THIS is ART!

“Did you put this in the toy bag?”

I blearily looked at my oldest child. Mia was brandishing her latest school art achievement, a caterpillar made out of a portion of an egg carton, covered with green paint and sporting some peppy green pipe cleaner antennae.

“Yes,” I admitted. She had pounced upon me while I was still asleep. “Daddy and I were up late cleaning the house and I put everything that needed to go into your room in the toy bag.”

Mia gave me a look of disbelief.

“THIS,” she said importantly, “is NOT a toy! This is ART!”

Apparently the battle of what art encompasses starts early and involves caterpillars.

This is just a little snippet from life lately. We are hosting Isaiah’s mom and dad while they’re here for a visit and OWU’s graduation. It’s really nice to have them around and the girls are over the moon with excitement!

We headed to St. Louis last weekend for a reunion with my grad school friends and their families. That was a great trip! We went to the zoo on Saturday and the Purina Farms on Sunday.

My dear friends said that Maggie was obviously strong-willed. It felt really good to have other people recognize that she’s a force to be reckoned with – it’s not just in my head!

We had a great time talking about the balance between being a wife, a mother and a professional. It’s amazing to spend time with friends who are able to discuss not only the gritty day-to-day aspects of life, but also the bigger picture, analytical “what does this mean? Are we the people we want to be? Are we living intentionally?” questions. And, our husbands are amazing… they did child care while we went to Starbucks. Ah….

We also discussed the importance of not breathing another person’s used air, whether it be your spouse or your child. (“That’s just pure, warm, yucky carbon dioxide!” said Dannie. “That’s… that’s… that’s unclean air!” she finished triumphantly!) We decided that self-sacrifice only goes so far… and that’s it’s perfectly ok to exert our own identity when it comes to breathing space. J

Graduation is this Saturday and it’s crazy to think that we’ve completed yet another year. I expect that we’ll be in our same positions next year as well, which is a really nice feeling of constancy.

Isaiah will start his master’s program next week. It’s a year-long, intensive program in Educational Design and Technology. He’s super-excited, and not just because the tuition covers a new MacBook Pro. I’m excited for him and the opportunities that will come from his newfound knowledge.

That’s our quick update. I don’t have much else to tell you except that when you’re in your 70s it’s not a good idea to wear a sleeveless leather vest with no undershirt. I know. My retinas are seared with the image. God Bless America, Super Wal-Mart and Oklahoma fashion sense.