Hospitality

It seems to Jeff and me that in today's world, many people live insular lives. Their family is a little island whose accessibility is limited. If someone were to drop by their house out of the blue, it would be considered shockingly rude. From early on in our marriage, we desired something different for our home. We always wanted our friends to feel that they could come by any time. Never has that been more true for us than when we took on a College and Career Sunday School class! We've learned a lot about hospitality from hosting this group, believe me. It's incredibly motivating for me as a homemaker to know that at any time we may get a text message -- "What are y'all doing tonight?" or, sometimes, "What r u doin tonite?" No time for panicked cleaning then! Obviously this means that they sometimes get treated to dirty dishes on the counter, or laundry on the couch. I'm not perfect, so I don't have to pretend to be! I just try harder to keep up with the daily household chores in order that our home might always be presentable.

Food is my favorite part of hospitality! I love cooking for the group, though I've certainly had some humbling experiences there, too. One night I had to give someone a frozen dinner. Trust me, it was difficult for me to do. But the important thing is not that our home is a showplace (it's NOT) or that I always have gourmet meals ready (I don't), but that our hearts and our home are ready -- "instant, in season and out of season" to receive friends. Whether it's a college student with a broken heart, friends coming for dinner, or guys coming for video games, we want to be ready to receive them with the love of Jesus. Here's a quote from a great blog by Lydia Brownback, "But, primarily, every time we open our homes and hearts to someone in need, it is Jesus we are serving."

Jeni Loves Daisies!

My sweet, handsome husband sent me flowers yesterday! He also wrote me a top ten list on why I'm so wonderful ... but you can't see that. :)

Vincent Van Joe and Georgia O'Kait

Okay, I had to post the artwork the kids did today. It was too good not to! I'm a mom, I'm allowed to think my children are the most brilliant and creative kids in the world. (You can click on any of these pictures on the blog to make them bigger.)

Kaity's imagination has no bounds! She created this picture today because she had all these cat-themed stickers. She didn't want to waste them by just sticking them to stuff, so she made a "Cat Shop" out of them.


This is Joe's self-portrait, which needs a bit of explanation in order to be fully appreciated. First, notice the usual features -- eyes, nose, mouth, legs, hair. Why do his arms look funny, you ask? Because he also drew in his muscles! How cute is that? The object in his middle, between his arms, he informed me, is his heart (upside down). The upside down "U" shape near his eyes I figured was his ear. He told me it was his "red eye" -- which is what he called his black eye! He still has a little scar on his cheekbone where he hit it.

Bowling!

Saturday night we went bowling with a few of our College and Career group. Katie has only been bowling once or twice, and Joe's never been. They loved it! Joe's face lit up like a Christmas tree when he got to roll the ball at the pins. Katie bowled mostly on her own, and scored a 41. Joe and I got a 44. Jeff bowled on his own and got a 137.

Katie and Daddy!


Mommy and Joe. Joe actually bowled a strike once!


Katie picked out a pink ball! She says her favorite thing was the pink ball and that we could be together.


Joseph playing with the blower-thingy.


Joe did a little dance after every throw!

Children's Museum of Art

My children have been quite prolific lately in the art department. Joe is getting to the point that he is drawing objects rather than simply scribbling. Kaity is beginning to draw more of what she learns about in school, and applying what she learns about art/drawing. The kids chose what they wanted on the blog, so here they are!

"Chinese House"
Artist: Kaitlyn Pittard
Medium: Magic Markers

Here, the artist brings out the curved roof-line architecture that is characteristic of the ancient Asian homes she has observed in her studies.

"Daisy"
Artist: Joseph Pittard
Medium: Magic Markers

Note the artist's attention to detail in the cat's whiskers, large ears, and many legs.

"Kaity"
Artist: Joseph Pittard
Medium: Magic Markers

Notice here how the artist has captured the most compelling feature of his subject -- her eyes and long eyelashes.

Lemon-Batter Fish

I am SO excited! I made a dinner tonight that everyone liked, and everyone asked for seconds. It definitely rated a post on the blog!

