A few other things...

before I disappear back into the chaos of life.

Joe's special 'soft' blanket disappeared three days ago. Last I saw, Z had it. Come nighttime, it was nowhere to be found. I even checked trash cans in case she decided it was used tissue and threw it away. I don't know if I just missed seeing it, or if it is hidden in some mysterious crack somewhere in the house. It can fold up to be rather small. At least Joe hasn't seemed to mind too much. He hasn't even asked about it the last two nights. I think, no, I'm sure Chris and I are more upset about it than he is.

We dropped the price on the house, and finally have our first showing scheduled for Sunday. There are a few other houses in the neighborhood at the same price, but we have a better yard and an actual garage... so we will see. I'm not holding my breath.

It doesn't seem like I've been sleeping well. Usually, there is something that wakes me up in the middle of the night, and with all the potential life changes looming, my mind starts awhirling. An hour or so later, I'm back to sleep, but Zivah has been a bit of a booger lately, waking at 5:30 a.m. and refusing to lie back down. Ugh.

I salvaged a small fortune's worth of DeckMate screws from an old 2x4 coffee table and a couple end tables I built back in my single days. (sigh) I've been reminiscing a bit about my bedesk. I wish I had a picture to show you. Inspired by the 2x4 and plywood shelf my brother built for me to sleep on when I moved to Tennessee nearly 13 years ago, it stood 5 feet high. The top was a 3 by 6 foot platform I slept on. It was especially great in the winter (since heat rises). Below was a desk top with a shelf above it for my books. I've been daydreaming about building similar furniture for the kids when they get a little older. And who knows. If you come over in a few years, there might be another new-and-improved coffee table. I bet I could do better these days, especially if I take a few lessons from Louie in the art of furniture-making.

Midweek Update

Today, it was forty degrees outside. The kids and I were actually able to go outside, enjoy the weather, and let our bodies produce some natural vitamin D. I played at some weeding, the sun on my back, amazed at how warm the surface of the soil was. Tomorrow, it will be closer to fifty. I plan on ignoring the inside of the house as much as possible.

The other day, I had one of those 'teachable moments' with Finley. She took something without asking, then tried to hide it from me, fabricating some pathetic story about how this item was in her possession. When she told me she didn't know it was wrong to take the item, I asked her why she tried to hide it, and explained that when you feel like you need to hide something, that's a big clue that you are doing something wrong. The conversation ended with a few tears in her eyes, so I gave her a hug and told her I loved her. Then she went to her room and hid under her covers for an hour. That hour was one of my happiest moments as a parent. It seemed that for the first time, I could see real regret for her actions, not the regret that she might have to face unpleasant consequences. We still have a long way to go.

I've been thinking about faith a lot. How most of the time, there are things that make it easy to explain away faith into nothingness, but that is the nature of it. Then there are those rare times that have only one explanation.

A little something for you...

It was brought to my attention yesterday that I haven't been putting much on the blog lately. My apologies. It's felt a little crazy lately with the house on the market and me trying to keep the place clean, even though I know it is priced too high, and no one is interested in it as a result.

Anyway. Here's a video of our littlest person:

Joe's First People Drawing

Judah, Finley, Zivah, and Joe

Joe hasn't done a whole lot of drawing yet, and when he has, he has mostly just scribbled blotches of color. So, of course, I was incredibly excited when he showed me this picture a few minutes ago...

The Quilt Is Finished