Jaelyn's New Locks

The fam arrived home from Thanksgiving last night. Had a good time in Michigan. Pictures from the celebration will be up soon.

Jaelyn and Lynn had the day off today so Jaelyn got a perm...she's astonished by how long her hair is...

All Saints Night

Here are pictures from All Saints Night at Malone College. Apparently, this is the acceptable, Christian way to Trick-or-Treat for Halloween. They were able to collect their treats with the "co-op kids". The history is becoming very thick between these kids as we all share life together.

Jaelyn has been obsessed with Cheetahs for a long time now. I love how varied her interests are and how she diverts from female stereotypes. Of course we still have dolls, but I'm most happy when she comes in the house with five worms clutched in her filthy, dirty hands, gleefully informing me of the worms' names and the exact location of their homes underground.


Addison has become equally obsessed with space and astronauts. For whatever reason, spaceships are his favorite things to draw now. He's been perfecting them for months; he even got input from a college art major who is often at our house. He loves looking at pictures from space and hearing stories about space travel. And after each story, you always hear his trademark phrase, "For REAL?!"

The twins were here! (so were Daniel and Andrea...)

Daniel and Andrea brought the twins to see us in Canton this past weekend. Will and Isaac have been officially adopted for about two weeks now, even though they become part of the family right at birth. I'm continually amazed at the unique, wonderful ways God is designing our family.

We all had a great time together. Jaelyn and Addison were very nurturing and engaged with the twins. Here is a mosiac of our time together:

....Daniel took random pictures all the time, capturing beautiful memories.
....We had lots of wonderful food and conversation.
....There were many bottles and feedings with the boys strapped into their 'saucers'.
....We had lots of laughter at the new antics of the kids, and Daniel.
....We had a wonderful time playing in the sunshine at the monument.

Mostly it was just really fun to spend time with family. We miss that a lot. The sacrifice of time needed for traveling is great, especially with two six month old boys. We really loved it!

Braiding into a new culture

Being new at Timken has been an interesting journey for our entire family. While we still love the Malone community, it has been very enjoyable getting involved with another culture. The urban culture is fascinating, challenging, stimulating, and disturbing all at once.

Jaelyn and Addison love going to Timken, running through the endless hallways, and mingling with students. Jaelyn feel in love with MarDez (one of my peer tutors) and her cousin, Autumn, who is doing the braiding. While MarDez and Autumn worked on Jaelyn's hair, they inducted me into many facets of hair traditions. It was fascinating to hear their family stories and their histories that were so dramatically tied to their hair. It was a very rich time, yet it made me realize how tightly bordered our lives had become. I hope there will be many more activities like this one.

Soccer Irony

From the moment I pulled into the massive parking lot -- teeming with minivans and SUVs -- I knew that participating in Addison's soccer league would be a great opportunity to sharpen my wit against the bland homogeneity of suburban life. I was confident that the acres and acres of neverending green fields, that the endlessly repeated combinations of short players in blue or yellow shirts, that the coiffed hair moms and the puma-wearing dads would provide a never ending store of punchlines for my self-deprecating rants.



How did I end up here? (I'd protest) How long til they lynch us for not sticking PLaysoCCER bumper stickers on our tailgate? (I'd grimace.)



So the irony is --

That this past week at Addison's first game --

Lynn and I were FAR AND AWAY the most enthusiastic parents. Screaming with joy or agony as goals were scored or missed. Jumping and writhing in delight on the sidelines. Coaching over Coach Vince whenever the cluster of players crowded around the ball shifted toward our sideline (despite his capable leadership).



Beforehand I teased Addison that if he didn't win, we would have to spank him. Or cut off his head.

But then once the game was going, I felt like calling out. "I wasn't kidding!"

"Seriously, Boy! Get your head in the game!"

Of course I didn't. At least not TOO often.



No -- I'm kidding! I didn't yell at all. Just encouraging growls of approval at BOTH of the goals that my four year old scored.



Seriously. Two goals!? First game ever!? I think we should maybe look into a travelling team or something. Maybe we could move him up to the first grade leagues. More of a challenge...

First Day of First Grade

In thirty minutes, Jaelyn will get on a bus and go to her first day of first grade. I feel as nervous as I did in ninth grade.





When mom and dad took me to college, I remember the feeling of happy disorientation, of dread and hope all braided together...that blue and brown station wagon disappearing from the chapel parking lot. They went back to Michigan and left me in Ohio.

I used to do doughnuts in icy fast food parking lots with my high school friends in that station wagon. But there went that station wagon and my parents and a great deal of my identity.

Every morning before we left for grade school and high school, my sleepy mother would pull all of her children to her and offer a dramatic prayer to God for our safety and safe return. She hugged us fiercely and kissed us each.

My dad's telling of that journey home from college is that mom cried. Sobbed. All the way back through Ohio and Indiana and Michigan. Eight hours because the speed limit hadn't gone up yet.

