Flyin' solo

Isaak left for Mississippi yesterday...and after two days of bad weather, car problems, and flying licorice out the window from sheer boredom just to see if it could whistle....he is there.

And we are flyin' solo for the next little bit.

Which is fine. We don't like it. No one does. But you make do, ya get into a routine, find your solo mojo and keep on keepin' on.

It's just on days like today that I run into dilemmas with this whole flyin' solo business. Where having a routine, staying patient, keeping the kids alive, taking out the trash, being a mom and a dad and handling all the stuff that comes with doing life alone....is the least of my problems.

This afternoon I went grocery shopping with the girls after church, something that we normally do as a family, and as I reached up to grab my yogurt, which was oh so conveniently located on the top shelf...

....I couldn't get it. I couldn't reach my yogurt! Like, at all. No amount of stretching, tippy toeing, using the old pen from the purse trick to pull it forward, or gently resting my feet on the bottom ledge could get me that yogurt!

Do they not know short people eat that yogurt too?!

After someone came along before me who also had an apparent liking for Strawberry Thick n' Creamy Yoplait Yogurt and grabbed the front two containers...no one nicely came along and pushed those back three rows forward.

I mean, I just ain't tall enough in all my whoppin' five foot one inch glory to reach that far.

Something that Isaak (or rather any person of a decent height) could do without blinking (or pulling a muscle). Something small and insignificant, that he does, that I take for granted, until he's gone and can't do it for me anymore.

It's little things like that, that I seem to notice the most while he's gone. I notice and miss the big things too, of couse...but those little things that are so easily taken for granted each day, come back to me the most.

Like yogurt on the top shelf, stubborn lids on spaghetti jars, closing the garage at night, (having someone around to look at me like I'm crazy while telling me that I'm not, because I left my band-aids on too long and my fingers under them turned freakishly white and I think they're somehow dying and may need to be amputated.) Ya know. Stuff like that. :~)

So....note to self for all future shopping excursions while Isaak is gone.....

-wear high heels. Really high high heels. There is no hope for me reaching the top shelf without them.

-and don't buy the cheapest band aids. They will turn my fingers freakishly deathly looking white.

Here's to flyin' solo and maintaining sanity and grace till Isaak comes home!

(at our favorite Saturday night summer spot at Aksarben Village, playing in the fountains, rolling down the hills, listening to music and soaking up the summer.)

High lows

High/lows past five days.....

low-Isaak was sick all weekend. Boo.
high-when he was feeling better Sunday night he was being extra great with the girls which meant a lot because they were grating on my.last.nerve and having him there to pick up for me emotionally was such a saver.  :~)

low-I had a bad allergic reaction on both eyelids
low-thanks to such allergic reaction I had to throw away every last drop of make-up
low-my eyes were so swollen I couldn't put my contacts in, which means I had to wear my glasses to church on Sunday, with no make-up, and had a bad hair day on top of it. (I don't care if that sounds vain)
high-girls said on Sunday that I look best in my glasses...bless their hearts.

low-Isaak went to the store for me while he was sick to pick me up some Aloe Vera for my eyes, but when he didn't buy the specific kind I asked for...I was less than, well, appreciative. I suck. Big time.
high-he went back out and surprise bought me an Aloe Vera plant...
high-my hubby totally rocks.

low-Isaak leaves in two days
high-answered prayer that he gets to at least leave now, instead of November.
high-got to have a movie date with him to see POTTER before he left!
low-Potter stunk...so disappointed in the finale.

high-girls have 'Y' camp for four hours this week!
high-four hours of just me time!
low-my four hours of me time cost sixty bucks to get.
high-it was still worth it. :~)
high-them. in general.

high-we forgot Chief was outside and he spent the whole night ourdoors, and it rained! Bah ha!
low-he was extra nice when he came inside which made me feel a little guilty for delighting in his absence.

high-talked to a favorite childhood friend that I've known since I was SEVEN for the first time in years. So so so good to hear Jenny's voice and catch up with her.
high-finding out that another favorite childhood friend, Cory, that I've known since I was seven is pregnant! 'Bout time!!

