Little tree

A spider lives inside my head . Who weaves a strange and wondrous web . Of silken threads and silver strings . To catch all sorts of flying things . Like crumbs of thought and bits of smiles . And specks of dried-up tears . And dust of dreams that catch and cling . For years and years and years. 

                                                                                                                                                  Shel Silverstein

Loving this.

  

Jumping the shark

After years of threatening to throw Spencer the World's Most Awkward Surprise Party with only people he sorta-kinda knows on the invite list, he went behind my back and actually threw me a real one.
What a jerk.

The only 2 items on the night's agenda were to (1) eat crusty food then (2) sit around and ridicule me,
with everyone I love in attendance, plus a special surprise guest flown in all the way from Midwest, USA.
I may have cried, but I can't be certain. 

It was one of the best, most overwhelming feelings ever. Which feels like a gross understatement, but there's really no other words for suddenly being faced with the reality that all of the people you love most, not only kinda-sorta like you back, but really know and understand who you are - right down to your quirky eating habits and favorite trashy television shows.

It was perfect,

perfect in every possible way that matters.

Now a week later, reading the party planning emails and I'm feeling just as touched by them as I did at the Roast itself. - I've summarized the highlights of the correspondence below for posterity's sake (no, that's funny. I just did it for me).

S: ok girls. i need some help planning a 30th birthday for kayleen.

this much i know: she enjoys a crowd, likes loud and inappropriate conversation, and i'm pretty sure she'd want to be wearing a tiara on her special night. actually i'm positive. who can get us a tiara???  

S: a roast of some sort would be fun... what awkward stories personality quirks/flaws/etc. can we all ridicule her for? ... don't be shy. 

Aft: I know Kay's would love a good roasting... I've heard her make the comment that she would love a reason for people to get together and talk about her. 

Ty: This looks promising. 

Sar: i think you need to celebrate what kays loves...

a theme party where everyone dresses up like one of the real housewives and she has to guess who's who, she likes uncomfortable things, any game that encourages lying, cocktails (monster+lemonade), and friends. 

M: crusty food she likes... beef jerky, gummy bears, Swedish Fish, Sour Patch Kids, soft pretzels, monster/Mtn dew cocktail, taco bell tacos.  

C: a giant game of mafia - and we all agree to get super into it,
or we just set up a table with a giant puzzle and let her have at it,
or a really uncomfortable game of "would you rather ... ?"

D: housewives playing in the background, abernethy on skype, a birthday song solo from me complete with an interpretive dance to go along with it... a mean game of mafia (or any other game that makes people squirm in their seats) 

S: ...who can we get a tiara from?! 

J: i'll spare you my witty rhetoric and just offer a resounding "here, here" to all the afore mentioned replies. 

S: ...she's been joking about a surprise party for years. But, no worries. She doesn't suspect a thing. She's so duuuuummmbbb!!!

That's love, friends. Real love.

   

Keep your head in the game, Son

Spencer coached O and E's soccer team this fall.

It was exactly how you'd imagine a bunch of 4-7yr boys chasing a ball back and forth on an open field would be.
Owen had a lot of fun, Spencer loved it (he really did) and wants to be Coach Spencer again,
and Elliot was strictly there for the postgame treats.

The last picture was taken right before the opposing team made the game winning goal.
Rolled right between the post and his butt without him even noticing it. - This scenario sums up his personality perfectly. He lives in his own little world where I'm guessing ninjas, pirates, and superheros reside as well.
I love this about him.

(All pics were taken by the Guinns [Thank you so much!])

Beep Bow Boop 

huh?

Way to hustle #11 

Coach Spencer & Coach Kyle & a Sonic Drink giving the boys a riveting pep talk 

Game Treat Huddle. Lookin' alive, boys!  

Postgame Parent Tunnel - 2nd time through I gave a spank. Owen loved going through twice. 

Yeah, this seems about right

Hello new year

I've decided there should be some sort of medal for having all of the house laundry done, put away, without a single linen in the dirty clothes basket. 'Cause on the rare occasion I'm able to make this happen, I feel like a winner - and I'll shamelessly relish in even the smallest achievement.

So in accordance with this - appeasing my winning spirit and inflating my sense of accomplishment - I'd like to consider every year survived from here on out, with self and children mentally/emotionally/physically intact, as my grandest endeavor yet; my very own Mt Everest each new year.

Feel free to express your congratulations the next time you see me for making it to the summit, once again, with spirits and limbs attached (believe it).
Onward and upward.

2012, I resolve to...

Be more tolerant
Be less worldly-minded

   

Now we're here and now is fine

Sometime around the end of last month Spencer and I celebrated a whole nine years of he and I, me and him, togethery usness over a plate of chicken and waffles.
It was as grand as we'd prefer it.

I'm forever intrigued by the unique dynamic a relationship develops over time; how a couple fights, what their daily ebb and flow is like. It's a balancing act proven difficult to fine tune. That interests me.
There's also this sort of whimsical allure I feel at the idea of two very distinct personalities finding a way to mold pieces of themselves together into a seemingly third singular identity. A pair.

So in regards to us, he and I, the ideal would to always be much more of a pair now than the year past, but not ever as much of a pair we hope to be by the year next.

I like the thought of that.
You are one in a million (I love you so), 
let's watch the flowers grow.