And now its just five minutes til she boards the bus. Will I always feel this lost when she disappears?



The bus missed our house. I almost got a picture of it disappearing without Jaelyn. We all piled into Minnie the minivan and zipped up the street.

Lynn wanted to make sure that the school new that the bus had, as we told Jaelyn, "gotten lost."

"Unh-uh." said Jaelyn, "You are not going in with me." Lynn agreed to just walk to the door. I was so relieved to hear Jaelyn WANT to find autonomy. It just feels too early. Too young.



Addison didn't feel great about his sister's disappearance either. This is him on the way home from dropping off Jaelyn. He's counting down the days (18) til his school starts as he eats an Eggo waffle across the counter from me.

Myrtle Beach

Every morning I woke at 5:30 and watched the sunrise over the sand and tall grass and worked on my screenplay. In the afternoons I built sandcastles, ran on the beach, played frisbee and bobbed in the waves with the kids.

I bought that shirt at a thrift store for .99 cents. Isn't that amazing? It's the real deal -- with a frayed Penneys tag from like 1956.

The smallest of the Leindecker cousins (Marcaus) woke up every morning by 6 so the cousins were up and going soon after. My in-laws like tv a lot more than we do so I found out about a frightening new incarnation of The Wiggles -- The Doodlebops. Think smurfs on heroine in Stepford. Ahhh the things that cousins pass on to each other...

that's our cottage where we all feasted on crockpots and ovens full of red meat and potatoes and hearty sauces and casseroles every night. In fact, we may be headed back to start cooking when this picture was taken...

Lynn read _Little Altars Everywhere_ & _The Flight of Peter Fromme_. She's so full of curiousity and conversation. Walks on the beach with her are always the best thing that could happen. Plus. She's beautiful.

One night I fell asleep on the porch. It felt like I was living inside of waves. Another night, just after I finished Marsden's _Fundamentalists and American Culture_, I sat on the beach and wondered what it had been like to be my grandparents who all chose to become fundamentalists as converts in the late 1940s and early 50s. The sound of the waves is the best sense memory from the whole week.

Face Lifts...

After debating with fate for several years, we've decided to stay here in Casa Communitas (our house) for two years. If you haven't been here to visit yet...better hurry.

The Lord told the children of Israel when they were carried away into captivity that they should "Plant Gardens" in the cities where they were displaced.


Claiming that as a summer theme verse (mixed with oh, just a little bit of the cultural milieu of DIY / Trading Spaces) -- we added some COLOR to the kids bedrooms.



In other news,

Jaelyn was diagnosed with a developmental far-sightedness -- thanks to the perceptive diagnosis notes of Mrs. Parks (the kindergarten teacher), Gramma Gloria & Reading Diagnostician Extraordinaire, Lynn.

Her new frames were her first pick once she got into the choosing room.

She looks way cute and just a little bit EMO.

Finding Neverland

At 4:30 p.m. on March 10th, Jaelyn's 6th birthday, we sent the kids to bed. Without any supper. And with their pajamas on.

At 4:33, this fellow arrived:



In a bad British Accent he said: "I'm Peter Pan and I'm here to take you to Neverland." Lynn had written clues which Tinkerbell directed the kids to. (Tinkerbell was a technological spectacle achieved with a flashlight and small tamborine. She flitted about the walls and ceiling jingling and then lighted on the clues eventually.)

Each clue had to be solved to direct J & A to another friend's house in a pixie dust sprinkled MiniVan. By the time we had a caravan of three minivans, one hatchback and 13 kids, half of whom could not effectively buckle their own seatbelt, we wondered if we would ever arrive back in neverland.

We did. Before we could enter, though the lost boys and girls had to make two nefarious and dreadful pirates (see below) laugh. The entire entourage was freezing and becoming impatient with the stoic pirates, when, fortunately, the pirates demonstrated that Neverland Pirates were rhetorically sensitive pirates, and we all flooded in. Chili, potato soup, Mac & Cheese (NOT the boxed variety), a Cheetah cake and ice cream made for a fun enough Neverland. And three screamingly fun filled hours later we lay on couches like dishrags happy to still be alive at the end of yet another birthday celebration....



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Top Ten News Items (that wouldn't fit in a standardized Christmas letter)

Andy asked me to give the year-end update for our family blog. I’m pretty nervous; I haven’t honed my “blog-voice”. I either tend toward too much verbosity in general, too much impractical prattle, or not enough deep thoughts. But here goes…

Top Ten News Items from Rudd 04

Jaelyn (5) began kindergarten and Addison (4) began preschool for a few hours a week. It’s been a weird adjustment for Jaelyn to start “real” school, but she does enjoy it. She and Addison both attend the Child Development Center preschool and Kindergarten at Malone, so it’s nice to have them close and integrated into a classroom with other Malone community members. Jaelyn is obsessed with gymnastics, and Addison loves swimming right now.

