'round and 'round

Happy Saturday!

that day when worms in the street made everything okay

Well I'm not going to lie to you.  

It's been a rocky, 

melodramatic, 

tumultuous, 

on-the-loud-side kind of day here at The School of Aunt Nay.

So I thought it might be nice to look back on a recent day that was filled up to the top with sunshine and smiles.  

...and a few creepy crawlies

See ya when the dust clears ;)

we interrupt our regularly-scheduled blogging

...to do a great deal of giggling and smiling and laughing out loud.




See ya soon ;)

baby boys on benches and impromptu plan b's

(A Thousand Gifts #1063-1077)

baby boys on benches in bibbed overalls

painted faces and pink fishing poles

bundled up babies and crooked smiles

unscheduled fun and impromptu plan B's

fries from anthony's and papa john's delivery in the rain

abundant sun in the middle of the downpours

the nice dad in the park helping them fish

mud on the knees and mud on the shoes and bathtubs full of bubbles

(and since spring has sprung...)   the claritin and the flonase and the eye drops...and the tissues from kari...and the tylenol and the motrin, and the rain that washes everything clean

Happy Monday :)

Five Minute Friday: Loud

No deep thoughts here today, I'm sleepy.  But I do have a question.


Question:  Do you dream loud?


Is that odd and strange?  I'd never really thought about it but Ive noticed a couple of mornings this week that when I wake up my first conscious thought is how nice the quiet is, and I realize it was kinda loud all night long.

What does it mean?  Any theories?  It seems lately my sleep has been filled with an underlying flavor of controlled frenzy.  I don't really remember any particularly bad dreams or what-have-you, just a kind of busy.

I can't figure out if it has something to do with stress (which I'm not! much...) or fatigue (which I am! some...), or perhaps it's the two-zillion episodes of Law & Order I've watched in recent months.  

Or maybe it's just an extension of the way my mind is kinda/sorta always in the "on" position?
 

Or maybe I'm just weird.


Hmm.


No matter the cause, I'm planning to conduct a couple of experiments to see if I can come with an explanation.

Any theories or hypotheses or wild guesses?


I'm all ears :)



Off to unplug the television,*
and take a nap,



*Not really.  Just kidding.  I am not actually unplugging the television.  Elijah would be mad if he missed Sid the Science Guy and nobody needs that kind of trouble.

I miss her

Let's talk about her for a minute, shall we?

Oh my heart.

 
She has it firmly in her two little, verybusy hands, and I don't even expect she will give it back.


This is the the child who a few weeks ago I hear wailing and sobbing - and did I mention wailing - in the background while I was talking with her mama.  Kate casually - dare I say disinterestedly - reports that she's fine.  She was just upset because she wanted to go outside and play with her "friends."

who are teenage boys.

riding their skateboards.

In the street.


She's three.


(Insert Ha! here)


This is the child who thoroughly enjoys hugging real tight for a long time with her face pressed right up against mine, in essence reducing me to a puddle on the floor.  Babygirl is affectionate.  And funny.  And kind (unless her brother ticks her off, which is nearly all the time, but we're not talking about that right now...)


This is the child who has on occasion caused alarm with all the distressed hollering only to discover she's simply concerned about the current plight of her dear friends the Backyardigans.  She tries valiantly to help them, but alas, they don't seem to hear very well.


This is the child who was supposed to come for a visit but opted instead for a fever and lingering cough, which she generously shared with her little brother.


sigh.


I had plans, y'all.  Big plans full of big fun.  We were going to walk the neighborhood, and snuggle on the couch, and love little Peanut, and rock on her horse, and test her love of the smoothie, and visit, visit, visit with people who haven't seen her in a while.  We were also going to read some stories and watch some Birds and Dinosaur Train, and drink no less than a gallon (or two) of chocolate milk.


I might or might not have pinned a recipe for "Resurrection Rolls" that I wanted to try out with her.  You put a marshmallow in the middle of the dough to create an empty center.

I'm intrigued.


I quite possibly harbored a hankering to share a Lorax-related adventure, but after the Great Pooh Debacle of 2011 that was still in the planning stages.



Unfortunately, there is no Plan B at this time.

But I thank ya for the chat.

It helps to talk :)



Happy Thursday!

in which mary was supposed to make a goofy face

...but didn't.

Mess with me girl, and I'll bide my time and I will find you...

...and post your scrunched-up eyes on the worldwideweb.



(Unfortunately it's impossible to be truly goofy with that beautiful smile)



But still.

Mess with me...worldwideweb.




Happy Wednesday :)

I was right; it was a good day

Well, it's true.  My suspicions were correct and we had big fun yesterday.  BIG FUN.


Mary joined us and I do feel it's only right to tell the world that she was actually the first to arrive.  FIRST, I'm saying.  We were able to get the initial oh-my-goodness-I've-missed-you-SO-MUCH hugs out of the way before Kari walked in with the Main Attraction. 

Mary wasted no time.

Her eyes were closed and she looked a little goofy, it's true...but doesn't she have a purty smile?


They had our table all set up for us, so we settled in and ordered our refreshing beverages (iced blueberry for me!  hot peach ginger for Mary!  boring water with nary even a lemon for Kari!) while waiting for Darlene to arrive.  Evidently Ed had to greet all of the office staff while obtaining Darlene's keys, which made her just the tiniest bit later than us.  Of course she also has no idea where she was going, so she was somewhat at a disadvantage from the start...


