Monthly Archives: October 2013

InstaUpdate

My brain is a wee bit frazzled as I type this – forgive the typos (as you usually do, unless you are Simon or my father, who both like to point out when this wordsmith misses something – as I did twice in this sentence and had to go back and correst after I first published it – sigh).
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Love my sweet dog and despite his being a pill and a half when we have company (or when a squirrel tries to stake a claim on our deck), I would trade him for any other dog.


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Fun times with friends at the apple orchard.


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Rockin’ the fake ‘staches at ArtPrize.


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My faves from ArtPrize…


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Lunchtime date with my honey (and a beer from Founders).


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Caught this sunset in my side mirror… sometimes it’s good to take a look behind you.


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Working on his “kindergarten” homework – mind you he doesn’t start school for another year, but Liam has homework so Jack needs to have his own (thank you to Costco for having a plethora of workbooks).


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The moments when they are getting along are rare and precious (and need to be documented).


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Prepping for my first book club meeting.


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Slide at the pumpkin patch.


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Sunset in the ‘hood.


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Always a pleasure seeing your husband in the car beside you – though not surprising when you’ve just left the same restaurant.


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My roommate from my time in Chicago came to visit with her two girls while Simon was out of town with the guys in my family at a football game. My little boys were less than thrilled upon learning that their new friends were GIRLS, but those girls happened to bring Pokemon cards and Star Wars knowledge (and figures) with them so they ended up being pretty cool. We were glad, though we did draw the line at letting them have a sleepover in the boys’ room.


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Max and Jack would be bound to end up in the pond if we left them there long enough.


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Nature’s flair.


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Wednesday evenings at the park are a favorite of mine… especially since my kids discovered that I know how to do underdogs on the swings.


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Sick one… you can tell this is the case because he is sleeping and it is still light out.


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Rainbows on the bathroom wall at my parents’ house.


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Love fall in Michigan.


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Mr. Upset-He-Can’t-Have-Vegemite-For-A-Third-Meal


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Sun rise…


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Pretty darn pretty.


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And fall at the pond, again.


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Living room forts with the kiddos… my moments of mom coolness must be documented as much as when the kids actually get along.


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He made Darth Paper all by himself.


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His coloring location of choice. The kid has great core muscles.


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Hmmm… quiet… he’s thinking.


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I never tire of wildlife in our backyard (except the squirrels).


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The one good thing about Simon’s rugby season is that it earns me Saturday mornings at the coffee shop all to myself with no obligations. Sometimes I doodle but always I drink coffee.


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Prepping for Halloween… Power Rangers… unite (is that what Power Rangers do?)


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Building their sugar tolerance… with more sugar. Known in Australia as fairy floss… now you know.


comfort

ememby_comfortNo other words needed.

This, that and the other thing

Some of my favorite stuff from the interwebs…

  • Please watch this to the end… the part where she says she asked questions in class and started every one with an apology… so true and so good. Not to say it is all true but we can all learn a lesson about not shrinking ourselves to accommodate other people.
  • This post on friendship made me think about who my people are. Who are your people? We should all have people we can call who will drop everything and come to us, no matter what we need.
  • My friend, Dawn, linked to her friend Kara’s blog… Mundane Faithfulness and on first read I knew this was a person I would be friends with if ever I met her, but she lives in Colorado and I don’t know her. But her story is worth sharing, it is heartbreaking and real. Please pray for this woman and her family, prayers for people you don’t know never hurt anyone. Cancer sucks, God is still good.
  • While international adoption is not something our family feels called to, I rejoice with my friends who have gone through the process or are in the midst of it… Kim and Kate, you are awesome! Christian and your TBD (by God) kids are so blessed by you and your faithfulness to God’s calling.
  • Sometimes reading something that is out of your comfort zone is exactly what you should be doing… it stimulates the brain and takes you places you wouldn’t otherwise go… Ocean at the End of the Lane and Where’s You Go, Bernadette? are two such books for me… handy that they are the next two books for Laid-Back Book Club… thinking about joining us in November and December… you are more than welcome!
  • If you are looking for new music, might I suggest the following:

For sad, melancholy days:

For putting some pep in your step:

For embracing British singers with misspent youths:

For those of you looking for a little religious inspiration:

And something just a little different:

And I really want to see this movie and hope it is as good as it should be.

And an oldie, but goodie (Liam in 2008 with my brother’s Christmas gift):

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So many things…

ememby_Wednesday_Musings_2I feel like I compose blog posts in my head at least once a day (if not more) and yet I can’t get it together to actually post something… life is so beautifully mundane and normal, which is not to say that there aren’t things I’m thinking about… nothing of any huge importance. Just the way I like it right now.

