cheeky

remember when mary poppins is singing her 'spoon full of sugar' song? at the end she walks over to the mirror and is singing. her reflection then goes on and on after the real mary poppins is done. mary looks at the reflection and says, 'cheeky!'

so yesterday isaiah wanted to know what cheeky meant, so i explained it to him as best i could (i thought about calling my english friends to make sure i was explaining it right). i thought in the midst of the explanation, 'i like that expression. i think i might have to include that in my vocabulary.'

at 4 years old, isaiah is a wiz when it comes to the mac. he can get around fine, DJing with iTunes, slide shows with iPhoto, even garage band. but somehow he took garage band off the dock and it's been gone for a week or so. yesterday he asked me if i could find it and put it back. 'of course i can!' i said. 'how mom?' 'magic. just like mary poppins. in fact, i AM mary poppins!'

alaythia was under the table playing with something, she popped her head up and said, 'you're cheeky mommy!'

even i was impressed

yesterday we got a break from the string of hot weather. the rain came, bringing cool air with it. not humid rain, but a cool, crisp rain. it was the break i needed from the heat.

we hunkered in. baked cookies, played games. daddy and alaythia even made it out for a 'date'. while i was getting dinner ready, daddy and the kids started a game of hide and go seek. along with many other talents, one of matt's best, is hiding. often the kids look and look, can't find him, and then come imploring my help. yesterday was no different.

this one even stumped me for a bit. i mean, how many spots can there be in the our little 2 bedroom house? i did find matt, before the kids, and grabbed the camera, because this was a first!



yes, there's matt on the washer...the kids were thrilled! he may be an academic scholar, but i love the little kid in him. and i think more than anything else he's gifted at, he's the best daddy around!

one year

it should be a day of celebrating. it should be filled with her first taste of sugar, candles and gifts. but it's not. it's a day of remembering the time that was lost. the time that we didn't get.

today would be olivia jewel miller's first birthday.

i said it just weeks after she was gone. she changed me. this past year she has continued to. her presence, or lack of it, has permeated parts of my life i didn't think possible. random remembrance that brings me to tears. deep longing to know her and watch her grow. and, almost at the moment i found out sophia was growing inside me, i thought of her. i have struggled and wondered what is to come. i do not take for granted when a new baby comes into the world. i hate to say i'm surprised by it, but how can i expect any different? it was no small thing to lose her.

i woke up today and she was the first person that came to my mind. i prayed for her mom, her dad, her grandma. once again praying that Jesus would meet them in their pain, in ways beyond our understanding.

i look at her face, still, as her picture sits in our living room. little olivia. you are so very missed. your little life left such a huge hole.

update - soccer & sicky

no, no goal. a pretty amazing assist. but no goal. matt came home amp'd because it was such an emotional game.

i'll be honest, it's usually just me screaming on the sideline. but after 3 quarters of the other team cheating, hitting, tripping and no calls by the refs, all the parents were apparently into it. knowing that now, i see why i was at home. my even keeled husband said that i would have flipped out and not been able to handle it.

matt's been in NBA land the last few weeks. so to fight back he tapped his inner phil jackson and called a play, fed his 'kobe' and got the goal. hence the assist. this alone is pretty amazing since most of the time matt's trying to get them stop picking grass or to get their head out of the net.

on the sickie front, poor alaythia has had what i thought was a stiff neck for the past few days. about the time she got sick she started holding her neck and had a hard time turning her head. after not much improvement over the weekend i took her into the doctor today. the doctor literally gasped when she looked in the first ear. 2 severe ear infections seem to be the cause of the hurting neck.

but we're on the mend, antibiotics in hand, ready to take on the next two teams this weekend. both in cheering and in play. that's right, we're moving up. we've got a friday night and saturday game to end the season.

sicky & soccer

i'm missing isaiah's soccer game this morning. baby girl is super sick...she's been asleep since about 10am.

isaiah's sick too, just doesn't seem to have it as bad. and it's soccer time, so no missing it! isaiah has always been a cougher. when he gets sick, it seems he'll cough non-stop. the last two nights have been no exception. about 4:30am alaythia got fed up. none of us were sleeping. but she decided to do something about it. i heard her say, 'isaiah! isaiah! stop isaiah!' apparently she wanted some sleep and his non-stop coughing was getting to her. in frustration, when he wouldn't stop, she came complaining into our room, begging to get in bed with us. of course we let her in, after all, we weren't sleeping anyway.

but back to soccer. i'm sure this will be the game that isaiah scores a goal. i had been thinking it all morning. but just as they were about to walk out the door matt confirmed my fear, 'you know that he's gonna score a goal today.'

yeah, thanks matt. just make sure you can give me a play by play when you get home!

heat of the summer

so...this is the first time i've been very pregnant in the summer. and i'm in humidity. i've learned this is not really 'the south' here in louisville. but we've got the humidity like it. it's been hot and humid for weeks.

if you are 7 months pregnant, in the hot and humid how do you survive?

-take COLD showers. it will be a matter of minutes before you're hot again.
-don't even bother with make up. before you can have it on completely you will have sweat it off.
-don't dry your hair. steal some of your husband's gel and scrunch it. put a homemade headband on to keep all the hair off your face and neck.
-when you're outside in the afternoon playing with the kids and they get popciles, eat one with them.
-and when you can't take it anymore, come into your cool house, and sit for a while.

today we have the windows open for the first time in weeks. i was sitting on our love seat this morning, and a cool breeze came and rushed around me. i took a deep breath and didn't feel like i was inhaling liquid. i don't know that i've ever been so thankful for cool, crisp air.

over the grave

our church as been working on a new CD for a long time. we've been singing the songs in church for months now. each sunday matt and i leave feeling desperate to have those songs at our disposal. the time has finally come! the CD is titled 'over the grave' and it's all isaac watts hymns redone. totally redone. i know this is all the rage now, and it has been my experience that others say they have redone them, but just add a different tag at the end. let me tell you, that is not the case with this, and you WILL NOT be disappointed.

the release is officially on june 19th, but you can preorder a copy of the CD to be shipped to you on the 16th. the link to the blog will give you all the details. plus you can hear one of the songs now, 'only your blood is enough'.

enjoy. i know you will.