My Pink Panthers

My friend Beth (from Converse) is getting ready to have her first baby in 4 weeks so our friends decided to get together this past weekend to celebrate her and her impending arrival. In the past, when someone has had a baby, we've had showers for each other but this time we decided to do something a little different and it was much fun. We made appointments at a spa downtown and met there Saturday morning - had our "treatments", talked, laughed, talked some more and then around 2pm, changed clothes and went to the Lazy Goat for lunch - where we stayed until the wait staff started to discuss the dinner menu (about 4:30). It's been so long since we've been able to spend that much uninterrupted time together. We usually have either children or husbands with us when we're together (which is also great, just different) and we never get to really talk to each other.

Beth and I were never roommates in college (however, we were always "suite mates") but we did live together for 3 years after college. I can't wait to watch her and Andy embark upon the beautiful, eventful, confusing, and always entertaining journey of parenthood. She will make a very loving and patient mother. She and Andy have decided to not find out what their having but my prediction is a BOY. We'll all find out for sure in about 3.5 weeks!!

Can't beat time spent with family

What is it about spending time with family that feels so normal? There is something about being around people you're related to that makes the situation enjoyable no matter what you're doing. And that of course is amplified when children/cousins are involved. One of Samuel and Stella's first cousins, Peyton, and her parents came for a visit this weekend. Samuel was so excited. He was blessed to be the first child on both sides of our family and he LOVES his Aunts and Uncles very much. They doted on him and lavished him with attention and love for the first 3 years of his little life and he still looks forward to that. We had a great weekend - held true to the simple things (making kool aid man moments) - played on the screened porch, in the back yard, went to the water park downtown, grilled out, and went to church on Sunday. It was nice to just be together, love eachother, and watch our children play together. Darrell and I are blessed with 3 wonderful sisters that make beautiful Aunts.

Mid Summer - Where is the Kool Aid man?

Remember growing up watching tv and the Kool Aid commercials? The pitcher of Kool Aid breaking through walls (never did understand why he did that?) but I always remember children playing outside and the Kool Aid man coming and all the children were instantly happy and it was a great summer day. We don't drink kool aid yet but I still look for those things that make kool aid moments. I do find them and am often surprised by how simple things can be to make my children happy......crackers shaped like bugs, playing patty cake 3 times in a row, lemonade, reading a book in bed before breakfast, going to the library and picking books out about rhyming words, his Grandmother Sadie bringing breakfast over from McDonald's, telling stories about driving space ship trains, rolling down the windows in the car, watching for lightening bugs with Juke on the screened porch, a dum-dum sucker, helping Papa feed the goats and horses, helping Daddy with anything.....

Why is it then that we try to make things so difficult and complicated? Why must we "enroll" our children in all sorts of programs, buy them all the transformers, all the dolls that cry, tinkle, and wiggle, all the toys with their extravagant bells and whistles? Why must we make them learn different languages, have computer skills, know all their letters/numbers before 3 yrs old? Why not focus on more important, eternal values? Like what it means to be a good friend, a good sister or brother, what it means to love and know Jesus and the sacrifice He made for us, what it means to respect and love your parents and Grandparents - to value what they have to offer and can teach us?

As we're halfway through the summer - through with swimming lessons, VBS, and all other "planned activities", I vow to make the rest of the summer simple. Enjoy the simple things - they may not always be what we remember but they are what we invest in daily to make each day pleasurable, loving, and fun - and how we feel and who we are is not made up of just the big things or the little things, but a combination of both.

Rental House Saga OVER

So, our family has been very preoccupied and busy the last 2 weeks with getting our rental house ready for the new tenant. We were very excited about getting "out with the old and in with the new" but it was very tiresome (physically and emotionally) and very stressful. Trying to make grown up decisions, trying to fix ceiling fans, toilets, closet doors, blinds, light fixtures and the list goes on and on. We were trying our best to make the most economical decisions and still maintain the integrity of the house. We quickly discovered that people want to charge A LOT for manual labor jobs and we were so close to being able to fix it ourselves.

