Nothing much. What about you?

For a brief week or two, things have slowed down.  No guests, no major plans.  Last weekend we....wait, what did we do??  Oh yeah, nothing!  Not as in--we're bored, but as in--we slowed waaaay down.  We had no plans and we made no plans either.  Had plenty of time to clean.  Didn't.  Bought groceries and cooked.  And otherwise, just did what we wanted to.  It felt weird.  It shouldn't have, but it did.  Hmmm.

In the midst of all the laid-back-ness, today is a special day.  The littlest member of our family (for a few more days til his sister arrives) is FOUR today.  Happy Birthday to my fast-running, dimple-sporting, never-stopping, silly-goose, rocket-loving nephew Caleb!  I love you sweet boy!

In other news, in just thirty days, I am going to be a shred of my former self.  Just thought I'd give you due warning.  That is, as long as I stick with Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred DVD workout.  I can't believe that 20 minutes of anything would be hard.  But, um, I'm old.  And out of shape.  But I've done 5 days so far!  And it's so easy now! It's still hard.

I am hoping that the slower pace will allow me some reading time...cause a book I've been wanting to read finally became available at the library this week!  Last night I checked out The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  I must admit I don't know what it's about, but have had enough people tell me it's one of their favorites and that they couldn't put it down.  Plus, come on, it has the cutest cover ever!  (Nevermind about not judging a book by it's cover--I totally am this time.)  I'll let you know what I think about the inside...

So, this week I'll be shredding and reading (among other things) while waiting for my niece to arrive .  If all goes as planned, I'll be back next week with pictures of her cuteness!  Today is my day off, so if the weather holds out we are hoping for an afternoon at the pool!

Catching up with the Company Girls today...

saying yes

A long time ago--a parenting tip caught my attention.  It was "say yes as much as possible".  It's so easy for me to say no--and have the "yes" be the exception.  No is often less trouble.  No often takes less energy.  I don't have to think hard with No.  I can easily overuse No.  But, I want my NOs to count for something.  I want them to be taken seriously.  I want them to be NO, not, "I don't feel like thinking about it right now", or "that would take extra effort that I don't feel like exerting".  Now, I know, KNOW, that there are times as parents that we absolutely must use no for those reasons.  We are in charge, and we have to look out for our own needs too.

But what about saying yes?  Why not yes?

Well, yesterday, Pickle called my cell while I was at work.  I was in a meeting.  Mondays are one meeting after another--I'm a chain-meeter on Mondays.   During my last meeting of the day a coworker walked in with my phone and said it had been ringing off the hook with my home number...I looked at it, and in the past half hour Pickle had called 13 times!  And I have a song for her ringtone...my poor coworkers!  I quickly texted her to see if everything was OK.  She called again.  I excused myself and answered, wondering what the emergency was.  She said,

"Can my friend sleep over tonight?"  

Seriously??  That was the emergency???

Pickle wanted this sleepover with a friend who she hadn't seen all summer.  It turns out they figured out that due to upcoming vacation plans and sports this gal was not going to be available any other night before school started.  Just last night.

I admit I was a little ticked at the unwarranted urgency of her calls, told her I'd talk to her when I got home and returned to my meeting.

On the way home I thought of so many reasons to say no.  No, I was tired.  No, I had to return to work early in the morning.  No, we don't plan sleepovers the same day--I need some advance warning.  No, calling umpteen times was a bit obnoxious.  No.  No. No.

And then it echoed in my head.  Why not yes?  (stink)

So I said yes.  It didn't end up being much trouble at all, and I made my girl very happy.  And that is what I'm unwrapping today with Emily at Chatting at the Sky--the gift of yes.

ohmy.

pickle and her daddy

Pickle.  She's 14.  She's heading into high school.  She's beautiful (I'm not biased).  She has had two junior-high-versions-of-boyfriends.  All facts.  I know these things.  AND I know how things work...

And then yesterday.  Church service was several minutes from beginning.  Pickle sat in one of the rows towards the front with Bubba, holding a seat for me.  My hubby was in the sound booth and was wiring me up to give the announcements that morning.  All normal-type stuff.

I casually glance over at Pickle.  She is turned around in her seat talking to someone.  A boy.  I didn't recognize the back of his head...so I casually wander up there and see that it is a young man from youth group that I don't know well yet.  He is a few years older than Pickle and has apparently come over to talk to her specifically.  As they chat, up walks another young man I know a bit better--one year older than her, and a friend of hers.  He explains that he hasn't talked to her in so long!  How is she?  I note he has crossed the room to see her.

I walk back to the rear of the room and observe.  My baby girl.  Talking.  Laughing.  Smiling her killer smile.  At two boys who came to her.  Deep breath, mama.  I remind myself it's developmentally normal.  I'm glad she is learning to relate more easily to boys as friends.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And it really hit me.  She is NO LITTLE GIRL ANYMORE! She's a young woman.  Wait!  Pause!  I want more time!

And then she posts this picture of herself on facebook after messing around with her hair.

Ohmy.  I better buckle in.

