Vacation Hoops

Grandpa Groen didn't think twice about nailing this hoop to his living room wall, and Douwe puts any spherical object he can find into it. Jeff is glad to see Douwe take interest in his own favorite form of ballplay. Cousin Charlie spent a lot of time teaching Douwe how to slam dunk.

Merry Christmas!

THE LAMB
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Gave thee life & bid thee feed,
By the stream & o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, wooly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?

Little lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?


Little Lamb, I'll tell thee,
Little Lamb, I'll tell thee;
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb.
He is meek & he is mild;
He became a little child.
I a child & thou a lamb.
We are called by his name.

Little Lamb, God bless thee!
Little Lamb, God bless thee!

William Blake (1757-1827)

Pizzeria Groen-O

Jeff has been working on perfecting a homemade Chicago style pan pizza, inspired by a secret recipe from his friend Chad. We have been paying special attention to the contruction and flavor of deep dish pies at Sanfrantello's, Lou Malnati's and Pizzeria Uno. After a few tweaks with the dough prep, ingredient order, and sauce liquidity . . .he should be proud of his efforts.

On the evening of Christmas Day, Jeff put out a pair of pies that easily rivals any of our favorite Windy City products.
Now I'm going to try to contribute to the Pizzeria Groen-O experience with creating an antipasto salad that is as zesty, cold and satisfying as Aurelio's.

Visit with Steve

Steve's mom lets us invite Steve for some time with us about once a month, so today we had Steve spend the afternoon to play games. Fred and Anthony, his friends from the school by our house, came and filmed their own Lego star wars video and played games.

Field Trips

Douwe has taken a few field trips to Chicago's South Loop, where there is a play area called Room 2 Play set up for caregivers and kids to spend winter days indoors, but out of the house. This we find to be nicer for toddlers than a museum , because it is one room and Douwe can play pretty independently and look up and see me from anywhere in the space. It is beautiful and inviting and inspiring to be in such a place that is friendly and welcoming to curious little ones! We purchased a punch card good for 15 visits so we hope to come back often.

Eight years!

We spent an overnight this past weekend in the city to celebrate 8 years since our wedding day. This photo is in the courtyard of the church where we were married. The weather was cold and snowy and the streets were bustling with holiday shoppers, just like December 9, 2000.

Snow Adventures

I got this picture in the first minute I set Douwe in the snow. Before long, while I was shoveling the walks, he cried because he didn't like the snow, the snowsuit or anything about this outdoor excursion. After 10 minutes he tried following me down a slippery walk and fell and scraped his cheek on the ice. Even though it was still early morning, he promptly took a snooze when we went inside, probably to forget the whole unpleasant event.

Christmas Tree

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, the Groen family went to Wheatfield to buy Christmas Trees.

Thanksgiving Day

No Photo Yet

Well since Douwe is walking, I am now officially nursing a toddler. We both are quite content with that status. He eats three regular meals in his chair at the table, drinks juice and has munchy snacks here and there, but when the dr's office asked: "Is he on 1%, 2% or whole milk?" The answer was "Mother's milk". Since I've always nursed "on cue", or as is now more accurate, "upon request", there is not really feeding times to drop, but he definitely forgets to ask some days what with all the exploring and walking and playing that can be done now. I never imagined I would nurse an older baby, but so far I highly recommend it. This article from La Leche League's website is seeming to be matching up with our reality: Benefits of Breastfeeding a Toddler. Very few sick days, and mild ones at that, a calm, easily comforted toddler who shows more signs of independence every day but still loves to snuggle, and a mom who is still benefiting from the mellowing effects of prolactin.

I wouldn't consider myself a breastfeeding activist, but I am definitely interested in encouraging more moms to resist the false conventional wisdom that withholding the breast at younger and younger ages is a sign of progress for the amazing species of mammal called homo sapiens.

Snacktime

This is Douwe with his church friends Rebecca, Levi and Gracie, (and Adam, too, who was somewhere else right now). They were treated to a donut hole by Mrs. Abbott. Douwe enjoys toddling around with these children while we are in the worship service.

