i love math

the thrill loves anything to do with physics and/or numbers -- ok, anything to do with puzzles at all holds his interest.

no one rained on their parade

yesterday was the kids' kindergarten 'last day of school' parade to the neighborhood park -- although the precipitation poured down, the kids were eating cupcakes, playing on the equipment and splashing in the puddles...

no one rained on their parade.

rainbow-robes and crowns of light

it was 'bubble day' for the Kindergarten classes today... naturally, i brought my camera and enjoyed photographing one of my absolute favorite things to photograph - BUBBLES

she's a beauty

the ages of our children always have jess and i wondering... 'what is the future going to hold?'  i have a friend from high school who was reintroduced to a family friend that she'd known since she was little after some ten years of not seeing each other...  they were in their twenties now and it took no longer than an evening spent at a dinner party on elliot bay for them to realize God had it planned all along... we never say anything TO our kiddos but we do giggle - its so sweet to know they will be traveling through life together - and the young 'crush' is cute to capture on camera.

the fan voice

she does my heart good

'you wanna come over for lunch?' is the unsaid 'please come over, i need to take a shower' ...

we don't surprise each other.  we don't rush to coat anything in sprinkles - we just offer each other the half-eaten cupcake and shrug if the other kindly refuses... no sweat off our backs.

our children run around like a bunch of Norwegian kamikazes awaiting their demise - cause if i were to get in their heads, all the current joy is worth it.  they scream and giggle and dance and cry and yell and hug and whisper... until, if they're lucky, they all fall asleep for a big sleepover at one of our homes.

what would i do without her?  in the midst of transitions my first thought goes to 'if we ever moved away i couldn't ever have what i have with jess...' and then i let it go.  the idea of moving.

so i sit here this afternoon after sitting on her back patio while six children ran in and around and over us and then back out again -- we sipped a beer and Baileys at 1:30p in the afternoon and talked about what God was doing in our lives... it was is wonderful.  she had so much to share as did i... we smiled at each others trophies to God's work in our lives and rested our head back on the lawn chairs.  life is good.  God is good.  and we don't want to do it alone.

we met originally over eight years ago when kyle and i moved from bellingham to plant a church... and in the midst of those years we've both experienced multiple churches and are now finding ourselves sitting together at the same service every sunday morning -- ok, that's not accurate, being summer and all we hit or miss the formal church gathering ... and this last Sunday Kyle and I went to the 10:45a and they went to the 9:00a.  but in the least, we are worshiping with the same body of believers each Sunday and praying for the same leaders; gearing up for the same outreach opportunities and engaging in the same prayers for others in the body.  sometimes i look down the aisle and find her leaning forward with a smile... like we're 'thumbs-upping' each other that God's still doing what He's always done with us.

til i'm on my death bed and slurping jell-o through a straw, jess will be bringing me a drink while tipping back her Bailey's from a child's sippie cup and we will have, once again, one of our most real and wondrous conversations about what is happening... of course, at that point, i'll be irritated that i can't do my water aerobics anymore while jess curses that she smells like a bar after dropping her drink down the front of her gown.

until that day, jess...

I LOVE YOU!

my side of the story

we spent the weekend of june 4th celebrating my 'little' sister's graduation from high school -- she's absolutely breathtaking. i didn't expect it to be as emotional as it was... banana has had quite the couple years leading up to this day. i watched her from far off as she socialized... and i couldn't stop taking her picture.

when i run, i listen to the weepies and the song below is one that has had me in tears over the recent months just thinking about sending banana off to college. i love you my dear sister.

below you will find the weekend as i saw it. a wonderful family, beautiful sunshine and lots of laughter. enjoy.