High and low-Read about a human trafficking bust in China today. Definite high. Children saved. Praise Jesus. But the details were such a low. Wow. I'm still reeling....just sickens me to the core.
high-Holly. She is doing. She's putting her "sickened to the core" into action and fighting for justice anyway that she can.

high-exercised, like REALLY exercised today for the first time in a loooong time without feeling like my heart was going to sky rocket out of my chest!
high-thyroid medication...where have you been my last ten years?!

high-talked to my 86 year old grandma about Jesus for the first time.in.my.life.

high-discovered Mumford & Sons. *sigh*....my musical heart likey.

And I'm gonna end on those two highs...Jesus and music. Two of my favorite things. :~)

The Zoo through the eyes of a five year old

On Thursday I took the girls to the zoo-just the three of us. It had rained early Thursday morning but for only a short time. And by 10am, yes, there were still some lingering thunderstorm type clouds in the sky, okay a lot of gray bubbling over with rain kinda clouds....but I figured, this is Nebraska. Ya can't make plans here around the weather. This state is so finicky with weather. So, I quickly considered the odds of rain while at the zoo and concluded that those wonderfully beautiful gray clouds were nothing more than idle threats.

I was wrong.

By a lot.

Because it rained...the.whole.time. (well, almost, we had ten minutes rain free)

But is was still great. Fantastic actually. The rain was warm, and every now and then the sun would peak through the sky, only for clouds to be ushered back in its place. The air was cooler, but pleasant. And the zoo was quiet. We strolled our favorite spots, took our time. I ran pushing the girls in the stroller through the rain like a crazy person just for fun. The girls splashed in the puddles and I turned over the camera into Sydaleigh's care and she busied herself taking pictures of everything.

And I do mean everything....here is our trip to the zoo from Sydaleigh's perspective....

ahh yes, sewer covers...

Golf carts.....very zoo-ish material....

she did photograph some actual zoo creatures ( I have about 50 pictures of Dory)

Love her Stairs picture. Very abstract.

only from the eyes of a five year old. :~)

(I took the last three, obviously.)

 
It was just one of those days. Those blissfully peacefully chaotic joy filled days. Man we love this place. :~)

Not the honeymoon phase anymore

We're in real married life now. Have been for a good, almost eleven years. But it made me laugh at just how much married life has changed, not just from the "not in the honeymoon phase anymore"...but to the "not just the two of us anymore."

Isaak came home from work Thursday evening and plopped down on the couch (while I was talking to my mom) and I looked over and he had this look about him.

A look that made me know instinctively to keep my distance.

So from the other couch I hesitatingly ask, "what's wrong?"

To which he replies, "I.think.I'm.sick."

*annoyance immediately sets in*

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sick?!

"What do you mean you're sick?" I ask with this incredulous look on my face.

"I have a fever, my neck hurts, back hurts, and shoulders hurt...I think I have West Nile Virus...tell your mom, what does she think?"

*eyes bulge, quietly laugh into the phone*

"We both think you have a cold. You'll live."

As my mom is saying goodbye she tells me to give Isaak a kiss for her, to which I reply...

"I'm not kissin' him. I will wave to him, from across the room, but that's as close as I'm gettin'. If you lived here I'd be sending him to your house so that he doesn't infect the rest of us."

And then I had to stop and laugh, because this is what eleven years of marriage and two kids later looks like.

You get annoyed when your spouse is sick. Not because you lack compassion (to which I may, actually)...but because if they are sick, there's a real good chance that someone else is gonna get sick...because of them. And when I say "someone" else...I mean me. Or the kids. And if it's me...well, it's not like I can just plop down and take a vacation from living for the next two days. I have to be sick. And still be everything else. If it's the kids. Well, don't even get me started. The last two times Marvelly has gotten sick in the summer has resulted in a trip to the ER thanks to seizures. Umm, no thanks.

