Tickling

Is it fair for people who are not ticklish to tickle people who are?

Growing Pains

As our children decide that they simply must grow ;) we have been revamping boundaries within our home. It's interesting (more like hellish) to experience a child who has outgrown the old and is straining towards the new, needed model of 5 yr old-land.

I hit a horrible hot point that I struggled to see through last week and called my partner in crime - my sister, Holly. (Levi was at work and dually frustrated, anyhow) She just had her third punkin and is a welcome mental respite. It's good to hear other people's children being normal and a bit wacked out when you know they're fabulous parents. Kids are weird sometimes and it's fantastic to just let them stretch out in that weirdness and "find themselves".

There is a great teacher out of Redding, CA (Can any good come from... Just kidding...) named Danny Silk who helps folks navigate the slushy sea of parenting. Holly's 15 min pep talk was pure Holly-fied Danny. Between that talk and a good restful moment of prayer, I now have a loose strategy (and it's working!!)

Smells like...

Yesterday in automotive dept of Walmart, Cedar observed, "It smells like boys". How does one come to that conclusion? It was either the tools or the RIght Guard D.O he was huffing.

To the forefront..

"And that's why Invisible Children is such an awesome organization. For example, in their bracelet campaign, they pay people living in refugee camps to make bracelets and then turn around and sell the bracelets at a profit, all of which goes back into africa. A $60 donation to IC will pay the wages of a refugee to make 16 bracelets. The 16 bracelets are then shipped and sold in the US for a profit of $300, which is then sent back to Uganda to build schools and such. So they take your money, give it to a needy person who makes them a product, then make a profit on that product that does more in Africa. It's like killing two birds with one stone." Folks I'm LOVING this. In case you didn't catch this - this is the organization Dr.Seattle's bro is working with...

The Nazi's invented housework

I believe the Nazi's invented housework. We all know they tested the mental fortitude of Jewish men by forcing them to to the same mundane task (shoveling dirt from one pile to another) over and over day by day. Any Mom will see the glaring parallel...

Now what about word repetition?

Pursuit of Fun

The challenge of today. Balancing depth with lightheartedness. I'm one of those girls that loves to discuss deep things, to probe into the deep dark core of the heart. To find intellectual surprises. But since moving here to Green Bay I've wanted balance. Somehow, it seemed "less than" or subtley "not ok" to actually ingest and provoke fun. I'm so sick of that box.

Deep spirituality and hilarity can walk hand in hand. I think they need to. Perhaps a parallel of surgeons joking about horrible ways to die is similar. I married a man that makes me laugh so hard, even in the midst of a terrible argument.
We take ourselves so darn seriously, sometimes. God forbid we be exposed.

So I'm laughing more, relaxing into my own skin and pursing lighthearted fun. It's good and folks - I LIKE it.

Flippin' cold

There is no school today. It's 25-45 degrees below zero today (w/ wind ch.). Now that's just plain chilly.