Well, its been over three years since I used this blog! So long, in fact, that I could not recall my passwords or how to even commence a new post! Amazing how quickly things can be forgetten when you neglect them....even if they were a part of your daily life for so long!
Anyhow...testing to see if this might be a feasible place to share our Civil War letters. At this juncture, the blog is not private, and I'm not entirely sure if it should be or not. Still have some thinking to do on that one. But for now.....lets just see how easy it is to post....
Until next time...
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Friday, August 13, 2010
Star Gazers
There are some moments in life that I hope just etch themselves into my mind so that years from now, when my children are older and time has slipped by, I can return to those wonderful tibdits and recall what once was. Last night was one of those times. A little before 2am, I sleepily wandered down the hall to Luke's room to gently wake my firstborn with kisses. While he strained to climb out of his slumber, I began to tell him that God had a special treat in store for us. I explained that while it was still the middle of the night, we were going to get up together...just him and I...and go outside and watch a special 'shooting star show' in the sky. As he rubbed his tired eyes and pulled on the sweatpants I had brought to this bedside, I could see understanding wash over him and excitement began to replace the sleepiness. Hand in hand, by the light of a single flashlight, Luke and I decended the stairs, grabbed the blankets and snack I had set out earlier in the night, and wandered with whispers into the backyard.
As we settled ourselves beneith our cozy cocoons on the trampoline, I explained as best I could what a meteor shower was, what to look for and why is was so special. Together, side by side, we munched on animal cookies there in the silent, cool night and eagerily searched the sky for its beautiful show. How precious now the memory is of him there beside me; the hood of his sweatshirt about his face while we quietly but excitedly called out time and time again "Whoa! Did you see that one?!". I smile now just recalling it. As the cool evening settled into our bodies and we snuggled deeper under the blankets, the sky seemed to give up its show. There were long stretches between the excitement, and as we whispered, I silently prayed for a special little treat...a bold star to fall across the sky. And I am not kidding...no sooner were the words thought in my mind did the brightest, most brilliant star of the evening go streaming across the sky straight above us leaving a trail in its wake, immediately followed by a second in the opposite direction! A most beautiful sight! I told Luke then that I had just prayed for a star and that God had given us those two to delight our hearts. We smiled together and I was gently reminded that how the Lord cares even about the 'small' details of our lives and longs to delight us. I love that about Him!
We lingered there in the night for awhile longer until our teeth began to chatter and our eyelids started to droop. Then we ventured back into the house and upstairs into the warmth of our beds. As we climbed the stairs Luke said, "Thanks, Mommy for this little vacation. I loved watching the stars with you." A vacation. How cute is that?! And so it was...Luke got to see his very first shooting stars and I got to be the one to share it with him!
As we settled ourselves beneith our cozy cocoons on the trampoline, I explained as best I could what a meteor shower was, what to look for and why is was so special. Together, side by side, we munched on animal cookies there in the silent, cool night and eagerily searched the sky for its beautiful show. How precious now the memory is of him there beside me; the hood of his sweatshirt about his face while we quietly but excitedly called out time and time again "Whoa! Did you see that one?!". I smile now just recalling it. As the cool evening settled into our bodies and we snuggled deeper under the blankets, the sky seemed to give up its show. There were long stretches between the excitement, and as we whispered, I silently prayed for a special little treat...a bold star to fall across the sky. And I am not kidding...no sooner were the words thought in my mind did the brightest, most brilliant star of the evening go streaming across the sky straight above us leaving a trail in its wake, immediately followed by a second in the opposite direction! A most beautiful sight! I told Luke then that I had just prayed for a star and that God had given us those two to delight our hearts. We smiled together and I was gently reminded that how the Lord cares even about the 'small' details of our lives and longs to delight us. I love that about Him!
We lingered there in the night for awhile longer until our teeth began to chatter and our eyelids started to droop. Then we ventured back into the house and upstairs into the warmth of our beds. As we climbed the stairs Luke said, "Thanks, Mommy for this little vacation. I loved watching the stars with you." A vacation. How cute is that?! And so it was...Luke got to see his very first shooting stars and I got to be the one to share it with him!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Camping pictures
Hi again!
Just posting a little slideshow from our trip. I don't have time right now to actually write a recap....maybe later on? We'll see. I will say...we had the most WONDERFUL time camping! I could not have asked for a better trip (aside from it being longer!) The kids did great and we each loved every second (well...except for maybe the one night that Luke woke up at 1am and I had to perform a rescue mission in the pitch dark to find his Bear!) Lol! Definitely something we hope to do year after year from here on out!
*I added a little song if you're interested in turning on your speakers*
Just posting a little slideshow from our trip. I don't have time right now to actually write a recap....maybe later on? We'll see. I will say...we had the most WONDERFUL time camping! I could not have asked for a better trip (aside from it being longer!) The kids did great and we each loved every second (well...except for maybe the one night that Luke woke up at 1am and I had to perform a rescue mission in the pitch dark to find his Bear!) Lol! Definitely something we hope to do year after year from here on out!
*I added a little song if you're interested in turning on your speakers*
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| Free picture slideshow personalized with Smilebox |
Thursday, July 29, 2010
The Long, Lost Blog
It has been quite some time since I came to this quiet spot to blog. But like a life-long friend, I find comfort and familiarity as I sit here mulling over recent months, making feeble attempts to articulate my absence. Yet contrasting my sense of ease as I come to type is how I feel so...umm...well, different. Changed in some intangible, inexpressible way. Four months. Longer than that really, if you count my dwindling posts in the latter part of 2009 and early 2010. I realize that I never really explained by sudden departure from sharing our life here. And quite honestly, there have been many days where I don't quite understand it myself. The best way I can sum it up is to say that my words were simply taken from me.