So when Isaak quietly came up behind me and kissed my head......"AHHHH!!!! Your germ infected kiss is going to get absorbed into my hair and seep into my body! Back away!!" was my eleven years of marriage and two kids later reply.

"Um, no it's not Melissa."

"Well, I'm not takin' any chances. Now go quarantine yourself upstairs."


Here's to keepin' it real!

(especially since Sydaleigh JUST came in, sat on my lap, and told me she farted on me...and then ran off laughing. Nice girl. Real nice. Keepin' it real indeed. Definitely not in that short lived honeymoon phase anymore!)

This one's better though. Even when I'm getting germ infected kisses and being farted on. :~)

Sydaleigh and Marvelly to the rescue!

Sunday evening I was in the kitchen baking cookies and I peak into the living room and see Marvelly and Sydaleigh running wildly with their capes, Sydaleigh had my elastic headband (being used as an arrow)...pretending to be superheros.

Ummm, my girls have played A LOT of things...but superheros has never been one of 'em. I didn't even know they knew what that was! And since we don't have boys I'm scrambling to remember where they would even pick up on this whole superhero business. We have no superheroes in the house.  We have no superhero movies (that they can watch anyways.)

Weird.

But weirder than knowing about superheros in a non superhero doting house...is that they actually knew how to play it. Sydaleigh kept saying, "superheros to the rescue!" and then running around swinging her cape back and forth.

Whaaaat???

I had this quirky amused perplexed look on my face as I watched them. I had to quickly excuse myself because I didn't want my laughter or questions to interrupt their games. 

Anyways. I go back into the kitchen chuckling to myself with their antics, thinking about how funny boys are when they do stuff like this...and then Sydaleigh calls to me, "Mom, can I wear my boots?"

Whaaaat????

Her and Marvelly go and put their rain boots on, and then they look themselves over and quickly conclude that something is still missing and throw on their rain coats as well. Flip up the hood. Straighten out the cape again and they're off.

And that's it right there.

A boy will be content to play superheros in just his undies and cape, but a girl....mmm mmmm....not a girl. She's gonna need a whole superhero ensemble. Okay? She's gotta have boots. A coat. A hat. Her cape. She can't be runnin' around in just her undies. A girl has got to work herself up a whole outfit!

And that's just what they did.

And then they were ready to fight some bad guys. Once we got the outfit taken care of. A fierce battle quickly ensued.....

 Sydaleigh hid, preparing for a sneak attack......

"Ah ha! Gotcha! Put your hands where I can see them!"

 "Baaahhh! Run!!!

 They fought bravely....no doubt the time spent prepping their outfits only aided them in their arduous battle.

 Eventually my superhero sporting girls did subdue the villain...with Marvelly being a trusty sidekick who risked life and limb running out of her "hiding" spot under the arm of the couch to collect Nerf darts for Sydaleigh.

Never a dull moment. :~)

The Man Pancake

Isaak has been asking me to make this pancake for him for over a year. But based on the picture of it in the magazine I saw it in, it looked more time consuming than I wanted to put into a pancake.

I was wrong. It was ridiculously easy.

And oooooooh my gosh it was goooooood. A little too good. Musta been all that butter. :~)

So here it is. I call it The Man Pancake. But it's also been called The Dutch Pancake. Or the German Pancake. Or The High Rise Pancake. But I like to call it the Man Pancake because it's so easy a dude can do it. And do it well. There is like no messing this up.

Here's what cha do....

preheat over to 425.

take 3 TBLS. butter and put in a 9in. pie plate. Place in oven until melted. (takes like five minutes)

while butter is melting whisk together in medium size bowl....
2 eggs
1/2 C. flour
1/2 C. milk
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
pinch of nutmeg (if ya have some)

once butter is melted take pie plate out of oven and pour in flour mixture. Quickly return to oven.

Bake 18-20 minutes (mine took a bit longer, like 24-25 minutes)
take out and sprinkle with lemon juice and powdered sugar.

Ummmm, it was delightful. And the easiest thing I've ever made. This is up there with toast on the easy scale.

