‘i’m a handwriter’

thanks, ang,
for making me sound like
i know what i’m doing.

she interviewed me at mommyempire.com.

payphone-ophiles

we love
a good
payphone.

and the imaginary convo
usually includes,
‘hi, boyfriend’
and
‘bye, daddy’

curious.

ps – how much do you love
the new 65cafe space
at juilliard?

‘cinderella’ and her ’stepsister’
get back to work
sweeping the patio.

dirty bible

that’s how my bible is,
dirty.

sticky fingers from the kitchen table,
splatters of whatnot from the countertop,
a snip to the ribbon-bookmark
by little hands with safety scissors.

we’re not in college anymore, toto;
home to the hour-long devotion-time
in private
at a desk
with a clean journal
and perfect-tipped pen in hand
ready to listen to scripture
quietly
and
attentively.

prettymuch,
a mom’s bible is going to
be dirty
if it’s going to get used, that is.

thanks for your warmth
this morning,
monday mom’s group ladies;
i loved our time together.

here’s the bibliography i promised:

parenting is heart work, turansky and miller.
good and angry, turansky and miller.
whining and complaining, turansky and miller.

the adventures in odyssey bible, word bibles.
the children’s story bible, catherine vos.
the illustrated children’s bible, catholic book publishing co.
the jesus storybook bible, sally lloyd-jones.

how to really love your child, ross campbell.

the tell-me stories, ella lindvall.

my abc bible verses, susan hunt.
heirs of the covenant, susan hunt.
discovering jesus in genesis, susan hunt.

press on +
keep those bibles,
well,
dirty.

‘best’

nathan declared this the
‘best birthday ever’
before happily crawling
up into the boys’ loft tonight.

en route to a
saturday showing of
‘monsters vs. aliens’

well, the girls didn’t get to go
to the boys’ show,
so we trailed behind them,
crying at full capacity,
for two long blocks before
getting distracted by
gum at the newsstand.

whew.

then cory, nathan, and henry,
ezra, and scott,
got to spend the night at the
n.y. hall of science museuem;

talk about icing on the cake.

we need a weekend
to recover from the
birthday weekend.

(we alternate party years
with the kids;
family party,
friends party,
family party…

so next year it’s back
to the garden-variety bday fun)

and i can’t tell you how many times
this weekend i’ve been near tears
thanking the Lord for what He
has accomplished in the past two years.

rewind to nathan’s last
friends’ party -
we had the boys from his
second grade class over
for a similar shindig.

funfunsuperfun.

24 hrs later,
boom.
cory was down for the count.

eight long months later,
we were just coming
up for air.

and now,
here we are.

oh, the generosity of the Lord,
to sustain
and
to carry us.

happy birthday, indeed.

mil gracias

the big one.nine.*
is sneaking up on me.

thanks for the encouragement
and laughter,
friends.

can you smell the risotto?

*plus one.six.

anyway.

that tina fey

1.900.ok-face?
lizzing?

where does she get this stuff.

hys.teri.cal.

ps – the new cvs is open.
cory took me on an
uber-romantic date-ish
there tonight.

exactly 103 steps from our front door.
(he tried to make me
lose count
but i’m better than that.)

store inventory:

cold drinks
ice cream
milk
200+ kinds of chewing gum

we’re good to go.

a decade of livin’ large

nathan was thrilled to
have 12 of his male classmates
(sorry, girls)
over for birthdayfun
after school today.

and, um, there
might’ve been
a snake
and a hatchet
and smashing eggs
involved.

safety first
but
fun was definitely had.

best way to kill a
western diamond back
rattle snake?

hatchet-ola.

