For the Aunties

Ben wanted to say hi to his far away aunties. He expects all aunties to dance when instructed and hug on cue.

Ode to Carver (and his parents)

I have an awesome nephew. His name is Carver. He has a blond buzz cut hair, an angelic face, and a smile that's contagious. He runs and giggles with more abandon then I've ever seen. He watches and concentrates so hard you can practically see the wheels turning behind his big eyes. He talks to you with his hands as well as his words. He eats hearty and hugs with all his heart. He loves his sisters. He also has sensory processing disorder. But I love him. Few know what SPD is, and most will never know. Unfortunately I'm sure there will be some in his life that will laugh at his expense because he is "different". I'm also sure that more will recognize his worth. But for now he's in the most capable hands I can imagine. I watch how his mom and dad calm, teach, and love this boy. I am overwhelmed with respect. I know that there are many frustrations, mistakes and tears mingled with the triumphs. But I also know that he could not have been placed in a better home, in better hands then he is now. Rachael, Derek, and Carver, I love you. I admire you.

Grapefruit

We splurged on a bag on grapefruit today. It's quite possibly my favorite fruit. I brought it home, pulled out my fabulous red bowl, which I love, stuck them in it in no particular order, and voila! The kitchen smells like grapefruit, the dinning room smells like grapefruit. It's happiness in a bowl.

Thoughts on Internet

You know I was so excited to get the internet back, and I still am, but at the same time I'm glad that we had a little hiatus from the web. It put a lot of things in perspective. Without the internet, or indeed a radio or TV, for all intents and purposes we were cut off from the normal flow of outside information. We had to fall back on the old standards of phone books, maps, and libraries to find what we needed. And keeping up with family and friends became nearly impossible. (Especially since we didn't have long distance and I'm a horrible letter writer,which is a little ironic because receiving snail mail is just about my favorite thing in the whole world.) We lost contact with too many good friends and fell behind with important family information. But despite all that I actually enjoyed (most of the time) not have the constant connection. It was nice knowing that every little piece of information or media that came into our home was under our control. There was no junk mail, viruses, or crude material that could bombard you at the push of a button. We were oblivious of the latest crazes, gossip, or news, and found that 99% of the time we weren't missing much. Hours of our day weren't being sucked up in mindless browsing and window shopping. We found that we had more time to read a good book, clean the house, work on hobbies, and stare out the window at our beautiful world. But really we found that we had more time and room for each other and the Lord. Over the past year our home has become more spiritual, more of a sanctuary, and indeed more of a heaven on earth. I do not doubt that there were many reasons for this, but I am positive that not having the internet was a big part. The world had been put on hold. So even though I am thankful beyond words to be once again connected with those I love, I am grateful that for a brief moment in time the world went on without us, while we discovered a little bit more of the Lord and what really matters.

Curent Covet

For all those that don't already know (maybe two of you) I LOVE and collect giraffes. I don't really know why. I just think they are beautiful, amazing creatures. So I just thought I'd share my obsession with my current covet. These are measuring spoons. How awesome (and a little useless) is that!! I tell you what if I had $30 bucks to spare I would buy both sets!

So you think you can dance?

I love being a mom! This is Ben's current favorite song. Which of course translates into hours and hours of repetitive listening and dancing. At least it's good exercise.

Year in Review

Seeing as we've been off line for WAY too long, there's been several request for some pictures of Ben in retrospect. So...ta da! The above collage. These of course are just a minor sample of our favorites. Enjoy! (Click to enlarge)

Dr. Suess Art Work

For some reason I really love this piece of art. It totally belongs in Whoville. The artist would also fit in in Whoville, but I'd miss him too much. Anybody else have Seuss Art?

Glamour Shot

So in the relatively recent past I decided to chop my hair off. A lot. About a foot and a half. I went for the "pixie" cut. Which I just love! I shower, towel dry and viola. Great hair. My absolute favorite part however is the spectacular bed head.

Homemade Spectacular

So I have to admit I read this on my sister's blog and before I even made it to the bottom I thought "woah something made by Rachael! Totally on that wagon!" and immediately signed up. Of course it was after the sign up that I read the catch. So here it is, as promised, by the legally binding comment I posted on Rachael's site. I have to say though. I'm pretty creatively weird so sign up fast! It will be great.

okay so the first 5 people to respond to this post will receive something made by me to you.my choice.made especially for you.of course there are some restrictions and limitations:

1 i make no guarantees that you will like what i make!

2 what i create will be just for you.

3 it will be done sometime this year.

4 you have no clue what it will be... it may be a story. it may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque.i may draw or paint something. i may bake something and mail it to you. who knows? not you, that's for sure.

5 i reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

the catch? oh the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on their blog.the first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did will win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!!oh and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!!

Favorite Things

I have to admit that one of my favorite things are these little feet. I'm sitting here at the computer freezing cold (can't afford heat), hungry (too lazy to move), with Ben cranky and sick in his room. Not napping I might add. Altogether not one of my happier moments, yet this picture gets me every time. A sweet little reminder that although I might want to return him to the store were we got him from at the moment, it is just a moment.

We Blog

The Ruler of EUtopia has deemed it fit to establish this blog that we may chronicle the proceedings of our kingdom.