The BEACH {& Gage}

There wasn't all that much sun;

Lots and lots of sand, though.

And I think it's pretty safe to say Gage

had a good time at the beach or in his words,

"the b *** ch"- now THAT's embarassing!

29

Dear 29 year old self,


You're 29. 29 is the 10th prime number. The lunar month is also very close to 29 days and Saturn requires over 29 years to orbit the Earth. Really, none of that even matters because in one short year, you're leaving the 2o's forever. If I could offer one piece of advice to you - one area of focus for the impending year ahead - it would be to love harder. Don't work harder. Don't get more done. Don't tackle more. Just love - harder than you have ever loved before. Good luck.

Your 29 year-old (and 7 day) old self

What does a farmer's field and a glacier have in common?

This rock.

We stopped at this brown sign somewhere right after McMinville, Oregon:I like brown signs. They intrigue me. JD thinks it's annoying that we stop at brown signs. I'm just awfully glad that the government color coded signs. It makes traveling so much nicer. Just up that path there is the fruit of this brown sign just waiting to be revealed to us.

Here's Ryan with his new "pet" he found alon the way.
His name is Jack (in case you were wondering):Ryan thought Jack might need a friend so he spent his hike up to the glacial rock looking for worms. Friendly worms.Here they are ... almost at the rock.You know, there is something rather timeless about dancing on

a glacial rock singin' "bow chica wow- wow" with your boys.You'll have to excuse the fro I'm sportin'. Portland is very rainy ;)

Check out this handsome lil fellow- those eyes just draw ya in, huh?

Or pretending you're a plane flyin' on top of the world.

A P51 Mustang (in case you were wondering) The p51 Mustang crashing...

Puddles. Ah, the wonder of puddles.

Wanna know how to get an almost-two-year old to hurry it up?
Just yell "get ready....get set....GO!!!!"

And tell him to catch up with his brother.

I am so blessed to have these boys. Shoot. It just boggles my mind.

They had so much fun at this rock.

...this glacial rock...

...in the middle of a field...

Even JD joined in the race.

And just think...if it hadn't been for that brown sign...

I interrupt the {trip} pictures to bring you an important lesson in home care...

Yesterday I was feeling unusually productive. All our {trip} laundry was washed, dried, and folded (not put away, but still). Our house was pretty durn clean and after the first 1/2 hour of Gage's nap with JD and Ryan outside planting a bunch of trees, I thought to myself, "Self...what else could you do for the good of the order today?"

Self responded, "Why don't you touch up all those dirty spots on the kitchen walls? Afterall, why wash them when you can just paint over them?"

Ahhh...a fresh coat of paint. Nothing feels 'cleaner' or more 'productive', no?

The best part of adding a fresh coat of paint is that you don't {really} have to paint the trim since it'll all blend in anyway. Isn't that nice? What's that? What did you say?

It looks too dark, what? Oh, no...it's just wet. All paint looks darker when it's wet, silly.

Atleast, that's what I thought until JD walked in and said "Are you sure you're using the right color?"

Of COURSE I'm sure. I'm using the paint with "KITCHEN" clearly labeled on the lid. Then I sauntered over to where I had started painting to give the wall a little ... feel. It was bone dry and about eighty shades too dark.

Nevermind the fact that I have one darker "KITCHEN" wall and nevermind the fact that I just spent nearly 2 hours painting my kitchen the WRONG freakin' color. Nevermind the fact that I got extra 'productive' and painted our entry wall that color too. Nevermind that I will have to spend the rest of the day painting OVER what I just did (only this time, it'll be the right KITCHEN color). Oh, and as an extra special Lisa kind of bonus, this darker color will take two coats of the lighter color to cover up. Wonderful.

The moral of this home care story is :

For cryin' out loud, WASH your stupid walls.

I have never, in all my life, resisted a full fledge knock-down, flop to the floor, kickin' your feet kind of F.I.T. Now I know where Gage gets it ;)

Wickedly WICKED!!!

