What's in a name?

A lot if you're like us. We have several naming traditions and it seems to get more complicated with each child. We named our first son after Big D which began the tradition of naming our children after family members. Then when we had our first daughter we decided to name her after my mother. I had always loved the name Hannah so was going to use my mom's name as her middle name, but Mom preferred her name be the first name and Hannah didn't sound nearly as good as a follow-up to my mom's name so we ditched the Hannah and started the awful tradition of calling our kids by their middle names.

It was only natural to name our second daughter after my mother-in-law, but now we had yet another tradition to follow. Our oldest daughter's middle name, that we called her by, also held special spiritual significance for us. We searched and searched and finally settled upon a name for our second daughter that when put together with my mil's actually meant something special. But now we had inadvertantly started a third naming tradition, at least for our girls. Both daughters in addition to being named for family members and having a name of spiritual significance, also had names that began with the letter G.

When we adopted our fourth child, second son we decided to name him after my dad. You've probably noticed by now that we had also started taking turns naming our kids after Big D's side of the family and then mine. Then when our fifth child came along it was my father-in-law's turn to have one of our kids named after him. The only problem was our fifth child turned out to be a girl, so... we went back to my side and named her for my two grandmothers. I'm also named for my grandmothers so her name is similar to mine, as well.

You can imagine how concerned I was about being able to come up with a name for this baby, especially if she had turned out to be a girl. Thank goodness we found out today we're expecting another son! That simplifies things. We know his first name will be after my father-in-law, but what about his middle name that we'll call him by? We have no idea! And now we have a whole house full of little opinions on the matter. Past kid favorites include Firebob, Clifford, and Crack-in-the-eyeball. Needless to say we're taking their suggestions with a grain of salt, but it does rain on my parade when they hate the names I come up with.

Big D and I had some fun today perusing Purtitan names. Our personal favorite was
If-Christ-had-not-died-for-thee-thou-hadst-been-damned, nicknamed Damned for short. That's a little radical even for us. Well, maybe for a middle name:). Seriously, we're having trouble. Big D comes from a big family and we love Bible names, but also want to be somewhat original (and no, I already told Big D we're not naming our son Zebedee!) Not Moses, either. Really, I don't think Big D takes this very seriously. I would love to hear your suggestions. I liked the idea of naming him after a Reformer, but not Luther. I'm sorry. I'm indebted to the guy, but we already have one Lu around our house and isn't that enough, really? We need a cute sounding Bible name or Reformer name that's not terribly over-used. Please help!

A Chip off the Old Block!!!

Did I ever tell you Big D played football? Well, he did. He played in high school in Florida and for two different Universities. He's always kind of hoped one of his boys would take to football. Monk tried it a couple of years ago and didn't enjoy it. In fact, when his dad tried to interest him in watching a football game, Monk's question was quite telling. He asked us, "If everyone jumps on the guy who has the football, why doesn't the guy with the football just get rid of it?" Why indeed. I'm afraid Monk takes after his mother and grandfather. I never did get the point of that game, either. It just seems so silly to me.

Monk did try baseball twice. It was so fun watching him. He looked like Mr. Bean at bat, but could actually hit the ball- sometimes on the second or third try, though. He always kept us in suspense. Anyway, he was on a great team that ended up winning the whole league his first year to play. By the grace of God, Monk happened to be the guy up at bat with the bases loaded in the last inning of overtime in the championship game. Oh, and there had already been 2 outs. We were going insane with nerves. We knew the fate of the game and the championship rested on our son. Our son who didn't really even "get" the game of baseball. By the grace of God, he hit the ball and he hit it hard. He got a homerun and brought in all the guys on base. They won the game and the championship. Everyone piled on top of Monk screaming in celebration. We couldn't believe it. It was like a miracle. Later, as we were headed to the car Monk calmly asked us why all the guys jumped on top of him. We explained that they were happy because of his homerun and bringing in all the bases. He said, "Oh." Then he asked us if his team had won the championship. The point of the story is that obviously Monk's not that into team sports. He's a great swimmer though. Just point him in the right direction, remind him of which event it is, and he does great.

So, Big D has known for sometime now that Monk is not going to be his football player. He's since transferred his hopes for a football player onto his All American Boy (3). The funny thing is Baby Lu found this football in the garage the other day and has been playing with it ever since. Forget her room full of baby toys. She wants to play football. She really is a chip off the old block!


Somehow I don't think Baby Lu is one of the kids Big D was hoping would take up football. She looks so much like him in this picture. Poor Big D.

