:. family togetherness .:

Hoping to find one of these babies on Craig's List. At the very least, I think Benny could rig one up. It's always refreshing to see a family enjoying a favorite past time together; I think my own fam would really, really enjoy this. And JUST THINK of the projects I could get done!

(Now to find a "healthy" boy for the rear!)

:. spring ahead .:

It'll be spring soon, and to help you get a jump on the season get yourself on over to Tandem Brick for one of these bright beauties. (Yes, that is, indeed, a ruffle.) C'mon, you know you want one!

:. meant for the garden .:

Mmmmm, just look at this beautiful springtime bouquet Benny sent me for our anniversary. My house has smelled so wonderful all week! If you're lucky enough to have a scratch n' sniff monitor, go ahead: get close and inhale!!*

It is gorgeousness such as this, and what it does for the spirit, that proves we were originally meant for the garden. I can only imagine what Eden must have been like. Imagine God walking with you in the cool of the day, chatting about whatever is on your mind! (If you've never read Milton's Paradise Lost, may I suggest you go read it right now?)

And speaking of our anniversary, just look what my wonderful kids cooked up for us:

Besides a DELICIOUS dinner, which Emily literally cooked up for us, they bent their heads together and honored us with this beautiful family tree. The very talented Chris Saldanha did the artwork, with input from all. It's amazing, isn't it? (Any wonkishness in the picture is due to my photoshopping attempts to remove the flash. Crappy photographer, crappy editor. What can I say?) It looks stunning on my mantel, and every time I walk into the living room, it is a reminder of God's tremendous hand of blessing on my little family. It's perfect.

You know what else is perfect? The fact that Miss Eisley, on the very night we celebrated 35 years, decided then and there to crawl for the first time. Very thoughtful of the little lady!

*Editor's note: There is no such thing as a scratch n' sniff monitor. Don't you wish, though?

:. it's been awhile .:

Holy guacamole, where did January go??!? [Good riddance, I say!] There are now only 44 days until spring!! My heart sings right along with Barney Fife:

"Welcome, sweet springtime, we greet thee in song!!"

So many things going on in my head. Think I'll just give them to you in bullet points:

◘ Wondering what the heck is going on in Egypt. So I went straight to my Egyptian friend and asked her: "What the heck is going on in Egypt?" Her response: "I dunno know." Thanks, Sylvia, for the insight.

◘ Pretty much loving sewing right now. And grommets. And rivets. I don't feel like a sewing project is complete until I've used a hammer.

◘ Realizing if I lived to be 120, I wouldn't come close to trying all the craft ideas I've seen/bookmarked/heard about.

◘ For the record: I.HEART.HEATED.SEATS.

◘ Saw two flickers at my bird feeder the other day. My stars, are they ever cool!

◘ Was just reminded of this powerful truth: "If God be for us, then who can be against us?" Yowza, my soul needed to hear that!

◘ Looking forward to celebrating our 35th anniversary tonight with my wonderful family. (I'm sure I'll post more on that later.)

◘ So proud of my Gav for all his hard, hard work in kindergarten. His mommy showed me some of his schoolwork from November, and compared it to papers he did in December. Oh, my, how far he's come in such a short time. What a champion!

◘ Benny started physical therapy. Hopefully it will help his balance and motor issues. Now if he could just be offered a nice early retirement package . . .

◘ I recently took some new designs over to Tandem Brick. (see picture above.) Run on over and take a peek! I'm loving the look of image transfers.

◘ Miss Eisley is almost mobile!! She's been working very, very hard at that crawling thing, and mommy reports that she has A.L.M.O.S.T. got it! Way to go, baby girl!

◘ I recently acquired a beautiful aviary cage for my little Mozart. I've always wanted to give him more space to FLY!! I also decided to get him a "friend", in the hopes that I would have little baby canaries fluttering about. But alas! they are not getting along. Dang. I might try again in 44 days. (Spring . . . when a young bird's fancy turns to . . . oh, never mind.)

◘ I realized I rarely listen to an entire CD. More like: skip, skip, track 3, skip, skip, skip, tracks 7 and 8, skip, track 10 . . . you get the idea. Guess I should just use iTunes.

and . . . that's all I've got.

*addendum:

◘ Liam and I saw A FOX the other day! He was just loping across the street, right in front of my car. (I think he was loping anyway.) We were pretty excited! I stopped the car and we watched him lope back into the trees and lope around. Lope, lope, lope. You'd think I lived in the Great North Woods instead of right smack in the middle of the city.

and now . . . that's really all I've got.

:. revelation .:

Here we are, at the end of another year. Like any other, it held the good, the bad, the not-so-great. (There was also The Over The Top FANTASTIC: have you seen Eisley Christine??!??!)

But overall, it feels like the past 12 months for me, personally, have held more down than up. Been a bit of a struggle, shall we say? (It doesn't help that I've been sick for the past 6 weeks. Feeling like crap doesn't add to a rosy outlook.)

The end of the year means I'm finishing up another read-through of my favorite book, the Bible. Since I read straight through, that means come mid-December I hit Revelation. I freely admit, Revelation is a hard book: prophecy, visions, end of the world happenings. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go ahead and grab a Bible, turn to the last book, and give it a go. It's only 22 chapters. It will have your head spinning, I guarantee.

But I'm always struck by John's words at the very beginning of the book:

"Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near."

So while it might not be easy, it would be foolishness indeed to dismiss it.

But in the first three chapters, before you get to the jaw-dropping end-time scenes, you find Jesus' words to the seven churches. I always ask the Holy Spirit to reveal which words fit my own spiritual condition, which words He would speak to me.

And this year, there was no doubt. He gently held my heart, and said to me (as well as to the church in Philadelphia):

"I know that you have little strength, yet you have not denied my name . . . I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown."

Aaahh, my Savior understands.

But so as not to sound entirely pitiful, let me list some of the highlights of the past 12 months:

• Josh continued to amaze with his dad skills.
• Chris discovered how wonderful it is to be the daddy of a little girl . . . and started honing his dad skills
• Emily continued to amaze with her mom skills.
• Kate discovered how wonderful it is to be the mommy of a little girl . . . and started honing her mom skills.
• Gavin started kindergarten . . . what a big kid.
• Liam went to art school . . . cartwheel school was just too noisy.
• Tate learned to walk . . . and do about everything else big boys can do.
• Eisley decided to join the fam . . . and be the most beautiful girl around.
• Josh continued to amaze with his handyman skills, improving his home for his family.
• Emily continued to advocate for her eldest the way only a mother can, making sure he gets every and all help he needs.
• Chris continued to amaze with his handyman skills, improving his home for his family.
• Kate returned to the stage to use her talent the way only she can, delighting audiences everywhere with her singing and her dancing and her comedic genius.
• Josh finished a mini-triathlon . . . wow.
• Chris ran a half-marathon . . . wow.
• Emily and Kate both chopped their hair . . . and showed young mums everywhere what hip and trendy looks like.
• Gavin continued at Child Serve, working hard at things that come naturally to most of us . . . he's my hero.
• Liam continued to come up with some of the funniest lines in comedy . . . without even trying.
• Tate decided he's crazy about his littlest girl cousin . . . he and Eisie are going to be Best Friends.
• Eisley learned absolutely everything she should learn in her first 7 months of life . . . she's the best.
• my kids continued to love each other and their God with all they've got . . . perfect examples of godly families.
• my grands continued to be the joy, delight and honey of my soul . . . whatever would I do without them?
• and fighting mightily against a very debilitating illness, Benny put in one of the longest, hardest 12 months of work ever . . . because that is the kind of man he is.
  

Here's to a better 2011.