Most of you who know me well know that I see life in a series of analogies. Word-pictures. Even the simplest things of life often blossom into symbolic little tidbits for me that the Lord often uses to speak to my heart. For a long, long time, as I went about my days, these little tidbits would just pop into my mind or, at times, burn hot in my heart, and I simply just had to share them here. I felt driven to blog...encouraged to share my silly or subtle stories. But for whatever reason, as 2010 dawned, my words started to fade quietly away and the desire to blog dimmed like the fading sunset. In their place came a sense of dread when I thought of blogging. A feeling of obligation replaced the urgency to share. And most startling to me was how the word-pictures and symbolism seemed to die away. Life, in essence, got really, REALLY quiet. At-least life in this crazy little head of mine! LOL!
Looking back now, I sense that the Lord wanted to hush me. He wanted me to sit and be STILL. He wanted me to listen. He had some work to do in my heart and He knew that the only way to accomplish whatever it was He had planned was to take away my biggest distractions. And, knowing me as only He does, He knew that the only way for me to actually be still was to take away my drive to 'DO.' Photography, the blog, running....these are the things that always seemed to have me 'on the go', and they all fell away. I lost interest. I lacked motivation. It all simply felt unattractive to me.
Ironically, as my interest in those things waned, my deep desire to make the most of my time with the kids and Ty flourished, and I felt a keen pull to just be with them. Nothing else really seemed to matter more than just making the most of my moments and days and hours with them. Even my "gotta have it just so" attitude/perfectionistic qualities took a good long beating, and I found myself replacing all those "have-to's" with "whatever" and "whenever" more often.
Ultimately, as I try to quantify the "why's" behind all these things, I can say with certainty that the Lord wanted me to put first things first and get back to the basics. He wanted balance where there had been disparity. He wanted my motivation for things to come less from the sense of obligation or guilt and more from a deep desire to please only Him.
While I sense that much ground was gained on this journey He has set before me, there is still work yet to be done, as there is within all of us I am sure. But little by little, He is graciously returning my words, my motivation and my precious little tidbits of understanding. I can't say whether or not I'll be here to blog much, but I know that at-least *ONE* of you is still out there keeping an eye on us, so I will be sure to add a few pictures here and there so life doesn't continue to pass us by undocumented. ;) Our recent camping trip is certain to be recapped in a few days, so stay tuned. :)
Most of you who know me well know that I see life in a series of analogies. Word-pictures. Even the simplest things of life often blossom into symbolic little tidbits for me that the Lord often uses to speak to my heart. For a long, long time, as I went about my days, these little tidbits would just pop into my mind or, at times, burn hot in my heart, and I simply just had to share them here. I felt driven to blog...encouraged to share my silly or subtle stories. But for whatever reason, as 2010 dawned, my words started to fade quietly away and the desire to blog dimmed like the fading sunset. In their place came a sense of dread when I thought of blogging. A feeling of obligation replaced the urgency to share. And most startling to me was how the word-pictures and symbolism seemed to die away. Life, in essence, got really, REALLY quiet. At-least life in this crazy little head of mine! LOL!
Looking back now, I sense that the Lord wanted to hush me. He wanted me to sit and be STILL. He wanted me to listen. He had some work to do in my heart and He knew that the only way to accomplish whatever it was He had planned was to take away my biggest distractions. And, knowing me as only He does, He knew that the only way for me to actually be still was to take away my drive to 'DO.' Photography, the blog, running....these are the things that always seemed to have me 'on the go', and they all fell away. I lost interest. I lacked motivation. It all simply felt unattractive to me.
Ironically, as my interest in those things waned, my deep desire to make the most of my time with the kids and Ty flourished, and I felt a keen pull to just be with them. Nothing else really seemed to matter more than just making the most of my moments and days and hours with them. Even my "gotta have it just so" attitude/perfectionistic qualities took a good long beating, and I found myself replacing all those "have-to's" with "whatever" and "whenever" more often.
Ultimately, as I try to quantify the "why's" behind all these things, I can say with certainty that the Lord wanted me to put first things first and get back to the basics. He wanted balance where there had been disparity. He wanted my motivation for things to come less from the sense of obligation or guilt and more from a deep desire to please only Him.
While I sense that much ground was gained on this journey He has set before me, there is still work yet to be done, as there is within all of us I am sure. But little by little, He is graciously returning my words, my motivation and my precious little tidbits of understanding. I can't say whether or not I'll be here to blog much, but I know that at-least *ONE* of you is still out there keeping an eye on us, so I will be sure to add a few pictures here and there so life doesn't continue to pass us by undocumented. ;) Our recent camping trip is certain to be recapped in a few days, so stay tuned. :)
Monday, March 22, 2010
Weekend Wanderers
We had a beautiful weekend together as a family! Spent time working in the yard, washing cars, hanging out with great friends and enjoying a Sunday afternoon stroll through the canyon yesterday as dusk. And since I haven't been much a blogger lately, I just thought I'd share a couple pictures from our wandering through the wildflowers. All I can say is that we are so blessed! Life is good!
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