It all began with chalkboards...

Years and years and years ago, my friend's husband and his little sister had come up with this really cool project to help raise money for the youngest sibling's college fund. Somewhere a large pile of old cabinet fronts was found, then a big can of chalkboard paint was purchased, and a small, family-run enterprise was born. Ok, not really, but they made a ton of chalkboards and did sell some. I had always wanted to buy one but could figure out where I would put it, or what size I would need, or if I would actually ever use it because of all the chalk dust... so, I never did anything about it.

Years have passed, enough for my friend's youngest sister-in-law to complete college and be out in "the real world" for a couple more too. And I am still thinking about those chalkboards... yes, really, still. So, I sheepishly ask if she has any. I probably would have never asked, but she posted a picture of her shed on her blog with comments about clearing stuff out. And she had some. And she wanted to get rid of them. I was giddy! So we picked a day for the pick-up.

Between us, we have 9 children. So, the inevitable happened and our scheduled pick-up date was rescheduled due to the busyness of life, and childhood communicable diseases. In fact, I think we had exchanged a number of texts about it, coming to no real arrangement. Then, last week as I was driving to the hospital to hang out with my new-baby-having-friend, I realized I would be driving right past my chalkboard-friend's house on my way back home later and asked if I could stop in.

Me: Just curious... are you going to be home this afternoon?
Friend: Yes. Do you want to peek at the chalkboards? FYI - pink eye is moving through the kids
Me: (long pause and deep breaths, reminding myself of God's Sovereignty over bacteria) Chalkboards - yes! And since I am kid-free the pink eye doesn't scare me as badly. :)

When I left the hospital, I sent a note that I was on my way. I expected a short stop, so I let the kids (and my mother-in-law) know I was headed home. Imagine my surprise when I knocked on the door and was greeted by friends who are missionaries in Mexico City (they are related to my chalkboard-friend)! My friend is saying, "I just love surprises!" while I reeled in shock and tried to catch up on two years in under 10 minutes. They had made an impromptu trip to town for some legal paperwork and from landing to leaving were here for a total of like 36 hours.  Upon hearing this, I began thanking the Lord for keeping me from overreacting about the pink eye and missing such a sweet time!

You see, both these friends inspire me to live for Jesus right where I am... their photography inspires me to not forget to capture the moments and not just the portraits... I love listening to them as they transparently shares joys and struggles... these are friends who can make you feel like you are the only person in the room...

So, after a whirlwind catch-up, I get back down to business about gathering the chalkboards. As we traverse through the shed, we soon come to realize that most of the chalkboards that are left were used when one of the sisters in this awesome family got married a couple of years ago. I was suddenly inspired to make my missionary friends pose with their sign before I got it home and erased a small piece of their family history.

A little more fellowship, a coffee made to go, and I was on my way. The whole time we were visiting my missionary friend was snapping photos of life as it happened all around. I tend to avoid being captured on film, but made an impulsive decision to not let this little moment slip away undocumented just because I have never lost that 40lbs. So, a few quick shots just to remember the day and goodbyes...

  

So, starting my drive home after my surprise delay, I get a call from my husband who is almost home. Apparently, everyone at home was growing concerned that I had not yet reached home. I looked at the clock and couldn't believe all that had passed in only 30 minutes. I apologized for not letting them know of the delay and promised they would be happy with the reason. And they were as they passed around my phone to see the photos. :)

For a week the chalkboards sat...

Until today. Now all I need is chalk...

Noah writes a poem...

The Setting Sun 
by: Noah Franklin

The setting sun
shows that you've had fun,
and the day is ending,
maybe you've been climbing
or reading,
maybe even doing crafts.
But the day is done,
and you've had fun.

Not just good coffee...

... pretty coffee...

Fire-breathing Dragon for E... Chocolate Flower Blossom for Me

Want your own latte art? Go here:

Gruene Grind Coffee Co.
www.gruenegrind.com
2348 Gruene Lake Dr. Ste. B
New Braunfels, TX 78130

A flock of little birdies...

Two years of teaching a little art class... and this is probably one of the first times I have remembered to actually take photos of the final projects... here they are...

Faith (L) and Hannah (R) - Perfect color selections to use as decorations in their rooms.

Grace (L) and Caleb (R) - this was huge for Caleb, he sat attentively and worked so hard on his bird. He forgot to outline it in Sharpie pen so it ended up lost under the water color, but I was just THRILLED that he was participating happily!

Micah (L) and Noah (R) - Micah just painted over one I had drawn in pencil... he started painting before I could help him outline it. He was happy and busy, so it was perfect.

A little birdie...

Tomorrow afternoon my little art class will meet. I am sometimes a little last minute in getting around to planning my lessons. This time, I had been inspired by a post at Art Projects for Kids and knew what I wanted to do. I am going to have the kids play "follow the leader" and they will need to complete each step as I reveal it.

