The Perfect Thing

It was snowing.

Again.

The wind was howling.  I was exhausted. Leaving work, I stopped to drop something off at a friends home and took off down the dirt roads to head for home.

What I didn't expect were drifts that came half way up my suburban door.  That I would be gripping the steering wheel trying to drive fast enough to get through the drifted snow without crashing into a tree.

I rarely am really scared driving.  This was one time I was.

The boys were fighting in the back.  S3 had rested his arm next to S4's head and S4 was crying the injustice while S3 claimed he wasn't doing anything.  S2 didn't want anyone to touch him.  S1 was singing with the radio.

I have never been so happy to get home.

I literally pulled my hood up on my coat to get the mail, it was so windy.  I caught glimpse of a card addressed to me.  When we got into the house, I dropped the mail on the table.  The boys demanded my attention.  My husband was calling me to get road conditions. I was attempting to pull together a meal to feed everyone.

I wanted to crawl into bed and sleep until spring with no one disturbing me.

I plopped down in a chair at the table and suddenly remembered I had a card.

Intrigued, I slit opened the envelope to find myself laughing hysterically at a birthday card.  Is it my birthday? No. And the person who sent me this card knew that well enough, she also knew the card was too perfect not to send to me.

It was perfect timing.  It brought a smile to my heart and for a moment I was transported to the beach with her laughing over the card.

Perfectly. Timed.

Never underestimate the power of kindness.  Or a simply good laugh.

Texas Arrives in Michigan

So Rebecca was coming for a visit.  She was arriving from Texas with her three boys to stay with us for a few days.

Rebecca and I raised our boys together during the short time she lived in the state.  Two of our sons share the same name.  When I had stressed over naming our second son Isaac, Jake had shrugged and said, “How long do you think you two will be friends?”

Forever and ever, buddy.

Photo snapped at Rebecca's arrival.

Because with her city life in Texas and my, well, eccentric life here, we are still the best of friends and our boys – who don’t recall the time they were sorta neighbors, play together like peas in a pod.

You can imagine my joy at her arrival.

You can also imagine my cleaning frenzy.

I cleaned the carpets days before she arrived.  I washed every sleeping bag.  I sent the boys to clean the camper (that I loving called her suite. Hey, it’s a queen size bed and bathroom just for her!) because because I was getting over being sick.

I felt pretty confident about when she would arrive.  This time we were prepared.

The thing I was worried about the most was my cat.

For years we have had a black and white cat named Fernie Cow.  While she has been a bit rude to the boys in her later years, she has been my pet.  She greets me when I return home, she sleeps on the bed when Jake leaves for work, she makes sure she has my attention if I snuggled in with a book.  When we went camping, she had snuck down to the basement.  Our basement is a Michigan cellar…it holds our water heater and so forth, it isn’t high enough for us to stand tall in and the rest is crawl space.  Fernie goes to the basement when she is feeling antisocial.

But she didn’t come up from the basement.

We had to assume the worst when days later and me calling and searching as far as the flashlight would go that she was dead.

Dead under our floor boards.

And it was about to hit the mid nineties in temperature.

The day Rebecca was to arrive, my husband took a deep breath of the cooler air and said, “I think Fernie must have escaped.  We would have smelled her by now.  Must be she got outside, knowing she was about to die.”

A few hours before Rebecca arrived, I sent S4 down to get some beans and corn for the shepherd’s pie I had been requested to make for dinner.  I had just dumped the hamburger to drain and was shocked when S4 came screaming up the stairs.  “Fernie! Fernie!” he cried.

And there was Fernie, looking dead but she was alive.

Her back legs hardly moved.  Her hair long hair was matted.  She just leaned into me and purred. 

I knew she had come back just to die.

How she survived this long, I have no idea. 

By this time we had gotten rid of her kitty litter box, but I did have some litter left so I poured some in a pizza box and left it on the floor for her.  I gave her food and water.  She just collapsed on the floor and let out a sad meow every once in awhile.

I figured I should let Rebecca know this.

This was also when I read her text.  “Surprise, Travis is coming with me.”

Her husband.

I wrote “the more the merrier”, panicked a bit and then texted her, “I have a cat story for you.  It’s why there is a litter in a pizza box in our bathroom. It’s tragic and awful and sorta funny but not really but kind of it is.  Sorta.”

She texted back, “I need to hear that story!!”

When Rebecca was just nearly about to arrive, I vacuumed the living room, left it finally clean and went to start washing the pots.  I had made ten pounds of mashed potatoes and needed to wash my monster pot that was soaking.  I dumped the water out and…it stayed in the sink.

In the fourteen years of living here, this has never happened.

I took the plunger and attempted to force it down.  I was certain potato chunks must be in the drain.  I scooped all the nasty sat all night and day water out and dumped it onto the yard.  Nothing worked.

So I called in S1. “Can you fix this?” I asked.

“I can sure try. Sure,” he shrugged and got busy.

Rebecca texted she was about 15 minutes out.

I put on make up.  The cat was barely moving.