Happy Christmas Face

from the Reeds

  

Christmas story

Several times this month I've found our nativity's characters all bunched together under the roof of the manger. I then take the time to spread them all back out again in their appropriate spots according to story, and mere physics.
I finally asked Jo why she keeps piling them on top of each other and she responded,
"That's where the party is."
"Where?"
"There.", under the roof of the manger.
I think she gets it.

  

Elliot knows karate

A full minute of ninja tricks. Put your helmets on.

one of these things is not like the other

Spencer was working out of town during Owen's 6th birthday last month.
I was simultaneously consumed with nursing clininicals and ended up being both physically and mentally absent most days.

I performed a solo of happy birthday for him, double time, en route to our regular morning drop-off. And that was it. (I'm not proud of it)
I tried making up for it days later by barely pulling off a surprise party at the first chance I had to breathe (who needs sleep). He was surprised, and grateful for several days following. - That's really all I ask.





Happy late birthday, brother. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

halloween 2011

this is fun.

this is even more fun.

I am

I struggle less now than ever with the unfounded fear of any potential offense I may cause from saying aloud what I really believe of God and Christ. Chock it up to age or just real progression towards self-actualization, but I'm comfortable.
Comfortable with who I am, what I believe, what I don't believe, what those foundations really mean for me and mine, and where my very unique self fits in the grand scheme of it all. For the body is not one member, but many...

If the foot shall say, because I am not the hand, I am not of the body. And if the ear shall say, because I am not the eye, I am not of the body. It is not therefore not of the body.
For if the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now God hath set each one of the members in the body, and now they are many members, but one body.
And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee, or again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Much rather, those members of the body which seem to be more feeble are necessary and those [parts] of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor.
And our uncomely [parts] have more abundant comeliness, whereas our comely [parts] have no need. God tempered the body together, giving more abundant honor to that [part] which lacked that there should be no schism in the body - that the members should have the same care one for another...
And whether one member suffereth, all the members suffer with it,
And as one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
And now, ye are the body of Christ...(1 Corinthians 12)

...and i am.

There is need and room for all of us, friends. We are never forgotten.
I'm a mormon

  

"That's why I'm a ninja."

In conversation with Elliot:

"You, Owen and Dad look the same because you're all...."
"Boys!"
"So Mom and Jonah look the same because we're both..."
"Superheroes!" 

well, sort of.

mesa my love

I grew up on the same street my father did.
The majority of his 30+ grandchildren, including my own children, will grow up in the same neighborhood as well.

Bloom where you are planted.

I love my home. I love my neighbors. And I believe there is a happy place where compassion and the laws of the land meet. - I want my children to grow up in a place where this can happen.
Lets go, District 18.

you'll be a lady soon

but until then,
happy (2nd) birthday, little pig.

  

free at last

first day favorites:
o "second breakfast."
e "playing on the park."


the boys are out of the house(!!!).
we've plunged them both headfirst into the wonderful world of the public educational system.
fingers crossed they'll make it out on the other side unscathed.

as for now it's currently just us girls holding down the homefront (can i get a what-what).
and in the spirit of our newfound freedom,
we're kicking our feet up and lettin' our hair down, so to speak:

  

gather up the fragments that nothing may be lost

spencer has been traveling back and forth between here and sweatsville-Austin since the beginning of summer.
he's missed a lot. swim team, singing performances, first day of school,
et cetera.
et cetera.

in spite of feeling like we're constantly treading water during the time he's gone, i think the kids and i have handled business relatively well on our own. like a bunch of champs in fact.
that's not to say we haven't each had moments where our legs grew too heavy to keep our heads above water any longer. we have. and still do.
i just try harder now to appreciate how easy life is while he's here,
and how great a thing take-out every night is while he's gone.

  

this place is a desert

 

would it be cliché if i said this summer flew by?
it would?
oh,
well,
never mind then.

everything in its right place

6/26/11: a sunday morning.
movie fort with popcorn and m&m's for breakfast.
don't let the serenity of this picture fool you though,
this fort was one of the worst things that's ever happened to me.
(but i am often times dramatic and probably should have known that m&m's for breakfast wouldn't end well by noon.)


7/24/11: i'm currently nestled in a far corner of our family room between a chest of drawers and jonah's crib,
quickly realizing how much i underestimated the uncomfortable factor of spending half a day in my tiny house with only myself + a 2 man carpet crew:
as they clear out each room i feel ridiculously lazy and keep awkwardly offering to help move things.
less than an hour in and i've already ran out of things to pretend to do to look like i'm busy, so now i'm just sitting and watching them.
and i have to pee (but they'll hear me)
i'll hold it all day if i have to.

   

hey you summertime

in stripes and 110 degree heat.


i don't need to explain to any mother how long summer days are.
they just are.
and it was by the end of this one that our house wasn't near big enough for myself and all three of them at once so the unruly little chicks were politely booted out back.
i later glanced up through the kitchen window to find them standing there together, huddled around the wooden swing that hangs from our pecan tree while all three busily chased the pink ice cream running over the tops of their cones to their fingers and hands.
small graces.

the sun only held them a few moments more before our summer ended and i called them back in.

pizzas off the grill with guilt-free drinks and spinning hooray for earth - true loves

  

i've failed to recognize the Glory that surrounds us

we went to see the tree of life last weekend,
and it was beautiful.


shot through a broader scope than that of our standard idea of cinema,
it's a montage of picturesque scenes loosely depicting the story of Us.
with no real resolve or reason,
because none is needed.

a nameless mother and father,
nameless brothers.
and at times in my own self-reflection,
i am all of them.