Showers of Blessings

I have missed weeks of catching up with the Company Girls...so glad to have a chance to do it this week!  This weekend is the first no-VBX prep, no guests/guest prep of the summer!  I have loved every bit of the fun we've had, but am looking forward to the change of pace for a few weeks before school begins.

The highlight of this week was my sister Kerry's baby shower for a number of reasons.  First and foremost, we are so excited that Maisie is almost here!  Her scheduled C-section date is August 4 if Kerr doesn't go into labor first.  I can't wait to hold sweet Maisie and kiss her cheeks and toes!

Secondly, Kerry finally had a baby shower!  This is the third one I planned for her.  For her first baby, Caleb, she went into labor early that morning and we had the shower without her while she labored.  You may remember that Kerry's second child, Sadie, went to be with Jesus before she was born.  The shower had been planned for a few days later.  I am so glad that Maisie stayed in so Kerry could come this time!

Then, we were so blessed how everything came together.  Life has been full lately (for a brief catch up, click here) and my mom, Pickle and I were fairly short on time to make the shower as special as we wanted to.  We had ideas, but basically only one full day to work on all the special details.  We had a sweets theme--for Kerry's love of cupcakes and sweets.  All of the projects we had never tried before worked and we even came up with a last minute idea or two.

We were blessed with lots of help as well.  Denise hosted us in her beautiful home.  Calu made faboo cupcakes that matched the invitation.  Carly and Becky planned really fun games, and took care of the prizes.  And 40 women (or so) helped us shower Kerry with gifts and bless her with their love and support.  I know she appreciated the wonderful turnout--even if it did make for the loudest baby shower I've ever been to!!

Our hearts (and tummies!) are full as we wait the arrival of this little gift...

Simple Pleasures

I can't say I have a green thumb.  At all.   In fact, I think I have a gray thumb.

My houseplants are often almost dead before I notice and water them.  They eventually get tired of my game of bringing them back to life at the last possible second and give up the fight.

I love flowers, and every spring I plant annuals in my yard--this year it's cute little pansies in the front bed, and large pots of purple petunias at the top of our driveway.  Well, as is typical, it's July and the pansies are pretty much gone and the petunias have seen better days.

I try to do the perenial thing too...you know, the plants that are supposed to come back up every year? Mine rarely do.  I could say it's challenging to grow things in Colorado (it is).  I could say my flowers were hammered with hail (that happens every year).  But the truth is, I just stink at growing things.

Thankfully, I am better at taking care of kids than plants.  My kids are thankful for that too.  {smile}

Last week, we had a mini-family-reunion and vacation here in CO.  I enjoyed family time and our adventures immensely.  I knew I would.  However, an unexpected pleasure were the wildflowers.  We saw them all over--even this late in the season.  SO beautiful and unique and planted by God  (He seems to be WAY better at growing things in Colorado {smile}).  I love that the are sitting there, beautifully coloring the landscape whether anyone ever sees them or not.  For some reason, I found their presence and beauty calming--a reminder of God's attention to detail in the midst of what seems like the chaos of life sometimes.

Today, Dayle invited me to join her first ever blog party--simple pleasures.  Immediately I thought of the wildflowers.  I'm glad I took time to photograph some of them.  They make me smile.  I think they make God smile too.

Remember me?

I've missed you, bloggies...and I've missed blogging.  But I've been busy doing some of this:

and this:

photo credit: Caleb, age 3

and this:

(that's pickle and me)

and admiring this:

and looking into these eyes:

because these folks came to visit--my sister Kim and her family!  Wahoo!

So we were tourists in our own state--so fun!

Along with lots of treasured family time,  

I have been watching my sister grow (along with my niece)...

and (with my mom) threw her one of these last night:

 40 ladies showering her with gifts--wonderful!

Throw in two sets of overnight houseguests (great college friends), painting the bathroom, and other assorted projects--and I took a blogcation!!

But I'm back now.  And hoping some of you dear bloggies are still out there...cause I missed you!

She's leaving on a jet plane...

Pickle's packing.

She is meeting friends from youth group at church at 2:30 am (I know!!) to head to the airport.  They are traveling to Louisville, KY for our denomination's once-every-three-years conference for thousands of high schoolers called LIFE.  LIFE is something we've heard about many times over the years...and now my little girl is old enough to attend!

Today she read to me her choices of seminars from the long list of options, and I choked up.  One, because I'm overjoyed that she has such a wonderful opportunity to learn about such fantastic topics.  And two, because she was making great choices that show some thought and care on her part--rather than choosing what sounded the most entertaining or fun.  She sounded just a bit mature at that moment.

I am praying that God will speak to her heart this week.  I am praying she listens.  I am praying that her faith deepens and her relationship with God becomes even more intimate and real to her.  I pray she is a sponge who soaks up the whole thing.

I don't know what He has planned.  I'm pretty sure it's good, though.  It's Big-G-Good.

Oh, and along with Hawk Nelson, Kutless and other cool musicians she is going to hear this guy.  I encourage you to take a few minutes and see what this dude can do with an acoustic guitar.

That was lovely, but now I need to go and pretend she needs my help packing.

Unwrapping this moment with my growing-up girl with emily at chatting at the sky, cause she wrote about high school girls today too.