Just a Picture

Kids in the Snow

It Rarely Happens . . .

. . . that we see the white stuff in Houston, but we are seeing it today! And getting out of school early for it too! Thank you, weather!

Old Pictures

Charlie with Aunt Elizabeth, this summer.

Exhausted kids after a day at the beach this summer.

Molly having so much fun at the park!

Aaron and me being all cuddly!

Aaron cracking his naked self up in the mirror!

Goofy baby in the tub!!!!

Online - truly the way to go.

Thanksgiving night, midnight. Scott and I were still up. He had been sleeping all day and was feeling pretty peppy thanks to some hydrocodone. I mentioned that I might like to go to Toys-R-Us. Just to see. The kids were asleep, and Scott assured me that if something happened, he would call me straightaway. (Since he can't lift more than ten pounds for a month (due to the surgery) and since we live like five minutes from Toys-R-Us.)

Scott said, "Well, I guess everybody needs to experience it just once."

I decided to go to Wal-Mart first. You know, to let the line at Toys-R-Us subside a bit. Not that I actually believed that there would be massive amounts of people at Toys-R-Us at midnight. Surey not!

Scott said, "Oh, yes, there will."

I got to Wal-Mart and it was virtually vacant. I was there for about half an hour, and by the time I left, there were freight calls over the intercom. Trucks were being unloaded at the speed of light. Aisles were flooding with people. I had to get out of there!

On to Toys-R-Us.

First of all, I had to park across the street. Cars were parked in the grass, and I flatly refused to park in the grass at Toys-R-Us. No way. I'll walk across the street like a civilized human being, thank you.

There is a Red Lobster just across the parking lot from Toys-R-Us. I was confused by the people lining the front of Red Lobster. Was there a Midnight Lobster Madness or something? Yet, as I found my way to the front of the store and tried to find the end of the line, I understood the reason for the line in front of Red Lobster. It was the continuation of the line for Toys-R-Us, a line that curved all the way down the side of the store, looped around the back of the parking lot, and ended at Red Lobster. I stood and looked in shock at the scene around me: a crowd of people already in Toys-R-Us; store associates standing at the door of Toys-R-Us, craning their necks to get better views of the crowd in the store and the crowd ourside; store associates cruising the crowds and talking on walkee-talkees; thousands, maybe millions of people waiting quite calmly to get into the store, as if it is just an everyday occurance to wait hours and hours in chilly weather at midnight to get into Toys-R-Us. They were chatting on cell phones, listening to ipods, and eating fast food.

How naive I was about the whole Black Friday thing! People take this very seriously, folks!

I left. I just couldn't do it.

I got home and got online immediately. You know what? The doorbuster deals were also available onine, and most of them with free shipping! I ended up avoiding the crowds and found everything I wanted online, with a little help from an offer I couldn't refuse.

By the way, if you have Craigslist available to you, use it. We (are probably horrible parents because we do this) get used stuff all the time from Craigslist. The stuff is always in great shape, hardly used, and cheap!!!! I think it is better than ebay, because you just go pick the stuff up, you get to look at it first to see if you really want it, and you don't have to pay shipping. (I am getting some Thomas trains thanks to Craigslist). A lot of times people are just giving stuff away, too. Just saying. Craigslist is awesome.

Two stores I didn't abandon (besides Wal-Mart, just to kill time): Dollar General and Bath and Body Works. Dollar General because they really do have great stuff for really cheap, and Bath and Body Works because I am addicted to that place and fully convinced that all of my girlfriends are equally addicted!

Happy (cheap!) shopping!!!!!

I Am Surprised!

Beautiful Pain

I have this amazing friend from college, Brandi Haile. She is an awesome musician and she wrote a song that I just love called "Galaxy of Pieces." I was listening to that song (on my new ipod) on my way home from school today, and I love these lyrics:

And I had this dream that you were shattered / and there were pieces of you scattered all around on the ground / so many pretty pieces that I found / And I knew that I could never / glue you back together / but if I could / I was sure you would / be the prettiest stained-glass window pane / I'd ever seen / Prettiest pain I'd ever seen."

Notice the change from "pane" to "pain," which was something I noticed only today. And I started to wonder how pain could be beautiful, if it could be beautiful. The more I thought about it, the more true it became, that there can be beauty in pain.

Scripture says it quite clearly, that God will "provide for those who grieve in Zion--to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair . . ." (Isaiah 61:3)

It is true that some of the most beautiful people I have known have been those who have gone through great amounts of pain and suffering. The people I am thinking of have endured things I can't imagine. And, even so, maybe because of . . . they are wise, giving, hopeful; they are open, without judgment; they have shining faces and lovely, honest smiles.

So maybe it is that beauty comes out of the pain, as the verse from Isaiah suggests. That pain, mourning, and despair can be traded for a crown of beauty, the oil of gladness, a garment of praise.

I hope so. I hope so.

Brandi's song spoke to me today in a way it never had. I love the image of the person who can never really be the same again after being shattered by pain, but becoming something brilliant and even more beautiful than before.

I have told many people that I am not ready to go on some big journey with God yet, and I'm certainly still not. I have known for quite some time that there will never be a going "back" for me, but maybe I'm seeing some new hope that the going forward will be better than I thought, maybe less scary; that the "becoming" will be worth it, and that maybe I can become something beautiful (which is way more than I ever thought possible) after all.

Halloween

Eliza was a wizard

Molly was a princess

Aaron was a ninja

We went to the Fall Festival at a nearby church, as has been our tradition for the past few years. I thought it was way more subdued this year; not nearly as crowded as normal. It was really relaxing and nice. Scott stayed home with Charlie. We are horrible people. We don't dress up anyone under the age of two in this house! No, really, Scott's back was killing him and I didn't feel like chasing after four kids all by myself, one of whom cannot speak and runs after anything he sees with no logic or warning. So they stayed home and watched something scary. The three big kids were wonderful and had the best time ever.

(P.S. Scott has his back surgery in two weeks so he will finally get some relief. Yay! Sorry, I know that is completely unrelated to Halloween.)