However, we had barely received our drinks when she arrived. 

And she wasted no time whatsoever.

We spent the requisite first 15 minutes talking about how lame we all are that we can love each other so much and let months go by before actually getting together.


I blame the children.


Always the children.

...and then we visited and caught up and ate my favorite chicken salad on earth...and before we knew it the time was after two o'clock in the p.m. and Peyton was trying his hardest to not holler his head off, and Mary had terribly important business, and I needed strawberries for Elijah, so we took a final snapshot via Mary's self-described freakishly long arm, and began all the hugging before parting ways.

(I'm terribly sorry for the previous mess-of-a-sentence but I don't want to fix it.  Don't. want. to.  Thanks for understanding.)


God has been so generous to me in the people-to-love department.  I'm so blessed :)


And not only that, but now it's spring! 


Three cheers for Spring! 


Yaay Spring! 


Go Spring!


Long Live Spring!



Y'all have a good day :)

blooming daffodils and long, lazy visits

What a nice weekend :)

Saturday I stayed close to home and actually exhibited a minor amount of productivity...but Sunday is where the Lots Of Happy took place.  Mandy and her little family made a super-brief stop to meet Peyton and hug Kari and me, and to finally introduce us to her sweet baby girl.  I hadn't seen her (Mandy) in more than three years and that's just too long to go without seeing one of your favorite people, so that was good.  Kayleigh is just a bundle of happy wrapped up in a lot of yummy :)

I might also have walked around jiggling, swaying, bouncing, and patting, to be alternated with a fair amount of rocking, and snuggling and smooching-the-head-of sweet (and also yummy) Peyton.

A very good day.  Indeed.


Today is a "teacher workday" (Ha! and also Yaay!), and I'm meeting Kari and Darlene (Hi Darlene!) for lunch at the Tea Tavern.


Oh y'all, the Tea Tavern.  I love it so.  And by so I mean SO MUCH.


Darlene is my friend who lives in Thailand and has been in the US for months and months and who literally lives down the road from me...and this is the first time we're exchanging hugs.  Evidently we are both busy and also procrastinator-y.  It's going to be a girly, full-of-a-lot-of-words kind of lunch.  (And of course Peyton will also be in attendance because seriously, does anything top off a girly lunch better than a brand new baby with accompanying snuggles?)

(No.  The correct answer is no.  Because a brand new baby tops off any event perfectly.)


After lunch, life goes back to normal with the dirty bathrooms, and the job that keeps the rain-soaked roof over my head, and lesson plans and unfolded laundry.

But you know what?  I love that part too:)


I'm thankful for all the different parts that sum up my days.  No matter what a specific moment may look like, all the messy, happy, and tedious...those wonderful details are the color that fill in all the corners, and every last bit of it is a gift that will likely slip right through even my tightest grasp.

So I  keep counting, and recording some of them.  Lest I forget....






(A Thousand Gifts #1047-1062)


mandy hugs and lazy visits

the baby burrowing in my neck, breathing deep

hot doughnuts, and math on the porch, and long morning walks

blooming daffodils and dogwood trees

hearing the rain through open windows

late night surprises and re-reading John

new CDs and singing along with the car windows down

breaks from the usual and watching kayleigh play

new puppies (not mine!) and good report from the surgeon




Happy Monday, Y'all!

Five Minute Friday: Brave

Happy no-stressing-no-editing-no-angsting-over-perfection day!

(That of course is not to imply every other day around here is perfect...but there just might be some futile angsting from time to time :)

Anyhoo, I hope y'all have a delightful weekend with at least a taste of the yummy weather we are enjoying right now.  Let's just say the Dogwoods, they are a-bloomin'!


One more thing before we get started.

Happy happy wedding day, Chelsea!  I'm miserable about missing your Big Day but am praying for you all.  Congratulations and best wishes for you and your new husband :)  We love you, sweetie!


Now, on to business :)

Brave...

Photo by Katie

I never thought I was a very brave person.  I used to picture brave as some kind of lofty, hazy perfection, and as was too often the case, I didn't quite meet the criteria.

(Poor younger me...I was so hard on her.  I didn't understand.  at all.)


As I've grown older I recognize that life is a far less complicated than we give it credit for. 


Now I know that being brave is simple. and hard. and messy. and beautiful.


Being brave is doing it again when you've gotten it wrong so very many times before. 


Being brave is determining what you want, or believe, or need...and articulating it clearly, and respectfully, and appropriately. 


Being brave is loving in the face of rejection. 


Being brave is having reasonably high expectations for your children while loving them as they figure it out for themselves. 


being brave is facing what is done is done and blazing a new trail...or simply following the detour signs 


being brave is getting up every day in the middle of the clutter, and the chaos, and the tears, and the giggles and the hugs and the dirty dishes and the bickering (or maybe the silence, and heartbreak, and overdue bills, and fear)

...and feeding, and correcting, and encouraging, and disciplining, and loving the ones God has placed in the middle of your day


even if the only one there is you.



Happy Friday:)

preemptive measures

"I wish...

Aunt Nay could be young again.

...and Mommy too."

Coming to ya live from the old folks home,