multitude monday

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

"One Thousand Gifts":

519. my clothesline
520. our big van
521. the sound of laughter
522. life-long friends
523. my bed!
524. people who have no obligation to love my kids . . . but do anyway
525. my wonderful mom . . . happy birthday {again}!
526. an especially yummy watermelon
527. a clean house {albeit, temporarily!}
528. the countdown to summer
529. the opening of the outdoor pool at the Y
530. sleeping in
531. kids in swimsuits working together to wash the van
532. time to relax
533. a funny 2-year-old
534. square dancing
535. the flicker of a campfire
536. sharing
537. getting the mail
538. motivation!
539. my extra-great, way-better-than-I-deserve, blessing of a husband

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

flashback friday

18 years ago this month::

yikes! apart from that, I really have no words!

And just for fun, check out this flashback friday from last year

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for the mail. I love to get mail, especially personal mail. It totally makes my day! Getting the mail is something I look forward to each day . . . the hope that there might be something unexpected and fun in the black plastic box at the end of my driveway. A hand addressed envelope . . . or dare we even hope for a package?

I also love to send mail. Mail trucks, stamps and blue boxes on street corners make me happy!

Yesterday I got 3 pieces of personal mail when I made my daily trip out to the end of the driveway. How fun is that! 1 is a treat {and doesn't happen often enough} . . . 3 is nearly unheard of!


How about you . . . does something hand-addressed in your mailbox completely make your day too? Do you send much mail these days?

I know it's a little outdated, but I just think an e-card or an email or a facebook wall post isn't at all the same as getting your well-wishes through the mail! It just doesn't cut it in my book. Generally speaking I'm a pretty "green" person and don't like unnecessary use of resources -- for example I can't stand junk mail! and I use cloth diapers, for crying out loud! -- but I don't find sending personal mail to fit in that category. I think cards, notes, letters and packages are necessary for one's emotional health! And when did the majority of the world decide it was ok to stop sending thank you notes? {Sorry, that's just a personal beef that I struggle with, I'll stop now.} So, call me old-fashioned but I'm going to keep using my hand, a pen and some cute paper to do a good share of my correspondence and then hand-write an address on the front of an envelope, stick on a stamp {I am thankful for the technology that has saved us from the yucky task of stamp-licking!} and enjoy the feeling of placing it in the big blue box in our neighborhood. Then I will imagine how my note might be just the bright spot someone needs in their day!

2::an update

Well, 2 o'clock in the afternoon came and went and I hardly noticed. Must be because I didn't even have time to sit down or breathe or even pee yesterday during the day . . . it was quite a busy one! And then, wouldn't you know it, 2 a.m. came and went unnoticed as well and I slept right through {thanks to your prayers . . . and some Tylenol PM to makes the odds better!}. I did wake up a little before 5, but went, pretty much, right back to sleep! How great. Hopefully today will go just as well! Thanks for all your sweet comments, commiserations, suggestions and prayers!

what's up with 2?

Lately, I've been waking up in the early morning . . . sometime in the 2 o'clock hour, and can't seem to get back to sleep. I'm tired. Really tired. I want to be sleeping again. But instead I just lay there flopping around, trying to get comfortable. Hoping to fall back to sleep. Usually, there's nothing in particular that woke me up. No crying baby, no kiddo scared from a bad dream, no snoring husband {well, usually that's not the problem}. I just wake up. And stay that way. Sometimes if I lay there long enough I'll fall asleep again. Unfortunately, I'm not a patient person and just laying there is not easy! Sometimes I get up and try to sleep again on the couch so my flip-flopping all over the bed doesn't wake Kirb up. Sometimes I just give up all together and read a book or pay some bills or make some cards or just get some general stuff done around the house {as long as it's not noisy stuff}. But even if I get lots of unexpected word done or finish a really good book, I'd still much rather be sleeping!

Fast forward 12 hours; a full revolution of the clock::without fail lately, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon I completely hit a wall. I can't do another thing. I'm completely worn out. I need a nap! Sometimes it passes rather quickly; I can lay down for a few minutes {hopefully with my eyes shut, but that can be dangerous if a certain smallish girl does not also have her eyes shut with sleep!} and feel better. Sometimes I got to bed and am still in my gross fog of yuck.

