make a splash

Our library had a party for the end of the summer reading program. The theme for the program was "Make a Splash" and all weekly prizes had something to do with water. But this last party--the closing party for the reading program, was the one that my kids looked forward to the most....for the sole reason that if enough people signed up for the reading program (1000 to be exact) then the librarians promised a water party out on the library lawn. AND to further sweeten the deal, the librarians told the kids that they would have the opportunity then to soak a librarian. Does it get better than that? My kids don't think so. Today was the party. Out on the lawn was a water balloon popping machine. It was like a dunking booth, except instead of a pool for the librarian to sit above, there was a water balloon basket next to a pin. Underneath the water balloon was a chair upon which the librarian sat. When the button was hit, the water balloon popped and soaked the librarian. The line to try it out was about a mile long. (And I'm kicking myself that I didn't bring my camera--go ahead, you can kick me too, I'll bend over.) Thankfully, the line moved fast, and the other librarians occupied us with free popsicles. Many a kid hurled a ball and hit nothing. Many a kid hurled a ball and hit the wall. one in 15 would hit the ball on the mark and soak the librarian. Both Dev and Calvin decided to give it a try, but missed. Calvin shrugged and decided to climb a tree instead. Dev, undaunted, ran back to the back of the line for another try. Sadly, Bogey huddled in my arms and begged me to take him back to the car (something about watching grown ups get hit with water balloons scared him apparently.) When Dev's turn came up again, she threw one ball and missed, then threw a second ball and missed again. On her third and last turn, Dev pitched a perfect curve ball that sunk right into the center of the button and sent a cascade of water down on our librarian. The crowd cheered and clapped and Dev was triumphant.
It was beautiful.

reflections on silence

This morning the Husband took off to the movie theater with all three kids. It was bliss. He left me at home alone winking and nudging me towards my sewing machine where my half finished diaper bag is sitting.
I have to admit that I didn't get to my sewing project right away. I spent some time working on my lesson for Sunday School. I took my time getting ready for the day. I laid down and took a 15 minute snoozer. It was wonderful.
I reveled in the silence. I deliberately didn't turn on the TV or the radio (or the playlist, or the ipod, or the computer). I didn't want noise. I wanted the silence. It was a welcome silence.
After an hour alone, I began work on my project. I started thinking about all the things that I've learned since I've been married and become a mother. Lots of things. Too many to list here. I concluded with the thought that, even though I don't know everything, and I am not perfect, I like me. I think I'm a pretty nice person.
After two hours alone in silence, I started remembering how I used to get to sit in silence all the time. Back in the day when I was a young English Major, I had to read an average of 300-400 pages a day to keep up with my classes. I learned to skim. For a few semesters in there, I also worked 39 1/2 hours a week, so I did all my homework for the coming week on the weekend (Friday and Saturday at least, Sunday was for worship). That meant that Friday and Saturday I spent a lot of time at the library. Like 8 hours camped at the same desk, packed a lunch and hunkered down time at the library. That was a lot of silent time. That was a lot of time with just me, inside my head, reading, learning, thinking...finding me. I didn't even know what a gem that was when I had it. What I would give to have those times back....
but then again, as hour two of my silent time today wore on, I started to think how sad it would be if I was still in that stage of life where I only need to focus on me. It sure was fulfilling and wonderful, but empty. I know so much more of myself now. (No doubt my 50 year old self will look back on me now and think the same thing) And I love the little kids in my home who fill my life with splendid craziness. I don't always love the craziness, but I love the kids. I would miss them if I didn't have them. I did miss them when I didn't have them. Another thing when I was in college studying my brains out is that I spent a lot of time dreaming about the time I would have a family. My 20 year old self looked forward to my 30 year old self, just like my 30 year old self looks back at my 20 year old self. That's the circle of life, I guess. Except, not a circle. I see it more like a ladder. I can look forward to some of the things that are hopefully coming in my life...growing kids, grandmotherhood. I can also look down and see where I've been...college, old friends, high school, those hard, hard, learning experiences. I look back for encouragement (I did it then, I can do it now) and I look forward for hope (I have so many good things coming). From where I sit, things look pretty good.
And when the family came home, and the house was once again filled with noise, I felt more grateful for it. I remember a time when I longed for it, I look forward to the day that I will miss it, and I revel in it today.

