Random Dream

This morning, Anna woke up absolutely wailing a little after 7:00. Greg went and got her and carried her to our bed, while she spent the whole time crying for mama. Once she was nestled against me and tucked under the covers, she quickly calmed down and even started to drift back off to sleep. But before she could fall asleep, she looked up at me and said, "When can we go back?" Huh? I asked her to repeat what she had said. Again, "When can we go back?"

"Where?"

"To the flowers."

Hmmmm. "Did you have a dream about flowers?"

"Yeah."

"What color were they?"

"White."

"What did you do?"

"We walked through them."

A few minutes later, I asked her what she did yesterday. She smiled and said, "We went to church." "Yes..." "And we went to the flowers."

So funny.

Just now at nap time, I told her, "Maybe you can go to sleep and dream about the flowers." Her eyes immediately brightened, and she beamed. "Yes!" She then said, "Daddy can't go with me. Only mama goes with me."

We thought that it was cool that she had such a vivid dream. And we weren't sure if she was crying b/c she lost me in the flowers, or b/c she woke up from the flowers and wanted to go back.

Regardless, it is little things like that that I want to remember....

Someone Call Juilliard

This morning, I walked down the hall to check on the kids and to my great surprise, I heard them acting out a scene from Toy Story 2.  They would play the roles of Andy and his mom, and after the scene was done, they would switch.  I quickly ran and got my video camera and was able to capture them each playing both roles.  From what I can tell, the scene goes like this:

[Andy is playing with Woody and Buzz Lightyear.]

Andy:  Woody and Buzz Lightyear!  [He notices that Woody’s arm is ripped and drops him in surprise.]  Oh no.

[Andy’s mom enters.]

Andy’s mom:  Andy, let’s go.  Molly’s* already in her carseat.

Andy:  But mom, Woody’s arm ripped.

Andy’s mom:  Aw, maybe we can fix him on the way.

Andy:  No, just leave him.

Andy’s mom:  [Puts Woody up on the shelf.]  Aw, I’m sorry, honey, but you know, toys don’t last forever.

[The action immediately cuts to Woody’s dream sequence of Andy returning from cowboy camp.  The actor playing Andy is obliged to provide the musical background.]

Andy:  Hey Woody, did you miss me?!  Giddyup, giddyup, dash the cowboy**.  [Sees Woody’s arm.]  Oh, I forgot.  You’re broken.  I don’t want to play with you.  [Drops Woody to the ground.]

* Apparently has changed to “Mama’s” by the time I filmed.

**I have no idea what this phrase originally was in the movie.

Ways I Wish I Were More Like My Mom

Anyone who has met my mom knows that she is a phenomenal woman. There is so much to admire about her. I believe that I understand this truth more deeply than most people for two reasons:

First, I am her daughter, so I have been around her more than almost anybody else. And secondly, she and I are very different. I think that you are most able to admire traits that you don't share.

So...from my unique vantage point, I have been thinking lately about all the amazing traits my mom has that I wish I could have a little more of. And here they are, in order of the strength of my desire for them:

1) Her manual skills. My mom is phenomenal with her hands. She can make or do almost anything. She sews, she quilts, she paints, she cooks, she tackles all manner of manual projects with ease and dexterity. And furthermore, she uses those gifts to bless others' lives abundantly, and to make her home a thing of beauty.

2) Her "Energizer Bunny" quality. Seriously, my mom just keeps going and going and going. Whereas, I enjoy...let's just say...a healthy amount of breaks and relaxation in between my tasks, my mom can move from vacuuming to laundry to cooking to cleaning without a sigh. She has gone all day and into the night on certain laborious tasks, only to start back in on them first thing the next morning. That type of determination is amazing to me. People have often remarked on the fact that she doesn't ever seem to sit down. And while she can rest and relax and chat and have fun, she is often so focused on serving everyone in her house that she does seem to be in perpetual motion.