So, I wonder . . . what is it about 2 o'clock? I'm not really big on "lucky numbers" or such things, but for some reason I've always been partial to multiples of 3. I just like them, what can I say. Maybe 2 is just getting even for the years and years of preferential treatment I gave to her {or is it his?} neighbor #3. I kind of doubt it, but it's a thought!

Anyway, I guess until it passes I'll just have to push through that 2 o'clock hour for a while. Hopefully it won't last much longer!

To cheer up this post, here's a current picture of my favorite 2-year-old in the world! I have no complaints about her {well, I suppose I do. It involves markers . . . but that's not the point at the moment!} Isn't she a doll?


{For you really observant people who noticed that this blog entry was posted at 2:07 in the morning . . . good for you, that's impressive! But, nope, I didn't really write it at 2 in the morning. It was actually 7. But you can schedule blog entries to post whenever you want them to, so I thought it would be fun to have it be time stamped at that time.}

multitude monday

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

"One Thousand Gifts":

505. a fresh new baby {6 days old} at church
506. game night
507. laughter
508. girl talk
509. running errands alone
510. a lazy weekend
511. bravery and standing up for myself
512. tiny little kicks
513. a package of new undies is a size 2T
514. another great book . . .
515. and yet another {don't read this one in public!}
516. friends
517. my bella band
518. a fun-filled week ahead


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

randomness

Here are a few random things from our life lately::

• I was at a consignment store with Rebekah a while back and the racks of clothes were labeled. You know: "outerwear", "dresses", "men's pants", etc. Well, when we came across the one labeled "boys and girls bottoms" {right next to boys and girls tops} she busted out laughing. She was completely hysterical and told me that was really funny, but maybe they should write something else instead. What a silly, funny girl!
• Joe only has 2 more days of preschool before he "graduates". Yikes! How can that be?
• I saw a turtle pee the other day. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I guess I would have to be aware that turtles need to pee too, but I had never really given it any thought at all and, definitely, hadn't ever had the chance to witness it. Now, I have! Enough said.
• I won a game of croquet at Kirb's office BBQ the other night . . . after being WAY behind. Yeah for me!
  
• Kirb was given the "opportunity" to perform at our school's staff appreciation breakfast. It was a hoot. He wore this: The picture does not do the outfit justice . . . you can't see the shiny white dress shoes {thanks Todd} or get a good view of how plunging the neckline of his shirt was, and the pants . . . you can't even tell how bad perfect they are! Finding them was quite the undertaking, {our goal was solid white dress pants like Frankie Valli wears to sing "Beauty School Dropout" in "Grease" -- since Kirb was performing "Falcon Heights Dropout" at the "Grease"-themed staff appreciation breakfast -- but that wasn't meant to be} but we finally found these {after multiple Goodwill trips} and they were great. A friend of mine asked, "Has Kirby lost more weight or are those pants just, um . . . really flattering?" It's a cut they don't use so much for pants anymore. I assure you they were the right size, but the overall fit of most pants has just evolved a bit in the past 50-or-so years! If you ask really nice, maybe I'll let you see the video of the song too!
• It's nearly Memorial Day . . . what in the world?
• I'm getting used to the van. I'm not nearly as scared as I once was. But, admittedly, it's still a beast to park and that's just a fact!
• Jacob had his final band concert the other day. It was all the 5th grade band kiddos from the district {about 160 of them}. They did a great job and Joe was thrilled when they did this number: {when the camera zooms in you can just barely see the top of Jacob's head . . . behind lots of other kids and his music stand -- about half way back -- directly in front of the blonde girl and to the right of the boy in the front with the glasses. Be on the lookout for a little dark hair toward the top left of the screen}
  

flashback friday

rebekah
2008

Thankful Thursday

What glorious weather!

After last week's constant cold rain and me complaining about being cold and the kids not being able to go outside and finally giving in and turning the heat back on about 12 hours before the return of summer and the 30 degree swing in temperatures, I'm thrilled to have the amazing sunshine and warmth we've been blessed with this week!

