life in pictures.

time-travel.

dance-class moms are the perfect friends for me right now. we know one another by which kid belongs to us. "kid's-first-name-basis" is the very least-acquainted that friends can be, don't you think? we talk for half-an-hour about whatever comes up (aka pregnancies or the craziness of having a 3-year-old) and then we scramble out the doors as fast as we can, all with friendly smiles.

i need a scheduled play-date with other grown-ups. short. hassle-free. keeps me from becoming a savage.

this morning one of the moms that i really like (ellie's mom) was talking about her other kids (9 and 11). she expounded on her constant quest to find her stride and get into the groove. sounded familiar. later i thought, "awe crap. if she's got kids age 9 and 11 and she's still waiting for things to settle down, than our household has no hope."

in the past i've experienced the mud settling to the bottom for a moment before someone walks through the water. that's my new goal. i'd like a really great day with an empty "to-do" list to catch my breath.

just one day.

great-grandpa turned 90 on sunday, can you believe it? there's a man with well-earned time to sit and do nothing.

i think it would be rad to time-travel in my own life and live different parts at my leisure. spend the weekdays in my 30s and weekends in my 70s.

awe, look at that baby! yeah, i'm pretty sure i'd spend the whole weekend waiting for monday to come so i could pinch those little cheeks.

ps- duke and i are always wishing we could pause time. to sleep. out of all the cool things we could do with that power. we are so lame.

chicken pocks (pox) on valentines day?!

did we fool you?

we tried to pull one over on daddy when he came home for lunch but all the giggling gave it away.

baby love.

love makes babies come.

and babies make love come.

Marlaine brought cookies today.

A few of the many reasons I love Marlaine...

1. She's willing to spend a whole Saturday with me because she knows I miss my husband.

2. She talks to my kids. She asks them questions and cares about their answers. She loves them.

3. She is a wonderful homemaker and a great example to me. She gardens and bakes, but she's also up for high adventure.

4. She has three grown(ish) boys and has become my go-to friend for son-related questions and advice.

5. She is a real human being. She tells stories to me of past struggles, reminding me that I have time to grow and learn. She lets me be human, too.

One of the big reasons that Duke and I bought a house around the corner is so that we could stay close to Marlaine and her husband, Rusty. We feel so thankful to have them as our good friends.

Did I mention she bakes?

angry birds.

Loving their bird-bear.

So happy.

no after.

Our household is a poorly-oiled, broken down machine. But we'll never give up.

That reminds me of this sweet thing that happened at church last Sunday. Once a month the worship meeting is open-floor style so that any member of the congregation can come to the microphone and share their heart's feelings. A boy, who must have been very frustrated with the state of the world, came up and asked a rhetorical "when will God give up?" Sparky loudly said, "Never!" Proud heads turned to smile at him.

Okay back to the house. I have been wanting to post "after" pictures. But "after" never happens. Even if all the details were finished, we live here. So catching the place in a blissful clean is just unrealistic.

Here are a few before and almost after photos for you!

Living room...


Dining area...

(complete with lunch mess.)


Kitchen...

Love the angle on that last one? Camera trick to hide how horribly filthy my counters are right now.

And after the haircut.

But we all know that the "afters" in hair-cuts are actually "befores" of growing-hair-out out.