(covered in foil;
we may use a hatchet,
but we’re tidy about it)

emily (looking fancy in rollers) starts on the
snake-tastic spectacuar
early in the morning.

she baked s.i.x. cakes on thursday;
four vanilla +
two chocolate  =
partytime.

why, yes, those are
green plastic tablecloths
on my wall;
doesn’t it look jungle-y?

okay, jungle-ish?
or at least green-ish?

gum as a main course;
party on, garth.

caroline draped stuffed snakes around
and b and i rolled
paper grocery sacks
into ‘vines.’

chiclet relay

birthday boy

sorting+counting to find the winning team

(are you glad or sad
there’s no audioclip
with these photos?
l.o.u.d.
two-advil-please loud)

shooting sticky-lizards @ the ceiling

head – 100 pts
diamond – 50 pts
body – 20 pts

the Big Kids at play

emily and lisa hit the mark

beware walking under the game

we ended the party playing
several rounds of
[reptile] egg toss
across the street
at the school playground.

voila.

weloveyou, nathanjcates.

ps -
massive thanks to
cory,
emily,
and
lisa.

i’m still smiling,
thanks to you three.

imaginary presents

typetees.com totally
does it for me.

if it was your birthday today,
i would spend pretend money
and buy you one of these
rad shirts.

if you were a logo-wearing person.

which you’re not.

alas.

(rock is dead
and paper killed it)

they did it again

note to self:
draft proposal for the
biblical parenting staff
encouraging them
to market this stuff to
adults
and
double their audience.

these definitions are
Most Certainly
meant for me
and, secondarily,
for my little ones.

‘obedience is doing what someone says, right away, without being reminded.

honor is treating people as special,
doing more than what’s expected,
and having a good attitude.

perseverance is hanging in there even after you feel like quitting.

attentiveness is showing people you love them
by looking at them when they say their words.

patience is waiting with a happy heart.

self-discipline is putting off present rewards for future benefits.

gratefulness is being thankful for the things I have
instead of grumbling about the things I don’t have.

‘you don’t have to use them all. just choose the one that your
child needs right now and teach how to put that
character quality into practice.
put definitions up around the house.
this is a positive way to give kids a vision for what you want.’

ta da.

i want to go to there

just what the dr ordered,
a brilliant morning trouncing about
at wave hill
looking for signs of spring
with our dear peter and kara;
thanks, friends.

a productive hour was spent
stacking ‘hay’

party in a box

that’s what our sweet lisa is,
a party waiting to happen.

great shots, meg.
way to go, you two.

fingers-crossed on the application
they’re accompanying.
weloveyou.

who are we kidding?

file this one under:
it’s not just for the kiddos.

i’m repeatedly struck with the
timeliness of the
biblical parenting emails
i receive in my inbox;

timely for my kids,
timely for myself.

today’s spells out responsibility
and it’s exactly the reminder
i needed.

‘responsibility is demonstrated by:

-honesty
-admitting mistakes instead of blaming or excusing
-reporting in, coming home on time
-anger control
-saying ‘no’ to temptation when alone
-taking a stand for righteousness with friends
-competing a job without needing to be
checked up on and reminded’

thanks, scott + joanne.

no sandwich for you

um,
the dept of health
closed our local subway
(sandwich shoppe) down.

nathan ran down the street
to pick up a
post-baseball-practice
‘dad-and-i-are-still-s.t.a.r.v.i.n.g’
in-addition-to-dinner
bite
and came back
much sooner than expected.

and empty-handed.

should we be nervous?!
unsettling, indeed.

on a much cuter note,
do check out angie’s roommate’s
supercute hair accessories etsy shoppe,
hello robertson.

and ang as the hair model,
love it.

excuse me, sir

but is that a
pop tart
on your nose?

we’re digging cory reading
james to us this week.

the quick-slow-slow
thing from yesterday
(james 1:19-20)
created good buzz

and then today…
well.

we were eating a
Tremendously Nutritious breakfast
of scrambled eggs and poptarts
when
he decided to act out
verses 22-25.

scene:
funky piece of pop tart on nose,
look in mirror,
oh, i need to wash my nose!
promptly to sink,
i think i’ll wash my hands
back to mirror,
oy! i need to wash my nose!
promptly to sink,
i think i’ll wash my _________…

repeat ad nauseam
to utter hilarity
of 9, 6, 4, and 3 yr old crowd
and one
Highly Amused wife.

