The weather has been insanely nice! The rest of the town had the same idea a few weekends ago: head to the zoo...

We played at the park...

sat in the sunshine...

ate a healthy lunch...
What more could we ask for? :-)

I love to sew...well...I don't get much of a chance to do it. Here, I was trying to pin an edge to iron it down before sewing...I have been working on this one project for a month now and all I've managed to do is...pin the edges (it took about two hours tonight)...perhaps I will get to sew it in the next month! :-)

I cannot complain though...I cannot think anything is more important, more precious, more imminent, more adoring, more demanding...

more fun!

It is so hard for me to start a project that I can't finish in one sitting so I will say that is the biggest struggle when trying to manage my time. That is why my house is not clean too often. That's why I am stuck doing laundry all week. That's why my car is still full of crumbs (Owen reminded me again today...I asked him who put the crumbs there...after all, they are ALL under his feet!)
But...I survive and life goes on.

We visited a different church on Sunday. The guy who spoke was older (reminded me of what Moses much have looked like after meeting God on Mount Sinai) and not the normal pastor. He spoke on Elijah. Actually, read his outline. I make it sound tough to sit through, but as I doodled (that's how I pay attention), I got something amazing from it...

Elijah was able to show the people God through sacrifice. Literally.
He challenged them to pray to their god to ignite the alter. Baal failed. Elijah called on the living God after dousing the alter with water. God burned it all, even the water. Elijah made the people see God and know they want Him in their lives. They believed.

I may not offer up burnt offerings, but I have to ask myself: do people see God in my life through the way I believe, call on God, sacrifice (try to do without), mother, teach, love, serve...and if they do, does that make people want God in their lives? know he can do anything? I am such a work in progress.

Try explaining Faith to a three year old. I'm trying: believing in something you can't see.

"But, mom, where is God?"

"Everywhere, honey. Everywhere. He can even live inside you to help you be kind and patient and gentle and loving...God even helps your momma do the same thing...she sure needs a lot of help some days."

Gramma Momma and Grampa Phil were up for the weekend. As usual, it was a working weekend...is that the nature of our family? However, for some reason, it was extra sad to see them drive out today...
Perhaps these are some of the reasons why...

Owen was helping baby sister walk...

He's so protective; at one point today we heard him yelling, "no! no, baby sister! no!"
He was protecting her from going towards the stairs.

Gramma couldn't get enough of "pinky"...

and Grampa got a kick out of Owen...

They shared a treat at Caribou Coffee. Owen picked out the cake with the most frosting and then when Grampa was cutting it in "half," Owen knew which "half" to pick: the big one!
I suggested they break it up and Grampa eat fast...then Owen doesn't know how much he ate and how much Grampa ate. :-)

Is he too young to text? :-) What is Gramma teaching him????

Last week Auntie Emmy came into town to work...and to play! We had a great time together...one story is told in the last picture below: we stopped at a consignment shop so I could sell some kid stuff. I said we could go to lunch and come back later. Auntie Emmy said, "how 'bout we brouse." um...won't say what she spent, but I will tell you there was some spoiling going on. So, the day after she left I had Owen wear one of the shirts she found for him. He decided to dress it up with some beads and a cheesy grin...and yes, those are drumsticks in his pants.

Gabby didn't mind the hugging and squeezing and spoiling either!

Thank you auntie Emmy!

I will clarify...all these clothes were for not only MY two kids, but Elodie was the most spoiled of all. It WAS her birthday, afterall! Hope you had a happy birthday little Elodie!

Watch carefully...closely...as our little girl takes some of her first steps...

Yesterday were some of the first little ones...

Tonight she got gutsy...

Such a fun time in our lives...

Tonight I listened to an author speak about life...mostly her life, but also how we have the freedom to embrace life. She gave us a homework assignment: to tell two people what makes us happy.
It's ironic; I have been searching for this. I kept thinking it needed to be complicated. She told how simple it can be. So I came home and told Roger this:
I know what will make me happy on a down day...
chocolate covered almonds (any chocolate, for that matter!)
flowers...especially brightly colored ones...
and color-I realize how much I love color!

And now I have told anyone else who reads this! :-) It really shouldn't be difficult to make us happy!
Thank you Kao Kalia Yang for that insight tonight!