Week in Review

Basketball camp for the boys-3 trips to Moriarity.

VBS Basketball Camp in the evenings for all 5 of us-5 trips to church.

10th Birthday for Caleb-Wednesday, in the middle of it all. (we'll celebrate after the craziness)

Anna off to camp-1 trip to friends' house Thursday night; returning Sunday.

ANOTHER basketball camp for Jake Saturday and Sunday-4 more trips to Moriarity.

Caleb off to camp-1 trip to Camp Oro Quay on Sunday.

School's out, but thankfully, my van isn't.

Really enjoying this stage of life.

Taken with a grain of salt

So, I'm driving along in my faithful minivan (nicknamed "Charlotte" by my Anna Mary). It's been a good van. It turned 14 this year, and we adopted it 9 yrs. ago. Just two days ago I took a picture of the odometer at 221,001 miles. Such a proud owner. God has kept this baby running all these years.

I filled it all the way up in Edgewood, a good 18 gallons worth (ouch), and headed to Albuquerque to run some errands. "Hey!", I said to myself, "why don't you stop at Tuesday Morning and Hobby Lobby on your way?" So I did. La la la...I'm looking through Tues. Morning and I hear, "If there is someone here with a purple minivan, with Kansas tags (don't judge-yes, we still have 'em) would you please come to the front?" I'm thinking, "Great. What could possibly be wrong?"

The girl at the front nonchalantly tells me, "Uh, your van is spilling gas all over the parking lot out there." WhAt?!?!? Sure enough, I walked out and the Hobby Lobby manager and another guy are at my van, helping another lady parked next to me push her car back so she can start it without exploding. I walked around to the passenger side and saw gas pooled up and flowing steadily from under the van. Then I realized that the stream of gas I saw like a trail through the parking lot to my van was MINE! I just stood there. What the heck do I do?? I finally got ahold of Jarrod, who, thankfully, was working in town that day. Then, here comes the Fire Dept. Not one, but TWO trucks.

Side note: I hate being the center of attention, especially when it comes to vehicular malfunctions.

But the firemen were very kind. They threw some kind of kitty litter-type stuff on the pool of gas and put some kind of goop on the fuel tank to try and stop the leak (which didn't hold very long). Jarrod arrived; after several quotes from tow trucks we decided to save the money it would cost a tow truck to take it back to Edgewood.

So...and I'm sure you're mental image is comical enough, Jarrod got a tow rope and the two of us towed it to a sandy spot toward home so it could just drip all it wanted. Jarrod drove the truck, and your's truly steered the van. I was in PANIC MODE!! -Having no control over the van, standing on the brakes to stop in traffic, being pulled onto the interstate... Get my drift? All I'm gonna say is that I don't claim responsibility for anything that I said between Hobby Lobby and the Carnuel exit!

It was a crazy long day, and we didn't get the van home until after 8pm. Now it sits at the top of our driveway until tomorrow. What to do. I suppose our plans to trade it in are justified now.

What God is Singing to Me

Come to Me, you weary one. And I will give you rest. I will give you rest.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Take Me upon you; I will give you rest.

Come to Me, you broken one. And I will give you peace. I will give you peace.

I will calm your waters. And I will whisper, "Peace, be still".

Take Me upon you; I will give you joy.

Come to Me. Come to Me. I have been waiting for you here. I have been waiting for you here.

Come to Me, you burdened one. And I will give you joy.

You will rise like eagles, and your joy will be My strength.

Take Me upon you; I will give you joy.

These Dreams

I have dreams...lots of them. But the one most pressing is this ache, this crazy ache, to get away for a couple of weeks. It's been building for weeks, and yet the reality of it happening seems pretty...well...dreamy.

Some people don't seem to mind the dailyness of life. I actually know couples who don't celebrate their birthdays, their anniversaries. weird. Life is too short NOT to celebrate each other. Of course, there have been a few times that for one reason or another a birthday or anniversary went "UN-celebrated". Not by choice, mind you, but by necessity or calamity or whatever.

The dailyness of life is so...DAILY. Blah. Most of the time I am totally fine with my schedule, my life. But lately I have been restless. Jarrod and I have not gone away together for years! Oh my gosh, did I just really say that?? YEARS?!? yeah, when I think back to the last time we stole away even for overnight, just to get away, man I'm thinkin' 2006. Trust me, it's not because we don't care or don't think it's important. It's because life has taken over.

Last month some friends of ours returned from a two week trip to Hawaii. I was so happy for them. I truly was. They needed the break, the retreat. I'll confess: I began to get jealous. I would watch Hawaii 5-0 and think, "There they are, and I am here."

Then Valentine's Day arrived. Jarrod and I made a decision; one that most people think is a no-brainer. For us it was a need. There are times when your emotional needs far outweigh any other needs. We went out, at night(yes, we're getting old), to a wonderful restaurant called

The Cooperage. Just being alone, dressed in something other than jeans and t-shirts, slowly savoring every bite of our meal, and talking about how wonderful it is to be together, made the night so worth it. I am glad we did it. It will have to be my "trip to Italy" for now.

And someday...SOMEDAY, Jarrod and I will fly to Italy. Or Hawaii. Or the Bahamas. someday.

Today's Confession: God created me with a love for beautiful things and beautiful places. One day I will experience them.

"FAMILY CONFERENCE!!!"

You know how some mornings go…the kids are getting ready, eating breakfast, getting ready some more...but all the while they are fighting. You take a deep breath, referee for a minute, then try to ignore it and hope they’ll work it out or quit. They don’t. Finally, the last straw is broken, and as they’re huffing and puffing out the door you blow the whistle and yell those infamous words:

. “FAMILY CONFERENCE!”

Guess what? That happened this morning. And I’m glad it’s over. Once again, our two oldest have succeeded in pushing the other over the edge and the younger is busy bouncing a little rubber ball through the house, pretending to ignore what’s going on. Hubby calls a time-out and all parties move to the living room couches.

. The ages of the offenders?? 13 and 11. Enough said.

The scenario unfolds: the 13 year old denying any wrong-doing; the 11 year with eyes glazed over, wondering why in the heck we even have to sit here; the youngest not knowing if he needs to join the pow-wow or if he can continue bouncing his ball through the house. I won’t bore you with the details; however, I will just tell you that 10 minutes later tempers were cooled (hubby’s and mine, anyway), we prayed for forgiveness and a fresh start, and three little bambinos marched out the front door.

. Happy? Not really. Loved? Definitely. That’s enough for me.

Some days, ok many days lately, I drift into a daze, looking dreamily back at the preschool years and think, “I miss those sweet times when they were so little and cute and care-free”. But my mind does a quick reality check and replies, “Honey, remember the diapers, the sippy cups, the temper tantrums, the nap-time battles?” POP! My bubble is burst and I zip back to present-day.
Don’t let yourself live in the past days of “how it USED to be”. It always seems more warm and fuzzy than it really was. Special? Of course. Better? No. Some dear friends and mentors of ours used to say to us,

. “We loved every stage of our kids…but we loved when every stage was over.”

Confession: My sentiments, exactly!