Of course when you're 4, your job at the museum is to pretend to be all the animals you see. . .  In one of these pictures he is posing as a large creepy fish. In the other he is at the Smithsonian's human evolution exhibit and said he was pretending to be a  "human monkey."

We just had to squeeze in one last day playing outside in the water.  Nothing mimics a lazy summer day like a blow up pool in the back yard.

Cute-tiful Children

 I'm blessed with beautiful children. I all too frequently comment on Elsie's cuteness.  Sometimes I even feel guilty about this, but I just can't help myself. Maybe I should be vocally patting her back for other things instead. I should probably make more comments about her being thoughtful, observant, coordinated. . . .  I could brag on and on about her 'assets' that make her a great baby.  But I suppose when you're only 1, being called "cute" sums it up quite nicely.

 This video is classicly Elsie- Sugary sweet then suddenly (and thankfully temporarily) sour. Then back to sweet.

Halloween

Halloween was probably just as fun today, as a parent watching my kids, as it was when I was a kid dressed up and frantically collecting candy. 

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Halloween Prelim

Friday was a local trunk-or-treat. Dad and Else were Capt Hook and Tinker Bell, and Mom and Liam were Princess Leia and the one and only Vader.

A day at the horses

       Elsie's perfect day would be an afternoon of licking the icing off cupcakes and watching horses. Saturday her dream came true. 

      Elsie obsesses over horses.We play pretend horse where she makes horse sounds, eats horse food and trots. We watch youtube horse slideshows. We read book after book where she points to horses and smiles.  

Opening the door to winter

I've never yet met a winter I really liked. He's an unwanted guest and by the time he leaves he's always overstayed his welcome.

He sneaks up on me every year.  He disguises himself with white sparkly lights, and delicious holiday memories. I don't even notice he's here until it's too late.

I can't escape him. I stay inside and sit huddled next to the warmth of the heater clenching my library books. I warm my hands with mugs of hot cocoa dolloped with cream. I stay in the steamy bath long enough to feel my fingers wrinkle and my water grow chilly. From each room of the house I look out the frosty window to see the cold waiting for me.  He waits to pounce on me, nip at my ankles, and numb my fingers.

Every year winter freezes me. The short days stunt my ambition. I stop running, I stop gardening. I stop lingering outside on long, strolling walks.  I stop playing and I slow  to a hault.
Then I wait, and wait, and wait, for spring.

Maybe this year I'll try opening up my door and inviting him in. Maybe then he won't be so hostile.

My life feels easy right now.   Every morning I wake up happy and in the evening I go to sleep feeling content.  I feel comfortable with where I’m in life and what I’m doing.  Days have slowed down to skipping pace.  I feel like I am savoring the sweetness of my beautiful children. I feel Gods love heaped upon me.  It feels like a cushy, warm blanket.  I still have stress I’m working through (my grandmas recent passing, STILL being a poor college student) but I feel like my prayers get answered at super lightning speed. I feel like God and I are tight.

My old ipod was recently resurrected, 3 years after a repair shop declared it dead . It suffered a slow death in a pile of rain drenched leaves in Michigan.  It lived in junk drawers but never quite made it to the trash.  Then this past week Elsie found it, carried it around, and begged me to plug it in. Miraculously it worked. I revisited a song I hadn’t heard in years. Here it is-

*****“When you least Expect it” by Hilary Weeks

It’s been raining for days, no sign of it letting up. All I can think about is how much I miss the sun.

The sound is almost hypnotizing, pounding on the pavement. Drop by drop I forget how good the sun feels of my face. Then through the shadows, beyond the clouds, a ray of light hits my window.  I can’t believe it, but I can see it right in front of my eyes.

That’s when it happens, when you least expect it. When you feel like the storm will never end. That’s when it happens. Light cuts through the darkness and heaven surprises you.

When you least expect it.

I quit counting the hours I’ve prayed for answers. I can’t help wondering how long will I have to wait. Why is heaven silent while I’m running out of words. I keep on knocking but nobody hears me standing at the door. 

Then through the shadows, beyond the doubt, heaven sends the answer.

And that’s when it happens, when you least expect it.  When you know God has heard every prayer. That’s when it happens. Love breaks through the darkness and heaven surprises you. When you least expect it.*****

It made me think about lessons I’ve learned.  God is always there for us, he has blessings waiting for us up his sleeve, we just need to be patient.  He knows us and loves us, he lets us fall on our face but then he’s there to pick us up. 

I have very distinct memories of a few years back feeling like I had spent entirely too much time on my knees and at church for my life to be so gut wrenching and painful.  I felt ripped off. I waited, and waited, and waited, for things to get easier.  They didn’t.  One lame day at a time I worked and waded through my problems. But then suddenly, out of nowhere and without doing a thing, it became easier to breath.  Suddenly, I wasn’t sinking.  Problems weren’t solved but my ability to handle them from that day on increased dramatically. Suddenly I could relent, relax, and let go.

Things have been much more smooth sailing since. And now I’m in a place where sad days seem far away. I’m at a place where I can see Gods hand in my life as clearly.

I’m not sure what to attribute my abrupt bought of grace to but I have come to suspect that maybe it’s just how God and life works, in big sudden pay offs.  Sometimes Gods timing sucks.  He seems a little late to the game, but that’s just how he plays and He still gets MVP every time.  Life is full of suprises for good and bad, but mainly for good.