November

I always struggle to give up the warmth of summer. I don't like being cold. My toes seem to stay perpetually frozen this time of year. But there is a magic in autumn. A slowing of time that invites you to tarry a little longer. I think I miss a lot of moments in summer. I am so busy that I rarely stop and smell the roses, as it were. 

But in autumn things change. I notice the cloud formations, the tang in the air, the smell of wood smoke drifting in my windows. I hear the geese as they fly overhead. All food tastes better in autumn. There is no better way to whet my appetite than to have a crisp breeze blow over my food. The clarity of the air seem to act as a foil to the flavors on my table in the same way that an artist needs dark colors to showcase the light. 

Autumn is the time for warm sweaters, good conversations and old friends. 

It is the time for me to stop, take a  moment to look around and savor my life. Just like the squirrel stores up food against the cold, autumn urges us to store up warm memories and moments to sustain us through the long, cold winter. 

35

He is 35. Officially half way to 40. 

His hair is turning grey at the temples. 

Laugh lines have started to appear at the corners of his eyes and around his mouth. 

His children know him to be gentle and kind, even when disciplining. 

I know him to be thoughtful, loving and patient.

He always provides for us and we never fear hunger or homelessness. 

He puts the Lord first in his life, setting a wonderful example of a servant's walk. 

He is willing to absolutely make a fool of himself if it makes his children laugh.

I do not deserve him and could not live without him. 

We love you.

Jelly beans and X-Rays

1. These last few weeks have been rough.

2. I am going to have to start all over with my exercise plan. I started out and in the first week, wrenched my shoulder and neck (see point #1) by using too heavy weights when I did reverse flys. The doctor put me on muscle relaxers for a week and I am just now feeling like my old self.

3. We were invited to a roller skating party for a cousin this weekend. Lillie was greatly anticipating it because afterwards, she was supposed to go home with her Grandmother to stay the night and then ride with them to church in Oklahoma the next morning. She strapped on her skates, headed around the floor and didn't make a fourth of the way around before she fell, breaking her wrist (see point #1 again). We hung around for a little while, trying to determine what to do. Should we take her to the doctor or just wait a while to let the swelling do down? Once it started looking like this

it was clear we needed to go. David and my Mom took both the babies and Lillie and I headed back to Fayetteville. We made it to the Urgent Care clinic before they closed. Once inside, I started to fill out Lillie's paperwork when I realized I didn't have my insurance card. I searched all over my purse (I have way to many random papers in there) and then realized that, because I has just been in there the week before (see point #2), they had my card on file. Whew.

The nurse called us back, the doctor came in, he took one look at her arm and confirmed she broke it. It was just up to x-rays to determine how bad. So off we trotted to x-ray. The tech took four x-rays, two of which required her to hold her arm flat but rotate her wrist and hand. It was very painful and she cried the whole time but she did it without protesting. I am very proud of her. The x-rays showed a clean break across her radius bone which is evidently the least complicated type of break she could get. They wrapped her in a splint and sling and sent us off to the pharmacy for some pain meds.

After arriving at the pharmacy, I realized I was going to have the same problem with the insurance card but as luck would have it, this was the same place I had used the week before (see point #2 again) so my card was on file. It was Bike, Blues and BBQ this past weekend in town and evidently even bikers have to get prescriptions filled. So there Lillie sat, in Walgreen's, with big leather clad bikers on either side, and her in her splint and sling. The bikers asked her what happened to her arm and she took great delight in giving them a detailed description of her accident and what happened at the urgent care. I think it made her feel like some sort of tough guy to have such burly men tell her what a brave kid she was and how they would be crying like babies if that happened to them. They gave her a big thumbs up when they left.

4. While I was stuck at home this last week (see point #2), I made the most of my time and sewed up a crib quilt top, two couch pillows and 4 double sided cloth napkins.

4. Elsie is STILL potty training so out of desperation, I started using jelly beans as incentive.

 It turned out to be the magic key.

She has taken herself potty all day without any accidents. In fact, she is taking herself about every 10 minutes because she figured out that the relation between the frequency of potty breaks directly correlates to the amount of jelly beans received.

5. David and I had an unusual experience with the blood moon last night. While the blood moon was waxing , right before it was full, David was in the field harvesting and heard wolves start howling from all around. Then later in our backyard, a minute before it started waning, I heard the wolves start up again. Now, I know that science has proved that wolves don't actually howl at the moon. They howl for communication purposes, but can you tell me why they howled right before the eclipse was full and right before it ended? It made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.

