if we could all be so happy…

This has gone viral so it’s all over the place. But it’s just so cute I had to put it up, in case you’ve missed it.

Love it!

I’m Random again!

 

I know I haven’t participated in the Random for a couple of weeks. I don’t have a good reason, other than blog related brain fog. I just didn’t feel inspired to write anything, even with a prompt.  I know..sad!

1. What is one really fast, know-by-heart "go-to" meal to fix in a pinch?  I know this is lame and you’ll probably say ‘gross’, but this is one I learned when our son was sick. Desperate times call for desperate measures.  I keep canned chicken from Sam’s Club, which I have to put a little plug in for Sam’s Club chicken.. it’s really good. It’s not smushy the way other canned chicken is.  The main reason I keep a Sam’s card is for this stupid chicken. Anwyay.. cook egg noodles, dump the chicken in the water at the end. Drain and serve. Green beans from another can, optional. To go all fancy, you can drain it and add a can of cream of chicken soup and reheat in the microwave to warm the soup. We just eat it plain, though. We also call this “the mowing meal” because I used to make this on yard work night. We don’t do yard work anymore (don’t hate), so I don’t make it unless I’m in a pinch or super tired, but we still call it the mowing meal. I’d rather call it the mowing meal than the sick kid meal, so I guess it’s all about perspective.

2. What is one item you won't leave home without. (Purse and license do not count.)  Cell phone. Chapstick..Avon Care Deeply actually. Eye glass wipes because it drives me nuts when I get a smudge right in my line of sight and I’ve got this fancy dancy non glare coating (love hate relationship with said coating for the same reason) and I can’t just wipe it off on my shirt tail..that would just swirl it around. Like I said. Love hate. I know that’s more than one.. sorrrrry. : )

3. Where is one place you never tire of visiting? The mountains. Been to different mountain areas in Colorado numerous times from when I was a kid through just a few years ago. It never gets old.

4. Share one factoid of your family's history. Little joke ‘saying’ between the hubs and I lately.. “We come from Klassy stock”.  I guess that speaks for itself. ; )

5. Complete this sentence: "Once upon a time I ...." … thought life was simple and carefree. Now I don’t.

6. If you could win a one year's supply of anything, what would it be?  Chick-fil-a.

7. "One quirky thing you may not know about me is ...."  Just one???  Um.. I don’t like nuts ‘in’ things like brownies. That is just wrong to mix smooth things.. the brownies.. with crunchy things.. the nuts. Thankfully hubs is the same way. We heard Alton Brown say one time that at his house raisins are “always optional”. Well at my house, nuts are always optional.

8. You have one dollar in your pocket. What will you buy? Tea at Sonic during Happy Hour. It’s about the only thing I’d be able to afford with only $1.

9. "One thing that always makes me laugh is ...." … the hubby. He can always make me laugh!

10. What is one thing you could do today to help yourself reach a personal goal? Eat less. See # 6 and 8.

11. What is one thing you could do today to bless someone else? Hug them.

12. What is one thing you're looking forward to soon? Summer. : )

To check on more Random, hop on over to Lid’s place at 2nd Cup.

an ending and a beginning

The school year is coming to a close. By this time every year, we’re counting down. And this year is no exception.

But there are new things on the horizon.

After all these years in different schools, we’ve decided to try something completely different.

Online school.

I wouldn’t think much of the idea, but we have some good friends who love it. It takes less time and their son is getting an excellent education. So we’re taking the plunge. And because we’re always trying to stay ahead of things, we’ve already ordered her books etc.

She’s excited and so are we.

And the possibility of taking an off season vacation is just the cherry on top! : )

It’s hard to grasp that she’s well into high school now. We measured her last night and she’s exactly my height! I’m not ‘tall’ by any stretch, but of course it’s a milestone when you pass up a parent. I hope she’s happy with that, because I don’t think she’s going to pass up the hubster. That would be 11 more inches. I really don’t think that’s going to happen.