Isaak drooled over every bite.

And I may never make regular pancakes again. :~)

Wretched day

What a day.  It's been down right wretched.

Because of me, because of circumstances out of my control, because of sin.

I hate today.

I hate sin.

"Hate what is evil..."

I.hate.sin.

And today....it seems like it's everywhere. It's like I woke up and was literally seeing it engulfing everything. Seeking to consume anything in it's path. Sin isn't biased. It shows so favorites. Like a fire it will seek to immerse you in it's all consuming flames. Suffocating you. Robbing you of life.

Something about today. I'm just feeling the heat of that fire. I can practically feel the flames dancing towards me feet, creeping closer, all around me. I look down and see little bits of flame singeing my clothes. Crawling up my shoes. I try to shake it off and pound it out...but the fire is persistent. 

And it seems everything is being engulfed in wretched flames....patience combusting, dreams being torched, marriages being burned, loving attitudes incinerating, selflessness charred, obedience scorching, grace smoldering.... 

Today was heavy. Wretchedly heavy. 

"...Cling to what is good."

-Romans 12:9

Jesus is good. No matter how wretchedly heavy life feels...Jesus is good. The only good I want to cling to. The only good worth clinging to. 

When the military throws frustrating circumstances my way, when I am not loving or grace extending, when my family is acting like a bunch of hooligans....when my stomach falls into a bottomless pit over grievous, heart wrenching news today of a precious friend I've never met....Jesus is good.

Even when everything else isn't.

Jesus is good.

Clinging to what is good. Hating what is evil. 

Clinging to what is good. 

On my knees in deep prayers that His goodness will extinguish the flames all around me and those I love. Jesus' goodness is the only thing that can.

A new sport.

I didn't sign the girls up for any sports this summer because....

-1) I wanted a really flexible summer with no strict schedules to adhere to. And
-2) We made up our own summer sport that rivals that of soccer or baseball, or t-ball, or whatever else kids play at this age.

introducing.... 'Swat That Fly'

*a very competitive game consisting of running, screaming, hunting, swatting, and sportsmanship. *

It's a team sport. And while we did keep score (because we're ultra competitive like that).....

Sydaleigh 6

Marvelly 1

...it's a great sport that stresses the importance of team work and turn taking (plus I get rid of all those pesky flies).

This sport has it all.  It very well could be Olympic worthy. I mean, I'm just sayin'... if Curling can actually be considered an Olympic sport, I don't see why Swat That Fly can't be. It requires a lot more skills and physical exertion than curling. Curling is nothing more than shuffleboard on ice. Swat That Fly is so much more. And it helps control the fly population too.

I can definitely see this as the next up and coming sport.

Lots of random randomness

We currently have ONE roll of toilet paper left in the house.

One.

And not even a full one. Like, half a roll. So people round here better be frugal.

And, on top of having a half a remaining roll of toilet paper, we ran out of our dishwasher detergent last week so I have been washing dishes the good ole fashioned way.

By hand. *gasp*

Which begs the question....why don't I go to the store and buy some more?

Because, frankly, I'm lazy! That's not really why. Mostly....I'm trying to cut back on my blessed Target trips to once a week. Or more like every two weeks. Because I know that I have zero restraint and if I see something on sale I will be lured into purchasing it.

Against my will!

Clearance doesn't take no for an answer.

So, in an attempt to cut down on trips, plus I'm fed up with our dishwasher not washing the dishes. So I am washing our dishes by hand. And, well, I actually really need to go to the store and get some toilet paper. We ain't washing that by hand. :~)

Bubbles are a favorite summer past time round here. I just love bubbles.

There is something about them that brings me contentment, watching my kids chase them down and seeing them float in the sky until they disappear. It's like watching fish. And even though I have a strong dislike for fish as pets, watching them is very soothing. So are bubbles.

I was talking to Bekah last night and she was beginning to discuss with me some Jews for Jesus she was talking to, and I was like, "what is their official title again....Jesuits?"

"Um, no Missy. That's like a whole 'nother religion. Jesuits are a part of the Catholic Church."

