CSC trip recap

No words or pictures could capture our trip. The feelings, the experiences, the people . . . it was so good and so hard and so wonderful and so emotional.

We left early on Sunday morning, December 18th. At the airport by 4 am to check all our bags and pick up coffee and get to the gate in time for our first leg of the long trip to Cebu. We flew from Minneapolis to LA. From LA to Seoul. From Seoul to Cebu. Nearly 24 hours of total time in the air between the two flights! Due to the time differences, it was early Tuesday morning, local time, when we finally arrived in Cebu. We were tired and weary, but excited to be there after the weeks and weeks of dreams and plans.

We were asked to come to help with Christmas preparations for the kids. 75 kids, give or take a couple! That's a whole lotta Christmas prep, let me tell you. We shopped. We wrapped. We wrapped some more. We "emergency" shopped for a few more things. We baked cookies. We made table decorations for Christmas dinner. We frosted cookies. We played with kids. We held precious babies. We made friends. We witness the selfless gift, purchased with money donated by orphaned and abandoned children, that would bless someone who had needs beyond any that I can wrap my brain around! We worshipped. We sweat a lot (TROPICS! We were in the tropics!). We listened. We cried. We ate A LOT of rice. We even slept a little bit.

I can't put words to the life long impact an experience like this has on a person. I'm so grateful to have been able to share it with some of my very favorite people on earth.

In case there wasn't already enough going on

Life has been a bit of a whirlwind the past month or so. Lots of things (very good things!) coming at us that weren't exactly in the immediate plan, but nonetheless we have found ourself in the middle of them. Major life things. Time consuming things. Thought consuming things. Good things, but things that demand a lot out of you!

We are on the brink of a MAJOR house project around here. An addition and remodel. Big stuff! We have lived in our 1920's house for nearly 20 years now and we LOVE it, but there are lots of things that could stand to have a bit of money thrown at them (and that's an understatement), if you know what I mean. So, we are diving in! All the years we've lived here, we have dreamed of a bigger kitchen. Our kitchen is small and the space is also the main entry into our house. And since 8 people live here (five of whom are full-sized people), the space is pretty tight, to say the least. And when you add in the fact that all the shoes/coats/sweatshirts/backpacks/etc for 8 people get tossed on the floor in the kitchen, it's nearly enough to make you lose your everloving mind! So, our yard will soon be sporting a big hole and life will get messy for a while . . . well, life is always messy, but it's about to get a lot more messy, in the literal sense, for the foreseeable future.

Also, I will be going on a MAJOR, life-changing trip with our two older girls in just over a month. Passports have been applied for. Plane tickets have been purchased. Planning is well underway! My mom, my dearest girlfriend since childhood (my "sister"), my two older girls and my brother's wife will all be traveling to Cebu, Philippines to work at a shelter for orphaned and abandoned children. We will have the opportunity to serve them by helping the staff there prepare for Christmas. How fun is that? Shopping, wrapping, baking, planning, prepping . . . doing what we can to help make Christmas special for the 80+ kids who call CSC home.

I'm quite sure there will be plenty to share on both of these fronts in the near future, so stay tuned.

Life is quite a ride these days. (And always!) I'm hanging on tight.

Coincidence? I think not.

Three years ago on the Wednesday following Thanksgiving my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. A couple months ago I made my annual mammogram appointment for December 2nd not at all realizing, while making the appointment, that December 2nd would be the Wednesday after Thanksgiving . . . that fact was not lost on me this morning as I checked in for my mammogram. I am thankful for the technology that can detect such things early enough to allow for successful treatment. I am so very grateful that my mom is healthy and doing well! She is such a blessing to many, I know, but I'm pretty sure there's no one more grateful for her than me! As I type this, many friends come to mind who have lost their dear mommas (or other loved ones) to cancer (or any number of other things). It's hard, this life. The joys mixed with the sorrows. So many emotions all the time. As one of my favorite authors, Glennon Doyle Melton, says, life is "brutiful" (brutal and beautiful all at once).