3) Her joy. Maybe this should go on the top of the list, but my mom radiates joy. Part of it is just her natural temperament. She has a huge, absolutely dazzling smile and a beautiful laugh, and she is quick to use both. She is the face that you see in church that always lifts you up a little bit just to see it. She gives those big hugs and exudes that happiness that is like a promise. In doing so, she embodies what so many people are starving for: a joy to transcend pain, a happiness that comes through faith. I think that everyone needs to have a picture in their life of what that joy looks like, and she provides it.

4) Her intuition. My mom is very intuitive. It's not that she is never wrong, but she can understand people better than most. She is not often distracted by external factors like appearance or social skills. Instead, she has a way of seeing to the heart of a person, which often makes her opinions run counter to others. While I was in high school, my mom would often adore the annoying person who frustrated the tar out of me. I sometimes had trouble seeing past the awkward exterior, but my mom was able to perceive and to cherish the heart. I can think of so many examples of this phenomenon. And likewise, she sometimes wasn't as impressed as the rest of us were by the glittery person who seemed to have it all together. Again, she could perceive the heart underneath the glitz.

5) Her lack of judgment. And yet, even with that ability to discern people, my mom is shockingly non-judgmental. She claims to have learned from her own experience that people need love, not rules or fear. Though following God's rules is important, my mom never tries to force them on people. Rather, she desires for people to desire to follow them. To her, that is the only way to please God. I wish I could be a little more like that.

Wow, once I get started, I could seriously go on and on. I'm sure I'm embarrassing her, though, so I'll stop for now. There are also a lot of things that I love and admire about my mom that, thankfully, she has passed down to me. I have learned from her in so many ways, and almost all of my good qualities can be traced directly back to either her or dad. However, these are the ones that continue to elude me. I am learning how to cook, but the idea of me sewing is laughable. I believe in hard work, but my "battery" still dies before hers does, and it probably always will. I do have joy, but I am still mystified as to how she exudes hers and shares hers so powerfully. I could never light up a room the way she does. And while I'm learning more about human nature, I don't have that intuitive intelligence that she seems to have always possessed. And I am still working on not passing judgments on people.

So while I work on those things, I am blessed to have such a great model who continues to teach me. Happy birthday, mama. In wishing you many more happy years, I am also wishing me many more happy years...I still have so much more to learn!

I Love My Cell Group!

In the youth ministry at our church, cell groups are small groups of teens who meet together every Wednesday night during the school year.  I feel the need to explain that, b/c outside of that context, a "cell group" sounds like:

--a terrorist unit

--my friends from prison

--some kind of biological term

But no, my cell group is not any of those things; it is instead comprised of Emma, Hannah, and Bethany, three wonderful girls who are rising 7th graders.  We will start meeting together in the fall, and we are taking advantage of the summer months to get to know each other.

First, we went out to eat and shop one evening.  Then, they helped me do "Games" in VBS:

On Wednesday night of VBS, they all came home with us afterwards and spent the night.  We rented a movie, popped popcorn, and made our own pizzas:

The next day, we went to the beach:

I have some adorable pics of them swinging Anna, but I'll avoid posting too many bathing suit pictures on the internet:).  I will show you this, though:

That splash is from two dolphins, a mom and a baby.  They were playing with each other just a few feet from where the girls were standing in the ocean.  The dolphins hung around for quite some time, and it was so fun to watch them!

It was hard to get pictures of them.  This was the best I could do.  You could see almost their whole body coming up out of the water, though!

We had a picnic lunch on the beach, played in and around a tide pool, looked for shells, and then headed home.  We showered, got changed, and then went out to eat and to shop some more before VBS that night.  I loved that they were all so sweet to my kids:

We had a lot of fun together, but the best thing that happened that day was that one of them, Hannah, got baptized!  Afterwards, Emma came and gave her a hug:

As I was snapping the picture, another friend, Hannah Kate, was running to get in, along with Hannah's little sister:

And as I was snapping that picture, Hannah Kate's little brother, Jason, was running to get in the picture:

All three pictures turned out so well that I had to post them all:).  This is truly such a great group of kids, and I cannot wait until they are all in the youth group!

