a settled place

I should be doing laundry. But there are two things about that... 1) I'd have to get off this chair and go downstairs and 2) my clothes still smell like saltwater/sand and it just seems like such a shame to wash it off. ;) Oregon was definitely just what I needed... we went for Taylor & Allison's wedding, but that was only a part of our trip. The first few days ended up being a getaway to the coast and it was perfect. We had a beautiful place to stay, a quick and short walk to the water, and some distance from home. Sometimes, distance from normal life gives me new resolve to parent well, to keep my house well, and to throw myself wholeheartedly into whatever it is that's in front of me. Our weekend away definitely gave me new energy for that. I'll admit that in some ways I was looking for a more pivotal, revolutionary moment - hearing God perfectly clearly and journaling about all of the wonderful things He was teaching me. But actually, what He taught me was fai

Ivory turned 4 on March 4! Her golden birthday was very anticipated and well-celebrated, thanks to all of our wonderful family. "Fancy Nancy" is a favorite character around here these days and made the perfect party theme. It was all very pink and purple, and, well, fancy. And thanks to everyone's willingness to add an "accessory" to their "ensembles", it was quite a memorable event. Tia Leah made the cake, and we had sandwiches with frilly toothpicks, and everything. :) If you haven't read "Fancy Nancy" (the original book), you definitely need to. It will make you want to have a party for sure, and will give you plenty of suggestions for how to do it. Ivory had the time of her life dressing up in her pink sparkly outfit - and still does. We love her so much and are so grateful for God's gift in putting her in our family. I pray often that she'll always strive for inner beauty above all... that the glitter and sparkle wouldn'

There is dress-up and role playing on a daily basis around here these days... ... and its a good thing we can use our imaginations to take us places because the reality is, we're all dressed up, but we've really got nowhere to go. That's not to say there haven't been some fun days out in the past few weeks... Ivory had her much-anticipated Valentine's Day party with her Sunday school class (pictured above), and we've done a few Sunday afternoon drives to Fairbury/Forrest for family stuff. And I got to spend the day with Luann, Michelle, and Heather last Friday shopping in Aurora, and that was most definitely a bright spot in my February. But to be honest, there's also been an awful lot of staying home here lately. And that has been good. We've found more than enough to work on, and some great reading material, had a few visitors pop in, and, this week in particular, nearly drained the bottle of children's Tylenol. :) I turned the calendar