The Great Purge of 2015

It was a rough summer around here. I never quite felt like we got in a good groove. People were grumpy and "bored" and we "never did anything fun". The rough summer turned in to a rough fall. Some of it was the kids, some of it was how busy we were and how many different directions we were always running (not shocking, considering there are 8 of us who all have things going on) and some of it was just me.

The past couple months I've felt really overwhelmed. Like I was barely keeping my head above water and if I stopped to rest for even a second, I'd go under. It was pervasive and noticeable in every different area of my life.

A few weeks ago I told my mom that I was overwhelmed by life and, specifically, by all the "stuff" in our house. I commented that if I came home one day and somehow half of our possessions were gone out of our house I'd be relieved, rather than upset. That's when she decided we were going to get to work on making that happen! (just the motivation -- and help -- I needed!) We have been working our butts off for the better part of two weeks now. She has come over almost every day and we've tackled a different room/area/category of stuff.

While I don't think we've gotten rid of half the possessions in our house, we have purged an impressive amount of stuff in a pretty short period of time. Lots of bags of garbage. TONS of recycling (why was it that I kept boxes from so many things I've purchased long, long ago? . . . and SO. MANY. papers!). About 40 pairs of shoes. Bags and bags of clothing. Wall art. Bedding. Furniture. Picture frames. Books. Home decor type stuff. Kitchen gadgets. Jewelry. Toys. We still have work to do. And we still have more possessions than I am comfortable with! But we are WAY closer to what I am comfortable with than we were two weeks ago. We have been able to pass things along to others who need them or will, at least, make good use of them. That makes me happy. We have donated some items to charities that we trust. We have gotten rid of some of the excess that we have in life and have simplified. All 8 of us are on board and are enjoying the end result of all the hard work -- clean, less cluttered spaces all over our house, drawers, shelves and storage bins that are completely empty and a more peaceful place to live!

We've even found a few things that I forgot we owned. It is a sorry state of affairs that this type of problem is so common and pervasive. It's not just me, I know. But I can only start with myself, so that's what I'm doing. Making a difference a little bit at a time in my own life. And in my own home. It feels good.

I had requested The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up from the library a few months ago. But it's a popular book, so the list wasn't short. It finally came in for me near the beginning of the purge. I'm almost done with the book now and, while I don't agree with everything she says, there have been many ideas in the book that have been very helpful to me while going through this process. I haven't done things exactly according to her order and her advice (partly because I had already started and partly because some of her methods aren't really geared well for a family of 8 and a few I find just flat out silly -- or maybe just culturally irrelevant, as the author is from Japan and I am not). Overall, I think it is a great book and there have been some very freeing ideas and philosophies in there that I am thankful for. Perspective is always good and the author has a very different perspective than any I have previously encountered and I appreciated the new way to think about possessions.

Simplifying and paring down our possessions certainly hasn't solved all my problems, but it has helped. For that I am grateful! Major thanks to my mom and my family for all the help!

History Lesson

We live about 2 miles from the place where my parents first met. It was a college campus then. The college has since moved (about 5 miles north), due to expansion, and the campus where they met in the 60's is now a job training center.

Earlier this year I was running by the old campus and decided that, although I'd heard stories from the time when my parents met and their early dating days, I wanted to do a walking tour of the start of their life together. See where it all began. Hear the stories while we were physically present in the place where they actually took place.

I told my mom and she thought it was a great idea. Schedules and weather and life made it tricky to pull off for a while, but, finally, this past weekend we took our family history tour. My mom brought her photo album from college and we saw the pictures from 1968 as we stood right where those pictures ware taken. Many of the buildings look the same (at least from the outside), which is fun. They pointed to the windows that had been their dorm rooms nearly 50 years ago. We walked around the buildings where they took classes and ate dinner and lived. I'm glad we had the chance to do it and to hear the stories. Our stories. Our history.

The campus as it looks today ::

The kids enjoying the campus green . . . at least until they got scolded and told not to play there.

