Reading and playing

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Things my sons love

The afternoon after a trip to the library where long reading sessions abound with delightful new books

Games--Sequence for kids, go fish, I spy, memory...need I go on

Legos--their new police headquarters, miscellaneous space men from Goodwill, the pizza parlor and pretty much any possible creation that can be made

Little cars (also known as micro machines for those of us old enough to remember, my husband has several in amazing condition with wonderful little streets and towns to play with them on, the boys LOVE these ***I have to admit I also think they are very wonderful)

the playmobil magazine

snacks...especially candy although since I am their mother they mostly get a choice between a banana, piece of homemade bread or granola...such a boring mother

repetition...making up songs and humming the same two notes over and over, pressing the same button on the activity book over and over, making the sheep say "baa" more times than I would like to count (all the while staring blankly at me when I finally flip out and say something in a not-so-patient voice)

screaming "THEY'RE NOT" after we say..."good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite"

Musings

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I've been wondering why the "fade out" in 80's music was so popular. I suppose the singer/songwriter was just stumped when it came to actually ending the song. Maybe they assumed that no one would notice if the song just started sneaking away until finally it had disappeared altogether. I for one, had completely forgotten about this trend until I was haunted by an old tape my son pulled out of a dusty corner in the back of his drawer. As the song faded to an inaudible conclusion my son asked, "What's wrong with him? What's happening to the song?"

It's hard to resist the urge to press your ear against the speaker just to see how long the singer actually keeps going on with the repetition.

As for other things, I am working on creating a body butter. It will be sort of a whipped, luxurious moisturizer that is created by only using all natural oils and no additives. I have finally decided that my skin has had enough. Even as I LOVE my all natural soap and the amazing benefits it brings to my skin, I just can't seem to withstand the elements and my poor epidermis is crying out for help. Still, as I reach for my bottle of nondescript lotion I can't help reading the ingredients and balking a little bit at the fact that the manufacturers seemed to have an overabundance of alcohol that they just needed to use up somehow. Alcohol is a drying agent so it is always hard to comprehend how something that is supposed to bring moisture and relief is so full of something that actually takes that away. There is definitely the issue of preservation and I am pretty sure that is why they use so much but even as their bases are covered when it comes to bacteria my skin is not and is still left dry and needy. So, on to whipped body butter and a new way to moisturize! (coming soon....)

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My husband and I have been enjoying a "date night" since the first week of our marriage (well, maybe the 2nd week since our honeymoon doesn't really count). During the first carefree year we spent some of our date nights putting together puzzles (something that might seem a bit like an activity at sunshine manor but hey, we like puzzles), playing games, reading books out loud (mostly Ben reading to me since he does all the voices so wonderfully. As our lives have become much more complicated it become a bit more difficult to muster up the energy for a puzzle or game but I still find myself looking forward to it more than ever. No finances, phone calls, studying; just us a movie or game, candles and wine...

Last night was our pizza and movie night and the movie of choice was "Bright Star" (the new movie about John Keats). After our children were tucked nicely in bed with books and flashlights in hand we settled into our movie. As we drifted into the lives of John Keats and his love I found myself more powerfully gripped by the summer breeze that swept through their windows, the blooming fields, apple blossoms and days with the windows open, or moments lying in a green field, catching butterflies and just breathing in nature. It was then that I was struck by how deeply I long for spring. We have had snow covered landscapes for at least a month if not more.



There is something deathly still about winter, when the snow is falling. It is perfectly still, sometimes eerie and yet beautiful. Soon the snow goes from beautiful pure white to brown...dirty, sooty and full of exhaust and oil.

How I long for green. For blossoms. That first gust of fresh air that seems to enliven everything it touches. The birds that return to sing their hearts out in praise of the beauty that returns to our dull white surroundings.

New life we await thee....

Front Page

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My soap made it to the front page of Etsy. I'm still working through how all of this works since it is not currently on the front page and so far I have not seen it in an e-mail..but still....very excited...

Post Valentine's Day musings

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February I love....

that my husband carries around his grandfather's briefcase

thursday nights...date night/movie night/pizza, wings/kids in bed

music...in the van, in the house, on the radio, on the computer

the mopey look on Peter's face

Valentine's Day candy the day after

packages out of my hands, traveling all over the country

a freshly vacuumed floor

a Cinnamon Dolce Latte in my hand while I'm grocery shopping

my new pen

the tinkering sounds of my husband giving Warren piano lessons

Hunting

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Our lives are filled, covered, surrounded by snow. I find myself longing to make hot drinks just so I can carry them around in my hands and feel warm.

We have dwelt somewhat snuggly in a rental for almost 2 years now and we are starting a slow quest towards finding a more permanent dwelling. We have recently found a place that we find ourselves getting way too excited about, especially since our Realtor and most others around us think that the snow and winter have gotten to us and we are possibly going slightly insane.

We are consumed with a vision though. A vision of being somewhere where the people are. Where we can reach out, help our neighbors and have students into our home. A vision of being able to walk downtown and drive as little as possible. So we find ourselves getting excited about a little house that has been a student rental. It is definitely a humble dwelling, however, it has a basement apartment (which does have a tenant in it right now) and is in the center of many other student rentals. I am already seeing the ways in which our verbal vision could finally take flight and this is where all the excitement comes in.

It could turn out to be nothing. Another chance that doesn't work out, but we continue to pray and wait. Is this where God would have us? Our own very small scale inter-city ministry?

We shall see....

writer

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If I were a journalist or even just a more ambitious writer I would use one of these. I imagine myself tucked away in some attic studio office with the gentle whirring of the typewriter as I muse about my next riveting sentence. My husband has dreams of one day writing books. Maybe one day it will be him sequestered in his work space, clicking away on the typewriter. I have vague ambitions of illustrating some of his verbal inspiration and so I have begun to develop my sketching abilities. So him with the whirring and clicking and me with the sketching and blending. Ah, maybe one of these days...

For now we are snowed in for the 3rd weekend in a row. Snow is fun although the novelty has definitely worn off. I love snow but would love it more if I had the proper apparel. Living in Charlotte for two years did us no favors since it never snowed there and all my former winter stuff ended up at Goodwill. Now we create makeshift ways to stay warm and dry in the snow (at least as much as one can stay warm and dry when paying in tiny ice crystals). I do find myself slightly starting to day dream of the fresh smells of spring, the new crop of vegetables and this year the possibility of a garden of my own.

Until then I will continue tucking myself away inside, sipping hot tea and playing Go Fish.