Much

Taylor and Laurel dressed for the band concert

Much has been going on. I'm sorry I haven't been documenting it all somewhere (like here) but it's been difficult.

Mainly because just before Taylor put on this freshly ironed shirt, I was grabbing for it as it fell to the floor and I reached, with all my quickness and agility, hard into the wall instead of the doorway opening I was going for.

And I broke my finger--middle one on my left hand. So typing (among many other things) is difficult presently.

So I'll go for the briefest of updates, starting with: the concert, which was excellent.

Ryan and Daniel are doing fine and we survived a week and a half being elementary school parents. Roger and Amy are back and have evened out many of the bumps. Amy is in remission and looks and sounds so much healthier!

It seems like teachers are giving an extra push to get stuff done before the holidays--Taylor and Laurel are busy every night with homework.

Joe helped hang outdoor Christmas decorations (yes, we waited until the coldest day of the year) and now our house looks dressed for the season.

And I had a good week in Revelation 12:1-9. Read it--it fits the season.

More soon (but hopefully with less "e"s and "d"s).

I'm not so good at kindergarten...

Well, first off, I was waiting and ready for the return bus, keeping an eye on the clock. Then I got a call from the bus garage saying they dropped someone off at our house but they went around the back so the bus garage was assuming they were safely inside.

What?! The bus wasn't due for 20 minutes. But I looked out the window and saw Ryan running to get back on the bus and my neighbor looking worried and me looking negligent.

And then Ryan brought home a paper with this stamp on it.

But I could find no instructions what to do with the paper. Just these lines, with a box:

I asked Ryan what he was supposed to do with it and he said, "It's homework." So I thought and thought and thought and Ryan played the day away. I wondered if he should write his name on the lines. Taylor and Laurel both looked at it and couldn't figure it out. I kept thinking, "I am stumped by kindergarten homework."

Then, about 10 minutes before bedtime, I got it! Capital L and lowercase l! I said, "Ryan, you're supposed to practice writing Lls!" He said, "Yep! That's my homework."

I feel mildly exonerated by the fact that if it had been Aas I would have recognized that in the guiding dashes, not to mention the fact that the alphabet starts there. And, yeah, my homework support has been more along the lines of helping looking for zeugma for a rhetorical devices notebook than practicing writing letters.

But I'm still going to contend that kindergarten is tough stuff!

Scattered thankful

A particular combination in this year's thankful list (bottom row) that continues to spark conversation

What a fabulously detailed weekend. We were busy from the start. The Bacon Bird was incredible. The Scharffenberger brut champagne to accompany it was also delicious. The pecan bourbon pie, the apple cranberry walnut pie, the 15 pounds of mashed potatoes, and the rolls from Anne's bakery were all amazing. Best of all was the fellowship--the laughing, the talking, the intensity and levity, the hugging and playing and reminiscing and reacquainting. So thankful.

Amy is getting the medical care that she came home for; the boys are enrolled in school and start tomorrow. We are adjusting to life with small children (I am starting to remember to factor them into my social calendar, and we rediscovered the crayons, markers and funky scissors, and I am monitoring vegetable consumption once again...). God's hand is on all of us and I am thankful.

We had the first church service in the addition that has been built onto our church on Sunday. It was exciting and hopeful and I am grateful.

Taylor and Laurel accomplished much this weekend (check Taylor's facebook for the body armor he made). Thankful.

Joe and I are looking at the next few months, knowing challenges are coming and talking to each other bravely. Thankful.

And tomorrow starts December. Thankful thankful thankful.

Laurel's DNA model

Turquoise thankful

Daniel and Ryan playing Rock'Em Sock'Em Robots

We have some guests in our house. Roger's family has come home from Indonesia while Amy gets some health issues resolved. They are staying with us for the time being, so life has gotten little-boy-focused again all of the sudden.

We have stayed up too late and laughed really hard and filled in gaps and hugged a lot and discovered toys we had forgotten and wiped up extra messes. It's gotten louder, especially during the day. (Right now there is a competition raging behind me between the volume control button/percussion fill-in option on the keyboard and brute force on the piano keys.)

We are having another Rachael Ray bacon recipe for dinner: BLT Mac and Cheese. Laurel is doing some intense cleaning in her room in anticipation of getting her driver's permit next week. Taylor is working on AP English and spreading his good nature far and wide. Joe is prepping to work a 24 tomorrow. I am making The Bacon Bird for Thanksgiving.

