Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Welcome 2010!  Though I am firmly in the camp that says 2010 is the last year of the decade (rather than the first year of a new one), it’s still a chance to look ahead at the year’s certainties and possibilities.  First up in certainties, getting through the rest of my pregnancy and meeting our new daughter in 8 weeks.  To that end, we’ve been playing the “move everyone around in the bedrooms” game.  Annabelle back to the girls’ room and then Katherine into the nursery and next putting up a new dresser for baby clothes . . . we’ll get there.

DredBen has a business trip next week, so we’re tagging along.  Packing and a long drive, boo!  But a pool when we get there, yeah!

Then back to school – with a big push to get some things done before the teacher goes on maternity leave.

And the possibilities – moving or staying, selling or building on, who knows?  Luckily, I have faith that God does or I’d be even more annoying about it than I already am!

So to wrap up 2009, here’s some pictures from Christmas, Annabelle’s birthday (I can’t believe my baby girl is 2!) and some other random events.

A Claggett Christmas 2009

Best wishes to all in the New Year!

Christmas Newsletter 2009

Greetings from New Jersey! We were hoping to be sending greetings from somewhere else, but it’s been that kind of a year – things not going quite as we planned!

One thing that has gone (mostly) as planned is that GB was able to retire at the end of June! She’s waiting for her house to sell to officially move out, but she’s been spending more time with us and we’re all thrilled!

Katherine is now 7½ and growing into quite a young lady. She is a great help to us with her sisters and around the house – sometimes without us even asking. Third grade is going well and this year we joined a local co-op. Katherine takes art, history, and PE classes with other kids one morning a week while the little girls have their own places to play. We’re all loving it, though I appreciate only having to put together school bags and lunches once a week!

Her right foot has tightened up and she is currently having new casts every two weeks to try and get it straightened out. Our clubfoot journey isn’t over yet, but her foot is responding well to the casting and our hope is that we can put off another surgery as long as possible.

Lizzie just turned 4 and is doing preschool this year with Mommy. She is eager to learn and “do school” like her big sister. Full of spunk and energy, she continues to keep life noisy and interesting! Unfortunately, she also often finds herself the target of her little sister’s new toddler-hood. We’re trying to help her deal with this development with grace, and reliving a lot of memories of when she was smaller.

Annabelle is almost 2, but she’s so precocious it seems like she’s older. She talks up a storm and is always eager to do what her older sisters are doing. Just try telling her she’s still a baby! She has a sweet personality and loves to give hugs – and we love to receive them.

DredBen completed the requirements for his Master’s degree in Industrial Math and the girls and I, along with his parents, went to watch him graduate in May. We’re all very proud of him! Following graduation, we looked into opportunities to transfer with DredBen’s company, but nothing panned out. So he is still busy running a team here in NJ and looking at possibilities in other areas of engineering. We are praying for God’s direction and trying to wait patiently for His timing.

In the meantime, we had another unanticipated development. In June, we discovered that we were expecting another baby! We were surprised but also feel very blessed to welcome another life into our family. Our ultrasound revealed another little girl. She’s due at the end of February and is already entertaining us as we feel her kick! Be on the lookout for a baby announcement this spring.

Life just keeps going and not always where you expect! But God has taught us a lot during this time of waiting and expectation – things that would probably be harder to grasp if we were busy moving and settling in a new place. We continue to be incredibly grateful for our wonderful daughters, supportive family, and kind friends. And, as always, our amazing and awesome God!

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Isaiah 40:28,29

May God Bless You All in the Coming Year,

DredBen, Shevrae, Katherine, Lizzie, and Annabelle

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

18 inches.  Or 24 inches.  Whatever – it’s a lot of snow!  Fortunately, we’re stocked up on hot chocolate and corn for popping, so the kids are having a blast playing out in the snow and then coming in to thaw out.  Turns out playing in the snow is also exhausting – so they’re going to bed early too!  If only poor DredBen didn’t have to dig a car out for work tomorrow . . .