(when he put his
entire right foot
under the tap–
i could tell it was on ‘cold’–
i might’ve snorted)

we ended the whole affair
with a
table-pounding,
hand-clapping
thoroughly rousing round
of
‘victory in jesus’

(wish you were here, morv)

hot dog
and
happy saturday.

on gerbil-ness

today was one of those days
where no matter how fast
or how furiously
i ran on my gerbil-wheel;

between chores,
normal responsibilities,
and putting out fires,

i just couldn’t keep up.

the things were piling up
faster than i could get
out from under them.

and then my wheel-running legs gave out.

and then my eyes welled up.

well,
tonight,
the tears have stopped.

and i’m thankful for godly friends
who make me laugh
and take my girls on an outing,
and play with us at the park,
and join us for an impromptu, laughter-filled dinner,
and pray for me over the phone,
and call and check in later,
and
i can’t believe
that God cares
So
Much.

‘what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?’
ps 8:4

and yet He does.

and i am melted,
again,
by his mercy.

and tomorrow i’ll hop
back up on that wheel
and
start
running.

on two feet,
not four;
but in His strength, for sure.

ps -
one high.larious. (and supergodly)
friend cracked me up
reminding me that sometimes you
need to
‘hit the margaritas tonight
and
deal with God tomorrow.’

i’ll tuck that gem away.

pps -
cory came home tonight
smiling and holding
letters that my mom and dad
sent to each of the kids.

they quickly ripped them open and found
a dollar tucked in for each of them
for a ‘treat.’

so even though we were
showered and jammied,
cory convinced us to pull on
our shoes and coats
and, quickly, the six of us
were bouncing down the street
in search of ice cream.

nothing says ‘weekend’
like a little hit of
vanilla, baby.

oh, and several hours of march madness.

or maybe a
margarita.

michelle’s green thumb

well, mrs. obama and a handful
of full-time staff.

what a plan;
a white house garden.

grimace with me

loved the sunnywarm afternoon yesterday,
children playing superhappily in
the back yard with e and j.

yay for almost-spring;
we’re desperate for fresh air.

muddy,
happy,
digging with spoons
and
drawing on paper.

okay, i must bake the quiche shells
for fellowship group tonight.

right,
four crusts into the oven.

did i mention the muddy-happiness?
and the in-and-outness
of said delighted children?

that didn’t bode well for
the quiche shells.

burnburnbadsmell,
oops.

well, let’s just call it a
fritata.

but i must say,
two hours later
as i sat at the table
surrounded by lovedones,
the yummy pie shells
would’ve added
a lot
to the meal.

a whole lot.

i was momentarily embarassed that
i was serving such a
eggy-cheesy-but-somehow-still-blandy
meal to that
precious group of friends.

but only momentarily.

and luckily, there was loads
of salad to go around.

needless to say,
i didn’t save the
leftovers.

³praise be to the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ!

in his great mercy he has given us new birth
into a living hope through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead,

⁴and into an inheritance that can never
perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you,

⁵who through faith are shielded by God’s power
until the coming of the salvation
that is ready to be revealed in the last time.’

I peter 1:3-5

whew.

now, to get that burn-y-crust-smell
out of my house.

pass the caldrea room spray, baby.
(lavendar-pine should do nicely)

that amy adams

when my compassionate cory
walked through the door on
tuesday evening,
he was met by a
tearful,
mumbling-semi-incoherantly
at-the-end-of-a-long-day-of-parenting-responsibilities
wife.

(that would be me)

after a grade-A huggykissy greeting,
he helped me get my shoes on
and gently
pushed
me
out
the front door.

whew.

so, i headed to therapy,
cinema-therapy, as it were.

($12 for 2 hrs,
surely the best pseudo-counseling rates in town,
thank you, loews 68th st.)

one for ’sunshine cleaning,’
i said to the gentleman
behind the counter.

