Time to Breathe

Ahhhhhh, what a glorious afternoon! We're still on holidays from Sunday School and were home from the first service at church today by 10:30. We had an early lunch, cleaned up, and I dashed out to Costco to pick up some photos. Gary and the kids went out when I came home, for several hours! They went over to skate at our friends' house and then over to the church to set up for the Perspectives class that starts tomorrow night. I thoroughly enjoyed the quiet, it's been quite some time since I've had the house to myself. Took me a while to get into a groove but I did manage to create this layout. I am excited with how it turned out and I even tried some different things with it. Very fun.

So, have you chosen your word yet? I'm still working on mine. I'm thinking it might be MOVE. As in MOVE your body, make a MOVE, MOVE in relationship. I don't know. There are too many words that could work. I'm the most indecisive person I know. Maybe it should be MAKE, as in MAKE up your mind...

This was a wonderful weekend. We planned very little as Noah had a soccer tournament scheduled. They lost their game on Friday night 3-1 and then yesterday afternoon 6-5 (a total nail biter, a terrific match) so they were out of the tournament earlier than we thought. That left last night and this afternoon free. I went for a walk last night. I'm happy to report that I walked 3 times this past week. Maybe I'm getting back into a good habit? I might even head out again yet tonight..

Ohhhh, the mystery event! Well, we were asked to a do a short bit of filming for an upcoming announcement for the ladies retreat our church is holding in February. They do some pretty snazzy announcements from time to time. Basically they shot four very short snippets. The first was Gary and I standing in the kitchen and he says, "Honey, you go for the weekend, I'll stay home with the kids." The next scene is Gary standing in the middle of the kitchen with all four children (literally) running around him in circles screaming. The next bit shows Gary pointing directly into the camera saying, "Men, I challenge you to a weekend alone with your kids!" The last bit shows me running out the front door and down the driveway with my luggage with the kids watching silently from the doorway. I thought it might be run in the service today but it sounds like we will have the worldwide premier next week. I'll let you know how it looks once edited and if it goes over well. Our kids had an absolute blast participating and it was great incentive to get the house cleaned up on a Friday afternoon.

This week marks our return to routine: homeschooling, music lessons, teaching for me, etc. I hope that your post-holiday reality check is revealing blessings in the everyday. I'm praying for patience and wisdom as I head to the kitchen table with the children to resume our lessons tomorrow. Oh, and I think I'll come armed with a full mug of coffee, just in case.