Screwdriver Sketches

You may not initially be impressed by this sketch but, trust me, you should be. This work of art was created by an 8 year old girl. It's true, it's not perfect, she still has a lot to learn but considering that she's 8 there's a lot of promise contained in this sketch. The original sketch is a Christmas gift for someone so I won't get to keep it like I do most of her other pieces so it had to be scanned in for posterity's sake- and so I could brag. The image below is of the same screwdriver sketch about 3 months ago (when she was 7 and it's not a very good scan, sorry) and is just to show some comparison of her developing skills. Ophelia tends to be drawn to the every day things, items she can focus on in one sitting. If it's too big or too detailed she'll become overwhelmed. Something about the screwdriver drew her back to try it again, I'm not sure what but she mentioned how she liked the contrast in how the light reflected off the metal and but there are also some dark areas of deep shading. Anyway, I think it's a beautiful screwdriver. It took her about 10 min. to begin and complete the new sketch, I don't remember how long for the older one.

Any of you artists out there that can give me some advice on how to encourage her without pushing her (I've seen stage parents, I imagine the same thing is possible in art and I don't want to do that) would be much appreciate. I'd love to know what kind of supplies she should have available, how often we should encourage her to draw, what other mediums she should try, etc. Are art classes appropriate at this age? She did participate in an art program after school last year but she hated it and they never seemed to do anything useful (it didn't seem like real instruction, just arts and crafts "art projects") so I didn't push it. Any other (really cheap) ideas you have would be great. Thanks!

Cowgirls

These aren't the best ones, I'll post those later since I'm using some of them as Christmas gifts. Check out more on the new flickr account! http://www.flickr.com/photos/martin-weber/

A few good photos

This was just to give you a taste of a recent photo session we did with the girls and a friends camera. The rest of them will gradually be uploaded to our new flickr site (http://www.flickr.com/photos/martin-weber/). Aren't they beautiful?!

To Give sacrificially

It's taken me a lot longer than normal to "feel" that it was Christmas time this year. In previous years, when my job in part was making Christmas happen for other people (church programs, service orders, Christmas choirs, etc.) Christmas started early for me. We would have to work to make Christmas feel special- we were usually sick of Christmas music by November, wouldn't have time to decorate our house (but dang, the church would look great!) and Christmas shopping had to happen all year long or we would run out of time. I used to work more at Christmas time than I did any other time of the year (Holy week being the only exception) easily putting in 90+ hour weeks from October-December. I was always aware of the holiday spirit- that was my job.


But this year, like last, was different. Last year I was aware of the season because of what I was not doing, this year I just didn't really notice. Moving, changing schools, work and other busyness let the holiday season slip in without much attention on my part. It wasn't that the media somehow let me down by failing to remind me of all the shopping I had to do or that the Advent season slipped away without mention during worship gatherings. We've been playing Christmas music, the girls are coming home with drawings of snowmen, snowflakes and "holiday" items, and every week a family lights a candle on the Advent wreath- I'm even "directing" (I use this term loosely in this sense) a children's Christmas choir. Our tree is up and has been since the weekend after Thanksgiving. But still, even with all this it just hasn't felt like Christmas time to me. I think it's more than just the different work situation, it's even more than our difficult financial situation making it challenging to make ends meet, let alone do the "holiday thing."


The problem, I suspect, stems more from an internal reformation of my view of Christmas. In fact, an internal reformation of my view of life in general. Jeremy and I have begun to challenge much of how we live, to question everything we do, everything we believe. So much of our lives are lived simply because "that's how it's done" and accepted. There are areas of our lives that we have held up to the luminescent light of the Gospel but others that we were preferred to leave in the dark corners of the comfortable common-place status-quo. God has been shining the Gospel light brightly in our lives and somehow we protected those corner shadows but now, slowly and somewhat gently, our protections are eroding and giving way to these Gospel rays. We sense we are on the cusp of radical change and it scares the crap out of me. I'm usually open to change, welcome it with excitement and anticipation but this change is going to be hard, really hard. The change we feel called to is to not fit in, to actually strive to be misfits, to rebel, to stand up and speak out, to serve the poor, the rejected, the unloveable, to become the poor and rejected (ok, so "becoming poor" isn't actually a change... we don't know true poverty though nor are we sure we are intended to but the issue must be examined), to care for the earth and the animals as God instructed Adam to, to stop worshiping things and status, to care for others even if we don't understand them and to live opposite of the "entertain me- me first" culture we have served. In essence, we feel called to deepen our call to live sacrificially in and for Christ. And yes, this scares me. In my arrogant heart I say to myself "Haven't I sacrificed enough? Don't I deserve some kind of break from this sacrificial living stuff?" But instead of a pat on the back and a voice from heaven saying "Well done my good and faithful servant" the Spirit gives me a distinct though gentle "no" to both of those questions. Christ gave his life for me, I don't get to call it quits when I feel like I've had enough and "done my part."


So what does this have to do with getting into the Christmas spirit? A lot actually. Many of us understand what it means to "give until it hurts," particularly around Christmas but most of us have no idea what it means to give sacrificially. We give too much and too little. Those that really need nothing (which is most of us) get a lot but those that need everything get nothing. Our gift giving was originally inspired by the gifts the magi brought to Christ and the gift that Christ brings to us, gifts that were needed: gold for a deeply poor family and funeral herbs for Christ 31 years later. Christ's gift was even more needed: salvation. We celebrate Christ's birth and God's gift to us at Christmas yet we over-give to each other to excess neglecting the One whom we celebrate. Christ tells us that by giving to "the least of these" we give to Him- time, food, money, services, whatever it may be. Held up to the light of the Gospel our Christmas gift-giving begins to look a little tarnished. Reconciling this in the midst of an internal reformation this holiday season has been a challenging experience. I don't know how this is going to resolve yet but Jeremy and I both know that we have to continue exploring these questions.