’sunshine’ seemed like what i needed.

notetoself: check the reviews, perhaps?

brilliant show.
terrific casting. (emily blunt + amy adams= strong work)
terribly painful.

it’s not things happening in the
current reality of the show
that are excruciating,

but the things that have
happened previously
that are almost unbearable.

it’s a must-see.

but perhaps not on a night
where you’re already sobbing
(quietly?)
to yourself.

ps -
24 fans,
chloe’s in the show.
nice.

a cash-less superhero

(spoiler: sad ending)

henry loves to draw
comic strips/books.

yesterday’s:

superpigeon (urban authors, you know)
and his sidekick are
bantering back and forth,
performing various
good
deeds.

at one point,
superpigeon spots a civilian
with a hot dog.

mmmmm, thinks superpigeon,
i’ve got to get me one of those. (paraphrased)

so he swoops down
to his favorite hot dog stand in the park
but,
alas,

the sign:

‘cash only.’

the end.

gramm-cracker

as henry likes to call her.

such a treat to have
my mom here for a week;

thanks, mom/grammy.
come again soon.

she had just come from visiting
this sweetpea,
our niece, gracie.

magnolia bakery

times sq

toysRus,
aka. utopia.

books of wonder

cupcake cafe

lincoln center

columbus circle

can you spot the stunt-skater?
mad skills.

mad is one of our
favorite new spots.

henry’s been there
three times in the last two weeks.

why, don’t you wear a
piggy mask
when you’re in creating-mode?

seeing peter pan
@ the swedish marionette theatre
in central park

toothless

uh ho.

one of our sweetest children
bonked a tooth
several months ago,
which sent that tooth to
dead-toothy-land
and now
our cheery dentist
says he has to
remove
the
tooth.

oy!

we’re not telling the
dear little patient
until just a bit before
said procedure,
so you’ll have to
save your guessing
until next monday.

:<

fabric-y monday

the girls and i
rode the train to times sq
with cory this morning
and after kissing him goodbye,
we hopped out
to hit the
garment district.

{39th btwn 7th and 8th
is our usual haunt}

chic fabrics,
daytona trimmings
and
a blissful walk through
beckenstein men’s fabrics.

and when we walk into
beckenstein’s,

i get that
‘i want to move in’ feeling.

row upon orderly-row of
of crisp men’s shirting:
the stripes,
the windowpanes,
the checkerboards.

but at $25/yd,
we just enjoy mr. neal’s company
for several inhaling minutes
and
then
saunter
on.

do pop in:
257 w 39th

ps -
what could we not resist
bringing home?

1 spool of white thread
2.5 yds of white cotton w/ small black poka dots
2.5 yds of orange/pink/tan/pale yellow geometric print
2.5 yds of black/pink/dark pink liberty floral print
2.5 yds of robin’s egg blue/daffodil yellow/cotton candy pink print

yipee.

thanks, hen

henry drew a picture last night
and posted it on
the living room wall
of the man in luke 12
with his wheat
and
his barns
and
his money

and in the middle
of the drawing,
he wrote,

‘it is better
to be God’s friend
than to have
a lot of
things.’

tgif

oh no they did-unt

oh, yes they did:

those geniuses at
the new yorker
just made it possible
for me to completely
crack up
(in a the good way)
while reading to
my kiddos

and while honing
their ny-er cartoon-appreciation
skills.

mad skills.

it was a gift
to spend the morning
at cupcake cafe/books of wonder
with
mom
and the girls.

it’s all good
when my mom’s here.

(you know we didn’t leave
without a quick run-thru of
paper presentation
and
a.i. friedman.

yay:
found the rhodia meeting book
that runs my life.

nay:
it’s black.
ilovetheorangeone.

yay, anyway.)

a good vegetable peeler is essential

i didn’t take an official poll,
but the carrot ginger soup
completely disappeared
last night.

whew.

the imaginary recipe went
something like this:

saute 1 huge onion
and a good bit of minced garlic.

add:
3 potatoes, peeled and diced.
3 large bags of carrots, peeled and diced.
(thanks for your handiwork, meg)

saute for 20 min
until they’re soft.

add chicken stock. lots.
and a couple of glugs
of orange juice. for fun.

a quick round with
the immersion blender;
puree city.

right when it hits a boil,
drop it down to a simmer.

add ginger,
salt+pepper,
cayenne,
and a healthy (not-so healthy?)
dollop of heavy cream.

