I love love.

It's late. I should be sleeping. or finishing the placemats I designed in my head last night while I should have been sleeping. Or I should be prepping the sweet potatoes, or reading Food Network because I'm scared of cooking a turkey by myself. I dunno. Just stick the bird in the oven, right? Somehow it seems all too horribly simple.

I should be sleeping.

I keep the dictionary by my bed, because I like words. And I hate them; they make me nervous. So I study their meanings, their histories, their variances, their inferences, and instead of sleeping I practice speaking intelligently in my head. I pretend I'm having a really smart conversation. And then I fall asleep, because being smart is exhausting.

I feel distracted tonight by the word love. So I came to type fast about it {I like typing fast}.

It's a good strong word; I think the best ever actually. You don't have to be really smart to know that one. I love love.

I've pondered, analyzed, scrutinized, studied, and consumed that word. I want to plaster it on every wall. It's lovely.

It has more depth of meaning than I could ever conceive from a dictionary or written description. No picture painted or language spoken can lend pure comprehension to the point of mastery; love is divine. It was in the shortbread cookies with buttercream frosting this afternoon. And in the wiping and sweeping; in the time outs and tantrums; in the trying and crying. It's in me, not the dictionary.

And as I tried to tend to the tasks of the evening, aka sleep, I was distracted.

I love.

And I'm grateful.

i'm thankful for ms. methusula van wagon-heinen the third...

and for her generous offer of 1 free fortune reading per child on a busy Sunday morning.

I'm thankful for Pilot Rhonda Don DonBurger...

and for her kindness in agreeing to fly an unruly group of island natives to the sunny tropics of TahitaMamma for a couple hours...free of charge.

I'm thankful for the Master of Movies who opened the theater doors before its normal hours of operations for a special preview of be quiet.

and offered free consessions.

I'm thankful for Fancy Pants Face Painting Artist Extraordinaire and for her time consuming process of perfecting each mark of the warrior.

i'm thankful for this big sister.

{and for all of her lovely younger counterparts in whom she so beautifully entertains.}

i'm thankful for wrestlemania.

sneak peek for Andrea.

Don't lose hope, And. I'm so close to done it's exciting me.

little flower tee-shirt tutorial

We made this shirt for Camryn's birthday this weekend.

It was so easy, I thought I'd share how:

'tis the season.

I just can't wait.

happy pre-holidays weekend. Buy some candy canes.

i love michele maule.

michele maule.

we'll call this one "a good story".

update.

See it? So gray.

Why is it fair to have loads of gray hair AND zits? An oxy-moron.

Not fair.

But I heard it's good to be George Clooney, and he's gray, eh?

Whatever. He's like 60.

***

Many of you have asked how I'm doing and offered chicken soup and donuts...thank you! Donuts should do it.

I am getting better. A new xray last week showed my lungs are clearing, and my oxygen saturation levels are up, but not 100% yet. I'm feeling much better than I did, for sure, but I don't feel like tackling the treadmill yet. {Too bad, I was so excited for that.} I get surprisingly winded pretty easily and I'm just tired all the time. That's pneumonia, I guess. It's a long haul. I'm able to work on some projects and sleep a lot, and I'm actually reading a book! so I'm not complaining.

I am feeling better. thank you.

But I'm still gray.

Hogwarts.

They arrived Friday night. Filch greeted them at the bottom of the hill with lantern in hand and croaked "I'm here for the First Years!"

The kids giggled and followed Grandma up the driveway, into the magic of Hogwarts.

They were welcomed to a feast of Pumpkin Pasties, Treacle Tarts, Butter Beer and Pumpkin Juice, among other wonderful wizarding treats and trifles.

Then they were sorted. {there was a walkie talkie in the Sorting Hat, and Seth had the other in the bathroom.} Jake was first, in Ravenclaw. He was content. Then Andy in Hufflepuff. He was happpy. Joey and Kacie in Slytherin. Appropriate. And Dani in Gryffindor. She was elated.

Off to the House Dormitories for the night.

The details were everywhere. Thank you, Cassy. I wish I were there.











Moaning Myrtle {ipod in the medicine cabinet}:

Morning Fieldtrip to Hogsmeade. {Franklin Pumpkin Festival}

Hogwarts Day 2. Classes.

Slytherin won the House Cup because meanie Snape was entirely unfair with the point system. Giving Slytherin 50 points for Kacie going in the potty. Hardly fair. Hooray for Kacie, but hardly fair.



Defense Against the Dark Arts {mentos in coke}:


Divination with Professor Trelawny. Mirror of Worromot.
{My sister Corrie is an exceptionally hilarious person. She is so so great.}

And of course, Trick or Treating. The End.

And of course, Halloween wouldn't be complete without sharing the Child Family costumes of the year. This year came from Jonny's obsession with all things "Man in Black".





I love you, Cassy. Thank you.

sick. sick. and Hogwarts.

Thanks guys, for all your get well wishes.

Here's the scoop: I got sick with the flu a couple weeks ago. REALLY sick; high fever, achey, you know. The flu. After the expected 3-5 days of fever and chills, I was still sick and couldn't breath very well so I went to the ER (it was a Saturday) and they told me 6 days isn't very long to have a temp and if it's the flu they can't give me anything anyways, and if it's an infection they don't want to overmedicate me with un-necessary anti-biotics and it'll probably last another week or so and she's sorry she just can't make it go away. She listened to my lungs, said I sounded good, and sent me home with a prescription for cough syrup.

Big. Fat. Pooper.

So I went through the week, still sick, thinking I just needed to muscle through it and it'll go away, but the more I tried to push through, the sicker I got. So I went in to my doctor and they did an xray and sent me to the hospital with agressive bilateral pneumonia. I spent 3 days there getting oxygen and drugs, and came home last night.

Here's the biggest bummer of them all...

I missed Hogwarts.

*sniff sniff.*

Conan drove the kids to my sisters house in Nashville so they wouldn't miss out on the Wizard Festivities, and left them there in the care of my parents for the Hogwarts weekend, while I ate cupcakes and pomegranites in a sticky hospital bed. I was so so sad to miss it all, but thankful my kids were still able to go. And thankful for cupcakes and oxygen.

My sister did such a phenomenal job with the party. I'm talking amazing. As soon as they get all their photos downloaded and sorted, I will share FOR SURE. She is so wonderful. My kids truly felt like wizards.

As for me, the doctor said if I stay still and rested I should feel better in a couple weeks. My mom and dad are here to help and I feel much better than I did last week...the fever is gone and it's just the breathing I have to catch up with now. So I'm good.

Thanks for your thoughts.


Here's the family portrait Cassy and Seth had hanging in the halls of Hogwarts during the party {playing on their tv}. So genius. I love them.

i have pneumonia.