Seven

I wrote this a few months ago thinking about our anniversary, which is today.  We got to watch the last HP movie this weekend, and he got me a spa day.  Boy did good.

Although it is more than 3 months away, I feel like celebrating our seventh anniversary today. Even though it's not the first or tenth or twenty-fifth, it feels more significant this year. Like we have something to celebrate. We've lived some life. Won and lost. Laughed and cried. And laughed again.

This year has been the hardest for me, and I would say for our marriage. The pressure of providing monetarily, physically, spiritually and emotionally for a family is too much to bear without a loving spouse. I think we both put our heads down and plowed through and are now breathing some fresh air. And all I can say is it is God. His love in my heart. For Him, for Alex, and for our family. He is the Healer.

I know that last paragraph sounds melodramatic. Please take me at my word and believe it is not. There have been no visible demons to slay. No infidelities, deaths, or outward crises-- Praise God. Just life. Its stresses and hardships and disappointments and fears. That's enough in itself to face. So I'm just happy. He's brought me a "mighty long way; that's why I love Him."

We are not special or unique or worth praising. I am sharing this because my heart is full and it needs to overflow in thanks. And so, I've been running montage in my mind. Got the perfect song picked out, too.

If I had a jazz quartet playing at my beck and call today, and a fabulous dress to wear, here's what I'd have them play.

"'Cause in my mind, we can conquer the world/ in love/
You &I/ You & I/ You & I...."
(Listen here to Michael Buble's version)

Love to my husband today. If you ever decide to run away from home, I'm grabbing my purse and coming with you!

4/19/11 for 7/17/11
Melissa

Dance, Girl!

Signs of Life

I read a memoir recently called Signs of Life by Natalie Taylor.  I grabbed it off the shelf because it was a) about a new mom and b) by an English teacher.  The book chronicles a year in the life of this 24-year-old mother who loses her husband to a sporting accident while she is  5 months pregnant with their child.  They are newlyweds about to hit their second year of marriage.  The book is brutually honest and also hilarious.  Natalie has a great 'voice' and I can imagine she's a fantastic teacher.  Each chapter is taken from her journals and begins with a quote from a piece of American Literature that she is teaching her high school students as she grieves.  She invents and converses internally with her Fairy Mother Godmother who tells it to her straight about what mothering really is.  I highly recommend this book.  While the author is probably agnostic and uses a peppering of swear words, she is real, touching, and funny.  The book proves that when you think life is over, it's not.  It may be over as you know it, and that is worth grieving.  But pain can be purposeful if we let it make us stronger by enduring and thriving in the midst of it.  Thank God I've not been where Natalie has.  But as a young mother, I can relate. Worth looking at.

Here are some small signs of life I've caught:

Sarah really like to fill things up.

I think this is great.

A young John and Jackie, you think?

Got the bright idea to dump out all outgrown clothes in an attempt to straighten closets and get ready for our Fall Consignment Sale.  The door to this room will be locked indefinitely.

Hair accessories!  Really!

The gnawed crib.  Proof that the IKEA crib might trump the heirloom crib in terms of wear and tear. 
And heartbreak.

More dumping of stuff.

Staying alive!

Pic Fix

Miss Sassypants

Sing this while doing the 'mix it up' move.
"Eat dirt. Eat dirt. Eat dirt, eat dirt, eat dirt."

Made by Mama.  Chocolate Chip Cake with real buttercream icing.
 Almost as good as Aunt Publix.

We filled up the sand box.  Jeremiah was spoiled by his grandparents on the occasion of his 3rd birthday.  We discovered Life cereal-- more accurately, I remembered that I ate it constantly growing up and it's better than Cinnamon Toast Crunch in terms of fiber and sugar content.  We also got a kiddie pool that I'll need to snap a picture of us in.  They go nuts for it.  It's "the beach" to Jeremiah.

Riveting stuff, yes?

There's Roper at the Movies...

And then there's me.  Let's call this "Lis on Netflix while doing Laundry".  Satellite TV is gone for now, and we're back to Streaming Netflix.  It's cool.  Tons of Veggie Tales shows, sitcoms, and movies instantly.  I watched The Young Victoria in parts yesterday amid laundry during naps (Sarah's nap, Jeremiah's enforced 'quiet' time) and really enjoyed it.  I knew of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, but the movie makes me want to read about them.  The movie might even mildly interest your adult male because of the political strategizing and an assignation attempt--blood!   The love story between the two royals is obviously highly romanticized, but based on the Queen's real journal entries and prolonged mourning of her husband (she lived 40 years as a widow and had his clothes laid out every morning in his memory).  So sweet.

Ladies, go get this from Redbox or Netflix.  It's entertaining, funny, and interesting.  The married royals do kiss in their jammies a bit, but there's no objectionable content.  I was finishing up the movie while the kids were snacking, so I began to get nervous with the jammie scene, but it was just jammies with a hug and kiss, then "Good morning, wife" from Albert to Victoria. 

While I'm on my critic bent, let me recommend The Middle on ABC.  It's about a traditional family who are off-beat, but they actually like each other.  The episode last night was the parents taking back the house and not catering to their children's every whim.  So funny.  Anyone who is on board for traditional parenting (as in you are the adult and therefore the expert in your home, not a book by a child psychologist) will be amused.

Enjoy!