Lotsa babies

A precious little girl named Emma Jean B. entered the world early this morning. About seven weeks ago, way too early, she threatened to do so, but her mama's doctors ordered weeks of medicine and bedrest. When that medication stopped, we all automatically expected that she would make her appearance, but no, she had learned how to wait. And because of that she knows how to suck, which her big sister, Laura Claire (called Claire) did not when she was a five-week early premie. Anyhow, Emma is named after her grandma Jean, who is feeling very blessed to be alive to meet her. (Claire is named after her B. grandma, Laura.) As Karen, who loves to name babies, cats, dolls, anything her own unique combination of names, said, "A perfect name."

And thus completes the lotsa babies particularly loved by the Hamptons who made 2007 entrances to their lives on earth. First was Aaron S, our honorary grandson, on the magic 7-07-07 date. We will see him for New Year's Eve as he travels back east to his home with his mom, dad, brother Andrew and sister Meghan after having Christmas with his Illinois grandparents. Soon after, came Jack Aber H., born 7-29-07 (the day before his grandma was diagnosed with her cancer) and exactly four months older than his cousin Emma. His big brother Drew entertained us all, especially Karen, when we visited in Atlanta in August. (Also willing to receive our hugs here in Wooster is Benjamin H., the fourth brother in his family, born at the end of May.) It seems that the California gang took 2007 off from having babies, but Emma might have shared a birthday with Erika who turned 3 yesterday, Callum who turned 4 this week also or Mason who turned 2 earlier this month. However, she has her very own special day, 12 days before her due date.

Thank God for babies.

Lotsa Leaves

For several days now, I have looked out at the back yard, covered in yellow leaves but also canopied in thousands upon thousands more and demanded, "Fall, fall, fall!" The students are coming on Sunday afternoon to rake them in preparation for the city-scheduled pickup on Tuesday (the day we leave for MI). But if most of them don't fall until after the pickup, what then? These last couple of weeks have been beautiful (several weeks late) and I am not fondest of the season without leaves, but we would be less fond of trying to rake the post-pickup leaves ourselves and bagging them.

A couple of times the most beautiful fall scene has flitted in and out of my sight. That's when the brilliant yellow, orange and red trees stand out against a glowering dark stormy sky, the sun illuminating it all from behind me. I wished for my camera but of course there was no time to go home and get it. It's just to be treasured in my heart for the long winter. And I guess it's coming. When I criss-crossed the county this afternoon running pre-Thankgiving errands, I went through wind-whipped sleet, snow, rain and peekaboo sun. Finally it settled into a cold rain. Jenny has some winterizing tasks that we will help her with next week--putting up a motion-sensor outside light and installing a garage door opener (or getting one to be installed). She has raked several times but her next door neighbor, the one with the postage stamp lawn, has a new toy--a leaf blower, so he is always jonny-on-the-spot to help her--thankfully. Another kind of heart-treasure--for us all to be together again.

Lotsa Lasts

In the last week, we have experienced many "lasts."

1) Last advising. I have said goodbye to my last FYS kids except for signing a few declaration of major cards by February.
2) Last missions conference at Northview. A fine (though very traditional--meaning that it didn't shake up any tightly held boxes to let in new perspectives) one. Even if we get involved in the missions end of ministry in G.R.--and we certainly hope to--it will be a while before either of us chairs a committee (this one is mine at Northview).
3) Last room to paint. The hardest, the livingroom. It is upended right now with books and pictures and curtain rods and stepstools and heater vents all over the place, but Chuck got it trimmed Saturday. In the process, he aggravated the pinched nerve in his foot. Hopefully, by next Saturday it will be painted and put back to rights. Now we just have to wait for the Amish countertop guy to replace our kitchen countertops, declutter even further, and we'll have a house ready to sell (into what kind of market? "oh, ye of little faith").
4) Last time putting the garden to bed for the winter. Nearly done and waiting for the WCF kids to rake the leaves this coming week for the last time as well.
5) Last preps for the last Sunday School class we will teach at Northview (except for perhaps a one-time sub sometime during winter or spring). We have thoroughly enjoyed our class on the Promised Land (from Genesis to Revelation), and this one cannot be categorized as "traditional" in the sense I described the missions conference above. Our pastor says that young folk come to his Sunday evening small group still buzzing about it. Two more classes, Chuck's on the land during the millennium and mine on the new heaven and the new earth plus some more time (than usual) for life applications.
6) We're waiting for the last specially-loved-by-the-Hamptons baby for 2007. When she arrives, we'll write about them!

B-r-r-r-r-r-r

We have saying around our house--"You can't turn the heat on until October 1." This year, however, October was gloriously warm and dry. This didn't do much for a brilliant show of leaves, but it did help our heating bill. Or so we thought. Towards the end of the month, we'd turn the heat on as we got up in the morning but we leave so soon afterwards that it didn't seem strange that it hadn't come up much. I began to get suspcious when the floor heating units were never warm to the touch and finally we decided (well, Chuck decided--I had come to this conclusion about a week before he did) that something was wrong with the furnace. He tried a couple of things that didn't work and so on Friday (the only day I'm home), I called our friendly neighborhood (literally--until recently, it operated out of the house across the street) heating and cooling company. The same young man who fixed our air conditioner in August, when he nearly passed out from heat prostration in our attic, came late in the afternoon, pronounced that the same electrical problem that had taken down the airconditioning in the summer was responsible for the heater's problems. The part to fix it was, however, in another city and they couldn't get it until Monday. Hmmmm. For the most part, we survived by either staying physically busy outside, going to church and staying there (not hard at the beginning of the annual missions conference), wearing fleeces and wrapping ourselves in comfy throws, and building a fire in the basement family room fireplace. We are glad that it is Monday (the thermostats read 52 this morning) and that at noon the nice young man will return and fix the furnace.