These kids.

They bless me.

I was sitting here thinking about how I truly enjoy them and I decided to make a list of something each one did this week that made me smile. I would love to keep a journal doing just that at the end of each week. Wouldn't that be a great refocus?

I won't do it.

Just being honest.

Here is one thing for each of them.

Cole- I love that when he wears a shirt with graphics on the back, he purposely wears it backwards so he can see it. He is absolutely not dressing for anyone besides himself. Which is also evidenced by those snazzy size 3T pj bottoms he likes to sport.

Riley- I love that even though she was excited about getting a new car, she cried as our Expedition we've had since she was tiny, drove out of our driveway with the new owners behind the wheel.

Tyler- I love his quick witty responses. Well, usually. Like when he was driving me nuts drumming on the back of the car seat and I told him to STOP, he said in his famous street voice "But it's my drums-on-the go, yo!"

Garrett- I love that he is following in his father's footsteps in regards to how he treats me. He is a gentleman and he spoils me. He gets me stuff. He helps me. He offers me bites of his candy bar. And I like it. Someday, some lucky woman....nevermind. Don'twannatalkaboutit.

Your turn. Share something about your kids that makes you smile.

Aaaaand...GO!

Honk if you're...

Yesterday afternoon I was in my room reading and Riley and Tyler got one of their ideas.

When I came out, they were busy printing signs they had made on the computer.

I may or may not have secretly hoped this idea would fizzle. But it didn't. It played out just as they had hoped. And I'm glad it did.

If you drove by our house yesterday evening, you saw this.

I hope you honked. I do care about your happiness.

No doubt some of the honks can be attributed to the stunning background show courtesy of The Amazing Shirtless Cole.

I made them come in when darkness fell.

The final count was 38 1/2 honks. The half was given for a wave from a slightly melancholy soul. Oh, also in the count? Two runners who said "honk, honk."

That's the kind of fun that electronics will never be able to top, folks.

Honk, honk, everyone.

The canvas

It's done. It's hard to get the idea when you are not up close and in person because you can't see the details, but I'll try to explain it to you.

I used a texture medium called Gesso as my first layer. In the Gesso, I wrote about 60 different words describing who Jesus is. What He is to me. His role in my life. Then I let it dry for 423 years.

Then I painted over that with several layers of color.


I wanted these words in front of my face every day. I need to see them and be constantly reminded of His place . He is it, there is nothing else. And I tend to spend a lot of time trying to get the things He provides from other counterfeit sources.

That's just not a good use of time.



Here are some close-ups of a few of the words so you can see them better.

So there you have it. Finally.

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I know hundreds of you have been waiting since my original "blank canvas post" to see it and have put off your grocery shopping or house cleaning, or getting married, or having babies or whatnot in anticipation, and so now you are free to go on about your life.

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I sure hope it doesn't take you too long to get caught up.

Letting go

I tend to have a hard time letting go.

When we first moved to this house, we were still in toddler and baby world and the thought of a pond in the backyard was not at all settling to me. It's big. And very deep. At the same time, I loved the pond and knew we were supposed to be here. I had a few rules, like any reasonable mom would,

“Do not go near the pond."

"Do not look at the pond."

"If you think of the pond, I will tie you to a chair."

"If you say the word 'pond', we are moving.”

You know, normal mom stuff.

We have had a blast over the last five years with a 1970s boat that had been my grandparent’s first fishing boat. David takes the kids and their friends out on it to fish, or just paddle around. Good times.

But today, the day came. Garrett and Tyler asked to take the boat out by themselves.

Gulp.

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Instantly in my head, “think of all the things that could happen! They have only known how to swim for 10 years, they might forget! They could get crazy and tip the boat over! What if one of them hits his head and falls out, the other one might just ignore him and we’ll never see him again! What if there is a Pond Beast waiting to devour them!”

Again, normal mom stuff.

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But I knew it was time.

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So I let go.

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And they were in heaven. They had a time. Being trusted with such a responsibility was fun. It was freeing. It was a new adventure. They literally were out there for hours. I could almost always see them from the windows of the house. When I couldn’t, I could open the door and hear the oars knocking against the boat and their voices and laughter.

And I knew I had done the right thing. Even though it made me feel a little insecure. And it made my mother gasp loudly on the phone.

It was right. And it was good.

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Tyler even did his reading on the boat today .

They may have run into a few docking mishaps.

But they solved them on their own.

And learned from them for next time.

Sigh. Letting go stinks.

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But it’s kind of a good stink.

Things that actually matter

My birthday card from Riley.

For real, is there anything better than notes from your kids?

In case you haven't heard, I sparkle with joy.