Chicago Children's Museum

Douwe and I took a field trip to the Children's Museum on Navy Pier. He spent his whole visit in two different exhibits, both built for age 5 and under. I just sat and watched him happily enjoy the following adventures: eating a pretend meal for about a half-hour, walking back and forth over a challenging (for him) sloped "bridge" about 30 times, and taking a wet drippy net from the stream to shake it off on a tree stump about 50 times. He loved it here, so we'll have to go back on another cold day.

"Twin" for a day

My sister found a matching set of this outfit at a resale shop, with cousin Liam wearing the other one. We took Douwe and his three cousins to get a Christmas photo for Grandpa and Grandma, it will be so cute!

Fall Flair

For those of my blogging friends that haven't been to our house or haven't been for a while, here is a few pictures of our living room. I spent time last week tinkering with the decorative things and making it more fall-like. We also rearranged the room so that there is a fun play space for little ones behind the couch. Don't worry, that glass coffee table now has a bumper pad around the edge and normally is covered with a table cloth, transforming it to a perfect race-track, forest, or corn field for the trains, cars, animals, tractors and combine harvester that usually are strewn across it.

Fourteen Months

Douwe reached a sort of "golden" milestone, fourteen months old on November 14th.

He has been walking for about 4 weeks now, likes to use a fork (but can't pierce the food himself), begs to go outside all the time, hates putting on a winter coat. He is doing ok with his orthotic shoes which must be worn 24/7. He is cutting teeth #9 and #10. He is much slimmer, has held at about 24 pounds since earlier this summer and seems to be getting taller. He does not really cry long when I leave him, just plaintively repeats, "Mama? Mamamama? Mama? Mama?" turning his palms up questioningly. He loves his stacking/nesting blocks, and the toy that blows balls through a tube and up in the air. He talks with his own words but we usually can understand him because of his inflections. He gets very excited to see schoolbuses, trucks, stop signs, dogs, buses.

I find it humorous how he treats his books. There are about 30 great options to choose from but only 8 he will allow to be read. Let not those 8 become arrogant though or think they are inherently superior, for suddenly two days later, 1 of the favorites is arbitrarily swatted away to the reject pile and a formerly rejected book is now one of the chosen few. First 100 Things that Move and How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? are getting the top billing at the moment.

A memorable day

Douwe's a bit tired this morning, as he ran around with Rudy the dog till 10:30 last night while we watched the election results come in at our friends Ralph and Lynn's house. Lake County, IN's support of Barack Obama painted Indiana blue this election, and Douwe may someday be proud that he helped canvass by stroller a couple afternoons this September.

It is an exciting time to be a Chicagoland resident!

Douwe and Cousins

Douwe enjoyed a visit from his three cousins, the Builder, the Princess and the Pumpkin.

Happy Reformation Day!

Advice from a Religious Con Man
Brought to you by WORLD MERIT BANK
“lifting people out of debt and hell for 20 centuries”

Chapel Address: Illiana Christian High School
October 31, 2008: Speaker: Fr. Johnny Tetzel, employer of the year 1517


I’ve been sent by the financial powers that be to give advice to you Americans today. It seems your economy is in a financial crisis. Well I was around during “the big crash” back in ‘17. 1517 that is. The whole land, not this one (we were just starting to chop down trees and Indians over here), the land that you call Europe was served by one centralized bank. Our headquarters was down in Rome and we ran an operation entrusted to us by God himself. We were the World Merit Bank and business was booming.

We specialized in a currency called penance. No, not pennies, not pence. Penance. Townspeople gave us chickens or candlesticks or quarters to pay their way out of punishment for petty sins. We had financial brokers called priests in every town collecting this penance and sending it to Rome. It was quite a lucrative enterprise. Until the great crash. Yes. The ‘R’ word devastated our bank. No, not Recession. Worse. The Reformation.

They say there were clues it would eventually happen. The trustees of our bank had been, over the centuries, getting a bit desperate to raise cash. One of the earlier Popes needed to maintain a huge military budget and recruit more soldiers to wipe out the heathens in the Middle East. So he invented a penance gift card that moms could give their sons for Christmas. Boys had a much easier time going to war if they could pocket this promise: “Dear GI Joe, when you die in this Crusade, you get to skip afterlife punishment in purgatory for your big-time mortal sins. You’ll earn a path straight to heaven, just like those Muslims think they are doing. Sincerely, Pope Urban and God.” Now tell me you can buy a future as valuable as that on your Wall Street!

