XOXOXO

With love from Gavyn

(Gavyn's very much into giving kisses lately... on the lips.)

Party on the Patio With People

So we added people to the mix last night. Which usually leads to a more successful party. We just met Rama a couple of weeks ago and decided to give her a backyard barbecue experience to take back to Dubai with her. She was a pretty good sport about it. Even coached me through the cake decorating experience. A little encouragement and reminders to breath, not all that unlike the coaching when giving birth.

Oh, all right. That might be a stretch.

Ka-Chow!

For those of you who were wondering how the Lightning McQueen cake would turn out... ka-chow!



I'm not enormously happy with it, but it does look like him, so I guess I shouldn't complain. And as long as the soon-to-be four-year-old is happy, who am I to rain on his parade. I really hope that all cake requests in the future are much less challenging than this one was.

Past cakes have included a monkey for my little monkey and others. I like it better when I can decide what I'm making.

Short But Sweet

The one thing I always underestimate or fail to think through when going to major events like wedding receptions is the people we might see there that we haven't in awhile. Yesterday was no exception. I finally saw Baby Lily again - my friend, Lyla's, little girl. For the first time since she was an itty bitty baby. Only she's NOT an itty bitty baby anymore. And she's going to be a big sister, too. We saw Uncle Shawn, Aunt Koral, and Baby Lincoln. And we can add Steven & Susanna to our pleasant surprises list. But with so many people to "catch up" with, it always seems time is too short for a really good heart-to-heart visit. Maybe next time. For now, I'll just be happy for the little time we had to see you all. XOXOXOXOXO

Little Boys Grow Up to Be Husbands

Went to the wedding reception of someone I knew most of my life as a little boy. This is starting to happen more and more frequently.

Congratulations, Nathan & Stacy!

This Week's Daily Reading Guide

Sunday: Song of Solomon 5, I Chronicles 21-22, Revelations 18

Monday: Song of Solomon 6, I Chronicles 23-24, Revelations 19

Tuesday: Song of Solomon 7-8, I Chronicles 25-26, Revelations 20

Wednesday: *Psalm 1, I Chronicles 27-28, Revelations 21-22

Thursday: *Psalm 2, I Chronicles 29, *Matthew 1-3

Friday: *Psalm 3, II Chronicles 1-3, *Matthew 4

Saturday: *Psalm 4, II Chronicles 4-5, *Matthew 5

*SPECIAL NOTE: I didn't look closely at this reading guide schedule before I started and now see there are parts of the Bible you read more than once. For those of you who are following along with me, I'll keep posting them as listed, but make notations of the parts we have already read in case you would prefer to eliminate them from your reading schedule.

Comfort

This is one of my favorite hymns. I find it comforting and beautiful at the same time. As some who are very dear to me face the imminent loss of a very special four-year-old, I've found comfort in it once again. Maybe some of you would enjoy it, too.

On Eagles' Wings
(Michael Joncas)

You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord,
Who abide in His shadow for life,
Say to the Lord: "My refuge,
My rock in whom I trust!"

Chorus:

And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His hand.


The snare of the fowler will never capture you,
And famine will bring you no fear:
Under His wings your refuge,
His faithfulness your shield.

You need not fear the terror of the night,
Nor the arrow that flies by day;
Though thousands fall about you,
Near you it shall not come.

For to His angels He's given a command
To guard you in all of your ways;
Upon their hands they will bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

Party on the Patio

So remember this umbrella? Yeah, well, ummm, I couldn't justify paying more than a house payment for a patio umbrella, so we own this one instead. Not quite as fun, but the same idea. At $1200 the other was well out of our price range. I think she designs for a different level of clientele. I ordered a similar color, but now sort of wish I would have ordered it in orange. I like this one fine, though... especially since the thought of hassling with repackaging and sending it back for an exchange (never mind the expense of it all) makes the current color even more appealing.

Consider the Source

I was heckled from an upstairs window by an incognito 12-year-old flexing his pick up line muscle while walking through a familiar neighborhood this evening. It went something like this:

12-year-old Boy Voice (drawling): Heeey, Babaaay!
Me: *Silent, but looking curiously up at the window.*

I keep walking and then hear the following from the upstairs window on the opposite side of the house.

12-year-old Boy Voice: Shake, shake, shake it.

What amuses me about this whole scenario, is it is such a great representation of everything that is wrong about being a boy this age. Junior High gone awry. I have visions of a Junior High Craig playing air guitar with reckless abandon in front of his bedroom window completely unaware that he's providing free entertainment to some of his female classmates who happened to be passing by. True story, by the way.

So while I continue to ponder whether the "shake it" comment was a compliment or something that should inspire me to keep moving so there's less "shaking" (I'm having visions of he and his friend laughing at me from behind the curtain), please feel free to share your favorite heckler/cat call story.

Sharing

Craig and I have been desperate to figure out something new that works better at night time. You might recall I thought I had it figured out with the piano playing. That worked for like... a week. We were still having trouble getting the boys to settle down to sleep at night no matter WHAT time we started. By the time WE got to bed it was ranging consistently between 11 p.m and midnight. Keep in mind Craig gets up at 5:30 a.m. Also? The boys would still get up around 7 a.m. leaving their Mommy and themselves sleep deprived. Partly, it's our own fault. We had made it part of our routine to lay down with them, and they didn't know how to go to sleep without one or the other or both of us cuddling with them. They're only little once, right?