  • We’re reading The Reason for God by Tim Keller for our small group and it’s dredging up thoughts I don’t think I’ve visited since my world religions class in college. I kind of love that proving God is twofold – part reason and part faith – why do I believe in God and Jesus? Partly because of how I was raised, partly because I believe what I’ve read in the Bible and partly from experiencing God in my life and feeling it in my being. Faith is a complex and beautiful thing, different for every person.
  • On a lighter note, I posted this on Instagram yesterday (and Facebook) but I cannot stop watching my own kid display is ninja skills (complete with handmade winter scarf tied around his middle). It makes me ache with love for him, which is handy because mostly he is a pill.
  • The last Divergent book came out yesterday… I am waiting to read it until I can just sit down and finish it. My updated Kindle app now tells me how long I have left in a chapter or book while I am reading, based on how quickly I go through the pages… it estimates I should be done in four hours. Hmmm… I love reading but hate when I finish a good thing, especially a series, because then it is done… no more to look forward to. Sad times. Also, the author of these books is a BABY… well, a 25-year-old baby. Nothing makes me feel older than someone a decade younger than me having great success.
  • I’ve been watching the battle rounds of The Voice while texting with Stef… completely makes my day/night! We like to predict who the judges will pick and so far we are spot on… my favorite performance was by Caroline Pennell doing a cover of Justin Beiber’s “As Long as You Love Me”
  • Liam has been asking since last year to do wrestling if it was offered at his new school (last year some of his friends did wrestling while he took an art class – a fact that makes me giggle). So wrestling starts this Friday after school… Simon is betting he will cry at some point and I’m quite certain he will try his moves on his little brother, but we’re still doing it. The coach emailed last night to remind us that it is a full contact sport and that we should encourage our kids to push through and that we should also have our children shower immediately following practice to keep them from catching colds and getting a contagious skin condition. Who is going to encourage me to push through now? The things we do for our kids.
  • So far in my short life, I’ve met three dermatologists and all three have had the worst personalities/bedside manner. Is it simply a humorless profession or have I just had bad luck?
  • Related to the above, I have a large mole on my scalp that has recently gotten larger and my primary care doctor thought I should have it checked out and the dermatologist opted to shave part of it off to have it tested. You know what kind of hurts (after the numbing wears off)? Having part of your scalp shaved off… even a part that is only slightly bigger than a pencil eraser. Also a bit of a pain because it is near the front of my hairline so now I have to part my hair on the opposite side to cover my wound/bald spot. And in a few weeks I’m going to have a sprout of short hair growing out of that part of my head. Lovely. [Side note: the doctor wasn’t overly concerned about it being cancer, but since I don’t have any other moles like it for comparison, she wanted to test it.]
  • I met some people in our neighborhood who pick up their daughter’s dog every day and keep it at their house all day while she is at work and then she comes and picks it up. He referred to the dog as their “granddog” which was cute and maybe kind of sweet.
  • Simon’s having knee surgery again in December… my “old” sweetie’s knees just can’t keep up with him. The upside is that surgery is December 13 and he can’t go back to work until is post-op check with the surgeon on the 23rd and then he’s off again for Christmas. Bummer that he has to have surgery, but having him home every evening for over two weeks is going to be glorious! (Sorry for your pain, my dear.)
  • So many things make me happy lately… some of my favorite people have October birthdays, time with the ladies from my small group, all things fall television, reading good books, flowers from my husband (despite them being of the apology variety rather than the just-because variety) and the brief moments when my kids are getting along (as seldom as those occurrences are).
  • I do not like Treat Williams, the actor. It is inexplicably so.
  • We need a game plan for hosting Thanksgiving… not because of all the food that will need to be made, but because Jack and my great-nephew, Max, will be together for an extended period of time. Together they are trouble. Last weekend we were in Lansing for Max’s little brother’s first birthday and the boys were upstairs unsupervised and decided to squirt lotion all over Quinn and Chris’s bedroom. It’s been a long time since I had to clean up a mess like that… I believe it was two years ago when Jack took it upon himself to decorate our living room with Hershey’s chocolate syrup. (We’ll not talk about the time they dumped a container of gummy bears into the toilet at my brother’s house). I think we need to tether them within our sight for the day… it doesn’t ensure they won’t get into trouble, but at least we can have hopes of keeping an eye on them.
  • Candy corn + dry roasted peanuts = a match made in heaven, not sure why I avoided the combination until this year.
  • Back to work, people…

 

On anger

ememby_anger
You might say I have a bit of a temper. Well, you might say this if you lived in my household or witnessed me with my kids and my husband. I have what is called a “short fuse” or, more accurately, a hidden short fuse because my having a temper isn’t something most people would attribute to me, though I regularly say that patience is not a virtue I was given. Usually I am fairly amicable, easy-going and (I think) pleasant to be around but it seems that if you live with me, you get the short end of the stick. I’m not sure if being agreeable elsewhere means I don’t have enough patience for the people I come home to or if it’s just normal that you have the least amount of patience for those you know best and trust most to see you at your worst. Probably some of both. And probably something we all can relate to in some way – our families don’t always get our best selves.

Either way, I still have a temper and it’s not really my most winning feature. I was looking for verses to post here and I came across Proverbs 22 which is full of wise sayings (some of my favorites are the smaller type – click on the image to embiggen) but the one that jumped out at me is: do not make friends with a hot-tempered person. Ahem. Oh that.

And what was that a few verses earlier about starting children off on the way they should go? Perhaps by setting a better example? My children are also a little short-tempered (and strong-willed, but that’s for another post)… something they were in part born with but also I think something they’ve learned over time as a conditioned response to their family when they are frustrated by some or all of the other members (Simon also has a temper – our children were bound to carry on tradition). I’ve also seen the boys’ tempers manifested when they are at daycare (hello, Jack and his biting habits this summer) and with friends (at a play date just today) and this is not something I want to see continue. It is not okay with me and they need to figure out other ways to deal with their frustrations, but first, I have to figure out other ways to deal with my frustrations. I need to follow the example of my Father, highlighted many times in the Bible, “[He is] slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” When I start following His example, I can only hope that my kids will turn and follow mine and then we can all make better friends (and parents).