Happy Early Valentine's Day and How well do you know me?

And the winners of Love in the House by Chris and Wendy Jeub are...

(The Amy above was the first Amy, without the W.)


Marsha, you're the only one I don't know how to contact, so please leave me your email and I'll get in touch with you. Congrats to all of you! I hope you enjoy your book! Thank you to all of you who entered- hopefully if you didn't win this time, you will next time. (Valerie- I was just glad you didn't win, AGAIN :-)

Remember when I asked you how well you thought you knew me?

About half of you guessed right. Mine is the terribly crumpled one that always has a goopy glob of toothpaste oozing out the top. I do normally buy Colgate so that I don't have to worry with a lid, but even the attached lid ends up hanging there limply after a few days.

For those of you who thought better of me, thank you. If you had read my post on how I dress, you might have had a heads up!

After posting the picture of our toothpaste tubes I asked my mom if she knew which was mine. She said, "Of course." I couldn't believe she would know. (Did I really think I had successfully hidden that side of myself for 18 years?) So I asked her how she could be so sure. She said, "Because your dad's looks just like it." It must be in the genes. I'm destined to have messy toothpaste for the rest of my life. I can live with that.

Some telling pictures and a quiz to see how well you know me

I noticed that several of you posted on your Superbowl snacks yesterday. Sunday afternoons around our house are pretty low key and I don't usually cook Sunday nights since we eat a big lunch after church. So, while Big D was watching the Superbowl, I was reading, or trying to. I vaguely remember the girls (8 &6) asking me if they could "create" something for a snacky supper, so I said sure. This is what they came up with.

They had 7 of these little creations lined up on the kitchen counter, one for each member of our family. That's pomegranate grape juice in the tumblers. You can tell Twinkle Toes (8) watches a lot of the Food Network. She thought presentation was just as important as taste. And you know what? It tasted pretty darn good. I'm not accustomed to sprinkling sugar and cinnamon on my fruit, but they may be onto something there.

Now for the quiz to see how well you know me. It's a funny thing blogging. In a way, you know me better than most people in my everyday life. Blogging allows me to talk about what I'm interested in, which only those closest to me usually learn. But by its very nature, blogging does not allow us to know one another in lots of everyday details.

So, I thought I'd ask if you can guess which tube of toothpaste is mine and which belongs to my husband? You can tell we're opposites. Which one is mine? Which is Big D's? (Mom, if you know the answer to this, you're not allowed to tell.)

I wear 'em into the ground!

Big D says when he met me he knew I was a diamond in the rough. We're talking REAL ROUGH. I had been living in Southern California for 5 years before moving to Dallas and was accustomed to wearing cut-offs and birkenstocks. I was into running, biking, and swimming, but not shaving my legs. And I NEVER wore lipstick. I don't think I even owned any. (I still have make-up from high school. I know they say it gets germs in it and stuff, but mine is like museum quality. I wonder if I could get anything for it on ebay?) Anyway, so with love I began to "paint the barn" so to speak, to borrow an illustration from J. Vernon McGee. I started shaving my legs, wearing lip stick and even started buying some really nice clothes. Fast forward 11 years and I'm back to me.

Big D told me later that when he met my mom for the first time, he knew he wanted to marry me. My mom is a wonderful cook and homemaker, but mainly she always looks great. I learned a few years ago when my mom went to work part-time for Talbots, that she is a Talbots woman. A Talbots woman, I learned, has a look that is pulled together and is always accessorized. You know, they wear scarves and jewelry, stuff like that. Well, I should have told Big D at the time that I didn't inherit that gene from my mom. I did get her loves-to-move furniture gene (which Big D has become painfully familiar with), but not the look pulled-together gene. Big D never knew my Dad's mom. I thought it was funny when she wore her outdated raccoon hat to my soccer games (was raccoon EVER "in"??) and she always wore elastic around one of her shoes to keep it on. My granny had lots of money, she just didn't spend it on her wardrobe. I have only recently become aware that I am my granny, at least in this department.

I put on this shirt the other day and you know what I realized? My mom bought me this shirt in 1992! Yes, my friends, I have had this shirt for 17 years and I'm still wearing it. It's probably also the last piece of Ralph Lauren I've owned. My plaid pajama pants given to me at Christmas last year didn't fare so well. They have a huge rip across one knee. And yes, I know that means I spend WAY too much time in my pajamas. I also wear the heck out of shoes. Now running shoes I have to replace a couple of times a year. But church shoes last me years and years. I still wear shoes on Sunday that I bought 12 years ago in Dallas. In fact, I think I've only been shoe shopping (other than for running shoes) once since I've lived here (10 yrs).

