Be a Voice for Truth

We interrupt our regularly scheduled navel-gazing to implore you to make your voice heard in support of life, if you haven't done so already. I think most of you know that I attend a 100% pro-life OB/GYN, whom I just love. I love knowing that the doctor who is responsible for my baby's health would never sanction killing it for any reason whatsoever. If the current administration removes the conscience clauses which protect medical personnel from having to participate in murder, my doctor and many others like him will have his doors closed.

Please, please go to http://www.freedom2care.org/ to send a message to HHS about your opinion, and to learn more about this crisis.

Thanks.

"So, how was your day?"

he asked.

"Meh," I replied. "I don't feel like I really accomplished anything today," thinking about the sink full of dishes, the unwashed diapers, the boxes of kid clothes in our room that need to be sorted and stored, the religion we didn't do today. "At least I got the breakfast dishes washed up while Miriam had her morning tantrum. We didn't finish breakfast until 10:30."

"Oh," he said. "I'm sorry. Did you get to sleep in or something?"

"No, we just took showers this morning, and that always throws our schedule back.

"...But I did get the kids' summer clothes sorted, and made a color-coded list of the things they'll need to get them through the summer.

"And I read a ton of library books to them while Joseph nursed after his morning nap.

"And we made pretzels today! I guess that was fun.

"We did do some geography -- we learned about Connecticut today.

"And Miriam did spelling, too. Her list was all homophones so we thought of sentences to go with each word to help her remember to correct spelling. That was fun and creative.

"Oh, and Miriam also did a couple pages in her math workbook, and did really well. And Katie learned how to make the letter S in a pan of cornmeal. I also uploaded a bunch of pictures. And we did several loads of laundry, vacuumed the dining room, swept the kitchen, fed and watered the gerbils, and tidied the living room."

"...Sounds like you actually got a lot done!"

"Hm, I guess we did...."

I guess I didn't notice it, because we crammed school in between other homemaking things, instead of having a 3-hour block of "School." Given the option, I kind of prefer today's way. While frustrating in the moment, looking back I believe we were actually more productive -- I just grabbed the girls when I felt they needed a chance of scene (i.e. when they were running up and down the house crashing into things and each other -- it was cold and rainy today) and sat them down to do something more constructive than earn another bandaid or black eye.

Hm, maybe this guerilla homeschooling thing can actually work...

I've also been feeling like less of a mother after reading Elizabeth Foss's delightful blog, particularly about the feast of Eric Carle. :) I know I can never aspire to the level of creativity and beauty in her homeschooling day, but I do hope to make learning in our home a joy. So it's hard when the resident 7-year-old complains "I don't want to do school! School is BORRRRRRRING!" My instantaneous guilt-ridden thought is, what am I doing wrong?? I want to incorporate more hands-on artsy things (like painting) and less busy work (like workbooks) to get a point across. Of course, it's easier to keep a workbook and pencil out of reach of a toddler than an easel filled with paint cans. (Thank heaven for his morning nap.) I also can't wait to get the kids outside more -- now that spring has sprung we can start playing outside in the dirt -- I mean, working in the garden -- and going on walks in our itty bitty woods. I think that's Charlotte Mason's recipe for "text-tired tots," which would be an accurate description.

So, all in all, I guess our day was pretty good... in retrospect. :)

Loss and Loss Functions

I know my dear wife has been wanting to blog about her grandfather's funeral that we attended in MI at the end of February. The whole trip has been on my mind since we came back home, and since she hasn't yet had time to blog, I'll offer the following meager reflections and experiences from that trip, as perhaps only a statistician could.

--Mr. Pickles

-------------------------------------

... using the following loss function ...
... we achieve the minimum under the loss function defined by ...
... in these conditions the most appropriate loss function ...

In statistics a loss function is an equation that helps you measure how much you know about a given situation. You make an estimate, and then you measure how far away that estimate is from the true value. The loss function allows you to measure how much information you loose with a particular estimate. The really important aspect is that a loss function measures something definite.

It's a very important concept in my discipline as a statistician. We are by training a mostly empirical group. Our emphasis is on what can be demonstrated logically, what can be shown with data, and what is quantifiable. As the American Statitical Association says on one of their t-shirts, "In God we trust, all others bring data."

At the end of February I took a break from that discipline and traveled to Michigan with my family for the funeral of Mrs. Pickles grandfather. It was a beautiful funeral. He was a veteran of WWII and a member of the Knights of Columbus. The Knights were dressed in their regalia -- swords at the ready to salute their brother. There were also two soldiers who draped his coffin with the American flag, and they ceremoniously folded it as the familiar melody of "Taps" rang through the air. It was very moving, but for me the most moving part occurred before the funeral.

We arrived at the funeral about 20 minutes early for the viewing, and I saw my wife's grandfather lying there -- in words perfectly expressed by Miriam -- looking as though "he were asleep." I half-expected him to sit up at any moment and say something in what I remember to be his somewhat creaky yet jovial tone. I don't have many memories of him. Most of what I have are second-hand from my wife and in-laws -- about how much they loved him, how much he deeply loved his wife, and about what a good man he must have been to raise a wonderful and daring man (and nut) like my father-in-law.

