Overload

Since the holidays, I have been on overload. I am now going to share that overload in an attempt to feel less overloaded. Or  maybe it is simply because I have an hour to myself right now, as my husband and son make weapons of mass destruction and my daughter does homework and my other two are in bed.

On my birthday post I relayed the information that our beautiful trees were being executed. I have been reminded, once again, that there is beauty in death. The sunlight that lit up our previously dark living room almost took my breath away. Sunlight that came because of a cutting away.

After a lovely Christmas at home, we headed up to LaPine, and then onto the cottage, where we lived in a blur of activity and laughter. Truly a time I treasured.

Ice skating!

Sledding by tractor in the moonlight

My cottage decorating continues....here is the kitchen remodel so far.

this is how it looked when we bought it



this was the first phase
 

Not done yet, but getting there

Next...came Grant's birthday. He was given responsibility in the form of a gift. A precious gift that he named Comet.

Grant picked her out as a two week old baby

We brought her home at 6 weeks

She has become Grant's constant companion

Needless to say we've been in puppy heaven. Comet is so sweet. Grant got to learn how to wake in the night to puppy whines and take her out to potty. He feeds her, walks her, and trains her.

This last weekend we had a birthday party. Grant is growing up into a fun, loving, God-fearing man and part of this is reflected in who he has chosen for friends. These boys are kind, polite, and considerate. I feel tangible hope when I look at these boys and the men they are growing into.

The nicest boys ever, even if they are armed

I think that brings me up to date on Christmas, puppies, and teen birthdays. I no longer feel overloaded.
Now I can fix my sights on the next thing....
which happens to be Haiti!

Artistic Therapy

I know I am an artist because I like to make smoothies that match my outfit.

Today I coordinated with cherries, vanilla yogurt, and a banana.

I sat in the sun on a reclining chair sipping my hot pink drink (out of a straw) that matched my light-weight hot pink sweater, and I was comforted.

I needed comfort because hot pink is a trying color for my complexion. It brings out the bags under my eyes, and in general, my face is not perky enough to compete with hot pink.

This last month has been a harrowing kind of month. An analogy may be helpful. Today, on my way to pick up the oldest two from Algebra 1/2, I noticed a flowering tree that I particularly enjoy the scent of. I got excited, for a moment my face matched my sweater in general cheerfulness, I inhaled deeply. I inhaled again. Then I realized that I was in a car, going 60 mph, and the windows were up. The tree was about 1/2 mile behind me when this realization hit.
Ah yes, I am going too fast to appreciate anything!

May is a wild, bronco bucking kind of month. I find I hold on best by indulging in artistic vents.

I have recently put in a large order for tablecloths from April Cornell. Tablecloths which will go on the outside table next to the reclining chairs. Tablecloths which are smattered with large hot pink roses. If you drive by my house in May, you will probably see me sitting there in my hot pink sweater, with my matching drink and tablecloth and sunglasses (did I mention the sunglasses?). Please look the other direction, I will be normal again soon.
Relatively speaking.

My Island or Lessons Learned From a Bonfire

At the beginning of last year our family spent a week up at our cottage in the woods. One morning we decided to explore the property length-wise following the creek. The six of us trudged through snow and slush and mushy mud. There was no trail so it was hard going. We came to a fallen log that spanned the creek and single-filed it over to the other side. Or did we? Because when we walked forward a little bit, there was the creek again. As we got our bearings, we discovered something that took my breath away.
We were on an island.
Now, if you were to ask me what I wanted most in the world when I was a little girl, I would say a white kitten. But a close second, would have been an island.
To be surrounded by water, the sound of it in both ears, from each side, is incredible.

So this week, up at the cottage again, we cleared the island. Cleared it of decades of dead wood and leaves and brush. We had bonfires for several days which taught me several interesting lessons. One being, that fires can actually curl and bleach your hair if you get too close. It's true. It's also true that the hair then disintegrates after it's had its moment being curly and blond. Also, if you burn too many fingers too badly then it is difficult to play card games with the kids at night. At one point Grant informed me that I had a lot of black soot on my chin. He said, "Um Mom, you have a beard. But it looks really good on you." I would have never known I look good in a beard if it wasn't for the bonfire.

What was I talking about? Ahh yes, islands. Anyway, so we cleared the island. And I began to decorate it. Did you know you can decorate islands? Mine is going to have a big hammock, I have the lucky trees picked out for it. It's also going to have a pavilion with mesh curtains, a table and chairs, and cots for sleeping at night when there's more people then will fit on the hammock. There is already a fire pit (where I learned the lessons randomly stated in the previous paragraph).

I made a lot of these plans while painting the dining room an intriguing blue-gray. Which leads me to another interesting point. You can decorate an island while decorating another room.
Creativity begets creativity my friends.

When I told my beloved husband my plans for the island he was naturally a little stunned.
But maybe that's because his wife had curly blond hair and a black beard.
I'm not sure.

Anyway, I really like my island.
Just in case you were curious, I got a white kitten several years ago.
I have no plans for growing a permanent beard.

My island...log bridge on left

I love my orange chair in the woods.

Rowan trying to figure out how to cross.

Posy posing with logs.

Brothers on a mossy rock with hair curling fire behind them.

Goofy kids on their Daddy.

Echolocation

Bats do it.
They send out sound and listen to the echoes as they bounce off objects. It's how they can fly in the dark and not slam into a house or a tree. The echoes tell them things.
People do it too.
They just don't usually realize what they're doing.
They send out a cry, emit a sound, and they want to see what echoes back to them out of the stillness.
Today at chapel I held Rose in my arms during worship. Her face looked into mine and I could hear every note I hit loudly because they smacked into her and echoed back to me. The echo told me that there was a person very close.
In all honesty, we talk, we write, to know we're not alone.
Blogging is a type of echolocation. Yelling is a type of echolocation. Laughing. Crying. We make noise because we want to hear a response. We want to know that our sounds, our joy and pain, are not vibrating into some vast nothingness. We want an echo to help us navigate.
In general, I'm a bat with echolocation issues. I send out my sounds but disregard the echoes and usually hit a tree or a house as a result.
We spent last week at the cottage.

We woke up to a world white and frozen. Snow came down intermittently for 3 days. Chubby flakes, bitty biting pellets, perfectly symmetrical miracles descended.
And in the hush of snow I heard it. The echoes.
And the echoes told me what I knew this morning in chapel. There is someone very close. I cry out to God and He echoes His response back to me through His Word, His people, His Spirit. My cries never vibrate into nothingness, He is the close face that they all smack into. And when I stop and wait, silent as snow, I realize how close He really is.
And He helps me to navigate this dark world.
I miss meshing with trees when I listen.

before



Not quite after, but getting there...

Pictures of the Rooms upon Completion

The rooms are done and filled with healthy happy children! Thank you Lord!