sunday six: trois

I've had sort've a skate-across-the-surface-and-try-not-to-think-about-what's-beneath-my-feet kind of week.

Not that that there's anything wrong with that, you understand.  

(Am I the only one in the world who can never hear or utter the above sentence without thinking about Seinfeld?  Come on, it's just us here...you know you loved 'em!)

Anyway, I guess I was just so busy with the babies and educating America's youth and giving my salary to the laundromat that I couldn't indulge in much deep thought.

It's probably for the best.  

Things can get all whoooey around here when I wade in deep.

("Whoooey = I don't even know.)

Forget it.

Here's my Sunday Six.

1.  Pre-made breakfast burritos pulled out of my veryown freezer.  

Yum, yummy, yummiest.   

If I could just figure out how to keep the edges from getting all too hard & crunchy they would be the best breakfast ever in the history of breakfast and no, I'm not kidding.

2.  The in(RL) online conference.  

I loved it!  The videos are available through this evening so I've saved a couple to watch today, and I literally woke up looking forward to them.  

I cried a little bit.  And by a little bit I mean practically the whole time.  I'm not so much a crier, but the content for this conference was loaded with testimonies about how God is using social media/the worldwideweb to bring Big Glory to His name.  

Big Glory practically demands tears of gratitude.

I just love Him so much.

3.  Finding the Funny.

E has had a bit of an off week.  This means I have had a bit of a way-off week, ha!  

Robin told me he woke up one morning this week and as he was getting dressed for the day he declares, and I quote, "I just can't take Aunt Nay today."

I have laughed for days about this one.  Ohmygoodness I LOVE THAT BOY!  He fills even those messy days with all manner of yummy.

4.  Peripheral participation in a friend's High Drama.  

I'm not at liberty to divulge details in order to protect the horrified, but is there anything more dramatic than second-hand participation in things that just don't (thank goodness!) happen everyday?  That which doesn't kill us  makes us stronger and we might as well laugh about it, is what I'm saying.

5.  Vacation invitations...to THE BEACH!!!

Amen.

6.  Free air.

Sheetz has the coolest air machine thing-a-ma-bob I've ever seen.  I'm having some unfortunate right-front-tire issues this week and happened upon this most delightful machine thanks to my daughter, the knower of random things.  Evidently if you enter the desired calibration it will fill the tire right up and then beep at you so you know when to stop.  Unfortunately I have no idea what that calibration would be so that particular feature is not easily utilized.

But man if I did know I would be VERY IMPRESSED.

Also?  Completely free.  I don't wanna talk about how ridiculous I appeared as I wandered around said machine, possibly standing on my head a couple of times as I searched for the coin slot, only to discover you just hit start.

It's often embarrassing being me.

In my defense, my market charges me a whole dollar for air, and I have to admit I find that about three different kinds of absurd.  And greedy.  Also greedy.

Happy Weekending!

favorite reads: "please don't miss it"

The more my online horizons, so to speak, expand, the more astounded I am at the variety of ways God uses us right where we are.  I can't even believe how many gifted writers there are floating around in cyberspace, and personally it just might be my favorite thing about the Internet. 

I do love me some words. 

And some kindness. 

And some funny.

And some people who love Jesus.

 

Last night during the (in)RL conference they shared a beautiful video full of conversation about how Sarah Frankel touched so many lives while being confined to her own four walls. It reminded me of one of my favorite blog posts ever.  She died back in September and wrote these sweet words of encouragement on her last birthday before joining Jesus. 


When I think of all the bloggy offerings I've read over the last couple of years this one always comes to mind.  I think it's the perfect choice to share with y'all for my first "favorite read."


You can click right here to read her post entitled Please Don't Miss It, written on May 13, 2011.


******

And now, after spending a shocking amount of time tearing up during (in)RL, I'm off to thoroughly enjoy a little silly time and taco soup with Donna - have a great night!

