grieving with those whose hearts have been crushed.  wishing there were some way to undo this unthinkable thing that has been done.  please help us, Lord Jesus.  please help us shine Your light for we are in dark times indeed.

orange, this time.  from a couple months ago. hey boy, quit talking and pay attention! artfully falling backwards. here come the high kicks again! going through the motions of the yellow belt form. here comes his big moment!  he was just a tad bit nervous about the board breaking portion of the test.  he’d never actually done it before. no turning back now… success!  (plus a big sigh of relief from him and me both). that’s my boy, y’all! still pretty amazed that it actually worked. listening to some final thoughts from the master.  [me whispering]: psst, mikey… [still whispering]: hey, mikey… this is the look that says, “aw mom,…

we decided to get our christmas tree on saturday, while phil’s mom and brother were still with us.  we started off with grand plans and high hopes. but remember what happened to us last year?  and the year before that? which begs only one question. WHEN are these tree lots going to realize that *some* of us like to get our christmas tree nice and early?! hmm.  nope.  no internal reflection needed here about realizing that maybe perhaps we should just wait a week or so and save ourselves the angst of finding our lot of choice not open yet and also save an hour or so of driving aimlessly…

we had a week to build up to the big day. on monday, the boys and i went to lauren’s preschool thanksgiving party. my two handsome dates. thankfully, it was assigned seating. then her class came in and lined up. and did a short thanksgiving-y song (“five little turkeys sitting on a fence…”) and memory verse (“first thessalonians five eighteen, in everything give thanks, give thanks”) that lasted all of two minutes.  i love preschool programs. there’s our girl! a little pre-soup affection. each of the classes prepare a stone soup based on the book and we get to enjoy it together.  and enjoy it they did.  mikey had himself…

this past saturday was a very good day to be a bruin fan.  an exciting football game and a very satisfying win that’s been a long time coming.  we had a few friends over to watch the game with us which made it all the more fun.  so much so that i didn’t even take a single picture the whole time!  aw well, maybe next time. to celebrate, this is how the fam bam dressed for church on sunday. oh how i love this shirt. ok, and the boy in it. so while i don’t have any pictures from this past saturday, i DO have some from a game we…