I looked into the living room where I heard squeals, the two youngest had just hauled out every blanket and pedestal stand to make tents that filled the living room.  Impressively done in all of ten minutes. 

I went into the kitchen where S1 had the pipes off, every thing I have ever collected under a kitchen sink out from under the kitchen sink and on the floor.

At least dinner smelled great.

And then Rebecca arrived.

Her three boys flew off to be with my three younger boys.  S1 stayed busy working on the sink.  She looked into my eyes and asked me if I was stressed.

I was just so happy she was here.

I snapped a picture of us and sent it to Jake so he knew they had arrived.

The boys dragged Travis, Rebecca’s husband, over to the tank to see the snakes and turtles and frogs. They introduced him the meat rabbit that they hoped we could have for dinner tomorrow.  Travis felt he may be sick and had to lay down on the hammock.  We sort of have that effect on people.

The sink stayed plugged.

When Austin, Rebecca’s youngest at six, had to use the bathroom, Travis had to go in with him.  Austin didn’t like the way the cat stared at him.

My handsome Jake arrived home to complete and utter chaos.  He had been sick the day before and was miserable feeling when he arrived.  He looked at the sink, I started to stress he would be mad because this had to be my fault, and when he realized the hose with the holes wasn’t going to be long enough for this project S1 ran out to his shop and got out his Father’s Day gift…a new garden hose.  The hose snaked through the house and cleaned out the pipes.

The pipes filled with grease.

Grease from the hamburger I had made earlier in the day.  Thankfully it was a quick (although messy) fix.  And bless Rebecca’s heart for saying, “It looks like potato to me.  You sure that is grease in that bucket?”

The hero man moved on to the next project, moving the camper into place.

And as Rebecca and I chatted and giggled and caught up (we turn into silly girls when we get together…who is this mom person these boys ask of?), he grabbed up the cat that we had all had a chance to say goodbye to, laid her gently in a paper bag and headed to the door.

“Don’t let the cat out of the bag,” Rebecca joked and we sort of all snickered at the sad moment.

By the end of the night, Rebecca’s boys were covered, literally covered like they had been rubbed down, in mud.  The sink drained, the cat was buried, the camper was ready.  The food we devoured in heaping spoonfuls.  My hero husband retreated to bed.

And Rebecca and I, exhausted, just looked at eachother and laughed.

What a greeting to our home. 

Our House - Pic Taken by Rebecca

The next two days were a blur of fun and mud.  We played cards for hours and had those indepth talks you never get over the phone or email.  The boys skinned a snake (I made sure she knew it could go home with her), the boys were covered in layers of mud.  Travis took them swimming, which we felt sure was the only way they would ever get partially clean.

The boys. Taking a break from the swamp, go cart and critters.

It was good, so good, to have them here.  Chaos and all, there is nothing like getting together with a friend.

If you would like to hear her side of the story, click over to her blog.  She writes beautifully of God and spiritual growth and marriage…then she comes to see me and talks of skinned snakes.

It’s bound to be a great read.

All of us when we said goodbye at Bay Pointe Pool

Rebecca's Blog Post

Sunday Afternoon's

Sunday Afternoon's.

You look forward to them all week. That lazy part of the week where you can just rest.

Jake, the boys and I have had some insanely busy weeks.  As in, like every week since Memorial Day.  This weekend was no different.

And after an insanely busy week, I realized I had made dinner plans with a friend weeks ago before school was even out for the summer.

These friends have never been to our house before.

Our husbands have never met.

My house was a weeks worth of neglect.

And we still had them over.

We grilled my husband's big cheese stuffed burgers we always are raving about.

I made fried potatoes.

They brought this for dessert.

Tonight I shall have sweet dreams of this molten chocolate cake dessert.

I DID fold all the laundry, but other than that I spent my morning sipping coffee and chatting with my husband, not cleaning like a crazy woman.

We went to Sunday School for one of the best Sunday School classes, one we will always remember, I think.

We arrived home and while Jake and I worked on dinner, we leisurely chatted and joked and had fun.  I did not stress at all.

When the guests arrived, my floors were not swept.

The kitchen was a mess.

The boys laid around in the messy living room.

And we sat at our dining room table with these friends of ours who had never met our boys, who had never visited our home, and had the best time.

We laughed, we talked, we ate the amazing food, we drank pitcher after pitcher of lemon water.

It was the best Sunday afternoon in a long time.

I am so thankful that we didn't say we were too busy.  So thankful we have friends like this.  

So thankful for an afternoon of just being real.

And for that molten lava chocolate wonder cake.

How to Pose for a Great Picture

On Easter, I was determined to get a photo with Morgan.  We just don't have many good ones and I love her dearly.  Like, so very dearly. And I want a photo of us!

When I had told Jake we needed our annual family Easter photo, he had wanted us to line up against the siding of the church, with it's green mold climbing up the side.

Um, no.

Morgan and I were all about finding a PRETTY place for a photo.

She took some great photos of us and then handed the camera to Jake to take some photos of us.

