Monday, August 6, 2012

He's REALLY coming home!!!

This afternoon I opened an email announcing travel plans from PANAMA!

DELTA AIR LINES       04OCT PANAMA CITY

I'm so excited, I can hardly even stand it.
I keep re-opening the same email to just stare at it...
I may get nothing done for the rest of the day.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

miscellaneous weekend goodness

 Snippets: 
 The rain!  We cheered when it fell.  Our grass is dead.  We haven't mowed in more than a month.  With the rain we got the bonus of a thunder and lightning show, and some hail that made the pool look like it was going to boil over.  A good display of nature makes an otherwise humid and stodgy Saturday afternoon lively and exciting.
Our girls are back!
I couldn't be happier.  They add a dimension of liveliness and fun that we've missed.  One of my favorite weekend moments was sitting on the floor of the music room and just listening while Sweet Mesquite practiced the piano.  She's got talent.  Having them both back at the dinner table again is a welcome return to the raucous meals we know best.  This afternoon the conversation dwindled (amidst much giggling) to the topic of "the fly" and "the barn door."  That's enough of that.
*
We spent Sunday church-hopping to North Brookfield.  Let me tell you: this place is literally in the middle of NO.WHERE.  It took us slightly over an hour of driving on nothing but winding back roads through charming little towns.  I was enchanted with the quaint little post office in the town of Jefferson, and wanted to stop and buy a quart of raspberries at a roadside stand we passed on the way.

 I was also smitten by our driver, who couldn't take his eyes off me most of the day, and let me know. (whoosh!)
After a little afternoon nap (bliss) Dub and I had a date to a nearby rehab facility, where we visited a dear friend and her husband.  She is fighting a battle with cancer.  He dotes on her with humility and love.  Mr. Dub shared with our friends that their marriage is a model for which we strive to emulate... we have never seen a hint of anything but true affection between them, and it's sweet.  We brought some stories and the sacrament, but in the end, they were the ones who administered to us.

bolster: To buoy up or hearten

"Life requires us to perform many duties—some routine, others more meaningful and important. An integral part of duty is to set the proper example and to take every opportunity to bolster others along this uphill road of life. This might be done with an encouraging word, a compliment, a handshake—any indication of caring. And we need to keep in mind that as we learn our duties well here, we also are preparing for the performance of eternal duties. …"

Friday, August 3, 2012

girls bed stack olympic watching

My two big girls have been gone on a spontaneous (since Sunday night) trip to New Hampshire to hang out with their cousins.  On an Olympic scale of fun, they're earning nothing but gold medals.
I'm glad.
BUT.
I can't wait to get them back--I MISS THEM.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

making progress

As they were painting the sides of the fort tonight, Morning boy confessed to his dad that he didn't think the fort would ever get done.  It's hard to wait for something great.  They're getting closer.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Happy August!

Here we've rolled right into a new month, and hardly noticed.  It's been the battle of a scary something--high fevers and a sore throat; not at all a fun time for a sweet eleven year old who would much rather be at soccer camp.  She's been on the couch, in better moments reading some of her favorite standby books.  She shared an excerpt from The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.  I'm a big fan.  I am also a big fan of The Giving Tree (by Shel Silverstein)... and of my 11-year old.  Which is why this little book blurb hit home--in a funny but frightening sort of way.

"There was this book Dad used to read to me every night called "The Giving Tree."  It was a really good book, but the back of it had a picture of the author, this guy named Shel Silverstein.  But Shel Silverstein looks more like a burglar or a pirate than a guy who should be writing books for kids.
Dad must have known that picture kind of freaked me out, because one night after I got out of bed, Dad said 
'If you get out of bed again tonight, you'll probably run into Shel Siverstein in the hallway.'"
Did anyone else ever wonder why a talented author of childrens books would choose a picture that makes you think ex-con?
(carry on.)