So yesterday I left you faithful readers (all 5 of you) in a lurch when I announced that I had an idea for a blog today. I know you've been waiting with baited breath all day. No doubt you checked my blog multiple times today in anticipation of my idea (I'm just guessing...there aren't many comments to give me a real consensus *ahem*).

So, here it is, today's blessings in picture form! Yippee! (I know you're clapping your hands and shouting in delight that the long wait was totally worth it.)

I think I'll call it Collage of Blessings or Why My Life is Good:

We were twice blessed this morning at the library. First, it's prize day for completing another week in the summer reading program.

star glasses! What's cooler than that?

(not much, friends, not much)

I'm feelin' a little starry-eyed myself

Thursday's this summer is also the day for shows at the library. Today it was a puppet show. A very good, very funny puppet show ("po-po show" as Bogey says.) We laughed until our sides were in stitches and our starry eyes were teary.

"po-po show"

side story: yesterday the Husband went out into the backyard to find a family of four squirrels happily munching our greens in our garden. (ooh! And to think I spent so much time and energy trying to repel gophers...curses. *shaking fist*) So last night we closed off the garden with the remaining fencing we had (up until now, we've had the front entryway open, just a deep trench to keep the gophers out right there.). This afternoon, I looked up just in time to see the big mama squirrel burrow under the gate and hop into the garden. I ran into the yard, yelling for the Husband, but in my haste I slipped on his sandals, so my backup was slow coming. I ran out with fistfuls of stones. Good thing I am a really poor shot, or that mama would have gotten the pummeling of a lifetime. As it was, I just scared her to death, and she ran around the garden desperately looking for the getty-out thingy so she could escape the deranged psycho lady who was hitting the fence with rocks. Moments later, the Husband came out (saying, "Someone had better have died!"

"yeah, this squirrel! Death by stoning!" I raged. To which he only laughed. He knows my aim).

And he calmly stepped into the garden and corralled the squirrel to the edge of the garden where it first got in and pushed it back under the fence with a long stick. (While I shouted in the background obscenities like, "kill it! Kill it! Hit it with a rock!" until he turned to me and said [calm as ever] "I think we've scared it enough for one day.")

SO, I digress, but it was exciting, so I thought I'd share. I took this picture right after I nearly bested the squirrel.

I am SOOO proud of my garden. I've decided that gardening is pretty much one of the best things on the planet. (And the critters think so too). isn't it pretty?

The problem with me is that I have too many projects I want to work on, and not enough time to perfect them all (give me an AMEN if you sing this same song). I want to make a new diaper bag. No, you don't understand. I dream about this bag at night. It will be the Rolls Royce of bags. It will be the epitome of all diaper bags everywhere. It will make all other bags green with envy. Every bag will wish it was a bag like the bag I am imagining. I get giddy and tingly all over just thinking about it. Enter problem #1 and problem #2: Time and money.

So today, I sluffed off the things I should have been doing, let the kids do this:

So I could play a little with these:

And when all was said and done, my house looked like this:

So I got out my handy dandy magic wand, waved it over my head and said the magic words ("ala peanut butter sandwiches!") and it worked!

miracles do happen!

Happy weekend everyone!