*******

Yesterday I went out shopping for some things for the girl. She is on a waiting list for summer camp through church. But I need to get everything ready, so that if a spot opens up, I’ll have everything she needs on hand. So I was at Target trying to find her a new bathing suit that covers her belly. (she has a tankini that fits, but it shows a tiny bit of her belly and that isn’t allowed..when you’re so tall and thin it’s getting harder and harder to find a one piece that covers all the territory, if you get my drift) So I was shopping and this lady was there with two young children trying to find a suit for herself. And answering countless questions. And hunting down little kids that want to hide under the racks.

I spent a lot of time just listening and giggling. Her kids were so cute! Finally I just said “enjoy this time, it’s precious”. She smiled and acknowledged what I’d said. We continued to chit chat as we hunted for things and then we both went our separate ways.

*******

Last night, my girl seemed upset when she was getting ready to fall asleep, so I crawled in bed with her, found my spoon’y snuggle spot and let her talk. I couldn’t believe that she was my exact size.. minus the extra..ahem.. fluff. I touched her face and arms and chin and remembered what doesn’t seem like that many days ago, when I could just hold her in my arms and do those things. And yet, here we are.

And there I was looking at her features in the dimly lit shadows the way I’ve done for 15 years remembering the same words…”enjoy this time, it’s precious”.

summer reading

I’ve got several things on my summer reading list. I’d love to catch them on sale, but I might end up paying more than I wanted, or maybe I’ll just check them out at the library.

I would love to read Laura Bush’s new book, Spoken From the Heart. I really admire her and look forward to reading about her. I read Barbara Bush’s A Memoir several years ago and loved it as well.

I have read amazing things about Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I thumbed through it today at Mardel….and it was even on sale, but I didn’t buy it. I know.. I should have just gone for it.

But I hate to buy a bunch of books when I have books here at home that I haven’t finished reading yet. I started Lysa TerKeurt’s book, Becoming More than a Good Bible Study Girl a while back and still haven’t finished it. And I have several Andrew Murray books on my bookshelf that I still haven’t read.

So I’m not sure if frugality will win out and I’ll read what I already own, or if I’ll snag some new releases and enjoy those.

What’s on your reading list this summer?

a touching Mother’s Day tribute…

…from the cat.

Um. not.

I also got a sweet card from the girl. The same girl that went to the fancy party weekend before last. 

And totally rocked a fancy barrette!

Not the ugly orange jobber-do we practiced doing her hair with.

She had a blast and I had fun fixing her up for her big night. She told me she was having a really good time while I curled her hair and helped her into her party dress. That was the best early Mother’s Day present ever!

This past Saturday we decided at the spur of the moment to go to the big amusement park that’s in another city ‘near’ us. We hadn’t been there in years. My how some things have changed…and other things have stayed the same. We had a good time.

And I came home convinced of something I don’t like to dwell on.

I’m old.

working on the pics

I told myself.. and y’all that I was going to start working on photos from when my kids were little.

Both kids.

Including before Bub’s illness, during and beyond.

I have started the process.

Since there are pix of both kids, I had to decide how I was going to do ‘this’. Here is what I decided. I did not want to constantly bombard the girl with pix of her brother and yet I didn’t want to erase him from everything either. So I separated the pix quite a bit. I have a book of her and a book of him (so we can look at them from time to time). But if both kids are together, I put just a few of those in her book. It still gives her a sense of when he was with us, but it is mostly about her. I think that will work out well for us without being ‘in your face’ about everything.

I have many pix that were taken of Bub when he was sick. I wanted to document everything, so that if he made it, he could see how far he came. So now they just remind me of everything we all went through..including him of course. What a strong, brave little man. It still astounds me that he rarely complained or even said he was in pain. Very remarkable for a three year old.

In the last few weeks, I have done from January when he was diagnosed, through July when he was having radiation.  I opened those pics today and just broke down. I have gone as far as I can go today (after doing several rolls from earlier, including when we shaved his head at diagnosis).

It’s very hard to look at picture after picture of my baby all sick like that. It just conjures up all sorts of images that I don’t dwell on very often.

It just hurts.