Luke's story

we have been praying for Luke for the past 2 months. so many prayers.

and now, so many tears.

his was a beautiful, short life that touched so many.

if you have not yet read about Luke, please take a moment to ~ you will be blessed.

columbian newspaper article

caring bridge site

thank you, Luke, you and your family's love and faith in God is powerful and far reaching.

Oh, Where is My Mailbox?

just another reason why you should never leave your house in your pajamas

to drop off your child at class.

even when you are certain that you will not have to leave your vehicle,

because there is no way that there will have been a school bus that crashed into your mailbox**

 and the accident will certainly not be being investigated at the end of your drive,

with not only the school bus driver, and the two other cars involved,

but also the police officer

who would like you to identify and retrieve your mailbox and contents that are spewed all over the ditch.

naw.

nothing like that could happen.

causing you to seriously regret your decision to leave the house in only jammies and slippers.

oh, and a headband.

forget clean underwear, it would have been nice to be wearing ANY underwear.

tmi(too much information), i know.

but it is important to me that this experience not be wasted.

please, learn from my mistake. please.

*at the beginning of the post I wrote this was 'just another reason...' because I know you all have experienced something like this, right? I need to feel better right now, so please share your 'reason'/experience with me. let's commiserate together,when did you leave the house under dressed and regretted it?  :)*


** I should also assure you all that no one was injured in the crash. from the looks of it, there were no school kiddos on the bus at the time of the crash. and the other drivers in the other cars were fine and probably snickering at my slippers**

May Day

As a child, my brother and I used to make paper 'buckets', fill them with flowers from our yard, hang them on neighbors front doors, ring their doorbells and RUN!

This was our version of May Day. and I LOVED it. :)

Every year, I remember, with fondness, our May Day flower fun.

This year, I taught my children about the tradition (I actually researched it a bit, but there isn't much history behind the tradition, other than that it has been done on the 1st of May for years. The whys of the tradition are not super clear.)

I did not tell them about the ringing the doorbell bit ~ but we (Gabby and I --the other two young ones are simply NOT the type you wake up early if you want to enjoy the rest of your day) did place the baskets sneakily in the early morning, so as to have the gifts be anonymous surprises :)

(except for Gramma's basket--she knew right away who they were from--after all, she is the one who taught me!)

Wacky Wednesday

so, I read a blog of a friend who does a 'wordless wednesday' each week, and it was my intention to post one of those today, but then I found this photo. I actually found a number of photos that would work for this title, but decided to go with this one. who knows? maybe this will be a feature every week...

and, yes, I will explain.

they are mannequin legs. I am 8 months pregnant with Ian. I have actually been a blond as many years of my life as I have been a brunette. (but I am not proud of that fact. why did I ever think this color went with my skin tone?!)

I hope you enjoy many wacky moments of silliness in your life :) with so much seriousness right now in my life and the lives of so many I know, it is nice to giggle over these memories.


Thank you, Lord, for these moments.

Shut Down

That's how I tend to think of myself right now.

That's how I usually deal with tough stuff.

I just shut down.

You may not notice. Especially if I only ever see you in a situation where I have a task to do. Those are the easiest situations to deal with right now. Get in, do the task, get out.

It's the alone time... The free time... The down time...that is the hardest to get through right now.

So, what exactly is it that is so hard in my life right now? nothing. not really.

it's just ... *cringe*... change.

i don't know of anyone who absolutely LOVES change. who thrives on not knowing what is around the corner (or at least has a pretense of knowing what is around the corner ~ for, when it comes right down to it, we never know do we?).

and it's not to say that I don't enjoy spontaneity. I do! a spur of the moment trip to the beach, a last minute dash to the super market to grab the makings for a fondue dinner, even a trip to Walt Disney World with less than 3 weeks to plan, prepare and go ;) 

but I definitely do not like this limbo I am in right now.

we are moving. not across town. not even across the state. we are moving back to Southern California.

