Ordinary Life

Dear Ms. Ann M. Martin  &  Ms. Laura Godwin, Please imagine for a moment that you are four years old and your mom has recently finished reading " The Meanest Doll In The World " to you. One fateful day, you walk into a thrift store with her. There, in the midst of clothes, shoes and well-loved toys is a dollhouse as tall as you are. (Remember, you're 4... )   But it isn't just any dollhouse, no. It is THE dollhouse. You know this because 'KATE' is spelled across the roof in bright red vinyl. (You can't actually read yet, but you're working on it. Your mom tells you what the letters spell but of course, you already KNEW this was Kate's house the moment you spotted it.) Your mom believes it must be destiny because... I mean, what are the odds? So she texts your dad, because it cost TWENTY-FIVE dollars! (Twenty five dollars that will prove to be only a small down payment in the grand scheme of things... have you ever looked in a minitures c...

I started to write a post about loss (and legacy reels) back when my grandpaw passed away ...and then tried again recently when my uncle departed. Days got busy, I'm easily distracted and all of my attempts felt too frilly...too feely. What I'm really aiming to say has been said in countless ways so, maybe that is why I feel too antsy to pin the words down ( pen the words down?). It amounts to "Life is beautiful." though there are plenty of other worthy and valid things to be said about lives well-lived and legacies left behind. Like the following statements: "The Grand Canyon is large." "Niagara Falls is wet."  "There's gold in dem dar hills."  improvements could be made but the fundamental idea is present and accounted for. Sometimes that's the best one can do. So, here I am, sharing the video made in tribute to my uncle as a stand-alone excuse for where I've been lately, a picture-postcard from this other place for which ...

Now I'd like to paint... maybe after a brief nap...

Chandler's Sub-Regional Qualifier for Drive, Chip & Putt took place in Orlando. He made alternate and won third place overall for putting. There was a lot of close golf that day. And rain. Plus a few frogs. We're proud of our little man- who, as you may have noticed, isn't so little anymore. And as Uncle Nick pointed out- there's no need to pray for another player to fall sick, we can simply pray that one or more are called on a missions trips.  Gotta love pastoral counsel. Here's an assortment of photos and a video. We can talk later about the great idea to have this event hosted just around the corner, @ Annika's Academy... with indoor plumbing and a roof... and all those future students milling about on campus all day ...a win/win for both parties...  Yes, we should talk about that some day soon.  :) A celebratory lunch @ Fudd's was enjoyed afterwards. Chandler receiving medallion: 

Are you ready to rock?

HAPPY JULY 4th, 2013! From the archives- circa 2006 :

A short clip of Reagan & Riley dancing in the hotel lobby before Grandpaw's funeral. When she watched the clip, Rye said with a smile " There's my cousin!" In other recent news, Reagan was inviting another cousin to his make-believe party, even though...GASP... she's a girl! So cool to see these cousins learning about their family connection and develop a friendship around it.

Riley is a ' Sophia the First ' fan. One episode featured a Princess Test. The Princesses-In-Training were practicing proper fan technique in hopes of passing the test. That is where Rye came up with the steps: " First I fan, then I laugh... heeheehee " Enjoy our own little princess as she practices her fan technique...and excuse the background noise...it's bound to happen in this house :) 

Watched this video on BuzzFeed awhile back.  Decided to gave it a go.  In fact, I bought apples just to try it. It works.  (and I did eat the seeds too... because someone once told me too...they're kind of ' almond-y ')

Logan's Twelfth Birthday Cake After watching Wreck It Ralph, Lo asked for a candy covered cake A Candy Cart ~MAKE A WISH~ ~BIRTHDAY LUNCH ~ ~ Enjoying The Restaurant Birthday Song ~

Grammy gave "Lovey" to Riley when she was born. This large, loveable pink pooch has been through various moves and times of storage; as well as plenty of playtime with Rye. Because of all the living and loving evident in Lovey's fur, we recently took him to the local laundromat for a quick, sudsy spin and a fluffy air dry... Riley cheered Lovey on the whole way, Fisher cheered Rye on. Riley and Fisher have similar dispositions towards their stuffed friends-simply put, stuffed animals are real... and the cuter the stuffy, the more in tune with its feelings they seem to be... situations like being put in the washing machine are matters of survival, not just hygiene. It's cute ~until something tragic happens, like a severed limb    (or ear!)    or a spill over of stuffing or something... you would think we'd lost a family member in the trauma unit should something like that occur. (There was a light stuffing leakage on this day and ALL of my kids thought we'd los...

