Sunday Snapshot {odes to love}

Valentine's Day is a big deal around here. Well, let me re-phrase that. It's a big deal to me around here. I take full advantage of the numerous opportunities to share my love for my Gang in all kinds of ways. While they all good natured-ly put on a show of tolerating my smushy surprise hugginess and my gooshy proclamations of love, I have a sneaking suspicion some of them might actually look forward to it. If nothing else, they'll have great memories of Momma makin' a fool of herself. All in the name of love. And around The Gang's house, there are lots of little odes to love to remember each year!

 Come to either of my doors

and you'll be greeted with love!

Love is in the air

out in the front of the house...

...and as you pull in the drive.

For some unknown reason,

these particular little expressions of the holiday

seem to irk my older kids.

Not that I care.

And the little ones love them.

Little hand-made expressions of love

are starting to appear around here

courtesy of some of the Gang members...

who shall remain nameless to protect them

from the good-natured taunting of the older sibs.

and I'm not the only one

tossin' around the sweet nothin's.

Look at all the loot from the grandparents!

Do me a favor? Don't decry the commercialism of the day. Don't get all cynical and grumpy about the cultural hyper-focus on the romance. Instead? Take a moment to hug someone whom you don't ordinarily hug. Share a little chocolate treat with the postman. Or the UPS guy. Just because. Find a creative way to spread some real love around today. We all need a little more love and a little less cynicism these days. You never know the hurt someone is carrying. And cheesey as it might be, Valentine's Day is a fun and easy way to touch that hurt with kindness.

Now. Consider yourself hugged.

Sunday Snapshot {bye week}

It's a "bye week" for our beloved Eagles. So instead of gathering around ye olde tv, stuffing our faces with unhealthy "football food," and yelling our brains out together, we sat at the dinner table like civilized folk. After a hearty meal of Creamy Garlic Shrimp over Parmesan Polenta (OOOOOHHHHH, yes, it was good. You have no idea how good!), The Gang dispersed to individual pursuits. I thought it might be fun to take a walking tour around the place to let you peek in on how The Gang spent the unfootball family day.

Shaggy set up some garbage cans

and parked my van out on the street.

To practice parallel parking.

The Boss watched from a safe location.

He was very focused and measured his marks

very carefully.

He is determined to nail this skill.

 I had to stop watching.

I think I was making him nervous.

And when he got that close to my baby, I mean, my van

I got nervous myself.

There's never a truly non-football day for this guy.

He watched the other games for a little while.

But this game wasn't interesting enough for him.

So he went to the other tv and rocked the Madden

for a while instead.

LadyBug prefers her solitude most days.

So she headed off to practice her clarinet.

I think I may have forgot to mention

that she made third chair in her jr. high Wind Ensemble.

We are so proud.

I have no pics of Baby BlueEyes because he spent the entire afternoon playing across the neighborhood with his friends. He will sleep good tonight. After a run with me to the grocery store and then a long shower to de-grime himself, that is!

Li'l Empress practiced "Jingle Bells" for a while on her

kitty piano. But that got boring.

 So she headed outside and helped The Boss

plant the pretties and weed the garden.

But that got boring.

So she rode her bike for a while and pretended to race

Shaggy while he drove back and forth for parking practice.

Apparently all that parking practice really wore him out.

I caught him napping in his semi-finished room.

And while LadyBug and I snuck out for a quick run to purchase curtains

for the semi-finished room, I hear that The Boss stole a quick nap too.

So.... That's how The Gang spent the bye week.

The Eagles will be back next week and so we'll

be back in our family huddle 'round the tv.

Hopefully cheering our brains out for our team.

If you stopped by as part of Sunday Snapshot

leave me a comment and I'll come by to say hi.

Sunday Snapshot {oh yes she did}

I've mentioned a time or two around here that I love hymns.

I have them playing in the background

of the busy pace here at The Gang's Home quite frequently.

You know, when I'm not blastin' my country tunes and singing along to those.

Apparently, my hymn lovin' self is rubbing off on my kids. Well, at least on the girls.

Seems that about a year ago, LadyBug taught Li'l Empress the words and the tune

to "Amazing Grace." And last spring, her pre-school teachers
delighted in telling me that during circle time,
they could hear Li'l Empress singing it to her friends.

She even stood up and did a concert for them all.

Yeah, that girl doesn't like the spotlight or anything.

And it seems that, even though WE haven't heard her belting it

out any time in recent memory, she's still preaching the Word

through song to her pre-school buddies.

Below is the daily update I get from her teacher.

She didn't just sing the Word over her classmates.

She made a microphone out of papertowel tubes first.

And then she preached the Word.

And why not? After all, there is a whole new crowd that needs to know the Truth.

Right?!

Sunday Snapshot

Oh, what a week it has been....More on that tomorrow.  In the midst of it all, I missed putting up a post to celebrate Baby BlueEyes' big entrance to the double digits. Yes, Baby BlueEyes turned TEN. Yes, he did. I know, seriously. Cuz I look at him, and sometimes I still see THIS:

I know. He's NOT that little anymore. But gosh, wasn't that just last month?! I mean, I do know. But I still don't KNOW how this happened. How he got to TEN!

Sigh. I know. I know. Life goes on. At the speed of light. Without stopping for momma's heart to catch up or catch a breath.  Anyhoo...

Without further ado, here is what TEN looks like 'round here...

