since I last blogged. . .

I have been the worst blogger recently.  I have been working on a follow-up to my last one on the Conversations, and it is appalling how long it has taken me to write what should have been so easy!  I think it has been so hard to write because it was so special, and so I am trying to get all the right words to convey all the feelings I have--hopefully I'll finish it tomorrow morning.  In the meantime, I just could not pass up the chance I had today to blog, and decided to jump ahead and do some catch up! 

So, what follows are just some of the things that have been going on with me and my family recently, most of it not really important, but all of it together a peek into my world. . . .

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Treats from our Rainbow Math Party we had last week with our homeschool friends! 

STAR testing (state-wide required standardized academic testing) is over for this year--whoo-hoo!  We have not had the official "burning of the STAR Test Prep books" yet, but probably will today.  This next week Sunny--who rocked about 4 math lessons a day for the past several weeks in preparation for the test--gets a no-math week.  She is stoked, and does not realize the break is partly because of all the other school things we need to accomplish.  ; )  We need to finish her science project, start our poetry/art book project for the Author's Fair at the beginning of May, and she has to stay caught up with her Monday school assignments too.  So, the week will be math-free, but still a busy one.

BUT the end of STAR testing also means I am feeling a release of pressure, and so we are making lots of opportunities for friend time this week!  We had one playdate Sat. with friends we had not seen in a long time, and have play time (and tea time for Mommies!) with other friends early this week.  Hibernation is long over--it feels so good to be out there again!


Which is good, since I have jumped into the social/extrovert world head first.  First there were the Conversations, then I volunteered to give announcements in the church services today (two services down, one yet to go!), and tomorrow night I start 9 weeks of leading a discussion group for our next SoulFood Bible study.  We're doing Beth Moore's new James study, which I have heard focuses on social justice.  I am a fan of Beth Moore--she insists women approach Scripture with their minds turned on and their hearts open, and that they be willing to stretch themselves.  No fluff--lots of depth.  I am really looking forward to it.  My group will have about 7 women in it, including my dear Rosa.  I am very excited, and hope to explain more later.

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Three times this week I actually made myself run.  Like, around a track.  I don't get very far, but I love my body feeling stretched, and used.  So mostly I am walking briskly, and also made myself play on playground equiptment, climbing and jumping and swinging and hanging--using all kinds of muscles I don't normally use!  But when I was done, I felt good.  Alive.  I don't want my body to get old before its time, and so I need to start using it--before I lose it. 

And of course I'm a better mommy when I am a good example to my kids about the joys of exercise--and when I make them stretch themselves and run a ways too!

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I gave Smiley another haircut, this time trying the clippers for the first time.  The results are not nearly as good as last time, since I was experimenting with clipper comb sizes and Smiley wasn't sure he liked the buzzing of the clippers near his ears (so kept moving)--I'd have to say the look this time is more Eastern European orphan than anything else. Sigh.  Good thing it grows out quickly--he should look fine by the time we see family at Easter.


I got my own hair and bangs trimmed yesterday--WHOO-HOO.  I really had needed to for a looooooong time, but kept putting it off, because, well, I am just never inclined to spend my free time on Saturdays doing such errands, and the rest of the time kids don't allow me opportunity.  But the knowledge that I was going to be getting up in front of the church body (i.e. vanity) finally got me motivated.  With my bangs up out of my eyes, I feel so much more like me.


I also took advantage of this occassion to make myself wear something a little dresser than my usual jeans, top, and cardigan sweater.  I wore a cute dress (thanks, Mom, for helping me fix it this past summer!) and leggings and cardigan sweater, and the black leather dress boots DH's aunt gave me last time we were visiting (more about those later too).  My favorite part, though, was getting up the gumption to wear an actual hair accessory:

This is not the greatest pic (and it was taken months ago, another time when my bangs were a little too long), but you can see the fancy clip/fascinator I wore this morning, and roughly how I wore it.  I got it in San Francisco this past Fall when my dear Susan was visiting, but have only worn it once before.  It only cost about $4, and is not the most beautiful thing in the world (oh, the things I have seen on Etsy. . . ), but it stirred something adverturesome and--dare I say, youthful--in me at the time, and I felt just the right amount of pretty and bold wearing it today.  (Those earrings in the pic are some of my favorite favorites--from Trade As One.  But they don't go with the clip, and I don't wear them together, so nobody go all fashion police on me.)