Five-Minute Friday: Community

I'm having dinner with my friend tonight.  I've known her since I was quite possibly a size 2 with no lines on my face and a shockingly optimistic view of how life was going to unfold.  We had little girls who were preschoolers and a little girl (me!) and a little boy (her!) who were a couple of years younger than that.  Which means they were babies.  Literally.  If my Kate was four then my Kari was two.  

TWO!

Anyway, that's a long time to have a friend.

And she isn't the only friend I've had longer than I kept that alleged unlined face.  I know I've mentioned it before, but I have the somewhat unusual blessing of having a handful of friends who have known me through all the awkward and heartbreaking and bliss.

They know my favorite treat when I'm frazzled, and how to pray for me without me having to say it out loud.  They know where my heart lies and understand when I'm very quiet for a very long time.


We have giggled and cried and cracked wise in ways that no one else would find amusing.   We've embarrassed our children, and supported our children, and then embarrassed them some more.

We've celebrated, and mourned, and shopped, and prayed, & celebrated some more :)

I can see them every day and have new things to talk about and I can neglect them for weeks and weeks - and weeks - on end and pick up our conversation right where we left off.

For the life of me I can't imagine how I would have survived without them, and I'm so thankful that my community of people is so completely my norm,

that I don't even have to try.

Happy (Five-Minute) Friday!

deep thoughts

nap

snooze

doze

slumber

siesta 

shut-eye

forty-winks 

Amen.

Happy (rainy/gray/gloomy/sleepy) Thursday ;)

grandfriends

Sheri and I have been friends since our daughters, who are now married mamas, were little girls in elementary school.

Now we are grandmothers with sweet little grandsons.

These would be our first pictures with Connor and Peyton together.

Peyton thinks we're all a little weird I just know it.

 

Connor is about a month older than Peyton.  And he is a whole lot of cuteness.

He likes to chew on his Grammie's (Grammy's? whatever) fingers.

Peyton may be a bit younger but can surely hold his own. They keep looking at us like we're a little nuts for dumping them in the recliner together.

It's not like they can wrestle or get into any fun trouble at this point.

...although they can certainly try ;)

Happy Wednesday!

interview with a three-year-old, audrey edition

Saturday I got to spend a bit of time with my granddaughter, quite possibly the future leader of the free world or maybe someone's mama.  Either way she'll certainly be rocking the world in a few years.

She is already rocking mine.

 

Naynay:  Thanks for joining me, Noodle.  How are you feeling today?  

Audrey (AKA Noodle, AKA Sweetie-Pie, AKA Sugar Britches, AKA Goober):  Good.

NN:  I would like to ask you a few questions for our friends who are reading at home.  Would that be okay with you?

A:  Yeah.

NN:  Yes Ma'am?

A:  Yes Ma'am.

NN:  Thanks Honey-Bunch.  Shall we get started?

A:  Yeah.

NN:  Yes Ma'am?

A:  Yes Ma'am.

NN:  Sigh.

NN:  So Audrey, what is your favorite color?

A:  Pink!

(Note:  Babygirl is obsessed with everyone's favorite color.  Interestingly hers was reported to be blue all. weekend. long until this question.  When it was most definitively pink.  Whatever.)

NN:  What's your favorite toy?

A:  Mr. Conductor/Dinosaur Train.

NN:  What is your very-favorite fruit?

A:  Grapes. (Really?)

NN:  What's your favorite TV show, Sweetie?

A:  Dinosaur Train!!!  

NN:  What about lunch?  What is your favorite food to eat for lunch?

A:  Pickles and cheese.  And pep-roni but you don't have pep-roni now so just pickles and cheese. 

NN:  What is your most favorite animal of all?

A:  A brown horse!

NN:  Audrey come back!  Please?  Over here, I'll make it quick...

A:  It's Kenny KentroSAURus Kenny KentroSAURus!

NN:  Kenny Ken-tro-SAUR-us.  Got it.

NN:  sigh.

NN:  So what's your favorite song?

A:  ABCDEFG.

NN:  How about books.  Do you have a favorite book?

A:  Pooh. 