In other news, we’ve been having too much fun with paint and GB had a birthday!  The girls and I took her out for lunch and then she and I were able to go into Philly for a nice dinner together at Chocolate By the Bald Man.  She’d never been there before and she loved it!

Paint, snow, and GB’s birthday

Thanksgiving trip to New Hampshire

We drove up to New Hampshire the day before Thanksgiving with 3 kids and a GB in tow.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day with Grandma and Grandpa, DredBen’s brother, his wife and 3 kids, and another couple of friends.  Lots of food and fun!  We also exchanged Christmas gifts with DredBen’s brother’s family, since we wouldn’t see them again for a while.

The next day Grandpa went out and got a Christmas tree so all the grandkids could help decorate.  Grandma is very brave!

On Saturday, DredBen, Katherine, and I traveled to Plimoth Plantation for the day.  We’ve been studying the Plymouth Colony in school – which is particularly interesting when your family tree contains 3 families that sailed over on the Mayflower!  We visited a Wampanoag homesite, the English village (circa 1627), and the Mayflower II, a full-scale replica of the original.  It was fun to spend the day with our quickly growing up girl, while her sisters played with two Grandmas.

Church on Sunday and back home on Monday made for a busy “vacation” – but it’s always nice to spend time with our wonderful family!

Thanksgiving trip to New Hampshire

The Complicated Process of Learning

DredBen and I were just having a discussion about how many basic things in science and mathematics are still not completely understood, but you proceed as though you do understand, because what else can you do?

Then I read this in a book I just got -

“One of the paradoxes of learning is that a beginner must accept much that he cannot prove before he can understand anything.  Each of us works with certain “givens,” as they are called in geometry, and builds his structures of knowledge and belief in the confidence that those “givens” are more or less unassailable.  Gradually, he becomes aware that those postulates may themselves be subject to question or in need of re-interpretation; and finally he learns that the simple propositions from which he started are the ones that continue to challenge the intelligence of wise and thoughtful men.”  – The Logic and Rhetoric of Exposition, by Harold C. Martin

It seems then that problems can arise when a beginner never moves on in understanding and never learns to question the foundations of his knowledge.  There is a temptation toward an arrogant confidence in our assertions, without the proper humility of acknowledging our limitations.   Or, as Alexander Pope once said, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.”

A Busy Season

It’s a busy time of year for most people, but with one birthday just before Thanksgiving and one just after Christmas (not to mention some family and friend birthdays in there too!) the holidays feel like a non-stop shopping, wrapping, tearing the paper off, picture taking session!

So I’ll try to post just a few things at a time.  In November, we were able to go to the Adventure Aquarium in Camden during homeschool week (discounted tickets, hurrah!).  We met a friend from college and her kids there and had fun checking out the fish and the gift shop – though the sharks made Lizzie pretty nervous!

Next up was the Thanksgiving Feast with our homeschool support group – how nice to eat wonderful food with kids running crazy all over the place and nobody seemed to mind.

Then it was time for our Lizzie to turn 4 – where does the time go?  She asked for an Alice in Wonderland party with each of us playing assigned parts – fortunately she liked the masquerade masks I came up with as costumes!

Finally was a nice visit with our friends the Franchinas and their four kids – hanging out, catching up, playing games, and exchanging gifts.

And, of course, taking pictures.

Lizzie’s birthday and Christmas with the Franchinas

Up next:  Thanksgiving trip to New Hampshire!

The Trying of Faith Worketh Patience

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord

Our God, You reign forever
Our hope, our Strong Deliverer
You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
You do not faint
You won’t grow weary

You’re the defender of the weak
You comfort those in need
You lift us up on wings like eagles

-The Everlasting God by Chris Tomlin

We sang this song in church this morning and I thought about how true these words have been in my life.  For at least a year and probably more like a year and a half, I’ve been waiting on the Lord.  DredBen and I both feel like there’s something out there for us – something different, something else – and we’re trying to wait patiently for God’s direction and leading.  It’s not easy, particularly for me.  More often than not, I feel frustrated, anxious, and irritated rather than patient.  I want to go.  I want to do.  I’m tired of this gnawing feeling that I’m not where I’m supposed to be.

