Bliss and Brunch

I dropped an eager Noah off at his first day of Co-op and then, like all just-free'ed moms do, I beelined for Chick-Fil-A and Target. I thought I would blissfully wander without interruption while there, but you know I ran into too many friends (5 different ladies in one hour!!) to do that. So I blissfully chatted with them instead. Ha!

Then, I had to hustle myself back home because I forgot how flippin' early my lunch date with Anna was supposed to be, if you can call it that.  Scheduled at 10:45,  it was more like brunch.  And since I had just had a big, fat chicken biscuit with cheese, I only packed myself an apple and made it just in time.  My girl was LITERALLY holding my seat for me, bless her.  She was so excited because this is the first time I have come to lunch/brunch with her. :}

These were the cutie pies who chatted with me blissfully for half an hour.  Anna and Lila (who tells me she also goes by Chloe though I could not quite ascertain why.  It is not her name or her middle name. Ha!)

Colton, Preston, Mac (who ate food off the floor because he is cool like that) ... and a poor little quiet guy next to me, Maddox, who stayed out of the pic.

It was funny how much more they talked to me than my own Anna did.  They talked my ear off!  Anna just enjoyed the honor of being special with her momma by her side and loaded me up with hugs and kisses before I left.

Book Love

What happened today as soon as she walked in the door from school.

As someone who feels suffocated when she doesn't have a good read always close at hand, I kinda love this.

Finally the Fourth Falls

So this character,

and I do mean CHARACTER,

has been creeping me out for a couple months now with his crooked, graying, sideways loose tooth there in front.

I took to FB the other night for some moral support and some good ideas for getting that bad boy out.  All my begging, reminding, nagging, persuading, and pleading was doing no good clearly.  Not even a BRIBE got it done!  But the bribe got us closer to the goal. The following day, the tooth came out in the pouring down rain, in the carpool line.

It had been cutting into his upper gums so badly all this time, it left a pretty sizable view of the incoming permanent tooth that is slowly morphing his face into another child I do not know.

I think it's funny how many pics I take of him in the car.  The boy has become my partner in crime while Anna's gone at school all day.

Anyway, Noah creatively presented his tooth for the Tooth Fairy via Legos.  The only thing not pictured is the floss that he used in the end to make the tooth stay in her hands.  Apparently, he and Josh strapped that puppy down. "The Tooth Fairy likes floss so this will really make her happy!"

And happy she was.  So happy, she left him the toy that he missed out on by not getting the tooth out the night before when my bribe was still on the table.  Ha!

I wonder how many more Tooth Fairy months/years we have left in him?  We grin smitten grins that we have gotten to 8 1/2 with the magic still alive. ♥

Catchin' Up on Odds 'n Ends

Noah is back on the baseball scene.  Had his first practice on Friday and has two more coming at him this week.  Excited! 

We joined a SS class at our church and are encouraged by the friends we have been getting to know. We think we are just about ready to join the church finally. :) Signed up for a church retreat next month. Hit up a church picnic this past weekend.  Will likely check out some weekly community groups this fall, too.  Really liking the people and faith and activity we see there.

Josh is a kayaking machine.  He's been kayaking every weekend since he got his.  And we just booked a camping trip right on the water at another state park for October.  Anna even did this artwork to accompany her C seat work at school.  I submit this piece as evidence of the "ciyak" fever that has taken over my people.

Noah starts his co-op next week and is REALLY excited to get that show on the road.  Seeing Anna drop off at Union every day has him longing for his own school scene again. Besides that, he and I are chugging along with his 2nd/3rd grade work at home.  

COUNTING DOWN til Labor Day weekend when my sister and her family will be coming up for a 3 day visit! Then Josh's dad is biking up here for a visit the following weekend. 

Anna is rocking the kindergarten thing.  We are looking forward to hearing more from her teacher's perspective at a conference in a couple weeks.  In the meantime, I enjoy snippets of her day from her very detailed recountings and from her class's web page.

Our cucumbers have passed away on us.  I guess it was time.  And our corn has all been eaten up by now.  It was a good summer run with those!  Our tomatoes are still thriving and our watermelons are growing bigger by the week.  We couldn't hold off any longer though and sampled one last week.  DUHlish!

Noah got glasses for an astigmatism (and how adorable is he?!) and Anna is about to start visiting the chiropractor for help with her allergies.  I am trying everything I can to avoid committing her to allergy shots. : /

I am crocheting every free minute I can get.  Working on a blanket of colors that Anna picked out herself.  So far, I have these stripes and another red one (not pictured) completed.

Fun fact - I devoured a cup of boiled peanuts recently and it was HEAVENLY.  I haven't had those in over 8 years!  And then I cloroxed like a madman to keep any traces of peanut away from Noah.  Josh still gave me the evil eye about it.  But it was so worth it.

We are gonna go broke on birthday party and baby shower gifts.  But I remind myself how blessed we are by such sweet friends and such celebratory moments to share in.  There are two more parties waiting in the wings for these kiddos of mine.

Anna is loving the skills she keeps honing at gymnastics.  Braver and stronger every week!

And, as ever, there is much Lego work being done around here.

This is Josh, I am told.  I think he pegged Daddy to a T.

Josh and the kids caught a bunny in our backyard and held him and pet him and then released him/her to return to her baby bunnies which we see often as well.  Somewhere, Chewie is going bonkers at the thought.  Which reminds me, last week there was a dried up half of a mole on our back patio.  I have NO idea what that is about or how it got there.  Spooky.

Also, it's been almost 4 months since I last ran.  I am gearing up mentally to get back on it next week. Otherwise, my non-running months will outnumber my running months this year. :}  Can't have that!

