Random Things Bouncing About My Brain

The $69 I spent on Maddie's birthday present (art class through town) was worth every. stinking. cent. She made two 24x36 pieces of art that are positively breathtakingly beautiful and ready for framing. She also made a sculpture. But I like the paintings best. 

More adults should have dress-up birthday parties. Planning our outfits for our friends 60th birthday/white trash party was really, really fun. (But what does it say about us that we had to purchase some things for the 80s parties but we had everything we needed at home for the WT one? Are we WT?)

Missing from the picture below was my cigar and enormo can of beer (that I accidentally took a drink of and then almost barfed because I detest beer).

 Oh, and I absolutely adore Jenn. She is a true friend.

Every month I try to take at least one picture of the kids in front of the door to track the progress of their growth. They are so stinkin' cute. And lovable. And naughty. And kissable. And just plain stinky. But they're mine. The End.

I don't think I ever told this story here. A few weeks back I was overwhelmed, tired, spent from the week. Ben had to work almost all weekend, but John took the kids for the morning so I could go for a long walk/hike/run/prayer time. That's how I roll. I honestly feel closest to God when I get out of the house, plug some praise music in my ears, and get time just to clear my head. After a long hour of confession and prayer and crying and thanking God for loving me in spite of all my control issues, dependence on myself (hence the exhaustion), selfishness, and idol worship (food, others' opinions of me, presenting a good front, etc, etc), I heard God say to me, "Do you know how much I love you?" and when I rounded the bend, this is what I saw:

How awesome is that? An entire rainbow that was actually a double rainbow (can't see it in the picture). I started laughing out loud. I mean, what kind of perfect God, ruler of the universe, who sees and knows all, and listens to me as I barf out all the crap that's in my heart, shows his immense love for me in this amazing, enormous double rainbow?

Friends, if you don't know the love of God, ask him to show you. An important lesson from that Saturday morning: He already knows all the nasty, horrible, crappy, selfish, evil things we've done. He knows all the crap we're going to do. And he STILL LOVES US. If that's not good news, I don't know what is.

Next random thought. When my favorite 50mm lens isn't taking super crappy and out of focus shots like this:

it's falling apart. I mean, literally, the whole front section with the glass lens falls right out of the back part. I'm lucky it hasn't shattered the number of times it's fallen right out of the camera. Ugh. And just in time for my FIRST-EVER photography class, which I'm super pumped about. I mean, Becky and Rachel take AMAZING photos and I want to learn from the pros. But my lens is not cooperating. Blah.

I still take naps with my kids. This particular day I was held captive by the arm of a sleeping superman. I enjoyed every minute of it.

My baby boy, who has been my napping buddy since he was born, is going to be three in less than a month. I mean, look at that little guy:

And now he runs around and climbs up tall structures and talks in sentences and gives kisses. My heart. My uterus. They're talking to me.

Last random thought: My hubby turns 35 next week, halfway between my little guy turning 3 and my big girl turning 5. Number savants, unite! That is one awesome birthday number conspiracy!

Adios, amigos. Have a great weekend. Leave your own random thoughts in the comments.