round up a living room full of
hungry new yorkers:

boys:
joe
cory
david g
david k
hisaya
james
greg
nick

girls:
lisa
angie
emily p
sarah
amy
jen
joann
felicia
elizabeth

serve with salad, baguettes,
hot tea, and a generous helping
of genesis 13-14.

voila,
a feast, indeed.

ps -
if they haven’t given up
chocolate/dessert for lent,
feed them thickandgooey brownies
post-scripture/prayer.

if they have,
top off their tea cup
and enjoy the conversation.

scrumptous.

like i said

i’ve started doing this
really crazy
thing lately.

get this,
i’ve started
Saying What I Mean.

seriously.

instead of just thinking to myself,
‘things are getting crazy
and it’s so Loud in here
and… oye!’

i’ve taken to
saying it aloud.

i think it’s called,
‘asking for help’
in the common vernacular.

cool concept, no?

here’s how it played out tonight:

dinner’s almost ready
and
the dishes are hitting the table
and
people are whooshing past
and
the noise is chatteringchirpinggrowinglouder
and
i
said,

(get ready for rocket science here)

‘things are getting loud in here.’

and
they listened.

and
i kept my cool.

and
it’s the little things
that can make a
massive
difference, eh, friends?

happy tuesday evening.

ps – please tell me
you’ve tried fairway’s
ginger carrot soup.

if not, i’ll bring you some.

i’m going to try to mimick
it for fellowship group tomorrow night.

a silly dare

i dare you
to take helium-filled
mylar balloons
on a rush-hour
subway train.

you’ll be surprised
how acommodating
your fellow travelers
will be.

and offer their
interpretations
of where you’re going
or why you have
a handful of
sparkly-floaty distractions.

i really should do that
more often.

masked crusaders

i loved seeing
all of the giddy children in
purim costumes
running home from
the 69th/amsterdam
synagogue tonight.

so happy,
those little ones.

and both ricky’s and paper house
were doing some brisk
costume-selling business today.

timely words

every time the parenting emails
from biblical parenting come
into my inbox,
i’m so grateful.

take today’s, for example:

“look for ways to make discipline positive

you may be saying, “yes, I know discipline
is supposed to be positive but how can i
be positive when my kids are doing the wrong thing.”

here are two practical ways you can make
your discipline times a positive experience.

one way is to state rules and requests in positive terms.
instead of saying, “don’t shout,”
you might say, “we talk quietly in the store.”

instead of “stop being rough with the dog,”
you might say, “be gentle.”

instead of complaining about the clothes all over
your four-year-old daughter’s room, you could say,
“remember, we put our clothes in the hamper when we take them off.”

it may take some work, but clearly stating or
restating the rule in positive terms gives your child
a clear picture of what you expect and
keeps your interaction on a positive note.

give gentle, positive reminders to point your kids in the right direction…

ephesians 6:4 says, “fathers, do not exasperate your children;
instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”

the first part of the verse describes a negative way of relating to children.
exasperate gives the impression of being harsh and causing discouragement.

in place of that negative response, fathers are instructed
to do something positive,
bring their children up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

as parents, we don’t want to discipline our kids
to merely get rid of negative behaviors.

the purpose of discipline is to train children
and show them the positive direction they are to go.”

ps -
sign up for their emails.

and
mark your calendars:

“everyday parents can raise extraordinary kids:
strengthening the conscience to help
children become inner-motivated”

saturday, 20 june 2009
9:30-3pm
trinity baptist church
(east 63rd st)

$10/person
$15/couple

register @ biblical parenting
(not live yet,
check back in a bit)

feel it?

can you feel the
excitement
in the air today?

besides the smashing 60 degree weather?

that’s right,
it’s
pinewood
derby
day
(they race @ central pres,
64th + park ave).

henry’s first as an Official
cub scout.

ride well, boys.

the habit of encouragement

the girls and i had the
pleasure of spending an hour
in nathan’s classroom today,

congratulating the students
on their final day of
math standardized tests
with ye olde pizza par-tay.

before pizzatime,
we were able to be a part of
‘treasure time’

that 10 minute part of every
school morning
where brilliant ms. k has
the students go around the circle
and say:

-’thank you’ to someone
-’i'm sorry’ to someone
or
-tell about something good they
saw someone else doing

listening to these growing-up-so-quickly
9 and 10 yr olds
thanking and apologizing to one another
melted my heart.

ms. k gently encouraged
betsy and caroline to join the class circle;
they were So Proud to be sitting
beside their handsome grown-up brother,

and while c was a bit too shy to share,
b offered,
‘i made a recipe and it was banana pudding.’

