"5 Things I Love Friday" FEET:Street.Treat.Seat.Defeat.Sweet.

1.  I Love:  To Welcome people into my life.  (Okay, truth...I was thinking how much I love Junior Mints)  But on top of loving to welcome Junior mints into my life at any hour of the day (preferably following my feet hitting the street in these shoes for a good run on a sunny day)....I do love welcoming people.  Sometimes it's happy babies and their blankies as their moms reluctantly but wholeheartedly entrust their bundles of love into my care for the day , other times it's cranky, hysterical toddlers who couldn't stomach the notion of starting their morning without a sleeve of doughnuts they didn't get to bring or about parting with their Nascar footie jammies!  Some times like last weekend it's life long friends who love to come into town, sit on my love seat and together soak our feet in a spa'd out bowl of hot, peppermint plum water, and soak our hearts, struggles, triumphs, and pet peave insights on life into a bottomless cavern of giggles and encouragement. (while our girls play pollies til midnight)  Then other times it's 2 girlfriends and I -welcoming Kevin into our lives..(the awesome PF Changs waiter whose discretion did not exist on recognizing & reminding me TWO months later of the three of us in our (his words) "rare form moms escape night out" ..and to stick with my theme... my feet were on a seat. the end.

For Teri & Courtney: PF Changs Handles are safe.  Love, My Loop

2.   I Love:  This following picture of her feet in these new shoes.  Partly because they were $20something Diadora Pink & Black Soccer shoes I found on the end Isle at the Richland Target on clearance for $4.99 in her size......AAAAAAAND the other part is because of the conversation below the picture. 

Eden my soccer loving girl who said after this game:

  

"Uh, mom...when they had the parents-play-kids scrimmage at the end, you did real good kicking the ball except you cheated-it's not basketball mom, you can't push and   you don't need to guard my hands-we play with our feet!" 

 "Oh, and mom...this morning when you helped me double knot my shoes for the game-that was a great thing except... they were on the wrong feet the whole game!"

3.  I Love:  That today as soon as Eden got home from school she clomped around the house in these oversized roller blades from her cousin Moriah and fell in love. 

Shortly after I took this picture, when I demanded that it was minutes before she needed to hurry off to a Birthday party so she'd "better not come out of her room without some real shoes on her"; we had her First grade Translation: 

Undo top velcro strap on each Roller Boot and strap a flip flop to the front of each leg.  I love her. She makes me laugh so much.

PS  of COURSE she was allowed to keep the Roller Blades on and clomp out to the car with her Roller Flip Flops...That's Genius!

4. I Love:  How sweet & cozy Hallé's feet are in these Footie Jammies

5.  I Love:   To say goodbye to people in my life.   Tuesday I said goodbye to Hallé's Tball team The Red Sox at their last game!! Tomorrow I will say goodbye to Eden's Soccer team The Super Stars-at her last game!!! Next Thursday I will say goodbye to Eden's gymnastics teacher because she's done the end of May.  Two Thursday's after that I will say goodbye to Hallé's Ballet/Tap class as they perform on the Highschool stage for the end of the year production.  That same day I will say goodbye to Eden's 1st grade class and teacher and homework and packing lunches and having the right skinny jeans washed or the messy bun just so on her last day of school.   In other words...Goodbye Mr. Busyness...Hello Ms. Summer!!!! I feel like a kid counting down the days til summer break. Don't get me wrong - I love & cherish the gift of  being a baseball, ballet, tap, gymnastics, soccer, public school Mom!  I can savor a moment and multi-task circles around the best of the best.  However, I love the spontanaity that can only come with lenient bedtimes on those hot, lazy summer nights of running to DQ, or the sprinkler park, or water fights inside and outside the house with hoses, or making big forts to stay up late in with flashlights and popcorn...

My Claire Bug with feet firmly planted on 1st base at last game.

Wordless Wednesday ~Peace signs & Bunny ears~

"5 Things I Love Friday" ~Cards & Poems~

1.  I Love:   That for some reason every time I sit down to do this whole finishing the phrase "I Love...." thing; the first thing that comes to mind is some sort of food?!  So instead of typing and drooling on my keyboard over my new love for the Roast we had last night in the Emeril pan out of the oven, or the delish Olive Garden leftovers I got to enjoy from a Mother's Day Lunch on Saturday, or the Prime Rib leftovers from Sterlings for Sunday Brunch, or my Three Cheese Ziti I've perfected into a SIX CHEESE Ziti for lunch leftovers all week, or the pint of fresh raspberries & strawberries I'm polishing off right now with Hallé    .......RATHER....... I will talk like a grown up; the classy sophisticated woman I pretend to be when I refer to living in eastern washington~one of the most amazing and beautiful pieces of wine country around~and my LOVE for our Columbia Valley Chateau Ste Michelle Riesling Vin 2008.  Not only do I sound cool talking about it, but I feeeeeeel cool drinking it in my swanky little $2 wine glasses.  ...KIDDING!!!  I am enjoying it (and I owe ya a bottle Eric) but I will never feel cooler or above the life of back yard's filled with friends and the smell of Webber Charcoal grills, front porch book reading,  post lawn mowing, camp fire story telling, or kicked back on the lounge couches with my girls at the Roxy Wine Bar aaaaaaand having nothing to class up those above situations more than an ice  cold bottle of Mike's Hard Lemonaide (cranberry or pomegranate lite please!)

