31-derful!

hApPy bIrThDaY lindsey!!visit my sis-in-law lindsey is 31-derful today. visit her blog for a birthday give away!

photo above- me, kristen, and lindsey.

How blog friends spend a week together.

stuffed!

my heart is full. i am stuffed with God's goodness. the heart meal He served me this weekend was 5 course! every part of it DELICIOUS. and guess what...there are leftovers.

i will be spending this week consuming the savory leftovers, and thinking about how "He brought me to His banqueting table, and His banner over me is love."

can't wait to share all the yummy-ness with you.

Pretty Messy

i'm a guest blogger over at joy's hope today.

you may remember that last weekish julie (of joy's hope) accused me of trying to kill her!

well, apparently such a crime is a good thing in julie's book because look what came in the mail for me today...i can't wait to wear my new Pretty. Messy. pin while drinking a cold glass of sweet & spicy good earth ice tea!

THANKS JULIE!

time keeps on tick'n tick'n tick'n into the future...

today we went to bass lake. you should know that i LOVE bass lake. of the almost 16 years that i have lived in these mountains, i have lived in bass lake for 8 of them. now we live 40 min. away from bass lake, at the south end of these mountains. i miss the green fragrant pine trees, purple mountain majesties, 10 degree cooler weather, walking around the lake, and i miss donna our old neighbor (she really loved our family, we really loved her).

we had to head up to the lake to get some things ready for next weekend. next weekend we are having friends up at the lake. BLOG FRIENDS!!! and i am SO excited.

next weekend is also our church's 6th Feast of Tents, and we are having the awesomest speaker and worship leader EVER! Al Siebert (who happens to be this person's father) and Chad Markley (who happens to be the same person's husband).

i had the privilege of meeting Sarah, her family, and parent's in December. we have been looking forward to our time together next weekend ever since!

Kristen is also coming! Kristen and i have never met in person, but we have met on skype. it was love at first skype. we have been looking forward to a bass lake get together for some time. (yep, she is traveling all the way from idaho. she ROCKS!).
(Kristen and Sarah have met once).

so there are lots of details to finalize this next week in preparation for thier arrival, and for the Feast of Tents.

so ( hmmm, i say "so" a lot to begin sentences) today we headed to bass lake to make sure the most important thing was ready for their arrival ... what's that? we had to put the BOAT IN THE WATER! after all what good is a lake if you can't go on it?and now this is a bit pathetic, but i have lived here for nearly 16 yrs, and have NEVER driven the boat on my own. when Michael told me i had to drive the boat back to the house, as he drove the truck w/trailer back i FREAKED! it was an inner freak, i didn't let him know i was freaking (i think he knew i was freaking). because i was inner freaking, i planned on driving the boat along the shoreline at a safe 5 miles per hr. but when i got out there on the water... i aborted my plan, and went straight out onto the middle of the lake at a fast speed (fast for me is 25 mph).

this is me driving the boat without other adult supervsion.
this is where i parked the boat without other adult supervision.
i am very proud of myself.



for some reason the Steve Miller Band is lake music to me, which is why i titled this post with lyrics from a popular S.M.B. song.

What is lake music to you?

What blog friends would you really like to meet?

When are you coming for a visit?

but i didn't try to kill her... really!

go-cart

noah turned 11 last week. for his birthday gift he had one request, a trip to home depot to purchase supplies to build a go-cart.
the directions for the go-cart can be found in this book
(btw- after receiving this book noah said, "if our house was to burn down i would grab my bible, my swiss army knife, and the dangerous book for boys, because the book gives directions for how to build a fort to live in, trap a rabbit, and skin it." )

part of the gift was time with just his dad building the go-cart.
here they are using power tools.
enjoy the video of noah riding his go-cart and CRASHING!!



(special effects courtesy of daddy)

noah wants me to tell you that he was disappointed that i stopped filming, he wanted to see the rest of the crash..the part where he runs into emilie, and both of them hit the pavement.

michael wants me to let you know there will be a follow up post with video after the go-cart is painted and has brakes installed...

i'll be ready, with camera in one hand and the first aid kit in the other!

the best way to spend a cool spring night

good books: borrowed from the library
cozy blankets: gifts
swing: left behind when the neighbors moved
time with people you love: priceless!

Happy Mother's Day

"Sacred" by Caedmon's Call

You must read this post at JOY'S HOPE.

to be a mommy

originally posted August 17th, 2007

Being made Real

From the Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
A conversation between Rabbit and the Skin Horse-

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?" "Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long , long time, not just to play with , but really loves you, then you become Real." "Does it hurt?" "Sometimes." For he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt." "Does it happen all at once, like being wound up, or bit by bit?" "It doesn't happen all at once. You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen to people who break to easily, or who have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.".... The rabbit sighed. He thought it would be a long time before this magic called Real happened to him. He longed to become Real, to know what it felt like; and yet the idea of growing shabby and losing his eyes and whiskers was rather sad. He wished he could become it without these uncomfortable things happening to him.

You Are My I Love You

I am your parent; you are my child.
I am your quiet place; you are my wild.
I am your calm face; you are my giggle.

I am your wait; you are my wiggle.

I am your carriage ride; you are my king

I am your push; you are my swing.

I am your audience; you are my clown.

I am your London Bridge; you are my falling down.

I am your carrot sticks; you are my licorice.

I am your dandelion; you are my first wish.

I am your water wings; you are my deep.

I am your open arms; you are my running leap.

I am your way home; you are my new path.

I am your dry towel; you are my wet bath.

I am your dinner; you are my chocolate cake.

I am your bedtime; you are my wide awake.

I am your finish line; you are my race.

I am your praying hands; you are my saying grace.

I am your favorite book; you are my new lines.

I am your night light; you are my starshine.I am your lullaby; you are my peekaboo.

I am your good night kiss; you are my I love you


From the children's book "You Are My I Love You" by Maryann K. Cusimano

anyway

"People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."

(these words are written on the wall of Mother Teresa's home for children in Calcutta)

like butter

noah is 11 today.

we spent the a.m. yesterday watching home videos from 1998. my boy really loves me and let me hold him tight for a while as we watched together; baby at the hospital, meeting the great grandparents, his dedication, and each month's b-day marked with recordings of him narrated with a tender mommy voice ( i miss that voice) sharing all things my noah could now do (put his fist in his mouth, lift his head, scoot...).


and now he is 11.

and i LOVE him.

and he LOVES me.

john eldredge (author of Wild at Heart) might think it is totally inappropriate, but i think there is a sweet romance between a mother and her son. i know this because my boy melts me like butter! when he turns on our song, "How Sweet It Is" and asks me to dance, when he leaves me a note to tell me he loves me, when he opens the door for the girls and i, when he surprises me with a scrambled egg b-fast, or extends a helpful hand, when he wraps his arms around me and says "your my favorite," and when he gives me the look.

it is so good to be a loved mommy.

i think of those first moments after he was born, holding him, and saying to God "a boy?" (we chose to be surprised), and our generous God replied, "now you have two men to love you."

11 years later i am overwhelmed by the ways God chooses to lavish His great love on me.

Happy Birthday Noah!