Beans, beans.

Had some V8-like substance in a clear glass for dinner tonight. Part of a large scale effort to get healthy.
Avery walked past me, did a double take and asked me, "Mommy, why are you drinking beans from a cup?"

She tickles me! :)

Thanks Jenny for the wordle advice!

Wonka

"We are the Music Makers...
We are the Dreamers of Dreams."
-O'Shaughnessy

I am about to make the best bulletin board of all time for a Music Classroom.
I get my keys Tuesday.
The magic shall commence sometime thereafter.

So excited!
teehee!!!
:)

Today

Today my niece was born. 8 pounds, 10 ounces of pure sweetness!

I held her and she smiled. Sorta...

I already know I love her.

Her name is Katherine Grace, but I have already decided that J's nickname for her will stick - Kater Tot.

She's perfect in every way.

Yay for nieces!

Something I don't want to forget.

My precious girl just gave me a gift wrapped in a silver package.
She has been saving it for weeks to give to me at Christmastime.
She has eagerly spoken about her sweet gift and how much I am 'gonna love it.'

She burst into the living room just moments ago and said she couldn't possibly wait til Christmas to give it to me. When she brought it to me she said, "It's my best thing and I want you to have it!"

My heart shuddered at her honest goodness and exuberant generosity.

She wants me to have her best thing. I already know I love it, though I've yet to open it.

Tears.

She is the picture of what I want to be. I want to offer Him today the things I have been saving in silver packages for just the right moment.

Realizing that right now is the best moment for a gift given with pureness of heart.

It's really not important what the gift is.
My daughter's gift: a tiny bear figurine with chipped ears that has been on prominent display in her room for years. I gave it to her and now she's ready to give it back to me.
It never occurred to her to question whether I would value this gift the same way she has cherished it.
She knew it would be special to me, and she gave it with confidence that I would love it as she has.

God whispers to me, "Won't you give me your gift today? Wrapped in a silver package, chipped ears and all. Please don't question whether I have a use for it. I already love it. It's from you!"

A sweet reminder of Him and His love for His little girl.

Newness

Everything is currently in quite the state of blur in our household.
Transition lives with us right now.
In all things, I trust and wholeheartedly believe that God has been leading us.
We are, at last, beginning to see the purpose for all this turbulence!
It's encouraging to see it unfold...

What is only becoming clear to us now, He has known always.

Our children happy and our family whole. Our marriage is as strong as it ever has been.The trials in the past 2 years have bound us in ways I honestly didn't think possible. God is good.

I won't be doing grad school anytime soon. It's too much for now, but someday...

Chris will finish up with training, hopefully by Christmas, and begin working 4 24-hr. shifts in 12 day cycles. Graduation will be followed by a raise! (Happy billpayer here!)

I will get the keys to my classroom soon! (Still walking in a dream...)

I have begun training my replacement at the church and have peace that the children's ministry will be in very good hands. (*smiles* I worried a bunch about leaving the church in a lurch.)

Jaron is ever the wiggly boy and too too smart! He thinks of things that have never occured to me to think about. Ever inquisitive, always learning.

Avery is still gooey sweet and has her first loose tooth. Several, actually! Also, she will soon start Kindergarten - my sweet baby is so big now!

As bananas as life is right now, there is also a great deal of peace. Peace that has been absent for a long time. I am so glad that this chapter seems to be coming to a close, and that there appear to be sunny days ahead!

In the midst of blur, I can still see the sweetness and completeness of the life we've shared through these turbulent times. I look forward to calm, stable, and predictable but it's easy to find ways to savor the moments that lie between here and there.

Wee little lass

When will I meet my darling dear niece?

Come on... We've thrown you a shower, now it's time for you to GET HERE!

Your Auntie Ang needs you!

Get ready, baby Kate, it's gonna be tons of fun!

Yeah even when you love it

Just so you know, I believe in a most theatrical and (hopefully unoffensive) real way that I am living in job purgatory.

Even when you love (parts of) your job and have bittersweet feelings about leaving, the time between when you put in your notice and you actually LEAVE feels like forty forevers.

Holey moley!

Scrub boards and laundry lines

For the past year and a half or so, my dryer has been, let's say, underperforming.
It would overheat after 5-10 minutes of drying and I would have to restart it multiple times to dry a load. Like all day to dry ONE load.

Bothersome, but non-essential.
It did, however, make it so that I was NEVER on top of my laundry.

But last week, to my horror, my washing machine gave out. Gonzo.

I began thinking about scrub boards and laundry lines. It was doable, but difficult, and maybe a bit too agonizing for how hard my work life will be this summer...

I decided this was a last straw scenario.

So I...

• Went shopping.
• Got discouraged.
• Began thinking about money and the impending gap betwen paychecks during the job change.
• I did something stupid and financed a matching set of Maytags.
• I began having buyer's remorse.

Then, the next day, something wonderful happened.

In the mailbox, I found a statement talking about some stocks we had cashed in when Chris switched careers last fall.

But why am I still getting a statement in May when we received 'payment in full' in October?

So I made a phone call. The statement I was holding in my hands was some OTHER stocks we didn't know we had. And they had grown by more than double since the time Chris left Red Lobster in September.

Today, I got a check in the mail.
Come Monday morning, my brand new, do-not-take-all-day-to-complete-one-load, matching washer and dryer set will be paid off.

It's in the little things that God daily shows up in our lives. When He shows off fancy, taking care of His little girl, in a big, big way, I can't help but feel overwhelmed by His interest in my life.

To what do I owe this enormous love You show? I am overjoyed by Your faithfulness!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l3CEMWCxSk&feature=related

A snail of a tale.

When I was a little girl, I looked forward to the few hours after a big rainfall. I would go outside, a hunter, and collect earth worms, snails, and every other non-perilous critter that would cross my path.

This evening, after dinner, Avery, Jaron, and I went outside. We were all business, we three "Snail Hunters," using our whisper voices, prowling tactics, and everything.

We collected scads of them. Then we would gently touch (er, poke) their long spindly eyes and giggle as they slunk back into their shells. Poor snails.

We made snail art.

We had a family snail race.

Each of the 4 snails got a permanent marker tattoo of each family member's first initial.

D= Daddy Snail, M=Mommy Snail, J=Jaron Snail, and A=Avery Snail.

As you can see, it was slow going at first. But Avery snail took an early lead.

Notice that Mommy snail is flat on her back, with no intention of even poking her eyes out of her shell...

In the end, it was Avery snail. Followed by a distant Daddy snail in second place.

Mommy snail is still refusing to play. I guess Jaron snail had a great video game to play...

Good times! Yay Avery Snail!

(No Snails were hurt in the filming of this post.)