Oh well, moving right along ::

All because two people fell in love.

The result of love found here nearly 50 years ago. Grandchildren (8 out of 9, anyway) with their grandparents in front of the dorm my mom lived in the year she met my dad. (I bet you never knew Cousin It was in our family, did ya?) ::

Getting them all to cooperate and look kinda normal-ish can be a challenge ::

The lovebirds. Right where it all began . . . 

The dorm that my dad lived in as it looks today ::

I'm so glad we got our visit in this fall. It was a beautiful day and I'm glad my kids have seen the pictures and heard the stories. It's important to know the stories and hear of the faithfulness of God to our family. What a great heritage we have.

Lose a ton

My (new) friend Amber, who I met this fall in ECFE, put a challenge up via Facebook to take part in a January purge of possessions in effort to simplify our homes and our lives and (hopefully) bless others in the process. She was looking for 20 people to commit to get rid of 10 pounds of stuff each day for 10 consecutive days sometime during the month of January. That is 100 pound per person/household for a total of 2000 pounds between the 20 of us. I knew finding time to take part in the challenge for 10 consecutive days might be tricky, but I was excited by the idea and knew that finding 100 pounds of unnecessary stuff in our house would (sadly) not be hard at all.

Here is a short recap of my experience ::

Day 1 :: I went through the kitchen and weeded out excess coffee mugs (I think those things multiple in the cupboard!), water bottles, vases, etc. for a total of 11.8 pounds.

Day 2 :: I had Bible study that morning. One of the girls in my Bible study has a sweet 8-month-old girl, so I pass down Sara's outgrown clothes to her. Before I left, I found 2.8 pounds of stuff to pass along to her. When I got home from Bible study my mom and I tacked my hall linen closet, which is a catch-all for things with no home! We took out ever last thing, wiped down the inside (actually my mom did those steps while I was at Bible study, since she was at my house watching Sara for me) and then only put back things we actually use or need and got rid of 17.9 pounds of stuff from in there that we did not need or was expired/ruined/worthless.

Day 3 :: I cleaned out my stash of craft stuff and came up with 21.8 pounds of stuff I didn't need or wasn't going to use. I plan to bring most of it to ArtScraps in St. Paul.

Day 4 :: Books! I went through our books and ended up with 28.4 pounds. I took some of them to Half Price Books (actually, Kirby did that) and got $10 out of the deal. Some I added to our Little Free Library and a few I passed along.

Day 5 :: 21.8 pounds of clothes from Rebekah and Lydia's wardrobes. Outgrown, ill-fitting, not their style, excessive (does she really need that many t-shirts? nope!).

Day 6 :: 17.4 pounds of clothes from the 2 boys.

Day 7 :: 13.4 pounds of clothes, mostly mine with a few pounds worth from Anna (most of her outgrown clothes get saved for Sara).

Day 8 :: 37.4 pounds of stuff. Some more clothes, some misc household things, a couple more books, some decorative pillows (we have more than our share).

Day 9 :: I tackled the bathroom on day 9. I took every last thing out of the medicine cabinet and wiped it all down. Then I only put about 1/3 of the stuff back in there. We had lots of expired medicines/creams/stuff in there. I also cleaned under the sink and in the drawers of our vanity. There also was a box full of kids jewelry (think beaded bracelets made with much love -- and not much visual appeal) that I tossed. The total that day was 8.7 pounds. My only day under 10 pounds . . . but I believe in averaging things out, so when I finished the bathroom, I didn't try to make up 1.3 more pounds of stuff and just called it good.

Day 10 :: 13.8 pounds of games and toys. We also re-organized ALL. THE. LEGOS. Which was a huge (but VERY worthwhile) undertaking. School was cancelled for our kids due to the crazy cold temps, so they helped me out. I think having them so well organized will lead to more desire to build with them! We cleared off the whole train table, so there's plenty of room to build!

So, my 10-day total was 195.2 pounds. I'm so glad I made the commitment and took part. Our home is more organized (although I still have plenty more areas that I could tackle . . . and probably still will, just not as formally -- no weighing in and daily purging) and we hope that the things we are no longer using will go to good use, and be a blessing in someone else's life.