With a bunch of editing, Morgan got our photo to turn out this amazing.

But, unbeknownst to us, Jake had set the camera on video and THIS is what he got at first....

If ever you think we look amazing in photos it's because we love instagram and we take a zillion so you don't ever see us giggling, trying to keep from crying from the wind, attempting to look pretty and not blow away and keep our hair in place.

This video that wasn't suppose to be caught of Morg and I makes me smile.  I'm going to love it for forever, I think.

Because how to pose for great pics is this.....laugh.

Every photo I love the most were the ones that we were just being us in.  And that's when you catch the beauty of it all. 

Making Easter Breakfast for Our Church

This post is going to be picture heavy.

S4 was given the camera.

He took nearly NINETY photos.

These are just the highlights.

You have been warned.

A request went out in our Sunday School class (before we started teaching our 3rd ad 4th grade class) to have volunteers to make Easter breakfast.  For some reason we volunteered.

So, at some time around four in the morning, my husband got up on Easter morning and woke up his two oldest boys to get ready to go to church and make breakfast.

Jake checking to make sure we were working as he ate bacon.

 I know this may be hard to believe, but he was uber annoying this morning.  He flipped on the lights in the bedroom, blinding me at the early hour that it was.  He poked me the ribs, hauled the blankets off of me, asked me a million questions but mostly it was, "You gonna get up? Huh? Huh? Huh? You gonna get up? You're lovin me right now, aren't you?"

S1 and Brock on eggs or bacon duty.

 I was glad when he left.  I need coffee before dealing with him like that.  Because I was making pancakes and I would be bringing the little ones, we made a decision I would show up a little later.

Fruit kabobs.

 When I showed up, I was wearing jeans and my favorite slip on shoes because I was working in the kitchen.  My hair was piled up in a wet bun on the top of my head.  This was tough for me, and I am just going to admit that.  I like to super dress up for Easter.  It's been my "thing" for forever.

Morg's blueberry and chocolate chip scones.

 But the fun we had in the kitchen this morning, WAY more fun and WAY more worth it!

AMAZING cinnamon rolls.

 We were joking and laughing and flipping pancakes, spearing fruit, frying bacon, mixing coffee.  Did I mention the joking and laughing?

A pretty flower arrangement.

 Curt mentioned it was like the New Covenant church...to which I asked, "Where is that at?" and he rolled his eyes as Emily nearly died laughing.  "In Acts?" he answered me, sarcastically.  Oh, I get it now...like when the church first started.  Those first Christians musta had a lot of fun then because we sure did!

Morgan

 We could not have pulled it off without Link and Kate Pape who just stepped in and stepped up to make sure we had all the sausage links, bacon, cinnamon rolls, pans, pots and probably a zillion other things I didn't even know they did.

S2 and Curt working on pancakes.

I was on pancake duty and Curt, I found out, is the pancake master.  He was keeping a close eye on us to make sure that we made the pancakes properly.

Curt who is apparently a pancake professional.

I wasn't worried we would mess them up.  I mean, I've been making pancakes for YEARS.

Moma and S2 making pancakes.

And I was right.  S2 and I did a great job making the pancakes that Curt mixed up and plopped on griddles for us.  We were a good team, I think even Curt agreed.

Kate and Link Pape. They totally rock and MADE this morning!

All the time we were in the kitchen cooking up a storm. S4 kept walking around taking photos.  Like I told you, there were over ninety that he took.

S1 and Brock making eggs.

It was fun to see the boys helping so much.  Not so much the little ones, of course, but S1 and S2 cooked the entire time we were there.

My handsome man and Link (who would like to add he's pretty good lookin too, I am sure!)

And as crowded as we were in that kitchen, as sleep deprived as we were, we all just kept laughing.

Em, who is a hoot and I love to pieces, and me.

It helped that my husband was dispensing advice on how to be romantic and how weeding the garden is really a date and how he is so romantic that we don't need dates.  (Um, hon, we do!)

Super blurry me and Morg.

I am really blessed to have this group in my life, in my family's life. We were all part of the Sunday School Bill had started and we have grown so close.

S1 and S4, awwwwww!

We made such a great team and made such yummy food that I am rather certain this is going to become an annual thing for us.

You should have heard all he had to say, Hubs NEEDED the spatula to the head!

Which I knew as soon as I walked into that kitchen and caught the look in my husband's eyes.  He was having way too much fun doing this.

The cappuccino maker kept us caffeinated, including the kiddos like S3.

We all pitched in to clean up and in no time flat all the dishes were washed and dried and we began the process of reloading all the things we had hauled into the kitchen to make the food.

Brock loading up on caffeine.

I had grabbed a black skirt to wear that I had just picked up at Goodwill.  The black skirt is all flirty twisty poofy.

S4 would like you to know this is a good picture, it shows the whole table.

It was super windy out and when we went to get our annual family photo taken I was quite sure it was going to give someone a good show.  I should have just kept the jeans on.

I'm hungry again just looking at these photos!

