Gettysburg

All the boys at the top of Devil's Den

Looking up at Little Round Top from Devil's Den

Girls hanging out during one of our stops

The place where Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address

The boys walking through the National Soldier's Cemetery

The muffled drums sad roll has beat
The soldier's last tattoo,
No more on life's parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few.

On fame's eternal camping-ground,
Their silent tents are spread,
And glory guards with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead.

No rumor of the foe's advance
Now sweeps upon the wind,
No troubled thought at midnight haunts
Of loved ones left behind.

No vision of the morrow's strife
The warrior's dream alarms.
No braying horn nor screaming fife
At dawn shall call to arms.

The neighing troop, the flashing blad,
The bugle's stirring blast,
The charge, the dreadful cannonade,
The din and shout are past.

Your own proud land's heroic soil
Must be your fitter grave;
She claims from war his richest spoil,
The ashes of the brave.

Rest on enbalmed and sainted dead,
Dear as the blood ye gave.
No impious footstep here shall tread
The herbage of your grave.

We read this poem as we walked through the National Soldier's Cemetery at Gettysburg. It's a sober reminder of the sacrifice our armed forces make to defend our country - and was a fitting conclusion to our tour of Gettysburg National Military Park.

It was hard to imagine the horror of the battle, as I stood on the peaceful ridges, looking over the empty fields where thousands of men lost their lives in a desperate Civil War battle. Save for the hundreds (1300 to be exact) monuments marking the positions of every regiment in battle during those fateful days, it could have been any peaceful Pennsylvania countryside.

My boys, including Glen, were transfixed by the markers and monuments - jumping out at every stop to explore and imagine. (One thing I learned - North Carolina lost the most men of any state, North or South, in the battle at Gettysburg. The numbers are astounding.)

The girls - not so much. "Do we have to get out?"

"No," I said, remembering my first visit to Gettysburg. A book was more appealing than the monuments.

But we all emptied the van to walk around the cemetery, remembering the men whose blood made these fields sacred. We counted the hundreds of graves marked with numbers - men who fell, but could not be identified.

To those who have served in our armed forces, and to those who have given their loved ones to serve, thank you.

The Big Birthday - Early

My parent's have a great tradition. When a grandchild turns 8, s/he gets a special birthday 'date' with Papa and Nana. The girls get a trip to downtown Chicago to the American Girl Doll store to pick out their very own doll. The boys get a trip to the Lego store to pick out a boatload of Legos. (There are some age exceptions, but those don't come into play here, so I won't go into them.)

In a little less than a week, my baby turns 8. He has been planning for his special day for two years.

Do you think I'm kidding? I'm not. There has been so much discussion between him and his older brother about which Lego sets to choose, which sets are the best deal, which sets they like the best that I have left the house (quite literally) because I can't stand to listen to any more Lego talk.

His day finally came on Tuesday! Isaac was so excited, he was up every two hours the night before and finally gave up trying to sleep at 5:20. (He's very precise.)

He very generously invited all his siblings into his room to help him build everything.

And I even allowed an exception to the infamous 'Leichty bedtime'
to allow them to complete the building process.
(For my own sanity, really. The boys have been known to get up at 1am to finish building a Lego set in the privacy of their closet. You can imagine what the next day was like!)

One last note: Those Cars 2 sets came out at JUST the right time. Otherwise my house would have been full of Star Wars Legos. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I just prefer Cars 2.

You Know Summer is Ending...

...when school work starts piling up in the living room.

...when an open piano lid becomes the norm.

...when the kids actually complain about going to the beach,
"Again?!!"

...when blankets start piling up on the living room floor and furniture.

...when the shadow on the back porch becomes deeper each day.

"There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven"

And yet I still mourn - just a little - for summer fun, summer book club,
the excitement of the beach every possible day, the relaxed schedule.

All while feeling relief - quite a bit - of starting our fall routine,
having motivators for my children to finish their chores,
no more beach sand in the shower, on the floor or in the van,
reading deliciously delightful books aloud to the children.

Yes, I need the change of season.

The Wisdom of Pixar

This summer I have been reading stacks of children's books to review on my children book review blog, so I've been neglecting my own stack of books.

I've been wanting to read this book - The Wisdom of Pixar by Robert Velarde - and finally got the chance! Velarde consults with Sonlight Curriculum, the curriculum I use in teaching my children at home, so Sonlight has been promoting his book in their materials.

I ordered my children's books for the coming school year, and decided to add one small thing for myself - The Wisdom of Pixar. I just finished reading it last night and thoroughly enjoyed it!