We've walked to school most days this week and it's already downright hot-ish by that time of the morning. I've been sitting outside watching the kiddos play and get dirty while I sip lemonade and read a book . . . in reality it's not quite as ideal as it sounds, but it really is quite wonderful, regardless! I've dried many of load of laundry in the sunshine and breeze . . . and even "bleached" a nasty, stubborn stain out of a white sundress of Anna's that I thought was doomed to be there forever. I could get used to this! Welcome summer, we're so glad to have you!

like {grand}father, like {grand}daughters

Each spring the Roseville school district holds their annual Art Show at Har Mar mall. Art teachers from each school select great pieces of work their students have done throughout the year and display them in the show. This year both girls had pieces selected to be in the show {it's Rebekah's 3rd year having one of her pieces chosen}.

We went to the opening of the art show on Friday night. It's always a fun time -- all the district art teachers are there, lots of families come out and there are plenty of proud kiddos around. This year they even had treats to make it even more art-show-opening-ish. It was quite a nice reception and I was amazed by some of the pieces and the talent that they kids have . . . especially the middle schoolers. To think that works of such great quality came of out 13- and 14-year-old bodies was pretty impressive, I thought!

The show will be up until the end of the month if you get a chance to check it out.

Here is Rebekah and her "Mix it Up" book. She cut a bunch of pictures she had illustrated into thirds so you could swap them out and have a ladies head on the body of a robot, for example, and so on . . . I'm sure you get the idea. In the picture with Rebekah is Mrs. Eiswald, Falcon's fabulous art teacher.
Here is Lydia next to her artwork. It is a spring-time piece with a poem about spring written in between sections of her accompanying picture, which had been ripped in thirds.
Great job girls!

In case you weren't aware, my dad is an artist {thus the title of the post} and we're thankful that each of the kids seems to have inherited some of his talent as well. If you want to see some of his work you can check out his online gallery right here. Most of his work is based on his travels {mostly to Ethiopia, but also Israel, the East Coast and Italy -- as well as some local stuff}. He is having an art show of his work at Trotter's Cafe in St. Paul {on Cleveland Ave. just south of Marshall} during the month of June. Stop in a check it out and enjoy a yummy treat as well.

multitude monday

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

"One Thousand Gifts":

489. a glorious Sunday
490. kids worshiping God with their whole heart
491. a 5-year-old who says "I would miss you if I was born in a different family."
492. witnessing the exchange of sincere, heart-felt wedding vows . . . it gets me every time!
493. french fries
494. the return of the sunshine
495. a kiddo who jumps off the swing, comes over for a hug and wordless returns to play
493. fellowship
494. a spontaneous "field trip"
495. brave friends who are willing to be authentic for the potential benefit of others
496. a good book
497. creating things
498. an almond latte
499. music
500. the "traffic jam" on our block when the church down the road lets out . . . knowing fellow Christ-followers have also been worshiping Him
501. chicken on the grill
502. witnessing my children's love for each other {rather infrequently, I might add, but I'll take what I can get!}
503. hugs
504. my clothesline {and ideal weather for drying the clothes outside!}


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

flashback friday

people tell me at least a couple times a week how much anna reminds them of lydia. i guess there's just no denying it!
mother's day 2006

Thankful Thursday

I love the art of Timothy Botts. I have for quite a while. We have probably half a dozen of his prints in our house. I also love the printed word and fonts and letters, I think that's why I resonate so much with his work . . . we have a few passions in common.

I also love this song {we had it at our wedding} and think he did a great job illustrating it:
And this one is a favorite of my kids:
I am thankful for art that has personal meaning and for how this artist, in particular, can bring words to life for me. We have the entire Bible illustrated by him sitting on our coffee table {it has over 350 color illustration of different passages of Scripture alongside the full text of the Bible, I love it!} . . . I need to open it up again for a new perspective.

multitude monday

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

"One Thousand Gifts":

470. ALL the women who have loved and influenced me in my lifetime
471. an 11-year-old who snuggles in bed with me on Mother's Day morning {and promises he will even when he's 12. and 13. and 14!}
472. freshly mowed lawn
473. Costco
474. childhood memories
475. a little motivation and incentive
476. family
477. magic eraser!
478. laughter
479. a little fist plopping onto my pillow when I roll over disturbing it position snuggled tightly against momma
480. an energy bill that is less than half of what it was last month!
481. inspiration
482. my kiddos handing out flowers to all the women after church on Mother's Day
483. pigtails
484. our new van
485. a fresh haircut
486. encouragement
487. good news
488. crossing things off my list

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

flashback friday

his love for Superman {and Pop Tarts} is nothing new