Reaganing

Lemon, you may be witnessing history here. Making it through a full twenty four hours without a single misstep is called "Reaganing." The only other people who've ever done it: Lee Iacocca, Jack Welch, and -- no judement -- Saddam Hussein. So, what have you got for me? ~ Jack Donaghy {30 Rock}


It was one of those dream days. You know the type. Well, not the walk on the beach and sip a glass of wine type, although usually that is my dream day. I mean the type when no pile or laundry of length of to-do list can stop you. You are the queen of your domain and problems just better watch out.

So, not to toot my own horn, but it was an awesome day.
Tasks were accomplished!
Grocery shopping was perfectly timed with daycare pick up!
Dinner was made during nap time!
Emails were sent and answered!
THE TO DO LIST WAS ALL CROSSED OFF.

It was in this aura of smug accomplishment that Cruz and I set off for our evening walk to check out the Christmas lights in our neighborhood. He has made the connection that Christmas = decorations and he has loved looking at all the pretty lights on our street. It was such a fun, sweet moment, walking around the neighborhood as the twilight grew darker, and more and more lights came on. We walked through the playground on the way back to our house; Cruz stopped and asked the fateful question that turned the day on its head: Carry you?

I picked him up as I stepped off the curb into the street.

His little foot kicked against my sweatshirt pocket.

My iphone flew out.

Landed on the street.

Slid down an embankment and like it knew where it was going, dove straight into the storm drain.

Oh hell no. Not today, world. Any other day you can give me disaster but I'm not taking it right now. And forgive me because I never thought I'd say this, but I am Reaganing today.  I should have panicked, but didn't. Yes, my expensive phone was presumably sitting at the bottom of a flooded cesspool, but I sensed that the entire day hinged on this moment. Time to rise to the challenge.

We ran home. Cruz was crying, "Mommy's phone! Mommy's phone!" which only added to the drama of the moment. I dropped him off with Tovi, armed myself with the Maglite and kitchen tongs and went out to destroy me some storm drain.

It wasn't as deep as I'd feared, but I couldn't see my phone anywhere, and I wanted to get it quickly as every few minutes new water would rush through the bottom. I ran back home and grabbed Tovi's phone, hoping that by hearing my ringtone, I'd be able to pinpoint its location (note: I was very, very careful not to drop this one). Bingo. Most days are normal, but somedays my genius surprises me.

Score one for team skinny girl arms; Reader, I got that phone back. I shed my dignity, legs sticking straight out into the street with my upper body halfway down a storm drain, as the good people of my neighborhood drove home from work. Who knows what kind of diseases and vermin live down there, but nothing could survive the heavy Lysol job I gave me and my phone when we got back home.

Total victory. Reaganed.

today while you were napping

today while you were napping on this dark, rainy sunday, i ate lunch. salad: spinach, shredded cheddar, honey mustard dressing, and your leftover mickey mouse-shaped chicken nuggets. 

i told your dad about our rainy day adventure: how i let you dig in the mud and you kept yelling, "more dirt!" i told him about the "big kids" we met, how they let you play with their motorcycle racers, and how their older sister made me a friendship bracelet. he thought it was funny that we came home and stripped down as soon as we stepped inside. we were soooo muddy!

buddy, while you were napping, i did something totally slothful and luxurious. please don't follow my example until you are a parent and can convince yourself that you deserve a moment like this. it was sunday. it was rainy. i crawled into bed with the ipad, watched two episodes of the hills, and ate a donut. i'm already jealous of myself.

i've done what feels like ten loads of laundry and right now while you're sleeping, i'm finally finishing up the last load. it's taken all day, but every single sheet, towel, and blanket in the house is fresh and clean. the only feeling in the world better than getting into clean sheets is getting into clean sheets and eating a donut.

you kept napping, so i cooked up the noodles and pork we're having for dinner. i mixed up the peanut sauce and was reminded that i could drink this straight from the mixer. i can't wait until dinner time!

it's still raining, you're still napping, and it's so dark out that i've turned on the christmas lights. 

wake up soon, baby. i miss you. 