Plus, I am especially looking forward to getting to know my cell group even better this year and getting to be there for them throughout their high school years!

Happy 4th of July

In a wonderful coincidence, my reading in my biography of John Adams is all about the colonists' declaration of independence right now.  Yesterday, I read these words from John Adams, in response to Congress' vote to declare themselves free and united colonies:

"The second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America.  I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.  It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.  It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more."

Okay, so he was a little off on the date (we celebrate the official Declaration, and not just the vote), but I thought that was cool.  Of course, today was taken up by "acts of devotion to God Almighty," so most of our Independence Day celebrations took place yesterday.  And though we didn't have any shows, sports, guns, bells, or bonfires, and though Luke is still terrified of "illuminations," we did have a parade.

A bike parade.

This was our first year participating in our neighborhood's "bike parade," and we had a great time.  I had only remembered it the day before, and I was just proud that I remembered to run and buy a new helmet for Luke (his old one was stolen).  I did remember that it said to decorate your bikes, but I really viewed that as optional.  I mean, how many kids are going to take the time to decorate a bike?

Okay, um...so, everyone.  Everyone decorated their bikes.  Oops:).  I started to cut myself some slack b/c it was our first year...but you see that girl in the guitar sunglasses?  It was her first year, too. 

 

I think she understood the assignment a little better than we did.

However, they did have little American flags at the table and after I had to explain what they were to Anna (yikes), my ever-resourceful son tried to casually blend in with the crowd:

See?  His bike is decorated, too!  Nothing to see here, folks.  We are patriotic people!  He later appropriated Anna's little flag and put it on the other side.  We still...fell a bit short.

The fire truck came to lead the parade...

...and we were off!

I mean, they were off.  Turns out, we were a little slow!:)  (It's a "bike parade," not a "wagon parade," after all!)

However, it was all made better afterwards with some freeze pops and goody bags.

 

Afterwards, we went home and made some cupcakes for that evening:

Luke learned how to sift powdered sugar and did so really well for all five seconds that he attempted it:).

I was sad that I didn't have any decorations for my cupcakes, but then the parade provided me with some!  I used Luke's bike decorations, and the tops of the pinwheels that came in the kids' goody bags.  And those little stars are plastic rings, also from the bags.  Thank you, bike parade!

That evening, we went to the fish fry at the home of some friends from church.  We had a great time, even though we actually didn't end up knowing most of the people there.  Since there were no other kids, Luke and Anna did some major bonding:

 

When the family's son, Seth, got home from work, Luke and Anna were thrilled to play with him.  Luke was dying to "fight" him:

They really do think Seth was put on this earth just for their enjoyment.

After ten hours of slinging tires, Seth was definitely a good sport to allow himself to be pummeled and pawed by toddlers before eating dinner. 

Today, we went to church, and while we paid homage to the sacrifice of our forefathers and thanked God for letting us live in such a great country, our preacher focused on our dependence on God, rather than independence.  As he put it, true freedom comes from total dependence on God.  It is always good to be reminded that our nation, and we as individuals, are dependent on God for every good gift.  Today, we thanked Him for our freedom and for this nation.  I hope that you thanked Him as well:).

A Week of Domestic Bliss

I do this every year after Impact.  After ten days on the road, I always completely revel in being HOME, in enjoying the mundane rhythms of day-to-day life.  This evening, I was looking over my pictures for Project Life, and I decided to do a little contrast of this week and last week:

Contrast 1:  Last week was full of eating out, of cafeteria food, and of fast food.  We had some great times, including our annual outing to Pancake Pantry, in celebration of Luke's birthday and Father's Day:

With Greg's Father's Day gift.