Lemon-Batter Fish
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour, divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup water
2/3 cup lemon juice, divided
2 pounds fish (perch, walleye, cod) fillets, cut into serving size pieces
Vegetable oil

In a bowl, combine 1 cup flour, baking powder, salt and sugar; set aside. Combine egg, water, and 1/3 cup lemon juice; add to the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Dip fillets in remaining lemon juice and flour, then coat with the batter. Heat 1 inch of oil in a skillet. Fry fish, a few fillets at a time, over meduim-high heat for 2-3 minutes on each side or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. Drain on paper towels. Yield: 6-8 servings.

College & Career Retreat

Jeff and I just had an amazing weekend with some of our Sunday School class. We went to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and stayed in cabins. Two -- one for guys, one for girls. It was a whole lot of fun. The theme of the retreat was "A Life Marked By Wisdom" and we studied the book of Proverbs while we were there. The discussions were really insightful (to make up for the silliness on other occasions, I guess!)and one of the girls brought her guitar so we could have worship music, too.

I could go on and on about the trip and the fun we had, and the things we learned, but I'll just hit the highlights. One major highlight was Sunday night. The guys were responsible for dinner and though they strung the girls along all weekend that they would make cereal, the men came through! They met the ladies at the door of the cabin with a flower for each of us. They served us drinks, salad, baked ziti, and two kinds of dessert! We even had name cards at our seats. It was quite impressive.

Some of the other things we did were: go-kart racing; 4-D theater; shopping in Gatlinburg; Krispy Kreme doughnuts; freezing!; Guitar Hero; Wii; singing praise music; memorizing scripture; laughing; lunch at The Old Mill; staying up too late; miniature golf; breakfast at the Red Rooster; almost ice skating, and lots more!

We had a terrific time and can't wait to do it again!

SNOW!!

It snowed today!! The kids (and the adults, I admit it!)are SO excited. We went on to church, but I convinced our choir director to let us out early so we could all go play in the snow. It didn't take much convincing, I assure you -- Todd loves snow. That's his daughter, Lydia, (Kaity's best buddy) in the picture with our kids. The snow was coming down pretty hard and actually sticking. The children were throwing dirty little snowballs at each other. Kait is already plotting how to make a tiny snowman tomorrow.



Space ... the final frontier. I was surprised that this picture I took facing into the snow actually turned out.


Jeff said I looked cute with the snow in my hair, so he snapped this picture. He's such a smart fella!

Painting the Bug

I'm really not sure how all this got started ... At one point I think one of our College & Career group asked Jeff teasingly when he was going to let them paint his bug. Well, Jeff just thought for a minute and replied that he didn't mind if they all got together and did just that! They were floored, and before you know it Jeff had made the plans. He told everyone to show up at our house New Year's Eve (a beautiful day!) Everyone brought their own spray paint and went to work. Of course, Jeff took off the roof rack and prepped the Beetle by taping off everything he didn't want painted. About 9 or 10 of our class/group showed up to have a hand in painting the car.

A neat bit of trivia about the tag on the front -- It's a German tag from the eighties that our family had on one of our vehicles. Dad always saved license plates (a guy thing!) and they kind of passed on to my older brother, Stuart. Jeff has always been a Volkswagen enthusiast so when he saw that tag with his initials on it, he REALLY wanted it. Stuart said he could have it, and Jeff is thrilled to be able to use it now!

Joe's Black Eye

If you know our family at all, you probably know about our son's uncanny ability to hurt himself at any given moment. Jeff says that it's a good thing Joseph has a face, or who knows what he'd catch himself with when he falls. True to form, this injury occurred when Joe was supposed to be taking a nap and was out of bed instead. Katie caught him and he ran for the bed. Unfortunately, he didn't make it and when he fell against the edge of the bed, hitting himself on the cheekbone just below his eye. He wanted a mirror right away and looked at himself all afternoon. Isn't he just pitiful?