The Long Way Home

Well, I have been on the road for the last couple of weeks—without internet access.  Oh the inhumanity!  I was beyond grumpy a week ago, when I realized I was not going to be given the opportunity to check my email for another week.  When you grow up in Nowhere, Wyoming, internet is not an option. 

Now, I am just days away from being home.  What can one say about traveling—Well, it does make the heart grow fonder.  I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and making messes in my own house and not feeling guilty about it.  I am looking forward to the kids being crazy and loud in their own house and no one giving me a crooked look. I am looking forward to seeing my Catholic mom friends and participating in all the fun activities they have planned.

Here are a few snapshots from these past two weeks.  I cannot say it has been all fun.  But it has been good for the soul to remember from where I came.

The Adam Race commemorating the life of my awesome brother. Some of our Australian relatives came to participate this year.  Here is my Dad with his brother and sister, Mike and Carmel.

Alex participated in the race this year for the firs time as a runner.  He ran with my Auntie Carmel.  But, I found out later he pooped out 500M in and they commandeered a stroller to push him most of the way.

The kids got to test out Uncle Adam’s robots

The kids went swimming in the park.  And here they are acting like friends

Sushi my mom made—Pretty awesome

Visiting Garden of the Gods with Auntie Sarah in Colorado Springs

A big swing—I need one of these!

God Bless Summer Vacation :-)

Tot Talk–L’il Stinkers

It seems like lately everything that my children say is either cute or funny…

Recently, we have been out at numerous gatherings in the “We’re Leaving Washington Tour.”  I have been bringing along the kids pajamas and when we are ready to leave, I change them into there pajamas.  The kids fall asleep on the car ride home and we put them straight to bed when we get home. 

One night at a gathering I took Alex to the powder room to change him into his pajamas.  After he was changed I asked him to put his shoes back on.  He said, “No, I want to go in feet.”

I replied, “Oh you want to go in bare feet.”

“No Mommy, human feet not bear feet.”

I was still grinning from Alex’s cute mistake when I took Kristiana into the powder room to change into her pajamas.  She was full of sugar and jib-jabbering away.  She was fully stripped down and I held out a clean diaper and asked her to come to me to get dressed.  She was talking about this and that.  I am not sure of all the things she was saying.  The next thing I knew she turned around, bent down, grabbed her butt cheeks and started talking at me with her butt.  Yes, I got the Jim Carey/Ace Ventura treatment from a two year old.  And now I know, either Jim Carey stole his act from a two year old or he has the mind of a two year old.  This is how my whole summer has been. Kristiana is really funny and she knows it.

 

Icon Writing–The Creation of the Sun

Here is the Icon I have been working on for the past six weeks for our Byzantine church in Washington.  I feel relieved it is done.  I will not know what to do with my time now that I will not be using every spare moment to work on it.  I suppose I will read more and blog.

I hardly had enough time to complete this work.  I could have used another 20 hours to work on it.  All I can see are the mistakes.  However, I think I achieved what the Icon intends to convey.  Further, I prayed my prayers and then dipped the paintbrush into the paint.  I know this is the work of God.

It is 24 X 39 inches, which is quite a large icon. While I copied an existing Icon, I constructed the image myself instead of tracing…And now onto the rest of Creation.

P.S. My sweet Icon protégé, Alex, kept asking if he could help. He really wanted to help badly. However, I explained to him that this is a grown-up Icon. He kept asking until it was almost finished and then he said, “Oh, I do not want to work on this one. I know it’s a grown up Icon now.”