Coming Up...

:: Tonight is opening night of the musical my mom, sister, and littlest brother are all in. Daniel and I are taking Gabriel and Bronwyn to see it. Gabriel will undoubtedly love the band and seeing his uncle; Bronwyn will undoubtedly "ooh" and "ahh" over the costumes and leave wishing we would still wear fancy dresses everyday of the week.

:: We're leaving Saturday for 2 weeks out of town. The first 8 days will be spent in Pittsburgh; the next 6 will be spent in Long Island. We'll visit with much of Daniel's family and we'll visit with some of mine. We plan on taking the kids to an amusement park and I hope to get some shopping for children's clothing done at a favorite consignment shop. Undoubtedly there will be a day or 2 at the ocean and perhaps we'll even watch a musical on Broadway. Oh and, of course, Daniel will got lots of worship leading in, too!

:: The fall semester starts in 4 short weeks so it shouldn't be any surprise that Daniel's hard at work making plans and phone calls accordingly. Except that it doesn't feel as though we've had much summer yet at all. Why is that?

:: I'd like to paint my bedroom before the baby arrives. Upon moving in a year and a half ago, I didn't change a single wall or trim color in the whole house except the kitchen (which had been a frighteningly intense yellow and is now off-white) because the rooms are mostly all done in perfect and wonderful colors. But I've decided that a little more color in my bedroom would be nice.

So now I just have to figure out how moms with young children tackle such projects without the paint drying to their brush every 15 minutes when they get interrupted to change a diaper, break up an argument, make a PB&J sandwich, and switch the laundry!

:: Bronwyn turns 3 in less than 2 weeks and I can hardly believe it. She has been a priceless infant and toddler and I must confess that I don't like the idea of distancing ourselves from her baby self any more than we already have. I love who she is becoming and all her increasingly-expressed thoughts, but I do find myself wishing I could go back in time just for a moment so that I could hold her chubby body close and admire her long-gone China-doll complexion and dark hair.

:: We very recently were blessed with an anonymous monetary gift and are almost sure we'll spend it on a dining room table. Our current table is wonderful and Daniel has put many hours in over the years transforming it from its rather unattractive 50s-style, metal-decor to a table that is very nice-looking, but it is technically only big enough for 4 people-- though we squeeze 6 at it regularly enough. Hospitality becomes increasingly challenging as our little family grows, which is frustrating since our dining room is plenty big enough for a much larger table and many more people than we can currently manage. I'm hoping to find a table (used or new) that can seat at least 10. Something like this would be wonderful, provided I can find a similar item for much cheaper.

At any rate, all this blabbing about kinds of tables and the real point was that I have been looking ahead to this fall and winter and feeling disappointed with our limitations when inviting guests over for meals due to our furniture. I was about to ask Daniel if we might re-designate other monies so that this table situation could be rectified when this anonymous gift arrived. God is very, very good to me.

:: Though I can hardly believe it, baby #4s arrival is expected in about 2 short months! After spending 12 weeks on modified bedrest followed by 4 on restricted activity-- willing the hours and days away because I was alternately worried and bored-- these past couple weeks have literally gone by in the blink of an eye. Now I'm busy kissing and hugging Jackson lots extra because, well, he's my baby but not for long.