6. FYI - if you feed your kid a black jellybean, and the kid drools most of it down their chin, and the kid has a few skin abrasions around their mouth, the jelly bean will turn the spots black so that even after you wash their face, they will look like they have the plague.

The Corner of the Forest

It felt good to accomplish one of our family goals. David and I have often talked about how we are not one of those "going and doing" families. We are much more inclined, when faced with the actual reality of packing up and going camping or hiking or to the lake, to shrug our shoulder and say

           "Nah, it looks like rain." 

But this time we did it. Rain was in the forecast and the clouds were ominous but we hiked onward and upwards. 

It was completely worth it. The air was cool and fresh. The woods were dark and green. The soil was moist and fragrant. The skies cleared and the birds sang. Elsie stayed close to her daddy the whole hike. I don't know if the vast expanse of woods scared her or if she just instinctively knew that if danger struck, he was her best chance of survival, but she only let go of his hand for a minute or two at a time. 

We ran, climbed, observed, sang, snacked and pondered. And came face to face, time and time again, with the wonder and beauty of God's creation. We had fun spotting different rocks, moss, plants and bugs. Even Elsie joined in, chiming "Fungi! Fungi!" every time we spotted a new type of mushroom.

Everyone we met on the trail was courteous and friendly. We passed lots of dog walkers and even a couple of professional hikers with hiking poles. We also learned a new fact. We spotted several piles of stacked rocks and the hikers we met told us they are called cairns. They have lots of historical significance but now are done to either mark a spot on a trail or for decorative purposes. 

 The view along the way was breathtaking. We even spotted the church steeple behind our house.

 This photo of the oldest two is by far my favorite. I would have loved these woods as a child and it made me very happy to see them exploring with abandonment. You can't help but walk through this place and think of Christopher Robin and Pooh.

"You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes."         - A.A. Milne, Winne-the-Pooh

It's all about taking compliments the right way

Yesterday morning while getting ready to go to the library, Ian wandered in the bathroom while I was curling my hair.

      "Momma, you're hot like LAVA."

 I preened a little.

       "Why, thank you. That is so sweet."

He jumped from rug to rug for a minute then looked up.

      "You know, how lava spreads and gets bigger?"





Just quit while you're ahead, son.

How time flies!

This past week was our annual pilgrimage to Texas. We attend David's family reunion and then stay the next week with his parents before attending a church meeting. The church meeting revolves through 3 different churches, each church taking a year. This year, it was at a church near Cuero, Texas. I have been waiting for this particular trip because I wanted to recreate a photo a dear friend of ours took of Lillie when she was a toddler. She was wearing a stars and stripe dress and sitting on top of one of those droopy Texas trees, I believe they are Live Oaks.

I was so excited Saturday. I dressed Elsie in the same dress and we headed out to church. Only to have her get car sick and throw up right before we arrived.

Drat and frustration.

We swung by Walmart and grabbed a new dress. After morning services and lunch, I had my sister-in-law take the photo with her phone. Wouldn't you know I forgot my good camera? We plopped her down on the same limb, with the same benches in the background. I found myself wondering where the time goes and wishing I could grab hold and make it stay fast.

I look at Lillie in the photo and I look at her now. It makes me realize that before I blink, Elsie will be a grown up little lady and my days of having a tiny person around will be over. How bitter sweet that thought is! But I wouldn't want my kids to never grow up, to never have adventures and learn life lessons. A mother's heart wants to protect her babies always but that is not truly protecting. The best way I can help my children is to give them room to grow, lots of good love and sunshine, and wholesome food, both physical and spiritual. And then give them as many kisses and hugs as I can in the meantime. Which, if you will excuse me, I am off to do right now.

Master Of A Thousand Faces

I have been trying to vary the style and type of photos I place on my blog. And a fellow blogger I follow, The Rosy Life, often posts about photography and more specifically, photographing children; those little whirling dervishes that can't sit still.  Her recent post about her young daughter was spot on. 

"By putting the power of play and fun in her own hands I was able to click away."

- Sara

I decided to mimic her photo shoot since after all, imitation is the highest form of flattery. I sat the kids down against our bedroom door for a neutral backdrop, kept the lights off and let the natural light from the windows flow. I had to prompt them at first. 

"Make a silly face."

"What would a scared face look like?"

"Can you do an angry face?"

What resulted was a perfect capture of each child's facial expressions and personality. I will definitely be framing these collages and treasuring them for years to come. 

And then of course, I had to pester Uncle David and Aunt Katie, who were visiting, to join in the fun. It is wonderful to have company, but even better to have company who are good sports.