An Open Letter to the Creator of the Modern, Household Ironing Board

To the creator of the modern, household ironing board:

I’m on to you. You tried to make us all think you were doing us a favor. You wanted us to believe that this nifty, lightweight, foldable-for-easy-storage contraption was meant to bless every home that needs to de-wrinkle clothing. But I’m on to you. Your secret is out. I know the truth. You hate all of humanity.

I, too, once believed that this slick, pointed surface that stands on a pair of crisscrossed metal legs would make life more convenient. And in one sense, it truly does. Thankfully we do not have to take our clothes to the dry cleaner and pay them every time we need to get wrinkles out. We can simply pull out the ol’ handy dandy ironing board.

But that’s as far as the blessing goes. Because once you extend those crisscrossed legs in order to raise that board up to waist level, it’s all over. Whatever thoughts one had of nicely ironed clothing, perhaps with the fresh scent of pine still lingering, are suddenly ruined. Whatever dreams one had of a warm and peaceful day are completely obliterated with a shriekish, earsplitting, ungodly squeal from another world.

It’s hard to put into words how awful that sound is. And it must’ve taken hours and hours of careful preparation for you to craft the way those metal parts would slide against each other at just the right angle so as to torture every human being who dared unfold the ironing board without first putting in ear plugs.

I thought maybe my ironing board was defective. Just maybe that earsplitting, skull-cracking, hellish noise that ruins every day that might have started off with promise and hope, is simply the result of wear and tear. But I’ve learned something over the years. They all make the noise. Every. Single. One. Doesn’t matter if it’s new or old, worn out or not. It doesn’t matter if you unfold it fast or slow, held upright or flat. It doesn’t matter if you’re in Kansas or in Florida. That awful squeal is the same because they were designed to make that gut-wrenching, trauma inducing experience every single time you unfold those seemingly innocent crisscrossed metal legs.

And so, your hatred of all humanity is exposed. One wonders what sorts of experiences cause a person to want to inflict so much pain and suffering. I suppose we will never know. But now I’m going to rebel against your evil scheme. If my dryer doesn’t get out the wrinkles, I’ll just wear wrinkled clothing. I don’t care. Better to enjoy life than to suffer so much for pressed shirts. I hope someday you can find peace. I know I will, now that I’ve uncovered your evil plan.

Sincerely,

Mark

We headed to Wisconsin Dells for a mini-vacation earlier this week.  Here's Mark and Sam on the Pegasus roller coaster at Mt. Olympus (Wisconsin Dells)...

When God Wants a Man

Well, I'm having trouble finding my photos for last week, so hopefully I'll have better luck this week!
Marsha, I found the poem. :)
What a great picture of how God moulds a man. And a great reminder of how vital my role as a praying wife and helper is, as God moulds Mark!
Thank you!



When God wants to drill a man, and thrill a man, and skill a man.
When God wants to mould a man, to play the noblest part;
When he yearns with all his heart, to create so great and bold a man,
That all the world shall praise, watch His method, watch His ways!
How He ruthlessly perfects, whom He royaly elects,
How He hammers him and hurts him, and with mighty blow converts him,
Into trial shapes of clay, which only God understands, watch His method, watch His ways.
When God wants to take a man, and shake a man, and wake a man,
When God wants to make a man, to do the future will,
When He tries with all His skill and He yearns with all His soul,
To create Him large and whole, with what cunning He prepares him!
How He never spares him, how He whets him and frets him,
And in poverty begets him, bids him struggle harder,
Though he may not understand, until He poignantly perfects him,
When God wants to name a man, and fame a man and tame a man
Watch His methods, watch His ways.
Lo, the crisis! Lo, the shout, that must call the Leader out,
When people need salvation then doth God show His plan,
When He has found The Man.

Weekly Photos

First off, LOVING the weather! A bit bummed with the lack of snow this winter, but can't complain about beautiful days like this. The boys have enjoyed being able to go outside again, and I love having the windows open and letting the semi-fresh air in...even if it's incredibly loud outside with traffic, ambulances, and jets flying to O'hare every 5 minutes. I try to focus on the few birds chirping instead. :)

This week was Spring Break for Mark, but he hasn't been around much at all. He had a couple required classes this week, and had to wash windows a couple days as well. Plus, he preached at a Covenant church here on Wednesday night. I've been busy packing up our apartment, which I secretly think is actually pretty fun. I guess that's my dorky, super-organized side of me coming out. I enjoy everything having its place.

I took Judah to Walmart this morning to pick out a toy with his birthday money. On the way home, we listened to "Happy Day" by Steve Fee probably 10 times. I love that song, and I love that our church here sings it every Easter. I can't wait.

Samuel is finally feeling better, after probably being the sickest he's ever been. Bad ear infection, high fever, and nasal congestion = yuck. He was soooo quiet and mellow, he barely said a word. AND he asked to go to bed every night, along with nap requests too. He was definitely feeling rough.... so glad he's better.


Well, not much photos to show from the past week, so here's some random photos and a video that show off our ridiculously cute kids. :)


One of my favorite photos of Samuel EVER.


A while back, Mark and Samuel stayed the night in Tyler and Erin's old apartment. They watched a movie, had root beer floats, and set up the ultimate battle with army guys, dinosaurs, rubber bands, and a marshmallow shooter.



Cutie. He has on his Batman cape too, but you can't really see it in the picture. He loves his cape. He wears it almost everyday, all day.


This video is a little old, but Sam's doing such a good job with drums. It's fun to hear how much he's improved from the other drumming video(s) on the blog when he was much younger. :) Mark still really hasn't really started giving Samuel lessons yet. It'll be neat to see how Sam improves once he starts counting beats, etc. Oh, and the keyboard Judah is "playing" on is the one that belonged to Grandma and Grandpa Habluetzel. It's a hit with the boys (and all their little friends). :)

That's it for this week!

Weekly Photos

Here's some new photos from the past week!

Judah is getting sooo big!



Wrestling with Mark happens daily in our home. Samuel is feeling a bit yucky, so he preferred to just snuggle instead.



Brothers! I think this is the first photo I have of them both smiling at the camera together. AND I learned the only way this photo even was a success is because I asked Judah to hold Samuel's hand. Judah LOVES his big brother, so he was happy to hold his hand and take a picture with him. :)



Samuel "playing" his guitar. Right now, he's just learning to strum, and he can tell when the guitar is out of tune. Mark will start teaching him chords eventually.




Judah, our beautiful birthday boy. I'm completely amazed how quickly the past two years have gone.



Love this kid!

Ready..... Blow!

Love this kid! Judah tried so hard to blow out his birthday candles, but couldn't quite do it. :)

Weekly photos

After realizing Samuel and Judah's grandma and grandpa NEVER get to see updated pictures of their grandsons, I figured I'd at least attempt to start posting some weekly pics on here. I'm not making any promises that I'll keep it up, but I'll try my best. :)

Watching a movie.


Pajama Day with Dad


Samuel's 6th Birthday!


With Samuel's birthday money, he saved up and got this Lego pirate ship. It only took Mark 3 hours to complete! Mark's decided he could definitely have a career just building stuff out of Legos all day long. :)



Just like Mark did when he was a kid, Judah LOVES riding his springhorse. And he rides it FAST. Judah especially loves to run over and jump on it when we tell him it's time for bed, nap, or a diaper change. :)