How warm is it?

Warm enough to ride around town like this...
It was not an intentional move to take the baby out nakey, but the warm weather sure helps when you have a spit up incident in Target that smells so rank you must get the outfit as far from you as humanly possible.

Prior to the stripping down, we had lunch with friends at Qdoba (what's your vote? Q or Chipotle? Despite the beauty of the queso, I'm going to have to go with Chipotle on this one). One friend, Sherri, who has been ahead of us in adoption and helped us so much along the way. She has a 5 year old son from China and a 3 year old daughter from Vietnam. They are so precious...
The other, Beth, is just getting started in a domestic infant minority program after patiently waiting for her turn. God provided all their finances already. How's that for a confirmation that it is time for them to move forward? It's so fun to be able to cheer her along in their process, just like she cheered us along. She was asking about hair and skin care. I am by no means an expert in this area, but I am baby-stepping my way to hairstyles beyond just ginormous bows(though I still love them fiercely). Here's my first "poof" attempt...
Parting has never been my forte. But I have a feeling that "practice will make slightly better". And I should be getting a lot of practice through the years. I added some doo-dads and liked the effect...
I am still very much in the novice category, but I have high hopes for what the future may bring.
As for skin care, I learned this lesson the hard way. One of our students was talking about being "ashy" if she didn't have enough lotion and immediately I realized that I wasn't even putting lotion on Lulu...
Definitely "ashy". My bad. So, thanks to Tanisha unknowingly educating me, we are now using Palmer's Shea Butter Formula every day and Lulu's skin is looking smooth and silky. If you don't believe me, just check out the nakey at the top of the post.

Now if you will excuse me, I need to spend some time scheming on how to punk my kids for April Fool's tomorrow. I have to redeem myself from last year.

There are two sides to every story

My last post was about how sad I was that spring break was over. And about how much I would miss "The Others" while they were back in school. And those things are not untrue. But, I also have been enjoying the past two days.

It has been fun to have the time to focus on Lulu. We have been enjoying the beautiful weather...
Even enjoying a little picnic...

"more"


"please"


"yummy"

As much as I love one on one time with her, I fell asleep last night at 9pm. I'm thinking it was from being back on Lulu Patrol on my own. I know there is just one of her, but the job of protecting her from the imminent dangers of daily life tends to wear me out.

I also enjoyed a trip to Sam's Club with just one child in tow. She didn't ask for Sun Chips or Propel or gum or honey buns. (Last time I had "help" at the store with me, we totaled up how much it cost me to have this helper along. $14. I realize it wouldn't have cost me any more had I said "no" to my helpers requests. I'm a work in progress.) Neither did Lulu fight with anyone at the store. Of course, she also couldn't help carry in the groceries but she was a delightful companion nonetheless.

Of course, I have three baskets full of laundry to fold, a Bible calling to me and ministry responsibilities that have long been neglected. But I'll take it one step at a time.

And the next step is to enjoy the fact that it is 11:58 and I am blogging. 11:58 AM, not PM, that is. I dig that.

It's hard to say good-bye...

to Spring Break. Late nights, sleeping in, pop tarts for breakfast and jammies til 2pm were the rule, not the exception. And best of all, having all 4 of my lovelies home every day. Though, of course, their behavior (and mine) is not always lovely, but I like having them around. They are indeed lovely to me. And our Spring Break was lovely as well. Here are some of the things that we did when we finally got out of bed and got dressed...

1. A trip to the Children's Museum...

"Help me, my Mom is a blogger."

Lulu enjoyed watching the kids run around almost as much as she did running around herself...
2. I've already blogged about our time at Gunga's, but we also had time at Grandma's...

Who knew he could walk on water???

How much money do you think we can make on Bill's child restraint system?
I know it looks kind of mean, but she loved it...
3. Enjoying warmer weather
4. Playing games
5. And WAY too much screen time!
Tomorrow morning, it's back to early rising, getting dressed in the a.m., and decent breakfasts. I'll miss you, Spring Break. I'll especially miss you Tate, Em, and Jack. As will Lulu. This is where you will find us tomorrow about 3pm...
Waiting for you.

If these walls could speak

There's a house that calls to us. It is like no other in the world. It is a place of warmth, graciousness and fun. It is all those things because it reflects the heart of the woman who makes it a home. It holds the memory of a couple who loved each other well. It holds the promise of being accepted as soon as you walk in the door. It is a place where Jesus is honored as King. It is Gunga's house. We love to go there and we find it hard to leave. It's no wonder why.

Here's a sampling of some of the things we experienced on our latest trip to Gunga's house.

A fort in the bunkbed room...
A little concert in the groovy potted plant room...
Lots of fun in the forest out back...
Yummy food for all...
(Check out how she twists her tongue around. Such talent!)

And you can always find Dogs Behaving Badly...
Yes, that's Gunga (in her sassy new platinum wig) making sure her dog's thirst is quenched. Let's just say she doesn't watch The Dog Whisperer. But she loves them like she loves everyone else: lavishly.

Love lives here. Love this place. Love the one who makes it so special.

Excessive Celebration

We are struggling to emotionally absorb the news that mom's cancer seems to have become resistant to the current chemo drugs. But, if my Mommy has taught me anything it is that you can always find a reason to have a party. So, we have been celebrating family for the past several days by making every day a party.

There was lots of laughter...
Plenty o'craziness...

Cousin love...
And Gunga love...

The day after St. Paddy's day, we celebrated our own holiday called St. Daddy's Day as Bill returned home from being gone all week. How happy we were to have him back...
Bill was with a group of our students in Panama City Beach, Florida. The crazy thing is that on Wednesday it was sunny and 60 degrees here and rainy and 50 degrees there! He was able to see his mentor and dear friend, who was speaking at the conference...
While Bill was at the beach, we had a little beach action of our own as Jack was the Beach Buddy of the Week at school. It's like Star of the Week, only better because it has the word "beach" in it. He could not contain his excitement. He told me "Mom, this is the biggest deal ever! I have waited 119 days for this!" But who's counting? When you are star of the week, you get to take in show in tell every day. Bill got home in time for the climax of the week: taking Ruby, the Hairy Beast, on the last day...

Oh, the little joys of life! As you can see, there is much to celebrate around here, even in the midst of sadness.

"They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness."
Psalm 145:7

This is my song

Okay, so because of my last post everyone thinks I am a psychopathic mother who taunts her baby with lollies only to steal them away. It didn't exactly happen like that. She got a good portion of the lolli before I had visions of her two little tooth stubs rotting away before they even fully sprout and took it away from her in love.

Speaking of this picture from the previous post...
It captures how I felt today since we received the news that my mom's tumor has grown significantly, despite the chemo treatments. This is hard news especially since we were just told in January that the tumor was shrinking. I feel the sadness rising within in me. But there is something else rising within me at the same time. A song. There is still a song in my heart to God. A song of thankfulness. A song of hope. A song of trust in His goodness and care for His children.

And, thanks to our dear friend Robin, the song is sung in my mother's beautiful voice. Robin had my mother sing four meaningful songs at her recording studio and gave us the CD. It is an amazing treasure. An unbelievable gift. She sings two songs that she sang to us and our children as lullabies. The same songs her mother sang to her. We also have her singing two of her favorite hymns.

The same night we got the news of the growth of her cancer, my sisters and I listened together to my sweet Mommy's voice singing these precious words...

"This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior, all the day long..."

And

"Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me."

Amen.

Lolli-Palooza

Lulu had her first Lolli...
It was love at first lick...
It was deserving of "the flirty"...
All was well with the world.

Until it was taken away...
Sorry, baby.