After years of over spray, the hardened stains and paints make for a beautiful, otherworldly landscape. 

Another weekend at the shop. Another chance for shop camping. It’s a nice distraction. ☺️

A co-worker recently asked me if I ever considered moving closer to my job. Currently my commute is an hour each direction and Tim’s is about an hour and a half each way. A while ago we talked about it, and decided that while the drives are long, our ending destination (home) is surrounded by family and a close knit community. We are close to the water and in a relatively rural area. To move closer to either of our jobs while the other is still working would mean that we would be living in confining urban sprawl, lower ranked schools, no community support, and with one of us still having an excruciating drive. So for now I will gladly embrace my commute if it means Friday night farmers markets, Sunday morning church, and close friends and family to travel through life with. 🙂

Storytime and Rita’s

October 29, 2016 is a date seared into my memory, and there it will remain the rest of my days. Lately I have been measuring things as before and after that day. I look at photographs or recall events and my mind automatically places them in one of those two categories. After I had physically healed from the ectopic rupture, and during the time my mind was still grappling with our loss, our little family started its downward spiral into winter and all the sicknesses that ensued. For months on end we endured the clobber of illness after illness, until the very thought of another one made me tremble.

The weather is warmer now and sicknesses have started to wane and for the first time in seven months I can finally just breathe!

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12

1. The way that Baby E calls himself a ‘messy moose’ whenever he makes a mess when eating.

2. The way C uses the phrase “Come how” instead of “How come.”

3. The way Big E randomly stops whatever he is doing just to tell me he loves me. 

4. The fact that Big E is still talking about the beetle he met at the beach at if it were a bosom buddy.

5. That Baby E has one specific unintelligible sentence he uses when he is excited. It’s always the same made up words spoken in the same order every time. 

6. The way the kids run to tackle me when they see me after work.

7. The way Big E thinks his grippy socks make him more like Spiderman.

I was sitting on a chair outside of a coffeeshop with Big E yesterday morning. He was sitting on my lap, the sunlight dancing off of his blond hair. He smiled at me as he nibbled on the piece of brownie that I was sharing with him. “Hey buddy, what color shirt am I wearing today?” I asked casually as he chewed. He stared at my shirt for a moment as he moved the brownie around in my mouth. “Tan,” he said.

My shirt was green.

Now that I am paying attention, I am noticing more and more moments like this one. What I used to mistake as mixing up words, really seems to be solidifying into a colorblind diagnosis. This evening I ran a few tests on him that I found online and he had trouble with quite a few of them.  The phrase “Protanopia” kept coming up. Curious about my newfound word, I did some research and learned that it is the most common form of color blindness. Out of curiosity I googled to see if there was a way to turn a photo from the typical color spectrum to one that would represent what a colorblind person might see. And of course, the internet didn’t disappoint! I found a site that would do just that.

So I decided to upload a few pics and take a glimpse into the world of my little man. The website had strict limitations on file size, so I had to scale them down quite a bit. They are pixilated, but you get the point. I made sure to upload photos that I had previously added saturation to so that the colors would be very vibrant. Here are the results…

I do wonder if what he sees is as drastic as the pictures show or not. I am looking forward to learning more the next time I meet with his pediatrician or an eye doctor.

*Disclaimer* I’m not a doctor, I have no previous knowledge about any of this. I’m taking the word of this website that they understand what they are talking about!

When I was growing up, we practically lived at my parents’ wood finishing shop on the weekends and during the summers. It was during that time that I learned how to scuff, check colors, and (on very, very rare occasions) use a spray gun. But when I turned seventeen and got my first job in a production company, I was at the shop less and less until one day I rarely went at all. I moved away to college and when I moved back a few years later, my parents moved to a different state. I’d go and visit them, I’d see their new shop, but I didn’t work there. In fact, it’s probably been over fifteen years since I’ve used those skills.

Tim works there now, which I love, by the way!

Since this was a long weekend, we decided to take a trip to my parents’ house and when I found out they would be spending most of the weekend at the shop I thought it would be a great chance to go in and lend a hand. Over the course of three days I think I ended up working about 18 hours, but it certainly didn’t feel like it! The time just flew. The kids had a blast spending time with their grandmother as the rest of us scuffed, sanded, finished, and moved panels. By the end of each day, I was so incredibly tired, but in a good, body aching from hard work kind of way. We’re back now and will resume our normal lives in the morning. I’m so thankful for the long weekend, for the chance to spend time with my family, and for the men and women that have served, and sacrificed for the incredible freedom we experience in this country.

Be still my heart! ❤️❤️❤️

I’d appreciate some prayers for C. She started running a fever this morning. ☹️

Sure, most people go to the beach for Memorial Day weekend, but us? No, we headed out to my parent’s house and to their finishing shop for a visit and to lend a hand. 😁 (I’m going to be so sore tomorrow!) We were there way past the kids’ bedtime so I convinced them we were ‘shop camping’ and laid out some furniture pads on the office floor! Guess what, it worked!! 

We survived Field Day! C has been talking about it for weeks, and was very excited when she learned that I was able to take some time off from work for it. I got there a little late after dealing with the boys this morning, but I got to see her participate in quite a few games. Then the first graders had a pizza party, so we sat outside for lunch. I took her out of school early so that we could get a little more time together.

This evening we picked up the boys and headed to the beach and the farmers market. They played for a long time. C saw a bunch of friends from school, and Big E made an unlikely friend with a beetle. Yes, you read that right. He spent 45 minutes with his little beetle friend and even begged to bring him home. (I politely declined.)

Last week they were disappointed that we didn’t get Rita’s for dessert while at the market, but I didn’t realize that that stand only took cash. I was prepared this evening, and I made sure I had some money on me when we got there. But here’s the deal, I lost it. After I had promised them Rita’s. Oops. I was pretty upset about it, but we went to the van and I was able to scrounge up enough to get one small Rita’s that we could share. As I was paying, the young man at the table did something incredibly kind. He looked at my band of savages, asked me again if I only wanted one small Italian ice, and when I said that was all I could afford this evening because I had lost my money, he picked up a large sized cup and filled it as high as he could before handing it to me. What a sweet young man. I thanked him for his kindness and the kids were thrilled to get their Rita’s this evening! 🙂