over the past few weeks, i’ve been meaning to share some firsts as they happened but life has been busy stealing time from this blog. and now, even though it’s late and i’m wanting to break the bad habit of not sleeping that i seem to be reverting to, i write because if i don’t get these firsts up soon, the excitement of them will diminish and they might never be shared.
brace yourself cause there’s quite a list… Read the rest of this entry »
this week in school, my kiddos learned about japan. as usual, it was lots of fun. to spice things up, we took a “boat ride” (as opposed to the airplane traveling we did beforehand) from australia (last week’s country) to japan, noting countries along the way. i set the tables in the classroom to replicate the islands of japan (as much as possible) and called my kids by where they were seated with cardinal directions. also, no shoes were allowed in the room. we all loved this, though my tootsies were a tad chilly today with the whopping 39 degrees we got here in austin.
among many things, the class learned how to make origami dogs and frogs. the frogs are a tad tricky and i had to finish them 
off for most of the them but they were still fun. we also got a chance to taste japan. holloway’s mom brought us rice crackers (generally “too spicy” for most of the kids…wusses 
), uramaki (aka california roll, with avocado, crab, and cucumber), edamame (popping out all over the classroom, haha), chicken pot stickers, and green tea. (i guess my tues night dinner fit in well with our class theme of the week. 
)
the coolest thing we get to do with each country is Read the rest of this entry »
this morning, i realized that it’s actually been a while since i thought about my word of the year. after more analyzing, i decided that my lack of thought was only because i was actually doing it with more ease and didn’t have to focus so much on it or remind myself. be it the consistency of connection with God that comes with doing the 60-60, the previous weeks of my “surrender, trust, and obey” mantra, or whatever, i have actually been doing those things and life has been nice. not perfect, of course, but nice.
yay! progress!!
*enter large bus that hits me with incredible force*
today, i felt like a delicate willow tree being blown to and fro with any breeze, big or small.
it was kind of annoying but, i suppose, useful in reminding me of how i always need to rely on God’s vision since my own is so warped and limited. i hadn’t forgotten. but you can be reminded of things you know.
thankfully, though it can look like the willow tree is going crazy in the wind with the little branches blowing wildly, the trunk and roots are firmly planted and cannot be moved. that’s a reassuring thought.
i have spent the past few hours being productive. i wasn’t really wanting to be so ant-like but my boredom got so extreme, i had no other options. Read the rest of this entry »
*parental advisory: this post contains partial nudity*
last weekend, i was spending another lazy sunday afternoon at barton springs, affectionately called BS, when the topic of the holiday weekend came up. none of us had plans so we decided to make some. camping on the beach sounded like fun so that evening, we went about the tasks of research and invitation. 5 days later, we were on our way to the gulf for a fun-filled two days of beach, friends, food, and escape. Read the rest of this entry »
i’m always up for adventures, big or small. i find, however, there are two problems that tend to get in my way: personal laziness or lack of accomplice, er, accompaniment.
thankfully, this weekend’s venture didn’t come up against either. i was definitely determined to go and company was easy to come by. really, as long as i ask her at the right time, joy will come along for whatever fun i suggest. so when i combined a few days notice+get out of doing chores+free, there was no way she could say no. nina’s game for most things as well and the beauty of nora not driving is that she pretty much becomes my hostage! so, operation: find a field of bluebonnets (and other pretty texas flowers) was set in motion. Read the rest of this entry »
i’m currently sitting in a hotel room in birmingham, alabama. all traveling relatives have arrived and we’re decompressing for a few minutes before we venture out again. fortunately for the grown-ups, we have two rooms so there can be talking in one, while the “sponge bob” chanting occurs in the other. i’m in the sponge bob room. that’s one good thing about being single–i can freely move between the kid and grown-up sectors and no one questions me. i’m also in here cause the computer is in here and just two days gone has got me feeling disconnected.
day 1
so, the 12 hour car ride from texas was going very well. the key road trip components of talking, singing at the top of your lungs, tony evans, incredibly fast speeds and scenery were all present. however, one shout from the driver changed it all. i looked at my mom to see what the problem was and saw her frozen stare focused on something Read the rest of this entry »