(the students grinned and nodded,
kindly,
as if that was entirely
on subject.)

random

i was in the shower earlier
remembering one of the
most gracious play-dates ever:

one of my friends
was here with us,
with her children,
with our girls,

and i was so sick
(not contagious, surely,
but some sort of
pounding headache
from lack-o’-sleep thing)

that i took a pipinghot shower
during the playdate.

on my girlfriend’s encouragement.

loveit.

sometimes a girl’s gotta do
what a girl’s gotta do.

(and talk about
‘administering god’s grace
in it’s various forms,’
for sure.)

10,000 hours

remember in outliers
how he talks about the magical
10K hours?

hmmmm,
what have i perfected in my 10,000 hrs?

laundry, check.

and fellowship group;
well, close, at least.

let’s see,

we’ve been in nyc for 12.5 yrs.
we’ve hosted a fg for 12 yrs.
we meet for 2-ish hrs/wk,
an average of 46 wks/yr.

(cory loves it when i bring
on the numerical details,
not exactly my strong suit)

plus the extra events, dinners,
retreats,  and playtime…

baby,
we’re just getting started.

love these guys.

tonight’s crew:
(l-ish to r-ish,
in a circle)

elizabeth,
amy,
cory,
felicia,
david,
bethany,
james,
sarah,
nick,
greg,
jen,
kj,
david k,
joyce,
emily,
whitney,
henry,
conrad

photocredit: njc

ps – cory’s giving me
That Look.

and shaking his head a bit.

and challenging my understanding
of what malcolm gladwell
actually
said
re: 10,000 hrs.

oops.

bulk cereal

waiting for the m104
to bring us home
after mom’s group

honor, caroline, betsy, erenei,
ava, checed, and janice
(we’re so excited for baby shin to
make his/her debut on monday.
yay, janice.)

as soon as we bring our
rapidly-growing boys
home from school,
we feed them
cereal.

do not pass go,
do not collect $200,
just Eat Your Cereal
and then we’ll talk.

usually two bowls.

and of course
they’re totally ready for dinner
a mere 2 hrs later.

(i was trying to placate them with
a snack, and then trying to hold
them off until dinner,
not understanding that they were
truly ravenous and needed more
of a Small Meal.
got it.
lesson learned.
everyone’s happy.)

do you know how much
cereal we buy every week?

yep.
that much.

oh, i would die for a milkman
who made housecalls.

milk on the doorstep?
dreamy.

schlepping 4.5 gallons/week from fairway?
a little lessthandreamy.

my life.

mom’s group rockstars

margaret, anne marie, moi, jordyn,
karen, ava, patti, laran, ami
tanya, julie, jenni, ashley, sandi,
toni, ka’i, and karen

ladiesandgentlemen,
these are the
hardest working women
in showbiz.

that’s right,
the fearless leaders of
the west side mom’s groups.

hip
hip
hooray, ladies.

ps -
i wish i had saved you a
bite of the triple-berry pavlova
(thank you, ina).
wowsers.

kindness

we sang,
‘come thou fount of every blessing’
at mom’s group this morning
and
this phrase
is echoing in my heart,

‘how his kindness yet pursues me
mortal tongue can never tell…’

an icy situation

it’s the little things, folks.
the little things
that keep it interesting.

at breakfast, cory wondered aloud
where all of our small spoons
had disappeared to.