If there is anything that I have learned from the last two years of teaching this little art class, it is that children need to see an example of what they are going to be doing. So, as I gathered supplies, I also made an example. I hope the children think it is as fun tomorrow as I thought it was tonight.

A morning well spent...

Two years ago we were studying Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day (Apologia Elementary Science Series) and we joined some friends who were in a Young Birder's Club to be a hands-on application for learning. We ended up falling in love with being out in God's Creation and learning about the fascinating study of birds - the verses from the Bible about God's care for the birds, and more so us, come rushing into my mind every time we go on a bird walk. Long since we finished our year studying all things that fly, we have remained in the birding group and spent one Saturday morning a month with our birding people.

Our official meeting was last week, and it was fun. However, not everyone in our family is old enough for the actual meeting, so the two little boys stayed at home for some Daddy time. Noah has been complaining lately, saying he hates birding and that it is boring. I prayed about it, because I don't want him to discount an activity all together just because it stretches him, but once I considered that he had attended two years worth of meetings with a relatively good attitude, I decided that when Elliott could be home I wouldn't make him go. He was thrilled to have a morning with Dad and his brothers in place of little feathered friends.

If I had to guess, and I am sure if I asked Noah for specifics, Noah's dislike is not about the birds themselves. He actually gets just as excited about a new find as the rest of us. What bothers him is the being quiet. Since his early days of life, quiet has never been a word to describe him. At 3 years old, we actually were concerned he was deaf because he was so loud, we thought maybe he couldn't hear and was compensating with volume. The walks are also slow. You take your time, usually discussing habitats or things to look for and field markings on what we have seen. Noah doesn't do slow. He is happiest when he is blazing down our street standing on his bike or running laps in the backyard. He enjoys roller coasters that make your stomach flip, they make life go at his speed. When you consider that the expected behavior for birding is quiet and slow, you can imagine his misery.

So, last week was the first time Noah stayed home from a YBC meeting. The girls and I were excited to go and we rode with friends. Once we were there and we met the guest speaker/teacher for this month's meeting I just had to laugh. Mr. Craig is the park interpreter for Guadalupe River State Park, he is a naturalist and really loves birds (he actually has a very special license to band them). And he is loud. And when he goes on bird walks, he moves fast, he even ran up to a little clump of trees at one point, bounding off with excitement at what he saw. One of my friend's girls even said, "We sure are being loud today!" Noah would have loved it!

So, I talked with Craig a little, mentioning my son's aversion to the quiet and slow birding. I couldn't help but smile when he said, "Most real birders don't really like my style, but whoever goes on bird walks with me usually has fun!" I decided that Noah really needed to meet this man! Mr. Craig had done a special bird banding day for our YBC, but this past Saturday was a regular banding event that he does once a month. When I told Elliott about Craig and how I think it would be good for Noah to meet him we decided to make our Saturday morning excursion to attend "A Bird in the Hand".

Noah was first to release a bird. Can you see his smile?

I think he exact words were, "That was awesome!"

Caleb's first bird release, he flew off fast!

Faith has a way with birds... three birds she was able to release, all had to be convinced to leave her hand.

Grace's bird escaped quite quickly...

The teeny-tiny "coffee drinking bird" - a Ruby Crowned Kinglet - one of my favorite birds, a surprise catch in the whisper nets.

Micah got to release my favorite little bird, the bird wanted to stay... I think he wanted to come home with us, he must have heard about our coffee...

Elliott released a Vesper Sparrow

We each got to hear the heartbeat of a little Savannah Sparrow

Craig let Noah put on his little magnifiers to look at some details on the wing... Noah was hooked after this, said he wanted to come every time they do this!

This guy was a freelance photojournalist working on an article for the SA Express News. Craig asked Noah to hand him the White Crowned Sparrow to release.

We had a wonderful family morning together. I was thrilled to see Noah enjoying God's Creation, and I was thankful for God sending Craig to spark an interest in Noah, he was super excited to meet this "loud" birder. And just for fun, the photojournalist took a liking to our little family and interviewed Hannah and I... I can't wait to see his photos.

Gonna try...

... to catch up on laundry (having a broken dryer is really impacting my efficiency in this area)...

... to do a better job of photographically chronicling our life (and not just our birding trips)...

... to spend more time out in the front yard with the kids engaging my neighbors (instead of hunkering down on my cozy couch with my yummy coffee)...

... to say yes more to my children's requests to play, read, create (versus coveting a clean floor or a quiet moment)...

... to wake up earlier (which means I will need to go to bed earlier)...

... post at least one photo per blog (a friend sort of challenged me on this, you know who you are)...

... to pray more consistently for Gospel opportunities (like every time I get in my car to go somewhere)...

... to be more real and not let people think I have it all together (for this you may need to show up unannounced and ask to borrow my hallway bathroom, the reality of that room is rather alarming)...

And how is this for real? This is all from one night where all the children bathed...