she thought they were dying

"A bell is no bell 'til you ring it,
A song is no song 'til you sing it,
And love in your heart
Wasn’t put there to stay -
Love isn’t love
'Til you give it away."
~Oscar Hammerstein~

Please Touch Museum

A few weeks ago my sister and I and our kiddos went to the 

Please Touch Museum. I have heard so many good things about it over the years and it did not disappoint!  

SUCH A FUN PLACE!! 

It's a bit of a drive, but very easy to find. 

The entire place is so real to life!  

"Children have neither past nor future;

 they enjoy the present, 

which very few of us do."

  ~Jean de la Bruyere~

Ralph Lauren 2012 Commercial

Not sure if you've seen this yet, 

but I am ABSOLUTELY SMITTEN 

by the new Ralph Lauren Fall Collection 

and their fabulous commercials.  
This is my favorite, 
but I like this one too:

I think this collection is very "doable". 

Meaning, it won't break your bank to try to copy this look, 

(unless of course you want to drop $2,000 on ONE SWEATER as sold on their website)!!!  

The "older" and more "vintage" looking, 

the better. 

The equestrian look is beautiful and timeless. 

Ralph Lauren says it best himself, 

“Fashion is not necessarily about labels. 

It’s not about brands. 

It’s about something else that comes from within you”

getting breathed on

It's a cozy morning here in our old farmhouse. 

A little chilly, the walls are getting cold, 
ready for the warmth of our wood stove.

I just got done getting breathed on. 

It's one of my favorite things about having a baby in our home.

I lay next to her heavy sleeping body, all snuggled in our down bed.

I quietly place my face as close to hers as I can, 
nuzzled under her nose without really touching her, 

and I lay as still as possible.

 I close my eyes and open my ears and 
then all at once I feel it. 
Her little puffs of breath falling on me.

I hear her quick steady breathing and her little baby noises.

And I stay there as long as I can.

Our worlds as close as they can be, 

our breath mingling, creating a sweet scent.

I promise you, sleeping babies have the sweetest smell. 

This only lasts so long, because even now when I try to do this with my sleeping 7 and 5 year old, well, they stink.

Stinky sleeping breath, it's just not the same.  

There's only so much time to breathe in their sleeping sweetness.

And so I lay there until tears start to well up, 

tears of gratitude and 
so much love that my heart can't even handle it. 
And I meet with God.

"Babies are such a nice way to start people."
  ~Don Herrold

rainy tears

There seem to be so many who are hurting in my world.  

So many freshly broken hearts.  

Some are crying for babies not born.  

Some are crying for babies off to boot camp and six second conversations, 
little boy voices in a grown man's body.  

Some are crying for understanding and mercy, 
grasping for something to explain the explainable.  

He shot himself.  

Three little words that aren't meant to go together, 

they literally pierce the heart. 

Some are saying goodbye to their lover for the last time, 

their casket creaking down into open earth. 
While others are trying to raise their lover from the dead.
Revive their marriage, 
caught in cardiac arrest.

This rainy day seems appropriate, 
the clouds mourning with us. 

How do we live in the midst of all this sadness?  

How are we not swallowed whole? 

I'm sure there's a nice verse I could quote and 
there would be truth within it, 
however, it's the daily walking out that now must be done, 
the crawling through.  

The learning to breathe again. 

And I have to believe that they are not unnoticed, 
that their suffering and their staggering and their lostness is not in vain. 
I will believe that He is near to them,
 just as He promised to be.

"If your heart is broken, you'll find God right there; if you're kicked in the gut he'll help you catch your breath."

Psalm 34:18

Wherever you find your heart today, may there be a glimmer of hope that catches your eye, lifting you up, even if just a little. 

"Sadness flies away on the wings of time."

  ~Jean de La Fontaine~