Velarde opens with a quick overview of the philosophy of virtue - a necessary foundation for the rest of the book. I will admit to skimming through it since I was not a philosophy major and I wanted to get to the rest of the book (plus I read right before I go to sleep - not the best time to try to process philosophical arguments).

The rest of the chapters look at different aspects of virtue, including justice, love, friendship, identity, and how Pixar's movies explore each of these virtues. I found it easy to read The Wisdom of Pixar and each chapter left me thinking about the movies and examples of virtue.

I'm also thinking of how this book could be a springboard for great family discussion (or any small group or youth group) on virtue. Velarde includes discussion questions at the end of each chapter, plus a movie discussion guide in an appendix.

I'm thinking a family movie night over the weekend, then reading the chapter as a part of our school week, discussing the questions at the end of the chapter and in the appendix.

When reading the book, it helps to be familiar with all the Pixar movies (before Cars 2). While each chapter focuses on one or two of the Pixar movies, Velarde includes several other movie examples. If your family is like mine, that is not a problem because we love all the Pixar movies.

I highly recommend this book for personal enjoyment, and also for a group discussion. But beware - you cannot cover the entire book in one night.

Blasting into August

Glen spotted the "All Tchaikovsky" concert on the Ravinia schedule months ago. "1812 Overture," he said. "With live cannons. Plus an instrument petting zoo for the kids. Should we go?"

"Um... sounds good."

"Kids are free."

"Yes!"

We told our children we were going for an adventure. With Papa and Nana and Aunt Carrie. So many guesses ensued. "Museum of Science and Industry?"

"We are packing a picnic. Dress to be outside. And wear sunscreen."

"Field Museum? Are we going on a hike? No, the Botanical Gardens!"

"It's an adventure! You'll find out."

How do you explain Ravinia to children who have never been there?

Sunday afternoon we set out on our great adventure. We staked out a claim in the shade (I'm glad we were there early!) We explored the instrument petting zoo. I thought it was neat, but the kids hardly touched a thing. We stopped at the cooling tent. That felt really good.

We ate our Subway sandwiches, chips and chocolate chip cookies. We listened to the concert. We read, we sweated, we marveled at how much we love air conditioning.

Then came the big finale: 1812 Overture. Papa started humming along. Tons of people gathered around the cannons, while others strained to see them, as if the crowds would part at the crucial moment.

Then, 'BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!'

It was worth it. It was worth the complaints, the heat, the sweat. It was amazing to hear the music as it was meant to be played, with those cannons marking the exclamation points celebrating Napoleon's defeat at the hands of the Russians. Once we were in the van, with the a/c blasting, we all agreed it was quite an adventure (except maybe Nathaniel).

He hardly looked up from his book.





On another note, I just had to snap this picture this morning of my resident team of Lewis and Clark, setting out on their exploration of... the world? Whatever they were exploring, they certainly were prepared. I think they had every map we own in their bags.

Remembering Aunt LaVerna

"A smile is a window on your face that shows you are home."
-Aunt LaVerna

Grandma (left) and Aunt LaVerna

In my mind's eye, I have a picture of Aunt LaVerna leaning back in her chair, her chin thrown up and her mouth open wide in uproarious laughter.

Aunt LaVerna loved to laugh. She loved people - all people. Even as a child I knew Aunt LaVerna was special because she talked with me (not to me) like she talked with adults.

Plus, she made the best cinnamon rolls. EVER.

Last summer, we said good-bye to Uncle Len, Aunt LaVerna's dear husband and one half of what my mother called "The Dynamic Duo."

Last week, we said good-bye to Aunt LaVerna. Her children said she had waited 11 months to join Uncle Len at the feet of Jesus - and we know they're happy to be together again.

The amazing thing to me is how sad my children were to hear of her passing. Eleven months ago, they met her for the first time at Uncle Len's funeral. That fall, LaVerna moved off the farm to Fairhaven, the retirement community where my grandmother lives.

After that, they saw Aunt LaVerna nearly twice a month. Every time my mom goes to visit my grandma, she takes Isaac and Lydia with her. They love visiting Grandpa Roy and Grandma Nelson, and quickly added Aunt LaVerna to their list of most favorite of people.

When we heard Aunt LaVerna had died, Lydia and Isaac were attending Camp Agape, the day camp at our church. Lydia immediately pronounced, "I don't care if I miss a day of camp. I am going to Aunt LaVerna's funeral. I will miss her!"

(Isaac wasn't quite so sure about missing camp, but I arranged a make-up day for them. He felt very relieved. How could he choose?)

Thursday morning, Lydia said to me, "I remember the last words I ever said to Aunt LaVerna."