2.  I Love:  That you'd think the reason I cherish each of these following cards I got this week are because they each were accompanied by a very generous and thoughtful Starbucks Gift card slipped inside.   It's not.  I do love those timely Starbucks cards during the Half off Happy Hour Promotions going on right now.  These were surprises that blessed me at unexpected times of the day.  But it's really because of the  thoughtful and encouraging words written out inside each of them.... Thank you to you 3 women whse love and support I'm blessed to have in my life. 

3.  I Love:  Playing the card game Speed.  I have yet to find myself saying no to an opportunity to shuffle and deal up a quick game.  I did however found myself during a recent drought for wins  saying a word that Hallé picked up on. (She's my card game coach,  who sits and says "SLAP IT MOMMA!" since Slap Jack is the only game she knows yet)   Let's just say that Slap was not the only four letter S word Hal heard.  She said "Mommy's can only say that Shit word and little girls hafta say "Silly" for their word. "   I said, "uh, no Hal.  Mommy's say the shit word and then they hafta say the "Sorry" word.   I'm posting this quickly so I can go prepare my Mom of the Year acceptance speech.

4.  I Love:  That I'm forgiven. 

5.  I Love:  Living real so that my God's grace and mercy on my imperfect life can be shown as all the more extravagant when my continued lack of deserving it is professed and public rather that hidden.  God's DEEPLY-DETAILED-DEVOTED love towards me is something I'll forever enjoy searching my heart to find songs and words for:

Sarah

  I need Him.I Love Him.
I Have Him.

He wants me.He Loves Me.
He Has Me.

He's worthy. He's eternal.

I'm in awe!

Sarah

The above is my 1st grade tribute to Eden's month of poem making at school. ;-) Here is one she wrote about herself this week and brought home on the stomach of a huge bear:
 I Love Seattle!

Eden

Happy, Joyful

Athletic, Pretty

Eden

I Love Seattle!

Wordless Wednesday

"5 Things I Love" Friday ~The cliché holding true~

1. I LOVE:  My work week coming to an end. (I heart Fridays almost as much as I heart my pillow!)

 

2. I LOVE:  That it's not windy here today after weeks and weeks of it.  I suppose this may sound a tiny bit whiney and selfish, but actually it's A LOT whiney and selfish!  (I can finally let these wild and crazy toddler monkey's & their balls of energy loose on the backyard and the new, lonely Little Tykes Playhouse and Swingset it's sporting-- minus chilly hands, chapped cheeks, and nose's dripping with evidence of Allergy Season being upon us. )

 

In regards to the wind...If you can't beat it.....Go build a kite with paper, sticks, tape, reused grocery sacks ... and join it!)

 

 

 3.  I LOVE:  Thomas 100% Whole Wheat Bagels! (again....not just a little, but....A LOT!) As well as that on my last trip to the west side to hang with my Lisa, I discovered after 3 decades that I do in fact love CREAM CHEESE on them.

 

 

4.  I LOVE:  The things that my girls say. Hallé: ~as she sneaks into my bed about an hour before my alarm goes off~  "Just come here you, come here, come here, (with a tight, alligator style snuggle-squeeze) because I'm yours Claire-Bug Baby and I just can't ever get enough of my beautiful MOMMA MOMMA!"   XOXOXOX's!  Eden: ~as she hopped out of the car and onto the school curb to race the already rung bell to her quickly closing classroom door....(Us rushing in the morning..shocking...i know)  "Whoa, mom...I almost forgot to give you a KISS!?!?!?" XOXOXOX's      

 I'm typing their quotes out because I missed getting them on a recording device....which I then of course would have used to wake myself up to every morning when they're teenagers....even better I would have made them wake up to it every morning. 

I look forward to the affections changing as they grow older, but I will miss these tiny feet and fingers wrapped around my neck and legs begging for kisses every morning.  For now, My exhaustion feels grateful when they finally fall asleep at night, but my heart is blessed with a grace from God to have an awareness of having missed them when I first see them in the morning.

 

5.  I LOVE:  MY FRONT PORCH FLOWER GARDEN THAT I POTTED ON WEDNESDAY!  (pix in previous post)  I've been soaking in the 'shmorgusboard 'of flower color combos and blossom/petal designs that has God chosen to "AWE" my afternoon times of reading on the front porch with lately.

 

~'Time Goes So quickly' cliché holds true around here~

Wordless Wednesday ~05.05~