The Pope also had to make hefty payments on his real-estate takeovers and high-rise cathedral developments, bonuses to his bishops, and bribes to various government princes and emperors. Selling fake pieces of Noah’s ark, and finger bones of the saints at all the Relic Flea Markets just wasn’t hauling in the cash like he had expected, so he set up 7-11s on every Main Street to mass market a new religious product line. “Buy a car magnet, (or indulgence as we called them) and we’ll give God the thumbs up to let you in heaven. Buy 10 wristbands to help out your dead uncle who didn’t have enough money to earn his way out of the 30 years of purgatory he is suffering through.” I was one of the more popular traveling salesmen during a special building fund drive in 1517 called the Jubilee Indulgence. You may have heard of me, Johnny Tetzel! My gimmick was a catchy jingle, just like your tv commercials have, to sell more stuff: As soon as the coin in the bucket rings, another soul from purgatory springs. As soon as the dollar in the bucket lands, another person in heaven stands! I was so good, I was selling indulgences for sins that hadn’t happened yet!

Well this troublemaker Martin Luther ruined it all. He was a Merit Bank accountant in Germany keeping track of his own ledger of sins and penances. He was one of few people educated to read Latin, the exclusive language of our bank’s constitution. He was studying sections called Romans and Galatians, and he accused the Merit Bank of ignoring an important constitutional amendment: that God discarded the merit banking business model when Jesus Christ died and rose again. The World Merit Bank, as Luther saw it, was a fraud run by executives who made their fortunes on people’s fear of purgatory and hell! He posted a note on his Facebook wall, (with a hammer the old-fashioned way) where everybody would read it. He publicly announced that the Christian God is not a banker, so any bank posing as the World Merit Bank is a worthless place to buy relics or invest in eternal futures.

It was a mess. People stopped buying thorns from Jesus’s crown of thorns, stopped buying hay from Jesus’s manger, stopped investing in futures. The market crashed and somebody needed to take the heat. The first person to fire was this Luther character. And in those days getting fired really meant something: rope, fire and a charred body. He had powerful friends who staged a kidnapping and hid him in a castle. Unfortunately, a new invention called the printing press helped his writings spread all over the empire. The Reformation was upon us—and the end of the world as we knew it.

Here is my advice to you: if you want to be successful leaders, bring stability back to your world, exterminate heathens in other lands, and have beautiful new church buildings and school properties and a thriving market for religious commodities: Encourage people to stay so busy and frantic that they have no time to really read Romans or Galatians. Persuade them to purchase countless Christian romances, family-values movies, self-improvement devotionals, and morally uplifting music from the local religious bookstores. Make sure they give money to every faith-based fundraiser within 30 miles. Let them get buried in debt to cover their financial obligations to church budget, school tuition, and a house in the latest new Christian-populated subdivision. The people must believe that God is a banker and that you, as a wise leader, can be trusted to collect all their money, time, energy, guilt, and possessions in exchange for assurance that their investments will earn them a nice retirement condo on the golf course in that eternally appreciating real-estate market of heaven.

Beware of traitors like this Luther. He ditched the LSAT and law school to take a vow of poverty. He wrote books that got his butt kicked out of church and his face stapled to the Wanted bulletin board at the sheriff’s office. He asked disrespectful questions like this one when he finished his youth group mission trip achievement of climbing a famous stairway in Rome on his knees: “Is this all a bunch of religious BS?” (I paraphrase). He told the people that their revered leaders were con-men in a giant financial scam for personal comfort, power, and wealth. He’d want you Christians to accept the life-denying risk of announcing good news to the poor, freeing captives and helping the oppressed. Come on! Where’s the money in that line of work?

He said the craziest thing of all, something that absolutely must be silenced if you Christian Americans want an economy that fairly rewards those who work for the wealth they deserve. Read along carefully so you know what to watch out for:

“Friends, believe the good news. Because of Jesus Christ, the Merit Bank is boarded up. Throw away your Purchase Love checkbook, cut up that Earn Salvation credit card. Sit down and rest in the new economic reality called Un-Merited Favor, where the King, President and CEO hands out grace, love, acceptance and joyous futures to all. For free.”