But after my husband suggested us getting our photo taken against the white polebarn siding of our church and Morg and I nearly shouting "NO!" we stood behind some green bushes and had some phtotos taken.

Tables laden with breakfast food.

In that moment, with the wind whipping around us as we laughed and tried to snap some good photos, it hit me.

Yup, that is my handsome man adding the eggs to the table.

This is probably my most favorite Easter ever.

And we were now ready to eat!

When Sunday school started, I won the snack contest because I had actually brought a snack for the class while Curt had not - haha!

The food...

After Sunday school the sleepiness was hitting us.  Our group was found in the kitchen chugging orange juice and coffee to stay awake.

All our kids were the first ones in line to get food!

At church we watched our kids choir of nearly all boys sing.  I was thankful the hole in S4's knee didn't show too much.

Kate and I loading up on coffee in our new church mugs. I drank a LOT of coffee!

When we returned home that afternoon, we crashed.  Hubs and I fell into our bed and fell asleep.

The people who came to eat our amazing breakfast.

The boys zoned in front of the tv and folded socks.

The coffee table, I loved this. A joker (ahem, KEVIN!) had to show off his food though. Guess he thought it was THAT good...and it was! :) 

Later when Jake grilled cheeseburgers for our non traditional Easter meal, when we bowed our heads to pray, we thanked God for the gift of Easter.  

The coffee table. Sigh of love for the beauty of it. Oh, and who drinks decaf coffee in the morning? Curt and I agree they must be losers!

We also thanked God for the gift of Friendship.

New coffee mugs with Easter eggs.

And the blessing of making breakfast.

So grateful for this man, Bill.  Here he was helping S1 tie his tie.

Morg came over tonight to have a cheeseburger we had saved for her.

S1 picked out this whole outfit at Goodwill and he is as proud as can be to have a suit and tie!

And she agreed too, this was a great day.

Lilacs and other flowers that decorated the tables everyone ate at.

 We have been laughing at the 90 plus photos taken today.  Sheesh! S4 with a camera is a scary thing!  But how fun to record our special Easter day!

Family Photo

Because these are the memories I do believe they will treasure for a long time to come.

Kids Choir, there are a LOT of boys at our church!

Happy Easter, everyone!

A Tupperware Party

Today I had a Tupperware Party at my house.

It felt very 1960's-ish to say that out loud. "I am having a tupperware party, please come out to the house at 9:59 am."

I had a party just to get THIS......

I had one before and it broke.

It is one of the only things my husband looked at me and said, "I don't care how much this thing is, buy a new one."

Those of you who know my husband know he does NOT say things like this.

We use this chopper for salsa the most - mmmmmmmm, fresh salsa in the summer! - but also for zucchini for zucchini bread, diced itty bitty so the boys don't taste them onions, making jam.....

I use it ALL the time.

So Sandy suggested I just have a party to see if I could get it for free and a Tupperware party just sounded....retro.

I do not like to have parties...at all...so this was rather surprising I would even agree to such a get together. Add to that that I don't even know Sandy (the hostess), everyone was really even more surprised.  But as the party came closer and closer, I got more and more excited.  I made lists and lists of possible foods for the party.

I wanted lots of friends to come....

For the simple reason I wanted them to be here at the house with me.

I honestly didn't care if a single one of them bought anything - and thank you greatly to all who did because thanks to you I'll get my chopper at a discounted, if not free, price - but I was just so happy to have everyone here.

I was going to take pictures of us all.......and forgot.

Totally bummed about that.

Today was all about spoiling my friends with any food I could think that would be spoil worthy.  I made princess punch (found on pinterest...which rocks), pots de creme via the Pioneer Woman, Krusteaz cranberry orange muffins with added white chocolate chips, lemon bars and had a dish of fruit and fruit dip (the good fruit dip, with marshmallow creme).

It made me think I should have a party with just my friends and good food sometime.  It is SUCH fun.  And a party like that, that would be a little 1960's-ish, don't you think?  Sometimes, in the fun and convenience of facebook, twitter, email, passing each other quickly...we miss the friendship.

And the friendship...that's what helps make life so sweet.

Reality Check! Life's A Gift...Really.

A friend of mine started a blog last year.  She blogged infrequently.  But in January she decided she would blog

Every

Day.

And every day she would mention something she was thankful for.

Even I felt a panic at blogging every day.

It's tough...as bloggers know!

But Kristi keeps at it, she blogs faithfully.  On Monday's she does catch up blogs...during the weekend she just does quick notes about what she'll blog about and then she writes them on Monday's.

Kristi is dear to me.

She calls it as she sees it and I appreciate that about her.  Our lives are different as she has two girls(...and they adore my boys.  It's soooo cute).  Her house is always insanely clean (she would disagree).  She plays sports...have I ever told you all just how UN-athletic I am?  Seriously.

But she and I share THIS in common, we fiercely love our families.

When we have a conversation, it always seems to be deep.  She knows how to cut past the chit chat to get to the heart of the matter and I appreciate this ever so much in her.

