waking up and settling in

Hello all, sorry for the long break between posts. I have to admit, I've gotten a bit preoccupied with trivial fluff lately, and let myself get a bit lazy about a lot of things. We went to church tonight, and heard a fantastic message about "The Rich Fool", (see for yourself, Luke 12:13-21), about a man who came to Jesus and the first thing out of his mouth was not "what's this whole free gift of eternal life thing?" or "what's the deal with your forgiving people of their sins no matter what?", but "My brother got more of the inheritance than me, tell him to give me my share!". Hmmm, your one chance with JESUS, God incarnate, and the guy totally blew it. Now, of course, Jesus didn't rebuke the guy straight out, but loved him enough to tell him a story that basically boils down to the fact that whenever we "store up" for ourselves treasures on earth, and neglect loving God, serving God, serving people that is the epitome of foolishness. I have begun to go down this road, the road of comfort, the road of selfishness and apathy, and how much else can I store up in this world? Our church is sending a small group of dedicated families to start a new church in downtown Bellevue, a very posh section of town in the midst of 1.5 million people who do not know the incredibly good news that not only is Jesus real, but that his free gift of grace, God's love and forgiveness is alive and well and waiting for them. Its interesting to think of this area as being a mission field, a mission field not among the poorest of the poor, but perhaps the richest of the rich, people who think they are Christian because they celebrate Christmas and Easter, or that they are going to heaven because they are "good people" and they believe in God and they are doing their best, and what else is there? People lulled by their comfort into thinking their lives are under control. I am lulled by my own comfort, but I am waking up again. Thank goodness he never lets me wander too far, or I would surely be lost by now.

So, I'm settling into the comforts of Fall, family and the upcoming holidays, and waking up to a new work God is doing in our church, in our community, and in my heart. Some comforts are such gifts. Others, such a stumbling block!

If you are wondering what I'm talking about, or think I'm getting all Jesus Freaky, you know, it just is what it is. Truth with a capital T.

Darling Daughters

Hello everyone! Not much new to report for now. Here is a long awaited view of our middle girl playing her violin. I didn't think about the fact that it would come out sideways once I played it on the computer, so just have a little giggle on me while you turn your laptop on end, or watch this clip sideways. Enjoy!





Also, here are a couple pics of babygirl tonight. I was so awestruck by the awesome-ness of her post shower curls, I had to go grab the camera before tucking her in.



Yesterday, the girls came with me to the Farmgirls meeting, and we went to a Spinning class at the Foothills Academy in nearby Duvall. It was so cool! We learned how to make yarn from wool roving (basically, brushed raw wool) with a spindle. Its very simple, but somehow very satisfying! Middle girl has found a new passion, and she is my little fiber fiend in the making, loving anything to do with yarn, knitting, crochet, etc. She is spinning her little heart out, and it warms my heart. I bet Anna is going to post some of her fabulous photos from the class soon, since she and her girls were there too.

Until next time,

Daddy's home

And all is right with the world....









Hope everyone has a great week! And remember, BE the blessing...

Randomness

We're crawling out from under the rock of 3 rounds of the stomach flu (me, babygirl and big girl), and the man is in the Los Angeles for 4 days adding to his real estate guru-ness. Did you know that he is a real estate guru? Well, he is. We miss him greatly. I'm very proud of him. He'll be home tomorrow, and then I'm taking a looooong bubble bath. I don't have too much to share right now. I'm generally happy. But honestly, today and yesterday, I've been mostly grumpy. I'm sure it will pass uh, in a few days, if you know what I mean. Ahem.

Anyhoo, I haven't taken too many pics lately, but here are a few I forgot about that I found on my camera today.

I call this, "Tomatoes from My Garden, Glistening in Morning Sunshine" (too much?)





Here's one I like to call, "Cute Moment with Babygirl Playing with Ball of Yarn, Not Quite in Focus"




Here's one (ok, two) that I call "Babygirl in Bathtub, Not Quite in focus and With Too Much Digital Noise, Because I Don't Exactly Know What I'm Doing With My Camera." Still, very cute babygirl!
Oh, and babygirl pooped in said bathtub tonight. :) Don't tell her I told you.

Happy Birthday, Ponchito!

That's what they called him in the song last night at the restaurant, and it made us all giggle, and that includes pretty much the whole restaurant. I bet you just giggled too! :) I tried to look it up online to see what it means, and the official Spanish translator didn't recognize it.(I think maybe that's a bad sign) Other, googled answers came up with "cheap dive/Mexican restaurant", "belly", and uh, other things too. SO, Happy Birthday to my love, my partner in life (and crime), my very best friend. Ponchito!!

And anyone recognize this child??




Yes, that's Lil Ponchito himself, circa 1974 or so. Or is that our youngest daughter, aka babygirl herself? Weird, huh??!

And if there are any spanish translators out there, and know that this is actually some kind of dirty word... just let us stay in the dark, ok? Let us enjoy the giggles!

In a word, me

I made this here.

My Latest Thoughts and Stuff

Hey y'all, just thought I'd check in, and give you a peek into what's going on in my little world and mind lately.

• I love Fall.

• Soccer is not so bad.

• I am going to stop biting my fingernails. Again.

• I might get a tattoo. (gasp! I know! I want one, 'cause I'm crazy like that)

• I love it when hubby man makes a fire in the fireplace. It makes me feel all safe and "schmoopy". I especially like it when he does it with his hat on backwards. He's extra cute that way.
  

• I'm going to knit more, and actually learn how to do things that aren't just rectangles! I made a new friend at the Farmgirls meeting last week (we learned how to make cheese!), and she's going to be my knitting mentor. I'm going to be her chicken mentor. (who'd a thought I'd be a chicken mentor?!)

• I'm learning about this out-there, "woo-woo" thing called the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), which is a pretty straightforward acupressure technique to help with all kinds of physical and emotional issues. I'm learning that its not that out there or woo-woo, and that I think it works, and the mind/body connection is an amazing thing. Ok, its still a little woo-woo.
  

• I love not homeschooling. (there, I said it out loud.) Homeschooling is great for a lot of people. Regular school is great for me.

• I love to read, and yet I don't do it very often. I check out a lot of books from the library, but then just leave them in a pile next to my bed or on the coffee table, and look at them. I love knowing I have a pile of books at hand, in case I get inspired to step away from the computer!

• Right now, I'm not that great at keeping up with this blog, or getting my camera out to capture all the ordinary, wonderful moments, people, and things around me. But, I promise I'll keep at it.