Dinner at the Loft

I asked Jim to go into the closet with the ladder and retreive the toys from up there. We don't have many little ones around normally but are prepared when they grace our home. There is a kitchen and one box with assorted toys that are simply thrown in. We were having a big dinner at the house and I knew Carson and Abbey would be coming. So when Carson realized there was a kitchen he not only wanted to cook for everyone but was willing to wear the badge of honor:the apron. So sweet. He had a ball.

Learning...

It is an amazing complexity of life...learning. In order for me to learn most of the time it requires some kind of pain. Sometimes big pain, sometimes small but usually pain. It gets my attention like nothing else. When pain hits it is the loudness of it, the strength of it that grabs my sight and awareness and then I can get the lesson. I find it interesting that when I choose to learn from difficulty rather than mope and complain and relish in the injustice then I have a new set of eyes. I then can see where my part was played in the drama. I can see where I knew this was a bad idea or when I should have spoken up or how I could have caused a whole change in the chain of events by being aware and speaking my truth. No one else can speak it for me. I alone know my heart and its stirrings and I alone am responsible to be true to it. So this time I have learned with some significant pain that when I am struck with the "gut" feeling I must act in love and honor all the while preventing others pain as well. If I had simply spoken what I knew to be true then I would have been unstung and others would have been spared it as well. Yes, I could wallow in that alone for days, but I refuse it. I love it instead because it is my teacher. I learn from this experience and learn it well. I learn that when God tells me to move or act or speak then I must. Unless I want more pain and more learning! Then I remain in the victim-hood of life and never learn a blessed thing. That is my choice.
Today I choose to learn. I love this lesson and its pain too for now I know more than ever how to listen to the still small voice and do as it says.
Can I hear an amen?
Onward to the day I go.

A fun place to look

I found this fun fun fun site with all kinds of stuff!!! Check it out:
http://www.livinglocurto.com/
There is a link on my blog list too. Make certain you look at the spectacular house tour. Unbelievable!

Have the best day full of creativity, imagination and spark.

He's growing up.

He just insists on growing up. What am I to do? I watch him. I listen. I hear. I laugh. I encourage. I believe. There isn't a day that passes that I don't think of the blessings in my life and he is one of the top of the list. His sister is such a joy. Thank you Lord for this growing learning blessing. He teaches me so often and I am grateful.

The Corn Maze

We had a blast at the corn maze...even though when we arrived we discovered that it was to be done in the dark...duh. Oh well, we still went ahead and had fun in spite of Ammon's observation "This is pretty lame Meema." And with a shrug he went ahead and had so much fun and made us laugh and have a better time than we would ever have had without him.

The Power of a Smile

This morning (quite early and still dark) I was headed to Starbucks. OK, some of you will not be able to get over the fact that I DRIVE to Starbucks...I do so there. Anyway, I was driving and it was COLD. The air was a little damp and I had not yet grasped the day yet. Empty of thought and unaware of the beauty of the beginning of the day my eye was drawn to a woman on her bike (remember I said it was cold) and she was headed across Blue Lakes SMILING. I thought "is she really smiling?" And indeed she was. Smiling in the cold, smiling riding bike, smiling in the dark, smiling.
I thought "I'm not smiling." I was not necessarily unhappy nor unsatisfied or even preoccupied. But I had not yet made the decision that she beat me to. She decided to smile long before I did. She had decided this day was great and was happy to be in it. (And no, she did not look loco.)
So, what else was I to do? I smiled too. I wondered how many other people decided to smile when they saw her pearly whites. I wondered how many saw her on that busy road and their day too was confronted with her contagious behavior.
So, I determined that I too would follow in her grinness and be a contagious one of smiling too. So, I began to smile. Driving down the road smiling. And you know what happened? I began to SEE. I saw the beauty of the changing colors, I saw the beauty in the face that handed me my Americano. I saw the beauty in the sky as it began to unfold the day. And I saw my reflection in my rear view mirror and saw my own beauty.
How many people were infected today by that one guilty smiler? I would venture to say many many more than if she had not blessed just me with her grin.
So, take the challenge. Go on. Do it. Grin. I dare you.

SNOW

Yep...it snowed today. October 4, 2009 and it snowed. It started early this morning and went until about 3:00 pm. So much fun! It's fun since there is no slick roads or ice, just pretty snow. We sat in our nook and watched the snow and ate steamy soup.

Gracey is here!!!

She is absolutely beautiful. Amazing and perfect. Don't you love what she did when her mommy showed her toes?! She arrived on September 25, 2009 at 8 lbs 4 oz and was 19.5 in long. Her mommy looks great and Abbey and Carson MUST do it all!

Ammon's 10 Birthday Party

What a blast watching Dad and Grandpa get with it and even race, so many smiles and trials of staying on your feet and finally pizza and cake. And yes, presents. A very good day.

It's OKTOBERFEST

It's time for Oktoberfest so I decorated the window with some fun punkins I did myself.

Fall is in the air and the time for apples, chili, baked potatoes, soup and pot roast is here. We have had some low temps and the air feels crisp and sharp. I love it. I love putting on a sweater and socks after so many months of flip flops and sandals. By the time it comes that I can wear them again I am ready, but on this day I am prepared for some shoes!