On a warm fall day...

....you might head to the arboretum to view the beautiful colors and try to improve your tree identification.

...you might take your walking sticks but use them as anything but, especially when posing in front of mom's favorite tree.

...you might need a close-up to see the name of the tree.

...you might be inspired by big brother to see if you can make no noise while walking through the trees.

...you might get a little silly in all the fresh air.

...and you just might end up being thankful you took the time and went.

In which Levi demolishes a tried and true idiom

Me, eyeing the small-stomach-gets-full-fast-child get her second helping of spaghetti and meatballs: "Are you sure about that? I think your eyes are bigger than your stomach."

D: "What does that mean?"

Levi: "Oh, that means you see something and you think you should get a lot of it, but it's probably too much to eat. My eyes do that all the time...

[pause]

But, they're usually right."

Random Wednesday thoughts

*The non-intentional dropping of half of the large container of granola in the pantry this morning turned positive: 2 industrious 6-year-olds spent an hour completely cleaning out and re-organizing the pantry floor. They're good, too. They love having complete control over the vacuum wand.

*I joined a community choir (yes, just me!). I think I'm the only 30-something (or anywhere near). I love the breathing practice, and the vowel formation, and the being instructed in something again, and being around other people who sigh with pure delight at beautiful harmonies.

*Having children narrate back to you what you just read them never fails to entertain and enlighten.

*Even if the dishwasher is not being used because it just has a leak, and you're fine with hand-washing dishes all summer, you should still open it from time to time just to see if everything is the same inside. It might not be. It might have black, smelly water pooling up.

*Husbands get big bonus points when they spend their only sports-free evening working on the dishwasher.

*There's really not time to waste in this world with fake "I'm fine" 's. Speak up.

*Leah: "I can't kiss you because you're sick. And I don't want to get your sick. But I can hug you! And I do love hugs!" Hard to beat an enthusiastic-for-life 5-year-old. : )

In the mood for a picture...

...of what else? Elles ninos and ninas. (And marido.)

I am an ant

Can I self-analyze for 5 quick minutes? Because 5 minutes is about all I've got.

I am an ant. Not a grasshopper, not a snail, definitely not a spider, not a worm. Given the nature of the life circumstances in which I find myself, I have quite a bit to "do" each day. Every day. And while my list varies some with seasons and life, most of what I do each day is very similar to what I did yesterday and what I will do tomorrow.

Right now I'm in one of those seasons where I have my "every day" stuff, plus. (The word "plus" holds a lot, doesn't it?) I am doing much better at keeping up with my list in this season, as opposed to the previous season (summer) when I didn't have as much to do and I tried to be a snail. I tried to slow down and relax and make everything else slow down and relax. That didn't work.

I think I can revel in my "ant"-ness and still relax. Relax, as in, "live life resting in the peace of God and not stressing about my list". I do better when I stay on everyday tasks and short-term plan tasks and long-term planning tasks and pour myself out each day. He gives me the strength I need to "be the ant".

Breaking News: Life filled with laughter and blessings after 13 years of marraige

After soccer/football practices tonight, the kids were eating their snack while Eric had left to run an errand. I saw that he had left me a card for our anniversary, and opened it. It was perfect, and of course I started tearing up a little. After Levi noticed (he always is the one who notices) and got everyone to give me a group hug, I was just overwhelmed with the blessing of this life I have.

So I started to tell the kids how blessed they were to have a dad like Eric. I told them how smart their dad was, and how hard he works to take care of his family. And I told them that the best thing was how their dad loves God, and teaches them what he had learned from God. I paused so they could take it all in. Their faces were glowing with smiles as they finished their watermelon.

Then Leah, with bright eyes and an earnest face, paused with her fork mid-air and asked: "So, what's the bad news?"

Quote of the week...month...

"I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please. Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don’t want enough of God to make me love a foreigner or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation. I want warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please."

Wilbur Rees