I stood there looking at him with my expectation for what would be a resurrection. In knowing that it would not happen I experienced a much different sense of loss from the one I know through my work. It was something else--something undefinable and unmeasurable. I can barely describe it now as I type this. All of the positivist impulses of my profession and daily practice were rendered meaningless. I came face to face with something far more real than any of data I work with on a daily basis, but I couldn't touch it, see it, or quantify it. It was a true sense of loss, and a knowledge that our world was a better place with him, and it is a lesser place without him.

Please pray for his soul, so that he will, in turn, soon pray for ours. Requiem in pace.

Outrage! Scandal!

Seriously, Notre Dame is about to get itself into some serious trouble. The university's president has just invited our country's president, Mr. Anti-Life himself, to speak at commencement this May. My only thought is, what can Fr. Jenkins possibly be thinking??? Does he honestly think there isn't going to be an uproar about this?

If you agree with the other 64,000+ people (at this writing) who don't think this is a good idea, go to this website.

Celebrating 7

For Miriam's birthday party this year, she chose:

bowling!!!

A friend had a bowling party for her birthday last year, and Miriam had so much fun she wanted to do it for hers as well. We also went bowling New Year's Eve, so in her short life, Miriam has gone bowling more times than I have in my 29-some years. ;)

Here's Miriam showing her style.

Joseph got to bowl, too (with help).

(gratuitous cute baby shot) Yay! I like bowling!

I like Katie's style here.

The great thing about bowling is that everyone is excited for everyone else.



And for little kids, it's like, "Yay, I knocked a pin down!"


(Good thing we put the bumpers up.)

We went back and forth on party themes -- at first Miriam wanted a Sleeping Beauty Princess party (who wouldn't?). But when we were shopping for supplies they didn't have any Princess Fruit Snacks for the goody bags at the grocery store, so we switched themes last minute to My Little Pony. More cake decorating possibilities opened themselves up immediately. This was fun (and yummy!).


Miriam and her friends all had a great time. I think turning 7 this year has been a success so far. :)

It's the Big One!

Joseph turned one today! Yay! He survived! It's a good thing he's so cute.

Trouble indeed.

Ahhhh, full belly. Life is good.

Mm, first birthday cake! With chocolate icing, of course.

Oh, the carnage!

Since his birthday happily fell on a Saturday this year, we invited some friends over to celebrate his big day.

The Brat Pack. :) Joseph is blessed to have several boys born within a year of him, both older and younger. In a couple years, they will be A Force To Be Reckoned With! I need to start nailing things down.

Aw, but how could anyone with this adorable face EVER get in trouble?

I can't believe he's one already. My little man is growing up!

A friend once told me that mothers have different relationships with their sons than with their daughters. Another mom told me she feels differently towards her baby boy, because she knows one day he'll grow up and away from her. I haven't really felt either of these things -- intellectually I know them, but the reality hasn't sunk in yet. Maybe I'm in denial that my precious little baby will ever grow away from me. What does wake me up at night in a cold sweat is the idea that I'm responsible for raising a man. There are a lot of forces in the world conspiring against him, and it's up to me and his father to strengthen him against them. It's thoughts like this that make me realize there's no way I can do it on my own power -- we need Divine assistance to help him grow to be the person he was created to be. But for now, I'm just loving him as much as I can while I have him.

Seven Years Ago Today...

...we were surprised 2 1/2 weeks early by this beauty!


Sigh, where does the time go?


She was our big surprise -- we weren't expecting her beginnings (ahem), her birth, OR her gender! But we thank God every day for sending her to us when He did. His timing is perfect. And we can't imagine our lives without her.

She uses BOTH halves of her brain.

I just found this while cleaning up Miriam's school table. On one side:

...a princess.

On the other:

...math equations.

When Irish Eyes Are Smiling...

...tis a sure sign they're up to no good!

Happy St. Paddy's Day to one and all, from our little leprechaun!


(boy, was it hard getting a good shot of him in his shirt! I have a lot of shots like this):


The girls also had a bit o' green, thanks to Grandma E., who makes sure we have a proper amount of Irish spirit in our house every year. :)

The things they say

Katie: "Mmm, Mommy, thank you for dinner. It was lovely."

It's nice having my efforts appreciated. :)

We're back.

Well, I've spent the last three days trying to compose a long, thoughtful post about our trip to Michigan, but have given up in despair of ever completing it, not with the way my life is going right now. Suffice it to say that the trip went great. We are blessed with good traveling kids. The funeral was very grace-filled and it was good to see family again. But now we're back and trying to catch up with school, sleep, and laundry. (Finally conquered that last one today.) I started the trip off sick but seem to be recovering slowly. After we returned Joseph got sick, which hasn't been fun for either him or us (especially the one who gets to carry him around all day and change his diapers). But everyone else seems to be healthy, knock on wood. We got lots of snow just as we returned home, so the girls have been spending lots of time playing outdoors. All the slopes near our house are pretty well sledded. :)

So, back to our regularly scheduled life. Further bulletins as events warrant.