This summer she called me concerned about S1.  It was something we had missed and she caught it and cared enough to call me on it.

When she called me about blogging, she asked me some tough questions.

       Why did I blog?

                Where did I see it leading?

She asked me questions friends I have had forever haven't ever asked.  That conversation had a huge impact on me and I'm not even sure I have told her that.

Kristi lives across the field from me.  Literally.

I see her, like, a few times a year?  Hardly enough and pitifully sad considering how close we live.

Sadly, that is life, isn't it?

She is the friend whom I haven't seen in forever and can feel like it's been no time at all.

I love her to pieces.

And I think you all should check out her blog.  She is a mom of two girls in a unique situation with her husband who she is heads over heels in love with.  She lays it all out there.  You will love her honesty.

Reality Check! Life's a Gift...Really

Girl Day

I looked around the suburban where the boys were being loud and talking guns and pretending to fart just to get a reaction and I said to my husband, "I love you all a lot, but I am really looking forward to some girl time."

He was quiet a moment.  Then he returned with this gem.  "That's true.  You can go days without seeing another girl if you don't leave the house - and you don't much.  How lucky are you to not have to deal with girls?  I mean, do you know how great that is?"

This is when I knew it's been way too long since I have been out with just girls.

So today has been circled with exclamations points.  It's GIRL DAY!

Sue and I met up with two friends who we've been saying for forever "let's get together sometime" and not.  When I threw it out on facebook again (since we do not have each others phone numbers, although we do now...) Lorilee said, "January the 4th work?"  And, YES, it DID.

We finally decided to meet at Schuler's where we thought we'd chat for a bit.  We filled the parking meter for the two hours max thinking that would be plenty.

After two hours, we went back and filled it up again.

And after that two hours, we were out of change and standing on the sidewalk watching our vehicles that were out of time.

Schuler made basically no money on us.  We drank their never ending cup of coffee, ate a pastry, drank a ton of water and bothered the poor guy with the gray and black striped sweater for the bathroom key so we could pee a zillion times - after we figured out how to use the key. I nearly couldn't figure out the key and was about to ask the guy if he would open the door for me and how humiliating would that be?  But I (finally) got it figured out.

We talked (obviously), laughed, shared, giggled, dug deep, prayed, encouraged, inspired...it was wonderful.

In fact, it was more than just wonderful but a great word to describe it is not coming to me right now.

When Alison left us, she left me with a to do list, and I love her for doing that to me.  I needed that.

And, thanks to Alison, I am writing "Talk to Jesus" on a paper and hanging it above my sink because I loved the way she said that.

Sue and I left to grab some lunch where our minds were still spinning from all we discussed.  Our ride home was too short, we had more to talk about.

I walked in my home's door and in the bathroom hung my Christmas present...a full length mirror.  For the first time I will get to see if my shoes really do go with my outfit.  My friends who have received pictures of me standing on a chair so they can see the outfit but not my head or shoes will so appreciate this news.

A full day with girls, a full length mirror.....ah, it was the most perfect day.  Soaking deep into me.  Making me talk my husbands ear off with giddiness.  Girl day's rock.

Now I'm off to cook frozen hamburger for sloppy joes for dinner.  With tater tots.  Because when Moma is gone all day, dinner suffers a bit.  But I think the super happy Moma is gonna more than make up for the so so dinner.

A Praise and Coffee Night

Last week we had our Christmas Praise and Coffee Night.

Sue was giving her testimony and I was nervous for her.  I know her story, but I know it here and there and I knew it would be hard for her to share it all in front of everyone in one story.

But the day was rough on me.  I may have at one point in the day been on the phone crying to my husband.  It was just a bad day, a down day, a day I literally was crying as I was baking cookies.

Just one of those days.

I would have rather curled up in pj's and snuggled on the couch with a book or movie but I knew I had to be there.  I dressed in my favorite clothes - my husband can say what he wants, clothes do make me feel better - and determined I was going to go and have fun and be happy.

And then God just gave me this awesome gift and had it so my husband and I were going to pass each other on the road so we met in the bar parking lot just so we could get a kiss in.  I love that man, and I love how God just timed that perfectly.

Here I am kissing my husband in the parking lot with the Tavern sign glowing down on us.  Oh, it was so romantic!

With my hands wrapped around a short triple breve with caramel, I listened to Sue pour out her heart with my friends A and Morg at the table with me.

Every time Sue took a deep breath, I wanted to go give her a hug.

When her amazing testimony had people with tears in their eyes and her analogy of having God saturate our lives, everyone began to break up in designated groups on specific topics.  Morg, A and I...we didn't budge.  It was like we knew, we were not in a "group" mood.

We were in a friend mood.

Sue came and sat with us and the four of us laughed to the funny stories Morg had for us.  We connected with bits and news that we are always to busy to share when we are passing each other in church or just in sending a quick text.

I sat there soaking it in, looking at these friends I love so dearly and thinking how different we all are and how we are all brought together on this night.  I thanked God for soaking me in His grace...in the gift of this moment.

