Tim took the kids geocaching this morning. Thankfully he brought the camera with him. At last night’s outing we had only the pathetic pixels of my phone in which to capture the moment.

So where is Tim in this time of blogging famine?

Typing up a storm?
Writing pithy captions for the intriguing pictures he snapped along the dusty trail?
No, he is NOT!

He’s sacked out on Dough Boy, eyes closed, an empty ice cream bowl dangling from his finger tips. Dough Boy is our couch, not some random prescription drug. Just wanted to clarify.

So, instead of an interesting blog on the intricacies of geocaching, we’ll have to settle for some pictures of Sarah’s outing.

Sarah and I were invited to pick cherries at a friend’s house this afternoon. Tim, with an eye on the birthdays rapidly approaching, swooped the rest of the children off for a shopping expedition. Joshua and his posse are off at a Counselor’s In Training (C.I.T.) retreat this weekend.

On our way, Sarah and I discussed fruit, both of us admitting that we don’t really care for cherries. “Let’s not tell Mrs. P,” I said to Sarah, “it might hurt her feelings.” Sarah looked puzzled, “What do we do, if she asks us?” she inquired. “How about we say, ‘They’re not my favorite.’” I suggested helpfully. Not wanting to encourage Sarah in duplicity, but hoping to teach some social skills, I had her practice.

“Let me hear you say it.”
Sarah responded haltingly, “They’re not my favorite.”
“Perfect,” I chorused.

Sure enough the first thing Karen said, as we found her down at the end of the garden, was, “Sarah, do you like cherries?”

Sarah is always ready for an adventure.

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“It’s my birthday next week,” she said helpfully looking up at Karen sweetly.

Ah good, I thought, misdirection. Nothing like an adorable 6 year old to change the subject.

That’s an awfully big ladder!

“How nice!” Karen responded enthusiastically. “Are you excited to try some of these cherries?” Karen is not easily distracted.

“It’s my mommy’s birthday too,” Sarah informed her, “we share a birthday.”

“Wow! That’s wonderful.”

Sarah did not go unaccompanied up the tall ladder.

At this point, I was pretty sure Karen no longer cared about Sarah’s interest in eating cherries and was ready to direct us in actually picking them. As she handed us a bag and pointed out the low lying branches, laden with cherries, Sarah piped up cheerfully, “Cherries are not my favorite.”

“Really,” Karen said, looking at me.
“Nope, Sarah continued eagerly, “or Mommy’s. We don’t really like them.”

“Well, heh heh,” I stammered, “David and Tim love them, and I didn’t want to miss the chance to spend some time with you in your beautiful garden.” Thankfully those things were true, no misdirection needed.

As it turned out, fresh Rainier cherries are delicious. We both ate handfuls of them, still managing to fill up two bags to take home with us. I went on to eat another small bowlful that evening. A cherry convert.

We even saved some for the boys, barely.

Kathy

Last week I took Sarah and Rachel to get their hair cut.

Sarah definitely needs a fresh cut.

Or is it hairs cut?
Hair cuts?

Yikes. Do we have to work on grammar during the summer?

When I made the appointment for Rachel I mentioned Sarah getting her hair done later in July, “When I have some fresh funds in my hair cut budget,” I mumbled. The stylist heard me and generously encouraged me to bring in both girls. “I can give you a discount,” she offered kindly.

Sarah loved her new look.

Just when I am frustrated with the constraints of a budget and the limits on my spending, I see God working. He is not limited by funds.

…for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. Psalm 50:10

It’s always nice to be pampered.

Not only does the Lord hold out His hand to bless me, He uses the people around me. In the famous words of Professor Oppelbaumer, “it’s a vin, vin, vin situation.” They are rewarded in their gift of time, energy and resources, and I am honored by their kindness.

A blessed mother and her precious jewels.

Kathy

There is a beautiful little girl who lives in my house. She has long golden hair and delicious chocolate eyes with lashes that sweep up and down with her smiles. Her older sister is rushing out to face the world, but this princess stays close to home, often tucking her small hand in mind.

“Would you do my hair, Mommy?”

Today I caught a glimpse of this baby of mine swimming in the pool; her hands carefully holding on to a slip of plastic, moving down the lane with confidence, turning her head aside with every other stroke to breathe. Goggles pressed up against her face. Later, when I wrapped her in the sunshine colored towel, I smelled the lingering wisps of chlorine in her tangled hair.

“Could you put it up in curls, Mama?”

Every day I open my Bible to find new treasures - words of comfort, encouragement, conviction. My reading is vast and varied, and more and more I am holding within my heart the richness of the Word of God. I hear Him speaking into my life, I beg Him daily for wisdom and understanding.

“Would you renew my heart, Father?”

In the face of my youngest there is purity and sweetness. She looks to me, trusting and hopeful. Her faith in me is sure, her love true. She is comforted by my hugs, reassured by my words. She has confidence I can create beauty out of tangles. When she is rebuked, her heart is eager to restore our friendship. When we open the Bible together, she soaks in the precious words of life. She delights to know more about the King of Kings.