Speaking of our community...actually, communities, I guess. We love our church. Both Andy and I have greatly enjoyed observing the church year calendar with the congregation at Akron Christian Reformed Church. This year’s Advent season was especially meaningful to me. It’s really rewarding to watch our kids learn the rhythm of this calendar also. It’s soothing and anchoring to us. Out of our church, we have a smaller community of Malone people who have started a Bible study here in Canton. We enjoy and grow from the conversations and care we gain from that group.

Another key community would be our Babysitting Co-op which has made our ‘dual-parenting’ model so much easier. We have three families, with two kids each, that rotate some day-care and at least three date nights a month. It’s a win-win for everyone. The kids love being together (they are all in the same school), and the parents get free babysitting!



Andy participated in NanoWrimo month. For those uninitiated, during the month of November, 50,000 people, connected via the Internet, wrote a 50,000 word novel. He worked really hard and completed it by 11:58 p.m. on Nov. 30. Now comes the editing part.

Andy got tenure at Malone and took on the duties of department chair for three years. He has done a great job, but isn’t necessarily tantalized by the ‘power’ of administration. He remains very ambivalent toward institutionalized life.

I started a new job and thus a new phase of our family life. In October I was hired as the Literacy Center Leader for Timken Senior High School in Canton. It’s an urban high school with many of the problems you would expect, but I’m so excited about the opportunity. I feel like it’s kingdom work that is intimately connected to my academic passions. There is so much work to be done, but we will have a new building and hopefully an excited staff and student body by next fall. (I can always dream!) Since Andy has received tenure, he has been able to adjust his schedule a bit more, so that hopefully, the kids will still be with one or both of us more than without us.

Our families are doing well. Andy’s entire family has nestled in Muskegon. Bill is still at Calvary Church as senior pastor with Gloria serving as the first lady of the church. David is at Calvary also, working as youth pastor; Marianne works part-time as a nurse. Their kids, Emma (8) and Liam (5) are favorites of our kids. They love being together. Daniel is a senior pastor in North Muskegon and Andrea works in OB at the hospital there. Ryan works in Muskegon and Angela is a music teacher at Calvary. Yes, we are the only ones not there. We seem to have missed that “all-call”.



My Coshocton family is doing well also. My dad is working as the “Grounds-keeper” at a local high school, but he is truly the man with the power. You know what they say about the custodians and secretaries. He runs that school. My mom is enjoying her first year of retirement. She has traveled a bit with my dad, but mostly takes care of my nephews while their parents work. My brother, Brian, works on a corporate hog farm and his wife, Kristy has started a greenhouse business on my parent’s farm. Keith (6) and Marcaus (2) are also favorite people in my kids’ eyes.

My cousin Jan got married this June. After she and Adam got engaged, I was able to fly to Minneapolis and spend a weekend with her, going shopping and preparing for the wedding. It was great to spend time with Adam and get to know them as a couple. He is a great complement to her spiritually and seems to love her in ways that she needs. Their wedding was such a great celebration; I’m so happy for them both. They both work in Minneapolis, actually with the same type of students. I’m so glad that God brought someone in her life who can share the same passions that she has.



There are so many other details…we all have them right? They all seem mundane, until they are stacked together. Then you begin to see God’s hand moving in very subtle, yet distinct ways. We said good-bye to students and friends this year, but we also welcomed new ones into our hearts. Thank you for your part in our lives! Please get in touch when you are able!

Lynn, Andrew, Jaelyn, & Addison

Lynn's New Job

historic Timken High School

So Lynn started her new job with the Canton City Schools as literacy coordinator for Timken Academy. When I first met her, she couldn't really conceive of teaching in an urban school. Now she's not only devoted to working in that setting, but she also is a passionate advocate for justice in that setting. Yesterday she quizzed a visiting Ohio Dept of Education on the inequities that "No Child Left Behind" is creating for this (and many other) schools.

A position couldn't be more perfect for her growing interest in integrating literacy across the curriculum for adolescents. This is exactly what this job enables her to do. It's a perfect combination of her training, her developing interest and her growing passions for urban schools.

I feel lucky to be married to somebody who's not only so gifted, but also so able to be SO MANY different things to so many different people...

Cue Ben Folds -- "The Lucky One"...



Timken's New Building -- Lynn's Center for Learning will be here.

Gramma & Bampa Came to Visit

"Uncle Charlie" and "Gramma Linda" are the family catch-phrases for labelling over-zealous photographers. With my mom's cool digital camera -- she has obliterated the memory of both of them. Her zest for capturing still moments is astonishing. But we end up with these great pictures!


My mom and dad took the kids to McD's playland, out to buy fabric for this year's pajamas (Gramma Glo is sewing manically these days), played hide & seek with them, and told endless Charlie-Chipmunk story -- a staple element of my Dad's bardic nature...



They made baked hanging window things on Saturday morning. Everyone has bed-head and pajamas (the latest trend in pajamas is shirts dug out of mom & dad's drawers so they can feel our hugs all night long).