We packed up all the pretty finery and left over cookies of a beautiful evening and headed for home.

Except I didn't get home for a good long time.

Standing out in the parking lot, I had a heart to heart with a friend.  We hadn't planned on talking the night away, but in the moment of just us we laid out the things heavy on our hearts...sisters sharing a burden and knowing the trust we had in each other.

And isn't that what Praise and Coffee Nights are all about?  Sharing with a friend and giving praise to God and growing in our relationships?

Not a day has not gone by since that Praise and Coffee night that I haven't prayed for the friend I chatted the night away with.  I am still giggling over the funny stories we shared at the table.  I am still so proud of Sue for sharing her testimony.

And I am blown away by this group of women God brought together.  Our friendship makes no sense on paper, but in life it is the perfect blend.

Some women are afraid of starting up a Praise and Coffee Night...it's too big a task, they fear.  But Praise and Coffee was held at a table with four women and in a parking lot on an "official" PC night.  It's girlfriends and sisters sharing the moments of life they are in and being prayed for and looking to God for the answers.  It's connecting.  It's encouraging.  It's inspiring.  No matter how big or small the gathering.

And all that was flooded into my life on a rough day that ended with a great night.

Excuses to Be Late to School

This is a BONUS post because not only was I late to school - I was late getting home.

The other night, a winter weather watch was issued.  Some places were getting tons of snow, some places would not get any snow.  The boys were SURE that we were the place where ALL the snow would dump.

And some places did get snow.  My parents woke to a winter wonderland and they are just a couple miles away.

We got....

None.

Not even a little dusting on the grass.

Not a single bit of snow at all.

S2 woke up, seen this, and was not at all daunted.  He was CERTAIN we had a two hour delay, if not a full snow day.

I pointed to the fact we had No. Snow.  He pointed to the tv where there WAS snow, somewhere.  For all we knew, it was piled high at school, no way to get in!

He was so convincing that at the marked time for us to leave, his little brothers were just getting cereal.  They really thought we had a two hour delay.

So we left a bit late.

We arrived at school at 8:02.  School starts at 8:00.  I did not even acknowledge the staff in the office - but to be fair, it was pretty busy in there with other late parents with kids.

I figured out how I could get them to class the fastest and was dictating directions when S1 remembered I hadn't signed his planner.  No signed planner means loosing recess time.  No boy ever wants to loose recess time!  Where had his planner been all evening? Upstairs in his room.

Every day I sign his planner I try to sign something fun.  I really do not like signing the planner but I guess the teacher has to sign 28 or so of them every day so I can sign one once a day.  Today I wrote, "Super Late Moma".  I don't even think S1 noticed.

I sent S4 to the bathroom to wash his hands and I dropped his stuff off in his locker.  My happy boy I had left in the hallway walked into the classroom, head down, tears dripping from his eyes.  I glanced at his teacher "I'll try to fix this" I whispered as I grabbed his hand and headed to S3's class.

Some boys in the bathroom told S4 his hair looked funny.  I told him EVERYONE's hair looked funny when they took their hat off.  And then I worked on smoothing it down.

S3 was still high five-ing friends in the hallway and still had his boots and coat on.  I opened his back pack to put his things away and found - wadded in the bottom of his backpack - the homework he didn't tell me he had to do.  And, the homework he HAD done last night was not in the back pack.

Ugh.

Hugs and kisses to him and I literally shoved him on into class before he forgot and wandered off to meet us at S2's class.

S4 and I arrived at S2's class where he, Jonathan and Jakob met us at the door.  Every day these three meet us and I always take a moment to talk to them all.  But today we were so late and I always fear I may get them all in trouble so I reminded them how late they were.  They were not all concerned about this as they wanted to know where S3 was, wanted to show us their cool coins and needed to know what I was making for dinner.

I think nearly the whole school knows what we are having for dinner every day.

S4 and I got to giggling as we walked with super speed to his class.  I dropped a happier boy off to class and all seemed well with the world again.

When I went to start my suburban to leave the school, it just went 'tic tic tic tic tic tic tic tic'.

My faithful suburban has never ever let me down.  Never once.

But amazing bus driver Mandy was there, and dear Alicia who's husband was home for the morning so I knew they would help me.  Mandy hopped in to fiddle with it and started the suburban right up.  I have no idea how.

But un-makeup-ed, little coffee-ed, hair uncombed, teeth still feeling the garlic bread of last night, me hugged her in all my joy at the soothing hum of my running suburban.

And so I drove home on our unsnowy roads to share this all with you.

In case you need a new excuse to be late to school - try the whole "Snow day" when you have NO snow excuse.

And - think of your friends close to you and be thankful for them.  Friends are treasures indeed.

Morg

This is my friend Morgan........

We were headed out to Praise and Coffee on this particular night.

Morg is the type of friend I never thought I would have.

