A Little Happy

This is love...The Engineer vacuuming out my car. Every single bit of my car. I love this man. I love the ways he loves me.

And a bit of whimsy...of happy! It's taken me a few months - and I'm still rearranging (but I think I'll always be rearranging) - to figure out the where and how of our stuff. I love these big lights. I've had them for years...about six, I think. I remember a friend inviting me to drive an hour and a half to what was at the time the nearest Target. I snagged them then and my time in the store was cut short by a massive potty training accident in the maternity section on the carpet. Funny what we remember. I can still see the look on her face like it was yesterday. 

These used to hang between our house and garage. They were a happy welcome home to The Engineer, especially when he worked late into the night. They lit many a night with friends. Now they spread their warmth and cheer on a little tree beside our back door. I plug them in at dusk and smile every time I pass by.

Our oven - oh! Our oven. It's a bit of a nightmare. I've finally figured out if I drop the temp by 100 degrees and the cooking time by about half, we do okay, but not always. I'd given up on making bread. Every loaf turned out a burned brick. (And after a lot of tries, that made me cry...and cuss.) Last week I made two loaves...and they were a tiny bit brick like, but my family deemed them edible. Hooray!!! And my children were so happy to have homemade bread again. I think it might just nurture more than their physique.

Signs of life. Of grace. See the stick poking out of Little Man's pack? It is NOT a weapon. He promised me. It's in case he needs it to hold onto while he "army man crawls." But really, these are signs of life. Happy signs of life. And of God's grace to us.

More signs of life and grace. On the coffee table. Our two favorite games. Do you have Spot It? You need Spot It. EVERYONE (readers and non readers - our entire family!) can play Spot It! Some sweet new friends gave it to Sister for her birthday and immediately, it became our favorite. Thanks friends!!!

And more signs of life. I am so thankful we get to go shopping. That we get to buy all this food. I am so thankful for the Lord's provision. What do we have that He has not given!?

A big shout out to Sister! This chick is tearing through some books. We are talking reading late into the night and during every spare second. Like - skipping out on a movie with her siblings because she'd "rather read." Makes me smile so big my face hurts.

Totally unrelated to these photos...a friend introduced me to the greatest stick on bra ever. Like - it's changed my life. You can buy it at Target. It's re-usable. It's awesome. So...we are in church and we are raising our hands for the benediction and I am keenly aware of the absence of something. My dress has a slight gather around the waist and I think I see what is missing resting inside my dress, atop said gathering. It's poking out, lumping out awkwardly. I try to discretely shift this stick on item back into place, but it's useless. There is no stick. 

Before applying said item earlier that morning, I discovered a chunk was missing out of one side of the sticky material. I reasoned that since the item must be washed and left out to air dry, a child had probably dug out a chunk. Whatev. Not the greatest, but nothing to lose sleep over. I figured it would still work just as well. 

But realizing I had to make it out in the midst of a crowd with this bra pooling in my dress - well it made me realize that the missing chunk was kind of a big deal. I shifted the item up a little higher and pinned it to me using my coffee cup for support (no pun intended) and bee-lined for the bathroom. I made some adjustments. Gave the bra some air...hoped that would lend enough "re-sticking" of the sticky to make it hang in there for Sunday School. I followed the application directions - all in the stall, but not the same one I overflowed. I don't use that bathroom anymore. The item stuck! Yay!

By the time class was over and I was rounding up kids, it was falling off again. But this time I kind of caught it and was able to hold it in place in the middle with my coffee cup, you know, just hugging my journal and all to my chest. Trying to act like everything's all good and I'm just hugging everything to me...

I'm talking with a friend. Our girls are playing in the parking lot. Our husbands are waiting in the car. It was an intense conversation. And that stinkin' bra. I finally had to confess I was distracted by my bra just chillin' in my dress.

I got in our car, yanked that sucker out and went sans. The Engineer took us to lunch. I jokingly commented that I sure hoped my dress didn't get yanked down 'cause it was the only thing between me and the world.

Little Bit - and how did she go from that baby picture to the shot above - oh they grow so fast!!! She decided she wanted to sit on my lap. I gave her the okay. Before I realized what was happening, she grabbed the top of my dress, right in the middle, and pulled it down to hoist herself up. And there we were. There we were. My recovery was fast. But y'all, there. We. Were. 

Progress since Labor Day Weekend: zero. Life is too busy. I played on the wall with a sample color...and then Sister painted the crying lady. I thought that was funny, given the words on the wall.

Getting latex off oil is no joke. If you're into funky textures, our trim is pretty awesome. We've decided to take the doors down and strip them to the bare wood. Unfortunately, we can't just get one layer off. But, as The Engineer pointed out, they will look so nice stripped and then painted. No more chips, etc. Yay! And maybe soon, really soon, I'll make time to sand and sand.

It happened - like four showers ago - my hair stopped falling out by the clump/handful. I think the post-partum shedding is over. And that makes me so happy. It lifts my heart. I felt a physical relief, like my heart took a deep sigh and I smiled. 

So anyway. That was really nice. And for now, at least, we'll keep on living in this crazy mess of peach.

'Cause that's how we roll.

Happy Wednesday, Y'all!!!