My beautiful husband stretched so far outside of his comfort box I hurt for him. He worked every day relentlessly until everything was done. And he did it all by himself AND it's all perfect!! I am so proud of him and so impressed by his accomplishments. We got everything in the house repaired and have even decided the house is in better condition now than it was when we lived there! New carpet, new fridge, new paint, new light fixtures, etc.......

I have a good bit of emotional attachment to this house since it was our first house and that creates a desire to want things done "a certain way" (feel free to read between the lines here).

Darrell showed himself to be a "jack of all trades", well rounded, determined, persevering, money saving, hard working, "Andy on Call" manual labor, MAN - and I love him for this and many many more things. We turned the house over yesterday for another year and it was hard to let go but felt freeing all at the same time. We pray that God blesses our home and the new tenant for another 364 days.......

As I stood and watched you sleeping, the moonlight kissed your face. My heart is overwhelmed with your beauty and your grace. How precious and so delicate is your tiny little hand. And the sweetness of your lips and eyes is nothing less than grand. Your spirit and your softness tenderly sets my heart aglow, with a love so deep and infinate that only a mother could know. So tonight I count my blessings for my darling, baby dear, for surely God did hear my heart and answered every prayer. -Linda LaTourelle

My Oldest Friend

It's just like a big sister to fuss at her little sister because she hasn't been mentioned on her little sisters blog, isn't it? So here is a tribute to my oldest friend, my big sister, Ashley.

The one who taught me so much of what I know....how to be unselfish, how to love unconditionally, how to play, laugh, and enjoy each other. The one who played Amy Grant, Reba McIntyre, James Taylor, Carly Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, The Jackson 5 and "My Angel is a Centerfold" from her huge blaring jam box. The one who got her own phone in her room but shared it with me anyway, the one that let me put on her makeup, try on her clothes, and steal the things that I felt like she wasn't really using. The one that always took up for me and gave me the benefit of doubt even if I didn't deserve it. The one that makes me laugh harder than anyone else and sometimes at nothing. The one that knows my favorites and wants everyone else to know them too. The one that endures all my faults, weaknesses, short comings, failures, and still stands with me holding my hand. The one that lets me pretend "it's all about me" when clearly that life doesn't exist. The one that showed me what it meant to believe that Christ dying on the cross was enough and that the "little things don't matter". The one that showed me what the Best Aunt Ever really looks like. The one that I always miss as soon as her car disappears from my neighborhood and the one that makes me feel a little incomplete after she's gone.

I love you, Sissy. xoxoxoxox

Cheerios

Samuel woke up entirely too early this morning and eventually made his way downstairs to make himself breakfast. He had yogurt and wanted to put cheerios in it. We keep a glass jar of cheerios on the table to entertain Stella while she's in her high chair sometimes. I came downstairs around the same time Samuel was putting cheerios in his yogurt and just in time for the thought provoking question of "Mommy, are cheerios made out of palm trees?" I'm fumbling with the coffee maker and think maybe I've misunderstood. So I ask him again - he's realized his first question isn't right and asks "Are cheerios made of of pine trees?". I start to laugh (partially because his question is funny and partially because my coffee is brewing now and it smells so good - the smell of coffee gives me the assurance that the day will be fine). I turn to look at him to possibly gain clarity and realize his eyes are fixed on the detail of the glass jar. The glass jar is one of those old jars (I think this one came from my Grandmother) and it has stalks of wheat on it - he was confusing the stalks of wheat with palm branches and pine branches. He is so literal - I've always known this about him - as it's hereditary and he clearly gets it from his mother - but it still amazes me sometimes. This made me laugh even harder and by now he was laughing too. But I quit laughing quickly when I realized I had no idea what cheerios were made out of - guess I need to figure that out? This morning as I was sipping my first cup of coffee, I decided to let cheerios be made out of wheat (which I think is RIGHT and matches the glass container!!).

I love the age Samuel is now - the sheer curiosity, joy of learning, and sweetness of innocence all rolled up into one little brain, heart, mouth, and body.