Awkward and Awesome

Awkward:
- forgetting it's class picture day at school and realizing both your sons left the house in what you could only term as "end-of-the-school-year rags" with unbrushed hair because everyone accidentally slept in that morning. Winning.

- also forgetting to send them with their picture order forms and money. Brain! Where art thou?!

- filling out your younger son's birthdate on a permission slip and then realizing you put the wrong day. And not one of his siblings birth dates, which would have been understandable because hey, we all get mixed up every now and then, but no, just a random day that no one in your family was born on. God bless white out.

- when your daughter's new (and favorite) sweater coat keeps going "missing" from her room, to be found worn with ninja gear by an offending brother, who swears it's an Assassin's Creed cloak.

Awesome:
- facetiming with your "biking across the US" mother while at your son's baseball game so she can watch him up to bat from Virginia. TECHNOLOGY.

- 12 year old boys with goals:

- High school Fiddler On The Roof productions that are outstanding. 

- husbands who make you delicious omelets for breakfast on their day off.

- And of course, three day weekends! Happy Memorial Day weekend! 

Beth goes to Europe {a packing post}

This is my friend, Beth. 

Beth recently traveled to Europe with her husband on a 10 day train tour (to Prague, Vienna, & Budapest), and while I secretly cried to the heavens because I didn't get to do a train tour of Europe, I still offered to help her pack because if one can't travel, one can live vicariously by picking out what their friend will wear while traveling. What I mean is that the challenge of packing for 10 days in one single carry-on suitcase (internationally sized at that) is something I embrace. I may have clapped, in fact. 

The small silver carry-on above is what fit the shoes and clothes we carefully picked out, and the blue tote carried Beth's toiletries, kindle, and misc. travel items. 

I helped Beth pick out items that could be mixed and matched easily and transition from day to night, covering everything from cool morning walks to a concert or play to dinner out. Then we worked on whittling the list down, getting rid of pieces that didn't work with at least 3 different outfits.

{Our initial list (background) and our final list after cutting 5 more items.} 

Here's what made the final cut: 

3 pairs of shoes (tennies, birks, & pretty sandals)

3 pants (blue jeans, colored jeans, and black capris)

1 skirt

1 dress

1 jacket

2 cardigans

1 denim shirt

5 tops

3 layering camis (in the zipper pouch with some sleeping pants and underwear)

= 20 items

(plus a scarf & belt)

And now for the fun part! 

With those 20 items here's what I came up with... 16 versatile outfits! 

I sent these pics to Beth's phone before she left so she could easily refer to them and get dressed quickly every day. 

And then I cried some more when I saw pictures like this (secretly of course, yaaaaay Beth!)

{Beth & Andy in Budapest}

{Be still, my palace-loving heart}

I truly had so much fun doing this! Seriously... going on a trip soon? Please let me pack for you! ;)

Friday thanks

It's Friday and I'm thankful for the weekend! And for...

a hard working husband who always wants my company

this girl, who is truly beautiful on the inside, where it counts.

for lilac bushes in my yard

for lazy afternoons in the sunshine

for rainless baseball evenings watching this guy play

for irises and peonies that finally bloom

for rascally yard diggers (like, right in the middle of the yard!)

and for a car full of hard working and happy cousins

for birthday outings celebrating Jana turning a year older before me ;)

and for fresh summer pedicures!

Have a great weekend! 

The Adventurer

Remember when my amazing Mum hiked the entire Pacific Crest Trail (Mexico to Canada) solo over two summers, walking a total of 2660 miles?

My own personal superwoman is at it again... this time biking across America from the Atlantic ocean to the Pacific ocean with my dear friend Sarah who I've talked about many times on my blog before.

They took off Monday on an airplane to Virginia and started the TransAmerica Trail Tuesday morning with a back wheel dip in the ocean in Yorktown.

{The Victory Monument in Yorktown, VA}

I won't see Mum again until she's dipping her front wheel in the Pacific ocean in Astoria, Oregon... 3 months from now after traveling over 4200 miles.

WHAT A WOMAN.

I am so proud of her and of Sarah. they are determined to be lights shining Christ to everyone they meet along the way and I know are going to come home with incredible stories to tell. (Also, probably crazy bike tans ;)

I'm already looking forward to the homecoming celebration :)

Mother's Day for the win

As far as mother's days go, and mother's day weekends for that matter, mine was pretty splendid.

It started here...

{At Cannon Beach for our church women's retreat}

And ended here...

{At a family BBQ at my parents to celebrate Mum}

Worship and the Word were both incredible this year - so refreshing and renewing, and since both shopping and yummy dessert were also included, and sweet talks and laughter with friends, the whole thing was the cat's pajamas. 

{too many cute choices! Banana Foster caramel bread pudding!} 

But the best part of all was coming home to my family, where my kids and husband had cleaned the whole house until it was spotless, made me the most adorable cards (including a love letter from my husband that made me cry), and were excited to show me everything they'd done, including completely rearranging the boys' bedroom!

I am blessed to have the amazing mothers that I do, and blessed to be a mother.  So, so blessed.

Introducing...

The future Mrs. Wilson!

It finally happened! A week ago Saturday, my brother proposed to his girlfriend of 2.5 years, Christine, and our family did a giant happy dance. GIANT. We love Christine!

The day after he popped the question we got together to celebrate Jamin's birthday at my parent's house. Christine surprised him with a new BBQ grill hidden in my parent's shop, and she surprised us all by showing up with a ring on her finger!

I am so, so happy :) My little brother is only a year and a half younger than me, and as someone who's been married almost 16 years now, I was afraid Jay was past praying for! I mean, we stopped pestering him about it like a decade ago ;)

(Kidding. Kind of.) 

(I mean, who really stops pestering their baby brother about anything?)

It just took the right girl though. We think Christine is the perfect fit for him, and the perfect fit for our family. And as an added bonus, I get a new sister! 

{And I just had to share these because THEY ARE THE CUTEST. Off to a Kentucky Derby party!} 

Congrats, Jay & Christine, I love you both!

Friday Thanks

Today I'm thankful for... 

- a beautiful sunny day and an awesome weekend forecast.

- banana bread bagels. Yes, they're a thing! 

- only 23 more school days till summer break! 

- a new BBQ joint in town to try this weekend (just give me alllll the pulled pork.)

- my new ride. That was given to us. GIVEN. With only 73k miles. SEVENTY THREE!

Today I'm thankful for a God whose love overwhelms me.