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so sweet and spunky.

we’ve known this
sweet and spunky girl
for a year and a half
as she was on the welcoming committee
to an infant class L was in.


they reconnected in between shots
i got to take of her lovely family.


her little brother
gave me the hardest time.
he didn’t like any of my photo-taking tricks.
in fact, the grass was much more interesting to him.


but we got him to smile and laugh
by tickles and crazy hat tricks by B.


this is such a beautiful family 
and i have learned so much from their momma.


and these darling sisters have such a beautiful bond.

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. 
“May your word to me be fulfilled.” 
Then the angel left her.
Luke 1:38

1641. a new insurance plan
1642. a sweet little girl who likes to clean as much as i do
1643. finding a parking space just in time
1644. how much L loves his “new legs”
1645. new christmas music + scrabble + fudge

wedding dress shopping.

K and i recently went wedding dress shopping 
with my mom and sister.

both my brother 
and one of my sisters 
are getting married in the spring. 
i know.
lots of celebrations to come.


i told K that all she could tell anyone 
was that the dress was white, 
the dress was beautiful 
and the dress was expensive.


and that she did. 

happy start of advent!

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about:
His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, 
but before they came together, 
she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 1:18

1636. leaves falling like snow in our front yard
1637. crunching leaves under our feet
1638. running two errands while L was at school
1639. not having to rush D to school
1640. organized bookshelves

there’s still time!

there is still time for you to make 
a fabulous little advent tree.

check out the diy here

this is the one i did last year 
and i am hoping to get it 
out of the christmas bin by thursday.
we’ll see if that happens. 

For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, 
but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 
What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, 
and yet lose or forfeit their very self?
Luke 9:24-25

1626. impromptu little photo shoots
1627. selling my kit lenses on ebay
1628. watching the sun rise with L 
1629. getting plenty done while it was still dark
1630. really encouraging things happening

and it was happy.

our thanksgiving was 
certainly a happy one.


there was so much food. 
too much, actually.
and we rested and played and shopped and ate.
it was such a blessing.
more details to come soon.

Make every effort 
to live in peace with everyone 
and to be holy; 
without holiness 
no one will see the Lord. 
Hebrews 12:14

1621. lots of fudge
1622. whipped cream
1623. sweet potato hash browns
1624. pumpkin pie
1625. miniature apple pies

finally.

finally.
here is the story about 


this past summer, we were driving by a school in our neighborhood
and B saw that they had hundreds and hundreds 
of desks in their parking lot. 
so, i called to inquire about the futures of said desks.


i was told that the school wasn’t quite sure 
what they were going to do with them 
but if i was interested, i should call and leave a message 
with the amount i was interested in.

a month later, i received a call from a woman at the school 
who said that because we lived in the neighborhood, 
they wouldn’t charge us for the desks.


so, we picked up two 
and then two more 
and then two more 
and then three more
since i knew that a couple of my 
girlfriends would love them, too.


the school was totally fine with us getting so many, 
as long as we picked them up by 8am the next day.

and sure enough, 
B drove by the next morning 
and saw the hundreds of unclaimed desks
in a gigantic dumpster.

i wish i could have rescued tons more of these sweet desks.


especially after seeing what B could do with them.


K found one that had a 
heart drawn in sharpee on the bottom of hers.
so she claimed that one pretty early on.


if it had been up to me, 
they would have both been painted aqua
but we let the kids pick their colors.


no surprise there, right?
right.


and B was a bit colorful for a few days after they were completed.

Through Jesus, therefore, 
let us continually offer to God
a sacrifice of praise—
the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.
Hebrews 13:15

1611. being early for a therapy
1612. L’s fascination with the door knob
1613. those desks
1614. finding the perfect things on ebay
1615. the red leaves on that tree

an afternoon.

i got to take some photos
of a friend of a friend and her family
this past week.


can you tell how fun they were!
and not afraid of being in front of the camera.
not one bit.


and this was the lovely view on my drive home.
while i listened to really loud music.
of my choice.
not because i really wanted to.
but just because i could.

Grace and peace be yours
in abundance
through the knowledge of God
and of Jesus our Lord.
1 Peter 1:2

1606. being able to go and shoot all by myself
1607. meeting up with friends at a lovely park
1608. the rain, rain
1609. a sermon that cuts to the heart
1610. L’s new shoes

more on the surprise trip.

first up, the winner from Jackie’s giveaway!


congratulations to 
Angee!
Jackie will be emailing you!


now, onto more from the surprise trip!
for the full scoop about my trip, click here.

a big thank you to my parents and B for holding down the fort for 36 hours.
i obviously would not have been able to do that without you. 

the day i left, D asked B,
Daddy, in the morning can you dress up like Mommy and pretend to be Mommy?”

my kids got to do a lot of things while i was out of town. 
one of which was be early.
my dad took K to school and he said 
“i guess we’re a bit early. what do you usually do when you’re early?” 
she said “we’re never early!”
and right she is.

at the airport, my purse was flagged at security because 
“that sometimes happens with cluttered purses.” apparently, he had no idea what a miracle it was 
that i was actually at the airport on a tuesday morning.
without any children in tow.
and that cleaning out my purse was not even on my to-do list.

and, i got the “you may now check in for your return flight” email 
before even being able to surprising KS!


this little dude was so full of energy.
every single second.
and i loved it!


and he sure loves his momma.


he is a wild boy but always comes running back into her arms. 


and look at that grin.
pure sweetness.


after KS dropped her kids off at school and mom’s day out
(how simply perfect was the timing of this little trip?)
we headed to a nature preserve for a little walk.


you see, KS loves to be outside.
and she finds the best spots to 
satisfy her cravings of the outdoors even in wichita.


we walked


and we walked


and we walked
(aren’t these hedgeapples so fabulous?)


and we walked
until we realized that we were lost.


and it was just starting to rain.


and we had no idea how to get back to the car.


i even pulled out my gps on my iphone but it wasn’t much help.
i’m a city girl, what can i say?
so it was certainly an adventure. 


we stopped here and there to do a mini-camera tutorial
since KS has a fab camera and lens.


and now she knows how to use it.


see?!


the colors were so vibrant


and the reflections, mesmerizing.


when we finally got to the car 
it was pouring
(perfect timing)
so we headed to lunch
and topped it off with a quick stop at sonic.


(how good is that ice?
so good.)
and don’t worry all of you people from Wichita,
we avoided all the traffic on Rock Road. 


and this sweet little girl
took a great nap
and so did we.


it was perfect.
really, truly.


and, as much as KS would have liked
(and as much as B would not have liked)
i made it out of Kansas before the snow fell.

1601. watching leaves scatter in the wind 
1602. flying above the rainstorm and finding blue skies
1603. an open seat next to me on a very full flight
1604. sweet little girls who exchange notes
1605. seeing the moon from the plane

this is how we roll.

yeah, this is how we sometimes roll.
the hair all crazy,
the face all silly,
hamming it up for mom.



hope you’re rolling right through this week, too.


click here to enter the giveaway!


1591. Christmas music already
1592. fun, fun, fun planned this week
1593. a new thing to help L 
1594. speed walking to school 
(not for exercise but because i’m late)
1595. lots and lots of clean laundry 
(just not folded or put away yet)
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