"Ohhhh...right...I knew that."

Doh!

Sometimes the things I say even surprise myself. That's like right up there with, "how come we have so many leaves in our yard and our neighbors don't have any?!"


"Because we have trees honey."

*look around perplexed*

"Oh yeah." (in all fairness I was like 11 or 12 when I said that and apparently at that age I was expected to be smart enough to make that observation. Well apparently not.)

Clearly people overestimate me. :~)

-Ahhhh, nothin' beats lounging in a two man pool, in your clothes, in 105 degrees. Speaking of which, I think the girls are a wee bit big for that pool. Probably time to upgrade to something they actually fit in.

 And bathing suits are so overrated. Clothes are the new swim suit this year. And even though Sydaleigh is do for a new suit, because she grows like a weed in freshly laid mulch...I can probably get away without buying one till next year. :~) Well, I could if it wasn't for Isaak.

(good thing we have Isaak, because he's all like, "She needs a new bathing suit! She barely squeezes into that one anymore!" So I did go buy her a new one. Otherwise I would have been like, "It's fine! She still has one butt cheek in there. We can wait!" They wear their clothes most of the time anyways, and I'm not a mom that cares if they clothes swim.)

-I have an ever increasing summer reading list. I think I set my sights too high...there's no way I'm going to get through them all.

Right now I'm reading The Pursuit of God by Tozer. Which is absolutely fantastic. 70 pages. Which I thought "oh good, 70 pages is nothing, I'll read that in two days." Yeah. No. It's so rich I'm only on chapter 4 after a month. But I'm loving it. A MUST read. Absolutely fantastic.

I'm slowly reading A Thorn in My Heart by Liz. C. Higgs. Fiction. Late 1700's. Ireland. Very good so far...but I'm still in the early stages and haven't fully committed myself to loving it yet.

I'm tempted to go back and reread Hunger Games for a third time. Because I love them too much.

I'm picking up and putting down Prayer by Philip Yancey. Very good and I love him. But this book is more of a nibbler. I like to pick it up and read a little at a time. Set it down. I think it will take me a while to get through it all.

I've also been reading through Heaven by Randy Alcorn for the past three months. And not because it's bad or slow. This is actually one of the greatest books I've ever read. EVER. I can't say enough good things about it. Another MUST read.

Other need to read books this summer....
Night by Elie Wiesel (memoir of his Holocaust survival),  
Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Deibler Rose (biography of her time as a missionary during WWII and years spent in a Japanese prison camp). 
Secret Thoughts of an Adoptive Mother-Jana Wolff  
Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Parents Knew by Sherrie Eldridge
Matched by Alie Condie (dystopian society)
Freddy and Fredericka by Mark Helprin (new recommendation) 

I think I bit off more than I can chew in the reading department....Those will probably last me through the year. 

But seen as how Sydaleigh is going off to school come August, I expect "quiet" times to be a whole lot quieter around here...and I may actually get some reading in after all. 

Enough with the random randomness....I have got to get to the store. There is going to be a riot if I don't buy some toilet paper.

No heat curls baby!

I watched this you tube tutorial on how to create curls with no heat. And it totally worked!

Easy peesy. No fret. SO simple and genius. And no heat. Which makes me love it that much more.

I do have to say that I was so excited to try this that I went a wee bit overboard and tucked back like WAY to many sections of hair, as seen below. And the result was a kinda weird spastic gnarly bunch of curls....but curl it did! Oh yes it did! And the updo to get the curls I think I loved as much as the results itself...maybe more since my curls were spastic. But I'd do this again just for an updo that's not a pony tail.

Here's before I went to bed in it.

 The next morning. Still in. Again, I went a little too far and kept it in until way late in the afternoon, because I really wanted the curls to stay in...(I know now I don't have to worry about that). So I pinned the back up in two spots, went to the park, played hard with the girls and it stayed in great. A little too great. I really hard to work that hair to get the band out. Again, me, overboard. :~)

 The results were a bit too much, I need to scale back next time. But, see...tight curls...lots of 'em.

