Anna was thrilled when I asked her if she would teach Sofia to paint the other day. Here is a picture.

This past weekend a dream was given back to me. Thank you to the RA’s and RD of Nyland Hall at Gordon College. We had a blast.

Today was a funk day. Anna was crabby. I was crabby. Sofia was crabby. Caleb was masterfully managing to avoid all the crabby girls around him.

I became aware over the weekend, that Caleb had no sneakers that fit him. So, in the midst of all the crabbiness, I decided that after school we were going to go buy him some sneakers.

So Crabby Number 1, Crabby Number 2, Crabby Number 3, and Caleb all piled into the van after lunch and went to the shoe store.

We found some killer sneakers for Caleb, and some cute church shoes for Anna.

And the crabbiness had left all aforementioned crabs.

So, it is true when they say shoes are a girls best friend.

Found this while I was wandering around homeschooling blogs today. Really resonated with me. Thank you to EveryDay Mommy.

I was sitting on the floor at a day retreat with other ministry leaders from Gordon College when a ball of yarn hit me. Looking to see who lodged the assault on me, I saw someone I’d never met before, but thought I might like to.

Today, we celebrated knowing each other for twelve years. (We celebrated being married for eleven years this past May.)

Happy Anniversary to Us.

Anna is dancing around the kitchen after dinner. Marc and I are looking at her adoringly.

“Anna,” I say, “You take my breath away.”

“Moooom, I don’t know how to do that.”

“No, Anna, I’m not asking you to do anything. I’m telling you that just by being you, you take my breath away.”

“Mooom” (Anna’s voice is raising concern now) “but I don’t know how to.”

“Ann, I’m just saying I think your pretty and kind and lovely and I can’t believe that I get to have you in my life. And sometimes when I look at you my heart gets so full it makes me want to cry happy tears, and my breath goes like this (I make an air sucking sort of noise).”

Anna looks at me incredulous that I still don’t understand. “But Mom, I told you, I don’t know how to take your breath away.”

It sort of felt like that scene in Bug’s Life… You know the “it’s a rock” scene with Little Dot.