Speaking of earrings, I have misplaced the pouch of jewelry I took with me to my aunt and uncle's house when we went down to LA.  I am sure it will turn up, but I had all my favorite earrings in it (I mean ALL of them), and it has been so much less fun getting dressed these days without them!  Usually earrings are the only little bit of pretty I ever put on, so losing them makes me feel so drab.  And I must say I was not looking forward to standing up in front of people today without earrings that made me feel good.  I confess, I feel naked if I leave the house without lipstick and earrings.  This has been true ever since I was old enough to wear them. Even if I don't shower and am wearing paint clothes and running to Home Depot--I will be wearing lipstick and earrings. And now I only have three pairs left to choose from, and of course they are the old, odd ones that don't match anything!  So the hairclip also made me feel better since I figured it drew attention away from my not-really-coordinating earrings.

I just might have to stop by Trade As One this week, if I can't find my earrings.  I have had my eye on a couple of pairs of earrings they carry--this might be the time to splurge on a pair, until I find the missing pouch:

Oval Floral earrings, $13.00

Silver disk earrings, $11.00

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I'm watching (in segments) a movie called Of Gods and Men, and even though I am not all the way through, I can still higly recommend it.  So respectful of faith, so powerful, a story that resonates with real-world issues we see on the news. 

And I gave Merry a book to read this week called ""Ransom's Mark," which is based upon the true story of a pioneer girl, Olive Oatman, who watched her family be slaughtered by Native Americans, and was kidnapped, sold for ransom to another tribe, branded by tatoo, and raised to be a Mohave.  I always read the books I give to the kids, so knew the story and thought it was excellent (it is part of the "Daughter of the Faith" series, so God is prominent, and the overall story deals with Redemption and serving God bravely no matter where you end up--great themes).  Both Sunny and Merry read at levels much higher than their current school grade, so they read all kinds of books that require more maturity in ability and comprehension.  But I wasn't thinking about maturity of spirit when I chose this book for my just-nine Merry, and the other day during our afternoon nap/quiet time, my computer reverie was broken by the sound of sobbing.  My dear girl was so sad, her heart broken reading about Olive losing her family so violently.  We have read sad things before, but this is the first time she experienced that wrenching heart-connection we all get sometimes; she identified with the girl, and really felt for a moment what it would be like to lose her own family. 

So of course I abandoned the computer and took my daughter to the "sofa" and curled her up and wrapped myself all around her and held and loved her while she just sobbed.  Oh, at that moment I was so glad to be her mom, so glad I could be there for her when she had that first realization of how cruel the world is sometimes.  So glad she realized she loved us and was thankful for us.  So glad for her tender spirit, and a heart that can emphathize with the pain of others.  I'm not at all sorry she read the book, or had that sad moment.  She is growing older, and will soon see more and more around her of how much pain and suffering and evil there is in the world--so what a privilege to walk along with her during some of that discovery, to help her not be afraid, or hateful, to help her see the beauty in such stories too, and how nothing--not one thing--is too big or too scary or too tragic for the merciful Lord of the Universe to redeem.

And speaking of God at work in history, I watched another movie recently, The Endurance, about Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated expedition to be the first to cross Antartica.  I was previewing it for potential homeschool fodder, and most of it could be--but the overall story is a little too long and bare and harsh for kids, so I think I will wait until the girls are a few years older.  But I still highly recommend it for a grown-up watch, especially the ending, which reveals God actively at work to comfort and rescue the men of the Endurance.  WOW.  Gives me chills.   It is a secular production, so they don't really go into whether or not the spiritual aspect of what the men experienced was "real," but the words of the men who went through it proclaim the power--and the tenderness--of the living God.

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My Sunny girl had her moment in the limelight last week when I posted a couple videos of her playing original guitar compositions on facebook.  She has been taking classical guitar lessons for several years (paid for by our charter school, one of many reasons we are so thankful for it, STAR testing and all), and plays on the guitar that was her Daddy's when he was a boy, which makes it extra special.  For those of you who are not fb friends, here is a private link to youtube in case you feel like listening. : )


And finally, the other day Happy and Smiley were playing "baby" on the bed, and it reminded me of when my little guy really was a baby, and his littlest big sister just could not get enough of him:

Fall 2008

So of course I had to snap a pic of my "babies" now:

March 2012

Lifes has been full, life has been good.  So many little things I get in my mind to share with you all, so little time.  (To which you breathe a sigh of relief. ; )  I hope all of you have had a wonderful, family-filled weekend.