i should have listened to the BRAT

diet, that is.

you know, bananas, rices, applesauce and toast.

but i didn't listen. lulu had her first experience with "the throw up" (how tate referred to it as a little one and it's stuck.) she was lethargic and laid on the couch with her puke bowl. despite how miserable she seemed, dancing with the stars brought out her smile...

as the day wore on she was acting normal and so i thought maybe the morning was just a fluke. darn that optimism. in hindsight, i realize that i shouldn't have taken her to a church function. and i shouldn't have let her eat a cheeseburger. and cheetos. and m&m's. all on a day she had started with "the throw up".

started and ended with "the throw up" that is. midnight wasn't a very fun time around here. thanks to the cheeseburger and the cheetos and the m&m's.

i let history be my teacher. guess what was for dinner tonight?

bananas and toast. practicality has it's place.

of course, so do cheetos and m&m's.

perfect timing

i was getting ready to do a new post this morning as my eyes glanced over the number of comments on my last post. two. i sighed. they were both precious to me, but only two? and then i read this, a blogger's prayer at ann voskamp's aholyexperience.com. if you blog, please take a minute to read it. it spoke right into the place of my sighing. and lifted my eyes up where they belong.

this isn't another one of my pathetic pleas for comments. i really don't need them. i need jesus. so that's all for this post today. i think i'm gonna pick up my bible now.

money!

this year, i didn't take my kids to the free (and rather lame) pumpkin patch that i usually do. i actually paid money and found that sometimes you get what you pay for. and what we got was a whole lotta fun in the air...

on the ground...

and in between...

i was reminded that as much as we value time with those outside our family, it is so good for my kids to be together not just as siblings, but as friends...

and that is priceless.

the moves like jagger

our students had a swing dance this weekend. we went as a family. yes, we all still go to college parties. yes, it's kind of weird. but it is also kind of fun.

i thought bill and i would be like magic on the dance floor (because i am delusional). but i forgot that as i age i am becoming increasingly prone to dizziness. (is this happening to anyone else??!) so every time i would spin even just once, i would have to stop and gather myself. needless to say, that made me a rather lame swing dance partner. darn you, middle-age! but em, she and her daddy tore it up...

Lulu had a pretty great dance partner too...

true to form, jack was the one who requested the two songs that had everybody dancing. cupid shuffle and the hokey pokey...

how he can be the life of any party, including a college one, continually amazes me...

he's got the moves alright, but i hope they aren't the moves like jagger. those disturb me.

i did it.

i bought a mac. which means i believed the hype. i drank the kool aid. i crossed over.

it also means i am currently in a state of confusion. thankfully i have kids who actually understand how the thing works. but it might take me awhile to be fully operational with it.

in the meantime, my kids are having lots of fun...

i can't answer the question mac or pc yet since i am still baby stepping my way around the mac. but i have been reminded of something regarding that question that has probably usurped "what came first the chicken or the egg?" in popularity.

it's just a machine. it has no soul. it has no eternal value. a computer may make my life easier (though some days, like today, more complicated when i can't quite figure out how to do a post), but it doesn't make my life better or more full or meaningful. it's not a way of life. neither can it give or sustain life. i know where true life is found (john 14:6). this mac is just a machine.

but a machine that takes pictures like this...

might keep us laughing all weekend long.

dancing with the kollars

lulu hated watching tv until she fell in love with emma's recital dvd this fall. she asked to watch it all the time while dancing along...

but she found a new obsession when i happened along dancing with the stars one night. she was immediately starstruck. we have never watched it before (except for a few times to support my donny osmond-loving sister) so i am a little late to the party. honestly, i am not totally sure that it's best for her to see some of the dancing and costumes. i was actually kind of proud when she yelled "get some clothes on!" to the shirtless male dancers. but, with some editing, it looks like dancing with the stars is our new american idol.

this new form of family entertainment inspired our most recent family night, dancing with the kollars. we moved all the furniture out of our family room to prepare for new carpet and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to do our own version of the show...

sadly there are no pictures of bill and i doing our routine to love shack. i'm sure we looked exactly like derek and julianne hough. so much so that i almost squirted in my pants a few times due to extreme laughter (and obviously not doing my kegel exercises all these years).

this is our version of clubbing. the only sad part was that it all happened after our tiny dancer was in bed. that's okay, i think it just might happen again.

a birthday k.i.s.s.

k.i.s.s.

"keep it simple, stupid".

i have been admonished to follow this acronym regarding various events in my life.

But it always seems that i prefer

m.i.a.c.a.c.a.p

which stands for "make it as complex and chaotic as possible".

but for jack's 9th birthday party, i kept it simple for once. no grand dreams, just the basics.

for the third time, jack wanted a football party. easy enough. we had his own football cards made for the invites...

(cheap and easy. thank you walmart)

to make it even more simple, we decided to have a football scrimmage as the activity...

decorations, treat bags and food were simple and easy...

(those are napkins...aren't they fun???)

but i found out that decorating a cake like a football field is not so simple...

look for me on cake wrecks because that is definitely where i deserve to be. but the homemade red velvet cake tasted good and served it's purpose, despite how it looked...

with my parties something always has to go wrong, i'm okay with it.

but what went right is that this young man had a great time celebrating...

and being celebrated...

i am glad that jack's party was not only fun, but didn't leave me with regrets of all my unrealistic plans turned unmet expectations. not only did jack have fun, but i had a fun too...

(i'm trying to do my sexy look. obviously the cake wasn't the only thing that didn't work out!)

maybe jack's party was a success 'cause it was sealed with a k.i.s.s....

i hope i can live by that motto more often in life!

If time flies when you're having fun

then time has flown at breakneck speed the past 9 years of knowing this boy...

Jack=fun...

Big fun. Big personality. Big smile. Big voice. Big dreams. Big energy. Big humor. Big heart. Big nine year old boy.

But none as big as my love for you...

Happy Birthday, Jack.