“And in the morning, Mommy, I’ll be beautiful, because you did my hair.”

When I am jaded and cynical, my faith wavering in the face of an unjust world, I cling to the Word. I renew my hope through this living book. I remember the child-like faith of my precious six year old. I pray that my eyes would look to the Lord with this same confidence and belief, placing all my trust in Him.

You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.
The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.
Psalms 145:16-19

Not curly yet…

“And in the morning, Heavenly Father, I will be beautiful.”

Kathy

Joshua and Rachel have recently joined the swim team at our local YMCA. This has brought numerous things into our busy lives, one of which is a slew of new quotations:

No man drowns if he perseveres in praying to God, and can swim. ~Russian Proverb

Sometimes God calms the storm. At other times, he calms the sailor. And sometimes he makes us swim. ~Author Unknown

And of course, our favorite:

When the earth floods from global warming, the swimmers will rule the world. ~Author Unknown

On Saturday Joshua swam in his first meet. Such excitement and nervous energy! We calculated Joshua was on the pool deck for 4 hours and swam for 20 minutes.

Should I be concerned? This seems like an awful lot of time on the bench.

We were very proud of Joshua’s commitment to the team and dedication in swimming.

Excellent Job, Joshua!!

Because of our incredibly snowy Christmas, the children’s Christmas pageant was postponed until a more timely (i.e. more rain and less snow) Sunday. There is nothing quite like a children’s church program - smiling, giggling kids, parents waving and photographing like mad, lines forgotten, duets so softly sung as to be almost inaudible, crying preschoolers who suddenly don’t want to leave the stage (is that stage unfright?).

David was one of the rowdy wise men this year with some actual lines and a piece of a song. Sarah sang a portion of a duet, Daniel was the stage hand, and Rachel received special thanks for helping during the weekly practices.

David was proud to be a wise man in this year’s show.

Our family was well represented.

A fitting time, wouldn’t you say, for my camera to die? No batteries, wouldn’t even turn on.

Not a problem. That was my small camera, not crucial. Okay, so it has the video viewer in it and was going to record (live) some of the performance. Still, I wasn’t worried. I had my Nikon with me, and was prepared with not just the one lens but the zoom as well.

We encouraged Sarah to think of her song as a gift she could give to Jesus.

Ah, not quite as prepared as I would have liked.

The battery ran out in the middle of the show. This was after some friends came up and begged me to take pictures of their daughters as they were sitting in the back of the church.

Of course. Typical.

The show must go on, and go it did. I worked hard at savoring each precious detail in my ‘living photograph’ and cheered loudly. I try to make up my lack of organizational skills with general good spirits. It usually works.

Kathy

P.S. Since I haven’t been blogging very often these days, I have to tack in a little picture, or two, of Daniel’s first piano lessons. Life doesn’t slow down even if the blogging lags.

Last week a good friend called with a fun proposal; she had tickets to see Wizard of Oz, performed at the Seattle Children’s Theater, but wasn’t going to be able to attend the show. She wondered if we would like to use her tickets.

Wow! What a generous offer. I was delighted to have the opportunity and promised to call her back right away. There were six tickets available. Tim was busy on Saturday and didn’t have time to spend several hours at the theater. Rachel had plans to go to Olympia with some friends. Joshua said, “no thank you,” before I even explained the offer. Hmmm. Life becomes a bit complicated as the children get older.

Rachel and her “sisters by another mother.”

I called one friend to see if she was interested in joining me at the show. She had already seen it.

“It’s wonderful! You’ll love it,” she enthused.

Nice to have an endorsement, but I still needed a decision/plan for the day. I figured I had three options:

1) Head to Seattle with the kids by myself (no other adult)
2) Forget the whole thing and give the tickets to someone else
3) Find another friend to join us

As it turns out my sweet friend, Julee, was thrilled to have the opportunity to go to the theater. She decided to bring her two daughters which left me with two tickets for my crew. I thought David (7) and Sarah (6) would probably enjoy the show the most. Joshua seemed a bit too old, Rachel was busy ice skating, and Daniel was eager to join the girls at the rink.

It was a wonderful, fantastic show! David and Sarah dressed up, of course. Sarah can never resist a chance to don her finery. We drove up to Seattle with Julee and her girls. Our seats were perfect - nice and close with a great view. The production was amazing! Julee and I were both very impressed with the way the theater handled the magic/mystical parts of the story. The songs were fun and the kids watched with wonder.

During intermission David said, “This is WAY better than I thought it was going to be.”

You have to wonder what exactly he thought it would be like seeing as 1) he’s never seen the movie or live version or 2) been to the theater before.

Ah, who knows what preconceived notions lies wrapped up in the children’s minds.

I’m so sorry Pam and her family weren’t able to take advantage of this delightful performance, but I’m very thankful she thought of me and gave us the opportunity for a very special Saturday adventure. Thank you, Pam!!

My camera died right as we got to the theater, but I did manage a picture or two first.

After this experience, I can see I really must make the children’s theater a priority in our plans next year. I can’t wait to see what they have lined up for next season.

Kathy
Coming up - my new Bosch, Nutrimill and recipes!