My husband told me I should spend some time talking to her....I was wrangling kids at church and thought that sounded as possible as me becoming a marathon runner. I liked Morgan, how can anyone not with her cheery disposition?, and she has amazing taste in style but that was it, I thought. I am busy being a wife and mother and she's a single girl about to head off to Europe for a few months.

Shame on me. And I hope she forgives me.

But I think she has because she brings me treats like this.....

Allllllllllllllll the time. This is apple cake with sour cream frosting and devils food cake with caramel frosting.

From scratch, people.

I love Morgan's bubbly personality, her inability to be anything but honest, the way the boys just love her to pieces, the way she is so incredibly girly she knows just what I need even if I didn't know it existed (Like So Soft conditioner for my hair or to hunt out deals at TJ Maxx). She is able to know my day is tough and hard and sweep us ALL up and cheer us with food and good times.

She is an amazing friend and I cherish her friendship so greatly.

We have spent countless amounts of time discussing the food network ( I did not ever ever ever watch it till she convinced me it is thrilling television, and she's right ), pouring over cookbooks and talking about good food.

She has begun a new blog, Ruffles and Cream. I seriously suggest you follow it, favorite it, read it constantly.

If you follow me on twitter, you see me talking to her allllll the time at her handle @rufflessequins.

God definitely knew I needed Morgan as a friend in my life, and I am so glad He spared her and gave me her as a great gift. We almost weren't friends, I cannot imagine that now. Can't fathom it at all.

If she hadn't survived two bouts of cancer at 17 and 21.....

If I hadn't set aside my prejudice of being too old...

(no smart aleck comments from my husband on this one)

If I'd decided I didn't need another friend....

All the laughs I would have missed out on.

Who needs to be your new best friend?

You Find Out Who Your Friends Are

Last week, my husband was out of town.

He had a job he had to do, working nights, a loooooong ways from home and so it was the boys and I holding down the fort.

Or, actually, the farm.

Strawberries have come into season here and this is the first year we have really been able to say we have a crop of them.

As in, there are so many strawberries I cannot even begin to pick them all. Seriously. We pick until Moma is so stiff and sore she can do no more. And then we start again the next day. And every strawberry we pick we sell. And for every quart of strawberries we sell, there are more calls on my answering machine waiting for more strawberries.

And I was home alone with four boys, trying to keep them fed and keep the house walk throughish and it was just so overwhelming to do it allllllllllllllllllll.

Enter.......my friends.

Alicia, who knew I was swamped at home and lent me her son to help me. Who gave me a listening ear when I was overwhelmed even if she and I were swamped with things to do at work.

Korene who showed up at my door one morning just to pick strawberries with me. Just cuz she thought it would be fun to help us. She and I picked 30 quarts of berries that morning and drank a few cups of coffee too.

Sue showed up at my house with lunch and homemade, still warm, blueberry cake. And then she and I drank a ton of coffee and just chatted away - how great was it to talk to an adult...and my best friend at that...face to face.

Kristi, my neighbor across the field, kept in contact and helps keep an eye on the things going around so we can watch each other's backs...and I'd be lost without her now.

Becca who is my texting buddy. She sends me pictures of dead rattlesnakes after I have watched True Grit, all alone, late at night just to ask if I want it sent to me. I lover her for things like this...and so much more.

I hate having my husband gone. He's been gone before. We try to make light of it a bit. He jokes he has given me four boys to do farm work so it shouldn't be tough - even though I know it kills him to leave all the work for us. We talk about when he gets home and the date he is for sure gonna owe me. ;)

We appreciate each other in so many more ways. We find absence does make the heart grow fonder...

The boys step up and try to help me too. I depend greatly on them. And the time with them just one on one has been great, I have to admit. It's been fun to do some things we never do...like take an afternoon and go to McDonald's for lunch or spend some hard earned money on some crazy fun toys or get their opinions on flowers for the yard (that was a hoot...like a whole hoot and half.).

When my husband was gone on a job before, years ago, I felt so alone and I think he remembers how scared I was then. I was responsible for all the boys, I was picking asparagus with S4 in a back carrier, I was exhausted beyond the meaning of exhausted. I had no one...or so it seemed at the time. And I was totally lonely. Desperately so. But he mentioned how comforting it is to know what a great group of friends I have now, friends who have truly stepped up to the plate and helped us all.

I would fill my husband in with all the tid bits of my day and he laughed one day when I had been especially blessed with friend visits. "Wow. You really know who your true friends are." And then, as he so often does, he broke into song. This song, actually.

You can't get any better friends then the ones I have been so richly blessed with.

And I hope they know just how much I love and ever so appreciate them.

My First 5K

Some time ago, my super groovy wonderful creative friend Kor said, "Hey, let's do a 5k and raise money for our school."

And Rosemary agreed.

So, with the two of them working together, I was more than happy to sign on.

Then I wondered what on earth I was thinking.

The Allegan County Great Start Collaborative (who also gave us the great bag we took Superman chickie to school in) had a brilliant idea. They would have a competition amoungst the schools to see who could get the most people out for a 5K. The school with the most registered participents would get half the money of all the registrants fees.