who? hubby, myself and the three younger kiddos. Shell has decided to stay up here and continue on with community college. She will be moving in with her best friend, Maria and her family in the summer.

when? probably this summer

why? my hubby has been working down there for a couple of months now. he had an amazing job offer come his way, accepted it, and now 'commutes' there during the week ~ flying home to be with us on the weekends.

what's the hold up in the moving? have to sell our current house. big debt (upside down) + bad market = short sale :(  so hopefully it will sell quickly.

where exactly will we be living down there? in laws' garage. LOL! kidding. but truly don't know :)  and, oh my, for a stay-at-home, homeschooling momma, that is a tough thing to not know, you know?!

how are my days going right now? for the most part, fine. most moments are exactly like they have been for the past 10 years we have been living in the Pacific Northwest : get up, get ready, get kiddos ready, clean, eat, clean, play, clean, eat, clean, shop, clean, play, clean, eat, clean, read, clean, watch tv, clean, go to bed. (ok, so I probably clean a bit more right now, since it is on the market and being shown!)

however, there are some days that I just don't want to get out of bed. and every one of those days, much as I try to give up and shut down completely, I am propelled along to the next day.

EXAMPLE: one such day, it was well past 9am and I was still tucked, having directed Gab to assist Ian and Evie with breakfast and turning cartoons on (oh, how I love homeschooling hee hee) ...when the phone rang. noticing it was a 714 (Orange County, CA) area code, I answered it. Sitting up, of course, and clearing my throat right before, so that caller would have NO idea that I was still in bed. Caller was my dear friend, M, who I worked with at Disney over 10 years ago, and who was just checking in on me. God's gift to me that morning.

and that, I suppose, is really the point of this post. to point out just how blessed I am. funny how it takes such a round-a-bout rambling to get back to that, huh? did you see it coming? I sure didn't. much as I may drag my heels and resist, God's Goodness and Blessings are so prevalent around me, I cannot do anything less than press onward. and I cannot help but want to do more. I fall so ridiculously short of what I desire to do for Him each day. and yet, just by giving Him praise in my inadequacies, He is glorified :)

do I want to move? no. but am I excited for what is ahead? always.


please note:  I have read, re-read, done and un-done so much of this post over the past 6 weeks that I am now just posting it. very unlike me. I have MANY posts saved in drafts that will never make the cut. but I feel it is important to get this out there and at least give you all a glimpse at what is happening here. sorry to have been so silent so long!

CATS

I was able to take Shell, Gab, and Ian to see the Broadway show 'CATS' this past Sunday.

 The show holds a special space in my heart, because it was the first Broadway show I ever saw. It was my big 16th birthday present and my mom took me to see it:)

Mom was actually supposed to be at this performance with us, as well, but work has taken her down the coast for a bit to Monteray, CA.

We missed having gramma there, but it was amazing being able to share it with almost all of my kiddos ~ Evie and I will have to catch it when she is a bit older :)

Shell scores an autograph from 'Rum Tum Tugger' ;)

asleep by the time we arrived home...

and it was even a matinee' !!!

yes. I'm still here.

just in case that was the question. :)

so....what have we been up to? eh, not much. a lot.

and the great thing has been that I have been doing stuff and not just sitting at my computer. of course, being too tired/busy to then sit and blog about said stuff is not as entertaining to you in bloggy land (nor to me!--yes, I read my blog;) hee hee).

now the ever elusive questions--do I attempt to catch up all in one post? several large posts over the next few days? go back and catch up chronologically (this one I tend to favor because many of the past couple months events are actually begun as blog drafts...just not completed yet)?

oooh. how 'bout I mix it up a bit and do a bit of each? I'll finish the blogs I've got saved in draft...and then throw the rest into a big compilation or two!!

but not today.

today the sun is shining again ~ and since my days as a Pacific Northwesterner are coming to an end...(*cue dramatic music*dun, dun, dun...there's some of that 'stuff' that's been happening--a bit of a preview/teaser!)..I think I'll go enjoy this golden afternoon out of doors. (with the cat, of course.) :)