Multitude Monday {double feature}

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post which is part of a series started years ago on Ann's wonderful, amazing blog that is a favorite of mine. If you've never checked it out, do yourself a favor and click on over. She's an amazing, gifted writer, a wonderful friend and an inspiration (not to mention a mother of 6)!

"One Thousand Gifts"::

3189. Mom's night at preschool

3190. Anna's bravery for her Kindergarten shots

3191. some great finds at the annual "garage sale" at our school

3192. a fabulous CSC banquet (one of my favorite nights of the year)

3193. my longest run ever (over 6 miles)

3194. 1st thru 4th grade talent show :: so entertaining!

3195. middle school open house with Rebekah

3196. my book club girls (what a blessing!)

3197. spring weather . . . finally!

3198. trampoline back up again in the yard

3199. clothes hanging on the line

3200. a really, really good book

3201. a freshly vacuumed house (thanks Mom!)

3202. a playdate for the 2 littles and a bit of time to myself

3203. the college-aged girl with her Bible and open journal on the table at Starbucks, writing away like crazy. 

3204. birds chirping outside the window during my early morning quiet time

3205. well-deserved good news for a dear friend

3206. powerful words

3207. 60's and sunshine

3208. Rebekah reading "Charlie and Lola" to Sara before school

3209. dinner at my parents

3210. chats with friends

3211. our basement filled with kids watching a movie on Saturday night

3212. a productive morning

3213. washing and packing up all the winter gear!

3214. 18 years today since he asked and I said yes

May you realize all the blessings the Lord brings your way and take the time to make note of them. (you'll be glad that you did!)

multitude monday

Well, my parent's 42nd year of marriage started out not as uneventful as we would have hoped. The abbreviated version is that my mom thought she had the stomach flu last week (my dad was out of town), but I finally convinced her to let me take her to the hospital where she was admitted, "vacationed" for 5 days, had an obstruction surgically cleared from her abdomen and had her appendix removed. She is home now and is recovering and hoping and praying for no more hospital stays or surgeries EVER. Praise God it all turned out ok in the end.

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post which is part of a series started years ago on Ann's wonderful, amazing blog that is a favorite of mine. If you've never checked it out, do yourself a favor and click on over. She's an amazing, gifted writer and an inspiration (not to mention a mother of 6)!

"One Thousand Gifts"::

3030. 41 years of marriage for my parents
3031. summer planning -- it WILL come someday, right?
3032. morning phone calls from Al -- a great way to start the day
3033. folding clothes, still warm from the dryer, on a bitter cold winter's day
3034. chocolate chip cookies sans chocolate chips -- a favorite of mine!
3035. good advice from a smart friend
3036. getting my mom to the hospital before things progressed any further
3037. great medical care
3038. caring, loving, praying friends
3039. cell phones
3040. my wonderful, flexible, sacrificial husband
3041. nurses :: I sure couldn't do that job, and they do it SO well!
3042. ear buds that don't fall out . . . FINALLY!
3043. a good run :: sunshine, warm temps, paths free of ice and snow (although I did have to dodge a few puddles) and faster times
3044. a great retirement celebration for our senior pastor who has faithfully served our church for the past 23 years!
3045. my mom being home again after 5 days in the hospital
3046. my nephew's preschool program -- a bright spot in a not-so-bright day!
3047. when the kids play well together
3048. a visit from my aunt and cousin from Massachusetts -- so wonderful to see them!

May you realize all the blessings the Lord brings your way and take the time to make note of them. (you'll be glad that you did!)

41

the happy couple last February on our family's celebration of the big 40th anniversary

Happy 41st Anniversary to my parents today! I am so thankful for them and their unwavering commitment to the Lord and each other and their family . . . not to mention their generous, giving spirits that have benefited so many people over the years. I'm praying this year ahead will be less eventful than the one they just made it through. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad. I love you!

multitude monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post which is part of a series started years ago on Ann's wonderful, amazing blog that is a favorite of mine. If you've never checked it out, do yourself a favor and click on over. She's an amazing, gifted writer and an inspiration (not to mention a mother of 6)!