Don’t let this so called “good news” get popular. Believe me, it turns the world upside down.

By the way, anybody want to buy a bone from St. Jack’s skeleton? Five bucks. Guaranteed protection from any demons who bother you this eve of All Hallows Day.

Milwaukee and Randolph

Douwe's second visit to Milwaukee to see Uncle Mike and soon to be Auntie Jackie. It was a beautiful fall weekend to be traveling in Wisconsin. We spent Saturday afternoon with about 140 relatives at the Rutgers family pig roast in Randolph WI.

Applesauce Day 08

Douwe and cousin Liam are just about ready for mom, Grandma and Aunt Alison to stop making applesauce and play with us. Douwe is 13 months and Liam is 9 months.

County Line Orchard

Our annual visit to County Line Orchard has proven that this destination is getting to be quite well known. The first time I was there in 2002 it was a small operation, completely free and now there is a charge for everything that moves. But it is still a great field trip for young and old. Douwe enjoyed the tractor/trailer ride around the fields.

Retreat

Jeff and I enjoyed an overnight getaway this week at beautiful Sandpiper Inn in Union Pier Michigan. This is our third stay over the years at our favorite bed and breakfast. The weather was nice enough for a long walk on the beach.

Another birthday to celebrate

We had a surprising phone call, along with an opportunity to see Steve for his birthday. A neighborhood friend joined us in taking Steve to Portillo's to celebrate turning nine. We were so happy to have a few hours to visit and enjoy each other's company.

Bike Ride, Nature Center

We spent a beautiful afternoon this week riding bikes on the Fox River Trail from Geneva south toward Batavia with friend Elisabeth and her son Simon. The nature center was the nicest I have ever seen, and I have been inside many. Douwe loved the many features where you pull a wood door to peek-a-boo at the picture, or press a button that lights up part of an animal.

Happy Birthday Douwe (and Jeff)!

The rains came down and the floods came up, but our Hammond neighborhood stayed dry, even though we are two blocks from Little Calumet. We had two celebrations this week because Grandpa and Grandma Lanting were stranded in their house by surrounding waters on Sunday. We are delighted to celebrate 1 year of life with this wonderful child. He is healthy and happy and seems to enjoy the experience of life, especially being around various people of all ages.

Mel is the Man!

I have a lot of catching up to do in the world of stage entertainment. I never really heard of Mel Brooks before, and after last night I'm wondering how it is possible that a 30-something college educated American could walk the streets without knowing something of this comedic artist.

Granted, I snuck into my first movie in a real theatre at age 14, grew up in a home that hosted a TV only during the two weeks of winter vacation (the Rent-a-Center people always thought we were very strange.) I did get to play the good witch of the North for my pre-school Wizard of Oz performance but that might have been my only childhood encounter with live theatre. Since my teen years I have been trying to catch up by seeing lots of local amateur and big city professional plays and musicals, and renting all the movies an American of my age should have seen by now, but I admit I have a very lot of "audiencing" to do.

Last night we saw stage musical The Producers at the Munster Performing Arts Center. So now I find myself a fan of the creator Mel Brooks and intent on enjoying more of his creative work. One of my favorite Christmas presents from my dad when I was young was a collection of comic-book-style illustrated adaptations of the most popular Shakespeare plays. That gift makes a strong case that I come by my delight in story, stage, and theater quite honestly.

Here's a story retold by Ebert as he reviews the original 1968 movie The Producers:

I remember finding myself in an elevator with Brooks and his wife, actress Anne Bancroft, in New York City a few months after "The Producers" was released. A woman got onto the elevator, recognized him and said, "I have to tell you, Mr. Brooks, that your movie is vulgar." Brooks smiled benevolently. "Lady," he said, "it rose below vulgarity."

Brooks obviously gets the purpose of comedy and understands the oldest meaning of the word vulgar.

Eager Grandparents

Jeff's parents are delighted to have a new grandson, and tickled that this one lives close by to them. So I shouldn't be surprised at their response when I called them last Saturday to see if they wanted to take Douwe to the local Zest Fest in Highland. They dropped everything and came over in 10 minutes and Douwe was gone for about 6 hours.