I don't know what to say about this. It is what it is. I just thought I'd share this little bit of who I am. I'm not particularly happy or unhappy about it. I dress up on Sundays, meaning I do wear Sunday shoes and clothes. I usually wear the same thing. It's my Sunday uniform. (This is also related to the fact that I'm not pregnant or nursing, but I'm not my old running size 4. I'm in limbo hovering around size 6 and I refuse to go out and buy new clothes.) I would say I dress up when Big D and I go out and I do, but that's once a year for our anniversary. I'm just not much for dressing up. I like being comfortable and I like being me. I admire women who look pulled together and accessorized, but I don't envy them. I love my life. I live a life perfect for running shoes, jeans, and hoodie jackets. Who knows. In another 30 years I may be using an elastic band to hold my shoes together. When my grandkids laugh at me I'll chuckle to myself about it.


Oh and don't forget to comment to enter my $25 Lowe's gift card giveaway! I'll be drawing the winner on Friday. Just think of it, an extra $25 deal on the biggest shopping day of the year. And you don't even have to leave your house.

What's in a Name?

I have names on the brain today. I've decided to give each of my children a "cyberspace name". I know that probably only my closest friends will ever read this blog, but you never know and privacy is important for the protection of my family. I have had so much fun trying to think up alternate names for my kids that fit their personalities.

My 10 year old son is definitely Mr. Monk. This was an easy one to come up with. They share OCD and a hatred of germs in common. My son is much better looking than the "real" Mr. Monk, however, and is a great swimmer and has a rollicking sense of humor. He also loves the show Monk (I wonder why).

My 8 year old daughter is harder to pin a nickname on. She almost defies nicknaming by her very being. I'll call her Twinkle Toes. She is very graceful and does enjoy dancing. She's musical, artistic, and creative. She's also very serious and focused. She's not the type you tease, so I'm chuckling as I write this.

My 6 year old daughter already has a nickname that suits her perfectly. She's The Measle, or just Measle. The name goes back to when she was a baby and had a reaction to her MMR vaccine. We were on vacation and she broke out in this rash. It seemed appropriate and the name stuck. She's cute, little, and irritating (I mean that in the nicest way possible.)

My 3 year old son is my All American Boy. We actually adopted him from Kazakhstan when he was 11 months old. You would never know it, though, he looks and acts the part of an All American boy. I taught him a saying about his roots from the very beginning so he would never be shocked to learn that he's adopted. In the saying, we say his name and that he came all the way from Kazakhstan to Mommy and Daddy, and then we name his siblings, grandparents, etc. So the other day he called himself my Kazakhstan boy. I thought it was cute, but corrected him that he's my American boy. That same week I saw a t-shirt on sale at Target that said American Boy.

My 10 month old daughter is the Light of My Life. As she develops more personality I may have to change her nickname, but it will do for now.

This is not the only reason I've been thinking of names, though. So many labels that we place on ourselves are loaded, emotionally or otherwise. I'll give some examples and think about what comes to mind with each.

Calvinist
Quiverfull
Stay-at-home mom
Homeschooler
Conservative
Libertarian
Bibliophile

The problem is people are too diverse to stick a label on. In some way, shape, or form, I consider myself to be each of these. But there are also aspects of each, or at least stereotypes of each, that I don't believe describe me. I guess the best course of action is to try not to label ourselves or others, but to take people one at a time, as the individuals they are.

I Did It!

I've been thinking about creating a blog for awhile, and I finally did it!

Why the title "Miscellaneous Musings"? According to Webster's, "muse" is a state of deep thought or dreamy abstraction. The topics of my musings run the gamot from family life to theology. Topics near and dear to my heart include parenting, homeschooling, adoption, Bible study, books, cooking, exercise, and more.

I am blessed to have a wonderful Christian husband and five adorable and hilarious children. Life is fun and exciting around our house and I don't want to forget the cute things my kids do and say. I always think I'll remember them, but often have trouble recalling even the day's events for my husband when he gets home.

I've always wanted to be in a book club, so I'm excited to finally have a venue for expressing my reactions and opinions about the books on my nightstand. I would love to interact with others who have read the books, too.

That's my intro for now. This is going to be a learning process for me, but I'm always up for a new project!