Heading out the door, with the newly minted "ten-ness"

sitting well on his shoulders.

Birthday cake number one.

A spiced pumpkin cake with home-made spiced butter cream

frosting. Our family's sign that fall has arrived!

Celebration number two, house full of family, and cousins galore.

All eyes were riveted for several minutes on the

intense game of napkin basketball volleying across the table.

My sister sunk the first shot.

Cake number two. Not really a cake at all.

Rather, dark chocolate brownies smothered with

home-made vanilla butter cream frosting.

And topped off with four different flavors of ice cream.

Yeah. Can we say sugar coma?

THE.BIG.HIT. of the evening.

A Nerf Stampede.

All the boys, even the grown up ones,

were a little in awe.

Food. Family. Fun.

That's what TEN looks like 'round here!!!!!

Sunday Snapshot {better late than never}

In my bleary-eyed Sunday morning stumbles through the house,

while trying to rouse everyone to get ready for church on time,

I came across these two monkeys.

Having a very serious conversation,

full of imaginary plans for the day, silly stories,

and sweet sibling nothings being whispered
across the table to each other.

So wonderful to see the fruits of our labors

coming forth in their tender little friendship!

Happy Monday, Everyone!

Sunday Snapshot

In this season of life, where our older kids are starting to find their passions and we're able to help them pursue those passions, we are finding great joy.  In particular, The Boss is LOVING being a "football dad."  He loves the adrenaline rush, the free-flowing testosterone that rushes and oozes all over the fields, the utter man-growl that comes out of him when our boy gets his hands on the ball.

And now, The Boss is getting to be a "football dad" times 2. Yup, Baby BlueEyes has joined the local Upw@rds program for flag football.

So last Monday night, BBE had his first practice. The Boss, Dr. D, and BBE shoveled dinner down their gullets and rushed out the door, all pumped and excited for drill night. Cuppa' joe in hand, The Boss wandered up and down the sidelines, watching the little guys pass and catch. Chatting it up with the other dads, doin' the dad-versation about who looks good and who's got the arm this year.

Till one of our friends' son pointed out what The Boss was holding in his hand.

Here's a close up, in case you missed it.

Heh. Heh.

You can't see it, but that mug is full of testosterone.

I swear!

Sunday Snapshot

We have survived Hurricane Irene. We're really wet. Well, I mean, our basement is really wet. And The Boss, Shaggy, and Dr. D spent most of last night really wet. But we made it through. If I am pressed to find the silver lining, I can say that by the time every thing dries out and all the damage is cleaned up and done, we will have a really clean basement about a month ahead of schedule.  Today's Sunday Snapshot is of the heroes of Hurricane Irene, here at The Gang's house.

Pre-storm, or when the rain was the only evidence that an epic weather event was on its way, we enjoyed a long, quiet afternoon full of movies, home-made cookies, big batches of popcorn flowing freely, more movies, and jammy time just hanging out together. But all that changed at about 11:30 p.m. When our main sump pump failed and the battery-back-up wore itself out right on its heels. Thank the Lord that we had our pool cover pump and that Shaggy found our neighbor's sump pump in their basement when he went poking around their shed and garage looking for their pool cover pump. (They are out of town. The Boss and the boys are charged with caring for their property whenever they travel. Flashlight in hand, he went traipsing over in the wind and rain at 12:30 a.m. or so to try and come up with something to stem the tide of rushing waters!)

Dr. D, checking news reports and chatting 

with friends on F@cebook during the rain-only

portion of the storm.

Shaggy, catching up with a friend between movies

on Saturday.

But during the storm?

These guys proved their mettle beyond our belief.

Bucket Brigade for more than an hour.

Jerry-rigging a supplemental sump pump with The Boss.

Carting furniture and more than 25 big storage

bins full of clothes for The Gang up to the family room.

Running in and out of the side yard to move drainage pipes.

Keeping an eye on the neighbors' property through it all.

Both of them up till at least 4 a.m.

working alongside The Boss without much of a break.

We are blessed.

 And this guy?

This really tired, really run-down and worn-out warrior?

He ran the whole project for more than three straight hours

of rushing water - rushing INTO the basement

faster than he could get it out, that is.

Wet clothes, head cold, sleep deprivation, frustration,

disgust, stress, and more. He didn't quit until it was obvious

the pump was winning over the cold, dark, nasty water.

I am blessed.

Sunday Snapshot

My three boys got a chance this weekend

to immerse themselves in the things that they love.

Dr. D's first official season of high school football

 has begun. He's #26 this year.

This is from his first scrimmage.

Just 10 plays each - offense and defense.

But he got his hands on the ball a few times.

And picked up some really nice yardage for the team.

This Momma was cheerin' loud and proud.

I'm already lovin' the chance to yell my brains out

on the sidelines. He can't hear me through all that padding.

Later, The Boss took Shaggy to one of his favorite

music stores for an end of season inventory sale.

Shaggy got to play some seriously top o' the line drum sets.

His passion for the drums has expanded.

This summer, he's been dabbling in music theory

and teaching (re-teaching) himself some technique skills.

And Baby BlueEyes?  Well, at almost 10 years old,

his passion is to be with and be like his brothers

and his Daddy. Whenever and However.

He went along for both rides and was a happy camper

All. Day. Long.

The fact that he made his Daddy and I laugh out loud

with this face was just icing on the cake for our little guy!

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