Ceremony

Auntie Em is getting married this weekend!  I was practicing walking in my matron-of-honor shoes and after some very cute compliments from the littles on my "princess shoes" we got to talking about weddings.

Toby:  Is a wedding like a play?
Jeana:  Sort of. It's a ceremony.
Toby:  What's a ceremony?
Jeana:  It's a uh...something special that we do to show that we're doing uh...something special.

Wow, not my best moment as a parent.  Or a speaker of English.  Toby nodded as if he understood.  Then I showed him a picture of what his tuxedo might look like.

Toby:  Oh!  No wonder I got black shoes.  This all makes so much sense now!

I'm glad something does!

Look Alikes

People are constantly telling me how much my children look alike.  I sometimes joke that I must have a cookie cutter in my womb.  But really, I see every subtle difference in their face shape, coloring, and expressions.  In my eyes, my boys look like brothers but they all look very different because they are all very different people.

This morning when I went to wake them up for school I saw Toby sleeping in Miles' bed.  These kids play musical beds and it's not unusual to find them all piled in the same bed or in completely different beds from where they started at night.  I took a quick peek at the top bunk and saw a mop of brown hair. Miles and Toby must have switched places, I thought, until I gently called for them to wake up and Toby sat up in the top bunk!

I quickly looked back at the bottom bunk.  Toby was still sleeping there.  It took several more seconds of staring to see that it was really Miles sleeping, he looked so much like Toby.  He's losing all his baby features and morphing into a real big boy.

Wonder Women Wednesday: The Color I Shun

This week I asked Becky: What is your all-time favorite joke?
You can read her answer HERE.

Becky asked me:  What color would you never ever, ever paint any part of the interior or exterior of your house?

I love color.  In fact, I love color so much that it's difficult for me to even choose a favorite color.   So when Becky asked me what color I would never choose for my house I was stumped for a little while. 

And then it came to me: black!  I would never paint a wall black.  But...maybe I would want black shutters or a black front door. Oooh, black trimmed windows are really pretty.  

Laurie Jones Home

Okay, well, probably not pink.  I've never really been a pink girl.  And my three boys would protest mightily.  But then I see rooms like the one below and think, "Yes!  I love that punch of coral pink color!"  I also think, "Why are those sandals placed just so on the edge of the rug?" 

HGTV.com

The outside of my house is yellow.  I have a turquoise kitchen.  I just painted orange and white stripes in the hallway.  My bedroom is gray but I used to have a little cut out nook in the wall that was painted red.  The boys' room is bright green, my studio is light blue...I don't have any purple rooms but who knows?  It could happen!

It would seem that every color is welcome in my home. And I probably have lots of colors that other people would never, ever, ever paint in their home.  I thought and thought about what would be my most un-favorite  color.  And finally, I knew.  The color that defies the description of color.  The color that is no color and many colors.  The ultimate non-color.  Beige.

Especially that pink undertone beige that looks sort of fleshy.  I would never, ever, ever paint any part of the interior or exterior of my house beige.

Now, put your pitchforks and torches down.  Many people have lovely homes with beautiful shades of beige walls.  Some people love that tone on tone neutral look.  It is very calming and peaceful and I find it quite appealing sometimes.  If you love beige walls, more power to you.  I certainly don't think everyone should shun beige.  But in my house I need color.  And lots of of it!

What about you?  What color would you never, ever, ever paint in or on your house?  Do you have beige walls and have I now totally offended you?  Leave a comment and let us know!  And don't forget to share your favorite (clean) joke over at Becky's blog.  I fully expect to be rolling with laughter over there!

Wonder Women Wednesday: Spring Break Adventure

This week I asked Becky: What is your favorite physical feature about yourself?
You can read her answer HERE.

Becky asked me to share a Spring Break memory.

Once upon a time, when I was a college student, my friend Becca and I wanted to have a real Spring Break break.  I knew of a family in my home church who owned a cabin near the beach and I somehow convinced my mom to convince this family to let Becca and I stay there for the week of Spring Break.     

We bought cheap bicycles from Toys R Us and a bike rack and headed out for the coast.  Spring Break was going to be an adventure!

It was a long drive and by the time we got to our beach town the sky was dark and pouring down rain.   The cabin we were staying in was pretty secluded and the small town didn't have very many street lights.  But it did have a lot of big, overgrown trees and bushes that obscured the street signs.  I was driving slowly in the downpour and trying to angle my car so that the headlights would shine on the partially hidden street signs.   We were cold and tired and hungry and we just wanted to get to the cabin already!

Blue and red lights suddenly started flashing behind us.  My heart rate shot up as I pulled to the side of the road and rolled my window down.  "You were swerving an awful lot there, Miss!  You been drinkin'?"  The police officer greeted me with his flashlight in my face.  "No, sir!  It's just hard to see the street signs and we've never been here before."  What a way to start our Spring Break, with a ticket, or worse, a breathalyzer test!  But the officer could tell I was telling the truth and he asked which address we were headed for.  He gave helpful directions with landmarks and told us to be careful and sent us on our way.  

I don't remember all the details of that trip but I remember riding bikes, visiting a light house, singing worship songs on the beach at night, and finding an amazing butterfly kite and flying it.  Oh, and laughing.  Lots and lots of laughing!

On the drive home I forgot to fill my car up with gas.  I kept looking for a gas station but we were on a stretch of mountain road with no signs of civilization for miles.  Night was upon us again and I didn't want to be stranded on the side of a curvy mountain road in the dark.  I saw a sign for a campground and I pulled in and parked in the parking lot.   The little guest booth seemed to be closed for the night so we slept in the car.  

In the morning we found that we were parked right next to an old fashioned water pump and just beyond that were clean bathrooms and a beautiful, bubbling river!  We washed our hands and faces in the water pump and then ate Golden Grahams cereal on a tangle of wide branches and logs that stretched out across the river.  It was so peaceful and beautiful.

We still didn't have any gas but thankfully we were on a downhill slope and I drove the car in neutral most of the way down the mountain.  At the very bottom we saw a Shell station and rolled to a stop right next to the pump.  When the attendant removed the gas cap we heard a very loud hiss--proof that we had been driving on fumes for a long time.  All I know is that God met us where we were and provided for every need.  And that it truly was an adventure!