I don't think gift giving is bad, on the contrary. I think it's great after all, the precedent was set by Christ. But the question that begs to be wrestled with is "who are we giving to and why?" If I am honest then I have to admit that many times in the past I gave to people that I wanted to be in good standing with, people that I was worried I would offend by not giving them something, people that seemed important either by their status or their level of relationship to me. I never seemed to worry about offending Christ, being in good standing with him, or even giving to him based on my relationship with him. If he is truly the most important part of my life then the best gifts and the best part of my time should be given to him but it is rare that I actually do that. To give to Christ of the best of myself then I need to be giving to "the least of these" not the "greatest of these." Have I ever really given to Christ at Christmas? Anything more than lip service? As my pastor, Chris Seay has pointed out several times recently, doesn't it seem rude to give more gifts to the birthday party guests than to the one who the party is for? I know that I need to start making Christmas be about Christ: I want to give to those in true poverty, love those that are outcast, care for those experiencing debilitating hurt. Our family is learning what it means to give sacrificially. We're redefining what it means to be "in the Christmas Spirit."

Mother vs. Mommy

Yesterday Helena and I were watching the Eloise Christmas movie (I was working, she was watching) and there is a scene when Eloise's beautiful mother comes in looking stunning. Helena gasps and says "I want a mother!" "You have a mother silly, I'm your mother." I respond looking up from the laptop. "No, you're mommy." She says with a "get-real" expression on her face. "Well, yes, I'm mommy too but that's the same thing as being your mother." "No it isn't." "No? What's the difference?" Helena looks at me with her head to the side considering this question and says finally: "You're my Mommy." End of discussion. I'm Mommy. Not "mother," not "mom," and not "mum." I'm her Mommy, period. That's all there is to it. And I'm fine with that!

Finally- The Wedding Pictures!

Here come the flower girls... and everyone else!
*Helena
One of the cutest pictures ever!

Lavinia on Grandpa Weber's arm

Helena (and Ophelia) Hiding

Grandpa Weber, Aunt Anna-Lynn, and Ophelia

Grandpa Weber talks with Lavinia and Ophelia before the wedding

Cousin Kaitlyn and Helena

The Martin-Weber Girls

The pictures from Jeremy's sister are finally here! I don't have a lot but here are the ones I do have of our family. The girls were darling, Helena fell asleep during the ceremony and pictures so there are a few of her sleeping or wailing. Ophelia and Lavinia had a good time and enjoyed being all dressed up. We got to see Jeremy's dad for the first time in 6 years, he got to meet Lavinia and Helena for the first time and the girls just loved it. There were a lot of special moments around the September wedding. Enjoy the pictures!

*Jeremy's sister just sent me some more, they aren't in order but I wanted to share them anyway!

Wedding Pictures- getting ready

Getting Ready:

Grandma Weber ties a bow for Helena

Getting ready started the night before with old fashioned rag curls for the girls- chocolate muffins helped the time go by.

Helena and Lavinia getting their hair curled

Helena, almost ready!

The girls waiting to go in!

The bride and the flower girls

Wedding Pictures- the reception

Reception Pictures:
(I only have a couple of these, hope to have more soon)

Grandpa Weber and Lavinia take a spin on the dance floor
(This is was SOOOOO cute!)

Wedding Pictures

Pictures From The Ceremony

Jeremy and his dad played a duet together- what a treat!

Jeremy played the prelude for the ceremony

Daddy had to help Helena get down the aisle- those are his legs there.

Lavinia

Ophelia

The Newlyweds!

The family

Aunt June and a sleeping Helena during pictures

Let sleeping babes lie

The Martin-Weber family all dolled up!

The Smells of Christmas!

Recently our new house has developed an "aroma." We've been making cookies, pies and other fun holiday treats. A few days ago, hit and miss, we would get a whiff and one of us would say "what is that smell?" We love the smells of Christmas but this one was a little unusual for the holiday season. Jeremy began digging through boxes, going through the pantry and looking behind the washer and dryer but to no avail. The smell grew (grows) stronger.

This is not a good smell mind you. It's a terrible, sickening stench and it's growing worse. We've been chased out of our dining room, pantry, laundry area and it's stretching to the kitchen. If we've been gone for a bit and come in we even notice it when we open the front door and step into home, sweet home... er, smelly home. All the boxes in that portion of the house have been dug through, moved and rearranged, the hoses for the dryer have been checked, every crevice we can reach has been examined, the pantry torn apart and the attic scoured. We suspect that the source of this foul smell is in the attic somewhere (because as bad as it is in the house, it's SOOOOOO much worse up there) but we haven't actually found it yet and we're concerned we never will. I'm starting to wonder if we walk around with this smell clinging to us and nothing covers it up for long.

Our house should smell of blue spruce, cinnamon and sugar, cookies, hot chocolate, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, candied yams, and other warm delectables of the season but no. Instead, our house is warm and bright and smells like a dead animal. I plug my nose when I head to the fridge, light a candle by the washer and dryer and hold my breath when I'm in the pantry. Jeremy made cookies last night and it only covered the odor for about 15 minutes before we had to take the cookies to the living room to avoid feeling sick. Lavinia keeps asking "why does our house stink?" I haven't had the heart to tell her "because something died in the attic or the wall and we can't find it to get it out."

Does anybody know how long we can expect this torture to last? Should we call someone to come out and relieve us of our misery or is it likely they won't find it either? I'm trying not to think about what this is going to do to Christmas dinner. How can we cook and eat with that smell? And I'm pretty sure it's going to get worse before it gets better.

I think I'm going to remember this holiday season as the stinky-est one we've had yet and I mean that literally!