"One Thousand Gifts"::

2988. Anna winking at me
2989. more swimming ribbons
2990. Joe qualifying for the state swim meet
2991. Anna "reading" library books to Sara
2992. chirping birds
2993. clean sheets waiting for you when you go to bed at night
2994. Buffalo day with my mom
2995. successful boot shopping (finally!) :: two pair, even :: and with a clearance and extra 25% off, only $75 for both pair
2996. grilled cheese with bacon
2997. the Amazon support guy who magically fixed our Kindle Fire when Sara, unintentionally, wiped the whole thing clean when playing with it.
2998. my new belt :: genius!
2999. Xyngular
3000. my wonderful husband!
3001. family fun night at the kids' school
3002. a beautiful funeral for a high school classmate
3003. re-connecting with high school friends around the table
3004. date night!
3005. fresh (sticky) snow on every single tree branch :: so very beautiful
3006. pre-dawn runs :: peaceful and calm
3007. lunch at my parent's house
3008. Race for the Cure "Team Marcia" gaining members
3009. safe travels on yucky roads during a storm
3010. feeling better than I have in a really, really long time (a good decade or so, probably)
3011. an entire family, a shovel in every hand, helping out neighbors (and the wonderful example of this family down, who lives the block from us :: they are such a self-less, helping, wonderful bunch. the best kind of neighbors to have! they just went up and down the block shoveling the heavy snow from all the driveways of the older people with their 4 kids -- their youngest is only 2 and he was working hard right along with them! great modeling, Jim & Heather!)
3012. a walk on a quiet winter day with my favorite person in the world
3013. Kirb down over 15 pounds :: so proud of him!
3014. hand-me-downs
3015. snickerdoodles

May you realize all the blessings the Lord brings your way and take the time to make note of them. (you'll be glad that you did!)

Multitude Monday, a day late

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post which is part of a series started years ago on Ann's wonderful, amazing blog that is a favorite of mine. If you've never checked it out, do yourself a favor and click on over. She's an amazing, gifted writer and an inspiration (not to mention a mother of 6)!

"One Thousand Gifts"::

2883. Lydia's smile
2884. reflecting on another year and all that it held :: ALL IS GRACE!
2885. New Year's with the Newman family
2886. friends who listen to your whining and complaining and still love you
2887. 24 hours shared with dear, dear friends
2888. double stuf oreos with peanut butter :: my favorite!
2889. Buffalo with my mom and Sara
2890. a few new orders
2891. fun surprise blessing in the mail :: letter stating that a nearly $1000 repair that we did to our van in 2011 (not covered under warranty) will be reimbursed by Chevy due to some manufacturing defect that they've discovered. Praise God! (now to find that receipt from the service!)
2892.  provision right when you need it
2893. mom's oncology appointment scheduled :: finally the results we've been waiting for and a plan from here on out
2894. excitement of this week for our church
2895. a great swim meet for the kids
2896. the look on Joe's face when he saw his 4 BLUE ribbons!
2897. a special "cast bag" on loan from a friend so that Rebekah can shower without help (well, except for getting said cast bag on and off -- she needs help for that)
2898. more crafting
2899. getting back into the swing of running
2900. another beautiful morning sky
2901. 5 years of Elijah. Praise God. I remember that day so well.
2902. Sara's dancing
2903. looking through all the pictures we took over Christmas

this one is SPOT ON in capturing their personalities

Anna's new shorter (and straighter) hair

4 generations of girls

Happy January! May you realize all the blessings the Lord brings your way in 2013 and take the time to make note of them.

multitude monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post which is part of a series started years ago on Ann's wonderful, amazing blog that is a favorite of mine. If you've never checked it out, do yourself a favor and click on over. She's an amazing, gifted writer and an inspiration (not to mention a mother of 6)!

