Little Treasures

Night Stands I call them. Little holders of light and treasures.

A long time ago Grandma Proehl shared with me about taking the time to look around at our lives and write about it -- take a snapshot in time. She was so great at it, sometimes she would write a letter and describe her day, her surroundings, what was going on at that moment. In that same spirit of remembering, I offer these fun little snapshots of the things that found a "place of honor" in the kids' rooms.

T.Micheal's treasures include the super-cool pinewood derby car he and Dad made in the cub scouts last year -- complete with storm trooper driver! Also included are books, a pencil/tracing paper picture (given by a girl), sports box Kleenex, a battery-less flashlight, a lego star ship and lego person and some magnetic shapes that he loves to make into different things.

McKenzie's treasures include silly string, a 3-D light-up Angel, several stuffed animals, sequins, jewelry, a red flashlight, a letter from Grandma Domon, several folded up school papers (recently pulled from pockets), little painted rocks and the Nutshell Library collection by Maurice Sendak.

One Tough Sandwich

I've been in a bit of a funk lately. You may have seen it. I don't talk about it much because it's hard to explain, and (sigh) I'm afraid there's really nothing you can do, I just have to keep moving forward. It's about a sandwich. No, not a real sandwich. More of a symbolic one.

You see, I had this awesome vacation last week. Got to travel, see friends, walk in the sun, visit Mickey Mouse -- it was great! Truly the kids, Dave and I had a great time together. (See Dave's Facebook for photos)

So why the funk? Well, on both sides of that great week of vacation, I mean literally two days before and two days after, I found out someone in my life died. It's not like they were super-close to me, but they were both young (one age 22, one age 8yrs)and beautiful, and I feel so sad for both families. In both cases I have family members to comfort and encourage. That makes for one tough sandwich.

Looking on the bright side, I'm encouraged too. Things like this make you look life in the face, and think about what you're doing. Is this really how I want to be spending my time? I'm thankful for my family, my health, and the opportunities God has brought my way.