But something else is also happening.  My strength is rising as I wait upon the Lord.  My determination to be obedient when God does speak is being crystallized during this time of preparation.  Sometimes that makes me nervous too.  Will God call me to something I really don’t want to do?  Will everyone around us think we’re nuts?  But as He draws my heart close to Him, everything else falls away but to “delight myself in the Lord.”  And the Bible says that when I do that “He will give me the desires of my heart.”  As so I wait, knowing that when the time is right, God will grant the desire of my heart – the knowledge of His will.

Another field trip and a Halloween party

Our second co-op field trip took us to Fort Mifflin in Philadelphia (unfortunately, I forgot the camera!)  It’s a really cool old fort on the Delaware River and Katherine learned a lot of neat things about the Revolutionary and Civil Wars while Annabelle and Lizzie spent a lot of time running up and down hills and chasing a very nice cat around the fort.  But we did a lot of walking around, which resulted in Katherine losing a good piece of skin on her toe where it rubbed against her cast.  In typical kid fashion, she didn’t mention a thing until near the end, when she came limping up to me complaining that her foot had been hurting for a while.  Her toe is now wrapped up in a bandage – it remains to be seen how sore it will be and how well it will heal.  We may have to trim the end off her cast to keep from irritating it . . .

Since we were so close by, we stopped at IKEA for lunch.  Lucky me, kids eat free this week!  Then the older girls went to the kid play area while Annabelle had a blast in the children’s furniture area and the blueberries.  Actual shopping accomplished by me – very little.  Ben and my wallet are now breathing a sigh of relief.

Not to be deterred by something so simple as a horrible looking blister, Katherine was very excited about attending the Lake Pine Halloween party.  So we got the kids dressed up and headed over to the neighborhood clubhouse.  We painted pumpkins and ate lots of junk food (though there was a strange absence of Halloween candy for a Halloween party).  Then Elmo showed up.  I wish I’d had a camera on Annabelle when she saw him – she jumped up, pointed and said, “ELMO!” and took off running.  She just stood looking at him while he took pictures with the kids and danced around.  She looked like she was in a trace.  Lizzie spent most of the time hiding behind Ben, though she did wave to him just as he was leaving.   And Katherine was happy to have her picture taken with him and dance the Hokey Pokey with everyone.  Then the girls got balloon princesses and we went home.

We got the girls to bed and I totally crashed – running around all day left me both worn out and sore – not to mention I think the baby is having a growth spurt.  Unfortunately, going to bed at 8:30 PM has left me wide awake at 4 AM.  But hey, it’s quiet time to update my blog, something that’s at a premium these days!

Halloween Party and Visiting With GB

The Co-op Experience and A Colonial Field Trip

This year we decided to participate in our homeschool support group’s co-op, Living Water Enrichment (LWE).  Moms teach classes and the kids get a taste of the “brick and mortar” school experience.  But really, it’s more like high school, because you pick whatever classes you like and switch between rooms.  And it’s only one morning a week.  Katherine chose an art class (where she learns about great artists and then does a project in their style), a history class (learning about what life was like at the time of the American Revolution), and a PE class (for fun, though she has started doing sit-ups at home!).  They have a nursery for Annabelle and a toddler class for Lizzie, which makes the whole thing worth it for me – I’m not sure I’d be up for entertaining them for 3 hours every week at a strange place so Katherine could take these classes.  I volunteer – I’m in Lizzie’s class with her for two hours and I spend the last hour as the elevator monitor.  I have to make sure kids aren’t playing with the elevator when they’re supposed to be in class.  But the elevator has been broken since co-op started, so I spend my time reading or chatting with the guy trying to fix it!  But Katherine and Lizzie really like their classes and Annabelle isn’t complaining – so I think it’s a success!