NN:  Do you have a best friend?   Who's your best friend?

A:  Claire!!

NN:  When you go outside to play, what is your favorite thing to do outside?

A:  Smell flowers.

NN:  Okay, now this is a very serious question.  What's your favorite drink for your cup?

A:  Dwink!

NN:  Are you sure you don't mean milk?  (you know, the milk you drink at an average of a gallon every couple of days?).

A:  No!  Dwink!  

* Dwink = Naynay's beloved fountain Pepsi on ice.  Sorry Kate.

NN:  Okay Darlin' we're almost finished.  When you go to bed at night what do you like to take with you?

A:  PUPPY!!

NN:  Last question and then you can go back to smackin' your baby brother in the head.  What's your favorite thing to have for breakfast?

A:  Pickles and cheese.

NN:  Seriously?  Your favorite breakfast, Honey...

A:  Pickles and cheese pickles and cheese PICKLES AND CHEESE.

You heard it here first, folks.  

babies who sleep and always Jesus

Because I'm so fond of you all and because he is just too delicious to keep all to myself, I offer you a few pictures of my Owen.  

This boy is a mess.  He's a handful.  

He's a human wrecking ball wrapped in very messy form. 

He's crazy busy and aggressive and loud.

He's a lover of snuggling and books and messy kisses.

He's a delight.  He's a joy.  

He's a heart-stealer and he's not even sorry.

He's my grandson and my buddy and my sweetheart, 

and I do believe we should keep him for, like, ever :)

(A Thousand Gifts 1140-1150)

road trip safety

first-thing-in-the-morning orange juice

babies who sleep all night

happy news from my very happy nephew

blueberries on top of the oatmeal

reading, to his delight, the same words over...and again

public safety personnel

early morning happy 

road trip worship

the riot of green following the rainy gray

still, always, Jesus

Have a great day!

sunday six - week two

Well I hope you're having a wonderful weekend so far :) 

Mine has turned out to be unexpectedly hectic.

Which is bound to sound ridiculous and also redundant to y'all since approximately every couple of days I'm saying life has been unexpected in some way.  Unexpected is pretty much my baseline these days.  

I still laugh and laugh and laugh when I think way back to a handful of years ago when I was concerned about my looming empty nest. 

That nest, it's never empty.

I don't know what I was thinking.  I should've known God would have my back!

So enough of the rambling.  I have no time for the ramble at this juncture so I'll just proceed with this week's rendering of six.  On a Sunday.

1.  This.

 ...and in the interest of fairness, this.

Oh my!!

2.  True Fact:  If you can watch a baby boy gather his blanket and paci and then attempt to pry open the front door, all the while pronouncing that "Mama" is on his mind without feeling sad and a touch panicked, you have a heart of stone.

Stone, is what I'm saying.

3.  Mason jars.  I suggest you get some.  I've grown increasingly dependent on them and now use them for practically everything.  Things stay fresh forever and no, I'm not kidding.  

Seriously y'all, I bought a package of Oreos weeks and weeks ago for E and what we haven't eaten are still yummy and crunchy and yummy.

Mason jars.  You heard it here first.  or not.  but still...

4.  Observation:  You know there might be a mess when you're greeted by the small child as you descend the stairs with "What??"

In  a mildly related note.  I owe E some glue sticks and pencils and what-not.   

Don't tell him.

Sometimes he's a bit touchy about having his things ruined behind his back.

5.  My Kari wrote this and my Mary wrote this and they both made me so proud and inspired.  I love how all my girls love Jesus so much!   

6.  I found this on my bedroom wall this morning.

It might look harmless here, but it was two sizes of huge on my wall, I'd say three or four feet in diameter at the very least. Maybe more.

To say this was unsettling and upsetting and a bit yucky would be an understatement.  

Because this was very unsettling, very upsetting and a WHOLE LOT yucky.

Well that's it  - I've gotta go!  I'm off to do tiring things and quite possibly eat a blueberry muffin. 

Have a lovely Lord's Day :)