Sometimes an event or a period of time or a memory seem to be summarized, for me, by a sense that doesn't seem to fit--some chords or a taste (like "buttery") or a color or a temperature. I don't get it and I don't have time to try to figure it out right now, but let me just share with you that these past few days--and, I'm thinking, the next few--are turquoise and green. And it's lovely.

My current favorite shirt

Pic of a decoration from a Martha Stewart magazine

Supported thankful

Mason painting where shorter arms cannot reach

I get so much help; I'm grateful. We are finishing up work on our church's addition. This picture is of the stairwell the youth will use. It's been painted by teens who have stamina and creativity and long arms. I couldn't have done what many of them have. Thanks, guys.

I also get help from my kids, who brighten my day just by showing up in the kitchen and smiling. They also do chores and they discuss things with me and they are excellent collaborators (and what a privilege that is--I hadn't been sure we would have that kind of relationship. But it is my great joy to work with them on different things...)

I get help from Joe. He does so many little things for me and our family that I would be embarrassed to list them all. He is the computer genius, the medical problem-solver, the mechanic, the bookkeeper, and the head shoulder-rubber, among other things. He believes in me and pushes me to meet higher standards.

My friends help me. They listen to me, pray for me, encourage me, ask me hard questions. They even bear my burdens. There is a scriptural principle that speaks to this, commanding us to do it. But, like with much scripture, we can tend to skirt ideas, infusing them with what seems to make sense (usually an easier route). On occasion, one of my friends and I have "traded" burdens. I pray for hers and she prays for mine. There is such relief in giving up my burden onto my friend's capable shoulders. And hers is so much lighter than mine. :)

My pastor helped me today. There are so many details to our complicated lives, ya know? And, a few minutes AFTER the service had started this morning, in a two-minute conversation, some things were handled. I am so grateful!

God helps me. The Bible says that we can't take a step or a breath without him, so I get help with the very basics. But I also get inner strength and divine wisdom and extra love for people and endurance and ideas and peace and courage and protection. Thank you, thank you, God. Thanks for the help.

Satiated thankful

Joe's birthday cake (with extra toffee sauce on the side)

I am thankful. Very thankful. As thankful as ever, or maybe more so. I just haven't been writing it down or taking pictures of it.

The construction on our house is almost done. Today I cleaned the dining room--it was rather filthy. It was so filthy that I feel like now that it's clean, I should clean it again, just to be sure the rags aren't still wiping up dust and dirt.

The crazimess of (well--I'm leaving that typing error--it's actually more correct than the word I was trying to type) of the contractor's schedules and ours trying to meld has done me in. I am unaware of the season, even though I have a Christmas tree trying to remind me in the corner.

I went to my 25th high school reunion this past weekend. It was good to see so many old friends again. Some of them work with my mom, and told her they saw me over the weekend. Mom didn't know I was going to the reunion. I forgot to tell her. I almost forgot to go. I guess my capacity for coping with multiple schedules reaches its limit somewhere just after Joe's work and the kids' social lives...

So today is my handsome husband's birthday. I remembered this! And I made this cake and I'm making meatloaf (he asked for it) for dinner. And I just remembered that Thanksgiving is next week.

Thankfully (ha ha!) I have made giving thanks a practice and so I am thankful this month, but not with a holiday focus. Which is kind of cool. It's not for the sake of the fourth Thursday in November. No, I'm just kind of typical, everyday, normal thankful.

I'm full of thanks. I will be satiated, however, after a slice of this cake.

Hungry thankful

Our family loves Reece's peanut butter cups. We eat them in whatever form we can find them. Our two current favorites are Reece's Big Cups--with extra peanut butter and Dark Chocolate cups. (Hello, Hershey? We think you should combine these two ideas...)

There is something about the chocolate peanut butter combination that feeds a hunger in me. It finishes off the pang, it sets me straight, it makes me smile, it satisfies.

This week has been very busy. I have run from appointment to assignment to event for days and I'm not done yet. And I have ended up hungry. I am hungry for peace, for connection, for truth, for joy, for accomplishment.

And I have been fed, little bites, all along the way. A from-her-gut laugh with Laurel. A warm, strong, shoulder rub from Joe. Affirmation from a friend. Finishing a tough bike ride. Saying "no" to something.

I am so thankful for needs that are met.

And--I needed three Reece's Dark Chocolate miniatures tonight. :)