Charlene and I:

went to see "Wicked" in Portland. We had FRONT ROW CENTER STAGE TICKETS!!!! This is the view behind us (right before I almost got my camera taken away):

Here we are just before the show started...

and this kinda shows how stinkin' close we were to the stage- this was the curtain!

OMGosh- if you haven't seen Wicked, you seriously have to! I think it's one of those once in a lifetime kind of experiences. It was one of the most clever, hysterical, and yet dramatic musicals I have ever seen. We had so much fun that it makes me want to do it all over again!

Spring has Sprung (or is it springing?)

We are headed west in search of sunny days and sandy beaches...be back soon! :)

Cuter than...

... a bug's ear. Seriously. This was Gage's first voyage out facing forward (my baby is getting big...sniff, sniff). And below is just a super duper cute snap of Gage getting a drink at the hospital fountain. It's blurry but mostly because I was laughing so hard. Check out Ryan's cheesy grin too.

Crazy Significant

I've been reading a book - one that I've struggled to put down, actually. It's called Crazy Love by Francis Chan and is one that was chosen by a group that JD and are now attending. Like Beth Moore's study of Esther, it's one that has gripped me; has 'found' its way to me because I needed to hear it, listen to it, and change because of it.

So far in the book, Chan has presented a need for change (both personal and at a church level). He's questioned my motives. He's questioned the relationship that I have developed with Christ over the years. He's questioned what I do and why I do it.

I have to just interrupt myself for a minute and be honest. I have been stressed out lately. We have had *major* schedule changes happening at our house, which have equated to earlier waking hours (not to mention the deficit still hanging on from daylight savings), less patience, less understanding, less help, and more to do. I have children who need {me}, a garden that needs planting and walls that need painting. I have books that need reading and papers that need grading. Did I mention that I have yet to get more than 7 hours of sleep? There are more demands at work - and less time or money to get them met. There are fewer moments to just sit and listen; to be where I am without a list of things I should be or need to be doing at any given moment in time. Life just seems to be cluttered with stuff lately.

I've been stressed OUT.

I've been ready for spring break with every fiber of my being.

I've soaked up every bit of baby Levi that I can because somehow, holding a brand new nephew, has been just the {right} medicine. Time can stand for a minute. And then reality hits me like a Mack truck.

So you can imagine my shock when Chan suggested that stress (as in my stress) is really dressed up arrogance. It's a symptom that I am more concerned about my own goings on than I am about how I'm living to glorify God.

Wha? Wow. I guess when I'm stressed out, it's time for me to take a step back and realize that I am not the main character in this movie called "Life"; God is. I'm the little teeny tiny glimpse of a passing shoulder and my purpose is to point toward the Main Character and away from me {and my issues}. Whoops. How did I miss that this week/month/year? My life is fleeting and it really is, in the grand scheme of things, insignificant. Go here to find out just how insignificant we really are. Amazing, huh?

Every morning, when I wake up, I have a choice. If I get it wrong that day, then hopefully by the grace of God, I can get it right the next day. We are all here for a purpose and each day we have to find it - and here's a shocker - it might be hiding behind the stress if I can just clear it a way for a while to get a better look.

* It amazes me how insignificant I am (because sometimes I like to think I'm important). Have you ever stood above an ocean surf and watched the waves crash against a cliff? You know the spray of water that curls back and under - one tiny droplet of water from that wave is my life in the grand ocean of time. One drop. Not real impressive. Doesn't really seem like it matters. The ocean surely would not miss one drop.

* It amazes me that despite how small and unimportant I am, God still cares. Despite my insignificance, He still regards me as significant. That statement just stops me in my tracks. It takes me a minute to fully realize what that means and I'm wondering now if I've really soaked it in completely. I matter?

* It amazes me that I am significant to the Creator of this ENTIRE universe; that He made me from dust; that I was part of a plan. He cares about my thoughts and feelings....and struggles and stress....and when I forget to point toward him, he nudges me with how Crazy His love really is.

...and like Chan suggests, I really need to "get over myself (my 'stress')".

Brand Spankin' New!

Welcome Little Levi Robert

the cutest little nephew I ever did see...

