Someday

I haven’t been SO busy that I haven’t blogged.

I’ve almost blogged so many times. But the thing is: there’s so much going on in my life right now that I feel like I can’t be 100% honest with you all. I feel like I’m showing you the shiny side of my life… and ONLY the shiny side.
And really: that’s okay. It’s not a good idea to go around dumping our dull side of life all over everyone.
My hang up is that so many sweet people have expressed longingly to have certain things that I do, and I always feel like I’m cheating them…
You don’t want what I have. I do. Even when life is dull or hard or ugly or mean, I still want what I have…

Even if what I have is what is making life mean and ugly.

What’s that old saying about how if we all put our hardships on the table? Yeah, I’d take mine back. They’re tailor-made for me. And they’re good for me… in the same way that boot camp is good, I guess.
But trust me when I say: you don’t want what’s going on up in here.

Someday I feel like I’ll tell you about it. I foresee a time in the future where I talk openly about the dull and mean part of my life. But right now is NOT that time. So what do I do? I hide.

In the meantime, please be patient with me. Please know that I am more than taken care of by my Heavenly Father. Please know that many of you have been his angels, even if you weren’t aware of it. I’m not hurting for anything or anyone.
In essence what I’m saying is that I don’t need fixing right now… I just want to hide out for a while. I’m sure you understand.
(I actually DO need fixing, but there’s only one person who can fix. And He has been fixing me when I put aside my pride and let Him.)

But things have been going on. Things HAVE BEEN going on.
Important things. Things you should know about. Despite the dull and wretched side of life, the shiny side of life has been in full swing.

The end of summer has always been my absolute favorite time of year. It makes my insides do high jumps.
Sunflowers and sunsets… it’s no wonder I had the genius to be born in mid-August.
Our teenage kitten is now a teen Mom. We have FOUR kittens squealing around our porch.

Every time I walk out of my house and see those little guys, it makes my day. They’re so sweet and new and darling.
And they’re not the only pets we’ve added to our family. Lacy saved her graduation money (Kindergarten graduation money, that is) and brought home Sarah… the Blue Parakeet.

Trenton watched Mulan too many times and has started quoting it, but he has mistaken the word “concubines” for the phrase “konk your vines.”
Trenton is awesome like that.

He also loves Root Beer… he’d been waiting all day to drink that and apparently didn’t want to part with the bottle even in sleep.

He has a cape, a shiny red cape. A few weeks ago, he put some extra clothes in it. They made a pouch in the middle, and he tied it to his waist. The pouch hung down over his crotch.
“Look at my sack mom!” he said. And I did. And I took pictures. And I held in the laughter really well. But I promise you this, Trenton, this picture will come out to play in roughly 10 years. Mark my Mother Words.

Alice turned SEVEN months.

My water pump and radiator went out:

We took a family trip to the Farmer’s Market and the Petrified Forest Gift Shops. And do you know that I’ve lived here my entire life and never visited the Petrified Forest? The gift shops are one thing, but the actual forest? Never been. Unless my Mom took me when I was too little to care or remember.

We feasted that night on chicken and fresh cherries and deviled eggs and homemade bread and summer squash sauteed with sweet onions, with my favorite kind of flower in the middle of the table:

Do you like my new table? Did I tell you about it already? And my new chairs?
And by “new” I mean “new to me.”

I love them.
In the month of July, the kids took swim lessons and were afraid to jump off what Lacy calls “the plank.”

Alice came down with a cold, and when we took her up to Grandma and Grandpa’s house to get a blessing, she took hold of a striped monkey and that was the end of the Monkey living with Grandma.
Alice kidnapped that monkey outright.

It’s her precious.

We put our feet in an irrigation creek:

And I don’t know what felt better: the cold water or the bliss of being impulsive.

I convinced the kids they had a chance of catching runaway rabbits, so they chased them with all their might while I sat back and thought about how tired they’d be at bed time:

We found a Freshie (a freshly dead butterfly) and took it home to mount and study. We drew pictures of butterflies and learned about all the different parts on them. We decorated our own butterflies with fabric and buttons and glue, and I named mine Lady Moxy and put her on the fridge. Because Moms still like making fridge art.

We celebrated Pioneer Day at the park.
We spent two weeks without Dad around because of work training. We made a lot of homemade bread and ate a lot of homemade bread and complained about our pants not fitting (that was just me, actually).
My sister and I went to Flagstaff for the kids’ wellness visits which went well, apart from feeling like I was less a mother of three well-behaved children and more the warden of three very naughty monkeys.
But still.
They’re cute.

We played at a park for a few hours to let the monkeys get their wiggles out, and while there I convinced the children that goblins live in the park trash cans. They eat the trash people throw away.
“I threw my gum away,” my daughter said.
“Did the goblin come up and snatch it out of your hand?” I asked. Her eyes widened.
“No…”
“Oh, I hope he’s not dead,” I shook my head, “That’s where trash goes! The goblins eat the trash. If they’re not eating it, we HAVE to make sure they’re not dead because IF THEY ARE we HAVE TO CALL THE POLICE!”
**It shall here be mentioned that Lacy is terrified of THE POLICE. Please don’t ask why. I have no idea.**
“Go!” I said, pointing to the trash cans, “Go knock on them, see if the goblin rattles around. If he doesn’t, that means HE’S DEAD.”
And then we sat back and laughed and laughed while the kids knocked on trash cans.
“They’re DEAD!” Lacy called out, so concerned, “They’re DEAD!”
Long live the Trash Goblins.
*head bow*

Life will be so boring when the kids quit buying into my crap.

I’ve given up watching “Switched at Birth” on account of the direction the show is taking (more sex! more drama! bleh, can’t we just go back to the days where everyone was just trying to learn sign language?)

I have two Netflix recommendations for you: Sweetland (be ye warned: there is a bare bum shown, but no sex. It’s a bathing thing) and “The Well-Digger’s Daughter” which is not in English, but well worth the watch.

And in other news, I’ve taken up employment at the local mechanic shop. I’ve always wanted a sleek secretary slot.

School starts tomorrow, and life is moving forward at a rate that makes Mom cry.
But the Lord is mindful of us and very, very aware. The Shiny Side of Life is wonderful.