InstaFriday

happy rainy friday!

i thought we could end the week with a little round up of what we've been up to and what we're looking forward to next week. 

 we took this picture while visiting my dad's office at seattle pacific university over thanksgiving week. i love this picture of cruz stomping in puddles because he seems to be saying, "so... what is this wet stuff on the ground...?" also, is it just me or he is looking like a four year old in this picture? baby come back!

 i often substitute at my old job, which i love to do. it's fun to see everyone, keep my skills sharp, and leave without any of the stress! win-win-win. this week i went in for a few hours and purposely left the house early so that i'd have a few quick minutes in the parking lot to catch up on my devotions. 

this is one of my most favorite pictures of the week, ok or ever. it was the elusive moment when you can provide (for free!) exactly what feeds your child's passion. and yes, my child's passion is garbage trucks and i love it. i gave myself great-parenting-high-fives for the next 24 hours. cruz is still talking about our trip to the recycling plant!

 our wedding caterer, rincon catering, is the best. BEST. they were great at the wedding and made me the meal of my dreams. they were amazing on our one year anniversary when tovi surprised me by having them recreate our wedding feast. and they are the best every year when they hand deliver a box of homemade brownies and cookies to our doorstep. we've been married for six years. how long will we stay on the christmas cookie box list? i hope it's forever. 

i've been finishing up a thanksgiving devotional over the last two weeks. i think after reading more than fourteen scriptures with the phrase "give thanks to the Lord for He is good!" i am starting to get it through my little hard heart that i should give thanks to the Lord. at all times. in all circumstances. like when times are hard or finances are tricky or when i just run out of things to make for dinner. when things are great and the baby sleeps well and everything seems to work perfectly. give thanks to the Lord.

so one of my favorite things this fall has been leading MOPS at our church. like, i love it. i want to marry it. being in the position to serve and speak good news to seventy plus women who are passionate about parenting (and um, passionate about keeping it totally real) is my jam. took this little selfie this morning to remind everyone to bring their own mug to our meeting this morning. 

here's what 's up for us over the next few days:

+ putting up the christmas tree

+ taking family pictures

+ obsessively pouring over pinterest for family picture outfit inspiration

+ doing a huge amount of laundry so that our clothes will actually be clean for family pictures

happy friday!

so this is love.

parenting takes you down some weird roads.

you may find yourself heating up frozen chicken nuggets in the microwave despite swearing once that your child would never eat such a thing.

you may find yourself subjected to the absolute travesty that is mickey mouse clubhouse.

and sometimes you find yourself spending the afternoon at the local recycling plant.

because this is love. 

my friend audrey had a tour scheduled with her playgroup and invited cruz and i to tag along. we stood on a platform overlooking the facility (aka, toddler paradise), and gazed at big machines for about 45 minutes. on the ride home, cruz couldn't stop exclaiming, "excavator! dump truck! bulldozer!"

the look of pure joy. 

 thanks for inviting us along, miss z!

 as we were walking out of the facility, we discovered the garbage truck repair shop.
OH BOY.

advent time is here again

{updated to include some of my favorite advent resources}

most years i try to milk the fall season for as long as possible, but this year felt a little different. practically the minute we got home from thanksgiving with my parents in seattle, i (ok, tovi) hauled out the christmas boxes and we started turning our home into a winter wonderland (ok, as wintry as possible in southern california). 

as i've moved through the house adding a candle here or a stocking there, one song keeps playing in my head.

// let every heart prepare Him room //

so what does that look like in the day-to-day? 

how am i preparing room in my heart for Christ this season?

do you ever feel like this? like you are so familiar with the story of the nativity that it's easy to gloss over the wonder and the miracle?

i forget to imagine the faith of mary, nine months pregnant and bouncing towards bethlehem on the back of a camel.

i forget to imagine the terror of the shepherds confronted with the heavenly host (i mean, right?).

i settle for a pandora holiday station that mixes in carols with jessica simpson hits and forget that the wise men traveled for years to find the messiah. 

and don't get me wrong because i looooove some christmas music, and hot cider, and christmas sparkle, but i want to prepare room in my heart.  i want to sneak downstairs early in the morning to spend time with the Lord, sitting by the Christmas tree asking Him to fill me with the wonder and the terror and the miracle of the season. in every day, i want to make room in my heart for what God would do with us in this season.

favorite advent resources:

+ daily devotional book: watch for the light [various authors] 

+ daily devotional book: preparing for jesus [walter wangerin jr]

+ the jesus storybook bible devotionals for advent [i'll be doing this with cruz]

+ family advent christmas devotionals [ann voskamp]