Yesterday we went on a field trip for Katherine’s history class.  We visited Stenton House, the home of James Logan.  He was William Penn’s secretary and did a lot of work setting up the Pennsylvania colony while William Penn was back in England.  It’s right in the middle of Philadelphia, but with the trees grown up all around you can barely tell you’re in the city – until the sirens drive by!  Then we went to Cliveden, the site of the Battle of Germantown.  The British won by holing themselves up in a mansion with two-foot thick stone walls.  I posted some pictures below.

The kids had a great time and I got to know some of the other homeschool Moms a little better – co-op is pretty busy, not a lot of time to chat.  I did happen to mention my background in chemistry and molecular biology to the lady who organizes all the classes, who promptly asked if I’d be interested in teaching!   I’m teaching Katherine’s art class next week – we’re studying Monet- so we’ll see how that goes first.  And with the baby coming, I would guess that I’ll have to wait until next year.  Will we even be in NJ next year?  I have no idea, but I am starting to brainstorm how to teach a genetics class in one day a week and looking for cheap chemistry texts on the Internet – just in case.

A Colonial Field Trip

Group picture

A Trip to Ireland

I know, I know, it took a long time to get this up – but I did come home to 3 kids, a homeschool program, and a yard that’s still in shambles, so thanks for your patience!

My wonderful mother retired at the end of June this year in anticipation of moving to NJ and being a nearby Grandma!  She received the generous gift of a trip for two to Ireland and I got to tag along.  We flew from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia (and yes, I had to buy a ticket from Philly to Pittsburgh just so I could fly right back) and then from Philly to Shannon, on the west coast.  Here’s a summary of our itinerary:

Friday AM:  Arrive at the Bunratty Castle Hotel in the village of Bunratty

Friday afternoon:  Drive to the Cliffs of Moher

Friday evening:  A night of Medieval food and entertainment at Bunratty Castle

Saturday AM:  Visit the Flying Boat Museum at Foynes

Saturday Lunch:  Stopped at the village of Listowel

Saturday PM: Stay at the Killarney Plaza hotel in Killarney

Sunday AM: Jaunting cart ride to Ross Castle

Sunday Lunch: Stopped at the village of Kildare

Sunday afternoon: Visit at Muckross House and Gardens

Sunday PM: Stay at the Killarney Plaza hotel in Killarney

Monday AM: Drive to Blarney for shopping at the Blarney Woolen Mills and a visit to Blarney Castle

Monday Lunch:  Visit to Cobh Heritage Center in Cobh

Monday Afternoon: Walking tour of Historic Waterford City

Monday PM: Stay at the Granville Hotel in Waterford

Tuesday AM: Visit to Jerpoint Abbey, and short stop at Kilkenny Castle

Tuesday Lunch: Visit to Irish National Stud and Japanese Gardens

Tuesday PM: Stay at Dunboyne Castle Hotel in Dunboyne

Sound like a lot to do in 5 days?  It was – but it was wonderful!  Wednesday morning we were up early to fly home from Dublin with a very long layover in Toronto – where we made the mistake of leaving the main terminal for the small one we were flying out of.  Turns out you can’t go back and while restaurants, bookstores, and other time-wasting things abound in the main terminal, our terminal had only a little snack bar to keep us busy for almost 4 hours.  We got back to Pittsburgh where we spent the night at the airport Hyatt so I would be near the airport to fly back to Philly the next morning.

And what were Ben and the girls doing during this time?  They spent a couple of days at home, then drove to CT for a family reunion, then up to NH to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for a couple of days.  Then they left NH around 4AM on Wednesday morning so they could get to the Philly airport in time to pick me up.  So they were pretty busy too!

I’ve posted two albums – the first album is about 170 pictures, so it’s for people who are really interested or have quite a bit of time on their hands!  The second has about 40 pictures, for people who just want a quick peek at our trip.

Ireland 2009

Ireland 2009 – the mini-album