no touching, standing back - they are finally giving the museum security staff's anxiety a rest! 

 

My girlfriend is a librarian at the museum.  She always comes down to show us around for a while.  Today we took her some cake!

 

The boys are really beginning to show an interest in the art - asking where things come from, how the paints were made, how old the art is, why the people were so much smaller 2,000 years ago, and of course... why the statues are so often naked.

As we were there today, I was reminded of my trip to the Louvre in Paris.  I remember so clearly this aspiring artist, with his easel and paints, painting what he was looking at inside the museum.  What confidence and ambition he must have had.  I often wonder what my children will grow up to be.  Will they be artists?  Will they even like art?  I often wonder... daydream... about what interests, talents, passions and gifts they will have.

Zach & Jackson Pollock

It's fun to daydream.

 

It's also fun to get burgers and a gigantic skyscraper milkshake with friends.

Another very merry Christmas

Gifts?  As the kids get older, Christmas gifts change.  No more bulky musical toys...  Now it's Lego's, Bionicles, Nerf guns, books, board games and Wii games. 

A White Christmas?  Last year we had something like 8" of snow begin falling on Christmas Eve.  This year we have not yet had enough snow to coat our grass with the thinnest layer...

Parties?  We had a lot of company to celebrate Christmas this year.  We had a party with two other families the Saturday after Thanksgiving, had my mom, sister and her family over on Dec. 22, and had our traditional time with my husband's family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  We had a wonderful time celebrating with so many loved ones.

Favorite moments?  Decorating the cake with Luke.  Bryan and Zach wrapping gifts together.  Christmas shopping - alone with Bryan - while the Millers kept the boys overnight.  The boys making crafts while singing Christmas carols.  Hearing Zachary sing "All I want for Cwissmas is my four fwont teeff" (exaggerating the missing-teeth-lisp).  Wrapping Angel Tree gifts with my women's Bible study.  Taking more than two hours to get through the Longview Lake lights with only laughter and singing to keep us entertained - no movies, no complaints.  Our better-than-Rockwell night.  The Christmas menu filled with recipes from friends.

 

 

The count-down to next Christmas?  Started at bedtime on Dec. 26th.