Jesus, Thank You

Every week, I love our church more and more.  We are so in the right place.  They preach the truth, worship the King, follow after Jesus with such care and conviction.  And man, do they lead us in great music.  Every week I am moved and humbled by the doctrine we testify to in song and offer praise with.  Today it was this song, sung over us while we took Communion, that I promptly came home and bought.  Jesus, thank You!

Jesus, Thank You by Sovereign Grace Music

The mystery of the cross I cannot comprehend
The agonies of Calvary
You the perfect Holy One, crushed Your Son
Who drank the bitter cup reserved for me

Your blood has washed away my sin
Jesus, thank You
The Father’s wrath completely satisfied
Jesus, thank You
Once Your enemy, now seated at Your table
Jesus, thank You

By Your perfect sacrifice I’ve been brought near
Your enemy You’ve made Your friend
Pouring out the riches of Your glorious grace
Your mercy and Your kindness know no end

Your blood has washed away my sin
Jesus, thank You
The Father’s wrath completely satisfied
Jesus, thank You
Once Your enemy, now seated at Your table
Jesus, thank You


Lover of my soul
I want to live for You

The End of Noah's Summer 'Do

Noah's curls were so great this summer that I couldn't bring myself to let them be cut.  

My vanity is to blame.  I loved the compliments he got EVERYWHERE we went the last couple weeks as his curls got longer and tighter than we have let them go in years!  Perfect strangers, at every public place we went, would comment and oogle.  And the people we DO know would straight up ask to put their hands in his hair.  It's been a fun conversation starter.  We love you, Noah's hair!

But, the hair was starting to have a mind of its own as well and was crying out for hair product to show any shred of self-control.

So we went ahead and whacked it off today ... but since I was there for the cut instead of Josh this time, I had the girl leave some extra length up top and  more to the front than not.  I lurve it!  ( Little trivia for ya - I also picked up some kids' curls hair product while I was there, too.)

And I love that we will get to enjoy his curls again sooner since it's already longer on top than the sides.  True story - after she cut just the sides and still had ALLL his curls up top to be dealt with still, it was a total throwback to Kirk Camerion in the 80s.  The girl that cut his hair was cackling over the bug eyes he threw at the mirror when he saw that midway look.  So funny! 

I was of the opinion that his curls would rock a mohawk.  One day maybe.   Halloween?

Delicious New Words

I picked up a handful of new words in a really interesting read over the past two weeks - The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd.  Here's what I nabbed ... in words AND a few delicious phrases/quotes I wanted to keep as well.  Favorite words got lucky enough to be in bold and defined here for your reading pleasure. :D

• intermezzo
• cerise - deep to vivid reddish pink
• umbrage - offense or annoyance; shade or shadow - especially as cast by trees
• ovoid
• jib
• shilly-shally - indecisive behavior
• privet
• mulattoes
• exigency - urgent need or demand
• grog
• scuppernongs
• trenchant
• pilloried - to attack or ridicule publicly
• elegiac - having a mournful quality, especially a work of art
• fleabane
• armature
• rheumy - watery

• There was so much in the world to be had and not had.
• The ache of mis-belonging
• There's a frightful muteness that swells at the center of all unspeakable things, and I had found my way into it.
• ... fast as I could, fast at the earth would pass beneath me.
• ... and I hated being a slave worse than being dead.  The hate I felt for it glittered so full of beauty I sank down on the floor before it.
• The phantom of what might have been, the terrible allure of it could still snatch me.

At Summer's End

Monday is when we really admit that we are at summer's end.  Anna will jump into kindergarten full time and Noah and I, likewise, will get back to Grade 2.5 full time.  It was such a sweet summer, though; we are sad to wave goodbye.  Thankfully, we have the summery temps stickin' around a little while longer (thank you, Mother Nature) to soften the blow of our having to return to the daily grind.

But before we bid adieu to our summer, I wanted to post just a few more shots of the low-key goodness that we enjoyed on our last few carefree weeks of summer.

There was much Lego play in pjs at home.

And Nerf target practice.  With goggles for safety, of course. Their idea!

Oh, the many playdates and friends we have enjoyed!!

So many.  I have actually contemplated naming all our blessings (friends) by name that we have been able to hang with this summer.  So thankful for community here in Middle Tennessee!

  

Back porch camping.

Tallest block tower ever!
 

Oh, the gardening. :D

Lost of summer reading!

It ain't a real summer in the south til you done played in the creek.

Which we have.

Bike rally in the cul-de-sac.

Many photos documenting Noah's growing curly locks that I just could not bring myself to cut.

What is a summer without a zoo run?

 

Noah has so enjoyed getting to know his friend, Cole, better this summer and I have so enjoyed getting to know my friend/his mom, Adrian, better as well. :) She even let Anna give her a full makeover, make-up and all, one day.  That kinda friend is a total keeper!

And you know me, all dreamy-eyed at all things green - this leaf most recently.  C'mon, now.  Tell me this isn't GORGEOUS?

Much, much pool time.  This shot was mud-puddle making, however. Loved our slow days when it was just my hooligans and me at home.

And it bears repeating ... such a great garden summer!  

And a simple little farewell park playdate with other new kindergarteners from our SAHM's Meetup group.  Speaking of, Anna and I just graduated out of that group and I am so thankful for the many friendships and memories we have to show for our membership in that community of local moms.

 Summer 2014, We will remember you by all the many sweet faces of friends we have enjoyed hanging out with, by the wildly awesome lack of mosquitoes in our backyard,  by the brilliant cloud formations hanging in the sky day after day after day, by the impressive lightening bug population we have witnessed each night, by our close call with a move to Knoxville, by Josh's kayak and my crocheting, and by your most heavenly mild temps in the 70s and 80s in July!! It's been a charmed, sweet summer, indeed. Thank you, Lord.