self portrait

i'd say Hudson worked hard to nail the right shade of brown...

not bad, not bad...nice effort and detail buddy! :)

now playing...

two songs i'm especially loving these days...my kids feel the same and love when i blast them from our bluetooth speaker. 

the first is called Brother, by a favourite band of mine, Needtobreathe.  it just moves me.  on many levels.  too many to dive into here.  plus, these guys just have one of my favourite sounds in music today. 

the second is by Owl City and Britt Nicole, called You're Not Alone. 

in these days, weeks, months~ the songs actually are very much intertwined for me.  i'm so thankful for my earthly family and friends, yet eternally grateful for a God that meets me in the mess that sometimes seems to surround me/us in this fallen world.  i'm reminded that God is there, walking alongside us, never leaving us alone but lovingly picking us up when we falter, when we lose footing....just like a loving father does with a child.  the peace that brings to my every day is beyond words. 

 

"...i'll never wander on my own for i am yours until you call me home,

i close my eyes and i can hear you say 'you're not alone'...."

the weekend i felt like Lois

this past weekend had me replaying a certain scene in my head.  someone had shown me this clip over a year ago.  i forget who.  it was hysterically funny to me then, and after Sunday came to a close and i tucked the littlest cherubs into bed, i tracked down the clip to share with all of you.  in that moment, i felt as though i had a special connection with Lois and her state of mind.  maybe a few of you can relate as well! :) please don't tell me i'm the only one....

 

 

you know how i like to keep things real and honest in this tiny corner of cyber space, right?  well, Jeff had been away with the oldest two at a full weekend wrestling tournament.  basically, everything went quite smoothly while the other five of us were here on our own from Friday to Sunday.  there were fun moments with movies and popcorn and basketball and the McDonald's PlayPlace....but one thing struck me (again) in the period of those three days.  i'm in absolute awe of the number of times i hear "mom", "hey mom", "mom, guess what" "mom, look!" "mom, remember when..."and so on.  it is staggering.  really truly, no exaggeration, it is hundreds of times per day.  you have to believe me.  i did the rough math one day while driving to basketball.  and pleasssseeeeeee don't get me wrong.  it is wonderful.  even joyous.  it is the ultimate gift.  it is a direct sign of just how blessed i am.  i know all of this deep in my heart.  i love that they all have so much they want to tell me, report about, share, make up for my benefit (ahem...it rhymes with Flood-son), ask me, etc....  really truly i do.  because i know from experience that the opposite trend of not wanting to tell mom everything is just around the corner.  it's not even like they are toddlers anymore~ they are growing up soooo fast...i don't want to wish this time, these years, away.  and yes, i even see their chattiness as a direct correlation to the level of joy and security they feel in their daily lives.  they are boundlessly engaged in life and super interactive with me~ this is all reallllllyyyy gooooood...yet honestly, even still, i'm only human.  just one wee person with very real limitations...some days there is just only so much available sanity brain capacity to process and react to each little nugget of information.  each bit of utter ridiculousness. the very deep and not-so-deep questions.  the issues. the stories.  the full-of-beans conversations and topics they think up.  the things to see outside the window of our moving van....etc....i try hard, i really do.  some days i know i barely succeed. others i manage to be present and enthused in an adequate way....but on Sunday night, as i salvaged a shred of sanity during a hot bath in sheer silence, Lois and the clip above were on the forefront of my brain. 

 

there you have it.  that's real deal me.  the end. 

this makes me smile

AJ came home with this large piece of paper a few weeks back.  it most definitely made me smile.  some of the written information is true, some of it is brand new news to us, and some of it is a bit of a stretch of the truth :) (i mean, c'mon, do i look like i'd want to be the owner of two dogs?? and AJ's never seemed the least bit interested in soccer (baseball, basketball, wrestling??).  i think maybe the pressure to give an answer won out on that one...still, all of it is soooo cute.  oh, the "ww" above certain words refers to the words on the word wall that the kids in grade 1/2 are learning at school.  also, you can't see it well, but AJ's full first name actually has an "e" after the "y", which was added after.  sidenote~ he's starting to seem more interested in his given birth name and has finally mastered the spelling of it, i think.  

the water cycle~ by AJ

i am so intrigued by my seven year old...he is sharp and attentive, and brings home lots of little facts and bits of academic knowledge that he is picking up during each day.  his teacher would be happy to know he is really listening and taking in what information she is teaching.  the other day we were reading a story, and i could tell AJ was thinking about whether it was true or not.  i offered "AJ, this isn't a true story, you know that, right?"  he added "then it's FIC-TION", spoken clearly, even without two front teeth...i smiled, and gushed~ telling him i was most impressed that he had learned that detail, and he continued to talk about fiction versus non-fiction.  super cute.  i can only hope that a keen interest in science, or simply school, continues......

 

then the other day as he was heading out to the rink, the topic of the ice came up, and with it mention was made of rain...well, he launched into a full description of the water cycle, which was mostly accurate too!  i contained my grin and decided to later record his description because it is one i want to forever remember.  once the camera was running he wasn't quite as elaborate in his explanation, but i think it still captured it well enough...

 

 

my little budding science guy, perhaps...

 

mlk jr. day

yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. 

 

 

i thought i'd post some of his most memorable quotes in honour of this day~ and the legacy of a courageous and inspiring man...

 

 

"If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward."

 

"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear."

 

"Faith is taking the first step even when you can't see the whole staircase."

 

 

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge."

 

"Only in darkness can you see the stars."

 

"Forgiveness is not an occasional act.  It is a permanent attitude."

 

i wish i could formulate my thoughts on issues of race as it relates to my black boys, their future, and our family...apparently today i can't.  i type, i delete.  type, delete. 

quite simply, i'm sooo thankful for the historical representation of this man, this agent of change, who boldly stood for justice and liberty in a non-violent way...i'll finish with one last and powerful quote,

 

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"

 

evidence

here's some free advice in the form of a gigantic run-on sentence...if you ever were planning on taking a cellular device that wasn't yours (that had once belonged to your sister, and was barely even operational anymore), say...to school on the last day before the Christmas break, when handheld game devices were allowed by the teacher on this special "party" day, and if you were going to do this without mention or permission (even after a summer episode in which this occurred, had been found out, and didn't end well for you) and deliberately decided to hide the device in your backpack, perhaps it would be smart to remember not to leave evidence on the phone of photographs that display your shenanigans and incriminate you as having possession of the device.....

he probably wishes he'd thought of that....

 

it was fun for the day though! :) :)