Now, our little school is just that. Little. Our elementary, middle school and highschool are all in one school building, that is one floor high.

I sent in my $20 dollars to register myself and not any for the boys because

A. I hoped to go alone

B. 20 times five is more money than I want to (or can) spend

The day of the 5K - the first ever, I might add - was lovely. And my hard working husband was doing just that - working. So I loaded all the boys up in the suburban packed with water bottles and we headed off to my first ever 5K.

Because it was my first 5K, because I had forgotten about it (after panicking when I first sent the money in that I had COMMITTED TO DO THIS), I was a true fashionista in my strawberry shortcake socks (all my others are wool winter socks, who wears shoes when you can wear flip flops in the summer?), ripped in the butt (so I had to keep my shirt pulled down so one couldn't see the color of my panties) jean shorts, a school themed shirt I used as pj's, and my boys all time favorite thing for me to wear - a camo hat (that also sports butterflies) that I got at Cabela's.

Jake laughed at me. He is cruel.

See, fashionista I am not.

(but my strawberry shortcake socks were a hit ;) )

We had no idea what to expect. I had never partaken in such an event. And other than picking asparagus and using the push mower to mow the lawn, I have not walked since the snow got too deep.

And now I had four boys with me to worry over too.

They sounded the horn and we were off.

At a walk.

But it was a good quick walk, I felt. S4 HAD to beat his Moma so he was up ahead of me with Alicia and (could be his future mother in law) Mandy. I was walking with Kor and Tammy. S1 took off with Tammy's older daughter and a group of his friends along with S3. But S2? He and Alicia's son didn't wait for anyone. They took off running - fast.

At the halfway point, we were sweaty. And I could see S4 up ahead of me having a harder time keeping up. We also came across S1, his whole group had left him behind because he couldn't keep up. I felt bad for him, and worse when I realized he was wearing steel toed boots because they are the only shoes that fit him anymore.

I didn't know that.

About a mile and half from the ending, S4 was sure he was going to die. His tummy hurt. His feet hurt. His head was hot.

A mile from the finishing line, S4 couldn't go on. So I hitched him up on my back. S1 offered to carry his brother for me, how sweet is that? We plodded on.

Slowly.

Near the end of the line, Kor and Tammy along with Rosemary and her daughters finished with us so we I wouldn't have to finish alone.

So very kind of them.

And S4 ran and leaped and played football for the rest of the afternoon after he slid off my back as I fell to the ground in a heap.

S2 greeted me. He had come in EIGHTH of ALL the participants. Eighth. And he can't wait to do a 5k again. S3 ran up and greeted me with a kiss, he was still with the group he had started with, he had kept up with all the 5th grade and older kids.

S1 felt like a failure. I reminded him he can fix tractors while others can't. We all have our strengths - along with our weaknesses.

And when the numbers were tallied (I was sweating it - literally, of course, too - because if we lost the most participants number by one or four I'd forever kick myself in the butt for having four unregistered kiddos with me...), our itty bitty smallest by far school HAD WON.

We were cheering and jumping and shocked all at once.

I'm the 5th one in on the right of the standing moms in the back. S3 is in the John Deere hat first on the ground on the right. S4 is in red and seventh in on from the right. S3 is two over in an orange Dukes hat (he had "01 Dukes of Hazzard" written on a piece of paper he clipped to his back). S1 is the first on the left on the ground by the stroller.

We grinned huge for our picture, thankful we would look small and therefore not as sweaty and exhausted for our sure to run in the paper pic.

After the 5K, we went to Rosemary's and caught chickens she was getting rid of, picked rhubarb and chatted while the kids ran around like hooligans. When we got home we scarfed down hot dogs and chips like we had never seen food before in our entire lives. Then we went and picked asparagus - in the hot hot sun - followed by eating ice cream.

Then we fell exhausted in a heap.

It was a good time.

My husband was super proud of us. He hopes to see me keep it up, he hopes that S2 and I can bond over runs this summer. I hope he's right.

I did a lot of reflecting on the 5K. I know I may look too much into it, and it may have a lot to do with my new love of the show Army Wives, but I looked over all these women who came together to make our school shine and I was so proud of them. To know them. To be one of them. To have bonded over this with them.

I am blessed by my friends.

I am a mom who keeps my boys close to me. I don't like letting them out of my sight when we are out and about. But having all these friends with me at all stages of the route made me relax (helps that there were police officers helping us all along the way too). I had no qualms about who the boys were running with. I was so proud of Kor and Rosemary and all the hard work they had done. I was proud of Katy, Alicia, Mandy and Tammy for making it there on a super busy weekend. I was happy to finally talk to Kim, who I have admired as the runner and mom she is but have never had a chance to talk to her.

I am blessed to have this circle of friends - truly blessed. And when I reflected on it, I actually got all teary eyed.

I can't wait for next year! Maybe we'll even run!

But I really can't wait to join all my mom friends and KICK THE OTHER SCHOOLS BUTTS AGAIN!!! ;)