almond joy & mounds

because...

sometimes you feel like a


sometimes you

they said it

Here's a fresh batch of keepers from my little dudes (and some fun unrelated pictures too).

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This one goes out to our Canadian family...

Nate (all excited to fill up the baby pool): OK, I'll be the hoser!

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The next few all relate to last week's Vacation Bible School at church. The theme of the week was outer space, as I'm sure you could have figured out from the following...

Nate (very serious): I want to go to space. At VBS they said we could go to space... but they said we have to have moon boots. Mom, do we have any moon boots?

[later that night, during prayers]

Nate: Dear Jesus, please let the store have moon boots.

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We are headed off to visit Jon's family soon and Nate has literally been counting down the days. I was trying to demonstrate this to a friend, but apparently he had VBS on the brain.

Me: Where are we going in 7 days?
Nate: I don't know.
Me: C'mon Nate, you've been talking about this every day! Where are we going in 7 days?
Nate (again, very serious): Space?

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The church was decorated with all kinds of space paraphernalia for the occasion, including a blow-up alien creature that caught Dexter's eye.

Jon: Whatcha doin Dexter?
Dexter: I'm just looking at this scary fellow.

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lily me

The following happened a few minutes ago. It also might just be me in a nutshell.

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Haley spies a bunch of beautiful star-gazer lilies on her parents' front deck.

Haley leans in close to smell the lilies.

Haley experiences a moment of aromatic bliss.

Haley catches her reflection in the window and notices that during said moment of bliss, she has managed to get lily pollen all over her face.

Haley congratulates herself for always having wipes on hand.

Haley wipes her face.

Haley tosses the used wipe in nearby trash bin.

Haley notices that the bin is not intended for trash, and is partially filled with yard waste.

Haley knows the wipe is not biodegradable and feels compelled to retrieve it.

Haley balances the package of wipes in her elbow crook while lifting the trash can lid and trying to fetch the wayward wipe.

Haley loses grip on package of wipes and it too topples into yard waste bin.

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Yep: drinking beauty, getting messy, saving face, mixing up, and dropping stuff... that about covers it.

a new list

I was supposed to get a lot done today.

I was going to Target to get all the boys' school supplies.

I was getting the oil changed in the van.

I was taking Dexter for a much-needed hair cut.

I was finishing up a few things for work.

Yeah... I didn't do any of that.

Before I became a mom, there was almost nothing more satisfying to me in life than checking off everything on my to-do list. I still love it, but slowly, slowly my kids have taught me to change my 'list' to fit our lifestyle and priorities. Some items have been removed from the list altogether for the foreseeable future (eyebrow wax? pedicure? hmm, not any time soon). Other stuff stays on there but gets bumped down in importance (showering, for example... just kidding... kind of). But the best change in my to-do list has been all the things my kids have added to it: laugh, tickle, read books, be spontaneous, stop for snacks, tell stories, pick blackberries, take a nap, sing a silly song, the list goes on.

Today the sun was shining when we woke up.

Today we laid in bed together and whispered secrets.

Today we put yesterday's blackberry harvest in our oatmeal.

Today we said yes to a last-minute playdate.

Today I drank coffee on my friend's front porch while the kiddos ran circles around us.

Today we ran through the fountains by the library.

Today we snuggled on the couch and read books.

Today we did everything on our list.







Disclaimer: These pictures are actually from our trip to the fountains last month... today I was too busy enjoying my friend's company and keeping track of all our little ones (6 between us) to take pictures!

they said it

It is well-documented that our 2 year old son loves pretty girls and is a hopeless flirt (see above: a flirting collage of him and our friend Nicole, who visited earlier this month). Usually I just think it's cute, but yesterday at the pool it got out of control:

[Dexter, playing in his favorite spot on the steps. Pretty young teen-aged girl walks past him to get into the pool.]

Dexter: Hey! Look what I can do! [flips under the railing and grins up at her]

Girl: Wow, that's really cool!

Dexter: [follows her along the side of the pool, still grinning and talking to her - I can't hear what he's saying so I walk over to them]

Me: Why don't you ask her name?

Dexter: What's your name?

Girl: Natalie. What's yours?

Dexter: I'm Dexter.

Natalie: Well, Dexter I think I'm going to go swim with my friends now. Nice to meet you!

Dexter (apparently desperate to keep the conversation going): I have something in my pants!

My reaction: nervous laughter, think Brandt reacting to bikini-clad Bunny on the Big Lebowski. Ahhh, that's marvelous.

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[on the way home from the pool. Nate is quiet for a few minutes, then pipes up with this input on our future family size.]

Nate: Mommy, when are we going to have enough kids for Red Rover?

Not for awhile, dude, but we are working on it. :)


I did not ask them to pose. This is exactly what they looked like at the red light when I turned around, so I had to snap a picture.

the art of hospitality

Last weekend Jon and I were treated to dessert in the home of a couple from our church. Frank and Sue are simply gems and we had a lovely evening together. The view of downtown Seattle from their Alki condo was incredible, the strawberry shortcake was great, the coffee was perfect, and the conversation was lively... but my favorite part of the hospitality they offered us was the art on their walls. From the moment you step in the door, you are walking into their stories, richly and beautifully told by the works that hang in their home.

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Frank's brother married a Brazilian woman after the War. Three exquisite oil portraits in the entryway bear the faces of her maid and the so-called street girls who lived in her city.

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Sue cared for her ailing father for many years before he passed away. She kept a special account of funds earmarked for his medical needs. When he died, the account had just enough money left in it to purchase a large watercolor painting of the Washington coast. The small silhouette in the bottom left corner reminds Sue of her dad; he loved to walk the beach by himself.

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Above the fireplace is a collograph by Sandra Bowden. Words of scripture from 1 Corinthians 13 form the backdrop of the piece, which Frank and Sue purchased to mark their 60th wedding anniversary. 60th. Wedding. Anniversary.

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Sue tells me that the colorful abstract piece in the hallway reminds her of creation, with its bursts of green and blue. One of our mutual friends painted it, another man from our church now in his eighties. She agrees to let the church borrow it for our upcoming in-house art exhibit.

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Frank and Sue showed us that true hospitality is more than making a great dessert and good decaf: it is inviting others to share in your stories. If there is anything better than art to facilitate that sharing, I sure can't think of it.

[Side note: Jon has been serving on a committee at church with Sue and loves to tell the story of their first meeting. Each committee member was asked to give a brief testimony of their Christian life and Sue started by saying, "Well, I met Jesus in the 'thirties." No, not her thirties. THE 'thirties. Classic.]

they said it: deep thoughts, by nate

My five-year-old has been thinking some deep thoughts lately. I love it.



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[at breakfast the other day.]

Nate: Mom, when are we going back to California?
Me: Not for awhile. Why?
Nate: I don't want everything to change before we go back.
Me: What would change?
Nate: Everything. [pause] The thing I really don't want to change is Splash Mountain.


waiting in line with friends at splash mountain in june.

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[walking a trail near our house. for the uninitiated, salmonberries are similar to raspberries and are native to the NW.]

Nate: There are no salmonberries today.
Me: Yes there are, I see one way up there.
Nate: That's too high for anyone to reach. [pause] Why would God make a salmonberry grow where no one can reach it?


after his last swim meet of the season.

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OK one little Dexter story too:

This morning he was staring at himself in the back of his spoon and singing "I love you! I love you! I love you!" Yeah, no self-esteem issues there.


this is normal at our house.