(i’ve been offhandedly wondering
the same thing for a few weeks
but wouldn’t have thought
to have acted on it
until my beloved mentioned it.)

but since my lover’s wish
is most certainly my command,
caroline and i
jaunted off to
zabar’s this morning,
as the 2nd floor
sells single pieces of silverware,
and thousands of other
spectacular kitchen-items.

as we emerged after procuring
six happy new spoons
(and two cool baby spoons
that caroline thought she and b
could use in their kitchen)
we witnessed the most
intriguing drama.

the icicles on the third story
of zabar’s were melting
in the morning sun and
dropping like swords on
the sidewalk below.

so they taped off the dangerzone
and had an employee up top
(via walkietalkie)
open a window and
use a broom handle
to force them off
one at a time.

a icy-haircut for zabar’s
and
big excitement
for the pedestrians below.

the double-whammy

that’s what church felt like
on sunday night.

just when it couldn’t
get any better,

it was amazing.

1. anne marie/michelle’s duet.
chills.
soaring, beautiful, country-angel voices.

2. that sermon.
doubledogdareyou
to listen to it.
‘no one seeks god’

3. communion*.
always does it.

4. the ol’
‘i will arise and go to jesus’
and
‘near the cross’
communion-combo songs.

singwithmenow,

‘in the cross,
in the cross,
be my glory ever,
till my raptured soul shall find,
rest beyond the river.’

and, no, you’re not in kansas anymore,
you’re at 79th/broadway
in new york city
belting that one out, baby.

loveit.

*i somehow scored the most
miniscule piece of communion bread possible
because when i was holding it
open-palmed during the first song,

cory got to laughing about it
(brings a new meaning to ‘baby’ jesus)
and
julia was so concerned that
she broke her dime-sized piece in two
and gave me half.

at least i could taste Jesus then

though he didn’t exactly
get stuck in my teeth.

i digress.

ps -
nothing says
‘happy tuesday morning’
like reading about hell.

happy tuesday morning.

now, want to read about hell?

’squeezing the groceries thru the sliding doors’

julie r. and lisa taught us a
genius game
the other night.

a version of speedy
group-pictionary.

it yielded

1. a massive stack
of crazy drawings
(i’ve saved some to use
as bookmarks;
the ones that quickly
bring a huge involuntary
audible laugh.
i need that sometimes.)

2. two ear-to-ear grinning boys
(nathan and henry) who were
thrilled to see adults acting
so crazy and
laughing
so hard
and
so glad to get to be a
Real Part of the group game;
my favorite memory.

3. another stack of the most
random (and largely incorrect)
written descriptions to
said goofy pictures.

(mexican singer in a box?)

please come and play with us sometime;
we guarantee a gut buster.

can’twait.

thirty is the new, well, thirty.

it took five cakes
to bring our dear lisa
into her thirtieth year.

what a pleasure to
celebrate your faithful, radiant life,
my friend.

weloveyou.

angie baked a wedding cake,
cory and the girls baked two apple pies,
and meghan brought two of the
most scrumptuous ice cream cakes;
wishyouwerehere.

sunday-night-after-church
never tasted so good.

meghan, whitney, bdaygirl, julie, and conrad

and a shout out to our
rather headless back-row-ers:
cory, em, and david g

and to our not-picture-ed-ers:
jen and david k

we’re sad to see amy
go back to college;
come again soon.

(so glad em’s staying for good)

kara’s famous greek salad;
todiefor.

an overnight away
sans children
(and sadly, sans husbands;
though just for 24-ish hrs),
golden.
just golden.

food, prayer, hiking, coffee.
more prayer.
and the laughter.

oh, the laughter.

(you’d never guess i
took that one myself, eh?
really.)

i can’t overstate
my gratitude
for these three friends.

their faith,
their counsel,
their humor,
their love.

thank you for many
years of this now, girls.

ps -
if the five-cake-shindig wasn’t enough,
we got to celebrate lisa again
at a snowy lunch today
at jean george.

faithy declared it a
’symphony in my mouth.’

well said.

photocredit:
the lovely amy alexander

photocredit:
a random passerby, very kind.

they may have closed new york today
(and cancelled school,
can you believe it?!)
but we were not missing our
posh lunch.

no offense, future man

mama monday

thanks to the always-lovely
and ever-inspiring andrea
for featuring yours truly
on ‘mama mondays.’

(and thanks to betsy for
connecting us in the
first place.
back in the day.)

happy snowy monday, friends.