countdown...

okay...just two books left! no prayer projects...no final papers...just two books!!! sigh...so much can happen in a day

finals countdown and update...

both coe and porter finals are done! had to come home at midnight and defrost from the chill of the library, but they are done!
reading:
SD handbook to finish
Life on the vine-3/4 done...gotta finish
prayer-1/2 done...gotta finish

centering prayer project-1/3 done. have two more to do.
final pp to choose and do

sigh..today is not long enough...

aly

christmas photo shoot

meltdowns and photos

so last friday we (will, ry, em and i) get all dolled up for our big annual family photo shoot for our christmas card. everything is fine and then emily melts down...a few times in an hour. she is not usually like this! but...we got it on camera...poor thing!

i feel like having a meltdown myself. i have a ton of reading to accomplish, a final paper to punch out, a question left on a take home final to finish, a house that is complete shambles (seriously...there isn't anything that doesn't have a pile on it!) and i just don't have the energy to finish anything!! i have a list to keep me focused on the task...and an incentive at the end to entice me to finish (starbucks and christmas lights on thursday night with our little family all bundled up, i can't wait! and disneyland with dear friends on friday)...but now it's wednesday...my goal to finish was thursday...i can do it!!!! i can!! here is my task list:
naptime:
FINISH READING
one prayer project-centering prayer

after dinner:
finish final porter question
begin coe final paper
part two of three centering prayer

thursday:
8am-ignatian group
when that is done...
2 hr prayer project for coe
then spend one hour doing coe final paper
after porter's class-finish coe's final paper
be done!! i have to be done!!!
maybe after we do the cocoa and lights night when the kids go down i will need to put finishing touches on coe's paper and then one last centering prayer

friday:
breakfast with babes
turn in both finals to isf office
go to disneyland!!
naptime:
colapse! oh...and clean...maybe just push a spot clean for me to sleep...then clean later...

saturday:
hair appointment! yeah! pampering!!
lunch with dear friends who are now engaged!!! yeah!!
naptime-spend with friends, or clean...who knows at that point what will be done
get ready for andre boccelli concert!
babysitter comes (yeah molly!) and we are off to bubba gump shrimp and then the pond for andrea boccelli. i hope he does some christmas music!

sunday:
brunch with char gla! yeah! and then...enchanted!! ah....sweet finals are done...sweet tunnel is clear and fun times are being had!

monday:
our two day get away christmas present to eachother! play day at magic mtn and night in hotel room to sleep...and sleep in! THANK YOU molly and meleca for loving our kids while we are away rejuvinating!!

okay...i can do this...in linguni's words from ratatouille, "let's do this thing!"

First of many...

here is a photo of Will and his first shiner...it won't be the last i'm sure! that boy leads with his head!! We were out to lunch with friends and the barstool he was running around fell over on top of him and pinned him down...and created this aweful looking little face...but sooooo cute as well! poor little man!

Fall...

here is my feeble attempt to upload some photos...let's see if it worked!

okay...i don't know yet how to post a little saying under each photo! sorry...the photos shown are snippits of our fall as a family. we went to Yuciapa to visit our dear friends, the Dau's. It was our family of four, our other dear friends, the Stumps and their family of four joining for the weekend the Dau's, their family of five. It was amazing! I didn't think we could pull it off, but we did. four kids sleeping in one room...they did it!!! i'm so proud of them! we enjoyed a pumpkin patch (see photo of the amazing colored pumpkins...arn't they just beautiful! they speak, "fall!") and then Oak Glen where we picked our own pumpkin and attempted to pick apples, but we were too late! they were already picked over : ( but...once i figure out how to upload video, you'll see an awesome video of Will and all the kids dancing to the country music in the dining hall. These are the moments I LOVE being a family and hanging out with my friends and their kids. My heart swells!!

The final photo is of Emily and Will dressed up for Halloween...they were Jessie and Woody from Toy Story 2. She LOVED her Jessie wig! it was a bit big for her, but we tried to make it work.

freedom...

so...i am in my last full weeks of classes...wrapping up the first half of grad school. i have a year and a half to go. i LOVE it. this year is a huge year of learning for me. not that last year wasn't, but i was not able to really soak it in while in the midst of caring for and letting go of my grandmother. i was introduced to the beauty of death last year. i am still learning this beauty. there is much more than actual death of the body when i speak of this. death of a former life i clung to, ideals i thought i was entitled to, even the word entitled is a word i'm letting go of. but, in the death, there is beauty. there is an openness, and there is a freedom. it overflows in my mind...my heart swells...and sigh of relief washes over me. relief that i do not have to do my life on my own anymore. although this is ever so comfortable and all too familiar, it is now the way back towards death and not life, openness, freedom. true beauty.

new photos to come soon...i promise! much love to you and yours during this advent season.