"One Thousand Gifts"::

2760. starting the day off in the pool swimming laps {not so hard on the knees and hips}
2761. crafting success following a failed attempt
2762. the excitement and joy of cousins being reunited
2763. thrifting with my niece and sister-in-law
2764. getting into bed after a long day :: good and tired
2765. compliments from strangers
2766. morning in Buffalo with my mom and the little girls
2767. inspiration
2768. celebrating a friends 40th
2769. safe travels for a friend {now praying she gets home as smoothly and safely in a couple weeks}
2770. creating
2771. beautiful fall days
2772. the delicious dinner for 13 Kirb made the other night
2773. nap time
2774. the thrift store
2775. our church
2776. long, warm showers
2777. an extra hour {theoretically to be spent sleeping, but that doesn't usually work out so well when young kids are in the house -- but I'll take the extra hour, even if I can't enjoy any extra sleep}

Alrighty, that's it's for this week. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.

multitude monday {yet another two-weeker}

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here on Ann's wonderful, amazing blog that is a favorite of mine. If you've never checked it out, do yourself a favor and click on over. She's an amazing, gifted writer and an inspiration!

"One Thousand Gifts"::

2429. Joey telling me about his crazy dream
2430. dragonflies all over the place in the evening sky :: so cool
2431. Sara's face covered in chocolate after eating her pudding pop on a 90+ degree day all by herself -- Little Miss Independant
2432. falling asleep again when I had given up on sleeping any more for the night
2433. hanging up beautiful art in our basement hallway :: all done by our kiddos
2434. genuine gratitude from my kids
2435. a great morning of shopping in Buffalo :: great bargains!
2436. being "carded" at Trader Joe's buying beer for Kirb
2437. the boy pushing his mini cart around Trader Joe's belting out "Mighty to Save" without an ounce of concern that someone might not like the fact that he's singing in the grocery store
2438. lemonade stands
2439. kids occupied for hours and hours {see #2438}
2440. a fun baby shower
2441. night out with a friend
2442. dinner at IKEA
2443. IKEA shopping {with a gift card!}
2444. the farmer's market
2445. unexpected, encouraging email from a friend {Hi Katie! . . . thanks, you made my day}
2446. girls enjoying a birthday party at the roller rink
2447. an absolutely perfect weather day
2448. evenings at the park
2449. visit from Mel, Chad & the kids
2450. exciting news
2451. my Grandma's TV debut {she's toward the end, if you watch the clip}
2452. BopBop and Joe taking a bike ride
2453. Rebekah singing with and praying for Sara before she goes to bed :: to hear her pray that Sara would come to know the Lord makes me so joyful, grateful and blessed!
2454. my friend Jodi's little guy, Eli, on the news :: what a brave little man he is!
2455. a cool, beautiful morning run
2456. music and how it touches me so deeply
2457. lots of time to create -- it makes me feel alive and refreshed
2458. apologies, hugs and forgiveness
2459. Joe reading to me from "Farmyard Tales" until I fell asleep
2460. dancing flames and glowing coals
2461. decorating the basement
2462. a family walk
2463. the sounds of the night :: taking time to really listen and hear them all
2464. Sara's laughter
2465. finding videos on my ipod that Anna recorded of herself
2466. beautiful evening walk with my love {and Sara . . . we left the others at home with a movie!}
2467. seeing kids playing tennis in the middle of the street while out on a run {and the fact that I knew the kiddos made it even better}
2468. laughing as a family
2469. my mom :: she is such a blessing in my life!
2470. crafting up a storm and being totally caught up on orders for the first time since May :: that feels good!
2471. Smashburger with Rebekah
2472. "throwing away" Sara's nuks :: bittersweet, my baby is getting so big {unfortunately still not "big" enough to sleep through the night!! honestly babe, let's get that one nailed down already!}

2473. Joey's desire to be baptized
2474. my patient, loving, meal-cooking, dish-washing, kid-putting-to-bedding, hard-working, cute husband


Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday {or maybe the one after that} for the next installment.