So here's the something new we've been trying as of this week. Gavyn and Kekoa are sleeping together in Kekoa's car bed. All we have to do is lay them down, kiss them goodnight, close the door and make a run for our own cozy bed. It's worked out miraculously wonderful, so far. We'll see if this new found parent euphoria will last longer than a week. While I mourn the loss of some favorite past nighttime rituals, I rejoice at rediscovering the joys of a good night's sleep. And I'm a better Momma when I'm not grumpy.

Squawker

How fitting is it that the stuffed animal Gavyn insists on dragging around by the neck is a parrot which he calls "Ticken" (chicken)? It's been given a full baptism in the pool twice now when Momma wasn't paying attention. Right now he's still sitting on the kitchen floor drying out from yesterday's dunking. And also? Gavyn's eternal question the past two weeks has been, "What doo-een (doing)? What doo-een?" While his frequent command of the moment happens to be, "Dop (stop) it! Dop it!" Notice how he always has to say everything twice. As if the repeating will miraculously demand more attention from the general direction in which the question or demand is being directed. Ahhh... how we love you, Lil Squawker. Even when you're squawking.

It's Started

So far today my boys have fought over who gets to shut the car door (never mind that there's one for each of them) and who gets to talk. One can't talk while another is talking, you know.

My Little Fish

I am fascinated by how quickly Kekoa's swimming skills progress when we're at the pool every day. He went from being completely unwilling to put his head under the water to not only putting his head under water and holding his breath, but floating while he's doing it within a matter of seven days. He's my little fish. Unfortunately, I can't put him in swimming lessons until next year when he's five.

Family Ties

One thing the boys have with both Craig's and my side of family is strong family ties. Family is important. Family reunions are common. This weekend was our annual family reunion on my dad's mom's side of the family. The German side of the family where we get our strong personalities. Our strong opinions. For sure, you can't accuse us of not knowing what we think or of being afraid to express it. You may recall my description of reunions with my dad's dad's side of the family. It meant a lot to see cousins I hadn't seen for a couple of years. Some day my boys will understand just how lucky they are to have so many people that love them.



Poor little Ben burnt his fingers by touching the still hot grill. He wouldn't let his mommy put ice on it, but she finally convinced him to put his fingers in cold water by putting a rock in it. Mothers have to be creative sometimes.



Gavyn's playing the "night-night" game with Grandpa here. See how tightly he's squeezing his eyes closed? And he's snoring, too. And then, of course, a weekend with Grandpa wouldn't be complete without wearing his glasses now, would it?

If You Give a Boy a Party

If you give a *boy a party, he's going to ask for some balloons. When Grammy gives him balloons, he's going to want to decorate the house. And not just any kind of balloons, but the largest balloons his momma's ever seen in her entire 34 years of living. Seriously. The size of Good Year Blimps. See? I'm not kidding.




After some amount of playing, the boy will pop all the balloons from Grammy and he'll want to open his presents. Thanks for the annual pair of sunglasses, Aunt Heidi. And the surf board, Grammy.



In his presents, he'll find pirate swords and eye patches and earrings. Which he'll want to wear immediately.



If he wears eye patches and earrings, his little shadow...er, brother will want to wear them, too. All night long. Even to bed. And he'll want his Mommy to wear an eye patch, too. As you can see, she wouldn't have lived long as a pirate... she would have been killed for her mouth full of silver.



If his brother wears his eye patch and earrings, he'll lose interest and want to have birthday cake. A dinosaur one. And his brother will demonstrate he has finally learned to blow out candles and blow them out as fast as Grammy lights them.



If his grammy gets the cake candles lit without his brother blowing them out for the third time, he'll want to have lots of people sing him Happy Birthday, attempt to blow out his own candles, and lick the frosting off the dinosaurs legs.






If he licks the frosting off the dinosaurs legs, he's going to have a sugar high and want to do headstands with his Great Uncle Jeff. And his momma will also be inspired to demonstrate her yoga prowess for the attentive crowd. In a skirt. Much to her husband's distress. And her mother's. But it was an orange skirt, so it was all good. Please notice her Aunt Linda's cool orange beaded flip flops in the pictures below. His momma secretly coveted them. It's a good thing family are usually so willing to overlook character flaws. I mean, after all, what is family for?



Tolerance, of course. Here is her Grandma and Great Uncle Larry (visiting from Alaska!) barely tolerating her hugs and camera.



This discourse, by the way, will mean much more to you if you've experienced reading the children's book, If You Give a Pig a Party, firsthand. Good luck with that.

*Special Note: Kekoa's birthday is actually on July 2nd, but we celebrated early this weekend with Momma's family since they'll be gone during that time. It also happens to be the same weekend as our annual family reunion, so he had lots of family on hand to help him celebrate. This made his momma happy. It's how she remembers celebrating her birthdays, and she's so glad he got to experience it at least once in his little life. There's nothing quite like it.