Grave Mistake.

This weekend I ran to the commissary for a few necessities. "Ice cream sounds good, I'll get a pint." So I strolled past the freezer cases and my eyes fell on Haagen Dazs Java Chip. Since I was in a bit of a hurry I thought "Sounds good, I'll give it a try." BIG MISTAKE. It is incredibly yummy, smooth, satisfying. BIG MISTAKE.

Overheard

Kaelyn: "Your baby is hungry"

Elyse "Ok, I'll feed her"

Kaelyn "Are you going to feed her with your nibbles?"

Elyse "What?"

Kaelyn lifts up her shirt and shows her "Your nibbles."

Tonight's Dinner Conversation

AJ (arms extended in classic muscle man pose): "I m a strong super hero! (GRUNT) I will save you."
Abigail (sweet and composed): "Thank you for saving me from the lion, hero, will you please call for dinner?"
AJ (flexing again): "GRUNT"

...for some reason I felt like I was in a caveman re-enactment!

First Haircut!

Look at that long hair! It was down to her waist.

This is pretty much how she was for the whole first half....leaning on Mamas tummy.

First Snips!

Ta-Dah! She was comfortable by the end and now has hair half way up her back. I have to admit I'm a little surprised that I was kinda sad since I was the one pushing for the cut :) They put "princess" braids in her hair which she promptly wanted removed when we got home in favor of a ponytail :)

Fun In The Sun!

We are having great weather and I think summer is on it's way! This weekend we decided to kick it off with the purchase of a pool and Strawberry Shortcake for dinner!

Abigail's Birthday

Well, Abigail is 4! She partied for like three weeks. We had a party at home with my family and our close friends, she had a party at school and we celebrated twice with friends here at Travis AFB (not pictured)! What a lucky girl!

Story Time Sleepover

Lovely Reminder

What To Always Remember when You're Working

All work is good work. The work of our hands is always making the world a better place.

And work is my liturgy, motions of worship to Him, who from, and to, and through, are all things.





All once was perfect, ordered, pristine, back there, In the Beginning. In That Garden. But not now. Not in this house, not in this garden.

Science may call it entropy, the second law of thermodynamics, the wearing down of all systems, the measure of chaos. God calls it sin and decay, and my daily battle.

Weeds, dirty laundry, piling dishes, dust collecting...this is life after the Fall.

Yet, in small ways, I return to Father and the Perfect Time Before when I order, wash away, sweep clean...beating back the chaos, the powers of destruction.

Simple acts of cleaning are my humble, conquering efforts in the quotidian struggle between chaos and order, creation and disintegration, God and Death. And I frame this cleaning as my monastic beauty, my daily wrestle, to create, in imperfect ways, a world for these loved ones... like You created so perfectly for humanity when the world began....

Deliberate, ritual motions maintain an easy order. Easier than wresting order out of invading chaos. And a tidy house ushers in the possibility of a tidy heart.

A heart beating with His, in a place more like that place In the Beginning.

Is this housework a picture of entering into Redemption? To bring restoration to that which has fallen...



"To lift up the hands in prayer gives God glory,
but a man with a dungfork in his hand,
a woman with a slop pail,
give Him glory
too.

God is so great that all things give Him glory, if you mean that they should."

~St. Ignatius Loyola



Lord, today I mean that all of it should.

New Bikes!

We got new (hand-me-down) bikes!

Laughter Is The Best Medicine

Today was a crazy hectic day for me. As I herded the kids in the door at my friends house I wondered how gracefully we would conclude the day with the other families of our Bible study. We were the first ones there and my friend was just putting groceries away from her hectic day.
We sat the kids, my two and hers (10 years and 6 years), up to the bar with pizza and we laid on each side of her large sectional couch. The kids were hungry so weren't talking much, neither were we.
Out of the blue, her 6 year old son says: "Hey Abigail, I have crabs."
Abigail (face scrunched and eyes squinted): "CRAA-AABS??!"
At this point my friend and I are nearly falling off the couch laughing and she is trying to verbally instruct her son that he has hermit crabs, hermit. And Abigail (who's not thinking STD's) is still totally repulsed by this idea which is making it all the funnier to my friend and I (who are thinking STD's!).
Anyway, we really got a good tear jerking laugh out of that one (the kids had no idea what had come over their moms) and felt ready to proceed from our hectic day!

Trip to the Aquarium

Last week I, along with our friends, took the kids to San Fransisco to the Aquarium by the Bay. We rode the BART (subway) and then took a street car to Fisherman's Warf for a fun day of exploring! Check it out!

Valentine Preperations!

Mailboxes for our "Love Day" notes that we are doing every morning the 1st-14th

What to do with all those doilies? Make signs!

Getting Love Notes ready for our friends

Pregnant Belly!

J and I went to his company Holiday party this past Sat. So thought I'd take the opportunity to post a pic of the growing belly I actually think these pics make me look smaller then I am!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Girls! And everyone who is so faithful to frequent our blog - we love you!

Good Lil' Daddy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHEL!!!!

Halloween Dress Up

Odds & Ends From Past Couple Months

1. We got a new kitten, her name is Maggie!
2. Last month we took a day trip to the Pacific Coast, Point Reyes Station. It was fun and beautiful!
3. Family at the pumpkin patch field trip with Abigail's school. :)

G is For Guitar

Abigail is learning about G this week at school. Yesterday they made guitars! It is so cute and creative! She loves it and rocks out a lot of the time and just carries it around the rest of the time!

AJ's Cupcakes!

I totally forgot that I told my mom I'd post a pic of the cupcakes I made for AJ's party, so here they are!