This is the Snow That Never Ends

Winter continues to stick around in western WA...although yesterday we experienced fall, winter and spring in about 2 hours. Ugh. We are ready for some warmer weather, that's for sure. In the meantime, Steve took the boys sledding. He drove about an hour from our house to find the snow. Although they came back soaking wet and exhausted, a good time was had by all.

Prayer According to Luke

The scene: my bedside, early this morning, as I am trying desperately to squeeze in a few more minutes of sleep
Enter stage left: Luke, wide awake and eager to discuss what's on his mind
Luke: Mama, I have bad news for you...
(this is always an interesting way to start one's day)
Me: ugh
Luke: Mama, I have a BRUISE. Look, I'll show you (pulls up pant leg to reveal teeny, tiny bruise) I got it last night when I was playing with daddy.
Me: that's too bad
Luke: I know who can fix it. I know this one. It's God and Jesus. Can you please pray and ask them to make it better. I don't know how to do that, yet.
So pleased that he's been paying attention to someone's instruction regarding prayer, I try to wake up enough to pray something coherent.
Me: Dear Lord, please make Luke's knee feel better soon. Amen. That should cover it.
Thousand one, thousand two...
Luke: IT STILL HURTS!

I considered launching into a long explanation about how God doesn't always answer prayer in the way we expect, that He is operates on His timing not ours, we can pray about anything that's on our minds...then I remembered two very important points: one, I was not yet fully caffeinated and could not possibly possess the patience for such a discussion. Secondly, he's almost five years old and in the time it took me to begin formulating a response, he had already dashed into the next room to see what his dad was up to. That's the wonderful thing about almost-five year olds, sometimes their short attention span works in the adult's favor. Ah, parenthood. Isn't it lovely?

Mom's Away, the Boys Will Play

Nice Igloo!
Who needs a sled?

Okay, this just makes me smile. But I'm not biased.

Steve was flying solo this weekend. He was a superstar. They went bowling at a REAL bowling alley with some friends. Luke can't get over the fact that it was real. He lives a sheltered life. Seriously, who knew you could take kids bowling at 9am on a Saturday? Thank goodness for friends who are informed regarding such matters. Luke hasn't announced which method he prefers: real or virtual. I'm sure he'll give me the merits of both tomorrow. This morning, Steve couldn't resist an opportunity to go and play in the snow. He had to drive a little way, but at last, the glorious white powder was in sight. Good job, honey.

The land of L-E-G-O-S

Dancing on the circles in the ground caused music to play out of the speakers and water to flow out of the instruments in the fountain. This was awesome. People of all ages would dance all over the place. You couldn't help yourself. I think I might have enjoyed this venue the most.

I kid you not-this is President Obama's inauguration made entirely out of legos. Right down to the outfits people were wearing (was it Aretha Franklin who wore that giant bow on her hat? She's there, although you probably can't see her in this shot). Amazing!

The New York City skyline, also made completely from Legos. They had numerous landmarks from around the world in this whole area known as miniland. I took tons of pictures.

We rode this ride for Andy's benefit: airplanes that move around in a circle and rapidly swoosh around corners. Both boys loved it. Since there wasn't a line waiting to get on, we could ride repeatedly. If the grown ups didn't get dizzy, I think the boys would have stayed on all day. Andy cried every time we made him get off and try something else.

In case you hadn't noticed, we recently visited a wonderful amusement park in the San Diego area. Although we were on a quest for sunshine, it wasn't exactly the most beautiful week, weather-wise. However, the boys were not deterred. We enjoyed the rides and the many, many creations built out of those incredible, verstile, fascinating, multi colored little nuggets of joy we call legos.

A Matter of Perspective

I was languishing in bed on Sunday morning, trying to ignore the cues from my family that it was time to rise and shine. I was very busy hosting a one-woman pity party, carefully cataloging my recent disappointments: health issues, parenting challenges, lengthy to-do list, epileptic dog...My favorite country radio station came on and I tuned in to a discussion on faith in difficult circumstances. What a coincidence, Lord. Although it is a popular Seattle radio station, the morning crew is conservative (for Seattle) and rarely misses a chance to express their Christian world view. This morning's guest was Debbie Lee. Her son, Marc, was one of the first Navy SEALS killed in combat in Iraq in 2006. According to The Oregonian, "U.S. Navy officers told Debbie Lee that her son died after single-handedly holding off enemy fighters as his team rescued a wounded soldier from a rooftop. During the two-hour battle, Marc Lee fired 100 rounds against insurgents..."
Here is a woman who lost her son almost three years ago. He was only 28. If she is bitter, she did not mention it. She did not criticize our nation's leadership or blame the Navy. Instead, she recited Psalm 27 from memory. In the first verse, David writes 'The Lord is my light and my salvation-whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life-of whom shall I be afraid?'
I won't list all 14 verses here, you can read it on your own or maybe even memorize it. After hearing her story, I wasn't feeling quite so sorry for myself. Mrs. Lee reminded me that God is always faithful, even when we lose something that is very precious. He uses challenging circumstances to mold us and shape us in ways we probably never expected. Marc Lee's story and his mother's response has reminded me that my attitude toward life's circumstances is really a matter of perspective.

An Epileptic Dog?!

Seriously. This dog is becoming rather high-maintenance. I love him like a child, but I just can't wrap my mind around the concept. Last summer, he seized on the sidewalk in our neighborhood. My neighbors were convinced he had a stroke. He was fine within a few minutes, but it was very frightening. The vet ruled out a stroke, but recommended we watch for more seizures. Months passed and I didn't think anything else about it. We were outside yesterday, enjoying some beautiful spring-like weather. We were beginning the production of cleaning up and moving toward going in when I heard the scraping and clawing of Jake's paws on the cement floor in the garage. It was like he slipped and fell going into the house. Luke started yelling that something was wrong with Jake. I found him leaning against the refrigerator, looking very afraid and all of his claws were "out", like he was trying to grip the floor and could not. I encouraged him to lie down but he was very tense. Then he raced across the room to his bed and had a horrible seizure. I ran out the door, screaming for Steve, who had taken the boys back out to keep them occupied. My neighbor saw me screaming and crying, thought there was a person inside my house having a seizure. She watched the boys while Steve went back in the house. Jake was slowly returning to his normal self, but seemed scared and confused. We made him go outside because he reeked from having an accident. The vet recommends seizure meds but I am so uncertain. I don't like medicating a dog long-term. I'm also afraid of the side effects and wondering if it is even necessary. Ugh. Who knew pet ownership would be complicated.

The Winner Is...

Winner of the Starbucks card is...Mindy! Hooray for you! You left your email, so I'll contact you pronto. Thanks, everybody! I was a total airhead and forgot to moderate my comments in a timely fashion. So sorry. Enjoy the java, Mindy.