As Clay was leaving for work, Rye decided to walk him down... we are in the midst of potty training, which should help explain to all who know, why she's just in a tee shirt. For the uninitiated, the less layers, the more success we seem to have.  I thought, "No worries- it  is early morning, we will just walk him to the truck and be right back in the house" And we were right on schedule too, until she spotted the puddles. The neighbors came out to watch and cheer her on  (She loves Mr. Jim & Mrs. Peggy and asked them to join her in the splashing fun)  Eventually, I had to force her to slosh on in to the house... but not before Mr. Jim spoiled her with a bag of M&M's from his 'robot' (automatic candy dispense) 

While looking at shoes during our Saturday Evening Outing , Rye found a pair or two that she liked:

While looking for something celebratory for my nephew's birthday, I came across   this piece  for mothers. In the interest of equality, I share this equally challenging & powerful piece on the calling of fathers. I am grateful for the good fathers I know. If you are a dad, I hope you celebrate the gift that God has given you in the form of your children and take to heart the call to disciple them & ready them to be presented back to their Giver someday. 

As I was looking for something 'sentimental' of sorts, to mark my nephew's 5th birthday and to celebrate his mom and dad's 5th anniversary as parents  (Reagan made them parents for the first ~but not last~ time)  I came across this piece on motherhood. It seems to be an excerpt from a mother's day sermon at a church I've never been too. It is a really good thought.  It made me thankful for all the godly mothers I know. It also made me want to encourage those who may not value the calling God has placed on the life of a mother... especially friends and family who are moms but think that it doesn't count as much. I hope you will be encouraged if you are a mom. I hope you will pass this on if you know any other mothers that need to be reminded... or perhaps told for the very first time. And...if you happen to be a father? Well... there's something in there for you too  :) Big Smiles Until We Meet Again 

Until recently, I didn't know much about Disney's Little Einsteins. Now, thanks to the free Disney JR app, we are all on a first name basis. Sometimes, Riley even lets me be June... (other times, I have to be Mary or Joseph and she is Baby Jesus...or we are both puppies... but that is another story for a different day) For the uninitiated, Little Einsteins set their adventures to classical music and plug in classical works of art along the way. I never thought my two year old would be running around saying "Mozart" "Seattle" or "Paris, France" but she quotes these amongst other high brow tid-bits and phrases. My concern is that she is going to think there are lyrics to some of the musical pieces... to insist that Beethoven's 5th really does go: 'I Love Balloons, I Love I Love Balloons...' but, I suppose we'll cross the bridge should we arrive at it. Rye has a musical soul- she loves to listen to music; to dance and sing a long.  Be...

Merry Christmas! Happy Birthday Jesus!

If you have already gotten a Christmas card from our family in the mail, you will recognize right away that this is our actual Christmas card's cover. (Unless you already live in Florida, then you got something a little different) Once you click on the links, you will see that the letter is the same as well. If you have not received a card in the mail, it is either delayed due to the antiquity of our local post office or ...well, I was running low on stamps, see... and I knew that I planned to send this here virtual one... so... please enjoy this version and know we love you very much! Even if you did receive a tangible card in your mailbox, there is a slideshow of the children in the virtual card. Rather than try to get one good shot of the children all looking in the same direction at the same time, I had the realization that I could hit the continuous shot button and improve my odds...2000+ still shots later, I had another realization that a movie would be easier and after...

From time to time, Riley will sit on the edge of her bed, place her shoes side by side and begin to sing "Beautiful neighbor.... won't you be mine, won't you be mine... " shuffling her shoes Mr. Rogers style all the while.  Unfortunately, most of the time she does this routine  fresh from the shower and sans clothing. I have attempted to dress her then coax another round of singing, but often times, when Rye has moved on from something, she has moved on for a long while... so my few attempts to video her singing with shoes has fallen short as her attention has wandered on to new things mid-song. I was delighted then, when a fully dressed Riley (and perched on the hallway bench for easy filming), started singing her little version of Mr. Rogers' famous intro song... my phone was on the counter, within reach...so, I captured a little bit of her routine before she spotted me filming and decided that she wanted to "take a smile" (picture) Enjoy the show, Nei...