Happy Ama

Today is my mom's birthday. She is wonderful and we are all so thankful for her.

Anna singing "Happy Birthday" to her {I think the whispering at the end is my favorite part} ::

 Sara refuses to {or maybe, can't} say the word "birthday", but she walked around all day saying "Happy Ama" over and over and over again. Sweet girl ::

Happy Birthday Mom. Happy Birthday Ama. We sure do love you!

thankful thursday

I am thankful for my parents. They are wonderful and such a blessing to me, to us as a family and, I know, to lots of other people too! Tomorrow morning I head out of town for just under 48 hours with my mom and dad to attend a conference in Illinois with my mom. I'm excited! I'm so thankful for the chance to get to go. I am thankful, too, for Kirbs, who is excited for me to go and willing to hold down the fort while I'm gone. I am thankful for the full night sleep I plan to get {unless one of my parents needs something in the middle of the night, that is!}, for the chance to grow and learn, to hear some fabulous speakers {one, in particular, that I'm especially excited about} and go be filled up. After having the weekend on the calendar for months and months, I'm really looking forward to it and can't believe it's finally here . . . already {I know the finally and the already seem to be opposites, but isn't that how life is?} . . . less than 24 hours now. Whoo Hoo!

multitude monday {the evening edition}

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here. {I'm happy to report that two of my blogging sisters-in-law have joined in the fun of counting all the way to 1000 -- and beyond!}

"One Thousand Gifts":

1376. celebrations in triplicate {Rebekah's long-overdue birthday party, my mom's retirement and Mother's Day}
1377. sunshine
1378. love spanning generations {and relationships that start with the word "great"}::
1379. sleeping under sheets fresh from the line and smelling of outdoors
1380. sweet, humbling words written in a card
1381. mothers
1382. a slab for our new basketball hoop {thanks Dad!} and all the shots taken in the driveway already
1383. witnessing baptism :: a father and his 2 sons
1384. when my friend, Shawna {yes, in fact, we do get teased for being "Shana & Shawna"} preaches. always a blessing!
1385. kids singing "Jesus Loves Me" in church on Mother's Day -- and all the better having them accompanied by my grandma!
1386. 7 months of Sara
1387. the sound of thunder and sleeping to the steady pounding of a good spring rain
1388. giving gifts
1389. the ache after a good workout
1390. my wonderful, adorable, generous, encouraging, helpful, kind parents::1391. mother's day love from my favorite half-dozen little people and their wonderful dad
1392. a long nap for a normally non-napping 3-year-old who needed it

Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.

multitude monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here.

"One Thousand Gifts":

1296. the sounds, sights and smells of spring
1297. another wonderful book
1298. dinner with friends . . . a FULL house!
1299. sunshine and a nearly snow-free yard {all the snow melts, then it snows again. all the snow melts, then it snows again . . . the life of a Minnesotan in the "spring"!}
1300. my kids and the joy they bring to my life
1301. starting the week with an empty dishwasher and sink and all the clean dishes put away {thanks to my fabulous husband}
1302. live video feed of an eagles nest . . . riveting, I tell you!
1303. sitting outside with my mom and Sara, enjoying the sunshine and warmth
1304. hearing my grandma play one of my very, very favorite songs on the piano at church yesterday, accompanying our choir {great job, Grandma!}
1305. crossing things off my to-do list
1306. discussing an important book with my 10-year-old {wasn't she just a baby? how'd this happen?}
1307. a warm home and cup of tea on a blustery April day
1308. good friends
1309. bike riding, rollerblading, scooter-ing, trampoline jumping, basketball . . . kids playing OUTside for long periods of time!


Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.

flashback friday

5 years ago, right about now, my mom was in the Phillipines working with a team at the Children's Shelter of Cebu {love, Love, LOVE that place!}
When she came home she was greeted by this {obviously excited} bunch::

Lydia {3}, Jacob {6}, Bop Bop {50-something}, Rebekah {4}
February 2006