"You do? What were they?" I asked.

" ' Thanks.' She gave me a Tootsie-Pop the time we all went to Fairhaven and Daniel & Joel and Aunt Lyn were there."

"What a good memory honey. I know it's sad to say good-bye to Aunt LaVerna. But the good news is that we will see her again in heaven one day. And just think. I bet Aunt LaVerna is mixing up some cinnamon rolls right now and planning a party for us once we're there. And she's not in any more pain, she's not tired anymore..."

"I loved Aunt LaVerna just the way she was," retorted Lydia.

Yes. We all loved Aunt LaVerna just the way she was. But we can still be happy Aunt LaVerna is most likely doing in heaven what she loved to do here on earth - putting the coffee on, pulling fresh goodies out of the oven, and visiting with Uncle Len, and the other family she's been missing.

"Love is the glimpse we are permitted of eternity."
-Aunt LaVerna

I'm Still Here - despite technology

I told my mother this morning, "Now that it's July 20th, I'm ready to work."

The month started out well - our lovely trip to Upper Michigan (see pictures below). We came home and almost immediately had a very short, very devastating storm which knocked out our internet (and cable TV, and home phone) for six days.

We finally got our internet back, and my computer went on the fritz. Big time. Down-for-most-of Monday-and- takes-me-until-2pm-Tuesday-to-fix kind of broken.

All is good now. Whew.

And while I had a computer, but no internet, I had time to upload my vacation pictures. Which are, by now, old news. But you can look at (dare I say, enjoy?) them anyway.

The Memory Palace

Over the course of several weeks, I picked up this book, and put it down again, two or three times before it made it into my library bag.

It looked fascinating, but also disturbing. The Memory Palace is a memoir by Mira Bartok, of her life growing up with an absent father and a schizophrenic mother.

Bartok's honest retelling of her life, her memories, and her emotions brought tears to my eyes. She does not hide her deep pain, her feeling of responsibility toward her mother, her guilt over cutting most ties with her mom and changing her name.

Bartok experiences a traumatic brain injury, after which she finds herself making lists, confused about every day activities - and wonders if this is how her mother feels. As she attempts to piece her life and memories back together, she gets word that her mother is dying.

The account of Bartok and her sister with their mother during the last days is especially touching. They are able to be with her when she dies. Bartok realizes her mother was not as alone as she thought - a host of women from the shelter where her mother lived loved her dearly. Knowing that brings Bartok comfort - although she still wonders if she could have done more to help her mother in life.

Readers feel Bartok's pain and her love for her mother throughout this book, in the midst of her fight to survive the home in which she grew up.

Big Family Dinner

My mother and most of her siblings attended a Nyberg family reunion last weekend in Missouri. Since my aunt was flying in from Washington, D.C., she came back to Mom's for a few days. At some point last week, they decided to stop in Rockford and pick up my grandma and her husband, Roy and bring them to Mom's for a few days.

Which led to a flurry of e-mails to cousins and family living within a two-hour-drive radius. "Please come to Mom's for a potluck Monday night to see Grandma and Roy and Aunt Bev. Bring a dish."

(My cousin, Lindsay, ever the over-achiever, brought two fantastically delicious salads.)

Uncle Dave and Aunt Lyn (who couldn't attend the reunion) drove down from Sheboygan just for dinner. They brought Joel with them - freshly home from a tour in Iraq. We were all glad to see him - especially Grandma and Roy.

Tim and Lindsay and Kelsey and Ryan came from the far corner of Lake County. Uncle Neil and Aunt Rebecca decided to take a short detour and stay for dinner too.

We were missing many - Matthew, Pam Gideon & Charis (in Boston); Erik & Meghan (in Sheboygan); Daniel (in Door County); Natalie (at a summer class in Chicago); Andrew (in Battle Creek); Troy, Molly, Elijah, Priscilla, Ben, & Mary (in Chesterton); Carrie (in Chicago).

When I look at the list, it looks like more people missed than made it to dinner.

But what fun we had - laughing, telling stories, taking pictures.

I told Uncle Neil retirement becomes him. He told more jokes last night than I think I've heard in my entire life combined. Then, he washed the dishes. The first time I've ever seen him do that, so of course I had to commemorate the moment.

Over the weekend, my sister recounted a conversation she had about her family. "How do I describe my family? Well, it's so functional, it's dysfunctional."

True. We know, and love, so many of our extended family (my parent's cousins, aunts and uncles) I remember spending an entire hour with a second-cousin trying to put together all the family connections.

(Just don't tell Cousin Dean, who happened to be preaching during that particular hour.)