Bears in the snow...with chocolate chips.

"Excuse me, do I have something on my face?"

This week, on the other hand, we have been BUSY in the kitchen.  I put together a little cookbook for the kids, made up of recipes from their High Five magazine (thanks, Grandma), and we have loved trying them out:

On Wednesday, we made "Mac N Cheese muffins" for dinner.   

I decided not to be a "helicopter mom" and instead to let the kids fill the muffin cups by themselves while I de-boned and shredded chicken behind them for Thursday's chicken casserole.

On Friday morning, Luke helped me make homemade blueberry muffins...

...and for lunch, we made pasta salad.  Luke absolutely DEVOURED this, despite the presence of goat cheese.

Today, we made cupcakes, too, so we have definitely been baking a lot. 

Contrast 2:  In Nashville, we regularly gathered with thousands of people for huge productions, for thrilling entertainment, and for amazing worship. (This wasn't the worship part...clearly.)

This week, we went to the grocery store... ...and while the new car buggies wouldn't necessarily qualify as "thrilling" or "amazing,"

the kids were very happy that they could now help me unload the groceries onto the belt.  (And actually, I must say that the turn radius on these bad boys WAS pretty amazing when compared to the old ones.  Maybe now I will stop running into things in the store!)

We also went to the library:

I know, I know...can you handle the excitement?  We are crazy people!

Here's the thing, though.  I LOVED our trip.  But I think I loved being home after our trip even more.  I am a homebody at heart, and I just reveled in this week of time at home, spent with just my little family.  I enjoyed almost every moment, whether we were cooking up some food

or having our daily "Learning Time" (that was for you, Greg:))

I found myself taking an inordinate amount of pictures (even for me) this week, b/c as much as I love adventures and crazy times, I am even more inclined to treasure these moments at home...

Why Did We All Cry at "Toy Story 3"?

It's okay. You can admit it. You did.

We all did.

The first time I saw it was with the kids and my mom. About the time that Andy's mom got emotional at the sight of his empty room, I realized that there were tears pricking my own eyes, too. And at the end with the, er, "passing" of the toys (I'm trying to keep it vague for those who haven't seen it and don't have the sense not to read this:)), I was desperately trying to hide my tears behind my huge 3D glasses. It's not that I am opposed to crying in movies; it's just that these are toys! TOYS! Why am I crying about toys? Much to my surprise and relief, my mom openly confessed afterward that she had cried, too. Like me, though, she couldn't put her finger on the "why." "It just made me emotional," she said. Same here.

And we aren't alone. A recent FB status from a male friend lamented ruefully, "Grown men shouldn't cry at Disney movies." Also, before Greg saw it, a fellow youth minister informed him that "if you don't tear up at Toy Story 3, you don't have a soul." Thankfully, Greg did end up proving that he had a soul upon watching the movie:). However, he couldn't put his finger on why he cried, either. Like me, the first scene that got him was the scene with Andy's mom in the empty room. Still, it was fuzzy in his mind. Although it led to images of his own kids going to college, he had to admit, "I think I was crying because Andy was going to college." Greg also cited Andy's speech about Woody as a real tearjerker.

Another couple at my church admitted to crying at TS3, and the woman cited the scene where the toys all hold hands in the landfill (again, I'm trying to keep it vague). In her words, "We had just gotten to know these toys so well over the years..."

In fact, I have yet to meet an adult who has seen the movie and not cried. Even the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly claims on its cover--it's cover!--to answer the question, "Why 'Toy Story 3' Makes Grown Men Cry." In the article, the movie critic, Owen Gleiberman first admits to his own bawling. To cite his reason, Gleiberman then describes one of the ending scenes and then concludes, "It says: The spirit of imagination hasn't gone out of our world..."

While the preservation of the spirit of imagination definitely wasn't what got me, I still can't really figure out what, specifically, did get me. Why did I cry?

Why did you cry?:)