I've dealt with it for too long.  I'm tired of my custom header being hidden behind the windows live spaces header.  Quoting one of the best movies of all time, "Nobody puts Baby in a corner."  I'm moving over to blogspot.  It's been fun here at windows live spaces, but I feel called to move on.  You can find me here:

 

 

...between me and ezra

 

mama: what's your favorite thing about daddy?

ezra:  he plays baseball with me

 

mama:  who's your favorite friend?

ezra:  isaac

 

mama:  what's your favorite thing to do?

ezra:  skunk

 

mama:  what do you want to be when you grow up?

ezra:  a youth 'mister' and a golfer

 

...and then he promptly picked a booger and tried to put it on my face.

 

 

 

     

 

     

...zucchini bread

...Simon's smile

...swimming after dark

...daddy coming in the door at the end of the day

...music playing in the kitchen

...Grammie helping with the laundry

...Starbucks from Nicole

...Ezra's wardrobe

...good friends

...homemade ice cream

...a magazine and a few minutes to read it

...Isaac's helpfulness

...my Bible and a cup of coffee in the morning

...checking things off of my list

...having a dishwasher

Watching that video we made for Tim's birthday was shocking to me.  Somehow, I could not see that messy desk in real life, but putting it out in cyberspace for everyone to see opened my eyes to the mess formerly known as my desk.  So, I went right to work, organizing and straightening.  It looks so much better now. 

 

     

 

I guess now I need to video the six loads of laundry on my dining room table so that I will feel compelled to put them away...

Happy Birthday to our hero, their movie-watching buddy, our provider, my lover, my best friend, their soccer coach, our pastor, our comforter, our encourager, our teacher, their baseball-playing buddy, their daddy, my sweet love...

 

I remain...the luckiest!!

 

 

 

For something different, I thought I'd find the oldest picture in my files and write about it.  In my picasa files, this picture was in a folder of scanned photos from Tim's Grandma, or GG, as we call her.  The photo is of Tim's parents, and I'm guessing they're in California based on the other pictures in the folder. 

 

They were so young.  As I looked at them, I couldn't help but wonder--did they even imagine how their lives would turn out?  Did they guess that he would die before all three of their children were married?  Did he know he would only live to see one of his (so far) seven grandchildren be born?  Did she know she would one day go on without him? 

 

If they had known, would they have done anything differently?  Would they have spent their time or their money or their energy on different things?  Would knowing have changed anything for them or was life lived to the fullest even without the knowing?

 

I have a deep longing to jump into this picture and warn them--don't forget to kiss each other good night every single night, lavish each other with encouragement and love, play baseball with the boys every chance you get, smile knowingly at each other every time your little girl is pretending to be a princess, don't sweat the small stuff....

 

...and yet I can't warn them.  I can, however, consider myself warned.  I can't possibly know what's coming, so I choose to live each day with the warning in the back of my mind.  I'll kiss Tim goodnight even on those nights I'm going to bed irritated.  I'll play baseball when they ask and even sometimes when they don't.  The princess thing?? None of that happening here, but I WILL PLAY BASEBALL!!  I'll choose not to sweat the small stuff...

 

...because my guess is they did not even imagine it.

Our family has been laughing so hard at this that we have all almost peed our pants!!  Enjoy...

 

 

Each of my "boys" enjoyed it in his own way...

 

     

 

 

     

 

I'd like to share with you my evening's activities, and I do mean the WHOLE evening (just kidding--sort of!!).  Just call me the Pioneer Woman, with my before and after Photoshop Creation...

 

 

If you're going to hide something in your heart, I would highly suggest scripture.  However, a silly little poem worked for me today.  When I was younger, I went to B and Bubba's house every day after school.  They had an embroidered poem on the nursery wall which read:

So, today, during the second round of playing Cootie with Ezra (I LOATHE Cootie!!!!!), which was following two games of Lucky Ducks, this very poem kept going through my head.  I really didn't even know I had memorized it, but, as I wondered where in the recesses of my brain it was coming from, I remembered reading it over and over as I waited for B and Bubba to wake up each afternoon.  Thank you, little poem, for keeping me in the game when I might have otherwise gotten up to finish folding the laundry.

My mama has five brothers and sisters, as well as a half sister and a half brother who were older and out of the house before the rest of the crew was born.  My mama's oldest brother, John, died this spring, and my dad died 15 years ago.  Other than that, all of the siblings are still alive and still married to their orignial spouses.  I think that is incredible.  I love the example of commitment and love that they have all set for me.  I have heard the stories of the difficult years including poverty, sickness, and extreme sorrow.  I have also heard the stories from the years of plenty and joy.  I love knowing that all of their marriages made it through both kinds of circumstances.  This weekend, we had a "Sellers Family Reunion" which was also a surprise celebration of my Aunt Kathie and Uncle Mickey's 40th Anniversary and my Uncle Tom and Aunt Betty's 50th Anniversary.  That's them in the picture coming in and being surprised.  My Aunt Kathie and Aunt Betty are cutting the cake--I'm not sure how Uncle Mickey and Uncle Tom got out of it, but I guess after 40 and 50 years, they've learned to let their wives do the fancy jobs. :) 

 

      

 

Simon was worn out from all the kisses and hugs!!

 

 

Aunt Mary, Aunt Kathie, my mama, and Aunt Irene

 

 

During the Mexican Train Domino game, Ezra kept score in his own way!

Well, actually, Mark is my cousin, and Lori is married to Mark.  I hardly remember a time when there wasn't a Lori, though, so, at this point, let's just call her my cousin.  Just today, I was telling Tim that I remember going to Mark and Lori's wedding.  It seemed to take forever to get there, and I remember that I had a new dress on and I felt as pretty as a princess.  The whole way there, I imagined that the flower girl (who I think was maybe Lori's little sister??) would somehow not be able to do her job and I would be asked to step in and save the day with my new dress and princess-like aura.  I don't know if I thought I was going to take out the flower girl with my amazing kung-fu moves or food poison her in the dressing room--I just remember being sure they would come rushing to our row and whisk me away to join the bridal party.  Isn't it funny the things we remember? 

 

We had a big family shindig today, and I found out that Lori actually checks this blog EVERY SINGLE DAY to see if I've written anything new.  If you've read this blog for any time at all, you know that she is often disappointed.  So, I resolve, for Lori's sake, to write more often because I truly feel sorry for someone who has nothing more exciting in her life than to see if I've written about bears licking pullups or my big belly, crunchy ham, and Easter baskets all in the same post.  I'm just kidding, Lori!!!!!

 

Really, though, I am going to do more blogging--'cause it's fun and 'cause it's good for me to process this life of ours and 'cause I JUST LOVE MY COUSIN LORI!!!!