6 lbs 12 ozs

20 in

A {little} Bedroom Bling

A few weeks ago, Macy's had a sale on bedding. Not just ANY bedding- this special set that I've been eye-balling and oogling over every time I walk by the display. It's been way out of my price range and I'm kind of a cheap skate as it is, so when I saw the price tag I had to just 'let it go'. Sad, but true.

Then Macy's had a sale. The whole kit and kaboodle was 40% off and in addition to that, if you buy two items, then one of them is half off. Did you catch that? HALF off the SALE price? So in my math-teaching brain of a head, that means if I buy four items, then two of them are half off the sale price (the sale price is 40% off...and on top of that, 50% off...). What that boils down to, is two items that are 90% off...and that's only a mere 10% away from FREE! I explained my logic to the clerk, and she totally agreed.

It was a deal I simply couldn't resist. Even if I am on the Dave Ramsey plan (I know, I'm immature but I'm trying- does that not count for anything?) I did pay with cash though.

Anyhoo, this is it:

(but it's not from my actual bed because let's face it, when would it EVER look this good?)

Cute, huh? I didn't get the Euro shams or throw pillows though. That's a little too much bedding management for me. Plus, they would just end up on the floor and Sadie would sleep on them.

The sheets are seriously divine. They are SO soft - the kind that get washed and put right back on the bed. I've never had sheets (or bedding) like this, so I'm a wee bit excited about it.

And don't, for one second, feel bad for JD on this one. If I can deal with dead animal hides and skulls of {things} around my house, then yeah, he can sleep in pink. He looks good in pink - hahaha.

It won't be long...

------update II------
induction starts today (Friday) at 6am...baby soon!

------update-------

false alarm. She was sent home- maybe in a day or two....

-------------------------------------------

Jes is in the hospital and baby boy J is on his way...

Please pray for a safe delivery (for both). We all know this can be the scary part.

A Day for Mistakes

In my opinion, one of the toughest parts of being a teacher is knowing when kids are making mistakes, and {letting} them.

My nature is to swoop in and point out the {obvious}, talk about ways to {fix} the problem and then figure out how to do it {better}; to anticipate problems and prevent them, that's my job.

Today was "Erosion Experiment Day", or what I like to call,

"E" Day.

It's probably one of the toughest teaching days

all year long.

It's a day when we identify factors that affect erosion through experimentation - a day to conduct the experiments my kids have {designed} in order to show how their erosion agent works. It's a day when a lot of learning goes on - but it literally drives me nuts.

...a day when, "if the heat lamp won't melt the glacier fast enough, then perhaps a blow drier will do"... all the while, I sit back and {let} it happen...knowing that it will literally blow the melt water channel away...

...a day when kids get to learn from their mistakes and have a 'do over' .

A day when I try my darnedest to {let} it happen....a day when, in the midst of what feels like complete and utter chaos,

learning is happening...

A day
... when what was expected to happen, actually did ...

... when what was expected to happen, didn't ...

... when we didn't know what to expect ...

Today was a rough day

but I am amazed at what can happen in my classroom when I {let} it.

... kinda reminds me of what God can do in my life if I {let} Him...

I {heart} this song

Have you ever just sat and listened to a song - with your eyes closed? Do you kind of rock back and forth and let the words of the song paint the expression on your face? This song reached into my spirit today and did a little dance on my heart. I hope you enjoy it.

Godspeed by Dixie Chicks

Baby Boy J

Ever seen 3 grown men drink pear juice from a bottle?

Or one grown man (daddy-to-be; brother of blogger) squeeze

a hard plastic bottle to get it to "come out faster"?
Ever seen a grown man try to find safty pins in a bowl of white rice?
Or watched a GREAT-grandmother remember how to identify baby food by sight alone?
Or watched a ~new~ teenager decide between peas...and...greenbeans...?

Have you ever seen a mom-to-be hold a precious little onsie up to her belly to "see if it'll fit"?

Can you tell that I am just a TEENY bit excited about the newest arrival to our family?

I simply CAN.NOT.WAIT to hold this baby.