Here's a few photos from the festival



And a random one of Douwe and Grandpa going for a walk in the rain:

Milkshake

That's what happens, Douwe, when you tip the cup too high to get that last little bit of chocolate malt!

"A Woman Playing a Woman, What's the Trick in That?"

The title of this entry comes from an ironic question in the movie Stage Beauty when a famous Shakespearean actor (male) who exclusively plays female roles discovers that an underground performance of Othello is illegally allowing a woman to play Desdemona. A few days later he finds himself out of a livelihood b/c the king has cancelled the ban of women on stage and instead banned men from acting the female roles on stage.

After a disastrous interview with the matchmaker, Mulan mourns in her popular Disney song, "Reflection": "I'll never pass for a perfect bride, not meant to play this part. If I were truly to be myself, I would break my family's heart." The Christina Aguilera lyrics are a bit different in the single release, but fit the theme of this entry quite well.

In the backstage interviews, actor Billy Crudup decribes this problem for the main characters Ned and Maria in Stage Beauty: "Neither are capable of relating to the world in a truthful way. They are struggling desperately to marry desire, instincts and passions with what they are allowed to do in the world."

The national political stage is hopping with debate about gender norms, sexual identity, reproductive choice, and the roles of women at home and "in the workplace." Closer to home, I am still adjusting to my new role as a mother and how that impacts my identity or value as a woman. When choosing how to respond to various conflicts or choices in life, the underlying question seems to be: What would a good mom do? A good wife? A good woman? A good daughter? A good "Christian lady"? There are many complementary and competing answers to those questions. Which answers are truly Christ-inspired? Which answers mask my true identity? Which answers harm men and women alike? Which answers help us all become more equipped to resemble the One who created male and female after His own image and likeness?

With the help of my new Netflix subscription and some on-line movie databases, my last few months of movie viewing have had a common theme: resolving plot conflicts by using hidden or assumed identity. One popular way to hide or assume identity, especially in stage/screen storytelling, is through the guise of cross-dressing in order to "pass" as a member of the opposite sex. These create the conditions for humorous double entendre and irony in dialogue, while also exposing how humans use cultural assumptions about gender roles to guide their responses to another human. Some of my favorite Shakespeare comedies feature the female character who passes as a young lad to help fix a messy situation, which reminds us that gender-bending is not a recent Hollywood phenomenon. For some reason the cross-dressing female creates less discomfiture than the cross-dressing male, probably because a tomboy is more acceptable in our culture than a "flowerpot," as the Chinese call an effeminate man. As fall and winter seasons approach, if you are looking for some interesting movies to watch, either for laughs or more serious reflection on gender and sexual identity, watch a pair or trio of these:

Mrs. Doubtfire (Robin Williams)
Some like it Hot (Marilyn Monroe)
She's the Man (teeny bop adaptation of Twelfth Night)
The Birdcage (Robin Williams)
As You Like It (2006 Kenneth Branagh adaptation)
The Merchant of Venice (Al Pacino as Shylock)
Stage Beauty (Billy Crudup and Claire Danes)
Mulan (Disney)
Shakespeare In Love (Gwyneth Paltrow)


If you want to be the serious viewer and help me in my exploration of this theme, here's a question to consider while you enter the story and plot: In what way does temporarily "cross-dressing" help the characters come closer to discarding more permanent "masks" and finding their authentic identity as man or woman, husband or wife, father or mother, son or daughter? Let me know what you come up with!

The dynamics between the sexes in Stage Beauty especially has me thinking about this topic: Many critics of feminism say that it weakens men when women assert their talent and influence in settings or tasks that historically have been reserved for men-only. Might it instead be that men, the Kings of creation, are at greater risk of emasculation when they exile women from their position as Queens who are entrusted as co-agents with the task of subduing the earth? When a society exiles its authentic Queens, why are we shocked when drag queens take the stage? Does a man with make-up offend us more than the "women-need-not-apply" sign?

Labor Day Weekend

We spent a day in Holland to celebrate Dad Lanting's birthday and enjoy a sunset sail.