Happy Valentine's Day!

The Valentine Project

Early in the week I abandoned all hope of the lovely, homemade valentines I had hoped to create with the help of my darlings. No paper lace doilies retrieved from the craft closet at home; no rubber cement; and the scissors didn't even make an appearance. In the ongoing battle to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good, though, we bought pre-fab Valentines and decorated them. This worked well enough that next year I might even mail Christmas cards. (Since we prefer to do a letter, with pictures and decorations, etc., I am 1-for-5 on a Christmas letter as far as the last five years go. If it hasn't been abject morning sickness, it's been a debilitating flu or being displaced by a fire. OK, one year J.D.'s parents took us to Hawaii.) I'll take this moment to thank those of you who keep sending us your Christmas missives anyway. We love love love to get them.

Going with the holiday vibe, Wombles switched from his usual favorite of purple to red:




Earlier in the week, Pixie lost tooth #4. She was understandably excited. We started the "The Tooth Fairy's Comin' tonight" song almost immediately. (Sorry, folks--not available on iTunes.)








For nearly every weekend we've been in the rental we've heard the ice cream truck drive by. Just once each day, and at what seems 35 miles per hour (making us wonder whether they are actually interested in selling their wares). Last Sunday, though, we heard the music (?) blaring just as we finished lunch--Pixie and I raced out the door and up the sidewalk, where we could hear J.D. bellowing "STOP!" from the back yard. Now, that's a heroic Daddy! We FINALLY caught the ice cream truck!! I really wanted P & B to have the experience--it's one I remember fondly from my own childhood, but we don't have a truck visit our real neighborhood here. Mission accomplished--they were tickled beyond my wildest expectations. LOVE when the parental plan pays off.



Finally, another of those all-too-rare "sleeping baby" shots--this one of my first baby. :)

Three Months Later

Three months ago today, the Tea fire swept through and changed so many things.

Some of you will recognize these shots, which were taken the morning of the 14th when we walked back to the house to gather some things. We mourned the loss of the lush vegetation, the animals, the birds, the homes of friends and neighbors.


Today, I was over in the neighborhood between rain showers--yes, rain!--and took these "three mesaversary" shots. Note the two small oaks in foreground above? They are in the one below, too.


It is amazing to see the green coming back. We are not living there yet, but a neighbor has emailed with updates when the birds returned, and the frogs. There is a light dusting of green starting to cover the whole mountain range! Santa Barbara snow, maybe :)



When J.D. and I walked this road at 3am after the fire burned through, the trunks of these eucalyptus were glowing. There were literally columns of red lighting the woods, as the flame was gone but the live coals remained inside the trunks.


But some of them have made it. From the inside out, these trees are shooting out the means of getting energy for themselves. It is a beautiful picture of life springing from something that was apparently, and should be, dead.


As my friend Shannon reminded me, He gives beauty for ashes.

I'll just quote the whole chapter. This is from the ESV.

The Year of the Lord's Favor

61:1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
4 They shall build up the ancient ruins;
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.

5 Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks;
foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;
6 but you shall be called the priests of the Lord;
they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God;
you shall eat the wealth of the nations,
and in their glory you shall boast.
7 Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion;
instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot;
therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion;
they shall have everlasting joy.

8 For I the Lord love justice;
I hate robbery and wrong;
I will faithfully give them their recompense,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their offspring shall be known among the nations,
and their descendants in the midst of the peoples;
all who see them shall acknowledge them,
that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed.

10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
my soul shall exult in my God,
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
to sprout up before all the nations.

In those early photos, I mourned the calla lilies that grew in the wild down by the rainy-season creek bed.

There is one clump back already. I look forward to the rest coming back.

I also look forward to the day when I am done with sin and the death that comes with it. Please, Lord, cause righteousness and praise to sprout up in me.

Bold, Boundless Boyness

It has been quite a week with these boys of mine. If you ever need a little bit of extra adventure (indulgent parent-ese for "Chaos"), please please please stop by for a visit. You can hang with B & W and I'll run out for tea. :)


Bud has been learning how to swim ever since DD was here and taught him to put his face in the water. This is really, really fun for all of us.

Mmmm, chocolate doughnut. That's the sun rising there, folks. It's going to be a long day.

This is from the "Mama, Wombles dumped out ALL of the toothpicks!" incident. Yes, that's the 800-toothpick size. I really wanted to use a different photo that showed all of those toothpicks, but I couldn't pass on his expression.


One of Wombles' "12 Days" presents was his very own set of chubby little crayons. Last week he colored for the first time, which was fun; now he likes to join us for a little of school everyday and flex his artistic muscles. I have to keep a sharp eye on him, though: there's not much of his purple crayon left. And he hasn't done that much coloring. Can you figure out where it's going?




There are the sweet moments, too--like when I found Bud entertaining Wombles, even though he was outside and Wombles was inside. He kept blowing bubbles at Wombles until they stuck on the glass, which made Wombles shriek with glee:




OK, so it's not all crazy (glad I have the photos to prove it!). Here's one of my favorite moments (becoming much more difficult to capture): the sleeping baby.




Finally, who could resist this bouquet, picked "especially for you, Mama! Do you like the yellow? I'm so happy you like yellow, because I picked them for you."


I'll try to catch you up on her Majesty's doings next time.