 That night when I was getting ready to go out I combed out the curls a bit with a comb

(I still busted out a 1in. curling iron just to tame the spasticness a bit, but just on the top hair...I didn't touch the bottom hair.) And I had a full head of curls. Easy peesy.

I'm totally using this with the girls. Anything I can do to keep heat away from their pretty undamaged hair as long as I can the better!

Up next for me to try....the sock bun.

Dropkick Murphy's

DropKick Murphy's were awesome! They have been Isaak's favorite band for so long now, and it was cool to get to see them together and with some of his friends when they popped over to town.

I feel like I need to say this because I have been getting flack....yes, in the beginning, I may have not given them a fair chance, dismissing them as "noise, or whatever...but upon closer inspection, I have concluded that I love them. Totally. love. them. Because....(in no particular order)

1. They are hard core hockey fans. To the extreme. Which scores like quadruple bonus points in my book...being raised a bit of a hard core hockey fanatic myself.

2. Umm, bagpipes! Nuf flippin' said!

3. Banjo and whistle. Makes any music that much better.

4. Funniest quirkiest lyrics ever.

5. Fantastic combination of Irish and punk and romantic blend. (Any music containing Irish qualities is romantic to me. Yeah, even if it's considered punk rock. I do not care. It's still good. And really, they're not even punk, I'd personally categorize them with just plan 'rock'....but whatever.)

6. They play for their fans. It's become somewhat of a tradition to invite them up onto the stage for the last numbers of the night. (in smaller venues anyways.)

 7. Their music makes you want to bust out an Irish jig. Of which I know none. But if I wasn't concerned about being crushed to death on the main floor, I would have scrounged one up from deep in my Irish roots.

(The only thing that I was slightly disappointed about was that listening to them perform live, obviously venues don't have the same type of acoustics as in a studio, so it was hard to hear and distinguish all the different elements of their music like you can on an album. But, you can't beat the atmosphere of a live performance. So, c'est la vie. )

The crowd was hilarious. Which I wasn't expecting. But dude, that was the most eclectic bunch of people. There were ten year olds, your punk crowd, what I would consider "seniors", middle aged country club folk with tucked in polo's and golf hats, I mean, seriously...it was so fun to people watch and see everyone who came out to hear them.

Anyways, great night, lots o' fun, I thought I may be permanently deaf upon leaving the auditorium, but my hearing has since returned. I will just need to remember to bring ear plugs, next time. :~)

4th of July goodtimes

It was a blissful weekend.

We hit up Aksarben Village for a night of fountain fun, Jone's Brothers, and music on a blanket. We ate outside. Played in the pool. Had a slumber party downstairs. We had the Loveless fam over for dinner and explosions. And then they had us over for dessert and explosions.

We baked a flag cake for the 4th and Sydaleigh loved it so much she insisted in pictures with it.

The girls danced like no one was watchin'! They busted out some serious moves when the music started....they get that from me. :~)

"What up?! You got moves like this?! I don't.think.so!"

 

There was an emergence of some inner 16 year olds. If only our flag cake hadn't tasted so good they would have stuffed it full of fuses.

 The kids got in on the action, using their sparklers to burn the driveway, ants...

 

leaves....

a bottle.....what?! "Whoa! They totally started that bottle on fire! Should we stop them or something?" blank stares.... :~)

 (when I asked Sydaleigh later what her favorite part of the 4th of July was....she said starting the bottle on fire. ?!?!? Gerard blood runs deep in that girl. :~) )

This little one on the other hand was not a fan of the sparklers, or fireworks, or loudness of it all. This was the only sparkler she held. The rest of the time she preferred to content herself with throwing those snappers on the sidewalk. 

Her and Hattie donned some very fashionable ear wear to help dull the noise. And Marvelly scoured the yard for fireflies.

It was a great weekend full of good food, friends, flying corn on the cob, cans shooting past the trees, laughs, bright skies, and happy moments! Until next year....Happy birthday to our blessed country!