Good-Things-to-Come

p.s. Here, Mekell, this is the video I was telling you about the other day. [and the rest of you eavesdroppers might as well check it out, too. It's SO good!]
Good-Things-to-Come

I feel like writing tonight, but I'm not sure what I want to write about. I have this desire to write, you know, connect with my family and friends and make my mark on the world, yet when I sit down to write something I hit a big fat wall. So I turn around and go play a video game. That's easier. I think part of the problem is that I blog at night after the kidlets are in bed. At this point in the day, the creative juices are not a-flowin' anymore, ya hear what I'm saying? I'm tired. And I want to just sit and relax and do something mindless. Yet, here I sit, typing nonsense onto the computer screen for some hapless wanderer to find. No doubt your brain is as frazzled as mine if you are still reading this far.... (huh?)
Yet, despite all the mind melding techniques employed on me daily, I usually hit this stage of the day feeling happy. It's a happy thing to have children that are tucked into bed, safe and sound, happy, fed, and loved.
It's a happy thing to live in an age of instant messaging. I miss my friends and family intensely (more than I let on). So I am more than a little eager to read the goings-on in their lives every night. Can you imagine the gaping mouths on our pioneer ancestors if they knew how fast our communications would be someday? (pick yer chin up off th' floor, Maude!)
It's easy to get into a rut, and start thinking that things are busy and hard. Indeed, they are busy, and they are hard, but they are also good. That last part is so easy for me to forget. On those nights when the tucked-in little ones come untucked, or thirsty, or whiny, or rambunctious for the ba-zillionth time in one night, it's especially easy for me to get the inside grumblies. It's easy to yell and demand that they get the heck in bed and stay there so I can play the video game in peace, dang it!
But I have a good life. A hard, tiring, busy, but definetely good life. There are things I have gotten very good at, things that need perfecting, and things I'm not even close to perfecting. It's great that I have the opportunity to work on those things. I should be thrilled everyday with the life I am living because it's what I always wanted. It's not perfect, but it's what I want.

ooh! and that just gave me a great idea for tomorrow! oh boy, I can't wait to blog again tomorrow! bye!

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

I SO needed to hear this today. And judging from the other posts that I am reading today, many of you need to hear this, too.
So, sit back and relax. Enjoy this, because they're talking about us again.

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

because it's summer...

and now is the time to do summer-y things.

We bought a large wading pool today...and we like it. I have to toot my own horn and say that I am a genius. I put the slide from our swing set into the pool and then draped the hose on the slide. How fun is that? My kids were delighted. I am also a brilliant genius because I put

a tub of water at the bottom of the steps up to the slide, so when the kids get out to run around, they wash the mud off their feet before they slide back down into the water! (someone pinch me, my creative juices are flowing so freely today.)

Dev and Calvin were in summer lovin' heaven aaaaalll day. And while they played, Bogey slept, and I crafted outside in a camp chair, I was in a little heaven of my own. I started work on another rug, a "junk" rug, just to get rid of extra scraps (you know, because just throwing them away would be so wrong!), and I have decided to share the process with you, dear blog readers. So stay tuned...I will take pictures and post them so you can see the awesomeness that is me.

ANYWAY...

speaking of summer, here's a shot of my gargantuan garden that I am oh-so-very-proud of.

Isn't it pretty? Please note the non-trench, fence-filled, gopher-warding space. That there represents many, many hours of hard work (and for some reason, whenever I was out digging the trench, I had that song from the movie "Holes" stuck in my head. You know the one: "You've got to gooooo and dig those holes!" (If you don't know what I'm talking about, please remember that this in no way detracts from my coolness.) Also, please note, all the leetle veggie seedling heads that are poking up. (that means I'm doing something right!) Husband went out and bought sufficient drip system equipment today, so tomorrow's project is installing it. Should we succeed in this mission, our job will become significantly easier (because right now, it takes a good 30 + minutes to water this bad boy.) Next, we'll be in search of mulch and all it's good benefits.

And, hey, lest you fear I was exaggerating, here's one of the deepest gopher holes I've found.

(I photographed my foot on purpose so you could get the proper perspective. See, there is a method to my madness.) I dream of the day I can stick a trap down in that hole and watch the little flag go up (indicating a catch). It's become the vision that spurs me forward.

Sunday is Father's day--that means I gotta run to the store tomorrow and find something great for the Husband.

AND MONDAY is the first day of summer!

Happy summer everyone!