Dusk

"The heavens declare the glory of God at every hour, but sometimes, in these cracks between day and night, they shout. The sight is so intense it threatens to spill over to ears, nose, fingertips, - what we see is a blast, a ringing chord that hangs in the air for a glorious moment and begins to fade so imperceptibly we don't notice at first.
A beautiful sunrise can be explained scientifically, but what explains the leap of our hearts when we see it?" Janie Cheaney

Siblings

Rose's Sunday School teacher informed me upon pick-up, "We were learning about Saul being mean to David today. Rose kept interrupting, saying 'Ro-Ro mean'." Sigh. Of course she'd say that on the weekend that he decided to give her a haircut. He was so proud of his handful of blond silk.

When Rowan was born Grant looked at him and asked, "Is he going to be a somebody?" I remember that as I watch them become the "somebody's" God created them to be. It's not always the "somebody" I want them to be. But that's kinda the point. I learn and they learn to pull together, to delight in the differences instead of just tolerate them. We make light of it, training laughter instead of anger. I hear Avonlea laugh, "Oh Grant, everything about us is opposite, it's amazing!" They learn who they are by learning who their siblings are. We encourage them to love eachother, yes, but more than that to like eachother.

So the teacher's words bring a sigh but also a smile. We are not conflict free but we are not laughter free either. Thank God.

Decorating with Dave

Let me tell you something you may not know about my husband. He has opinions. Yes...opinions about...wallpaper. I somehow stumbled into the mess of redecorating our living room and dining room. Somewhere in the chaos I decided to order wallpaper samples instead of just ordering the whole batch. Bad idea. Windows of red and green and beige stamp the walls and give us a peek into our future home. Lovely, really, a glimpse of things to come. One problem, Dave likes one glimpse I like another.

On many occasions Dave is putty in my hands. He loves me, he wants to please me, decorating is not usually on his list of passions. So I was a bit surprised to find this wallpaper resistance. He liked the red. I liked the green. I told him the red was too dark and we don't have a chandelier in that room so it would be a bloody tomb (or something like that). He punched a hole in the 100 year old ceiling and found wires and annihilated my light argument. "Red is victorian, red is regal, red is passionate." As much as I appreciated this burst of unusual eloquence, I liked the green.

Finally after 5 long hours he said, "Okay, you're the one who's home all the time, you're the decorator, get the green." I breathed a sigh of relief. As an afterthought he added, "I'll just hate it." Hhmm. I went into the parlor and ordered 20 rolls of red wallpaper. Who wants their husband to hate the living room?

Thus ended the wallpaper saga. We are now beginning the upholstery saga, for it seems my husband has a preference for what material will look best with his red room. I find it extremely diverting that my big, strong, utterly manly husband likes decorating. And really, I'm glad he cares. Even if he cares in red.

Random Joy

All of my pumpkins.












Grant's face after he found a frog.


My little Beka (who I nannied when she was two) and her Mommy came for a surprise visit!

Page, my Alaskan psuedo-sister came for a talk-as-fast-and-as-much-as-you-can-in-24-hours visit.

Rowan and his side-kick love to dance with guns. (At least they're well rounded).

October was a month of friends and family. I grab a handful of the beautifully hued blessings falling from the trees right now and wax paper press them here. Many more litter the lawn and I lament that I am unable to capture them all! Thank God for bounty!